Written by Jayse Smith
When a group of intergalactic tourists decide to take a scenic tour around the luxurious Sigma XV Station, a remote mining facility and hotel with stunning views of the Horsehead Nebula, none of the passengers on board Sigma Destination Tours ever imagined that they’d be embarking on an epic fight for survival and ultimately their lives in deep space.
The expansive vacuum of space gives Rob Boffard scope and ability to focus on development of each characters’ story as well as bits and pieces of their back story we discover along the way. The character development over the course of this novel and the feelings this causes the reader to develop is—excuse the pun—out of this world!
Boffard has created such well-rounded characters, which the reader will fall in love with and this makes it all the more difficult as they struggle to find their way out of the situations they find themselves in. Through each chapter, we received narration from a different character and also receive more back story, which is just as equally important to the main storyline. In Adrift, there’s an atmosphere of claustrophobia and despair which leads to some heart pounding moments throughout the novel.
Ever had the absolute day from hell? Well it wouldn’t even compare to the day our tout guide, Hannah Elliott, is having especially when it’s her first day at Sigma Destination Tours. Not only is she late on her first day, but her day is about to go from bad to the absolute worst. After welcoming the passengers aboard the small outdated relic of a shuttle known as the ‘Red Panda’, an enemy ship unlike anything passenger or young space craft expert Corey Livingstone has seen before appears out of nowhere. It destroys the station and leaves our troupe fearing for their lives and wondering what to do next. By the end of their struggle, Hannah is not the same timid, unsure, and self-doubting person we first meet. She becomes pretty kick-ass and turns into a self-assured and adventurous girl who stands up for herself. The events which occur whilst under immense pressure force Hannah to make decisions, even if they’re the unpopular one.
The captain of the ‘Red Panda’ is Captain Jana Volkova, the chain-smoking, boozy, Russian, ex-Frontier Navy who flew Scorpion fighters during the war. She does seem unlikable, cold and distant when we first meet her, especially when she accurately describes the Red Panda as a “crap ship”. However, with all the outdated tech on-board and the numerous trials the ship has to go through, Volkova’s flight skills manage to pull the passengers out of many tight spots. How will she manage to get her nine passengers home alive when they have no weapons, food and water? And especially if no one back home knows they’re alive?
Also on-board is the Livingstone family: Corey (10) is the youngest son of Anita and Everett, while Malik (15) is Corey’s older brother. We are first introduced to Corey when he tries to get the attention of his mother. Corey’s role in the novel becomes more and more important as the book progresses as he is obsessed with Spacecraft and wants to be a pilot when he is older. Anita is a workaholic who works for the Frontier Government, which have been at war with the Colonies. The two empires are currently renegotiating the Belarus Treaty, which aims to give the Federation even more territory—something that the Colonies may not be too happy with.
The relationship Corey forges with another passenger on their voyage is heartwarming and brings a lightness to the dark events unfolding around them. Lorinda Anna Maria Esteban is an elderly woman from ‘out in the Kuiper Belt’ who worked in zero gravity as an asteroid miner most of her life. She’s feisty as fuck and does not take any shit. Throughout the story, she shows amazing strength and resilience even with her body screaming against every action she takes due to her old age. Lorinda has also recently lost the love of her life due to a brain aneurysm.
Then there’s the mysterious Seema and Brendan O’Hara, and oh boy you will you have feelings towards those two. Whilst their motivations are worthy, the actions they both take whilst aboard the Red Panda are inexcusable.
A hotel critic by the name of Jack Tennant wasn’t even supposed to be on Sigma. He would rather be going to Kepler-186, but ended up on this station instead seeing as his readers wanted more family package experiences, which Sigma offers in abundance. Let’s just say they won’t be getting a good review after Jack’s experience. His back story is also one of the most interesting in Adrift with loads of surprises in there. With Jack, Rob Boffard is able to bring another element into the story.
This book will suit anyone who has ever played the Microsoft produced game Freelancer released all the way back in 2003 which utilised jump gates to navigate around an expansive open world universe. Or perhaps those who enjoyed the game No Man’s Sky released in 2016 and of course the fan favourite Destiny.
The Spotify playlist which compliments this book is ‘Space Dreams (Ambient & Drone Music)’ listening to this whilst reading Adrift enhances the overall experience and gives the reader a deeper immersion into the universe Boffard has created.
You can find Adrift on Book Depository, Amazon, and other good book retailers.
Have you read Adrift or will you be checking this out? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
In the far reaches of space, a group of tourists board a small vessel for what will be the trip of a lifetime – in more ways than one…
They are embarking on a tour around Sigma Station – a remote mining facility and luxury hotel with stunning views of the Horsehead Nebula.
During the course of the trip, a mysterious ship with devastating advanced technology attacks the Station. Their pilot’s quick evasive action means that the tour group escape with their lives – but as the dust settles, they realize they may be the only survivors . . .
Adrift in outer space, out of contact with civilization, and on a vastly under-equipped ship, these passengers are out of their depth. Their chances of getting home are close to none, and with the threat of another attack looming they must act soon – or risk perishing in the endless void of space.
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