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A review by cellular_cosmogony
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
4.0
CW: eating disorder, suicide, deaths, terminal illness (cancer), depictions of depression and mental illness
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? was a rather unique start to 2022. The novel, which is Temi Oh’s debut, is a sci-fi YA narrative, following a group of six young people, who have trained from age 13 to become the first astronauts to colonize the Earth-like planet Terra-Two.
The story is slow-paced, but engaging. It takes its time to set the characters up from even before they go to space. I think exactly these looks at their childhoods and the space academy were the reason for the book’s emotional pay-off. The characters are deeply flawed, they struggle with their mental health and try to make sense of their mission through science, religion, esotericism, or unhealthy coping strategies – and all of this is informed by their past.
I wouldn’t recommend this novel if you want to read a hard science fiction, because it’s more about the psychological and moral implication of, as it’s put in the novel, “the ethics of filling students full of facts and then sending them off to found nations”. The story goes dark in terms of subject matter, which makes me think it’s more appropriate for an older teen audience – a crewmember’s suicide is an important even of the story, and the crew has to deal with the grief for their lost member, while they carry on with their mission.
This would be a 5 star book if it wasn’t for the ending - the incident that triggers the climax is too external. It doesn’t come from the characters or from their immediate environment, which is quite weird for a story that revolves around the characters’ personal conflicts and their doubts about the viability of the mission. However, this is a single critique on an overall great novel, and the amazing character work more than makes up for it.
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? was a rather unique start to 2022. The novel, which is Temi Oh’s debut, is a sci-fi YA narrative, following a group of six young people, who have trained from age 13 to become the first astronauts to colonize the Earth-like planet Terra-Two.
The story is slow-paced, but engaging. It takes its time to set the characters up from even before they go to space. I think exactly these looks at their childhoods and the space academy were the reason for the book’s emotional pay-off. The characters are deeply flawed, they struggle with their mental health and try to make sense of their mission through science, religion, esotericism, or unhealthy coping strategies – and all of this is informed by their past.
I wouldn’t recommend this novel if you want to read a hard science fiction, because it’s more about the psychological and moral implication of, as it’s put in the novel, “the ethics of filling students full of facts and then sending them off to found nations”. The story goes dark in terms of subject matter, which makes me think it’s more appropriate for an older teen audience – a crewmember’s suicide is an important even of the story, and the crew has to deal with the grief for their lost member, while they carry on with their mission.
This would be a 5 star book if it wasn’t for the ending - the incident that triggers the climax is too external. It doesn’t come from the characters or from their immediate environment, which is quite weird for a story that revolves around the characters’ personal conflicts and their doubts about the viability of the mission. However, this is a single critique on an overall great novel, and the amazing character work more than makes up for it.