Braking Day
By Adam Oyebanji
(359 pages, science fiction, 2022)
The three-ship fleet of Archimedes, Bohr, and Chandrasekhar has been in space for 132 years, leaving behind an Earth ruled by AIs called LOKIs. The Destination World is approaching fast and engineering trainee Ravi McLeod is part of the team making sure the Archimedes is ready. Ravi is hoping to escape his family’s well-earned reputation as criminals and ne’er-do-wells by joining the officer class, but something is wrong with Ravi: he’s dreaming someone else’s dreams, remembering someone else’s memories, and worst of all, seeing someone who can’t be there – a woman floating outside the ship with no spacesuit.
Ravi and his disreputable cousin Boz try to solve the mystery of what’s happening to him, which requires some less than legal activities, putting Boz in serious danger due to her criminal record. Then there are the Bon Voys, who want to save the Destination Planet from humanity by never landing at all. And, of course the class frictions between the Officers and everybody else.
Debut author Oyebanji tells a rousing tale and builds a believable ship’s culture as well as characters you care about. I was rooting for Ravi and Boz all the way. This is a satisfying story especially for those who like their science fiction to be in outer space and fairly techie.
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Julia Miller
