The Hatch

Thank you to Odyssey Books for a free copy of this book and to NetGalley for facilitating this.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a casual read, definitely aimed at an audience younger than myself. That didn’t detract from my experience though. I found it was a relatively quick read but reading too fast meant you missed out on a lot of interesting and evocative foreshadowing and imagery, crows for death, flowers for happiness etc.

The story itself brought along a unique perspective to sci fi by essentially combining a fantastical element to it. It’s not a combination that you would think works, but it did! I found it to be a refreshing take on a sci fi novel and it made the story quite adventurous. the established dichotomy between the two distinct elements of sci fi and fantasy blended well and gave rise to interesting elements of the story. Such as the character could look at a person and instead of guessing their emotion, she was able to deduce accurately what they were thinking/feeling. Very enjoyable.

My only complaint would have to be the prologue. I would’ve liked it if less of the story was given away at the start, so there were some elements that were trickled to you as the reader throughout the story. As a whole, the first half of the book was kind of tedious to read as you knew exactly what happened. But regardless, I enjoyed it and more secrecies and hidden elements of the story were revealed in the second half.

This is a young adult book that fans of space fantasy should find fascinating and enjoyable. It is imaginative and relatively fast paced.

Britta Tate has a valuable talent, a psychic ability that allows her to see into the future and past. When she reached adolescence she also develops the ability to astral project and leave her physical body. Her mother and older brother had similar abilities and they became members of an elite space exploration agency which sent them into the cosmos in search of distant human habitable exoplanets.

Britta loves and misses her mom and brother but has always harbored a certain resentment toward her mom and brother for having left her, her younger brother and father behind. Then, abruptly, she finds herself forcefully recruited by the same agency for specialized training, particularly to enhance her psychic abilities. She excels to the point that she is considered the most talented of her kind.

Her mother, then her brother, disappear and even her talents are not enough to located them or to determine their fate.

Britta has been smitten by Cal, the best friend of her older brother, since being introduced to him by her brother. Though not gifted with psychic talents Cal has always felt protective of Britta. A good part of the story involves the growth of a romantic relationship between the two.

After spending a decade honing her abilities at the space institute a sudden announcement is made that the school will cease to exist and all students are expected to travel to a new and beautiful world, only recently settled by humanity. This action was strange enough but several thousands of ships will be also be making the trip with some billions of other people. The reason is not immediately explained but as the fleets of ships begin their voyage the passengers are informed that a huge asteroid is on a collision course with Earth and they are among the select segment of Earth's inhabitants that will be saved. The real reason was withheld from the general public to avoid a panic.

But, this is not the whole story by a long shot and the remainder of the book contains mind-bending plot twists and turns, including the discovery of a new species of life discovered on the virgin planet and new realms of reality that Britta must explore at her hazard. Even the home planet's fate hangs in the balance.