The Last Astronaut

2.5 rounded up

Not the space opera I was hoping for. I went into this book because it was recommended as if you liked Dead Space.

You have an astronaut who was going to mars but had to turn back and sort of sacrifice a crew member because equipment failure. And that's fine, she was damaged after that and nasa sort of went off grid.

Now, there's an issue, discovered by a guy from an elon musk-like company, that nasa undertakes. And this Nasa guy decides that the astronaut who wanted to go to mars is the girl for the job. Well, nevermind her issues, or that the rest of the crew consists of the company guy, a biologist, and a militaty guy. What is this threat? Should we go and explore it?

That has a lot of potential for space shenanigans, people with poor training, great curiosity, issues and bad decisions. However, the issue with this book is that for the most part, nothing happens!

I had to skim through the second half just trying to get to a plot. And ok, you expect in a horror sci fi that characters make bad decisions, otherwise there would be little conflict (if they see danger and decide to turn back, end of the book). But this fellas man... This astronaut in particular... I can't even. And even with her doing nothing but putting herself and others in harms way, for a good chunk nothing even happens.

TW for body horror, but other than that, the story moves slowly and the resolution is way too convenient. Also, i don't want to spoil it, but i thought it left most of the problem potentially unresolved.

Overall, interesting premise, tough execution. I recommend it for people who like slow burn space operas, with a bit of body horror, lots of cuestionable choices and not a lot of science. And maybe if you connect with the characters a bit better, it would make for an easier read.