VERMILION SUNRISE

An assortment of teenagers bands together to survive on a new planet in this debut YA SF novel.

Leigh Crawford awakens with fuzzy memories on a shuttlecraft. From what she can gather, she and 19 other teens from Earth have been in cryosleep for 13 years. But none of them remembers volunteering for this apparent mission, which entails kids from various countries. They land on a water-based planet in another solar system (“Juxtaposed with the midnight blue of the ocean, the sky was pale, a light blue flecked with wispy white clouds, reminiscent of a winter sky over the Texas prairie”). The party quickly comes across teen colonists who have already established ground rules. There are work groups, for example, like Maps, and absolutely no intimacy is allowed in this world they’ve dubbed Marjol. The colonists are also anticipating further landing parties (Leigh’s was the third), which is why discovering signs of a possible shuttle crash unnerves them. While many of the teens mourn the families they may never see again, they strive to bolster their Marjol colony. That includes building a raft for more extensive exploration on the chance they’ll run into additional survivors. Brownlow’s tale is, at times, breezy, as the teens encounter nominal conflicts or threats, like a huge sea creature they spot from afar. Moreover, Marjol is akin to Earth; Leigh’s party first stays at beachside cabins. But the colony has grappled with various problems—the initial landing parties endured an epidemic prior to Leigh’s arrival. Throughout the story, the diverse cast shines, with colonists hailing from Australia, France, West Africa, and America, among other places. It’s hardly surprising when some grow close and contemplate breaking that no-sex rule. Leigh, meanwhile, makes a remarkable hero; she interviews people to compile a history of the colony and hides behind an alias (Lorelei) to distance herself from a scandal involving her Texas family. A handful of shocks awaits readers in the engaging novel’s latter half, especially concerning what Leigh and others find when they embark on a precarious raft excursion.

An engrossing tale about starting over on a faraway world.