THOUGHTS…

The Accidental Astronaut does not seem to know what it is…but that is not always a bad thing. It starts off in classic fashion as a children’s book complete with child protagonists and concepts simple enough for a tadpole to understand. Probably the most impressive thing about this novel is that while the concepts it explores quickly gain complexity, the way in which they are presented keeps them easily within conceptual reach of children. This approach unfortunately keeps the story much more simplistic than the average adult will enjoy, but that is forgivable considering the age of its intended audience. Where the novel suffers is in personal and character driven aspects. The main characters, two children at or about 12 years in age, have practically no agency in the novel as they are dragged at break-neck speed through the story. Along the way, they visit many locations but are never at any of them long enough to fully explore and experience them. In many cases, the settings of the various parts of the book felt more like movie studio set pieces than places in a living, breathing world. This is unfortunate as it is clear the author devoted a large amount of time to the expansive universe in which the story takes place. There is an incredible amount of breadth and depth available which is often force-fed with stories, data-dumps, and other exposition rather than being explored and experienced by the characters. For example, the most interesting location in the book, a moving city built into an asteroid, is only visited long enough to recover a quest item. In terms of character development, the book is a mixed bag. Two very important secondary characters receive quite good treatment, nearly supplanting the protagonists. I found myself immersed in the background of one in particular and was quite sympathetic to his trials and self-doubt. The children, on the other hand, are barely developed and remain caricatured throughout the story. It seems the idea of them being the protagonists was an idea formed early on but which the rest of the story seems to nullify. Still, it is an idea the author can not quite abandon; it is a children’s book after all. As this is Mr. Wyers’ first novel, I must forgive many of its shortcomings and acknowledge that this is a good offering, particularly given the subject matter he has chosen to tackle. I find it remarkable he has been able to take some truly mindboggling concepts of sci-fi and made them accessible to younger readers. Based on improvement across this novel, it seems likely that many of his shortcomings can and will be overcome, leaving the polished and impressive potential this series has. I would recommend this book for younger readers and look forward to continuing the story in his follow-up novel, The Midnight Plot.