Rachel Searles’s follow up to The Lost Planet finds Chase and his companions in a near constant series of misadventures and dangerous situations.  Chase hardly has a chance to breathe as he deals with a psychologically scarred sister, a distant friend, more questions than answers, and faceless threats all around.

The fickle world of book publishing appears there won’t be a third book, at least, not anytime soon.  Doing a bit of research, it seems that Searles’s life changed quite a bit and it seems like maybe writing was put on the back burner.  I get that.  But that does mean that while there is a story arc within this book, it doesn’t complete Chase’s story, even if that story is at an end, for now.

I mentioned in my review of her first book that I was reminded of Andre Norton and other writers of that era.  That remains true in this second volume, though this time she leans a bit more into the struggles of friendships in hard times.  Character development was often not front and center in Golden Age Science Fiction, but is featured more prominently here.  There’s a breakneck pace to things, too.  Every time characters start to take a breath, everything explodes or someone bursts through a door with a blaster.

Honestly, this is the kind of thing I wish Cartoon Network or NetFlix or whatever would turn into an animated series.  Enough of the goofy, gross-out, nihilistic comedy.  Wasn’t Ben 10 successful?  Anyway, for kids who might enjoy stuff like Star Trek and the like, this will probably be a good read.  Obviously, start with The Lost Planet.

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