Review: The Web of Titan

Okay I have to be careful here because this is the second book to the series, and I don’t want to spoil the first in order to review the second. So bear with me, I’ll touch on parts of the first just a little. I have not read the first book myself, but that’s okay. The writer weaved the storyline tough out this one, so you learn what went on and how things went.

It is months, (I think) later from the events of the first book, the crew of the Galahad are well on their way to there new home, having just gotten to the rings of Saturn. The crew itself is broken up into teams, each one having been trained to perform certain tasks, farming, tech, nursing, ect. The ship itself has areas set up for everything you could ever want, a gym with a floating skateboard track, class rooms so they can still study for the skills they will need, a sickbay, and a lunch room to name a few.

Our main characters make up the Council leaders of the ship. Triana is the leader of the council and she seems to be a natural born leader. She is always concerned about the others, and really keeps her head when things get crazy, thinking thing though and talking things out with other people on her team. She has feelings for two boys on the ship, and is dealing with that. Not certain about it all, being unsure of their feelings she is trying hard not to hurt either one. Add that to the thing that comes up and she has a lot to juggle. But she manages very well, and her actions and feelings make sense and (for once) are not stero type teenage stuff like you find in most YA books.

Bon is one of the boys. He is a big, tall swede who is the head of the farming crew that feeds everyone. He is rather grumpy and even gruff at times, but he takes farming very seriously. He grew up on a farm and I think it helps him deal with what happened back on earth, the lost of his family. He too is dealing with his feelings, but he is like a lot of boys i know; he keeps his feelings bottled up. Which is part of his gruff and hard to get along with rep. He is a perfectionist when it comes to the farming, which is understandable, seeing how he and his crew are feeding everyone.

Roc is the ship’s computer and is the voice of the scientist who dreamed up the whole program. He was given no only the voice, but the man’s wisdom and insight as well. He was also given something of a personality, which is really funny at times. He runs the entire ship, but still manages to joke, tease the crew. He also acts a the story teller at the beginning of each chapter, sometimes filling you in on what happened in the first book and also letting you know how perfect he is. hehe.

Next up is Gap, one of my favorite characters. He is the crews chief tech guy, he is a computer wiz and is extremely smart. Even to the point of keeping up with Roc on a lot of things. He is also the ship’s best and fastest skateboarder, but a accident has now left him with a hurt collar bone and his arm in a sling. So he is dealing with the issue of being afraid of taking a chance again, with skating; and with his feelings towards Triana. I really liked how his character is written, you can see his fears and also can see how he grows as a person. He has a great sense of humor as well, but when the pressure is on; he really steps up to the plate.

The last main character I wanted to mention is Lita. She is in charge of the sick bay and is incredibly smart. She has this quirk about her too, she has to have everything organized just so. Like, when she is working at a desk; say writing in her journal. Her journal has to line up perfectly with the edge on the desk, and if she sets her pen down it lines up with the journal, ect. I am not sure what it’s called but I seen people do this. This just made her that more interesting to me.

The story picks up, as I said after the events of the first book. The crew, while still rattled; are still excited about coming so far in their journey. They are nearing Saturn, when they pick up a blip on the radar. The scanner identifies it as a life pod sent out into space from a base that was set up on the moon Titan. It held a group of scientists that no one had heard from in a long time. Thinking it my hold a clue, they swing by and pick it up, transferring it to one of the bays that hold their shuttle crafts. When they finally open it, all they find though is a empty container that would hold a person in animation for a trip into space, and a little kitten. (Pretty odd don’t ya think?)

Once the kitten gets checked out, they find food, cat toys, and stuff for the little kitten, and a note from a female doctor. The note itself makes little sense, along with one of the toys. It is a small silver ball with little bumps on it. When they roll it to the little kitten, she is not at all interested in it. (Stranger still.)

Meanwhile, there is a beam of some sort that is being aimed at the ship from Titan itself, and no matter how fast they go or the distance, it manages to hit the ship dead on. Then some of the crew members change, starting with Bon. People get sick with bad headaches that get worst over time, despite taking medicine. And Bon’s eyes turn a bright orange. When others come down with the same thing, they rush them all to sick bay. But the crew has no idea what it is or how to treat it.

The beam then starts to effect the ship it self, starting with random power outages, then taking over the ship all together, steadily increasing the speed and burning up the engines. As the ship reaches unheard of speeds and the engines near the melting point, Bon starts to talk, only he speaks in 12 languages, all at once and all on top of each other!

Can the crew come up with a way to shield the ship from the beam or somehow get away from it? Can they do it in time before the ship is torn apart? Will they find a cure for this sickness in the crew? And what is really causing it in the first place? And what is up with the strange metal ball?

This book took a little while to get going, but once it does you had better hang on tight! I mean to tell you I was really turning pages not able to wait to see what happens next. It’s that good! The suspense, the fact that you get involved with each character and their lives, their back grounds and how much they scarf iced just to get on board, you really want them to find the answers and fast.

Get this series guys! If you love sci fi, space, adventure; get this one. It really pulls you in and keeps you interested. The drama between the boys and the girls, who likes who, how do they feel for each other ect; is what we teen go though a lot. And when your on a spaceship for years or more, relationships are going to happen. Kind of have to happen really, I mean with so many adults passing away, they might have to populate this planet they are heading off too. I thought the writer did a real good job of making each character different and also I liked how the acted with each other. They were all interesting and I wouldn’t mind being friends with any of them.

I am looking forward to the next book, there is a short bit of it in the back of this book. I can’t say much about it because there is a spoiler in it. And i want you guys t read these.

Thanks to Aunt Lori and Uncle Mike, this was a really great birthday gift.

Reading level: Young Adult
Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen (June 29, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0765360780
ISBN-13: 978-0765360786