Mission to Phaedra by Troy A. Rutter
Have you ever found yourself faced with a life-changing situation completely out of your control? I think most of us have, but no one has ever faced the situation Jacob Hale finds himself in when informed he will have to move - to another planet!
Mission to Phaedra is the story of an 11-year-old who is doing his best to cope with moving to the planet Phaedra where he, his father, and thousands of others charged with starting a colony. Their trip is to take place aboard a sleeper ship called the Constitution. Jacob’s dad is one of the designers of the new engine, which will take the colonists to Phaedra, a trip that will take four years. During that time, they will place all but the most essential personnel in cryo-sleep, essentially frozen in time.
Jacob has many things causing him concern. The book opens with him cleaning his room, having to decide what of his treasures to keep, and what to throw away. He cannot keep everything because they have given him two small boxes to take his most valued personal possessions. As he works, he sees his life going into the trash and thinks about how he will leave everything, and everyone, important to him behind. He thinks about the friends he is leaving behind on Earth and realizes that when he arrives on Phaedra, he will still be eleven while all his friends will be four years older than him. This is a lot for a young boy to deal with, but thanks to his dad, Mark, he has a solid support system.
Mark is a kind and understanding man, completely dedicated to the success of the mission, as well as Jacob. As Jacob works through his difficulties, Mark is always there to help Jacob understand as he works out all the difficulties of making a huge life change, the difficulties of shipboard life, and their future life on Phaedra.
One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Jacob is thinking about how restrictive all the rules and regulations on board the Constitution, and how it will be when they reach their destination. Jacob sees it as an almost prison like environment. Mark takes the time to sit down and explains why the regulations have to be so restrictive for the good of everyone in the colony.
Another character that becomes important, more to Mark than Jacob, and that’s the ship’s commander, Sarah, who will become the governor of the colony upon arrival. She takes an interest in Mark, not only as the engineer who designed the advanced engines aboard the Constitution, but also shows a personal interest.
Mission to Phaedra is an excellent entry-level sci-fi novel for kids from mid-elementary ages to seventh grade. It is well written with just enough technical detail to set the scene, but not so much to be overwhelming to young readers. Any youngster should be able to enjoy and understand the action and the feelings expressed by the characters. It is not a long read at 179 pages in the print edition. I’ve read the print edition twice, once as a beta-reader, and again when the final edition was published. More recently, Troy released the audiobook version of Phaedra, which I enjoyed immensely. Read by the author, one can get more of a feeling for the characters and the dynamics between them. It is a quick listen at about 4 and three-quarters of an hour that I found wholly entertaining.
Now, even though I said it is an entry-level sci-fi story, I think it would also be something that anyone can enjoy. I found it fun to see the world through the eyes of Jacob and how he coped with the unfamiliar situations. Many of Jacob;s observations are humorous and the banter he shares with his dad speaks of a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship. Their support for each other is fun and emotionally inspiring.
For me, that is the major theme; mutual support for new situations. I hope that one day, Troy will write the next volume of this story and we can follow the adventures of Jacob, Mark, and Sarah as they work to tame the wilds of the Phaedra colony.
Troy Rutter is an actor and author living in the Midwest. Having worked for a number of motion picture studios in Hollywood, he spends his free time writing and producing podcasts, YouTube videos, and writing both fiction and non-fiction books. Mission to Phaedra is his first fiction novel, and he looks forward to expanding the adventures of Jacob and his dad in further stories. Troy is also one of my closest friends (to be honest, I consider him family).
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
interesting.
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