Satellite is a fascinating novel that’ll keep you reading all night

Satellite, by Nick Lake, is a sci-fi novel that takes place about 30 years from now where a company was conducting an experiment to see if a human can successfully reproduce in space. Only 3 kids developed properly: 16 year-old Leo and his younger friends, twins Orion and Libra.

Doctors have kept Leo in space since he’s been born to watch how he develops in 0 gravity. Now it’s his 16th birthday and they are awaiting for their journey back to earth. Orion wants to see the birds fly and watch a concert. Libra enjoys growing plants and wants to grow her own garden. Leo’s mom is an astronaut and has visited “Moon 2” (the satellite they live on)many times before. She travels this time to pick up the kids and bring them to earth in hope that they will adapt to the earth’s environment and gravity. On Earth, Leo struggles with  basic human actions such as walking, running and even breathing. Leo and the twins see how their bodies react to gravity. They take pills to maintain the mineral levels in their blood and since they have not been exposed to any bacteria or diseases no one is allowed to go near them.

Satellite is fascinating because the setting is constantly changing. It goes from a satellite in space to a farm in Nevada to a dome in the middle of Alaska. These plot twists are what keeps this book an adventurous novel. These different places are so far apart on the map and are unique in different ways: the satellite is small, quiet, dark and way up in space orbiting the earth; the farm is massive, cows are walking around, the dog is running around and there are mountains in the distance; and the dome is in a remote area in Alaska with a big glacier in the distance. The dome has a big garden with plants everywhere that Libra grew.

Leo can be a very emotional character. His mom is an astronaut and she’s always busy and never has any time to spend with her child. Leo thinks that she doesn’t spend enough time with him and is jealous that the twin’s mom is excited to see them and is giving them hugs. He got emotional and thinks she didn’t care about him. Leo mostly spends time with his grandpa on the farm because the mom can’t take care of him. His grandpa is very caring for Leo and will do anything for him. He is always telling Leo about how he is the greatest gift on Earth. His mom says the same thing but she only had a kid because her company told her to so who knows if she means it.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading an adventurous novel. It is long but it isn’t very challenging, vocabulary-wise. The book’s mood is always changing: there are tense parts like when he goes outside the satellite in wide open space to fix it and calm parts of this book like when he is sitting by the fireplace with his grandpa. I couldn’t stop reading this book at times because I was so into it. Who knows, this book could become a reality in the future!