Book Review: Alpha Rising

Alpha Rising, generously provided to me by the author herself for review, is a surprising interstellar adventure set in the near future.

Astronauts Bach Turner and Faith Christopher are dispatched to rescue a crew of an earlier expedition to a new area that has appeared in space with a new planet. Contact was lost with the earlier crew, and there's a limited window of opportunity to rescue them. Bach and Faith quickly make contact with and join the other crew. Just when it seems like they're homeward bound, they're drawn back into the new area of space and crash onto a new world. All of the crew except for Bach are captured and taken away, while Bach is rescued by the leader of one of the two nations on this world.

As Bach assimilates into this world, he plans a rescue for the rest of the crew. Bach receives a vision and a mission from the Creator in a shining beam of light: build a spaceship and collect people and animals from each of the worlds in this area of space.

While fulfilling his mission, Bach is reunited with his crew, and they all end up in a new world.

Overall, this was a fun book. I had some nitpicks with the science of space travel, distances and time in the story, but I can overlook that because it was a such an enjoyable story.