Goldilocks

In a not too distant future when climate change has made Earth almost uninhabitable, humans have figured out faster than light travel and they've found a distant planet that has good conditions for human habitation. Women's rights have eroded, and even though there are many women who are highly qualified to fly in space, a group of men is going to be the first to go to the new planet. However, a crew of women steal the spaceship and plan to go to the planet first. The mastermind behind this plot is a rich entrepreneur imagine a female Elon Musk. The book is narrated by her adopted daughter, Naomi, who has dreamed of space flight her whole life and has worked hard to achieve that goal. The book is the story of their spaceflight, interspersed with flashbacks to the deaths of Naomi's parents, being raised by her adoptive mother, and her difficult space career. Naturally the crew of the spaceship start to encounter difficulties they're in big trouble on Earth for stealing a spaceship, they discover that there's a cryogenically frozen crew of men on board, the ship's life support systems have problems and these create some moral dilemmas for the crew. This is an engaging thriller, with just enough foreshadowing to keep you guessing. The two main characters are very well developed. The other characters are a bit flat, but the book is really about the psychological tension between Naomi and Valerie.

Goldilocks is set in the future where women are being forced out of their jobs to stay home and take care of the one child they can have before paying a steep child tax on any additional children they may have. The climate is ravaging the earth and scientists best guess is that Earth may have another 30 years before it has been completely exhausted of resources and mankind most likely will not survive. Naomi is a botanical researcher who specializes in growing plants that can survive on other planets. She is working in Scotland when her estranged mother,Valerie Black, the owner of a prestigious science company that is making a ship to travel to Cavendish. A planet in what is knows as the Goldilocks zone. An area that isn't too hot or cold and has potential to be a new home for the human race. Valerie wants to steal the ship Atalanta with 4 other women scientists and travel to Cavendish. When things start going wrong once they are in space Naomi starts to question Valerie's motives on what she hoped to accomplish on this journey. Overall I really enjoyed this story. The characters were well developed and the world building was believable and quite scary. The way the world was being run by governments is eerily similar to what is going on in the world today. If you liked The Martian or dystopian books like The Handmaid's Tale will enjoy this cautionary tale about the delicate balance of our planet and the choices we have to make.