There’s no heavy engineering, technology, or science jargon to get through “” the onboard computer is basically Alexa. It’s not bogged down in the technicalities of how and why the Earth is in an ice age, how this fleet is able to survive, or the science of everyday life aboard a starship orbiting a frozen Earth. Appealing more to the YA audience, it’s not heavy on the scifi slant or world-building it’s more like it really just so happens to take place in the future on a starship. But since Jane Eyre has always been a favorite of mine, and I love scifi, I was intrigued by this retelling of the classic tale set in space.

To make matters worse, Hugo holds a secret that could alter Stella’s once-hopeful future, as well as threaten the survival of the entire fleet.īrightly Burning is a young adult novel, a genre which typically isn’t really my thing. She hears laughter in the corridor at night and has witnessed several events that appear to be sabotage, yet no one else on board will corroborate her findings. While she enjoys the comforts provided in her new home, there’s something strange about the Rochester and its 19-year-old captain Hugo Fairfax, a man who exhibits inconsistent behavior and is hard for the young girl to figure out. After several letdowns, the nearly 18-year-old Stella is hired to be both a governess and auxiliary engineer on the Rochester, one of the richer, private ships in the fleet. Since Stella has no real passion for engineering, she decides to apply for governess jobs on other starships in the hopes of making a better life for herself. The Stalwart community is an impoverished one, subjected to water and food rationing and frequent power outages. Orphaned at 7, then discarded by her uncaring aunt, Stella Ainsley lives on the starship Stalwart, where she works in engineering as well as helps educate the children. In Brightly Burning, debut author Alexa Donne takes the classic Jane Eyre tale and sets it in space aboard a starship in a dystopian future during an Earth ice age.

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne