Losers in Space...

I recently read the book Losers in Space  by John Barnes.  Although aimed at the YA market this book will appeal to anyone who likes a good science fiction yarn.  The author went to great pains to write science fiction by which I mean that everything that happens could happen (the science allows it).  Interestingly the author would write asides periodically to explain the science behind the scene that had just happened.  He styled them as asides so the uninterested could skip over them and follow the story while the interested could learn something.

So, then, what is the book actually about?  It is set 117 years in the future in a world that has enough capacity (via robots etc) so that no one has to work and there is no poverty, starvation, etc.  In this world entertainment is what consumes most people’s time and energy.  The consequence of both these things is that one of the few ways to rise above the pack (be important in some way) is to be a celebrity.  This book then follows the story of a group of teens who seek to become celebrities by stowing away on a space craft.  Things go astonishingly wrong from here.