First published 2013
Tom Gilpin watches Earth shrink through the viewport of The Citizen Courier as the first civilian space shuttle carries its passengers toward Island US, humanity's inaugural public habitat among the stars. The wealthy publisher finds himself documenting not just this historic journey but the lives of his fellow travelers. Journalist Veronica observes everything with professional detachment. An industrialist calculates opportunities in this new frontier. A Jewish-German philosopher contemplates existence beyond gravity's pull. A diplomat and his wife navigate marriage in zero atmosphere. The teenage son of a NASA admiral rebels against his father's legacy while hurtling through the cosmos. Each passenger carries private motivations that surface during the voyage, creating connections and conflicts within the ship's confined quarters. Gilpin discovers that escaping Earth's atmosphere cannot free anyone from human complexity, and that the greatest mysteries lie not in the void outside but in the relationships forming within their metallic sanctuary.
Genres: science-fiction, literary-fiction, adventure, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Island US, Earth
Period: First Civilian Space Shuttle
518 pages · ebook · Open Road Media