Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Phoebe 4759 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.phoebenorth.com%2F2010%2F12%2F12%2Freview-across-the-universe-by-beth-revis%2FReview%3A+Across+the+Universe+by+Beth+Revis2010-12-13+03%3A52%3A03Phoebehttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.phoebenorth.com%2F%3Fp%3D475

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Recommended

With its slightly cheesy title, riffing obviously on a Beatles’ tune, and tag lines that play up its romantic elements far more than its science fictional ones, I picked up Beth Revis’ Across the Universe with some trepidation. After all, true science fiction is rarely done in young adult literature these days and even more rarely done well. And much of the marketing and buzz around Revis’ debut seems to downplay the speculative elements. Already, there are plenty of reviews from YA reviewers saying stuff like, “I was afraid this would be like Star Trek but it wasn’t,” or which begin, “I’m not usually a fan of sci-fi, but . . .” As someone who loves Star Trek and is, in fact, enthusiastically into sci-fi, I was worried that Across the Universe might miss the mark for me.

Then I sat down to read it. Next thing I knew, it was nearly five in the morning, and I was done.

Across the Universe is the highly compelling story of Amy Martin, who joins her family in cryosleep on an exploratory vessel called the Godspeed bound for Alpha Centauri. When she’s awoken fifty years too soon, she meets Elder, rising leader of the mono-ethnic, non-popsicle population of the ship (and the sole libidinous teenage boy). Now separated from her parents by half a century, Amy must discover who is waking—and killing—those in cryosleep; and defend herself against Eldest, the ship’s current leader who sees her red-headed presence as a disruption to the frail peace of the ship; all the while discovering the ship’s darker secrets.

This story is told, alternately, from both Amy and Elder’s perspective. In less capable hands, this sort of alternating voice can make the pace flag. But Revis is clearly a capable writer–Across the Universe was a thrilling book and relentlessly plotted. Though I found myself occasionally wanting to come up for air, her writing worked well to gradually pull us into the growing horrors of the ship.

And the ship’s reality was, in fact, pretty horrible. Initially, I suspected that Revis would do little more than riff on The Giver or Harrison Bergeron, giving us a morality tale about the importance of differences and, like, specialness. But what’s happening here is actually much more complex, logical, and terrible. Though I feel like the horror in some places trespassed into the cartoonish (and, once, the really squicky—I don’t want to spoil, but the phrase “the sweaty, musty smell of sex” comes up), it was mostly nightmarish and grounded enough to remain compelling.

I’d say that the stronger influence here would be Jeanne DuPrau’s excellent City of Ember. The Godspeed is, like Ember, a totally enclosed environment, and Revis does a good job of describing the claustrophobia of it, as well as giving it a nicely dusty touch.

I did have a few problems with Across the Universe, though it was easy to look past these as I got sucked deeper and deeper into the story. For one thing, Amy’s voice was quite a bit blander than Elder’s—he felt flawed, thorny and compelling, while his counterpart was more anonymous. Part of this might be because I felt skeptical about Amy’s near-future home of origin, a world where people eat Hot Pockets and watch Star Wars, but play “VR Games” (why not just make them play Wii Sports?).

Finally, the plot comes together in ways that I didn’t find completely plausible, as the resolution required certain characters to act either unbelievable or willfully obtuse. It wasn’t quite an idiot plot, and Revis distracts us well enough that it’s easy to overlook this, but certain aspects of the novel’s end did trouble me.

Still, this was a thoroughly enveloping book—and damned good sci-fi. It’s clear that Revis thought carefully and deliberately about both the scientific and sociological implications of her universe, then matched this vivid world with several intriguing mysteries, stylistically sound prose, and a largely compelling cast. Ultimately, she manages to do what none of those lazily-crafted YA dystopians have: create an effective and fascinating SFnal world. In the end, I can say with confidence that Across the Universe isn’t only “sci-fi for people who don’t read sci-fi” but “sci-fi for people who love sci-fi,” too.

Disclosure: A review copy (actually, two—where did that first one come from?! Don’t worry; I’m dutifully passing on my extra to another reviewer, but still, mystery book in the mail! Weird!) was generously supplied by Penguin and LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program.

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