Another excellent science fiction novel from Boffard. If you enjoyed his first trilogy, then I have no doubt that you'll enjoy this stand-alone. Definitely recommended.

When a book manages to surprise me by offering much more than I expected from it, it’s always a wonderful discovery: this was indeed the case with Adrift, a story that ended up being more than the sum of its parts, and a compelling read. The Red Panda is a dilapidated tour ship taking groups of tourists around Sigma Station to admire the Horseshoe Nebula, and this trip does not look much different than the countless others that preceded it: the travelers are restless and grumpy because they had to wait for their guide, young Hannah Elliot, who is on her first day on the job and understandably flustered and lost; Captain Volkova is a disgruntled veteran of the recent war that pitted Frontier and Colonies against each other, and prefers to keep to herself in the cockpit, drinking and chain-smoking; and last but not least, the ship’s barman just called in sick, so the tourists can forget any catering during the excursion.

If this collection of small annoyances can remind us of the unavoidable hiccups of organized tours, what happens next is totally, shockingly unexpected: out of the jump gate linking Sigma to the rest of the galaxy comes an unknown ship that proceeds to attack and destroy the station and the gate itself – only the Panda, thanks to Volkova’s piloting skills, manages to remain unscathed and out of sight of the enemy ship. With limited resources and a run-down vessel, the ten survivors of the attack face a bleak and short future: the destruction of the jump gate cut them off from any kind of communication and help, and with no easily reachable destination their life support and supplies will be depleted soon. Worse still, the attackers might return and this time discover there are still witnesses to what happened…

It’s at this point that what might have been a relatively simple survival story, set in a claustrophobic environment, turns instead into a detailed character study and one that singles out each personality, shifting our initial perspective for every one of them while showing the individuals’ changes brought on by the harrowing situation they find themselves into. One of my favorite narrative themes is that of a group of people thrown together by unforeseen circumstances and forced to work together for their survival, and there could not be a less homogeneous crowd than the Panda’s passengers (and captain). Hannah, the tour guide, is a young woman still trying to find herself and her path in life: shy, insecure, and plagued with a heavy burden of self-doubt, she finds herself in the improbable role of leader, if nothing else because she’s wearing the tour operator’s uniform. At first I found it hard to sympathize with her, because she came across at somewhat whiny, but as circumstances forced her to take on the responsibility of keeping the group together, and as safe as possible, I warmed up to her and came to appreciate the effort she put into the unwanted task that fate dropped into her lap.

Another character whose outlook changed drastically is that of Jack, the equivalent of a present-day travel reviewer: he’s a man quite down on his luck due to a series of negative turns, and he has all but given up on everything and everyone, becoming a cynic and a listless drunkard. During most of the story he tends to flow with the tide, letting his disillusionment with life guide his steps, and yet there is a powerful need for redemption in him, one that might lead him toward a much-needed change.

These are only two examples, but the entire group runs through some pretty wild alterations as the story unfolds: what happens aboard the Panda is indeed a thorough study on the effects of hopelessness and despair boiling over in the close quarters of the ship, a place with no escape – not just from the predicaments at hand, but more importantly from one’s own demons. And every one of the Panda survivors does have some demons to fight, even the two teenaged sons of the Livingstones, a couple on the verge of divorce. What’s interesting here is that we are made privy to the characters’ background story, so that we are able to learn what shaped them in the past and what makes them the persons they are: these flashbacks are not only placed at very convenient points in the narrative, but they also blend in a seamless way with the survivors’ present predicament and in some fashion influence the way each character chooses his or her actions.

The Red Panda itself becomes a character at some point, because this dilapidated vessel, that probably never saw better days, is part and parcel of the troubles of its ten occupants and the way it’s described – the substandard parts, the accumulated grime, the scarce supplies that would have been inadequate even if tragedy had not struck – makes it stand out in sharp relief and share with the reader every one of its ominous creaks, obnoxious smells and claustrophobic environment. Yet, like the humans it shelters, even the Panda becomes capable of unthinkable feats and manages to battle its way through incredible odds, to the point that it’s impossible not to root for it, as if it were somewhat alive and sentient.

Adrift is indeed the kind of story that compels you to turn the pages as quickly as you can as the narrative develops in often unpredictable, but always believable ways – maybe with the exception of the too-rapid change of heart of one particular character, that seemed much too quick given the beliefs that moved his actions and had informed his choices up to that moment. Still, it was a little snag that I could easily move past in the breathless journey that was this highly enjoyable story.

The Red Panda is adrift (see what I did there?). While on a tour of the Horsehead nebula, its home base and all other ships have been destroyed by an unknown vessel. But how will an aging tour boat of a spacecraft and its 10 passengers make it out alive, and who attacked their defunct space station? The answers are surprisingly straight forward.

Adrift is a bottle episode of a novel, but it’s not a bad one. The vast majority of it is confined to the Red Panda, an innocuous tour ship with an innocuous name. The passengers, however, all seem to have secrets and not everyone gets to make it home. The novel jumps around, following almost every passenger’s perspective per chapter. Sometimes we’re treated to memories or flashbacks that flesh out the characters, which is essential for this “god mode” perspective and helps build out the drama. Sometimes things happen in the real world that call back to previously revealed memories and, while it’s spelled out all too often in case you weren’t paying attention, it’s effective at showing before telling.

But at some point the broad questions get boiled down to a couple possibilities. Once a major reveal is given on the question of who attacked the space station and why, the rest of the novel outside the confines of the Red Panda kind of writes itself. The things you think are going on are going on with little deviation. We’re still left to see how the passengers will or won’t make it out alive, but the broader plot becomes a little too predictable. It’s not that I expected mind blowing reveal after mind blowing reveal, but the first one is exciting enough that I was hoping for more out of the rest.

Adrift then becomes a tale of two tales: the survival of the passengers inside the Red Panda, and the broader conflict in the world they exist, with the first being the more interesting of the two. It’s a solid survival tale that throws two handfuls of characters into a tough situation and watches to see where the bodies lay at the end. The external plot isn’t bad either, just a little too predictable.

When a group of intergalactic tourists decide to take a scenic tour around the luxurious Sigma XV Station, a remote mining facility and hotel with stunning views of the Horsehead Nebula, none of the passengers on board Sigma Destination Tours ever imagined that they’d be embarking on an epic fight for survival and ultimately their lives in deep space.

The expansive vacuum of space gives Rob Boffard scope and ability to focus on development of each characters’ story as well as bits and pieces of their back story we discover along the way. The character development over the course of this novel and the feelings this causes the reader to develop is—excuse the pun—out of this world!

Boffard has created such well-rounded characters, which the reader will fall in love with and this makes it all the more difficult as they struggle to find their way out of the situations they find themselves in. Through each chapter, we received narration from a different character and also receive more back story, which is just as equally important to the main storyline. In Adrift, there’s an atmosphere of claustrophobia and despair which leads to some heart pounding moments throughout the novel.

Ever had the absolute day from hell? Well it wouldn’t even compare to the day our tout guide, Hannah Elliott, is having especially when it’s her first day at Sigma Destination Tours. Not only is she late on her first day, but her day is about to go from bad to the absolute worst. After welcoming the passengers aboard the small outdated relic of a shuttle known as the ‘Red Panda’, an enemy ship unlike anything passenger or young space craft expert Corey Livingstone has seen before appears out of nowhere. It destroys the station and leaves our troupe fearing for their lives and wondering what to do next. By the end of their struggle, Hannah is not the same timid, unsure, and self-doubting person we first meet. She becomes pretty kick-ass and turns into a self-assured and adventurous girl who stands up for herself. The events which occur whilst under immense pressure force Hannah to make decisions, even if they’re the unpopular one.

The captain of the ‘Red Panda’ is Captain Jana Volkova, the chain-smoking, boozy, Russian, ex-Frontier Navy who flew Scorpion fighters during the war. She does seem unlikable, cold and distant when we first meet her, especially when she accurately describes the Red Panda as a “crap ship”. However, with all the outdated tech on-board and the numerous trials the ship has to go through, Volkova’s flight skills manage to pull the passengers out of many tight spots. How will she manage to get her nine passengers home alive when they have no weapons, food and water? And especially if no one back home knows they’re alive?

Also on-board is the Livingstone family: Corey (10) is the youngest son of Anita and Everett, while Malik (15) is Corey’s older brother. We are first introduced to Corey when he tries to get the attention of his mother. Corey’s role in the novel becomes more and more important as the book progresses as he is obsessed with Spacecraft and wants to be a pilot when he is older. Anita is a workaholic who works for the Frontier Government, which have been at war with the Colonies. The two empires are currently renegotiating the Belarus Treaty, which aims to give the Federation even more territory—something that the Colonies may not be too happy with.

The relationship Corey forges with another passenger on their voyage is heartwarming and brings a lightness to the dark events unfolding around them. Lorinda Anna Maria Esteban is an elderly woman from ‘out in the Kuiper Belt’ who worked in zero gravity as an asteroid miner most of her life. She’s feisty as fuck and does not take any shit. Throughout the story, she shows amazing strength and resilience even with her body screaming against every action she takes due to her old age. Lorinda has also recently lost the love of her life due to a brain aneurysm.

Then there’s the mysterious Seema and Brendan O’Hara, and oh boy you will you have feelings towards those two. Whilst their motivations are worthy, the actions they both take whilst aboard the Red Panda are inexcusable.

A hotel critic by the name of Jack Tennant wasn’t even supposed to be on Sigma. He would rather be going to Kepler-186, but ended up on this station instead seeing as his readers wanted more family package experiences, which Sigma offers in abundance. Let’s just say they won’t be getting a good review after Jack’s experience. His back story is also one of the most interesting in Adrift with loads of surprises in there. With Jack, Rob Boffard is able to bring another element into the story.

This book will suit anyone who has ever played the Microsoft produced game Freelancer released all the way back in 2003 which utilised jump gates to navigate around an expansive open world universe. Or perhaps those who enjoyed the game No Man’s Sky released in 2016 and of course the fan favourite Destiny.

The Spotify playlist which compliments this book is ‘Space Dreams (Ambient & Drone Music)’ listening to this whilst reading Adrift enhances the overall experience and gives the reader a deeper immersion into the universe Boffard has created.