This book reads so much like a video game that I actually checked to see whether or not it was based on one. The action, characters, and dialogue feel like they would be right at home in a Final Fantasy game (ok, maybe the dialogue is a smidge better). The night before graduation, a space cadet decides to take a joyride, detours to rescue a cryogenically frozen damsel in distress, and misses the all-important, career-defining opportunity to choose his own team members, getting stuck instead with the dregs and interesting outcasts of the academy. Said team members even have character classes which map easily onto stats – “tanks” have max STR, “faces” have max CHA, also “brains” and “gearheads” etc – and each battle party, I mean “squad,” consists of exactly six members, one of each class. See, it’s totally an RPG! The rescued damsel turns out to be the key to unlocking dangerous secrets with galactic consequences – shocker! – and before you know it, the motley crew is off racing across the galaxy in search of answers and safe haven. Oh and did I mention that the “tank” in the squad is an alien that looks exactly like a Tolkien elf; one character even calls him “Legolas” (clearly some aspects of 21st century pop culture have improbably survived into the far future). It’s shallow reading, light and fun, especially enjoyable for those whose main goal in playing science fantasy video games is to get to the next gorgeous cutscene as quickly as possible.