This was one of the first really, truly science-fictional books I discovered. A group of teens raised by a sentient spacecraft named Ship are on a journey to find a suitable planet to colonize. I am not a fan of Lord of the Flies but I felt Earthseed explored some of the same questions in a way that resonated more strongly with me and felt more approachable and interesting (and frankly, less grim and hopeless). I read Earthseed eagerly to find out what sort of society the kids would create for themselves, what sort of rules they would establish, and what would happen when things went wrong. In particular, I liked Zoheret, the main character, who doesn’t have any special skills like some of the others, but does have strong opinions and a sense of innate fairness and who is not afraid of a challenge.

I suspect that fans of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games looking for a read-alike might enjoy checking out Earthseed. It doesn’t have quite the same page-turning quality, but it’s got a strong main character who faces a survival-of-the-fittest environment where she discovers what human beings are capable of (both the good and the bad).

As with many of my old favorites, this book also apparently has sequels that I never knew about at the time! There’s a sequel, Farseed, and according to this TOR page it is “#2 of 3″. So perhaps there is a third on the way?