Containment

Containment is the second book of the trilogy that began with Sanctuary.( www.cmreviews.ca/node/966 ) It continues the story of former prison guard Kenzie and a group of teenagers who had been imprisoned because of their anomalous powers. In the first book, they escaped from a space station prison when it was attacked by aliens. Containment begins right after the prison explodes and the teens are safe on an empty alien ship. When they discover that the ship is broadcasting an alien alarm call, they decide they have to land on Mars, risking recapture, so that authorities can destroy the ship before the signal brings more aliens.

When the authorities decide that the value of alien technology outweighs the danger of letting the ship continue broadcasting, the teens must escape from yet another prison and contrive to blow up the ship themselves. Then they make it to a space station run by a criminal organization, but now there are bounty hunters after them and gangs with grudges from the past, not to mention the original prison corporation, Omnistellar. The friend Kenzie thought she accidentally killed back on Sanctuary shows up, only now he’s working for Omnistellar, and he’s not very happy with Kenzie. Then the aliens attack again. Kenzie discovers new powers she has to master quickly if she is going to help her friends, and the former prisoners have to decide how far they can trust their former guard.

Containment’s fast-paced plot is a series of chase scenes intercut with prison breaks culminating in a vicious fight with reptilian aliens. The action is intense, if somewhat repetitive, and the physical and emotional stakes are high. Friendship, trust and loyalty are forged and tested in Martian back alleys and space station air ducts.

Characters continue to develop in this second part of the story. The disparate individual teens form a realistically fragile team at first, but each has strengths the others need, and the growing bond between them is a satisfying counterweight to all the action. Kenzie’s emotional journey is suitably angst-ridden, given that her parents lied to her, her mother betrayed her and then died, everything she thought she knew about the world is wrong and she believes she killed a friend.

The writing is solid enough, though not nuanced or subtle. The space settings and aliens are fairly cardboard-cut-out, described just enough to visualize the action. The plot is well-structured, particularly for a middle book, and the pacing keeps tension and interest high throughout. The cast is realistically diverse. At the end, Kenzie and her group have escaped the latest danger and have landed on an alien planet, creating great expectations for the final book of the trilogy.

Readers who enjoyed the “Illuminae” series will welcome this new adventure and will be eager for the third book.