Star Splitter

Space exploration, teleportation, and cloning experiments end in disaster in this heart-pounding thriller by Kirby (A Taste for Monsters). Seventeen-year-old white-cued Jessica Mathers is preparing to teleport to the Theseus, a research facility in orbit around distant planet Carver 1061c, where she will be reunited with her parents, whom she has not seen in six years. In 2199, teleportation involves her body being scanned to an advanced 3-D printer at her destination, upon which its counterpart is destroyed at the point of departure. But instead of emerging on the Theseus, Jessica arrives in a crashed lander on Carver’s surface, seemingly alone. Alternating before and after chapters chronicle the events leading to Jessica’s appearance on Carver and her struggle to survive in the planet’s postapocalyptic landscape. Dual timelines imbued with believable hard science, harrowing action, and strong characterizations permeate Kirby’s breakneck adventure. Questions of personhood are skillfully elevated, explored against an inventive future backdrop in which cloning is the norm and the potential consequences of deceptively simple-sounding procedures come at high costs. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)