A few weeks ago at DFB I was introduced to WE by John Dickinson. I have to admit, I was initially a little dubious about reading it, as science fiction and fantasy are not my favourite genres. But I began and within a few pages I could not put the book down!

WE tells the story of Paul Munro, an engineer who is sent to work on a scientific station on a distant moon. The book is set in the future and the Earth that Paul leaves behind is a very different place to the world we know today. Paul and the people he lives with in the station are the only people able to look at the Earth from a distant perspective and perhaps the only ones able to save the human race from a terrifying future.

It is a mission from which Paul knows he cannot return and I found it terribly moving watching him come to terms with the isolation and loneliness of his new home. Gradually Paul comes to trust his fellow researchers, but the claustrophobic atmosphere they inhabit (they are trapped on the moon for the rest of their lives, in a small dome from which it is difficult and dangerous to leave) leads to explosive events which threaten to tear the team apart.

WE is full of grotesque characters and quite terrifyinging ideas: the crew have spindly bodies and swollen heads, and humans are growing up in a system from which they can never escape. But for me, the book was brought to life by the human drams at the cenre of it. The future of Earth portrayed in the book may seem like a remote possibility for our planet, but  the people fighting for a future of freedom and happiness for their children are no different from those we see around us today.

This tale is the perfect thriller for young adults. It is a gripping story carrying a poignant message that will make you question the very nature of who we are and where our world is going.