The Jamie Drake Equation by Christopher Edge (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- The Jamie Drake Equation by Christopher Edge
Library ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-1363-8 $19.99
Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-1361-4 $16.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-1362-1 $10.99
Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4–6
As an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, Jamie’s dad is a pretty big deal, but while everyone seems impressed, Jamie just misses his father and hates sharing him with the world via satellite calls and TV screens. When Jamie’s attempts at coping with Space Week at his new school lead him to an abandoned observatory, an alien being known as the Hi’ive somehow manages to make his old cellphone its new home. Through this energy-based hive-minded entity, the story takes a turn towards both science fiction and surrealism as Jamie becomes exposed to the possibility of not just life on other planets but life persisting in ways previously unimaginable. When the mission Jamie’s father is on turns potentially deadly, the Hi’ive helps reunite father and son safely on Earth through light speed—literally via walking into the light—travel. As he did in The Many Worlds of Albie Bright, Edge balances the eerie and the emotional to offer accessible science fiction even when the science itself is inexplicable.
