Only six crew members are left to run the vast ship - and they are all children, each with a talent which proves integral to their survival - if only they can learn to trust each other and work together. The young crew face many difficult challenges: manning a large spaceship which has been damaged and is in need of repair; facing space raiders and an alien species, unsure of which is more dangerous; but, perhaps the biggest challenge comes from the secrets they slowly begin to unravel as they discover there may be an enemy within... Beth chooses to help the small Videshi ship but the Orion Jumps before she can find out the larger Videshi ships intentions. Do you think the ‘mother’ ship would have harmed the Orion? Do you think it was trying to say thank you? Our children’s Book of the Month for March is the deep space science ficition book, Orion Lost by debut author Alastair Chisholm. What would the book club make of the dark side of the moon? Orion Lost – the blurb

The Flame Nebula needs dark skies and low magnification to see well. Use a 6-inch reflector, making sure you keep nearby Alnitak out of the field of view to improve contrast, and you should be able to see its mottled fan shape. As a bonus, reflection nebula NGC 2023 lies nearby. I did feel sorry for what her fear was. And yes, she endangered things, but I can imagine that she just wanted to show that she could lead. That she was strong. RIVALRY DEVELOPMENT: (5/5). Yeah I do think it would have been cool to see more on the far end of the rivalry (the "getting along" end) but the way it's set up makes the most sense for the story AND what we did get was really good anyway.I read this whole book in one day and I don't regret a thing. I'm thinking this might just be my new favorite book. Today the shortlists for the 2021 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize have been announced, and I am absolutely delighted that Orion Lost, the debut novel by Alastair Chisholm, has been recognised in the Younger Readers category. They're a billion miles from home. They're stranded on a crippled star ship. They can't wake the crew…

And then you get down to the bottom and you slow down, you stop and everybody is like "That was brilliant. Let's do it again."The colony ship Orion is four months out of Earth when catastrophe strikes – leaving the ship and everyone on board stranded in deep space.

Below is a selection of images of the Orion constellation captured by BBC Sky at Night Magazine readers and astrophotographers. Where do I start? This was an amazing read! For a first novel it can't be overstated how well crafted this book is. It manages to hit just the right mark to attract young and older readers. With tight, concise chapters - most ending on a cliffhanger of some sort - it begs to be read. Most interesting is the focus Chisholm has put on the importance of command structure. While there are plenty of colourful story-points, the focus on the skill of being a leader, making the right choices, owning your mistakes and trusting in your team is refreshing and sets it apart from similar themed space adventures. Before I acquired Orion Lost, though, I was as guilty as anyone else of believing this myth. When I received it on submission from Alastair’s agent, Caroline, I was initially hesitant – I read the pitch and found myself asking ‘ Will this sell?’and ‘Who is its audience?’But any skepticism I might have had for the subject matter was immediately overcome as soon as I started reading the story – and once I’d started, I simply could not (please forgive the awfully overused cliche) put it down.

In one sentence, I would describe Orion Lost as the book version of the most insane game of Among Us ever. It takes place on a starship which gets stranded in space after an unknown catastrophe, and all the elements work together perfectly to make this an iconic journey. I have been looking forward to reading this book since months before it comes out. I never found time to get this book, so I was entirely happy when I found it at Library #1. I love it when they add more English books to their tiny collection. Especially when those are books I want to read!