{"id":28973,"date":"2025-04-25T07:14:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T13:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=28973"},"modified":"2025-04-24T20:18:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T02:18:56","slug":"journey-to-the-dark-galaxy-the-dark-galaxy-series-book-2-by-hannah-d-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=28973","title":{"rendered":"Journey to the Dark Galaxy (The Dark Galaxy Series Book 2) by Hannah D. State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A vivid, thought-provoking SF story with heart and high stakes\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A telepathic teen faces interplanetary threats and internal reckoning in State\u2019s emotionally charged sequel to The Dark Galaxy Series. Fourteen-year-old Sam Sanderson is drafted by GAIA, an interplanetary alliance, after Earth receives a chilling ultimatum: surrender Sam to a distant AI-ruled planet or face annihilation. \u201cDeliver the Queen of Kryg to Logom or risk the destruction of Gaia,\u201d reads the message intercepted by a lone Canadian research station. It’s not the welcome she is hoping to get. While Earth’s military scrambles to understand the alien message, Sam must navigate the cold corridors of an underwater base, the weight of her own powers, and the growing suspicion that GAIA\u2019s secrets run as deep as the galaxy itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State\u2019s prose is crisp, immersive, and often quietly lyrical. She doesn\u2019t overindulge in exposition. Instead, she lets the characters\u2019 emotions do the heavy lifting. Whether it\u2019s Sam\u2019s internal monologues or Kwan\u2019s silent grief, the emotional beats are precise and believable. Sam\u2019s internal conflict\u2014between being a kid and being a cosmic keystone\u2014makes her a compelling heroine. The supporting cast is portrayed with authenticity. Kato and Kobe add levity and moral counterbalance, while Kwan, a North Korean defector turned signal analyst, offers a parallel narrative of isolation, queerness, and hope. Her subplot, involving a mysterious extraterrestrial message and a lost love, adds emotional gravity and sharpens the story’s global perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State keeps the action tight. From manipulated mall games to encoded threats from the Dark Galaxy, the danger builds without losing its personal edge. A moment as quiet as a shattered mug carries the same weight as a planetary ultimatum.  Alien technologies such as the Gideon spark, GAIA\u2019s underwater base, and AI-contested planets are grounded by State\u2019s focus on family, grief, and personal agency. This isn\u2019t just another space adventure. It\u2019s a story about what it means to grow up with power you didn\u2019t ask for, and making the right choices when the lines keep shifting. State raises the bar from book one; expanding the world, digging deeper into the emotional lives of her characters, and anchoring it all in moments that feel real. Sam\u2019s journey isn\u2019t just hers; it\u2019s a reflection of what so many young people face\u2014how to hold onto who you are in a world that keeps trying to decide for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sharply written sci-fi story that blends high-stakes adventure with psychological depth and coming-of-age introspection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Buy now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pub date January 15, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glowing Light Press<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISBN 978-1777254261<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price $25.99 (USD) Hardcover, $18.99 Paperback, $4.99 Kindle edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A vivid, thought-provoking SF story with heart and high stakes\u2026 A telepathic teen faces interplanetary threats and internal reckoning in State\u2019s emotionally charged sequel to The Dark Galaxy Series. Fourteen-year-old Sam Sanderson is drafted by GAIA, an interplanetary alliance, after Earth receives a chilling ultimatum: surrender Sam to a distant AI-ruled planet or face annihilation. \u201cDeliver the Queen of Kryg to Logom or risk the destruction of Gaia,\u201d reads the message intercepted by a lone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145610851,"featured_media":28974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[7223,91,3328,723769808,178,723770827,1136176,723770828,1473,1008073,856121,309,723770829,349,43244,743394],"class_list":["post-28973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-author","tag-blogging","tag-book-reviews","tag-bookblogger","tag-books","tag-hannah-d-state","tag-indie-books","tag-journey-to-the-dark-galaxy","tag-reading","tag-review-blog","tag-review-website","tag-reviews","tag-the-dark-galaxy-series","tag-writing","tag-ya","tag-ya-sci-fi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/81VnMeKqCPL._SY425_.jpg?fit=283%2C425&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pajKJn-7xj","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/145610851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28973"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28976,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28973\/revisions\/28976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}