Rival Arrival: Fighting over where to end up (and other trouble) in Alpha Centauri

by William John Graham

Eleven years ago, six men and six women set off to begin the inhabitation of the Alpha Centauri star system. Now they are closing in on their destination, but where exactly should that be? Menem, the ship’s engineer, fights to keep the deeply divided crew on mission, as well as win back the ship’s captain from his rival. But time is running out and the ship is threatening to come apart as well as the crew, including Menem himself. They need to get their act together fast if they are going to survive out here in what increasingly looks like a hostile system, but that won’t prevent them having some fun along the way. Reader reviews for Book 1 of the Alpha System ‘I was hooked from page one. Brilliant book which I cannot recommend highly enough. If you read one thing this year make sure it's this.‘‘If ever you tried the thought experiment of what it would take to travel to another solar system and what you might expect to find then this is a brilliantly worked out exposition. Written by someone who clearly has a scientific background but also a sense of humour.’‘Once I’d digested the first chapter, I kept thinking “I’ll just read a little more…” until I ran out of time.’‘I liked the detail and pacing and the gentle way you introduced and fleshed-out the characters.’‘The very first time I have encountered an author writing about coming into high-speed contact with interstellar debris with any level of accuracy. I can’t tell you how refreshing that is.’‘Nice to see a novel in which the characters clearly aren’t the standard Caucasians.’‘More sex than usual for this type of story. Wonderful.’‘Very much looking forward to your next books.’‘The characters are well drawn and engaging.’‘When can I get the next one?’‘The level of attention to detail here is excellent.’

437 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 11, 2021