Cadet Adam

Publisher's Summary

The Ninharsug Award for Science is rarely given. Adam has won it. With it he can choose his future. Rebelling against his parents, Adam follows his crib-mate, Evie, into the Fleet Academy. Once there he falls afoul of the Psychic Wing, the menacing new branch of Space Fleet, who has recruited Evie. He is determined to save her. But first he must save himself. The Psychics plan to usurp the throne of the Ancient of Days, leader of the Most High Federation of Planets, and Adam stands in their way.   

Cadet Adam is a fast-paced coming-of-age action/adventure space opera.

©2017 William Lee Eckel (P)2018 William Eckel

Complex, but fun and interesting story

This is actually quite a complex story, the blurb does not do it justice.
It is a story about a young man who is not only highly intelligent, but also possesses incredibly Psionic abilities, something that is quite rare in his society. The young man, Adam, has won a very prestigious award, the Ninharsug, for brilliance in science, something that is only awarded when someone achieves a certain standard. But rather than using his academic skills, Adam follows his school boy crush, Evie to Fleet Academy, and joins up, much to his Father’s disgust (his Mother worked for Fleet, before something happened to her and she went insane and she is now a permanent mental health patient under 24hr care), and becomes Cadet Adam.
At this point, he has no clue that as well as being an academic genius, he is also an incredibly powerful psionic.
Evie is not just his school friend, but is his ‘Cribbie’, which means that they were grown together, so although not related, they are incredibly close to each other and have a very special bond.

Cadet Adam is a young teenager who is incredibly smart and has just won the Ninharsug Award for Science during his term of study at senior school. He basically has his choice of anything he wants as a result, but decides to join the Fleet Academy. This is against his Father’s wishes, mainly because his Mother worked for the Fleet as a psyker, and something happened to her and she was sent insane as a result. His Father blamed those at the Academy, not only for the incident, but for the Mothers lack of care afterward, and her subsequent death.
Adam however, is determined to join, mainly so he can follow a girl that he grew up with and shared a crib with, Evie. Adam is basically in love with Evie, but it is kind of unclear if this is reciprocated.
Both Evie and Adam also ride these really cool hoverboards and do stunts on them.
The story has a bit of a preamble explaining Adam’s life before the Academy, and then gets into the Academy stage, and this is where it gets really full on.
The story kind of reminded me of Starship troopers at times, that sort of Academy with the Drill Sergeant who was in your face screaming, but also had some decent advice.
I don’t want to give too much away, but Adam soon discovers that he is Psychic like his Mother, and due to various things that happen, he comes to the attention of the Psychic Wing of the Academy, and not in a good way.
What evolves is Adam fighting for his life in various instances.
In the middle of all of this, we also learn that there is a plot to overthrow the current leadership, from actually inside the Academy and the Psychic Wing, and that Adam is a part of it.
As I said, this is a complex story line, with multiple plots weaving through each other to bring together a really intriguing and incredibly well thought out storyline. The Author however has done a brilliant job and pulled it all together really well, balancing it nicely throughout the story with a good set of characters, some humour, and wrapping up each of his plot lines so you don’t get to the end of the book and are totally frustrated!
The character work is well written, Adam is an excellent character. You actually start off not likely his whiny attitude, but as the story progresses, you actually start to like him. There are definitely elements of ‘Enders Game’ for some of the Academy scenes in this book, just with different outcomes. As with ‘Enders Game’, Adam makes some really fantastic friends in the Academy, and these characters make the story that much more enjoyable.
This is a really fun read for either a young adult audience, or just those looking for a decent Sci-fi read.
For those looking at the young adult audience, there is some violence, but nothing too extreme. There is also a bit of language, but again, nothing that is excessive or extreme. Obviously, there is a lot of references to psychic powers and abilities – but that’s what makes this book really interesting and a lot of fun!
This is well worth the read!
Great Narration, well vocalised with well defined voices (both male and female voices)
Narrator does a great job of bringing the characters to life, instilling them with a real sense of their own vitality, giving Adam a sense of his own stupidity at times as he bumbles through the opening stages, but later, a sense of power, as he grows into the person he needs to be. With other characters, there is a sense of power, fear, smugness, and multiple other feelings that are required, you can really sense it in the Narrator's voice as he portrays an excellent sense of the characters. Overall an excellent Narration of the story,