So much about this book is amazing. I mostly listened to the audiobook, but also read along in my DTE and my ebook. And now that I'm done reading it, all I want to do is research Europa. The writing style is absolutely fantastic! I handed off my book to someone at work and had them read the paragraph this quote is from:

Maybe the computer instruction that said Absolutely do not do this suddenly read Go for it buddy—YOLO! and the billion-dollar mission would be lost forever.

Their response was "wow, that was graphically colorful." Yeah, yeah it is. And the entire book is that way. Like, I couldn't have stopped reading if I wanted to. And also, that "YOLO" line is what completely sold me on the narrator for this book. Like, he was a fine narrator up until that point. But right then, he became phenomenal. Even if I didn't enjoy the book, I likely would have listened to this one just for the narrator's voice!

Another wonderful quote that I enjoyed came from later in the book when religion got mentioned. I was a little worried about the path it was taking, and then suddenly:

Catholic theologians have wrestled for centuries with the question of whether sentient alien life not descended of Adam and Eve would have been born with original sin—not their garden, not their apples, after all—and thus, would baptism be necessary?

Not their garden, not their apple, indeed! Hahaha! Just, read the book. It's so worth it! And the quotes I've mentioned aren't even close the best bits, they're just my favorite quotes.

Plug for an upcoming, free, virtual event for the author (with an indie bookstore) if you're reading this before April 24th, 2021: https://www.facebook.com/events/4108642259200397