Exo to Barnard shows us what humanity could be headed towards

A good sci-fi story is one that transports you to a different world full of different beings, weird customs, a bizarre "normal", and gets you lost in planet names and some probably-made-up form of Quantum physics.

Exo to Barnard by Logan D. Foster is one of those stories that will require a second re-read (or re-listen).

Though I am a very big fan of science fiction, with my dad jump-starting my nerdom with the 1994 movie Stargate, it's usually pretty hard for me to find science fiction I enjoy reading. Not because it's not well-written (though there are plenty of not-so-great reads out there), but because my mind does not stop wondering. Ah, yes - the ADHD. And with Exo to Barnard, it was no different - it took me a solid hour into the audiobook to get into the story.

And not because of the narrator, as I had the absolute pleasure of listening to AJ DeLong's buttery smooth voice narrating the audiobook version, but because it felt like a lot of information all at once. The book is in the point of view of a journalist who has been traveling around space witnessing and documenting the impact of space travel and exploration in this universe - so you can only imagine how much information and sheer amount of descriptions we are thrown into as the story begins.

But, as the story moved along, I found myself chuckling and relating to the protagonist, who remains nameless throughout the story, especially when it came to how much his body despised the cold. I also really got invested in events taking place during the story, and when I reached the end of the book, my first reaction was to blink twice, check to make sure the audiobook was indeed over, and do an immediate re-listen. And that is when you really appreciate all of the descriptions and info-dumb in the beginning.

Sure, Exo to Barnard is a very entertaining story about space travel, but it's honestly more about humanity. Humanity as a whole is... wild. A Wildcard. Predictably unpredictable, fearful, and deliciously curious. We as a species are literally toddlers. Trust me, I have twins. We ruin things for ourselves, we accomplish difficult things yet fail at some of the most simple ones. Exo to Barnard is a love letter to the chaos humanity represents, and though very short (122 pages, or 2 hours and 55 minutes), it truly embodies humanity as we dare evolve in this... confusing age.

So, if you enjoy sci-fi stories that like to entertain, ignite your imagination, and dump cold buckets of water on you when you least expect it, Exo to Barnard by Logan D. Foster is something you might want to read.

Pixigonal was provided with a free audiobook version of Exo to Barnard in exchange for an honest review.