Here’s a short summary of Aurora Rising:
Centuries in the future, intergalactical species - and humans, too - attend an Academy as cadets. Tyler Jones is the leader, ready to find a team to strengthen - if only he hadn’t ended up with discipline cases and cuckoos. A nefarious plot is revealed, involving a girl named Auri in cybernetic sleep. Only this set of misfits can stop the villains - heroes not chosen, not picked, not desired. However, needed. Very much so.
Here's a short review of the novel:
This was an enticing mix of science-fiction with the setting being in space, far away from Earth (the planet is dead), and humor with oddities as characters, and thriller with everything happening quickly. I adored each and every character in the “squad,” especially a flamboyant character named Fin and a mysterious, down-to-earth character named Aurora, long for Auri. These characters were so vibrant, full of snappy banter and long gazes off into space. Full of ambition and hope in a sense. The setting was also wide and expansive, kind of like being in a sci-fi video-game. I especially enjoyed the worldbuilding - one fact was for space-travel, they compared it to folding a piece of paper to reach two opposite parallel sides, which I thought was clever and innovative. I would describe this as a mix of a space adventure and sharp wit.