Synopsis:

An outlaw lost at the edge of the galaxy and an honorable commander who will have to risk everything to save her, Parallax is a heart-pounding, slow burn space opera romance packed with action, adventure, banter, and found family.

The tenuous alliances of the United Tribal Axis have fractured, breaking humanity into warring factions. Hinata finds himself fighting a losing war against an opponent that doesn’t play by the rules. While Freyja focuses all of her efforts on uncovering the origin of the signal that she is convinced is the key to revealing the source of the chaos ripping their society apart. Upon returning from an outer rim mission, Freyja realizes that Skyla hasn’t received a single communication they’ve sent in months and must convince Hinata to abandon his post to mount a rescue mission in search of the missing captain. But there are forces at play larger than any of them realize.

Review:

With Umbra last year and now Parallax, which released just last month, Amber Toro has created a fascinating sci-fi universe with deep and layered protagonists who I will be following as long as she decides to keep writing books. 

I read the first book in the Sentient Stars series a couple of months back and then dove into Parallax once the summer hit. Both share a slow-burn romance quality that permeates throughout, but there is more than just love stories here. Toro has set up multiple sci-fi storylines that keep the plot moving forward along with compelling and blood-pounding action. 

When I saw the “Romance” angle was a selling feature and that there were three main point-of-view characters, I was initially worried it would be a love triangle. I’m happy to see that Toro didn’t go the easy route, instead crafting interesting backstories to set the three leads up with separate motivations and desires. 

Umbra set everything up with Freyja, Skyla, and Hinata sharing the spotlight. Throughout these books, Toro weaves their stories together — literally — with each of them as POV characters, bouncing from one to the other with each chapter. Even then, the narrative keeps pushing forward, almost willing the characters to stay involved in each other’s lives in the process. 

With just a few books under her belt, Toro is already establishing herself as a writer to pay attention to. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next in the Sentient Stars books and what mysteries our characters solve in their futuristic look at humanity. In fact, the title of the series gives us even more. Some of the vessels in Toro’s universe have advanced artificial intelligences, imprinting on a few of our characters basically at birth. So that means the ships themselves are their own characters with their own unique motivations, providing a little more sauce to the wonderfully plated meal put before us. 

Now, she does a lot right, but Parallax isn’t perfect. I dinged the final score just a little based on supporting characters and the greater storyline. Our main three characters are expertly crafted, but unfortunately that means that some of the side characters are left a little one-dimensional. The strength of our leads definitely covers it up, but a little more backstory on a few of them would be helpful, I think. Also, since the entirety of the book is from three characters’ perspective, we sometimes don’t see what’s happening in the rest of the universe until our characters get there. That isn’t always a bad thing, but with an expansive space empire, it seems a little smallish at times. 

But those are very small nitpicks. I had a great time with Parallax, especially seeing our characters separate at the end of Umbra and how that affects them and ultimately brings them back together in this sequel. Toro expertly leaves us wanting more at the end, and I will be waiting for book 3, whenever it shows up on my Kindle. 

Synopsis:

Xavier Oaks doesn’t particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad’s pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it’s only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only… one morning he wakes up and the house isn’t where it was before. It’s like it’s been lifted and placed… somewhere else.

When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there’s no one else around…

Until, three years later, another family arrives.

Is there any escape? Is there a reason they are stuck where they are? Different people have different answers — and those different answers inexorably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice.

Review:

Remember March 2020? I know you don’t want to, but bear with me for a bit. 

Seemingly overnight, the world changed. We went from an interconnected society, where we could go anywhere, do anything, see whoever we’d like, to…just not. 

It was weird. Disorienting. Out of nowhere we had no bearing…no foundation. Some of those we were in lockdown with were not those we would have liked to be stuck with for months at a time. Our entire way of life was upended and changed. What was real? What was the truth? If you left your house, how far could you go? Was it safe? 

In the last few years I’ve read a few books that referenced COVID-19 and the pandemic. Of all those books, Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel is the MOST Pandemic book. That’s not to say that it happens in the “Pandemic,” but virtually the entire plot of the book acts as a giant metaphor or allegory for events that transpired in the first couple months to years of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

The Young Adult book is told exclusively through the eyes of Xavier Oaks, a teenager who was along for forced family fun time at a cabin by the lake. The next morning, the lake is gone and in its place is a farm ready to be worked. The more that he and his family explore, they find themselves the only inhabitants in a dome — caged by some unknown entity. The book sets up the Oaks family in the first quarter, then brings in the conflict: after three years of being the only four people in the dome, a new family appears. 

This is where I can imagine that people are going to have WILDLY different takes on this book, because the Oaks are a family from Canada and are framed as the rational, responsible family that does what they are told in the Lock Down. The new family — the Jacksons — are from Tennessee — and are conspiracy-minded Americans who trust nothing. Because we spent the first part of the book with the Oaks, we know what they know, but to a family that is plopped down in the middle of an impenetrable dome and a family is already there, there are some reasonable doubts to be had. 

I’ve liked the Oppel books I’ve read before and this is an easy one to get into and follow the mysteries (not all are answered by the end, which I actually appreciate for a book like this) all the way until the end. The big question the Jackson family brings up is the identity of their captors — are they aliens like the Oaks think, or is it advanced technology harnessed by the government elites on Earth? The metaphors do get a little heavy-handed at times, but the science fiction of this book doesn’t relate to anything that the humans do or believe. I’ve met people who believe many of the things that Riley Jackson does and no matter how much you talk to them, they are obstinate and stuck in their own heads. I can understand some people thinking his character is too far out in the weeds, but for some people, it really is a scary reality. 

So, this book is definitely political and I imagine that Kenneth Oppel had some of these ideas bouncing around in his head in the early days of COVID-19 racing across the globe. He really captured the feelings of those early quarantines and the doubts and fears of institutional trust as well. 

So by the time we get to about two-thirds through Best of All Worlds, Oppel introduces some religious elements of the plagues of Egypt, but I almost couldn’t help but think of the Tower of Babel and the hubris of humanity and trying to reach the heights of God. The ending is satisfying for me, but like I said, not all your questions get answered by the last page. Xavier and his family still don’t understand every part of their imprisonment by the end, but I don’t know many people who understood every fact behind the Global Pandemic as well.  

I would recommend Best of All Worlds, especially to a YA reader, but I also totally would understand why this book would not be for you (I know people who are still triggered by certain aspects of the past 5 years for sure). I teach junior high and we are already getting to the point with some of these kids where they don’t remember much about those early days of the Pandemic, so this book might be a great entry point to talking about it with a younger, middle grade crowd. 

Synopsis 

Forty thousand years ago, humanity fled a dying Earth. They travelled into space on arkships and found a new home.

When the first arkship arrived, it signalled for the others to follow. Those from that first ship evolved into Celestials, establishing themselves as rulers over mankind’s new home. 

Now, as new arkships arrive, people must choose whether to submit to the rule of the Celestials, or fight for freedom.

Finn hasn’t arrived on an arkship. He was born under the rule of the Celestials, and is a dreamer who yearns for the freedom to travel space for himself one day. When another arkship from Earth — previously thought lost — arrives unexpectedly, Finn sees his chance to embrace a greater destiny and journey into the vast unknowns of distant space. 

Review

‘Exodus’ is an epic introduction to a huge universe, skilfully keeping you grounded while expanding its scope to ever-increasingly colossal levels. It’s a space opera that enhances Hamilton’s reputation as a titan of the genre, and serves as a masterclass in how to make sci-fi BIG! 

Before the story begins, the book’s opening sections thoroughly catalogue all the main characters and provide a timeline of events of what happened after Earth was abandoned. It’s a LOT and I worried I might struggle to take it all in, but as soon as the narrative got going, I found myself pulled straight into the Exodus worlds. In fact, the main thing that might dissuade you from picking up the book is its sheer breadth. It’s a chonker. And in terms of audio (FYI I listened to the audiobook), it comes in at a whopping 33 hours. But as soon as you make a start, the novel hooks you immediately and keeps you listening/reading. So don’t be put off by its size. After all, they say bigger is better, and sci-fi doesn’t come any bigger than this.

Across a mega 928 pages, the story unfolds through the perspectives of several main characters living in various parts of society. Their stories cleverly interlink to reveal a bigger picture — but I’ll get to that more in a little bit. First, let me give you a flavour of what it feels like to inhabit the worlds of this universe. To do that, context matters. So here’s some context that sets everything up. 

The story is set in a future where mankind has taken to space in arkships to find more habitable planets. Some ships succeed in finding habitable worlds and send out a ‘green world beacon’ to the rest of the fleet. But, thanks to time dilation, the new arkships arrive to find society in a much more advanced state than what they’d expected. 

When the last arkship gets to the Centauri cluster, new human arrivals take in the lay of the land. As a reader, you share their shocked reaction at what they discover — that those who arrived on the first arkship have evolved into ‘celestial beings’, and have enslaved other humans as well as genetically engineered races. The various branches of Celestials each have their own special abilities, depending on the way each set of scientists focused their work. 

Tobias is the leader of the newly arrived arkship ‘Diligent’, and he begins to shift the status quo for humans — who are not allowed to own property. He feels an undercurrent of dissatisfaction among them, despite everyone having somewhere to live, work to do, and food on the table. Who really wants to spend all their time farming just to send it off-planet so the Celestials can eat it?

Finn is our link to the Uranic race. He’s had a privileged upbringing and enjoys a high status within his world, yet wants to throw it all away to fly across the stars and seek his own path as a traveller. Finn helps Tobias and those of the ‘Diligent’ navigate the complicated order of things, stopping them from breaking the rules before they’ve even got started. Ellie is Tobias’ granddaughter, and theres a love interest between Finn and Ellie that runs constantly through the book — it anchors Finn’s character development. It’s always entertaining to spend time with Finn as he’s such a loveable rogue. 

The narrative of Terrance Wilson-Fletcher, a member of the police on Santa Rosa (where Finn is from) gives you an insight into the political undercurrents that are going on amongst the different branches of the Celestials. He does undercover work and gets called to meet with a security chief, where he experiences for himself what life is like on a celestial planet — really out of this world. The Celestials’ technology makes getting away with anything pretty impossible, yet there’s a time delay between what happens on other planets and the Celestials finding out about it. Every plan they make (based on information they get from informants) feeds into a bigger purpose. 

While each section of the narrative is interesting to read on its own and you get pretty invested in finding out what happens, slowly, slowly you begin to realise the bigger plot that lies underneath it all. When multiple strands finally come together, it comes over as very clever and enhances the enjoyability of the book no end. It’s so much fun to see the web being woven in front of your eyes. 

When the book ended, I felt keen to know when the next one will be ready! I was really excited to discover Peter F Hamilton was asked to write the book to promote a new video game set in the same universe. I have to say, having read the book, I’m eager to see what the game is like! 

In terms of the audiobook performance, John Lee had a very commanding voice that is easy to listen to, and he made the 33 hours fly by. Once I’d finished listening to it, I had a few days of feeling like I was forgetting to do something. I can’t talk about the book without hearing his voice in my head! 

Overall, ‘Exodus’ is an engine of invention and speculation that reaches as high as it aims. It’s both complex and immersive, and makes for an ideal escape from our boring old Earth, leaving you with plenty to chew over. I can’t wait to see where it takes us next. 

Ebook, Hardback, and Audiobook are available now.

Paperback to be released on June 19th, 2025

Synopsis:

On a planet shrouded in darkness, a stranded crew must fight for survival. But, the darkness may have plans of its own in this wildly original story from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author of Children of Time.

They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . .

New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists – and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.

Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud’s inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . .

Review:

For about 60 percent of Shroud, I couldn’t get enough. Action and drama on a completely alien moon with our human protagonists hampered by dark and the unknown hidden beneath the blackness. You might think I hated the other 40 percent…but that’s what really clinched how exceptional this novel truly is. With each new thing I read the more I’m convinced that Adrian Tchaikovsky is the new Master of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. 

That other 40 percent? That’s what a lot of authors would ditch on the cutting room floor, and perhaps with good reason in their cases. He takes the mundane of politics, economics, and culture — potentially hundreds or thousands of years in the future — and sculpts a bonkers first contact story around it. In the opening of Shroud, we’re introduced to a small team of scientists poised in orbit above a far-off moon. Science is happening, but it’s all under the direction of profit — how can the government exploit the resources of the planet and moon to their advantage? That’s all there, lurking in the background, but the early scenes are all definitely framed around science from a first-person POV, so the crass capitalism isn’t front and center…yet. 

When I saw that Tchaikovsky had another First Contact book, a year after putting out Alien Clay, I was a little concerned that it would be a similar story with similar beats. And…yes and no. When I read Alien Clay, I remember thinking that it felt like three different books inside of one volume and Shroud does this as well to a certain degree. But, the internal structure is vastly different and is very much its own unique novel that deserves to be read. In fact, I think Alien Clay and Shroud might work really well as a kind of duology in the differences of first contact between humans and an intelligent alien species.

Don’t get me wrong – this is not just a philosophical novel about what it means to be an alien or how we impose our own humanity upon the otherness of space. This novel rocks with horror-tinged action throughout the core of the book. After the team find what they believe to be life on the moon they’ve called Shroud, an accident on their station strands some of them on the moon that seems to be actively trying to kill them at every turn. It turns into a journey home with no guarantee of success. And the joy is that along the way we discover the life on Shroud is way more intelligent than any of them suspected. 

I don’t want to say any of these are similar, but as I read I thought of a few other books and movies. There are tastes of Project Hail Mary as our hapless humans try to communicate with the well-intentioned aliens with mixed results. The Vin Diesel movie Pitch Black definitely came to mind in how they handled the darkness and the dangers that lie within the shadows. I even had thoughts of MacGyver as our pair of protagonists worked their way out of one situation or another.  

OK, let’s finish up my thoughts on Shroud and that final 20 percent of the book. So the action-packed narrative of the middle portion wraps up… and again, I think many books end right there. Our characters are heroes for their achievements and we’re left with a happy ending for all. But that’s not what Tchaikovsky does and that’s really what puts Shroud above so many other books I’ve read this year. All the political and economic shadows that were lurking in the background of the first act of the book are back and are challenging the science that seems like it should be more important. The word “exploit” is even used in the final few chapters as a virtue for what they want to do to Shroud. The payoff of the novel is unique and unexpected and Tchaikovsky challenges his readers with their own values and interests. 

Ultimately, I couldn’t have been happier reading Shroud. Tchaikovsky is at the top of his game and I look forward to each and every time his name is on the cover. 

Thank you to Orbit for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

Titanic meets Aliens in this tense YA science fiction horror series by #1 New York Times bestselling author E.K. Johnston.

Celeste knows every inch of this ship. She’s proud of her work as apprentice engineer. And as the maiden voyage of the Titan launches, she’s optimistic for the promises of this new journey from Earth to Mars — this new life.

Dominic arrives at his suite where his valet is busy unpacking his things. His chest is tight, already feeling anxious inside his dad’s precious new ship. Once it launches, he’s trapped, inside the ship and inside the life his father has chosen for him — a life that will leave his dreams of art school behind. 
Discovered under melted ice caps, ancient aliens have been brought onto the Titan as well, and stored in display cases for the entertainment of the passengers . . . until an act of sabotage releases them into the ship, with zero discrimination for class, decks or human life . . .

Review:

You might think I would be more knowledgeable about Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise than I would James Cameron’s Titanic — but you’d be wrong. The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was released in theaters my freshman year in college. I was blown away by the movie and ended up seeing it four times at the theater with three different girls (Reader: the last two times I went, I took the girl who I ended up marrying.). 

Now, I do love a good chest-bursting alien as well, but I’ll confess my first experience with one of those was as a kid watching Spaceballs, seeing the parody at the tail-end of the movie. I’ve since enjoyed my fair share of the Alien movies, and had a great time with E.K. Johnston’s Titan of the Stars as a YA space horror book. 

I did have some slight deja vu while reading this and you probably will as well if you’ve seen the David Tennant 2007 Doctor Who Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned. A recreation of the Titanic in space and disaster strikes…there are some similar beats to the story, but all-in-all, Johnston manages to create a new story with some fun moments, a book that can work really well with a middle grade and young adult audience. 

Our Jack and Rose are Dominic and Celeste. Dominic is part of the upper crust and Celeste is part of the crew of the Titan. But both have backstories that bring them closer together and bridge the gap that the wealth inequality might normally bring. Dominic’s father, however, has a secret project that could threaten every life on board (it’s aliens — not really a spoiler, it’s basically in the book description). A lot of the plot is right there in the synopsis, but there are plenty of surprises and twists to be had before the last page. 

While I enjoyed a lot of the book, the pacing is a little stilted at times. There is a lot of set-up before any alien action and the book seems a little truncated. However, this is the first in a duology, so I’m hoping that the action is dialed in from the get-go on Book 2 when that releases. I think it also helps that the audience is occasionally treated to an alien POV and we slowly find out that they are more complex than a simple, violent, evil force. 

Just like how the iceberg and freezing water of the North Atlantic didn’t care for class or status when it wrecked the Titanic, the aliens here also act as an equalizer between the haves and the have-nots. Titan of the Stars has a great ending with a legitimately well-done cliffhanger, so Johnston is well-positioned to finish the duology strong. 

E.K. Johnston has made a name for herself in recent years with Star Wars novels about Ahsoka and Padme and I think she did a great job with some fun alien horror action in this YA novel. 

Titan of the Stars by E.K. Johnston releases on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. 

Synopsis:

Rohan doesn’t want to be famous, to be rich, or to rule over the galaxy with an iron fist. All he wants is a peaceful life towing ships, a decent cup of coffee, and time to pursue the woman of his dreams.

First he’ll have to tame or destroy a self-centered god, a sector-spanning evil empire, and a race of slumbering moon-sized vampiric cephalopods.

That will require new allies by his side and new tricks up the sleeves of his purple and yellow jumpsuit.

Allies like the il’Zkin, cat people who can’t leave their homeworld, or the kaiju of Toth 3, monsters he can’t control. Tricks like the mystical technique given to him by Spiral, his mentor, that seems completely incompatible with the Hybrid rage that has been his greatest strength.

When his friend Wei Li receives visitors from her own mysterious past, Rohan realizes they might hold the keys to helping him with several of those problems.

Those visitors seem to have other ideas.

Review:

I decided to bump this book up on my TBR after reading several others that were pretty dark and/or tense because I needed some humor in my life. I knew this one would deliver, and it certainly didn’t disappoint on that front. Rohan’s jokes, Wei Li’s sarcasm, and Katya’s feline antics (just to mention a few characters) are a huge part of why I love the Hybrid Helix series. While there are high stakes and galactic-level problems to solve in each story too, the humor is what keeps me coming back for more.

Suppression of Powers shows us a slightly different side of the series’ main character, Rohan. He still gets into just as many fights, and he’s still doing his best to protect those he cares about, but he goes about it in a different way. Mastering Spiral’s technique is impossible when Rohan gets angry or afraid, but he believes he needs to learn it if he wants to succeed in saving the galaxy from the latest big threat. And that means he gets beat up. A lot. Probably more than any other book in the series so far.

While I understand Rohan’s desire to change his methods, I was getting a little impatient with him after a while. He needed to figure things out, yes, but there’s only so much of the main character being repeatedly trounced by people I know he can win against that I can take. That element of the story did get better before the end, though.

Beyond Rohan, we also get to learn more about Wei Li and Tamaralinth in this book. Both women are powerful in their own ways, but even more so than I could have anticipated (I really liked both of their stories!) I also enjoyed the addition of Terry, Rohan’s sort-of pet kaiju/pterosaur.

Suppression of Powers is the beginning of the second “sub-series” within the Hybrid Helix, and there is quite a bit of set up for things that will inevitably happen later. I’m excited to see where the series will go from here.

Synopsis

“You’ll want to read this one with the lights on.”—Katee Robert, New York Times bestselling author

Cold Eternity is the instant USA Today bestselling space horror from S.A. Barnes perfect for fans of Severance, where desperation for eternal life leads to a fate worse than death…

Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most fortunate citizens from more than a century ago…

The cryo program, created by trillionaire tech genius Zale Winfeld, is long defunct, and the AI hologram “hosts,” ghoulishly created in the likeness of Winfeld’s three adult children, are glitchy. The ship feels like a crypt, and the isolation gets to Halley almost immediately. She starts to see figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents.

It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from…

Review

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Tor Nightfire for the audiobook arc. 

Halley, a young woman on the run, takes a job off a sketchy forum. The offer is for far below the established minimum wage, which will force her to work for longer just to scrape up enough for passage somewhere, but at least it’s on a ship that’s so unlikely to be visited that it’s almost a home run. And where her boss is unlikely to come face to face with her, and the people that may or may not be after her are unlikely to find her, there’s no way she can refuse. 

The job seems easy, patrol the corridors, keep things need, clean, functional, and press a single button every three hours—every three on the dot. If she doesn’t, a warning alarm will go off and her boss’s superiors may visit to see why HE wasn’t pressing the button. She’s to remain a complete secret. You can sleep for two hours and fifty minutes every three hours, but you’ll never sleep through the night. I guess I didn’t really think about it while reading, but could you imagine the pressure of that? It would start as an annoyance, maybe a small headache or pain behind the eyes, then over time it would change into irritability, outright anger, paranoia—perhaps hallucinations? That sort of aching, growing atmosphere in the background was almost like The Shining to me. Creeping-insanity-esque. 

Outside of atmosphere, I really liked how quickly this one got off the ground. Halley’s past is left unresolved enough to be intriguing and her immediate scare on the new ship draws the reader right in. The AI projections are startlingly creepy at times, and although I wouldn’t liken them to M3gan (especially as they aren’t solid) it was a somewhat unique and futuristic addition to the book. I also enjoyed that they were not just thrown in, their inclusion is tied directly to the story. 

As for the twist, which I will not ruin, it worked for me. It was eerie and unique and ultimately paid off in a way I found more enjoyable than Ghost Station. I did feel like it could have gone on for a tad longer, but that’s okay. In a story that felt like a creepy haunting or even creature story, the landing was a bit different.

Synopsis

Kye Verex is trapped.

Due to a fluke of genetics, the decisions of the galaxy’s elite, and a lack of finances, he’s stuck on his polluted and noxious home world indefinitely. And it’s slowly killing him.

Then his more fortunate sister returns one day, bringing the promise of salvation. Kelsey has always hoped to find the means to pull him out of his desperate cycle of survival, but it has taken years. Now, she has a plan, one that will cure his genetic condition and clear him for interstellar travel.

The catch?

He has to sign over his very existence – and a portion of his humanity – to Zylar Inc., the galaxy’s most prominent and notorious corporation, in exchange for the necessary treatment. Is his cure worth the cost?

Quick Review

A story of resilience and a rejection of some of the worst traits of humanity, Wraith and the Revolution is a surprisingly hopeful stand-alone novel, told with sincerity.

Full Review

Thanks to A.J. Calvin for providing me with a digital advanced reader copy of Wraith and the Revolution.

Calvin’s first foray into sci-fi is rife with brilliant ideas and fun characters, but it also contains some odd pacing. I enjoyed my time with this book—and it sticks the landing with a really satisfying epilogue—but I can’t help but shake that it could have been a tighter experience.

The story begins on Earth, which has become a desolate and irradiated waste. Kye’s sister has already escaped it, but his genetics prevent space travel. It’s a neat wrinkle, and the goal during this portion of the story is focused on getting Kye off-planet. His sister is eventually able to get him into a program with a massive corporation who can facilitate his escape. All he has to do is sign on the dotted line.

It takes a while, but this eventually brings us to a section where Kye is brought into the corporation, Zylar. We get to see him become accustomed to what lies outside of Earth and meet his new team. It’s a fun segment, but at times is a bit repetitive as Kye seems to struggle to understand all of the details of his agreement and his new life. Which, to be fair, is what I’d expect. However, we still haven’t hit the meat of the story yet. Calvin is still setting things up, and as a result this entire section becomes a kind of “training montage.”

We don’t hit the real story behind Wraith and the Revolution until over one third of the way through the book. To avoid spoilers, I’ll refrain from saying exactly what happens, but suffice it to say that the goals and stakes of this story take a dramatic turn toward the titular revolution.

I enjoyed each of these sections, but it’s clear that Calvin was rushing to reach that pivotal moment which leads into the revolution. I can understand why they didn’t want to let any of these important parts of Kye’s background go, but as a result I has some trouble getting invested in this first third of the book—even in some of the most important characters around Kye.

Things settle down at this point in the story. We’re still moving along quickly, but it’s no longer so jarring. It’s also in these latter two thirds of the book that a theme begins to emerge: having to both physically and emotionally rebuild oneself after different forms of trauma. Kye’s physical rebuilding comes after all of the damage caused to him on Earth, and his emotional rebuilding comes after he is taken prisoner later in the book. Calvin treats both kinds of trauma with the utmost sincerity, and uses the cyberpunk genre to talk about these things in an interesting way.

There are also themes of seeking out nature, and rejecting the way people are wont to urbanize or industrialize over it. This can come a little heavy-handed at times, but it too has a similar sincerity behind the message. It is also reinforced by the sci-fi genre, and a species of plant-based aliens that become increasingly present in Wraith and the Revolution, the Botanaari. They were a surprisingly delightful addition to this book—but to explain that would be to give away too much.

As we come to a close on Wraith and the Revolution, I am of two minds. On one hand, I didn’t love the final act’s antagonist. They are mentioned early in the book, but go away for so long that I completely forgot who they were. I’m not sure if they ever had a single line of dialogue? As a result, the final fight just felt a bit hollow, no matter how fun some of the action was. 

On the other hand, Calvin’s epilogue contains a long-promised moment, and wraps up the story in a really lovely ceremony. In contrast to the final fight that Kye endures, the epilogue feels incredibly important and ties together some of the book’s most common themes.

I recommend Wraith and the Revolution. There were times when I struggled with parts of it, but ultimately when I reflect upon the story at large I can’t help but think about what a fun adventure it was—not to mention all the little moments and decisions Calvin made to set this world and these characters apart. Kye’s resilience, the Botanaari’s culture, and some genuinely fun characters really elevated this book for me.

Synopsis:

A planet steeped in mystery…

Jess Amiko is long past her days as a space marine, with all the glory of that time tarnished beyond repair by what came after. Trying to rebuild from the ashes, she’s taken a job as a security guard on Kenai, a lonely world far from the Council systems. It’s supposed to be easy duty – quiet and peaceful, on a docile world with no real threats, watching over an archeological dig at a site built by a race long vanished.

Betrayed and attacked by forces unknown, and finding that nothing on Kenai makes sense, Jess is plunged into a desperate fight for survival that leads her deep into the mysteries of Kenai’s past, and deep into the hardship and paradox the planet imposes on all who call it home.

Review:

Space marines, distant worlds, ancient civilizations, and an element of time travel (with potentially dire consequences) make for an intriguing story in Kenai.

I’ll be the first to admit this book wasn’t quite what I expected it would be going in, but I enjoyed it. I assumed there would be more action than there was based on the book description; the main focus of this story wasn’t about Jess the former marine fighting the attackers, but more about Jess’ role on the world of Kenai and how she ended up shaping its future. There was some fighting and her past as a marine was certainly helpful, but the bulk of this storyline was focused on other things.

Kenai itself is a weird planet. There are ancient ruins on the surface, but no intelligent life remains by the time humans discover and begin to document the world. The native creatures are mostly herbivores and pose no threat to humans, but they also have a strange habit of disappearing overnight without explanation. And I don’t mean they wander away. They literally disappear. Or so the researchers think.

What’s actually going on is a lot more complicated and involves some unique time-traveling elements that I’ve never encountered in anything else. And while the concept was explained in the book, there are still pieces of it that weren’t fully explored (like the “reset” that occurs for some aspects of the world, and why things from off-world aren’t affected. The scientist part of my brain doesn’t like unexplained anomalies…and while there might have been a plausible explanation for them, it was really just speculation on my part and was never confirmed.) But I really liked the paradox dilemma that was presented, and the fact that the consequences of messing around with time were, in most cases, pretty dire.

But the story was really about Jess’ role on Kenai. Her character changes and grows in the best sort of way. At the beginning, she’s relatively angry and hasn’t found a purpose for her life since it all fell apart. By the end, she’s found her calling, and she’s in a much better place, emotionally. She’s learned to make friends again, and she’s willing to work for a greater cause, one that’s so much more than just hers alone. I loved her character’s growth in this story.

And I loved the unpredictability of the plot. It took a number of turns I could have never guessed at, and in the end, it made for a really interesting story. Kenai is a standalone, and there is so much more to it than what I’m willing to write about here (I’m trying to avoid spoilers, and all.) Just know that it’s one of the more unique sci-fi books I’ve read in a long time, and it’s definitely worth reading.

TL;DR Review: Classic progression fantasy with a fun, unique sci-fi twist. Easy reading, great action, solid character work, and a whole lot of fun!

Synopsis:

All his life, Mark Fields has dreamed of joining the Defense Force to fight the vicious, alien Exlian, just like the rest of his renowned family. So far, he’s … a dishwasher, trapped in a dead-end job with no powers, no money, and even fewer friends.

Then an encounter with a dying woman changes everything—granting him the abilities he needs to join the training camps—and his life finally feels like it’s turning around, faster than a movie martial arts montage (just ignore the weird cat).

But the Exlian are voracious and myriad, and there’s more to Mark’s new powers than just leveling up. With the pressure mounting, it doesn’t take him long to realize the Exlian aren’t the only sinister threat lurking within the city …

In this first installment of the Exlian Syndrome series, you must fight the monsters … or become one yourself.

Advent leaned fully into the classic progression fantasy flavor from the very first page, and kept riding it hard all the way to the end while giving me just enough unique to make it feel like a fresh entry into the genre.

Our protagonist, Mark, is everything you’d expect from a progression fantasy character: hard-working, mild-mannered (except when pushed), and driven by both the deaths of his parents and the looming alien Exlian threat. He wants nothing more than to join the military to defend Earth. All-around good guy, instantly easy to root for as the “hero” of the story.

One night, he stumbles upon a dying scientists, who with a few cryptic words and the handing-off of…something, forever changes Mark’s life. Think one part Spiderman, one part Venom, and one part…well, you’ll have to read it to find out!

Mark’s newfound powers are a lot of fun to explore along with him. Though they’re limited at first, you just know Mark is going to keep growing them, and you can see from early on where his potential can go. That’s the key to a good progression fantasy character: they can always grow into becoming more powerful than their current rank or limitations. It’s that journey that ends up being so much fun to go along with, and Mark’s is no exception.

Along the way, Mark’s good nature makes him friends—not only among his fellow cadets at the military training, but his boss at the restaurant where he works, a fellow worker, and so many others. His decency and drive opens doors for him and creates opportunities that he could never have achieved on his own, which offers more chances to level up and gain power.

But don’t worry that it’s too focused on the character of it all; there’s plenty of action throughout! Anytime it feels like we’re getting too into the weeds with the complex progression system or the alchemical properties of Exlian guts, we get a nice detour into an action scene where Mark gets a chance to kick ass and show how far he’s come since we first met the skinny kid on Page 1.

By the end, Mark’s growth is significant, both physically and emotionally. He’s still the “good guy” we met in the beginning, but circumstances have begun to change him and we can’t help wondering how long that goodness within him will persist, or if everything that’s happened—and the mysterious aspects of his new power—will change him and turn him dark. As you can see by the artwork on the cover, that’s a very real possibility!

All in all, Advent was fun, fast-paced, addictive read that fans of progression fantasy and alien invasion sci-fi will enjoy.