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?

Review:

Wraith and the Revolution is a standalone sci-fi with an emotional gut punch of a backstory. So let’s start at the beginning, or rather the end, if you will. For Earth has tumbled into the cycle of industrial wasteland we can all see happening around us. Humanity, mainly, has left for the stars, leaving behind those that can eek out a living sifting through electronic detritus and radioactive rubbish piles on the hunt for things to sell. Food comes down to tasteless cubes, munched on while the cancers eat away at your body.

You get the picture.

Against this backdrop we have Kye and Pablo, best friends forever, surviving day to day while seeking a way off their shit pile. This section of the book is introspective, and the drudgery of staying alive takes up much of the first third. This takes patience for the reader, with Kye’s struggles continuing when it emerges the only way off world is a complete body upgrade into a flesh and machine soldier.

The pay-off is worth it.

It has a purpose. Drawing you into real characters with depth who are then thrown in at the deep end into, well it says it in the title, into a revolution. But one at which they are at the crux and the action, intrigue and energy, take you on a roller-coaster ride of sci-fi promised by the title and that stunning cover. Kye is a full cybernetic badass, and Pablo’s circumstances position him at the centre of the revolt too. Once again, friends standing against whatever life throws at them.

AJ Calvin has crafted a story that has personal meaning to her, and it shines through. Be patient, the pay-off is coming and is all the more powerful for the depth given in those opening pages.

Synopsis

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith comes a brand new novella set in the world of the Hell Divers series.

Before you knew him as the king or the Immortal, he was Commander Xavier “X” Rodriguez—with ninety-six dives under his belt, the most experienced Hell Diver on the airship known as the Hive. Time after time, he dived through the electrical storms, returning with parts to keep his home in the sky. Then, on a jump into Hades, the most hostile environment in North America, he sacrificed everything for mission and team. They returned to the airship with the fuel cells needed to keep the Hive running, but X was left behind.

This is the story of how he becomes the last man on Earth. His will drives him to keep fighting, to survive the monsters and the radiation in the wastes, to find a way back home. But as the days pass, he feels the things that make him human slipping away. He has become a waif, a phantom, with little to live for. Then he stumbles upon something that makes him feel again.

This is the chronicle of those lost years, told for the first time ever.

Review

When I saw this was releasing, I was already a couple of books into the series and a big fan. I bought the first book on kindle to get the newly included novella, but something didn’t feel right, and I didn’t end up reading it. Finally, I realized it was because I went with the audio for the series, and the narration from R.C. Bray is simply too good to just switch to reading the text. So I bought the audiobook for this one separately… IYKYK.

While the Hell Divers world is filled with badasses, no one even scrapes the surface to how intense X is. Almost 100 dives, a feat that no diver is even close to, and now he’s survived what the others considered to be certain death. Some may say he’s just too stubborn to die, but even so, he’s my favorite. 

So what took place on earth while Tin was growing up? For the first time ever, we finally know! Well, part one of it at least. X survives the fall back down to land, and if that wasn’t harrowing enough, now he has to survive in a wasteland that’s not meant to be survived in. He’ll need batteries for his suit—or at least a charger, medical supplies, ammo, shelter, and most importantly, safe food and water. But how will he find anything safe in a red zone? How will he sleep at night with the monstrosities fighting for flesh? This is something that only X could figure out. 

I was a little saddened by how long it took for readers to first meet Miles, but I’m pleased to see that it’s only a part one. And while being stranded can seem like a lot of searching and waiting, this still packed in an awful lot of scifi, post apoc goodness. 

“This is commander Xavier Rodriguez, I’m still alive you motherf**kers.”

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.

Synopsis

An electrifying thriller about species re-engineering run amok, Scales is a great, fast-paced read perfect for fans of Jurassic Park.

A secret corporate-military project enhances four men with dinosaur traits to sell the public on a next-gen army of super-soldiers. But weeks before the big media unveiling, Eddie Boka, leader of the dino-prototypes, falls victim to a dark compulsion. His desperate overseers call in Dr. Adelaide LaTour, a therapist rejected by mainstream psychiatry for her wildly unorthodox methods. Sparks fly from the moment the ill-matched pair meet. But Eddie and Adelaide’s mutual antagonism soon takes a back seat to threats from deadly mercenaries and from something far worse, the monstrous byproducts of genetic engineering gone horribly wrong.

Review

Thank you to Angry Robot for the physical review copy!

A group of four have been genetically and surgically modified with traits and scales from our prehistoric apex predators. This is meant to be the next step in warfare, a way to up the ante, but also a way to ultimately protect lives. Naturally, there are some rather strange side effects when you attempt to turn humans into something else. 

As the blurb mentions, the novel opens up with a bit of a mishap. Eddie Boka, the poster boy for Project Saurian, has accidentally given into his T-Rex-infused DNA and cannibalized an enemy solider during his first live mission. In the fear of the information leaking, or the project missing its launch date, extreme therapist Addi LaTour is brought in. The hope is that her method of shock therapy will be enough to train Eddie out of it. But Eddie’s upbeat, overcome-it-all attitude has created a spark that transcends typically patient-doctor transference. There’s something more between them, and although romance isn’t the focal point, it does propel this journey. 

To be honest, other than the use of dino DNA, I think the “perfect for fans of Jurassic Park” may be a bit out there for some readers. It doesn’t go so heavy on the actual science it took to get the dino-humans to the stage they’re at, so this falls more into the realm of thriller. Although the later fights definitely have the vibe. But also, how do you even classify something like this? It doesn’t even really follow the natural flow of a novel at times either, and yet I found it works. It is intriguing enough that even when it isn’t fast it’s good, and when it took off it didn’t stop until it ended. Fast, brutal, and with intriguing deception I really was not expecting. 

A military thriller meets science fiction. A blend of billionaire gone wrong and medical/scientific advancement. I really wondered how the science would make it all work. Like wouldn’t their bodies refuse the foreign changes? Never a bad job when a book intrigues you! 

This novel also opened up the debate of cannibalism. The dino-humans started as naturally born human males, but since the transfusions and surgeries, they are kind of classified as something other. That includes in the public eye, with many labeling them as freaks. So it just kept standing out every time I read the word—if they aren’t being considered humans anymore, is it even really cannibalism? While it remains disturbing and unacceptable regardless, I wondered what it would be called otherwise. Where does science take that step past alteration and actual end up making something new?

Synopsis:

One crew, one loyalty and a single shot at redemption.

Captain Rebekah Khan and her ragtag crew of the repair ship Sunstar finally have a chance to pay off their crushing debts when an automining vessel goes rogue. After preventing the high value cargo from disappearing into the outer system, they uncover sabotage only a crew with their military experience would recognise.

Instead of returning as heroes, they are blackmailed into taking on a new crew member and to hunt for a mysterious, uncertified spacecraft. Deep into the black, they desperately try to hide their murky past, while their loyalties are tested to their limits when they finally come across the marooned ship and its deadly cargo.

Review:

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. A big thank you to the author for allowing me to have an early preview of The Wrecking Squad!

Fast-paced and action-packed, The Wrecking Squad is a military sci-fi story with some unexpected (and sometimes horrific) twists. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The crew of the Sunstar works for a mining company, doing odd jobs and securing cargo as needed. They’re all former military with a complicated past—they’ve been labeled as MIA for several years, and their job with the mining company is their way of hiding. None of them want to go back to the military they left behind. There is a lot of backstory that emerges throughout the book, and their reasons for going AWOL are eventually explained.

The crew consists of Rebekah, the captain and the book’s main character; Savvo, her second-in-command; Arin, a tech/mechanic whose sense of humor I loved; Hendricks, the lead mechanic; and the twins, who are communications and tech specialists. The twins are also projective empaths; if their emotions are in turmoil, everyone around them feels it. And sometimes the results are pretty disturbing (but once the twins’ story was fully explained, I really felt bad for them. It was heartbreaking, but they also have a promising future.)

The job the Wrecking Crew takes on looks straightforward on the surface, but when it becomes clear there is someone obscenely wealthy—and likely powerful—involved, Rebekah and the others are immediately suspicious. But they’re desperate for the promised payout, so they accept, despite their misgivings. It’s a decision that leads to more danger than they bargained for, and some unexpected horrors are uncovered along the way.

What I liked most about this book was the sense of found family the crew had. They all had demons from their pasts and their own ways of dealing with them, but in the end, they were a team and loyal to each other. This was a great start to a new series, and well worth the read.

The Wrecking Squad is currently available for preorder and will release March 31, 2025.

The Moon was once colonized. Now it lies silent—mostly.

When a mysterious radio signal echoes from the abandoned colony of Serenitatis, the Vatican dispatches an elite squad of space marines to investigate. Paladin-Captain Samuel Cohen’s mission is simple: locate survivors, uncover the signal’s source, and get out. But beneath the sterile domes, something ancient stirs—an adversary that challenges not only the mission but the very foundations of his faith.

A gripping new novella that explores the resilience of the human—and holy—spirit in the darkness of the void. For fans of Event Horizon and Richard Paul Russo’s Ship of Fools.

Let’s start with the obvious. Orders of Magnitude is a book firmly ensconced in the Incensepunk genre, so exploring themes of religion, belief and faith within a science fiction context. For those that find that a turn off, stop right there. Why? Because Kordov is a superb author of skill and dark verve, who takes you on a ride that you will never forget. Park your concerns aside, pull up a comfort cushion and get ready for a ride that will have your heart thudding in your hollow chest.

This novella packs a punch.

An exploration of dark, shadowed themes on a surreal moon base full of holo-demons, wicked priests, staunch nuns and the Vatican’s Space Marines. Yeah – you read that right. This is a planned exorcism in space, and it certainly isn’t pretty or straightforward, with the author’s powerful turn of phrase and skill for both action and fear-filled introspection forging a novella of creepy style, and dare I say it, gothic horror in space. In Samuel, we have a character who recognises his own flaws, and faces a hidden enemy who seeks to exploit them at every turn. His strength lies in the rigorous order he belongs to, his past, and acknowledging his flaws. A superb, quick read and it comes highly recommended.

Synopsis

“Conan meets Mad Max for a new generation.” –Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author

In the brutal wasteland centuries after the nuclear apocalypse, a warrior baptized in blood will defy the brutal empire that has enslaved his people.

Over two centuries have passed since the Third World War reduced civilization to ashes in a global nuclear inferno. Unforgiving geomagnetic storms rage, blocking out the sun and poisoning the radioactive Earth. Humanity clings to survival above the tempestuous skies in giant airships, sustained by Hell Divers—brave souls who risk their lives plunging to the surface for essential parts and supplies.

But this is not the story of the Hell Divers. This is the saga of the survivors on the ground, centered on Nick Baker, a frail orphan born in the perpetual darkness of an ITC bunker. He spent his early years toiling in a machine shop dreaming of what might be beyond the dark skies and poisoned wastes. That dream became a nightmare when Cazador raiders descended, massacring and enslaving his people.

From the savage cradle of life underground to the campaign of war across the brutalized surface, witness Nick’s rise from boy slave to a towering, fearsome warrior hell-bent on freeing his people from bondage to the great Cazador empire.

Embark on this riveting postapocalyptic adventure and discover the legend of a man his enemies will come to fear as Rhino …

Review

Nicholas Sansbury Smith trades the apocalyptic skies for the stormy seas in this Hell Divers prequel novel, Rhino: The Rise of a Warrior. The titular character became a fan-favorite following his debut in Captives, the fifth entry of the Hell Divers series, as a grizzled warrior in the cannibal army of the Cazadores.

Here, Smith winds the clock back a good thirty years, taking us back quite literally to the very beginning of Rhino’s story as an infant who only barely survived his birth in a run-down underground fallout shelter. As Nick Baker grows and becomes a part of the community, he wants nothing more than to become a Ranger, one of the men tasked with not only protecting their bunker but journeying into the Texas wastelands to determine if humanity can return to the surface. The radiation levels from the Third World War two hundred years prior have left most of the world uninhabitable, and what life is out there has been radically mutated. When a small team of Rangers respond to a distress call from a fallen airship, Nick sneaks out with them and into a trap laid by violent warmongers known as the Cazadores, who have been raiding the fallen cities for slaves and supplies. The bunker comes under attack and Nick, along with many others, are captured and forced into a life of bondage, and worse.

Captured, imprisoned, and forced to fight in gladiatorial games for the amusement of the Cazador king, Nick has only one goal — to free his love, Sofia, and escape from their hellish new lives.

As the decades pass, the once-frail and scrawny Nick grows into a muscle-bound leader, earning the respect of the other Cazador warriors, including the king’s lieutenant, the violent madman el Pulpo, as war is waged across the seas and wastelands of a destroyed world.

Smith is known for his impressive, post-apocalyptic world-building, a trait that has carried across the swath of his bibliography since his self-published debut in 2013 with The Biomass Revolution. With the Hell Divers series, the Earth is little more than an irradiated, large-scale disaster zone and what little of humanity is left has taken to the skies aboard massive airships…and their fleet is perpetually shrinking. As the series expanded, so did the discoveries made by the Hell Divers, such as those of the underground bunkers where Nick Baker was raised, as well as the secrets lost to history in the wake of World War III. The land is populated by mutant plants and animals, along with horrific flying creatures known as Sirens, who are sharp in tooth and fang, and hungry for human flesh.

While the Sirens are certainly brutal, they pale in comparison to the Cazadores, the epitome of the human monster. Selfish, thuggish, cannibalistic, they are a warrior tribe constantly in battle against not only themselves but everyone whose paths they cross. We’re constantly reminded of the good-hearted boy Rhino once was, but as his story evolves across the pages it becomes harder to reconcile. Smith does a fantastic job capturing Nick Baker’s evolution into the fearsome Rhino, a man who practically lives dual identities at cross-purposes in service to the Cazadores. Each life he takes is a stepping stone to his eventual freedom and his plans to free Sofia, but it constantly comes at a cost.

The question becomes, of course, how do we root for such a group of psychotic warlords and murderers? The answer is simple — by making the other survivors they find themselves entangled with even worse! There’s little room for empathy in this corner of the Hell Divers world, where the metaphorical bleeding heart becomes a direct path to the literal en route to a violent death. The sun may shine down upon the Cazador Empire, but there’s little brightness or warmth to be found.

It’s dystopian pulp hewn close to perfection, and at its absolute worst, Smith still manages to find moments of humanity even in the most dehumanizing situations possible. We root for Rhino because we understand the abject horrors of the various no-win scenarios he is thrust into, and because Smith has taken the time to show us the real Nick Baker, rather than man he presents himself to be in order to survive. He may live among the Cazadores, but he is not a Cazador. What would you do to survive, how far would you go for the ones you love, especially in an apocalyptic hellscape such as this? In the world of the Hell Divers, the logical conclusion is anything and everything, even as an overriding sense of morality and humanity puts natural limits in place. Survivors are forced to do awful, terrible things in order to live, but the good ones do so in service to the ideal of a greater good.

The catch-phrase of the Hell Divers series as a whole is, “We dive so humanity survives!” In Rhino, Nick Baker kills in order to live, and lives as a slave in order to be free. It’s an interesting series of blood-soaked contradictions, but that’s life at the end of the world.

In late 1944, the American Flying Fortress, “Dangerous Dolly”, plunges into an electrical storm to escape destruction by a Nazi jet fighter. Captain Jack Ronan and her aircrew emerge over wartime England in the year 1915. There, they make a forced landing on the estate of an outcast politician named Winston Churchill. Desperate to restore his political career, the erstwhile First Lord of the Admiralty launches Dolly on a one-plane air war against Kaiser Wilhelm. Neither the American aircrew nor the British government know that Churchill is playing a deeper and more dangerous game than he admits.

Churchill and the Americans are unaware of an adversary that could easily destroy Dolly—the jet that pursued her was also drawn into the space-time rift. Ambitious Luftwaffe pilot Fritz Wernher wants to become Imperial Germany’s greatest ace, but instead, is ordered to assist designer Anton Fokker to reverse-engineer the jet. If Fokker succeeds, with overwhelming aerial supremacy, the Central Powers will win the war.

After the American bomber attacks his war industry and humiliates his fleet, the irate Kaiser orders Wernher to destroy the elusive nemesis. When Churchill attacks the infamous Paris Gun, Wernher’s hunt climaxes in a savage air battle. The outcome will change the future of a continent and history as we know it.

Review

Goodbye Dolly is a story of sacrifice, endurance, and determination. It illustrates the complexity of egos in two world wars that cost European lives in both theatres. However, instead of going into a unique perspective on an alternate history of WWII, we have instead travelled to WW1. Captain Jack and his merry crew of the Dangerous Dolly become mired in the events of a tumultuous conflict. What transpires is technological upheaval, a reversal of history, and an excellent display of writing when depicting the naval battles between the Imperial German Navy and the Royal Navy.

The naval aspect of WWI is often not covered in popular media as it deserves. EJ Lake did a ton of research, and it shows from depicting historical figures such as Prime Minister Asquith Churchill with his brand of whiskey he so often likes to consume and the enigmatic Kaiser Wilhelm I. The wide variety of historical characters and their personalities spill onto their page as if Ken Follet had written this novel entirely. That’s how good the writing is! I loved characters like Churchill, Jack, his crew, and many others. The dialogue is rich in historical detail, and no characters feel one-dimensional; instead, they feel like three-dimensional characters. The description makes you feel as if you are in this world. And Dolly the Bomber Airplane? She’s a fantastic plane carrying a brave crew daring to fight against the might of WW1, Germany.

Each character is a testament to the brave men who sacrificed themselves in both world wars. To fight against fierce enemies while defending the right to freedom and democracy against expansionist and imperialist beliefs is not a simple thing to do. That said, the novel does not shy away from depicting the carnage of warfare and the devastating destruction that bombing cities can bring. At some points, I’ve noticed that alternate history novels focus more on the technical details of what has changed than on the story.

At some points, the book often tries to balance between contrasting what changes and what the story should be. I would like to see more alternate history novels focus on the story rather than being hung up on explaining everything that changes. I love books like this, with people from different periods travelling into other areas of history. I once read a story in Quora about Napoleon and his army time travelling back to the Ancient Roman Era. What a story that would be! I want more stuff like this. Where different civilisations meet each other that would never have met. I urge more authors to do this. This is a fantastic novel that I thoroughly recommend you to read!

Synopsis:

World War III rages, and the scientists at the South Pole are thankful for the isolation – until a group of Chinese scientists arrive at the American research base with a dead man in their truck. The potential for a geopolitical firestorm is great, and, with no clear jurisdiction, the Americans don’t know what to do. But they soon realize the Chinese scientists have brought far more with them than the body…

Within seventy-two hours, thirteen others lie dead in the snow, murdered in acts of madness and superhuman strength. An extremophile parasite from the truck, triggered by severe cold, is spreading by touch. With rescue impossible for months, it is learning from them. Evolving. It triggers violent tendencies in the winter crew, and, more insidiously… The beginnings of a strange symbiotic telepathy.

From an exciting new voice comes this propulsive SF-thriller, infused with authentic details about life in one of the world’s harshest, most mysterious landscapes, Antarctica.

Review:

Thank you Angry Robot for sending me an early copy of Symbiote.

Symbiote is a ride and I was there every terrifying step of the way. Described as Contagion meets The Walking Dead I knew this was going to be something I really enjoyed, and I wasn’t disappointed. Nayak takes an already terrifying idea and dials it all the way up. Because what’s scarier than a parasite that turns your co-workers into rage-fuelled cold-loving hosts? When you’re stuck so far from civilisation that you have no hope of escape.

In an author letter that came with my early copy Nayak talks about how he has actually been deployed to the South Pole, and how he wrote the book while he was there. It makes every single part of the book so much more real because Nayak knows what it’s like to live at the South Pole, to experience the isolation and the bitter cold. It firmly roots this story in the real world.

Coming in at just under 400 pages I still had no idea how it was going to end at page 350, because Nayak put the remaining crew in such a tough spot, and it felt like it could go either way all the way until the very end. And I believe it’s been confirmed that there’s going to be a second book… I’m so in.

I’ll admit that at first I didn’t like any of the South Pole crew. The vast majority of the crew we’re introduced to are not good people, they’ve all got secrets and issues and it makes everyone in the book that bit more real. No one is perfect, and it provides the perfect breeding ground for the anger the parasite induces. Symbiote has those moments where you see people make a bad decision or trust the wrong person, and you find yourself shouting internally as you watch the events unfold knowing what they’ve just done to themselves.

The parasite itself almost becomes a character. It changes and evolves throughout the book until it’s almost unrecognisable. It keeps the pace of the book high and keeps the story fresh. It definitely had me cringing as I got into the later stages of the book, something about it just gave me the creeps.

I loved Symbiote. From the fast pace of the story, to the worldbuilding through interjected excerpts from a book (a really great way to give context imo), there was never a dull moment. This is a sci-fi thriller with a dose horror that will keep you reading late into the night.

Synopsis

The ISF Althaemenes was the first of its kind. A spacecraft capable of travelling the vast distances to other stars. But on its maiden voyage to Proxima Centauri, all contact was lost and its crew never returned.

Four years later, the United Earth Confederacy received the ship’s distress signal.

Captain Helene Cross and the crew of the ISF Apemosyne are sent to determine what happened, and if possible, rescue the wayward explorers. However, there is no response from the crew and the mystery deepens when scans show that the supposedly stranded vessel is in full working order, leaving Helene and her team no other choice but to board and investigate. Soon, a maddening presence begins to stalk their minds, influencing their actions, threatening their very survival.

The crew of the Apemosyne must discover the source of the madness and put an end to it if they are to have any hope of escape.

Review

I picked this up because I wasn’t really enjoying my other read. Aside from the book being connected to a series I’d already started and that it was a horror novella, I knew nothing about it. The fact that I’d enjoyed past books from the author was reason enough to buy and read it.

And it did not disappoint. Horror has been a mixed experience for me so far, but I really enjoyed how the first half of this book made me feel connected to the characters, gave me a good feeling for the setting, and had that creeping discomfort I’ve come to expect from space scifi stories that lean towards the dark side. I was hooked!

I won’t go into too much detail for the rest of the book because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I liked the sinister feeling of it and the [bleep] ending (choosing an adjective here would probably be spoilery too; suffice it to say, I liked it). I hope we get to see a connection to this in the rest of the series eventually!

If this is your first experience with this universe, definitely make sure to check out the main series! If you come with previous knowledge, make sure not to miss out on this one because it’s a great addition to the existing world building!