Cellular-DNA science and aching hearts intertwine in a compelling SF sequel.
On a human-colonized planet, a rebel settler finds her loyalties tested by her ex, her new pilot/lover, and her small son who has unique DNA qualities.
Fedorak’s sequel to her SF debut, Children of Alpheios (2023), unfolds three years later. Hero Alina DeHerte is a rebel colonist on the distant planet Eamine, peopled by genetically modified humans, where the climate is harsh and native wildlife sometimes dangerous. But another threat is an authoritarian system under Chancellor Jade Graylin, leader of the settlement city Alpheios. Her regime’s economic partner, the genetic-engineering corporation Genodyne, is exploiting a generation of children (“Origins”) born on the planet, fated to develop astounding powers—and one of them is Alina’s epileptic son, Mandin. Defying the exploitation of their offspring, Alina and other dissidents fled to establish their own haven, Evesborough. The strife led to the end of Alina’s relationship with Alpheios’ law-and-order security chief Chance—who is Graylin’s son— even though he enabled her escape with Mandin. Now, Alina is engaged to an Evesborough man and Mandin’s seizures are controlled with medication. But Evesborough still struggles for supplies. In Alpheios, a civilian uprising brews after a reckless Genodyne rollout of an anti-aging drug unleashes a disease, and one of the victims is Alina’s mother. Alina’s DNA makeup points to a cure, and Chance wants a reunion with his son. Reluctantly, Alina agrees to a temporary visit to the city in a gene-science exchange deal. Amid the intrigue, Chance sees an opportunity to rekindle his ex’s ardor. Fedorak must keep a lot of balls in the air and plates (or petri dishes) spinning, and newcomers to the saga may be somewhat confused by the ensemble cast and the machinations. In the foliage are such compelling creations as “kronosapiens,” Genodyne’s mistreated, artificially evolved humanoids, both beastly and disturbingly advanced, and a hint of something even darker, “an ancient and foul entity lurking somewhere down tunnel four,” kept offstage this time. But, at least until a literally explosive final act, the double-helix intricacies of relationships and emotions have a priority over action and weaponry. Though the novel leaves many narrative threads unresolved, this is quality SF from an exciting, fresh voice in the genre.
Cellular-DNA science and aching hearts intertwine in a compelling SF sequel.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781509259021
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.
After purchasing a dilapidated, century-old starship called the Destitute, Torian Razner discovers that the moss covering it is, in fact, a deeply sarcastic sentient computer with abandonment issues.
Torian’s sister, Celise, is dying. Determined to save her life by getting her to a distant planet with air she can breathe, Torian ignores her former captain Amelia Perrosk’s warning that it’s an impossible task (along with any romantic feelings she might have for Amelia). Using the only ionite bars she has to her name, Torian purchases an ancient, moss-covered alien starship that appears to be on its last legs, so to speak. She hardly expected the moss to be a sentient computer or for it to hold a century-old grudge against its former alien captain. Moss quickly proves itself to be acerbic, intelligent, and rightly angry after being having been left behind for 100 years by its former captain. The two form a reluctant and surprising alliance, Torian proving to Moss that not all captains are “dog-turd fungus,” and they both gradually evolve into the best versions of themselves, human or otherwise. It’s obvious from the early pages that Thorne has crafted a story tailored to fans of Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot series and Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries. Falling somewhere between the two, this is a delightful mashup of romance, found family, and a touch of violence as Moss grapples with its feelings about its former captain and the unexpected kindness that Torian shows. Sweet without being overly saccharine, it’s a book for readers who want the adventure that comes with the vastness of outer space without its harsher realities.
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414144
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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