An often-compelling blend of action, romance, and hope for a better future.
Wexler’s SF novel tells the story of Gray Allen, a man who transcends death and recounts his journey from the American Civil War to an alien world.
The narrative begins with Gray’s time as a Confederate soldier, during which he becomes deeply ashamed of the cause for which he’s fighting and forms a bond with Victoria James, a Confederate nurse who shares his disillusionment with the war. Betrayed by Dr. Warren Kantrel, who saves his life at a terrible cost, Gray begins a journey that leads him beyond Earth’s boundaries. Specifically, he awakens on Jatora, a planet of breathtaking beauty and horrific danger. He aligns with T’lu—a noble warrior fighting to liberate his enslaved people, the podar, from the tyrannical rule of Ksanj—and his monstrous Hisl enforcers. Together, they face deadly creatures, harsh landscapes, and the oppressive Bujan overlords. The discovery of Amata, a lost city that once symbolized hope, becomes the center of their mission. T’lu seeks to rescue Dulara Olana, who can unite and inspire the podar as their leader by birthright. The novel culminates in intense battles and sacrifices as the resistance attempts to overthrow Ksanj. Overall, Wexler excels at providing rich worldbuilding, vividly bringing Jatora to life: “the forest began to glow—every leaf and blade of grass, every clump of moss or looping liana radiating deep incandescent hues.” His descriptions of the menacing Hisl also blend beauty and danger. The story’s themes of resilience resonate in compelling action sequences, and Gray emerges as a well-developed protagonist; his transformation into a pivotal figure in an alien rebellion is engaging throughout. However, the story leans on familiar tropes, pitting a chosen hero against a tyrannical ruler, and many readers may find the outcome predictable. Also, some themes, such as the fact that Gray becomes immortal after the doctor saves his life, remain underexplored. Nonetheless, fans of classic SF stories, such as those by Edgar Rice Burroughs, will enjoy this tale.
An often-compelling blend of action, romance, and hope for a better future.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Vintage Follett. His fans will be pleased.
A dramatic, complex imagining of the origins of Stonehenge.
In about 2500 B.C.E. on the Great Plain, Seft and his family collect flints in a mine. He dislikes the work, and the motherless lad hates the abuse he gets from his father and brothers. He leaves them and arrives at a wooden monument where sacred events such as the Midsummer Rite take place. There are also circles of stones that help predict equinoxes, solstices, even eclipses. This is a world where the customary greeting is “May the Sun God smile on you,” and everyone is a year older on Midsummer Day. Except for a priestess or two, no one can count beyond fingers and toes—to indicate 30, they show both hands, point to both feet, then show both hands again. Casual sex is common, and sex between women is less common but not taboo. Joia, a young woman who becomes a priestess, wonders about her sexuality. After a fire destroys the Monument, she leads a bold effort to rebuild it in stone. To please the gods, they must haul 10 giant stones from distant Stony Valley. Of course neither machinery nor roads exist, so the difficulties are extraordinary. Although the project has its detractors, hundreds of able-bodied people are willing to help. Craftspeople known as cleverhands construct a sled and a road, and they make the rope to wrap around the stones. Many, many others pull. And pull. Meanwhile, the three principal groups—farmers, woodlanders, and herders—all have their separate interests. There is talk of war, which Joia has never seen in her lifetime. Soon it seems inevitable that the powerful farmers will not only start one but win it, unless heroes like Seft and Joia can come up with a creative plan. But there is also the matter of love for Joia in this well-plotted and well-told yarn. The story has a lot of characters from multiple tribes, and they can be hard to keep track of. A page in the front of the book listing who’s who would be helpful.
Vintage Follett. His fans will be pleased.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781538772775
Page Count: 704
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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