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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy
3.5
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
Seske Kaleigh’s people live within the bodies of space creatures utilizing all the parts of the creature—bones, flesh, organs, etc.—until the beast is used up and then they must find another creature and repeat the process. This is how they’ve survived for centuries, but from the start something is different about this new excavation.
It’s an issue that Seske, part of the Contour class and next in line as Matriarch of her people, will have to face head on. As Seske begins to question their way of life, she’ll have to work quickly in order to keep her people safe from Exodus, all while learning what it means to lead.
Escaping Exodus features one of the best-realized future worlds I’ve read in sci-fi. The way Nicky Drayden presents it is so interesting in that we’re just thrust into this society without knowledge of how things came to be, but we’re put into the beginning of an excavation—kind of like the beginning of a new cycle—and we learn as it goes. Only later do we get a fuller picture of why things have become the way they currently are.
I was so taken in with the matriarchal society with family units consisting of six women, three men, and one child and they all fill some role (head, heart, will etc) that is their area of expertise, so to speak, for the family. Then there’s also the clear divide between the classes which we get through the viewpoints of Seske—of the Contour class—and her best friend Adalla—of the Beastworker class. Drayden does such of great job of making the story futuristic, yet still able to be comprehended within today’s timeframe. Meaning, it’s not so far out there that I can’t completely dismiss aspects of the story from one day coming to fruition.
Therein also lies the problem for me with Escaping Exodus in that there was just too much in this story for the page count which meant that there were some things that didn’t get the proper development. I would have gladly read another 200 pages on this book if it meant that certain conflicts or story threads could have been worked out. As it stands, especially toward the end, there were definite moments where I felt whiplash due to the change of course between one occurrence and the next. Like the beginning so eloquently spells out the constructs of the society, then suddenly we’re close to the end and things have to actually move somewhere.
The main relationship in the story is between Seske and Adalla. It’s a coming-of-age relationship that repeatedly gets waylaid by class structures and Seske’s future role as Matriarch. There is much more time focused on Seske and Adalla figuring out who they are as individuals when their society says they cannot conceivably be together. I would have liked a little more exploration to this relationship, but I think it’s an interesting notion that—even within a supposed future—lineage is still so prevalent. You can be with whomever you want, however you want, but they need to have a good family name behind them and have a good position in society.
Overall, though, the biggest message for me was the idea that sustainability is not just caring for and working with your environment, but it’s caring for and working with each other. We are part of nature so it goes to say that we can’t just hold some people to a higher standard, we all have to step up and not at the expense of others.
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
Seske Kaleigh’s people live within the bodies of space creatures utilizing all the parts of the creature—bones, flesh, organs, etc.—until the beast is used up and then they must find another creature and repeat the process. This is how they’ve survived for centuries, but from the start something is different about this new excavation.
It’s an issue that Seske, part of the Contour class and next in line as Matriarch of her people, will have to face head on. As Seske begins to question their way of life, she’ll have to work quickly in order to keep her people safe from Exodus, all while learning what it means to lead.
Escaping Exodus features one of the best-realized future worlds I’ve read in sci-fi. The way Nicky Drayden presents it is so interesting in that we’re just thrust into this society without knowledge of how things came to be, but we’re put into the beginning of an excavation—kind of like the beginning of a new cycle—and we learn as it goes. Only later do we get a fuller picture of why things have become the way they currently are.
I was so taken in with the matriarchal society with family units consisting of six women, three men, and one child and they all fill some role (head, heart, will etc) that is their area of expertise, so to speak, for the family. Then there’s also the clear divide between the classes which we get through the viewpoints of Seske—of the Contour class—and her best friend Adalla—of the Beastworker class. Drayden does such of great job of making the story futuristic, yet still able to be comprehended within today’s timeframe. Meaning, it’s not so far out there that I can’t completely dismiss aspects of the story from one day coming to fruition.
Therein also lies the problem for me with Escaping Exodus in that there was just too much in this story for the page count which meant that there were some things that didn’t get the proper development. I would have gladly read another 200 pages on this book if it meant that certain conflicts or story threads could have been worked out. As it stands, especially toward the end, there were definite moments where I felt whiplash due to the change of course between one occurrence and the next. Like the beginning so eloquently spells out the constructs of the society, then suddenly we’re close to the end and things have to actually move somewhere.
The main relationship in the story is between Seske and Adalla. It’s a coming-of-age relationship that repeatedly gets waylaid by class structures and Seske’s future role as Matriarch. There is much more time focused on Seske and Adalla figuring out who they are as individuals when their society says they cannot conceivably be together. I would have liked a little more exploration to this relationship, but I think it’s an interesting notion that—even within a supposed future—lineage is still so prevalent. You can be with whomever you want, however you want, but they need to have a good family name behind them and have a good position in society.
Overall, though, the biggest message for me was the idea that sustainability is not just caring for and working with your environment, but it’s caring for and working with each other. We are part of nature so it goes to say that we can’t just hold some people to a higher standard, we all have to step up and not at the expense of others.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was reading through this quickly enough, but as per usual with sci-fi, for whatever reason I get too bogged down with the technical stuff. It pulls me out of the story because I can't picture it -- the living inside of a gigantic creature part... what the beastworkers do inside the beast... do they ever look for a planet to live on? It didn't seem like it, but that seems wild to me. How does this beast not immediately die when they... penetrate its skin? Or whatever? Don't even know how they get inside of it and how it doesn't die with all these people crawling around inside of it...
And the cultural elements were interesting -- the matriarchy and the marriage structures -- but I don't feel like it was explained clearly enough. No idea what all the different mothers and fathers actually do or what they're there for and what that family structure really looks like. I was really trying to look for clear context clues, because I don't think stuff like that always has to be spelled out, but I personally wasn't finding enough context clues to put two and two together.
The main characters were also just grating on my nerves a bit -- so goal-oriented and determined yet also reckless as all hell, in truly idiotic ways. I hate when characters will be like, "This decision will be stupid and terrible.... I am aware of this.... but ahhhh fuck it let's do it anyway!" And then later are like "Dang that was kind of dumb, huh?" like... YEAH. I get it that they're teenagers, but not all teenagers are that contradictory and completely reckless with decisions... especially someone like Seske who has been raised up knowing she's going to be the leader of all of these people some day... I just didn't buy it, that she would be THAT careless and thoughtless.
And the cultural elements were interesting -- the matriarchy and the marriage structures -- but I don't feel like it was explained clearly enough. No idea what all the different mothers and fathers actually do or what they're there for and what that family structure really looks like. I was really trying to look for clear context clues, because I don't think stuff like that always has to be spelled out, but I personally wasn't finding enough context clues to put two and two together.
The main characters were also just grating on my nerves a bit -- so goal-oriented and determined yet also reckless as all hell, in truly idiotic ways. I hate when characters will be like, "This decision will be stupid and terrible.... I am aware of this.... but ahhhh fuck it let's do it anyway!" And then later are like "Dang that was kind of dumb, huh?" like... YEAH. I get it that they're teenagers, but not all teenagers are that contradictory and completely reckless with decisions... especially someone like Seske who has been raised up knowing she's going to be the leader of all of these people some day... I just didn't buy it, that she would be THAT careless and thoughtless.
I loved the approach and idea of this book, the idea of a future where humans have to live in giants beasts to stay alive, and the topics of class and how to rule well. At the same time it felt rushed, almost. The jumps made it hard for me to connect with the characters growth, since much of it happened off page. The two main POVs were confusing in how driven and motivated they were to achieve their goals, but also beyond recless, impulsive and willing to throw it all away on a whim. I needed more of a balance, more time to get to know them, I think, to be able to make sense of them.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
This book started out great, it was creative, gross (in a cool way), and very engaging. Unfortunately for me, towards the end it hit a few plot points that let’s just say, I routinely filter out when browsing stories online. That’ll teach me to check content warnings from now on. I did feel like the world building left me confused about the family structures, and some of the plotlines felt very incomplete. I do believe there’s a sequel, but considering the tentacle activity and egg laying, which just isn’t my thing, I won’t be finding out if those get developed any further. Even if they do, the characters moved on from some pretty significant conflict in a way that just didn’t make any sense. Maybe I’m just not as forgiving as they are, but it felt like a really interesting division in the two main characters relationship had been beautifully built up just to be disregarded in favor of a happy ending.
Most of it was great, some of it just wasn’t for me in a way that’s all personal preference (but that I think other people may really love), but sadly the ending fell flat.
Most of it was great, some of it just wasn’t for me in a way that’s all personal preference (but that I think other people may really love), but sadly the ending fell flat.