Scan barcode
themanfromdelmonte's review against another edition
2.0
The premise of most Space Opera is that Clarke’s dictum holds. The problem comes when this is stretched to breaking point. This author casually tosses universes around as if they’re confetti. The hero goes in one and then another as if they’re just exotic ports of call. The aliens hail from early Doctor Who ie. they’re just men in rubber suits. There are ultra-baddies (that the hero can only destroy from within, natch), ancient hypertech, blah, blah, blah. I bailed at just over the half-way point because I lost interest in the whole thing.
graff_fuller's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.25
This story was a LOT different than I thought it would be, when picking up this book.
I was geared up for a space opera romp, but didn't realize the ethical ideas and sense of self that would be infused within the universe...a multi-verse in a way that I'd never even thought of.
Also, the fusing of Caiden/Winn to the Azure and vice versa.
Another HUGE plus, was the characters (and found family aspect) they provided.
Our entry point into this story...throws you into a massacre...and we are basically as lost as the main character. I don't always love this type of narrative, but this one was done SO masterfully, that I didn't want to put the book down.
There are characters in this story that you don't know are truly bad, but you also know are NOT good.
Like I said earlier, there are ethical situations that our protagonist is/was put through, plus those he's linked to (for reasons) in this story.
Honestly, I never trusted that person...and even after finishing this first portion of the trilogy, I am NOT 100% against him, nor for him. He is a variable that I would NEVER trust, though have to interact with. "The enemy of my enemy, is my friend." No more truthful, than in this relationship.
The idea of self and how it is manipulated, was really well thought out and pecked at. The idea of torture, is explored in this story. So, if you are triggered by this concept, this might not be a story that you'd enjoy. I was uncomfortable during these (many scenes), but not to the point of quiting the story. It ALL worked for the furtherance of the story, and was not gruetitace IMO.
I do have to say, that I will be putting a few books BEFORE the sequel, to "cleanse the palette", as they say...for there was a LOT deep concepts in the story, that I want to ponder, then release...BEFORE re-entering this universe.
I was geared up for a space opera romp, but didn't realize the ethical ideas and sense of self that would be infused within the universe...a multi-verse in a way that I'd never even thought of.
Also, the fusing of Caiden/Winn to the Azure and vice versa.
Another HUGE plus, was the characters (and found family aspect) they provided.
Our entry point into this story...throws you into a massacre...and we are basically as lost as the main character. I don't always love this type of narrative, but this one was done SO masterfully, that I didn't want to put the book down.
There are characters in this story that you don't know are truly bad, but you also know are NOT good.
Like I said earlier, there are ethical situations that our protagonist is/was put through, plus those he's linked to (for reasons) in this story.
Honestly, I never trusted that person...and even after finishing this first portion of the trilogy, I am NOT 100% against him, nor for him. He is a variable that I would NEVER trust, though have to interact with. "The enemy of my enemy, is my friend." No more truthful, than in this relationship.
The idea of self and how it is manipulated, was really well thought out and pecked at. The idea of torture, is explored in this story. So, if you are triggered by this concept, this might not be a story that you'd enjoy. I was uncomfortable during these (many scenes), but not to the point of quiting the story. It ALL worked for the furtherance of the story, and was not gruetitace IMO.
I do have to say, that I will be putting a few books BEFORE the sequel, to "cleanse the palette", as they say...for there was a LOT deep concepts in the story, that I want to ponder, then release...BEFORE re-entering this universe.
laroo's review against another edition
Universe was interesting just lots of shortcuts taken to storytelling that made me not care at all about the main character.
minanonim's review against another edition
Too long, got slightly repetitive at some point. I also didn't connect with the main character after a while. It feels like he never learns, never moves past the beginning point. (Maybe mild spoilers ahead) Yes, I get it, he is traumatized, but you'd think he'd learn to control his temper after the first few times he gets himself and others in big trouble because of it. Revenge is great, but use your head for a second please...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Torture, Slavery, Body horror, Excrement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Deportation, and Blood
Minor: Ableism
theshaggyshepherd's review against another edition
5.0
Nophek Gloss // by Essa Hansen
Nophek Gloss, after having listened to it twice already at this point, is one of my favorite science fiction stories. Granted, I don't have a tonnn of experience with sci-fi so maybe it's more apt for me to say that Nophek Gloss is just one of my favorite books in general. That probably means a lot more with the amount of books I tend to read in a year. I love Essa Hansen's world-building, her characters, and her plots. The book starts out with a bang and it kept me hooked the entire way through until the end, eager to read more. It doesn't just have an informative beginning, no, it has a beginning chapter full of action that leaves you breathless and a bit shocked to be honest. I personally love that kind of start to a new series though. It gets the blood pumping and gets you hyped to continue reading.
And continuing with this book is so worth it. You can tell that Hansen has put a lot of thought into her world-building and the science behind it. While I can't claim to understand all of that science myself, I do still find the explanations well done and even when there is a bit of an info-dump, it doesn't really feel like it. My favorite part though are the characters. I love how complex they are, both the good ones and the bad ones. This series has one of my favorite villains in it because he is just so complex, which makes him fun to learn about. The characters in general have many layers that are peeled back throughout the series. But even with that focus on the characters, the action is not left behind. I found there to be a good balance between the two. The main plot of the book is wrapped up in a satisfying way but still leaves you eager to continue on with the series.
Nophek Gloss, after having listened to it twice already at this point, is one of my favorite science fiction stories. Granted, I don't have a tonnn of experience with sci-fi so maybe it's more apt for me to say that Nophek Gloss is just one of my favorite books in general. That probably means a lot more with the amount of books I tend to read in a year. I love Essa Hansen's world-building, her characters, and her plots. The book starts out with a bang and it kept me hooked the entire way through until the end, eager to read more. It doesn't just have an informative beginning, no, it has a beginning chapter full of action that leaves you breathless and a bit shocked to be honest. I personally love that kind of start to a new series though. It gets the blood pumping and gets you hyped to continue reading.
And continuing with this book is so worth it. You can tell that Hansen has put a lot of thought into her world-building and the science behind it. While I can't claim to understand all of that science myself, I do still find the explanations well done and even when there is a bit of an info-dump, it doesn't really feel like it. My favorite part though are the characters. I love how complex they are, both the good ones and the bad ones. This series has one of my favorite villains in it because he is just so complex, which makes him fun to learn about. The characters in general have many layers that are peeled back throughout the series. But even with that focus on the characters, the action is not left behind. I found there to be a good balance between the two. The main plot of the book is wrapped up in a satisfying way but still leaves you eager to continue on with the series.
iffer's review against another edition
2.0
To be honest, I had a hard time staying engaged with this book, and I actually considered DNF'ing it at a little over halfway. Part of the reason could be that I think that my tastes have changed, and I'm less interested in space opera novels that mirror the imperialism of our world, except...in space, versus sci-fi books that imagine liberatory futures for all and/or contain nuanced social criticism. That last sentence sounds incredibly pompous, and I will caveat it by saying that, I still do enjoy plenty of popcorn-ey action-packed, or romance-packed, sci-fi adventure stories, but this book is not that.
That may be part of the crux of my lukewarm response to this book. It took itself seriously, but it didn't provide anything groundbreaking and new in terms of social criticism, world-building, or characters. The book felt very much like a middling mosaic of stories, tropes, and history with which we are already familiar. The main character is a bland orphan boy chosen one, and the author attempts to use the strategy of making up for a bland self-insertion, destined-savior protagonist with a bunch of more-interesting, diverse side-characters (usually a motley crew of misfits/criminals forming a ship crew/found family in sci-fi books). However, this doesn't work well, because they side-characters don't get enough page time for it to be effective, even though my interest was piqued about them. Maybe someone will write good fanfic about them and fill in the gaps. I appreciate that the characters and species in the novel intentionally portray a spectrum rather than binary of ways people can exist, though it is a bit on-the-nose (eg character of En, especially being named En...).
Caiden is very much the Naruto-esque talented young'un who makes poor, impulsive decisions in a way that I dislike seeing outside of YA books or comics, because I find it so annoying. Instead of rescuing Princess Peach, Caiden's next goal is going to be torescue his sister, who I hope is given more personality than Peach, though I'm not hopeful, considering the caricatured way in which she has been portrayed as the compassionate, sensitive "Wisdom" to balance out Caden.
The other thing that I found incredibly frustrating was the way in which the author uses future technology in a hand-wavey manner for the sake of narrative convenience. I won't list the ways, since they are probably spoilerific, but, although I'm not generally a fan/stickler for "hard" sci-fi, I do like when science fiction and fantasy settings seem well thought-out for consistency.
The fight scenes were fine, but I didn't find them enthralling, kind of like how I might zone out during an action movie if the scenes go on too long, especially if they don't have something special to maintain interest. The book also seems to dwell in described violence and trauma in a way that I found off-putting (felt like the author was trying and failing to manipulate my emotions).
This *is* the first book in a series, and the author's debut to boot, and it very much feels like it. Part of me thinks that this whole book could've been summarized into a prologue for whatever the rest of the story actually is.
P.S. The emphasis of freckles being a possible genetic signifier of the species with the power of mind control made me somewhat roll my eyes. It makes it seem like the author was made fun of for having freckles and wanted to feel vindicated by including this skin "flaw" as a marker of power.
P.P.S. I listened to the audiobook, but it appears that the author said that there are no existing plans for the other books in the series to be produced into audiobooks, so that might be something to be kept in mind for those who require or prefer audio formats before starting the series.
That may be part of the crux of my lukewarm response to this book. It took itself seriously, but it didn't provide anything groundbreaking and new in terms of social criticism, world-building, or characters. The book felt very much like a middling mosaic of stories, tropes, and history with which we are already familiar. The main character is a bland orphan boy chosen one, and the author attempts to use the strategy of making up for a bland self-insertion, destined-savior protagonist with a bunch of more-interesting, diverse side-characters (usually a motley crew of misfits/criminals forming a ship crew/found family in sci-fi books). However, this doesn't work well, because they side-characters don't get enough page time for it to be effective, even though my interest was piqued about them. Maybe someone will write good fanfic about them and fill in the gaps. I appreciate that the characters and species in the novel intentionally portray a spectrum rather than binary of ways people can exist, though it is a bit on-the-nose (eg character of En, especially being named En...).
Caiden is very much the Naruto-esque talented young'un who makes poor, impulsive decisions in a way that I dislike seeing outside of YA books or comics, because I find it so annoying. Instead of rescuing Princess Peach, Caiden's next goal is going to be to
The other thing that I found incredibly frustrating was the way in which the author uses future technology in a hand-wavey manner for the sake of narrative convenience. I won't list the ways, since they are probably spoilerific, but, although I'm not generally a fan/stickler for "hard" sci-fi, I do like when science fiction and fantasy settings seem well thought-out for consistency.
The fight scenes were fine, but I didn't find them enthralling, kind of like how I might zone out during an action movie if the scenes go on too long, especially if they don't have something special to maintain interest. The book also seems to dwell in described violence and trauma in a way that I found off-putting (felt like the author was trying and failing to manipulate my emotions).
This *is* the first book in a series, and the author's debut to boot, and it very much feels like it. Part of me thinks that this whole book could've been summarized into a prologue for whatever the rest of the story actually is.
P.S. The emphasis of freckles being a possible genetic signifier of the species with the power of mind control made me somewhat roll my eyes. It makes it seem like the author was made fun of for having freckles and wanted to feel vindicated by including this skin "flaw" as a marker of power.
P.P.S. I listened to the audiobook, but it appears that the author said that there are no existing plans for the other books in the series to be produced into audiobooks, so that might be something to be kept in mind for those who require or prefer audio formats before starting the series.
corfie's review
This physical copy's fond size is small. Too small for my brain. I'll try another edition at some point.
bethtabler's review
5.0
Nophek Gloss is a story that pushes the boundlessness of the reader's imagination. It is innovative, harsh, extraordinary, and it is science fiction at its best.
I am not sure how to classify Nophek Gloss as part of the science fiction canon. Is it hard science fiction? Quite possibly. There are elements of logic to the science used in the story. There is also a balance of drama to the narrative; the story is very character-driven, making me lean towards Space Opera. Either way, with hard science fiction or a space opera, creatures, ideas, natural laws, and creatures all usually fall within human perception. i.e., "What goes up must come down." This makes a lot of sense, considering that humans will read the story, and you want it relatable to commonly shared experiences. But, human perception is so limiting. If there are beings from other planets, they will not look like us or react like us. Our natural laws would probably not be the natural laws of other worlds and galaxies when given an infinite palate of choices on what characters could look like, how they would act, or how things like time, gravity, and space behave; why not be different. So when I say that Nophek Gloss is one of the most creative science fiction stories I have ever read, you get where I am going with this.
Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen is something else.
Newcomer Essa Hansen's story is intriguing; here is an author who is steeped in a love of science fiction and fantasy. As a day job, Essa works as a sound designer for Skywalker Sound, where she worked on Dr. Strange and Avengers: Endgame, as well as Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Thor Ragnorak, Ant-Man, and Big Hero Six. She is also a falconer and horsewoman. It seems like she lives and breathes the coolest aspects of science fiction, and none of this is any surprise to me as I read Nophek Gloss. When I say that Nophek Gloss is something else, I genuinely mean it. The basis of the story is a hero's quest type narrative. But when we readers step past the hero's quest narrative and start paying attention to the detailing and imagination that Hansen has added into the fabric of this story, that is where Nophek Gloss soars and stands above its contemporaries. It is visually rich and compelling storytelling.
"For a long moment, Laythan's piercing gaze assessed Caiden, judging what to say. "I know all this newness is frustrating, but we need more intelligence at a Cartographer Den before we jump to conclusions. That's where we're headed. You'll understand soon."
The story's basis is centered around a protagonist named Caiden, who is born into indentured life. His planet and homelife are destroyed early in the novel, and to survive, he must step away from who he thought he was and enter worlds and times beyond the scope of imagination. Everything he understands and knows to be the truth is a lie. A fabrication put upon him by his previous captors. After he survives an encounter with a Nophek, an otherworldy apex predator creature, "his only hope for survival is a crew of misfit aliens and a mysterious ship that seems to have a soul and a universe of its own. Together they will show him that the universe is much bigger, much more advanced, and much more mysterious than Caiden had ever imagined." This misfit crew becomes a found family for Caiden, helps him grow, often painfully, as he assumes a role that he is destined for in the universe.
"Pan rarely eats," Taitn said. "Saisn have a very efficient metabolism. She drinks fluids and feeds on vibration, mostly. The dark and quiet is nourishment and medicine for her."
If I left the story at found family and quest, it would seem like Hansen didn't tread new material here. But Nophek Gloss is so much more. A universe, by definition, is infinite. But if a writer stops to think about what "infinite" actually means, anything is possible. The very way we perceive experience is limiting; if we could step outside how humans view the universe and expand our understanding, what would that look like? Would it be a universe balanced on the head of a pin? Or creatures that exist as the embodiment of a memory? How about creatures that create energy sources inside their minds, to be harvested to power ships? What about vessels that create their own universes like a bubble that some species can travel through while others can't. A story like this can be a wide-open field only limited by its creator's experience and imagination. I think Nophek Gloss is the perfect playing field for Essa Hanson's ideas.
Outside ideas, the structure of Nophek Gloss is easy to read. Hanson keeps the descriptions rich but concise. Hanson does not get lost in the details; she has a particular idea she wants to share with the reader. It isn't overly flowery prose or so much detail that the reader's mind is squashed. Instead, Hanson helps you build something concrete in your mind's eye and gives you a chance to expound on it. This is incredibly important with a genre like science fiction, where the infinite imagination of the reader is an essential tool for building the story.
"In front of a glowing wall, a stunning figure caught Caiden's eye. She was humanoid but ethereal and slender, with prosthetic scaffolding around tapered legs. Skin paper-thin and pearly. Her thick hair was so long it pooled onto the floor and clothed her body in dressy billows and braids."
Another thing I tip my hat to Hansen on is her exclusivity. In a universe with infinite possibilities, there will be people/creatures that are different than you. Whether that is defined by gender, and the story touches on the question of "what is gender?" Or how people want to represent themselves or communicate. Nophek Gloss also includes neuro-diverse characters in leading roles that offer meaningful relationships to Caiden. There are no token characters in this story, and the importance of respecting diversity is evident by the conclusion of the first chapter.
Nophek Gloss also talks a lot about grief and how that is expressed. It is painful to read about Caiden and how he deals with the steps of grief. And how and if he can move on with his life. Caiden deals with grief for most of the book, and how that is defined and exercised is fascinating.
I know this seems like a dark and dense story, grief, death, and slavery, and it is. However, there is a great balance to it. Hansen interjects humor and lightness into some scenes to give the readers a break. This mostly comes in the form of Caiden interacting with his rescuing crew members. And while it doesn't always hit the mark humor wise, it does enough to make sure that the reader isn't dragged down into pain and torment. There are also great fight scenes that step outside the normal and exercise the imagination. What does fighting an alien creature look like?
Setting and worldbuilding are huge. When you have an unlimited palette of colors, sounds, tastes, and textures, your worlds can be anything. The ones in Nophek Gloss are brilliant colorful creations where technology and the natural world collide. Some so wild that I had to go back and reread things to understand what they could look like.
Plot-wise, Nophek Gloss is a brilliant book. Probably one of the best science fiction stories I have read this year. However, some things did get muddled, and I didn't quite grasp Caiden's motivations for his choices. Most of these come in the middle chapters where we don't quite grasp who Caiden is, and his maturity level is iffy. I would think this was probably on purpose; humans go through weird growing stages where we are not thinking so clearly, just as a matter of maturing.
Nophek Gloss is a science fiction book for science fiction geeks. It is almost a love letter to those out there who find their passions in the wild and uninhibited imagination that science fiction offers. It won't be for everyone, as some readers might not enjoy the story's expansive nature. It is also incredibly dark. If there is a genre for grimdark science fiction, this is it. It deals with pain, joy, and grief head-on and does not mince words or details. If you enjoy your reading to be lighter fare, this probably is not the story. But for me, I loved it. Wholly and completely. Nophek Gloss is a thundering debut; it grabs the reader and tows you into unchartered territory.
bookish_benny's review
4.0
Enjoy fantasy and sci-fi books but no-one to talk to? Come join The SFF Oasis, an amazing book discord! We have buddy reads, trilogy reads, live author Q&As, virtual badges to collect, Dungeons & Dragons, writer's cafe and much much more! It's completely free and very welcoming. If you'd like to talk about books with future friends you can join here: http://discord.gg/c2hXSP5MsX
Nophek Gloss is the debut novel from author Essa Hansen. Released just less than a year ago, it has been very well received by fans with a current Goodreads rating of 3.70 after 680 ratings and 192 reviews.
This is an awesome and captivating story. The story follows a protagonist called Caiden who goes from having the perfect life with his family to being in a nightmare that he can't wake up from. His whole universe is turned upside down and he has to really develop as a being to find the strength within him to get his life back on track. This sounds like a simple story but there are so many more hurdles and walls he needs to jump over and smash through to make it happen.
“You will learn to be vicious to survive. Multiverse has many tastes, and chews us up differently depending on species."
I think the thing that I liked the most about this story is actually the protagonist. Caiden has a very visible arc and as he grows, you feel yourself grow reading his personality. He starts off as a very simple-minded boy who doesn't understand what is happening but after he finds a spaceship and a crew of misfit aliens to run with, he realises that what he thought he knew of life, his family, his own being, isn't true at all and so searches for the truth.
The dynamics between Caiden and the other members of the misfit crew flow really nicely and he gels with some of them and doesn't gel with others. Some will find him a nuisance whereas some feel responsible for him. The story is all told through Caiden but in third person so this allows you to be a part of his story while also getting to see everything going on.
"I wouldn’t recommend trying to fit to others’ expectations. Create who you feel good being. And it’s all right if that changes too.”
As the story progresses Caiden inevitably meets other beings, alien, human and other and finds himself having to tread carefully as he navigates his new surroundings, finding out who he can trust and who he needs to be careful of. I really liked him as a character and I enjoyed the other characters, especially those that fall into the antagonist category, of which there are many.
My jagged edges don’t fit in this puzzle. I keep bouncing around, damaging everything I touch. Maybe like a river stone I’ll be smooth one day after years of tumbling.
Essa does a very good job of showing through her worldbuilding and dialogue that the same things we experience here with gender and diversity, are happening in the stars too. These things are not the focus of the story but do play a part in one of the character's lives. It felt so normal and genuine that it wasn't something I felt was pushed to earn brownie points or tick a box. This was something done really well because it fits naturally.
“Call me ‘she,’ or whatever you’re comfortable with for now, I don’t mind. You’ve had a huge dose of new lately, so don’t overthink it, but get used to fluidity and choice. Those rule the multiverse, if anything does.”
Worldbuilding is tough. I know, I've done it. You have thousands of little ideas and things to include but you can't fit everything in or else it becomes a encyclopedia of SFF and then you confuse readers. It's best to choose a few themes or ideas and make them polished. Essa has some really cool and unique ideas in this book that I loved. I won't spoil it by telling you here but there are numerous ideas which I haven't seen before.
As for the actual worldbuilding of planets and ships and other sci-fi bits, they're great. You have parts of the story in spaceships with enough detail and design explained for you to actually be able to picture the story or to experience the character's feelings as they zip through debris or outrun a bigger ship etc. The story mainly takes part on solid land or space stations of some sort and these are well designed, thought out and fleshed out onto the pages that you can really visualise them. The place referred to as The Den gave me Citadel vibes. This for me is really important. If the worldbuilding in a book isn't good then it becomes hard to stay engaged.
"Multiverse is full of distractions. Fighting, flirting, and . . . En loves all the F’s. Distractions.”
The pacing and action in the story is right on the money. We go from one drama to a tense standoff to a revelation of information back to a standoff and more drama. I really got Red Rising vibes from Caiden and this book. The combat in the book is really well written and believable too, which is really important. If it doesn't sound like it could happen (superpowers aside) then it won't be believable and if you don't believe it you're going to lose interest. Plenty of punches and kicks get you into the gritty action up close and personal with Caiden as he deals with those in his way.
Rating - 4/5 This is a really great debut novel from Essa Hansen. Nophek Gloss makes me excited to read more Sci-Fi. When you read this story, it's like Caiden and you are old friends discovering the universe together. The book flows nicely, builds up problems before building up Caiden and the characters all bring something unique. This has Red Rising and Mass Effect vibes so if you like them, you'll really enjoy this. The sequel, Azura Ghost, book 2 of The Graven is out December 7th (US)/9th (UK) by Orbit and I am really excited to see what happens next with Caiden.
Nophek Gloss is the debut novel from author Essa Hansen. Released just less than a year ago, it has been very well received by fans with a current Goodreads rating of 3.70 after 680 ratings and 192 reviews.
This is an awesome and captivating story. The story follows a protagonist called Caiden who goes from having the perfect life with his family to being in a nightmare that he can't wake up from. His whole universe is turned upside down and he has to really develop as a being to find the strength within him to get his life back on track. This sounds like a simple story but there are so many more hurdles and walls he needs to jump over and smash through to make it happen.
“You will learn to be vicious to survive. Multiverse has many tastes, and chews us up differently depending on species."
I think the thing that I liked the most about this story is actually the protagonist. Caiden has a very visible arc and as he grows, you feel yourself grow reading his personality. He starts off as a very simple-minded boy who doesn't understand what is happening but after he finds a spaceship and a crew of misfit aliens to run with, he realises that what he thought he knew of life, his family, his own being, isn't true at all and so searches for the truth.
The dynamics between Caiden and the other members of the misfit crew flow really nicely and he gels with some of them and doesn't gel with others. Some will find him a nuisance whereas some feel responsible for him. The story is all told through Caiden but in third person so this allows you to be a part of his story while also getting to see everything going on.
"I wouldn’t recommend trying to fit to others’ expectations. Create who you feel good being. And it’s all right if that changes too.”
As the story progresses Caiden inevitably meets other beings, alien, human and other and finds himself having to tread carefully as he navigates his new surroundings, finding out who he can trust and who he needs to be careful of. I really liked him as a character and I enjoyed the other characters, especially those that fall into the antagonist category, of which there are many.
My jagged edges don’t fit in this puzzle. I keep bouncing around, damaging everything I touch. Maybe like a river stone I’ll be smooth one day after years of tumbling.
Essa does a very good job of showing through her worldbuilding and dialogue that the same things we experience here with gender and diversity, are happening in the stars too. These things are not the focus of the story but do play a part in one of the character's lives. It felt so normal and genuine that it wasn't something I felt was pushed to earn brownie points or tick a box. This was something done really well because it fits naturally.
“Call me ‘she,’ or whatever you’re comfortable with for now, I don’t mind. You’ve had a huge dose of new lately, so don’t overthink it, but get used to fluidity and choice. Those rule the multiverse, if anything does.”
Worldbuilding is tough. I know, I've done it. You have thousands of little ideas and things to include but you can't fit everything in or else it becomes a encyclopedia of SFF and then you confuse readers. It's best to choose a few themes or ideas and make them polished. Essa has some really cool and unique ideas in this book that I loved. I won't spoil it by telling you here but there are numerous ideas which I haven't seen before.
As for the actual worldbuilding of planets and ships and other sci-fi bits, they're great. You have parts of the story in spaceships with enough detail and design explained for you to actually be able to picture the story or to experience the character's feelings as they zip through debris or outrun a bigger ship etc. The story mainly takes part on solid land or space stations of some sort and these are well designed, thought out and fleshed out onto the pages that you can really visualise them. The place referred to as The Den gave me Citadel vibes. This for me is really important. If the worldbuilding in a book isn't good then it becomes hard to stay engaged.
"Multiverse is full of distractions. Fighting, flirting, and . . . En loves all the F’s. Distractions.”
The pacing and action in the story is right on the money. We go from one drama to a tense standoff to a revelation of information back to a standoff and more drama. I really got Red Rising vibes from Caiden and this book. The combat in the book is really well written and believable too, which is really important. If it doesn't sound like it could happen (superpowers aside) then it won't be believable and if you don't believe it you're going to lose interest. Plenty of punches and kicks get you into the gritty action up close and personal with Caiden as he deals with those in his way.
Rating - 4/5 This is a really great debut novel from Essa Hansen. Nophek Gloss makes me excited to read more Sci-Fi. When you read this story, it's like Caiden and you are old friends discovering the universe together. The book flows nicely, builds up problems before building up Caiden and the characters all bring something unique. This has Red Rising and Mass Effect vibes so if you like them, you'll really enjoy this. The sequel, Azura Ghost, book 2 of The Graven is out December 7th (US)/9th (UK) by Orbit and I am really excited to see what happens next with Caiden.
hank's review
4.0
This is a conflicted 4 stars. The concepts and general space opera feel are amazing and as usual I want the ship! Multiple universes, big and small spanned by special ships with a host of mind boggling alien races that you actually need the glossary for. Some won't like that but I did. The plot was excellent, and then not and then excellent and then confusing but a decent sappy ending for my taste.
I have two main problems with the book. One, that Hansen's sentences don't flow and are difficult to read for me. That could be that she jammed so much weird into the book that it was inevitable but when I have to read more than a few sentences two or three times just to understand (see most of my book reviews for unclear writing as examples), that is for sure a negative. Two, the amount of naive stupidity and consequential physical and mental abuse the MC ends up going through are too much. I honestly skipped the last torture/pyscho abuse because I was both bored and done squirming in my chair.
I was going to say I am definitely reading the next book because this one was very strange and novel and I would like to see what happens next but the only friend review I have says it ends on a major cliffhanger with multiple threads unresolved and she was unhappy so....maybe I will read the next one or maybe I will wait until the third comes out.
I have two main problems with the book. One, that Hansen's sentences don't flow and are difficult to read for me. That could be that she jammed so much weird into the book that it was inevitable but when I have to read more than a few sentences two or three times just to understand (see most of my book reviews for unclear writing as examples), that is for sure a negative. Two, the amount of naive stupidity and consequential physical and mental abuse the MC ends up going through are too much. I honestly skipped the last torture/pyscho abuse because I was both bored and done squirming in my chair.
I was going to say I am definitely reading the next book because this one was very strange and novel and I would like to see what happens next but the only friend review I have says it ends on a major cliffhanger with multiple threads unresolved and she was unhappy so....maybe I will read the next one or maybe I will wait until the third comes out.