Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Immortality Thief

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The Immortality Thief by Taran Hunt

4 reviews

adancewithbooks's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

The Immortality Thief grabbed my attention with that awesome spaceship on the cover. It looks epic and from what I have read, this space ship is actually just that epic. While it didn't completely sweep me up as others have said it would, I did really enjoy this book.

This book introduces us to the rather talk active Sean as he is navigating a space ship to a deserted patch of space. To a deserted space ship where he and his 'crew' have to pick something up. As we spend some time with him we learn that he is good in languages and apparently a criminal. He is very focused on not wanting anyone dead. I thought that was an odd fixation for every situation but as we learn of his past with his 'friend' Benny, that starts making a bit more sense.

What I found most interesting in this book was the set up. A few hundred years ago the humans, who at that point had a good bit of technology, were set back by the ministers who seemed to have come out of nowhere. Thought to be aliens who came to punish them for having too much for their own good. The ministers took over ruling the humans in a set part of space, letting there be room for a human Republic to rise in another part of space. One can imagine they do not get along very well. But this setting set off a lot of questions. Who are the ministers? What really did happen all those hundred of years ago? Well I can tell you, you will get some answers to that. I was glad for that because we aren't going to be stringing along in a series to get some of these answers. Instead we get the answers by the end of this book and then we get the chance to explore and move on with the story more.

While this book is a science-fiction book, it strongly borders into horror as our group of characters navigate the ship. Human like creatures that want to eat them with razor sharp teeth, children with more sharp teeth and lets not forget the nanobots from the ships computer who sees humans as a threat. There is a bit of gore, blood and violence in it because of that.

Having said that, I didn't immediately warm up to our main character or the other characters. With Sean I really needed to get a good feel for his character. Getting a good look into his past and how his alliance with his 'friend' Benny came to be. I was glad to find him in different company for most of the book because there he got the chance to develop himself without that influence. As I warmed up to him however I was able to extend that to his two companions who both came from very different sides. They were a contrast but a good addition to Sean.

All in all I'm excited to read on in this setting and series.

Content Warnings

martinatan's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Despite slow initial pacing that made it difficult to get into the plot, ultimately I came to appreciate the thrilling progression of events interspersed with endearing character moments. I appreciated that the story explored interpersonal and political dynamics with an ultimate message of unity and overcoming difference. I didn’t expect there to be a bio-horror angle but it came together decently and added to the disturbing nature of the setting. This book was not seamless in its plot and worldbuilding, but was still well-written and has a lot of heart.

Content Warnings

azrah786's review against another edition

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4.5

[This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

CW: violence, blood, injury detail, body horror, self harm, war, death, death of parents, genocide
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A brilliant debut, The Immortality Thief is a high stakes sci-fi adventure with a dash of horror that will keep you entertained all the way through. Don’t let the 600+page count daunt you because the chapters are short and the story is super compelling, you’ll be whizzing through and wishing for more as soon as you get to the end.

To sum it up the book is basically a locked room treasure hunt, where the room in question is an abandoned spaceship that is docked near a star on the verge of supernova. Long lost, the ship is known to hold data including the secrets of immortality - the Philosopher’s Stone experiments - and there are 3 groups with their eyes on the prize.

One is a handful of convicts who have been coerced into salvaging the data in order to avoid a life sentence in prison – our protagonist Sean Wren, smuggler and expert linguist, is part of this group. There is also The Republic, the last free human government, and The Ministers, an immortal species of alien trying to subjugate all of humanity – two groups that have been at war for centuries. But not only is time against them all, so are all the traps, monsters and secrets that have been hiding in the dark corners of the spaceship for the last thousand years.

"It probably won't bite," I reassured her.
"In my experience, spaceships don't. Not usually."

Now going into this book I expected full on action but I was pleasantly surprised with how equally humorous and thought-provoking the overall storyline was, but there is of course a fair bit of tragedy, gore and terror involved too.

From the creepy monsters and murderous tech to venturing into the unknown, Hunt’s writing perfectly captured the eerie atmosphere and heart racing tension of always having to watch your back. Though the plot predominantly unfolds in the one vast setting, the worldbuilding is gradually fleshed out through character flashbacks and the secrets that are uncovered as the ship is explored, to give us an idea of the wider universe and its history. What makes this story in particular so original and refreshing though is the focus and commentary on translation, communication and languages.

"There's no point resenting what's already happened; it's done. The only thing to do is make my situation better from here."

Sean has a mouth that gets him into trouble just as much as it gets him out of it which made his perspective both endearing and annoying to follow. (If you like witty chapter titles then you’re in for a treat.) The guy has a good heart but lacks the usual qualities expected of a leading hero and it is his familiarity with the ancient language of Ameng that makes him a key player in the hunt. Thus he finds himself negotiating for his skills with an array of interesting characters.

Among those Sean finds himself having to work with, the most notable are of course Lantern Eyes and Indigo. The reluctant relationship and banter that sparks between this trio was so fun and was my favourite part of the book.
I’m not going to go in to much detail here because honestly it is so worth enjoying it first hand, but if you love stories full of twists and high stakes, a good monster chase, morally grey characters and reluctant alliances bordering on found family then you don’t want to miss this one!

I’m eager to get my hands on the next book in the series to discover more of this world Hunt has created and to see what happens next!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars

Content Warnings

boojumssnark's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This review is a place holder for a properly thought out, constructive review.

While I work on that, the only thing you need to know is THE BOOK IS GOOD, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ IT.

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