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A review by ladymacbeth_1985
Hel's Eight by Stark Holborn
adventurous
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.
An amazing sequel that lives up to the first novel, Hel’s Eight is a riveting, action-packed story with a tortured heroine and wonderful diverse side characters.
While this novel could easily have just piggybacked on the first book, in terms of setting and characters, it is not just a “this world is already established” sequel. We have a new antagonist and new stakes. While we have some characters reappearing (which was great!), they are all five years older. And the world-building in this book is almost more expansive than the first. In book onem we are given enough of a backstory to set the scene and explain Gabi but it felt like Factus existed as this kind of abandoned penal colony of sorts, whereas in Hel’s Eight we’re shown not only how and why this dumpy planet is important to the universe at large, but we see other places! There’s a really cool dystopian Blade Runner-like world at one point that was so interesting; I wished we’d spent more time there.
Like in the first book, the action in this book is impressive, immersive, and gritty. It retains a very Western feel with lots of shoot-outs, hand-to-hand, and realistic wounds. Where the book really shines though, are the few scenes where we get more explanation (or at least extrapolation) into what the “Ifs” are. It gives an almost fantastical element to the story that, paradoxically, serves to ground the action.
The characters are fantastic and fun and loveable. I’ll never get over the cleverness of the name “G’hals” for the one gang of women. I loved the edition of a journal by one of the characters from the previous book, which helped explain a lot of things about book one and the world itself. Ten, as usual, was a conflicted woman who wants to be moral but keeps getting dragged into crappy situations. One thing I will say is that this novel needed more Gabi! I was kind of sad that she was no longer a kid, as she was hilarious as a preteen, but I also really liked the dynamic between her and Rouf. They were also a great addition to the story as well. I’m also super fond of Rowdy, the robot dog.
The prose is wonderfully descriptive and full of evocative yet grounded metaphors, with lines like, “A fresh smell of wet green branches that makes my body cry out for mist and leaves and forests” and “my eyelids are steel doors that I have to heave open.” These lines may be altered or removed in the final printing (as I read an ARC).
On top of being an extremely quick read (I flew through it because I have no self-control when it comes to reading and, well, pizza and some other things), it also carries a theme about predetermination vs destiny and what that means about the choices you make. What choices do we really have, sometimes? And how much blame are we allowed to place upon ourselves for mistakes that are sometimes the result of outside forces?
Overall, a fantastic novel that I really could not put down. It’s so much fun! I loved it.
An amazing sequel that lives up to the first novel, Hel’s Eight is a riveting, action-packed story with a tortured heroine and wonderful diverse side characters.
While this novel could easily have just piggybacked on the first book, in terms of setting and characters, it is not just a “this world is already established” sequel. We have a new antagonist and new stakes. While we have some characters reappearing (which was great!), they are all five years older. And the world-building in this book is almost more expansive than the first. In book onem we are given enough of a backstory to set the scene and explain Gabi but it felt like Factus existed as this kind of abandoned penal colony of sorts, whereas in Hel’s Eight we’re shown not only how and why this dumpy planet is important to the universe at large, but we see other places! There’s a really cool dystopian Blade Runner-like world at one point that was so interesting; I wished we’d spent more time there.
Like in the first book, the action in this book is impressive, immersive, and gritty. It retains a very Western feel with lots of shoot-outs, hand-to-hand, and realistic wounds. Where the book really shines though, are the few scenes where we get more explanation (or at least extrapolation) into what the “Ifs” are. It gives an almost fantastical element to the story that, paradoxically, serves to ground the action.
The characters are fantastic and fun and loveable. I’ll never get over the cleverness of the name “G’hals” for the one gang of women. I loved the edition of a journal by one of the characters from the previous book, which helped explain a lot of things about book one and the world itself. Ten, as usual, was a conflicted woman who wants to be moral but keeps getting dragged into crappy situations. One thing I will say is that this novel needed more Gabi! I was kind of sad that she was no longer a kid, as she was hilarious as a preteen, but I also really liked the dynamic between her and Rouf. They were also a great addition to the story as well. I’m also super fond of Rowdy, the robot dog.
The prose is wonderfully descriptive and full of evocative yet grounded metaphors, with lines like, “A fresh smell of wet green branches that makes my body cry out for mist and leaves and forests” and “my eyelids are steel doors that I have to heave open.” These lines may be altered or removed in the final printing (as I read an ARC).
On top of being an extremely quick read (I flew through it because I have no self-control when it comes to reading and, well, pizza and some other things), it also carries a theme about predetermination vs destiny and what that means about the choices you make. What choices do we really have, sometimes? And how much blame are we allowed to place upon ourselves for mistakes that are sometimes the result of outside forces?
Overall, a fantastic novel that I really could not put down. It’s so much fun! I loved it.