A review by danielles_reads
Those Left Behind by N.C. Scrimgeour

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

4.0

This was a very thrilling start to a series! The plot is really exciting. I NEED to know what is up with those Waystations!
Where did these ancient aliens go? Are they dead? Why did they leave? Is there a larger enemy that killed them? Their technology is so advanced that they can control people’s bodies via the way stations and control their thoughts?? Like what is that? What is up with that cave with dead Sioleans and the waystation diagram??

The world building is really cool. I like how the aliens all feel very different and like they actually evolved on different planets. The flare thing is really interesting - absorbing radiation to give you power? And the iskath / jarkaths different levels of atmospheric toxins is interesting too, and how that influenced galaxy politics in how they grew apart and saw each other. I hope we learn a little more about the humans in the new galaxy cause they are kinda vague so far. Also I don’t much about the dachryns. The Idran-Var are really interesting too and I’m looking forward to learning more about them since they don’t seem as evil as the Coalition depicts them…

This had some interesting POV characters and I liked following along with all of them and didn’t find any boring. They all were experiencing very different things which kept every perspective fresh. Alvera seems to have the most complicated history and I’m really curious to find out more about her. Ridley seems the most endearing to me (so smart and wholesome!). Niole is interesting too. Rivus is probably the most boring to me as a character, but what he experienced was really interesting so it was fine. Though Chase was my absolute favorite. Love a snarky AI (in fiction) lmao.

Honestly I love the “all of us go or none of us go” mantra and loved hearing it every time. Especially after seeing what the surface of New Pallas was like and
Shaw straight up killing surfacers
like hell yeah, fight back against that oppression!

I didn’t really emotionally connect with any of the characters though. Maybe Elion the most actually (who isn’t even a POV character) because I really felt her nest’s sacrifice and her desire to help her people explore the galaxy and fight jarkath oppression. There wasn’t much character development yet really other than most of the POV characters questioning how far they’ll go to reach their goals / are they a bad person.

But tbh it got kinda exhausting to hear that over and over again in Kojan, Ridley, Alvera, and Niole’s POVs, especially considering that their enemies are all heartless one-note evil villains who don’t give a fuck (is Ojara even a person?
Like who puts a kill-switch in their own kid?
Unbelievable levels of evil. I would like to see more of Kojan and Ojara’s relationship because HOW is she his mother?? And who knows about these ancient aliens but they seem to be one-note evil as well). I like that the MCs are morally grey but I wish the villains were too. 

There were some plot conveniences in the end. Bringing Rivus and Niole together especially felt very forced.
Because why would the Idran-Var send out an unarmed ship with so many valuable soldiers right into the middle of a huge battle?? Makes no sense. And I don’t know why Rivus expected Tarvan to actually listen to him when his visions were so vague. Like he just assumed it was a countdown to the end of the world with no evidence? I didn’t feel any real sense of foreboding until Ridley’s chapter honestly (that foray into the cave was well done, really spooky).

I’m really intrigued to find out what happens next, so I already started the next book!