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The Graven #1
Nophek Gloss
When a young man's planet is destroyed, he sets out on a single-minded quest for revenge across the galaxy in Nophek Gloss, the first book in this epic space opera trilogy by debut author Essa Hansen, for fans of Revenger and Children of Time.
Caiden's planet is destroyed. His family gone. And, 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. But the universe hides dangers as well, and soon Caiden has his own plans.
He vows to do anything it takes to get revenge on the slavers who murdered his people and took away his home. To destroy their regime, he must infiltrate and dismantle them from the inside, or die trying.
Caiden's planet is destroyed. His family gone. And, 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. But the universe hides dangers as well, and soon Caiden has his own plans.
He vows to do anything it takes to get revenge on the slavers who murdered his people and took away his home. To destroy their regime, he must infiltrate and dismantle them from the inside, or die trying.
433 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 17, 2020
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5913 people want to read
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November 23, 2020
NOPHEK GLOSS is such a difficult book to categorize. This is a very good thing mind you. Yes it contains some amazing space opera moments, yes it also dabbles in a good amount of hard SF, absolutely does it touch on some classic science fiction elements as well. So there's a lot to digest in the not quite 500 pages of this incredibly entertaining story. But in the end what it ends up being is a book that makes you care about what happens to the main character Caiden and those around him as they battle some of the most vile enemies imaginable in the Overseers. The heart of the plot is one that is true of most successful stories, edge of your seat excitement coupled with an emotional and well-delivered central conflict. In the case of NOPHEK GLOSS, we have a revenge plot line that kicks ass and compels you to devour each chapter to see if Caiden gets that final justice that he so desperately seeks.
Along the way we get treated to some off the charts SF technology and it is utterly breathtaking. Most notably, the spacecraft that is so stunningly depicted on the front cover of NOPHEK GLOSS. Not since Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy have we been treated to sentient ships like this where they are essentially every bit as much of a living and thinking being as the humans or aliens who travel inside them. Another aspect of what makes these ships so damn cool is their ability to create their own universes and also allow for quick travel from one to another, something that also makes them a highly desirable commodity and a terribly dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.
Another imaginative concept is Nophek Gloss itself. What is it you ask? I have heard some describe it as similar to the spice Melange in the Dune novels, and sure I can see where those parallels would be made somewhat. However, there's much more to this mysterious substance and the way of obtaining it is much different than how they harvested spice in Herbert's desert setting of Arrakis. The myriad of diverse aliens and otherworldly creatures that you will encounter the further you get into the book only serve to add to the brilliance of this special galaxy-spanning opening entry in Hansen's The Graven series.
The fact that this is Essa Hansen's debut novel is unbelievably impressive in my opinion. To be able to pack this kind of personal story into such a technologically genre bending canvas and have it work so seamlessly is quite an achievement indeed. I really didn't want this book to end and I found myself kind of slowing up and savoring those last few chapters. Luckily for us, this is only the beginning for this series and this talented breakout author. I just hope we don't have to wait too long for the follow up.
If you love science fiction that is big on technology and world-building yet doesn't skimp in the least when it comes to an intriguing story, you need to read NOPHEK GLOSS as soon as you possibly can. It reminded me of Iain M. Banks at his finest in its quality and boundary pushing and I came away feeling that I had just read an author merely scratching the surface of a blossoming career. I would liken it to seeing a great musician early on in their career in a small intimate theater. At the end of the show you walk out smiling because you are part of those who are right now in on the secret, but are also dead certain that the next time you see them will be at a giant arena tour in front of screaming hordes. I for one am really looking forward to it.
Along the way we get treated to some off the charts SF technology and it is utterly breathtaking. Most notably, the spacecraft that is so stunningly depicted on the front cover of NOPHEK GLOSS. Not since Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy have we been treated to sentient ships like this where they are essentially every bit as much of a living and thinking being as the humans or aliens who travel inside them. Another aspect of what makes these ships so damn cool is their ability to create their own universes and also allow for quick travel from one to another, something that also makes them a highly desirable commodity and a terribly dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.
Another imaginative concept is Nophek Gloss itself. What is it you ask? I have heard some describe it as similar to the spice Melange in the Dune novels, and sure I can see where those parallels would be made somewhat. However, there's much more to this mysterious substance and the way of obtaining it is much different than how they harvested spice in Herbert's desert setting of Arrakis. The myriad of diverse aliens and otherworldly creatures that you will encounter the further you get into the book only serve to add to the brilliance of this special galaxy-spanning opening entry in Hansen's The Graven series.
The fact that this is Essa Hansen's debut novel is unbelievably impressive in my opinion. To be able to pack this kind of personal story into such a technologically genre bending canvas and have it work so seamlessly is quite an achievement indeed. I really didn't want this book to end and I found myself kind of slowing up and savoring those last few chapters. Luckily for us, this is only the beginning for this series and this talented breakout author. I just hope we don't have to wait too long for the follow up.
If you love science fiction that is big on technology and world-building yet doesn't skimp in the least when it comes to an intriguing story, you need to read NOPHEK GLOSS as soon as you possibly can. It reminded me of Iain M. Banks at his finest in its quality and boundary pushing and I came away feeling that I had just read an author merely scratching the surface of a blossoming career. I would liken it to seeing a great musician early on in their career in a small intimate theater. At the end of the show you walk out smiling because you are part of those who are right now in on the secret, but are also dead certain that the next time you see them will be at a giant arena tour in front of screaming hordes. I for one am really looking forward to it.
November 17, 2020
Caveat: This is not your usual book review; I've included some "behind the scenes" musings for once. If you prefer my usual reviews, this may not be your cup of tea. Okay, caveats out of the way--let's go!
There's a lot of mutual back-scratching (praise my book, and I'll praise your book!) which goes on in publishing, both self and trade. I don't mean this in a derogatory sense, because it comes from a good place: earnest writers genuinely trying to help out other writer buddies.
But I mention it here because I think, if I don't, my review will look suspect. By way of explanation, I'm one of Essa's critique partners, and under normal circumstances I would fully expect anyone reading this review to roll their eyes and say, "Of COURSE you think it's good!"
The thing is, it's actually the other way around.
NOPHEK GLOSS won me over on its own merits, all while being massively at a disadvantage.
Let me explain further--let's rewind three years. I was still 29, and muddling painfully through my first (truly terrible) novel. It was finished, but not very good, and I was struggling to find beta reader swaps for it. Beta reader swaps are where you contact another writer, usually someone you don't know, and agree to critique each other's books. The critique process is important for everyone, because humans learn best through teaching; when you critique others' work, you're teaching yourself to get better, too, as well as benefiting from fresh eyes on your MS.
But the problem with beta swap partners is they're often not very good experiences. Either you're a novice, or the other person is, or you both are, or your critique styles just don't match--hundreds of things that can go wrong, meaning one or both writers abandons the swap. Think about dating online: it's probably a bit like that, but far more annoying and far less rewarding.
My early beta swap experiences were pretty terrible. The books I was swapping for appalled me. I'm sure my book appalled other people, too.
Somehow, I blundered into Essa. We were in lot of the same FB groups: trawling for betas, asking questions, sometimes giving advice; we both wrote "speculative fiction" and aspired to have a literary edge. (Whether we achieve that or not, I leave to readers to decide.) Eventually--to cut a lot of pointless detail short--we ended up swapping books.
The book I swapped for was, of course, Nophek Gloss.
I started reading. This was pretty good! I kept reading, page after page, making my way through the chapters, leaving notes or nitpicks as they struck me, musing on sections, asking questions.
Even after a couple chapters in, I'd already had the realisation that this was the first manuscript I'd ever beta-read which felt like a real book. Like it could actually get picked up and produced by a publisher. The quality of the writing, the micro tension, the descriptions, the ideas, the characters and characterisations; you could just FEEL it.
This book was going to make it.
That very early version of NOPHEK was only 22 chapters long, and much less polished than the novel you are about to embark on (assuming you are reading this review first, that is.) Through the following three years, as we queried agents, swapped more critiques, wrote different books, rewrote old books, and found rep, Essa continued working on NOPHEK to make the novel more refined and eloquent. All the same qualities that early draft had were still present, just expanded and magnified.
In short, I don't rate the book highly because I know its author; I know its author, because I rated the book highly.
And therefore, when I say that my review is unbiased, I am genuinely being truthful.
For the novel itself, I will simply say that NOPHEK GLOSS is--to me--a coming of age (bildungsroman) story which is pitched at adults, rather than teens. It explores the effects of growing up too fast--literally, thanks to technology--in response to trauma, and the psychological cost of suppressing pain or loss in pursuit of our goals.
And yes, there are lots of other cool things too: the bubble universe stuff, the sheer variety of alien culture and life, the creative and playful interaction with biotech, the ship that creates universes, etc etc. But I will leave most of that for readers to discover, if they wish. There are many surprises and I'd feel bad spoiling them in-depth.
I hope that you will find Nophek Gloss as surprising and delightful as I first did, all those years ago.
PS - this is not available for sale yet. I read an ARC of the recent version, in addition to earlier versions.
PPS - For those interested in rep, the MC is written as ace-spec, and one of the supporting characters is neurodivergent (#ownvoices ND.) Some very good trans and nb rep throughout, too.
There's a lot of mutual back-scratching (praise my book, and I'll praise your book!) which goes on in publishing, both self and trade. I don't mean this in a derogatory sense, because it comes from a good place: earnest writers genuinely trying to help out other writer buddies.
But I mention it here because I think, if I don't, my review will look suspect. By way of explanation, I'm one of Essa's critique partners, and under normal circumstances I would fully expect anyone reading this review to roll their eyes and say, "Of COURSE you think it's good!"
The thing is, it's actually the other way around.
NOPHEK GLOSS won me over on its own merits, all while being massively at a disadvantage.
Let me explain further--let's rewind three years. I was still 29, and muddling painfully through my first (truly terrible) novel. It was finished, but not very good, and I was struggling to find beta reader swaps for it. Beta reader swaps are where you contact another writer, usually someone you don't know, and agree to critique each other's books. The critique process is important for everyone, because humans learn best through teaching; when you critique others' work, you're teaching yourself to get better, too, as well as benefiting from fresh eyes on your MS.
But the problem with beta swap partners is they're often not very good experiences. Either you're a novice, or the other person is, or you both are, or your critique styles just don't match--hundreds of things that can go wrong, meaning one or both writers abandons the swap. Think about dating online: it's probably a bit like that, but far more annoying and far less rewarding.
My early beta swap experiences were pretty terrible. The books I was swapping for appalled me. I'm sure my book appalled other people, too.
Somehow, I blundered into Essa. We were in lot of the same FB groups: trawling for betas, asking questions, sometimes giving advice; we both wrote "speculative fiction" and aspired to have a literary edge. (Whether we achieve that or not, I leave to readers to decide.) Eventually--to cut a lot of pointless detail short--we ended up swapping books.
The book I swapped for was, of course, Nophek Gloss.
I started reading. This was pretty good! I kept reading, page after page, making my way through the chapters, leaving notes or nitpicks as they struck me, musing on sections, asking questions.
Even after a couple chapters in, I'd already had the realisation that this was the first manuscript I'd ever beta-read which felt like a real book. Like it could actually get picked up and produced by a publisher. The quality of the writing, the micro tension, the descriptions, the ideas, the characters and characterisations; you could just FEEL it.
This book was going to make it.
That very early version of NOPHEK was only 22 chapters long, and much less polished than the novel you are about to embark on (assuming you are reading this review first, that is.) Through the following three years, as we queried agents, swapped more critiques, wrote different books, rewrote old books, and found rep, Essa continued working on NOPHEK to make the novel more refined and eloquent. All the same qualities that early draft had were still present, just expanded and magnified.
In short, I don't rate the book highly because I know its author; I know its author, because I rated the book highly.
And therefore, when I say that my review is unbiased, I am genuinely being truthful.
For the novel itself, I will simply say that NOPHEK GLOSS is--to me--a coming of age (bildungsroman) story which is pitched at adults, rather than teens. It explores the effects of growing up too fast--literally, thanks to technology--in response to trauma, and the psychological cost of suppressing pain or loss in pursuit of our goals.
And yes, there are lots of other cool things too: the bubble universe stuff, the sheer variety of alien culture and life, the creative and playful interaction with biotech, the ship that creates universes, etc etc. But I will leave most of that for readers to discover, if they wish. There are many surprises and I'd feel bad spoiling them in-depth.
I hope that you will find Nophek Gloss as surprising and delightful as I first did, all those years ago.
PS - this is not available for sale yet. I read an ARC of the recent version, in addition to earlier versions.
PPS - For those interested in rep, the MC is written as ace-spec, and one of the supporting characters is neurodivergent (#ownvoices ND.) Some very good trans and nb rep throughout, too.
February 6, 2022
3.5 Stars
This novel has an incredibly strong start with an opening sequence that was brutal and devastating. It is always fantastic to find an author who isn't afraid to write something dark. Beyond the beginning, the story mostly read like a fairly conventional space opera. It followed the major tropes of the subgenre, leaning hard into the idea of found family.
I loved the diversity among the aliens species. I particularly appreciated the natural inclusion of diversity including gender fluidity and the normalization of neutral pronouns.
I am not personally the biggest fan of naive children in my stories so I was happy that the protagonist, Caiden, matured relatively quickly. The characters were fairly well developed, although I never became particularly attached to anyone.
The world building in this universe was actually one of the most unique aspects of this space opera . My favourite aspect of the worldbuilding was easily the alien creatures. The beasts felt so uniquely alien, yet the descriptions conjured such vivid images in my mind.
Overall, I enjoyed this one and would recommend to one to scifi readers looking for a new space opera adventure.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher, Orbit Books.
This novel has an incredibly strong start with an opening sequence that was brutal and devastating. It is always fantastic to find an author who isn't afraid to write something dark. Beyond the beginning, the story mostly read like a fairly conventional space opera. It followed the major tropes of the subgenre, leaning hard into the idea of found family.
I loved the diversity among the aliens species. I particularly appreciated the natural inclusion of diversity including gender fluidity and the normalization of neutral pronouns.
I am not personally the biggest fan of naive children in my stories so I was happy that the protagonist, Caiden, matured relatively quickly. The characters were fairly well developed, although I never became particularly attached to anyone.
The world building in this universe was actually one of the most unique aspects of this space opera . My favourite aspect of the worldbuilding was easily the alien creatures. The beasts felt so uniquely alien, yet the descriptions conjured such vivid images in my mind.
Overall, I enjoyed this one and would recommend to one to scifi readers looking for a new space opera adventure.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher, Orbit Books.
abandoned
June 9, 2021I lied. I'm never coming back to this. I've got better things to do with my life.
DNF at 59%
So... I wanted to like this, I had hopes, despite the cheesy anime-mecha looking thing on the cover, but I just can not deal with this writing. Ugh.
It's not 100% dumpster fire, I'll give it that. The pacing is fantastic, and it has some sort of X factor that kept me reading long past the point I realized it was not for me. Which really should have been on page one, but I impuslively bought it without reading the sample, so my bad.
So I want to talk about a couple of specific issues. The first being the world-building and internal logic. I don't read YA dystopian stuff, it doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. Couldn't even be bothered to watch the movie for Hunger Games. I mention this to say I don't have a frame of reference here. But the main character starts out in a dystopia so cartoonishly over the top it reads like a parody. Ok, I might could roll my eyes at that and go with the flow, but there are so many internal logic issues with even the setting that this book alone should obliterate the idea "traditionally published" books are better because "editing". As best I can figure out, our MC lives in a large box, where they raise some kind of cattle. I think it's underground because of how they talk about some sort of elevator platform where the cattle ready for eating go. But I'm not sure. He seems like he knows about other boxes, unclear if he's visited them. He's said to never have seen the real sky at one point. But he and his female autistic coded friend who gets fridged almost immediately (**grrrrr**) went to see the "ocean". WTF?
There's stuff like this:
What? If the pipes which I interpret as existing specifcally to vent the vapor pierce the ceiling how does he see the vapor? Wouldn't it be outside the compound then? I don't understand.
Later he sees ships "impossibly" flying, not even touching the ground. When he goes up in one he asks, "what if we fall?" But somehow he knows what weightlessness is? And we're told at one point he dreamed of being a pilot? What?
Much later:
Excuse me, but then how does Caiden know what it is. Is this some 60's Batman shit? Is there also a big sign "Secret Hideout" over the door?
Let's move on to the plotting. I mentioned the pacing is fantastic, but the plotting is... not. The whole dystopia thing at the beginning is basically just to give the MC something to be angry about. Whatever the MC needs to move the plot along is basically just handed to him on a platter. He survives a massacre and wanders off into the desert. He finds a lump of the most valuable substance in the universe. He finds a super-ship, just laying in the desert. Can't fly?The crew of Firefly I mean a band of lovable rogues randomly appears having crashed their own ship in the desert nearby. Want revenge, but only fourteen? No problem, here's a magic machine that will age your body up 6 years and download all kinds of knowledge into your head at the same time. No one knows where the secret fortress of your enemy leader is? No problem, here's a spy who wants to take you there. Which is about where I quit.
But really, my biggest problem is the prose and metaphor, which I would have noticed in under a minute had I read the sample. The phrase "parental units" is used non-humorously.
I could find countless more examples, but I just can't make myself read another word of it.
DNF at 59%
So... I wanted to like this, I had hopes, despite the cheesy anime-mecha looking thing on the cover, but I just can not deal with this writing. Ugh.
It's not 100% dumpster fire, I'll give it that. The pacing is fantastic, and it has some sort of X factor that kept me reading long past the point I realized it was not for me. Which really should have been on page one, but I impuslively bought it without reading the sample, so my bad.
So I want to talk about a couple of specific issues. The first being the world-building and internal logic. I don't read YA dystopian stuff, it doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. Couldn't even be bothered to watch the movie for Hunger Games. I mention this to say I don't have a frame of reference here. But the main character starts out in a dystopia so cartoonishly over the top it reads like a parody. Ok, I might could roll my eyes at that and go with the flow, but there are so many internal logic issues with even the setting that this book alone should obliterate the idea "traditionally published" books are better because "editing". As best I can figure out, our MC lives in a large box, where they raise some kind of cattle. I think it's underground because of how they talk about some sort of elevator platform where the cattle ready for eating go. But I'm not sure. He seems like he knows about other boxes, unclear if he's visited them. He's said to never have seen the real sky at one point. But he and his female autistic coded friend who gets fridged almost immediately (**grrrrr**) went to see the "ocean". WTF?
There's stuff like this:
From the aerator’s top, pipes soared a hundred meters to the vast pasture compound’s ceiling, piercing through to spew clouds of vapor. Now merely a wheeze freckling the air.
What? If the pipes which I interpret as existing specifcally to vent the vapor pierce the ceiling how does he see the vapor? Wouldn't it be outside the compound then? I don't understand.
Later he sees ships "impossibly" flying, not even touching the ground. When he goes up in one he asks, "what if we fall?" But somehow he knows what weightlessness is? And we're told at one point he dreamed of being a pilot? What?
Much later:
[X's] possessions were impersonal and his databases vast. He had collated all of the Casthen’s research on Graven ruins and biotechnology, and stored an old backup of the Dynast’s data about the same. Nearly all of it was past a security wall Caiden couldn’t hack.
Excuse me, but then how does Caiden know what it is. Is this some 60's Batman shit? Is there also a big sign "Secret Hideout" over the door?
Let's move on to the plotting. I mentioned the pacing is fantastic, but the plotting is... not. The whole dystopia thing at the beginning is basically just to give the MC something to be angry about. Whatever the MC needs to move the plot along is basically just handed to him on a platter. He survives a massacre and wanders off into the desert. He finds a lump of the most valuable substance in the universe. He finds a super-ship, just laying in the desert. Can't fly?
But really, my biggest problem is the prose and metaphor, which I would have noticed in under a minute had I read the sample. The phrase "parental units" is used non-humorously.
The air was viciously silent
Fourteen now, Caiden had been chosen for a mechanic determination because his intelligence outclassed him for everything else.
Colors frothed across the sky, and dark ships plowed through, much too high and fast, riding air— which was impossible.
Lose this Casthen cur!
His face had human features, in different proportions and shape, feline or piscine in a way.
Sawtooth nostalgia lurked in every moment.
Babbling sounds whisked into airy syllables.
Dizziness rippled up his spine.
I could find countless more examples, but I just can't make myself read another word of it.
September 22, 2020
‘Author, swordswoman, and falconer. Sound designer for SFF films at Skywalker Sound, with credits in movies such as Doctor Strange and Avengers: Endgame,’ reads Essa Hansen’s Meet the Author page. With such a varied resume, it’s small wonder that her debut novel Nophek Gloss crackles with fresh, diverse creativity. It is hard science fiction at its best, flush with rich themes and sharp innovation.
Hansen tends to keep the book’s descriptions concise, yet it took me twice as long to read as other books of its length as I often paused to re-read passages in order to fully digest each sentence. This allowed for me to visualize it all in my mind, savoring each scene like a chef’s tasting menu. Speaking of menus, make sure you have a full stomach before diving into this one, as there’s plenty of mouth-watering space foods that might make you want to snack-read to an unhealthy degree. Or so I’ve heard.
The book covers a lot of ground, approaching various topics with care. Inclusivity and fluidity are underlying themes, and gender identity is often spotlighted as one character is able to shift genders and appearances at will. Body augmentation elevates these discussions into new areas to consider. Other areas the story addresses include examining maturity of the body versus the mind, doing bad things for the right reasons, deferring versus coping with grief, fear and acceptance, and the advancement of technology versus the shortcomings of humanity.
But don’t get hung up on just the heavy themes. There’s plenty of badass action scenes, eldritch beings, morphing coats, pleachroic everything, and a bleeping spaceship capable of creating its own universe on command.
For as detailed a world as Hansen creates, she is careful with exposition. I was not aware there was a glossary included, but I highly recommend avoiding it unless absolutely necessary, as I had much more fun unpacking the intricacies of the story’s multiverse on my own. Scene settings and descriptions are often no more than a line or two, delivered in a subtle, yet decorous prose. Complex life forms are rendered with just enough sketches of detail to balance with the user’s imagination. Scenes of lilies make repeated visits. ‘Shipping and fan art is inevitable.
There were a couple of plot points where I felt the characters’ behaviors were a bit of a stretch. One or two instances I asked myself if I thought those moments felt genuine. There is also a lot of information to absorb, between its world-building, characters, science terminology, and other topics. It is not the easiest of reads, but the more time you spend in its multiverse, the more rewarding it will be.
Plus, this book is just so damn COOL. I mean… that cover, right? Mike Heath’s art and Lauren Panepinto’s design sets the tone for the entire story: sleek, futuristic, and grim, with promises of light peeking through its dark tone.
I don’t think Nophek Gloss is a book for everyone, as it leans heavily into its themes that some may find a bit too grim or divisive. But if you’re like me—someone who thrives on challenging and imaginative stories that push the boundaries of thought and imagination—then this debut is a can’t-miss.
Hansen tends to keep the book’s descriptions concise, yet it took me twice as long to read as other books of its length as I often paused to re-read passages in order to fully digest each sentence. This allowed for me to visualize it all in my mind, savoring each scene like a chef’s tasting menu. Speaking of menus, make sure you have a full stomach before diving into this one, as there’s plenty of mouth-watering space foods that might make you want to snack-read to an unhealthy degree. Or so I’ve heard.
The book covers a lot of ground, approaching various topics with care. Inclusivity and fluidity are underlying themes, and gender identity is often spotlighted as one character is able to shift genders and appearances at will. Body augmentation elevates these discussions into new areas to consider. Other areas the story addresses include examining maturity of the body versus the mind, doing bad things for the right reasons, deferring versus coping with grief, fear and acceptance, and the advancement of technology versus the shortcomings of humanity.
But don’t get hung up on just the heavy themes. There’s plenty of badass action scenes, eldritch beings, morphing coats, pleachroic everything, and a bleeping spaceship capable of creating its own universe on command.
For as detailed a world as Hansen creates, she is careful with exposition. I was not aware there was a glossary included, but I highly recommend avoiding it unless absolutely necessary, as I had much more fun unpacking the intricacies of the story’s multiverse on my own. Scene settings and descriptions are often no more than a line or two, delivered in a subtle, yet decorous prose. Complex life forms are rendered with just enough sketches of detail to balance with the user’s imagination. Scenes of lilies make repeated visits. ‘Shipping and fan art is inevitable.
There were a couple of plot points where I felt the characters’ behaviors were a bit of a stretch. One or two instances I asked myself if I thought those moments felt genuine. There is also a lot of information to absorb, between its world-building, characters, science terminology, and other topics. It is not the easiest of reads, but the more time you spend in its multiverse, the more rewarding it will be.
Plus, this book is just so damn COOL. I mean… that cover, right? Mike Heath’s art and Lauren Panepinto’s design sets the tone for the entire story: sleek, futuristic, and grim, with promises of light peeking through its dark tone.
I don’t think Nophek Gloss is a book for everyone, as it leans heavily into its themes that some may find a bit too grim or divisive. But if you’re like me—someone who thrives on challenging and imaginative stories that push the boundaries of thought and imagination—then this debut is a can’t-miss.
October 17, 2020
I'm sorry to report this book just didn't work for me. The first part of the book is a bit of a slog, awash with unfamiliar terms and flooded with complex descriptions of new things, people, and places. I was impressed with the variety and abnormality of this strange multiverse, but I struggled to visualize it all. Left adrift, I had trouble paying attention.
Then we have our main character, Caiden. He's a 14-year old ricocheting through life after surviving a horrible, cataclysmic event: a genocide that killed everyone he knew and loved. I have to say that his revenge story really stressed me out. His found family tells him at every turn that seeking vengeance isn't the answer, but he ignores them (teenagers...gotta love em). This is not to say there's no basis for his hatred, of course, but it chokes the story before it even gets off the ground, in my opinion.
Overall, the pacing was slow, and even action sequences didn't draw my focus. I would have preferred any of Caiden's crew members as a protagonist because they all seemed to have interesting backstory and nuanced personality. Sadly, their presence in the cast wasn't enough to pull me along. When Caiden left them behind to fulfill his bloodthirsty quest, I lost my will to stick around. DNF at 53%.
Then we have our main character, Caiden. He's a 14-year old ricocheting through life after surviving a horrible, cataclysmic event: a genocide that killed everyone he knew and loved. I have to say that his revenge story really stressed me out. His found family tells him at every turn that seeking vengeance isn't the answer, but he ignores them (teenagers...gotta love em). This is not to say there's no basis for his hatred, of course, but it chokes the story before it even gets off the ground, in my opinion.
Overall, the pacing was slow, and even action sequences didn't draw my focus. I would have preferred any of Caiden's crew members as a protagonist because they all seemed to have interesting backstory and nuanced personality. Sadly, their presence in the cast wasn't enough to pull me along. When Caiden left them behind to fulfill his bloodthirsty quest, I lost my will to stick around. DNF at 53%.
September 1, 2020
Nophek Gloss is the hard to pronounce title if the first volume of a brand new science fiction series. The title refers to a little gem that comes from the skull of a rare animal and powers spaceships. Like the spice in Dune, the gloss is valuable beyond imagination. It's a coming of age novel, although the hero of the story bargains to age six years immediately and kind of gets to skip adolescence. Of course, like with many space operas, he is welcomed into a crew of misfits and there are space stations filled with all manner of beings. Within the squares of the chess game being played out are genetic design, mind control, and ships that ply routes not just between between planets, but between universes where different physical rules apply. Nevertheless, for this reader, it never quite achieved believability within its universe-building. That lack of realism detracted from an interesting book that began with incredible excitement as the main character struggles to survive among hungry beasts and marauding slavers.
June 28, 2020
This might be the best debut of 2020. It certainly has my vote in that regard at this point. The sheer imagination in this book is staggering. It reminds me of the most imaginative work of CJ Cherryh in that regard, and if you know me you know that's some seriously high praise. I would read chapters and chapters of just somebody walking through this multiverse describing what they see--it's that amazing. There's so much to like: The complex species and their interplay, the immense and varied environments, and technology like nothing I've ever seen. It blew me away.
Layer onto that a group of wonderful characters. The crew feels like a Becky Chambers novel crossed with Firefly, filled with complex relationships and the love and pain of found family. The villains are well-crafted and believable, fueled by realistic motivations. The book transcends good vs. evil and dives into a murky gray of colliding ethoi where villains align with heroes for a purpose and then shift back to suit their own designs, and the heroes cross their own boundaries in pursuit of their goals.
Layer onto that a group of wonderful characters. The crew feels like a Becky Chambers novel crossed with Firefly, filled with complex relationships and the love and pain of found family. The villains are well-crafted and believable, fueled by realistic motivations. The book transcends good vs. evil and dives into a murky gray of colliding ethoi where villains align with heroes for a purpose and then shift back to suit their own designs, and the heroes cross their own boundaries in pursuit of their goals.
April 24, 2025
An exciting and imaginative space opera offering with an expansive world-building. Recommended for space opera natives.
November 16, 2020
Nophek Gloss is a gritty debut space opera set in a complex world and following a character coming of age while dealing with severe trauma. This is one that's a little challenging to review because I think how much you will like it is really going to depend on taste.
Objectively, I thought the world was incredibly inventive and detailed, with explanations woven throughout the narrative rather than dumped at the beginning. The technology is fascinating. It also includes a diverse cast of characters from human and alien races, including one who is gender fluid and expresses that fluidity with the aid of tech. There are complex politics, twists and turns, and a found family of damaged people that may be reminiscent of Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows but as (mostly) traumatized grownups.
On the other hand, I want to talk about my experience reading this. In terms of pace, I found it to be slow going (especially toward the beginning) because we are learning a LOT about the world, and our MC is a teen boy who knows virtually nothing about the outside world and must come to terms with it after a violent and traumatic event. Things do pick up, but despite a few moments of levity and a semi-hopeful ending, this book feels very dark and heavy most of the time. It's a lot. There is a great deal of death, trauma, violence, injury, abuse, (including violence toward animals) and it can be a lot to deal with emotionally. Added to that, I found the MC to be incredibly frustrating. He's an angry, impulsive teen boy who does a lot of dumb things. Which might be accurate to the age, but this is decidedly not a YA story and I think I have less patience for that in adult science fiction.
So....I think this book is impressive and a strong debut, but I also struggled to get through it and often didn't enjoy the experience of reading it. Your mileage is going to vary depending on what you like as a reader and what you are looking for. I received an advance copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
Content warnings for all the things.
Objectively, I thought the world was incredibly inventive and detailed, with explanations woven throughout the narrative rather than dumped at the beginning. The technology is fascinating. It also includes a diverse cast of characters from human and alien races, including one who is gender fluid and expresses that fluidity with the aid of tech. There are complex politics, twists and turns, and a found family of damaged people that may be reminiscent of Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows but as (mostly) traumatized grownups.
On the other hand, I want to talk about my experience reading this. In terms of pace, I found it to be slow going (especially toward the beginning) because we are learning a LOT about the world, and our MC is a teen boy who knows virtually nothing about the outside world and must come to terms with it after a violent and traumatic event. Things do pick up, but despite a few moments of levity and a semi-hopeful ending, this book feels very dark and heavy most of the time. It's a lot. There is a great deal of death, trauma, violence, injury, abuse, (including violence toward animals) and it can be a lot to deal with emotionally. Added to that, I found the MC to be incredibly frustrating. He's an angry, impulsive teen boy who does a lot of dumb things. Which might be accurate to the age, but this is decidedly not a YA story and I think I have less patience for that in adult science fiction.
So....I think this book is impressive and a strong debut, but I also struggled to get through it and often didn't enjoy the experience of reading it. Your mileage is going to vary depending on what you like as a reader and what you are looking for. I received an advance copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
Content warnings for all the things.
December 10, 2021
I have been anticipating reading this book all year, and after receiving an arc of the sequel (which I am excited to read) it finally gave me the kick to read this book. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed with the outcome; hence the three star rating.
I'll start off with the positives, which is the world itself, not so much the world-building, but the world in general. You can really tell Hansen put in a lot of effort to developing an intriguing and very scientific world (hard SF readers will love it!) The whole concept of it being an ever-expanding multiverse where each universe has different physics and scientific makeups with these bubbles/borders around them called Rinds was awesome. Seeing the spaceships being able to traverse the Rinds via stellar egresses and crossovers (terms you learn in the book) was exciting to read about. I also loved the Cartographers Den, and Emporia/Unity in general. It had so many new scientific features--and creatures--which I will admit were kinda hard to get my head around at first but I got it eventually. The final thing I loved about the world was the Graven technology: Caiden's ship, the Azura is such an amazing invention and it was heavily under-explored. I mean, it can create it's own Rinds and universe, as well as being part biological and can connect with Caiden. Though, book two's title, and what happened to it in this book, suggests we will see a lot more of it.
The politics of the book was also pretty intriguing: I like the whole dynamic of the Casthen-Cartographers-Dynast and how it links to the Nophek and harvesting this crystalline gloss, that can be solid or liquid, that grows in their brains. It has so many amazing uses and for Nophek Gloss being the title, the whole thing felt under-explored.
Now on to the more negative aspects of the story: I felt that the first 20% of the story was fairly decent, however, I felt that the book started too late in the scene which made the characters motivations to move the plot forward feel sorely lacking. We start off with him (minor spoiler) It seemed too fake to be believable, unfortunately. I don't want to discount Caiden's trauma, but it just didn't hold great emotional depth for me to be fully invested in the revenge aspect of the book. As for Caiden himself, I thought he was a fairly okay narrator, but he was also the books detriment. Spending all of the book solely in his POV was a mistake on the authors part, in my opinion, as the plot felt very slow moving at times (particularly between the 25%-50% mark) which could've been rectified with multiple POV's. It also would've been helpful (big spoiler) as I would've loved to see their adventures, which would've fleshed their characters out more. More on that below.
I felt that the side characters were very flat and one-dimensional for the most part, but they could definitely become people I care for. There are simply too many for the main cast that it didn't work. There is: Laythan, Taitn, Panca, En and Ksiñe. They all had their own personality that was shown a bit, for example: Panca was really into engineering; Ksiñe liked cooking etc. However, they felt sidelined a lot, though En and Taitn were pretty prominent and I kinda liked them. Hopefully they get to grow in the sequels, but from what I've heard it seems like my issues may continue into Azura Ghost. The main theme of this book is supposed to be family, though I never really felt their family dynamic; we were constantly told they were family, but it was never really shown which is a shame because if the characters were fully developed it would've been a great found family.
As for the world-building, the execution was poorly done. There was a severe lack of descriptions which made it very hard to picture what 90% of the scenes looked like. I still cannot tell you what a Nophek (alien mammal) looks like, despite it being in the title. From online I have gathered that they look like hairy, scaly hippos? There were also a lot of terms thrown at you and never fully explained which led to a tiny bit of deus ex machina occurring. It would've helped if I had known there was a glossary at the back, alas, I did not find out until the end.
I will say that the Graven aspect of the plot was very interesting, though mysterious. I hope we find out more about the Graven in Azura Ghost, which I am positive we will due to the last chapter. The way people with Graven genes can influence people is super cool and it'd be awesome to see how it affects people deep down.
Overall, the plot was entertaining enough, albeit slow moving at times, but I would recommend this book if you like hard SF with an intriguing world and characters that have room to grow. It was a decent debut and I look forward to see where Hansen takes the rest of the trilogy. - 3.25*
I'll start off with the positives, which is the world itself, not so much the world-building, but the world in general. You can really tell Hansen put in a lot of effort to developing an intriguing and very scientific world (hard SF readers will love it!) The whole concept of it being an ever-expanding multiverse where each universe has different physics and scientific makeups with these bubbles/borders around them called Rinds was awesome. Seeing the spaceships being able to traverse the Rinds via stellar egresses and crossovers (terms you learn in the book) was exciting to read about. I also loved the Cartographers Den, and Emporia/Unity in general. It had so many new scientific features--and creatures--which I will admit were kinda hard to get my head around at first but I got it eventually. The final thing I loved about the world was the Graven technology: Caiden's ship, the Azura is such an amazing invention and it was heavily under-explored. I mean, it can create it's own Rinds and universe, as well as being part biological and can connect with Caiden. Though, book two's title, and what happened to it in this book, suggests we will see a lot more of it.
The politics of the book was also pretty intriguing: I like the whole dynamic of the Casthen-Cartographers-Dynast and how it links to the Nophek and harvesting this crystalline gloss, that can be solid or liquid, that grows in their brains. It has so many amazing uses and for Nophek Gloss being the title, the whole thing felt under-explored.
Now on to the more negative aspects of the story: I felt that the first 20% of the story was fairly decent, however, I felt that the book started too late in the scene which made the characters motivations to move the plot forward feel sorely lacking. We start off with him (minor spoiler) It seemed too fake to be believable, unfortunately. I don't want to discount Caiden's trauma, but it just didn't hold great emotional depth for me to be fully invested in the revenge aspect of the book. As for Caiden himself, I thought he was a fairly okay narrator, but he was also the books detriment. Spending all of the book solely in his POV was a mistake on the authors part, in my opinion, as the plot felt very slow moving at times (particularly between the 25%-50% mark) which could've been rectified with multiple POV's. It also would've been helpful (big spoiler) as I would've loved to see their adventures, which would've fleshed their characters out more. More on that below.
I felt that the side characters were very flat and one-dimensional for the most part, but they could definitely become people I care for. There are simply too many for the main cast that it didn't work. There is: Laythan, Taitn, Panca, En and Ksiñe. They all had their own personality that was shown a bit, for example: Panca was really into engineering; Ksiñe liked cooking etc. However, they felt sidelined a lot, though En and Taitn were pretty prominent and I kinda liked them. Hopefully they get to grow in the sequels, but from what I've heard it seems like my issues may continue into Azura Ghost. The main theme of this book is supposed to be family, though I never really felt their family dynamic; we were constantly told they were family, but it was never really shown which is a shame because if the characters were fully developed it would've been a great found family.
As for the world-building, the execution was poorly done. There was a severe lack of descriptions which made it very hard to picture what 90% of the scenes looked like. I still cannot tell you what a Nophek (alien mammal) looks like, despite it being in the title. From online I have gathered that they look like hairy, scaly hippos? There were also a lot of terms thrown at you and never fully explained which led to a tiny bit of deus ex machina occurring. It would've helped if I had known there was a glossary at the back, alas, I did not find out until the end.
I will say that the Graven aspect of the plot was very interesting, though mysterious. I hope we find out more about the Graven in Azura Ghost, which I am positive we will due to the last chapter. The way people with Graven genes can influence people is super cool and it'd be awesome to see how it affects people deep down.
Overall, the plot was entertaining enough, albeit slow moving at times, but I would recommend this book if you like hard SF with an intriguing world and characters that have room to grow. It was a decent debut and I look forward to see where Hansen takes the rest of the trilogy. - 3.25*
September 18, 2021
First off, YMMV on this one, but I struggled a bit to finish this one. NG is a 'Star Wars' type science fiction adventure novel that employs a number of tired tropes and does not do much to reinvent them in new and novel ways. Our main protagonist/hero is Caiden, born on a slave planet. One day, when he is just 14, all the slaves are rounded up and put into freight elevators or something and then deposited onto a plain inhabited by nasty beasts and torn to shreds. Caiden manages to hide under a rock and then finally finds an abandoned spaceship to hide in. After some trials and tribulations, a rag-tag band/crew finds him there; Caiden trades the nophek gloss he gathered from one of the beast's brain to tag along. The crew gets the spaceship running and off they go.
Now, the 'child vows vengeance' trope is old hat, but there you go. Caiden decides he will make the slavers pay and also those who were behind it. Another old trope-- a rag-tag band of misfits on a ship surviving on the fringe of the status quo. Sound familiar? Hansen did create a somewhat interesting crew, but again, minor variations on a well worn theme.
The most interesting thing about this novel is the world building. It seems 'unity' was the original universe, but many others have emerged, with strange properties, attached if you will to 'unity' by 'rinds'. Each universe exists like a bubble floating on the unity, and the less savory elements of society are outside unity. Spaceships, especially like the unique and special spaceship Caiden and crew just stumbled across, can navigate the rinds at it seems travel at super FTL speeds. Caiden and crew are seldom in a ship more than a day or so and they basically travel the universe. The tech is never even partially explained, making this something like golden age space opera.
In fact, NG is really a golden age space opera dressed up in fancy new clothes. Young man, recently escaped from slavery vows vengeance and just happens upon a fancy spaceship and a wizened crew to teach him the ropes. The unity is basically governed by the 'prime' and seems decent at first pass, but corruption is deep. Another group, the slavers, basically rules outside of prime and seem evil at first, but perhaps it is not so cut and dried. Caiden struggles with his vengeance and maturity, lashing out and getting into trouble. Caiden's new found friends quickly become 'family' to die for, forming a deep bond. Yada yada yada! Add in some novel ideas about technology and genetics, some all-so-human aliens (I kept picturing the Star Wars bar scene), and there you go.
Hansen does write well, and this being her first novel, I could cut her some slack, but this was just so predictable and 'old hat' feeling it is difficult. Maybe every generation has to reinvent the wheel. 2.5 stars, rounding down for the completely predictable ending that basically laid the foundation for a sequel.
Now, the 'child vows vengeance' trope is old hat, but there you go. Caiden decides he will make the slavers pay and also those who were behind it. Another old trope-- a rag-tag band of misfits on a ship surviving on the fringe of the status quo. Sound familiar? Hansen did create a somewhat interesting crew, but again, minor variations on a well worn theme.
The most interesting thing about this novel is the world building. It seems 'unity' was the original universe, but many others have emerged, with strange properties, attached if you will to 'unity' by 'rinds'. Each universe exists like a bubble floating on the unity, and the less savory elements of society are outside unity. Spaceships, especially like the unique and special spaceship Caiden and crew just stumbled across, can navigate the rinds at it seems travel at super FTL speeds. Caiden and crew are seldom in a ship more than a day or so and they basically travel the universe. The tech is never even partially explained, making this something like golden age space opera.
In fact, NG is really a golden age space opera dressed up in fancy new clothes. Young man, recently escaped from slavery vows vengeance and just happens upon a fancy spaceship and a wizened crew to teach him the ropes. The unity is basically governed by the 'prime' and seems decent at first pass, but corruption is deep. Another group, the slavers, basically rules outside of prime and seem evil at first, but perhaps it is not so cut and dried. Caiden struggles with his vengeance and maturity, lashing out and getting into trouble. Caiden's new found friends quickly become 'family' to die for, forming a deep bond. Yada yada yada! Add in some novel ideas about technology and genetics, some all-so-human aliens (I kept picturing the Star Wars bar scene), and there you go.
Hansen does write well, and this being her first novel, I could cut her some slack, but this was just so predictable and 'old hat' feeling it is difficult. Maybe every generation has to reinvent the wheel. 2.5 stars, rounding down for the completely predictable ending that basically laid the foundation for a sequel.
November 30, 2020
The best science fiction gives you that “oceanic feeling” - a sense of vastness and of wonder. Science fiction also affords writers a chance to create and explore worlds richer and more complex than our own, to put flesh on ideas that exist only as shadows in our minds. Essa Hansen’s Nophek Gloss is an accomplished debut that joins the tradition of visionary science fiction, while also telling a personal, coming-of-age story that is visceral and compelling.
Nophek Gloss is set in a multi-species multiverse that is held together by trade and warfare, both equal and unequal. A variety of species rub shoulders in a variety of universes, and Hansen’s treatment of the multiverse is reminiscent of Borges’ Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge: it is not something that we can contain in the categories that are known to us. Gender, species, ageing, memory - the building blocks of the world we think we know - are all fluid in Nophek Gloss, the multiverse bearing testimony to Saint Oscar’s famous lines, “you hold that a man is a man and a woman is a woman. I hold that nothing is ever purely itself, and that the point where it becomes so is known as death.”
The story is that of Caiden, a young man whose home planet is destroyed and whose people are slaughtered by a race of slavers called the Casthen. Caiden survives, unwittingly commandeers a spaceship, and falls in with a motley crew of aliens that soon become his chosen family. In his quest for revenge, however, Caiden realises that the Casthens’ economic importance to the Multiverse rules out any simple fantasies of vengeance; and that he must first negotiate the Multiverse’s complex - and violent - structures of power, before justice can be done.
Moving seamlessly between the personal and the existential, the familial and the multi-versal (sorry!), Nophek Gloss is a wonderful read, and I’d put it in my top three of the year.
Nophek Gloss is set in a multi-species multiverse that is held together by trade and warfare, both equal and unequal. A variety of species rub shoulders in a variety of universes, and Hansen’s treatment of the multiverse is reminiscent of Borges’ Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge: it is not something that we can contain in the categories that are known to us. Gender, species, ageing, memory - the building blocks of the world we think we know - are all fluid in Nophek Gloss, the multiverse bearing testimony to Saint Oscar’s famous lines, “you hold that a man is a man and a woman is a woman. I hold that nothing is ever purely itself, and that the point where it becomes so is known as death.”
The story is that of Caiden, a young man whose home planet is destroyed and whose people are slaughtered by a race of slavers called the Casthen. Caiden survives, unwittingly commandeers a spaceship, and falls in with a motley crew of aliens that soon become his chosen family. In his quest for revenge, however, Caiden realises that the Casthens’ economic importance to the Multiverse rules out any simple fantasies of vengeance; and that he must first negotiate the Multiverse’s complex - and violent - structures of power, before justice can be done.
Moving seamlessly between the personal and the existential, the familial and the multi-versal (sorry!), Nophek Gloss is a wonderful read, and I’d put it in my top three of the year.
September 9, 2020
DNF.
The author has an amazing imagination and there is clearly a very enjoyable story to be found in this book, but I’m just not able to get past the many inconsistencies that constantly pull me out of the story.
A few examples from the 20% of the book I read (very mild spoilers):
- A ragtag group of semi-legal scoundrels are willing to accept that a kid owns a super advanced starship because he took refuge in it a few hours before they arrived to fix and pilot it for him (the fact that he somehow owns the ship is repeated again and again);
- The same child, who lived in a society devoted to raising livestock, doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘sterile’ but is absolutely comfortable with terminology like ‘gravity’, ‘planets’, and ‘universe’; and
- The fact that an incredibly diverse multiversal society would break down sentient beings into only two categories - Human or Xenid.
The author has an amazing imagination and there is clearly a very enjoyable story to be found in this book, but I’m just not able to get past the many inconsistencies that constantly pull me out of the story.
A few examples from the 20% of the book I read (very mild spoilers):
- A ragtag group of semi-legal scoundrels are willing to accept that a kid owns a super advanced starship because he took refuge in it a few hours before they arrived to fix and pilot it for him (the fact that he somehow owns the ship is repeated again and again);
- The same child, who lived in a society devoted to raising livestock, doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘sterile’ but is absolutely comfortable with terminology like ‘gravity’, ‘planets’, and ‘universe’; and
- The fact that an incredibly diverse multiversal society would break down sentient beings into only two categories - Human or Xenid.
November 16, 2020
Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for this ARC.
3-3.5 stars. Caiden and his family and all the other individuals on his settlement are transported to a different planet when the bovine herds they’re caring for all die. The humans are almost immediately slaughtered by ravenous, terrifying creatures. Caiden manages to evade them and ends up hiding in a spaceship that's marooned on the planet. His best friend Leta doesn’t appear to be as lucky, and in addition to his parents, Caiden assumes she, too, has been ripped apart by the animals.
While aboard the ship, he discovers why the toothy creatures, called nophek, are so much more important than Caiden and everyone he knew—there’s a strange crystal in the creatures’ brains, which Caiden discovers is called gloss. Gloss, it turns out, is used to generate power, so Caiden uses the crystal to bargain himself off-planet with his rescuers, who are a motley band of aliens and humans, who call themselves Passengers. They leave in the spaceship, which, it turns out, can create a multiverse around it, allowing it to transit other multiverses and environments.
Though relatively safe, Caiden suffers crippling nightmares and deep trauma, and after going through a variety of physical and mental transitions, decides he’s going to take on the organization responsible for managing the nophek, and killing his family and friends.
He also discovers there are different multiverses, and multiple organizations involved in the gloss trade, with his family’s murderers being a super-powerful and massive organization, with a separate and similar sort of organization using the gloss to power ancient artifacts by the long dead Graven. Knowing how complex it will be, Caiden still dedicates his life to destroying his family's murderers.
Phew! And That’s the setup! There is a surfeit of really neat ideas, aliens, cultures and technologies in this revenge story, set against a backdrop of secrets, greed, and profits, so, at least the story's foundation is familiar. In fact, I was a little overwhelmed by the huge number of details I had to absorb in short order once I started this book (there is a glossary, thankfully, which I did not consult till the end, as I didn’t feel like disrupting my reading flow).
I was also somewhat dubious about the term multiverses in this story, no matter how cool the idea sounds. In implementation, the author’s multiverses seemed to me to be bubbles of different environments, inimical to species not from the bubble, with the bubbles’ boundaries, or rinds, requiring care to pass through and ships made to do so. A ‘verse seems like it should be a beyond comprehension, massive thing to me, not something that contains a several rooms, for instance.
I also had a hard time wrapping my head around the main supporting characters, the Passengers, whom Caiden falls in with. I could not keep them straight, and had to keep returning to their introduction on the nophek planet to figure out who Caiden was talking to.
Did I like this book? I liked parts, like
-the sheer diversity of aliens, and by extension, the world building
-Caiden’s multiverse-generating ship, which seemed intriguing
-the nophek
Will I continue the series? I’m not sure, though I was mildly curious to know how C developed.
3-3.5 stars. Caiden and his family and all the other individuals on his settlement are transported to a different planet when the bovine herds they’re caring for all die. The humans are almost immediately slaughtered by ravenous, terrifying creatures. Caiden manages to evade them and ends up hiding in a spaceship that's marooned on the planet. His best friend Leta doesn’t appear to be as lucky, and in addition to his parents, Caiden assumes she, too, has been ripped apart by the animals.
While aboard the ship, he discovers why the toothy creatures, called nophek, are so much more important than Caiden and everyone he knew—there’s a strange crystal in the creatures’ brains, which Caiden discovers is called gloss. Gloss, it turns out, is used to generate power, so Caiden uses the crystal to bargain himself off-planet with his rescuers, who are a motley band of aliens and humans, who call themselves Passengers. They leave in the spaceship, which, it turns out, can create a multiverse around it, allowing it to transit other multiverses and environments.
Though relatively safe, Caiden suffers crippling nightmares and deep trauma, and after going through a variety of physical and mental transitions, decides he’s going to take on the organization responsible for managing the nophek, and killing his family and friends.
He also discovers there are different multiverses, and multiple organizations involved in the gloss trade, with his family’s murderers being a super-powerful and massive organization, with a separate and similar sort of organization using the gloss to power ancient artifacts by the long dead Graven. Knowing how complex it will be, Caiden still dedicates his life to destroying his family's murderers.
Phew! And That’s the setup! There is a surfeit of really neat ideas, aliens, cultures and technologies in this revenge story, set against a backdrop of secrets, greed, and profits, so, at least the story's foundation is familiar. In fact, I was a little overwhelmed by the huge number of details I had to absorb in short order once I started this book (there is a glossary, thankfully, which I did not consult till the end, as I didn’t feel like disrupting my reading flow).
I was also somewhat dubious about the term multiverses in this story, no matter how cool the idea sounds. In implementation, the author’s multiverses seemed to me to be bubbles of different environments, inimical to species not from the bubble, with the bubbles’ boundaries, or rinds, requiring care to pass through and ships made to do so. A ‘verse seems like it should be a beyond comprehension, massive thing to me, not something that contains a several rooms, for instance.
I also had a hard time wrapping my head around the main supporting characters, the Passengers, whom Caiden falls in with. I could not keep them straight, and had to keep returning to their introduction on the nophek planet to figure out who Caiden was talking to.
Did I like this book? I liked parts, like
-the sheer diversity of aliens, and by extension, the world building
-Caiden’s multiverse-generating ship, which seemed intriguing
-the nophek
Will I continue the series? I’m not sure, though I was mildly curious to know how C developed.
December 29, 2024
I had a good time with this book, and having watched the movie Titan AE at around the time I was reading it, I found there were some similarities in the story, which, handily, were elements I quite enjoyed.
There were some interesting bits of worldbuilding where you have a whole host of weird and wonderful things going on, but one thing in particular provided an interesting solution for a common problem. The main character starts off as a young teenager, but ends the book as a young man with all the skills and knowledge he needs to survive the story. Rather than any form of time jump to accommodate this, we have a plot device to age up the character and give him the knowledge he might well have acquired in a matching number of actual years.
On the one hand I thought this was good, because you didn’t miss anything in the intervening time period that would otherwise have been required, but on the other hand, it was just a little to easy and convenient. Although I may have preferred things to happen in a different way, I think this did work well for the story, and it also helped with the worldbuilding as it gave a few little elements that could potentially be employed later on in the story.
I liked the overall story here, and that it starts with an aspect of diving into the past and trying to figure out what’s going on. The main character at the start of the book is quite isolated, his community is kept in the dark without much knowledge of the wider world, so when he starts seeing elements of that wider world, he doesn’t understand them. I think this was handled really well, and it was interesting to see the reaction to laser or plasma weapons mowing people down, with the character just unable to understand how light can kill somebody like that.
I thought there were some really nicely approached ideas in here, it made for a good read overall and I’m excited to continue the journey.
There were some interesting bits of worldbuilding where you have a whole host of weird and wonderful things going on, but one thing in particular provided an interesting solution for a common problem. The main character starts off as a young teenager, but ends the book as a young man with all the skills and knowledge he needs to survive the story. Rather than any form of time jump to accommodate this, we have a plot device to age up the character and give him the knowledge he might well have acquired in a matching number of actual years.
On the one hand I thought this was good, because you didn’t miss anything in the intervening time period that would otherwise have been required, but on the other hand, it was just a little to easy and convenient. Although I may have preferred things to happen in a different way, I think this did work well for the story, and it also helped with the worldbuilding as it gave a few little elements that could potentially be employed later on in the story.
I liked the overall story here, and that it starts with an aspect of diving into the past and trying to figure out what’s going on. The main character at the start of the book is quite isolated, his community is kept in the dark without much knowledge of the wider world, so when he starts seeing elements of that wider world, he doesn’t understand them. I think this was handled really well, and it was interesting to see the reaction to laser or plasma weapons mowing people down, with the character just unable to understand how light can kill somebody like that.
I thought there were some really nicely approached ideas in here, it made for a good read overall and I’m excited to continue the journey.
December 14, 2020
3.5 Stars~
"Worst fears and greatest hopes floated by in whispers like windy grass.."
Nophek Gloss is the debut novel from Essa Hansen, who happens to be a sound designer at Skywalker Sound. So rad!
Beginning with a bang, this space opera leads 14-year-old Caiden across a multiverse with some definite Red Rising vibes. It's a revenge story, one with plenty of trauma. There's also strange tech, misfit aliens and an adorable color-changing creature known as a whipkin!
The world is populated by a large cast of characters, including genderfluid, ace and neurodiverse rep. Yes, yes, YES! Representation is so important. And found family? You know that is my jam!
I just never quite fell all the way in love with any of the characters. The complexities of a found family were mostly there, although I'm hoping Hansen will dive deeper into the relationships as the trilogy goes on. This veered into the instalove trope at times because of the "found or forced" subject matter, but with a group of friends instead. Caiden isn't my favorite to lead this eclectic cast, but I feel as though it's because he is mostly an irritating teenager in this introduction. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be one that evolves and shows dynamic character growth by the time the series is finished.
Overall, I dug this and will be keeping an eye on any news of the sequel!
CW: Cruelty and abuse towards animals, child abuse, violence, trauma.
(Thanks to Orbit Books for sending me a copy!)
"Worst fears and greatest hopes floated by in whispers like windy grass.."
Nophek Gloss is the debut novel from Essa Hansen, who happens to be a sound designer at Skywalker Sound. So rad!
Beginning with a bang, this space opera leads 14-year-old Caiden across a multiverse with some definite Red Rising vibes. It's a revenge story, one with plenty of trauma. There's also strange tech, misfit aliens and an adorable color-changing creature known as a whipkin!
The world is populated by a large cast of characters, including genderfluid, ace and neurodiverse rep. Yes, yes, YES! Representation is so important. And found family? You know that is my jam!
I just never quite fell all the way in love with any of the characters. The complexities of a found family were mostly there, although I'm hoping Hansen will dive deeper into the relationships as the trilogy goes on. This veered into the instalove trope at times because of the "found or forced" subject matter, but with a group of friends instead. Caiden isn't my favorite to lead this eclectic cast, but I feel as though it's because he is mostly an irritating teenager in this introduction. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be one that evolves and shows dynamic character growth by the time the series is finished.
Overall, I dug this and will be keeping an eye on any news of the sequel!
CW: Cruelty and abuse towards animals, child abuse, violence, trauma.
(Thanks to Orbit Books for sending me a copy!)
December 23, 2020
Such a fresh take. It plays with some of the greatest tropes in the Epic Fantasy/Space Opera genre in ways I'd never imagined (farmboy hero has never looked like this). The sensory details are beautiful, the characters all rich and uniquely important, and the pacing is on the money. Can't recommend this highly enough.
January 2, 2022
I had heard quite a bit about this in my blogging circle because everyone seemed to enjoy it but I also realized that most of them were hardcore sci-fi readers, so I thought this one wouldn’t be for me. But I couldn’t resist buying it when it was on sale and also requested the arc for its sequel. So I started reading this on the cusp of the new year because I wanted to try something different, and it definitely was a great way to welcome 2022.
I always try and do those things on the first day of the year which I think I’ll want to do more of in the rest of the year (it’s just a silly sentiment I’ve heard since my childhood). So I technically shouldn’t have read this pretty dark sci-fi at this time, but I didn’t bother to read the blurb, so didn’t even realize what I was getting into. The writing is beautiful in its own way, giving just enough details for everything so that we can fill the rest of it with our imaginations. It’s not overly descriptive but there were some scenes (beginning right in the first chapter) which just evoked all kinds of horrific feelings and while I was scared, there was no way I could put it down. It’s also a hard sci-fi book with multiverses and myriad of alien species and lots of advanced technology, and it did take me some time to understand it (and probably didn’t for a lot of it too), but I was also too engrossed that I almost finished it in a single sitting. The pacing can feel relaxed at times but it’s always followed by terror inducing fast paced action and chase sequences and I had a great time envisioning it all in my head.
I also can’t deny that it was the themes that the author explores which held my deepest attention all throughout. We see what grief and loss can do to a person, and how not processing this trauma can morph into being reckless and hurtful (both towards oneself and others). The author also shows us how trauma can suddenly force a person to grow up (both literally and metaphorically) even if their mind isn’t ready to face the realities of being an adult. The author also creates a world which felt pretty queernormative and I loved the exploration of gender fluidity while also discussing the good and bad reasons for wanting body augmentation. The found family aspects of the story are also very strong and it was a source of hope amidst a very grim story.
Caiden (or Winn) is a young 14 year old who loses everything in the span of a few hours and is suddenly thrust into a multiverse he doesn’t understand and a reality he didn’t know he was a part of. But what he does know is that he wants revenge upon those who are responsible for his loss and is single minded in his goal towards achieving that. While there were many moments where I wanted to force some sense into him, he was also very easy to sympathize with. He is a very good, sweet and compassionate person by nature but finds these qualities of his as not useful in a brutal world, and especially in his path for vengeance. And the suffering he endures for the sake of his goal just made me distraught and I wanted to give him a hug and protect him from this world.
Each of the members of the found family he encounters are unique - sweet and nurturing and prickly and mysterious - but they all care in their own ways and I loved watching each of their individual as well as group dynamics. His childhood friend/sister Leta has a small physical presence in the book but is always at the back of his head and plays a major part as his invisible conscience and wisdom. Threi is an intriguing antagonist whose motives you understand at times, even believe he might not be too bad, but at other times I just wanted to strangle him. I have a feeling we have more to see of his bad side. I don’t wanna go into spoilery details of the other antagonists and alien species but just know that every single one of them is compelling and extremely well written.
Ultimately, this is a surprise addition to my read pile and I have to give all the credit to the engaging writing and immersive world that the author has created. While hard sci-fi fans will find all the intriguing sciency details they love in these pages, readers like me will love the brilliant characterizations and relationship dynamics, along with its very strong themes of grief, revenge, humanity and found family. So whatever kind of SFF reader you are, do give this one a try. And now that I have the sequel, I’m excited to get to it soon.
I always try and do those things on the first day of the year which I think I’ll want to do more of in the rest of the year (it’s just a silly sentiment I’ve heard since my childhood). So I technically shouldn’t have read this pretty dark sci-fi at this time, but I didn’t bother to read the blurb, so didn’t even realize what I was getting into. The writing is beautiful in its own way, giving just enough details for everything so that we can fill the rest of it with our imaginations. It’s not overly descriptive but there were some scenes (beginning right in the first chapter) which just evoked all kinds of horrific feelings and while I was scared, there was no way I could put it down. It’s also a hard sci-fi book with multiverses and myriad of alien species and lots of advanced technology, and it did take me some time to understand it (and probably didn’t for a lot of it too), but I was also too engrossed that I almost finished it in a single sitting. The pacing can feel relaxed at times but it’s always followed by terror inducing fast paced action and chase sequences and I had a great time envisioning it all in my head.
I also can’t deny that it was the themes that the author explores which held my deepest attention all throughout. We see what grief and loss can do to a person, and how not processing this trauma can morph into being reckless and hurtful (both towards oneself and others). The author also shows us how trauma can suddenly force a person to grow up (both literally and metaphorically) even if their mind isn’t ready to face the realities of being an adult. The author also creates a world which felt pretty queernormative and I loved the exploration of gender fluidity while also discussing the good and bad reasons for wanting body augmentation. The found family aspects of the story are also very strong and it was a source of hope amidst a very grim story.
Caiden (or Winn) is a young 14 year old who loses everything in the span of a few hours and is suddenly thrust into a multiverse he doesn’t understand and a reality he didn’t know he was a part of. But what he does know is that he wants revenge upon those who are responsible for his loss and is single minded in his goal towards achieving that. While there were many moments where I wanted to force some sense into him, he was also very easy to sympathize with. He is a very good, sweet and compassionate person by nature but finds these qualities of his as not useful in a brutal world, and especially in his path for vengeance. And the suffering he endures for the sake of his goal just made me distraught and I wanted to give him a hug and protect him from this world.
Each of the members of the found family he encounters are unique - sweet and nurturing and prickly and mysterious - but they all care in their own ways and I loved watching each of their individual as well as group dynamics. His childhood friend/sister Leta has a small physical presence in the book but is always at the back of his head and plays a major part as his invisible conscience and wisdom. Threi is an intriguing antagonist whose motives you understand at times, even believe he might not be too bad, but at other times I just wanted to strangle him. I have a feeling we have more to see of his bad side. I don’t wanna go into spoilery details of the other antagonists and alien species but just know that every single one of them is compelling and extremely well written.
Ultimately, this is a surprise addition to my read pile and I have to give all the credit to the engaging writing and immersive world that the author has created. While hard sci-fi fans will find all the intriguing sciency details they love in these pages, readers like me will love the brilliant characterizations and relationship dynamics, along with its very strong themes of grief, revenge, humanity and found family. So whatever kind of SFF reader you are, do give this one a try. And now that I have the sequel, I’m excited to get to it soon.
April 7, 2020
Nophek Gloss is about a far-flung future where many civilizations have utilized a technology that allows them to travel not just to other worlds, or even other galaxies, but other universes. Caiden is a teenager, living an idyllic existence, completely unaware of the greater cultures around him until his ignorance is ripped away in trauma, bloodshed, and loss and the only thing left to him is a fury he can't control, and a desire for vengeance with no apparent means of resolution.
Nophek Gloss shows off Hansen's startling level of imagination. When you've got entire universes to play with, you expect a certain level of diversity, of weirdness, of texture and new. Hansen delivers on all of that, with a barrage of new sights, sounds, flavors and species as Caiden struggles to learn more about the multiverse he lives in, and how he can best turn it to his need for revenge.
Caiden is a flawed character, but understandably so. He's not perfect, and he makes decisions that are not always the most strategically or emotionally sound, but you always understand why he made those choices. He owns his consequences, even though those results are not always self-inflicted wounds. What could have easily turned into a whiny, woe-is-me character drowning in his own trauma, is instead someone that is always trying to move past it. Even when he gets beaten down repeatedly.
There's a dazzling multiverse here, complemented by fascinating quick brushes with technologies and cultures that feel exotic and new. Caiden's single-minded purpose drives the story forward, constantly, but you always have time to look out the window and get tantalizing glimpses of what is being passed by. If you're looking for a science-fiction foray filled with revenge-lust, different planes of existence mingling for fun, profit and convenience, and a starship capable of creating its own universe with same ease a sports car has switching gears, you probably need this book in your life.
Nophek Gloss shows off Hansen's startling level of imagination. When you've got entire universes to play with, you expect a certain level of diversity, of weirdness, of texture and new. Hansen delivers on all of that, with a barrage of new sights, sounds, flavors and species as Caiden struggles to learn more about the multiverse he lives in, and how he can best turn it to his need for revenge.
Caiden is a flawed character, but understandably so. He's not perfect, and he makes decisions that are not always the most strategically or emotionally sound, but you always understand why he made those choices. He owns his consequences, even though those results are not always self-inflicted wounds. What could have easily turned into a whiny, woe-is-me character drowning in his own trauma, is instead someone that is always trying to move past it. Even when he gets beaten down repeatedly.
There's a dazzling multiverse here, complemented by fascinating quick brushes with technologies and cultures that feel exotic and new. Caiden's single-minded purpose drives the story forward, constantly, but you always have time to look out the window and get tantalizing glimpses of what is being passed by. If you're looking for a science-fiction foray filled with revenge-lust, different planes of existence mingling for fun, profit and convenience, and a starship capable of creating its own universe with same ease a sports car has switching gears, you probably need this book in your life.
March 1, 2023
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.
December 12, 2020
Nophek Gloss is an absolute masterclass in world building and character voice- from the very first page Essa Hansen weaves an almost cinematic web around the reader, absorbing you into the intelligent narrative and mix of action and emotion.
You need to commit to this one but once you do you’ll be hooked throughout..one boy’s journey towards revenge in a world that has taken everything from him, the group dynamic of new found friends and a family forming, all wrapped up in an engaging, vibrant and often violent world. It is multi layered and brilliant.
I can’t wait for part two
Highly recommended.
You need to commit to this one but once you do you’ll be hooked throughout..one boy’s journey towards revenge in a world that has taken everything from him, the group dynamic of new found friends and a family forming, all wrapped up in an engaging, vibrant and often violent world. It is multi layered and brilliant.
I can’t wait for part two
Highly recommended.
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dnf
August 1, 2021Not feeling this writing style at all.
dnf
November 18, 2020DNF @ 25%
Note: there will be spoilers below in a section that will be clearly marked.
So. I was expecting a space opera. Honestly, not sure what I was expecting that may be more detailed than that. The typical space opera portions (non-human beings that aren't simply human-adjacent, for example) were quite interesting. Overall, though, this had kind of an epic fantasy vibe: young male character dramatically loses everything at a very young age and must go on a quest for revenge. But in space. We even had dramatic feasting scenes where every piece of food was described in vivid detail.
What we also had was really lazy writing. The main character is 14 years old. The author thinks that's inconvenient so why not introduce a technology that would accelerate his age. But wait, there's more! This technology can also insert knowledge jnto his brain! So rather than having to deal with a character who was raised in a sheltered life who knows nothing, we'll just zap him to be normal protagonist age and give him all the basic knowledge. Plus the bad guys have, like, mind control or something? That's just too boring/basic/easy for a villain. There's also an immediate deep connection between the characters we only just met, but I guess that's fine.
***SPOILERS HERE***
**SERIOUSLY**
*SPOLERS*
**Also TW : graphic violence, violence against marginalized characters**
What's absolutely NOT fine is how we introduce an autistic character at the very beginning (hyper focused, difficulty communicating, stims and over stimulation, shutdown, etc) only to have her BRUTALLY MURDERED. Okay so the actual slaughtering happens off-screen but we leave her in an exposed place and then watch other people get mauled to death by some alien beast. She's 100% dead. So... Why make an autistic character just to kill her? And not just kill her but kill her violently and brutally? To give the MC a kind heart and a sob story? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
{Thank you Orbit Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy; all thoughts are my own}
Note: there will be spoilers below in a section that will be clearly marked.
So. I was expecting a space opera. Honestly, not sure what I was expecting that may be more detailed than that. The typical space opera portions (non-human beings that aren't simply human-adjacent, for example) were quite interesting. Overall, though, this had kind of an epic fantasy vibe: young male character dramatically loses everything at a very young age and must go on a quest for revenge. But in space. We even had dramatic feasting scenes where every piece of food was described in vivid detail.
What we also had was really lazy writing. The main character is 14 years old. The author thinks that's inconvenient so why not introduce a technology that would accelerate his age. But wait, there's more! This technology can also insert knowledge jnto his brain! So rather than having to deal with a character who was raised in a sheltered life who knows nothing, we'll just zap him to be normal protagonist age and give him all the basic knowledge. Plus the bad guys have, like, mind control or something? That's just too boring/basic/easy for a villain. There's also an immediate deep connection between the characters we only just met, but I guess that's fine.
***SPOILERS HERE***
**SERIOUSLY**
*SPOLERS*
**Also TW : graphic violence, violence against marginalized characters**
What's absolutely NOT fine is how we introduce an autistic character at the very beginning (hyper focused, difficulty communicating, stims and over stimulation, shutdown, etc) only to have her BRUTALLY MURDERED. Okay so the actual slaughtering happens off-screen but we leave her in an exposed place and then watch other people get mauled to death by some alien beast. She's 100% dead. So... Why make an autistic character just to kill her? And not just kill her but kill her violently and brutally? To give the MC a kind heart and a sob story? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
{Thank you Orbit Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy; all thoughts are my own}
March 4, 2022
I had this book for a while and had not read it. So I finally dove in.
Its full of amazing ideas, colors, descriptions and crazy alien, but I think it felt overstuffed. I found myself skipping some of the excesses to focus more on the story. In essence, Caiden, the hero is a slave growing up on a agricultural world, when the animals kept by the families contract some illness.
So Caiden and his family unit are transported to another world with surprising consequences. Caiden is able to escape an ugly fate and finds an unknown starship in the sand of the world. He also meets several aliens, Passagers, space travelers who are also stuck on the world. They agree to navigate the starship to another world where Caiden can tell his horrible story to the Cartographers, an apolitical organization. Caiden seeks hot revenge for his past, but does not have the power to enact it on his own.
He opts to get treatment to grow up fast and learn while undergoing the acceleration.
But Caiden finds himself caught between two forces that control the galaxy between them. The most evil of these forces is the Casthen and Threi is a sub-leader of the Casthen. Threi, however, wants to use Caiden and his starship to kill the real leader of the Casthen, an alien named Cydanza.
Most of the story involves Caiden's interactions with Threi and their attempts to destroy Cydanza.
But I found myself a little unpersuaded here because Caiden is caught out trying to do harm but suffers little consequences for his acts. One would have thought Cydanza would have destroyed him after one failed attempt on her life.
Hansen is a virtuoso in her descriptions of the aliens and worlds that Threi inhabits. The ideas keep coming, but it just seemed a little excessive.
The actual novel clocks in at a little short of 400 pages, but my edition had a glossary and then a come on for the next novel in the story, which accounts for an additional 50 pages.
Given the cover is of a starship I expected a little more starship like action.
Its full of amazing ideas, colors, descriptions and crazy alien, but I think it felt overstuffed. I found myself skipping some of the excesses to focus more on the story. In essence, Caiden, the hero is a slave growing up on a agricultural world, when the animals kept by the families contract some illness.
So Caiden and his family unit are transported to another world with surprising consequences. Caiden is able to escape an ugly fate and finds an unknown starship in the sand of the world. He also meets several aliens, Passagers, space travelers who are also stuck on the world. They agree to navigate the starship to another world where Caiden can tell his horrible story to the Cartographers, an apolitical organization. Caiden seeks hot revenge for his past, but does not have the power to enact it on his own.
He opts to get treatment to grow up fast and learn while undergoing the acceleration.
But Caiden finds himself caught between two forces that control the galaxy between them. The most evil of these forces is the Casthen and Threi is a sub-leader of the Casthen. Threi, however, wants to use Caiden and his starship to kill the real leader of the Casthen, an alien named Cydanza.
Most of the story involves Caiden's interactions with Threi and their attempts to destroy Cydanza.
But I found myself a little unpersuaded here because Caiden is caught out trying to do harm but suffers little consequences for his acts. One would have thought Cydanza would have destroyed him after one failed attempt on her life.
Hansen is a virtuoso in her descriptions of the aliens and worlds that Threi inhabits. The ideas keep coming, but it just seemed a little excessive.
The actual novel clocks in at a little short of 400 pages, but my edition had a glossary and then a come on for the next novel in the story, which accounts for an additional 50 pages.
Given the cover is of a starship I expected a little more starship like action.
June 8, 2025
This was an example of a book being the following: high quality, incredible writing, dense and creative world-building, and also---not for me. I cannot fault this book for its quality, however my reviews are also a reflection of my personal feelings and I really struggled with many of the thoroughly dark themes in this book, which is in many ways a nuanced and graphic exploration of a young man's heavy trauma.
However, if the trigger warnings (listed below) aren't something that typically bother you in books, I would highly recommend this as a creative sci-fi debut. The world-building is top notch, imagining a richly complex multiverse in which aliens ("xenids") and humans and hybrids of both can travel with ships between universe "rinds", many of which have different biological parameters and physical laws. Our protagonist, a fourteen year old boy named Caidan, must grapple with the sudden and horrifying loss of the world he knows after his society of cattle farmers are brutally slaughtered and he is stranded on an unfamiliar planet. He is picked up by a rag-tag group of space "passengers" who take him under their wing.
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it leaned more heavily into the "found family' aspect of the novel, a la Becky Chambers or Ann Leckie. My favorite characters were Caidan's companions, and my favorite scenes where those depicting their interpersonal relationships.
TW for: slavery, physical abuse, animal death, graphic violence, torture, graphic depictions of death and mutilation
However, if the trigger warnings (listed below) aren't something that typically bother you in books, I would highly recommend this as a creative sci-fi debut. The world-building is top notch, imagining a richly complex multiverse in which aliens ("xenids") and humans and hybrids of both can travel with ships between universe "rinds", many of which have different biological parameters and physical laws. Our protagonist, a fourteen year old boy named Caidan, must grapple with the sudden and horrifying loss of the world he knows after his society of cattle farmers are brutally slaughtered and he is stranded on an unfamiliar planet. He is picked up by a rag-tag group of space "passengers" who take him under their wing.
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it leaned more heavily into the "found family' aspect of the novel, a la Becky Chambers or Ann Leckie. My favorite characters were Caidan's companions, and my favorite scenes where those depicting their interpersonal relationships.
TW for: slavery, physical abuse, animal death, graphic violence, torture, graphic depictions of death and mutilation
January 23, 2021
I blurbed this book, and at the risk of quoting myself, I called it a "far-flung kaleidoscope of stunning imagination, superb characters, and truly alien aliens. This is space opera firing on all cylinders, and a must read."
Enough said.
I read this book ages ago, but forgot to post a review. Better late than never, right?
Enough said.
I read this book ages ago, but forgot to post a review. Better late than never, right?
gave-up-on
August 12, 2020DNF.
There was something not quite interesting about this story. I think it was the characters. I didn't really like any of them and I could not see myself chunking out any more time with them.
There was something not quite interesting about this story. I think it was the characters. I didn't really like any of them and I could not see myself chunking out any more time with them.
August 24, 2022
This audiobook is almost 16 hours. I was expecting this to drag, but it did not one bit. I was completely invested in Caiden's story. I loved this space opera with its monster dogs.
Nophek Gloss follows 14 year old Caiden who finds out he was a slave on a planet no one knew existed until his whole planet was wiped out except for him. Caiden is of course focused on getting revenge against the people who did this to him. But as a slave, he doesn't know anything about the multitude of galaxies in the world and he needs help. Reluctantly, the crew that saved him has a thing for taking in strays and they agree to help him get started.
There is so much going on in this world and I find it so fascinating. There are a ton of alien species and then there's all these types of tech. I loved learning all these little details about the world. The personal stories of the crew really helped everything come together for me. Also the found family vibes happen fast and I loved it! I always want more of that trope in everything and this book delivered.
I did somewhat guess the ending, so I'm really eager to see how this story will continue and how Caiden will react to a certain reveal at the end.
Nophek Gloss follows 14 year old Caiden who finds out he was a slave on a planet no one knew existed until his whole planet was wiped out except for him. Caiden is of course focused on getting revenge against the people who did this to him. But as a slave, he doesn't know anything about the multitude of galaxies in the world and he needs help. Reluctantly, the crew that saved him has a thing for taking in strays and they agree to help him get started.
There is so much going on in this world and I find it so fascinating. There are a ton of alien species and then there's all these types of tech. I loved learning all these little details about the world. The personal stories of the crew really helped everything come together for me. Also the found family vibes happen fast and I loved it! I always want more of that trope in everything and this book delivered.
I did somewhat guess the ending, so I'm really eager to see how this story will continue and how Caiden will react to a certain reveal at the end.
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