"A solidly entertaining and sometimes enthralling interplanetary yarn." -- Kirkus Reviews
"A bone-chilling science-fiction thriller that warps fiction, fantasy, and reality in wonderful and scary ways ... Perfect for anyone who has even a little bit of interest in the science-fiction genre." -- Literary Titan ★★★★★ (Gold Book Award Winner)
"World-building is clearly Bruno's forte in this gripping debut ... Bruno has laid the groundwork for a very special trilogy." --B.T. Keaton, author of the award-winning novel Transference ★★★★★
"A must-read for sci-fi and dystopian fans who want to embark on an original and engrossing new series. Unmissable." --Readers' Favorite ★★★★★ (5-star seal)
"T.A. Bruno's debut novel packs a lot of great ideas and inspiring world-building. He gives us exotic extraterrestrials, fabulous technology, and some mind-spinning science - as well as engaging action scenes and an immersive plot." -- The International Review of Books (Badge of Achievement Winner)
"An action-packed adventure from top to bottom." -- Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★
"Well executed, sharply told, and highly atmospheric, this promising start to a new epic science fiction series is sure to win Bruno plenty of fans." -- The Prairies Book Review
"Complex and well-constructed." -- The US Review of Books
Awards:
SPSFC Finalist
Readers' Favorite Silver Book Award Winner
Honorable Mention, 2021 Eric Hoffer Award
B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree
Finalist for the 2021 First Horizon Award
Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner
The International Review of Books Badge of Achievement Winner
2021-01-15
In Bruno’s debut SF series starter, refugees of a cyborg invasion colonize a distant, exotic world only to find bizarre and terrifying new threats.
In the future, humans on Earth have had to contend with an uprising of cyborgs called the Undriel, who are reminiscent of the Borg of the Star Trek universe. Human survivors in a war spanning the solar system wind up making a final stand on Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter. The Undriel overwhelm them, but young mechanic Denton Castus and his family manage to flee just in time by joining tens of thousands of humans in stasis as part of a desperate plan called the Telemachus Project. They take a 300-year flight to a habitable planet called Kamaria, which is “Earth-like, but different from Earth in a lot of ways.” For example, the exotic and potentially dangerous life-forms, from airborne bacteria to a race of technologically advanced, psychic flying humanoids called the Auk’nai, are very different, indeed. In a flashback, a previous Telemachus Project ship lands on Kamaria and its passengers make a tentative accord with the Auk’nai and explore the immediate vicinity, which includes a forbidding, abandoned city. There, a malevolent influence possesses war hero Roelin Raike. The two story threads come together when Denton awakens on Kamaria and integrates into the colonists’ society, where a long-ago incomprehensible crime is a lingering trauma. Before long, Denton also begins to feel the same psychic presence that afflicted Raike. Bruno is a highly imaginative and natural storyteller, conjuring numerous technologies, cultures, and creatures and providing a particularly spectacular ending. SF fans may detect echoes of H.P. Lovecraft’s work, TV’s Babylon Five, the blockbuster film Avatar, and other works; the smoothly polished prose and snappy pace are reminiscent of a no-nonsense master thriller author such as Alistair Maclean. The technology and biology descriptions don’t get in the way of the suspense, and the references to ancient Greek legend sharpen the backstory of Kamaria’s godlike aliens, who do indeed seem mythic. Hall’s illustrations feel like a tribute to the material’s stated origin—a comic book that Bruno created in elementary school.
A solidly entertaining and sometimes enthralling interplanetary yarn.
