Title: Nyxia
Author: Scott Reintgen
Format: Paperback/audiobook
Narrator: Dominic Hoffman, Sullivan Jones
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Publisher audiobook: Penguin books Ltd
Page count: 400 (10hours 6 minutes)
Release day: September 12th 2017
Series: Nyxia #1
Rating: 4.5 stars
What is it about? (Summary from GoodReads)
Emmett Atwater
isn’t just leaving Detroit; he’s leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation
recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their
contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with
enough money to take care of his family.
Forever.
Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have
troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the
right to travel down to the planet of Eden—a planet that Babel has kept
hidden—where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become
the most valuable material in the universe.
But Babel’s ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice:
win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won’t forever
compromise what it means to be human.
What I thought:
I was thinking ‘let’s read the first chapter as a break and then continue with what I was doing’, What a mistake! The first chapter was so interesting that I did not want to stop, so 1 chapter became 2, and ended up being 5. And then I decided to download the audiobook, so that I could listen and do what I had to do at the same time! And I think I ended up listening/reading the first 300 pages in one day.. I hope that gives an idea about how addicting the book was!
I love books set in school or having competitions. And since this book was about a competition, set in space, I was bound to love it! Lately I’m into sci-fi, so I thought this would be a good set-up to get to the ‘real’ sci-fi, and I still think this is true!
I loved the writing style of this book! It really fits the YA genre, it was a really story telling way of writing!
Now more about the story, I liked that you slowly learn more about all the side characters. In the beginning you only know they are poor. And during the competition some people make weird decisions, but as you get more into the book you learn their background, and learn to understand their decisions more. Also the main character has some good relations and bad relations with the other characters, and I really like how these relations change over the story. Based on the competition parts they need to do in groups, or things that happen outside the competition.
For the first 90% of the book I thought their would only be friendship relations, which I really like, since most YA contain romance, which in my opinion is not always necessary. But unfortunately this book also has a bit of romance, and I’m pretty sure it will continue in book 2.
Recommendation:
I recommend this book if you enjoy light sci-fi (is that a thing?), a bit younger YA writing, and enjoy competitions!
I will definitely continue with book 2, and probably on audio!
Come talk to me!
Do you have a sci-fi recommendation for me?