NYXIA is a fresh sci-fi where every time you think the stakes can't get higher--they do. The cast of characters is large but delightfully diverse, and each character is well-defined and stands on their own. Emmett is a protagonist that readers will want to root for as he's shoved into a conflict that could turn him into a monster but instead constantly chooses to find the good in himself instead.

4.5/5 stars

Emmett is one of 10 teenagers chosen to journey to the planet "Eden". Their task is to mine a mysterious and powerful substance called Nyxia in exchange for a salary that lasts a lifetime. However, the journey to Eden abroad the spaceship is filled with challenging training as only 8 of the 10 recruits will be selected for the mission upon arrival.

Overall Impression
This novel greatly reminded me of Ender's Game by Scott Orson Card. The tone of Nyxia, however, is quite different in my opinion. Instead of preventing humankind's impending extinction, Emmett's overarching purpose is to create a better life for himself and his family by ensuring that he is selected to mine Nyxia on Eden. That is not to say that this novel does not address heavy topics such as morality and self-worth.

Pros
The characters are developed beautifully and given such depth as the book goes along and the teens progress with their training. The reader is introduced to about 15-odd characters rather quickly, but they are so distinct that I had no trouble keeping track of who's who. And refreshingly, traditional gender roles were not "enforced". Some stereotypes, however, were still present but they were balanced with other aspects of the characters in question. This made the stereotyping less grating for me. For example, Katsu is an overweight male who serves as comic relief. Stereotypically, one would assume that he would be terrible at the training and his only real purpose would be comic relief. As it turns out, Katsu proves to be quite capable at the training while also providing comic relief.

My absolute favorite parts of this novel are the substance Nyxia and the training. Perhaps something similar has been written before that I have not encountered, but holy smokes is the concept of Nyxia substance super unique and fascinating. The concept is so well fleshed-out that I never got the feeling of disbelief of Nyxia's properties or annoyed with it being overpowered.

Then there is the training! Others have complained about the amount of training sequences, but I loved them and cannot relate to that sentiment. The action was superbly written and never dull. Plus, the training served as the primary vehicle of character and world development.

Cons
While Nyxia is a very well written YA novel that didn't overdo it on the teen romance that is typical of the category, romance was still included despite not being at all necessary to the plot (thus far). However, it is just a blip in the overall picture.

Not really a con but I somehow forgot whilst reading that this novel is part of a series. So, when I reached the end I was momentarily disappointed with the conclusion until I realized that there will be more to the story. Then I became totally bummed out because the 2nd book certainly won't be released for quite some time.

In Conclusion
Super interesting start to a new series with great character development and world building! Cannot wait for book #2.

Thank you to Crown Books for providing an ARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 37%. There's legitimately nothing wrong with this, it is is just so not a "me" book. It's the kind of book I would have obsessed over in grade six. In fact, it reminds me most of Gone by Michael Grant, a series I was obsessed with for years - same compelling plot, same fairly interesting but slightly-too-large cast of characters, same towards-the-lower-end-of-YA writing style. I feel like I'm going to finish it and give it a solid three. That might be fine with a standalone novel, but this is the beginning of a trilogy. I don't want to read a solidly-good-but-not-for-me trilogy.

Do pick this up if it interests you, though!! My two BR partners (Melanie and Solomon) both gave it a solid five stars.

4 stars. Nyxia is the first book by Scott Reintgen that I have read so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a well written space story with teenagers learning who they are. While this is written for teens, adults will enjoy it too (at least this adult did). It is a standalone but the ending leaves the storyline open for future books that might be written.There is violence.

The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat all of that info here. This is partly a coming of age book as well as a space novel including corporate power and money. This was well written for a debut novel and the author impressed me with his ability to create a vivid life aboard the ship. I couldn't help but relate to the characters. As usual, everything and everyone is not as it seems.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Random House (Crown Books for Young Readers). I chose to write a review for other readers. I look forward to reading more from this author, especially in this series, in the future.

Thanks to the publisher for early access to this title.

What would you be willing to do if you were promised millions? Take 10 teens from poor circumstances, promise them the world, and ship them into space. Their only task: mine the most desirable substance in the universe from a hostile planet. The catch? Only 8 of the 10 will land and earn their reward.

This book is a great sci-fi novel of character introspection. There's plenty of violence, action, and adventure for those who love it, along with some soul-searching for what it takes to be a good person while still looking out for yourself.

This will be great read for both boys and girls. Perfect for fans of sci-fi and competitions.

It took me a couple of attempts to get started with this advance review copy that I received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My quibble with the beginning of the book is a stylistic preference that may not bother you. Dystopian novels always have a fairly heinous premise so I rely on bonding with at least one character in order to get me through the trials to come. I was 6% through the Kindle edition of this book before I learned anybody's name. It started off with a data dump that I initially found off-putting but after powering through that early section of the book I found myself enjoying the book more and more.

Unlike so many dystopian young adult books, our protagonist has flaws and weaknesses. Not a Mary Sue in sight. Thank goodness for somebody who seems real. The competition that the Babel corporation set for our characters was believable and sucked me in. Once I got on board with Emmit's journey I was hooked and can't wait for the next installment in the series.

I don’t usually read science fiction, but when I saw this book was up on Net Galley, I knew it was going to be good. The story follows young Emmett Atwater, Detroit native, and new recruit of Babel Corporation. Babel Corporation is putting him on a lightship to space with promises of lots of money if he successfully completes his mission. But what exactly is their agenda?

The story follows Emmett as he learns to play nice with the ten other Babel recruits onboard. They’re competing (sometimes Hunger Games style) for the chance to earn their right to travel to the planet of Eden where they’ll have to mine a substance called Nyxia. Think: most powerful substance on Earth, lightyears ahead of our time.

Emmett’s an interesting character. He comes from a rough background (all the recruits do), and we piece together his story bit by bit the more we get to know him. He has a bit of a temper and a tendency to compartmentalize everything. I loved his imperfections. It’s hard to earn his trust, but some of the recruits squeeze their way into his heart. One thing that comes up as a theme in the novel is his persistent fight to not compromise who he is as a person by playing Babel’s games.

The writing was great. Instead of being plunged in headfirst, it was smooth sailing right into Reintgen’s world aka wonderful pacing. I saw nuggets and foreshadowing to what is to come. And it was fairly easy to see why a whole novel was dedicated to training versus going onto Eden. Why rush ahead when you can milk it and let us see how the characters interact with each other? Reintgen also tried to make every recruit sound unique and add culture where there usually isn’t any in these types of young adult books.

My only qualms might be from the limited perspective. I’d have loved to learn more about Babel Corporation itself. Emmett sees it as the bad guy more so than the hand feeding me buttloads of money, which totally matches his distrusting character. There is plenty of foreshadowing to what the company is doing, but I’d have loved some more context, some more reasons why they’re doing what they are doing. Life’s not all black and white, and their cartoonish position of evil grated a little. Granted, we get a random interlude in the middle of the novel to the head honcho of the place (unnecessary/unhelpful), and a few glimpses at humanity, but I feel like there should have been a little more there.

Overall, this was an awesome book, and I totally recommend it to anyone.

Wow. What a ride. I'm so glad I read this book, and I'm so ready to read the next book.

Here's the thing: my wife recommended that I read this book based on the review of a Booktuber name Mollie Reids. She said that it was like a love-child of Enders Game and The Hunger Games. Well, I enjoyed The Hunger Games and I absolutely love Enders Game. The book definitely is more like Hunger Games in style, but takes place in space.

Okay. So the first 1/3 of the book I was feeling a 3-star rating. I went in knowing that this was the beginning of a trilogy, so I expected development for characters and plot, but what I was reading wasn't all that exciting. A lot of stuff is brought up, but left unanswered - for obvious reasons. With a three-book series, you can't divulge the secrets. Scott Reintgen did a nice job planting these early on, so that as you go through the book, you're like... yessss!

The main character is named Emmett. His family is poor and his mother is close to dying due to kidney failure. In an effort to save her, he is selected to join 9 other teens on a trip to another planet called Eden. Only 8 of the 10 will be allowed to go down upon arrival, so their journey will be full of tests. Victors will receive $50,000 a month for the rest of their lives. If Emmett can evade the number 9 or 10 spots, he can save his mother with the money. But not all is what it seems on the ship Genesis 11, and the company in charge of the operations there and at Eden also hold deep secrets.

I loved the actual idea of the product called nyxia. Such a substance would be so helpful in real life! It can be formed into just about anything by mere thoughts.

Halfway through the book, things really pick up and never let down. Even up to the very last page, it had me on the edge of my seat. It is definitely deserving of a five star rating. I hope this gets made into a film!

You should read this. Fathom?

"Babel might have all the keys, but they don't know what they're keeping in the cage."

Before I get into this review, let me just say that I never read Ender's Game, but I think I watched the flop-ish of a movie. Now while I found a few things that I didn't particularly love about the book, it wasn't anything that I fully disliked, they were just aspects that I just shrugged off.

Nyxia is a futuristic story about this guy named Emmett that gets recruited by a company called Babel into this space quest to a distant planet called Eden to mine for a substance called Nyxia. 9 other teens are also recruited on this mission as well. Turns out only 8 of them get to go and they must battle it out for the chance to make a lot of money and go to Eden.

The Story-What I liked most about Nyxia was that it wasn't just about the challenges that the characters have to go through. Yes, a majority of the book is stock full of vivid accounts of the challenges, however, there is this underlying creepiness that Babel has form all the secrecy. First of all-Babel? I mean, in the Bible the story surrounding Babel is about how all the descendants of Noah started to overreach and build a tower to get to Heaven & God-at which point God was like, oh heck no let me scatter you and make you unable to understand each other. So that, and all the other biblical references in the beginning really set it up for the company to not be trustworthy. Do we ever find anything out? Not really, the men in charge openly admit that they aren't just one wizard behind one curtain, there are many wizards behind many curtains. Quotes like this:

"But a quick glance shows that not all the kids around the table can see the writing on the wall. Translation: Walking away isn't an option."

just really set up the book to have a lot of twists and turns in the story, and boy are there a lot of twists and turns. (BTW, in case you don't know "writing on the wall" is another biblical reference). Anyway, as soon as you start to think the book might plateau, BAM twist and then BAM turn. Literally, at 97% of the book another twist is thrown in.

The World Building-Let's be real. They were on a spaceship, there wasn't much world building. What little there was was in creation of Eden & the elements that go with it. The Adamites, the nyxia, the history behind previous travels was where any world building was. Here is one of the few things that bothered me comes in, but still was able to shrug it off. Here we are in the near distant future, Google apparently has been eaten up by this company Babel, but we are wearing these full masks for translating? There is already an ear budthat you can get that translates like 5 different languages from Waverly Labs and I would have expected a little more advancement than what was depicted in the story.

I loved the complexity of nyxia and what it was capable of, and I can't wait to read the next installment so that I can learn more about what it really is, what's Babel up to, and what has really happened down on Eden. I really hope Reintgen really spends a little more time on the background than the day to day in the next book.

The Characters-Oh my little children. I wanted to scoop each of these kids up and hug them till their worries went away. Firstly, people can stop complaining, because, drum roll please, we have a narrator that is a POC. Emmett is a kid from a hoodrat neighborhood in Detroit. What I love about him is that he doesn't let it define him. It's where he's from, but not who he is or where he is going. Aside from Emmett we have a smörgåsbord of ethnicity. Each character had their own history and skill to bring to the table. I really look forward to learn more about each character as their adventure continues on Eden.

The small bit of romance felt rather shallow. With the kids pitted against each other, it was hard to even imagine something romantic sparking, but I did appreciate all the camaraderie that was built. I did find the romance to be a little bit of a reach, because how does one chose one person over the rest of the kids scrambling to go when they really didn't have much time to get to know each other. Still, they're kids, they have hormones so and a limited variety of other people so...

Anyway, I loved it. It was exciting from start to finish. I felt connected with the characters and wanted rooted them on.

As if discovering another habitable planet wasn't a big enough deal, it's also host to a potent, near-miraculous substance called nyxia that has the potential to launch Earth's infrastructure to the next level. Ten teens from around the world are selected as candidates to mine the nyxia and potentially earn an astronomical amount of money. I found this book to be a spiritual successor to Ender's Game in the best way possible. It features a culturally and emotionally diverse cast that is fully developed, and despite being united in their poverty, each character brings a unique perspective to the journey to the planet Eden. The competition between the recruits is believably complex, as is the ominous Babel Corporation that oversees the whole venture. There is still much left to uncover about each recruit as well as Babel's inner workings, but the first installment in the Nyxia Triad is an extremely satisfying, exciting read.

An absolutely fantastic read. I couldn't put it down and I highly recommend Nyxia. So far this is the best book of 2017 I've read so far. It pulls you in from the first chapter and never lets go.
Ten teenagers are chosen to go to the planet, Eden to mine the substance, Nyxia. But it isn't all fun and games. Yes there are games, but it is more of a battle as only eight of the ten will go to Eden. The teens are pitted against each other and points are given in battle to achieve a chance to go to Eden. Not to give to much away, but the company that chosen these teens, Babel, is not at all what it' appears. There is so much going on, so many twists and turns you won't want to put it down, as I didn't.
Nyxia is a series of three books known as the Nyxia Triad and I can't wait for the next book n the series. Scott Reintgen wrote a kick a** book and if the other two in the series are as good as the first one then we will have a new king of sci fi for teens as well as adults!

4.5
*netgalley copy*
Definitely the best YA sci-fi I've read! Amazing story with great character development and underlying mystery. Wonderful start to a series and I'm already eagerly awaiting the next book even though this one hasn't been technically released yet!

I think this is now my favorite SciFi. Bold statement, I know, but I just really loved it (even more than Illuminae). Nyxia follows 10 teens from around the globe as they are chosen by the Babel Corporation to compete for a chance at adventure, money, fame, and glory while mining the super material Nyxia, from a planet Babel has kept hidden for decades. Nyxia is a story of action, adventure, mystery, and discovering who you are as a person and how far you’re willing to go to get what you want.

Things I Liked :
This is probably the most diverse SciFi book I’ve ever read. Our main character Emmett Atwater is a black teen from Detriot. A BLACK MALE TEEN IS THE LEAD OF A SCIFI NOVEL! We have characters from Japan, Palestine, Brazil, Switzerland, Kenya, all across the globe. Even Marcus Dufoe, the CEO/leader of their competition is a black man.

Emmett is such a fantastic character. Coming from a poor family, he is determined to make it to Eden and secure his family's future, while struggling with losing himself in the competition. Emmett feels the weight of history on his shoulders and recognizes freedom and choice are not provided to everyone, and he works damn hard to get what he wants. He is such a strong character and has a great POV that is really easy to connect to.

The sense of family in the book was the absolute greatest. Emmett’s dad is the best fictional dad I have ever seen in my life. He radiates care and love and affection. He is who all dads should aspire to be. The competitors also develop this great little found family aboard the ship. They spend time together and develop their own slang. They just really become a close-knit group, which makes the competition more intense!

I loved all of the training and competitions in the story. The action starts up pretty immediately, and never really lets up. The challenges are cyclical, but the story never feels repetitive.

Things I Didn’t Like :
I was indifferent or annoyed at all of the budding romances in the story. I felt like we didn’t get to see enough of the characters interact to make me believe in their relationships.

I truly loved this story, and it made me want to read more SciFi. I loved seeing Babel and finding out more of their secrets and seeing our characters rise to the occasion and fighting for not only themselves, but their families. The world is incredible vibrant and full of an amazing cast of characters. Nyxia was gripping and engaging and promises and stunning sequel.

I got a copy from Netgalley I read 30% of this and it did not work for me, it is completely boring, all they do is train and train. and talk. I had to stop reading it because I could not take it anymore.
The characters do not have personality. There was nothing that attracts me to this story.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nyxia will be released on September 12.

Nyxia is a sci-fi Wonderland. By Wonderland, I of course mean the terrifying reality that was Wonderland. Not this "fairy tale" or "magically wonderful place" that we all try to pretend Alice found.

Nyxia follows a group of 10 teens conscripted by Babel Communications to harvest a new substance called Nyxia on Eden, a foreign planet. We are introduced to our MC, Emmett, a black young man from Detroit. It's seen clearly when his father gives him the family heirloom, a key that says "Break the Chains," representative of how hard his family has fought for equality. I love his relationship with his family. How hard he is willing to work to help provide for them a better life. How he never gives up hope that his mom can be cured of her disease.

What I noticed immediately was the supposed shout-out to the Bible. On one hand we have Babel - where the people were so arrogant and prideful that they desired to become gods and were thusly punished. Then we have Eden - where our ancestors began and were cast out after being disobedient to God.
What I next noticed was the beautiful diversity. Practically every corner of the planet is represented. Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Scandanavia, Europe, South America, and North America. I enjoyed that they weren't stereotypically represented either. These were real characters with real issues, not some ridiculous 2 dimensional person inserted for comedic or antagonistic effect.

There are twists and turns and shocks throughout. There are friendships formed and betrayals. There are inseemingly insurmountable obstacles. There are platonic friendships between men and women (thank all that is good and holy).*

*I am sick of reading books that have romances between characters just because they are around each other. Like, OH! You are a boy! Let's date. That's not how life works. Men and woman can be friends without having romantic feelings towards one another.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book and I can't wait for book two to come out in 2018. I can't wait to see what happens next.

I really enjoyed this book; I was intrigued from the very first page. I really liked the diversity of the characters. This was definitely a page-turner--I devoured half the book in one sitting and only stopped because I had to go to work. Definitely recommend!

I haven't taken any time to review books in a long time, but recently came across a Y.A. (young adult) sci-fi book that looked so promising, I had to grab the ARC copy. I'm SO glad I did, because Nyxia by Scott Reintgen is one of the best YA sci-fi books I've read in a long time. It features a host of multi-cultural characters (which is unusual!), unexpected twists, great pacing, and some unique sci-fi elements that were a joy to read for the geeky girl inside me. ;-) I devoured it in 2 days and am chomping at the bit to get the other 2 books in the series (which are, as yet, unpublished)! It reminds me of a mix of Hunger Games, The Maze, and maybe a smattering of Red Rising - and yet it's quite original.

Here's the book's description, and then I'll add my comments:

***************************

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.

**********************
There's a bit of mystery swirling throughout the entire book. The author only hints at bits and pieces about the Babel Corporation - letting you know there is something more going on, but not unraveling what that something is. It's clear Babel is the most powerful corporation on Earth, and it's clear they aren't upfront with their recruits. That's about all that's clear! They aren't telling them something about the mysterious and most valuable material ever found - Nyxia, or the circumstances surrounding their trip to Eden. Babel is lying about... something. Babel is hiding...something, not only from the recruits, but from those left behind on Earth. That thread winds itself through the novel, leaving tantalizing clues, but never giving any concrete answers.

There is also something about Nyxia itself that is almost frightening. From it, Babel has achieved unheard of technological advances. It's a material that can be manipulated into almost anything, and yet you wonder, is the material itself doing the manipulating?

Then, there is the mystery surrounding the Adamaites, the native inhabitants of Eden who are more technologically advanced and powerful then we are. There is something that has gone wrong with the Adamites and it seems they are unable to reproduce. The youngest Adamite is in his 50's and for some reason it appears that there are no more females. They treasure and adore children...which is why these 10 teens are hurtling through space on their way to Eden. Only children will be allowed on the planet to mine Nyxia and a competition ensues. Out of the 10 recruits, only 8 will be chosen.

The children chosen are from poverty stricken backgrounds, all of them with a huge and desperate needs. Babel exploits those needs in what becomes a brutal competition.  The losing 2 will get a small amount of money, but the winners will get everything beyond their wildest dreams, not only for themselves, but for their families. For Emmett it means saving his mother from the cancer that's killing her. If he loses the competition, he could very well lose her. This isn't just about being rich (and famous), it's about life and death.  That makes some interesting moral situations that don't always have an easy answer. The desperation all of the recruits face is also something that makes it easier for them to ignore the undercurrent that something isn't quite right.

I loved the character development throughout the book as these teens are stretched to their limits - both physically and sometimes morally. The adults in the book are also multi-layered. No one is purely black or white as far as good and evil and the struggles the characters go through are thought-provoking. I loved the honest approach to these struggles. It wasn't always clear what a character would do in different situations, and the author didn't shy away from allowing even Emmett to have flaws that he had to work and sometimes fight through. You grow to love him and other characters and you also can't help but hate some as well, and yet nothing is ever totally set in stone in that regard. Even the hated characters have their reasons for being the way they are and because of the depth of the character development and the complexity of the situations, it's not always totally clear who you want to win, or who you want to lose...

As a parent, I can say that this books is quite CLEAN and promotes morality - but in an honest and non-preachy way. The characters have their struggles, but it's refreshing to see some take the higher path, even if it could turn out to be a sacrifice. Emmett's background is also positive. He comes from a rough neighborhood, but he's stayed away from drugs and other negative lifestyle choices. He loves and honors his parents, and their relationship is touching. There is a little bit of "boy likes girl" with a scene of holding hands and a non-descriptive kiss. The way it's handled is pretty wholesome and doesn't seem contrived or out of place, nor is it "obsessive."

Another thing I noticed is that there are multiple minor religious references. At first I wasn't sure if they were underhanded digs toward Christians, but over time figured out that the author is coming from a Christian background and drops little tidbits here and there that aren't proselytizing, but appear as the main character struggles to understand things or in reference to Babel. They won't offend a secular reader, and they are refreshing to a Christian reader. I get tired of YA books with anti-Christian agendas. This isn't one of them.

There is a LOT of violence in this book,

***spoiler alert***

including a death that was a bit unexpected (think: a Game of Thrones killing that gets rid of a character you LIKE).

***end of spoiler alert***

The violence is probably at the level of Hunger Games. I recall only one incident of very minor cursing (the word hell).

The "about the author" note states: Scott Reintgen has spent his career as a teacher of English and creative writing in diverse urban communities in North Carolina. The hardest lesson he learned was that inspiration isn’t equally accessible for everyone. So he set out to write a novel for the front-row sleepers and back-row dreamers of his classrooms. He hopes that his former students see themselves, vibrant and on the page, in characters like Emmett.

I think he's done a tremendous job in creating a page-turning novel that does exactly what he was trying to do. It's very difficult to find any worthwhile sci-fi that is accessible to teens (and adults who like YA novels!!). Nyxia does a terrific job not only as a sci-fi novel, but also as something that tackles tough issues and brings to life a multitude of cultures in a fresh and exciting way. If you have a teen who loves sci-fi or you want to encourage a student to dip his/her feet into that genre, Nyxia definitely fills a YA sci-fi void! I can't wait for the next two books to come out!!

Nyxia is an engrossing mashup of Ender's Game and The Hunger Games. It is one of my favorite YA books I have read in recent years!
The Babel Corporation are sending poor children into space to work mining a new power source called Nyxia. The aliens that live on this planet only like children and the teens are compensated handsomely for becoming part of the Genesis 11 project. Emmett and the other nine teens soon learn they are competing against each other for a spot on the miming team and it's every man for himself. In space, away from their families, these children fight to save their families from poverty and disease while pitted in a a dangerous game.
From page one I was sucked in. The style isn't overly wordy (except for the alphabet bit) and the plot moved forward very quickly. The book does better at giving you a look at the ensemble cast than most current books do; I can name a majority of characters and who they were unlike the nameless, unimportant cannonfodder in The Hunger Games.I really loved the strategy of the tasks set before the children and couldn't wait to see how they would think outside the box to complete their tasks. I also, never felt like anyone (except one character) was safe during the competition and the trails really seemed to mean something for these characters.
There wasn't much I didn't like. Mainly, my only problem was the break in the middle where you see the viewpoint of the adult running the trail. The voice was not adult and it still felt like I was reading from the teen's point of view.
An intense thrill ride, I was left wanting more! I can't wait for the rest of the triad!

3/5 Stars

Nyxia follows a story of young man, who's mother is terminally ill and who has a chance to save her by joining Babel (tongue in cheek here people) and help them mine Nyxia - a substance that can be transformed into anything non-organic (and about which Babel knows very little). Once aboard Genesis 11 (again - tongue in cheek here), the kids are informed that only 8 out of ten will be allowed to go Eden (the distant planet from which Nyxia comes) and: "may the odds be ever in your favor."

I think I would have liked this more if it wasn't a rip off of Ender's Game and if it had ANYTHING else going on but the endless competitions that are extremely repetitive. I honestly skimmed most of them at the end because let's face it - I can only the read about the same fights, races and challenges so many times before I just don't care. Also - it was predictable - very predictable. It just really pissed me off - can we have a different story? I don't want to be reading the same story over, and over, and over again. Ender's Game was incredible - we do not need another retelling.

BUT, I liked the characters. I liked Emmett and Kaya, Bilal and Mourning. And I loved the how diverse the cast was (African Americans, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Chinese, etc). I also loved the bonds that Emmett makes on board of Genesis 11, he is genuinely a great kid (tad lacking in character development, but still). This is the only reason why I gave the book 3 stars.

I may or may not pick up the next book. I have a feeling that it will be a rip off The Avatar (the movie).