Fast-paced intriguing read with excellent team/group dynamics.

Nyxia is a thrilling science fiction tale that is a great opener for the rest of the trilogy. While this book is not a favorite yet, it is pretty close to being one! I highly recommend this for anyone who wants a action-packed and fast-paced young adult novel. A more in depth review is coming!

4.5 stars!

In exchange for a honest review, thank you Netgalley for the copy.


Wew. What a ride. For Scott's debut novel, Nyxia is a roller coaster you want to ride and a journey you want to be part of.

Nyxia is a story of poor teenagers with strong abilities and personalities that Babel Communication chose to be part of the Genesis 11 exploration and to be the first group of people to live in a habitable planet called Eden. Despite of flowery and extravagant payout being a crew of Genesis 11, they need to compete with each other to be part of 8 out of 10 to qualify to go to Eden and one of the most intention of Babel is to extract Nyxia, a black substance that can be willed into different uses according to your needs and wants. But being part of the promising crew, is a secret yet to be unveiled, because of the lies and protected information about the Nyxia and the Adamites who inhabits the Eden.

I can say that Nyxia can be part of our bookshelves' promising books because not like the other novels, you can root to all characters. One of the best things is that everyone can relate to the characters and to their story and background. The feeling that you want them all (not all. With exceptions) to be part of the Genesis 11.

If you have read Illuminae Files and the Ender's game you will loved this book.

First of all, the Nyxia thing is a bad-ass part in this story. You can will it to something. Whatever you like and whatever you desire. For me, without the Nyxia, this story can be compared and will be part of the cliché sci-fi stories. Thank you Scott.

Let go to the characters:

I really like Emmett's character. To preposition and principles in life the competition, obstacles and decisions he need to face, these things never clouded him to be a different person just because of the competition. Like us, whatever is happening to our society, we are coming back to our "roots" (playing: Roots by Imagine Dragons).

It is a heart break for me when Kaya died. Except for Emmett, Kaya is the strongest and wittiest of them. I really love her principles in the game. I loved her character. Her wits and skills are commendable. Is that it? I hope the author picked others than Kaya. It is like a piece of story has been torn into pieces. Especially she and Emmett started an alliance and a special friendship in the ship. It is a waste because she is worthy than the other crews (I will explain later who the heck is that), she is a born leader. Sad to end this story without her. I like to commend the author forgiving a respect for characterization of women in this story. Yes, we have a protagonist that portrays a strong man but doesn’t mean we put the excess of the story line to others especially the women in the story. This book portrays strong, willed women. Even though beaten by physique and skills by the male contestants, characters like Azima and Kaya are a picture of women empowerment in this story. These girls can beat your guts out of you.

If I am one of the Babel employees or like Defoe, I will shipped-out Isadora and Roathy. Yes, Longwei can be annoying sometimes but these two are too irritating. Everyone is competing fairly, it is a matter if skills and will to be on the top. You stupid cowards! Thank glad Roathy is out.

Then the story turns upside down by introducing a group 2, the Genesis 12. The stake is higher and the competition gets tighter. But what the heck? Longwei being the top Genesis 11 contestant just earned around 500,000 points while Morning from Genesis 12 has a score around 1M+. What the heck? It means they are stronger than them and she is hard to beat up.

This book messed up me so good!

Summing up the book, there is something that makes you to want more of this story. It is irresistible. A page-turner. It is like you are eating in a fine-dining and Nyxia is only the appetizer.

I don't think if it is a cliff-hanger but for me it is. What happened to the others after ejected? Who were the ones included to the Eden Team? Does Babel's bargain true or a lie?

Can't wait for the next sequel!

P.S. One disadvantage for me I this book is that the author tries to be unique in every trial for them to earn. There are individual games like combat fighting, Nyxia manipulation and simulation and team games like to real-life, messed-up, 4D treadmill. I want commend the author for creating uniqueness in this story but when Genesis 11 and 12 were combined. One of the games called Waterway makes my brain and imagination to wear-out. It tried to reread every game about the Waterway and I can't figure it out. (Don't judge me hahahaah). I didn't expect the waterway game. I thought it will be a team game fighting a computer simulation Adamites. Hahahaha anyways. The story is still so so so good.

This book reminded me of the Hunger Games in outer space. The friendships and characters are extremely well done and you really feel connected to them.

There are so many twist and turns in Nyxia that I never saw coming and sucked me in even further. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

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.