Another fantastic entry in the series, with a new point of view protagonist with a new set of neuroses and mental health issues. Emotionally intense and very satisfying, with the focus on shifted away from the mysteries in the previous two. I hope there will be another in the series at some point but they must be very draining to write!

Emma Newman Planetfall: I looked at this series for the 2020 Hugo (Best Series) awards but didn't enjoy it. It is not an example of good honest SF and the Corey, Thompson, McDonal and Arden SF series were all much better. As it was for the awards it was not appropriate to provide a review.

This is a good ending to a wonderful series. The fact that they are all separate entities made the complex, emotional stories in an immersive SF setting easier to read.

Another excellent book by Emma Newman. Definitely one of my favourite new authors from the last decade. More details at other end of the link,

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/follow-me-now-to-the-vault-down-below

Thank you for providing this book as part of the 2020 Hugo Awards Voter’s Packet (finalist for Best Series).

I received this book to evaluate it for a Best Series Hugo award in 2020.

Wow - what a book. It seems to me each book in the series just gets better. I highly recommend this novel.

I'm going to be a lone dissenting voice baying into the wind here, but that's fine. Because whilst I have really enjoyed the other three books in this series, this one just... didn't do it for me at all. I was either bored or supremely disinterested, whichever is most appropriate, near enough all the way through. Each of these books has been different in their own way, although all of them have been character driven. All of them are science fiction, but with different characters and a very different feel. Planetfall is a speculative fiction based on the colonisation of a new world, After Atlas is a police procedural set on Earth after the events of Planetfall and Before Mars almost veers into psychological thriller. I'm not sure what Atlas Alone is really; a mystery wrapped up in technological advancement and space flight, maybe?

Either way, this is a direct sequel to the events of After Atlas and Before Mars. Unlike the others, it really can't be read as a stand alone. It depends on the events that have been depicted prior, and also leans heavily on character development that has been previously established. Whereas in the previous novels, Newman has excelled at portraying flawed and broken individuals, here it just felt rather flat. I didn't really engage with Dee, and would likely have struggled even more if I hadn't read After Atlas prior as most of my understanding of her background with the hot houses was from Carlos's perspective. She's clearly meant to be as complicated and interesting as the characters from the previous novels, but I found her flat. The side characters are equally two dimensional; there is none of the complexity and ambiguity of the previous novels. Instead you have caricatures of the bad guys with no redeeming features at all and a handful of characters who were important enough to get a name and a few scenes, but not important enough to fully visualise.

Much of the narrative is given through immersive video games and that didn't really work for me either; there was no real sense of threat or tension to events because they were occurring in a make believe world. I don't like watching people play video games and it turns out that I'm not that big on reading about it either. Even when it became clear that some of those actions had real consequences, I never really engaged enough to care. The games themselves revealed a lot of Dee's past and the unresolved feelings she has about them, but because Dee refuses to engage in the prior trauma it makes it very difficult for the reader to engage. Except for the final few chapters which are very much set in the real world, all of the action is virtual and the rest is dialogue and thought processes. It's far darker than the other novels, with the video game sections taking on a horror edge, but the dead bodies and graphic violence really don't add anything to the novel. You do however get a lot of info dumps about gaming mechanics thrown in... which interested me even less.

And whilst the mystery aspect of the narrative was vaguely interesting, it was never expanded on enough to make the stakes really worth it. Dee goes from zero to homicidal maniac with barely a blink in between. And I just didn't see it. I had expected there to be far more to it, for there to be some kind of rationalisation or build up. But because the bad guys are faceless Christian fundamentalists, I didn't particularly care if they lived or died. But the way in which the narrative progressed made Dee's character almost as much of a caricature as the bad guys. I also saw at least one of the twists coming from a mile off, although the finale did manage to take me by surprise.

In a way I'm hoping there's at least one more novel to this series as it definitely feels unfinished as it currently stands, but I do feel that this was by far the weakest link in the series. It's far more simplistic than the other novels, both in terms of the narrative and the characters. I didn't find the video gaming aspects interesting at all and that is quite a large bulk of the read. When combined with the two dimensional characterisations and the unfulfilled potential of the narrative, this was ultimately a disappointing read.

In Atlas Alone (which I got on NetGalley via the Hugo nomination for the whole series), we get to follow previous characters of After Atlas. The book centers on Dee, the friend of Carl's, the detective from After Atlas.

They are currently flying in a spaceship, where the major source of entertainment is mersives - and a significant part of Atlas Alone happens in such environments. This is the story of Dee learning more and more about her environment and how she reacts to it, within the context of her previous trauma.

I must admit that, for me, this was the weakest book of the series. All in all, this felt very, very dark, and I kept hoping for some glimmer of hope that I didn't feel I got. Also as a nitpick: the turn of sentence "my face was a mask in front of a mask" made me cringe the first time; and it also made me cringe the second and third time I encountered it in the book :P

However I did like the environment and what Newman did with the mersives and in particular the whole idea of "leet" gaming. I also enjoyed seeing Carl again, and the role he had in this book. The plot was also very tight and kept me interested all along (and may or may not have led to a few "okay, one more chapter" at too-late-hours of the night).

"Atlas Alone" by Emma Newman is the fourth novel in the 4-book Hugo nominated Planetfall series. In this work we join protagonist Dee and her friend and travel companions Carl and Travis as they leave the earth behind as passengers on the Atlas 2 on a voyage to an extra-solar planet. The plot immediately includes details about Dee's childhood in the form of immersive (possibly invasive?) virtual video games. The plot slowly starts to feel like a unfolding nightmare as Dee is put into increasing uncomfortable situations. Much of the book is a psychological thriller on a space ship as Dee investigates and deals with the extraordinary situation she find herself in. Towards the very end of the plot Dee makes a series of questionable judgements based on strong cooperation and encouragement from a mysterious and powerful character. In the final sentences of the book everything is thrown on end and the reader is left in a state of shock in an ending that is equally unfair, justifiable, and horrifying. This reviewer looks forward to reading the sequel!

Atlas Alone is the fourth and so far final book in Emma Newman's Planetfall series of scifi novels, which began of course with Planetfall. Through three books, the series has consisted of a series of stand-alone novels set in the same universe, a not too far off dystopian SciFi world under corporate control changed when a woman discovered a way to set off to the Stars to find "god", with each novel featuring a protagonist with deep mental trauma and/or illness, often stemming from tragedies in their past. Newman's prose is really excellent at making the novels read fairly quickly, and she does a phenomenal job putting the reader in the heads of her mentally ill protagonists as they try to deal with new and old discoveries about their worlds. At the same time, the tone is at best bittersweet through it all, and I haven't quite always loved how the novels' plots developed.

Atlas Alone is both a continuation of that trend and a departure - it once again deals with a new protagonist dealing with substantial mental trauma relating to her past, but it for the first time is basically a direct sequel to a prior novel, in this case the 2nd book in the series, After Atlas. It's easily the shortest novel in the series, and is just as readable and enjoyable as ever, but at the same time again has plot developments that, when not predictable, I'm still not quite sure I find that interesting in the end, with this novel almost verging into horror. It's a hard thing to explain, but I'll try after the jump.

Spoilers I guess for Book 2 (After Atlas) of the series below, but the spoiler isn't really a big deal for reading that novel so not much to worry about in my opinion:

--------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------

It's been six months since Dee left her life as the property of a corporate on Earth and joined the crew of the Atlas 2, bound for the planet found by the Pathfinder all those years ago. Six months where nearly the only people Dee has seen are her longtime friend Carl and his current lover Travis. Six months where Dee has had to live with the knowledge that someone on board the Atlas 2, unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, ordered a nuclear strike on Earth as they left and resulted in the death and destruction of everyone left behind.

Dee may not have had anyone she cared about back on Earth, but she just can't accept that the culprits are living alongside her, and these feelings are preventing her from moving on with her life - even from playing in the VR games that she used to love. Unfortunately, as a last minute addition to the journey, she lacks any access to the ship's net that she could use to discover who could have been responsible. But when Carl's father finds her a job with a woman from another part of the ship, doing data analysis, Dee sees here in - the access needed from the data analysis will allow her to dig for answers, and even better, the employer invites her to join an elite VR gaming session, the type she's always heard rumors of and wanted to compete in.

But as Dee starts to dig into the data, weird things start coming up. The data about the younger members of the expedition is weird, for starters, and she can't understand it. And a strange person is suddenly able to contact her and invite her into a VR simulated game - one impossibly based upon a tragedy from her own unique childhood. And when she finishes that game, she discovers the man she killed as the end boss really died elsewhere on the ship....and that he may have been one of the ones responsible for the nuclear strike.

Soon, Dee finds herself unable to get away from the mysterious stranger, who keeps tempting her with the potential to kill those responsible for her nightmares. But how far is she willing to go to avenge her dreams and can she really trust the stranger, who seems to know things no one but her could possibly know?

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Atlas Alone is a first for this series, in that it essentially is kind of a direct sequel to a prior novel instead of just taking place in the shared setting. In book 2, we met Dee from our protagonist (Carlos/Carl)'s point of view - there, Dee was Carlos' closest thing to a friend, the person who helped him as they both found themselves growing up essentially as slaves to be sold to a corporate entity, who Carlos thought had betrayed him to a reporter before forgiving her by the end (and then ensuring she gets onboard the Atlas 2). Dee's mental trauma stems in part from her childhood tragedies but also stems from the conclusion to book 2, in which the Earth was hit by a nuclear strike from America. You can go into this book blind, as its plot is not completely dependent upon the prior novels, but it does rely upon an understanding of the setting and the characters of Dee, Carlos & Travis to a certain extent, which is a new thing for this series.

But despite all that, this book is very similar in structure and concept to the prior novels. Once again we have a protagonist dealing with mental trauma/illness - in Dee's case, depression brought upon by having everyone she cared about dying at an early age (Carlos excepted), her being bought as a slave and never being able to trust anyone, and then finding out that her own escape from all of that, and the planet, came hand in hand with the destruction of so many others. It's a series of traumas that when prodded results in Dee being desperate to do anything to find some way to remedy the wrong that was the nuclear strike on Earth, but also in her being unwilling to trust even her closest friends, like Carlos, with her fears and traumas for fear of them leaving her in revulsion. Dee has been without autonomy for her entire life, and having it, but being limited in what she can do with it by restricted access, does not help the situation.

And like the prior books, these mental wounds are pushed by a plot that brings them all back into the forefront. In this case, the bringing back is practically literal - the unknown strange hacker who provides Dee with access and puts her into games actually pushes Dee by putting her into virtual reality situations that actually are based upon her traumatic childhood and other similar events that haunt her. It's an utterly cruel thing to do, and it actually leads this novel to very much resemble a horror novel as much as a SciFi one, which is only made more the case as Dee discovers horrifying truths about the ship she's on and the people who are on it. This horror culminates with the story's final conclusion, which comes really quickly - this book is by far the shortest of the series - and ends in stunning fashion. Other books in this series have ended on bittersweet notes at best, and this one doesn't even go there, with its ending, as the plot's poking of Dee's mental traumas leads her, and everything else, into a really dark place.

Here's the thing - while again this is a very readable novel and its easy to empathize in Dee, I didn't really like what the plot did to her? Dee is just as irresponsible for the traumas done to her that have made her the way they are as any of the prior protagonists in this series (and is far less blameworthy than Ren, the first novel's protagonist) and yet this book treats her in the end in brutal fashion, as if she is in any way the worst of all of them....when her actions here are entirely led on by the other actors in the plot. This treatment of her is caused by a mostly predictable plot device (you will guess who the stranger is fairly early) that takes a sharp left swerve at the end, and well, that swerve just serves to make me angry on Dee's behalf.

In short, the novel again does a great job of setting up a main character I cared about, but then puts her through the ringer and leaves her in a terrible place at the end, and doesn't really do anything to justify that choice - and so I'm only angry on her behalf. I'm not quite asking "What exactly is the point of this book" as I was with book 3 (clearly the worst in this series), but well, the book seems to be trying to argue that the reader should take a step back and condemn Dee's actions at the end....and I can't actually do that. And so, in the end, it kind of fails. And after two books like this, I suspect I wouldn't be interested in continuing if this series was to continue with a fifth book.

This is a book I am accessing via Netgalley for the Hugo nomination packet. Due to this, I will not be reviewing this book via Netgalley at this time.

I really love this series for a lot of reasons: standalone installments that work together to create an overarching narrative, great characters, mysteries to solve, and a fully-developed world in a relatively trim page count.

This book in particular felt more familiar in terms of plot than the others. I still really enjoyed it, but it didn't wow me the way the previous ones have, but the bar had been set pretty high. The ending of the novel felt obvious and visible from chapters away which was sort of disappointing, but it won't stop me from continuing with the series when the next book is published, or from recommending the series to others, especially readers who might not typically choose science-fiction books.

I got this as part of the Hugo Awards Voting Packet. I love this series! I look forward to reading the author’s next book.

I love Emma Newman's writing, and this series in particular. This latest installment did not disappoint! It's character driven science-fi, with just the right amount of mystery to keep me turning pages. I hope there will be more books in this series.

Thank you so much for providing this book as part of the Hugo voting packet. When I have read this book my review will be posted to my blog, Goodreads and retail websites.

This series was on my Best Series ballot in 2020. This is the fourth novel in the series, and while they're all set in the same universe and each contains a few references to the previous novels, they're all standalones and each can be read on its own.

I'm not a gamer, and I was surprised at how good I thought this book is, given that I wouldn’t have expected that based on the synopsis. The main characters are well-developed, the worldbuilding is excellent, and the plot builds the stakes nicely to the final revelations. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND all of the books in this series.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Atlas Alone is an entertaining sci-fi. Even though it was book 4, I felt it didn't matter that I hadn't read the first 3 books. The thought of being able to go into a virtual game and see and act like it's real life is just crazy. There was great suspense and mystery. Very enjoyable story and the characters were believable.

"Atlas Alone" eBook was published in 2019 and was written by Emma Newman (http://www.enewman.co.uk). Ms. Newman has published eleven novels or novellas. This is the fourth in her "Planetfall" series. 

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story is set in the far future. A colony ship has left Earth with more than 10,000 passengers and crew. The primary character is the young woman Dee, an avid gamer and one of the few on the spacecraft that knows that Earth has been destroyed. 

She is angry and wants to take revenge on those who caused the destruction of Earth just after the colony ship departed. She is certain that those who gave the orders are onboard. She tries to lose herself in a 'mersive' game she is invited to play, but when she kills a character inside the game only to find later that the person is really dead, Dee discovers that there is a plot and she is at the center. There appears to be at least one other who wants revenge for destroying the Earth. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the 8 hours I spent reading this 317-page science fiction tale. I liked the characters and the plot, though the novel did not necessarily leave things totally resolved. While I previously read #3 in this series, Before Mars, this novel stands well on its own. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

5 stars - but I started out not liking this book. In fact, I wasn’t crazy about it for most of the duration of my reading of it. Two reasons:

1) The main character, Dee, spends a lot of time in virtual reality, or what it is called in this setting: immersives. Immersive games, educational immersives, or personal memories. I have never been all that interested in video games, and now, virtual reality, so having to read through so much of it in the book did not endear me to the story.
2) I did not like Dee. She is not a very empathetic character, therefore, I could not empathize with here. She had many challenges to get through, and I kept hoping that those challenges would be life-changing.

I won’t tell you everything that happened to Dee. Except that she did experience life-changing events. In the end, it was well worth my time reading Atlas Alone . What a great and perfect ending!

The ending suggests that there could be more and there are many possibilities of future adventures. Frankly, if there are no more, I am happy with Atlas Alone being the finale.

Atlas Alone is a novel in the Planetfall series. I have read 2 of the 4 novels so I can tell you that though they are loosely connected by a shared culture and society, they do stand alone. So don’t be afraid to pick this one up if you have not read the rest of the series.

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.