It’s been 227 days since Essex Colony’s last transmission…Dispatched to the surface of Essex Prime and tasked with discovering what happened to the colony, Doctor Soran Ingram discovers that most of the colonists are dead and the surviving Executive Officer—Aline Aster—has turned into a ravening wolf-beast. The human survivors claim the XO and her Lunaran fellows went mad and killed everyone, but Soran has her doubts. Following Aster’s testimony, as well as clues left behind, Soran embarks on a fact-finding mission to retrace the colony’s last steps before disaster struck. She’ll soon discover more than uncertainty lurks in the dark spaces of the world.
I had a real problem getting through this book. It just wasn’t for me. DNF.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Initial twitter reaction: Finished Essex Colony! Didn't have quite as much survival horror build-up as I wanted, but did deliver on robot smooching werewolf.

Lesbrary review: Lia Cooper's <em>Essex Colony</em> has the set up of a really cool survival horror movie: the first colony on Essex Prime went radio-silent almost a year ago. Soran Ingram, an AI whose lover was the Executive Officer of the colony, is part of the crew sent to investigate – only to discover that most of the colonists are dead, and the XO has become a sentient wolf-creature.

So what I'm saying is that if your life is missing a robot/werewolf romance in space, <em>you're welcome</em>!

I found <em>Essex Colony</em> to be quite rushed; I was hoping for more suspense, more cat-and-mouse, more time spent on the build up of what went wrong, more pay-off for the characters who were blatantly being set up as working against the protagonists for Capitalism. There is <em>some</em> of that, but a lot is handled off-screen or summarised. A little disappointing for me, but it's a very short book so I'm assuming that there wasn't the space for anything but the characters going from plot point to plot point, mostly stumbling across the plot rather than actively discovering it. It still works and I was still invested in Soran and Aster getting off this planet alive, but it felt a little too straightforward.

Most of the world-building is interesting; the werewolf mythology works particularly well, and the explanation for what happened to the colonists appealed to my Doom-movie-loving heart! ... I never thought I'd say this, but I was a little disappointed that it didn't go <em>more</em> Doom, because having every single human turn out to be a horrific bigot at heart was disappointing. I'm also morbidly intrigued by the world-building that <em>isn't</em> explained; we're told that the Earth is dying, but also humans are referred to as Anglo-Earthers, which sounds to me like some horrific western supremacist nonsense happened before the book even started.

I liked Soran as a character; she was a lot more human and human-like than I was expecting from the blurb (this is even called out in the text, because why would anyone make a robot that they <em>couldn't</em> have sex with), but I can appreciate her being exactly what she appears to be. And Aster, the XO, was fun, and it was very easy to see why Soran liked her! I would have liked to see a little more of them actually interacting, rather than meeting up, exchanging plans, and then both running off in opposite directions all the time, but I'm assuming that the space constraints of a novella didn't allow for it.

In fact, I think most of my issues with <em>Essex Colony</em> could have been worked out with a little more space. The climax is quite muddled, to the point where I'm not sure what the characters were trying to achieve, but everything was definitely exploding and on fire! Like the lack of build-up, it would probably have been improved by having more room to breathe, and the ending might have felt more tidy rather than leaving most of the threads unresolved. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be the first book in a series – I didn't see anything on the Nine Star Press website to say so – but if it isn't there's a <em>lot</em> left unanswered and I could see it being frustrating.

So it did have some flaws, but I <em>did</em> enjoy <em>Essex Colony</em>! Scifi/survival horror is one of those genres where I will read and watch everything I can in it, and this is a fine addition to that roster. But honestly, I might start recommending it for the sheer novelty of finding a robot/werewolf pairing outside of fandom.

[Caution warnings: bigotry, murder]

This Sci-fi epic is marvelous. This is more of a sci-fi mystery and it was very exciting and enjoyable.
I love Cooper's writing and the way the story was told comprising of the present and past memories. The development of the characters was thoughtful and well done. I loved the incorporation of varying alien species.
Soran is a sentient AI and she is so wonderful. I love how she thinks and experiences, I love how she interacts and functions. Her unflinching loyalty and dedication is inspiring. She is absolutely superb. I enjoyed following her through this story immensely.
Aline was an enigma in the beginning of the story and I loved seeing her in past and present interactions with Soran. The more I learned about her the more I wanted to know. Her strength and vulnerability are perfectly contrasting.
The mystery of Essex Colony is both intriguing and thought provoking. I had fun figuring out what happened and why.
The romance while brief was sensual and seductive. I loved their connection and the feel of two outcasts finding and accepting each other.
The ending was very open ended. Not a cliff hanger but not conclusive either. I am excited to pick up where we’re left off.

This is a bit of a genre mixer of a science fiction novella. It is a romance, with the intimate scenes between Aline a werewolf from a planet of them and Soran, their spaceship's cyborg doctor provides the best part of the action. It does have a weird bit of sci fi horror that is mashed into this adventure story, and it does distract a little bit from both Aline and Soran, who are fascinating characters, but don't always get a ton of stuff to do outside of their flashback scenes.

This is short and sweet, with some strong scenes and some weaker elements, but overall I do think an extra 50 pages or so would benefit this story. But if you're interested in a werewolf/cyborg romance in space this is for you.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review

3.25 Stars. I’m a little on the fence about this one. Parts of it I really enjoyed other parts felt rushed. However, it does have some potential and because this is only book one, I’m hoping the series might come into its own a bit more in the next installment. I’m fighting off a pretty nasty head cold, that is making being on the computer not that much fun right now, so if I don’t make complete sense please forgive me.

This is a sci-fi novella and what may be the first wlw story by Cooper. I apologize to her if I’m wrong but this is the only one I saw in her library of works. This is straight up sci-fi. Think of any movie you ever saw where a ship is sent to go check on a planet of colonists that have not been reporting in for days and day, and you have the main premise. What gives this book some of its potential is a sweet wlw romance and a little paranormal thrown in. This is a love story between basically a “werewolf” and an AI (robot). Yes that sounds bazaar to even type, but that ended up being the best part of the book. The way the “werewolf” was done was really smart and works well in the story. The main character is an AI who is very human in her own right. This surprising potential couple actually fits together.

The problem with this story is length. I knew it was a novella going in but while the story started well it then started to feel really rushed so that the climatic action sequence near the end was a bit of a letdown. Also, the fact that I’m left with just as many questions as when I started, well I’m not a fan of that. I am more forgiving because this is a book one so that means the actual story isn’t over, but still I just hate ending sci-fi series books with so many questions.

My finally take away is I’m glad I read this but it’s not without issues. The story has potential and I will read book 2, but this first book could have been better. If you are someone looking for more wlw sci-fi, I think you will at least be entertained. If you are not really a sci-fi fan, this might not be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and NineStar Press for the opportunity to read and and give an honest review of #EssexColony by Lia Cooper.

On Essex Prime, there have been no reports or communication with the colonists who are currently living there. It has been over 200 days since the last report.

Doctor Soran Ingram, an artificial intelligence with a psychology education, is sent with a team of others to investigate what happened and hope to find survivors. When the team arrives they find most of the colonists dead and one alien, that Soran knows. As Soran figures out what has happened, it seems history might be repeating itself.

The story starts out very strong. I enjoyed the writing, the narration and the plot. However, the ending happened so fast it left me feeling cheated for a better ending. This is a novella, so it is expected to be a shorter story, but I didn't feel like it was a complete story. Overall, I would want a better understanding as to what exactly happened. What was it about the planet that made the colonists and rescue team act the way they did? I don't understand it completely.

Surprisingly effective and dare I say cute scifi love story with suspense and action elements. At least, this was my takeaway after I finished reading it. The characters and plot were captivating thorough, though character exploration is ultimately where this little gem truly shines, and the plot feels more like a vehicle to get there . I really enjoyed Soran as a main character, and enjoyed looking at things through her point of view. Her relationship with Aline was also explored in an interesting way, the back and forth between present and past somehow managing to keep things interesting enough despite how easily (and often) such a tactic can become simply annoying.

Though the story was overall both satisfying and entertaining, I think the climax hung a little loose. I expected a bit more than what we go. In that regard, the denouement to me also feels like it was a little rushed for the sake of the cliffhanger-ish ending.

All in all, a very enjoyable story. I will look forward to other things from the author, and hope she continues exploring this setting, and maybe shows us more from the particular point of view of the characters we got to know here.