Thank you to NetGalley and to Flame Tree Press for this eARC.

The Emergent is Nadia Afifi’s sequel to The Sentient, which I dug up to read before I went into this one. I had found The Sentient a little too sciencey and much too YA for my taste, so I was pleased to find this denser and more cohesive.

The main protagonist is Amira Valdez, a young woman who grew up on a compund, a religious cult with a great deal of abuse and other general horrors. She escaped to the city of Westport before the events of the first book in the series, where she joined The Academy, a scientific institution. She became famous for her ability to use the holomentic machine, a machine for memory reading (!), and because she got caught up in a plot to create the first human clone.

In The Emergent, Amira grows up, and her character develops a lot more complexity, which is welcome. We also learn more about the compounds, and about the darker side of the Academy. There’s a lot more action and plot, and a lot less fantastical science, which helped me enjoy this a lot more than the first book. Amira also gets a rather irrelevant love interest.

My main criticism of these books is how many triggers there are: this is a really very dark world, and the author does not spare us. My other criticism is the implausibility of the science: this series skews more fantasy, on the whole. In The Emergent, characters are a lot more developed, and the plot is sustained quite well. There are plot holes which the author either belatedly tries to close up or ignores entirely, but they don’t really detract from enjoyment of the book. The ending feels strange, and rushed; but I assume that is to set us up for the next book in the series.

Overall, this is probably enjoyable for any fan of soft sci-fi/dystopia; fans of the Divergent series will probably enjoy this. I found The Emergent much more solid, gripping and enjoyable than The Sentient, so if you read the first book, I am happy to recommend this second one to you.

Rated: 7/10. However, read the first book in the series, The Sentient, before you read this one.

Nadia Afifi impressed with The Sentient with its tale of futuristic intrigue and science fiction. I was happy to see her return with The Emergent from Flame Tree Press to move the story forward. This series is dense but compelling science fiction that takes some time and effort to read and unravel but the first book was well worth the time. I jumped into The Emergent hoping for the same quality of story that I found in the first novel.



Amira Valdez’s troubles did not end when she escaped from the compounds. No matter what she does to leave her past behind, it keeps coming back to haunt her. Now the Trinity Compound has a new leader who is determined to spread his influence over North America as he tries to take advantage of the instability of what used to be the Western United States. Even worse, he is on a personal mission to find out why he seems to be connected to Amira beyond the obvious connection of their shared past before she escaped from the compound in search of freedom.



While this is going on, the world’s first clone continues to mature even while surrounded by threats for those who think the baby is either unholy or a threat to humanity. Even those who want to emulate it pose a threat. Amira has a bond to the clone’s mother as well as the baby and is torn between her duty of friendship and to society as well as her lingering doubts about the intentions of the clone’s creator. And what is the link between the clone and a drug that could bring about the extinction of the species through a horrific weapon or unlock the secret of immortality?



The Emergent picks up right where The Sentient left off and does a very good job of carrying on the story. Afifi has created a world full of intrigue and adventure that still feels real in the middle of all the fantasy that surrounds it. There is a lot of hard science fiction in the novel as she delves into the morals of cloning and the new hierarchy of society that developed after the downfall of the world as humanity knew it but she also keeps the action flowing as well so that it does not take a lot of work to keep moving through the story. There is an easy flow to the story as the action keeps it moving along but there is also a lot of substance as well. The religious aspects behind the compounds as well as the morality of cloning are explored in depth but not to the detriment of the plot. Afifi has a feel for the story that allows her to build her world while keeping the novel from bogging down.



The Emergent is exactly what a science fiction story should be: thought-provoking yet exciting at the same time. The reader cannot help but to think about the issues that drive the action while always pressing forward through the novel to see what will happen next. There are a lot of big ideas explored in this novel, all the way up to the questioning of morality and the meaning of death as well as the basic tenets of what it is to be human, but Afifi stays in control of the narrative so that the reader has time to reflect on this while still turning the pages to the next event. The action is so explosive that the novel reads like a thriller at times. In short, The Emergent is a good example of why I like science fiction. It would alternately make me think and cheer (and sometimes even do both at the same time). I am not sure what the rest of the year will bring, but I have a suspicion that The Emergent will be the best science fiction novel I will read this year. I would highly recommend picking up this novel (and, of course, The Sentient as well if you have not read it yet).



I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. The Emergent is available today (May 17, 2022).

A good follow-up that kept me engaged. This author writes well and has a good imagination. I look forward to her future work.

Thanks for the free ARC for review!

Amira Valdez’s adventures continue in the sequel to The Sentient, as she finds herself in unprecedented danger. The ruthless new leader of the fundamentalist Trinity Compound seeks to understand his strange neurological connection with Amira and unleash an army on an unstable North America. The first human clone has been born, but thanks to the mysterious scientist Tony Barlow, it may unlock the secret to human immortality – or disaster. Together, Amira and Barlow form an uneasy alliance in pursuit of scientific breakthroughs and protection from shared enemies. But new discoveries uncover dark secrets that Barlow wants to keep hidden. Beautifully written and I got really invested in the story. I would highly recommend reading this one.