LOVED this book! And I went in honestly a bit wary as I don’t ever do horror- but I just loved Wellington’s suspense-filled read!

This sci-fi thriller opens onto a future in which humanity has ventured deep into space, form a nearby colony on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede to far flung outposts far away into the galaxy. Special Agent Alexandra Petrova, an intrepid military investigator is closing in on a serial killer when her superiors both lockdown her weapons and tell her to stand down. She encounters in the alleged serial killer’s hideaway the weirdness of people complaining of starvation despite food brought their way, and she’s also lectured by the new head of military security, Agent who took over the post previously held by Alexandra’s mom.

Next thing she knows, Alexandra’s been assigned to do a security check of a remote human colony that edges an alien built solar system known as Paradise-1. Non-coincidentally, this is also where her mother has fled post retirement to join the community’s homesteaders staking out life on a new planet. She finds herself on a sophisticated shuttle heading to Paradise-1 along with Doctor Zhang-Lei, who himself has been traumatized from being the sole survivor of a human colony who self-destructed. There’s also Sam Parker, acting captain, with whom years early she had a wild weekend affair, as well as the ship’s sophisticated AI and a hilarious robot who continues to 3D-print new bodies for himself as he proves as much a hero as the rest of the crew.

They arrive to find Paradise-1 surrounded by a plethora of hostile ships and come immediately under attack. It takes all the crew’s ingenuity to fight for survival amidst their ship’s AI having shut itself down to continually re-booting as it’s been infected by an alien virus.

The characters are keenly drawn with much depth, and the world comes alive with Wellington’s amazing descriptions.

The edge-of-your seat plotting and clever twists keep you guessing the whole time.

My only complaint: the book ends on a dramatic cliff-hanger that took my breath away. Seriously?!

Next book in the series pronto please!


Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

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This is the book I've been searching for. David Wellington reached into my heart of hearts and pulled out the most gripping science fiction suspense story of the last twenty years! When Petrova gets sent to the Paradise system to find out why the planet's occupants have stopped sending messages to the rest of humanity, she finds a box of worms that should have stayed closed. I loved this from page one- which feels like a detective story, right up until the last page with "to be continued...". Wellington has come a long way in his prose since 99 Coffins, but the stories he puts out are just as imaginative and engrossing as they ever have been.

If you love The Expanse series by James S.A Corey, you must read this!

This is perfect for lovers of hard sci-fi. We have battles in space, we have air running out, we have sarcastic robots, we have sentient AIs and so much more.. This whole book is an action-packed mystery from beginning to end. The story is in third person and shifts perspective each chapter so we're feeling the full impact of how the events are affecting each of our main characters.

The story centres around a crew of three people (plus an AI and a robot), who go into cryo-sleep on their way to visit a planet called Paradise-1. The crew is shaken out of cryo when the ship is violently attacked. From surviving the attack, to understanding why it's happening, to trying to get down to the planet, you'll feel like you can't catch your breath either.

If you're feeling a little intimidated by the books 700+ pages, don't. The pacing is so fast you won't even notice the time going by. Could this book be divided into two for readers like me who prefer books around 350-450 pages? Yes. But it's a great story and I'm glad I got it all at once.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for this advanced reader copy. I can't wait for the next one!

This book is best read while hiding under the covers.

30% DNF
This book is fine and well written, my issue is I didn't realize how long this book was and I do feel like parts could have been shortened/sped up to get the story moving with less pages.
Or, if the author wanted this chonky of a book, maybe consider doing a duology or split it somewhere to not overwhelm the reader. Sadly I haven't finished this one, I may go back to it because I do love a good space story, but it is just way to long and drawn out for my liking.

DNF @ 67%

The first 1/3 of this book was awesome: there was tension and a lot of movement and fire and the kind of panic that is wholly unique to space. When the spaceship is shredded and the last of the available oxygen is burning as it’s violently expelled, that’s a stressful and compelling image. You’ve got one crew member getting shot out into space and throwing whatever debris he can find to equal-and-opposite-reaction himself back to the relative safety of the ship; you’ve got the other dealing with malfunctioning gravity systems and dangerous/impassable sections of ship forcing her to take risky maneuvers to get to where she’s going. There’s a bit of mystery, and a lot of action.

However, this book did not need to be 700 pages. We could have had them counteract the Basilisk on one ship, not necessarily 3+ back to back. It started to feel really repetitive. I was also really put off by the sheer number of times (like… At least 6 times?) where the text is literally things were too gory to identify someone’s gender (I really don’t care what gender the zombie used to be? That’s totally not relevant and the fact that it happened over and over just ended up feeling casually transphobic rather than accomplishing anything). I gave up on the book knowing there would be answers I wouldn’t get, but even listening to the audiobook at 3x speed didn’t help with the repetitiveness and lack of forward momentum.

4.5 / 10 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/04/08/paradise-1-by-david-wellington-review/

Alexandra Petrova is a washed up Firewatch agent. Exiled to a distant retirement colony, she and her ragtag crew have been instructed to investigate the area and report back.

Zhang Lei is having rather a bad day. Then again, all days are bad—this is just the latest of them. If it were up to him, Zhang would’ve simply laid down and died long ago. Unfortunately for him, someone has seen fit to keep him alive, often at the expense of his personal feelings on the subject.

When their ship is attacked only a moment after dropping out of hyperspace, Zhang and Petrova must band together to defend the ship—and complete their mission—before anything else goes awry. Unfortunately, it seems nothing about their mission is as it appears.

The orbit of Paradise-1 lies littered with debris and destroyed ships. The planet they’ve been sent to investigate: lies dark, with no transmission or signs of life. Not that they can check. What life still exists in the skies above this world seem intent on keeping them off it.

But with no way back, they can only push forward—one way or another.

—

Paradise-1 was sold to me really in two phrases. The first is right there on the cover: “Endless Dark. Endless Terror.” The second, from the book’s blurb, is: “What the crew of the <i>Artemis</i> find is more horrifying than anything they could have imagined.” Both of these quotes on their own seem to hint at an epic and horrible adventure. Together, they almost promise it.

Needless to say, Paradise-1 fails to deliver.

Mostly, it was boring. There’s a lot going on in this book, but not 700-pages a lot. There’s a good bit of distance between anything that happens and anything else that happens, repeated again and again over the course of 680 pages. It could’ve easily been half that amount—and still been boring. The “endless horror” bit is a bit much; I’d more class this as infrequent weirdness punctuated by long periods of silence that I’m assuming were meant to build tension, but instead just separate one oddity from another, and screw the pacing all to hell. There do exist some genuine white-knuckled moments. They’re just few and faaaar between. The rest of the time is spent talking, traveling, or is simply wasted on existing among the stars. Upon starting this, I’d assumed it’d take a little to land on the planet, then a bit more to explore it.

Instead, we spend the entirety of the book above Paradise-1, only to earn just the barest glimpse of it (a tease, if you will) at the very end. An ending, I might add, that gives up fuck-all. I’d been skimming a bit by that point, but my genuine reaction was still “That’s <i>it</i>?” It was such a letdown that I had to reassess how invested I’d actually become in the damned thing. The answer is… complicated, but at least somewhat.

I’d be tempted to say that there’s a good story hiding within here somewhere, but only if you enjoy cliffhangers. And only if you’ve made you peace with stories that give you no resolution at the end. Still, I did make it to the end. And I was legitimately pissed off by the ending. And despite the overwhelming lack of terror, it was pretty dark. So… while my rating won’t be great, and I can’t in good conscience recommend this, it really could’ve been worse.

TL;DR

From what I can tell there are really two camps on this: the people that finished it seem to quite enjoy it, while those that didn’t enjoy it mostly didn’t finish it. Personally, my recommendation is to skip Paradise-1, but if you don’t, or you’re curious—give it a try. If you like it—great! But if you burn out—give it up. Nothing happens at the end, anyway.

Paradise-1 (book one of the Red Space trilogy) surprised me. I began the novel expecting a science fiction tale, a thriller yes, but mostly SF. Yet the story has some truly horrific situations and imagery. If, like me, you are a horror reader, this tale certainly delivers on that front. And if you're a fan of the movies Alien and Gravity, this story will be of particular interest. At 700+ pages, this is a long novel, but unlike other lengthy tomes, it gets off to a quick start. After disobeying orders, Firewatch inspector Alexandra Petrova is sent to check on a distant colony on the planet Paradise-1. Picture an earthbound story of a big-city FBI agent who defies orders and is sent from a high profile posting in a big city post to a sleepy town somewhere in the midwest, a remote place where once promising careers go to die. Now transfer that situation to space, and you feel the pain of Petrova's "demotion.""

At this point, I was anticipating a slow build to the next phase of Petrova's journey, but she is awakened violently from cryosleep with her ship under attack and coming apart at the seams. Nothing is what she --- or the reader --- expected from that point forward. What follows is a series of bizarre encounters filled with nonstop waves of suspense and unadulterated dread as Petrova and her small band of odd shipmates (I want to avoid spoilers here) encounter a mysterious and unique entity known only as the "basilisk" with the power to destroy humanity with a literal thought. The effect of the basilisk takes many forms, different on each ship in the blockade around the colony planet, from mystifying to gruesome but all, ultimately, deadly. Nothing is what it seems and no one is safe.

I mentioned the book is long, especially for a thriller, but the plot never dragged, and certainly held my interest throughout. As I also mentioned, this is book one of a trilogy and, be warned, though the book has an interim resolution, it definitely leaves you hanging on the true nature of the basilisk as well as the underlying reason for its existence. The second book can't come soon enough!

Despite a very intriguing premise, Paradise-1 proved to be a disappointing, and at times frustrating, read. This novel had so much potential, at least judging by the synopsis, but unfortunately the execution fell quite short of my expectations and I managed to finish the book only thanks to sheer willpower and a small measure of curiosity to see where the story would go. It was an uphill struggle all the way, and more than once I was tempted to DNF the novel, but I feel guilty doing so with review books, so I managed to keep reading till the (bitter?) end…

Firewatch Lieutenant Petrova, Dr. Lei Zhang and pilot Parker are rudely awakened from cryo-sleep as their ship, Artemis, is attacked by an unknown foe as they are nearing their destination, the colony named Paradise-1. Once reached the safety of the only intact section of the vessel, the three discover that their onboard AI is malfunctioning, that there are a lot of unresponsive ships in orbit around Paradise-1, and that one of them is firing against Artemis using a mass driver. This is only the first of the dangers the trio will have to face, because ships’ AIs and humans alike have fallen victims to something dangerously invasive whose nature they will have to discover if they hope to fight it - and to stay alive.

The beginning of Paradise-1 offers an intriguing, adrenaline-infused introduction to the story, and depicts very well the sense of disorientation suffered by characters who are so rudely awakened from suspended animation into a potentially fatal situation, but as soon as the three manage to reach the relative safety of the ship’s bridge and try to assess the situation, the “narrative troubles” start - or at least that’s the way it was for me. The fast pace with which the novel had started becomes mired in weirdly absurd dialogue and an overall tone that seems unsure about where to settle, whether on drama or light humor, while the addition of some hints at romance looks as if inserted to check a required box, rather than being an organically developed situation.

I guess that the proverbial “bubble” burst for me with the discovery of a recorded message illustrating the goal of the mission: the crew of Artemis was sent to Paradise-1 to investigate the disappearance of a great number of ships, but the powers that be chose not to warn the three of them about what they could expect and, worse, the ship was sent at the same coordinates of the previous disappearances. This compelled me to take a step back and wonder: what could be accomplished by sending another crew in, blind and ignorant, instead of making a more cautions approach, arming the crew with the relevant information? It seemed such an absurd waste of people and material as far the story’s internal logic was concerned, and such an absurdity if translated into “real” decision making , that it pulled me out of the narrative rhythm. After that, I stated to notice details that made no sense, when they were not simply ludicrous: as an example I will mention the medical laser, one powered by a cord inserted into an actual outlet, that’s used outside Artemis as a defensive weapon against an approaching ship - that must have required one hell of an extension cord! Granted, these are not end-of-the-world details, but they were enough to break my suspension of disbelief and to wake the Grumpy Nitpicker that’s always lurking in the background, ready to pounce…

At this point the story veers into all-out horror: to keep spoilers to the minimum I will only say that something manages to drive crews and ships’ AIs to utter madness, which manifests in disturbingly bloody ways. Sadly, the horror factor is more than overdone, resulting not so much into shocking scenes, but rather into grotesque episodes that made me think of those horror B-movies where you laugh at the scary parts as you reach for more popcorn. One example? A twisted AI wants to consume its victims and to be able to do so constructs a sort of metal mouth (equipped with vicious teeth) connected to a digestive system…. Worse still, the crew of Artemis find themselves in this kind of hairy situation not once, but three times, just in case we had not been scared enough the first one. I regret to say I wasn’t.

At the end of the 700+ pages of the book, an end I reached with difficulty because I had lost all interest in the characters’ journey or their fate, I hoped to find at least an explanation for the whole, confused mess, but I was not so lucky. For the third (and blessedly final) time our heroes are subjected to horrific experiences - now the terror is only psychological rather than physical, but that does not render the repetition more palatable - and finally reach planetfall. Where I hoped some answers would be provided - spoiler: they are not, because the novel ends quite abruptly in the worst kind of cliffhanger.

I’m aware that this ended up being more of a rant than a review, but I feel somewhat entitled to it after slogging through the absurd mess that Paradise-1 was for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

I loved the author's previous book, The Last Astronaut, and I came in expecting a similar level of mystery and horror set in space. I was not disappointed! This book was one of my most anticipated 2023 releases.

It's a long read but well, well worth it. There is a brutal cliffhanger but it just means there will be more!

The story is fiction but feels plausible, you know? Scary but plausible. I can't wait for the sequel!

Happy publication day to Paradise-1!

I mulled over this rating for a while and have finally settled on a 3.5. Paradise-1 was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and when I finally the chance to read it, I quickly realized it was a chonky boy. Clocking in at nearly 700 pages, this isn't really a book you just stumble into. I was worried that I was biting off more than I could chew.

Those worries were quickly dispelled once I got into it. At some points, this book felt like a serialization of novellas starring the same characters. It felt like there were several acts over the course of this one book, and as soon as one problem was resolved, another one quickly cropped up.

I ended up feeling endeared towards most of the characters, despite the fact that they weren't always the most likable. And the horror that this promises does in fact deliver. I wouldn't say that there was a high fear factor, but the ways in which the threats to the characters manifest was really unique and interesting. I won't say here to avoid spoilers, but I thought it was really clever and it left a lot of room for interpretation depending on each character and the factors at play. And I thought the body horror that he included was really visceral and written really well.

I don't think he's trying to do it, but I really sincerely believe David Wellington writes funnier and more engaging characters and sci-fi stories than Andy Weir, and I sincerely hope that his readership one day reaches that level. I have had infinitely more fun with his books than Weir's and will definitely read more from him.

Which brings me to my final point. After all the build up, all the conflict, all the resolution, all the pain, all the fear, all the suffering, the book just...ends. And not only does it end, it ends on a cliffhanger. I felt like he could have spent more time on that build up to the final scene and it would have ultimately bumped my rating up.

That being said, though I thought this was a standalone, I'll pick up the next book in the series. Here's to Paradise-2? ;)

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Orbit for the arc!

If you ask me if I want to read a space adventure, I’m going to say yes. What? It clocks in at around like 700 pages? So an epic space adventure then? Yes, I’m definitely down for that? Wait, it’s horror as well? So an epic sci-fi horror adventure? Oh heck yes count me in! In my opinion Sci-fi horror is sadly a vastly underrepresented genre, so I was thrilled to get the chance to read and ARC of Paradise-1. As I already mentioned, this is a hefty tome and while I feel it could have been streamlined a little bit here and there, for the most part it moves at a fairly good clip. I don’t want to ruin the story for readers by doing an in-depth plot summary, but rest assured Paradise-1 has an intense, action-packed story, with a strong cast and everything you might want from a horrific sci-fi adventure: aliens, robots, and much more. And while yes you may have seen many of these elements in other stories, there’s no questioning that Wellington has put his own special spin on them. There are some dark parts that had an almost Event Horizon or Dead Space-esque feel to them. Oh, and least I forget to mention, this is just the first volume of this saga and I look forward to seeing where things go from here. I’d like to thank Orbit Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of David Wellington’s Paradise-1.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1OWIWGQ2CYV7V/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

I was enrapt with this fascinating Science Fiction novel from the very beginning. I'd read and enjoyed earlier novels by this author, but PARADISE-1 is just special! Amazingly, the farther I read the more engrossed I became ! So happy this is just the first of a Series, as there are so many themes and occurrences yet to be unraveled: some science-fictional, some metaphysical (AI's achieving self-awareness; at what point is humanity no longer human but solely living creature), some-yes-paranornal (about the persistence of life after death, and of psychic manipulation). So very much to delve into, and there is not one spare minute to breathe!
Total fascination throughout, and I am rabid for the sequel!

Let's get the most burning question you all have out of the way immediately: no, this absolutely did not feel like a 700 page book, and it took me only perhaps a day longer than usual to finish it. I was very pleasantly surprised, and if that was the reason you were on the fence about this one, don't let it deter you, it moves very swiftly! Also, the chapters are nice and short, which helps me feel like things are moving along nicely.

I also loved the story, which helped. From the start, I was pulled in, as we begin with the stakes already clearly through the roof. But as the book goes on, things get even more exciting and tense, so I was kept intrigued throughout. There were a lot of twists, and both a ton of excitement as well as slower character-driven moments. Speaking of characters, it's a pretty small cast of characters but I absolutely loved them. And the robot Rapscallion injects some much needed wit and levity into the book, which I obviously appreciated.

Even though we get a lot of questions answered in this book, there are still so many more to come. I won't lie, even after nearly 700 pages, I was giddy excited to see that there would be a part two, so if you need to know how I felt about this one, know that I very desperately need more.

Bottom Line: Look, if you love a space adventure with characters you'll adore and all kinds of great plot twists, this is the book for you, regardless of page count.

I went into reading this book having already read a work from the author. This meant I knew the caliber of work to expect and I was excited. I will be honest, I loved this book. It kept me engaged with the story, puzzling over the clues leading to the end. I was held enthralled by the glimpses of what a contagious thought could do to a ship and crew. My only complaint was that I hate waiting for the story to continue in the next book. I will be eagerly waiting for the sequel. I would mention in this early copy I found a couple of typos near the end. Awesome story, great characters, and a plotline that reeled me in for the next chapter time and again.

Overall I enjoyed the story despite being left on a huge cliffhanger. I feel like the horror involved in space horror stories tends to be predictable but I think the author did a great job at putting an original spin on the normal fear of the unknown.

I received an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher.

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

First of all I would like to thank NetGalley and Orbit for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in an exchange for a review.

When I saw the premise of this book on NetGalley I got really excited and hoped that I would get the chance to read it. If I hadn’t been given the ARC, I probably would’ve ended up purchasing a copy of the book, because the premise is honestly intriguing. Lost colony in deep space that hasn’t been heard from and people sent out to figure out what is going on. I thought it was going to be a nice Sci-Fi/Horror/Thriller mixture, and it was a mixture of all those things, but it really just fell short in so many areas.

The book would’ve been so much better if it had been shorter. The book just drags on at so many points, and for no reason. You think that it’s going to become a super atmospheric horror at many points throughout the book, but in the end the details that get added only make the book drag out, they don’t do anything to create a truly creepy environment. There are many details that get added to the book that I’m thinking about as I write this review and I’m wondering if they really even mattered in the end of the book, or if they just ended up becoming plot holes. I feel like I need to develop a strong attachment with the characters to truly be able to care about the horror aspects of a book, but I was never able to do that with this book. The strangest thing about the book is that there were some characters seemed to be added solely for comedic relief, which I really don’t understand at all.

All in all, this book was just too long, too many pointless details, and not enough stress was created for the “vibes” that I feel like would’ve truly helped it be a better story. I constantly found myself wanting to DNF the book, but I would get given a tiny bit of story that pulled me back in enough to finish the book, only to be left with 0 real answers for any part of the story, which I assume will come in the sequel.

I have posted this review to both Goodreads and Storygraph

Clocking in at almost 700 pages, I was worried going into this whether or not the premise, although it was an intriguing one, would be able to go the length and hold my attention the entire time. While I did feel the length a bit in terms of how long the plot took to reach its destination (literally in this case), I found that I wasn't bored. For the most part though, because again the story did start to slog a bit as you kept going on, and I wasn't particularly happy with the climax after all that I read.

Would I recommend that you give this a shot if you like sci-fi stories about space travel with a twist, sure? It isn't an easy read though because you have to commit to finishing it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit, for giving me the opportunity to review this in advance.

I could not stop reading this book; nearly 700 pages just flew by as I was gripped in suspense. It played with and introduced some very exciting sci-fi concepts. Although I felt like it asked more questions than it answered, ultimately this is the start of a series that I can't wait to keep up with. I loved the characters and the dynamic that develops between them. They all get their own unique growth that you invest in as the reader, elevating the horror elements of the story when they're in peril. This book gets five stars, but if I could I would give it six for the introduction of Rapscallion, one of my new favorite literary robots. Fans of HK-47 and Marvin will find places in their hearts for Rapscallion, who I wish was used a bit more but was likely used in just the right amount.

I recently finished this sci-fi action thriller. A lieutenant, doctor, and pilot are sent to check on a distant colony that hasn’t been heard from for months. They wake up from cryosleep when their ship is attacked. They don’t know what’s going on, and neither does the reader.

The book throws these characters into one dire situation after another. They never get a break- and with short chapters moving the story along, it’s very fast-paced. I don’t want to say what’s happening in orbit around this distant planet to avoid spoiling it, but there’s a bit of horror with all this action.

It’s plot-driven, but I did come to really like the ship’s robot. It ends on an abrupt cliffhanger, and I wish there had been more of a payoff in this long book after all they went through. I also think the book would have benefited from being a little shorter. I liked it, but if you like serialized, nonstop action, you may enjoy it more than I did. I would read the sequel to find out what happens next. It comes out April 4. Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for my copy.