I received a free copy of the audiobook from NetGallley in exchange for a fair review. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author David Wellington.

3.5 stars

I was expecting a sci-fi horror story, but I don't really feel like that's what I got. It had plenty of sci-fi, but the horror wasn't really there for me. One of the things that makes a successful scary story is the build up to whatever is causing all the horror. The creepiness factor. It sets the mood and often times I find the build up more satisfying than the reveal. For as long as the book was it also went by really fast and consequently the scary moments were in your face. I like fast paced action packed stories, but not for the horror genre. It did work well for the sci-fi though.

The hook was a bit slow in coming. The beginning was sort of bland and I was glad when it quickly progressed away from Ganymede. (Side note, I absolutely hate the way the narrator says Ganymede. I've looked it up because I felt the pronunciation was wrong, but I think it's sort of like how people can say Caribbean different ways.) Artemis arrives in the Paradise system and you finally get the hook. The action starts and doesn't really slow down.

The villain has been done before. I know for a fact that Mass Effect, the video game, had the same kind of plot device going on for one of the planets you have to explore. Nonetheless it is still disturbing. I can't say I really liked or disliked Petrov. She's Russian and her mother is an unpleasant person. A lot of Petrov's personality is shaped by her mother. There isn't much else to say about her. Parker seemed like he might be a little more interesting, but no. Zheng was better than either of them and I found myself rooting for him. Rapscallion ended up being my favorite. How does a robot end up with the most personality?

Maybe I missed something, but I had no idea when in time this story takes place. Obviously very far into the future, but I don't recall anyone ever saying the year. I was curious what had happened to Earth. How does the government work? Who is making all these really important decisions for the entirety of mankind? You won't get any of those answers. You will exist in a bubble where an interstellar police force called "Fire Watch" makes all the decisions and that's all you need to know.

Even with all the things I didn't like I still ended up liking the story quite a lot. It kept me engaged and there wasn't much down time with people musing about their problems for ages. Nothing brings down a story faster than that kind of writing. Not to say there isn't tragedy, but it's not brooded about constantly. I wanted to know what was going to happen next and how the story ended. It was amazing to not have any "woke" agenda shoved in my face as well! I was able to just read the story and enjoy it for what it is. I was tempted to give it 5 stars just for saving me the headache of hearing about modern politics for a few days.

Unfortunately, this book has one of the worst cliffhangers I've ever read. There is tremendous build up about Paradise-1 and no pay off. No resolution. It was so abrupt I thought there must be another chapter. Despite that I will read the next one, I just hope it doesn't take too long. I do have one other thing to say and it is a spoiler so SPOILER WARNING BELOW.....










Why the hell did the author kill off Parker?! I knew he was a goner as soon as I realized there was no description of how he escaped his cryopod. The story has so few actual people, it felt empty of anything besides AI's. Leaving Parker alive would have served the story better. I'm not interested in a love story between a woman and an AI masquerading as a man.

This book attempted to throw every single sci-fi horror trope at the wall and when I logged it after my last commute I could not believe that I was STILL ONLY HALF WAY THROUGH. So much happened. So much! And yet nothing at all! I had to throw in the towel at 55% into the audiobook, for a number of reasons.

1. The narration. Because this was an audiobook review copy from NetGalley, I'll put narration here at the top as the thing that I disliked the most. The narrator was fine, when it was actual story narrative. However, the moment she does a character's voice, no matter which character, it fell apart for me. She can't act. She just can't. Every character voice sounded like she was TRYING to be emotional or witty or scared as the story called for, but it grated at me. All the choices she made for inflection, cadence, emotion, every single one felt wrong.

2. The characters. This book didn't entire fail for me just because of the narration, however. Every character in this feels like a trope to fill up a sci-fi story. We have a detective being ousted for a bad call. A pilot thinking this is his big chance. (These two characters had a brief romantic rendezvous years earlier and their reunion was so weird.) A doctor with a gruesome backstory that causes him to have PTSD and feels like he's coded as neurodivergent. A robot, because we always need a quirky robot friend, right? And of course there's ship AI all over the place being crazy, because we always need crazy AI in a sci-fi story, right?

3. The story. By the time I was half way through I really thought we were somewhere near the end of rising action. So much had happened to all the characters, big reveals were happening that felt like pieces of the story were finally locking into place - but it was only halfway through? What else could possibly happen?

4. The writing. Of all the downsides this book had for me in the half of it I read, the writing was not one of them. Wellington can write in a way that is very compelling, and is very easy to read. If I hadn't been listening to the audiobook, I would have sped through this a lot faster. The chapters are short, propelling you through the story at a breakneck pace.

I hate DNFing something that is this long, but at 55% of this, I listened to the equivalent of 300+ pages of the book. The author can write a compelling story, but unfortunately I had grown to hate the characters and the plot beats were making no sense.

Space horror is my sweet spot. I love a story about people stuck on a spaceship with no way to escape the monster coming for them. Just the idea makes me giddy. This, unfortunately, was not that story.

Things I liked: the characters. I thought each character was well defined and distinct. I was interested in each one and enjoyed my time in their heads. Rapscallion was obviously my favorite as he definitely had the best lines of the entire book. The plot was better than average with a story that drew me in and kept me listening for the whole 21 hours.

Things I didn't like: the length. This book was way too long and after a while it felt like Groundhog Day. The same events happened over and over again. The other ship attacked; they barely manage to escape; they board the other ship and encounter the parasite. And repeat. And repeat. It was way too repetitive and didn't add much to the story besides page length. I also thought there was too much action, and this is coming from someone who loves a blow-'em-up, everything explodes action flick. I wanted the story to slow down a little and let the characters actually speak to each other. I also think it was missing quite a bit of the horror element. We had a lot of space: spacewalks, talking to the ship's AI, plotting trajectories of enemy ships. All that is fine for a normal sci fi novel. But I wanted way more horror. None of the interactions with the 'scary' element actually got my heart racing. It didn't seem much different than a first contact story. And that ending. I hate a cliffhanger that's super abrupt. Give me a natural resting point and I'll be happy to wait for the sequel, but this story simply cut off in the middle of a sentence. So unsatisfying.

Overall, good bones, but needed some serious editing. Might pick up the sequel if it comes out in a reasonable amount of time.

Space horror is one of my favourite subgenres, but it's also one of the most challenging kinds of stories to get right.

This one had a fantastic start. I was convinced it was heading to be a favourite of the year. However, the story continued at light speed and never stopped. This book is heavily action based and would have benefited from slowing down. I usually enjoy a book with narrative drive, but this one was in overdrive. By rushing the story, I never had time to connect to the characters or their subsequent fates. This book was just too much, too messy, and too long.

However, the real crime of this book is the ending. I don't think I've ever read a novel with that severe of a cliffhanger. There is no conclusion… at all. And it was terribly frustrating to read that many pages to discover that. Even books with advertised sequels, other first books still give the readers a resting point at the end to offer some satisfaction.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This novel is an action-packed interstellar story sure to tickle the fancy of sci-fi lovers everywhere. It has the strong female lead, the comic robot side-kick, the socially inept genius, and the noble male love interest. Also there are bad guys.

The audio ARC I was given was only a sampler. It would have been nice to know that up front, but there was enough for me to form an opinion. I enjoyed the interaction of the various characters as they each pursued their own motives.

My thanks to Hachette Audio via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are strictly my own and offered without recompense.

I received an advanced copy, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
When I saw this come up, I was super excited to listen to this book. I was expecting a hard charging strong female lead, and then there was Petrova. This is a really tough review to write, because there were parts that I really liked and then parts that just fell flat. My favorite character hands down was the robot. Give me a book of his one liners and I’m all in. The author described and set the scene well. It was just enough for me to picture it in detail without losing my interest. (I am not someone who wants to sit through three paragraphs while the author describes the tree leaves). But to each their own. There was enough tension and action to keep things interesting.
Unfortunately, as I said before, I was expecting a strong female role. However, I spent the first half of the book literally rolling my eyes or making auditory sounds of irritation any time Petrova opened her mouth. For a character whose whole premise was proving she wasn’t handed her spot based on privilege while devoid of skills it just wasn’t there for me. I complained to my spouse that Petrova’s contribution in the first half the book was, “I don’t know”, “let me think” and “just hold on.”. I will say her character did grow and eventually started coming into her own but boy it was a long time waiting. I would say as the story develops you get some back story that perhaps explains her personality and demeanor. But on a scale between a strong Heroine and damsel in distress….. She falls closer to the damsel.
Despite Petrova, the author weaves together a very complex group of characters whose backgrounds come into play at various points. Be prepared because there is a lot of jumping back and forth between the present and past. Just as you start to see the parts start to fall into place…. The End. The ending felt rushed and more like a chapter break and not the end of a book even if it was part in a series.
So I am stuck because there were elements I really enjoyed but others that left me searching. Perhaps there was some hidden meaning or undertone I missed. I am interest to see what’s next. If there is more character development I might stick with it but if book two reads like this one, I might just have to take a pass.

What a journey! I was taken in right away by the first events in the beginning of this book. It has very unique characters which kept me engaged and brought a sense of heart and humour to a story that has sections that are quite grim and frightening. I enjoy a good scare and this had more suspenseful and scary moments than I anticipated which was a welcome surprise. It had a lot of twists and turns that made me think I knew exactly where it was going but it surprised me.

I thought the descriptions of the mother daughter relationship and some of the romance felt a bit heavy handed and out of place at times but the mystery of the sci-fi and horror sections kept me coming back to listen. A very unique and memorable book.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the ALC.

This audiobook clocks in a staggering 21 hrs. The longest audiobook I have ever listened to and I felt every hour of that.

There is a nugget of a very good space horror in here, but the author takes way, Way, WAy, WAY too long to get there. Once I got to the ending, I actually said "you've got to be kidding me" (except I used a NSFW word in there) into the steering wheel (I finished in while driving) a once that I realized how frustrating that ending was. I needed this book to have a good payoff and I didn't feel I got it.

The narrator does her best with a long narration and a diverse cast of characters. However, I couldn't help thinking that it might have benefited from a better production (like having the a different voice for the AI characters or the male characters). I found it grating at times, but I appreciated what she was trying to do.

3.5 Stars.

Agent Petrov is sent to Earth's first deep space colony, only to find that the people there have been infected by an alien parasite. There isn't a moment of respite from the first chapter, as we are thrown into the turmoil and chaos as Agent Petrov and the rest of her small crew fight for survival.

While I liked Paradise-1, I'm on the fence if I will continue with the squeals. Sci-Fi Horror isn't a genre I typically read, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to try it out. Although I'm debating this series, I'd definitely be open to read similar books in the future.

I would have enjoyed this book more had we seen a few more resolutions by the end, however, all we are left with is one obstacle over come with about 100 more questions on top of a massive cliff hanger. Given this book is nearly 700 pages and no breaks from the constant action or impending doom by the end I was having major chaos fatigue.

First i would like to thank Netgalley & Orbit for the audio arc.
Paradise 1 is earth's first deep space colony. In this first book we follow several characters ranging from humans, robots, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Our main character Alexandra Petrova finds herself on a mission to this new colony when all communications have been cut off. Little does she know something more sinister awaits her and her crew.
This book is an action packed adventure from start to finish with some slight touches of horror in the mix.

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 audiobooks 21 hour length, 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 audiobooks in the 8-10 hour length? Yes. But I'm glad I got to experience 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 listened to alone, in a small dark quiet space with all the lights off.
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This was only a sample audio of the book yet it got me so hooked I can tell the rest of it will be amazing too. This is a really unique Sci-fi and I really loved how this is so fast-paced and managed to transport you into a world of mystery and horror. This ad me on the edge of my seat and some parts felt truly scary, I will definitely be buying the full story when this is published.

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.

This audiobooks seems like a chonker but this SAMPLE audio (only the first 20%) really got me hooked with some of the more unique elements. I loved Rapscallion and the final few lines of this sample had me cracking up! I will definitely be looking to get the full book on audio! Really loved the different mysteries and twist and turns.

It's hard to give feedback when it's just a sample of the audiobook. But I can tell you that I'm intrigued! I like the characters. They're all distinct and interesting. Plus I love a robot POV. I'm enjoying the plot and am very interested in where it's headed. There's clearly some sketchy politics going on in the background and I can't wait to learn about them. Thus far it's been all action, so if it continues that way this is looking to be a very fast read. I'm definitely planning on getting a copy so I can finish out the book. Also the audiobook narrator is doing a great job!

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started this audiobook, but I knew it was labeled horror AND sci-fi so it sounded like a very good combination and one I find myself trying to track down more often than not. I love a good scare, the creeping feeling that comes down your spine when the unknown is on the other side of the door, but when an author throws in a sci-fi setting there is suddenly no limit to what can literally be on the other side of that door.
This story does not follow the more traditional route we've all read and seen a hundred times. We aren't waking up in space with aliens trying to implant themselves in us and popping from our chest. This is a story with just a select few characters - a pilot, a lieutenant being punished for screwing up a mission, a doctor, and a sassy robot with a very big personality. The pilot and the lieutenant are past lovers too and I thought that would be such a massive plot point, but it was mentioned and we moved on quickly to a story filled with action and dread.
I don't want to give away the plot of this story, because I think it needs to be discovered in the exact way its written. I felt like finding the answers was why I kept listening long into the night when I needed sleep and the reward of finding them in the story feels exactly how it is intended.
This was my first book from David Wellington, but it will not be my last. I enjoyed the way this story was written, how the characters were built up over time without any large dumping of information. I think this book is worth the time you put into it, even though when you reach the end you may want to scream out of desperation for the next book in the story. (I did!)

Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I didn't realize this is only the beginning of the book. It was a fine set up but the audio sample ended right when things started going. Can't really give a good opinion on anything without seeing where it goes.

A great preview. I am looking forward to the full release. Space horror is such a great genre. The fact that this is the first book in a space horror trilogy is very exciting.

The narrator was great and kept the flow of the story moving along nicely. 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.

An avid fantasy lover, I find science fiction hard to swallow. What works for me? These sort of live, serialized stories. This very much reminds me of the Alien novelizations. Why the missing star, then? The story ended rather abruptly with no conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.