It took a little while for this book to really grip me, but by the end I was in it with this ragtag crew and excited to see how the plot would resolve! It was a middle of the road read for me personally, but there are a lot of fun qualities here and I can definitely imagine the reader that it's perfect for.

We've got some complicated future politics where capitalism has devolved into the Union, the Trust, and the Guild--and though I was never quite sure about what any of them were doing, it's the kind of future where I felt safe to assume that no huge power was trustworthy. Then we've got Jal, on the run from some hinted-at traumatic recent history; Saint, who knew Jal before that recent history and has mixed feelings about their sudden reunion; Nash, who fixes everything and also knits; Eoan, their nonbinary AI captain who calls everyone dear; Anke, a motormouth hacker; and the Ambit, a ship that's been beat up and patched to hell in the grand tradition of space rogue stories. Oh, and there's a cat! Big Firefly vibes here, this is definitely space Western-adjacent to me.

There were some satisfyingly predictable outcomes and some exciting twists, and stakes getting raised exponentially! The ending didn't quite satisfy me, but not in a cliffhanger way--I just had a hard time actually tracking the action and the motives and the details of the MacGuffin, until we got to the emotional resolution, which was lovely. it feels like the start to what could be a fun and expansive series.

Fun space adventure with a vivid ensemble cast. From the beginning, I was intrigued about the origins of all the characters and that interest continued as their stories unfolded. I do feel like the writing style wasn't always enjoyable, but that's definitely more personal preference. Excited to continue reading about their adventures and would love to see where they go next!

al stumbled into the Ambit by accident or maybe it was fate. Saint, an old Guild buddy, was the executive officer to Eoan, the AI captain, who snagged Jal before he could get away. Jal was listed as a Guild deserter, but the tale is much more convoluted. Add in Nash, the medic/mechanic, who loved crocheting and you have a very strange crew on the Ambit. But when they picked up a rescue they found themselves in the midst of a mystery turned into a catastrophic conspiracy. Being the good guys, the Ambit and her crew went off to save the universe, or at least a few parts of it. Plenty of intrigue, double-crosses, gun fights and snark make this a fun read!

Thanks Netgalley and Tor for the chance to read this title.

There’s no family like found family. I adore found family stories, and I love sci-fi, and that means that L.M. Sagas’ debut novel, Cascade Failure, was right up my alley.

Jal is a mutant, genetically engineered to work in space mines. He’s stronger and faster than a normal human, and on top of that, he can see ridiculously well in the dark (though he needs to wear special tinted lenses any time he’s in standard lighting). He’s also on the run. The Guild, one of the three major powers in the galaxy, thinks he’s a deserter from his unit. All he wants to do is get back to his sister and niece, the only family he still has.

Eoan is an artificial intelligence. They’re the captain of the Guild ship Ambit, and because they’re an AI, they are able to take on jobs for the Guild that a lot of other captains won’t risk. Nash is a modified human who serves on the Ambit as combination medic and engineer. She keeps the old, rusty ship in the sky and keeps the crew on their feet. Saint is the big guy, equal parts brawler and pilot, and a former soldier who once served alongside Jal. Together, the three have been doing alright. When Eoan spots Jal skulking through a space station where the Ambit is docked, they decide to take a chance, luring him on board. After a brief confrontation, Jal reluctantly agrees to accompany them to the Guild’s council of captains so that they can try to clear his name.

On the way, the Ambit picks up a distress call. The source turns out to be a dead planet, where something has gone horribly wrong with the terraforming (or maybe horribly right). There, the crew finds a young engineer who believes that she has found evidence of a massive conspiracy between the two other galactic powers, the corporate Trust and the labor collective Union. She believes that she can fix the terraforming problem that killed the world she was found on. She’s going to need Jal, Saint, Nash, and Eoan’s help to do it, and stopping the death of more planets might just get them all killed in the process.

Sagas’ writing is strong, and the characters of Cascade Failure are solid, moving beyond standard sci-fi archetypes. It’s a fun and engaging sci-fi thriller that’s perfect for fans of things like Cowboy Bebop and The Murderbot Diaries. It’s out from Tor Publishing Group today, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

My utmost thanks to Tor and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for a fair review.

This review originally appeared here: https://swordsoftheancients.com/2024/03/19/cascade-failure-a-review/

I'm really impressed by Sagas' debut! It's a very warm-hearted and fun sci-fi romp, handled with a lot of ease by the author. Normally I don't enjoy stories with a lot of POVs, but I thought it worked really well here and really endeared me to the crew. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series !

Cascade Failure starts Ambit’s Run sci-fi series. It’s set in a far-future, space-faring galaxy that still has a connection to perfectly liveable Earth. Everything worth anything is owned by Trust, which aims at making profit no matter the human cost. They’re only kept in reign by the Union who protects the labourers. Between them, as a sort of a police and military, is the Guild.

Jal is a deserted Guild ranger. He’s been modified genetically for mining work, and is stronger and faster than others, with eyes that can see in the dark. He’s fleeing from something towards an unknown goal, and for that, he needs a ride. He thinks he’s landed on a ship that has no connection to the Guild, but turns out he’s wrong. And it’s not a coincidence he’s on the ship.

Ambit is a small Guild vessel that takes on riskier jobs at the edges of the galaxy, and looks the part. Her captain is Eoan, a sentient AI with holographic projections and a yearn to learn everything, especially about humans. XO is Saint, a gruff former Earth soldier turned Guild ranger. He’s Jal’s former commanding officer and there’s huge baggage between the men, though their relationship is never made very clear. Then there’s Nash, who is both the mechanic and the doctor and equally good at both. She likes feng shui and crocheting in her spare time.

The crew’s plan to take Jal to be court marshalled takes a turn when they answer a distress call. They find Anke, a chirpy programmer who’s learned of a Trust code that destroys terraformed planets in mere moments. She has a counter code. She just needs to test it. The crew decides to help her. Things don’t go as planned.

This is a very character-driven sci-fi. Each character is given their point of view chapters, and much time is spent in interpersonal relationships. No romances, though there are some hints that could’ve been made stronger and clearer for bigger emotional punches later.

The focus is on Jal and Saint with their past. We learn why Jal deserted, but his life since is sort of glossed over. He emerges as my favourite, though there’s a huge gap in how his chapters present him and how others see him. Anke too, has a clear role. Nash and Eoan didn’t necessarily need their own chapters, they slow things down, but Eoan goes through a transforming event, which was good to see from their point of view.

The plot is fairly straightforward, sort of secondary, and a bit slow, but good. Nothing is black and white, and the bad guys aren’t necessarily bad, or are bad in an understandable way. There are betrayals and sacrifices, and the solutions aren’t easy. The biggest reward for the reader doesn’t come from the plot, but from the characters themselves.

This might have been a four-star book, but it’s so well-written and balanced, especially for a debut, that it gets full five stars. The ending hints at the crew’s next mission. I’m definitely going to read that too.

I've been on a mission lately to read more "happy" books - more books that make me feel good while reading them. Finding happy books is already hard, but finding happy books that are science fiction or fantasy seems even more difficult. Luckily, L.M. Sagas is here to save the day with her new book, Cascade Failure, the first entry in her Ambit's Run sci-fi adventure series. It's full of space missions, banter, and characters you won't forget.

Review:

Cascade Failure centers on the Ambit, a spaceship crewed by an AI captain named Eoan, an ex-soldier named Saint, and a snarky engineer named Nash. When an altered human named Jal stows away on the Ambit, their crew begins to grow. Jal's arrival is even more tricky since Jal is a deserter on the run and because he and Saint have a more-than-complicated history. After a distress call leads the crew to a disturbing scene and a programmer with mysteries of her own, the Ambit must deal with a potential conspiracy that might impact all the known worlds. 

If you've ever thought the movie "Alien" would be cool even if it didn't have the face-sucking monsters, then you need to read this book. Cascade Failure, with its imperfect characters, witty dialogue, and messy relationships, hits all the right notes. I adored this book for its chaotic space missions and band-of-misfits vibes. Add in space corporatization and a mysterious programmer, and this has all the markings of being a perfect read.

Final Thoughts:

Cascade Failure is hopepunk science fiction at its best. It's one heck of a debut novel. I'm thrilled there are going to be more books in this series. I'm not sure I could handle this series ending like it does in this book! There's no cliffhanger, but I want more from these characters. 

I read this story alternating between the audiobook and ebook, and both are great options. The narrator on the audiobook (Torian Brackett) did an excellent job distinguishing and giving character to each voice. I do wish a woman narrator had been used for Nash and Anke.

That was a really good plucky crew against the evil powers that be adventure! Interesting characters, well developed world and quickly moving story. I’m really glad book two is out this year too so I don’t have to wait too long on the next story. I’ve also just marked the author to follow on Goodreads so I can keep track of what they do next.

How was this a debut?! It’s so good. I laughed (a lot), I cried, my heart was left feeling full. Move over Rocinante, the crew of the Ambit is coming for the crown. The crew has so much to love and so much to learn about them.

I loved every single character that got a viewpoint (I think that’s 5 POVs) because they are all so layered and complicated and full of life. I clicked so well with Nash’s and Anke’s humor and found myself loving all of the funny interactions that these characters have with each other, even while trying to save the goddamn galaxy.

For a Sci-fi story, things never get too complicated either. The story is pretty well contained to the Ambit and its crew, plus a few small pit stops. The politics of the universe are discussed and the wider view of everything is hinted at but you’re not thrust into a strange universe that’s hard to follow.

This book destroyed me in a good way. The found family here is perfect, the action is nonstop, the banter is witty, and the cast is lovable.

Can it give it more than five out of five stars?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so, so much to Tor Publishing and Netgalley for my free advanced copy of this book!

Cascade Failure is just plain fun to read. It’s got that found-family-full-of-misfits feeling from Firefly mixed with a whole lot of adrenaline-spiked space adventure and a truly great sense of emotion and humor. It was science fiction sunshine in a book…except with way more dead bodies. So maybe a partly-cloudy day in science fiction land?

I’m an atheist, but there’s a saying that goes something along the lines of: You make plans and god laughs. Well, something like that is certainly what happened when a guy named Jal is wandering around the docks on a space station looking to board a ship for his own (very personal) reasons and accidentally lands himself exactly where he doesn’t think he wants to be but maybe exactly where he needs to be. The captain is an AI who is more human than most humans, the engineer is also the doctor and wouldn’t know tact if it smacked her in the face, and the XO and he have…issues. Let’s call them issues. It’s just easier that way.

But then they intercept a distress signal from a planet where everyone’s died all at once from something horrible, and the lone survivor has a story to tell, a theory about it, and a possible solution. They’re all absolutely nuts, but if they survive they might have just saved the universe.

I know Sagas is a debut author, but this really doesn’t feel like a debut effort; and when I say that, I mean that it feels almost effortless. I feel like the crew of The Ambit has been living in Sagas head for a long time, like they’re friends rather than characters. The world building in this book is amazing, like maybe Sagas has been writing backstories for these characters, these planets, these space stations, and everything involved for quite some time now–almost like simulations she would eventually use to finally build the language that would bring this book to life. It’s an amazing story that ends up being a compulsive, page-turning read. I’m dying for book two!

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Book Series/Found Family/Science Fiction

This was a fun sci-fi adventure with a great found family! I loved all the characters, which were definitely the strongest part of the book for me. Jal you have my whole heart. The pace was really good in the first half, though I felt like it slowed down in the second half despite that there was technically more stuff happening. Can't wait to read the next book, so glad I'll barely have to wait!

If found family is your trope, this book will be your jam!! There is not much better in this world than a group of quirky and chaotic characters that learn to lean on each other despite their differences. I found this book was heavy on the Firefly vibes (yes, please!) and had no shortage of laugh out loud moments. The balance between world building & character development and plot was spot on and made this thick book super digestible. Can't wait for next book in the Ambit's Run series!

Wow! This was fun and intense - fun for the action and adventure, intense for the deep into your head characters. The character development builds just as steadily as the plotting and suspense. I'm so thrilled that it is the start of a new series.
There are three powers in the universe - the corporate Trust, the labor Union and the law enforcement Guild who tries to keep everyone playing nice. On the run as a Guild deserter, Jal tries to hire on as an extra hand with an AI captain only to discover among the crew is someone he thought deserted him, and who shoots him on sight. The 4th in this tiny crew is also the doctor and patches him back together at the Captain's behest. All three know there is a lot at stake and even more unsaid, so take things slow until they check out a distress call on a destroyed planet and a survivor with a terrible tale and the realization that millions - or more - lives are at stake.
The characters' backgrounds are gradually and flawlessly introduced into the narrative and to the other characters as they tiptoe around one another. The Captain is a splendid character theirself, and acts as the glue that holds them all together. The action is fast, furious and steady. There is so much surprising depth to these characters that you will be emotionally involved throughout the story. Great writing. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this story. It took some time to really get into the meat of this story, but once all of the characters assembled and the crew was complete the story really took off. The characters were so well-realized, and I was so emotionally invested in them as they tried to pull of a heist slash rescue mission to save the Galaxy from ✧∘* capitalism ✧･ﾟ. If you're looking for an inventive character-driven half heist-half rescue mission set in space, then look no further! I also listened to the audiobook of this story on my two-hour commute ((╥_╥)) and I really, really loved it. I definitely think listening to the story made it come alive in ways that it wouldn't have if I had only read it physically.

THIS! IS! IT!

This book has EVERYTHING. Found family. A lovable AI-captain. A gruff and tough career soldier. A snarky medic/mechanic/jack of all trades. A smart, ball-of-sunshine cyborg-man who just misses his family. A pink-haired, babbling hacker/coder who definitely has ADHD. And... A SPACESHIP CAT?

I requested this book right off the bat for it's cover - the colors are gorgeous, the design is so fun, and it didn't hurt that the synopsis also sounded good. A ragtag crew pulled together to run a semi-heist/rescue mission to essentially save the galaxy from corporations who don't care about people or the planets they destroy? Sign me up!

What I wasn't expecting was to cry over characters I've barely known for an entire book, and to feel so many emotions that I didn't know what to do with: heartbreak, betrayal, grief, horror, angst, anxiety, joy, and anything else you can think of.

Also, I highly recommend listening to this one on audiobook. Torian Brackett does an AMAZING job of bringing every character to life and giving them all such unique personalities simply by changing the tone of his voice. I think that if you're a fan of TJ Klune's novels for his characters and Becky Chambers's sci-fi narrative storytelling and heart, then you're going to ADORE this book. I can't wait for the next one to come out - I need it NOW!

This book was such fun. It had a bit of a slow start, but once the crew was all assembled, the plot really took off. I found myself getting surprising emotional about these characters and their journeys and I can't wait to see where they go next!

Pretty much every book featuring a spaceship with a small crew is marketed as “perfect for fans of *Firefly*.” Counting this one, and counting the Final Architecture trilogy as one, I’ve read 9 books fitting the “spaceship with a small crew” description going back to 2020 when I stopped counting, and literally all of them get the *Firefly* comparison. Yet this book is the only one out of all of them that I really think deserves it.

In the world of *Ambit’s Run*, there are three powers to speak of in the galaxy. There is the Trust, a corporate consortium that basically runs humanity’s expansion through the galaxy as a capitalist enterprise. The one resource they don’t control is the people doing the colonizing; they’ve got the Union speaking for them, balancing (to some degree) the power of the Trust. And then there’s the Guild, an organization of white-hat do-gooders that keeps the little guy from being ground between the two titans as best they can. The Ambit is a Guild ship with a crew of three: AI captain Eoan, ex-soldier Saint, and engineer/medic Nash. The story begins when they stumble upon Jal, a wanted Guild deserter and ex-comrace of Saint’s. And then goes to hell when they respond to a distress call, finding a dead world, a crashed ship, and a lone survivor - a Guild programmer telling them about a secret computer virus the Trust has that can wreck terraforming systems and cause entire planetary atmospheres to collapse.

This is a good ol’ fashioned space adventure with shootouts, exciting chase scenes through exotic alien worlds, mega corporations ruining everything, unexpected twists and turns, and a snarky AI with a fascination for humanity. It’s the first in a series, but works perfectly well as a standalone - I generally get the feel that this series will be episodic, with each book being a new, more-or-less independent adventure for the crew of the Ambit. That’s just a guess, though this book works perfectly well as a standalone if you don’t mind a few dangly bits.

Why the *Firefly* comparison? Like most Millennial fans of genre fiction, I take it as axiomatic that *Firefly* is peak television and if it hadn’t been unfairly canceled we would have had a dozen seasons of perfection (please leave me in my illusions, thanks). It’s a comparison that, as I said, is often made, probably most frequently with *The Expanse* and *Wayfarers*. But the crew of the Roci got way too close to the centers of power to really hit the *Firefly* sweet spot, and the crew of the Wayfarer were in far too cozy & kind a universe for the *Firefly* sweet spot. This one nailed it.

This is a DNF at ch 8. I just don’t care about this story. The characters all have mysterious backgrounds that the author is trying to slowly flesh out mixed in with a mediocre plot. I am not invested in anything and feel like I should be by the 100 page mark. I was really excited for this because it’s a sci-fi debut but this couldn’t hold my attention the way I hoped. Maybe I’ll give it another shot in the future. It seems like most people seem to like it but I’m not feeling this right now. Also, the plot being trying to track a code that is silently killing planets doesn’t intrigue me. I feel like if an author I loved wrote this I’d be eating it up but maybe I’m not vibing with the writing either.

When I saw I couldn't put this down, it's not an exaggeration. I started this at about 1030 p.m., just thinking of getting a taste of the story and then picking it up in the morning. Fast forward to 2 am when I swipe to the last page of my Kindle book and think I regret nothing. This was amazing, and I had would never guessed it was this author's debut novel. The atmosphere was superb, the characters were so well-written they felt like I was reading about real people. Picking this up, I thought I was in for a fun action-packed Sci-fi novel, and while that is exactly what I got, this book gave so much more. I ran the full gambit of emotions from laughter to tears (at a particularly heartbreaking reveal), and I loved Every. Single. Moment.
And I can't tell you how happy I am that I just had a feeling I was going to love this and requested an arc of BK 2 before even starting this one. And I can't wait to continue this adventure with my new favorite space crew and see where the story is going to go next!

I immediately was interested in the premise of this one and it did NOT disappoint! Found family of space misfits causing chaos AND trying to save the world? Sign me up!

The cast of characters was so enjoyable to follow. Eoan, Saint, Nash, Jal, and Anke all brought so much life to the page and I very badly wanted to be part of the Ambit’s crew. They were such a compelling group and I loved getting to know them all, but I found myself wanting to know more about all of them and their backstories. While they each were fully realized on the page, I wanted to know more about the why and their histories. Some things are explained, some are more vague, and others just alluded to and left up to interpretation.

The plot was quite interesting and while it took a little while to get to the real meat of the story, I enjoyed the build up, as it really gave us time to settle in with the characters. The world building felt very vibrant, although a bit challenging to follow, especially with some of the augments and physical elements, but it was still quite cool to read about. The politics of the world got a bit messy to follow, but it all comes together with a big bang of a finish.

I’m so eager to see where things go next and looking forward to getting my hands on book two ASAP!! 4.5⭐️ for this first installment.