I don’t know if anyone else has an author that they keep reading despite the fact that they don’t particularly like them, but apparently this author is that for me. I read their first book and I was mostly bored but I didn’t hate it so I gave it 3 stars. Read their first book second and thought it was violently stupid and gave it 2 stars. But this sounded interesting so I decided to give the author another chance.

I spent most of this book bored and annoyed. So much of the plot advancing happens because the main character is an idiot and either makes wrong choice because she’s dumb, acts directly in opposition to what people are telling her to do, or she ignores her gut telling her what she should be doing. She somehow manages to uncover a major conspiracy and alien life through sheer coincidence and stubbornness to do what she 100% should not be doing.

Almost nothing happens for the large majority of the book and then when stuff actually does get interesting I didn’t particularly care anymore.

I am giving this three stars because when it does pick up holy hell does it pick up but that barely makes up for me having to push through the first part. The only reason I finished this was because I requested an arc copy of this ages ago and I felt guilty about not reading it so far. Overall the don’t think I recommend this and I doubt I’m going to read more from the author in the future.

5.5 / 10 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2025/09/24/cold-eternity-by-s-a-barnes-review/

Cold Eternity serves as my <I>de facto</I> introduction to S.A. Barnes, as I DNFed her previous Dead Silence due to issues with the main character. Halley is… better, but still deeply flawed. Problem is, while her flaws are arguably more human than those of Claire (from Dead Silence), they fail to make her much more compelling. My issue with Claire (in short) was that no one would ever have cast her in that role, well, ever. Thus rendering her character (and the plot as a whole) completely unbelievable. Being on the run from a scandal, it makes sense that Halley could overlook quite a few things due to her desperation to escape. Already, the story is better. The problem arises from the sheer amount that Halley is willing to overlook, and for how long.

Glaring questions haunted me throughout: why is so much of the ship off-limits, and why doesn’t it ever seem to bother Halley? Why is Halley cavalier enough to ignore so many of the red-flags regarding the Elysian Fields, despite that being the main thing she reflects on from her previous job? Why do Halley and Karl never meet, even though they were alone aboard the same ship? Yes, this is explained at the end, but I found the explanation wanting for an entire story spent segregated—seemingly without reason (Halley never even mentions it).

While the plot is entertaining enough (despite some of the aforementioned glaring plot-holes), it’s a fairly straightforward story. There’s not a whole lot of mystery to unravel. Therefore, it wasn’t terribly engaging, nor immersive, as Halley too frequently flashes back to the past—the political scandal that brought her to this point. Another mystery that didn’t take much effort to unravel, but is drawn out to cover pretty much the entire book. The resultant revelation I found less than compelling, both in the reason for her flight and the, let’s say, “bombshell” dropped at its completion.

Despite what I might think of the mystery, the atmosphere definitely has some tension to it. I’m not much of a horror person, but I do like a good, creepy atmosphere, and Cold Eternity, despite its flaws, manages that quite well. The derelict, claustrophobic corridors of the ship. The awakened holograms. The mausoleum of not-quite-corpses filling every room. The panic, insomnia, and lack of any human contact. It all combines to create a pretty creepy undertone, despite what I thought of the overarching plot. So much so that I had little problem making it to the end.

Where, of course, I had issues with the conclusion, unanswered questions, and very little sense of fulfillment upon completion. But hey, nothing’s perfect. And Cold Eternity was entertaining enough while it lasted. Just not the best science fiction. And—as I am a bit of a sci-fi nerd, and a horror-snob—that was possibly the biggest disappointment of all: a world riddled with holes, and a fiction containing only the barest hints of science.

TL;DR

Cold Eternity tells an entertaining enough story, with a genuinely tense atmosphere throughout, but one the unravels completely upon completion, as its uninspired mysteries, plot-holes, and quick conclusion fail to provide any true or lasting fulfillment. It’s here that I’m forced to confront that S.A. Barnes’ work probably just isn’t for me. If you really go for horror, particularly of the scifi-lite variety, you might not hate it. Still, there was little about Cold Eternity that was truly impressive. Just not her best work, probably.

Amara Jasper did her best, but there was little redeeming this one for me. I genuinely enjoyed her narration, to the point that I’d recommend it without really recommending Cold Eternity. I felt like she really tried to get into character, even if she did try to amp up the tension even when I just wasn’t feeling it/wasn’t sure the story really needed it. Sometimes these things just don’t work out.

S. A. Barnes has locked down the haunted house in space genre and this book proves it. This time it takes place in a cryogenic storage ship where there's plenty of dead (looking) things.

The narrator set the perfect tone for the story. I was immediately drawn into the story, and I will continue to read everything that S.A. Barnes writes!

Send me to space with S.A. Barnes and I can promise you I will be excitedly terrified at what we'll encounter.

S.A. Barnes combined two of my biggest fears: space and the progression of AI. I've never thought about what you'd do with your dead if civilization was in space, and it was a fun premise to explore, especially when you mix in human greed and emotions. While we're trying to unravel two mysteries, I felt like neither of those plots got lost and were both wrapped up in a satisfying way.

The horror elements as she adventures further and further into the ship got me. Barnes does a phenomenal job at creeping you out. If this were made into a movie or TV show, I have a feeling not many people would be sleeping after watching it.

While it would've been easy to fall down an unreliable narrator path, I'm so happy that's not where we went. Yes, Halley is stressed. She's running from scandal and on a ship that is more than she bargained for, but it never felt like we leaned in too far to either aspect being the reasons for what she's seeing.

S.A. Barnes is an autobuy author for me and I cannot wait to see what she does next. I hope it's just as creepy and disturbing as Cold Eternity was.

This just... didn't work for me as much as Barnes' previous two books have. I spent most of my time bored - there needed to be more creepiness, more lead up to the reveal. There was just something missing from it, I just never got drawn into the setting like I did in her previous books. If she had focused more on the "horror" aspect of the problem the protagonist is facing in the moment, rather than the more mundane problems of "the past I'm running from" I think this would have worked a lot better.

After having read every one of this author’s releases I do think it’s a bit funny that they keep writing the same kind of scruffy, on the run type of heroines but I also will continue to read every release despite this repetitiveness. Sadly the genre of space horror is grossly underutilized in Sci-Fi and I really do love that S.A. Barnes is sticking to this niche.

That being said, this is the closest book I’ve read to resemble the 2009 film Pandorum that was a hit only to me. The idea of a ship full of passengers hundreds of years old that suspiciously start waking up and a grotesque monster hunting people is so similar to Pandorum. And I kind of love this book for that.

Thank you to the publisher Macmillan Audio for providing an audiobook ARC for honest review view NetGalley.

S.A. Barnes writes it, I read it. Simple as that. She has proven herself to be the Queen of Space Horror and us lovers of the sub-genre appreciate her greatly. I've been chasing the high the movie Alien (1979) left me since I watched it, and Barnes truly is the first author to sate my spooky space-loving soul. I can only hope she keeps cranking them out so fast.

Let me preface this by saying I love all of Barne's books. Cold Eternity didn't top Dead Silence for me, but it was a close second. It was creepy, tense, atmospheric, mysterious, and wrapped up in a satisfying way. The way isolation played into this story was truly top tier. I've noticed that these books truly shine in audio format and I always recommend horror audiobook fans to pick these up. Narrator was fantastic and I had no issue following along at 2x speed. Absolutely recommend!

This one was a bit slow to get into, but once the suspense really started and the mysteries began to unravel, it became very engaging straight through to the end. The narrator did a good job of keeping me engaged and I was overall very pleased with this audiobook!

Y'all I always thought I was a scaredy cat and couldn't read books classified as horror, but I LOVE sci-fi horror!

I was constantly on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was coming next. The mystery and suspense had me gripped. The vibes were eerie, creepy, and spine tingling.

SA Barnes makes me want to step out of my comfort zone more and more often.

I thought the balance of sci-fi, and horror was good and the premise was very interesting. Anyone looking for a spooky sci-fi read I would recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-book in exchange for an honest review.

SA Barnes does it again! Space horror was never on my radar before this author, but now I am so hooked. This books was creepy and intriguing and just so good! I couldn’t stop listening. I will be recommending this to every horror and sci-fi reader I come across!

Cold Eternity by S A Barnes

Halley is on the run and finding a job on a ship with a cryo program seems like the ideal place to hide… Things aren’t what they seem. The hologram hosts are glitching… They don’t act like a computer program. Halley can feel something isn’t right here and what is slithering around the vents…

It started out slow… I was a tad bored at first… Once Halley is on that ship.. GAME ON! It felt like coming online and you could feel the tension.

I actually really enjoyed it. I am very specific about my sci-fi and this one was exceptional! The narration was excellent and I enjoyed the heck out of it.

The plot was insane! I was totally grossed out and engrossed in equal measures. It felt like a warning too… It was excellent.

4.5 stars

S.A. Barnes is an autobuy author for me. I love the creepy, atmospheric stories she builds and Cold Eternity is no exception. Halley is on the run from a political scandal and takes a shady job on a storage barge to lay low. Oh but the “storage barge” stores cryogenically frozen bodies, and she starts seeing things and hearing noises scratching in the vents almost immediately. Has Halley run from a scandal into something much worse?


An almost empty of the living space barge is the perfect setting for a horror story. The audiobook really ratchets up the tension, and you’ll feel like you’re creeping around the ship with Halley. Listening at night is not recommended.


Cold Eternity is the perfect book for people looking to break into the scifi world. There’s political intrigue (though this plot line does take a back seat to the things going bump in the night), a bit of space travel, and some interesting technology. However, it’s not over complicated in the way the genre can sometimes be.


If you’re a horror lover and a scifi fan, I highly recommend picking this one up. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my copy!

Solid sci-fi horror. The first half is reminiscence of "The Shinning" in space. Halley starts a new job as a care takers of an isolated spaceship, Elysian Fields, that holds those cryogenicly frozen about 200 years ago. With her only companion as the hologram narrator of the prior museum the ship once hosted. As strange thingbstart to happen is. She questions if it's her lack of sleep or of something more sinister is happening. The second half is like another popular sci-fi horror but will not say as it will give too much away.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

There is something so creepy about SciFi and Horror blended together! Especially when you’re on an abandoned ship with “passengers” long in crypto-sleep, but then you hear noises and the ship’s AI k owns your true name…..

This was a thrilling and creepy scifi horror story! I still love Dead Silence by SA Barnes the best, but Cold Eternity is still an excellent novel. The narration is excellent and very easy to follow. Highly recommend for all scifi and horror readers!

While I didn’t enjoy this as much as the author’s previous two books, it was still an entertaining locked-room space horror. The first half was quite slow, but fortunately, things picked up in the second half. The main character could be frustrating at times, though I understood her motivations. There was also a weird romance subplot I definitely wasn’t expecting, but I didn’t entirely hate it either. That said, some parts of the story were predictable and I didn’t always find the central plot compelling. Still, despite my issues, it was an engaging read overall.

I think this was a great addition after the sophomore slump of Ghost Station. This is a book that made major improvements from her second book. It had the same space elements that S. A. Barnes is quickly perfecting, and misses the pitfalls of potentially being repetitive. It is great and atmospheric, spooky, and continues to touch on social class in space horror. As with her previous books there is an element of an unreliable narrator, but I think that it was combined with the AI "character" that worked as a really good foil. This book has reignited my love for S. A. Barnes' work!

I liked the narrator of this one!

Halley is on the run and broke. Beaten and robbed, she needs off the space station she is currently on and a concerning job offer may be only choice. When she lands on the giant space barge, Elysian Fields, holding the cryogenically frozen bodies of those who could be brought back one day when technology allows, she is greeted by a cranky caretaker and a creepy old ship. Determined to make the best of it, she hunkers down and does her relentlessly boring, sleep depriving job until the little mysteries start spiraling into a mess she can't ignore.
I love S.A. Barnes creepy space thrillers- and this was another great one. Slowly building the tension, as Halley wanders through the ship, becoming familiar with her new home, ruminating on her past, Barnes layered Halley's past and present together wonderfully.
With some excellent twists and turns and a delightfully exciting climax, I can't recommend it enough!



Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Tor Nightfire for the audiobook arc.

Halley, a young woman on the run, takes a job off a sketchy forum. The offer is for far below the established minimum wage, which will force her to work for longer just to scrape up enough for passage somewhere, but at least it’s on a ship that’s so unlikely to be visited that it’s almost a home run. And where her boss is unlikely to come face to face with her, and the people that may or may not be after her are unlikely to find her, there’s no way she can refuse.

The job seems easy, patrol the corridors, keep things need, clean, functional, and press a single button every three hours—every three on the dot. If she doesn’t, a warning alarm will go off and her boss’s superiors may visit to see why HE wasn’t pressing the button. She’s to remain a complete secret. You can sleep for two hours and fifty minutes every three hours, but you’ll never sleep through the night. I guess I didn’t really think about it while reading, but could you imagine the pressure of that? It would start as an annoyance, maybe a small headache or pain behind the eyes, then over time it would change into irritability, outright anger, paranoia—perhaps hallucinations? That sort of aching, growing atmosphere in the background was almost like The Shining to me. Creeping-insanity-esque.

Outside of atmosphere, I really liked how quickly this one got off the ground. Halley’s past is left unresolved enough to be intriguing and her immediate scare on the new ship draws the reader right in. The AI projections are startlingly creepy at times, and although I wouldn’t liken them to M3gan (especially as they aren’t solid) it was a somewhat unique and futuristic addition to the book. I also enjoyed that they were not just thrown in, their inclusion is tied directly to the story.

As for the twist, which I will not ruin, it worked for me. It was eerie and unique and ultimately paid off in a way I found more enjoyable than Ghost Station. I did feel like it could have gone on for a tad longer, but that’s okay. In a story that felt like a creepy haunting or even creature story, the landing was a bit different.