Review: Nyxia Unleashed

Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Scott Reintgen's first book, I gave it a 3.5 and rounded it down to a three at the time last year. In hindsight, though, I'd round it up to a 4. This book, though, it earns an easy 4 right from the get-go. While the first Nyxia novel was just a little too fast-paced at the wrong times, this book takes things a little more slowly to allow for more world-building, as we're now on the native planet of the Adamites - or, as they call themselves, the Imago. We also get to learn that they change the name of their planet based on which of their two moons is closer to them in the sky, and that these two moons strongly influence their culture to the point where they're ruled by two queens who are meant to be, respectively, tough and gentle just like the two moons themselves.

Unlike the confined-by-design setting of the first book, Nyxia Unleashed really does unleash such significantly larger scope as to be a much more engrossing read. Hell, the landscape of the Imago homeworld, it gives me a ton of World of Warcraft vibes, enough that I went and recommended the books to my buddy Koda last night while he was streaming WoW. (I've failed as a friend if I haven't convinced him to give his library card a good workout.)

Perhaps the best part of this book is how uneasy the journey is for Emmett and all his Genesis crew. Obviously the Babel people are a bunch of corporate-cum-colonist assbutts, but the Imago have a few agendas up their sleeves too, rooted in the many ways their own civilization is on the verge of imminent doom. The real challenge is finding allies who are genuinely interested in forging a path for the greater good.

Luckily, while it may seem like such allies are in short supply, that supply is always longer than you'd think.

Too bad it's all sides who have many willing to fight for them.

And while this book doesn't end on a cliffhanger nearly as abrupt and diabolical as the first Nyxia, it's still clear that Reintgen's working to blow all our minds with Nyxia Uprising next year. Or whenever it comes out.

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