“There’s not much left for me on Earth. I wanted to go as far away as possible. But they don’t tell you the pain comes with you. They don’t tell you that hurt travels at light speed too.”

I’ve read more sci-fi this year than I have in any year previous. There are some really great books coming out right now that are sci-fi, but are also easy to get into. Sometimes I feel like science fiction can be a little difficult to get into, especially if the concepts are really math/science heavy and not as focused on actual plot or character development.

Luckily, Nyxia does a great job blending character, action, and mystery. I really enjoyed this book.

The story follows Emmett, a young black man from Detroit. The story takes place in the near-ish future. He finds himself on a spaceship competing with 9 other people for the opportunity to go down to an alien planet to mine a useful substance called nyxia. As a member of the mining group, he would secure his and his family’s future and be set for life. Unfortunately, not every recruit will be offered a spot on the final crew.

What I liked:

1. The characters. I liked that there was a diverse cast of characters all from different backgrounds and cultures. I am not a member of any of these communities, so I can’t speak to the representation, but I didn’t sense anything overtly problematic.

2. The pacing. This book starts right in the middle of the action and continues at a good pace throughout the book. I never felt like the book dragged, not even through parts that were more character-focused. The combat and action scenes were very well-written.

3. High Stakes. This book didn’t shy away from putting its characters into dangerous positions that you weren’t sure they were going to make it out of. There was a tension that mounted up to the very end, and I really liked the sense of urgency in this book.

4. Super quick read. I was completely hooked after the first page. This book is almost 400 pages and I finished it in about 4 hours because I just didn’t want to put it down.

5. The competition. I enjoy books with competition as a main focus. I thought the training and combat sequences were really well-written, and I liked that there was also a focus on what effect this kind of competition would have on someone’s psyche.

What I didn’t like:

1. I do wish we’d had a little more explanation regarding nyxia, primarily how people can become linked to it and what all that really means. This is something I’m sure will be addressed in the future installments, so this is a little nitpicky.

2. There is a romance I felt could’ve been written better. I wish it had just been hinted at in the first book and expanded upon in the second. It felt like it was a little too rushed for me, especially after all the good character development in the first part of the book. Again, it may be a little picky, but when so much of the book is so good, those little things stand out.

I can’t wait for the next book to come out in the series. I’ll be picking it up for sure!