Edge of Extinction

Solid scifi. This has the elements of a good story, regardless of genre -- good plot, characters, tension, and dialog. I read a lot of scifi and enjoyed this, partly because it made me think (unlike most books). Recommended!

I really appreciate the review copy!!

A space adventure with megafauna? Yes, please. I mean, how awesome is that. Just like all those old school tales of mysterious worlds, secreted away beneath the earth or farther. Journey to the center of and so on. If you by chance grew up on those tales, this’ll play you like a nostalgic violin. If you didn’t, there’s still an undeniable appeal there. Once that…sure can be very easily summed up with a certain story about a certain park and thus easily used for comparisons, but this novel is really nothing like that. This is more along the lines of the stories mentioned above or from the more recent televised efforts…much more along the lines of the prematurely canceled Terra Nova or BBC’s Primeval. So it’s 2086, people have done a pretty thorough job of devastating mother Earth and are actively looking for another habitable planet to do the same to. Like they do. But now there’s a revolutionary new technology that allows for super advanced space travel methods and there is in fact a planet that checks all the boxes. The only thing is…the first expedition has vanished without a trace. Promptly, the second expedition is mounted, comprising an intrepid team of international researchers and two military man and off they go. To Arcadia, their newly found pastoral paradise. The planet of so much promise. The planet that turns out to be thoroughly inhabited by two different nearhumanoid species and a variety of awesome, epic megafauna. The two species are at odds, the sophisticated highly advanced in the ways most earthlings can’t quite process Agras have to contend with primitive tribal Mentas. Because of Agras’ advance intelligence, they can predict Menta’s developmental trajectory and try to isolate them on an island where they can continue their way of life (ideally) without evolving/devolving into pure violence. But then again Mentas are no longer the most violent beings around once the earthlings arrive, with their guns and their shot first mentality. So essentially this is yet another story of people from Earth going to another planet and screwing it all up or trying to for the locals. With blatant disregard for first rights, staggering disrespect of all foreign cultures, potent propensity towards violence and a general sort of manifest destiny mentality it’s difficult to imagine a worse case first contact scenario for any other intelligent species out there. And very easy to understand while no contact has been made with us. So anyway…the earth team finds themselves wedged between Agras and Mensas, which turns into an all out war, led by a jingoistically maniacal military man. And to think…Agras don’t even kill, they only shoot to temporarily disable. But it all works out in the end…until the author decides to leave it sinisterly sequel ready. So this was something of a mixed bag, but mostly positives. Loved the theme and basic plot, loved the Arcadia’s backstory, loved all the creature creations, the megafauna, the alien technology, the intertribal politics and dynamics, loved the world building, thoroughly enjoyed a bunch of characters. Didn’t quite love how much of the novel was essentially one drawn out action scene of an ending (that must be the author’s love of action/adventure flicks coming out). Some of the messages can probably be argued, from Agras’ positively colonial mentality toward Mentas to…well, the Earth team’s definitively colonial mentality toward Arcadia. Loved the concept of an advanced society the proper understanding of which requires abandoning all anthropocentric notions and perspectives. So really, mostly all positives, except for that megaaction ending and maybe the occasional clunky phrasing, mostly when it came to people’s relationships, oddly enough. But other than that, it’s actually really well written for random debut. In fact, objectively the clunkiest thing about the book was the author’s bio. The narrative itself primarily advanced along swimmingly. And though I much, much prefer standalones and do so wish this was left as one, I probably wouldn’t mind checking out further adventures if only to revisit Arcadia once again. I definitely had fun reading this book and was thoroughly entertained. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.