Ten recruits have been chosen by Babel to go into space to mine a substance called Nyxia. On the way journey Emmett must train and fight for his place to be allowed to go down onto Eden. To create a new life for himself and earn the money to help his family back home. But Babel have their secrets, and Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won’t forever compromise what it means to be human.
Nyxia was so gripping I just couldn’t bring myself to put it down. For me it had a bit of a Hunger Games vibe because the 10 contestants are fighting against one another. There is also a mentor assigned per two contestants. But the actual plot line isn’t really similar at all.
The 10 contestants were taken from all over the world so there was a lot of diversity. I enjoyed that each of these characters were also given individual personalities and backstories. They were all written really well and Reintgen was able to make me feel for all of them. I also routed for different characters to do better within the competitions.
There’s also the Babel Corporation, which has secrets and is clouded in mystery. They play with both the contestants and the employees helping them like chess pieces. Emmett points out within the book that things only don’t work when Babel wants them to not work. So they have a lot of power, money and technology at their disposal. I’m excited to see what information we get from the second book about the corporation.
As the book is based solely in the ship, there’s not much world building needed. We learn a lot about Earth as it is now, and the new planet Eden through the characters. With the backstories we find out a lot about the negative aspects of Earth in the future. We also have the information on Eden which is only from Babel. This makes Eden feel mysterious as we only find out what Babel wants to tell, and you’re unsure as to whether this is truthful.
I’m really excited to see how these characters grow and evolve throughout the second book. The world of Eden also intrigues me and I want to understand more about the Adamits who are native to the planet. Hopefully it wont be too long a wait for the next installment
I received Nyxia* by Scott Reintgen as an e-book from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.