Rob

This is the ongoing story of Kodiak and Ambrose from The Darkness Outside Us. We jump forward 16 years to find them living and loving on the exoplanet Minerva and what their lives look like after crash landing in this "new Eden".

I have to say, I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as The Darkness Outside Us. While it is still well written and the characters are their own individual selves, the story seemed just off. Not in any measurable way, but I think it had to do with the existential questions that Ambrose, Kodiak, and others have to wrestle with as they find their Eden beset by problems.

Having the characters time jump 30k years into the past may also have something to do with it, but I did like the backstory there.

There is also a plot twist that, while you can see it coming, is still devastating when it arrives.

The Darkness Outside Us is the story of Ambrose and Kodiak. Two young men who are selected and trained to go on a months-long mission to Saturn's moon Titan to save Ambrose's sister Minerva.

I found this book utterly charming and intense. Ambrose is funny and smart while Kodiak is brooding and may be smarter than Ambrose, though Ambrose won't admit it. I picked it up after hearing about it on the Talking About Dragons and S*!t podcast and I am so glad I did.