An intricate tale with several well-crafted angles

Exodus Blue: A Cyberpunk Novel, is exactly that. With a detective story, conspiracy, and mysterious prophecy followed by the "synthetics", it kept me interested and guessing. You need to pay attention to the moving pieces, but I found it engaging. I’m almost done with book two and will start the next in the series shortly after.

I first read a free short story offered on the author's site that introduces this world. It made me want more… (Check it out) This is not at all required. The world building is well done in book one, Exodus Blue, and draws you in with enough detail to visualize it while not overloading the reader with info dumps.

I found the back-and-forth of two time periods separated by a few years to add intrigue. It was not overly difficult to follow and when the pieces came together it was cohesive and satisfying. The character actions and dialogue are believable and there are themes in this futuristic story relative to modern life that make you think about how we view and deal with others, how we overcome adversity, and the roles of hope, trust, and determination.

I enjoyed this book and think anyone who likes futuristic sci-fi, cyberpunk, or dystopian stories will enjoy the read as well. I am looking forward to the rest of this series.

Jump to Amazon and grab Book One, Exodus Blue.

4/5 stars for being engaging from the start and full of suspense

Right from the beginning, we get pulled into a fascinating dystopian world. After a brief glimpse at David’s life before his compound caused the economic upheaval of the UK and much of the world, called the Divide, we witness his death. No spoiler here, the compound he created sort of ‘resurrects’ people. Then we follow him as the protagonist on a journey to discover the truth. He is not sure what to believe or who to trust, and often chooses wrong.

Amid the mystery behind how his compound, created to help the world, caused so much damage and his race to fix it, David finds himself in the center of conspiracies and lies. Along the way, with a clock ticking away his days, David meets Victoria and her daughter Celia. What stood out to me among the action, conspiracy, mystery, was the relationship that develops between David and young Celia. The author says he drew on his experience as a father and it shows.

I appreciated the satisfactory ending even though it is book one of trilogy. I’m never too happy to be left on a huge cliffhanger on the first installment of a series, and this does not do that. I look forward the next book.

Check it out

My Problem with Three-Body Problem.

🚨 SPOILER WARNING 🚨

If you have not read it or watched the Netflix series. ⛔️

I wanted to love this book and find it as "Extraordinary" as The New Yorker declared. Unfortunately, it just didn't do it for me. Am I alone? I know lots of readers loved it and the TV adaptation seems to be well received. (More on that...)

I found parts of the books dragging and getting too 'sciencey' in the wrong ways. I do enjoy hard sci-fi and love how the 'science stuff' was used in The Martian and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir as well as in some of the explanations in Quantum Radio by A.G. Riddle. I just lost interest in the travels to the virtual world of 3 Body and felt bored at times. These were done in a much more engaging way in the TV show.

Side note: The TV series has much more melodrama among the characters, who are "westernized" for the Netflix audience. (Not at all how I pictured Wang 🤣)

Other examples of dragging were when Wang goes through exhausting efforts with his cameras, his neighbor's camera, gets his family involved, and then dreams, only to wake up and see the countdown. This was handled much more quickly in the Netflix adaptation. The other part that lost me was when Wenjie reads reports with so much "redacted" - extremely repetitive and too long. This is not shown in the show.

Overall, the concept is amazing and the next book looks to get into some groundbreaking areas. For me, I am looking forward to season 2 on Netflix and do not think I will be reading book 2, though I hear it is much better paced than book 1.

4/5 stars for the audiobook

This story hits all the points I enjoy about Riddle’s writing, including great characters being fully fleshed out, deep plots with twists and enough science to keep it believable (for sci-fi) and engaging, and a climax and resolution that are satisfying and convincing to the story and characters.

Like all good stories, there are elements that made me think about my life and the state of the world and how things could be different, for better or worse. How we make decisions and what influences them is also a thought-provoking sub-theme, as captured in this quote:

“Have you ever felt like the world was wrong, as though events simply didn’t make sense, as though the course of history was being altered by some unseen force?”

I opted for the audiobook, which was a great choice. The only odd bit was I had recently listened to Project Hill Mary with the same narrator, so I had to get Ryland Grace out of my head…

My $0.02: Overall, while a longer read from Riddle, I recommend it as an engaging story with decent action, a good pace, great characters, and a well-thought-out ending.

5 stars for the audiobook

From an author who knows his science comes this epic story of one man's fight to save his planet. I liked how I learned what as happening, the stakes, and what the protagonist needed to do with him through the progressive return of his memories through well-written flashbacks.It keep the mystery gaping for a good part of the book with some later unexpected revelations from his memory.

How Weir handled first contact and the relationship that ensues are very well crafted and ‘believable’ in the setting. There some surprises that keep me engaged. The science is deep but explained simply and in the context of the scenes in which they have relevance, making it a welcome part of the story.

I chose the excellent audiobook version, which kept me fully invested from start to finish. If you like ‘sciencey’ sci-fi, think you'll love Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, author of The Martian.

4/5 stars for this one

I generally like A.G. Riddle's books. Antarctica Station has a relatable and likable female protagonist and I enjoyed following her story from her start down an optimistic road to success to a turn of events that lead her to Antartica Station and a mysterious group planning "The Next World."

While there aren't high twists and surprises, a few small one keep it interesting and the story moving. Overall, an enjoyable read.

N. Joseph Glass