Terminal Point

Strykers Syndicate #2

by K.M. Ruiz

Blade Runner meets X-Men in this follow-up to Mind Storm where humanity faces extinction and it's up to a group of rogue psions to save society

Fans of Charles Stross and Hannu Rajaniemi will lose themselves in this adventure as Threnody Corwin and her team of rogue Strykers contend with the aftermath of the events in Mind Storm and the unlocking of a new kind of psion power. They're on the run with Lucas Serca, who is closer than ever to destroying the World Court and his father's grip on the planet. Targeting the hidden cache of the planet's food supply meant to transform Mars into a paradise for the chosen few, Lucas triggers an escalating fight with the ruling government as worldwide chaos ensues. It's up to Threnody to save society before it destroys itself, but the cost is high and in the end, there is no such thing as compromise.

There is only survival.

In Threnody Corwin, K. M. Ruiz has created the coolest and most bad-ass sci-fi heroine since Signourney Weaver portrayed Ripley in the Alien films and Terminal Point takes her to the next level.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopia, Fiction

328 pages, Hardcover

First published June 19, 2012

About the author

K. M. Ruiz lives in California with a cat or two for company and the occasional earthquake. She earned a B.A. in English and a minor in American Indian Studies from San Francisco State University. She likes her movies loud, her music louder, and when not writing, spends the rest of her time looking for her next cup of coffee.

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful sequel to last year's Mind Storm, this is not your gentle discovery of psion talent (telepathy, empath, precog) found in early works of Anne McCaffrey or Andre Norton.

Nathan, the head of the Serca family, and the most powerful psion in the world, has coerced and fooled the World Court and is in the midst of his plan to take over the Ark, the escape star ship transporting the "clean" humans to Mars to start a new world. He plans to rule Mars and use the humans as his chattels. His rebellious son Lucas has an alternate plan. This books is about his equally ruthless plan to stop his father at all costs. This is a harsh look at a world controlled by ruthless ambitious powerful leaders. The psions are little more than slaves themselves, some controlled by the World Court because they have a bomb in their brain, and the others controlled by Nathan by sheer power of his mind.

The ultimate confrontation between Nathan and Lucas and his people will blow your mind.

Fast hard hitting sf. Its not pretty, but it gets the job done.

[Tasula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first book about the radiation ravaged world where some people have mutated as "psions"- with abilities including telepathy, telekinesis, empathy, fire-starting, electrokinesis. This book starts where the other left off- Lucas Serca is leading a team of rogue psions and human scavengers in a battle against his elitist father (who is secretly a powerful psion) and the World Court of uncontaminated humans who command a force of psions forced to protect humans. In addition to some of the usual weapons, the psions are using their particular powers, which makes for exciting and unusual battles. I found it gripping and fascinating.

[Aristotle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hack The Planet!!!

They're TRASHING our rights, man! They're TRASHING the flow of data! They're TRASHING! the earth! HACK THE PLANET!
Hack brains, computers, satellites, babies DNA. Hack it all!
A good, brutal, bloody, violent follow up to Mind Storm.
Mind Storm took a little while to get to know the players so this book was easier to follow. A little more character development would have helped. Made the deaths of main characters a little more emotional.

Information is power.
The control of information is absolute power.

[Jessica Strider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: lots of action, powerful characters had limitations, complex plot gets resolved

Cons: hard to believe just how much Lucas's group achieves with so little rest and time to heal from previous injuries

This is the second volume of the Stryker Syndicate duology that started with Mind Storm. The action starts directly where Mind Storm ended, with Lucas and his group heading to the Arctic while their actions in Buffalo cause problems for the Strykers, the Warhounds and the World Court. The World Court continues their preparations for leaving the Earth, even as Lucas undermines their efforts.

This is a quick moving book with a lot going on. Lucas pushes his people on mission after mission, which, considering the amount of damage they take each mission gets a bit hard to believe. On the other hand, it makes the psions less uber powerful, so the fights have more of a challenge to them. Indeed, I really liked the fact that psions as powerful as Lucas and Jason had limits to their abilities. I also liked how lower powered psions could link their abilities, making their enemies powerful as well, even though they're not as highly ranked.

There's non stop action in this book, with so many missions and so many plot threads that all come together in a final, climactic battle that no one, neither psions nor the humans around them, is left unscathed.

If you like post-apocalyptic societies and characters with super powers, you'll love this duology.

[Myron Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terminal Point is the conclusion to the story that began in Mind Storm. Lucas, Threndoy and their band of Strykers are targeting the food supply that is heading to Mars ahead of the rich humans who are hoping to colonized the planet while leaving the unfortunately including the psions they bred to carry out their dirty work. The stakes become higher and a lot of the mysteries from the first book are revealed. Ruiz provides a stronger understanding of the world she created. Be warned the body count is quite high so don't get attached to anyone. While the major threads of the first book are tied up, there is plenty there for some sequels. A good enthralling sci-fi thriller that does its job.

[tawnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fast paced sci-fi that serves up a solid conclusion from its predecessor and a few interesting surprises. It reads like an action movie. The pace leaves little room for characterization, however; the primary goal here is to get from point A to point B, and so we still get little background or insight into many of the characters. Sometimes you feel almost as breathless as the characters themselves who just don't seem to get a break.

[Casey Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terminal Point was a decent read, continues where Mindstorm left off, a lot of action, very little character development, although this time there is no back story to also fill in for the lack of character development. I found the plot sufficient and Ruiz does paint a good post apocalyptic world but the lack of a true main character, often varying between different people with different purposes. All in all a fine book for those who like sci-fi or those that enjoy a lot of action.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with the Strykers Syndicate novels because of the characters; characterisation certainly being one of Ruiz's strength. While the pacing was relatively good, I felt that there was too much description of the world at the beginning of chapters that disrupted the flow of the story for me. Overall, I really enjoyed reading both books in the series and look forward to more from Ruiz.

[Stoli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointing wrap to the first book, with most favorite characters killed off and nothing really solved or wrapped up. Even if more books are added to this, I have no interest in pursuing the remaining characters lives. Too bad, since I really liked the first book so well!! :(

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just could not finish this novel, the story is too much of a stretch for me to get into it. Too many people with magical powers all doing the impossible. Characters are poorly developed and lack depth so there is no connection with any of them.

[Berrendsci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good completion of this book duo..neither of the pair can stand alone. I hope the author moves to new ideas and worlds...