The Cold Light of Stars

The Icarus Code #1

by Rysa Walker

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE CHRONOS FILES.

Could an ancient Martian artifact hold the key to saving Earth?

When a chamber containing inscriptions from an ancient civilization is found deep below the surface of Mars, science reporter Claire Echols is thrilled to be covering the story of the century.

But someone seems determined to stop her.

Is it the wealthy entrepreneur leading the ongoing terraforming effort? The mining companies desperate to protect their livelihoods? The cult leader who wants to end all scientific progress?

What's inside that chamber could be the key to saving Earth ... and someone is willing to kill to keep it hidden.

"WALKER WRITES BOOKS THAT ARE HARD TO PUT DOWN." - BOING BOING

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

476 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 11, 2023

About the author

RYSA WALKER is the author of the bestselling CHRONOS Files series. Timebound, the first book in the series, was the Young Adult and Grand Prize winner in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. The CHRONOS Files has sold nearly half a million copies since 2013 and has been translated into fourteen languages.

In addition to speculative fiction, she occasionally writes mysteries as C. Rysa Walker.

Rysa currently resides in North Carolina with her husband, two youngest sons, and a hyperactive golden retriever. When not working on the next installment in her CHRONOS Files universe, she watches shows where travelers boldly go to galaxies far away, or reads about magical creatures and superheroes from alternate timelines. She has neither the time nor the patience for reality TV.

If you see her on social media, please tell her to get back into the writing cave.

For updates, check her website: www.rysa.com.

Reviews

[Trey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arguably the greatest historical find in human history...

And it barely warrants an investigation in this sci fi mystery. Well written over all, with decent character development, and enjoyable dialogue. But this book is more of lesson on terraforming Mars than a book about first contact. In fact, the majority of the questions it posits about ancient aliens are not answered. Everything is a cliffhanger. Which makes this novel only half of a book. Only one small part of the mystery is answered and its not even that important to the story. There is no thriller aspect. No building suspense. The fact that there are alien artifacts is treated as minor curiosity. Instead the reader is taken on a tour and vacation of Mars in the 2090's. There is no action involved, no romance, and no twists. The big reveal at the end is a let down because its purpose or background is left unexplained. Reminds me of the X files where there are no answers. Not a satisfying conclusion. Makes me reticent to slog through the second book. What if that one follows suit and lacks a payoff as well?

[Jay Sprenkle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was advertised on facebook. It was described as being about an ancient technological artifact found on Mars. Sounded like an interesting start.

I quit after getting more than half of the way through the book. The book explorers how the main character feels about her relationship with her mother, her relationship with a rich Musk clone, and the politics of a Luddite terrorist group.

If you're going to advertise the book as being about a mysterious alien artifact then you should feckin' write something about the mysterious alien artifact.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 Stars ⭐️

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but for whatever reason, I could NOT get into this book. I was listening to the audio version and not in a position to switch to anything else, so I kept on listening.

Granted, I went into this book fairly blind. I hadn't read any reviews and based on the summary I thought it was going to be an exciting book about possible first contact resulting from the discovery of some long lost artifact on Mars.

Unfortunately, I felt like I spent the entire book WAITING for something to happen. Waiting for the exciting part to start. But boy oh boy was there a lot of information about the topography of Mars. The landscape, the atmosphere, the stages of colonization.......sensing a theme here.....?

So yeah, lots of information - and a lot of science - which is fine if it is related to the theme. But for a book about containers found underground that had actual writing engraved on said containers and all of this happening on a planet that did not have existent life when colonized......well, there really wasn't any progress on that storyline until the VERY end of the book.

Then, figuring out how it related to the additional storyline about an organization that was devoted to keeping the advancement of the human race from crossing "the Rubicon" - some undetermined level in which the planet becomes a threat and therefore needs to be destroyed. Well, I kept waiting for THAT storyline to progress.

Basically, the book earned its entire rating for the very last portion of the book. Things felt like they were finally making good progress and then boom - The End.

Unfortunately, I just don't think I have it in me to continue on with this series.

[Deanna]

DNF

[Annaka · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storytelling was good but so slow going that I found myself losing interest about half way through the book. Things pick up towards the end and the ending feels like where it became most interesting to me. Still, despite enjoying the read, the slow pace will probably keep me from picking up the sequel. That being said, I LOVE some of the author’s other books, such as the Chronis files series, so I’ll still read other books by Walker.

[Steve Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I loved this book. What started out as a weekly serial has now been expanded into an exciting and thought provoking story comprising Book 1 of The Icarus Code. The story begins with junior reporter for the Atlantic Post, Claire Echols, watching a video taken of the amazing and historic penetration of a buried chamber on Mars with symbols on the inside, as revealed by an inserted camera. Claire is recruited to be one of the team returning to Mars to open it and broadcast its existence to an unsuspecting Earth.
Mars is in the process of being terraformed by KTI- Kolya Terraforming Inc.- a company named after powerful industrialist, Anton Kolya. This assignment takes Claire to Mars via the Moon, and, along the way, several incidents occur to show that there are opposing forces at work here that presumably want to stop the terraforming project at all costs.
The developing story is a heady mixture of potential corporate espionage, political unrest, labor issues, terrorism, and cult groups. Also thrown in is a well-researched background of science- enough to explain, but not enough to be overwhelming.
And who is the mysterious Eberin Das, whose journal we keep seeing excerpts from?
Finally, we are left with a cliffhanger that could portend calamity for mankind.
I highly recommend The Cold Light of Stars by bestselling author Rysa Walker, and I eagerly await the next book.

[Lynda Engler · Rating 4 out of 5]

By fellow North Carolinian author Rysa Walker, this is the first in a new series of terraforming Mars novels. Once upon a time I read and loved Rysa's YA Chronos Files (Timebound, Time's Edge, Time's Divide plus 3 novellas) as well as the 3-volume Chronos Origins (time travel stories), so I was interesting to see what she would do with a subject like terraforming Mars.

Very well done, though I'd say about 10% too long (it could have had a bit more condensing to make it flow better), but I definately recommend it for scifi, space novel fans.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Rysa Walker’s books and have read all of them. The Timebound Time Travel series is my favorite so far and where I started with this author. I was happy to see the start to a new series and Sci-Fi is my favorite genre so I jumped right in. This book is true Sci-Fi and didn’t disappoint. The characters are well developed and the story leaves lots of room for further adventures on Earth and on Mars.

[C.A. Gray]

I loved Rysa Walker's time travel series, so I picked this one up too. The hook was amazing, so I was excited to keep reading... but then it just dragged on and on in episodic fashion, and just didn't seem to come to the point. I suspect this is because it was written serial-style on Amazon, in individual chapter installments... and it reads that way too, unfortunately. Might be great for gaining new readers but at least in this book, it doesn't seem to be the best for pacing.

[Maisie Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this down! The suspense and tension were perfectly balanced, keeping me on the edge of my seat. The characters were so well fleshed out that I felt like I knew them. The twists were unexpected and added to the excitement. This is a must-read!

[Julie katona · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was terrible.

This book was really interesting in the prologue, then it just tanked from there. 30 pages in I have up. I wanted to read about science, not about love stories. Very disappointed.

[Jeremy Pinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow burner

Good book, very well written. Slow paced but still keeps you engaged and will look forward to the next book.

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This started so well. It was very interesting and exciting. It wasn't even mid book before it started the fall apart and bore me to tears.

Too much drama too little science and action.

[Karla Eaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool science concepts. Neat characterization. The cliff hanger at the end is a bit frustrating but overall a very cool imaginative view of the future.

[Peter Horsfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine

I liked the terraforming aspect, but the characters were super shallow, the science a tease, and the thrills few and far between.