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Convergence
In the end, everything connects...
After fleeing Sunridge and returning to the UK, Nothing In The Cage are faced with two hide and wait for Harpocrates to catch up with them, or show Dawn Chorus they’re unwilling to play by the rules. Realising that a life in the shadows is barely survival, the band decides to do what they do best – make music.
Cage embark on an album release and tour designed to taunt Dawn Chorus while infiltrating the dark underbelly of their London meeting house and its members. Meanwhile, Costas and Task uncover revelations that show how intertwined everything is, and just how precariously balanced on a knife edge it’s become. The past, present and potential futures collide, forcing Nate and the band to confront who they want to become, in the reality-bending, globe-spanning conclusion to The Orpheus Files.
After fleeing Sunridge and returning to the UK, Nothing In The Cage are faced with two hide and wait for Harpocrates to catch up with them, or show Dawn Chorus they’re unwilling to play by the rules. Realising that a life in the shadows is barely survival, the band decides to do what they do best – make music.
Cage embark on an album release and tour designed to taunt Dawn Chorus while infiltrating the dark underbelly of their London meeting house and its members. Meanwhile, Costas and Task uncover revelations that show how intertwined everything is, and just how precariously balanced on a knife edge it’s become. The past, present and potential futures collide, forcing Nate and the band to confront who they want to become, in the reality-bending, globe-spanning conclusion to The Orpheus Files.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 31, 2024
About the author
Alice Ewens
7 books13 followersAlice Ewens is a storyteller and story collector, a certified worrier, queer fiction writer and poet, music nerd and wannabe rockstar. What might happen if Joan Jett and Stevie Nicks ran at each other really fast, then ate a lot of cake. Born in Medway, in the South-East of the UK in the mid-80s, Alice briefly attended Bath Spa University to study creative writing. It didn’t work out. She worked as a transport consultant engineer for 10 years but that stopped working out, too. She now lives in Bristol, in the South-West of the UK, with a husband and a cat, is an avid tea-drinker and a fan of a well-placed swear word. She now works part-time in marketing and devotes the rest of her time to artistic pining. Alice's work is often confessional and maximalist, peeling back the layers of society to peer at the goings-on beneath. She hopes you won’t hold this against her.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 3, 2026
Ewens Masterfully Brings Her Magnificent Trilogy To a Perfect Conclusion
Alice Ewens’ urban fantasy/sci-fi novel, Convergence, is nothing short of a PERFECT ending to The Orpheus Files. I wasn’t sure what to expect, although I knew there were dark times ahead for members of the rock band Nothing in the Cage at the end of book two, Dissonance.
Because this is the third book in Ewens’ series, I’ll work to avoid revealing both big and small spoilers. I encourage you to read my review of Resonance, because the overarching plot’s conceptual groundwork and character introductions/experiences the author puts to the page in that first novel are carried through to this last installment—and widened in truly brilliant moments.
(If you haven’t started the series yet, grab a copy of Resonance and begin a glorious, mind-blowing journey!)
In Convergence, Ewens patiently lays the groundwork for the drama and intensity that is to come. While I don’t believe readers will be lulled into a false sense of security—this is book three, after all, and we *know* Dawn Chorus is NOT going to let Nate be—the pacing in the first third of the book allows the characters (and the readers) to almost…relax.
Perhaps the members of Nothing in the Cage can actually outrun Dawn Chorus and the exploitation of the vortex? That’s what the little voice of hope whispers, but we know better. Until Nate (aka Orpheus), Jack, Shins, Cora (aka IYKYK), Sadie, and Junk stop running and face the sprawling, greedy, and evil force that has wormed its way across the globe through governments, labs, fanaticism/extremism, influential trends, and big business, their lives will never truly be their own.
They will always look over their shoulders.
Again, I need to avoid spoilers, but Ewens also spun a perfect tale about the power of live social media—the dark forces that could be (are?) shaping the way the world acts, reacts, believes, and consumes information. The mirrored possibilities between what social media looks like on the pages of Convergence and what we experience in real life…Well, there is much food for thought—and we might choke on what we discover.
Ewens, like in her two earlier books, once again effortlessly pulls off multiple POVs. In my experience, not every author can take this tack and keep the reader’s attention fully immersed in the story. When it’s not done well, readers become frustrated. This is NOT the case with Ewens’ novels. She seamlessly leverages the power of multiple POVs and keeps readers engaged.
Alongside the band members and their perspectives, familiar characters return: Costas, Task (she keeps surprising me), Otis, and many more, including, shall we say, the ghosts of the past. The author doesn’t shy away from continued character development. There is still much to learn and appreciate about the “people” we already know from books one and two.
The relationship between Nate and Jack deepens in this installment. It was already love, but the reader experiences its beautiful, terrifying gravity in Convergence. We witness, with gratitude, how the universe saw fit to make two paths cross in a blink of time. Nate and Jack navigate a desperate desire to hold on to and protect one another. Is it possible to do both? Does love need to be sacrificed for the greater good? In the end, do you need to let go?
When I read the first book in The Orpheus Files series, Resonance, I wrote in my review that the book reminded me that everything is connected. As I neared the final pages of Convergence—with tears in my eyes!—I felt that message so deeply. We ARE all connected, whether we want to admit it or not.
Ewens chose to use music (sound) as the great connector, the heartfelt notes resonating inside our minds and bodies, rising above the dissonance of what works against us, and creating a space where we can achieve unity: Convergence.
The ending of Convergence was poetic—unsurprising, since the author has published a book of poetry, too. Yet Ewens avoided the dreaded purple prose. No, we witness snippets of how we are connected, of joy, sad moments, routine experiences, breathtaking bursts in time… As Alice Ewens writes in the early pages of Convergence: “Music is and always will be the universal language of love.”
The music brought the members (and friends) of Nothing in the Cage together. Their music celebrated the deep love they shared. It is the embodiment of every human emotion, but the notes of love, friendship, and making life right rise higher. Music is what holds us together.
Five stars—all the stars!—to Convergence and author Alice Ewens. This is a book (a series) that I’ll think about for decades. I cannot recommend The Orpheus Files enough.
Alice Ewens’ urban fantasy/sci-fi novel, Convergence, is nothing short of a PERFECT ending to The Orpheus Files. I wasn’t sure what to expect, although I knew there were dark times ahead for members of the rock band Nothing in the Cage at the end of book two, Dissonance.
Because this is the third book in Ewens’ series, I’ll work to avoid revealing both big and small spoilers. I encourage you to read my review of Resonance, because the overarching plot’s conceptual groundwork and character introductions/experiences the author puts to the page in that first novel are carried through to this last installment—and widened in truly brilliant moments.
(If you haven’t started the series yet, grab a copy of Resonance and begin a glorious, mind-blowing journey!)
In Convergence, Ewens patiently lays the groundwork for the drama and intensity that is to come. While I don’t believe readers will be lulled into a false sense of security—this is book three, after all, and we *know* Dawn Chorus is NOT going to let Nate be—the pacing in the first third of the book allows the characters (and the readers) to almost…relax.
Perhaps the members of Nothing in the Cage can actually outrun Dawn Chorus and the exploitation of the vortex? That’s what the little voice of hope whispers, but we know better. Until Nate (aka Orpheus), Jack, Shins, Cora (aka IYKYK), Sadie, and Junk stop running and face the sprawling, greedy, and evil force that has wormed its way across the globe through governments, labs, fanaticism/extremism, influential trends, and big business, their lives will never truly be their own.
They will always look over their shoulders.
Again, I need to avoid spoilers, but Ewens also spun a perfect tale about the power of live social media—the dark forces that could be (are?) shaping the way the world acts, reacts, believes, and consumes information. The mirrored possibilities between what social media looks like on the pages of Convergence and what we experience in real life…Well, there is much food for thought—and we might choke on what we discover.
Ewens, like in her two earlier books, once again effortlessly pulls off multiple POVs. In my experience, not every author can take this tack and keep the reader’s attention fully immersed in the story. When it’s not done well, readers become frustrated. This is NOT the case with Ewens’ novels. She seamlessly leverages the power of multiple POVs and keeps readers engaged.
Alongside the band members and their perspectives, familiar characters return: Costas, Task (she keeps surprising me), Otis, and many more, including, shall we say, the ghosts of the past. The author doesn’t shy away from continued character development. There is still much to learn and appreciate about the “people” we already know from books one and two.
The relationship between Nate and Jack deepens in this installment. It was already love, but the reader experiences its beautiful, terrifying gravity in Convergence. We witness, with gratitude, how the universe saw fit to make two paths cross in a blink of time. Nate and Jack navigate a desperate desire to hold on to and protect one another. Is it possible to do both? Does love need to be sacrificed for the greater good? In the end, do you need to let go?
When I read the first book in The Orpheus Files series, Resonance, I wrote in my review that the book reminded me that everything is connected. As I neared the final pages of Convergence—with tears in my eyes!—I felt that message so deeply. We ARE all connected, whether we want to admit it or not.
Ewens chose to use music (sound) as the great connector, the heartfelt notes resonating inside our minds and bodies, rising above the dissonance of what works against us, and creating a space where we can achieve unity: Convergence.
The ending of Convergence was poetic—unsurprising, since the author has published a book of poetry, too. Yet Ewens avoided the dreaded purple prose. No, we witness snippets of how we are connected, of joy, sad moments, routine experiences, breathtaking bursts in time… As Alice Ewens writes in the early pages of Convergence: “Music is and always will be the universal language of love.”
The music brought the members (and friends) of Nothing in the Cage together. Their music celebrated the deep love they shared. It is the embodiment of every human emotion, but the notes of love, friendship, and making life right rise higher. Music is what holds us together.
Five stars—all the stars!—to Convergence and author Alice Ewens. This is a book (a series) that I’ll think about for decades. I cannot recommend The Orpheus Files enough.
September 23, 2024
Readers, take your time and consume this book as an experience!
Many times throughout this book, I wanted to skim paragraphs just because I was so anxious to see what would happen next, but to do that would be a complete disservice to the awe-inspiring prose and the absolute attention to detail that the author demands. Ewens has a gift. And they are a gift to the literary community. Each page, sentence, verse, is so well crafted, you won't want to miss a single word.
And the story! I have been following Nate, Jack, Saide, Junk, Shins, Cora and their friends and enemies from book one, Resonance. You really do have to start at the beginning to fully understand the plot and many subplots. And the ending will be much more fulfilling having done so. In fact, new readers are lucky because they won't have to wait. I think binge-reading the trio would have the most impact. In fact, I may do that again. But in Convergence, we get the whole picture. No loose ends, no cliffhanger that'll piss you off. The ending was so poignant, I shed tears.
In a phrase, this series is about the power of music. But the story is so much more. It's adventure and friendship and romance and sci-fi and scary stuff and evil greed and a rollercoaster of a series I highly recommend to anyone who has a heart.
Many times throughout this book, I wanted to skim paragraphs just because I was so anxious to see what would happen next, but to do that would be a complete disservice to the awe-inspiring prose and the absolute attention to detail that the author demands. Ewens has a gift. And they are a gift to the literary community. Each page, sentence, verse, is so well crafted, you won't want to miss a single word.
And the story! I have been following Nate, Jack, Saide, Junk, Shins, Cora and their friends and enemies from book one, Resonance. You really do have to start at the beginning to fully understand the plot and many subplots. And the ending will be much more fulfilling having done so. In fact, new readers are lucky because they won't have to wait. I think binge-reading the trio would have the most impact. In fact, I may do that again. But in Convergence, we get the whole picture. No loose ends, no cliffhanger that'll piss you off. The ending was so poignant, I shed tears.
In a phrase, this series is about the power of music. But the story is so much more. It's adventure and friendship and romance and sci-fi and scary stuff and evil greed and a rollercoaster of a series I highly recommend to anyone who has a heart.
November 2, 2024
Amazing ending to an amazing trilogy! Highly recommended!
November 19, 2024
How did I not write my review when I read this?
This was EVERYTHING.
Alice's writing is just the stuff of dreams.
So poetic.
So beautiful.
So clever.
This whole world of characters that Alice has created feel so real. Everything about this series is just so tangible I can taste it.
Absolute perfection.
Exquisite.
Cannot recommend this series enough. The writing is second to none.
Read it all, you won't regret it.
5*****
P.s. I cried my eyes out. I cried my forking eyes out. So. Damn. Good.
This was EVERYTHING.
Alice's writing is just the stuff of dreams.
So poetic.
So beautiful.
So clever.
This whole world of characters that Alice has created feel so real. Everything about this series is just so tangible I can taste it.
Absolute perfection.
Exquisite.
Cannot recommend this series enough. The writing is second to none.
Read it all, you won't regret it.
5*****
P.s. I cried my eyes out. I cried my forking eyes out. So. Damn. Good.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews