Husk

by Nathaniel Eliason

EDITOR'S "A riveting debut that blends post-apocalyptic adventure with conspiracy-based sci-fi thriller... Eliason's energetic pacing, entertaining characters, and crisp world-building create smart, satisfying reading. A promising start to a series." - Publisher's Weekly BookLife

“Wonderfully staggering revelations all the way to the cliffhanger ending… (a) thoroughly absorbing post-apocalyptic tale.” - Kirkus Reviews

Ready Player One meets The Matrix in this gripping sci-fi thriller about a dying world, a digital afterlife, and the terrifying cost of immortality.

As a Tech, Isaac maintains the servers housing humanity’s collective consciousness. Tomorrow he turns twenty-five—old enough to transfer into the digital paradise of Meru. Virtual immortality will be his in a world free from the death and disease that plague what’s left of civilization.

But when tragedy strikes, Isaac discovers Meru may not be the paradise he thought. Powerful forces are conspiring to destroy it, and the ones he trusts most have turned against him.

Outcast. Abandoned. Exiled. Isaac must uncover the truth about Meru before it’s too late. And before he suffers a fate he thought was confined to the history

Death.

Book 1 of the Meru Initiative is Nathaniel Eliason’s post-apocalyptic, action-fueled sci-fi a gripping journey and vibrant world that forces you to question what makes you human.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

373 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 27, 2025

Reviews

[Nathaniel Eliason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I might be biased, but I think it’s pretty great

[Sonja Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few humans left on earth, Isaac has spent his life protecting the digital world of Meru, where the majority of the population has transferred their consciousness to live out eternity in digital utopia. But what if Meru isn't quite the dream Isaac was raised to believe? And what if Felix, Meru's supposedly benevolent founder and leader, is hiding the truth?

Nonstop action in this sci-fi adventure that combines philosophical debate with techno-futurism. The world building is both epic and highly relatable. A strong balance of real human emotion alongside adventure. Will keep you turning every page, and rereading the last few chapters as you burn through them and are taken totally by surprise! Highly recommend.

[Cameron Mcconnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new twist on post apocalyptic fiction. A community works together to maintain an alternative world where people live forever and anything is possible, but as anything that seems too good to be true there is a dark side to this story. Good adventure and thought provoking questions about what it means to exist. Recommend

[Cosette Eliason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not usually a sci-fi reader, but I tore through this in just five days. It’s fast-paced without feeling like an empty action movie because there’s real depth here. I found myself rooting for each of the main characters and connecting with them in different ways. The story is packed with ethical and moral dilemmas that made me constantly question what I would do in their shoes. Even by the end, I still don’t know whose side I’m on…needless to say, I can’t wait for the next installment!

[doomedsardines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew what I’m getting into, an author who is new to fiction with one non-fiction book and a blog behind him. But it’s the dream that it’s his but also mine to become a self-published author one day that made me click the “buy” button.

I read a decent amount of both fiction and non-fiction and based on my personal preferences and experience, following is what I can provide as feedback for author’s future improvement:

- I felt that the book was too heavy on dialogue and lacked description, making the world feel flat
- start is rather slow paced, with speed picking up closer to the end of the book. I was hooked at around page 100, so keep reading despite the urge to drop earlier
- some of the personalities were kind of same to me, with sure exceptions of Isaac and Felix most of the others are indistinguishable and lack proper motivation
- I was starving for more details about the physical world around and how it came to be

What I liked:
- author’s courage to publish and expose his work to others
- word-building, especially in the beginning of the book
- no mid-story slump, it feels as story progresses naturally
- singularity/immortality and control in digital realm topics

I will certainly check the next book with hope of seeing the author's progress in the art of writing. My personal wish is to see the philosophical aspects deepened and world described widely.
Good Luck, Nat!

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced read and engaging story line. Good series opener that makes me look forward to seeing how it unfolds in the follow up novels.

[Nathan Baugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often struggle with fast-paced sci-fi because it simply feels like a thriller with tech. I crave ideas to wrestle with, characters to cheer for, etc. Husk delivers both. A fast-paced story where you read for an two hours and it feels like ten minutes, but also underlying ideas that keep you thinking about them well after you put the book down. Highly recommend.

[Pierson Faldetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Solid, fast paced techno thriller. Plain prose and a rather inoffensive MC hold it back a bit, but the novel really shines when it uses its narrative as a Trojan horse to explore philosophical concepts. Also the back third is a banger.

Will check out the second.

[Beverly Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you for the ARC!

I'm not a sci-fi nut--but this book hit a tone!

the writing is tight, characters well developed, the plot points were full and didn't traverse into dead ends.

overall-- i recommend!

[Troy Cartwright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping, fast-paced, and thought-provoking.

Husk reads like The City and the Stars meets Ready Player One—a sci-fi thriller packed with big ideas and a surprisingly emotional core. I was hooked from page one.

What stood out most was the way it explores identity and control in a digital world, without ever losing its momentum. The writing is clean and confident, and the world-building is both familiar and fresh.

Looking forward to what’s next.

Recommended for fans of immersive sci-fi with a philosophical edge.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. Dystopian Texas and simulation worlds similar to Ian Banks 'Surface Detail' with a splash of The Matrix. Fast paced. Looking forward to the next one in the series!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good, especially the last part, great climax! Overall it was fun, fast paced, and thought provoking.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very solid book, action packed and fast paced.

[J.R. Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a lot to get your head around. Literally. But it’s brilliant.

I was drawn to pick up the book after listening to Eliason on Paul Millerd's podcast and intrigued to see if he could move across from non fiction to write compelling fiction. Husk certainly achieves that with an entertaining read from start to finish.

It neatly combines action with philosophical questions, all set in a richly imagined future world. I loved the robo dogs and the Meru Monks, among many other elements. The horcrux-like fragmentation of Felix reminded me of Severance and the concept of "innies," especially in how consciousness and agency are explored.

There’s also Crichton-esque quality to the book: speculative, fast-paced, and unafraid to ask big questions about what we're doing with technology...

Looking forward to the novella and book 2 already.

[Jake Rab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a page turner. The pace is lightning and everything is easy to follow and engaging (harder to achieve than people might think).

It will be very interesting to see where the sequel takes things as there is a great deal of potential in the worldbuilding.


I think there's a novella on the way so I'll be keeping an eye out for that.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read! Well written, well formatted with an appropriate mix of character development, action and intrigue. This author has a crazy fun imagination!!

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A plague has destroyed much of human civilization, but in Texas, at least, there is a remainder. Before the plague and subsequent collapse, pioneering scientists had created a way for human consciousness to be transferred to a digital world — a playground, almost, where transferred minds could be and do anything they like, and be in connection with all other residents of the digital world Meru. At first, few people were interested, despite the fact the creator had transferred himself and his wife — at least, that is, until a new disease began killing pretty much everybody. People began fleeing the real world into the playground Meru in droves, creating a network of transfer stations across Texas and beyond. While the plague has long gone, “transferring” into Meru has become an adult right of passage — and Isaac is looking forward to his own Transfer, despite it meaning that he can’t cuddle his IRL girlfriend anymore. But then his closest friend Luke urges Isaac not to go through with it, that there’s something more to Meru and its inventor-administrator than meets the eye. After Luke takes drastic action to disrupt the transfer equipment, Isaac finds Luke’s self-sacrificing passion disturbing enough to wonder for himself — and finds himself in a world of trouble. Husk is an interesting SF mystery-thriller with a focus on the possibility of digital immortality/post humanism, and a memorable villain.

I thought at first this would be a book about the lure of digital worlds as an escape from physical reality, a bit like Ready Player One‘s use of the Oasis. It’s certainly easy to see why in a shattered world like that of Husk that people would want to escape to live in some fantasy, one peopled with their family and friends who had also become digital rather than human consciousnesses. Instead, it’s more of a thriller with lots of surprises, set in a daunting world of fortified tech-centers, sometimes connected to the ruins of former cities. Although these tech centers (Alpha, Epsilon, etc) have a shared background, they’re not in communication with one another, and in fact one is outright rebellion against the system that Isaac unwittingly finds himself a part of. Without drifting too much into spoiler territory, Isaac has a narrow escape and finds himself in the wilds where he finds friends and continues searching for answers, a search that will take him through more of this post-collapse world and into constant danger. The novel sometimes waxes philosophic about the nature of consciousness, but not so much the reality of death. Possibly the best element of this novel, aside from the Fallout-esque landscape, was the villain: I’ve tried to steer clear of anything spoilery, but imagine if Big Brother was a distributed machine intelligence, a bit like DAEMON . There’s added emotional weight in the book when Isaac is forced to confront those who think he’s betrayed them, or those he knows betrayed him.

All told, this was a cool find. When I saw it at booksirens I clicked immediately because of the server room cover art, but the premise hooked me and I wound up reading it constantly. I’ll be looking for more from this author, but I understand this is his first novel.

[Alexia Polasky · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid long-time Sci-Fi reader, I was pleasantly surprised by this book's gripping and terrifyingly possible futuristic plot. Can't wait to continue with the series!

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Nathaniel Eliason and Heart Mind | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Kisxela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having picked up Husk by Nathaniel Eliason, I was initially intrigued by the promise of a thought-provoking technothriller, as suggested by the book’s blurb. The premise hinted at a narrative rich with speculative philosophy, exploring deep questions about technology, society, and human existence. Unfortunately, the book fell short of these expectations, delivering far less philosophical depth than I had hoped for.
I’ll admit, I only made it halfway through the novel before setting it aside, as the story became increasingly underwhelming and, at times, simply tedious. The opening chapters showed promise, particularly in the way Eliason crafted the book’s world. The world-building was engaging, with vivid details that painted a compelling dystopian setting and sparked curiosity about where the story might lead. However, this initial excitement quickly faded as the narrative settled into a predictable rhythm, morphing into what felt like a generic dystopian thriller. The pacing slowed, and the plot began to lean heavily on familiar tropes without offering much in the way of originality or intellectual stimulation.
While the early chapters had me invested in the potential of Husk to explore complex ideas, the lack of speculative philosophy—or any meaningful engagement with the themes teased in the blurb—was disappointing. The story seemed to prioritize conventional thriller elements over the deeper, more introspective exploration I had anticipated. For readers seeking a fast-paced, action-driven dystopian tale, Husk might still hold some appeal, but those expecting a narrative driven by philosophical inquiry may find it lacking. In the end, I found myself disengaged, unable to push past the halfway mark as the story failed to deliver the depth and intrigue I had hoped for.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaac is on the verge of transferring into Meru, the virtual reality world that has almost entirely replaced dying in Epsilon, when his best friend confides his concerns about what really happens when transferring. Before long, he is questioning if his friend was right, and his life will never be the same.

I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of discussions about “you-ness” from my college philosophy days. It also got me thinking about when I would want to transfer if it was an option. Too early and you might regret missed experiences, too long and you risk dying or too much damage to your memories before making it in.

I liked seeing how Isaac started valuing real-life experiences after wanting to transfer at a young age. It could have gone too anti-tech, but I think it hit a good balance.

While I found the battle scenes closer to the end engaging and exciting, I found keeping track of the characters a little confusing due to copies of the characters taking part in the fight.

Overall, I’d be interested in reading future books in the series.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this book in exchange for my review via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Joey D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read. Nice philosophical weavings of consciousness and reality. Looking forward to the next ones!

“In here, you could say we are all-mind. Everything around you only exists because someone conceived it. There is no fundamental reality free of preconceptions because this reality is the product of preconceptions. It may have its basis in the fundamental reality outside, but it is ultimately a fabrication. We have been cut off from the fundamental substrate of reality that makes us who we are.”

“hate to break it to you but YOU’RE GOING TO DIE. Your little light of consciousness will be snuffed out. Gone. And there is NOTHING you can do to stop it! You really think a bunch of fucking wires and servers can somehow change that? Everyone knows it deep down, but they don’t want to believe it. They’re scared. They’re COWARDS. And look where Felix’s cowardice got us!”

[Veronika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just wow. I haven’t enjoyed a book like this in a long time.

Husk pulled me in so fast I basically forgot real life for a few days. And I loved every second of it.
The story moves quickly, with no slow or boring parts. Every chapter brings something new, and it’s easy to keep reading "just one more."

What I liked most was the way it shows different people and how they think and act. The characters felt real, each with their own logic and emotions.

And the overall concept? Super intriguing. Without spoiling anything, the ideas around identity, memory, and control hooked me early and only got better as the plot unraveled. It made me think without ever slowing down the ride.

Highly recommend if you want something smart, fast-paced, and genuinely hard to put down. I already need book two!

[Noah Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Heart Mind for the ARC of this book.

I was wary for the first few chapters but this ended up being a fun read. Eliason is clearly a big fan of the Matrix and took some heavy inspiration to start off this series, but tweaked and added enough to keep it fresh.

This was somewhere on the older end of young adult to me. It was a bit angsty and the characters weren’t too complicated, but it still posed interesting questions about consciousness and humanity. There’s also some violence and other adult themes throughout the book, but it served the plot and was never gratuitous.

All in all I enjoyed getting a glimpse of the impending techno-pocalypse and the mysteries in Meru – and despite how I feel about the use of “‘Saac” as a nickname for Isaac, I’m curious to see where the series will go.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Book Sirens for giving me the opportunity to preview an advance copy of this book. Nathaniel Eliason’s Husk is a sharp, fast-moving exploration of what happens when technology makes uploading human consciousness a reality. The book raises unsettling but fascinating questions about how far people will go to escape death—and the cynical, even desperate choices they’ll justify along the way. Eliason doesn’t bog the reader down with heavy technical detail; instead, he keeps the prose light, accessible, and highly entertaining. While not flawless, it’s a gripping and thought-provoking story that blends futurism with human flaws. A solid 4/5—easy to recommend for fans of speculative sci-fi.

[Michael Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t the normal type of novel I would read, so I kept kept comparing it to what I would while reading it. That is doing a disservice to what this novel is: a great, fast-paced read. The author invites us to jump right into the action quickly into the start and it never stops! Being someone that is familiar with the author’s backstory and his transparency on the book writing process makes this even more of an impressive triumph. Everyone that loves action and thought-provoking dilemmas will enjoy this book.

[Tosca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced storytelling, great world building and premise, and a thought provoking reflection on how we spend our time in today’s world.3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Slight critique - it sometimes felt like the author had plot points that they wanted to include to advance the story but read like they were just bullet points from an outline - it made it slightly hard to follow at certain points even though I was very invested in the characters and world.

Looking forward to future installments.

[Dave Milbrandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest evaluation of its merits.

I thought the story had solid tension and the dystopian elements were mostly what I thought they would be, but there were a few good twists and turns. The biggest challenge I had was tracking with some of the science of the science fiction. I won't give things away by explaining any further, other than to say that reading quickly like I tend to do was not always helpful with a book as complex as this one was.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Enthusiastic stars! This science fiction thriller ticks all the boxes for a must read. It has a great premise, engaging characters, cool technology, action packed battles, and clever twists. It raises moral and ethical questions that you will want to discuss with your friends and family. It also promises at least a sequel and perhaps a series. I will definitely have my eyes out for more offerings from this talented author. I received this as an ARC through NetGalley.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cotton candy sci fi novel I couldn't put down. Read nearly straight through in less than 24 hours. Delicious, like a great TV show. The characters can feel a little flat at times, and the writing plain, but that hardly mattered in keeping me engaged -- I never quite could tell what was going to happen next! Now that I'm done I find the core moral conundrum a bit baffling as something to base an entire series on. But I probably will check out the next book.

[Justin Rakowicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Husk is a thriller that absolutely flies by. The core narrative keeps you on the edge of your seat, but Nat also pulls the curtain back on a much deeper and more complex world than first presented, raising interesting questions about the nature of consciousness (trying to be relatively vague to avoid spoilers).

I’m looking forward to the next part of this story and diving further into Meru!