Extinction Dream

by Andrew Najberg

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction

330 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2025

About the author

Andrew Najberg is the author of the novel The Mobius Door (Wicked House Publications, 2023) and the forthcoming novels Gollitok (Wicked House Publishing, 2023) and The Neverborn Thief (Olive-Ridley Press, 2024), as well as the collection of poems The Goats Have Taken Over the Barracks (Finishing Line Press, 2021). In addition, his collection of short fiction, In Those Fading Stars, is due out through Crystal Lake Publishing in November 2024 and his novel Extinction Dream comes out in September 2025 through Wicked House Publishing. His short fiction has appeared in Prose Online, Psychopomp Review, Bookends Review, The Colored Lens, Utopia Science Fiction, The Gateway Review, Dark Death Things, Creepy Podcast, and is forthcoming in Fusion Fragment, Translunar Travelers Lounge, and the Gods And Globes III anthology. Currently, he teaches for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is serving as a senior editor for Symposeum magazine.

Reviews

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

A beautifully written sci-fi horror that was FULL of twists. This one really threw me for a loop: I was expecting an Among Us-esque space horror but got an existential mindfuck instead (which isn’t a bad thing!) Extinction Dream follows Markus, a soldier who has been conscripted to join the Orbital Forces, who are fighting a secret war against aliens in space.

But it’s so much more than that toooooo omg it’s about global warming and humanity’s innate anger and aggression, with the most realistic version of global politics unravelling I’ve read so far. The USA, China and Russia are all in a Cold War instead of magically coming together for the greater good, which is always a nitpick I have for these stories set in the future.

The middle did drag a little and I felt that there were too many flashbacks to bog down the narrative, same with Markus getting knocked out (it happens like 3 times in the book!). I wanted more answers BUT the ending really reminded me of Arrival, a movie I LOVE so I did love that.

Overall a great read but could probably be cut down a tiiiiny bit to improve the pacing and keep the STUNNING writing as a focus <3

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

What the actual f*ck did I just read? Am I real? Do I actually exist? Is what I'm currently seeing real? Is my life real? WHAT IS REAL?! Who can I trust? I want my mommy. Is she even my mommy? WHO IS SHE?! AHHHHHHHHH.

-screen goes dark-

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um… I have no idea what happened at the end.

The book overall was an average psychological thriller. It had your usual twists and turns. The thing is, the tail end of the book got super trippy, and I have no idea what happened.

And right in the middle of it… The End.

I’m sitting here super confused and have no idea what I just read.

The book was sitting at 3-stars for a while, but with an ending like that, I have to drop it to 2-stars.

[Hanna (Hanna.k_draws) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so happy to have been accepted by NetGalley to read this ARC as sci-fi horror is one of my favourite genres.

For most of the book I was pretty interested and intrigued in the story and characters even though it felt quite average and around a 3 star rating for me.

However in the second part of the book the whole story became sooooo confusing, I stopped enjoying it and found myself completely unmotivated to read it.
If someone told me the author was high writing this I would absolutely believe because it was super bizarre and trippy. And to be frank didn’t really make much sense to me 🤔

And then it was the end.

Literally.

This whole book felt to me like the author pictured this story as a movie and wrote it exactly like that. And not in a good way.
It felt like half way through the book, the author lost the plot and decided to just write whatever but also trying soooooo hard to make this book something that it really isn’t.
And why all the body parts?
I personally am not opposed to some good body horror/ splutterpunk etc, but it simply didn’t fit in here in my opinion.


I’m sorry, but I didn’t like it at all even though I really wanted to.

[myreadingescapism · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 but rounded up. I'm an adrenaline junkie when it comes to my audiobooks. You need to keep my mind in the clouds (or space in this case) as I tackle life's mundane things.

While this did that, it sort of got meh in the middle... but that seems like a common issues lately.


Overall, good read.

[Danielle Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You will train your minds to engage in combat with an enemy we don’t understand. An enemy we know almost nothing about. We know nothing of their motives. We know nothing of their goals. The white coats tell me the few things they do know can only be explained by equations.”

Fast paced and thrilling, Extinction Dream is a page turner for sure. Sci-Fi horror typically isn’t a trope I go to. As a matter of fact, I believe this is the first full length space horror book that I’ve read! And I’m so glad I did because I enjoyed it immensely. There were times where I literally felt discombobulated while reading, which I’m almost positive was deliberate… and absolutely brilliant in my opinion. I felt like this book had so many plot twists which is always a love for me too. Najberg’s prose are top tier and his characters and their development were don’t fantastically. As said before, it’s pretty fast paced so there’s a lot of action throughout.

While it’s about a solider going to space to fight a war against aliens this story is SO much more than just that. Like whoa. Total mind penetration. Truly, I sat here mind blown multiple times throughout this book. I don’t typically copy and paste a synopsis in a review, but I’m afraid of giving away major spoilers so I think I need to:

“Deployed in orbit to what he first believed to be a simple research station, a soldier named Markus is a member of a squad defending Earth on the front line of a secret war against an alien enemy that attacks telepathically, using our nightmares as weapons. They don't know what the enemy looks like or even why they are attacking.

What they do know is that Earth is losing.

As they sink further into their deepest terrors, they believe they may finally have the chance to take the fight to their enemy – if the hell they're living in doesn't cause them to tear each other apart first.”

***

This book gets way more than five stars and I’m really excited to see what else in his Najberg’s catalog of published work because he definitely just landed himself a new fan and a new reader. Extinction Dream releases August 1st but is available for preorder now.

[Rhiannon Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This scifi horror novel had me hooked right from the start. And I mean, right from the copyright page which left me with a sinking sense of dread by acknowledging “entities” in the ‘any resemblance to…’ blurb.

This is a most unsettling beginning…

The alien enemy in this novel is unseen, incomprehensible, and pretty much impossible to fight. Markus is sent into orbit with his fellow soldiers to combat the terrifying and secret threat but they can’t even begin to comprehend their opponent.

“It’s hard to be scared of the dark once you see the damage light is capable of inflicting.”

And this is where Najberg really begins to undermine your trust in what you’ve come to expect of good vs evil in the world, which we’re (maybe) not even in. The imagery here is beautiful and yet some of the most viscerally terrifying I’ve experienced. At 41% in I made the notation “I've trauma cried twice before the 40% mark and one of those times was on a public bus and now I feel like I'm having an existential crisis and so now it's Existential Extinction Nightmare…” As my poor mind gibbers and unravels I must give thanks for those therapy bills there Andrew!

Najberg’s writing is stellar (no pun intended) as he conveys so much of a single perfect feeling, like the absolute tension in this single phrase:

“…but we’re all on the sharpest parts of our edges…”

Reality itself shifts and completely frays. This novel has me obsessed, and as I lost sleep reading it, and then more sleep once finished, all I can think is how much time do I give myself to recover from this complete mind**ck of an onslaught before I go back and reread it?

“I realize my mind wasn’t built for what’s being done to it.”

Me, too Markus. Me too…

[Merannda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really compelling premise, disappointing execution. I have to assume that the author's intent was to try to confuse us in a way that we felt some kind of similarity with our protagonist's experience, but the pace and timeline jumping just didn't work for me.
I'd still recommend this book to sci-fi readers getting into horror or vice versa, but for me it's not strong enough on either side to be a four star read. Three stars for me means a good book, not great, with at least one major flaw I can't gloss over. For me the novel's major flaw was, so what? The ending of the book holds no punch, no reveal worth revealing. To go through a meandering 300 + pages to find out that mankind is shitty? Tell me something I don't know.
I think this book needed another round of editing. I found at least one direct contradiction in the same chapter, and then another across several chapters. Perhaps the pace could have been tightened or chapters moved, because I found myself slogging through the flashback chapters to get back to the more interesting current chapters. And unfortunately, the flashbacks didn't help me care about our protagonist. A whole chapter on the childhood of a secondary character who touts herself as basically Neo with her ability to withstand the alien entities but then she never gets try again? Why isn't she our main character? She's a lot more interesting than our white bread man who can't tell someone he might have a crush on them until it's literally the end of space/time.
But again, the premise is really cool. The idea of a thought virus/destructive thought manifestation was worth finishing the book. I just wish there had been a prize at the end.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Najberg is quickly becoming my favorite new Sci-Fi horror author and he's done it again with his newest book. Based on premise alone, I went into Extinction Dream expecting variations on Childhood's End but Najberg took this book in a wholly original direction. It's so nice to read horror that is seeded with fresh ideas. You'll absolutely want to pick it up when it releases August 1st.

From the first page I was completely enthralled by Extinction Dream. I couldn't put it down. As the title implies, one's own mind is often the darkest place. What if that was used against humanity, as a weapon. Fascinating premise. The characters are all fully fleshed, the deaths were brutal and inventive and the writing, superb. I forgot I was reading. The "enemy" has a Hitchcockian-style manipulation of perception to it that ratchets up the tension nicely. Mind-bending, claustrophobic, isolated and ominous Extinction Dream will be on my best new releases list this year. Loved it!


Overall:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Prose: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pacing: fast
Scary: tension
Gore: yes
Character Development:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Atmosphere:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy.

Space horror is one of my favorite subgenres, and Extinction Dream is utterly unique among the books I've read. The whole concept of the book is deeply distressing - an unknown and unnamed Enemy that uses your own worst thoughts and fears against you. The whole story drips with dread. You just know nothing good can come of any of this. Najburg's vision of what's happening on Earth is just as distressing and horrific. Overall, it is an excellent journey, with a devastating ending. 5 stars

[David Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extinction Dream by Andrew Najberg
5/5

Upon reading a blurb, Extinction Dream immediately sounded like the kind of book that I'd enjoy. Holy smokes did it deliver!

The crushing loneliness and sadness of a suicide mission against an invisible enemy is a fantastic literary landscape.

This book got me right in feels as often as it creeped me out and/or shocked me.

I've not read anything else by Najberg and I've no idea which to follow this story up with, but I'll definitely be reading more of his work.

If you want to feel like your brain is melting and your worst nightmares are being weaponised against you, go add this to your TBR immediately!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extinction Dream is a haunting blend of science fiction and absolute horror. In the not so distant future, in a setting that is all too plausible, Earth is facing a a terrifying new enemy. Forget what you’ve read in other sci-fi books and seen in the movies. This alien life form doesn’t attack with lasers, stealth ships, or secret abductions. They have a weapon that’s even worse - your own mind. When Markus is deployed into orbit, he has no idea that he will become part of the front line in a battle where the soldiers are attacked telepathically, their worst nightmares unfolding before them. They’re on the losing side, until a final, desperate chance to take the fight to their invaders arises. But will they make it in time, or be destroyed from the inside out?

There’s so much I want to say about this book, but most of it I can’t without giving away major spoilers. What I will tell you is that just when I thought I had it all figured out, I didn’t. Andrew crafted a spectacular world and a creative enemy that presented several horrifying moments. The fear and confusion of the crew were palpable throughout, and I felt their frustration when their questions were ignored by their commanders. When I turned the page and saw “The End” my jaw literally dropped and I had to process it for a few moments. This is a brilliant sci-fi read that I highly recommend.

[Catriona Mowat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing feels more isolated than horror set in space. Extinction Dream takes that feeling, and amplifies it even more. Surrounded by people, Markus is one of the loneliest characters I have come across, and his melancholy, guilt, suspicion, and sense of loss leap from every page.

While the characters are fighting a seemingly impossible battle in their own minds, the feeling of dread and terror are increased by the mystery of their enemy: the battles are very cleverly written to heighten the tension without description. The gore and violence are raw and quite literally visceral. Some of the most inventive deaths I have ever read are contained in these pages.

This is sci-fi horror done correctly, and you are left as a reader with a haunting sense of emptiness and loss when the story comes to its shocking conclusion. If you think you know where this story is leading, think again

[Caleb Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extinction Dream is a book to be experienced - a full out assault on all of our greatest fears, both fantastical and grounded. As I came around to the intense, mind-bending finale, I was reminded of ground breaking classics like Event Horizon or The Matrix. Andrew has created a world that is impossible not to believe could exist in a not so distant future. A future where our worst nightmares have come true and our fragile ecosystems are in an irreversible downward spiral. There is a strain of hope that runs through this pitch dark narrative, a hope beyond hope and belief in the things that continue to make us human in the face of these daunting, horrific realities slowly growing on the horizon. Extinction Dream pulls no punches in letting the reader know that it is in our hands to hold on to that hope and pull up and away from our own pending doom.

[Ben Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

With reverberations of both Heinlein and Lovecraft, Andrew Najberg’s Extinction Dream drops you immediately into a post apocalyptic space war where Earth’s first and only line of defense fights harrowing daily battles against demonic alien entities who launch unpredictable attacks on their minds. From page one, you’ll be constantly questioning what’s real, who the true enemies are, and how they’ll attack next. And he never gives you a moment to rest. This is a brand new form of psychological sci-fi horror.

[Dave Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

While nations on Earth battle as usual, the real war is taking place in space: Aliens are attacking our planet with their thoughts. Existing in other dimensions, they cause frontline soldiers - in orbiting space battle stations - to lose their ability to differentiate between nightmares, memories, and actual events in their lives. Imagine an enemy that can make you believe your worst fears are really occurring. It's gruesome and explicit, with attacks that leave the soldiers dead or worse. It's definitely not what everyman soldier Markus expected when he was assigned to the space station. As he and fellow space soldiers try to hold their own against the alien attacks, they begin to wonder exactly what's going on and what it means for the future of humanity.

"Extinction Dream" is a dark and troubling horror sci-fi novel by Najberg that was an interesting read, but repetitive in its horror: I eventually found myself skipping paragraphs of redundant, explicit gore and horrific imagery. The story would be stronger with an attempt to weave in more subtle horrors rather than endless gross descriptions of physical harm; sometimes something as simple as being in a childhood memory with a parent insisting they don't know who you are can be more terrifying than "tearing a limb off" or choking someone to death in a hallucination. Recommended for hardcore horror fans only.

[Kase · Rating 4 out of 5]

A man signs up to be a soldier, then is drafted into the secret war against an alien race no one understands. Each battle takes place within his own mind, as he is strapped to a chair along with the several others who were also drafted. No one who goes to space ever makes it back home.

Truly a masterpiece of deception and keeping the reader guessing at every turn. I probably swore aloud seven or eight times, as twists were taken and truths were revealed that lead to nothing but more questions. Even at the 90% mark, I had no idea what was really going on, even though it felt like I had enough clues to be able to put it together.

It all felt organic as well. It's a puzzle, but a story first, with a likable and very fleshed out protagonist. So many horror novels feel empty, but the relationships and motivations here felt real. It was a pleasant surprise, given the genre.

The science was also well done. A lot of emphasis in particular was placed on the physical and psychological effects of living in a gravity-free environment, which I found very interesting. Don't know to what extent the engineering described would actually work, nothing particularly stood out as being unreasonable. Sci-fi authors take note: just because your aliens are essentially magic doesn't mean your space ship has to run on magic, too.

Not to say this was a perfect book. There were some continuity errors that come across as genuine mistakes, not a part of the plot. Things like nameless characters suddenly having a name despite not being introduced and the protagonist saying he is fine with something in one line, then a couple paragraphs later mentioning that he doesn't like it. Nothing that affects the overall plot, but it felt like it could have used another comb through by editors or beta readers.

The environmental message also felt a bit heavy-handed. The story takes place 50ish years in the future, yet the planet is entirely transformed by global warming run rampant. The first description hits home, but after the dozenth complaint about how real trees have been reached by fake trees and heat stroke is everywhere, it gets a little stale. There are also many references to modern/late 1900s pop culture that feel forced in. Especially given the lack of any mention of music or movies the protagonist might have grown up with.

Finally, it's pretty hard to keep my attention with gore. As the book progressed, it grew more frequent while at the same time losing it's emotional punch, at least for me. Graphic descriptions of unusual deaths is basically part of the genre though, so fair enough. Just means this doesn't quite hit four stars for me.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book and am happy I picked it up. Puzzling over everything was a lot of fun, and it was genuinely quite gripping. There were more than a few psychological punches as well, which is exactly what I'm after in a book. I definitely recommend for someone who wants something exciting, violent, and unreasonably confusing in the best way.

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is one of those books where you stop every ten pages, wondering how did the author come up with this idea, dream up this twist, think of that shocker! Najberg's fertile imagination takes space horror to new levels, with original concepts and a brilliant premise of the caliber of Joe Haldeman, Orson Scott Card or even Liu Cixin. Indeed, "Extinction Dream" reminded me of the best moments in "Ender's Game" saga, Haldeman's "The Forever War," and Heinlein's "Starship Troopers," with a strong "Solaris" vibe (that uncanny feeling you get when the aliens' powers of attack are revealed early on!).

The book's definitely more science fiction than anything, but there are horror elements deeply interwoven throughout, integral to the plot, so no horror fan can miss this sci-fi horror triumph!

Najberg should be highly praised for once again balancing perfectly the personal and the emotional with the grand scope of a scientific story, this time one playing out on planetary dimensions. Military horror isn't always easy to pull off without falling under the spell of interminable jargon, repetitive displays of the psychological impact of war, speculative technical novelties, and other structural demands of the genre, undermining the horror if taken too seriously! "Extinction Dream" is wildly succesful in keeping the story always interesting and suspenseful, the narrative totally immersive from start to finish. The premise is straightforward (soldiers being trained to handle mysterious alien attacks), but in Najberg's hands it grows into an intricate futuristic tale of humanity's place in the universe, starting directly with the individual (Marcus, the narrator) and finishing with developments on a universal scale. The story is exciting, at times sad and bleak, not to mention gory as it (though very rarely) touches on body horror, horrific killings, and actions of people who've been severely traumatized and/or mentally disturbed. Several chapters contain non-stop action scenes described with Najberg's typical, cinematic flair, while other chapters dive deep into the main cast's mental spaces, uncovering their past in perfectly placed memory sequences and brief flashbacks. Ultimately, though, the book develops into a veritable house of mirrors!

The result is chef's kiss, neither a typical military horror novel, nor a bland soldier's story! The book's the chronicle of a soldier's complex journey through the beginnings of a subtly evil war - where thinking itself is a weapon and imagination and memory can annihilate the best prepared squads before they know it. One twist after another, till the shocking ending! I can't recommend it enough!

[Jon Cohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me just start by saying WOW, I am absolutely bowled over by how excellent Extinction Dream was. I’m a big fan of Najberg’s work. Having read all of his books, I can confidently say this is my new favorite. While most of his stories have a science fiction slant to horror, this takes the leap into space, fully embracing the sci-fi genre. It’s clear from page 1 that Najberg has a deep love and understanding of the genre, elevating ideas and imagery from spacebound staples like Enders Game and Event Horizon.

The book kicks off in the midst of a war for humanity’s survival, except these skirmishes are waged not on the battlefield, but in the mind. We follow Markus, a soldier in a space station who has been trained to fight against a battalion of mysterious alien forces that stage their attacks in the form of horrific hallucinations. These creatures probe the minds of soldiers, exploiting their love for friends and family by twisting their cherished memories into absolutely brutal scenarios of familial murder. When the hallucinations become too intense, well, no spoilers but lets just say bad things happen.

The aliens in this book are a total enigma, the people fighting them have little to no understanding of their motives, means, or even their form. It’s been a long time since aliens have been depicted as being so foreign that we truly can’t wrap our heads around what they are. It really makes them feel truly alien, and from a storytelling perspective it kept me on my toes the entire time, as I never had any idea what they were going to do, or how they could do it.

As scary as the aliens were, what was truly frightening about this book were the scenes that took place on Earth. Extinction Dream takes place in our future, where our planet is on the brink of ecological and political collapse. We get a number of flashback sequences that set my teeth on edge as I could absolutely believe that these horrors lie in our future.

This book was a heady, mindbending descent into an incredibly dire last stand for humanity, and is filled to the brim with “What the hell did I just read?” moments. I consume a lot of horror, and this is the first book I’ve read in ages that actually gave me real anxiety, to the point where I had to put the book down and take some deep breaths before diving back in to see what happened next. Highly recommended for fans of horror and science fiction alike!

[Rhiannon Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This scifi horror novel had me hooked right from the start. And I mean, right from the copyright page which left me with a sinking sense of dread by acknowledging “entities” in the ‘any resemblance to…’ blurb.

This is a most unsettling beginning…

The alien enemy in this novel is unseen, incomprehensible, and pretty much impossible to fight. Markus is sent into orbit with his fellow soldiers to combat the terrifying and secret threat but they can’t even begin to comprehend their opponent.

“It’s hard to be scared of the dark once you see the damage light is capable of inflicting.”

And this is where Najberg really begins to undermine your trust in what you’ve come to expect of good vs evil in the world, which we’re (maybe) not even in. The imagery here is beautiful and yet some of the most viscerally terrifying I’ve experienced. At 41% in I made the notation “I've trauma cried twice before the 40% mark and one of those times was on a public bus and now I feel like I'm having an existential crisis and so now it's Existential Extinction Nightmare…” As my poor mind gibbers and unravels I must give thanks for those therapy bills there Andrew!

Najberg’s writing is stellar (no pun intended) as he conveys so much of a single perfect feeling, like the absolute tension in this single phrase:

“…but we’re all on the sharpest parts of our edges…”

Reality itself shifts and completely frays. This novel has me obsessed, and as I lost sleep reading it, and then more sleep once finished, all I can think is how much time do I give myself to recover from this complete mind**ck of an onslaught before I go back and reread it?

“I realize my mind wasn’t built for what’s being done to it.”

Me, too Markus. Me too…

𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 Andrew Najberg 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 ARC. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extinction Dream is a stark reminder that history is written by the victors, and what we think we know is all a matter of perspective...

Damn it, Andrew, WHY DO I FEEL BAD FOR THE BAD GUYS????

This story was a ride and had me questioning at every page everything about reality and perception I'd ever been taught. Even now, almost 20 minutes after I finished the book, I still have no idea what's real and what's not. I think I'm stage two-ing, or spiraling, in the best way!

In Extinction Dream, Andrew reminds us of humanity's most toxic trait: I'll hurt you before you hurt me. Our inherent need to charge into situations with reckless abandon often leads us into the very situations we were trying to avoid. We f*cked around, and now it's time we find out.

It was rather comforting, however, to see that even in the future when faced with certain demise via rapidly dying planet, nuclear warfare, or interplanetary beings that we don't understand, Russia, China and the United States will absolutely never work together for the greater good of humanity.

I did have a few instances where I got a little lost between scenes. Maybe the confusion was meant to be intentional, but I wasn't always sure of the state of things and where I actually was in the setting. This could've been done on purpose to really mess with the readers' minds, but it had me a little more confused at times than I'd like to be.

This was a great book from start to finish, though it'll be a long time until I get those descriptions of horrifying flesh ship melding out of my head! They'll be a great addition to my Book Trauma That Must Be Shared mental folder!

[Ian Gielen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dread-filled sci-fi horror that stands out in both genres for its outstanding storytelling, Extinction Dream deserves a place on any discerning sci-fi or horror fan's bookshelf.

A complex sci-fi horror novel that at the same time is accessible to all is not an easy thing to write and the results here show just how how talented Andrew really is. It's immediately apparent how much care and thought went into this story and it pays off bigtime.

The story follows Markus, a young man who is conscripted to join the Orbital Forces for a mission that is kept secret from all but those who are involved. That secret is a frontline battle against aliens but it is not a battle in the traditional sense, rather it is primarily fought by the mind with the use of specially constructed battle pods. This premise seems simple at first but is anything but as the story twists and turns to take the reader on a ride that frequently shocks and horrifies. The building up dread is masterful and is done in a way that had me on the edge of my seat as the story progressed.

I found myself invested much more in this book than most I've read this year and being a huge sci-fi horror fan, it hit all the right spots for me. It includes a heavy dose of psychological horror too and kept me guessing as to everyone's motives involved in Markus's story just as he did himself.

It's a harrowing, edge of your seat style ride from start to finish and it's easily up there as one of my top reads of the year. Folks who love their sci-fi horror really need this to be in their collection.

[Beverly Laude · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy sci-fi, you will enjoy this book. It's a great mix of sci-fi and horror and thoroughly mind blowing! Even after finishing I'm still not sure what I actually read! Told from the POV of a young soldier named Markus, the book starts off with a horrific scene. Soldiers have been deployed to space to fight an enemy that nobody has seen.

The enemy uses the soldier's worst fears and thoughts against them, causing them to envision (and emotionally experience) the deaths of those they love. As might be imagined, this is a good way to break some of them and cause them to go completely insane.

The further the story progresses, the more I became unsure of what was real and what was all in Markus' imagination. Can he trust anyone or anything he sees or is he actually in some sort of stasis in a pod onboard the ship? I was reminded of several of my favorite sci-fi movies and TV episodes (Alien, Star Trek) and the author does a great job of describing the claustrophobia felt in space.

The book is full of emotion as well with Markus remembering interactions with his Mother and sister before he left Earth. Knowing that he will never see them again, he feels all of the pain of things that he regrets.

Favorite quote from the book: "Death is an inconvenience of time." Andrew Najberg has quickly become my favorite author when I'm looking for a sci-fi based horror. He definitely knows how to mess with his readers' minds!

[Molly Mix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extinction Dream kicked off with the best first chapter of a horror book I’ve read in a really long time, and then happily, continued to deliver on that early promise over and over again. Najberg dumps you straight into the shit from the start and it’s PHENOMENAL. The creativity is off the charts - the way these characters fend off attacks from a constantly adapting enemy is such absolutely clever stream of consciousness stuff - I don’t even how he comes up with it.

The writing is impeccable. As always, he has so much to say and the most interesting way of saying it. I have bookmarked so many quotes and passages. His characters are raw and sometimes ugly in their fear and frustration and anger. Mid-read, I couldn't WAIT to get to the end because I really HAD TO KNOW, and also, I NEVER wanted to get to the end because I was thoroughly entrenched in the mind bending, claustrophobic microcosm he built in this last-stand space station.

Then I turned a page and suddenly found myself at the end. I was not expecting it. I honestly don't know what happened. It's probably me. I perused the reviews to see if I could pick up a clue to what I was missing, and more people seemed to get it than not, but they didn't conveniently spell it out for me, you know, so as not to spoil it for others who haven't read it yet. So this leaves me still not sure where things landed. So that's what made this a 4.5 rather than a 5 for me.

[Alison Faichney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn dude, Najberg has come out swinging. I’ve read everything he’s written so far and really enjoyed it. But Extinction Dream shows he’s elevating himself to new heights. This was fantastic. Weird horror that will have you constantly questioning reality, space, government, time, memory and everything els3.

Surface wise the story is that of Markus. Set in the nearish future (last half of 21st century I’d guyss), Markus has signed up for military duty. The is in no way out of moral obligation, rather climate change has accelerated rapidly and Markus just wants air conditioning and reliable food and water. When Markus is selected for a unique detail in space, he starts to realize reality isn’t quite what he perceives.

The horror in this one is all encompassing. It’s mostly space horror/sci fi but there’s also this incredible existential horror about extinction of various species. There’s a cosmic horror element and these components blended into an insanely compelling story. The sci fi is never too abstract although your mind will feel completely knotted by the end as you try and reconcile with what just happened.

Najberg is super local to me so I already Stan pretty hard for him, but his writing makes it so easy. This was absolutely my favorite book by Najberg. If you haven’t checked out his work yet, now is the time.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extinction Dream starts with an irresistible premise: a soldier deployed in orbit, stationed on the front line of a war not fought with guns or missiles, but with nightmares. Markus and his squad face an alien enemy they can’t see, one that attacks telepathically and turns their own minds into the battlefield. The setup is tense, claustrophobic, and right in my wheelhouse — I love when stories blur the line between waking life and dreams, and this book plays with that space.
That said, I wanted more of it. The dream-wake confusion is such a rich vein for horror and psychological unease, and while it’s present, I think it could have been pushed further to make the story scarier and more disorienting. There are plot points that require a hefty suspension of disbelief, and the reasoning behind what’s happening sometimes left me scratching my head. But here’s the thing — I still had fun.
Najberg delivers an atmospheric, high-concept sci-fi thriller that moves fast and keeps you guessing. Even when I wasn’t entirely sure where it was going, I was along for the ride, pulled in by the tension and the strange, uneasy vibe. If you’re a fan of nightmare logic and don’t mind a few fuzzy edges in the plotting, Extinction Dream is worth strapping in for.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 🌟

Extinction Dream is a fast-paced, disorienting descent into madness that keeps you questioning what’s real until the very end. I really enjoyed how the story gradually revealed each character’s motivations while surrounding them with eerie, atmospheric dread. The alien "enemy" horror imagery is dark, unsettling, and imaginative, and I loved how the enemy’s attempts to communicate/attack humanity added another layer of unease.

My only gripe is that the story can feel confusing at times; mainly because the protagonist frequently loses consciousness and wakes in altered realities. It’s disorienting, but I think that was the point. This author wanted to make readers feel as adrift and displaced as the main character. The ending wraps up a bit abruptly, yet it fits the chaotic circumstances that build to that moment. If you don’t enjoy stories that blur the line between reality and nightmare, this might not be for you. But if you like being mind-bent and immersed in unsettling horror, Extinction Dream delivers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Andrew Najberg, and Wicked House Publishing for the ARC copy!

[Drew Moyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

“One on the screen . . . Two In the mind!”

We follow Markus, one of the poor souls stuck in orbital defense duty fighting a battle with an enemy that attacks the mind, turning one’s fondest memories into violent nightmares. This book turns your typical alien invasion scenario completely on its head. How would you fight an enemy who never showed itself physically? How could you keep the earth safe from something that only existed in your mind?

Much like the alien force Markus is fighting, this book will burrow into your head and absolutely wreak havoc on what you think reality really is. This book surprised me at every turn. I literally could not guess what was going to happen next. The story builds and builds into one of those endings that leaves you sitting there with your mind completely blown. The writing itself is top notch and Andrew’s prose is, as always, beautiful and elegant.

This is for sure one of the best sci-fi horror novels I’ve read in years. Engaging, exciting, and unlike anything I’ve read before. You do not want to miss this one!

[Reading Xennial · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.


I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.  I've never heard of this author and the premise is one where if it's not done well it can come out cheesy but it was done very well.  It sucked me in immediately and was a perfect example of showing and not telling.  It had a very specific premise but the author showed you the world without “info dumping”. I'll definitely check out other work by this author.  


Markus signed up to join the military mostly to be able to eat every day.  He gets enlisted into a secret branch where humans are losing to an enemy that attacks telepathically.  We have no idea how to defeat them and no one who has joined this branch has ever returned to earth.  The enemy uses your own mind against you.  


I highly recommend this book! If you're undecided at least try the first few chapters and you'll likely get drawn in like I did.  The characters have so much depth and backstory.  The storyline and dialogue are solid.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, this is an excellent sci fi horror novel. I couldn't read fast enough because I wanted to know what happened at the end! And the end just made my brain flip upside down and inside out, which was awesome!

Extinction Dream is about Marcus, a soldier in a futuristic psychic war against an unknown entity that weaponizes your memories against you. Stuck on board a ship in orbit, he's forced into close quarters with superiors who want him to keep fighting, mind fuckery from the aliens, and where he's not supposed to form any deep connections with anyone, lest it is used against him.

This novel took themes from several of my favorite novels and media: Event Horizon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Mouth of Madness, Hellraiser...just to name a few.

I'll definitely be reading it again because there are layers to this story that I'm sure I missed. It's light on sexual content, but heavy on gore. Like really heavy. If you hate gore, don't read this one. It also gets very surreal during several points, as Najberg expertly weaves you through Marcus's crumbling sanity.