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Refugium
In the Last Surviving Forest of a Shattered World, Three Ancient Hominids Stand Against Brutal Invaders.
74,000 BCE. The Toba super-eruption has plunged Southeast Asia into volcanic winter. In this apocalyptic wasteland, survival lies only in rare, sheltered pockets of land—refugia.
A young primitive man and the remnants of his clan find one such haven: a mist-shrouded forest shielded from the ash-choked world beyond. He is known as Last—the smallest, weakest, an outcast among his people. His sole mission: protect his eight-year-old brother, the only family he has left.
But when a more advanced human species invades, slaughtering the clan and enslaving the women and children, Last must form an uneasy alliance with two dangerous forest hominids—one dwarflike, the other monstrous—to rescue the boy he loves.
Refugium is a fact-based prehistoric thriller set against one of Earth’s deadliest extinction events. It boldly pushes the limits of hope, human endurance, and the most extraordinary interspecies alliance ever forged.
“A brutal, thrilling novel about what it takes to become an apex predator.”
— Foreword Clarion Reviews
“Refugium succeeds as both a gripping survival narrative and a profound meditation on human consciousness ... A remarkable achievement.”
— IndieReader
“A powerful tale of survival set against a prehistoric apocalypse … A story that explores humanity’s capacity for both cruelty and compassion.”
— Staci Layne Wilson, bestselling author of Rock & Roll Nightmares
“A visceral, genre-defying story set in a shattered prehistoric world … Vivid, violent, and full of unexpected grace.”
— BookLife (Publishers Weekly)
“One of the most intriguing prehistory novels since Clan of the Cave Bear … Captivating and thought-provoking to the very end.”
— US Review of Books
“The author paints a vividly bleak portrait of the ‘ceaseless brutality’ of this lawless world … Thrillingly original.”
— Kirkus Reviews
For readers of The Road, The Terror, and Eaters of the Dead.
74,000 BCE. The Toba super-eruption has plunged Southeast Asia into volcanic winter. In this apocalyptic wasteland, survival lies only in rare, sheltered pockets of land—refugia.
A young primitive man and the remnants of his clan find one such haven: a mist-shrouded forest shielded from the ash-choked world beyond. He is known as Last—the smallest, weakest, an outcast among his people. His sole mission: protect his eight-year-old brother, the only family he has left.
But when a more advanced human species invades, slaughtering the clan and enslaving the women and children, Last must form an uneasy alliance with two dangerous forest hominids—one dwarflike, the other monstrous—to rescue the boy he loves.
Refugium is a fact-based prehistoric thriller set against one of Earth’s deadliest extinction events. It boldly pushes the limits of hope, human endurance, and the most extraordinary interspecies alliance ever forged.
“A brutal, thrilling novel about what it takes to become an apex predator.”
— Foreword Clarion Reviews
“Refugium succeeds as both a gripping survival narrative and a profound meditation on human consciousness ... A remarkable achievement.”
— IndieReader
“A powerful tale of survival set against a prehistoric apocalypse … A story that explores humanity’s capacity for both cruelty and compassion.”
— Staci Layne Wilson, bestselling author of Rock & Roll Nightmares
“A visceral, genre-defying story set in a shattered prehistoric world … Vivid, violent, and full of unexpected grace.”
— BookLife (Publishers Weekly)
“One of the most intriguing prehistory novels since Clan of the Cave Bear … Captivating and thought-provoking to the very end.”
— US Review of Books
“The author paints a vividly bleak portrait of the ‘ceaseless brutality’ of this lawless world … Thrillingly original.”
— Kirkus Reviews
For readers of The Road, The Terror, and Eaters of the Dead.
322 pages, Hardcover
Published August 19, 2025
27 people are currently reading
1725 people want to read
About the author
Eric Nicholas
2 books19 followersEric Nicholas launched his writing career in the film industry, collaborating with top Hollywood production companies including Alcon Entertainment (Blade Runner 2049, Prisoners) and Escape Artists (The Equalizer, The Pursuit of Happyness). His directorial debut, Alone With Her starring Colin Hanks, premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival and was released internationally to strong reviews from leading critics. He is the author of Refugium and Edging.
www.sovranmediagroup.com
www.sovranmediagroup.com
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 2, 2025
Refugium is one of those rare gems of a book that is so unique that there are no obvious comparisons. It's uniqueness is great, but the writing is top notch too.
This is Eric Nicholas' debut novel and it's one hell of a first book. It is fascinating, surprisingly moving and relentless in its brutality and it paints an incredibly vivid picture of what our distant ancestors might've endured in an utterly lawless and savage time.
The story is told from the perspectives of three different clans / human sub-species and their interactions and it is incredibly well executed. And the ending....well, no comment!
A brilliantly different debut and a very solid 4.5 stars.
A huge thank you NetGalley and Sovran Media Group for the ARC.
This is Eric Nicholas' debut novel and it's one hell of a first book. It is fascinating, surprisingly moving and relentless in its brutality and it paints an incredibly vivid picture of what our distant ancestors might've endured in an utterly lawless and savage time.
The story is told from the perspectives of three different clans / human sub-species and their interactions and it is incredibly well executed. And the ending....well, no comment!
A brilliantly different debut and a very solid 4.5 stars.
A huge thank you NetGalley and Sovran Media Group for the ARC.
October 31, 2025
Nicholas has created a unique and thrilling story of survival in an ancient and unforgiving landscape.
As someone who has a read Clan of the Cave Bear multiple times, Raptor Red, and even a few early hominid horror stories, this was a perfect book for me. It’s intense and shocking, full of monstrous creatures and actions. Some act on instinct for survival, some, because they like to cause pain and fear.
I’m still processing the ending, there was A-LOT going on.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Sovran Media Group for a copy.
As someone who has a read Clan of the Cave Bear multiple times, Raptor Red, and even a few early hominid horror stories, this was a perfect book for me. It’s intense and shocking, full of monstrous creatures and actions. Some act on instinct for survival, some, because they like to cause pain and fear.
I’m still processing the ending, there was A-LOT going on.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Sovran Media Group for a copy.
August 17, 2025
Wow, a rare original! If this doesn’t get made into a movie or epic TV series, I’ll be speechless. Smart. Layered. Moving. Never lets go. The best comparison I can think of is when a major director like Coppola or Scorsese does a commercial film: Cape Fear or Dracula. Or Cronenberg’s The Fly. All their artistry and innovation gets poured into a ‘popular’ story, and you get something great. Loved this book. Loved it.
October 1, 2025
Story of survival
I enjoyed the fact that the author wrote about beings that came before modern day humans. Their struggles and how they communicated to survive a cruel world. It's unlike any other book I have ever read. If you are looking for a different type of apocalyptic story, give this one a try.
I enjoyed the fact that the author wrote about beings that came before modern day humans. Their struggles and how they communicated to survive a cruel world. It's unlike any other book I have ever read. If you are looking for a different type of apocalyptic story, give this one a try.
November 9, 2025
[1.5 stars rounded down]
Ohhh the ancient hominins closer to us in intelligence are inherently more evil than the less intelligent ones you say? Ohhhhhh the capacity for violence is only found as intelligence and sentience grows, wow. Adaptation only brings things closer to needless violence I fucking guess is the point of this novel.
Sarcasm, of course. I did not like Refugium at all. On top of the general main theme seeming to be some “reject modernity embrace tradition” crap but with Homo erectus societies (???) the book was overly long, had very hard to follow/visualize action scenes, relies so heavily on characters getting knocked out to change scenes, conveniently forgets these major injuries that our characters have (our main character spends the entire book walking on a broken ankle while traversing through jungles and cliffs), and having zero interesting characters. We follow Last (Homo erectus) as his small community is taken over by Denisovans, the men executed and the women and children captured, how he escapes but leaves his little brother behind, and how he needs to team up with two other individuals of different species to get him back (though with a lot more conflict between the three than I am letting on).
Focusing on the less subjective parts of this novel, I’ll acknowledge that it’s very hard to capture character with as little dialogue as Nicholas used in this novel. I am glad he went for as little conversation as he did and I think that the difficulties in communication help a lot with putting across that these are not Homo sapiens we are following. Saying that, I found none of the characters likeable or distinct. I get that the dislikeability was probably intended - the whole violence and grossness of this time period was a big focus - but that made for a torturous reading experience. I didn’t care if any of these characters died or got left behind somewhere. And I mean our main three here. The antagonists were obviously dislikeable, but the issue of me not caring about them continues with them, too. Just complete apathy on my part when it comes to anyone here.
One part of the novel that I really liked was the scene where Last was overlooking the Denisovans who had just taken over his small settlement and began to improve it. How Nicholas writes out the sheer difference in cognition between Last (Homo erectus) and the Denisovans (who are much closer related to Homo sapiens) is done extremely well. Last is just in awe and unable to comprehend what the Denisovans are doing and how they are doing it so fast, despite watching every step of the way. He still is able to learn though, as he sees them use the sap from a specific type of tree to dress their wounds and use it for himself (and later, others). This moment was definitely my favorite, but a few other moments really utilized the idea that these are different species of humans with different levels of cognition well. Last trying to communicate with Dung Fly/Little One with his limited vocabulary at multiple points, including when he drew out his intention of saving his brother, was also executed very well.
Within the same POV, the book swaps between a very in their head approach to a character’s POV and a very distant, almost documentary narration style of one. It is distracting and not applied well. I think that Nicholas did a fine enough job differentiating the different hominin species through their POVs (as much as he could without taking an extremely stylized and/or experiential approach - which he didn’t and is fine) but the shifting distance from the character we are following is annoying to follow.
I could not stand the specific callouts to the audience regarding these people not being Homo sapiens. These moments faded out mostly after the halfway point, but they were so off putting whenever they happened. The more subtle ones like mentioning their stature or longer browbones are fine for signifying their non-humanness, but the ones that mention them having brains three-fourths the size of a Homo sapien is just odd. Our POV character doesn’t know that. Why would we be told that in such specificity in a direct fourth-wall breaking manner?
Despite how overly long every scene in this novel is, action scenes were repeatedly hard to follow. Not all of them - the opening scene with the leopard and dogs was tense and followable (despite the fact that it was needlessly long and split up over like five chapters) - but more and more often I found myself unable to picture what was happening. The scene where our main three is going through the cliff tunnel is a big one as well as whatever Last was doing during his attack on the Denisovans. I read and reread sections before just accepting defeat. I hate to do this to a book but I really feel like it was the book and not my own problem, but who knows.
Okay, going back to what I opened with: I hate this main theme that more evolution/adaptation/cognition/intelligence leads to cruelty. Wow, the less cognitively advanced species don’t torture others or kill weak newborns but the more advanced species do because, uh, adaptation. On and on constantly there was this weird undertone that intelligence/evolution = cruelty. I don’t agree with that at all and I also just don’t like that idea or anyone who spouts it. It also leans into religion coming with cognition and that being what makes the Denisovans especially cruel, which I also don’t agree with or like at all. I understand that this is a kinda subjective topic (though I wish less people bought into the whole “humans are inherently evil” thing that I see more and more every year) so your opinions will vary. I can only review based on my own thoughts, though.
I don’t want to imply anything about the author so don’t take these more specific bits of criticism as that, but I really felt like this turned into some incel fantasy crap near the end. Without giving spoilers: I can’t say much but it was so out of nowhere and weird. With spoilers: It is just so weird and out there and I could not focus on anything else after these scenes.
I disliked the ending. I enjoy big devastating, changing events and I think the actual events were described in a terrifying, exhilarating way, but it ended up as much more of a “okay, so none of that mattered” than a “wow, this is a harsh world no matter how hard we struggle” way. Not the worst part of the novel, but still disappointing (and
And, like, there's a big chance that I have misinterpreted the author’s intended meaning and themes completely. Maybe the fire at the end signifies that this is all wrong and is a physical representation of Homo sapiens rising from the ashes of these other violent hominin species. That, however, is not what I made of this novel. I wanted this to be good so badly, I love exploring early hominins and attempts at writing how their societies and cognition worked. I just did not enjoy this novel at all.
Ohhh the ancient hominins closer to us in intelligence are inherently more evil than the less intelligent ones you say? Ohhhhhh the capacity for violence is only found as intelligence and sentience grows, wow. Adaptation only brings things closer to needless violence I fucking guess is the point of this novel.
Sarcasm, of course. I did not like Refugium at all. On top of the general main theme seeming to be some “reject modernity embrace tradition” crap but with Homo erectus societies (???) the book was overly long, had very hard to follow/visualize action scenes, relies so heavily on characters getting knocked out to change scenes, conveniently forgets these major injuries that our characters have (our main character spends the entire book walking on a broken ankle while traversing through jungles and cliffs), and having zero interesting characters. We follow Last (Homo erectus) as his small community is taken over by Denisovans, the men executed and the women and children captured, how he escapes but leaves his little brother behind, and how he needs to team up with two other individuals of different species to get him back (though with a lot more conflict between the three than I am letting on).
Focusing on the less subjective parts of this novel, I’ll acknowledge that it’s very hard to capture character with as little dialogue as Nicholas used in this novel. I am glad he went for as little conversation as he did and I think that the difficulties in communication help a lot with putting across that these are not Homo sapiens we are following. Saying that, I found none of the characters likeable or distinct. I get that the dislikeability was probably intended - the whole violence and grossness of this time period was a big focus - but that made for a torturous reading experience. I didn’t care if any of these characters died or got left behind somewhere. And I mean our main three here. The antagonists were obviously dislikeable, but the issue of me not caring about them continues with them, too. Just complete apathy on my part when it comes to anyone here.
One part of the novel that I really liked was the scene where Last was overlooking the Denisovans who had just taken over his small settlement and began to improve it. How Nicholas writes out the sheer difference in cognition between Last (Homo erectus) and the Denisovans (who are much closer related to Homo sapiens) is done extremely well. Last is just in awe and unable to comprehend what the Denisovans are doing and how they are doing it so fast, despite watching every step of the way. He still is able to learn though, as he sees them use the sap from a specific type of tree to dress their wounds and use it for himself (and later, others). This moment was definitely my favorite, but a few other moments really utilized the idea that these are different species of humans with different levels of cognition well. Last trying to communicate with Dung Fly/Little One with his limited vocabulary at multiple points, including when he drew out his intention of saving his brother, was also executed very well.
Within the same POV, the book swaps between a very in their head approach to a character’s POV and a very distant, almost documentary narration style of one. It is distracting and not applied well. I think that Nicholas did a fine enough job differentiating the different hominin species through their POVs (as much as he could without taking an extremely stylized and/or experiential approach - which he didn’t and is fine) but the shifting distance from the character we are following is annoying to follow.
I could not stand the specific callouts to the audience regarding these people not being Homo sapiens. These moments faded out mostly after the halfway point, but they were so off putting whenever they happened. The more subtle ones like mentioning their stature or longer browbones are fine for signifying their non-humanness, but the ones that mention them having brains three-fourths the size of a Homo sapien is just odd. Our POV character doesn’t know that. Why would we be told that in such specificity in a direct fourth-wall breaking manner?
Despite how overly long every scene in this novel is, action scenes were repeatedly hard to follow. Not all of them - the opening scene with the leopard and dogs was tense and followable (despite the fact that it was needlessly long and split up over like five chapters) - but more and more often I found myself unable to picture what was happening. The scene where our main three is going through the cliff tunnel is a big one as well as whatever Last was doing during his attack on the Denisovans. I read and reread sections before just accepting defeat. I hate to do this to a book but I really feel like it was the book and not my own problem, but who knows.
Okay, going back to what I opened with: I hate this main theme that more evolution/adaptation/cognition/intelligence leads to cruelty. Wow, the less cognitively advanced species don’t torture others or kill weak newborns but the more advanced species do because, uh, adaptation. On and on constantly there was this weird undertone that intelligence/evolution = cruelty. I don’t agree with that at all and I also just don’t like that idea or anyone who spouts it. It also leans into religion coming with cognition and that being what makes the Denisovans especially cruel, which I also don’t agree with or like at all. I understand that this is a kinda subjective topic (though I wish less people bought into the whole “humans are inherently evil” thing that I see more and more every year) so your opinions will vary. I can only review based on my own thoughts, though.
I don’t want to imply anything about the author so don’t take these more specific bits of criticism as that, but I really felt like this turned into some incel fantasy crap near the end. Without giving spoilers: I can’t say much but it was so out of nowhere and weird. With spoilers: It is just so weird and out there and I could not focus on anything else after these scenes.
I disliked the ending. I enjoy big devastating, changing events and I think the actual events were described in a terrifying, exhilarating way, but it ended up as much more of a “okay, so none of that mattered” than a “wow, this is a harsh world no matter how hard we struggle” way. Not the worst part of the novel, but still disappointing (and
And, like, there's a big chance that I have misinterpreted the author’s intended meaning and themes completely. Maybe the fire at the end signifies that this is all wrong and is a physical representation of Homo sapiens rising from the ashes of these other violent hominin species. That, however, is not what I made of this novel. I wanted this to be good so badly, I love exploring early hominins and attempts at writing how their societies and cognition worked. I just did not enjoy this novel at all.
November 15, 2025
I really struggled with this one. The premise of the story was a good one but it lacked fluidity - for me at least.
September 21, 2025
An intriguing premise marred by inconsistent tone and aim; Refugium provides strong characterisation for different hominid species, constructing a tense and compelling thriller that should grab the attention of any fan of paleoanthropology.
There’s some real gold here - an intense examination of cognition, sociology, spirituality, and biology.
The author cannot restrain himself, however, from several pitfalls; bleakly gratuitous viciousness, ‘mystical hominid’ tropes, a tendency to paint the more ‘human’ humans as evil, and jarring leaps between diegetic prose and Attenborough-esque documentary-style narration.
In the end, the book could have been 20% shorter for the same impact, especially given how the plot ties itself together, as the tightly-packed premise unwinds into a repetition of gasps, screams, heavy impacts, and convenient losses of consciousness.
While a ‘sequel’ is nonsensical given the direction of the novel, a follow-up exploring more of this setting with a stronger round of editing would be a day-1 buy.
There’s some real gold here - an intense examination of cognition, sociology, spirituality, and biology.
The author cannot restrain himself, however, from several pitfalls; bleakly gratuitous viciousness, ‘mystical hominid’ tropes, a tendency to paint the more ‘human’ humans as evil, and jarring leaps between diegetic prose and Attenborough-esque documentary-style narration.
In the end, the book could have been 20% shorter for the same impact, especially given how the plot ties itself together, as the tightly-packed premise unwinds into a repetition of gasps, screams, heavy impacts, and convenient losses of consciousness.
While a ‘sequel’ is nonsensical given the direction of the novel, a follow-up exploring more of this setting with a stronger round of editing would be a day-1 buy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2025
Beneath the surface action, Refugium asks whether it’s possible to stay human when the world itself turns hostile and cruel. Yes, there are battles, predators, and ash-filled skies, but what lingers are the moments where characters struggle to preserve their humanity against both nature’s pitiless indifference and mankind’s brutality. The writing is vivid and often haunting — cinematic in scope yet intimate in its attention to small gestures, fleeting mercies, and fragile bonds. This isn’t just a survival tale; it’s a meditation on goodness under siege. Few novels manage to be this harrowing and this humane at the same time.
August 14, 2025
This book delivers relentless action (and some pretty graphic violence), but what surprised me most was the emotional depth. Last is far from the typical hero—small, skinny, dismissed at every turn—yet he never breaks from his sole mission of saving his young brother, even as he struggles to maintain hope in a bleak, ash-covered world and faces possibly the most terrifying villains I’ve ever come across. The bond between the brothers forms the heart of the story, but Last’s dangerous alliance with two radically different forest hominids kept me hooked right through to the final pages. Brutal, gripping, and unexpectedly beautiful.
October 26, 2025
Adapt or die.
The cover is stunning and inviting. I've just finished the story and need a moment to recover. My heart is still racing with the intensity of the conflict and the violence. The author keeps the reader on edge with a non-stop rollercoaster of shouting, screaming, torture and attempts to free the others.
To be honest, I preferred the first part of the novel, which I found more engaging and enjoyable. I've read all the Clan of the Cave Bear books, and this first part is somewhat reminiscent of them.
The novel is set during or just after a bottleneck evolution event caused by the eruption of the Toba volcano approximately 74,000 years ago. According to scholars' estimates, the force of the eruption was equivalent to one million Hiroshima bombs. As a result of years of volcanic winters (six to ten years), the drying up of water pools and the disappearance of food sources, this proved to be a catalyst for the spread of humanoids from Africa to the rest of the world. It is estimated that only as little as 2,000 individuals survived the eruption.
it is worth remembering that the human race was almost extinct!
At that time, various types of humanoid were roaming the earth, from the tiny Homo Floresiensis (Dwarf Man, > "Dung Flu") to the enormous Gigantopithecus blacki ("Shadow Giant"), Homo denisova, as well as Homo erectus. What tribe ‘Last belonged to is not specified further.
In this story, we are introduced to “Last” – a primitive ancestor who ranks low in the tribe's hierarchy. His little brother is captured by another tribe, presumably one of the Homo erectus tribes, with “Contumahh” and “Spider Web” as individuals.
It is impossible to tell which tribe the various individuals belonged to, and that is my criticism of the story, it may also be that the author has deliberately chosen to do so.
A tribe that possesses fire, hunts with spears and keeps a hound on a leash, with an organisational framework and the capacity for religion and inventiveness (presumably Homo erectus) has captured a tribe of one of the other hominids. Last's brother is being nominated to be sacrificed in revenge for the life of the daughter of the alpha of the group.
“Last”, with ‘Dung Flu ‘(member of the tiny Homo Floresiensis, barely the size of hobbits) and a giant ancestor ‘Shadow Giant’ , almost 2.6 metres tall and still somewhat resembling an orangutan, work together to free the captive males being held by an aggressive tribe. Last's brother is among these prisoners, and the trio return to the cave to rescue him.
The tribes and individuals are difficult to distinguish from one another, except for the psychopathic Homo erectus. I found Last's 'voice' the most enjoyable to read.
I was troubled by the fact that the presumed Homo erectus keeps a leashed hound and uses it to catch Shadow Giant, Last and Dung Flu. It would take ages before dogs were domesticated!!! The language used in the novel is complex, as if the author wanted to emphasise how far we as a human species have come in comparison to our ancestors .
As I type this review on my laptop, I am aware of the emotional significance of the fact that I am a descendant of the small group of hominids who survived this terrible disaster and had to adapt to a rapidly changing world. It makes you humble to realise that we are descended from this small group of hominids.
It's an intriguing story, but it's excessive in terms of violence and the language is needlessly complicated. The Clan of the Cave Bear series is easier to read and thus managed to reach a larger audience.
3.5 stars. Thank you Booksirens for the review copy.
The cover is stunning and inviting. I've just finished the story and need a moment to recover. My heart is still racing with the intensity of the conflict and the violence. The author keeps the reader on edge with a non-stop rollercoaster of shouting, screaming, torture and attempts to free the others.
To be honest, I preferred the first part of the novel, which I found more engaging and enjoyable. I've read all the Clan of the Cave Bear books, and this first part is somewhat reminiscent of them.
The novel is set during or just after a bottleneck evolution event caused by the eruption of the Toba volcano approximately 74,000 years ago. According to scholars' estimates, the force of the eruption was equivalent to one million Hiroshima bombs. As a result of years of volcanic winters (six to ten years), the drying up of water pools and the disappearance of food sources, this proved to be a catalyst for the spread of humanoids from Africa to the rest of the world. It is estimated that only as little as 2,000 individuals survived the eruption.
it is worth remembering that the human race was almost extinct!
At that time, various types of humanoid were roaming the earth, from the tiny Homo Floresiensis (Dwarf Man, > "Dung Flu") to the enormous Gigantopithecus blacki ("Shadow Giant"), Homo denisova, as well as Homo erectus. What tribe ‘Last belonged to is not specified further.
In this story, we are introduced to “Last” – a primitive ancestor who ranks low in the tribe's hierarchy. His little brother is captured by another tribe, presumably one of the Homo erectus tribes, with “Contumahh” and “Spider Web” as individuals.
It is impossible to tell which tribe the various individuals belonged to, and that is my criticism of the story, it may also be that the author has deliberately chosen to do so.
A tribe that possesses fire, hunts with spears and keeps a hound on a leash, with an organisational framework and the capacity for religion and inventiveness (presumably Homo erectus) has captured a tribe of one of the other hominids. Last's brother is being nominated to be sacrificed in revenge for the life of the daughter of the alpha of the group.
“Last”, with ‘Dung Flu ‘(member of the tiny Homo Floresiensis, barely the size of hobbits) and a giant ancestor ‘Shadow Giant’ , almost 2.6 metres tall and still somewhat resembling an orangutan, work together to free the captive males being held by an aggressive tribe. Last's brother is among these prisoners, and the trio return to the cave to rescue him.
The tribes and individuals are difficult to distinguish from one another, except for the psychopathic Homo erectus. I found Last's 'voice' the most enjoyable to read.
I was troubled by the fact that the presumed Homo erectus keeps a leashed hound and uses it to catch Shadow Giant, Last and Dung Flu. It would take ages before dogs were domesticated!!! The language used in the novel is complex, as if the author wanted to emphasise how far we as a human species have come in comparison to our ancestors .
As I type this review on my laptop, I am aware of the emotional significance of the fact that I am a descendant of the small group of hominids who survived this terrible disaster and had to adapt to a rapidly changing world. It makes you humble to realise that we are descended from this small group of hominids.
It's an intriguing story, but it's excessive in terms of violence and the language is needlessly complicated. The Clan of the Cave Bear series is easier to read and thus managed to reach a larger audience.
3.5 stars. Thank you Booksirens for the review copy.
November 19, 2025
There's a lot to like about this.
I'm a big fan of this brand of speculative fiction. I was genuinely absorbed as we followed the main character, Last, (homo erectus) coming into contact with the denisovans (and floresiensis, etc.), mysterious creatures, and all manner of mayhem--and there was a LOT of mayhem--watching him try to survive in this harsh world made even harsher after the Toba super-eruption and the arrival of the denisovans and a mysterious shadow giant.
The action scenes are frantic and get sufficiently gory. Your mileage there may vary, but I love me some gore in my horror books. Our main character Last goes through a LOT of violence. I did have some issues there, cause at times it pushed things to the point where he almost felt immortal. He survives the most unlikely of sequences. There was a point where a skirmish ended up with his ankles completely destroyed--the book mentions tendons showing and all--and then a few days(hours?) later he's standing up quickly and dragging both himself and Dung Fly up a slope. That little tree medicine surely couldn't have been a miracle cure.
It’s not a light or easy read—it’s fairly detailed, densely written, and shifts perspectives every few paragraphs. To the author’s credit, even with the rapid POV changes, I always knew exactly whose perspective we were in and where we are in the story.
Flawed in places, but I’m glad I read it. It’s ambitious, brutal, and imaginative, and despite things that stretched my suspension of disbelief, it did make me think about what early humanity might have looked like, and how much we haven't changed at all.
TW for the book: short mention of rape
3.5 to 4 stars.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
I'm a big fan of this brand of speculative fiction. I was genuinely absorbed as we followed the main character, Last, (homo erectus) coming into contact with the denisovans (and floresiensis, etc.), mysterious creatures, and all manner of mayhem--and there was a LOT of mayhem--watching him try to survive in this harsh world made even harsher after the Toba super-eruption and the arrival of the denisovans and a mysterious shadow giant.
The action scenes are frantic and get sufficiently gory. Your mileage there may vary, but I love me some gore in my horror books. Our main character Last goes through a LOT of violence. I did have some issues there, cause at times it pushed things to the point where he almost felt immortal. He survives the most unlikely of sequences. There was a point where a skirmish ended up with his ankles completely destroyed--the book mentions tendons showing and all--and then a few days(hours?) later he's standing up quickly and dragging both himself and Dung Fly up a slope. That little tree medicine surely couldn't have been a miracle cure.
It’s not a light or easy read—it’s fairly detailed, densely written, and shifts perspectives every few paragraphs. To the author’s credit, even with the rapid POV changes, I always knew exactly whose perspective we were in and where we are in the story.
Flawed in places, but I’m glad I read it. It’s ambitious, brutal, and imaginative, and despite things that stretched my suspension of disbelief, it did make me think about what early humanity might have looked like, and how much we haven't changed at all.
TW for the book: short mention of rape
3.5 to 4 stars.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
November 2, 2025
Wow. This might actually be my favorite book of the year. This whole book was so unbelievably good.
First, can we talk about the cover?? OMG 😍
This story was gripping from first page to last page. These poor characters take a hell of a beating throughout their journey -- everything from their own peers in the clan, to the outside climate and natural destruction that is raging war on earth, to dangerous predators who just want to rip them to shreds and gobble them up! I'd be dead at the first stubbed toe not gonna lie... This book is BRUTAL!
Refugium is captivating and immersive, with a POV from each of the ancient hominids. I found myself rooting for them all (except the obvious bad dudes). It was so fascinating to explore their world and watch them try to make reasons for what is happening.
I cannot stop thinking about this book. I hate this is the only thing I have to read from this author. I guess I will have to just reread it! 5/5!!
...after all, adaptation is the hallmark of his people
First, can we talk about the cover?? OMG 😍
This story was gripping from first page to last page. These poor characters take a hell of a beating throughout their journey -- everything from their own peers in the clan, to the outside climate and natural destruction that is raging war on earth, to dangerous predators who just want to rip them to shreds and gobble them up! I'd be dead at the first stubbed toe not gonna lie... This book is BRUTAL!
Refugium is captivating and immersive, with a POV from each of the ancient hominids. I found myself rooting for them all (except the obvious bad dudes). It was so fascinating to explore their world and watch them try to make reasons for what is happening.
I cannot stop thinking about this book. I hate this is the only thing I have to read from this author. I guess I will have to just reread it! 5/5!!
...after all, adaptation is the hallmark of his people
December 13, 2025
Refugium is a ferocious, immersive prehistoric thriller that strips humanity down to its most elemental instincts, survival, loyalty, and sacrifice. Set against the ash-darkened aftermath of the Toba super-eruption, Eric Nicholas constructs a world that feels brutally authentic, where nature itself is an antagonist and mercy is a rare currency. From its opening pages, the novel grips with relentless tension, forcing readers into a landscape where extinction is the rule, not the exception.
What makes Refugium truly remarkable is its emotional depth beneath the savagery. Last’s devotion to his younger brother anchors the story with aching humanity, while the interspecies alliance at its core challenges assumptions about intelligence, dominance, and what it truly means to be human. Nicholas blends meticulous research with visceral storytelling, delivering a novel that is as intellectually provocative as it is pulse-pounding, a haunting meditation on consciousness, compassion, and the thin line between predator and protector.
What makes Refugium truly remarkable is its emotional depth beneath the savagery. Last’s devotion to his younger brother anchors the story with aching humanity, while the interspecies alliance at its core challenges assumptions about intelligence, dominance, and what it truly means to be human. Nicholas blends meticulous research with visceral storytelling, delivering a novel that is as intellectually provocative as it is pulse-pounding, a haunting meditation on consciousness, compassion, and the thin line between predator and protector.
September 24, 2025
Fans of Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs will find familiar territory with this edgier take on the primal warrior archetype. The action is intense and constant enough that it leaves little room for exposition or character development, but the popular themes of absolute power, the inhumanity of civilization and the corruption of religion are all present. The environment is reasonably emphasized and the action is commensurate to the outrageous circumstances. Along with a propulsive pace, the window dressing carries the reader through most of the book, but the relatively advanced premise of each narrator being a different hominid with distinct physical and intellectual evolution proved too ambitious for this mostly primitive story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sovran Media Group for the ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sovran Media Group for the ARC.
October 3, 2025
This story was a great ride.
It starts hard and never lets up, lots of action. Lots of menace.
As it becomes more and more widely accepted that in the lost times before written history there were at least 7 species of human beings and that they co-habited and interacted, we're left to imagine what those 100,000+ years contained. Wars? Tribal conflicts? Trade? Co-operation? There was certainly genetic mixing between the Neandertals and Sapiens.
So take as a starting point one of the many apocalyptic events of pre-history. A known disaster of epic proportions and then see with your minds' eye how that would play out as a wide sample of humans from different bloodlines (as well as mega-fauna, predators & scavengers) are all forced into a small valley. Not to spoil anything, but it's pretty ugly.
It starts hard and never lets up, lots of action. Lots of menace.
As it becomes more and more widely accepted that in the lost times before written history there were at least 7 species of human beings and that they co-habited and interacted, we're left to imagine what those 100,000+ years contained. Wars? Tribal conflicts? Trade? Co-operation? There was certainly genetic mixing between the Neandertals and Sapiens.
So take as a starting point one of the many apocalyptic events of pre-history. A known disaster of epic proportions and then see with your minds' eye how that would play out as a wide sample of humans from different bloodlines (as well as mega-fauna, predators & scavengers) are all forced into a small valley. Not to spoil anything, but it's pretty ugly.
October 20, 2025
2.5/5
Not bad for a self-published book but there's SO much exposition. I kept feeling like this world could have been explored so much better if shown rather than having everything explicitly explained.
The pedo and incest (and pedo-incest) sub plots were unexpected but I guess the author was trying to portray the baddies as really bad, and primitive, or something.
The last quarter or so felt ridiculously drawn out and I found myself caring less and less about the characters as they got battered and survived in more and more improbable ways. It felt a little bit like suffering-porn at points.
Ultimately I was just disappointed because it was just a great premise but just not really realised.
Not bad for a self-published book but there's SO much exposition. I kept feeling like this world could have been explored so much better if shown rather than having everything explicitly explained.
The pedo and incest (and pedo-incest) sub plots were unexpected but I guess the author was trying to portray the baddies as really bad, and primitive, or something.
The last quarter or so felt ridiculously drawn out and I found myself caring less and less about the characters as they got battered and survived in more and more improbable ways. It felt a little bit like suffering-porn at points.
Ultimately I was just disappointed because it was just a great premise but just not really realised.
December 1, 2025
Refugium is a thrilling story about survival in an unforgiving landscape in prehistoric times.
What isn’t there to like about this one? The book is very well written, full of action and of course the horror elements. There was a lot going on all the time and I think the clans were very well thought of. You really saw the differences between the stages of mankind and it made you think what would have happened when they would have met.
I really enjoyed the format it was written in, even though I didn’t expect to like it that much. There wasn’t a lot of banter and it was more descriptive but to me that added more to the creepiness.
This was one of the best books I've read all year.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!
What isn’t there to like about this one? The book is very well written, full of action and of course the horror elements. There was a lot going on all the time and I think the clans were very well thought of. You really saw the differences between the stages of mankind and it made you think what would have happened when they would have met.
I really enjoyed the format it was written in, even though I didn’t expect to like it that much. There wasn’t a lot of banter and it was more descriptive but to me that added more to the creepiness.
This was one of the best books I've read all year.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!
November 18, 2025
A bleak and riveting prehistoric novel that haunts you for days. It's brutal and bloody throughout, yet strangely beautiful. Tragic, occasionally poetic, consistently brilliant. One of the best books of 2025.
September 6, 2025
Yes, totally agree with the summary — if you’re a fan of The Road, The Terror, Crichton, etc., you’ll love this book!
September 6, 2025
Great book. Instant classic.
November 19, 2025
¡No manches, qué viaje! - it just hits better in Spanish lol. God what a book! My heart's still pounding - 5/5!!!
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