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Ten Sigma #3
Echoes
Mature readers intense combat, graphic violence, elements of horror, some sex, adult language.
In the flickering light of the makeshift hospital room, Nick stares at his wife Mary, who is losing a long, expensive battle against a mysterious illness.
Besides the frailty of her form, he knows something is wrong but can’t put his finger on what it is. Instead of confronting her, he heads home to plan their next trip for a cure.
The next morning, he receives word of her death. Distraught and disbelieving, he rushes back to the care center, only to discover the terrible news is true.
As he cleans out her room, he finds a gray card with the glowing text “30578A.” It’s the device she’s been trying to hide from him during the past year.
Even though all rational thought says to let her go, Nick can’t push aside his suspicions about her death.
He doggedly pursues the origins of the device which leads him into the clandestine world of a top-secret military program. When he confronts a government official, he discovers Mary isn’t truly gone. Her consciousness has been downloaded from her dying flesh and placed into a virtual universe to create super-soldiers.
While the odds are small, the promise is that if she completes all the requirements, she can return in a new healthy body.
Given that she can't even kill a spider, Nick knows Mary needs help and, in his rush to be with her, does the unthinkable.
He volunteers for the Ten Sigma Program.
After the government representatives download him, he’s stuffed with martial knowledge, while his memories, including those of his wife, are slowly erased.
Then he discovers the true nature of what ten sigma means.
Designed to create the greatest warriors the world has ever seen through violent evolution, the journey back to the real world is winning an endless series of life-and-death scenarios.
Soon, Nick is struggling for his very survival, battling his own demons, and fighting to remember the very reason he entered the program.
In the flickering light of the makeshift hospital room, Nick stares at his wife Mary, who is losing a long, expensive battle against a mysterious illness.
Besides the frailty of her form, he knows something is wrong but can’t put his finger on what it is. Instead of confronting her, he heads home to plan their next trip for a cure.
The next morning, he receives word of her death. Distraught and disbelieving, he rushes back to the care center, only to discover the terrible news is true.
As he cleans out her room, he finds a gray card with the glowing text “30578A.” It’s the device she’s been trying to hide from him during the past year.
Even though all rational thought says to let her go, Nick can’t push aside his suspicions about her death.
He doggedly pursues the origins of the device which leads him into the clandestine world of a top-secret military program. When he confronts a government official, he discovers Mary isn’t truly gone. Her consciousness has been downloaded from her dying flesh and placed into a virtual universe to create super-soldiers.
While the odds are small, the promise is that if she completes all the requirements, she can return in a new healthy body.
Given that she can't even kill a spider, Nick knows Mary needs help and, in his rush to be with her, does the unthinkable.
He volunteers for the Ten Sigma Program.
After the government representatives download him, he’s stuffed with martial knowledge, while his memories, including those of his wife, are slowly erased.
Then he discovers the true nature of what ten sigma means.
Designed to create the greatest warriors the world has ever seen through violent evolution, the journey back to the real world is winning an endless series of life-and-death scenarios.
Soon, Nick is struggling for his very survival, battling his own demons, and fighting to remember the very reason he entered the program.
- GenresCyberpunk
Audible Audio
Published July 31, 2025
4 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
A.W. Wang
9 books45 followersA. W. Wang is an enthusiast for studying military history and enjoys reading all genres, especially science fiction and fantasy. In his adolescent years, he exercised his mind by playing strategy games and his body by running around a soccer field.
After letting his small amount of talent in computer programming hijack his post-college years, his life’s journey has taken him back to his first true dream - writing science fiction and fantasy stories.
Besides the usual forms of mundane entertainment, his scant time outside of writing is spent going on ocean cruises and entertaining the cat, whom he is (of course) allergic to.
After letting his small amount of talent in computer programming hijack his post-college years, his life’s journey has taken him back to his first true dream - writing science fiction and fantasy stories.
Besides the usual forms of mundane entertainment, his scant time outside of writing is spent going on ocean cruises and entertaining the cat, whom he is (of course) allergic to.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 21, 2021
Ten Sigma: Echoes surprised me when I discovered that the entire book was from Nick’s perspective as he tracks his wife (the main character of the first two novels) through the Ten Sigma battle simulator challenge. By no means was this an issue for me. I enjoyed seeing the world through a different character’s eyes. Nick is not the pure warrior that Mary is and he survives each battle/challenge through resilience more than anything else.
The action scenes are excellent and I found the ending creative and certainly left me wanting more.
I did find this book quite similar to the first one and enjoyed that certain things Nick experiences tie in to what happens to Mary. Particularly the blood painting that some of the characters do, which has a very creepy/memorable aspect.
There aren’t many book series that can hold my interest beyond book three, but I’m pleased to say that Ten Sigma is one of the rare ones that accomplishes it. I’m truly looking forward to reading the next one.
The action scenes are excellent and I found the ending creative and certainly left me wanting more.
I did find this book quite similar to the first one and enjoyed that certain things Nick experiences tie in to what happens to Mary. Particularly the blood painting that some of the characters do, which has a very creepy/memorable aspect.
There aren’t many book series that can hold my interest beyond book three, but I’m pleased to say that Ten Sigma is one of the rare ones that accomplishes it. I’m truly looking forward to reading the next one.
February 3, 2022
The third installment of the TEN SIGMA series switches protagonists from Mary/Brin to Nick, her husband, who wants desperately to be reunited with his wife. So much so that after figuring out she faked her death, he jumped into the program himself. I eagerly read this even though I missed Mary/Brin a great deal.
I have one complaint which I'll get out of the way first before getting on with my praise: Bluntly, I think this book suffers a bit from the hoops he has to jump through to do this as well as obsessiveness. It doesn't come off as romantic but creepy and bizarre. The fact he doesn't have anyone else he cares about or worries about as well as eagerly joins without bothering to question anything like, say, "Will I be able to see my wife in this program?" sort of undermines the concept.
However, A.W. Wang manages to still write a fascinating and powerful tale about his experiences as he struggles to hold onto his memories in the face of the unrelenting brutality of the program. I also really enjoyed his relationship to Cat and felt more for it than I ever felt for his relationship with Mary. I also liked Wang taking the time to make it clear that Nick wasn't nearly a nice a guy as he thought with his treatment of his high school girlfriend showing that he was always kind of a creep.
If you don't demand your protagonists to be likable, this is a fascinating and awesome story of action, adventure, and psychosexual passions. I also think Nick will be a very interesting character to add to the adventures taking place in the "real" world.
I have one complaint which I'll get out of the way first before getting on with my praise: Bluntly, I think this book suffers a bit from the hoops he has to jump through to do this as well as obsessiveness. It doesn't come off as romantic but creepy and bizarre. The fact he doesn't have anyone else he cares about or worries about as well as eagerly joins without bothering to question anything like, say, "Will I be able to see my wife in this program?" sort of undermines the concept.
However, A.W. Wang manages to still write a fascinating and powerful tale about his experiences as he struggles to hold onto his memories in the face of the unrelenting brutality of the program. I also really enjoyed his relationship to Cat and felt more for it than I ever felt for his relationship with Mary. I also liked Wang taking the time to make it clear that Nick wasn't nearly a nice a guy as he thought with his treatment of his high school girlfriend showing that he was always kind of a creep.
If you don't demand your protagonists to be likable, this is a fascinating and awesome story of action, adventure, and psychosexual passions. I also think Nick will be a very interesting character to add to the adventures taking place in the "real" world.
August 8, 2021
I'm a big fan of A.W. Wang's writing and his Ten Sigma series. In fact, I think it's the best sci-fi I have read in years.
Echoes is the third installment in the series and it begins with a surprise: instead of Brin, the heroine of the first two books, this time her husband Nick is the main character.
While this might sound strange at first, it works very well and is in fact a very interesting break in Brin's story.
The book begins with Nick following the love of his life into the Ten Sigma program, without knowing what he's signing up for - at all. Nick doesn't really care anyway, because he wants to be where his wife is, period. Even if that's a deadly virtual hell.
(Why do such men only exist in books, btw? lol)
As readers of the first two books know, the Ten Sigma program has been developed to create super soldiers and therefore only the best candidates have a chance of survival - which Nick clearly is not.
What I absolutely love about this book is that Nick is an underdog. While Brin is an overachiever, the "goddess with the red mane", equipped with the most beautiful body in the virtual and the real world alike, Nick is just a normal everyday guy. Ergo, his chances of survival in the deadly game are practically zero.
Following him through the story is a thrill ride and page-turner.
Admittedly, I liked this book even more than book 2 - Renegade, because of the perspective switch, and I have a soft spot for underdogs.
The author is not only a master of writing visual (and often very brutal) action scenes, but he creates a dynamic between his multiple characters, which is on the highest psychological level.
The side story between Nick and Cat is probably the best I have read from Wang so far and with Jet he created an extremely nasty villainess.
If you have read the first two books, what are you waiting for? If you're new to the series, don't hesitate to give it a try.
My highest recommendation to sci-fi and cyberpunk fans.
Echoes is the third installment in the series and it begins with a surprise: instead of Brin, the heroine of the first two books, this time her husband Nick is the main character.
While this might sound strange at first, it works very well and is in fact a very interesting break in Brin's story.
The book begins with Nick following the love of his life into the Ten Sigma program, without knowing what he's signing up for - at all. Nick doesn't really care anyway, because he wants to be where his wife is, period. Even if that's a deadly virtual hell.
(Why do such men only exist in books, btw? lol)
As readers of the first two books know, the Ten Sigma program has been developed to create super soldiers and therefore only the best candidates have a chance of survival - which Nick clearly is not.
What I absolutely love about this book is that Nick is an underdog. While Brin is an overachiever, the "goddess with the red mane", equipped with the most beautiful body in the virtual and the real world alike, Nick is just a normal everyday guy. Ergo, his chances of survival in the deadly game are practically zero.
Following him through the story is a thrill ride and page-turner.
Admittedly, I liked this book even more than book 2 - Renegade, because of the perspective switch, and I have a soft spot for underdogs.
The author is not only a master of writing visual (and often very brutal) action scenes, but he creates a dynamic between his multiple characters, which is on the highest psychological level.
The side story between Nick and Cat is probably the best I have read from Wang so far and with Jet he created an extremely nasty villainess.
If you have read the first two books, what are you waiting for? If you're new to the series, don't hesitate to give it a try.
My highest recommendation to sci-fi and cyberpunk fans.
August 11, 2021
How does Nick a grieving husband deal with his wife dead? Not well.
This iterative series shoves Nick into this low tech to hi tech saga with unexpected statistical outcomes. Fast paced the Sigma program cares not for its combatants other than survival and victory with a twist.
This was a 4 session read but would have rated this a 4.5 but happy to tip this into a 5 given the constraints. The 4.5 as I found myself skipping ahead on some of the narrative. Still a great read though:-) Looking forward to the next installment.
This iterative series shoves Nick into this low tech to hi tech saga with unexpected statistical outcomes. Fast paced the Sigma program cares not for its combatants other than survival and victory with a twist.
This was a 4 session read but would have rated this a 4.5 but happy to tip this into a 5 given the constraints. The 4.5 as I found myself skipping ahead on some of the narrative. Still a great read though:-) Looking forward to the next installment.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews