The Exodus Towers

Dire Earth Cycle #2

by Jason M. Hough

Their automated ship planted a space elevator on earth. Years later a virus ravaged the planet. Now the Builders have returned. When the second elevator makes landfall in Belém, Brazil, a cluster of mysterious black towers appears at its base. Skyler Luiken and his crew soon learn that the alien structures inhibit the deadly virus and establish a new colony. But when he encounters a crashed Builder ship outside of the safe zone, Skyler makes a horrifying the infected are mutating... As militants seize control of the fledgling colony in Belém, and power struggles above and below the Darwin Elevator threaten to destroy it, Dr Tania Sharma races to predict the next Builder event. Will the last human outposts on Earth survive to see it? Praise for the Darwin "Imaginative plotting and realistic dialogue . . . will keep readers enthralled and eagerly awaiting the next instalment." Publishers Weekly "Intense and satisfying ... I couldn't put this book down." Hugh Howey, bestselling author of Wool.

Genres: Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Fiction, Aliens, Dystopia, Audiobook, Thriller

545 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 27, 2013

About the author

Jason M. Hough (pronounced 'Huff') is the New York Times bestselling author of The Dire Earth Cycle and the near-future spy thriller Zero World. In a former life he was a 3D artist, animator, and game designer (Metal Fatigue, Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction, and many others). He has also worked in the fields of high-performance cluster computing and machine learning.

The Darwin Elevator began life in 2008 as a project for National Novel Writing Month.  The book released on July 30th, 2013 and reached the New York Times Bestseller list the following week. Darwin was Jason’s first published fiction. The subsequent books in that trilogy were released that same summer, along with a prequel novella, The Dire Earth, in 2014.

Jason's latest novel, Zero World, released on August 18th, 2015 from Del Rey Spectra (US) and Titan Books (AUS/NZ). Publishers Weekly called it “a thrilling action rampage that confirms Hough as an important new voice in genre fiction.”

He lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife, two young sons, and a dog named Missbuster.

Reviews

[Experiment BL626 · Rating 2 out of 5]

+ the plot

The first half of the book wore me out. Too many bad things were happening to our heroes for me to deal. The book depended too much on external conflicts to drive the plot much to its detriment. It left little room for me to connect with the characters, i.e. to give a damn for their continual breathing. My weariness would have been mitigated if the prose were not written in a marsh of details that often detracted from the action. I did not need to know every single micro-movement or scenery; less was more. Rare was a scene that I did not skim to get to the point.

In addition, I wished the heroes made smarter decisions. For the example, the book started off with Skyler chancing upon another immune. Instead of properly engaging the new character, he surreptitiously watched her dance like an idiot until his radio, which he forgot to put on silent, blared and alerted her of his presence and soon he was taking gunfire. I will be honest; I half-wanted Skyler to die then.

The last half of the book was better. The external conflicts finally eased up some, and I was allowed to connect to the characters, well, if only to a little extent because the characters were still kind of annoying.

+ the characters

Tania made great strides in the character growth department, no longer the helpless victim. However, she still had a long way to go. Despite being the leader of the new colony, she would often look to others to make a decision and acted more like a figurehead than anything.

As for Skyler, the guy was a natural leader yet he continued to evade taking a strong leadership role. I hated how it was only when things were dire or people were pressuring him did he ever accede to the role. He needed to get over the fact that he couldn’t save everyone and take every bad thing that happened under his command so seriously when some of them are just unavoidable.

Samantha, one of my few favorite characters, had a bigger role in book 2. Yaaay! But to my great dismay she did not assert herself like she did in book 1. Damn it! Apparently, without Skyler she could not properly function as a kickass heroine. She could have acted on her own and gone head-to-head against the main villain but chose not to because she didn’t really know what she was fighting for. At first, it was for her freedom and to rescue Kelly but when things changed and those goals were not her goals anymore she languished. Her character was relegated as the vehicle to learn about the main villain and his secret evil plans. The series skewered one of the few good things it had going on.

In regard to the villains, I did not like that the two new villains were religious nuts and cult leaders. One was enough. Two swatted the book a couple steps down on the ladder of creativity and marred the book with an anti-religious slant. Gabriel and Grillo took the spotlight away from book 1’s main villain. It was convenient that Blackfield was languishing in the meantime instead of maintaining that level of doing everything he could to kill our heroes like he did the entire book 1. Awfully convenient. I was thankful that at least one of the cult leaders was done away by the middle of the book, but it was little consolation in the face of the fact that the other became the main villain of book 2 and cemented the anti-religious slant.

On one hand, I was glad the series finally put forth a capable main villain, unlike Blackfield whose lack of intelligence suited him as at best a minor villain. I said it in my review of book 1 and I will say it again here in my review of book 2: I’m surprised the dude is still alive. On the other hand, I got used to Blackfield and I wished the series stuck to him as the main villain throughout book 2. Some character development on Blackfield towards the end of book 2 markedly elevated his credibility as a boss villain, which bemused me because this should have occurred early in book 1. I guess better late than never.

+ the ending

The ending was a cliffhanger but I didn’t take issue with it. I took issue with the contrived twist that preceded it that left Tania and Skyler in a seemingly hopeless situation as usual to my exhaustion. That betrayal came at no surprise and could have been easily avoidable. The character’s association with Blackfield was a giant red flag; the only bigger red flag would be a floating sign that pointed to the character and said “traitor” in all caps and red text and bitchslapped the surrounding characters to attention.

In Conclusion

I rate The Exodus Towers 2-stars for it was okay. It was definitely better than book 1, but it was still far from good enough to level up the series to a 3-stars for me. Regardless, readers who enjoyed book 1 will continue to enjoy book 2.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Exodus Towers (Dire Earth Cycle #2) by Jason M. Hough is a great follow up to The Darwin Elevator. It's such a fun, and brutal, sci-fi post apocalyptic dystopia. It's goes so fast and I was on the edge of my seat for it. I'm so glad I'll be reading book three, The Plague Forge next after that ending! I can't wait to read more from Jason M. Hough in the future.

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After hearing the praises my co-blogger Wendy had to sing about this book, I decided not to wait any longer and just had to see its awesomeness for myself. I'm so glad I did. At the same time, though, I'm also now hot and bothered over that crazy cliffhanger of an ending. Oh no, you did NOT just end there. I'm not kidding, I actually shouted that at the book, earning me a strange and slightly concerned look from my husband.

The story continues with mystery, action and good sci-fi thrills in this sequel to The Darwin Elevator, Jason M. Hough's hit debut that came out earlier this summer. With the appearance of a second space elevator in Brazil, our protagonist Skyler and the brilliant Dr. Tania Sharma have set up a new colony at its base, using the movable alien towers around it to ward off the deadly subhuman plague. A sudden attack from a band of immune militants, however, halts progress and endangers the colonists. Cut off from contact, Skyler is left on his own to fight off the savage SUBs and to figure out a way take back the colony.

I have to say the second book of a trilogy is often tricky; a lot of times, they end up being labeled as "bridges" since the first book typically is an explosive introduction while the last book contains the grand finale, leaving little for the middle book to do than to tie the two together and ramp up to the conclusion. I'm happy to report this is not the case with The Exodus Towers. Personally, I find it even more gripping than the first book, with non-stop action that starts on page one and won't let up.

At the same time, it also deftly manages to accomplish a prime goal of a second book -- developing and evolving the main characters, establishing the world, and furthering the intrigue of the situation. In this story of survival in a land taken over by the wilderness and hordes of mindless, violent creatures, we get to experience this at both the personal level through the eyes of Skyler, as well as at a community level following the struggles of the colony.

In addition, new threats and new players are introduced to spice things up. The story is getting a little darker and more brutal, and in a time when humans should be banding together, everyone is instead even more unsure of whom to trust. The suspense is also building steadily, as more is gleaned about the mysterious alien Builders and their daunting technology. All in all, this book succeeded in revving up the momentum and raising the stakes. Can't wait for the conclusion!

Note: Received eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, NetGalley and Del Rey!

More reviews at The BiblioSanctum

[Melanie Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zwischendrin gab es ein paar Längen und definitiv Beziehungen, die sich nicht so kindisch hätten entwickeln müssen. Da war viel verletzter Stolz dabei, aber immerhin haben die Charaktere das selbst gemerkt.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Exodus Towers takes up shortly after The Darwin Elevator . The "traitors" are now separated from Darwin, Australia after the discovery of a second alien elevator in Belem, Brazil. Skyler Luiken and the colonists are working to set up, well, a colony, using the new alien towers and their transportable auras. Tania Sharma and her crew are supporting them from above and desperately trying to keep Russell Blackfield from finding out about the colony, while still maintaining the food for air and water trade with him. Meanwhile, Sam Rinn and Kelly Adelaide are still imprisoned by Blackfield within Nightcliff.

From the first image of a girl dancing among the ghosts of desolation, I was hooked. Things quickly picked up from there, moving along at a spiralling pace that introduces some intriguing new characters, eager to stake a claim in the aftermath of Neil Platz’s death and Blackfield's anarchy. The Jacobites take on a greater role and Skyler learns that he isn’t as unique as he thought.

And all the while, the mystery of the aliens and their purpose continues to loom over them, now with a clock ticking down, if Tania’s calculations on the “Builders’” schedule is correct.

For the first half of the book, my thoughts went off the rails because of how much was happening. I hate to use typical review buzz words, but I’m going to have to fling out “action-packed” and “edge of your seat” to describe the suspense, drama and excitement as I hopelessly devolved into subhuman squeals, flails and tears. I may have even uttered a loud “**** YEAH!” at one point.

Fortunately, before my review completely deteriorated into “lakjdflajf!!!,” with me huddled in the corner desperately reading The Plague Forge , impatiently awaiting news about when The Dire Earth Cycle is going to be made into movies, the second half of the book settled down and allowed my nerves to do the same.

Time is a big factor, with the Builders’ scheduled to – do something – in two years from where the book begins. After the initial action, events skip quickly through the more mundane aspects of taking control of Nightcliff and setting up the colony. This part of the book might seem dull to some, but, as I said, time is a factor and I appreciate the way Hough worked all of this preparation in under the continued, ominous mystery of the Builders. Are the Builders malevolent or benevolent? Their SUBS disease has wiped out/converted 90% of human life on earth, while their elevators and aura towers are protecting the rest. WHAT THE HELL DO THEY WANT???

*ahem* Sorry.

Also during this time, the characters and their relationships change significantly and sometimes surprisingly. Certain relationships that seemed to have been forged in The Darwin Elevator have not ended up where I expected – and I love that! I might be disappointed that I don’t get what I thought were OTPs, but I love that Hough hasn’t taken the obvious routes.

I am really happy to spend more time with Sam, one of my favourite characters from the previous book. She’s a rough and tumble woman of Amazonian height who can hold her own against any man. She began as a dangerously subordinate member of Skyler’s crew, but she really impressed me after Jake’s death, showing a side of herself that isn’t just about the typical bluff and bluster. This continues in Towers, where she gets to display intelligence, leadership and compassion. Meanwhile, Hough continues to reveal that his lead characters are not perfect and sometimes, aren’t even likable.

One thing I really want to praise is the diversity of Hough's survivors. Too often, post-apocalyptic stories forget that the rest of the world exists. It's ironic that the survivors have all been sequestered into one small pocket on the bottom of the world, yet Hough has made it clear that, when the crisis hit, everyone from everywhere attempted to make their way to Darwin. That means that the one million remaining humans are a true cross-section of the billions of people that used to live on the planet, and it does not feel like tokenism when we meet characters from various cultures, some of whom don’t even speak English.

With thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review this book.

See more on The Dire Earth Cycle,
including an interview with author
Jason M. Hough at The BiblioSanctum

[Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2013/08/...

The Exodus Towers finds Skyler in Belem, Brazil, at the site of the new space elevator, the new “gift” from the Builders. A robust colony is taking shape around the base of the elevator, within its Aura, thanks to the work of Skyler and scientist Tania Sharma. Mobile towers have also been found that they can use to extend an Aura beyond that of the space elevator. Skyler has plenty to keep him busy, especially since he’s one of only a few immunes that can venture outside of the Aura without the danger of being infected by the SUBS virus (another Builder “gift”). Or so he thought. He soon meets young immune twin brother and sister, Davi and Ana, that claim a man named Gabriel, an immune himself, has been rounding up other immunes, ostensibly to do some rebuilding of society himself, but it soon becomes clear that Gabriel’s intentions are not philanthropic, and it will spur Skyler into taking action, especially when the new colony is threatened.

Meanwhile, while we now know the timeline of the Builders, and the spacing of the events, Tania is still working to find out what they are planning, and most importantly, why. The next event is looming soon, and unfortunately, they still rely on Russell Blackfield for supplies and also for colonists. In Nightcliff, Blackfield has made a deal with the devil, in the form of a slumlord who calls himself Grillo. Grillo will clean up the mean streets of Nightcliff, with plenty of concessions from Blackfield. Grillo also has help from Skyler’s remaining crew member, the irascible Samantha Rinn, who will do anything to get out of prison, help free Kelly, and get back to Skyler.

I was blown away by The Darwin Elevator and the ending left me gasping, so I was eager to dive into The Exodus Towers. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint. I was fascinated with the ends and outs of creating a new colony, which is important because Skyler has such a big part in this, and he’s tireless in his efforts. He also grows increasingly frustrated with Tania, and her unwillingness to make important decisions for the colony. As for Tania, she’s been thrown quite unwillingly into a position of authority, one she never wanted, and although she longs to be with Skyler, the rift that opens between them, with so much at stake, may prove to be too wide in the end. He feels as if his duties are endless while Tania enjoys a certain amount of comfort in Orbit. Of course this isn’t really so, since Tania has plenty to deal with in delegating the needs of the colony and fighting her own, nearly crippling, self-doubt. Some of my favorite scenes in the book were the ones with Samantha and indeed, she’s certainly a scene stealer: strong, determined, and every bit the survivor. The action you’ve come to expect from this series is abundant and always exciting, and the discovery of a new type of SUBS creature will send chills down your spine. There’s even a bit of romance, which adds a new emotional level to the story. This series has it all: SF, horror, more than enough thrills and chills, and a rich but accessible story, and to me, would be a great series to try if you’re interested in SF but nervous about reading the “harder” stuff. That, and it’s just great fun! Luckily, we don’t have long to wait for THE PLAGUE FORGE!

[atmatos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this title from NetGalley for a honest review.

This review contains spoilers.

What to say about this book? It wasn’t totally boring, it had its good parts, but the middle dragged. It happens with me sometimes in bridge books, where the story stalls, and I get bored. I have a bad habit when this happens of wandering off to read something bright, shiny, and new. I am fickle like that.

So here is the story, I was thoroughly, and emotionally involved until about forty percent. I really liked the Gabriel arc, meeting new immunes, and seeing the depths of horror a mad man will go. The story build up to this point was exciting, and raw, with wild immunes, Skylar cut off from the camp, and Tania still shook up from the choices she had to make, and the death of her lifelong friend and mentor.

Then Tania and Skylar have a spat, and things just slow down to a crawl. The story then focuses more on Darwin, and what Russell’s (may he be punted out a air lock) choices have done to the power structure surrounding the Elevator. In putting Grillo in charge of Darwin, Russell gave the Jacobites a foothold to power.

Also I want to add I am not really feeling the love triangle that is going on in this book. The fight between Skyler and Tania feels juvenile, and the relationship between Skyler and Ana just isn’t.

I don’t think Ana is long for this world, just saying.

So, I didn’t really snap back into the book until close to the ending where the author gifts us with a HUGE cliffhanger.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to receive an eARC of Exodus Towers, and I can't tell if it's a blessing or a curse. The curse is I must now wait until September for the conclusion of the trilogy. The blessing is not only that I was able to read a completely mind blowing story, but I now have several months to dream up possible endings. No doubt Mr. Hough will prove me completely wrong!

Like the first in the series, the action catches you immediately by the throat. The book offers you a rare chance to put the story down. Not only that, but the characters have all become deeply compelling. The heroes are suddenly and painfully flawed, those you once rooted for become potential villains, the villains themselves cause glimpses of empathy, nothing is as it seems and I found myself racing though scene after glorious scene trying to find out what would happen next! Not a single plot twist or change in scenery was obvious and the regular surprises only increased the tension within the story. Will your favorite character survive? Has he or she turned traitor? What are the Builders truly up to?

I wholeheartedly recommend this book as a crafty, action packed and deeply compelling series. I already consider it one of my favorites of all time!

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the time 2nd books in a series are almost better than the first because you have a chance to get to know the characters a little bit more and there is more room for the author to explore the subject lines started in the debut novel.

I had planned on waiting a while to start this one, but I missed the story and voice of the narrator and I wanted more. More it was! The story got a little darker and we meet more immunes in Brazil. The story in Darwin took a left turn and Sam's involvement took on a larger role.

The only thing I hated was the cliffhanger at the end. Nooooooo!

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice 2nd book in the trilogy. Very interesting blend of SiFi and a post apocalyptic world. Lots of action throughout and a good storyline made this a enjoyable read. Recommended

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing: 5
Story: 4
Satisfaction: 4

Hough continues to be an excellent writer with very well fleshed out characters but The Exodus Towers brings up question after question and doesn't get around to answering any of them. The last book is really going to have to knock it out of the park with the explanations because with this much set up, it'll really be a let down if we don't see the answers.

This book may be tiring for some people. It's pretty much 500 pages of non-stop action. There's very very little downtime and it's straight from one crisis to another. It starts a short time after the end of The Darwin Elevator. Tania Sharma and a group of refugees have started to develop a colony in Belem with the aid of their portable aura towers. Last book's bad guy, Russell Blackfield, has no idea where they are but in exchange for food and water continues to ship them people to help habitate their forming city.

Skyler is annoyed and restless. Tania remains in the sky in their flying platforms managing the day to day interactions while Skyler is on the ground, back to scavenging supplies as the only immune. Growth of the colony has become stagnant and Skyler hates the huge process that every decision is subject to. He knows that they need to be exploring out further but everyone else is content to stay close.

One day he happens upon a girl dancing in the forest. She must be an immune but before he can talk to her she shoots at him and runs away. I think a couple of other things happen at this point but so much happens over the course of this book that the details become a little fuzzy. Anyway, at some point a group of immunes comes and does a hostile takeover of Belem. Tania and her group have no idea what's going on because they've lost connection with the ground level. They're also running out of water with no way to get any.

The leader of the immunes is the huge epic bad guy for the first half of the book but while Skyler is dealing with that, his old crewmate Sam is having her own adventures in escaping from Blackfield's prison.

It's hard to give a good summary without just spilling out the entire plot of the book but we learn that weird cult-like Jacobites from the first book aren't quite as insignificant as they first appeared and there's definitely more to the Builder's plan than previously thought. But by the end of this book, we still don't have any idea what the Builder's plan is or any resolution to the problems that come up during the book.

A couple things that were weird for me:


- Sam's loyalty to Kelly. They only actually worked together for a couple days? Is that enough to build the amount of loyalty where she'd sell her independence to keep Kelly safe?

- Blackfield's delay in moving after Tania and the rest. They actually mention this a bit in the book but I wasn't really satisfied with it. Blackfield is a character where if he wants something, he gets it. Yet he just does nothing for months while Sam is converting everyone over to Grillo's organization?

- Gabriel. The conflict was built up so much and the ending was a little sudden and I thought a little unfulfilling. And there didn't actually seem to be a point except to hit the towers with an explosive and to give Skyler a new crew. There was no real effect of Gabriel, as a crazy psychopath, actually having been there. Skyler never even tells anyone else what Gabriel had been doing.



Basically, the next book better blow my mind or else I'll be really disappointed. Hough has a lot of talent as a writer and he's awesome at writing tense action scenes but I wish there'd been a bit more of an up and down to the tension instead of trying to keep the tension the entire book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dire Earth Cycle series should come with a warning: DO NOT DISTURB THE READER! As with The Darwin Elevator, before reading book 2, The Exodus Towers, it is important to do the following: Get plenty of rest, eat well, turn off the phone, computer, pull the blinds, hang out the DO NOT DISTURB sign, because, once again, Jason Hough is going to hold you spellbound to each and every word!

The Builders are back, just as mysterious, just as deadly and what’s left of the human race is punching the time clock of survival, time is running short and we’re off to Brazil, where a new elevator has appeared with mobile towers that radiate a ‘safe field’ from the virus that has been unleashed on the world. If that isn’t enough to deal with, human factions actually think this is THEIR time to take over and control man’s survival, cherry-picking their “team.” Politics and power, now? Seriously? The sub-humans are evolving, good people are risking their lives to solve the riddle of the Builders, but the immunes are spread thin, very thin. Longtime trusted team members are scattered, no one knows who is alive, everyone shares a piece of guilt. Is this a game to the builders? Is this some kind of inter-galactic scavenger hunt?

Everyone uses the phrase “edge of my seat” or “white knuckled” or “gut-clenching” – well guess what, The Exodus Towers is all that and more! I had to stop gritting my teeth, shake out my arms, and remember to breathe! Jason Hough has matched the tension, desperation and action of book 1! His characters are not just on the page, they are real, they stood right I front of me, beside me and I was, one again, running for my life! I wasn’t just sucked in, I almost forgot this wasn’t real! The Exodus Towers is NOT just filler between The Darwin Elevator and The Plague Forge, it is as necessary to the trilogy as water is to a shark, and the events are just as deadly.

Jason Hough has created a cult-worthy phenomenon for Sci-fi lovers everywhere with his vivid descriptions, over-the-top heroes, grit and a plot that just does not slow down!

An ARC edition of The Exodus Towers was provided by NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Del Rey Spectra in exchange for my honest review and I honestly loved it!

Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Del Rey
Series: Dire Earth Cycle, #2
ISBN-10: 0345537149
ISBN-13: 978-0345537140
Number of Pages: 544
Rating: 5 gazillion Stars
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy
Age Recommendation: Adult
Available from: Amazon / Barnes & Noble
For more reviews check out Tome Tender's Book Blog or find us on Facebook.

[Gerhard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is movie-grade space opera, with lots of sex, violence, flashing alien lights, incomprehensible science and bad characterisation. Still, it is hard not to see Hough as a pseudo Hemingway of science fiction, especially with this taut and muscular sequel, which is a big improvement on The Darwin Elevator.

Hough introduces a smattering of new characters, who are all well integrated into the novel, and extend its scope dramatically. The bad guys, predictably, are real bad asses, with Blackfield and Grillo vying for top asshole slot. Grillo's attempt to establish a theocracy under Jacobite rule is pretty half-baked though; far more credible is Hough's depiction of the establishment of Camp Exodus itself.

Predictably, the good guys can't hold a candle to the shenanigans of these bastards, with Skyler still coming across as something of a mysterious cipher in the sequel. He does try valiantly at being a bad ass though, sleeping with the under-age Ana 'hundreds of times', brushing aside what is technically statutory rape because 'the old rules don't apply anymore'.

Do we really have to spend so many pages plumbing the depths of Samantha's existential angst? "Why am I so damn horny all the time now?" she ponders, whereupon our feisty heroine concludes: "Maybe I'm just suffering from twitching ovaries."

Hough scores points in the representation stakes by including a "Middle Easterner of average build and height", called Faisal, but then promptly shoots himself in the foot. When Faisal does not meet Samantha's direct gaze, she concludes grandly: "Perhaps he still believes women should cover themselves." Way to go, Hough.

Hough predicts that people will become 'bored' with computers when processing speeds peak, leading to a 'rediscovery' of the physical world and a new age of adventure travel. Now you can see why the Hemingway label fits so well.

One of my biggest gripes with the first instalment was the lack of SF elements in what was ostensibly a science fiction novel. Hough addresses this imbalance in the sequel, with a more measured doling out of the Builders' secrets, culminating in a true whopper of a cliffhanger ending.

He also combines the Builders' plotline with that of the subs or zombies, transforming the latter into a truly startling threat (astute SF readers will no doubt have a Peter Hamilton checklist to hand, and will quickly be ticking off boxes).

Given that this was a proof copy of the novel from Netgalley, I suppose I should not complain at the inordinate number of typos, but such errors as "Builder's" are frankly egregious. Also, I noticed from the first novel that Hough refers loosely to SUBS and subs, as the condition and the affected, but gives no indication if this is an acronym, or why he makes such a distinction.

If you like your science fiction on the bloody side, with a dash of rightwing fundamentalism to spice things up, then Hough is right up your smoking gun barrel.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

So it has been a little while since I finished the first book in this series, but honestly the events and characters were still mostly fresh in my mind. With as many books as I read, I consider that a testament to good storytelling. Being able to jump right back into the tale of Skyler, Tania, and Sam without having to strain my brain to remember "what came before" was rather nice. And Mr. Hough avoids the "previously, on Dire Earth" recaps that plague a lot of sequels, instead opting to throw us right back into this fascinating and dangerous world.

I will admit that with the first book, I was a little disappointed with how little scavenging Skyler and Co. were actually doing. That was part of the initial appeal for me, and the loss of the Melville, and subsequent on-foot episodes, really let me down. I was very interested in this crew and their exploits as a scavenging team, but we rarely got to see them in action before the major plot points of the story forced that portion aside. The second book continues that trend for the most part, although there are some changes near the end of the book that start to shine a light on that initial promise. I was very pleased with Skyler & Co's discovery while scavenging around the second elevator. And while the new crew isn't the same as the old crew, they still show a bit of promise.

I can readily admit that this book, much like the first one, kept me guessing. While many of the events that take place you can kinda see coming, they go down in such a way that it throws you a little bit. But I welcome the changes, as it kept me on my toes. Be prepared for an accelerated time schedule in this one, though. I kept having to remind myself to check the dates at the start of each chapter.

All in all, this one is a worthy entry in The Dire Earth Cycle, and mostly avoids the "middle book" slump. The action is as strong as ever, more characters are added to the mix while the recurring characters get a bit more time in limelight, and the stakes keep getting raised. I will for sure jump right into The Plague Forge to see how this story wraps up. And even though I don't always like it when an author keeps going "back to the well" as it were, I would really like to see a prequel story that gives us more time with Skyler and his original crew, inheriting the position from Skadz, and doing dangerous jobs for Prumble in the Melville.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new tower has appeared in Brazil...

A race to discover the motives behind the “Builder's” contact is on...

The sub-humans are evolving into an even more deadly opponent...

Human factions and political mechanizations might just wipe out our very existence...

and if the mechanizations don't wipe us out the fanaticism and cults might just do the job...

Jason M. Hough writes a mind blowing, utterly riveting second story in the Dire Earth Cycle. The Exodus Tower is a nail biting, page turner that had me glued to every page. Sucked into this post apocalyptic world by Hough's gift of putting his brilliant imagination into words, you feel like you've joined the fight for survival. One of the best, enthralling, gritty, realistic, science fiction, fantasy works I've ever read.

This ARC copy of The Exodus Towers was given to me by Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey Spectra in exchange for a honest review. This book is set for publication August 27, 2013.

[Tabby Shiflett · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars
This sequel is pretty awesome. Book 2 introduces some new characters and you get to see more development of the original ones. Just as suspenseful and nail-biting as the first book in the series, with more emotional depth. The reader gets to see the darker sides of the "good guys." The cliffhanger ending makes it very hard to wait for the next book. There is a slow section in the middle, but overall, it's Sci-fi at its best.

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The Exodus Towers
Jason M. Hough

[Luke Burrage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars, but an improvement over the first book in the trilogy.

Full review on my podcast, SFBRP episode #214.

[Jasper · Rating 4 out of 5]

originally posted at http://thebookplank.blogspot.com/2013...

In August I read The Darwin Elevator, the first book in the Dire Earth Cycle and it brought me to the edge of my seat. In The Darwin Elevator you were introduced to a destroyed Earth, the Builders set an alien device right smack in the middle of Darwin, Australia. An elevator that reaches in to space. But they didn't leave it at that. As a second they unleashed a plague upon the Earth that turned everyone, not in the vicinity of the elevator in Darwin, into a subhuman.The main protagonist, Skyler, is an immune not able to catch the plague of the Builders and a scavenger tasked with seeking out materials and other useful items for the Darwin colony. But with control of the colony going out of control and usurping around the corner the times proving to be precarious. And if that wasn't enough the Builders have more tricks up their sleeve... This is where The Darwin Elevator ended.. A new elevator was put to Earth...

The placing of the new elevator in Belem, Brazil plays one of the most crucial parts of the story. In The Darwin Elevator, control was lost and retaken by a military coup and the scientist Tania, who was key to figuring out when the Builders would come back again, now has fled with several hubs from the original elevator to Belem and re-established a base there. The focus is now between events happening in Darwin and in Belem. The perspectives now change between these two places and provides just as expected with the first book an engaging narration and some very action-packed scenes. But what mostly is starting to happen is that Jason M. Hough starts to show more of the Builders and all what has been set in motion, creating a great but eerie sense of the actual reason of the Builders and he has definitely managed aroused my interest again in the Dire Earth Cycle.


In Belem, Brazil the focus lies on the perspectives of both Skyler and Tania. They already had met in the first book and now are establishing a new colony on the new elevator but trying to keep their location safe for Russel Blackwood. But making a colony with only a handful of people and still dependency on the Darwin Elevator makes it all difficult. The first part of the story with Skyler and Tania is something that I wouldn't have guessed possible. Their lives and that of the colony seemed to be going into the right direction insofar as that is possible, but then a "military" organization led by Gabriel is taking over control of the ground forces. This take-over provides a lot of action earlier on in the book. What comes to show from this part is more the naivety that the inhabitants of the colonies had. That they were perhaps the only ones that survived and they shouldn't need to take into account other threats besides the subhumans... ? Well this proved to be quite the opposite as Gabriel and his band of immunes have set his goal on taking over the Belem elevator. What you soon come to learn about Gabriel is quite dark and sinister but fits directly up in the alley of this post-apocalyptic story. The second part in Belem partly re-establishes the normal coming and goings of the colony and I really enjoyed this part of exposing the story in this way. However Skyler does find himself in a position to chase off and find out several why's, how's and if's and the discoveries that he makes... well... the subhumans are evolving... how more dangerous will they ultimately become?

Again I really enjoyed reading about Skyler's adventures. Having lost all off his crew in the first book he has now a new band of immunes with which he set's off on a new mission. And this time around he is still his old captain, not really the bossy kind but more lets be friends with everyone, but it also seems that he has learned some things from the previous books. It seems he is becoming more assertive. His young and perhaps bit inexperienced nature (in several different fields) make him a great character, it is by his adventures and all that he goes through that you see much of the new details of the world. And what makes his character complete is that he is quick witted and fast with his word, and sometimes the strong words he uses fit well into the context of the situations he was thrown in and mostly put a big grin on my ear.


Tania is a character that now comes to shine. She was important in relation to Neil, but we all know what happened to him... She is taking control as the new leader of the colony of Belem and tries to lead everything into the right direction. But she is faced with a lot of tough choices and one of the first and foremost is that of Russel Blackwood.When I first read about Tania, she came over as just a scientist and quite a fragile at that, but she has come shown that she can stand her own man and is determined to see everything done correctly. She is one that shows some nice development and what is still clinging to the back of my mind in what she did in the end of the book, quite breathtaking...


In Darwin, Australia the problems aren't solved as well and actually more are popping up. Russel, the new leader of the Darwin Elevator has just last several or let me refrain, most of the agricultural hubs and things down in the desalination plants aren't quite working as planned as well. There are a lot of troubles down in Darwin and Russel recruits the Jacobite Grillo to help him solve some of these problems. But Russel might have just guessed wrong with Grillo's conviction. Another recurring character in this place is Sam, one of the crew of Skyler. It was great to see that she was given her own perspective in the story and this proved to give some nice action and broadening of the storyline. Sam is forced to work for Grillo, managing the scavengers. The most important thing in Darwin happens by the bad guessing of Russel in Grillo.. If you thought that Russel was a bad guy well your in for a surprise when you read about Grillo, talking about nasty and a downright creep.


I was very pleased with how Jason M. Hough showed Russel in The Exodus Towers. He was the bad guy in the first book but now he is knocked (partially) of his spot and has to seek help with other people that might not even accept him with all that he has done... I think this will proof to be an important learning point for Russel and look forward to see how his character will react in the book to follow. A great addition to the storyline was the perspective of Sam. She was already shown as a hardened soldier, but now she is shown from a lot of different daylights, from the determined soldier to the emotional caring kind. This gave a nice diversity to her character kept a lot of the story interesting, you never know how Sam will react, be it explosive or coldly calculated.

In The Darwin Elevator we were also introduced to the threats of the subhumans and there were some excellent moments that really gave me goosebumps when I read those. In The Exodus Towers, the real threat from the subhumans, well I should say the normal subhumans does seem to be taken to the background and the encounter only end up with the usual shoot-outs. So I was hoping to see more especially with the mentioning on the synopsis with the mutating of the subhumans. Well you are really in for a surprise on this front. The stuff just keeps on getting weirder and weirder. And much more dangerous at that as well. It now comes to show that a well placed bullet might not seem to be good enough...

What I still bugging me is that with all that we have come to have seen so far, the elevator in Darwin and in Belem, the subhuman plague and other Builder influences on Earth. It is still unclear as the motives of the Builders, we haven't seen one of them so far, just their space ships and their technology. This is on one part quite frustrating but on the other it is really keeping me hooked on this series, I have no clue what so ever but I am dying to find out...

The Exodus Towers is one of those sequels that you want to have read. With the explosive kick off in The Darwin Elevator and the cliffhanger you were left with in the end, The Exodus Towers follows this directly up in it's story and Jason M. Hough doesn't spare you one moment to catch your breath once you start reading. There is hardly any time spent in recounting the events of the first book, some are dropped on occasion but don't stall the story at all. There is some nice broadening of the characters in The Exodus Towers and each of these new perspectives added a nice twist to the story. Some of them are told in a "show don't tell" kind of way and especially the plans and what Grillo really want to do remains to be seen... Besides the expanding of the characters, there is also a focus on different places on Earth, for starters you have Belem and Skyler does go exploring other places and the references of the earlier earth really inspired the whole new world in me, this was a fine feat of storytelling! As a second book, The Exodus Towers didn't falter a moment and leaves you on just a cliffhanger as the first book! And what do the Builders want!?

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stars: 3 out of 5

I am not too sure about this series, to tell the truth. My husband read all the books and loved them, and I am... struggling. I mean the premise is wonderful and the worldbuilding is cool, but there is just something missing for me. 

I think it's just because all the characters are so cookie cutter. The main guys is all good and heroic. The villains are very black and white and villainous just for the sake of it, it seems. The female characters... with the exception of Samantha, they have no personality. They are just there to incite our protagonist towards a particular set of actions or a decision. Neither of them have any agency on their own. I was willing to overlook that in the first book, because it had the thankless task of establishing the world and setting up the protagonist. Plus, it was this author's debut novel. It is however getting a lot harder to let that slide in this book. 

It doesn't help that the story doesn't go anywhere in a hurry. I had the impression that some episodes were added just because the author thought they would be cool, but they didn't really advance the main story. Case in point, the attempted invasion of the camp by immunes. Yes, that was a heart-ponding conflict for the 100 pages it lasted, but it ultimately didn't advance the story. The leader was killed, most immunes ran away, and the settlers were left to rebuild their community. What was the purpose of that? It has no impact that I could see on the main plot. It did make the book seem endless and meandering though.

As a result, the book didn't accomplish half of what it set out to do, even after 540-some pages. Samantha's story arc is barely started. We only recovered one out of five artifacts that fell on Earth in the first book. When I finished reading, I felt like this book was a half-finished tapestry with loose treads flapping in the wind. 

All in all, I don't know if I will continue with the series. I mean, I still want to know why the builders did this to Earth and humanity, but I am starting to care less and less about the characters. I might check out the next book, just because I've already bought it, but if it doesn't improve after that, I will call it quits.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Exodus Towers is the second book in the Dire Earth Cycle by Jason M. Hough. In this one after a second visit by the mysterious aliens there are now two space elevators. The second one is in Belem Brazil and Skyler and Tania and many others have fled there to escape the ruthless rule of Russell Blackwell and Grillo the leader of the Jacobites. They find this new elevator operates very differently than the first one and the mystery deepens the more they learn about it. They also have a new deadline as they have learned that the aliens will return in less than two years this time with unknown motives which might include the destruction of what remains of mankind. This book is a great sequel to The Darwin elevator and I am looking forward to reading the next book, The Plague Forge.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book, still great writing and dialogue from Hough, but I did not enjoy this quite as much as I enjoyed The Darwin Elevator. It definitely felt like a bridge between the first and final book, which a second book obviously is by definition, but it needed a bit more 'oomph' for me. Though, the ending sure as hell had the 'oomph' needed to bring us into the third novel, which I very much look forward to getting to finally.

[elidemelnibone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Des rebondissements, des actions parallèles, des personnages qui évoluent, et toujours le mystère de plus en plus menaçant des "builders". J'aime le style narratif et les précisions données par l'auteur, les rappels sont très bien introduits aussi. Et quelle "fin-à suivre" ! j'enchaîne directement avec le vol 3.

[Abhinav · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read my full review over at my blog:

https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...

Shadowhawk reviews the second Dire Earth Cycle novel from this year’s debut author Jason M. Hough.

“Building on what he started with The Darwin Elevator, Hough continues to paint a unique post-apocalyptic vision involving mysterious aliens and space elevators.” ~Shadowhawk, The Founding Fields

Note: Several major spoilers from the previous novel, especially The Darwin Elevator are mentioned in this review.

As someone who doesn’t normally read post-apocalyptic fiction, Jason M. Hough’s The Darwin Elevator proved to be somewhat of a surprise hit. It had some really memorable characters, a really interesting plot, lots of great sci-fi elements, and it had some diversity in its characters, which played well into Hough’s vision of a post-apocalyptic Earth. And the author ended the novel at a very intriguing cliffhanger that naturally leads into the second novel, and does much to expand on the world-building and deepen all the mysteries surrounding the Darwin space elevator.

When The Exodus Towers begins, we find ourselves in Belem, Brazil, which is the site of the second space elevator as seen towards the climax of The Darwin Elevator. This new elevator has changed the playing field considerably, one of the reasons being that it has come with several dozen mobile “aura-towers” which can be used to create pockets of Aura immunity as needed outside of the influence of the elevator itself. For Skyler, Tania and their breakaway group, the Belem elevator is like a godsend, even thought it comes with some of its own mysteries, which only deepen as the novel progresses on.

Of course, even as the breakaway group establishes itself all the way in Brazil, back in Darwin things aren’t restful either. With Russell Blackfield now in full control of the Darwin Elevator, both on the ground and up in space, there is a wind of change in effect. Even when Russell was just Nightcliff’s chief of security, he was a hard man. Now, being in full power, he is worse, and it shows repeatedly. He is also starting to fall back into the void of believing in his own delusions and ego about his abilities and his position. This sets up some really great moments in the novel, as various people attempt to subvert his authority in little doses and give him a taste of his own medicine. His incompetence as a leader really comes to the fore this time around, and it is so, so enjoyable to watch.

What The Exodus Towers is about at its heart is the relationships between all the different characters. Tania and Skyler. Zane and Tania. Russell and Tania. Skyler and Russell. Russell and Alex. Russell and Grillo. Samantha and Grillo. And so on. Each character has a distinctive relationship with the other. Samantha and Grillo were a surprise subplot in this novel, and their narrative arc I found to be extremely intriguing because of how things turn out between them and through them in Darwin. It really was great to see more of Samantha this time around since she didn’t get much to do in The Darwin Elevator until the end, which is when the character really shined. She is definitely one of my favourite characters in the novel, alongside Tania, Skyler and Zane.

In the previous novel, we were also treated to some revelations about the Darwin Elevator and the foreknowledge that Neil Platz had about events as they unfolded with regards to the elevator and the Builders. This time around, we see some of the fallout of that knowledge, in some really interesting ways, and we also see how this foreknowledge has ended up affecting the “second” generation of characters such as Tania and Zane. This really hit home with the emotional impact that both of them feel, especially Tania given the revelations made in The Darwin Elevator. And we also see how this affects Zane, who is one character to get some really hellish time in The Exodus Towers. Its not as bad as some other characters suffer through in the novel, but given how… matter of fact it all is for him, and his role within the Belem Elevator community, I couldn’t help but get emotional at what he goes through in the second half. Zane really is an understated character and I really wish, in retrospect, that we’d gotten to see a lot more from him.

But that’s not all that you can find here. I mentioned before that the world-building continues apace here, despite the fact that this is a second novel and therefore much of the foundations have already been built. This is where Hough’s ability to throw in some excellent wrenches in the narrative comes from. There are two such twists in the novel.

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, hitting the 'end' button on my keyboard is a euphemism for 'delete entire post' and not 'go to the end of the current line you are typing on.' Something I wish I'd known about 2000 words earlier into my now long lost review.

So, the quick and dirty version. I didn't like this very much. But I read it. It's not many books that I have the patience to power though anymore if I don't love it. I think this is 500 plus pages of 'wait-til-the-next-book' and not much else. I mean, really, nothing happened here that couldn't have been told in a short story, maybe a novelette or novella, but not in this tome of a novel.

That was the major problem I had, but since I was so bored as I read, I paid closer attention to the prose than I usually do. There is some strange stuff going on in between the punctuation marks. More on that in a second, first though. I think I've finally come around to the 'never use adverbs unless you absolutely have to' camp.

For years I've felt they don't belong in dialog tags, but was sympathetic to those that use them a lot in their prose, you know, whatever. But I'm reading this book, and I'm like, 'what the shitballs does it mean to ride in 'near-total quiet?' Why would someone write that? Was the ride quiet? If the answer is yes, then great. If you tell me it's TOTALLY quiet then I think that it's an awkward, unnatural, silence. I'm cool with that. But then I find out that it's NEAR-total quiet and I'm back to thinking, 'he just means quiet. why would he describe anything that way?

And I didn't count the number of times, 'total' or 'pure' or any other similar term appeared right before a verb, but it happened way too often. Over the course of a novel of this length it became a distraction for me. A big one.

And then that strangeness I was referring to. Check this out:

The guns pounded back against his palms, sending shock waves of pain up his arms and into his back. He ignored it utterly, held the triggers down.

First, again with the adverb, coming after the verb this time, at least. But the phrase 'held the triggers down' just struck me as all sorts of weird. I'm not a grammarian, so whatever. Something about this, though. I had a hard time understanding what the hell that was supposed to mean.

Like I said, I paid this much attention because I was bored. There wasn't much of a payoff for such a long novel. Really, it just served to set the pieces for the next book, and not give me much of a story. The first book in the series didn't feel that way to me. I liked it way more than I did this one.

I've heard Jason Hough on a podcast or two, I like the guy. I'm rooting for him to be successful. It might be a bit unfair to him, as I believe he was rushed into turning this book in with an incredibly short turn around time in order to meet the publisher's altered publication schedule. If so, that might explain some of problems I had with this. Things slip through when there isn't much time to check and double check for things.

Despite my frustration with the book, I'm still kinda curious to know what happens. I might pick up and read the final book in the trilogy. I've struggled with novels before and then fell in love with the sequel after giving it a chance.

So, mixed feelings for me. Not a fan of the covers, am a big fan of the premise, but very mixed about the execution. So, three stars and the hope for something better to come.

[Kristin Taggart]

I don't use star ratings, so please read my review!

(Description nicked from B&N.com.)

“The sudden appearance of a second space elevator in Brazil only deepens the mystery about the aliens who provided it: the Builders. Scavenger crew captain Skyler Luiken and brilliant scientist Dr. Tania Sharma have formed a colony around the new Elevator’s base, utilizing mobile towers to protect humans from the Builders’ plague. But they are soon under attack from a roving band of plague-immune soldiers. Cut off from the colony, Skyler must wage a one-man war against the new threat as well as murderous subhumans and thugs from Darwin—all while trying to solve the puzzle of the Builders’ master plan . . . before it’s too late for the last vestiges of humanity.”

I was pretty blown away by the first book in this series, and I wondered if the second book could keep the action going and deliver a story that was just as interesting. I needn’t have worried. The Exodus Towers picks up several months after the end of The Darwin Elevator and takes readers to a different part of the world: Brazil, where a new Elevator has touched down. It also brings in some new characters, or ones who were only peripheral in the first novel.

What I like about Hough’s novels is that he isn’t afraid to shake things up and have some really earth-shaking events happen. Many series save all the most memorable moments for the final novel, but Hough has been merrily making his characters’ lives difficult from page one. And that makes for a darn good story, because this tale is anything but predictable.

I have to say that I wasn’t as happy with the character of Tania Sharma this time around. I do understand that she’s way out of her depth in many of the situations in which she finds herself. The thing is, she spends a large chunk of this novel cringing and crying instead of stepping up and doing what needs to be done, which she has already proven that she can do. I can forgive some fumbling out of sheer ignorance, but it seems like she just fell apart in this book.

There’s a new antagonist in town as well, although you’re going to question his motivations to the very end. His name is Grillo, and he’s one of the local crime lords who works with the city’s cult to bring about law and order. How deeply he is into the cult, and what his actual aim is in doing what he does, is highly debatable. The author balances all of these aspects of Grillo’s character in a way that makes for several very suspenseful scenes.

The Exodus Towers in the prose version of a summer action flick—plenty of explosions and fights and peril, laced with some excellent character interaction and a looming mystery that may spell the end of humanity. Jason M. Hough is one of my favorite new authors, and I’ll definitely be reading whatever he decides to publish.

This review originally appeared on Owlcat Mountain on August 22, 2013.
http://www.owlcatmountain.com/the-exo...

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Exodus Towers", Jason Hough's winning followup to last spring's "The Darwin Elevator" is a very good science fiction novel full of action, adventure and political machinations, plus there is the growing threat of an alien incursion onto the planet, which Hough uses to ratchet up the the tension.

In "The Darwin Elevator", the first book in Hough's "Dire Earth Cycle", aliens set off a plague on Earth that caused most of the world's citizens to devolve into subhuman savages. The few survivors either lived in the immediate vicinity of the space elevator in Darwin, Australia, on space satellites or were the lucky few who were immune to the plague. After a war among the survivors in The Darwin Elevator, the space satellites were controlled by two groups as was the ground.

Tania and her space allies controlled a bunch of space satellites and had also seized some alien towers in Brazil, where Skylar, an immune, and Karl were setting up another ground port -Camp Exodus - in the immune area around the alien towers located there. Darwin, Australia, where the hub of the original tower was located is ostensibly controlled by Russell Blackfield, but he spends most of his time up in space. In reality, the area in Darwin is lawless, with various sectors of the port controlled by families, gangs and criminals.

As The The Exodus Towers starts, Blackfield is engaged in a space struggle against Tania to gain her sky platforms. He has ceded some power in Darwin to Grillo, who has a plan to bring the citizens of Darwin under his control.

Samantha, one of Skylar's original crew agrees to help Grillo by flying missions to find goods for Grillo's group. Hough shows how Grillo is a ruthless "religious" leader, who uses bribery and brutality to quell Darwin.

Meanwhile in Brazil, Skylar has his own troubles as an army of immunes has seized control of Camp Exodus. Their ruthless leader, Gabriel, has a plan to breed more immunes with the subhumans, and also to test people by exposing them to the virus.

Not only does Skylar have to deal with Gabriel's army, but there are odd goings on among the subhumans. Skylar has found an alien artifact that changes the subhumans into agile warriors.

Skylar must find a way to free the Camp Exodus people, discover where these alien artifacts are, and solve their use. At the same time, Tania has learned that more alien ships are on their way to Earth -- with more destructive uses for the planet.

There are temporal disruptions, action and adventure, alien puzzles, gun fights, violence, power games and political manipulation.

This is a swift read and engrossing. The action is relentless and the tight battle for control of humanity between the two groups in Brazil and Australia is ongoing. Plus, what do the mysterious aliens intend and what do the mean to do to the survivors.

Its a good satisfying read.

[Harald Koch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I also wanted to throw this book at the wall on a regular basis. (five-sided hexagons? really?)

[Klobetime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, the middle book in a trilogy. From C. S. Lewis's The Space Trilogy to Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games the second entry is often the worst. (Interestingly, for movies the opposite is often true; The Godfather: Part II, The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, The Road Warrior, and The Dark Knight off the top of my head are all the best in their respective series.) The first book usually has a solid ending, but the second book tends to end with a cliffhanger; coupled with the second book customarily existing simply to set up the third, when judged as a whole it generally appears lacking. While entertaining, The Exodus Towers falls into this trap.

Early in the plot a new band of plague-immune soldiers appears as a second (or third if you count the alien Builders) antagonist, but they are dispatched surprisingly quickly. A time-distortion field is encountered so while our heroes only experience hours, months are going by outside—while certainly a way of accelerating to the next Builder event, the idea that nothing important or interesting happens outside the time bubble seems a stretch. There is a nice use of the bubble during a firefight I thought was clever, though, so this wasn't all bad. Despite a plodding pace, Hough's writing remains engaging, including a near perfect description of what you see when your eyes are closed: "Radiant amoeba-like shapes swam in a sea of molten orange, and any attempt he made to focus on one served only to obscure it further." The strangest thing about this novel was that the author (and editor, I suppose) seems to think that a five-sided figure is a hexagon rather than a pentagon. Not a typo either; in chapter 50 the apparent importance of the number 5 by the Builders is realized when they discover a set of nested hexagons on a ship. Odd.

Overall I still enjoyed the story, but it suffers by clearly being a bridge to the third book rather than standing on its own merit. That said, I'll see this epic through to the conclusion in The Plague Forge.

First Sentence:

The girl danced for an audience of ghosts.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

We return to the Dire Earth series with this second novel, The Exodus Towers. Skyler is still working as a scavenger of sorts but without a ship. He goes to the surface of the earth and has to move around the same as everyone else. He works with Tonia and the scientists investigating the newly landed towers and the area around the new elevator that has connected to the planet in Belém, Brazil.

Samantha and Kelly are imprisoned by the slimeball Russell Blackfield. Samantha, then goes from the frying pan into the fire with mobster Grillo; who really knows what Grillo’s true aims are?

Ana and Davi, immune twins, enter onto the scene to help Skyler try to outwit the immune army that has appeared in Brazil with crazy leader Gabriel at the helm. They enlist Skyler to destroy a prison camp for immunes that has a horrible purpose.

And that is about as much as I want to tell you without ruining the book for you! The book is well-written but at some points I’m not quite sure what the author is describing. There is an action scene, a fight sequence that I think is about the middle to three-quarters of the way through the book in which I lose the perspective of the action. I’m not quite sure what the author is trying to describe! But most of the time the action moves the plot along quickly and I know what is being described. This is an enjoyable book, and you will want to jump into the third book immediately.

[Glshade · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Return to classic Science Fiction..... Action intrigue and social struggle in a vibrantly imagined future hard to classify or pigeon hole.....


The Dire earth series that started with The Darwin Elevator back at the end of July harkens back to a time in SF when specific sub-genres were not such a big thing and reminds me of some specific shows and books I particularly loved. Jason writes with a with passion and hunger in my opinion, his characters jumped off the page and have taken up residence in my imagination and heart additionally his richly imagined setting to the gamer in me just begs for deeper exploration. I will tell you this fellow readers though this is great adventure fiction and he does give you plenty of closure on some of the struggles if quick answers to mysteries are your thing you may just get frustrated. I will be honest here I made attempts to review The Darwin Elevator before it hit the shelves but had trouble getting beyond saying and I quote Lynne M. Thomas of the Hugo Award winjing SF Squeecast here "Yes This, Yes This, and Yes This..." over and over again; so here it is just once with an exclamation point yes this!

So I have read these comments about The Dire Earth books around the Internet and I'll repeat them because they are apt adding some on my own feelings. Skyler Lukien our scavenger Captain, hard luck hero his crew, friends and enemies remind me in many cool ways of the players in Joss Whedon's Firefly and more so to me my late 90s


early 00's Farscape. Jason includes many personal things to his characters, things they love and relate to in that same way the Farscape writers used John's media touchstones to ground the crazy that was that wild setting. I would compare this series to the space opera of Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space for the deep alien artifact mysteries that underlie the story, I could also bring in various cyberpunk writers because of the social tensions between the polarized portions of the remaining society; its also got plenty of claustrophobic tension of contagion stories like 28days later and zombie tales. If any of those things are a draw for you this is most like your thing.

(Again controlling the urge to squee)

In terms of character and setting as with the novels of China Mieville its hard to separate the two. The Dire Earth world has been his with a one two punch; first an alien artifact arrives and plants a space elevator in Darwin Australia triggering a raft economic, scientific and social changes to be followed years later by a horrid disease that kills most of its hosts and the few it does not it changes into mostly violent subhuman shadows of their selves. Only a few are spared the rare immunes and the people who have been able to flee to the area of Darwin where there is a field that haunts the progression of the SUBS disease. Humanity is either huddled at the base of the elevator or living in the habitats that ring the length of the elevator; its symbiotic and in a razors edge.

Into this cauldron of humanity our characters take what existence they can.We get several different kinds of stories through the various viewpoint characters; from Skyler Lukien and his immune scavenger crew we get survival horror, exploration and action, from Tania a scientist on one of the stations we get theories, mysteries and discovery, from the industrialist Neil and the heads of security Adam and Russell we see the social side and power struggles that everyone lives in the shadow of. Along the way Jason gives us excellent secondary characters from fences to fixers from spies to psychopaths. The struggles of the first book lead to a new normal and more mysteries of the second.

With The Exodus Towers he gets to expand the cast showing that different areas of the planet spawned different reactions to the new world. Some of these are heart rending and others are infuriating because they are ways I can definitely see people acting in this place. The survivors are all stripes of humanity from the most caring and altruistic to the most selfish and psychopathic. The second novel expands the moral range through all the zones of gray and darker. The antagonist of book one does not turn over a new leaf but somewhat like the villains of Farscape and Jamie Lannister of Game of Thrones having more perspective on things he become a lighter shade of grey. We also see some of the more human sides of the heroes, choices are made that alters relationships just like in life; people are people what can you say other the I applaud Jason for letting his characters be more real no matter which side they fall on.

Both the books deliver in ways character wise that the constant buildup of the mysteries of the so called Builders is not a worry and I have a feeling that the final reveal on that will be much like many from the new wave of Space Opera from the likes of the aforementioned Alastair Reynolds and the late great Ian Banks. Personally I hope I'm not laying it on too thick; these novels are great fun, very intriguing and to me oddly touching... I'm only glad for Jason that the third is coming out the end of this month because with the season ender like cliff hanger Exodus Towers concludes with he might just have fans tracking him down to wring the next volume out of him if they has to wait a year or five...

Here is a link to Tor.com's excerpt from The Darwin Towers... Both of these are out now and I think any Science Fiction lover will truly enjoy these to the depths of their geek hearts.

The Darwin Elevator was featured on NPR here and hit the extended New York Times Bestseller List as mentioned on Jason's website.

Go here for Jason M Hough' s personal website

Again here since I mentioned it above is a link to the SF Squeecast they have not talked about The Dire Earth books but I link to them because I was pretty much Squeeing about this book series and I love those guys...

And for your viewing pleasure the cover of book three coming the end of this month....