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Ascent of Angels
When Simon Bonaventure breaks the law on his seventeenth birthday, he expects to pay the price.
He doesn't expect his father to pay it instead.
Sentenced in his place. Executed.
But his father bought him one chance to enter the Ascent of Angels — a gladiatorial tournament aboard the Exsta, a ring-shaped space station where seven teams fight through seven brutal ecosystems for the right to join the ruling class.
It's a underdogs always lose. In two hundred years, no team from the Fallen — criminals, outcasts, the condemned — has ever come close.
They're not there to compete. They're there to be a warning.
Simon's team doesn't have the training, the connections, or the political protection to compete. What they have is each other – if they can overcome their mutual hatred, stoked by the Choir of Higher Angels.
The more rounds they survive, the more the system shakes.
The Fallen have risen. The real game is just beginning.
He doesn't expect his father to pay it instead.
Sentenced in his place. Executed.
But his father bought him one chance to enter the Ascent of Angels — a gladiatorial tournament aboard the Exsta, a ring-shaped space station where seven teams fight through seven brutal ecosystems for the right to join the ruling class.
It's a underdogs always lose. In two hundred years, no team from the Fallen — criminals, outcasts, the condemned — has ever come close.
They're not there to compete. They're there to be a warning.
Simon's team doesn't have the training, the connections, or the political protection to compete. What they have is each other – if they can overcome their mutual hatred, stoked by the Choir of Higher Angels.
The more rounds they survive, the more the system shakes.
The Fallen have risen. The real game is just beginning.
- GenresFantasy
349 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 6, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 24, 2026
Did Not Finish
I'm sorry. I'm clearly in the minority here. But after 25%, I had to give up on this. As someone who has a really hard time DNF'ing books, understand that for me to quit on a book was really, really difficult.
Look, it's got a solid hook for people who love both Red Rising and The Hunger Games. Anyone who loves sci-fi or space operas will also be tempted to give this one a go.
And here's the thing: I'm all those things.
I worship at the feet of Pierce Brown. To this day, I'd work for free to be his assistant, if only he'd hire me. I've re-read all six books in the series multiple times. I've listened to the audiobooks. I've gobbled up the graphic novels. I've laughed, I've cried, I've walked away in anger (which was really more terror for the fate of my favorite characters), and I've gone back, time and time again. Just because these novels are Just. So. Bloodydamn/Gorydamn. Good.
And while my enjoyment of Collins' series decreased with each succeeding book (here's looking at you, Catching Fire and Mockingjay), I still, on the whole, appreciated what Collins did. Enough, even, to read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
But---and this is me being me---I couldn't get past a certain point with Ascent of Angels.
Why?
Okay. So to put things in perspective, how about some background?
One of the things my husband and I enjoy doing together is listening to audiobooks. He has his own reading pleasures (and TBR), as do I. But the one thing we both enjoy is science fiction and fantasy, and we have a combined TBR list that we continuously add to. It isn't out of the ordinary for us to get in the car with our dogs, drive around, or go places. We take turns choosing a book from our joint TBR list. Then once we've chosen a book, he'll get the audiobook, and I'll get the kindle version. Yes, for the books we read together, I'll get the actual book so I can follow along. (It also makes it very easy to get clarification when things get confusing--especially in time travel books--or for catching up when either he or I fall asleep while listening to the audio book.)
This time, having just finished the newest Mark Lawrence book, it was my turn to choose. So I chose Ascent of Angels based on a friend's five-star review. Granted, most things he reads gets five stars. Now, anyone who knows me knows I barely give five-star reviews out...perhaps two or maybe three a year. Five, on a spectacularly good year. But still. He enjoyed it. He wrote about it on his blog. He even told me he preferred this story to *gasp!* Red Rising and thought that I'd enjoy it, too.
So how could I say no? And when I did my due diligence, I checked Amazon and Goodreads, and it was rated fairly high. Over four stars, in fact. So I said okay, let's give it a chance.
So what went wrong?
Perhaps it was the fact that the audiobook and the novel did not match. After the first five minutes of the audiobook, I had to pause it. I turned to my hubby, who had just ordered our lunch, and said "Ninety percent of what we just listened to was not in the book."
He gave me a funny look and I handed him my iPad and showed him the first two pages of Chapter One. After a few minutes, he handed it back to me and shook his head. "Does the book say it's a second edition or something?"
I went to the front. I went to the back. That's when I saw Red Star Rocket Lines as the publisher. I googled it. Couldn't find anything. I searched for the publisher of Ascent of Angels and it came up as Shawn Whitney.
Now, don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with indie writers or indie publishing. One of my good friends is an excellent writer and publishes independently. I even contributed to one of his anthologies that came out last year.
But there is a certain responsibility that comes with indie publishing, including ensuring that what you publish is the same across the board, be it in digital, printed or audio formats of the book. I can say right now that the more we continued to listen to the audiobook, the further away we got from the novel itself. And that is a big no-no.
Why? Well, let's say, for example, my friend and I started to talk about this book. And he had read the kindle version and I listened to the audiobook. There would have been a lot more things in the audiobook that he would never have known about because he never listened to the audiobook. And if I didn't have the kindle version, I'd never have known there was a difference. For example, the audiobook mentioned dragon boats and a fusion engine core very early on (before Chapter Eight). In the kindle version, the first time dragon boats are mentioned is in Chapter Eighteen, and fusion cores are mentioned first in Chapter Eleven.
If he and I compared what we knew, it would be as if we had read different books.
So for the Type A, anal-retentive version of me, this would be a definite no-no. This is the kind of thing that just shouldn't happen, regardless of whether a book is published independently or traditionally. As such, this kind of sloppiness automatically downgraded my rating by at least one star, if not two.
That aside, I had problems with a lot of the technical aspects of the narrative itself. The sci-fi portion was barely there and seemed so convoluted: so this spaceship is floating around in space because of a revolt that happened some years ago. But they also have a fusion core as powerful as the sun powering the ship's engines, and yet they can't figure out how to get the ship to move again? It's also mentioned that they still have artificial gravity because their ship has a ring (used to generate centripetal acceleration, my words, not the author's). But Whitney also made it seem like their gravity decreased the further up you went, or increased as you went down. But that isn't how rings and artificial gravity work; it doesn't work vertically. Artificial gravity exists on the outer edges of a ring. As you approach the central axis of the ring, gravity decreases until you become weightless.
So yeah, there's that. For me, the science in science fiction is fairly important. It has to be believable. It has to be based on physics that we know, and if it's physics we don't know, then it has to be explained to us. Make stuff up. I don't care, as long as it's explained. So for that reason, another star or two was removed from my rating.
Then there were The Moments. You know, those moments when you just stop and go, "What the...???" or "Wait, what?"
At one point, my husband stopped the audiobook and said "This is very derivative."
I didn't even ask how or why or what do you mean? I just nodded.
At another point, he sighed and once again paused the audiobook. "These characters are very one-dimensional."
Yes, I agreed. One dimensional. There were parts of the audiobook where we both went, "Oh yeah. There's the obvious nod to Red Rising. Darrow's wife was killed. And now this guy's dad is going to die." Then a few chapters later, when a character enters the room: "Does this remind you of Haymitch?" (from Hunger Games).
So, yeah. It felt a bit derivative.
We both decided to pull the plug after another half hour of this. My husband was able to get credited with another audiobook from Audible. I was not able to return mine for a refund from amazon, and I'm okay with that. At the end of the day, indie writers need support. They need the sales and perhaps more importantly, they need the reviews as well. Good and bad.
Like I said, I know I'm in the minority here. Almost everyone who read the book gave it four or five stars. Some even wrote actual reviews about what they liked or enjoyed. So while my review may bring the book average down, it won't be significant. But I do want people who are considering this book to know the good with the bad. They'll get a lot of good reviews from other reviewers. Perhaps they won't be as anal as I am, and these kinds of things won't bother them.
So I'll end this by saying every person is different. While I may not have enjoyed this book and abandoned it, I hope others enjoy this book and can get something out of it.
I'm sorry. I'm clearly in the minority here. But after 25%, I had to give up on this. As someone who has a really hard time DNF'ing books, understand that for me to quit on a book was really, really difficult.
Look, it's got a solid hook for people who love both Red Rising and The Hunger Games. Anyone who loves sci-fi or space operas will also be tempted to give this one a go.
And here's the thing: I'm all those things.
I worship at the feet of Pierce Brown. To this day, I'd work for free to be his assistant, if only he'd hire me. I've re-read all six books in the series multiple times. I've listened to the audiobooks. I've gobbled up the graphic novels. I've laughed, I've cried, I've walked away in anger (which was really more terror for the fate of my favorite characters), and I've gone back, time and time again. Just because these novels are Just. So. Bloodydamn/Gorydamn. Good.
And while my enjoyment of Collins' series decreased with each succeeding book (here's looking at you, Catching Fire and Mockingjay), I still, on the whole, appreciated what Collins did. Enough, even, to read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
But---and this is me being me---I couldn't get past a certain point with Ascent of Angels.
Why?
Okay. So to put things in perspective, how about some background?
One of the things my husband and I enjoy doing together is listening to audiobooks. He has his own reading pleasures (and TBR), as do I. But the one thing we both enjoy is science fiction and fantasy, and we have a combined TBR list that we continuously add to. It isn't out of the ordinary for us to get in the car with our dogs, drive around, or go places. We take turns choosing a book from our joint TBR list. Then once we've chosen a book, he'll get the audiobook, and I'll get the kindle version. Yes, for the books we read together, I'll get the actual book so I can follow along. (It also makes it very easy to get clarification when things get confusing--especially in time travel books--or for catching up when either he or I fall asleep while listening to the audio book.)
This time, having just finished the newest Mark Lawrence book, it was my turn to choose. So I chose Ascent of Angels based on a friend's five-star review. Granted, most things he reads gets five stars. Now, anyone who knows me knows I barely give five-star reviews out...perhaps two or maybe three a year. Five, on a spectacularly good year. But still. He enjoyed it. He wrote about it on his blog. He even told me he preferred this story to *gasp!* Red Rising and thought that I'd enjoy it, too.
So how could I say no? And when I did my due diligence, I checked Amazon and Goodreads, and it was rated fairly high. Over four stars, in fact. So I said okay, let's give it a chance.
So what went wrong?
Perhaps it was the fact that the audiobook and the novel did not match. After the first five minutes of the audiobook, I had to pause it. I turned to my hubby, who had just ordered our lunch, and said "Ninety percent of what we just listened to was not in the book."
He gave me a funny look and I handed him my iPad and showed him the first two pages of Chapter One. After a few minutes, he handed it back to me and shook his head. "Does the book say it's a second edition or something?"
I went to the front. I went to the back. That's when I saw Red Star Rocket Lines as the publisher. I googled it. Couldn't find anything. I searched for the publisher of Ascent of Angels and it came up as Shawn Whitney.
Now, don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with indie writers or indie publishing. One of my good friends is an excellent writer and publishes independently. I even contributed to one of his anthologies that came out last year.
But there is a certain responsibility that comes with indie publishing, including ensuring that what you publish is the same across the board, be it in digital, printed or audio formats of the book. I can say right now that the more we continued to listen to the audiobook, the further away we got from the novel itself. And that is a big no-no.
Why? Well, let's say, for example, my friend and I started to talk about this book. And he had read the kindle version and I listened to the audiobook. There would have been a lot more things in the audiobook that he would never have known about because he never listened to the audiobook. And if I didn't have the kindle version, I'd never have known there was a difference. For example, the audiobook mentioned dragon boats and a fusion engine core very early on (before Chapter Eight). In the kindle version, the first time dragon boats are mentioned is in Chapter Eighteen, and fusion cores are mentioned first in Chapter Eleven.
If he and I compared what we knew, it would be as if we had read different books.
So for the Type A, anal-retentive version of me, this would be a definite no-no. This is the kind of thing that just shouldn't happen, regardless of whether a book is published independently or traditionally. As such, this kind of sloppiness automatically downgraded my rating by at least one star, if not two.
That aside, I had problems with a lot of the technical aspects of the narrative itself. The sci-fi portion was barely there and seemed so convoluted: so this spaceship is floating around in space because of a revolt that happened some years ago. But they also have a fusion core as powerful as the sun powering the ship's engines, and yet they can't figure out how to get the ship to move again? It's also mentioned that they still have artificial gravity because their ship has a ring (used to generate centripetal acceleration, my words, not the author's). But Whitney also made it seem like their gravity decreased the further up you went, or increased as you went down. But that isn't how rings and artificial gravity work; it doesn't work vertically. Artificial gravity exists on the outer edges of a ring. As you approach the central axis of the ring, gravity decreases until you become weightless.
So yeah, there's that. For me, the science in science fiction is fairly important. It has to be believable. It has to be based on physics that we know, and if it's physics we don't know, then it has to be explained to us. Make stuff up. I don't care, as long as it's explained. So for that reason, another star or two was removed from my rating.
Then there were The Moments. You know, those moments when you just stop and go, "What the...???" or "Wait, what?"
At one point, my husband stopped the audiobook and said "This is very derivative."
I didn't even ask how or why or what do you mean? I just nodded.
At another point, he sighed and once again paused the audiobook. "These characters are very one-dimensional."
Yes, I agreed. One dimensional. There were parts of the audiobook where we both went, "Oh yeah. There's the obvious nod to Red Rising. Darrow's wife was killed. And now this guy's dad is going to die." Then a few chapters later, when a character enters the room: "Does this remind you of Haymitch?" (from Hunger Games).
So, yeah. It felt a bit derivative.
We both decided to pull the plug after another half hour of this. My husband was able to get credited with another audiobook from Audible. I was not able to return mine for a refund from amazon, and I'm okay with that. At the end of the day, indie writers need support. They need the sales and perhaps more importantly, they need the reviews as well. Good and bad.
Like I said, I know I'm in the minority here. Almost everyone who read the book gave it four or five stars. Some even wrote actual reviews about what they liked or enjoyed. So while my review may bring the book average down, it won't be significant. But I do want people who are considering this book to know the good with the bad. They'll get a lot of good reviews from other reviewers. Perhaps they won't be as anal as I am, and these kinds of things won't bother them.
So I'll end this by saying every person is different. While I may not have enjoyed this book and abandoned it, I hope others enjoy this book and can get something out of it.
December 29, 2025
on a colony ship of 30k+ people, a theocracy sees the working class looking up at the balconeros (effectively nobles). The church builds mistrust between the working class sections while preaching reverence of the elites. Every 7 years a competition is held to elevate a handful of elites to the theocratic leadership (or their police force). A ragtag group of working class criminals, The Fallen, also compete, but at huge disadvantages. Failure is death.
Simon gets sentenced to the Fallen and must unify the team to survive long enough to reveal how they are being manipulated and unearth new machinations at work...
Very much like a Hunger Games. Decent story if you don't think too hard about the setting. I wish the story had wrapped up better, rather than leaving a gaping hole to continue the series. Occasional minor editing errors. While I give it 4*, it isn't going to be anything I recommend specifically and I have no plan to continue the series
Simon gets sentenced to the Fallen and must unify the team to survive long enough to reveal how they are being manipulated and unearth new machinations at work...
Very much like a Hunger Games. Decent story if you don't think too hard about the setting. I wish the story had wrapped up better, rather than leaving a gaping hole to continue the series. Occasional minor editing errors. While I give it 4*, it isn't going to be anything I recommend specifically and I have no plan to continue the series
April 5, 2026
I follow this author on TikTok and I've taken notes on his free guides, but then, I bought this in audiobook form. I figured the best way to see if there's any reason to the rhyme. I am pleased to say I enjoyed every chapter and character and I'm looking forward to getting book 2 and 3. My review on Audible failed to do the source any justice. I tried to avoid spoilers and only managed to poorly describe the plot.
I recommend this to anyone! People should read and review it. If any are authors looking for creatively inspiring content that makes it all make sense, check out Shawn Whitney!
I recommend this to anyone! People should read and review it. If any are authors looking for creatively inspiring content that makes it all make sense, check out Shawn Whitney!
January 8, 2026
Sci-fi game like flying in a living spaceship.
The book keeper me engaged the whole time. Sci-fi game like floating in a spaceship with a class system and a possible religious deity.. A good break from my normal romance reads.
The book keeper me engaged the whole time. Sci-fi game like floating in a spaceship with a class system and a possible religious deity.. A good break from my normal romance reads.
Read
March 22, 2026DNF halfway
April 16, 2026
3.75⭐️
Decent read, feels like Red Rising.
Decent read, feels like Red Rising.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews