What do you think?
Rate this book
Remission
When Dr. Karin Amani's rescue mission crashes on a hostile exoplanet, survival becomes the least of her problems.
Her crew is missing. The research base has gone dark. And something in the planet's ecosystem is spreading. Fast.
As the ship's doctor, Karin's purpose has always been save lives. But on Tyche, that mission becomes a nightmare. Each discovery brings another body, dragging her deeper into trauma. The weight of what's unfolding threatens to pull her under. Something isn't just contaminating people, it's spreading in ways that could reach billions.
Karin is breaking. Depression claws at her mind, following her with every step. Her only companion is Navigator, the ship's AI. Logical, precise, and utterly incapable of understanding grief. The rational part of her knows she's sinking.
But giving up means billions die. She can't save everyone who's already lost. And accepting that may be the hardest part.
REMISSION is hard science fiction that doesn't look away from the cost of survival. A story about endurance under pressure, and what it takes to keep moving when everything is breaking.
For readers who love scientifically grounded sci-fi with psychological depth and protagonists who endure, not just overcome.
Her crew is missing. The research base has gone dark. And something in the planet's ecosystem is spreading. Fast.
As the ship's doctor, Karin's purpose has always been save lives. But on Tyche, that mission becomes a nightmare. Each discovery brings another body, dragging her deeper into trauma. The weight of what's unfolding threatens to pull her under. Something isn't just contaminating people, it's spreading in ways that could reach billions.
Karin is breaking. Depression claws at her mind, following her with every step. Her only companion is Navigator, the ship's AI. Logical, precise, and utterly incapable of understanding grief. The rational part of her knows she's sinking.
But giving up means billions die. She can't save everyone who's already lost. And accepting that may be the hardest part.
REMISSION is hard science fiction that doesn't look away from the cost of survival. A story about endurance under pressure, and what it takes to keep moving when everything is breaking.
For readers who love scientifically grounded sci-fi with psychological depth and protagonists who endure, not just overcome.
- GenresHorrorScience Fiction
173 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 18, 2026
About the author
M. R. Damova
1 book11 followersA millennial who grew up reading everything from Taoist philosophy to Dune's endless sand, which explains both his existential dread and his love for hostile planets.
REMISSION is his first indie release: a survival novella about a doctor, a deadly planet, and the very bad decisions that brought them together.
He took a professional course in literary editing, which means he can tell you exactly why your manuscript doesn't work while his own sits unfinished. He also lived in Ireland for a bit, where he learned top-level self-pity that worsened his writer's imposter syndrome. When not writing, he practices professional-grade procrastination.
He currently lives on Earth, where he divides his time between writing, reading, and wondering if Matt Damon is available for adaptations.
REMISSION is his first indie release: a survival novella about a doctor, a deadly planet, and the very bad decisions that brought them together.
He took a professional course in literary editing, which means he can tell you exactly why your manuscript doesn't work while his own sits unfinished. He also lived in Ireland for a bit, where he learned top-level self-pity that worsened his writer's imposter syndrome. When not writing, he practices professional-grade procrastination.
He currently lives on Earth, where he divides his time between writing, reading, and wondering if Matt Damon is available for adaptations.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 11, 2026
Fascinating book
What an intense story. I was engrossed with this book and enjoyed reading it. The book is really interesting and I will definitely recommend it!!
What an intense story. I was engrossed with this book and enjoyed reading it. The book is really interesting and I will definitely recommend it!!
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC Review: This book is a great example of why I love sci-fi, it lives in the realm of "what if." What if an accident leaves you abandoned on another planet, how far would you go to save yourself, or your team? What if terraforming were possible, and what if it went wrong? What if life and death choices were left in your hands, not just impacting yourself, but your team, and even beyond. What if......? Thought provoking, intriguing, and a fantastic read.
February 23, 2026
There are sci-fi thrillers… and then there are stories that quietly crawl under your skin and stay there. Remission by M. R. Damova is the second kind.
From the very first page, you feel the isolation. Not just the vast, suffocating emptiness of space but the emotional vacuum of being trapped inside your own body, your own mind, your own fear. The imagery of the cracked helmet visor on the cover isn’t just aesthetic it’s symbolic. This story is about fracture. Identity fracture. Reality fracture. Trust fracture.Damova blends psychological tension with science fiction in a way that feels intimate instead of explosive. The stakes aren’t just survival they’re sanity. As the protagonist confronts both the physical dangers of their environment and the internal unraveling of their perception, you start questioning everything alongside them.The pacing is sharp but deliberate, building dread in layers instead of jump scares. There’s a claustrophobic intensity that reminds me of space survival classics but with a deeply human, almost medical undertone that makes the title Remission hit even harder.This isn’t loud sci-fi. It’s haunting sci-fi.
It’s about what happens when the body survives… but something inside you doesn’t.
Huge thank you to M. R. Damova for sharing this story. It’s thoughtful, tense, and emotionally resonant in ways that linger long after the final page.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A cerebral space thriller that trades explosions for existential dreadand wins.
From the very first page, you feel the isolation. Not just the vast, suffocating emptiness of space but the emotional vacuum of being trapped inside your own body, your own mind, your own fear. The imagery of the cracked helmet visor on the cover isn’t just aesthetic it’s symbolic. This story is about fracture. Identity fracture. Reality fracture. Trust fracture.Damova blends psychological tension with science fiction in a way that feels intimate instead of explosive. The stakes aren’t just survival they’re sanity. As the protagonist confronts both the physical dangers of their environment and the internal unraveling of their perception, you start questioning everything alongside them.The pacing is sharp but deliberate, building dread in layers instead of jump scares. There’s a claustrophobic intensity that reminds me of space survival classics but with a deeply human, almost medical undertone that makes the title Remission hit even harder.This isn’t loud sci-fi. It’s haunting sci-fi.
It’s about what happens when the body survives… but something inside you doesn’t.
Huge thank you to M. R. Damova for sharing this story. It’s thoughtful, tense, and emotionally resonant in ways that linger long after the final page.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A cerebral space thriller that trades explosions for existential dreadand wins.
February 24, 2026
Review of advanced copy received from Author
REMISSION by M. R. Damova
A sci-fi novella with a haunting twist.
This book hooked me from the very beginning. The tension is consistent throughout the story, from our protagonist, Doctor Karin ‘K’ Amani, crashing onto an alien planet, to her journeying through the desert to find her squad members. The plot is meticulously built so as not to leave any loose ends.
For a large part of the story, K is alone, with only an AI assisting her. This gave the plot an eerie atmosphere, with us, the reader, being her only, albeit unreachable, human companion.
Simple elements, like loneliness and nature, are used to create an unsettling feeling, leaving a lasting impact on the audience.
The crucial element that makes this novella shine is that K is just a normal human being like you and me.
She is no heroine, and this is why this story resonated with me. I was rooting for her because I could see myself in her: a person trying her best to just help people. Her struggles and failures felt grounding, comforting. I realised that if she can still choose to get up after failing numerous times, then so can I.
This book is recommended to people who crave hard sci-fi with a side of nightmare-inducing horror. It is also recommended for those who wish to read about a person who endures in the face of mental breakdown and walks out with scars of determination.
REMISSION by M. R. Damova
A sci-fi novella with a haunting twist.
This book hooked me from the very beginning. The tension is consistent throughout the story, from our protagonist, Doctor Karin ‘K’ Amani, crashing onto an alien planet, to her journeying through the desert to find her squad members. The plot is meticulously built so as not to leave any loose ends.
For a large part of the story, K is alone, with only an AI assisting her. This gave the plot an eerie atmosphere, with us, the reader, being her only, albeit unreachable, human companion.
Simple elements, like loneliness and nature, are used to create an unsettling feeling, leaving a lasting impact on the audience.
The crucial element that makes this novella shine is that K is just a normal human being like you and me.
She is no heroine, and this is why this story resonated with me. I was rooting for her because I could see myself in her: a person trying her best to just help people. Her struggles and failures felt grounding, comforting. I realised that if she can still choose to get up after failing numerous times, then so can I.
This book is recommended to people who crave hard sci-fi with a side of nightmare-inducing horror. It is also recommended for those who wish to read about a person who endures in the face of mental breakdown and walks out with scars of determination.
February 21, 2026
Remission, M.R. Damova's debut indie novel, tells the story of Karin Amani, a scientist who is stranded on an alien planet in the midst of research and terraforming operations. Dr. Amani faces a number of obstacles in her struggle to survive the environment and soon discovers a secret on the planet that is taking the lives of the researchers.
The prose here is tight and the narrative skips back to Amani's crew prior to the accident that left her stranded in order to provide more insight into the characters. Dr. Amani is an interesting and well written protagonist, educated, driven, but very much human; she struggles with the weight of her survival and the horrors she must face.
I noted a few typos in the text, but nothing which distracted from the story. The narrative hints at a much larger world, with overpopulation on Earth and the struggle to find habitable worlds amongst the stars for humanity, but driven by private corporations and not governmental agencies. I would have liked to see a bit more exploration of those ideas though it did provide good background to Dr. Amani's primacy in the story.
I look forward to seeing what M.R. Damova writes next!
The prose here is tight and the narrative skips back to Amani's crew prior to the accident that left her stranded in order to provide more insight into the characters. Dr. Amani is an interesting and well written protagonist, educated, driven, but very much human; she struggles with the weight of her survival and the horrors she must face.
I noted a few typos in the text, but nothing which distracted from the story. The narrative hints at a much larger world, with overpopulation on Earth and the struggle to find habitable worlds amongst the stars for humanity, but driven by private corporations and not governmental agencies. I would have liked to see a bit more exploration of those ideas though it did provide good background to Dr. Amani's primacy in the story.
I look forward to seeing what M.R. Damova writes next!
February 24, 2026
(My rating scale is at the bottom of the review).
In fact, given my rating scale, this is one of those books where I'm writing a review because I'm making good on my commitment to review books I receive as an advance review copy - not because I'm defending it much, or overly excited about it.
Why? Maybe because I enjoy books that expose challenging existential, or philosophical questions. And this book isn't one of those. This is more like The Martian - an exciting, fast moving story about a space explorer forced to be alone and survive a harsh place until rescue.
In that sense, this is an exciting book. Lots of tension, the plot moves at decent speed, the challenges faced by the human seem credible, the ways of escaping crises … all these things are well-structured, interesting, and well-written. Exactly what a four-star book is for me.
But, I'm not *really* defending the greatness of the book and be hesitant to recommend it - because it's not extraordinary (to me), so not a 5-star book. I'm happy I read it. Moving on.
Scale:
- Five stars – You want to read it again, or dive straight into the sequel. Plainly extraordinary and easy to recommend.
- Four stars – Well-written, structurally sound. Worth finishing, maybe even defending – but you’ll never reread it.
- Three stars – You finish it … and mostly forget it.
- Two stars – Bad enough to deserve a negative review. You just won’t bother writing one.
- One star – You can’t read past chapter 3. Not even as penance for your sins.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
In fact, given my rating scale, this is one of those books where I'm writing a review because I'm making good on my commitment to review books I receive as an advance review copy - not because I'm defending it much, or overly excited about it.
Why? Maybe because I enjoy books that expose challenging existential, or philosophical questions. And this book isn't one of those. This is more like The Martian - an exciting, fast moving story about a space explorer forced to be alone and survive a harsh place until rescue.
In that sense, this is an exciting book. Lots of tension, the plot moves at decent speed, the challenges faced by the human seem credible, the ways of escaping crises … all these things are well-structured, interesting, and well-written. Exactly what a four-star book is for me.
But, I'm not *really* defending the greatness of the book and be hesitant to recommend it - because it's not extraordinary (to me), so not a 5-star book. I'm happy I read it. Moving on.
Scale:
- Five stars – You want to read it again, or dive straight into the sequel. Plainly extraordinary and easy to recommend.
- Four stars – Well-written, structurally sound. Worth finishing, maybe even defending – but you’ll never reread it.
- Three stars – You finish it … and mostly forget it.
- Two stars – Bad enough to deserve a negative review. You just won’t bother writing one.
- One star – You can’t read past chapter 3. Not even as penance for your sins.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 28, 2026
This book falls into the realm of psycho-science fiction. It's full of action, but above all, it's about introspection, solitude, and the acceptance of an alienating situation: finding yourself alone on a planet without knowing what happened or what happened to your crew.
Dr. Amani isn't a heroine; she's a scientist whose goal is to save lives, but the reality of the situation puts her in close contact with death as the story unfolds. She must act quickly before the contamination spreads and billions die. She's supported by Navigator, the AI with whom she gradually establishes an almost "human" relationship, and this, in my opinion, is the most fascinating part of the book—the psychological aspect. While Nav is cold, pragmatic, and lacks emotion, he's Karin's only friendly voice, and their relationship gradually becomes more intimate. It's the AI that helps her avoid going mad and complete her mission as a scientist.
The book is well written, the moments of action and suspense alternate with others more profound and reflective that make the reader participate and once you finish reading the emotions and the question remain: how would I have done in Dr. Amani's situation?
Dr. Amani isn't a heroine; she's a scientist whose goal is to save lives, but the reality of the situation puts her in close contact with death as the story unfolds. She must act quickly before the contamination spreads and billions die. She's supported by Navigator, the AI with whom she gradually establishes an almost "human" relationship, and this, in my opinion, is the most fascinating part of the book—the psychological aspect. While Nav is cold, pragmatic, and lacks emotion, he's Karin's only friendly voice, and their relationship gradually becomes more intimate. It's the AI that helps her avoid going mad and complete her mission as a scientist.
The book is well written, the moments of action and suspense alternate with others more profound and reflective that make the reader participate and once you finish reading the emotions and the question remain: how would I have done in Dr. Amani's situation?
February 20, 2026
This book subverts the typical space-disaster narrative by focusing on acceptance rather than triumph.
When Karin discovers her crew missing and contamination spreading, the story doesn't focus on superhero solving the problem or finding a solution. Instead, it explores what happens when a normal person is forced to accept losses and still carry because on the stakes are too high to give up.
The hard sci-fi elements are good. Contamination mechanism is particularly effective.
But what I liked the most is its psychological side: Karin's relationship with Navigator, the AI is unable to process human pain and amplifies her isolation beautifully.
I found it easy to side Karin and crawl with her during the journey, to an end I wasn't expecting honestly. Also I found it really enjoyable to read.
When Karin discovers her crew missing and contamination spreading, the story doesn't focus on superhero solving the problem or finding a solution. Instead, it explores what happens when a normal person is forced to accept losses and still carry because on the stakes are too high to give up.
The hard sci-fi elements are good. Contamination mechanism is particularly effective.
But what I liked the most is its psychological side: Karin's relationship with Navigator, the AI is unable to process human pain and amplifies her isolation beautifully.
I found it easy to side Karin and crawl with her during the journey, to an end I wasn't expecting honestly. Also I found it really enjoyable to read.
February 23, 2026
Just finished Remission and wow, that got under my skin!
Started as a survival story on an alien planet but quickly turned into something way more unsettling. The isolation worked really well. You feel the protagonist's growing paranoia as things spiral
What I liked most was how the horror builds through atmosphere and psychological breakdown rather than jumpscares. The contamination angle is genuinely creepy. The sci-fi side is consistent. It's compact but doesn't feel rushed, and leaves no loose threads
Started as a survival story on an alien planet but quickly turned into something way more unsettling. The isolation worked really well. You feel the protagonist's growing paranoia as things spiral
What I liked most was how the horror builds through atmosphere and psychological breakdown rather than jumpscares. The contamination angle is genuinely creepy. The sci-fi side is consistent. It's compact but doesn't feel rushed, and leaves no loose threads
Review of advance copy
Set in a future where humans have reached the early stages of attempting to terraform other planets, this story balanced the science aspect and humanity well. The main character, Dr. Karin Amani, is part of the crew of a mission support vessel trying to reestablish contact with a research colony. To a degree, this story involves a lot of situations where, if something could go wrong, it would.
I did find enjoyable the interaction between Dr. Amani and the support vessel’s AI Navigator. Since much of the story is a solo journey, there was plenty of opportunity to see the working relationship between them.
The explained science of the terraforming process appealed to the nerd in me. It also led to the ethical dilemma that was key to the story. The understanding Dr. Amani develops during the course of the story of the implications of the terraforming project, along with the relationship with the Navigator, resulted in an ending I wasn’t expecting.
This story packed a lot to think about into a short space.
I received an advanced copy through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I did find enjoyable the interaction between Dr. Amani and the support vessel’s AI Navigator. Since much of the story is a solo journey, there was plenty of opportunity to see the working relationship between them.
The explained science of the terraforming process appealed to the nerd in me. It also led to the ethical dilemma that was key to the story. The understanding Dr. Amani develops during the course of the story of the implications of the terraforming project, along with the relationship with the Navigator, resulted in an ending I wasn’t expecting.
This story packed a lot to think about into a short space.
I received an advanced copy through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 14, 2026
it was a captivating story but a little unpolished. some of the science and medicine was off, and it often felt like at times I just couldn’t exactly “see” what was happening based on the somewhat lacking descriptions. quick and enjoyable read if you let your mind gloss over the little things though.
April 19, 2026
I was lucky enough to have won a free ebook of this story from goodreads. I am very happy that I did. Book was a fun fast paced read. I had never heard of the author but I know I will be reading more in the future. Worth the time if you enjoy the many themes, space, explorations, mysteries, medical and just enjoy a good story. It’s not bogged down with fluff. Highly recommend.
May 7, 2026
Kept me on the edge of my seat
ARC review: I enjoyed this book. I really didn't know what was going to happen next. That suspense kept me reading, I had to know. The story was creative and painted a detailed picture of the setting. Would recommend.
ARC review: I enjoyed this book. I really didn't know what was going to happen next. That suspense kept me reading, I had to know. The story was creative and painted a detailed picture of the setting. Would recommend.
April 21, 2026
Received a digital copy through GoodReads giveaway and found it to be a really interesting story.
May 17, 2026
Review based off a GoodReads Giveaway
Review of advance copy received from Author
Remission by M. R. Damova was a great sci fi space thriller (horror?) book. I question the horror aspect, because while there isn’t anything big or scary going on in the book, when you find yourself all alone on a planet in outer space, trying to figure out what happened to your crew, I imagine that would be quite horrifying.
The book takes place on a planet that the FMC’s crew crashes to, when they go to investigate why they haven’t heard from the crew already on said planet that was sent there to terraform. After crashing, Karin finds that she’s all alone as she looks for anyone from either crew, and fails to find anyone. With only the AI from her ship to keep her company, she starts to decline mentally while trying to get to the bottom of the mystery.
This is a good psychological thriller, and I really enjoyed reading it.
The book takes place on a planet that the FMC’s crew crashes to, when they go to investigate why they haven’t heard from the crew already on said planet that was sent there to terraform. After crashing, Karin finds that she’s all alone as she looks for anyone from either crew, and fails to find anyone. With only the AI from her ship to keep her company, she starts to decline mentally while trying to get to the bottom of the mystery.
This is a good psychological thriller, and I really enjoyed reading it.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews