Scion

by James Islington, Scott Aiello (Narrator)

John Wick meets Blade Runner in this fast-paced cyberpunk thriller by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few .

My job, when you think about it, isn’t so different from a lot of people’s.

The more old-fashioned crowd do still get hung up on the "killing people" part of it, I guess, but that’s a them it’s been perfectly legal to take out lifers for ages. Besides, once ultrawealthy morons realized they had a way to live forever—limited resources be damned—there was only ever going to be one genuinely practical deterrent.

So, sure, I have to deal with a ton of boring planning. Inconvenient hours. Some pretty awkward face-to-face interactions. And like most of us, I’m really only clocking in to try to crawl out from beneath my debts. But someone’s got to do it.

Luckily, my genetic compatibilities make me really, really good at doing it.

Still. This next job . . . I don’t know. It’s something I haven’t had to deal with in years. Kind of the opposite of my regular duties. Strange, that it got thrown my way.

I’m sure it’ll all go totally fine though.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Adult, Thriller

6 pages, Audible Audio

First published September 1, 2026

About the author

James Islington was born and raised in southern Victoria, Australia. His influences growing up were the stories of Raymond E. Feist and Robert Jordan, but it wasn't until later, when he read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series - followed soon after by Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind - that he was finally inspired to sit down and write something of his own. He now lives with his wife and two children on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

Reviews

[Emily (Books with Emily Fox on Youtube)]

Will this be a third series I love by the author 👀

[Jaime Fok · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

This was sadly just ok for me... but maybe it's because I just had SUPER high expectations since I LOVE James Islington so much!

First things first, this plot was definitely super fun & SO fast-paced. There was not a dull moment, we're always moving and doing all the things, so no complaints there.

However, it felt like we just didn't dive deeper into... anything? We're dealing with such advanced technology in the story to the point where humans can get "upgraded" and "updated" so much, we start questioning what is the difference between an enhanced human vs just a machine? We get confusion about self-identity and all that good stuff expected in a sci-fi. But it did feel like this book just asked all the questions, and didn't do anything to try and answer them.

Same thing goes for the world building. We had a world with all of this tech, politics, power struggle etc. that was such an interesting starting point. But we never got into why things were the way they were. What are the actual motives of this government, these corporations, and even these individual characters? How did we get to this point in society? How were these systems created? By the end, I was thinking... what is the point of all of this? What does anyone actually want to accomplish? We had maybe some of those questions answered, but not many.

So yeah... fun. Good plot, wonderful humour in our character interactions and banter. There is an unlikely friendship in this book that I enjoyed reading about. But I just wanted more substance behind it all, especially because the Hierarchy series is SO FULL of substance!

Also, a little pet peeve of mine is when books are listed as standalones but end up feeling very open ended and very open to becoming a continuous series.... so there's that :(

[Youssra {very busy-review slumping} · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This was just... very mid. It was short and quick, the plot was nothing super special or unique.. it was sort of run of the mill sci-fi almost? The worldbuilding was lacking and the ending came out of nowhere??

I did like the characters though; the mmc Azure was snarky and I liked his interactions with everyone else.

I didn't hate this and I didn't love it either. I just expect more from James😭




pre-read:
Seen lot's of mixed reviews💔 Don't disappoint me James

[Seri ❤ (new job semi-MIA) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Interesting and high-concept premise, but sorely lacking in world-building, depth of the main character, and the existence of other recurring characters.

First of all, the summary is misleading. I went into Scion expecting a futuristic world where a genetically enhanced assassin MC hunts down ultra-wealthy "lifers" trying to live forever. Yes, the MC's an assassin, but the majority of this book is them guarding one person. While we get a brief glimpse at the beginning of their assassin side; the rest focuses on Azure (the MC) as a bodyguard. Protection duties aren't boring per se as his skills are required, but it's definitely not the book I thought I was getting!

There are three characters of note in this entire book:
Azure: The MC. A genetically modified assassin hired to protect a mystery client. Even with the first-person POV, I do not feel as though we get to know this character. They read as really flat—snarky, but with no real depth.

Jasa: The client. The most apt description for this character is "a woman who likes to play God." Unlike Azure, we actually get to know about this mysterious old woman whose every single descriptor circles around her being wrinkly, secretive, and a hard fall from death's door.

Atti: A hyperintelligent AI software assistant to Azure. Brief appearance in the beginning of the book. Reappears for the last quarter.

There were 2-3 other named characters, but they'd appear in a scene, serve their purpose, and fade away from existence. This world feel massive. This isn't a closed-door mystery. There should be more characters that impact the plot rather than simply being plot devices.

To clarify, this is a short book. It's a 240-page story, and its short page count definitely hindered overall enjoyment, as this world wasn't able to be fleshed out properly. Scion is meant to be a futuristic cyberpunk dystopian world setting, yet there was no clear picture of what was going on and why the world had fallen to such straits. For instance, if you're poor, "at least in the cities, you don't have to worry about air getting turned off if you don't do as you're told." This quote is an example of a random yet explosive line that wasn't given any further context. It reads as though we're only scratching the surface of what this world entails.

I will say that the ending got exciting and has obviously left things open for future books! Several revelations were made that upped the ante and changed the trajectory of the book; however, Scion as a whole is still sorely lacking in its world-building and developing Azure, the MC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

“My name’s Azure, and I kill rich idiots for a living.”

Scion has one of those premises that made me go, excuse me, WHAT? The ultra-rich have figured out how to live forever, resources are limited, and somebody occasionally has to… make room. Enter Azure: genetically enhanced, very good at his job, and professionally employed to kill wealthy people. Legally.

I loved how completely different this felt from the fantasy I associate with James Islington. This is futuristic, twisty, darkly funny sci-fi with some genuinely fascinating ideas underneath all the action, immortality, obscene wealth, inequality, who gets access to technology and, ultimately, what happens when humans become rich enough to decide that death is for other people.

Which is exactly the sort of morally questionable rabbit hole I enjoy disappearing down.

Azure was easily my favourite. He has that dry, slightly fed up with everything voice that immediately worked for me. Give me a protagonist doing deeply questionable things while making sarcastic observations about it and apparently I am yours!

And then, of course, he gets a job that isn’t quite like the others. Instead of killing someone, he has to keep them alive. What could possibly go wrong?

There’s a lot happening here, technology, genetic enhancements, conspiracies, action and enough twists to keep me suspicious of basically everybody. But underneath the shiny sci-fi stuff is what interested me most: if we actually found a way to cheat death, would humanity become better… or would the richest people simply buy eternity? I think we all know the answer.

There were moments where the worldbuilding made my little brain work harder than it wanted to, and I occasionally had to mentally yell WAIT, WHO ARE YOU AGAIN?!, but once I settled into the world I had a bloody good time.

Dark, clever, morally messy and just weird enough for me.

Also, I would like it formally noted that if billionaires ever do discover immortality, I have read Scion and therefore consider myself adequately prepared.

My Highest Recommendation!

Thank you Text Publishing and James Islington for my early readers copy.

Available Now!

4.5

[kylie’s been jinxed ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

˗ˏˋ 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧 ˎˊ˗

ᯓ scion will be published on september 01, 2026!
⤿ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: 4.75 sᴛᴀʀs!! ★★★★★
⤿ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜɪs ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ: ᴄʏʙᴇʀᴘᴜɴᴋ, ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ sᴄɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ғɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ!!

ᯓ {🧪} ⩨ premise:
⤿ Azure is incredibly talented at killing people. It is not like he is particularly fond of the job - but it pays his debts. In this world, Lifers are those that have enough money to practically live forever, and people are not happy. However, when a strange new mission comes in - Azure gets thrown into a new environment where his rules no longer apply and everyone is hiding something from him.

ᯓ {🧪} ⩨ all my thoughts:
⤷ This book is incredibly bingable, filled with action and dark (murderous?) humor. I found myself completely engrossed in this cyberpunk world where all the rules differ from our own.

Despite being an assassin, our narrator, Azure, is surprisingly cheerful. In the beginning of the book, he comes across as a guy who was unlucky enough to be stuck in the position of murder. Azure carries with him a pretty dark sense of humor (I suppose it comes with the job), sometimes I found myself laughing, at other times I stared at my screen in shock.

Speaking of the dark humor, this book gets a little bit gory. Well I say a little bit, but proportional to the length of the book - it is a lot. I think that the consequence of a book written about an assassin is some violence, and people should already know that prior to picking the book up.

The setting is also super fun. I am always up for a cool cyberpunk-dystopia setting, this one was filled with just the right amount of chaos for me.

The length of this book is really nice. There is action on almost every single page and it is super difficult to put down. I was hooked by chapter 2 and I could not let go until the end of the book. (Luckily, it isn’t that long)

This story is told in first-person, which I do know annoys some people. I really enjoyed it - I was able to see into the mind of Azure: his revelations, thoughts, and understandings. It made for a very immersive experience while reading.

Altogether, this is an incredibly enjoyable read. I am definitely intrigued by other books from James Islington - the Will of the Many has my complete interest right now. I hope that this book turns into a series, because I would absolutely devour more of these.

ᯓ {🧪} ⩨ overall thoughts:

Scion was such a fun book to read. It is perfect for those who love cyberpunk, dystopia and murder. The cover is also gorgeous and would look really good with the rest of my science fiction books…

ᯓ {🧪} ⩨ rating:
⤿ 4.75 stars

ᯓ {🧪} ⩨ read if you enjoyed :
⤿ Scythe (Neal Shusterman)
⤿ Red Rising (Pierce Brown)

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Saga Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ {🧪} || ᴘʀᴇʀᴇᴀᴅ:
₊⊹⁀➴ im so happy i received the arc! i know that this doesn’t come out until august - but I’ve been itching for a good science fiction for a while!!

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

”Kind of seems like the question here is whether you want to try and live in peace, or be at peace. One of them’s probably going to be a hell of a lot harder than the other, though.”

i’m a huge James Islington fan, so i’m beyond disappointed that i didn’t love his initial approach to a sci-fi story. the biggest issue is really the lack of world building, it was extremely distracting. the mc Azure didn’t stand out to me either, so there was nothing connecting me to the novella as a whole.

idk if it’s cause I’ve read my fair share of sci-fi, but i could tell what direction the story was going in almost immediately. so in return, nothing surprised me.. even when i tend to enjoy the trope that was used at the end. maybe if this one was longer I’d have a different opinion, but i still wouldn’t be against continuing the series since it definitely was an action-packed, fast read.

⟴ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Saga Press for the arc, all opinions are my own.

[caleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

you know what the experience was? words on paper. nothing more, nothing less.

i was so so so excited for this book, because the strength of the few was an absolute six star fantasy book for me (and i liked will of the many, of course), and i loved james islington’s writing and worldbuilding and character development and storytelling and .. well, you get the idea. so enter this sci-fi thriller – a bit out of my comfort zone, but written by him – and i was beyond intrigued!!!

however, it was ... meh. i don’t need to be super emotionally attached or connected to characters in a plot-heavy book, but i do want them to be characters that i can be invested in following along. and they felt pretty one dimensional in here, neither of our two main ones stuck out to me in any way at all. and worse, the worldbuilding was NONEXISTENT. all these terms and tech and politics that aren’t explained at any point. some of them are easy and you can figure it out with context clues and by reading the story, whatever. but i didn’t understand the setup of the world and the different places and the government and the ages and the different tiers of society. and that made me, well, i was going to say check out, but honestly i wasn’t ever really checked in, so.

what i learned from this book is that i really need to stop anticipating new releases because they just keep letting me down i fear. but at least this was bingeable and had its fun moments if nothing else.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc! all opinions are my own.

[Drusilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, interesting characters, fast-paced, action-packed plot. A bit of a mean, open-ended finish.
What I find lacking is atmosphere.
As the author notes in the afterword, this story was written for his own enjoyment and wasn’t intended for publication, which explains the book’s shorter length and why it probably isn’t quite fully developed.
But it’s wonderfully written.
Maybe it’s a bit like cyberpunk for beginners? I don’t mean that in a negative way. It’s just that after reading some of the darker cyberpunk stories, this one comes across as rather gentle. It’s gory and brutal, but as I said, it lacks atmosphere, and there’s not much world-building overall—but that’s just nitpicking.
I had fun reading it—that’s all that matters.

They understand “really advanced human.” But damn if they don’t get uncomfortable when you start throwing around concepts like being able to sense movement in a memorised location, no matter how far away you are. Or precognition, or retrocognition, or any of the other less … traditional instincts my cogs sometimes impart. 😳

“If you couldn’t arrange for your own survival, you wouldn’t have been much fun to work with.“ 😂

[Rachel Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Azure is a cybernetically enhanced assassin used to taking out “Lifers” in a world where the rich can medically extend their life expectancy, while the poor live in increasingly crowded and bleak conditions with limited resources. But when Azure is convinced to take on a job protecting an ultra-wealthy asset, he quickly finds himself swept up in a dark plot in a world where everyone seems to be out for themselves. It becomes a race to figure out why the woman he’s protecting is being hunted, especially as the answer might also hold the key to uncovering the cause of the mysterious explosion that killed his friend four years earlier…

I loved The Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few, so I was really excited to read Scion. I generally read less sci-fi than fantasy, but James Islington’s writing here still has everything that makes the Hierarchy series stand out.

It’s super fast-paced - there aren’t any chapters, no real breaks, you’re just thrown straight in and carried along on a sci-fi thriller ride! I found this pacing great in that the plot moves quickly and keeps you engaged, although also found the worldbuilding doesn’t always have as much space to develop or fully settle.

I really liked the familiar social commentary you get in Islington’s books. There aren’t really clear good guys or bad guys - just people shaped by their circumstances, all operating in different shades of moral grey-ness.

I really enjoyed the ending, and it sets things up well for future instalments!

With thanks to Orion and NetGalley for the Arc.

[aria ✧]

Thank you Mr. Islington for keeping us fed until
Hierarchy 3🙏🏾

[Holly Hearts Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars // I think I’ve figured out why this book is getting mixed reviews.

You’re thrust into the middle of this story with no context, no background or world building. It felt like a small section of a much larger book. It’s solely about a “super advanced human” character arriving at this fancy most scifi house you can think of to make sure this old woman doesn’t die from unknown assassins. That’s it. It’s super straight and simple.

Though there is a flaw with this, there are moments where something is revealed to the main character who reacts completely bewildered, shocked and ‘how is this possible??’ but to the reader, it’s nothing. Because we have no idea why we’re supposed to be shocked with no context and lore. We can’t react the same as the main character.

I’m a bit disappointed but the later half does get better.

[Viv (vivianneslibrary) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, fast paced, thriller book from James Islington. Islington is a top author for me so I was very excited to get to this but I had my expectations lowered. It was action packed following a trained assassin hired to do a job. It was a very simple book which I think was one of my problems because I know he can do so much more with his writing. We needed more depth with our characters, and I would’ve liked a more complex plot. It was definitely worth the read though!
3.75⭐️

Thank you Saga Press for the early copy.

[Francine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good! Super fast-paced, literally finished this within a day. This was my first Islington book and I was not disappointed.

Azure has a normal job. Or at least, a legal one in a world where the rich can live forever. He is an assassin, hired to kill the rich who fall out of the public's good graces (killings are crowdfunded?). Because however awesome it sounds to live forever, if everyone did that, we'd have quite the resource problem. But then he's hired to protect someone. Not his typical job and the last time he did, well... let's just say it didn't go well.

I loved how the tone of voice made me immediately think of Carl, from Dungeon Crawler Carl. I'm sure if they met, they'd be instant friends (or kill each other, you never quite know). Islington throws you into the story, in a Sanderson-esque "I'm not telling you about the world, you figure it out" kind of way. And I don't mind it - it made me want to keep reading and I basically devoured the book that way.

My only gripe is the ending. Really, James? Was that absolutely necessary? You better write a sequel now because I have questions.

[Jono Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, quick read that feels like a precursor to something much bigger. It almost reads like a prologue, and when you think of it that way, it’s easier to forgive the rushed pacing and stunted world building. More than anything, it does exactly what it needs to do: gets you excited for whatever comes next.

[jo ❣︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

huge thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

🌱🔷🔸
happy release day!

so here's the thing, i probably had way too high of expectations for this book and then they got completely skewed halfway through. because at the start, i think i was having a good time. azure and his employee x boss old lady dynamic was genuinely fantastic and his humor was great for the vibes. and then everything went downhill. like the plot was there and i felt as if the ending was like we slightly forgot the rest of the book. i wish i could chalk it up to this not being my genre but i've been more into cyberpunk thrillers lately and i fear it was just this book. i do think james islington's writing in this was good but the will of the many's writing was better. it is a very fast read though! just a fast read with a dubious ending.

: pre review
no because getting this arc makes me feel super cool and like 🤙‍‍🤙‍

[tiana ♡]

pre-read notes:
Thank you so much Saga Press for the ARC of this book! I've been loving sci-fi and this sounds absolutely incredible. Especially seeing that little cyberpunk tag, I can't wait! 🤭
🗓️ Expected publication: September 1, 2026

[alyssa✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

fun & fast paced but i wanted way more depth 🥲

[AndaReadsTooMuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG YES! This is the sci-fi I have been missing in my life. My gods, this might have been on the shorter side but it packed so many punches that I am REELING. Damn you James Islington, leave some talent around for the rest of us, would you? It’s rude to hog it all.

Azure is a contract assassin. It’s not the perfect job, but it pays well. Until a job doesn’t go the way it should and well, everything blows up in his face. Literally. From there, it’s a race against forces unknown to find out why a) his assignment is being hunted and b) why this assignment knows far more about him than she should.

My heart is still pounding after reading this. It doesn’t slow down for a single second. We get to meet all sorts of fun things, including an Argos… which we still don’t have a solid explanation as to what the plural of that thing is (Argoses? Argosi? Argos? What is it!!?). Just that it has 8 arms similar to a primate and way too many eyes for me to be entirely comfortable thinking about it for more than two seconds. Ew.

And that ending? Sir. I would like to talk to you for a second. Just a second please. Why, why did you do that??

Look, if you’re craving the kind of sci-fi that’s set so far into the future that it makes Bladerunner and Fifth Element look old, then baby, this is for YOU. Scion hits shelves on September first, and you’d best be in line to grab yours. Mr. Islington does not miss.

6 microchips for this one

A world-sized thank you to Simon & Schuster/Saga Press and Edelweiss for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

[makilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

Scion follows Azure, an assassin who specializes in killing “lifers” AKA extremely wealthy people who can afford to pretty much live forever. Usually, Azure's job is to assassinate these people, but this time he's tasked with a protection job for an older woman who may have the answers to a tragedy that happened to him years ago.

This is a short, fast-paced dystopian novel, and the comp “Cyberpunk meets Blade Runner” is very fitting. There was quite a bit of interesting worldbuilding, but the story does not hold your hand at all. Instead of infodumping, you just have to figure out what all the terminology, people, and factions involved are all about on your own. It's not hard per se, especially since you get a lot of context clues through the dialogue, but it can be kind of disorienting at first since you’re just kind of thrown into the plot right away. If you don’t like books where you've got to figure out the world on your own, this might not be the book for you.

The pacing worked well for me, but I ultimately didn’t connect with the characters as much as I wanted to. This may be because the book isn’t really that long, it's around 240 pages, and most of it felt more plot-focused than character-focused. Although the plot twists were interesting, because I didn’t connect that much with the characters, they didn’t pack the same punch they might have had I felt more attached to them. I especially wish I had felt a little more connected to Azure, because the reveals around him definitely had the potential to hit harder.

I'd recommend this for fans of The Last Contract of Isako who maybe want something grittier, as well as anyone who enjoys the aesthetic of Cyberpunk, John Wick, and Blade Runner. I’m still a much bigger fan of Islington's Hierarchy series, but fans of his other books may find a lot to like here too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I'm a fan of James Islington. Scion is a new standalone novel featuring an assassin who has reluctantly been assigned to guard what he considers the oldest person alive. She isn't, but in this world where the people with money can become lifers and live forever at a young looking age, Jasa is out of the ordinary.

What follows is an action packed, on the run adventure trying to keep Jasa alive and protect her from whoever wants her dead. Azure prefers killing people. It is so much less complicated than keeping anyone alive. Usually he has his AI sidekick for help but even that has been taken away from him since she is so paranoid. If it wasn't for a file that may answer some questions about an event that put him in a coma for eight months as his employer put a ton of money into recinstructing him he might have called it quits.

This was a wild ride in a strange world where go fund me type crowdfunding eventually put together enough money to take out hits on "lifers". Azure, our character PoV works for one of these companies that take contacts once they are lucrative enough. We get to see some great tech from the modification that are in his body making him one of the best assassins for hire. Also the kind of security tech lifers need to help keep them alive. It was crazy interesting seeing how biology could be modified in this world.

Scion is different than Islington's other works and leans much more on SciFi aspects. I enjoyed the story but I'm a little torn on the ending. It will leave me pondering for awhile and I wouldn't rule out a second book in this world.

I sigh. “Atti? I think where possible, it would be best not to kill people we shouldn’t really kill.”
“Legally, this could be argued as self-defence.”
“Legally I’m meant to be in an incinerator, so maybe let’s not use that as our guiding light.”

[Preacher Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s no well kept secret that James Islington is an author that I love, but have no issues critiquing (looking at you, Strength of the Few).

When I heard that he was taking a crack at a fast-paced dystopian cyberpunk assassin novel, I was excited! Then, I got severely disappointed by another book that promised the same things and definitely didn’t deliver, and I got worried that Islington would make the same type of mistakes (AKA poor marketing).

Y’all, this is everything i wanted in a “Cyberpunk John Wick” story. It was fast. The characters, though not many, were compelling, unique, and actually impacted by their cyberpunk settting. In a short book, the work was done to make the tech and world believable and lived in. The main plot was driven by action, intrigue, mystery, and well timed twists and reveals.

I shouldn’t be surprised that Scion landed the plane as well, knowing Islington. The ending left me satisfied but wanting more in this world and from these characters. If this is a stand-alone, I’m content. If it’s the first in a series, I’m reading book two on day one!

Bravo, James! 4.5⭐️

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m starting to get weary of fantasy authors trying their hand at science fiction🫠

The narrative carries a lighthearted, funny tone, which vastly contrasts with the morally grey choices of the main character. The central plot is engaging, and while the twists aren’t entirely unexpected, they’re still somewhat satisfying. That said, I found myself wanting more closure by the end, which left disappointed (although I believe this will be a series)

I also struggled with the worldbuilding. It felt somewhat underdeveloped, making the setting difficult to fully visualize or navigate. I understand the constraints of a 240pg book, but even within that, there were moments where the pacing lagged. ALSO I never quite formed a strong connection to the characters. Their relationships and arcs could have used more depth, as the overall tone leaned a bit too light for the stakes at hand. Because of that, there wasn’t much tension and the story ultimately felt lower-stakes than it could have been. Womp

[Frank-Intergalactic Bookdragon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an eARC of this via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Scion is a cyperpunk thriller with fast-pacing and unfunny, MCU-esque humor that attempt to mask weak characterization and underdeveloped, unoriginal world building.

TWs: gore, violence, drug use.

[Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun surprise. Scion wastes very little time throwing you into its cyberpunk world, and I was hooked by the combination of futuristic tech, assassins, ridiculous wealth, and a society where the rules are completely different depending on how much power you have.

Azure was easily the highlight for me. He’s sarcastic, morally questionable, and incredibly entertaining to follow. I loved his banter and the way his personality kept the story fun even when things got violent. The action also moves FAST, which made this ridiculously easy to fly through.

I also really liked the ideas underneath all the chaos, especially the inequality, genetic modifications, and what immortality looks like when it’s essentially another privilege reserved for the wealthy. I just wish the book had been a little longer. There were parts of the world and characters I wanted to spend more time with, and another hundred pages could have pushed this into five-star territory for me.

Still, 4.5 stars (rounded to 5) is an easy rating. Fast, funny, violent, futuristic, and just the right amount of unhinged. I had an absolute blast with this one and definitely want more of this world.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scion is the surprising new book from the acclaimed author James Islington. Scion is science fiction thriller and definitely has nothing of similar from the previous works of James Islington.
A blend of altered carbon blade runner and total recall… Scion is one of the kind and the story while taking time to take off the last chapters are incredible.

The story is about Azure a mercenary for a big corp charged to mainly eliminate lifers. The lifers are wealthy people who can live indefinitely.
When a new job came Azure will have to protect the client for the first time in a while.
But very quickly Azure will comprehend that the new job is just a front and behind lie secrets .

I was a bit surprised by this new book . I read five books by the author and Scion is nothing to compare to them.
The tone is lighter and the pace is really fast.
Azure is really an interesting character and the technology in the book is great though not very original.
The last ten chapters was amazing as James Islington managed to provide with his usual cliffhanger.
I will recommend this book to anyone wanting fun and quick story.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

That ending made me shout, out loud, at work: "THAT'S IT??!" But it left me wanting more, so I really do feel as if this was a big success. (I might bump up my rating later.) I would definitely read a sequel, but it works as a standalone, too. Would make an excellent movie.

r/Fantasy BINGO 2026: One-Word Title: Story has a one-word title. HARD MODE: Title is NOT a proper noun (no names of people or places)!

[clicktojointhemafia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟 : ̗̀➛ Unexpectedly funny and such a sick take on Sci-Fi????

Scion follows Azure, an assassin who's (annoyingly) tasked with protecting a mystery client for two weeks. An assassin protecting someone? I know, sounds funny. Azure is prepared for a two week vacation until he actually begins his assignment and realises his client is deep in shit.

"They say money can't buy happiness. They've never seen Jasa de Alwes' accounts."

Now the only book I've read so far by James Islington is TWoTM which is a super serious and intense book that took some damn time to get into but this reading experience was SO incredibly different. For starters, I was pretty much hooked straight away within the first two chapters, and secondly the tone was so light hearted, unserious and humourous. Like can we applaud Mr Islington for the range????? Also the cover is so pretttyyyyy shut your mouth genuinely. The ilustration inside too, oooh yeah baby.

I reaaaaaallly enjoyed the concept. What I found super cool was Islington's Sci-Fi take on supernatural abilities because he gave Azure some wicked genetic modifications that grants him super speed, strength, precognition to some extent and so on! These were called Revs (short for revisions). Then there were also 'Monsters' called Bio's for short, which were kind of robotic creatures that also were quite animalistic in a physical/biological sense? It's hard to explain but I loved the concept.

Azure's relationship with his client was GOLDEN. I swear some of the shit he would say out loud and in his internal monologue had me cackling. He was such a chill-going guy with an ego and a half!! I won't reveal too much but I am excited for how it will develop.

Islington's story telling was great as always. I do believe he could have explained stuff alot more because my dumb ass has never heard of some of these scientific words before and would like some help pls. Especially since the book was only 234 pages, he could have totally squeezed some more words in to explain a little bit more. But honestly, in the end I feel like I was fine without it? Back to the page number- 234 pages?! It didn't even feel that short! It was such a fun ride I didnt even realise I was flying through the book, having fun as conflict, after conflict arose.

There was a variety of characters but hmmm. Maybe there could have been more of a connection between Azure and the others. It quite lacked in that sense, but then again I have no idea if that was intentional because of something we discover near the end... but honestly we needed him to have some more friends ✋ I know romance isn't Islington's forte but I just know a itty bitty subplot would have done wonders especially 'cause of how unserious Azure was so I'm hoping we either get a cute friendship or something cuter in the nextbook.

However the plot twists made up for that because omg?! omg? Genuinely if I was Azure I wouldn't know what to even do anymore. I'd be so lost. He kinda handled it well but we were left hanging on something!!! So I need to know now!!

AI and computer technology has a strong presence in this book. Our MC as their own AI called Atti, who has an personality btw and it really reminded me of Ken Liu's most recent book- All That We See or Seem. (great book btw, the character death that happens 60% in actually hurt me so fucking bad) but only in that sense. The characters are not alike LOL.

this was an spontaneous fun read- 3.5🌟

thank you to gollancz & netgalley for the early e-copy in exchange for an honest review xo

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 a generous rounding up to 4 star rating.

This wasn’t best served by reading it directly after Infinite State by Richard Swan, which I loved for its world building and high stakes plot development in 3 different perspectives. It was chef’s kiss for me. Or any of the other really great sci-if I’ve read this last 2 months. And it’s not trying to be anything more than a light, fun, sci-fi romp, so it definitely suffered in comparison. It’s light in tone while being about an assassin who was constantly attributing his actions to his job. Initially I wasn’t liking him or the world. The light tone with the heavy consequences of the world didn’t align for me. The tone had more in common with Dungeon Crawler Carl, without the heart or elaborate world building. One thing you can appreciate about Carl…he has heart. He does care. Half the time when Carl is frustrated or enraged the reader knows it’s not coming from a place of not caring about people. Mc in this, not so much. Kills because it’s his job. Doesn’t suffer any feelings about his job which is why most often than not, the assassin trope in a book doesn’t always work for me. If I’m in the head of a character who’s blasé about killing, he better have something else going for him. Definitely felt like a Ryan Reynolds playing Deadpool but in whatever this world was supposed to be kind of guy and book. In fact it would probably be very successful as a movie. Fast paced, humorous, potentially interesting world. However, I’d avoid that movie with every fibre of my being. So it was off to a rough start. About midway through it improved and other aspects of the mc’s character began to come to the front. He was capable of caring and there was an interesting element that explained his actions. I had guessed that element so it was also predictable. But had I not guessed it early on I might have just dnffed the book. That aspect that I suspected fairly early on did give insight to the part of the character I was struggling to connect with. So I ended up liking it. Was it enough to reread in the future and see if my feelings change? Maybe. I’m currently going through a major unhaul in my library. If it doesn’t make it to the pile I guess there’s a part of me that will be willing. It is James fucking Islington after all.

[Lauren (thebookscript) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll read anything Islington writes and that includes being dropped head first into a high octane cyberpunk novella following a genetically modified assassin for hire.

And when I say dropped, I mean completely. The world is already established and you’re just scrambling to keep up with each new creature, bio tech and evolving list of characters. I often rode out the story completely on vibes.

And I really liked that.

It was quirky. Our main character works as a contract k*ller where it is now legal to take out people who have discovered ways to prolong their morality.

The very first scene is Azure in his element followed by a job that throw him for a loop, and put him on the run, forcing him to re-evaluate everything he has ever known.

In true Islington style there were so many fun plot twists, with characters you cannot help but gravitate towards. Yes it’s gritty, yes it’s violent, but almost in a comical campy sort of way.

This almost reads like a prequel to the start of something new, and I really hope this isn’t the last we see of Azure!