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2121: EXODUS: Lupus Stella: Book One
A veteran. A dead world. A ship full of strangers. And an arm that remembers things he never told it.
June 2121. Colonel Theo Daniel wants nothing but his Texas ranch, his coffee, and the silence the VA can't prescribe. Twenty-three years after a grenade on Mars took his arm and his best friend, the military has one more thing to ask of him.
When a resource war over the Moon's helium-3 deposits spirals into global nuclear exchange, Theo is thrust from retirement into the fight to save what's left of humanity. His sister dies sheltering children in an Austin school basement. His commanding officer stays behind so others can leave. A man he trusted turns out to be the reason the grid fell.
Now Theo commands the Odyssey — a colony ship carrying ten thousand souls through a wormhole to a planet fourteen light-years from the ashes of Earth. But Lupus Stella is not the empty paradise they were promised. The forest watches. The predators learn. An ancient civilization left a warning carved in stone — and the thing they warned about has already found the signal.
2121: EXODUS is military science fiction with literary bones. A story of sacrifice, found family, and the stubborn refusal to let the dark win — written by a veteran who knows what it costs.
Book One of the Lupus Stella series.
June 2121. Colonel Theo Daniel wants nothing but his Texas ranch, his coffee, and the silence the VA can't prescribe. Twenty-three years after a grenade on Mars took his arm and his best friend, the military has one more thing to ask of him.
When a resource war over the Moon's helium-3 deposits spirals into global nuclear exchange, Theo is thrust from retirement into the fight to save what's left of humanity. His sister dies sheltering children in an Austin school basement. His commanding officer stays behind so others can leave. A man he trusted turns out to be the reason the grid fell.
Now Theo commands the Odyssey — a colony ship carrying ten thousand souls through a wormhole to a planet fourteen light-years from the ashes of Earth. But Lupus Stella is not the empty paradise they were promised. The forest watches. The predators learn. An ancient civilization left a warning carved in stone — and the thing they warned about has already found the signal.
2121: EXODUS is military science fiction with literary bones. A story of sacrifice, found family, and the stubborn refusal to let the dark win — written by a veteran who knows what it costs.
Book One of the Lupus Stella series.
271 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 3, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 12, 2026
3.5*
2121:Exodus is the first book in a speculative sci-fi series that follows veteran Theo after a nuclear war forces a worst-case-scenario-hopefully-won't-ever-need-it plan to relocate Earth's population at another planet, Lupus Stella.
I really enjoyed this book. I was expecting it to go all Lord of the Flies, and was very pleasantly surprised when it didn't. On the contrary. It's a quiet, introspective story about the people who are meant to plan, adapt, and hold it together, even when the only reasonable reaction would be to panic and scream. It's about carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders but still hoping for a new and bright tomorrow.
There's a constant feeling of eeriness that accompanies the characters throughout the book, and that sensation of "somethimg isn't right, but I can't really pinpoint what it is" really adds a thrilling element to the reading experience.
As for the downsides: at first, I had a hard time getting used to the lack of dialogue marks, which made it a bit confusing and difficult to identify what was description/inner thought, and what was actually said. I also found that there were some blocks of short sentences that ended up sounding choppy and repetitive.
All in all, this is a solid debut and I'll be keeping an eye out for the next installment in the series.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. My opinions are all my own.
2121:Exodus is the first book in a speculative sci-fi series that follows veteran Theo after a nuclear war forces a worst-case-scenario-hopefully-won't-ever-need-it plan to relocate Earth's population at another planet, Lupus Stella.
I really enjoyed this book. I was expecting it to go all Lord of the Flies, and was very pleasantly surprised when it didn't. On the contrary. It's a quiet, introspective story about the people who are meant to plan, adapt, and hold it together, even when the only reasonable reaction would be to panic and scream. It's about carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders but still hoping for a new and bright tomorrow.
There's a constant feeling of eeriness that accompanies the characters throughout the book, and that sensation of "somethimg isn't right, but I can't really pinpoint what it is" really adds a thrilling element to the reading experience.
As for the downsides: at first, I had a hard time getting used to the lack of dialogue marks, which made it a bit confusing and difficult to identify what was description/inner thought, and what was actually said. I also found that there were some blocks of short sentences that ended up sounding choppy and repetitive.
All in all, this is a solid debut and I'll be keeping an eye out for the next installment in the series.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. My opinions are all my own.
April 28, 2026
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
I was so excited to start 2121: Exodus – Lupus Stella by Scott D Rodriguez. After spotting it on NetGalley, I ended up visiting the author’s website and found a section that expanded on the world of 2121: Exodus. That extra layer of detail really pulled me in and made me feel connected to the story before I’d even turned the first page.
One of the things I enjoyed most was the writing style. The short, punchy sentences create a strong sense of pace while still allowing for depth and immersion. A small moment like Theo making a cup of coffee was described so vividly—it really shows you don’t need long paragraphs to draw a reader in.
The style suits the genre perfectly and keeps everything feeling immediate and engaging.
I also found the choice to omit traditional speech marks for dialogue really interesting. It’s not something I’ve come across before, but it worked surprisingly well and added to the book’s unique voice.
The character work stood out too. The author clearly understands people—there’s a relatability to the interactions and emotions that makes everything feel grounded. I especially enjoyed the subtle, ominous hints throughout, particularly the moments Theo “files” away for later. They added a quiet tension that kept me intrigued.
Another highlight was the presence of strong female characters, which felt refreshing within a military sci-fi setting.
My one main criticism would be the blurb. I felt it revealed far too much—arguably covering around the first 60% of the story. Because of that, some of the emotional moments didn’t land as strongly as they could have, simply because I already knew they were coming. A more restrained blurb—hinting at the war and its impact on Theo without giving away major developments—would allow the story to unfold more powerfully.
That said, once the story moved beyond that initial portion, it really picked up. The final stretch was gripping, exciting, and exactly what I was hoping for.
Overall, this was an engaging and promising start, and I’m definitely excited to see where the story goes next in book two.
I was so excited to start 2121: Exodus – Lupus Stella by Scott D Rodriguez. After spotting it on NetGalley, I ended up visiting the author’s website and found a section that expanded on the world of 2121: Exodus. That extra layer of detail really pulled me in and made me feel connected to the story before I’d even turned the first page.
One of the things I enjoyed most was the writing style. The short, punchy sentences create a strong sense of pace while still allowing for depth and immersion. A small moment like Theo making a cup of coffee was described so vividly—it really shows you don’t need long paragraphs to draw a reader in.
The style suits the genre perfectly and keeps everything feeling immediate and engaging.
I also found the choice to omit traditional speech marks for dialogue really interesting. It’s not something I’ve come across before, but it worked surprisingly well and added to the book’s unique voice.
The character work stood out too. The author clearly understands people—there’s a relatability to the interactions and emotions that makes everything feel grounded. I especially enjoyed the subtle, ominous hints throughout, particularly the moments Theo “files” away for later. They added a quiet tension that kept me intrigued.
Another highlight was the presence of strong female characters, which felt refreshing within a military sci-fi setting.
My one main criticism would be the blurb. I felt it revealed far too much—arguably covering around the first 60% of the story. Because of that, some of the emotional moments didn’t land as strongly as they could have, simply because I already knew they were coming. A more restrained blurb—hinting at the war and its impact on Theo without giving away major developments—would allow the story to unfold more powerfully.
That said, once the story moved beyond that initial portion, it really picked up. The final stretch was gripping, exciting, and exactly what I was hoping for.
Overall, this was an engaging and promising start, and I’m definitely excited to see where the story goes next in book two.
May 23, 2026
Rating this book was unexpectedly difficult. The story itself is extraordinary — the kind of ambitious, imaginative sci‑fi that reminds me why I read the genre in the first place. Both settings, Earth in its final decline and the new world of Lupus Stella, are built with such clarity and detail level that I never questioned any single scene. The scientific and technical elements are a joy; as an engineer, I found myself genuinely delighted by the ingenuity behind the systems, space travel, and tech problem‑solving. The military aspects are equally strong, especially battle scenes, and the way the book handles the emotional weight veterans carry long after the fighting stops. If I could rate the story alone, it would be a ten‑star book.
But the reading experience is held back by something that has nothing to do with the author’s imagination: the lack of professional editing.
Dialogue and inner thoughts blend into the surrounding text with no visual distinction. Questions appear without question marks. Exclamation marks are missing. The punctuation palette is reduced almost entirely to commas and periods, which makes the rhythm feel flat and sometimes confusing. Sentences are often cut in abrupt fragments — not stylistic fragments, but mechanical ones.
Examples like:
He paused.
And Ava.
Yes Theo.
If that generator twitches again. Any fluctuation at all...
break the flow instead of building tension.
There’s also noticeable repetition, for example scenes describing Clara and her children found in the basement — the same sentence structure reappears multiple times, word for word.
And that’s the frustrating part: the book itself is brilliant. The execution on the page just needs the support of a professional editor to match the quality of the ideas.
Despite these issues, I’m genuinely excited for part two. The world, the science, the emotional core — all of it is strong enough that I want to continue. I only hope the next installment gets the editorial polish this story deserves.
ARC provided via NetGalley.
But the reading experience is held back by something that has nothing to do with the author’s imagination: the lack of professional editing.
Dialogue and inner thoughts blend into the surrounding text with no visual distinction. Questions appear without question marks. Exclamation marks are missing. The punctuation palette is reduced almost entirely to commas and periods, which makes the rhythm feel flat and sometimes confusing. Sentences are often cut in abrupt fragments — not stylistic fragments, but mechanical ones.
Examples like:
He paused.
And Ava.
Yes Theo.
If that generator twitches again. Any fluctuation at all...
break the flow instead of building tension.
There’s also noticeable repetition, for example scenes describing Clara and her children found in the basement — the same sentence structure reappears multiple times, word for word.
And that’s the frustrating part: the book itself is brilliant. The execution on the page just needs the support of a professional editor to match the quality of the ideas.
Despite these issues, I’m genuinely excited for part two. The world, the science, the emotional core — all of it is strong enough that I want to continue. I only hope the next installment gets the editorial polish this story deserves.
ARC provided via NetGalley.
April 23, 2026
This entire novel was lost behind a sea of analogies. The plot? Analogies. Character development? Analogies. World building? Analogies. I think I’ve read enough analogies in this book alone to last me the rest of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy them as much as anyone else and they can work wonders when used correctly in novels. But to have 4-5 of them on each page in a 271 page novel? I wish I was exaggerating.
The characters fell short of creating any type of emotional connection to the readers. They all felt undisguisable from one another given the lack of depth and personality. It didn’t help that there was zero distinction between internal monologues and external conversations. (and yes, there were still analogies in both of those).
The science part of the sci-fi genre was portrayed with a perfect blend of technical writing and creativity; and I thoroughly enjoyed reading (between analogies as you might have guessed). I will say that the reward for finishing the novel was far greater than I expected, and solely for that reason I’m glad I didn’t decide to DNF.
The characters fell short of creating any type of emotional connection to the readers. They all felt undisguisable from one another given the lack of depth and personality. It didn’t help that there was zero distinction between internal monologues and external conversations. (and yes, there were still analogies in both of those).
The science part of the sci-fi genre was portrayed with a perfect blend of technical writing and creativity; and I thoroughly enjoyed reading (between analogies as you might have guessed). I will say that the reward for finishing the novel was far greater than I expected, and solely for that reason I’m glad I didn’t decide to DNF.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews