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Mercy's Gate
This is Futurum, Death’s Hollow, and where they’re going, there is no mercy.
Jacks is a corporate extraction operative with a well-honed team. His goal is to survive while they collect whatever industrial secret, agent, or turncoat executive needs removing from under the noses of AstEx’s main competitors.
That is until the mission of a lifetime falls into his team’s lap, promising more money than they could possibly imagine.
The target? An organic object known as the heartseed, prized by an alien race, that grows on a hostile planet.
The remit? Four corporate squads all competing for the same target, and to the winners, exclusive access to alien technology.
The catch? Six months, one hundred and fourteen teams of lost souls, ninety-three dropships, and the highest echelon of military technology, yet no one has ever come back from Futurum alive.
Time is running out, and where they’re going, everything wants to kill, eat, or lay its eggs inside you. Possibly all three.
But Jacks’ greatest enemy could be his own mind as the creeping malevolence of the planet worms its way in. As his reality fractures, he begins to question what the aliens really want, and whether this world will ever let it go.
This is a team deathmatch on a world that rejects contact. Think Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer meets Battle Royale, where the planet is more dangerous than the competitors.
Jacks is a corporate extraction operative with a well-honed team. His goal is to survive while they collect whatever industrial secret, agent, or turncoat executive needs removing from under the noses of AstEx’s main competitors.
That is until the mission of a lifetime falls into his team’s lap, promising more money than they could possibly imagine.
The target? An organic object known as the heartseed, prized by an alien race, that grows on a hostile planet.
The remit? Four corporate squads all competing for the same target, and to the winners, exclusive access to alien technology.
The catch? Six months, one hundred and fourteen teams of lost souls, ninety-three dropships, and the highest echelon of military technology, yet no one has ever come back from Futurum alive.
Time is running out, and where they’re going, everything wants to kill, eat, or lay its eggs inside you. Possibly all three.
But Jacks’ greatest enemy could be his own mind as the creeping malevolence of the planet worms its way in. As his reality fractures, he begins to question what the aliens really want, and whether this world will ever let it go.
This is a team deathmatch on a world that rejects contact. Think Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer meets Battle Royale, where the planet is more dangerous than the competitors.
367 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2026
About the author
Nick Snape
25 books91 followersNick Snape has been steeped in Science Fiction and Fantasy since his friends first dragged him from his schoolwork and stuck a book under his nose. Lost to the world of imagination he became a teacher by accident though he thoroughly enjoyed developing the joy of reading and writing in his pupils. Having retired after thirty years he thought it was high time to practise what he preached.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 25, 2026
5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A great performance!
Complete review to come soon.
A great performance!
Complete review to come soon.
August 30, 2026
Atmospheric, Ominous, Malignant & Thrilling, Mercy’s Gate meshes horror with SF in a truly outstandingly creepy unsettling manner
August 12, 2026
‘Pilot. Planetfall. And he was falling…’ – An engrossing sci-fi fantasy begins!
UK author Nick Snape has retired from teaching and devotes his acumen to creating fantasy science fiction: his excellent series to date include Weapons of Choice, The Wrecking Squad, Warriors of Spirit and Bone, The Scorching Standalones – and now he unveils his new series The Heartseed Chronicle with the bristling MERCY’S GATE. Opening with a telling moment that illustrates the author’s ability to establish immediate atmosphere well, Snape writes – ‘As if awoken from the bottomless pit of a stark but swiftly forgotten dream, he opened his eyes. Except this still had to be beyond reality. A hypno-induced dreamscape. Scent filled his nose, dense, pungent, tickling his senses with a deep earthy aroma. The source hovered above him, a branch, the bark like a lizard’s scales, straddled by a dry nest of tangled moss at the centre of which lay three purple…eggs? Spores, perhaps, or fruiting bodies. Yes, that was the term….’
This being the initial offering a ne series, Snapes provides a helpful synopsis: ‘‘This is Futurum, Death’s Hollow, and where Jacks is going, there is no mercy. Jacks, a corporate-owned mercenary, leads a skilled extraction squad. His goal is to buy out his lifetime contract by collecting whatever industrial secrets, agents, or turncoat executives AstEx Corp wants removed from under the noses of their main competitors. That is until the mission of a lifetime falls into his team’s lap, promising more money than they could possibly imagine. The target? An organic object known as the heartseed, prized by an alien race, that grows on a hostile planet. The remit? Four corporate squads all competing for the same target, and to the winners, exclusive access to alien technology. The catch? Six months, one hundred and fourteen teams of lost souls, ninety-three dropships, and the highest echelon of military technology, yet no one has ever come back from Futurum alive. Time is running out, and where they’re going, everything wants to kill, eat, or lay its eggs inside them. Possibly all three. But Jacks’ greatest enemy just might be his own mind as the creeping malevolence of the planet worms its way in. As his reality fractures, he begins to question what the aliens really want, and whether this world will ever let it go.’
In this absorbing series Snape successfully introduces a keen sense of realism with this knowledge of military action confronting alien technology, presented so naturally that the advanced sci-fi concepts appear wholly credible. He has created characters worthy of following in this stunning series. Very highly recommended
UK author Nick Snape has retired from teaching and devotes his acumen to creating fantasy science fiction: his excellent series to date include Weapons of Choice, The Wrecking Squad, Warriors of Spirit and Bone, The Scorching Standalones – and now he unveils his new series The Heartseed Chronicle with the bristling MERCY’S GATE. Opening with a telling moment that illustrates the author’s ability to establish immediate atmosphere well, Snape writes – ‘As if awoken from the bottomless pit of a stark but swiftly forgotten dream, he opened his eyes. Except this still had to be beyond reality. A hypno-induced dreamscape. Scent filled his nose, dense, pungent, tickling his senses with a deep earthy aroma. The source hovered above him, a branch, the bark like a lizard’s scales, straddled by a dry nest of tangled moss at the centre of which lay three purple…eggs? Spores, perhaps, or fruiting bodies. Yes, that was the term….’
This being the initial offering a ne series, Snapes provides a helpful synopsis: ‘‘This is Futurum, Death’s Hollow, and where Jacks is going, there is no mercy. Jacks, a corporate-owned mercenary, leads a skilled extraction squad. His goal is to buy out his lifetime contract by collecting whatever industrial secrets, agents, or turncoat executives AstEx Corp wants removed from under the noses of their main competitors. That is until the mission of a lifetime falls into his team’s lap, promising more money than they could possibly imagine. The target? An organic object known as the heartseed, prized by an alien race, that grows on a hostile planet. The remit? Four corporate squads all competing for the same target, and to the winners, exclusive access to alien technology. The catch? Six months, one hundred and fourteen teams of lost souls, ninety-three dropships, and the highest echelon of military technology, yet no one has ever come back from Futurum alive. Time is running out, and where they’re going, everything wants to kill, eat, or lay its eggs inside them. Possibly all three. But Jacks’ greatest enemy just might be his own mind as the creeping malevolence of the planet worms its way in. As his reality fractures, he begins to question what the aliens really want, and whether this world will ever let it go.’
In this absorbing series Snape successfully introduces a keen sense of realism with this knowledge of military action confronting alien technology, presented so naturally that the advanced sci-fi concepts appear wholly credible. He has created characters worthy of following in this stunning series. Very highly recommended
August 17, 2026
Yet another intense and gripping tale from the unstoppable mind of Nick Snape! The detailing behind the new worlds he creates simply gets better and better with each new book. Mercy's Gate is the start of another series, where we get an eye-opening and immersive dive of the hostile planet Futurum.
We follow corporate-owned mercenary, Jacks, and his specialised team who are sent to a far-flung planet to procure an organic matter called the heartseed - coveted by an alien race who have hired corporations and their teams to retrieve it. Yet none have succeeded, or returned alive.
Facing unsurmountable odds, the biological lifeforms of the planet are intent on removing Jacks and his team. From monkey-like creatures, aggressive plant matter to giant worm-like behemoths, Futurum is a veritable nightmare. Like an adrenaline-rushed quest, the visceral images were realistic and heart-pounding, the odds confounding, and the ending, satisfying. I cannot wait for the next in the series to see what more is in store for Jacks and his team.
We follow corporate-owned mercenary, Jacks, and his specialised team who are sent to a far-flung planet to procure an organic matter called the heartseed - coveted by an alien race who have hired corporations and their teams to retrieve it. Yet none have succeeded, or returned alive.
Facing unsurmountable odds, the biological lifeforms of the planet are intent on removing Jacks and his team. From monkey-like creatures, aggressive plant matter to giant worm-like behemoths, Futurum is a veritable nightmare. Like an adrenaline-rushed quest, the visceral images were realistic and heart-pounding, the odds confounding, and the ending, satisfying. I cannot wait for the next in the series to see what more is in store for Jacks and his team.
August 27, 2026
The book hook me from the start. the fast pase action. I hade little hard with the writing stile (it may for my last to books was young adult. I will read book 2 and may tray to reread then
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews