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Massif
Gripping, intelligent science-fiction from worldwide bestselling author Garth Nix. For fans of the Expanse series by James S A Corey including Leviathan Wakes, and David Weber's Honor Harrington books.
Caught me a mountain
Rode it to the stars
It's business as usual for Ship Leader Parnell Shi-Sawahla and the crew of the corvette Sassafras. Ride a Massif to a new system, fight the enemy, repeat. For more than two hundred years humans have been hitching rides on these sentient, starfaring mountain ranges, colonising planets and exporting an on-again, off-again war between Earth and Mars.
But the big questions are always there, behind every battle, every new colony, every new star system discovery.
Why do the Massifs carry humans to the stars?
Why do they help us export our wars?
What's in it for the Massifs?
Ship crews aren't supposed to ask these questions, they aren't supposed to think about these questions, and they definitely aren't supposed to go deep and talk to Massif avatars. But now Parnell and his tight-knit crew must try to find the answers, to save not only themselves but the future of humanity.
Caught me a mountain
Rode it to the stars
It's business as usual for Ship Leader Parnell Shi-Sawahla and the crew of the corvette Sassafras. Ride a Massif to a new system, fight the enemy, repeat. For more than two hundred years humans have been hitching rides on these sentient, starfaring mountain ranges, colonising planets and exporting an on-again, off-again war between Earth and Mars.
But the big questions are always there, behind every battle, every new colony, every new star system discovery.
Why do the Massifs carry humans to the stars?
Why do they help us export our wars?
What's in it for the Massifs?
Ship crews aren't supposed to ask these questions, they aren't supposed to think about these questions, and they definitely aren't supposed to go deep and talk to Massif avatars. But now Parnell and his tight-knit crew must try to find the answers, to save not only themselves but the future of humanity.
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 8, 2026
About the author
Garth Nix
230 books15.2k followersGarth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing 'Hail the Conquering Hero Comes' or possibly 'Roll Out the Barrel'. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter.
Despite a wheel literally falling off the Austin, Garth survived to return to Australia and study at the University of Canberra. After finishing his degree in 1986 he worked in a bookshop, then as a book publicist, a publisher's sales representative, and editor. Along the way he was also a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve, serving in an Assault Pioneer platoon for four years. Garth left publishing to work as a public relations and marketing consultant from 1994-1997, till he became a full-time writer in 1998. He did that for a year before joining Curtis Brown Australia as a part-time literary agent in 1999. In January 2002 Garth went back to dedicated writer again, despite his belief that full-time writing explains the strange behaviour of many authors.
He now lives in Sydney with his wife, two sons and lots of books.
Despite a wheel literally falling off the Austin, Garth survived to return to Australia and study at the University of Canberra. After finishing his degree in 1986 he worked in a bookshop, then as a book publicist, a publisher's sales representative, and editor. Along the way he was also a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve, serving in an Assault Pioneer platoon for four years. Garth left publishing to work as a public relations and marketing consultant from 1994-1997, till he became a full-time writer in 1998. He did that for a year before joining Curtis Brown Australia as a part-time literary agent in 1999. In January 2002 Garth went back to dedicated writer again, despite his belief that full-time writing explains the strange behaviour of many authors.
He now lives in Sydney with his wife, two sons and lots of books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Humanity conquered the stars. It just never figured out what was carrying us there. My thanks to Allen & Unwin for the arc.
In Garth Nix's Massif, enormous, mysterious mountain ranges - Massifs - have become the galactic highways of the future, their technology forming the backbone of civilisation despite humans only vaguely understanding how they work, where they came from or what their purpose might be. Meanwhile Earth is ravaged by climate change and military service in the endless war with Mars offers a chance to escape to an off world colony. But even centuries into the future, some things never change - bureaucracy, paperwork and endless red tape.
On the surface it's a relatively straightforward rescue mission, following one crew's struggles to rescue their marooned team member. But woven through every setback and bureaucratic roadblock is the tantalising Massif mystery, growing stranger and more unsettling as they get closer to their goal.
The crew dynamic is delightful. Their loyalty, trust and problem solving under pressure gives the story a strong found family heart, while the increasingly strange encounters with the Massifs introduce flashes of genuinely creepy horror. The way the avatars affect humans adding an eerie edge to an otherwise grounded military scifi.
The opening is packed with military terminology and Massif mechanics but I enjoyed the immediate immersion and gradual payoff. It lays the bones of an expansive world and mystery exploring humanity’s relentless curiosity, drive to explore, the limits of our power and the danger of exploiting things we don’t understand simply because we can. There’s even an uncomfortable echo of climate change in the idea of technological progress creating consequences we may not fully understand until it’s too late.
As the mystery finally collides with the crew’s increasingly desperate rescue mission, everything comes together in a tense, explosive climax with an emotional gut punch. The revelations are intense but just as their implications begin to unfold the book ends.
Which left me wanting more.
More Massifs. More of this strange future. More consequences.
I can only hope Nix plans to return.
In Garth Nix's Massif, enormous, mysterious mountain ranges - Massifs - have become the galactic highways of the future, their technology forming the backbone of civilisation despite humans only vaguely understanding how they work, where they came from or what their purpose might be. Meanwhile Earth is ravaged by climate change and military service in the endless war with Mars offers a chance to escape to an off world colony. But even centuries into the future, some things never change - bureaucracy, paperwork and endless red tape.
On the surface it's a relatively straightforward rescue mission, following one crew's struggles to rescue their marooned team member. But woven through every setback and bureaucratic roadblock is the tantalising Massif mystery, growing stranger and more unsettling as they get closer to their goal.
The crew dynamic is delightful. Their loyalty, trust and problem solving under pressure gives the story a strong found family heart, while the increasingly strange encounters with the Massifs introduce flashes of genuinely creepy horror. The way the avatars affect humans adding an eerie edge to an otherwise grounded military scifi.
The opening is packed with military terminology and Massif mechanics but I enjoyed the immediate immersion and gradual payoff. It lays the bones of an expansive world and mystery exploring humanity’s relentless curiosity, drive to explore, the limits of our power and the danger of exploiting things we don’t understand simply because we can. There’s even an uncomfortable echo of climate change in the idea of technological progress creating consequences we may not fully understand until it’s too late.
As the mystery finally collides with the crew’s increasingly desperate rescue mission, everything comes together in a tense, explosive climax with an emotional gut punch. The revelations are intense but just as their implications begin to unfold the book ends.
Which left me wanting more.
More Massifs. More of this strange future. More consequences.
I can only hope Nix plans to return.
April 24, 2026
In one word: Excellent!
It’s been forever since I read Garth Nix, I loved his Abhorsen series but aged out. Just like Sabriel, Massif has a lot of world building to push through that at times felt dense. Nix has a fecund imagination and once I stopped trying to steer & settled in for the ride, I was delighted with where he lead.
Massif starts off strong. Quickly we learn that a series of small mountains, or Massifs, have broken free from different plants and travel the stars crisscrossing each other in fixed routes. Humans have been hitching rides on Massifs, colonizing every habitable planet they come across & starting wars with each other over them.
Our story opens with the crew of Sassafras readying to launch off a Massif into battle against a company of Mars colonizers. The battle is a dumpster fire with both sides suffering massive casualties, loss of ships and a member of the Sassafras’s crew is lost on the planet below. The book then focuses on Ship Leader Parnells attempts to rebuild the Sassafras & rescue them. Unfortunately the more we learn about the Massifs, the more we’re forced to question what their true intentions are.
It’s been forever since I read Garth Nix, I loved his Abhorsen series but aged out. Just like Sabriel, Massif has a lot of world building to push through that at times felt dense. Nix has a fecund imagination and once I stopped trying to steer & settled in for the ride, I was delighted with where he lead.
Massif starts off strong. Quickly we learn that a series of small mountains, or Massifs, have broken free from different plants and travel the stars crisscrossing each other in fixed routes. Humans have been hitching rides on Massifs, colonizing every habitable planet they come across & starting wars with each other over them.
Our story opens with the crew of Sassafras readying to launch off a Massif into battle against a company of Mars colonizers. The battle is a dumpster fire with both sides suffering massive casualties, loss of ships and a member of the Sassafras’s crew is lost on the planet below. The book then focuses on Ship Leader Parnells attempts to rebuild the Sassafras & rescue them. Unfortunately the more we learn about the Massifs, the more we’re forced to question what their true intentions are.
September 13, 2026
Massif feels like a video game. It could be No Man’s Sky. Mass Effect. Or anything of the kind.
Don’t get me wrong, Massif is dense to begin with. It throws you in the deep end and expects you to learn on the job, and it expects you to learn quick.
But if you can get through that “tutorial” and immersion into a humanity that has ascended to space flight, centuries old political and theological differences causing two rival factions (that old doozy), then what you’ll get is a pretty cool, science fiction adventure, with a little smattering of what is maybe trying to be horror, thriller? Something darker.
A good portion of this book takes place aboard spaceships. And the vast remainder takes place aboard a massif. Which is a kind of spaceship. But nobody knows what they are. Or why they are.
Yet in typical human style, we just go with it and try take advantage of these mysterious things for our own gain with zero context or clarity.
I hear ya.
We’re stupid aren’t we.
But when you delve a bit deeper into this, there’s another kind of story - beyond the cool space exploration and alien fuelled adventures.
There’s a story of bonding and family. Finding people who you feel at home with and would go to the ends of the earth (and beyond - literally), to help.
I will say, the pacing of this is a little haphazard. There are points where the storyline is slowed down and we’re forced to play the waiting game, and other points where there’s extreme urgency with little rhyme or reason for the differentiators.
But pacing aside, I think this is a really solid adult sci fi debut for Nix. I know he’s done a LOT of YA and children’s lit, but I had a good time with this. I think I’d have been more content with it being even darker, and more adult themes outside of “fuck” getting dropped into discourse a fair few times.
But a solid sci fi.
Rounded up to a 4 from 3.75, because it felt better than a 3.5, but missing a little bit from a 4.
4.0/5.0
Don’t get me wrong, Massif is dense to begin with. It throws you in the deep end and expects you to learn on the job, and it expects you to learn quick.
But if you can get through that “tutorial” and immersion into a humanity that has ascended to space flight, centuries old political and theological differences causing two rival factions (that old doozy), then what you’ll get is a pretty cool, science fiction adventure, with a little smattering of what is maybe trying to be horror, thriller? Something darker.
A good portion of this book takes place aboard spaceships. And the vast remainder takes place aboard a massif. Which is a kind of spaceship. But nobody knows what they are. Or why they are.
Yet in typical human style, we just go with it and try take advantage of these mysterious things for our own gain with zero context or clarity.
I hear ya.
We’re stupid aren’t we.
But when you delve a bit deeper into this, there’s another kind of story - beyond the cool space exploration and alien fuelled adventures.
There’s a story of bonding and family. Finding people who you feel at home with and would go to the ends of the earth (and beyond - literally), to help.
I will say, the pacing of this is a little haphazard. There are points where the storyline is slowed down and we’re forced to play the waiting game, and other points where there’s extreme urgency with little rhyme or reason for the differentiators.
But pacing aside, I think this is a really solid adult sci fi debut for Nix. I know he’s done a LOT of YA and children’s lit, but I had a good time with this. I think I’d have been more content with it being even darker, and more adult themes outside of “fuck” getting dropped into discourse a fair few times.
But a solid sci fi.
Rounded up to a 4 from 3.75, because it felt better than a 3.5, but missing a little bit from a 4.
4.0/5.0
August 2, 2026
This is the kind of science fiction that reminds me why I love the genre.
I’ll be honest—the opening is dense. Garth Nix throws you straight into the worldbuilding, and there is a lot to take in. If you’re someone who struggles with books that don’t hold your hand in the beginning, the first few chapters may feel like work. Personally? I love immersive worldbuilding, so I was more than happy to settle in and let the pieces come together.
And once they do… wow.
The concept alone is one of the most original I’ve read in a long time. Sentient mountain ranges that travel through space carrying civilizations from world to world? I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anything quite like it. Every time I thought I understood where the story was heading, it introduced another fascinating idea that made me want to keep reading.
Beyond the incredible science fiction concepts, I really enjoyed the crew dynamics and the found family that developed over the course of the story. Once I became invested in the characters, the emotional moments landed surprisingly hard.
This definitely isn’t an action-packed, fast-paced sci-fi. It’s a thoughtful, idea-driven story that asks big questions about humanity, exploration, war, and why we seek out the unknown. If that’s the kind of science fiction you enjoy, I think you’ll have a fantastic time with this one.
The opening asks for a little patience, but I thought the payoff was absolutely worth it.
I’ll be honest—the opening is dense. Garth Nix throws you straight into the worldbuilding, and there is a lot to take in. If you’re someone who struggles with books that don’t hold your hand in the beginning, the first few chapters may feel like work. Personally? I love immersive worldbuilding, so I was more than happy to settle in and let the pieces come together.
And once they do… wow.
The concept alone is one of the most original I’ve read in a long time. Sentient mountain ranges that travel through space carrying civilizations from world to world? I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anything quite like it. Every time I thought I understood where the story was heading, it introduced another fascinating idea that made me want to keep reading.
Beyond the incredible science fiction concepts, I really enjoyed the crew dynamics and the found family that developed over the course of the story. Once I became invested in the characters, the emotional moments landed surprisingly hard.
This definitely isn’t an action-packed, fast-paced sci-fi. It’s a thoughtful, idea-driven story that asks big questions about humanity, exploration, war, and why we seek out the unknown. If that’s the kind of science fiction you enjoy, I think you’ll have a fantastic time with this one.
The opening asks for a little patience, but I thought the payoff was absolutely worth it.
2026
March 25, 2026📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager
August 20, 2026
This is my first book by this author but given his publishing career, I took a gamble on this one going in blind based on the author's reputation alone. I enjoyed this one, though I also see why it got mixed reviews. This is pretty classic, golden-age sci fi of the type I am especially partial to.
The Massifs are alien spaceships that have allowed humans the ability of space travel, but what their greater purpose is, no one really knows. Some people worship them, others study them. Ship Leader Parnell guides his ragtag crew through an endless war with Mars, but when a surprise ceasefire is announced, he launches a desperate search to recover a lost crewmember. He has a charming side romance with a crewmember when they become civilians that is a small part of the story but helped provide comic relief to the military adventure.
The pacing of this action packed adventure could be rather uneven. I had a hard time emotionally connecting to the story at first, as it started off by infodumping technical terminology. And some of the characters lacked a bit of emotional depth.
But I love found family crew stories when they are done right, and this pulled me in soon enough with that angle. I wouldn't call this Firefly as it didn't have the tongue-in-cheek humor of that show, but the found family crew was well done and each side character stood out on their own, with some fun banter between them. It was heavy on military sci fi but I found that refreshing in a sea of spicy romantasy. I also thought it was fun for how there was a legitimate explanation for why they still used typewriters and swords. It had a very dieselpunk feel.
I would read more in this series and hope it's not a stand alone; the ending was open ended enough to go either way.
Now I'll have to check out this author's back catalog. I hope we are finally starting to see the tide turn and will be seeing more great sci fi like this. I'd say this is a good book to turn to if you enjoyed Project Hail Mary and want more sci fi like that.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The Massifs are alien spaceships that have allowed humans the ability of space travel, but what their greater purpose is, no one really knows. Some people worship them, others study them. Ship Leader Parnell guides his ragtag crew through an endless war with Mars, but when a surprise ceasefire is announced, he launches a desperate search to recover a lost crewmember. He has a charming side romance with a crewmember when they become civilians that is a small part of the story but helped provide comic relief to the military adventure.
The pacing of this action packed adventure could be rather uneven. I had a hard time emotionally connecting to the story at first, as it started off by infodumping technical terminology. And some of the characters lacked a bit of emotional depth.
But I love found family crew stories when they are done right, and this pulled me in soon enough with that angle. I wouldn't call this Firefly as it didn't have the tongue-in-cheek humor of that show, but the found family crew was well done and each side character stood out on their own, with some fun banter between them. It was heavy on military sci fi but I found that refreshing in a sea of spicy romantasy. I also thought it was fun for how there was a legitimate explanation for why they still used typewriters and swords. It had a very dieselpunk feel.
I would read more in this series and hope it's not a stand alone; the ending was open ended enough to go either way.
Now I'll have to check out this author's back catalog. I hope we are finally starting to see the tide turn and will be seeing more great sci fi like this. I'd say this is a good book to turn to if you enjoyed Project Hail Mary and want more sci fi like that.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
September 13, 2026
I took me a while to get into this. The concept of the Massifs was fascinating, but also weird in a way that I wasn‘t sure I would like. I got strong James S.A. Corey vibes. If you like them or Adrian Tchaikovsky‘s SF, this will probably be right down your alley. It works very well as a standalone novel, as it is probably meant to be, but can we please have a sequel? There is no annoying cliffhanger, but the ending leaves us in a place for a great follow-up.
🐙🐙🐙🐙½, rounded up.
We live in a universe where mountain ranges take off into space, crewed by human military taking their wars along to other colonized worlds. Massifs are not quite Big Dumb Objects, as they have avatars inhabiting their depths, but it makes them worrisome rides. What are their intentions and why do they take humanity into space?
Ship Leader Parnell Shi-Sawahla is our main character. He captains the Basic Sassafras, a type of craft gifted to humans by the Massifs and directed telepathically by „sensitives“ like Parnell. He is accompanied by a small military crew and they all share a tight bond. They are stationed on a Massif to fight „Marsies“ in a long standing conflict. When one of the crew goes MIA, Parnell and his crew do everything in their power to rescue their crewmate.
I am a big fan of found families and tightly knit groups of people and their „we against the rest of the world“ approach, so Parnell and his crew really carried the novel for me. It is fast paced and despite the at times grim subject matter it never turns too dark. There are always lighter moments of the crew interacting and taking care of each other that made me chuckle. It‘s a great adventure with a reveal that I eventually saw coming, but not too soon…
The Sassafras crew frequently made me think of the Rocinante in The Expanse.
You can get a look at the prologues and first 3 short chapters here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780...
This is the author‘s first adult novel. I have high hopes for more and I am pretty sure that I will pick up whatever he writes next.
🐙🐙🐙🐙½, rounded up.
We live in a universe where mountain ranges take off into space, crewed by human military taking their wars along to other colonized worlds. Massifs are not quite Big Dumb Objects, as they have avatars inhabiting their depths, but it makes them worrisome rides. What are their intentions and why do they take humanity into space?
Ship Leader Parnell Shi-Sawahla is our main character. He captains the Basic Sassafras, a type of craft gifted to humans by the Massifs and directed telepathically by „sensitives“ like Parnell. He is accompanied by a small military crew and they all share a tight bond. They are stationed on a Massif to fight „Marsies“ in a long standing conflict. When one of the crew goes MIA, Parnell and his crew do everything in their power to rescue their crewmate.
I am a big fan of found families and tightly knit groups of people and their „we against the rest of the world“ approach, so Parnell and his crew really carried the novel for me. It is fast paced and despite the at times grim subject matter it never turns too dark. There are always lighter moments of the crew interacting and taking care of each other that made me chuckle. It‘s a great adventure with a reveal that I eventually saw coming, but not too soon…
The Sassafras crew frequently made me think of the Rocinante in The Expanse.
You can get a look at the prologues and first 3 short chapters here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780...
This is the author‘s first adult novel. I have high hopes for more and I am pretty sure that I will pick up whatever he writes next.
August 22, 2026
I was provided this ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.
Rounded up to 3 ⭐️ from 2.5⭐️. Great premise, but disappointing execution
This was my first book I’ve read by Garth Nix, and the premise and concept was both hugely innovative and expansive. I was excited to get into the world and sci-fi story of Massifs however unfortunately I was left disappointed.
The start of the novel was 100 miles an hour and super engaging, with a small crew on board a space ship heading towards a battle. The author took us on a fast intro into the different characters and quickly gave a clear view of the different roles each would play in the story. The first 100 pages were great, however unfortunately the book fell from there, for me.
I struggled to bond with any of the characters, and if anything I found the main protagonists irritating. Worse, the omnipotent and mysterious antagonist is only uncovered late in the story, so I never really got to build a feeling for them either. Perhaps the author was focusing more of the trials and challenges of a small team working through adversity, but I’m afraid it never landed for me.
My main gripe is the ending. The story can be split into thirds; the introduction that was great, the preparation for the final event in the middle, and the dramatic end/conclusion to the story. This last part started at about 82% in the book and felt so rushed, I feel hugely frustrated with having to read the best part of 2 thirds of a 400 page book, where nothing really happened. Things that did happen, were focused on annoying characters, plot holes that were never concluded, or dialogue around a random parade.
This should have been SO MUCH BETTER
Rounded up to 3 ⭐️ from 2.5⭐️. Great premise, but disappointing execution
This was my first book I’ve read by Garth Nix, and the premise and concept was both hugely innovative and expansive. I was excited to get into the world and sci-fi story of Massifs however unfortunately I was left disappointed.
The start of the novel was 100 miles an hour and super engaging, with a small crew on board a space ship heading towards a battle. The author took us on a fast intro into the different characters and quickly gave a clear view of the different roles each would play in the story. The first 100 pages were great, however unfortunately the book fell from there, for me.
I struggled to bond with any of the characters, and if anything I found the main protagonists irritating. Worse, the omnipotent and mysterious antagonist is only uncovered late in the story, so I never really got to build a feeling for them either. Perhaps the author was focusing more of the trials and challenges of a small team working through adversity, but I’m afraid it never landed for me.
My main gripe is the ending. The story can be split into thirds; the introduction that was great, the preparation for the final event in the middle, and the dramatic end/conclusion to the story. This last part started at about 82% in the book and felt so rushed, I feel hugely frustrated with having to read the best part of 2 thirds of a 400 page book, where nothing really happened. Things that did happen, were focused on annoying characters, plot holes that were never concluded, or dialogue around a random parade.
This should have been SO MUCH BETTER
September 22, 2026
This was... Fine. I'll read more in this world if Nix writes it, but I won't be chomping at the but. The concept of the Massifs is interesting, this just doesn't do enough with it to fully hold my interest. Felt more like a YA novel (nothing wrong with that, just not what I was looking for)
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Though originally best known for Sabriel and his Old Kingdom young fantasy series, recently Garth has expanded his written repertoire. His most recent books have moved into the adult market, with his urban fantasy ‘Left-handed Booksellers’ series (reviewed HERE and HERE) and his dark fantasy collection, Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz, which I reviewed HERE (and loved.)
Now he’s taken on science fiction, with his latest, Massif.
From the publisher: It's business as usual for Parnell Shi-Sawahla and the crew of the United Earth Government Navy ship Sassafras. For more than two hundred years humans have been hitching rides into space on vast sentient mountain ranges called Massifs in an endless interstellar war between the forces of Earth and Mars.
But the same unanswered questions burn behind every battle, every conquered world, every new colony.
Why do the Massifs carry humans to the stars?
Why do they help us export our wars?
What's in it for them?
Ship crews aren't supposed to ask these questions - and they definitely aren't supposed to speak to the all-powerful avatars piloting the mountains. But when Parnell's deputy, Kaz, is stranded on an enemy planet, he needs the Massif's help to rescue her . . . and that means figuring out how to talk to it.
Nothing could ever have prepared him for what he learns of the secrets fuelling their voyages across the galaxy. The only certainty amidst the dread is that there is far more at stake than the lives of his crew.
In terms of style and tone, much of this felt like a combination of Stephen Baxter and Adrian Tchaikovsky. The aliens, who seem to have been hidden in plain sight, are quite alien, and are perhaps the most interesting and original thing about the book. We discover that the Massif are aliens seemingly made out of living rock, which the humans use to fly Massif space ships known as Basics.
I thought of these Basics as a sort of living LEGO; they are usually single but can merge with other Basics to make bigger spaceships. Humans then hollow out space inside the blocks to live in, whilst the blocks move from place to place, their pilots connected via some sort of telepathy to do so – or rather through an Avatar which seems to look after each vessel.
There are some issues with this. Humans don’t know how these Basics really work. The spaceships generate a ‘Massif M’ field around them which maintains an atmosphere but makes complex electronics useless. Long term, regular contact with the avatars can lead to Massif Psychosis, which renders the human psychotic, comatose and can lead to death.
There are also weird and often nasty species around on the Massifs themselves. Tackers – ten-limbed aquatic creatures that live within the Massif lakes - made me think of lamprey fish, with legs (look them up, but be warned!) and there are enough Lovecraftian tentacle-festooned things around to make me shudder.
The human characters themselves are that usual buddy group of mismatched people who work with each other under Parnell’s leadership. Think Firefly, Gareth Powell’s recent Jitterbug or perhaps even Christopher Paolini’s recent SF efforts as recent examples.
There’s also officious human administrators who struggle to cope with changing circumstances, whose administrational incompetence and corruption may be based on Nix's own experiences as one of the Australian Army Reserve, where he served part-time for 5 years back in the 1980s. It all feels a bit Catch -22 at that point. As you might expect in a military unit, there are lots of abbreviations – you need to make sure that you know your UEGN from your MBPSF, for example. (That’s United Earth Government Navy and Mars and Beyond Prosperity Sphere, by the way.) There’s also a LOT of tea being drunk.
Focusing upon Parnell, I found that the character-focused story was fairly simplistic. You never get to know the characters in much detail, and this meant that when the writer put them in situations that should have concerned me, my lack of empathy with them meant that I felt less concerned about them than I was clearly meant to.
Generally, because I knew little about the characters, I felt less invested in what happens to them, even when lives are put at risk and death is possible. There's a little bit of plot contrivance at times (no spoilers!) which seemed rather convenient.
Towards the end of the book, it became clearer that whilst there is resolution of sorts, and some big revelations are revealed, but with some solutions given glibly in a sentence or two, the ending isn't conclusive. There are matters left unresolved that may frustrate some readers, and some readers may feel aggrieved that not all the questions raised are answered here, but I suspect that this will lead to another book.
Summing up, for me Massif was a solid read, but a bit of a mixed bag - it didn’t entirely work for me. It is eminently readable, and there’s some fairly good characterisation, if pretty standard. I liked that there were enough new ideas to make it stand out from the mass (ha!), even when there’s a fair bit of skating over the ‘science stuff’ by keeping it unknown, but readers may be frustrated by some of the book’s final scenes.
Now he’s taken on science fiction, with his latest, Massif.
From the publisher: It's business as usual for Parnell Shi-Sawahla and the crew of the United Earth Government Navy ship Sassafras. For more than two hundred years humans have been hitching rides into space on vast sentient mountain ranges called Massifs in an endless interstellar war between the forces of Earth and Mars.
But the same unanswered questions burn behind every battle, every conquered world, every new colony.
Why do the Massifs carry humans to the stars?
Why do they help us export our wars?
What's in it for them?
Ship crews aren't supposed to ask these questions - and they definitely aren't supposed to speak to the all-powerful avatars piloting the mountains. But when Parnell's deputy, Kaz, is stranded on an enemy planet, he needs the Massif's help to rescue her . . . and that means figuring out how to talk to it.
Nothing could ever have prepared him for what he learns of the secrets fuelling their voyages across the galaxy. The only certainty amidst the dread is that there is far more at stake than the lives of his crew.
In terms of style and tone, much of this felt like a combination of Stephen Baxter and Adrian Tchaikovsky. The aliens, who seem to have been hidden in plain sight, are quite alien, and are perhaps the most interesting and original thing about the book. We discover that the Massif are aliens seemingly made out of living rock, which the humans use to fly Massif space ships known as Basics.
I thought of these Basics as a sort of living LEGO; they are usually single but can merge with other Basics to make bigger spaceships. Humans then hollow out space inside the blocks to live in, whilst the blocks move from place to place, their pilots connected via some sort of telepathy to do so – or rather through an Avatar which seems to look after each vessel.
There are some issues with this. Humans don’t know how these Basics really work. The spaceships generate a ‘Massif M’ field around them which maintains an atmosphere but makes complex electronics useless. Long term, regular contact with the avatars can lead to Massif Psychosis, which renders the human psychotic, comatose and can lead to death.
There are also weird and often nasty species around on the Massifs themselves. Tackers – ten-limbed aquatic creatures that live within the Massif lakes - made me think of lamprey fish, with legs (look them up, but be warned!) and there are enough Lovecraftian tentacle-festooned things around to make me shudder.
The human characters themselves are that usual buddy group of mismatched people who work with each other under Parnell’s leadership. Think Firefly, Gareth Powell’s recent Jitterbug or perhaps even Christopher Paolini’s recent SF efforts as recent examples.
There’s also officious human administrators who struggle to cope with changing circumstances, whose administrational incompetence and corruption may be based on Nix's own experiences as one of the Australian Army Reserve, where he served part-time for 5 years back in the 1980s. It all feels a bit Catch -22 at that point. As you might expect in a military unit, there are lots of abbreviations – you need to make sure that you know your UEGN from your MBPSF, for example. (That’s United Earth Government Navy and Mars and Beyond Prosperity Sphere, by the way.) There’s also a LOT of tea being drunk.
Focusing upon Parnell, I found that the character-focused story was fairly simplistic. You never get to know the characters in much detail, and this meant that when the writer put them in situations that should have concerned me, my lack of empathy with them meant that I felt less concerned about them than I was clearly meant to.
Generally, because I knew little about the characters, I felt less invested in what happens to them, even when lives are put at risk and death is possible. There's a little bit of plot contrivance at times (no spoilers!) which seemed rather convenient.
Towards the end of the book, it became clearer that whilst there is resolution of sorts, and some big revelations are revealed, but with some solutions given glibly in a sentence or two, the ending isn't conclusive. There are matters left unresolved that may frustrate some readers, and some readers may feel aggrieved that not all the questions raised are answered here, but I suspect that this will lead to another book.
Summing up, for me Massif was a solid read, but a bit of a mixed bag - it didn’t entirely work for me. It is eminently readable, and there’s some fairly good characterisation, if pretty standard. I liked that there were enough new ideas to make it stand out from the mass (ha!), even when there’s a fair bit of skating over the ‘science stuff’ by keeping it unknown, but readers may be frustrated by some of the book’s final scenes.
September 5, 2026
Garth Nix takes us far into the future, in our world, but after the events of 2097 when a mountain range mysteriously lifted off of Earth and went into orbit. When humans reached it, we discovered that it was “alive”, sort of, at least being controlled by a powerful intelligence via avatar. This sentient mountain became known as a Massif, and turns out, there are many of them traveling the galaxy. Humans use this opportunity to travel on Massifs and colonize space. Naturally, we bring war with us, resulting in Earth and Mars in a constant battle across the stars. (It’s always Earth and Mars, lol.) Parnell is a ship leader in the United Earth Government Navy. When his crewmate becomes stranded on a planet, he is determined to rescue her. And this is where the story starts to take spins and twists, because this is when Parnell starts questioning WHY the Massifs tolerate humans using them in this way, not caring at all about the colonization and wars. What is in it for the Massifs?
I will be honest, I did not FULLY grasp everything in this book the first time around. But I wanted to because I knew it would be good if it clicked, so I reread a bunch of it. And when it clicked and everything locked in, mind blown. This is where we shift from dystopian sci-fi into cosmic horror. And boy, do I love that shift. I am obviously not going to explain everything because readers have to go through their own journey with this of coming to understanding, but I wound up really loving it. It takes a fun (fun is subjective but I am twisted), darker shift, and I was so here for it.
Thank you to Harper Voyager for the ARC! Book releases 9/8/26.
I will be honest, I did not FULLY grasp everything in this book the first time around. But I wanted to because I knew it would be good if it clicked, so I reread a bunch of it. And when it clicked and everything locked in, mind blown. This is where we shift from dystopian sci-fi into cosmic horror. And boy, do I love that shift. I am obviously not going to explain everything because readers have to go through their own journey with this of coming to understanding, but I wound up really loving it. It takes a fun (fun is subjective but I am twisted), darker shift, and I was so here for it.
Thank you to Harper Voyager for the ARC! Book releases 9/8/26.
September 11, 2026
DNF at 35%
I gave this the most solid college try I possibly could - I genuinely thought with this one I would reach the point where the world building stopped and the story picked up and I would finally be invested. The fact that this hasn't really happened at 35% of the way in to the book is honestly ridiculous.
I love sci-fi - I don't *understand* a lot of it but I still love it. This book unfortunately was a real slog to try and get through. So many of the descriptions and so much of the information that was given to us was completely unnecessary to the story. This book read like Nix wanted to write an instruction manual for how a space ship operates and I honestly couldn't find anything more boring to read in a novel. This was much less an issue of understanding and an issue of my eyes glazing over and my brain shutting off for large portions of the text. I read the prologue and thought, whoa, this is going to be such an interesting story. And then we got to chapter one, which opened with the following blurb: "Safety Warning: Visually observe the position of your hand and fingers relative to the gap between command chair side cushion item FA86589 and frame item ED187544 before reclining or inclining. Do not operate the chair without visual observation. —UEGN Operation of Basic Helm Command Chair Type XII Manual Rev 3" Immediately, I said Oh no... this isn't going to go well. And it didn't. Why couldn't we have gotten a book with way more about the Massifs and much less about how to operate the chairs on a space ship??
Additionally, the text was so choppy throughout the entire book. I kept hoping the writing would find it's flow but literally every paragraph had at least one sentence that left me going "huh?" due solely to the structure of the sentences within the paragraph.
So, we get 35% of the way in to the book and suddenly we are talking about the planning of a parade and the idea of Nix taking is step by tortuous step through planning a parade was seriously just too much for me to handle. Can't do it. I'm already so bored in spite of the crazy battle and subsequent deaths that just happened. I'm bored in spite of the Massif doing weird stuff. I'm just BORED. Why Nix??? You had such a cool concept and as someone who cut her middle school teeth on the Abhorsen series back in the 90's, I happen to KNOW you can write fantastic things - why did you take us on this mind numbing journey through every aspect of the ship I didn't want to know anything about???
Anyway, I'm sad. I want to know more about Massifs man.
**Arc from Netgalley**
I gave this the most solid college try I possibly could - I genuinely thought with this one I would reach the point where the world building stopped and the story picked up and I would finally be invested. The fact that this hasn't really happened at 35% of the way in to the book is honestly ridiculous.
I love sci-fi - I don't *understand* a lot of it but I still love it. This book unfortunately was a real slog to try and get through. So many of the descriptions and so much of the information that was given to us was completely unnecessary to the story. This book read like Nix wanted to write an instruction manual for how a space ship operates and I honestly couldn't find anything more boring to read in a novel. This was much less an issue of understanding and an issue of my eyes glazing over and my brain shutting off for large portions of the text. I read the prologue and thought, whoa, this is going to be such an interesting story. And then we got to chapter one, which opened with the following blurb: "Safety Warning: Visually observe the position of your hand and fingers relative to the gap between command chair side cushion item FA86589 and frame item ED187544 before reclining or inclining. Do not operate the chair without visual observation. —UEGN Operation of Basic Helm Command Chair Type XII Manual Rev 3" Immediately, I said Oh no... this isn't going to go well. And it didn't. Why couldn't we have gotten a book with way more about the Massifs and much less about how to operate the chairs on a space ship??
Additionally, the text was so choppy throughout the entire book. I kept hoping the writing would find it's flow but literally every paragraph had at least one sentence that left me going "huh?" due solely to the structure of the sentences within the paragraph.
So, we get 35% of the way in to the book and suddenly we are talking about the planning of a parade and the idea of Nix taking is step by tortuous step through planning a parade was seriously just too much for me to handle. Can't do it. I'm already so bored in spite of the crazy battle and subsequent deaths that just happened. I'm bored in spite of the Massif doing weird stuff. I'm just BORED. Why Nix??? You had such a cool concept and as someone who cut her middle school teeth on the Abhorsen series back in the 90's, I happen to KNOW you can write fantastic things - why did you take us on this mind numbing journey through every aspect of the ship I didn't want to know anything about???
Anyway, I'm sad. I want to know more about Massifs man.
**Arc from Netgalley**
September 20, 2026
Be wary of whom you might engage with!
I’m a great lover of Garth Nix stories. I’ve been reading his works for years. Parts of Massif reminds me of the latter works of C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series, or Tanya Huff’s Peacekeeper titles—being confronted by others who are very different.
I liked this novel and the complexity of humans and first contact with intelligent mountains, but I didn’t love it.
An Avon & Harper ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
I’m a great lover of Garth Nix stories. I’ve been reading his works for years. Parts of Massif reminds me of the latter works of C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series, or Tanya Huff’s Peacekeeper titles—being confronted by others who are very different.
I liked this novel and the complexity of humans and first contact with intelligent mountains, but I didn’t love it.
An Avon & Harper ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I've really enjoyed Garth Nix's Abhorsen series, and I've even read and liked some of The Keys to the Kingdom children's books. I was looking forward to see Nix move into adult science fiction. But unfortunately, this book is terrible.
The writing in terms of sentence structure and style reads very childish or young adult to me, rather than a more adult structure. There was also a huge amount of info dumping as Nix was setting the scene for the book, and it was not handled well at all. I fell asleep reading this multiple times, and had to bribe myself to keep reading so I could leave a review. The characters themselves are rather dull, and I found myself having zero desire to cheer for our protagonist or any of the crew. If this is meant to be a space opera, or a military SF, it failed miserably.
Unless the book is dramatically revised and edited before publication, I can't in good conscience recommend it.
The writing in terms of sentence structure and style reads very childish or young adult to me, rather than a more adult structure. There was also a huge amount of info dumping as Nix was setting the scene for the book, and it was not handled well at all. I fell asleep reading this multiple times, and had to bribe myself to keep reading so I could leave a review. The characters themselves are rather dull, and I found myself having zero desire to cheer for our protagonist or any of the crew. If this is meant to be a space opera, or a military SF, it failed miserably.
Unless the book is dramatically revised and edited before publication, I can't in good conscience recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
By the end of chapter two, I was already overwhelmed and ready to give up.
Nix introduces a staggering amount of jargon and lore immediately: flying mountains and their avatars, multiple warring corporate/planetary systems, and a complex naming convention where surnames dictate professional suitability. Add to that the technical mechanics of how "massif gifts" allow for ship expansion, and the narrative feels completely buried.
The story finally gets off the ground—literally—at the end of the second chapter, but the "background noise" was so loud I’d already lost interest. A space opera needs momentum, but this felt more like reading a technical manual.
Nix introduces a staggering amount of jargon and lore immediately: flying mountains and their avatars, multiple warring corporate/planetary systems, and a complex naming convention where surnames dictate professional suitability. Add to that the technical mechanics of how "massif gifts" allow for ship expansion, and the narrative feels completely buried.
The story finally gets off the ground—literally—at the end of the second chapter, but the "background noise" was so loud I’d already lost interest. A space opera needs momentum, but this felt more like reading a technical manual.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to netgalley and publishers for this arc. Unfortunately I couldn't finish this novel. I quickly became bored with the novel's premise of sentient "mountains" traveling between star systems carrying humans using dumbed down spaceships to colonize while they fight each other. Writing in the novel felt stilted and tedious.
September 14, 2026
This is the author's first try at an adult hard science fiction book. As he stated in an interview, he envisioned a levitating mountain and thought "how would that work?" This book proceeds from that speculation.
It's a doozy of a speculation, sitting right on the suspension-of-disbelief border. If you go with it, you need to remember Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. The Massif employs unknown means to fly through space with humans on board, without killing them (unless meaning to).
OK, that's the speculative premise. Once you absorb that, the plot turns into a fairly standard military SF novel with Earth humans versus Mars humans, each occupying separate Massifs in space throughout the galaxy. There's lots of military jargon and sharp action involved; fans of military SF authors will feel right at home with most of this book.
It also represents the common premise of 'found family' with the attention focused on the crew of the Sassafras, a ship whose crew have been together for awhile and although each member is different they share a bond. I must admit though, that Sassafras is an unusual name for a fighting ship; at least it seemed so to me.
So what are the Massifs, how do they work and why are they transporting humans around the galaxy? We get very little answer to how they work (Clarke's Third Law remains relevant), but a Big Reveal at the end shows why they are doing this. For me, though, it was the author's valiant attempt to justify his original speculation on what it would be like if mountains could fly.
It's a doozy of a speculation, sitting right on the suspension-of-disbelief border. If you go with it, you need to remember Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. The Massif employs unknown means to fly through space with humans on board, without killing them (unless meaning to).
OK, that's the speculative premise. Once you absorb that, the plot turns into a fairly standard military SF novel with Earth humans versus Mars humans, each occupying separate Massifs in space throughout the galaxy. There's lots of military jargon and sharp action involved; fans of military SF authors will feel right at home with most of this book.
It also represents the common premise of 'found family' with the attention focused on the crew of the Sassafras, a ship whose crew have been together for awhile and although each member is different they share a bond. I must admit though, that Sassafras is an unusual name for a fighting ship; at least it seemed so to me.
So what are the Massifs, how do they work and why are they transporting humans around the galaxy? We get very little answer to how they work (Clarke's Third Law remains relevant), but a Big Reveal at the end shows why they are doing this. For me, though, it was the author's valiant attempt to justify his original speculation on what it would be like if mountains could fly.
August 26, 2026
ARC provided by Harper Voyager via Netgalley
Fascinating concept—I thought the idea of the Massifs, the Massif avatars, and their interactions with the two leading governmental/military systems in the universe was solidly articulated and fresh. But I ended up liking the world Nix built far more than the story. The characters were all very flat. It felt like they had one-dimensional personalities, even the protagonist, whose thoughts we are privy to.
Every character started and ended as a member of a die-hard, tight-knit crew of a military ship, and I wished I could’ve seen more of how their crew’s bond developed in the first place because their closeness felt unearned. The plot also moves very slowly because of the extensive space military world-building.
I found Nix’s writing style direct and enjoyable to read. In the end, I really enjoyed the world he build, but not the plot or characters of the overall story as much. This was a pleasant read and I would read a book from this author again, as I think there’s a lot of potential for him to grow in the adult sci-fi genre.
Fascinating concept—I thought the idea of the Massifs, the Massif avatars, and their interactions with the two leading governmental/military systems in the universe was solidly articulated and fresh. But I ended up liking the world Nix built far more than the story. The characters were all very flat. It felt like they had one-dimensional personalities, even the protagonist, whose thoughts we are privy to.
Every character started and ended as a member of a die-hard, tight-knit crew of a military ship, and I wished I could’ve seen more of how their crew’s bond developed in the first place because their closeness felt unearned. The plot also moves very slowly because of the extensive space military world-building.
I found Nix’s writing style direct and enjoyable to read. In the end, I really enjoyed the world he build, but not the plot or characters of the overall story as much. This was a pleasant read and I would read a book from this author again, as I think there’s a lot of potential for him to grow in the adult sci-fi genre.
September 24, 2026
I have a great love for Garth Nix from getting into reading from The Old Kingdom Series, Lirael being one of my favourite books, so I was excited to read this.
Following this set of characters as they navigate through an endless, I was reminded of the crew relationships in The Murderbot Diaries. Everyone is there for a reason, and the sense of family is fully on display.
What starts off as a space epic turns into a cosmic horror as the mysteries of these ships unfold. While I thought the end was a little rushed, I did enjoy the lead-up. I would definitely be interested in more stories from this world or a sequel.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC of this for review.
Following this set of characters as they navigate through an endless, I was reminded of the crew relationships in The Murderbot Diaries. Everyone is there for a reason, and the sense of family is fully on display.
What starts off as a space epic turns into a cosmic horror as the mysteries of these ships unfold. While I thought the end was a little rushed, I did enjoy the lead-up. I would definitely be interested in more stories from this world or a sequel.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC of this for review.
September 16, 2026
This was a tricky one for me. It leaned a bit too young adult for my usual taste, and for a good stretch it felt like a bit of a slog. There were plenty of moments where I genuinely struggled to see where the story was heading or how it was ever going to wrap up.
Then the ending arrived, and the whole thing flipped. It stuck the landing so well that as soon as the final page hit, I found myself wishing it kept going. I loved that Nix actually gave us proper explanations rather than leaving things frustratingly vague, and it set things up nicely enough that I would definitely pick up a sequel if one ever comes out.
A slow-burner that takes its time finding its feet, but the payoff at the end makes it worth seeing through. A solid 3.5 stars.
Thank you to Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC.
Then the ending arrived, and the whole thing flipped. It stuck the landing so well that as soon as the final page hit, I found myself wishing it kept going. I loved that Nix actually gave us proper explanations rather than leaving things frustratingly vague, and it set things up nicely enough that I would definitely pick up a sequel if one ever comes out.
A slow-burner that takes its time finding its feet, but the payoff at the end makes it worth seeing through. A solid 3.5 stars.
Thank you to Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC.
September 23, 2026
I was bored and didn't care about any of the characters. DNF around page 100.
June 1, 2026
We get a neat military sci-fi where a crew starts to actually ask questions about "hey, these random large land masses have been cool with taking us to space, has anyone thought about why that might be??" as they try to rescue a crew mate who's been left behind and repair their own land mass. Lots of world building, v dense on the military aspect at times, but a neat, enjoyable read. Comes out in September!
September 20, 2026
??????? I’m just ? So confused ?
Don’t ask me what happened because I won’t be able to tell you
Don’t ask me what happened because I won’t be able to tell you
August 16, 2026
I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.
I’m always looking for new sci-fi particularly where the book has an unusual premise. This one was quite unique. So there are massive floating mountain ranges that humans can catch a ride on to travel to other worlds where there are enemies to fight. We meet the crew of a ship on one of these missions to explore and colonise another world. No one is quite sure why these massifs exist, or can explain them but they’re largely going along with it because of the opportunity it presents.
I found the premise of this book really interesting, particularly as we’re learning along with the characters who don’t really understand the massifs themselves. There’s a bit of a parallel with modern life of using something really powerful without really understanding the risks or how it works.
I did found my interest waned in the middle. There’s a bit of a catalyst event and I was a little unmoored in the aftermath of that. However the ending was fantastic so it was all worth it for the very cool events in the last third of the book.
I really liked the bond between the crew and how this motivates some of the actions taken. Overall this was a cool premise and interesting to explore.
I’m always looking for new sci-fi particularly where the book has an unusual premise. This one was quite unique. So there are massive floating mountain ranges that humans can catch a ride on to travel to other worlds where there are enemies to fight. We meet the crew of a ship on one of these missions to explore and colonise another world. No one is quite sure why these massifs exist, or can explain them but they’re largely going along with it because of the opportunity it presents.
I found the premise of this book really interesting, particularly as we’re learning along with the characters who don’t really understand the massifs themselves. There’s a bit of a parallel with modern life of using something really powerful without really understanding the risks or how it works.
I did found my interest waned in the middle. There’s a bit of a catalyst event and I was a little unmoored in the aftermath of that. However the ending was fantastic so it was all worth it for the very cool events in the last third of the book.
I really liked the bond between the crew and how this motivates some of the actions taken. Overall this was a cool premise and interesting to explore.
September 24, 2026
4.5/10 | ★★☆☆☆
I went into Massif with at least some awareness of Garth Nix's background as an author who has written extensively for younger readers, and I have to admit that probably colored my perception of the book. There were numerous points where I found myself wondering whether certain aspects of the story were intentionally simplified, particularly the characterization, the prose, and the amount of explanation given to some fairly complicated science-fiction concepts. That may not have been entirely fair on my part. But whatever the reason, Massif ultimately felt much less developed than I wanted it to be.
Which is unfortunate, because the central idea is genuinely fascinating.
Human beings have discovered enormous sentient structures called Massifs, essentially living mountains capable of traveling between star systems. Humanity does not really understand them, cannot communicate with them in any conventional sense, and has nevertheless figured out how to use them as a means of interstellar transportation. That is wonderfully strange. It is exactly the kind of science-fiction premise that normally gets my attention.
The problem is that the stranger your idea is, the more work you have to do to help the reader understand it.
I never felt like Massif did that work.
For much of the novel, I struggled to form a clear picture of what I was supposed to be seeing. Where exactly are these people in relation to the Massif? When are they aboard their own ship? How does that ship interact with the Massif? What does this enormous living mountain actually look like or feel like as a physical environment? There are answers to some of these questions in the text, but they never coalesced into a coherent picture in my head.
That became the book's largest problem for me. If you are going to introduce something as imaginative as sentient mountains flying through interstellar space, the world-building has to give that imagination structure. The reader needs enough physical detail, scale, orientation, and explanation to inhabit the concept. Otherwise, instead of being amazed by something alien, you spend too much time simply trying to figure out what is happening.
The characterization did not provide much of an anchor either. I never developed a particularly strong attachment to anyone, and the characters themselves felt more functional than fully realized. We learn things about them, certainly, but I never felt much progression or emotional evolution. There was very little sense that I was watching these people become meaningfully different because of what they were experiencing.
And then the book ends.
Or, more accurately, it stops.
This was probably the most frustrating part of the entire experience. I have read plenty of books that end on cliffhangers or clearly represent the first portion of a larger story. Those can be frustrating, but at least you understand the bargain. Massif felt different. It felt as though I had read about 90 percent of a complete novel and somebody had accidentally removed the final few chapters.
It does not end at the midpoint of an enormous unresolved saga. It simply seems to quit shortly before the story should naturally arrive at its resolution. Character arcs remain unfinished. Larger questions remain hanging. Emotional threads never receive the payoff they seem to be building toward. I actually found that more irritating than a traditional cliffhanger because it did not create anticipation so much as confusion. I kept thinking: surely that cannot actually be the end.
The prose did not do much to compensate for these shortcomings. It is extremely straightforward, which is not inherently a criticism. Plenty of science-fiction authors I love are not writing ornate or lyrical prose. Adrian Tchaikovsky, for example, is not someone I primarily read because I want to admire individual sentences. I read him because his ideas are compelling, his worlds are carefully constructed, and, importantly, he usually knows how to land the plane.
Simple prose works perfectly well when the concepts, characters, and structure surrounding it are strong enough.
Here, I wanted more from all three.
There were still stretches where Massif held my attention, and I would not have finished it if there were nothing worthwhile here. The central mystery is interesting. The Massifs themselves are imaginative. There is absolutely the foundation of a good science-fiction novel buried inside this book.
I just wish Nix had spent more time helping me visualize that foundation, developing the people standing on it, and, most importantly, actually finishing what he built.
Goodreads: 2/5 stars
Personal Rating: 4.5/10
I went into Massif with at least some awareness of Garth Nix's background as an author who has written extensively for younger readers, and I have to admit that probably colored my perception of the book. There were numerous points where I found myself wondering whether certain aspects of the story were intentionally simplified, particularly the characterization, the prose, and the amount of explanation given to some fairly complicated science-fiction concepts. That may not have been entirely fair on my part. But whatever the reason, Massif ultimately felt much less developed than I wanted it to be.
Which is unfortunate, because the central idea is genuinely fascinating.
Human beings have discovered enormous sentient structures called Massifs, essentially living mountains capable of traveling between star systems. Humanity does not really understand them, cannot communicate with them in any conventional sense, and has nevertheless figured out how to use them as a means of interstellar transportation. That is wonderfully strange. It is exactly the kind of science-fiction premise that normally gets my attention.
The problem is that the stranger your idea is, the more work you have to do to help the reader understand it.
I never felt like Massif did that work.
For much of the novel, I struggled to form a clear picture of what I was supposed to be seeing. Where exactly are these people in relation to the Massif? When are they aboard their own ship? How does that ship interact with the Massif? What does this enormous living mountain actually look like or feel like as a physical environment? There are answers to some of these questions in the text, but they never coalesced into a coherent picture in my head.
That became the book's largest problem for me. If you are going to introduce something as imaginative as sentient mountains flying through interstellar space, the world-building has to give that imagination structure. The reader needs enough physical detail, scale, orientation, and explanation to inhabit the concept. Otherwise, instead of being amazed by something alien, you spend too much time simply trying to figure out what is happening.
The characterization did not provide much of an anchor either. I never developed a particularly strong attachment to anyone, and the characters themselves felt more functional than fully realized. We learn things about them, certainly, but I never felt much progression or emotional evolution. There was very little sense that I was watching these people become meaningfully different because of what they were experiencing.
And then the book ends.
Or, more accurately, it stops.
This was probably the most frustrating part of the entire experience. I have read plenty of books that end on cliffhangers or clearly represent the first portion of a larger story. Those can be frustrating, but at least you understand the bargain. Massif felt different. It felt as though I had read about 90 percent of a complete novel and somebody had accidentally removed the final few chapters.
It does not end at the midpoint of an enormous unresolved saga. It simply seems to quit shortly before the story should naturally arrive at its resolution. Character arcs remain unfinished. Larger questions remain hanging. Emotional threads never receive the payoff they seem to be building toward. I actually found that more irritating than a traditional cliffhanger because it did not create anticipation so much as confusion. I kept thinking: surely that cannot actually be the end.
The prose did not do much to compensate for these shortcomings. It is extremely straightforward, which is not inherently a criticism. Plenty of science-fiction authors I love are not writing ornate or lyrical prose. Adrian Tchaikovsky, for example, is not someone I primarily read because I want to admire individual sentences. I read him because his ideas are compelling, his worlds are carefully constructed, and, importantly, he usually knows how to land the plane.
Simple prose works perfectly well when the concepts, characters, and structure surrounding it are strong enough.
Here, I wanted more from all three.
There were still stretches where Massif held my attention, and I would not have finished it if there were nothing worthwhile here. The central mystery is interesting. The Massifs themselves are imaginative. There is absolutely the foundation of a good science-fiction novel buried inside this book.
I just wish Nix had spent more time helping me visualize that foundation, developing the people standing on it, and, most importantly, actually finishing what he built.
Goodreads: 2/5 stars
Personal Rating: 4.5/10
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
*Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.*
First of all: I have read over twenty-five books by Garth Nix. He is one of the authors who inspired me to start writing my own fiction. I owe so much to him.
Second thing: I got an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. (Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.)
Thirdly: no matter what happened in this book, because of the two aforementioned things, I was going to finish reading this book.
And finally: were it not for the first three things, I would’ve quit reading this book.
Oh boy. Let’s get into this.
So what is this book about, you might ask. Well. The thing is, I made a note at 35% that said: “There isn’t really much of a plot.” I’m not sure what the final page count will be, but 35% is not an insignificant portion to be plotless. At its core, it’s a sci-fi rescue mission. The crew of a ship enters into some combat and a pilot for the weapons pod/ship/thing gets shot down and lands on a neighboring planet. Because of politics and logistics, they can’t immediately go get her. The captain, who narrates the story, is very dedicated to getting the pilot back before something bad maybe happens to her.
The thing that bothers me is the story gets really interesting and engaging for the last quarter-ish, and then it ends. The abruptness of the ending reminds me of the classics that stop practically in the middle of a conversation. World-altering information and revelations are dropped in the last few chapters and there’s no real resolution. And as of right now, no sequel is happening. Even if a direct sequel wasn’t written, it would be nice to have another novel set in the same world so we could get more answers.
Outside of the rescue mission is a world of sentient planets (the massifs) and a galactic war, strange creatures, delusional episodes connected to the avatars overseeing each massif, spaceships that are controlled using the mind, and many exploratory options. Not to mention the implications revealed at the end. There’s so much potential for more and deeper dives into what this futuristic galaxy offers and it’s a real shame that it’s all under-utilized in favor of bureaucratic humdrummery and pottering around base camp at the pacing of a glacier. I want aliens and weird planets and maybe a space battle or two. It’s like looking at a lattice apple pie and only eating a piece of the crust; we didn’t even get to the good bit.
The characters aren’t the best. Parnell, the main guy, is given the most attention and depth. But he’s not notably humorous or serious, emotional or stoic, intelligent or stupid. He’s loyal to his crew and he listens to them. I do appreciate that his crew is actually respectful of his position; there’s no snideness directed his way, which is common in new stories. But he is ultimately just a guy. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with having ordinary people as protagonists. However, when it comes to fiction, making someone ordinary also puts them on the forgettable scale.
The rest of the crew doesn’t move the needle for me. I had trouble at the start telling them apart because they all have funky names and most of them talk in non-distinguishable voices. I get the feeling that this is just the wrong group of people to be following in this world. It needs intrepid adventurers and people operating outside the government, not so-so peeps. I think there were a couple amusing lines, but not much else. It’s a real shame because Nix has written some very memorable characters (and worlds that were explored more). This isn’t one of those books.
But the writing itself is only fine. I did see glimpses of the writer I remember, but overall the prose is good enough to get the point across but not much else. There are several abbreviations for various space groups and jobs and most of them I couldn’t remember. I could’ve done a word search on my Kindle, but I couldn’t be bothered to type it in every time I forgot. I’m sure not everyone would have that problem, and if I’d had a physical copy I might’ve stuck a bookmark by each abbreviation for quicker reference.
I don’t like reviewing things that make me feel this way. There’s nothing to recommend it in either the positive or severely negative direction. I started this review with a temporary rating of three stars, and by the end I’d dropped it to two. So the book exists; I’m disappointed, given my previous experiences with this author; and that’s all she wrote.
First of all: I have read over twenty-five books by Garth Nix. He is one of the authors who inspired me to start writing my own fiction. I owe so much to him.
Second thing: I got an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. (Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.)
Thirdly: no matter what happened in this book, because of the two aforementioned things, I was going to finish reading this book.
And finally: were it not for the first three things, I would’ve quit reading this book.
Oh boy. Let’s get into this.
So what is this book about, you might ask. Well. The thing is, I made a note at 35% that said: “There isn’t really much of a plot.” I’m not sure what the final page count will be, but 35% is not an insignificant portion to be plotless. At its core, it’s a sci-fi rescue mission. The crew of a ship enters into some combat and a pilot for the weapons pod/ship/thing gets shot down and lands on a neighboring planet. Because of politics and logistics, they can’t immediately go get her. The captain, who narrates the story, is very dedicated to getting the pilot back before something bad maybe happens to her.
The thing that bothers me is the story gets really interesting and engaging for the last quarter-ish, and then it ends. The abruptness of the ending reminds me of the classics that stop practically in the middle of a conversation. World-altering information and revelations are dropped in the last few chapters and there’s no real resolution. And as of right now, no sequel is happening. Even if a direct sequel wasn’t written, it would be nice to have another novel set in the same world so we could get more answers.
Outside of the rescue mission is a world of sentient planets (the massifs) and a galactic war, strange creatures, delusional episodes connected to the avatars overseeing each massif, spaceships that are controlled using the mind, and many exploratory options. Not to mention the implications revealed at the end. There’s so much potential for more and deeper dives into what this futuristic galaxy offers and it’s a real shame that it’s all under-utilized in favor of bureaucratic humdrummery and pottering around base camp at the pacing of a glacier. I want aliens and weird planets and maybe a space battle or two. It’s like looking at a lattice apple pie and only eating a piece of the crust; we didn’t even get to the good bit.
The characters aren’t the best. Parnell, the main guy, is given the most attention and depth. But he’s not notably humorous or serious, emotional or stoic, intelligent or stupid. He’s loyal to his crew and he listens to them. I do appreciate that his crew is actually respectful of his position; there’s no snideness directed his way, which is common in new stories. But he is ultimately just a guy. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with having ordinary people as protagonists. However, when it comes to fiction, making someone ordinary also puts them on the forgettable scale.
The rest of the crew doesn’t move the needle for me. I had trouble at the start telling them apart because they all have funky names and most of them talk in non-distinguishable voices. I get the feeling that this is just the wrong group of people to be following in this world. It needs intrepid adventurers and people operating outside the government, not so-so peeps. I think there were a couple amusing lines, but not much else. It’s a real shame because Nix has written some very memorable characters (and worlds that were explored more). This isn’t one of those books.
But the writing itself is only fine. I did see glimpses of the writer I remember, but overall the prose is good enough to get the point across but not much else. There are several abbreviations for various space groups and jobs and most of them I couldn’t remember. I could’ve done a word search on my Kindle, but I couldn’t be bothered to type it in every time I forgot. I’m sure not everyone would have that problem, and if I’d had a physical copy I might’ve stuck a bookmark by each abbreviation for quicker reference.
I don’t like reviewing things that make me feel this way. There’s nothing to recommend it in either the positive or severely negative direction. I started this review with a temporary rating of three stars, and by the end I’d dropped it to two. So the book exists; I’m disappointed, given my previous experiences with this author; and that’s all she wrote.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I received an ARC of this book. My review is based on that copy. The published work may differ from what I read.
I love the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. I’ve read it more times than I can count. His other works are always creative and conceptually interesting, but haven’t always worked for me as a total product. They have tended to lean heavier on the ideas over the characters. That’s not going to be an issue for a lot of people, but I am a character first kind of reader. I need people to connect to in order to care about the concepts, settings, ideas, or themes being presented to me. Nix did that to absolute perfection in Sabriel, so I know he’s got it in him.
In Massif the world building is front loaded and it is a lot all at once. The first few chapters are pages and pages of info dumping to set up the context. The concepts and ideas are fascinating, but I really struggled to get into the book. It’s very slow going at first and there is a lot of technical language. The cast of characters is an interesting mishmash of a crew and I was interested in who they were and how they fit together. It takes a while to get a feel for them as people, and the clunky dialogue doesn’t help. But it smooths out, and the found family aspect comes to the forefront especially as the plot starts to take shape.
The plot appears to be one thing on the surface, but there’s a deeper layer of much more complex goings on underneath that takes a while to show itself. We are limited to what the characters know. The story is focused on their goals and experiences and the bigger issues are on the periphery because the characters themselves are not making them a priority. It’s only as those bigger issues begin to make themselves known and encroach on the character’s mission that we start to know more. The world is a lot bigger than the story being told. I found that frustrating at times. But the reveal, when it comes, is stunning and disturbing. The ending, however, felt incomplete and abrupt.
There are some incredible, memorable descriptions in this book, especially as related to the avatars and their effects on people. A few scenes in particular could have been out of a horror novel. Those brief moments, interwoven into the much more practical and straightforward book around them, stand out like blood in a white room.
Like all of Nix’ work, there are unique and creative ideas at play here. I just wanted the whole experience to be tighter and more streamlined. There is a lot of time wasted on overly detailed, minute explanations of step by step actions being taken. It bogged down the story. I would have enjoyed this more if that had been reined in. I also wanted more depth to the characters. What is there is great! There just isn’t enough of it. There is a really good book buried underneath the excess. It just needs to be cleaned up and trimmed to fully reveal itself.
I love the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. I’ve read it more times than I can count. His other works are always creative and conceptually interesting, but haven’t always worked for me as a total product. They have tended to lean heavier on the ideas over the characters. That’s not going to be an issue for a lot of people, but I am a character first kind of reader. I need people to connect to in order to care about the concepts, settings, ideas, or themes being presented to me. Nix did that to absolute perfection in Sabriel, so I know he’s got it in him.
In Massif the world building is front loaded and it is a lot all at once. The first few chapters are pages and pages of info dumping to set up the context. The concepts and ideas are fascinating, but I really struggled to get into the book. It’s very slow going at first and there is a lot of technical language. The cast of characters is an interesting mishmash of a crew and I was interested in who they were and how they fit together. It takes a while to get a feel for them as people, and the clunky dialogue doesn’t help. But it smooths out, and the found family aspect comes to the forefront especially as the plot starts to take shape.
The plot appears to be one thing on the surface, but there’s a deeper layer of much more complex goings on underneath that takes a while to show itself. We are limited to what the characters know. The story is focused on their goals and experiences and the bigger issues are on the periphery because the characters themselves are not making them a priority. It’s only as those bigger issues begin to make themselves known and encroach on the character’s mission that we start to know more. The world is a lot bigger than the story being told. I found that frustrating at times. But the reveal, when it comes, is stunning and disturbing. The ending, however, felt incomplete and abrupt.
There are some incredible, memorable descriptions in this book, especially as related to the avatars and their effects on people. A few scenes in particular could have been out of a horror novel. Those brief moments, interwoven into the much more practical and straightforward book around them, stand out like blood in a white room.
Like all of Nix’ work, there are unique and creative ideas at play here. I just wanted the whole experience to be tighter and more streamlined. There is a lot of time wasted on overly detailed, minute explanations of step by step actions being taken. It bogged down the story. I would have enjoyed this more if that had been reined in. I also wanted more depth to the characters. What is there is great! There just isn’t enough of it. There is a really good book buried underneath the excess. It just needs to be cleaned up and trimmed to fully reveal itself.
Read
August 12, 2026I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of Massif for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Captivating, strange, imaginative, and completely unlike anything I expected.
Garth Nix takes science fiction and gives it a wonderfully unexpected twist: what if humanity’s path to the stars came not from technology we invented, but from enormous, sentient mountains capable of carrying people across the galaxy?
That premise alone grabbed my attention, but what kept me turning the pages was the mystery surrounding the Massifs. Humanity has spent centuries using them, fighting wars across them, and depending on their impossible technology—yet there is still so much they don't understand. That uncertainty creates a constant sense of tension. Just when I thought I understood where the story was going, another question appeared.
The story follows the crew of the Sassafras, and one of my favorite parts was watching their relationships develop. Beneath the military structure and science-fiction setting is a strong found-family theme. These characters aren't simply working together—they are trying to protect one another, survive together, and hold onto their humanity in circumstances that are anything but ordinary.
Tropes & themes I loved:
Found family
Sentient alien beings
Space exploration
Military science fiction
Mysterious technology
Humanity facing the unknown
Crew dynamics
Survival against overwhelming odds
Loyalty and sacrifice
Questions about control and freedom
The “we don't fully understand what we're dealing with” trope
The world-building does require some patience, especially at the beginning. There is a lot to absorb, and Nix doesn't immediately hand the reader every answer. But I actually found that uncertainty added to the experience. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.
One of the biggest lessons I took from Massif is that not everything powerful needs to be completely understood before we learn how to live alongside it. The story explores what happens when humanity encounters something vastly beyond its own understanding—and how dangerous it can be when we assume that something belongs to us simply because we've learned how to use it.
I loved the feeling of being dropped into a much larger universe. There are wars, politics, technology, strange worlds, complicated loyalties, and mysteries that make the Massifs feel almost mythical. At times, it felt like science fiction mixed with the wonder and unpredictability of fantasy.
Massif is a book for readers who enjoy imaginative science fiction, strange mysteries, found-family crews, enormous unanswered questions, and stories that make you stop and wonder what might actually be out there.
Garth Nix has created something wonderfully unconventional here. It isn't just about traveling through space—it is about encountering something we cannot fully explain and discovering what that reveals about humanity.
A fascinating, thought-provoking, page-turning read that stayed with me after I finished it.
Highly recommended for readers who like their science fiction imaginative, mysterious, and a little unsettling.
#Massif #GarthNix #AdvanceReaderCopy #ARC #ARCReview #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera #SpaceAdventure #FoundFamily #MilitarySciFi #AlienEncounter #AlienMystery #WorldBuilding #BookReview #GoodreadsReview #BookRecommendations #SciFiReaders #SpeculativeFiction #MustRead
Captivating, strange, imaginative, and completely unlike anything I expected.
Garth Nix takes science fiction and gives it a wonderfully unexpected twist: what if humanity’s path to the stars came not from technology we invented, but from enormous, sentient mountains capable of carrying people across the galaxy?
That premise alone grabbed my attention, but what kept me turning the pages was the mystery surrounding the Massifs. Humanity has spent centuries using them, fighting wars across them, and depending on their impossible technology—yet there is still so much they don't understand. That uncertainty creates a constant sense of tension. Just when I thought I understood where the story was going, another question appeared.
The story follows the crew of the Sassafras, and one of my favorite parts was watching their relationships develop. Beneath the military structure and science-fiction setting is a strong found-family theme. These characters aren't simply working together—they are trying to protect one another, survive together, and hold onto their humanity in circumstances that are anything but ordinary.
Tropes & themes I loved:
Found family
Sentient alien beings
Space exploration
Military science fiction
Mysterious technology
Humanity facing the unknown
Crew dynamics
Survival against overwhelming odds
Loyalty and sacrifice
Questions about control and freedom
The “we don't fully understand what we're dealing with” trope
The world-building does require some patience, especially at the beginning. There is a lot to absorb, and Nix doesn't immediately hand the reader every answer. But I actually found that uncertainty added to the experience. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.
One of the biggest lessons I took from Massif is that not everything powerful needs to be completely understood before we learn how to live alongside it. The story explores what happens when humanity encounters something vastly beyond its own understanding—and how dangerous it can be when we assume that something belongs to us simply because we've learned how to use it.
I loved the feeling of being dropped into a much larger universe. There are wars, politics, technology, strange worlds, complicated loyalties, and mysteries that make the Massifs feel almost mythical. At times, it felt like science fiction mixed with the wonder and unpredictability of fantasy.
Massif is a book for readers who enjoy imaginative science fiction, strange mysteries, found-family crews, enormous unanswered questions, and stories that make you stop and wonder what might actually be out there.
Garth Nix has created something wonderfully unconventional here. It isn't just about traveling through space—it is about encountering something we cannot fully explain and discovering what that reveals about humanity.
A fascinating, thought-provoking, page-turning read that stayed with me after I finished it.
Highly recommended for readers who like their science fiction imaginative, mysterious, and a little unsettling.
#Massif #GarthNix #AdvanceReaderCopy #ARC #ARCReview #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera #SpaceAdventure #FoundFamily #MilitarySciFi #AlienEncounter #AlienMystery #WorldBuilding #BookReview #GoodreadsReview #BookRecommendations #SciFiReaders #SpeculativeFiction #MustRead
September 11, 2026
This is a great novel, readable and highly enjoyable. However, Nix’s legion of existing fans should note that this is something of a departure for him – it’s very different from his work to date. However, this adult science fiction novel should bring him new fans.
Nix is known largely for writing fantasy, usually aimed at young adults or children. As an adult reader, I’ve enjoyed a lot of them. Nix is an experienced and capable writer who often injects both originality and verve into his stories.
“Massif” reflects the best of his writing skills even as it veers in a different direction. Nix is playing with ideas that will be familiar to any science fiction reader, but he adds his own twist – and, it must be said, a lot of swearing. Which I note mostly as a warning to any reader planning to hand this to a young person. This isn’t a kids’ book.
Humanity has reached the stars by hitching rides on giant space beings known as Massifs. No-one really understands what these beings are doing, or why, or how they really feel about human beings. However, with experimentation (often fatal), humans have worked out how to use them with reasonably good results.
So humanity has begun colonising the stars, and naturally they’ve taken corruption, war, vanity, and just plain incompetence with them. They’ve also taken curiousity, fellowship, and ingenuity.
All of these things come into play when the crew of the ship Sassafras sets out to rescue a stranded crew-mate. Before long the rescue is concerned not just with one woman, but with the overall purpose of the Massifs and what they want from humanity.
While the basic ideas of the novel are familiar, this story feels fresh and new. Nix has created a believable and vivid world, and populated it with strong characters. While many are empathetic and you’ll be cheering them on, others are simply wincingly recognisable. Who hasn’t dealt with someone promoted above their competence, or corrupt, or who plays politics?
The world extrapolates believably from today, so Nix can convey quite a lot of world building in relatively few words. He focuses on character and story and successfully carries the reader along with him.
My only negative about the book is that it starts with a section that’s very technical. For my personal tastes, I’d have liked a bit more character introduction before we plunged into that. It might have drawn me in a bit more quickly. Still, many science fiction readers will be unfazed by this approach.
This is a solid science fiction novel that acknowledges familiar ideas and tropes, while also feeling original and fresh. Readers who like science fiction that’s towards the harder end of the spectrum, but also want strong characters, will particularly enjoy it.
If you enjoyed this review, please visit www.otherdreamsotherlives.home.blog to read more.
Nix is known largely for writing fantasy, usually aimed at young adults or children. As an adult reader, I’ve enjoyed a lot of them. Nix is an experienced and capable writer who often injects both originality and verve into his stories.
“Massif” reflects the best of his writing skills even as it veers in a different direction. Nix is playing with ideas that will be familiar to any science fiction reader, but he adds his own twist – and, it must be said, a lot of swearing. Which I note mostly as a warning to any reader planning to hand this to a young person. This isn’t a kids’ book.
Humanity has reached the stars by hitching rides on giant space beings known as Massifs. No-one really understands what these beings are doing, or why, or how they really feel about human beings. However, with experimentation (often fatal), humans have worked out how to use them with reasonably good results.
So humanity has begun colonising the stars, and naturally they’ve taken corruption, war, vanity, and just plain incompetence with them. They’ve also taken curiousity, fellowship, and ingenuity.
All of these things come into play when the crew of the ship Sassafras sets out to rescue a stranded crew-mate. Before long the rescue is concerned not just with one woman, but with the overall purpose of the Massifs and what they want from humanity.
While the basic ideas of the novel are familiar, this story feels fresh and new. Nix has created a believable and vivid world, and populated it with strong characters. While many are empathetic and you’ll be cheering them on, others are simply wincingly recognisable. Who hasn’t dealt with someone promoted above their competence, or corrupt, or who plays politics?
The world extrapolates believably from today, so Nix can convey quite a lot of world building in relatively few words. He focuses on character and story and successfully carries the reader along with him.
My only negative about the book is that it starts with a section that’s very technical. For my personal tastes, I’d have liked a bit more character introduction before we plunged into that. It might have drawn me in a bit more quickly. Still, many science fiction readers will be unfazed by this approach.
This is a solid science fiction novel that acknowledges familiar ideas and tropes, while also feeling original and fresh. Readers who like science fiction that’s towards the harder end of the spectrum, but also want strong characters, will particularly enjoy it.
If you enjoyed this review, please visit www.otherdreamsotherlives.home.blog to read more.
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