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The Hollow Men #1
Nexus
When the Hollow Men came, humanity fell. Forced to scrape out an existence from the rubble with the rest of the survivors, Jonah Byerly struggles to get by. Hunted by dark murderous things, he yearns for something more—a hope from civilization long past, for love and acceptance. But Jonah isn’t like the others as much as he would like to be. He harbors a secret, a shadow in his soul that could revive humanity…or see it drown in the endless hunger of the Hollow Men.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 10, 2019
3 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Grant
22 books276 followersBestselling author and comic creator Joshua Grant is a caring, hardworking chap who has had more than his fair share of adventure. He has survived a flash flood, encountered numerous bears, and sailed the ocean blue. Josh loves to read, write, play video games, and occasionally read up on the crazy science that’s happening in the world, but most of all he loves just getting people together to love, laugh, and grow alongside each other. Currently, Josh makes a living teaching and working with kids in various environments, with the occasional novel always in the works. To learn about his work, go to diabolicshrimp.com
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 26, 2022
RTC I hope to post all reviews soon, I currently have so many responsibilities that I just don’t get to post a review.
October 13, 2019
Between my full-time career (I'm an English teacher) and trying to finish my own series, I really don't have the time to write reviews, but I've just finished this book and I just wanted to say I really enjoyed it. it's a great story with nonstop action and great characters. Check it out!
April 22, 2020
Essential YA SciFi 💥💥💥💥💥
When I opened this book, I was ambushed with monsters of a human making that demanded I turn the page. From the get go, this book grabbed my attention.
While dystopian, post-apocalyptic YA science fiction is not my usual preferred reading genre, this book stood out with a maturity that makes it apt for all ages. With plot points of AI machines attempting to exterminate the remains humanity, it brings up questions that should be on every mind. What are the consequences of integrating human elements with machine, especially emotions? And what about the interpretation of desires that could rule both our kind and artificial intelligence? Wrapped up with a message of love conquers all, I enjoyed the story.
The only drawbacks are for those who have nightmares easily and frightening situations leave them unable to sleep, it might not be the book for you. While it is most definitely science fiction, there is an element of horror due to the Hollow Men sequences. It also includes mild LGBT themes for those who might be offended by the POV from a young man.
Overall, it is a very good read and the ending leaves you wondering what will happen next. Five stars, Mr. Joshua Grant.
When I opened this book, I was ambushed with monsters of a human making that demanded I turn the page. From the get go, this book grabbed my attention.
While dystopian, post-apocalyptic YA science fiction is not my usual preferred reading genre, this book stood out with a maturity that makes it apt for all ages. With plot points of AI machines attempting to exterminate the remains humanity, it brings up questions that should be on every mind. What are the consequences of integrating human elements with machine, especially emotions? And what about the interpretation of desires that could rule both our kind and artificial intelligence? Wrapped up with a message of love conquers all, I enjoyed the story.
The only drawbacks are for those who have nightmares easily and frightening situations leave them unable to sleep, it might not be the book for you. While it is most definitely science fiction, there is an element of horror due to the Hollow Men sequences. It also includes mild LGBT themes for those who might be offended by the POV from a young man.
Overall, it is a very good read and the ending leaves you wondering what will happen next. Five stars, Mr. Joshua Grant.
May 19, 2019
A Young Adult sci-fi adventure, fast paced and action packed. Sympathetic characters struggling for survival and more in a post apocalyptic world. The suspense and the tension in the scenes are quite well done.
January 2, 2020
Out-of-the-box, YA sci-fi thriller written in an eloquent style. The end of the world has created a new type of human, a human-robot hybrid. Hunted by both sides, they must hide in plain sight from the humans and fight to find a way to a place in a world of violence where they are not safe. Brother fights brother and humanity is hunted and at the mercy of flesh-eating robots. Well-developed characters and a riveting plot will engage the reader from cover to cover. Essentially, the message shines through making this much more than a typical end-of the world dystopian story.
Currently reading
February 14, 2019I found this book available for free on February 14, 2019 via a thread posted in a Goodreads group by the author. While I was never obligated to write a review on it, I am choosing to do one anyway; all opinions are my own.
February 18, 2019
This is one of the best dystopian books I have read! I love the world and characters. I couldn't put it down and read it all in one night. I can't wait to see Jonah's story continue!
March 7, 2020
If you enjoy science fiction packed with action, humour and credible characters, but overlain with emotional content to make you care what happens to those characters, this is for you.
So many scifi thrillers concentrate on plot, action, with little attention given to the players. This book contains all the elements that make such books page-turners, but has the added quality of a cast of well-drawn characters who are easy to empathise with. The youthful nature of the main protagonists is aimed at the envisaged readership, of course. But the addition of credible adult players brings the book into the realm where mature readers can also enjoy this complex, incident-packed story.
The setting is a nightmare world, post-apocalyptical, following an unforeseen development of the automatons that once served humanity but are now programmed to destroy their makers.
Capturing the utterly logical, rational and morally unconcerned nature of the robots that stalk the cities and habitations of the few remaining humans, the author depicts a world where evil is very easily separated from good. But only on the surface. As the plot develops, it becomes clear that not all the characters are as straightforward or even ‘real’ as they are first introduced. These are layered people, full of surprises that sometime shock but are never out of character.
As the story progresses, the reader is led into a world of nightmarish incidents, populated by unfeeling machines bent on killing everything they encounter. The variety and intricacies of the many different monsters is testament to the author’s imagination, as are the various settings.
This is ultimately a tale of survival against the odds but carries other layers including many moral questions. We are faced with betrayal, loyalty, care, callousness, violence, tenderness, friendship, hatred, love and romance on pages that beg to be turned as we travel a strangely believable road on a journey beset with dangers, intrigues, questions, surprises and, once in a while, unexpected delights.
As a mature reader, I tend to avoid YA fiction, but I read this one after having enjoyed previous work by the author. I’m very glad I gave it a chance. A very good read.
So many scifi thrillers concentrate on plot, action, with little attention given to the players. This book contains all the elements that make such books page-turners, but has the added quality of a cast of well-drawn characters who are easy to empathise with. The youthful nature of the main protagonists is aimed at the envisaged readership, of course. But the addition of credible adult players brings the book into the realm where mature readers can also enjoy this complex, incident-packed story.
The setting is a nightmare world, post-apocalyptical, following an unforeseen development of the automatons that once served humanity but are now programmed to destroy their makers.
Capturing the utterly logical, rational and morally unconcerned nature of the robots that stalk the cities and habitations of the few remaining humans, the author depicts a world where evil is very easily separated from good. But only on the surface. As the plot develops, it becomes clear that not all the characters are as straightforward or even ‘real’ as they are first introduced. These are layered people, full of surprises that sometime shock but are never out of character.
As the story progresses, the reader is led into a world of nightmarish incidents, populated by unfeeling machines bent on killing everything they encounter. The variety and intricacies of the many different monsters is testament to the author’s imagination, as are the various settings.
This is ultimately a tale of survival against the odds but carries other layers including many moral questions. We are faced with betrayal, loyalty, care, callousness, violence, tenderness, friendship, hatred, love and romance on pages that beg to be turned as we travel a strangely believable road on a journey beset with dangers, intrigues, questions, surprises and, once in a while, unexpected delights.
As a mature reader, I tend to avoid YA fiction, but I read this one after having enjoyed previous work by the author. I’m very glad I gave it a chance. A very good read.
October 16, 2019
Nexus is an eerie yet uplifting story about a colony of people who are trying to stop the Hollow Men from destroying humankind. My favorite thing about the book is how the author describes the Hollow Men. They creep, watch, scavenge, and whisper thoughts into your psyche. You mostly feel, not see them. They're everywhere. They are aberrations of technology that evolve with humans so they can make us all into nothing, something that humans already fear about themselves during their darkest times. This is a creative dystopian thriller that's worth the read.
April 11, 2019
Loved it!
Packed with action and suspense. There wasn't a single dull moment!
Favorite line- “Ilove a woman who can play rough darlin but I think you may have scrambled the eggs on this one,” Kenji said, rubbing his head.
Fantastic read!
Packed with action and suspense. There wasn't a single dull moment!
Favorite line- “Ilove a woman who can play rough darlin but I think you may have scrambled the eggs on this one,” Kenji said, rubbing his head.
Fantastic read!
September 10, 2020
Nexus The Hollow Men (Book 1) is a fast paced, action packed story filled with suspense, with some horror in the Science fiction genre. I liked this YA novel and would recommend Science Fiction and Fantasy readers to read this novel which is full of adventure. I was astonished when I came across the ‘Hollow Men’ in this novel–the emotionless flesh-eating robots which were created for the benefit of mankind, but were later programmed to destroy their makers and then, gradually destroy the entire world . The intriguing description of the monsters gives evidence of the author Joshua’s excellent imagination.
There are situations which will instill fear in the reader. You will see unbelievable betrayal , violence and excessive hatred in certain sections of the story, however this story is interspersed with Romance and love. Jonah is led to another world where he communicates with a benevolent program and he returns into the Wasteland against all odds to destroy the Hollow Men. The author Joshua has given the powerful message ‘Love conquers all’ through this story. Readers would be able to instantly connect with many characters in this story.
There are situations which will instill fear in the reader. You will see unbelievable betrayal , violence and excessive hatred in certain sections of the story, however this story is interspersed with Romance and love. Jonah is led to another world where he communicates with a benevolent program and he returns into the Wasteland against all odds to destroy the Hollow Men. The author Joshua has given the powerful message ‘Love conquers all’ through this story. Readers would be able to instantly connect with many characters in this story.
September 29, 2024
This book is full of action, more so than books that I usually read, and the suspenseful scenes are done very well—almost too well. The protagonists are pursued from beginning to end and the visceral fear these young people feel in a terrifying, decaying world filled with murderous robots is vivid.
Grant is very good at keeping up this suspense throughout the story, and is also good at finding an apt simile. But thankfully, this fear is from robots, though this story is speculative fiction for a future that is unfortunately not too far off from our own. Fully-autonomous robots with weapons are already being deployed in Ukraine.
All while the characters are fighting to stay alive, they are also struggling to mature to adulthood. It’s almost too much to bear, as the characters struggle with themselves and each other in one scene, and then fight for their lives in another.
This is a very visual story full of action that demands adaptation to a graphic novel format or maybe as a story mod for a computer game. Readers who are fans of either of those genres might particularly enjoy this novel.
Grant is very good at keeping up this suspense throughout the story, and is also good at finding an apt simile. But thankfully, this fear is from robots, though this story is speculative fiction for a future that is unfortunately not too far off from our own. Fully-autonomous robots with weapons are already being deployed in Ukraine.
All while the characters are fighting to stay alive, they are also struggling to mature to adulthood. It’s almost too much to bear, as the characters struggle with themselves and each other in one scene, and then fight for their lives in another.
This is a very visual story full of action that demands adaptation to a graphic novel format or maybe as a story mod for a computer game. Readers who are fans of either of those genres might particularly enjoy this novel.
November 26, 2019
Jonah Byerly is eeking out an existence in a post-apocalyptic world. Hunted by the Hollow Men—robots who are killing people to cleanse the earth of humans—Jonah finds his way to Colony Number Nine, hidden in an underground bunker.
But Jonah, a Hybrid, isn’t trusted by leaders of Number Nine. Friendships and loyalties are tested in this fast-paced, action-packed adventure. Jonah is led to another world where he communicates with a benevolent program. Eventually, he makes his way to the Wasteland on the ultimate quest to save humankind.
The characters in Nexus are well-developed and the imagery makes the story come alive. Despite the fighting and violence, there are underlying heartwarming themes about second chances and the limitless extent one will go in the name of love. This engrossing story moves quickly, up to and including the surprising twist at the end. A well-written recommended read for those who enjoy sci-fi, adventure, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, and/or robot tales.
But Jonah, a Hybrid, isn’t trusted by leaders of Number Nine. Friendships and loyalties are tested in this fast-paced, action-packed adventure. Jonah is led to another world where he communicates with a benevolent program. Eventually, he makes his way to the Wasteland on the ultimate quest to save humankind.
The characters in Nexus are well-developed and the imagery makes the story come alive. Despite the fighting and violence, there are underlying heartwarming themes about second chances and the limitless extent one will go in the name of love. This engrossing story moves quickly, up to and including the surprising twist at the end. A well-written recommended read for those who enjoy sci-fi, adventure, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, and/or robot tales.
October 11, 2019
What an emotional roller coaster!
The plot is great, the beautiful language quickly sucks you into the post-apocalyptic world, and the characters... the characters are so alive and human (or half-human, anyway) that the story carries you away right from the start.
Clever, funny, gripping, fast-paced and tense, Nexus is a great story of love and survival.
The plot is great, the beautiful language quickly sucks you into the post-apocalyptic world, and the characters... the characters are so alive and human (or half-human, anyway) that the story carries you away right from the start.
Clever, funny, gripping, fast-paced and tense, Nexus is a great story of love and survival.
October 30, 2019
The Matrix for teens without the sex and swearing.
February 10, 2020
Nexus kicks off into high gear from the first page. Usually prologues slow a story, but in Nexus' case, it speeds it up. Good read all around.
June 18, 2021
I know Josh Grant from his Diabolic Shrimp website and his YouTube interviews, but he can write, too! "Nexus" is a YA post-apocalypse romp with true emotions and reasonable violence. A great read!
January 2, 2021
It was just okay. Perhaps I am just not into young adult novels anymore. The writing wasn’t that great either. Sorry was average.
January 27, 2021
This is a fast-paced, emotional dystopian YA read, and I really enjoyed it. It's set in a post-apocalyptic world where machines have risen against humanity, threatening to wipe everyone out. The world is full of horrors, loss and pain, and the characters have to fight for survival, but despite the grim setting, it felt like a kind and hopeful book. Probably because love, friendship, trust, forgiveness and helping each other out are essential themes of the story.
The protagonist falls in love with his best friend who happens to be in a relationship with someone else. The book switches between their emotionally loaded exchanges, filled with love, longing and anguish and intense action scenes of humans fighting against the robots for their lives. It digs deeply into the boiling emotional teenage world, allowing us a glimpse into the mind of a boy in love.
The characters are very likeable and realistic, the plot is interesting, sometimes heartbreaking and contains a lot of unexpected turns. There is a theme of being different from others and rejected for it. There is also some humor and philosophical questions about the meaning of being human and life worth living. The ending took me completely off guard.
For me the book was a bit too heavy on action, and if I had to rate it based on my personal enjoyment only, I'd give it 4 starts. But it is meant for younger readers, and I think it is a 5-star book in its category. It definitely was fun to read!
Check it out if you are a young adult or like YA books filled with action and emotions, and if dystopian and post-apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers are your deal.
I have a website about sci-fi books by women and non-binary authors, check it out if that's something that might interest you.
The protagonist falls in love with his best friend who happens to be in a relationship with someone else. The book switches between their emotionally loaded exchanges, filled with love, longing and anguish and intense action scenes of humans fighting against the robots for their lives. It digs deeply into the boiling emotional teenage world, allowing us a glimpse into the mind of a boy in love.
The characters are very likeable and realistic, the plot is interesting, sometimes heartbreaking and contains a lot of unexpected turns. There is a theme of being different from others and rejected for it. There is also some humor and philosophical questions about the meaning of being human and life worth living. The ending took me completely off guard.
For me the book was a bit too heavy on action, and if I had to rate it based on my personal enjoyment only, I'd give it 4 starts. But it is meant for younger readers, and I think it is a 5-star book in its category. It definitely was fun to read!
Check it out if you are a young adult or like YA books filled with action and emotions, and if dystopian and post-apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers are your deal.
I have a website about sci-fi books by women and non-binary authors, check it out if that's something that might interest you.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews