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Cymic Parasite Breach #1-5
Parasite
They're closer than you think...
A guard discovers an unusual lifeform on her remote moon outpost. She disregards protocol to investigate it, with catastrophic consequences.
The parasitic alien wears its victims' skins and adopts their personalities. It's a perfect disguise, and allows the creature to spread without being detected. By the time humanity realises it's facing extinction, a third of its six hundred space stations have already gone dark.
As the alien's ruthless progress collapses communication networks, wipes out defences, and leaves hundreds of stations to fend for themselves, a handful of remarkable individuals must find a way to battle the greatest threat the universe has ever encountered.
A guard discovers an unusual lifeform on her remote moon outpost. She disregards protocol to investigate it, with catastrophic consequences.
The parasitic alien wears its victims' skins and adopts their personalities. It's a perfect disguise, and allows the creature to spread without being detected. By the time humanity realises it's facing extinction, a third of its six hundred space stations have already gone dark.
As the alien's ruthless progress collapses communication networks, wipes out defences, and leaves hundreds of stations to fend for themselves, a handful of remarkable individuals must find a way to battle the greatest threat the universe has ever encountered.
416 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 6, 2016
625 people are currently reading
8135 people want to read
About the author
Darcy Coates
69 books14.2k followersDarcy Coates is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen horror and suspense novels.
She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
You can hear about her next book by joining her newsletter: www.darcycoates.com/updates
She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
You can hear about her next book by joining her newsletter: www.darcycoates.com/updates
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 699 reviews
July 18, 2024
Who Am I?
Planet Earth has many space stations spread throughout the galaxy, but something has happened to many of them. Something has gone wrong.
The space station crew members are not responding to the contacts that are being sent. At least a third are down.
When the stations are visited everything looks okay. The crew appears to be normal and they welcome you aboard.
Once you have entered the station, you come under attack by the crew. They don’t look so normal now, instead they look like monsters.
Almost third of the stations have been invaded by aliens, and they are overwhelmed, one body at a time.
Talking like you. Looking like you. And trying to become you in every way.
What will happen to people of the Earth? Will they survive this invasion, or will they become extinct?
Only time will tell.
Five stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Planet Earth has many space stations spread throughout the galaxy, but something has happened to many of them. Something has gone wrong.
The space station crew members are not responding to the contacts that are being sent. At least a third are down.
When the stations are visited everything looks okay. The crew appears to be normal and they welcome you aboard.
Once you have entered the station, you come under attack by the crew. They don’t look so normal now, instead they look like monsters.
Almost third of the stations have been invaded by aliens, and they are overwhelmed, one body at a time.
Talking like you. Looking like you. And trying to become you in every way.
What will happen to people of the Earth? Will they survive this invasion, or will they become extinct?
Only time will tell.
Five stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 3, 2021
4.5 Stars ⭐️
Read this with Creatures, Creatures Everywhere Group.
I loved the book. I loved how Darcy took us through different stations. I wish there were a bit more time with peeps but with how the book was set up, this was fine. Although, I would have enjoyed more time to love Saul! 😃
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Read this with Creatures, Creatures Everywhere Group.
I loved the book. I loved how Darcy took us through different stations. I wish there were a bit more time with peeps but with how the book was set up, this was fine. Although, I would have enjoyed more time to love Saul! 😃
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
April 7, 2021
This was great space horror!!
I read Parasite with the Creatures, Creatures Everywhere group and I’m glad I did.
I’m not sure if this book would have been on my radar if I had not done a group read on it.
I’ve only read supernatural books by Darcy Coates. Her jam is haunted houses and supernatural themes, and I was interested to see if she could write a different genre.
I was not disappointed!
I thought the action in the book was great and the creatures were creepy.
The parasitic alien in this book starts off as a black goo with tentacles.
When it’s tentacles attach to another living organism, it will take on all of the attributes of that organism be it plant, bird or HUMAN.
It will steal their skin and personality!
So, you can see why it’s hard to know who is a real person vs a gooey fake ass one that wants to kill you!
Parasite started off a bit shaky in my opinion.
I didn’t know what was going on and it seemed that the book moved fast from remote moon outpost to outpost. I didn’t get attached to any of the characters or plot until Station 334.
This is the point in the book in where it all came together for me, including plot and characterization. I’m glad I hung in there because it was great from that point on.
Like I said earlier, the one thing that I would have liked more was extra time with the characters before Coates takes us to a new station outpost.
Station 334 and 335 were excellent and it’s because Coates spends more time in both outposts and develops attachment to the characters.
Read this one if you love sci-fi and space drama!
The action was fun, and the horror aspect of these aliens was top notch!
I read Parasite with the Creatures, Creatures Everywhere group and I’m glad I did.
I’m not sure if this book would have been on my radar if I had not done a group read on it.
I’ve only read supernatural books by Darcy Coates. Her jam is haunted houses and supernatural themes, and I was interested to see if she could write a different genre.
I was not disappointed!
I thought the action in the book was great and the creatures were creepy.
The parasitic alien in this book starts off as a black goo with tentacles.
When it’s tentacles attach to another living organism, it will take on all of the attributes of that organism be it plant, bird or HUMAN.
It will steal their skin and personality!
So, you can see why it’s hard to know who is a real person vs a gooey fake ass one that wants to kill you!
Parasite started off a bit shaky in my opinion.
I didn’t know what was going on and it seemed that the book moved fast from remote moon outpost to outpost. I didn’t get attached to any of the characters or plot until Station 334.
This is the point in the book in where it all came together for me, including plot and characterization. I’m glad I hung in there because it was great from that point on.
Like I said earlier, the one thing that I would have liked more was extra time with the characters before Coates takes us to a new station outpost.
Station 334 and 335 were excellent and it’s because Coates spends more time in both outposts and develops attachment to the characters.
Read this one if you love sci-fi and space drama!
The action was fun, and the horror aspect of these aliens was top notch!
October 10, 2023
fast-paced, fun, forgettable. prolific Darcy Coates stitches together an alien invasion quilt made up of three short stories and two novellas occurring on five different space stations. the aliens are very The Thing, except in the last novella, which felt like a mashup of Aliens and video games (I guess? I never play them). the book has no style to speak of but the workmanlike writing is fine; world-building and characterization are shallow, but not too annoying. the whole thing is very pacey and pages were turned very quickly (especially during a nonsensical prologue in the last part, where we follow the protagonist as she desperately races across town to catch a flight - it was such a poorly conceived sequence I had to rush through it asap lol). I liked the fourth piece the best, as the characters in that novella are not just threatened by evil aliens that mimic humans, but also by the psychotic breakdown of the station commander, who starts off weirdly bitchy then ends up stalking the halls with a butcher knife while laughing to herself. different!
August 22, 2021
This book gave me sun burns because I couldn't put it down. I don't usually like action-packed stories with no worldbuilding, but this one gripped me from the beginning to the end.
It's not a novel, it doesn't have an overall closure, I think more stories in this universe will follow. This omnibus comprises 5 stories (Station 331 to 335), all standalones, with a single common point: humans dealing with the same alien threat on different outposts in a far away star system.
It's no masterpiece, the writing could be improved at times, as well as some of the characters, but it's a light, thrilling, captivating read, and if you want a couple of hours not to think of anything else, this could be a perfect choice. It was a great summer read for me.
It's not a novel, it doesn't have an overall closure, I think more stories in this universe will follow. This omnibus comprises 5 stories (Station 331 to 335), all standalones, with a single common point: humans dealing with the same alien threat on different outposts in a far away star system.
It's no masterpiece, the writing could be improved at times, as well as some of the characters, but it's a light, thrilling, captivating read, and if you want a couple of hours not to think of anything else, this could be a perfect choice. It was a great summer read for me.
March 15, 2023
At first the "novella" kind of format bothered me, as one part was about one crew than jumped to the next and kept doing so for most part. But then I slowly got the bigger story and the way everything was connected. Now when I'm finished with it I thought it was a brilliant way to tell this particular story to give as much impact as possible. Don't read much space horror but definitely a genre I want to read more of.
March 18, 2024
Very entertaining book / collection of related stories. There was little worldbuilding, but the characters were well done and the plot compelling. That is, until the last part, where it went over the top - it's one of the things that annoys me in many books
* Plot: 4.5★
* World building: 3.5★
* Characters: 4.5★
* Coherence/Consistency: 3-★
* Enjoyability: 4★
* Plot: 4.5★
* World building: 3.5★
* Characters: 4.5★
* Coherence/Consistency: 3-★
* Enjoyability: 4★
January 16, 2020
Delightfully creepy and clever, Parasite will get under your skin.
"This is the end, isn’t it? How can you fight a monster when you can’t tell them apart from your friends?”
My Darcy Coates journey has had its ups and downs - Craven Manor and The Carrow Haunt underwhelmed, but Hunted was a smashing success. And it's a success that's repeated here. I think I like Coates best when she's branching out from haunted house stories. That's when her talent really shines.
Parasite is a weird mashup of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Alien, and especially The Thing. In addition to the body horror elements, it even has a variation on The Thing's blood test, as these aliens will bleed black oil.
Inside was something unnatural. Something inky black, writhing and squirming to break free. Something alive.
To get into the plot a little bit, this is a tale of the seemingly unstoppable spread of an alien parasite, one that can take over human hosts. It may have the face, memories, and personality of a specific person, but there's nothing inside except inky alien blackness. It's told in five separate sections, each taking place at a different station, but all part of the same network:
-A small station on a remote moon encounters more than expected on a routine patrol
- An emergency response team responding to a distress call finds blood and suspicion
- a junior scientist is desperate to share what she knows before it's too late
- a maintenance worker gets her chance to step up when Central's warning about a 'potential hazard' proves woefully inadequate
- and a seemingly hopeless mission might be the only chance for a dishonorably discharged soldier, and for humanity.
Then, as the creature moved, she understood: it wasn’t one beast, it was hundreds.
Each section stands well on its own, but it all comes together as an overarching story too. You can feel the situation getting more and more dire as it goes along. I would say that the only segment that's truly capital S SCARY is the final one, Station 335. The others are often eerie and creepy, but that one that really got me good, the scenes in the stairwell especially. Again, to reference Alien, it's very reminiscent of Ripley hunting through dark, enclosed corridors for something lethal.
I was a bit worried about how each vignette would switch up the characters, but considering the brief time you're with them, they're wonderfully characterized. There were a few moments I was baffled by character decisions, but equally as many moments where I was entranced by Maren's drive to survive or Ellen's determination in the face of paralyzing fear.
And yes, I choose to believe any character with my name was named after me.
Parasite isn't a perfect book, but it doesn't need to be. It's well executed space horror and thoroughly enjoyable, which is all I can ask.
"This is the end, isn’t it? How can you fight a monster when you can’t tell them apart from your friends?”
My Darcy Coates journey has had its ups and downs - Craven Manor and The Carrow Haunt underwhelmed, but Hunted was a smashing success. And it's a success that's repeated here. I think I like Coates best when she's branching out from haunted house stories. That's when her talent really shines.
Parasite is a weird mashup of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Alien, and especially The Thing. In addition to the body horror elements, it even has a variation on The Thing's blood test, as these aliens will bleed black oil.
Inside was something unnatural. Something inky black, writhing and squirming to break free. Something alive.
To get into the plot a little bit, this is a tale of the seemingly unstoppable spread of an alien parasite, one that can take over human hosts. It may have the face, memories, and personality of a specific person, but there's nothing inside except inky alien blackness. It's told in five separate sections, each taking place at a different station, but all part of the same network:
-A small station on a remote moon encounters more than expected on a routine patrol
- An emergency response team responding to a distress call finds blood and suspicion
- a junior scientist is desperate to share what she knows before it's too late
- a maintenance worker gets her chance to step up when Central's warning about a 'potential hazard' proves woefully inadequate
- and a seemingly hopeless mission might be the only chance for a dishonorably discharged soldier, and for humanity.
Then, as the creature moved, she understood: it wasn’t one beast, it was hundreds.
Each section stands well on its own, but it all comes together as an overarching story too. You can feel the situation getting more and more dire as it goes along. I would say that the only segment that's truly capital S SCARY is the final one, Station 335. The others are often eerie and creepy, but that one that really got me good, the scenes in the stairwell especially. Again, to reference Alien, it's very reminiscent of Ripley hunting through dark, enclosed corridors for something lethal.
I was a bit worried about how each vignette would switch up the characters, but considering the brief time you're with them, they're wonderfully characterized. There were a few moments I was baffled by character decisions, but equally as many moments where I was entranced by Maren's drive to survive or Ellen's determination in the face of paralyzing fear.
And yes, I choose to believe any character with my name was named after me.
Parasite isn't a perfect book, but it doesn't need to be. It's well executed space horror and thoroughly enjoyable, which is all I can ask.
July 10, 2025
horror set in outer space with a parasite that wears your skin as a suit is always an enjoyable read. i liked the different stations POV, all the characters were interesting and unique. really enhanced my reading experience for sure. super fun read for me
October 14, 2020
2.5 stars
On the wall, written crudely in dark-brown blood, was the phrase, “They take our skin.”
Parasite was a scifi horror that was light on worldbuilding but incredibly readable in its cotton candy creepy and chilling psychological and physical danger. Each section is about different station, Stations 331-333 were short stories. 331 introduces the Parasite, 332 shows that it is attacking, and 333 shows how big the problem is and that it is growing. At first I didn't mind the lack of worldbuilding as I thought it worked to place the reader in the station occupants' shoes and help the isolated and danger feeling at each station. By 333 though, I wanted to know more about Central and the structure of the world these characters were living in that I was reading about.
Stations 334 and 335 were novellas and the longer page count allowed the author to expand characters and the world. 334 ended up being my favorite and it's because the characters were more flushed out. It centers more on Maren, a woman working at the station but the crew surrounding her get more details added to them too. This felt more like a story and less like a quick pop of scary. 335 switched it up a bit and starts off placed on a planet before moving out to a station again. Starting off on the planet gave a little bit of the worldbuilding I was missing, we get to see more of civilization and descriptions of the hows and whys of the space stations. The characters, though, were stereotypes/caricatures and mere sketches of them at that.
There were times that I struggled with if some of these scenes were actually creepy or if I was supplying more than my fair share of atmosphere and setting, taking from all the scifi horror movies I've watched. I breezed through this book but a reason for that was because of the cotton candy lack of worldbuilding and depth to characters. Still, this was a diverting afternoon read.
With this ending line:
The war had only just begun, but at least now humanity had a chance. and with characters that we left surviving, there is definitely room to continue the series and I would pick up the next book.
On the wall, written crudely in dark-brown blood, was the phrase, “They take our skin.”
Parasite was a scifi horror that was light on worldbuilding but incredibly readable in its cotton candy creepy and chilling psychological and physical danger. Each section is about different station, Stations 331-333 were short stories. 331 introduces the Parasite, 332 shows that it is attacking, and 333 shows how big the problem is and that it is growing. At first I didn't mind the lack of worldbuilding as I thought it worked to place the reader in the station occupants' shoes and help the isolated and danger feeling at each station. By 333 though, I wanted to know more about Central and the structure of the world these characters were living in that I was reading about.
Stations 334 and 335 were novellas and the longer page count allowed the author to expand characters and the world. 334 ended up being my favorite and it's because the characters were more flushed out. It centers more on Maren, a woman working at the station but the crew surrounding her get more details added to them too. This felt more like a story and less like a quick pop of scary. 335 switched it up a bit and starts off placed on a planet before moving out to a station again. Starting off on the planet gave a little bit of the worldbuilding I was missing, we get to see more of civilization and descriptions of the hows and whys of the space stations. The characters, though, were stereotypes/caricatures and mere sketches of them at that.
There were times that I struggled with if some of these scenes were actually creepy or if I was supplying more than my fair share of atmosphere and setting, taking from all the scifi horror movies I've watched. I breezed through this book but a reason for that was because of the cotton candy lack of worldbuilding and depth to characters. Still, this was a diverting afternoon read.
With this ending line:
The war had only just begun, but at least now humanity had a chance. and with characters that we left surviving, there is definitely room to continue the series and I would pick up the next book.
August 7, 2020
I’m a total sucker for alien parasite science fiction and have no idea why I can’t resist it. Reached my saturation point after 3 of the 5 stories that make up the whole ‘Cymic Parasite Breach Series’, though. It is pretty much straight forward horror science fiction . The stories are repetitive and ask nothing of the reader. Not my bag.
April 10, 2023
My husband walked into my antilibrary and saw me staring at my stacks of unread books. He asked what I was doing and I told him I was trying to pick my next read. He said he wanted to pick it for me and chose this one based solely on the title. And what a choice it was!
While the book was quite chunky (clocking in at over 420 page), it read like lightning. Coates wastes no time getting the action going and once it starts, there's no stopping it!
Told in five separate stories from five different outposts, all detailing the same catastrophic alien takeover, we're initially introduced to a small group of women stationed on a remote moon, doing a sweep of the surface to extinguish any lifeforms that may have travelled there on random space junk or comets and asteriods. These lifeforms are typically non-threatening, non-sentient plant life or sludgy stuff that, if left undealt with, could infest the planet and gunk up their equipment.
While on a routine tour around the moon, one of the women comes into contact with something they've never seen before - a large black gooey entity with exploratory tentacles that launches itself at her when she comes within range. There's a struggle, a lot of screaming, and the diagonstics from her suit show that its integrity has been compromised. One of her partners races to her location in an attempt to save her, but the goo tries to attack her as well, and she has no recourse but to flee to the safety of the base. Shortly after, the initial woman knocks at the air lock begging to be let in. Only it's not her. Not really.
How do you fight a monster who looks and sounds like the people you know and love? One that can mimic them to a T, their memories and mannerisms?
Space horror for the win!
Confession - I've only read this and SA Barnes' Dead Silence, but I want more! What other space horror novels would you recommend I pick up?
While the book was quite chunky (clocking in at over 420 page), it read like lightning. Coates wastes no time getting the action going and once it starts, there's no stopping it!
Told in five separate stories from five different outposts, all detailing the same catastrophic alien takeover, we're initially introduced to a small group of women stationed on a remote moon, doing a sweep of the surface to extinguish any lifeforms that may have travelled there on random space junk or comets and asteriods. These lifeforms are typically non-threatening, non-sentient plant life or sludgy stuff that, if left undealt with, could infest the planet and gunk up their equipment.
While on a routine tour around the moon, one of the women comes into contact with something they've never seen before - a large black gooey entity with exploratory tentacles that launches itself at her when she comes within range. There's a struggle, a lot of screaming, and the diagonstics from her suit show that its integrity has been compromised. One of her partners races to her location in an attempt to save her, but the goo tries to attack her as well, and she has no recourse but to flee to the safety of the base. Shortly after, the initial woman knocks at the air lock begging to be let in. Only it's not her. Not really.
How do you fight a monster who looks and sounds like the people you know and love? One that can mimic them to a T, their memories and mannerisms?
Space horror for the win!
Confession - I've only read this and SA Barnes' Dead Silence, but I want more! What other space horror novels would you recommend I pick up?
August 14, 2023
As in my experience with Darcy Coates. I continue to find her writing sub-par. Good enough that I wouldn't say amateur. I enjoyed the plot, with a scary alien parasite that can replicate any human it attacks. However, I'm not keene to pick up any more of her books.
This a book with all 5 episodes written previously, now gathered in one volume. Each episode contains a different location and different characters. I wish there was overlap. It felt incomplete.
This a book with all 5 episodes written previously, now gathered in one volume. Each episode contains a different location and different characters. I wish there was overlap. It felt incomplete.
April 2, 2021
I enjoyed the story overall, but the errors in this book were SO distracting that it made for an unpleasant reading experience.
August 11, 2025
3.5 stars for the funsies, not the originalities. Heads up, readers! If you ever lose sight of me and then I appear unexpectedly, banging on the outside of an airlock door demanding to be let in ... That is NOT me. Do NOT break quarantine!
I just need to get my wishes down in writing ahead of time so it's crystal clear. If we all decide as a species to respect the power of airlocks, it's possible we can survive a book like Parasite!
And let’s be real here, the situation in this novel, you’ve all seen before. We've got a straight-forward, zero surprises collection of “space creatures mimic people” tropes. Rescuers arrive to investigate spookily abandoned stations, sweethearts are torn apart, panicky soldiers are on a mission to blow up a reactor, you know, typical bodysnatcher stuff.
Folks are constantly stepping away on solo missions, returning to the group alone and being given the benefit of the doubt that they’re not mimics. To be fair to Darcy Coates, her storytelling is tight and tense, so you'll still be scared even as you chuckle: "Yo that dude is an alien now."
Although the plot situations in Parasite are fairly rote, it’s nice to see humans on the page behave recognizably human-y. Shout out to Coates understanding how people under stress interact with each other. Can we get her to write a script for a zombie movie?
I just need to get my wishes down in writing ahead of time so it's crystal clear. If we all decide as a species to respect the power of airlocks, it's possible we can survive a book like Parasite!
And let’s be real here, the situation in this novel, you’ve all seen before. We've got a straight-forward, zero surprises collection of “space creatures mimic people” tropes. Rescuers arrive to investigate spookily abandoned stations, sweethearts are torn apart, panicky soldiers are on a mission to blow up a reactor, you know, typical bodysnatcher stuff.
Folks are constantly stepping away on solo missions, returning to the group alone and being given the benefit of the doubt that they’re not mimics. To be fair to Darcy Coates, her storytelling is tight and tense, so you'll still be scared even as you chuckle: "Yo that dude is an alien now."
Although the plot situations in Parasite are fairly rote, it’s nice to see humans on the page behave recognizably human-y. Shout out to Coates understanding how people under stress interact with each other. Can we get her to write a script for a zombie movie?
December 24, 2021
This book started off really great. It was truly intense with a feeling of everything can go wrong, in the best way possible. But then it got repetitive. And with each new story at a new base, I came to feel the same information was just being told to me over and over again, just with new characters. I was at least invested, until the Station 355 section in which I just didn't care anymore. This was made all the worse by inept, interchangeable characters thrown into action I couldn't muster any reason to care about. Unending action at that. And I like action. This just became boring. To make things even more unpleasant, too many characters behave one way until the plot dictates it needs to go somewhere whether or not that fits with the characterization already given.
Read Station 351 and you're good. No reason to go past that story.
Read Station 351 and you're good. No reason to go past that story.
June 18, 2022
Well as it turns out. My favorite ghost story writer can also do sci-fi. I LOVED this book so much. The basis isn't original though. I mean the whole parasite/body snatcher thing is a pretty common theme in sci-fi horror. But Coates puts her own flair on it, making for a very exciting read.
This was actually a whole series of 5 books. But they are all pretty short, so it was condensed into this one. The only thing I didn't like about it, was by the 3rd book I was just starting to get invested in the characters, and then that 'book' was done. In the 4th book, I got invested in was the character BIG time. So it was hard to say goodbye to them for the last book.
Another Darcy Coates book is marked as read. Do I intend to read all her books, including those she hasn't written yet? Absolutely!!
This was actually a whole series of 5 books. But they are all pretty short, so it was condensed into this one. The only thing I didn't like about it, was by the 3rd book I was just starting to get invested in the characters, and then that 'book' was done. In the 4th book, I got invested in was the character BIG time. So it was hard to say goodbye to them for the last book.
Another Darcy Coates book is marked as read. Do I intend to read all her books, including those she hasn't written yet? Absolutely!!
April 8, 2021
3.5/5.0 stars. The horror was great, maybe a few lingering questions on the sci-fi side, but well worth the read. Great group read in the Creatures, Creatures group.
October 17, 2016
One of my Goodreads friends had put this one in their update stream. It is the second book I borrowed from the Kindle Lending Library. Simply put, this book was frikkin' awesome!
This book scared me and had a real hardcore sci-fi/horror mix that was truly original. It begins with spacers living on an asteroid based station finding a large biomass attached to part of their home. When they go out to remove it, which they usually do with all the regular space creatures they know of, things go awry. The base creatures they deal with are scraped off or hit with neurotoxins and removed. This new creature attacks first and then takes over its victim, becoming them only on the outside. It can only see and hear using its host senses, but memories are retained up to a point. The parasite also can't bleed, which is one of the only true indicators to distinguish them from us. The absorb us into their biomass and are actually kind of a colony creature who splits itself up to do different things, destroy communications, start fires, and hunt. And it does all these things well.
I like how the author gives a very real depiction of how humans in these situations, with minor weaponry do what we do. We think, we plot and plan, we probe and find vulnerabilities and weakness in our foes. After many thousands of lives are lost across many stations in the Core, Central, the ruling employer of the folks here decide to start striking back. Armed with little information from people who have survived and gotten away from the parasite, Central begins to fight back, but only after denying the entire affair until concrete proof of the danger is shown to the public. What ends this book is the final vignette, where a group of Central employees, ill trained and given powered suits, fights back. You want to find out the end of this? Of course you do! Grab this book and enjoy it. It will make you laugh, hurt your feelings and leave you desperate, and then build you back up, make you cheer the heroes and then let out a huge held breath of air at the end. Man, this one hit on every cylinder for me.
Danny
This book scared me and had a real hardcore sci-fi/horror mix that was truly original. It begins with spacers living on an asteroid based station finding a large biomass attached to part of their home. When they go out to remove it, which they usually do with all the regular space creatures they know of, things go awry. The base creatures they deal with are scraped off or hit with neurotoxins and removed. This new creature attacks first and then takes over its victim, becoming them only on the outside. It can only see and hear using its host senses, but memories are retained up to a point. The parasite also can't bleed, which is one of the only true indicators to distinguish them from us. The absorb us into their biomass and are actually kind of a colony creature who splits itself up to do different things, destroy communications, start fires, and hunt. And it does all these things well.
I like how the author gives a very real depiction of how humans in these situations, with minor weaponry do what we do. We think, we plot and plan, we probe and find vulnerabilities and weakness in our foes. After many thousands of lives are lost across many stations in the Core, Central, the ruling employer of the folks here decide to start striking back. Armed with little information from people who have survived and gotten away from the parasite, Central begins to fight back, but only after denying the entire affair until concrete proof of the danger is shown to the public. What ends this book is the final vignette, where a group of Central employees, ill trained and given powered suits, fights back. You want to find out the end of this? Of course you do! Grab this book and enjoy it. It will make you laugh, hurt your feelings and leave you desperate, and then build you back up, make you cheer the heroes and then let out a huge held breath of air at the end. Man, this one hit on every cylinder for me.
Danny
January 4, 2022
Well that goes down as one of my favorites of all time
February 5, 2022
3.5 stars - decent one time read for fans of "The Thing" movie.
This book is a collection of short stories. The synopsis of this book felt very much like that of my favorite horror movie - "The Thing," so I wanted to read it.
Story 1: Station 331 - 3 stars - I think the synopsis of the book spoiled the first story as I knew what was happening.
Story 2: Station 332 - 3 stars - The first story was an introduction to the alien, and this story showed how bad and scary the alien could be when it starts attacking humans. But it was too short, and with too little at stake, it didn't feel that scary. It reminded me of the Alien movies.
Story 3: Station 333 - 4 stars - This was a short story, just like the first two. But, it was far more interesting as we learned about the alien creature - its strength and weakness, how it attacks humans, etc. here. A couple of scenes didn't make sense where people blindly trusted others; when they could very well have been aliens, as the aliens can replicate their host's behavior and pretend like the host. Other than that, the story was good.
Story 4 (novella 1): Station 334 - 4 stars - This was the best story so far as it was longer and had time to build the characters before full-on attack by the parasitic aliens. This story was great, with hundreds of aliens attacking a station. It shows how terribly these aliens are attacking humans and how defenseless humans are against them. The only part I didn't like was the romance, which was totally unnecessary. Otherwise, it was perfect with some surprises and jump scares.
Story 5(novella 2): Station 335 - 3 or 3.5 stars - I didn't like this story much mostly because I found the main protagonist really annoying. In this story, a team of humans is dispatched from central to clear a planet of parasite aliens. So it's written like a military war story, but I didn't find it engaging. The writing was pretty poor, and the conversations didn't look realistic.
This book is a collection of short stories. The synopsis of this book felt very much like that of my favorite horror movie - "The Thing," so I wanted to read it.
Story 1: Station 331 - 3 stars - I think the synopsis of the book spoiled the first story as I knew what was happening.
Story 2: Station 332 - 3 stars - The first story was an introduction to the alien, and this story showed how bad and scary the alien could be when it starts attacking humans. But it was too short, and with too little at stake, it didn't feel that scary. It reminded me of the Alien movies.
Story 3: Station 333 - 4 stars - This was a short story, just like the first two. But, it was far more interesting as we learned about the alien creature - its strength and weakness, how it attacks humans, etc. here. A couple of scenes didn't make sense where people blindly trusted others; when they could very well have been aliens, as the aliens can replicate their host's behavior and pretend like the host. Other than that, the story was good.
Story 4 (novella 1): Station 334 - 4 stars - This was the best story so far as it was longer and had time to build the characters before full-on attack by the parasitic aliens. This story was great, with hundreds of aliens attacking a station. It shows how terribly these aliens are attacking humans and how defenseless humans are against them. The only part I didn't like was the romance, which was totally unnecessary. Otherwise, it was perfect with some surprises and jump scares.
Story 5(novella 2): Station 335 - 3 or 3.5 stars - I didn't like this story much mostly because I found the main protagonist really annoying. In this story, a team of humans is dispatched from central to clear a planet of parasite aliens. So it's written like a military war story, but I didn't find it engaging. The writing was pretty poor, and the conversations didn't look realistic.
August 3, 2020
Darcy Coates quickly became one of my favourite writers. I haven’t read all of her books yet but I’m on a mission to do that.
Parasite is another one of her brilliant stories which kept me turning the pages even when I could barely keep my eyes open. The story focuses on the parasites, how humans fight them. We don’t get to know the different characters too deeply, we only get glimpses into their lifes right when the parasites are coming.
Parasite is set in a future which hangs on a balance, a future that could be lost forever, a future that could be saved though. I wish someone made a series which is based on this book.
I highly recommend Parasite becuase it is past-paced, horrifying and exciting and bloody and scary.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.
Parasite is another one of her brilliant stories which kept me turning the pages even when I could barely keep my eyes open. The story focuses on the parasites, how humans fight them. We don’t get to know the different characters too deeply, we only get glimpses into their lifes right when the parasites are coming.
Parasite is set in a future which hangs on a balance, a future that could be lost forever, a future that could be saved though. I wish someone made a series which is based on this book.
I highly recommend Parasite becuase it is past-paced, horrifying and exciting and bloody and scary.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.
October 11, 2021
3.75/5stars
This was FANTASTIC until the last story. This is a collection of five stories that all happen in a scifi world where humans have colonized thousands of planets, and it takes place within just a few weeks, all based around a new parasitic alien that had been discovered that can take over a human host and wear their skin. Y'all know me, The Thing is one of my fave movies of all time, and it's very hit or miss for me whether I'll love or hate remakes of it. This one was a definite hit! The last story lost me a bit because I wasn't as big of a fan of the main character, I found her arrogant and over the top but also stupid. And, as it was the longest section of the book, I felt like I should have connected to the characters more. But, mostly it was just a bit boring. The rest of the book was amazing though, highly recommend!!
This was FANTASTIC until the last story. This is a collection of five stories that all happen in a scifi world where humans have colonized thousands of planets, and it takes place within just a few weeks, all based around a new parasitic alien that had been discovered that can take over a human host and wear their skin. Y'all know me, The Thing is one of my fave movies of all time, and it's very hit or miss for me whether I'll love or hate remakes of it. This one was a definite hit! The last story lost me a bit because I wasn't as big of a fan of the main character, I found her arrogant and over the top but also stupid. And, as it was the longest section of the book, I felt like I should have connected to the characters more. But, mostly it was just a bit boring. The rest of the book was amazing though, highly recommend!!
January 22, 2021
One of my favorite movies of all time is definitely Alien, so I am HERE for space horror. This book is such a great pick if that is your cup of primordial goo. It is an all-killer, no-filler bodysnatcher-meets-alien romp! In space! Huzzah!
This is a book I started before bed, thinking I'd just read a few chapters to see what it was all about. Fast forward to three hours past my bedtime and I was turning the last page. It definitely pulls you in.
This edition is a collection that brings together the five books of Coates's Cymic Parasite Breach series. I wish that I had known this going in because as I was reading, I was a little confused as to why the sections didn't overlap more. They really are separate stories, and to me, though it is interesting that each offers a different perspective of the same incident as it grows more and more out of control, it didn't feel exactly like a complete story altogether.
For me, the first book was the strongest. I loved the setup and then the almost immediate devolution into complete chaos. It is filled with action, aliens, relationships, sci-fi craziness, and it's all-around a fun read. As the books progressed, there were some repetitive elements I thought could have been pared down; they all follow the same basic beginning structure where the creatures come and start wreaking havoc and the characters have to scramble to figure out what's going on. The last book especially didn't feel like it did justice to the way that the rest of the story had been set up. But you can't really deny a book that draws you in to read in one sitting—that's a compelling read!
My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for my copy of this one to read and review.
This is a book I started before bed, thinking I'd just read a few chapters to see what it was all about. Fast forward to three hours past my bedtime and I was turning the last page. It definitely pulls you in.
This edition is a collection that brings together the five books of Coates's Cymic Parasite Breach series. I wish that I had known this going in because as I was reading, I was a little confused as to why the sections didn't overlap more. They really are separate stories, and to me, though it is interesting that each offers a different perspective of the same incident as it grows more and more out of control, it didn't feel exactly like a complete story altogether.
For me, the first book was the strongest. I loved the setup and then the almost immediate devolution into complete chaos. It is filled with action, aliens, relationships, sci-fi craziness, and it's all-around a fun read. As the books progressed, there were some repetitive elements I thought could have been pared down; they all follow the same basic beginning structure where the creatures come and start wreaking havoc and the characters have to scramble to figure out what's going on. The last book especially didn't feel like it did justice to the way that the rest of the story had been set up. But you can't really deny a book that draws you in to read in one sitting—that's a compelling read!
My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for my copy of this one to read and review.
May 12, 2024
Parasite by Darcy Coates is a science fiction horror that takes place on different space stations. Each time the reader goes to a different space station the reader and the people aboard the space station know a little bit more about the enemy which is a plant-based lifeform that can borrow the skin and mimic the human they have just killed. This leads to a lot of mistrust and suspicion just amongst regular humans not infected. This novel is intense as each station is a fight for human life thrill ride. The premise reminds me of John Carpenter's The Thing mixed with Aliens, where the thing is a threat but the biggest threat is paranoia from humans. The novel works as a series of vignettes since each station is its own story but also works as a larger story by way of knowledge. We follow 5 different women on space stations with different job titles one is a captain while another is the lowest person on the space station. The women portrayed all have inner strength even if they don't realize it. The characters are different and each own individual. The stories are all paced very well, there was only one story that took me a while to get into as the lead character is an asshole (self-admitted) and takes a bit to warm up to but by the end, I was very invested in the story. I will say it was pretty bold of Darcy Coates to tell a completely different story with a whole new set of characters each time, but every time by the end of the story I was invested. The fourth story was my favorite and I could argue that that story should have been last. This is a fun novel that reads very quickly. I would have liked one chapter where all the survivors from the stations meet up and kick some alien butt but Coates stuck to each story being self-contained where no characters from other stories meet. The stories were originally written as short stories and put together as an omnibus. I would like to think Netgalley and Poisoned Press Books for a free copy in exchange for a review. I read this as part of the rerelease. Parasite was first published on August 6, 2016.
Plot Summary: While outside of Space Station 331, a crew member spots something large and black wrapped around the satellite. The crew member attempts to dislodge it but it attacks. The crew member comes back to the airlock without their helmet seeming fine. do they let them in or not? this starts the nightmare of a parasite that can mimic the way we think and talk. how can humans defeat such a thing? As the story unfolds and humans interact with this deadly new species they learn their strengths and weaknesses giving humanity a chance to defeat them.
What I Liked: How intense and sometimes gory the stories got. I love kick-ass women and this book is full of them. I loved the paranoia aspect of the book and how far that went sometimes. I loved when space madness is involved in the story and how chaotic that is mixed with aliens that can mimic people. Story 4 was my absolute favorite it was intense, had many twists and turns, was a love story, was funny, and had the best ending. The first story is short but kind of jarring before you realize the story is completely new. I liked the weakness of the Cymic when not in the human body can not see only hear.
What I Disliked: The survivors never meet up or there is any connection at all. Smart women kept making too dumb of mistakes not thinking of the enemy at all times.
Recommendations: Parasite is a really fun easy read that is intense in all the right places. The book has kick-ass female leads that are all written differently and for the most part, rise to the challenge. Despite the book's dark subject, it finds ways to inject humor throughout. This is my first Darcy Coates novel and I'm charmed. I recommend you read Parasite.
Rating: I rated Parasite by Darcy Coates 4.1 stars out of 5.
Plot Summary: While outside of Space Station 331, a crew member spots something large and black wrapped around the satellite. The crew member attempts to dislodge it but it attacks. The crew member comes back to the airlock without their helmet seeming fine. do they let them in or not? this starts the nightmare of a parasite that can mimic the way we think and talk. how can humans defeat such a thing? As the story unfolds and humans interact with this deadly new species they learn their strengths and weaknesses giving humanity a chance to defeat them.
What I Liked: How intense and sometimes gory the stories got. I love kick-ass women and this book is full of them. I loved the paranoia aspect of the book and how far that went sometimes. I loved when space madness is involved in the story and how chaotic that is mixed with aliens that can mimic people. Story 4 was my absolute favorite it was intense, had many twists and turns, was a love story, was funny, and had the best ending. The first story is short but kind of jarring before you realize the story is completely new. I liked the weakness of the Cymic when not in the human body can not see only hear.
What I Disliked: The survivors never meet up or there is any connection at all. Smart women kept making too dumb of mistakes not thinking of the enemy at all times.
Recommendations: Parasite is a really fun easy read that is intense in all the right places. The book has kick-ass female leads that are all written differently and for the most part, rise to the challenge. Despite the book's dark subject, it finds ways to inject humor throughout. This is my first Darcy Coates novel and I'm charmed. I recommend you read Parasite.
Rating: I rated Parasite by Darcy Coates 4.1 stars out of 5.
February 12, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t perfect but it was just what I needed to read after a few books that were awful.
I like the Characters, even those we don’t get to know well seemed fleshed out and real, and the parasite...
Creepy.
Can you imagine that happening while you talked to your friend? Ewwwwww
I like the Characters, even those we don’t get to know well seemed fleshed out and real, and the parasite...
Creepy.
Can you imagine that happening while you talked to your friend? Ewwwwww
November 10, 2023
4.5 stars. Ahh, Darcy does it again! This was GENIUSLY plotted. It’s not exactly one full novel—it was originally published as five novellas—so don’t be weirded out by the structure. Appreciate it as separate stories that are connected by one enemy. I’d love to see more sci-fi horror from Darcy Coates in the future!!
August 29, 2016
I originally read Parasite in installments when it was released as a five-installment series called Cymic Parasite Breach.
Parasite is divided into five stories that take place at outposts on moons or semi-planets, and each one is isolated from the other outposts throughout the system, either by distance or by both distance and lack of communication. While each section (station) is its own complete story with its own set of fully developed characters, they all encounter the same horrible creature.
Each scene is written so beautifully that, for me, it was like a movie projector was switched on. I would be delighted to see this story play out on the big screen. It is fast-paced and flows smoothly, making it an exciting read…though you may want to leave your lights on when you go to bed.
Parasite is a fantastic blend of horror and science fiction, making it a must-read for science fiction fans.
Parasite is divided into five stories that take place at outposts on moons or semi-planets, and each one is isolated from the other outposts throughout the system, either by distance or by both distance and lack of communication. While each section (station) is its own complete story with its own set of fully developed characters, they all encounter the same horrible creature.
Each scene is written so beautifully that, for me, it was like a movie projector was switched on. I would be delighted to see this story play out on the big screen. It is fast-paced and flows smoothly, making it an exciting read…though you may want to leave your lights on when you go to bed.
Parasite is a fantastic blend of horror and science fiction, making it a must-read for science fiction fans.
September 25, 2021
3.5 stars!
For the most part, this book was very enjoyable, but it came with two major issues for me:
1. It's pitched as a novel, and it's very much not. It's short stories. Yes, they all take place in the same universe during the same time period with the same main conflict, but that does not make something a novel.
2. The last story was so obviously less heavily edited than the rest. It was so much weaker, made less sense, had more typos and poorer writing. Until that last one I definitely would have given this book 4 stars!
Did I think this book was fun? Overall, yes, and definitely for the first few stories. The longer it went on, the less I was interested. What I am interested in though, is reading more from this author. I enjoyed the writing and so many of the ideas here and of course I'm always looking for more horror to add to my TBR.
For the most part, this book was very enjoyable, but it came with two major issues for me:
1. It's pitched as a novel, and it's very much not. It's short stories. Yes, they all take place in the same universe during the same time period with the same main conflict, but that does not make something a novel.
2. The last story was so obviously less heavily edited than the rest. It was so much weaker, made less sense, had more typos and poorer writing. Until that last one I definitely would have given this book 4 stars!
Did I think this book was fun? Overall, yes, and definitely for the first few stories. The longer it went on, the less I was interested. What I am interested in though, is reading more from this author. I enjoyed the writing and so many of the ideas here and of course I'm always looking for more horror to add to my TBR.
April 15, 2023
Every book I read from now on, I'll be scared that a crack will appear down the middle, black sludge will bubble up and another copy of Parasite will be staring back at me. I'd rather shoot myself in the head than read this abomination a second time.
Everything is so basic and safe. You know what's about to happen as soon as the premise for each part is set up. There are no shocks. There isn't any tension. Obviously it's not scary. No research into what being in space is actually like. Awful dialogue throughout. It's a made for TV movie, in a book.
I wish I hadn't finished it. That would have saved me from Mitzi.
Weak.
Predictable.
Snooze fest.
Everything is so basic and safe. You know what's about to happen as soon as the premise for each part is set up. There are no shocks. There isn't any tension. Obviously it's not scary. No research into what being in space is actually like. Awful dialogue throughout. It's a made for TV movie, in a book.
I wish I hadn't finished it. That would have saved me from Mitzi.
Weak.
Predictable.
Snooze fest.
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