What do you think?
Rate this book
The Navigator #2
Dusk
Two years have passed since Kael and Alessia discovered Xirra, but despite providing an unexpected source of help, political tensions between Lyran cities have deepened. The Xirran philosophy of hope is causing rifts between the townships, and the two explorers unexpectedly find themselves at the heart of a controversial cult. Worse yet, one of the monstrous creatures from Carthusian, the ever-changing city-ship, seems to have been sighted in Vulpes, Lyra’s farming city.
With new enemies coming from unexpected places, Alhambro is determined to understand how the thinnings link universes, dispatching Vega’s best car crews across space, commissioning Basteel and Slyph to investigate the strange creature in Vulpes. At the same time, Kael and Alessia embark on a vital mission to cross a forbidden asteroid, an abandoned planet previously home to a super-advanced race and into the unknown.
As a new, hostile species capable of traversing the thinnings emerges, it seems that the sun is setting on Lyra for the very last time.
With new enemies coming from unexpected places, Alhambro is determined to understand how the thinnings link universes, dispatching Vega’s best car crews across space, commissioning Basteel and Slyph to investigate the strange creature in Vulpes. At the same time, Kael and Alessia embark on a vital mission to cross a forbidden asteroid, an abandoned planet previously home to a super-advanced race and into the unknown.
As a new, hostile species capable of traversing the thinnings emerges, it seems that the sun is setting on Lyra for the very last time.
- GenresScience Fiction
333 pages, Paperback
Published March 31, 2022
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Samuels
6 books13 followersI'm Matthew Samuels, a science fiction and fantasy writer based in London, UK. I'm the author of Parasites and Dusk, solarpunk / hopepunk science fiction exploration novels and Small Places, an urban fantasy novel.
I'm currently working on the sequel to Small Places and another urban fantasy title.
I enjoy reading, gaming, walking and quiet.
I'm currently working on the sequel to Small Places and another urban fantasy title.
I enjoy reading, gaming, walking and quiet.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 29, 2023
Yes, this took me several months to read, but I blame my life and not the author. This right here is sci-fi perfection. *chef’s kiss*
Book source ~ Author. My review is voluntary and honest.
Kael and Alessia discovered Xirra in the last book. It could have ended there. I’m so glad it didn’t! As with any new change, upheaval follows. And their world of Lyra does not like change. They are a practical people and hope is foreign to them. But the Xirrans believe in hope. Well, it’s a mess. However, that’s not the only problem on their plate. A new species has shown up and it’s hostile. Wow. What dicks. Traveling through the thinnings between parallel universes in a surprising and alarming way means everyone is on high alert and doing their best not to lead the enemy home to Lyra.
Ok, seriously. When I say this is a tension-filled book I am not kidding. This new hostile species is out for blood and there’s no information as to why because they don’t communicate with anything but weapons. What the hell?! Kael and Alessia’s mission sends them across several universes that are white knucklers and there’s no way to know if the next crossing will do them in or not. Basteel and Slyph are sent off to another mission on Lyra, but then have to rush off elsewhere and it’s a fun-filled ride. And by fun I mean dangerous. And so not fun.
Full of awesome multi-planetary action, danger, tension, and terrific characters, this story is what I want in my sci-fi adventures. I have no idea what book 3 will bring (hopefully some serious alien asskicking and my favorite peeps safe and alive) but I want it as soon as it’s out. Bring it on!
Book source ~ Author. My review is voluntary and honest.
Kael and Alessia discovered Xirra in the last book. It could have ended there. I’m so glad it didn’t! As with any new change, upheaval follows. And their world of Lyra does not like change. They are a practical people and hope is foreign to them. But the Xirrans believe in hope. Well, it’s a mess. However, that’s not the only problem on their plate. A new species has shown up and it’s hostile. Wow. What dicks. Traveling through the thinnings between parallel universes in a surprising and alarming way means everyone is on high alert and doing their best not to lead the enemy home to Lyra.
Ok, seriously. When I say this is a tension-filled book I am not kidding. This new hostile species is out for blood and there’s no information as to why because they don’t communicate with anything but weapons. What the hell?! Kael and Alessia’s mission sends them across several universes that are white knucklers and there’s no way to know if the next crossing will do them in or not. Basteel and Slyph are sent off to another mission on Lyra, but then have to rush off elsewhere and it’s a fun-filled ride. And by fun I mean dangerous. And so not fun.
Full of awesome multi-planetary action, danger, tension, and terrific characters, this story is what I want in my sci-fi adventures. I have no idea what book 3 will bring (hopefully some serious alien asskicking and my favorite peeps safe and alive) but I want it as soon as it’s out. Bring it on!
June 30, 2022
When author Matthew Samuels asked me if I wanted to read and review Dusk, I jumped at the opportunity. I had read and reviewed Parasites – the first book in The Navigators series – a couple of years ago, and I really enjoyed it. I thought the story was light and fun with interesting characters and settings. And, mostly, I liked Dusk for the exact same reasons.
I was excited to dive back into the lives of Kael, Alessia, Basteel, Slyph, et al. The book starts out with snapshots of what is going on with the characters from book 1, as well as what has changed with Lyra since the crew’s big mission that discovered Xirra. I really liked this approach to the writing, as I think it was the best way to continue with the storyline. With the new discoveries that came about in the first book, this world needed some time to let that marinate. That is exactly how things went down, and the world certainly went through changes – both for the good and the bad. Interestingly enough, though, the characters have not really changed that much. Another part about the book I liked. These are well-written characters, each unique and interesting in their own way. The connections with the reader are already there, and to change them in a significant way would be asking too much of the reader in trying to reconnect. My favorite characters are Basteel (because he is a badass) and Slyph (because she is a genius who changes the world by the minute – plus she does not have time for your shit).
I really like the way Samuels expanded the setting. As expected, the characters get to explore different worlds and planets even moreso than the first book while encountering new living things and technologies. As I mentioned in my review of Parasites, the author set this series up perfectly to be able to be really imaginative with the setting. Every time the characters travel is a new opportunity for a unique adventure, and Samuels exploits that fact to the fullest (in a good way).
I mentioned that Slyph has a big role in changing the world, and I just want to mention that as something else that really kept my interest. With new technology and information she is perpetually on the verge of ground-breaking science. This is a side narrative that adds a level of intrigue on top of an already captivating story.
Dusk is a really good book. The author lists it as “Hopepunk”, and I consider it to be medium sci-fi: Not quite hard sci-fi, but there are enough technical details that I do not consider it to be soft, either. It is adventurous and expansive - quite a fun read.
I was excited to dive back into the lives of Kael, Alessia, Basteel, Slyph, et al. The book starts out with snapshots of what is going on with the characters from book 1, as well as what has changed with Lyra since the crew’s big mission that discovered Xirra. I really liked this approach to the writing, as I think it was the best way to continue with the storyline. With the new discoveries that came about in the first book, this world needed some time to let that marinate. That is exactly how things went down, and the world certainly went through changes – both for the good and the bad. Interestingly enough, though, the characters have not really changed that much. Another part about the book I liked. These are well-written characters, each unique and interesting in their own way. The connections with the reader are already there, and to change them in a significant way would be asking too much of the reader in trying to reconnect. My favorite characters are Basteel (because he is a badass) and Slyph (because she is a genius who changes the world by the minute – plus she does not have time for your shit).
I really like the way Samuels expanded the setting. As expected, the characters get to explore different worlds and planets even moreso than the first book while encountering new living things and technologies. As I mentioned in my review of Parasites, the author set this series up perfectly to be able to be really imaginative with the setting. Every time the characters travel is a new opportunity for a unique adventure, and Samuels exploits that fact to the fullest (in a good way).
I mentioned that Slyph has a big role in changing the world, and I just want to mention that as something else that really kept my interest. With new technology and information she is perpetually on the verge of ground-breaking science. This is a side narrative that adds a level of intrigue on top of an already captivating story.
Dusk is a really good book. The author lists it as “Hopepunk”, and I consider it to be medium sci-fi: Not quite hard sci-fi, but there are enough technical details that I do not consider it to be soft, either. It is adventurous and expansive - quite a fun read.
August 31, 2022
Let's start with opening the book, shall we?
Before you start reading this story, you'll see a map of the universe in which the plot takes place, afterwhich you'll get a recap of what happened in the first book of the series, Parasites. I initially thought I'd do a quick read-through the first book before opening the second, but decided to test what it'd be like only go off the recap (and my hazy memories of the first part). I can now confidently report that you don't actually have to read the first book to get the sequel, so that's definitely a point in Dusk's favor.
The story follows a group of people with different skills and personalities, but already very early on these characters are split into two teams who go on separate missions. One team goes exploring new planets, their goal to reach a specific one where they're to launch a satellite for important, life-saving datagathering, while the other team travels a much shorter way to save an alien being who seems to be trapped and unable to leave the limbo it's gotten itself into. Dusk covers these missions from the beginning to the end and all the twists and turns along the way.
The cast is colorful. The main characters we know from Parasites are Kael and Alessia, a duo of partners who are friends and live together, work together, share everything with each other. It's not explicitly spelled out anywhere, but I'm pretty sure they're in a queerplatonic relationship. Unlike in the first book, their relationship reach new depths with the constant friction brewing between them. Living in a strained world where resources keep diminishing, Kael wants double down on being careful and not hope too much for a better world, while Alessia wants to believe they can change the world for better. The quiet conflict between them affects besides themselves also the crew they're travelling with.
Basteel and Sylph are the two other main characters whose thought the reader is privy to. They both joined the cast in Parasites, but their importance grows when they're separated from Keal and Alessia to go on their own mission. Basteel is a funny dude, basically the muscle of the group, but also their brain in practical matters, while Sylph floats around in her own lonely, theorethical geniusness. Sylph is very much neurodivergent-coded and she and Basteel balance out each other very nicely. Aside from the four main characters, there's a host of supporting characters, some of which are alien.
The core conflict of the story is that the people are running out of resources. While exploring, the people have come across other intelligent life with the same problem, all of which have solved it by "ascending", something that seems to be either 1) leaving the universe to go to another one where there are resources, such as a parallell universe or timeline, or 2) shedding their physical life forms and turning into ghosts or astral beings or the like (these are my words, not citations from the book, fyi). Essentially, the story explores the problem we're currently facing on Earth; what do we do when we've used up our planet? Dusk implies wasting our resources is inevitable, as every people our heroes has come across has faced the problem.
The core conflict is only thematical though, because as earlier mentioned, the missions the separate teams are on are much smaller in scale. There's a relatively comfortable ebb and flow of conflict-resolutions through-out the story. I'd like to call it feel-good sci-fi, because there's not much doubt that the teams wouldn't overcome every problem they run into, much like there wasn't any doubt in Parasites either. The series is about adventure and the journey towards the goal. The stakes are slowly risen as the plot develops though, as it seems like a hostile alien race unwilling or unable to communicate is on warpath. Dusk ends with the climactic reveal that the aliens have invaded the main crew's home planet and we're left at the cusp of the point of no return, where our heroes officially become refugees.
The series is independently published by the author himself. Indie/small publishing houses don't have the same kind of resources and teams as traditionally published books, and it usually shows in the editorial department. I've gotten brisker with laying down books I'm not interested in reading, but I didn't have such thoughts when it came to Dusk.
I recommend this story to anyone looking for feel-good sci-fi and adventure across worlds. The characters and the social sphere within the story strikes me as heterogenus and non-normative, which I personally appreciate. If you're a fan of the found family trope, I'm pretty sure that's where this story is fast heading in the next book and I'm looking-forward to it. If there's anything I want in a story, it's escapism, and Dusk caters to that.
I'm rating this book somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, depending on which aspect I'm focusing on. I received a reviewer's copy of Dusk, but I did write this long review entirely voluntarily, so you can draw your own conclusions of my objectivity.
Before you start reading this story, you'll see a map of the universe in which the plot takes place, afterwhich you'll get a recap of what happened in the first book of the series, Parasites. I initially thought I'd do a quick read-through the first book before opening the second, but decided to test what it'd be like only go off the recap (and my hazy memories of the first part). I can now confidently report that you don't actually have to read the first book to get the sequel, so that's definitely a point in Dusk's favor.
The story follows a group of people with different skills and personalities, but already very early on these characters are split into two teams who go on separate missions. One team goes exploring new planets, their goal to reach a specific one where they're to launch a satellite for important, life-saving datagathering, while the other team travels a much shorter way to save an alien being who seems to be trapped and unable to leave the limbo it's gotten itself into. Dusk covers these missions from the beginning to the end and all the twists and turns along the way.
The cast is colorful. The main characters we know from Parasites are Kael and Alessia, a duo of partners who are friends and live together, work together, share everything with each other. It's not explicitly spelled out anywhere, but I'm pretty sure they're in a queerplatonic relationship. Unlike in the first book, their relationship reach new depths with the constant friction brewing between them. Living in a strained world where resources keep diminishing, Kael wants double down on being careful and not hope too much for a better world, while Alessia wants to believe they can change the world for better. The quiet conflict between them affects besides themselves also the crew they're travelling with.
Basteel and Sylph are the two other main characters whose thought the reader is privy to. They both joined the cast in Parasites, but their importance grows when they're separated from Keal and Alessia to go on their own mission. Basteel is a funny dude, basically the muscle of the group, but also their brain in practical matters, while Sylph floats around in her own lonely, theorethical geniusness. Sylph is very much neurodivergent-coded and she and Basteel balance out each other very nicely. Aside from the four main characters, there's a host of supporting characters, some of which are alien.
The core conflict of the story is that the people are running out of resources. While exploring, the people have come across other intelligent life with the same problem, all of which have solved it by "ascending", something that seems to be either 1) leaving the universe to go to another one where there are resources, such as a parallell universe or timeline, or 2) shedding their physical life forms and turning into ghosts or astral beings or the like (these are my words, not citations from the book, fyi). Essentially, the story explores the problem we're currently facing on Earth; what do we do when we've used up our planet? Dusk implies wasting our resources is inevitable, as every people our heroes has come across has faced the problem.
The core conflict is only thematical though, because as earlier mentioned, the missions the separate teams are on are much smaller in scale. There's a relatively comfortable ebb and flow of conflict-resolutions through-out the story. I'd like to call it feel-good sci-fi, because there's not much doubt that the teams wouldn't overcome every problem they run into, much like there wasn't any doubt in Parasites either. The series is about adventure and the journey towards the goal. The stakes are slowly risen as the plot develops though, as it seems like a hostile alien race unwilling or unable to communicate is on warpath. Dusk ends with the climactic reveal that the aliens have invaded the main crew's home planet and we're left at the cusp of the point of no return, where our heroes officially become refugees.
The series is independently published by the author himself. Indie/small publishing houses don't have the same kind of resources and teams as traditionally published books, and it usually shows in the editorial department. I've gotten brisker with laying down books I'm not interested in reading, but I didn't have such thoughts when it came to Dusk.
I recommend this story to anyone looking for feel-good sci-fi and adventure across worlds. The characters and the social sphere within the story strikes me as heterogenus and non-normative, which I personally appreciate. If you're a fan of the found family trope, I'm pretty sure that's where this story is fast heading in the next book and I'm looking-forward to it. If there's anything I want in a story, it's escapism, and Dusk caters to that.
I'm rating this book somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, depending on which aspect I'm focusing on. I received a reviewer's copy of Dusk, but I did write this long review entirely voluntarily, so you can draw your own conclusions of my objectivity.
October 25, 2022
Dusk was an exciting romp back through locations scattered across the galaxy as our adventurers travel through thinnings to cross tremendous distances in specially designed cars. As I've said about its predecessor, the Navigator series reminds me of a clever cross between Sliders and Stargate, where every trip through a thinning offers up a whole different world with different challenges and adventures.
Dusk sees some of the same characters from Parasites split up to go on two different adventures, which was an interesting change. I really enjoyed the exploration of the ascended worlds that the teams visited and the deeper insight into Lyran colonies and cultures that we really didn't see in the first book.
The ending was exciting and sets up the series nicely for an epic story in book 3. I like how all the character arcs are shaping up and I'm looking forward to see how they develop in the next book and how Samuels plans to wrap this series up after the epic problems he's created for our characters in this one. Write on!
Dusk sees some of the same characters from Parasites split up to go on two different adventures, which was an interesting change. I really enjoyed the exploration of the ascended worlds that the teams visited and the deeper insight into Lyran colonies and cultures that we really didn't see in the first book.
The ending was exciting and sets up the series nicely for an epic story in book 3. I like how all the character arcs are shaping up and I'm looking forward to see how they develop in the next book and how Samuels plans to wrap this series up after the epic problems he's created for our characters in this one. Write on!
May 29, 2022
4/5 Very Good.
The welcome return of an enjoyable cast of characters are back in this 2nd book in Matthew Samuels vividly imagined CyberPunk ‘The Navigator’ Series.
With an introduction to refresh older readers and introduce new fans to the world of Lyra, thinnings, The Carthusian and more, Matthew Samuels sets a scene and makes it easy to slide back into his evocative and vibrant universes.
The world building is again very good and appears to be one of Samuels’ strengths as he describes the many different worlds
Energetic and exciting storytelling that’s accessible to readers like me where science fiction is not their main genre, Samuels is good at what he does and I look forward to the last piece of this enjoyable space trilogy.
The welcome return of an enjoyable cast of characters are back in this 2nd book in Matthew Samuels vividly imagined CyberPunk ‘The Navigator’ Series.
With an introduction to refresh older readers and introduce new fans to the world of Lyra, thinnings, The Carthusian and more, Matthew Samuels sets a scene and makes it easy to slide back into his evocative and vibrant universes.
The world building is again very good and appears to be one of Samuels’ strengths as he describes the many different worlds
Energetic and exciting storytelling that’s accessible to readers like me where science fiction is not their main genre, Samuels is good at what he does and I look forward to the last piece of this enjoyable space trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews