Status Updates From The Sixth Nik

already anticipating this as my fav read of 2026

Dont read this book after eating two hot dogs... or anything at all

Further Herbertisms--the lethal assassins smell like cinnamon. Maybe this and Ballingrud's The Strange are two different approaches to the same type of reimagining.

If Frank Herbert wrote Casino Royale...set on Deimos...starring Doomguy...it would be this book. Kraus showed some great insight and awareness of animal intelligence in Whalefall, but I don't appreciate the inclusion of a dog in this macabre tableau. The use of the term "innocent" by a sociopathic mercenary spoils any reverence Kraus might have been going for.

I guess neologisms and imaginative theoretical tech are de rigueur for hard scifi, but this is a little heavy. Mimics fantasy books in that way--worldbuilding. Glad we've backed off from the body horror a bit. Definitely a rich mythology, and how much can you really question Kraus after Whalefall and Angel Down. Scale beginning to approach Herbertesque levels.

It's a strange mix of nebulous new-agey spirituality and hard scifi. So far, a less convincing mix than Ballingrud's Lunar Gothic Trilogy.

🤯

All I can say is holy shit

This book is going to put me in the worst slump of my life because nothing else is gonna compare like holy shit Mr Kraus you continue to baffle me with how good a writer u are

My jaw has been on the floor for hours lemme pick that up

Danny hitting me with crazy formatting shit and rocking my world yet again, we love this

Reading this on a plane is wild bc I’m making insane faces lmao