<checks to see when my last G.S. Jennsen book review was>
<barely 6 months ago>
Hm yep sounds about right.
The worlds of Aurora Rhapsody and Asterion Noir collided in spectacular fashion in Continuum (fair warning that this review does contain Continuum spoilers). But as the case often is in any trilogy—even in a trilogy that’s part of an overarching series—the second installment tends to be where things take a little bit of a darker turn (perhaps the most popular example is The Empire Strikes Back). In that sense, the gamer in me finds it entirely appropriate that the green, yellow, and black color scheme gives the Inversion cover a little bit of an irradiated look, because the vast majority of the book focuses on the characters dealing with the *ahem* fallout of everything that happened in the last installment.
First and foremost, we have the entire Solovy family dealing with the impact of Miriam’s death and subsequent regenesis. Perhaps the most interesting part is seeing how the experience affects Miriam herself, considering the tough-as-nails military persona we’ve always known. Then we’ve got Caleb trying to figure out how to deal with Marlee being trapped on Namino, seeing as how any excursion to find her is almost certainly going to exacerbate a more…personal problem he’s having. Mia is dealing with Malcolm’s disappearance, and in turn Malcolm is dealing with having disappeared. Our good friend Eren is dealing with loss too, as well as the consequences of some of his own actions. Almost every single character is dealing with something in some way, and as a result, this story is a very emotional journey for all parties involved. The book’s title is fitting in that sense; after all the excitement of these two worlds coming together, everyone’s lives have now been turned upside down, and some of the choices characters have made as a result will surely continue to affect events to come.
That’s not to say we don’t see many of the same thrilling heroics we’ve grown accustomed to throughout this saga. On the contrary, ever-evolving technology brings new pizzazz to combat, both in space and on the ground. Characters—namely Marlee and the rest of the group stranded on Namino—are forced to improvise in order to survive, and it seems as though some unlikely new alliances/relationships are brewing. There’s also plenty of intrigue; spies and moles abound on all sides, so we spend quite a bit of time with Casmir, a character I never would have expected to be so significant back when he was first introduced. We haven’t seen a lot of Nyx and Nisi/Corradeo since the Aurora Resonant trilogy, but they remain some of my favorite minor characters and I’m particularly excited to see what comes of the action they took in this book (two words: “Daddy’s home”).
This story has gotten so huge that I can’t even imagine what comes next, but I’m here for it.
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About G.S. Jennsen
G. S. Jennsen lives in Colorado with her husband and two dogs. She has written fifteen novels and short story collections, all published by her imprint, Hypernova Publishing. She has become an internationally bestselling author since her first novel, Starshine, was published in March 2014. She has chosen to continue writing under an independent publishing model to ensure the integrity of her series and her ability to execute on the vision she’s had for them since their genesis.
While she has been a lawyer, a software engineer and an editor, she’s found the life of a full-time author preferable by several orders of magnitude.
When she isn’t writing, she’s gaming or working out or getting lost in the Colorado mountains that loom large outside the windows in her home. Or she’s dealing with a flooded basement, or standing in a line at Walmart reading the tabloid headlines and wondering who all of those people are. Or sitting on her back porch with a glass of wine, looking up at the stars, trying to figure out what could be up there.
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