4 Stars!

Nadia Afifi took readers on a trip to the stars and beyond in The Emergent and The Sentient and looks to pick up right where she left off in the next chapter in the story of Amira Valdez with The Transcendent. The Sentient was a very strong work of science fiction and I was hoping for more of the same when I opened this Flame Tree Press release.



Even as the Trinity Compound was gaining power and recruiting new members, Amira Valdez was on the run. She was pregnant with her own clone and thus was one of the most important people in the universe. As mankind struggles to defeat death, cloning seems like the best way to accomplish this goal and Amira is the prime candidate to hold the key to mankind’s greatest success. The problem, however, is that she is not sure that this would be a good thing. She is not sure if she should keep the baby growing within her. And she is not sure that her continued existence is the best thing for the universe in her struggle against the Trinity Compound.



Amira knows she has one hope: finding the first clone, Nova. This sets her off on an adventure to find Nova before it is too late. Amira knows that it is just not her life on the line. She holds the fate of humanity in her hands. The only thing that can save mankind is to solve the riddle of life over death. What hope does she have, though, when even those who seek the same goal are set against her? The world is quickly spiraling downward around her as the warring factions of government and religion seek control though the use of the mind-bending drug, Tiresia, in the hope that will provide the answer Amira knows lies in Nova, and maybe in the clone growing inside her.



Afifi sets out to continue the story of Amira in The Transcendent and the novel jumps right into the meat of the story. Since this is the third book in the series, readers are expected to be well aware of what has gone on before so there is no time spent bringing the story up to speed. As with the first two books, there is a lot of weight to the story as there is a lot going on and political intrigue fills every page. Afifi does a good job balancing this with action, though, so the story moves along without seeming to lag at all. There is a strong morality to the story and that drives the story more than the characters. I had always felt a bit detached from the characters in this series and that does not change here. It is the questions Afifi raises about life and death and the meaning of humanity that made the first two books shine and they are the overarching there here as well. Unlike many series, The Transcendent works with its predecessors to feel almost as one long novel rather than separate books and this works well for the series all they flow together seamlessly. There is not a lot of newness to this book, but readers of the first two will enjoy slipping back into the world once more.



Afifi built a strong world, galaxy, in the first two novels and brings the story to a head in this novel. I am not sure if The Transcendent is going to be the last novel in the series, but it does have that feel and it brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. That is not to say that there is much more that can be explored in this world. It just feels like an end to the story although there is plenty of room to launch a new one. The Sentient is the best book in the series although all three were very good. The Transcendent just seems a bit rushed at times almost as if Afifi felt it was time to wrap up the story and hurried toward that end. The conclusion, though, is still satisfactory and wraps up the three novels nicely. I am not sure if Afifi is planning on returning to this world in the future, but I know that I will be right there with her if she ever does. Readers need to make sure to read the books in order or there will be a lot lost, but the time it takes to work through these three novels is well worth it. Afifi is a rising star in science fiction and I cannot wait to read more from her in the future.



I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. The Transcendent is available now.

I found this story intriguing and well plotted. There's some interesting ideas and food for thought.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This is the satisfying third book after The Sentient and The Emergent (making it perhaps the final book of a trilogy), a series in which Amira Valdez contends with her past in the form of The Compounds, fundamentalist "homelands" where there is patriarchal rule, and with her present, where the interests of a group of scientists who want to live forever are destabilising society. Although the overall plot is rather complicated, the arc from the first book to this is quite cohesive. That said, this was not the best book of the three; the second was. This feels rushed, and there are too many attempts to remind readers of the events of the second book.

Amira is certainly not the most likeable or sympathetic protagonist; however, the author introduces Nova, who is really cute and quite uncanny. Nova's predecessor (you'd have to read the books) was, interestingly, not likeable either, so this is quite the sleight-of-hand by Afifi. There are many other interesting characters, though; this is the strength of the series. The speculative/futuristic parts of the plot are also solid, and make for good reading.

This will do for a final book to tie up loose ends. Don't read it as a standalone story; start at the beginning of the series, and it will be much more satisying.

Thank you to Flame Tree Press and to NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a novel with some really neat ideas, and those ideas are its strength. I get the feeling the author is still growing as a writer and I hope she continues to write.

This future--one of hyper-religious compounds arming for war against the cities--reminded me a bit of Corinth 2642 A.D. And some of the things that kept me from connecting to that novel as much as I'd have liked to worked against me here, too: the characters were, generally speaking, not sufficiently fleshed out to care about, and I didn't much like or relate to the main character, Amira, even after spending enough time with her that I felt like I ought to know her to some degree. There was action that was well done and politics and some fairly gruesome fights/injury scenes, but I just wasn't invested enough in either the people or the stakes to really feel compelled and drawn forward in the story.

I didn't feel convinced by a major premise/character motivation: the idea that the world's problems stem from people fearing death and that if you give them an alternative to an afterlife to hope for (that being the supposed source of the strength and sway held by the militant religious compounds), that will solve the world's ills (the proposed alternative being functional immortality) didn't convince me. But I'd have been okay with overlooking a possibly shaky premise if I had characters I liked and felt invested in.

Language choices kept grabbing my attention, but those just felt like early-writer issues; too-frequent use of overwrought metaphor: "Dread thickened like paint" in someone's veins, and a character's "heart plummeted like a shuttle through Lower Earth Orbit"--kinks that won't bug every reader and that writers tend to work out over time. I think it's likely that readers looking for a political thriller with some neat big ideas and with less of a focus on characters may have an easier time connecting with this book than I did.

I was provided an ARC by Netgalley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for an unbiased review.

A good story overall with excellent aspects. This has contains great ideas. It's essentially a mystery, and has some well-written characters. The plot is excellent as well. I hope the author continues to write. Recommended for scifi thriller fans.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

What a great ending to this series!
If you like a good scifi story, this is a must read!

I just reviewed The Transcendent by Nadia Afifi. #TheTranscendent #NetGalley