Themis is in full working order and needed now more than ever. Another giant robot has appeared in the middle of London. It isn't moving or communicating or doing much of anything so Vincent, Kara, and a newly resurrected Dr. Franklin are sent with Themis to find out what it wants (and to prevent humanity from nuking itself into the sun in order to get rid of it).

This was a solid follow-up to Sleeping Giants, but it wasn't as emotionally compelling. I'm not sure if it was the number of characters or the matters that they were dealing with that didn't hold my attention. I was completely compelled to keep reading to find out what happened, but I wasn't as invested as I was with the first novel. [I was very devastated by the nameless man's and Kara's deaths, which I felt were a smidge unnecessary. I can see the motivation for Kara's death - getting Eva into Themis to proceed with her narrative, but not sure about the nameless man.} I definitely want to see where this leads, since the ending left things hanging in mid air (if you will).

After having read Neuvel's first book in this series (Sleeping Giants), I was hooked. Then came the impatient wait for the next installment of what now appears to be a trilogy. Thankfully, it was decidedly worth the year-long anticipation. I was surprised, however, that none of the various scenarios I had envisioned for this second novel were anywhere near what actually transpired... which was delightful to a jaded reader like me. Neuvel knocked me for a loop, just as he did with the first book. And, while reading, if you think you have the ending figured out, you don't. The final chapter left my jaw on the floor, and now begins the interminable wait to find out what happens next. Brilliant!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House I had the opportunity to read Sylvain Neuvel's new book Waking Gods months before it will be published.

The second book of Themis Files is just as amazing as the first one was. Some questions and secrets from the first book will be answered, but new ones also arise. Some old characters will be lost, some new one are revealed. The ending will make you cry but at the same time you can be sure, the new book will take you into new dimensions.

So, Rose is back, but she still can not understand and accept it. Those four years are lost for her and nothing they tell her sounds right to her. Mr Nameless is still leading everything and everybody. Kara and Vincent travel around the world with Themis as an circus act and they still learn new things about her.

But then new gigantic robot materializes in London, with another color running through his veins and he's much bigger than Themis. What is it, an threat? an quest? friendship offering? For days the robot does not move and all the powerful persons in the world argue what to do while the Earth Defense Corps tries to tell them to let them investigate first and then act with power. But before they can do one or the other their choices are taken from them and their sole hope is Themis.

This time the humans won (sort of) but for how long!?!?

A year later, when the EDC scientists have investigated their spoils any way they can think of, it all starts again, once again in London. This time the local friendly citizens take maters into their own hands but before anybody can tell them not to, this new robot "attacks" and 12 more robots appear in other mayor cities around the world. All of them deliver their "message" and then leave only to reappear in the next city.

USA has been untouched so far, but then it's time for New York. Just at that inconvenient time Vincent is missing with Themis and Kara has received a letter from a very unexpected person but the letter sends her on a very personal mission. So the human kind is an its way to extinction and the only ones who could help are either missing, are on a mission god knows where, and those who know something about anything can not give the information for one or another reason. But as always, when a deadly virus hits the earth there are those who are immune, now all they have to do is to find out why and how to use it ...

Just as the first book, this book is also a series of excerpts of personal logs, transcripts of meetings and interviews, so sometimes we follow the events in real time sometimes we read about them in retrospect. Everything is happening so fast, the story is very intense and if I usually drift off and lose the story when I have to read long scientific clarification of things, then in this story I was glued to my reader even if the talk was about difference between DNA and ANA (or some other NA with a different first letter) it was just so fascinating and so well written.

It was really good read and for me Eva's last words are the best ending to this book. :)

Excellent followup to a great debut. Sylvain Neuvel definitely can write. The tale is presented through interviews, logs, communications, and the whole time you just keep racing along, because you have to know what happens. Well. There are giant alien robots. With ridiculous power. See if that interests you. The only reason I gave it less than five stars is because the conclusion was just a bit too....neat. But it was fun, well written, the characters were alive, and I loved it.

I really love a good science fiction story and this series has definitely fit the bill. The second book in the Themis series is a lot darker, but we finally learn more about the background of our characters. It definitely has stronger writing than the first novel. The story structure is unusual with the interviews and government documents but it works.

It was refreshing to see the author kill off two main characters in the book. While their presence in the narrative will be missed, it helped to advance the story. I am eager to see where the author will take the readers next.
I would recommend this novel for my more mature students.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

Sleeping Giants was one of my favorite books of 2016 so I was super excited to read Waking Gods. As with Giants, I was hooked from page one and found myself delaying bedtime in order to finish it. The format and structure of this duology, along with the author's writing style, is great. Telling the story through interviews, case files, log transcripts, and character pov's is unique and interesting and works quite well, in my opinion.

I have to say I was surprised by a lot of the events in Waking Gods. I'm not sure exactly where I expected the story to go after the first book but this wasn't it lol. The sheer number of deaths, especially the deaths of certain main characters, was definitely a shock.

The ending, including the reason for and solution to the impending apocalyptic doom, felt somewhat underwhelming after so much build up. The subplot involving Eva could have used a little more development as well.

Overall, I truly enjoyed Waking Gods and The Themis Files as a whole and I still think it would make a great movie! Sylvain Neuvel is a talented author and I'm looking forward to reading whatever he comes out with in the future. *Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!*

I have been waiting to read this 2nd book since I finished reading the 1st book, Sleeping Giants. I was blown away by both. I simply adore this series. Hopefully there will be a 3rd book.

Not sure what I can say as I am absolutely not a writer and fear my review will not do it justice. I will say this, the writing style works for me and the plot is amazing. This story is absolutely entertaining, immensely intriguing and at times, utterly devastating. My emotions are all over the place. I'm still in shock.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

4.5* Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, my very first one!

Having loved Sleeping Giants, I couldn’t resist trying to get my hand on the sequel. Second books are notoriously difficult, especially in a series, but I’m pleased to say that Neuvel has exceeded my expectations!

Waking Gods is quite a different book. The narrative is not focused on the search for parts any longer, or the socio-political ramifications of the existence and 'ownership' of Themis. No, this novel not only widens the horizon considerably but takes on a different perspective, which makes perfect sense, building from the events of the first novel. Nine years have passed in relative calm but everything comes to a halt when a new and bigger robot - friend or foe? - appears in central London.

Once more, the narration is presented through a variety of documents, mostly interviews and journal entries. The characters shine and I really enjoyed following them through the story but also in their personal growth. Kara, Rose and the 'Interviewer' still steal the show!

Finally, Neuvel impressed me with his courage in pushing his readers by his plot choices. He didn't go for the 'easy' way by offering more of the same but instead went for what is more realistic. I'll definitely read this again when it is published!

First off, if you haven't read Sleeping Giants and you don't want to be spoiled, STOP READING NOW, 'kay? Actually, there are spoilers for this book, too, so.

I really enjoyed Sleeping Giants - it felt fresh, I liked the style of interviews/documents, the pacing was steady and they mystery felt pretty taut. Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to its sequel, particularly with that cliffhanger ending!

Waking Gods is good. A lot of mysteries are wrapped up, we find out a little bit more about the robots and where they come from, Dr. Rose Franklin's return is discussed at length.

[SPOILERS START NOW]

The biggest caveat to not loving this book was the pacing and the feeling of...emotional distance, and the two are not unrelated. Even though some truly terrible things were happening throughout the books - millions of people dying, for instance - I weirdly didn't care? I mean, it was upsetting in theory. But like, no emotional response. No urgency, no OMG! WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT? I almost feel like the author tries to make an excuse for this with a conversation between Rose and the Interviewer - how you can never feel the magnitude of that many deaths fully - like, people don't typically feel 1 million times worse if 1 million people die compared to 1 person that they are close to. And that's probably true. But if the scary things the robots were doing were supposed to move the plot along and increase the feeling of urgency - it failed, for me anyway.

Like I said earlier, I really did enjoy the epistolary way that both books are written - but for some reason, in the second book the style created an emotional barrier that didn't feel there in the first book.

So many major character deaths and I just felt a little, womp womp. That's too bad. Not my normal reaction to characters of that magnitude dying.

The perspective was perhaps a little too Birdseye for me to really engage emotionally.

Eva is a great character that I wish we had seen A LOT more of. The writing is good, the sense of humor is still there. The story is fascinating. I mean, it's still GIANT ALIEN ROBOTS!

Annnnd we get another cliffhanger ending. So I guess there will be a third? Or was the author just trolling us? I'd be fine either way. it could spin off to such a fun first contact story or it could be left here and we could just wonder.