Title: Waking Gods
Genre: Science-fiction
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Rating: 4.25/5




“I just thought… I thought he’d be able to weasel his way out of this, twist God’s arm, tell him he had nude pictures of him or something.”

Waking Gods is the anticipated sequel to Sleeping Giants. You can check out my non-spoiler review HERE or HERE. I am so excited that I was able to get an ARC through the NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Waking Gods takes place 10 years after Sleeping Giants. After the discovery of a giant robot the world has now been exposed to the reality that there is life outside of Earth. These aliens are technologically more advanced than we could have ever dream of. Now that we know they exist, should we begin to prepare for an apocalypse?

Ten years later society is forced to answer that question when robots begin falling from the sky and landing all around the world in the Earth’s most populated cities and begin to kill us by the millions.

The story is told in the same format as Sleeping Giants. There are a series of interviews, military reports, journal entries, and live news broadcasts. The same characters that were in book 1 are in book 2, as well as some new faces. Questions are answered regarding our nameless mystery guy. And, the fate of the world is in the hands of two pilots, a geneticist, a physicist, and a ten-year old girl.

The story keeps you hooked the entire time. Just when you think that things are finally settling down something happens that makes you say ‘WHOA’. You keep wondering what this alien civilization wants from us and how can we possibly defend ourselves when they can so easily erase all human life on earth?

Despite the millions of deaths that occurred, this book was funny and filled with sarcastic characters that I love. The story is somewhat predictable yet there were a few outcomes that I did not see coming that kept me wanting more.

One thing about this story that doesn’t make me jump over the moon and want to shove this book in people’s faces is that the format in which the story is told makes it more difficult to connect with the characters. You never really know what the character is thinking. Your perception of them is solely based on the things they say and do rather than reasoning behind their actions. It's easier to empathize with a villain if you know his reasoning behind their madness.

Besides that this book is funny, has a unique format, and it involves alien civilizations with GIANT ROBOTS. What’s not to love?

SO GOOD. SO SO SO GOOD. I LOVED THIS, I'M GRINNING AND I CAN'T STOP.

Sleeping Giants was one of my favorite sci-fi books of 2015, and I had really high expectations for Waking Gods. This book had everything I loved about the first book, but everything was even better the second time around. Definitely no second book slump here!

Waking Gods picks up a few years after the events of Sleeping Giants, with many of the same narrators. There are a few new voices and I loved seeing how they fit into the larger story. Even though the story is mostly told through journals, reports, and interviews, which can seem a bit emotionally distant, this book was a huge emotional roller coaster. I was grinning, crying, shocked, freaking out...let's be real, I was freaking out for a good 90% of the book because everything was so intense.

This book pulls no punches. None of your favorite characters are safe. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I love how this book is so tightly plotted and intelligent. It's rare that a book is a suspenseful page-turner, a profound meditation on human nature, and a hard-science sci-fi story all at once, but that's exactly what this is. Just when you think you know how this story is going to go, it completely up-ends genre tropes and goes in an entirely new direction. I cannot wait to see where book 3 will take us.

3.5 of 5 stars

While Sleeping Giants was not without its flaws, it did succeed in leaving me curious about where the story will go next. So when the opportunity to read the sequel presented itself, it didn’t take much convincing for me to jump on board.

Ten years have passed since the events of the first book. The world has accepted the presence of Themis, the giant robot first found buried in pieces all over the world, later assembled to become humanity’s greatest weapon. Ancient aliens had left her here to be our protector—or that’s what the Earth Defense Corps wants everyone to believe. Which is why when a second robot—even more massive than Themis—suddenly materializes from out of nowhere in the middle of London, the local population’s reaction to it is decidedly nonchalant and calm. Despite being larger, the robot’s appearance is familiar, and in a way…comforting.

However, with each passing day and with no further movement from the robot, its looming presence is quickly becoming a source of anxiety for the EDC and people are starting to ask some difficult questions. What is this second robot doing there? Where did it come from? Who is piloting it? What do they want and what are they waiting for? Before answers can be forthcoming though, the robot makes its move—and no one is quiet prepared when it finally happens. The resulting devastation in London is unspeakable, the death tolls staggering—and unfortunately, these horrors are just the beginning. As more of the giant robots start appearing in big cities across the globe, Dr. Rose Franklin and her team must figure out Themis’ secrets before humanity faces its impending extinction.

No question about it, Waking Gods is better than its predecessor. Like Sleeping Giants, it is presented as collection of journal entries, transcribed interviews and dictations, textual communications, etc. making it a very quick read, so if you enjoyed the structure of the first book then you should have no problems getting into this sequel. The ideas are also just as unique and imaginative. Second book slump? Nope, not here. From colossal robots of alien origin to conspiracies involving ancient factions on Earth, all these elements introduced in Sleeping Giants are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s simply so much more to this story to discover, and the shockers and plot twists here make the ones in the first book feel tame in comparison.

Thing is though, epistolary novels are not always that conducive to character development, so it’s a good thing that most of the main players from the first book also return for the sequel. The author has an incredible talent for writing dialogue (you sorta have to, in order to pull off a project like this!) but revealing most of the plot through interview transcripts also sacrifices a lot of emotional connection to the characters, which was one of my biggest issues with Sleeping Giants. Thankfully I found this “distancing effect” to be less of a problem in Waking Gods, or perhaps I simply needed at least two books to really get a feel for Rose, Kara, Vincent, and of course our mysterious unnamed interviewer.

That said, I still find the format limiting in certain situations. While the info-dumping is not quite as bad as it was in the first book, you still get the occasional awkward moment, especially in the sections with oral dictation. Imagine if you will that a giant robot was in the process of falling right on top of you. Most people in this situation would be running helter-skelter for their life, not stating ludicrous things like “I’m not sure I can outrun a twenty-story building!” or “I can hear it crumbling down behind me!” into a microphone while trying their darndest not to die. There’s a fine line between keeping things interesting and convincing when it comes to epistolary novels. Compared to the first book, Waking Gods may a strike a better balance in this regard, but I feel we’re still not all the way there yet.

Nevertheless, I’m glad I read it. If you had fun with Sleeping Giants, this sequel will be definitely worth your time. I have to say any criticisms I have are pretty minor; on the whole this book is an improvement over the first one, pushing the story and characters to greater heights while dropping plenty of surprises. I devoured Waking Gods and enjoyed every moment, and all I have to say about that ending is, there’d damn well better be another book!

I've been looking forward to this one ever since I read the ARC for the first, and I cannot even begin to describe how excited I was when I got the second. :)

In the first, we get an adventure and the assembly and the loss and the regaining of the Giant Robot Themis, with our motley pilots and oh-so-mysterious Interviewer.

In this one, we dive right into the thick of things ten years after the adventure began with the arrival of rival robots from right across the universe. We'd already heard tales of them in the first, from strange long-lived people who'd stayed behind to see through the bloodlines, but this is where things get really wonky.

And where the death-count starts rising.

And if you're more interested in the characters and their arcs, never fear. Some very interesting developments are happening. Am I just as thrilled for the Neon Genesis Evangelion nod? Hell yeah. Do I love this tale and the odd kinds of twists and turns surrounding our original researcher? Double hell yeah.

As for our not-so-favorite geneticist? I feel nothing but loathing. That's kind of the point. She rather deserves it. :)

No spoilers since this won't be released for several more months, but suffice to say I really enjoyed it and I really want to sing its praises. I love my big robots! I love ALL my big robots, even if they're not on our side. They still give me the warm tingles. :)


All told, if you guys haven't enjoyed the first novel, then get on it. The second is just as delicious and its satisfying all types of unfulfilled SF niches for us. :)

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Last year, Sleeping Giants made my Best of 2016 list and I’m fairly confident Waking Gods has secured a spot on the 2017 list. While Sleeping Giants dealt with the discovery, assembly, and control of Themis, the buried robot relic of unknown origin — book #2 shows how a newly emboldened Earth deals with a threat far beyond what they are prepared to handle. Author Sylvain Neuvel takes the overall story in a bold direction that sees our returning protagonists confronted with a dozen new giant alien robots with unclear aims. Waking Gods is larger in scale, yet more personal in nature.

I love the continued use of interviews with shadowy characters who know much more than they are letting on. By slowly feeding crumbs of intel to the protagonists (and to us, by extension), they’re able to guide them into finding solutions for seemingly unsolvable problems; this serves to drive the narrative forward in a compelling way.

The epistolary format combines with Neuvel’s sharp writing to make for an infinitely readable sci-fi adventure that twists and turns its way to a big cliffhanger ending. I’m excited to see where the series goes from here.

4.25 out of 5 stars

When I compare this novel to the first one in the series, I have to admit that it wasn't as good. That being said, this novel was really really cool and it took the story in a direction I wasn't expecting. The author did a good job of resolving a lot of questions from the first book in this one, and that felt sooooo satisfying to me; I hate unanswered questions! He also left me with a lot more questions, which I HOPE will be answered in another book! There were a couple new characters introduced, and they were nice additions to the story. There was also the brief return of other characters into the plot line, and this was done in a very nice, cohesive way. I'm going to give a mini-spoiler here: some characters die. Their deaths made me really really sad, especially because I really liked them. However, I'm curious to see how this series will move in the next installment (which I hope will be released soon)! This novel had a lot of action, a lot of science, and enough confusion to keep the reader intrigued and perplexed, in the best way possible. I'm really in love with the author's writing style, as the novel continues to be written in interview, letter, and email format; it just makes for such an interesting read. If you liked the first book, you are going to have a great time with this one. And if you like science fiction, and alien robots, then you need to get this series on your must-read list!

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel is the highly recommended second book in the Themis Files Series which began with Sleeping Giants. It is important to read these books in the order in which they were written.

In the prologue we hear from a new character named Eva Reyes: "They keep telling me it’s normal to have bad dreams. But I know they’re not dreams. I have them when I’m awake now. I saw it again today at school, and I started screaming. It’s the same one I’ve been having for months. Everyone’s dead. There are thousands of them, dead on the streets, a whole city filled with corpses. I see my parents lying in blood inside our house. I haven’t told them that part. Today there was something new. I saw a robot, like Themis, a big metal woman falling into the clouds."

The Earth Defense Corps members, including physicist Rose Franklin, are still studying the advanced technology found in the giant robot named Themis, while Army pilot Kara Resnik and Quebecois linguist Vincent Couture are becoming more adroit at moving/controlling the robot. It was thought that Themis was left on Earth to protect humankind from future invasion. This theory is tested when a giant robot suddenly appears in London and subsequently wipes out a wide swath of the city. While they were somewhat successful in the aftermath of the attack, how will they handle the many robots landing in large cities worldwide? These new robots have arrived with a new way to exterminate millions of people.

The narrative is again told through an epistolary compilation of interviews, news items, and official journal entries. The mysterious interrogator/examiner is back, discussing events and actions with the characters. The development of the characters is though these interviews and journal entries and is surprisingly effective for the most part. Some more surprising information is revealed in these almost matter-of-fact entries. The complex plot moves quickly forward and the action is very fast-paced due to the way the novel is written, which allows the facts to be succinctly presented. While new questions arise, some previous questions from Sleeping Giants are answered.

Waking Gods is the second in the series and does suffer a bit from second-in-a-series syndrome with some plot points cleared up but many new ones left opened and unanswered. Still, there are giant robots arriving in cities and being piloted by aliens with some nefarious plans. And there are new scientific facts learned as well as many startling personal revelations.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House Publishing.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/03/waking-gods.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1957354772

So. Sylvain. To be honest I had a moment of doubt with you when I started reading this book. The thing that threw me of was having to get over the fact that some years had passed since Sleeping Giants and I hated the thought of missing out on those years. I wanted to pick up exactly where I left off. But it was unfair of me to doubt you because you have done a brilliant job in making this sequel even better than the first, and that is impressing.

Something that can easily happen with a second book is that the initial magic and amazement fades. But in this book it just kept growing and it was thrilling and smart all the way through. So incredibly exciting and unexpected. The plot took turns I couldn’t foresee and so many good observations about what it is to be human were made. I loved it.

My only critique for the first book was that I felt a distance in the writing, something that the special format contributed to. But this time around I felt that the writing was a bit sharper and the story managed to be intimate while still keeping the style from the first book.

It was just pretty damn perfect and the ending left me shocked and excited to see what will come next. Preferably soon.

Waking Gods is a terrific follow up to Sleeping Giants! Neuvel kept the same basic format: interview transcripts and journal entries to narrate the story. You might think this would inhibit character development, but it really doesn't. The personalities of the main characters shines through, as well as a rich story about love, fear, and the end of the world. Taking place years after the original novel, you jump right back into the action. There are quite a few heavy themes explored here, but the story kept me interested to the very end. Loved it!

Last year I did a review of Sleeping Giants, the first book in the Themis Files series and really, really enjoyed it. It was a hell of a lot of fun and the giant robot book I'd always wanted to see. There were mixed reviews on it, but for me it was a solid yes. The second book picks up some time after the ending of Waking Gods (and what an ending that was), introducing us back into our logs, interviews, and journal entries.
The format of the book, something I know some people didn't jive with (which is totally
understandable) is a modern day epistolary novel. We get pieces of documents and recordings to tell us the story, no real traditional 'he said, she said'. I totally dig that, it works for me. Of course I'm a lover of epistolary novels to begin with. It can give you a distance from the characters that, for me, works in it's favor. I see the flaws they have as well as their merits. So for me the characters in the Themis Files are very three dimensional. We get the same cast to begin with that we had with book one. We get one very big addition later and a smaller one early, but we get those same big four we ended with. And they continue to grow in very big ways, so development is not an issue.
The pacing is the perfect example of that overused phrase "That escalated quickly". The book starts at a run, with more giant robots showing up. That's the only spoiler you're going to get here since it does happen within the first few segments, but yeah, we get more giant robots. Quite a few. A bit complaint I heard from the first book was that it was slow or nothing really happened. For that I say, keep reading guys. The death toll on this one is higher. Way, way higher. Days after finishing it, I was thinking, Waking Gods felt like the first half of a 'get the gang together' movie. Waking Gods is the explosion, fight filled second half. And boy did we get those explosions.
Finally, does the sequel live up too and improve on the first? I think it does. The story starts to accelerate and we get more of what we want to see. Giant robots, action, and maybe more alien information! We get our same characters, but begin to see a wider view of the world and see the ramifications of what happened in book one. It also leaves us with questions that aren't answered but are satisfied with what we have. The only thing I can fault the book for is entirely spoilery related. But an event happens that jarred my reading of our narrator just a touch. A change occurred, but with time I'm confident that will smooth out. Overall this is one I really, really recommend you try. Even if Waking Gods was a bit slow or off for you this one is worth getting into! Borrow it from a friend, or a library because this is a series you can't drop out of early.

P.S. Holy Giant Robots! That ending. THAT ENDING, WHY?

Can I give this book 10 stars please?! It starts off ten years after the first book and begins a bit slow, but once a new giant robot alien lands in the middle of London things start to pick up really fast. Sleeping Giants introduced us to our robot Themis and this group of clever and crazy cast of characters, like Rose and Kara and Vincent and "our friend." In Waking Gods, we really get to care about these people and fear for them and want them to survive what could be the end of the world.

Thirteen bigger, stronger, more advanced alien robots land all around the world and the ensuing chaos had me turning the pages as fast as I could read the words. I had to know what was going to happen next! I don't want to give away too much, but let's just say that shit gets real.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book, and the first one, is that it's a thought-provoking sci-fi. It's sci-fi with a brain and a heart. Eugene is a mysterious man, but his conversations with "our friend" and Rose made me think about life as a human being, our shortcomings and strengths, possible life outside our little planet, that other species would have different cultures and ideas and methods and beliefs. It's like anthropology on a whole other level. It's fascinating and terrifying and amazing. Reading this book made me think about things I never considered before, which is cool in and of itself, but it helps that this book is entertaining as hell too!

Remember last year, when we talked about Sleeping Giants? Book by Sylvain Neuvel, giant robot buried in the earth, scientists, military, shadowy government figures, FREAKING AWESOME? Well, get ready: the second book in The Themis Files is out tomorrow: Waking Gods ups the ante, big time.

Picking up about a decade after the events in Sleeping Giants, we get reacquainted with a few of our friends from Sleeping Giants: Kara Resnick and Vincent Couture are back, as is our shadowy government friend, and a few other characters you'll know and love (or love to hate). Themis, the robot from Sleeping Giants, is a global sensation: she's got action figures and everything; she's a beloved Iron Giantess. And then... well, you know someone has to crash the party, right?

Other giant mechs show up, and the Earth Defense Corps (EDC), formed after Themis' discovery, scrambles into action. In a scene reminiscent of the first Independence Day flick back in '96, the first strategy is to be friendly - after all, they gave us Themis, right? Show them we're friendly folk; bring out the kids, have a BBQ in hopes... what, that the robot will join you? This is NOT the Iron Giant, man!

As expected, "Operation: Robot Tailgate" goes horrifically wrong. Earth is under attack, and our armed forces aren't enough. It's going to take some serious brain power and some kung pao chicken lunches with mysterious, shadowy figures to even get us in the game, let alone on the playing field. Let's hope Themis and Company is up to the task.

Waking Gods takes everything that made Sleeping Giants such fantastic reading and turns it all up. The format stays the same: military reports, interview transcripts, media transcripts, diary entries. It puts readers into the heart of the action; it makes us the keeper of secret knowledge, it lets us in on the behind-the-scenes chaos at the end of the world. There's plenty here for the tech sci fi geeks; the robot geeks; the science geeks, and the sci-fi, anime-loving giant robot geeks. This is simply incredible science fiction that guarantees a white-knuckled read and a complete disregard for such menial things as bedtime. And buckle up, folks: there's another installment coming.

As Kirkus, who gave Waking Gods a starred review, says: "In a word: unputdownable."

In some ways this is just as good as the first book, Sleeping Giants, in others it was weaker. The narrative technique helps propel the plot at a frantic pace, but I kept wanting more exposition beyond the dialog. My true ranking would be closer to 3.5.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!
Waking Gods is the second book in The Themis Files series (trilogy?) written by Sylvain Neuvel.
I think that I liked this one more than book one, since I already knew the characters and the world. The story starts up ten years later than the first one, when a giant robot appears in the middle of London out of nowhere. By every chapter I was hanging on the edge of my seat. In the end, this book was EPIC, with a great plot twist, more kickass action than the first book, and of course another cliffhanger. I'm so excited to read the next one.

Waking Gods follows Neuvel's lauded debut, Themis Files #1: Sleeping Giants. We continue with the story of Dr. Rose Franklin and the giant robot, Themis, that Rose discovered as a child and helped assemble as an adult. The plot in this book is structured differently from that in the first. Although we still have the files, which largely are comprised of interviews or personal logs, the action itself is different and... there is certainly more of it. There is slightly less science although the return of a certain war criminal geneticist was interesting. Basically, we knew that powering up Themis was going to result in consequences and the consequences may have taken ten years to arrive but they're here now. The interesting thing is what those consequences are and who they're targeting.

I do have to admit that found this second book frustrating in some respects. I don't know if they editor is the same as in the first book but I was bothered by some changes that I felt occurred in the character arcs and voicing for some of the characters introduced in the first book. Rose being tentative was plausible after what she's been through. Vincent seemed plausibly himself. I was always a little troubled by how Ryan Mitchell's character's career denouement occurred in the first book and his reappearance in this book was little more than a plot device, and he was so inept it seemed a leap even for a sci-fi novel. The character that most troubled me in this book was Kara, who just... didn't sound the same to me. Where is our Kara? Readers who enjoyed her in the first book may not recognize her or be very happy with her outcome in this one. And then there is Eva, a new but important character in #2, who is only ten years old. Does Neuvel have children? Has he spent time with children this age? What about his editor? The lack shows. Eva isn't a tween or a teen, she's ten and been through a lot. I just don't think she'd be so snarky and bold with what she's been through. She seems to have endured little shock or trauma from the death of parents that raised her and displacement from a typical child's life in Puerto Rico. Speaking of which, her English is mighty fine considering that less than 30% of the population in Puerto Rico is reported to speak English with a fair degree of fluency. Couldn't we have had Vincent having to translate for her from her Spanish? I would have found that more plausible, as well. Sigh.

Perhaps Waking Gods merely suffers from middle book syndrome. Speaking of which, while some are claiming the book ends in a cliffhanger, I don't think it was a particularly serious one. It seemed more like a natural progression of the Themis plotline.

I'm going to go ruminate now about a certain acerbic academic, whose voice I'll miss.

(attached image of the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula in his honor)

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Group for providing me with an ARC of Waking Gods.

Rush to pre-order or reserve your copy of Waking Gods because you are going to want to read this book immediately! Ten years have passed since Themis first made its appearance on earth and now a new bigger, stronger robot has mysteriously presented itself smack in middle of London's Regent's Park. Londoners are not sure if this new robot is friend or foe and it's up to the crew from book one to figure out how to handle this new being.
This book offers tons of chaos, cool science, witty banter and lots of new plot changes. You don't need to have read book one but it helps add to the enjoyment of book two.
I did lower my star rating from 4/5 because some plot twists niggled me the wrong way and as much as I wanted to ignore them,the suspension of belief was too high.

Last year a friend introduced me to Sleeping Giants and sparked an obsession. This year I heard there was an opportunity to read Waking Gods early and tripped all over myself trying to get a copy! Although I wasn't sure Sylvain Neuvel could deliver a second book as incredible as the first, I am excited to report that Waking Gods did not disappoint!

Sleeping Giants was a well-wrapped package. While there was a mind-blowing revelation near the end, there was no giant cliffhanger, so it wasn't surprising that Waking Gods opened with a time jump. I'll readily admit I was nervous about this at first. I tend to despise time jumps just because I feel so disconnected from characters ten years after I last saw them. I'm not sure if it's the unique format of this series or if Neuvel is a magician, but he totally pulled it off and managed to suck me back in immediately.

Kara and Vincent have been living their version of happily ever after since the conclusion of Sleeping Giants and it's exactly what you'd expect from these characters. Kara is happily childfree, Vincent does what he can to make her happy, and both continue to travel around the world showcasing their robot. But when a new threat comes to Earth, they jump right back into the action, ready to do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of the human race. The mysterious man at the center of everything is also back and I was thrilled that there was much more to him this time! Even a bit of backstory. Although the format of this series could make it difficult to connect with these people, there is no shortage of character development.

Thankfully, Waking Gods isn't short on conspiracy or action either. While the first book revolved around the worlds' shock of finding an alien robot, book two is about the panic that follows when several more of them show up - this time in tact, in major cities, and with alien pilots. No one knows what they're capable of and good people of Planet Earth are intent on testing their boundaries (as they do), inciting chaos at every turn. Sleeping Giants was exciting in its own right although there were lags, but Waking Gods is fast and sometimes feels like an action movie. I was never bored with this book!

The format of the Themis Files was something I really wasn't sure about when I finished the first book. While it worked well in audio, I said in my review that I didn't know if I would've been as intrigued if I'd read it in book form. As it turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong! The interview and log format of Waking Gods ended up being incredibly immersive and made me feel like I was in the middle of the action right alongside the characters.

I also loved that, while science was a big part of this book, it wasn't over my head to the point where I couldn't understand what was happening. There are also philosophical issues brought up in Waking Gods that you may not expect. Certain characters have to contend with some huge, life altering questions, but I always felt able to identify instead of being overwhelmed. Neuvel has written this in a way that it's understandable without being dumbed down or spoon fed to the reader.

Waking Gods is an incredibly intense sequel that did not let me go until the last page (and not really then). So often sequels suffer from second book syndrome but that definitely didn't happen here. I laughed, I cried, and I was absolutely on the edge of my seat! If you haven't started this series yet, you really need to give it a try! I cannot wait to get my hands on book three!

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read Waking Gods.

The second installment in the Themis Files, Waking Gods, is a thrill ride. Neuvel is an original voice in his genre, and, somehow, made a sequel even more exciting than the first.