Member Review

Heir Ascendant surprised me, it is far from easy to write a science fiction novel where a 9 year old girl is the central figure.   No matter how intelligent she is, she is still a child.  Matthew Cox did a superb job of making Maya authentic. Though she is intelligent, she is naive and starved for affection and that makes her vulnerable. Some may question her sudden deep attachment to Genna, but in a way it’s realistic.  Genna may have been one of her kidnappers, but she also protected Maya, and Maya being starved of any kind of female attention was drawn to that and what Genna represented - a strong but emotional female figure.  

I won’t be giving too much away by saying that the majority of the novel focuses on Maya’s attempts to find and rescue her new mother.  She doesn’t intend to be a hero or an agent for change, she is just a little girl, but Matthew Cox proves just how powerful the desire for an ideal can be.  

Cox’s world is far from friendly.  Most people live in crumbling ruins, living a hard existence.  Lucky ones go to the city to work during the day.  The city is where citizens live and everything you dream of can be found for a price.  Drones patrol and the police are little more than corporate enforcers.  Worst of all is the Fade, a deadly disease leftover from the war.  Noone is safe from the disease, and the treatment is only available to those with the means to pay.  

Heir Ascendant is an impressive science fiction novel, richly imagined with a large cast of characters.  At its heart though is one 9 year old girl determined to find her new mother.  I look forward to reading the next novel in the series.

5 / 5

I received a copy of Heir Ascendant from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom