What a lovely science fiction that does not read as dry. It was so poetic. Nice to read about an alternative to alternate u++.Nice to read from an aro ace young male man protagonist. It was predictable found family story but those work for heartwarming reasons. It is always wonderful to read about truly alien creatures not just earth creatures with extra limbs and eyes

DNF @ 25%

Note: there will be spoilers below in a section that will be clearly marked.

So. I was expecting a space opera. Honestly, not sure what I was expecting that may be more detailed than that. The typical space opera portions (non-human beings that aren't simply human-adjacent, for example) were quite interesting. Overall, though, this had kind of an epic fantasy vibe: young male character dramatically loses everything at a very young age and must go on a quest for revenge. But in space. We even had dramatic feasting scenes where every piece of food was described in vivid detail.

What we also had was really lazy writing. The main character is 14 years old. The author thinks that's inconvenient so why not introduce a technology that would accelerate his age. But wait, there's more! This technology can also insert knowledge jnto his brain! So rather than having to deal with a character who was raised in a sheltered life who knows nothing, we'll just zap him to be normal protagonist age and give him all the basic knowledge. There's also an immediate deep connection between the characters we only just met, but I guess that's fine.

***SPOILERS HERE***
What's absolutely NOT fine is how we introduce an autistic character at the very beginning (hyper focused, difficulty communicating, stims and over stimulation, shutdown, etc) only to have her BRUTALLY MURDERED. Okay so the actual slaughtering happens off-screen but we leave her in an exposed place and then watch other people get mauled to death by some alien beast. She's 100% dead. So... Why make an autistic character just to kill her? And not just kill her but kill her violently and brutally? To give the MC a kind heart and a sob story? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Essa Hansen, in her debut novel brings us a well-developed science fiction story about revenge, loss, and a coming of age tale that leads the reader on an epic adventure. The world-building took a little getting used to, but after that I was totally impressed with this story. I loved the descriptions of the visuals of what the characters were witnessing. I found this book rather unique and definitely worth reading for any science fiction fans, or any fans of action/adventure as well. Libraries should consider this to purchase for their collections. The action-scenes were fantastic and I really fell in love with the characters and the universe is really fascinating. Worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for this ARC.

3-3.5 stars. Caiden and his family and all the other individuals on his settlement are transported to a different planet when the bovine herds they’re caring for all die. The humans are almost immediately slaughtered by ravenous, terrifying creatures. Caiden manages to evade them and ends up hiding in a spaceship that's marooned on the planet. His best friend Leta doesn’t appear to be as lucky, and in addition to his parents, Caiden assumes she, too, has been ripped apart by the animals.
While aboard the ship, he discovers why the toothy creatures, called nophek, are so much more important than Caiden and everyone he knew—there’s a strange crystal in the creatures’ brains, which Caiden discovers is called gloss. Gloss, it turns out, is used to generate power, so Caiden uses the crystal to bargain himself off-planet with his rescuers, who are a motley band of aliens and humans, who call themselves Passengers. They leave in the spaceship, which, it turns out, can create a multiverse around it, allowing it to transit other multiverses and environments.
Though relatively safe, Caiden suffers crippling nightmares and deep trauma, and after going through a variety of physical and mental transitions, decides he’s going to take on the organization responsible for managing the nophek, and killing his family and friends.
He also discovers there are different multiverses, and multiple organizations involved in the gloss trade, with his family’s murderers being a super-powerful and massive organization, with a separate and similar sort of organization using the gloss to power ancient artifacts by the long dead Graven. Knowing how complex it will be, Caiden still dedicates his life to destroying his family's murderers.

Phew! And That’s the setup! There is a surfeit of really neat ideas, aliens, cultures and technologies in this revenge story, set against a backdrop of secrets, greed, and profits, so, at least the story's foundation is familiar. In fact, I was a little overwhelmed by the huge number of details I had to absorb in short order once I started this book (there is a glossary, thankfully, which I did not consult till the end, as I didn’t feel like disrupting my reading flow).
I was also somewhat dubious about the term multiverses in this story, no matter how cool the idea sounds. In implementation, the author’s multiverses seemed to me to be bubbles of different environments, inimical to species not from the bubble, with the bubbles’ boundaries, or rinds, requiring care to pass through and ships made to do so. A ‘verse seems like it should be a beyond comprehension, massive thing to me, not something that contains a several rooms, for instance.
I also had a hard time wrapping my head around the main supporting characters, the Passengers, whom Caiden falls in with. I could not keep them straight, and had to keep returning to their introduction on the nophek planet to figure out who Caiden was talking to.

Did I like this book? I liked parts, like
-the sheer diversity of aliens, and by extension, the world building
-Caiden’s multiverse-generating ship, which seemed intriguing
-the nophek

Will I continue the series? I’m not sure, though I was mildly curious to know how C developed.

Caiden has spent his whole life being a simple mechanic doing a simple job, with no plans for anything bigger. But when his entire settlement is killed, Caiden is forced to flee for his life. After literally stumbling onto a spaceship, he discovers his planet is only one of thousands in the multiverse. Adopted by an eclectic crew, Caiden adjusts to this vast new life, but is driven by a singular goal: revenge on the group who killed his family. Caiden will have to leverage new technology, questionable alliances, and a rare ship with a unique power if he’s going to accomplish his goal, but what cost will prove too high for his revenge?

NOPHEK GLOSS is an absolutely mesmerizing piece of world-building. After a harrowing opening, the reader joins Caiden in being nearly overwhelmed with new aliens, ships, alliances, locations, and more. The sheer size of the worlds the author creates isn’t an onslaught, but a deep pool you are thrown into, and it is a delight to get your bearings. I absolutely loved being in a setting that was completely foreign to me, getting to know the rules and the aliens and everything in between.

Readers will need to throw their original conception of the multiverse out the door. Here, multiverse doesn’t mean “parallel universe” as it has come to be defined in popular culture. Instead, it, means that there are other, self-contained universes outside the main one that have their own physics, biomes, etc., not all of which are suitable for all species, and crossing between universes can be a dangerous or even lethal situation. Caiden falls in with a group of explorers called passagers, those who chart regions and exchange the knowledge back home for money and resources.

The first half of NOPHEK GLOSS I absolutely devoured. With its devastating opening and imaginative worlds, I kept wanting to see more and more of these universes. The back half of the book didn’t click quite as well for me, ironically because it was so fast paced. The first half of the book revels in introducing the reader to the world, spending all of its time on just a few days, so when events started moving in the back half, it felt oddly rushed. It frequently felt like a problem was introduced one chapter and resolved by the next one, with no chance for the tension to simmer and breathe. Combined with Caiden, who spends most of the book (deservedly) being an angry, impulsive character, and I felt myself falling off a bit.

That said, this is still a fantastic adventure and worth a read for those who love big sci-fi worlds. There are plenty of emotional moments scattered throughout the rushing action, and one theme of “found or forced” with regards to friendships absolutely tugged at my heartstrings as Caiden struggled with feelings of isolation in this giant galaxy. For a 400 page book, NOPHEK GLOSS is a book that moves incredibly well, and sets up tantalizing new adventures in future books.

I got an ARC of this book.

DNF at 40%.

I didn't care about any of the characters and couldn't even tell most of them apart by this point in the book. There were just glimmers that there was something interesting about characters, but I have already spent days trying to care. I was really into the book, until the ship scenes started which was really quickly first four or five chapters. After they started, there were just so many characters thrown in at once that I never got a grip on them. There are so many words and rules that aren't explained and there is often not enough context for me to make it up as I went. I can understand some of that comes from the MC not understanding anything, but 40% of the book and I see no chances of that changing. The MC has been forced aged six years and suddenly he understands ships and all of these rules, but they still aren't made clear to me. The aging felt like it was thrown in just to make the beginning plot more horrific since it happened to a child and the rest of the plot more believable since he was an adult now, a real have your cake and eat it too scenario. It just didn't sit right with me.

There were some things that could have made this a good book for me, but they were so few and far between that I was often left forcing myself to read. I would stop at the end of every chapter and just managed to not read for hours at at time. This was every chapter. I really wish I had liked it, but it just wasn't for me. I am bored and trying to not force myself to read a book that I am just not enjoying.

This was described to me as hardcore sci-fi, but it doesn't even feel like it is. It just felt slow and boring. I have read some hardcore sci-fi that was slow, but it was still fascinating. I think I just wanted a space opera, but was given an agonizingly slow adventure story. There were not enough emotions for me to care about this as a space opera. I will attempt every book labeled as a queer sci-fi, but this just wasn't one that worked for me.

Nophek Gloss is a story that pushes the boundlessness of the reader's imagination. It is innovative, harsh, extraordinary, and it is science fiction at its best.

I am not sure how to classify Nophek Gloss as part of the science fiction canon. Is it hard science fiction? Quite possibly. There are elements of logic to the science used in the story. There is also a balance of drama to the narrative; the story is very character-driven, making me lean towards Space Opera. Either way, with hard science fiction or a space opera, creatures, ideas, natural laws, and creatures all usually fall within human perception. i.e., "What goes up must come down." This makes a lot of sense, considering that humans will read the story, and you want it relatable to commonly shared experiences. But, human perception is so limiting. If there are beings from other planets, they will not look like us or react like us. Our natural laws would probably not be the natural laws of other worlds and galaxies when given an infinite palate of choices on what characters could look like, how they would act, or how things like time, gravity, and space behave; why not be different. So when I say that Nophek Gloss is one of the most creative science fiction stories I have ever read, you get where I am going with this.

Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen is something else.

Newcomer Essa Hansen's story is intriguing; here is an author who is steeped in a love of science fiction and fantasy. As a day job, Essa works as a sound designer for Skywalker Sound, where she worked on Dr. Strange and Avengers: Endgame, as well as Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Thor Ragnorak, Ant-Man, and Big Hero Six. She is also a falconer and horsewoman. It seems like she lives and breathes the coolest aspects of science fiction, and none of this is any surprise to me as I read Nophek Gloss. When I say that Nophek Gloss is something else, I genuinely mean it. The basis of the story is a hero's quest type narrative. But when we readers step past the hero's quest narrative and start paying attention to the detailing and imagination that Hansen has added into the fabric of this story, that is where Nophek Gloss soars and stands above its contemporaries. It is visually rich and compelling storytelling.

"For a long moment, Laythan's piercing gaze assessed Caiden, judging what to say. "I know all this newness is frustrating, but we need more intelligence at a Cartographer Den before we jump to conclusions. That's where we're headed. You'll understand soon."

The story's basis is centered around a protagonist named Caiden, who is born into indentured life. His planet and homelife are destroyed early in the novel, and to survive, he must step away from who he thought he was and enter worlds and times beyond the scope of imagination. Everything he understands and knows to be the truth is a lie. A fabrication put upon him by his previous captors. After he survives an encounter with a Nophek, an otherworldy apex predator creature, "his only hope for survival is a crew of misfit aliens and a mysterious ship that seems to have a soul and a universe of its own. Together they will show him that the universe is much bigger, much more advanced, and much more mysterious than Caiden had ever imagined." This misfit crew becomes a found family for Caiden, helps him grow, often painfully, as he assumes a role that he is destined for in the universe.

"Pan rarely eats," Taitn said. "Saisn have a very efficient metabolism. She drinks fluids and feeds on vibration, mostly. The dark and quiet is nourishment and medicine for her."

If I left the story at found family and quest, it would seem like Hansen didn't tread new material here. But Nophek Gloss is so much more. A universe, by definition, is infinite. But if a writer stops to think about what "infinite" actually means, anything is possible. The very way we perceive experience is limiting; if we could step outside how humans view the universe and expand our understanding, what would that look like? Would it be a universe balanced on the head of a pin? Or creatures that exist as the embodiment of a memory? How about creatures that create energy sources inside their minds, to be harvested to power ships? What about vessels that create their own universes like a bubble that some species can travel through while others can't. A story like this can be a wide-open field only limited by its creator's experience and imagination. I think Nophek Gloss is the perfect playing field for Essa Hanson's ideas.

Outside ideas, the structure of Nophek Gloss is easy to read. Hanson keeps the descriptions rich but concise. Hanson does not get lost in the details; she has a particular idea she wants to share with the reader. It isn't overly flowery prose or so much detail that the reader's mind is squashed. Instead, Hanson helps you build something concrete in your mind's eye and gives you a chance to expound on it. This is incredibly important with a genre like science fiction, where the infinite imagination of the reader is an essential tool for building the story.

"In front of a glowing wall, a stunning figure caught Caiden's eye. She was humanoid but ethereal and slender, with prosthetic scaffolding around tapered legs. Skin paper-thin and pearly. Her thick hair was so long it pooled onto the floor and clothed her body in dressy billows and braids."

Another thing I tip my hat to Hansen on is her exclusivity. In a universe with infinite possibilities, there will be people/creatures that are different than you. Whether that is defined by gender, and the story touches on the question of "what is gender?" Or how people want to represent themselves or communicate. Nophek Gloss also includes neuro-diverse characters in leading roles that offer meaningful relationships to Caiden. There are no token characters in this story, and the importance of respecting diversity is evident by the conclusion of the first chapter.

Nophek Gloss also talks a lot about grief and how that is expressed. It is painful to read about Caiden and how he deals with the steps of grief. And how and if he can move on with his life. Caiden deals with grief for most of the book, and how that is defined and exercised is fascinating.

I know this seems like a dark and dense story, grief, death, and slavery, and it is. However, there is a great balance to it. Hansen interjects humor and lightness into some scenes to give the readers a break. This mostly comes in the form of Caiden interacting with his rescuing crew members. And while it doesn't always hit the mark humor wise, it does enough to make sure that the reader isn't dragged down into pain and torment. There are also great fight scenes that step outside the normal and exercise the imagination. What does fighting an alien creature look like?

Setting and worldbuilding are huge. When you have an unlimited palette of colors, sounds, tastes, and textures, your worlds can be anything. The ones in Nophek Gloss are brilliant colorful creations where technology and the natural world collide. Some so wild that I had to go back and reread things to understand what they could look like.

Plot-wise, Nophek Gloss is a brilliant book. Probably one of the best science fiction stories I have read this year. However, some things did get muddled, and I didn't quite grasp Caiden's motivations for his choices. Most of these come in the middle chapters where we don't quite grasp who Caiden is, and his maturity level is iffy. I would think this was probably on purpose; humans go through weird growing stages where we are not thinking so clearly, just as a matter of maturing.

Nophek Gloss is a science fiction book for science fiction geeks. It is almost a love letter to those out there who find their passions in the wild and uninhibited imagination that science fiction offers. It won't be for everyone, as some readers might not enjoy the story's expansive nature. It is also incredibly dark. If there is a genre for grimdark science fiction, this is it. It deals with pain, joy, and grief head-on and does not mince words or details. If you enjoy your reading to be lighter fare, this probably is not the story. But for me, I loved it. Wholly and completely. Nophek Gloss is a thundering debut; it grabs the reader and tows you into unchartered territory.

Nophek Gloss is one of the most vividly imaginative science fiction books I’ve ever read; from the wild alien technology to the vast array of different xenid species, it has been one hell of a ride – it’s like Mass Effect with some lingering wisps of Red Rising but at the same time something of its own. Pick someone broken, add them into the mix of a found family, give them a dose of vengeance and drop it all into an expansive multiverse littered with the ancient tech of a lost people and you’ve scratched the surface of this terrifyingly original debut.

Caiden, is lost – not right – in many ways, and put together in even more. Hansen has done a great job giving us something very human mixed into all of this alienness, something very scarred, that also fits in well amongst the backdrop of super-advanced tech etc, but positions him to be strong enough to wear those broken pieces as armour. And a cause to make a change. It made him stronger, more capable than those around him, but not as mature. Due to several very Hansen-sci-fi plot points, he only matured in a forced, alien-tech sense. At times, I did feel like he was very brash, the artificer of his own failure. These parts played out in annoyance, in a face-palm, or an ‘Oh, Caiden, just stop!’ moment. But I cared, and that was what matters. And although he does stupid things and often messes up, he is trying his best to survive.

The plot, in simple, non-spoiling terms: Caiden is with his family unit on a planet designed to rear livestock for Nopheks. When all the livestock dies, the Casthen step in and their plan uncovered, Caiden is rescued. Taken off-world by a group of misfit passagers. There, he learns that his world is but a drop is a massive expanse of universes. The multiverse. When he finds out that the Casthen Prime, Cydanza, is responsible for his plight, he sets his eyes on revenge – at which point he meets Threi, an oily slick Casthen Enforcer who shares his goal. Kill the Casthen Prime. I have to say I loved the plot; it was exciting and bounced between action scenes. But A LOT did happen. And sometimes, for me, a little too quickly. There were chapters in which an entire plan was hatched, acted on, failed and defeated. Only for something new to happen in the next – the turnover of subplots were very quick. This lent itself to the feeling that the same might happen with the next chapter and left me wondering what mattered at time. And what did matter paid off well before the end, where the story petered out into preparation for the next book. Very cleverly executed, though. It still managed to surprise and shock.

Found family: when all was lost for Caiden, he found something new. Laythan, En, Taitn, Ksine and his whipkin, and Panca. At first, something that seemed ill-fitting – I didn’t initially buy the feelings that Caiden, now Winn, felt for his new family. It seemed surface deep, too quick. The connection only took place when he later is not with them, Hansen weaves a net of emotions, memories and the little things that one feels when their family is distant. On their return, my chest was tight, breaths quick. I was glad – the family felt real, genuine. Along the way, additions to this setup serve to pull your heart out, and add layers of disgust towards the Casthen, and questions about the Dynast, the ruling faction.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nophek Gloss; it is a cracking debut for what promises to be a fun series. If you love all the original, advanced technology you could possibly handle, a lovable, intriguing main cast with a lot of history and scars and an face-paced plot, then this is one you might want to pick up.

How is it already November in this forsaken year? With less than a month left before we put out our best of the year lists, our reviewers are hard at work chugging through all the books we wanted to get to before the year’s end. Part of that effort involves finishing up outstanding Dark Horses, like Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen. Gloss was the debut I was most excited to check out this year, as its summary made it sound like a bizarre journey through space and time with a lovable crew of rogues on a spaceship that pushed the boundaries of the imagination. The good news is Gloss lived up to my internal hype and is somehow both more and less than what I expected.

Gloss tells the story of Caiden, a recently liberated slave that has lost everything and is looking for revenge. The start of the book is extremely fast-paced, as the reader witnesses Caiden’s picturesque life farming space cows turn into a traumatic nightmare. Caiden was a member of a group of humans who are kept in captivity, and ignorance, so they can raise cattle to feed nophek – giant murder cat things that grow space fuel in their brains. In the vast multiverse of this book’s setting, only a few realities can support nophek biology, so they are worth quite a pretty penny. However, when a virulent plague ends up killing most of the world’s cattle – the overseers of the harvesting project decided to feed the slaves (i.e., Caiden) to the nophek to keep them alive a little longer for harvest. Caiden watches his entire family get brutally torn apart by space lions right in front of him, manages to escape and find a futuristic spaceship, and falls in with a group of five side characters who help him get it off the planet and to safety. Caiden, at about twelve years old, vows to enact a horrific vengeance on the slavers who killed his family and sets out on an epic quest to throw them into the nearest sun.

The plot of Nophek Gloss left me with distinctly mixed feelings, especially because it is absolutely not the focus of the book. Everything feels contrived: Caiden falls into a powerful ship, a friendly and brilliant crew, and a clear plan on how to enact his revenge, in about 10 pages. But, that’s also not really an issue because all of the plot is window-dressing for the ideas, characters, and character growth. If you are looking for a hard science-fiction that has a thrilling and gripping plot that fits thousands of pieces together in an immersive experience, look elsewhere. If, however, you are the kind of person who likes their science fiction couched in the context of the human experience, wants to explore new ideas about how we grow into who we are, and love creative worldbuilding – then look right here.

The characters of Gloss are fantastic, though you should know what you are getting yourself into. The five crewmates that Caiden picks up are delightful, and exploring their individual stories through the chapters was moving and engrossing. On the other hand, Caiden is written, very effectively, to sound like a young boy, and that can make him occasionally extremely annoying. He struggles to learn lessons and often repeats the same mistakes, over and over again. However, through each successive error, we can see that Caiden is truly growing as a person and working through his trauma, which is a big part of the story. Trauma, and how to heal from it, is a cornerstone theme of Gloss. The book is filled with numerous sad stories, from Caiden’s to the crew’s, to any number of other side characters we meet. The trauma is the true antagonist of the story and the reader gets to watch each character they are attached to deal with their horrific pasts in their own way.

But if you aren’t into all of this touchy-feely goodness like I am, the worldbuilding and technology in Gloss are really fun. There are a ton of new ideas for technology – like a fascinating take on forced aging – that I had never read before that kept me thinking long into the night. Gloss also has some really interesting takes on multiverses and spaceships that made the inner child in me heel-click with glee. The prose is also quite vivid and evocative, and there are many instances of stunning imagery that are still sticking with me weeks later.

Interestingly, most of the things I didn’t really like about Gloss were clearly features, not bugs. Hansen has clear and well-realized methods on how she wants to tell her story that took me out of my comfort zone and helped me feel refreshed with the science fiction genre. Nophek Gloss was one of the strongest Dark Horses I have read this year and its weird story and weirder characters have me firmly invested in what happens next. I definitely recommend you use my breakdown of the book to decide if you think it’s for you because those that are drawn to Nophek Gloss are going to love it.

Rating: Nophek Gloss – 8.0/10
-Andrew

Outstanding space opera. A very descriptive and detailed setting. The themes of growth and vengeance are tied together nicely. Looking forward to more by the author!

Nophek Gloss is one of the most imaginative books I've read this year. It's an epic, vivid, diverse, and at times brutal foray into interlocking themes of family, justice, and revenge.

Whew...where to start? I remember reading the initial blurb Orbit put out about Nophek Gloss when the book was first announced on Twitter and thought "Wow that sounds really interesting!" A ship that create its own bubble universe and a wider multiverse that can be explored. I had a feeling this book would be interesting and I was right.

First let me say again this book is imaginative. I mean really imaginative. Any good sci-fi book has to be. What stands out to me in Nophek Gloss is really two things, the extraordinary multiverse Hansen has created with universes big and ever so small, and the rich and diverse species that exist in them. Oh...and then the ship the main characters run around in. So maybe that makes three things.

So I admit I don't read tons of science fiction. I know there are plenty of other stories out there with a multiverse (it's the basis of Marvel and DC's comics for Pete's sake) and the idea of bubble or pocket universes isn't new to fiction either. But this was my first real experience with them in a book outside of comics. And it REALLY worked for me. The concept gave so much extra flair and depth to the story. There are massive universes and teeny tiny pocket/bubble universes (like the one the ship can create) and everything in between. But it isn't like you can just travel from one to another. Moving into a new universe may have little to no effect on you, or it could kill you if your body isn't suitable to it. This gave the story some really interesting dynamics and some integral plot points. It was really cool.

Then there are the many and varied diverse species who populate the story. The closest thing I can associate it with is Star Wars or Star Trek. Like, you know how both of those "universes" have some epically diverse species living in them? Nophek Gloss is much the same. Hansen didn't get lazy in creating the creatures that inhabit her story. They are SOOOOO freaking interesting and different. I just...I can't explain it without just copying and pasting the descriptions of them. And they aren't all humanoid looking bi-pedal creatures (though most of them are). Suffice it to say this was one of the aspects of the book I loved most. I'll admit it was hard at times to see some of the species in my head based on the descriptions, and there were a lot of different ones to keep up with, but once I told myself to let my imagination take over from where Hansen's descriptions left off things settled in perfectly. And the diversity isn't just in the different kinds of species, but also in their sexuality and gender dynamics. One of my favorite characters was one who could change their gender/sex at will. This was such a complex and moving character and really my favorite of the book.

And then the ship. You know glossy black one you see on the cover? That ship was really cool. It's kind of alive and not totally mechanical. It forms something like a very subtle symbiotic relationship with the people who travel inside it. And it can create a small bubble universe that surrounds it on demand. So yeah...pretty sweet place to call home as you navigate the stars.

Then there's the actual story itself. I said above it hits on interlocking themes of family, justice, and revenge. And whew...does it ever. I mean right from the get-go your thrown into them. Family is so integral to the story, especially "found family." As the blurb indicates the main character loses his family in very devastating fashion. Every interaction Caiden has from that point on is in some form or fashion a reaction to to that event, and the people he comes into contact with will have to be sifted through a familial screen. But family is vitally important to every character in the story, big and small. It carries from the first to the very last page. If this is a trope or theme you enjoy then you'll probably love it here.

Justice and Revenge almost go hand-in-hand in Nophek Gloss. I mean they really are two sides of the same coin. Caiden wants both for what happened to him and his family. But what Hansen did really well with these themes is evolve them. So, a mini-spoiler moment here (skip to next paragraph if you want to miss it) that doesn't spoil the overall plot...ok ready...skip ahead if you don't want it...there's a point where Caiden is able to advance his years in a few hours time. Like he can add six years to his life, AND add all the knowledge and experience that would come with them. It's a really cool plot device that also allows Hansen to make some easy choices with the plot. But the thing I really dug about it was how Caiden's desire for justice and revenge matured as he aged. First it was that of a teenage boy with all that teenage angst and burning fire, but then it was that of a young man, still burning, but now a little more controlled and directed. But it's still revenge so the threat of it bursting out of control into a total conflagration is always there. Anyway, I really really thought this was well done.

Now, I have to admit the diversity thing I liked above also has a downside. There are a ton of unique names and ideas, and creatures, and well everything that at times you start to feel a little lost. Thankfully there is a glossary at the end of the book to help you keep up. But yeah sometimes I found myself glossing over things. And there was one recurring aspect of the book where you are led to believe one thing and by the end, well things change. It seemed obvious given the many references and allusions to it what would happen in the end and I was right. I won't tell you what it is, but I think you'll figure it out. It doesn't take away from the story in my opinion, but it just didn't come as a surprise when the reveal happened.

But, overall I enjoyed the writing. The book had a strong opening that might give you some anxiety as Hansen does a great job of letting you know something isn't right before unleashing the dogs on you. The middle of the book did drag at times for me but it wasn't horrible. There was enough shiny new things to look at and explore that it still kept my interest. That burning thirst for revenge and all the decisions (quite often bad ones) that went with it kept me turning the page to see how the story would end up. The action scenes were thrilling and at times edge of your seat. I mean there were points I really wondered if things would work out for our band of misfits.

So in closing let me just say how enjoyable this read was. If you are looking for a thrilling, diverse, and unique read to close out the year definitely pick this one up. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Essa Hansen has given us a strong debut and I for one can't wait to see where the rest of the story goes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing me with a copy for review.

Nophek Gloss was probably one of the most creative and interesting books that I've ever read. It jumps you right in on the action and never lets up. I have to admit that it took me a while to get the gist of what was going on, but once I did I could not put this book down. It is witty, clever, full of found family and, of course, action. If you like clever, ambitious science fiction novels, then this is the book for you. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves clever books with a wide variety of characters, space operas, and fun books with a whole lot of action.

This is the story of Caiden, who is a 14-year-old mechanic who lives with his family on what is essentially a slave planet. One day, the entire population of his settlement is suddenly evacuated to another planet where they are inexplicably dumped upon a hungry herd of nophek. A nophek is a rare, aggressive, and at least somewhat intelligent animal that is only able to live in certain universes with specific conditions. They have a gland in their brain that produces a material known as gloss, which is very, very valuable, and used as a type of fuel. 

Caiden survives this genocide and flees the planet on a very interesting ship that he found, running into a ragtag crew and joining them on their adventures. He then figures out just how huge and crazy the multiverse is. But, most of all Caiden wants revenge on the slavers that killed everything he loved in the multiverse. And he will do whatever it takes to get that revenge. 

It admittedly took me a while to fully get into this one. It's not that it wasn't interesting, in fact it was quite interesting and full of all kinds of really well thought out ideas. The first half just moved slower for me than has been usual with me as of late. The second half though, well I read the second half of this one in one sitting. So, once I got there, I got there. 

Caiden is an interesting character that I didn't love in the first half, but I did in the second. He starts this book out as a 14-year-old who hasn't ever lived outside of his own basic planet. He's understandable angry and hurt, and he acts just as an angry and hurt 14-year-old from a sheltered nowhere planet would. But this is the multiverse and it is full of all kinds of technology. Like acceleration, which can put a few more years of aging on you in a few hours. The latter half of this one sees Caiden a few years older, and shows him becoming a few years wiser, which I really enjoyed. Nothing like seeing that annoying teenager actually grow into someone far less annoying, amirite?

This book also has some fantastic supporting characters. My favorite was En, who is a very augmented human. Basically, En can be whichever gender feels right at that point in time, and will let you know which pronouns to use. En is flirty and often snarky, and definitely my favorite character in this one. There is also Panca, who is the engineer and a very sensitive and lovely character. 

Then there is Threi. He's hard to describe. He's not... exactly the antagonist. He's maybe sometimes the antagonist. He's quite a well put together character that was presented in a way that made me want both the best and the worst for him within like two sentences of each other. 

So, all told, I really liked this one. It had a slow start for me, but it ended with a bang that left me immediately wanting the next part in the story. I had 4/5 stars of a good time with Nophek Gloss, and while the bulk of those stars were for the latter half, the first half is, in hindsight, slow but so, so necessary. This is a wonderfully crafted and very unique story. I can't wait for more.

Nophek Gloss is the debut novel (and first of a trilogy) by author Essa Hansen. It's a Space Opera novel (sort of?), a Vengeance tale, a tale of growing up....it's a lot of things. It's also a novel I'd heard basically nothing about prior to its listing on Netgalley, but I figured I'd give it a shot when I saw it posted.

And well, it's a really interesting novel that made me want more, with some clear limitations. It's an interesting mix of high concept (not my thing) scifi/fantasy and character-focused SF/F (very much my thing), with a main cast that will draw comparisons to many other Sci Fi stories - the book's blurbs reference Firefly, Wayfarers, and Revenger, for instance. And the character work is really interesting, featuring developments that always remain interesting...except they don't always seem to quite follow from the setup that comes before. This is in no way a short book, but it almost feels at times like its missing pages, and yet again, I'm really damn interesting in seeing where this goes next.

Note: The plot summary of this novel is fine on retailers, but it does spoil a plot development that occurs like halfway through the book, which isn't really ideal.

---------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------------------
14 year old Caiden wishes he could simply make things better or at least learn more about the world. Bearing the mechanics' mark after his appraisal, he has been learning how to fix the machines on the place he, his parents, and Leta, the girl he's sort of adopted as a younger sister, live - a place Caiden has never seen beyond. It doesn't look like there will ever be much else for him.

Until the Overseers, the beings who manage their place, bring all of them to a strange place where they are set upon by monstrous creatures. Where Caiden winds up the only survivor, holding only a strange valuable jewel, and a connection to a strange spaceship like nothing anyone has ever seen before. And so he finds himself, and his strange ship - which possesses ancient Graven technology - joining a crew of passagers - most not even human - as they escape what's left of his home into the greater multiverse.

It's a multiverse of beings of more types than Caiden could ever have imagined, with factions with all sorts of different agendas....but only one such faction is responsible for the loss of everything he has ever known. And one he finds that faction, and discovers how untouchable its leader seems to be, Caiden decides that his newfound family is not enough...and that he will do anything for vengeance, even if it reveals more about himself than he ever really wanted to know.....
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Nophek Gloss features a fascinating setting - a multiverse filled with all different sorts of races and beings, many of whom are just trying to find something in life...and many of whom have joined together for various purposes. The book uses "multiverse" deliberately - ships and beings can travel between different universes - although the travel between them is potentially lethal for certain beings and things - which often have different rules of physics and other aspects that can have massively different effects (and this becomes a very relevant plot point). There are a lot of aliens described within this multiverse, and to be honest its easy to lose track of what is what for most of them, but a few species are particularly memorable and interesting to read.

It also features a group of really interesting characters. You have Caiden of course, the young boy who loses everything and is desperate for revenge, but also isn't quite sure what that's making him. He also doesn't know what to do with this new crew that might be a second family and between that, his maturity, and his guilt and discomfort over everything, he's a compelling lead character. But the rest of the major crew is generally well done, especially En, a human who is so mechanically augmented they can change their own form and gender seemingly at will (for the first chapter we meet En, En uses "he" but for nearly the rest of the book En uses "she") and despite En's own recklessness, they're such a great parental figure to Caiden you have to love them. But the rest of the crew is mainly pretty interesting in their pasts and personalities - or well, what we get to see of them.

That's really the problem here: a large part of the plot is based upon Caiden's character development and his connection to the crew, but the time we see Caiden with them is almost too short - especially for some of them - for the bonds that are supposed to exist to feel real. And we don't know enough about some of them honestly, even if the parts we do know are really strong (En and perhaps the pilot Taitn are the exceptions here). The same is true of Caiden's own internal plot development, which has some shifts towards the final third that just feel like they come from nowhere, even if I enjoyed the character that came out of them. It all feels like there was missing pages from the book where this development took a slightly slower route all around, and had more connective tissue.

The same is not true of the cast's other major player, the antagonist name Threi, who has his own agenda for Caiden that Caiden can't help but get involved in - despite him hating nearly all of what Threi represents. He's an absolutely great part of this story, and helps the plot move along despite the lack of connective tissue for parts. And really what a plot, with some really strong twists along the way, to go with some really strong themes, in particular themes about Consent: for beings with DNA from the long-dead Graven race have the ability to force love/devotion upon subjects of most races, and the more powerful such beings absolutely do abuse such an ability - something that disgusts and terrifies Caiden when he gets his own glimpse at having that power. The book's ending is kind of strange, with the main sequence ending with a significant page length left to go, leading to two final twists to help setup the next book in the trilogy.

Yet those twists are well done, and the themes here are excellently executed - and even without the connective tissue to make them fully believable, I did really like the characters overall. So I really badly do want to see where this book goes from here. And I hope others will check this one out too, it's worth it, despite its flaws.

Actual rating: 3.5/5

Nophek Gloss has the pleasure of being one of the weirdest and most otherworldly books I’ve read this year, and I mean that in a positive way. A brutal space opera full of spaceships, aliens, and political intrigue mixed with a coming of age story, Nophek Gloss follows the journey of young Caiden after a traumatic, harrowing event that opens the novel.

When I heard this was LGBTQ+ with a ragtag bunch of misfits, I signed on immediately, and I can say those parts were delivered. The secondary characters were standouts in this novel and I cared deeply for them. Of particular note were all the marvelous, unique species that populate the multi-verse setting in the novel. Caiden as a protagonist was deeply flawed and I appreciate that the choices he made leaned into those flaws, and the attention given to trauma and its impact on people of all species was well executed. I love the aspec MC, neurodivergent rep, and nonbinary rep.

Along with a few plot devices I can’t reveal due to spoilers, my main critique was that I did find this novel difficult to sink my teeth into. Everything from action scenes to descriptions of technology just sort of… slid past my eyeballs, and I consider myself fairly well versed in science fiction settings and worldbuilding. Also, this novel was way more heavy on graphic depictions of violence, torture, injury, and animal cruelty than I was expecting, so proceed with caution.

Overall, Nophek Gloss is a solid debut that aims for lofty heights and mostly reaches them. I’ll be following up with further entries in the Graven series to see what creative twists and turns await us next.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Hate can drive you around galaxies for revenge, but love can heal and create a new life. These are the themes within the new novel “Nophek Gloss”, the first novel by Essa Hansen. After a harrowing experience, a slave boy is lost on a desolate planet and is not sure quite how to survive. However an eclectic group of aliens scoops him up and makes him promises of teaching him skills and providing for his travel due to their need for a treasure he carries.

“Like the ship and the starry sky, its dark weight made him feel small and insignificant, but safe, and he relaxed into the knowledge that whatever new things awaited in the Cartographers’ Den, they couldn’t be worse than what he had already survived. Nothing could.”

The resulting space opera is inclusive of all elements one wants in a saga such as this; new worlds, new peoples and reasons for what makes them tick. Enjoyable for a classic science fiction fan, the book reads best during times of quiet and concentration with the detailed and long sentences. This reader realized there was a glossary as a help, use it. Tech ideas used in Nophek Gloss are fun and believable. The “misfit crew” listed in the description for the book is a variety of aliens of different intelligence, form and personality. I am looking forward to see where Hansen goes with upcoming sequels with these characters. The hate shown by the main character was a bit intense and overtaking for me, but I had to remember that his mind was immature. He levels out once his goals are accomplished. When a reader puts in the time to learn an expansive world such as this one, they want to be able to utilize it in more books in the future. I think this would be a pick for anyone who enjoys science fiction basics of a ship and a close crew.

A dense, complex Sci-Fi debut with a twisting plot and entangled worldbuilding that trumps with themes of found family and not loosing sight of compassion in your quest for vengeance and justice.

Content warnings include: slavery, child abuse, death, gore, violence, torture, animal abuse, experimentation, manipulation and coercion, tempering with memories and trauma, lots of trauma in general, accerlerated aging and reverse aging, overstimulation, genocide.
Mentions of: bullying, child soldiers, ableism.

The cover and title of Nophek Gloss fit the book perfectly, in the sense that they evoke a feeling of “What even is that?“. The worldbuilding is very dense and full of a lot of very abstract concepts, and without the glossary in the back I would have been very, very lost.

But even that feeling of being overwhelmed by the new information and being thrust into a world where you don’t know what is what is fitting, because that is exactly what’s happening to Caiden, the protagonist.

What is, however, not fitting is the “young man” descriptor for Caiden in the official description. Caiden is 14 years old, child, not a young man. And even though there is some accelerated aging technology that gives Caiden the appearance, brain structure and skills of a 20-year-old, in experience and memory he is still very much a child, and I felt like that got a bit lost, especially towards the end. On that vein I feel it’s important to note that Caiden has no sexual contact or even a romantic subplot throughout the entire book.

When it comes to relationships, the book is very big on found family. Caiden becomes part of a ragtag group of-edge-of-legality passagers (a mixture of mercenary and explorers). The characters were all interesting, with defined personalities and their own pasts.

Unfortunately, I struggled with getting invested emotionally. The action-packed plot was exciting and engaging, but it didn’t make me feel anything. I liked the characters, but I didn’t really connect with them.
A lot of the natural conclusions that the protagonist came to made no sense to me. This also applied to a lot of the personal interactions – I found it hard to track why characters were reacting the way they were to each other. I originally figured this was due to the reader and protagonist not yet being familiar with the others, but this was an issue that didn’t go away even as both I and Caiden got to know the cast better.

I was also personally more curious about other plotlines than the ones followed on page, though the sequel will handle one of the ones I was most interested in.

Another issue I had was with the one visibly queer character. (Among bookish people this was talked about as queer SciFi, and while overall there was no overt queerphobia or any talk of what sort of relationships or personal identities are common or accepted, there was a subtle but definite undercurrent of heteronormativity.)
En is genderfluid and augmented to shift appearance at will. There are several conversations that acknowledge the fluidity of gender and that character’s existence outside of the gender-binary. And yet En is always referred to as either he or she, based on physical appearance. I found that disappointing – not because such a gender expression that fluctuates exclusively between male and female and he and she isn’t valid – but because I don’t understand why En was never allowed to exist outside the binary on-page when it was repeatedly mentioned in dialogue.

On the note of representation, Caiden was apparently written with being ace-spec in mind, and the neurodiverse rep in case of a side character is #ownvoices.

Overall, Nophek Gloss delivers on all counts of what you could possibly want from a Sci-Fi novel: space-ships, complex and very advanced tech, abstract alien concepts, a universe with an age-old history and people, a twisted plot, space-roaming loveable characters, found family, questioning of morality, and a lot of fast-paced action (as well as quite a bit of gruesome.)

This series will fill a certain commander-shaped hole in my life. I absolutely love "found family" sci fi stories, and oh my, does this novel take that to a whole new level. Every character came to life, with glimpses of so many alien races that it makes your head spin. They each owned their backstory (and traumas) in such different ways, it almost makes me wish for spinoff books for everybody (character loyalty side quests, anyone?). Almost.

I had a few nitpicky suspension-of-disbelief moments (not to Neil-DeGrasse-Tyson it, but an arcminute is a measurement relating to angles and degrees, not time) that pulled me out of the incredible world-building. But then I'd read a phrase about the adorable whipkin and fall in love with this book all over again. The universe is so vast in scope it's a little hard to grasp at first, but if you just dive in headfirst, it is a wild ride. It is seriously brutal with a quiet undercurrent of hope and redemption that I needed right now.

I caught the tail end of an author event with Alastair Reynolds (my favorite sci fi author) and Essa Hansen, and I am happy to say I'm adding her to my list of authors to keep an eye on!! Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this vivid, albeit imperfect, highly addictive novel.

This seems to be one of those books that readers either love or hate. There's some good action and tough subjects, including graphic violence. The author shows some talent, and this bleak tale may satisfy those seeking that kind of story.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review.

I'm sorry to report this book just didn't work for me. The first part of the book is a bit of a slog, awash with unfamiliar terms and flooded with complex descriptions of new things, people, and places. I was impressed with the variety and abnormality of this strange multiverse, but I struggled to visualize it all. Left adrift, I had trouble paying attention.

Then we have our main character, Caiden. He's a 14-year old ricocheting through life after surviving a horrible, cataclysmic event: a genocide that killed everyone he knew and loved. I have to say that his revenge story really stressed me out. His found family tells him at every turn that seeking vengeance isn't the answer, but he ignores them (teenagers...gotta love em). This is not to say there's no basis for his hatred, of course, but it chokes the story before it even gets off the ground, in my opinion.

Overall, the pacing was slow, and even action sequences didn't draw my focus. I would have preferred any of Caiden's crew members as a protagonist because they all seemed to have interesting backstory and nuanced personality. Sadly, their presence in the cast wasn't enough to pull me along. When Caiden left them behind to fulfill his bloodthirsty quest, I lost my will to stick around. DNF at 53%.