I liked the overall heistiness of The Quantum Magician, but had not realised this was by the same author, and not least it is basically a prequel to that universe. Very much a far past prequel, its about how an anomoly found deep on the surface of Venus leads to the building of a dynasty that exploits a technology that leads to the stars, But House Of Styx (a linguistic joke that never begets a big bad wolf) is more interested in being a Space Western, or indeed the start of a space soap opera. There is a fiercely independent family harvesting the wilds of the Venusian atmosphere, a family so independent that they are falling apart, and you have a socialist communitarian government trying to make this claim work. The book is fascinating on its imagined Venusian industry and development - the colony is a claim of Quebec (and thus I should probably read it in French), and there is very much a sense of stubborn small government going on. There is also a well covered subplot around the next generation of colonists, kids born into this struggle not perhaps being as sold on fighting poisonous air, deadly temperatures and so on.

The problem with House Of Styx, is the degree to which the book buys into the fierce independence of the lead family. Georges-Ettiene and his family have basically cut ties with the authorities because they have a child with Downs Syndrome which the colony wanted to abort. There are big questions which flop around the outside about the viability of the colony, where all resources are vital (there is a sequence where losing a habitat is seen as a loss of a significant chunk of their materials which puts the whole issue to the fore). The book relies a little too much with current rights-based politics to paint the decision as inhumane and monstrous, whereas the decision - whilst unpalatable - sadly makes sense (and clearly wasn't imposed upon them as the kid is still alive). It perhaps is a cleverer piece of sleight of hand than I took it for whilst reading, this is all part of the setup as to why their discovery on the planet is not shared for mankind, instead ruthlessly exploited for free market gain. Perhaps adding this layer of hatred of the establishment does exactly do that, what would have been second nature in the sci-fi of sixty years ago - staking a claim and ruthlessly exploiting it - perhaps seems uncomfortable in modern sci-fi. And certainly, Künsken is setting up morally flawed protagonists here.

Disquiet about how politics are used notwithstanding, I rather enjoyed House Of Styx as what feels like the start of a dynastical story. Certainly there are enough syblings and secondary clans to see this spin into something resembling the Carringtons and the Colbys, and Künsken doesn't forget to write a few decent action sequences too. Interested to see where this is going.

This one was more of a miss for me. There were three main point of view characters and one of them could have been dropped completely and made for a better book. Émile was just tiresome by the second chapter. Also, the random tiny chapters for the "bad guys" just let you know they were up to no good and seemed like a bit of an easy way to build suspense instead of including it in the main story line. The world building and Venus were a lot of fun but often overly drawn-out for me (unless descriptions of acid clouds are your thing). Some things about Quebec in space did not make entire sense to me on the politics and why certain decisions were made. All in all, I will not be back for a second book.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

House of Styx is one of those books that eludes easy description. It seems to primarily be a rather typical family drama set within an extraordinarily imaginative and unusual setting: the clouds of Venus. While I have not read Kunsken's other work, I was intrigued by the name and Venusian location; from what I gather, this book is set in the same universe but quite unconnected to the Quantum series.

While I had lots of fun exploring the vastly different types of sci-fi technology required to survive this atypical high-pressure high-acid cloud-scape, I unfortunately found this book rather dragging. Perhaps one reason is the heavy skew towards the inter- and intra-family drama/politics away from the more conventional sci-fi plot. Another may be my lack of connection to any of the rather archetypal characters. I'm not quite able to put my finger on it, as all the makings for a good book were present.

In the end, I closed the book feeling rather unsatisfied. There had been some character development, but none of their arcs felt complete. There had been some plot progression, but we don't get the closure as to the success/failure/outcome of the events of the book. We had an interesting heist with stakes, but it is unclear whether they succeeded or are about to be caught. Perhaps most of these will be addressed in a later installment as a series, but that remains to be seen.

Thank you to NetGalley for access to this ARC!

Derek Künsken's The House of Styx is one of the most engineering-ful SFF books I have ever read; it almost felt like he took a dissertation on Venusian habitation and was challenged into spinning it into an epic saga. If that sounds boring, you would be entirely mistaken; his characters are vivid, his worldbuilding is top notch, and the detailed scientific and engineering aspects of the novel only add to the story, showing the struggle of the colonists in an even clearer light. Künsken allows his characters to be authentic to themselves; they aren't shaped by the needs of the plot or author, but instead deal with their own demons and aspirations. I eagerly await the next in this series; I feel like this is the kind of SF novel I can hand to a friend who works in the hard sciences who isn't an SF reader and know that they won't spend the entire time nitpicking the details.

Derek Kunksen is one of my favorites. His Quantum Magician trilogy is one of my favorites and when I heard that he was writing a prequel series set on Venus I was all-in. Set 250 years prior to his other series this follows a family that discovers a secret in the deadly skies of Venus.

Derek Kunsken is one of my favorite writers in terms of plotting. His stories are all thrillingly paced and I've learned to love those. House of Styx to me felt a little slower but Kunsken never let the story get too slow or plodding but used that slowing to help flesh out his cast of new characters a bit which I greatly appreciated.

I also loved the depictions of Venus in this book. The opening chapters are some of my favorite science fiction chapters in a long time and I loved having the opportunity to view Venus freshly in this book.

I'm super excited for the next installment in this series and I will definitely be picking it up day one.

For the descendants of the Quebecois settlers who left Earth to colonize the galaxy, survival in the atmosphere above Venus is a daily struggle of weathering the planet's capricious storms and material scarcity. The D'Aquillon family endures even greater hardship, eking out a living in the inhospitable lower atmosphere of Venus and surviving without any aid from the weak colonial government thanks to a decades old slight and the stubbornness of the family patriarch.

On the one hand, House of Styx is a well-crafted science fiction novel about the thrill of discovery and survival against seemingly insurmountable odds. If you like your sci-fi with exquisitely detailed descriptions of the environmental conditions of life on a near-uninhabitable planet and of the technologies necessary to overcome them, then this is definitely the book for you. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is also a tender novel about filial love and self-acceptance. I adored the eldest D'Aquillon brother, Jean-Eudes, whose mere existence as a person with Down Syndrome defied the ableist demands of the colonial government. I felt keenly for Pascal, who we get to witness in the first stages of exploring her gender identity and becoming Pascale. Finally, this book also had me on the edge of my seat in the latter quarter living out all my space frontier heist dreams!

This is rounded up to a 3-star solely because I have a soft spot for the Quantum Magician series, but if the reader is looking for a similar read, this is not going to suit.
On the positive side, Kunsken excels at world-building, and the details of living over such a human-hostile planet as Venus are incredibly well imagined and engineered. The necessities of daily survival are considered in minute detail and, furthermore, he weaves the solutions quite seamlessly into the narrative (in contrast to, for example, the horrendous info-dump that was Neal Stephenson's Seveneves); so, if readers find themselves on their way to Venus in the future, House of Styx is one to put in the baggage.
I also found the travails and politics of a barely-surviving and nascent space colony very interesting. SF as a genre seems to be telling us that when humanity eventually tries to leave this planet permanently, that we will do it as nation states (or cultural entities) - Tade Thompson's Far from the light of heaven comes to mind; I'm not sure that this will "fix" any issues of conflict that we experience as a species, but certainly the physical, political and economic challenges faced by early colonists is an under-explored part of space opera.

However, this novel was not at all what I was expecting, nor what I wanted. While the depiction of the problems faced by early colonists was interesting, I thought the story weighed way too heavily in favour of the D'Aquillon family differences to make this a true SF. The portrayal of Pascal(e) was sensitive, and the metaphor linking them to Venus was apposite, but I'm not sure that a sci-fi novel should rely so heavily on gender reassignment as a central theme.
Also, the tension between George-Étienne and Émile was forced, and the character of Émile got tiresome very quickly. I also find it difficult to believe that a colony who would deny a couple the right to bear a child with Down's Syndrome, on the basis of rationing medicine and resources, would be so lenient with the likes of Émile's compatriots, who seemed to spend most of their time getting high, or self-harming with acid burns. I can understand the psychological implications of living in such an alien environment, but I don't think such a hard-scrabble colony would tolerate citizens who were so blatantly and constantly draining resources.

All in all, not a book for the true space opera fan, and I won't be holding my breath for the second installment.

Set on the very uninviting planet of Venus, this is a science fiction book in the more traditional sense of the word. Although dystopian it is all about strange creatures, space travel and living on another world. Set in the future we follow a family who live in the lower atmosphere of the planet on the edges of society.
Using Venus as the setting of this book allowed the author great leeway for their imagination. The trawler plants, acid rain, uninviting atmosphere & the restrictions of such living were brilliantly created. The author has created a world that is truly science fiction in the most traditional sense.
The characters have been created with depth. There is a great back story of the societal consequences of bringing a supposedly unproductive baby into the world - Jean-Edues has Down's Syndrome. The family become semi-outcasts for refusing to abort him. Pascal is 16 and struggling with his identity. Emile is struggling with alcohol & trying to be a poet on a world where everyone needs to work productively to keep the colony going and there is little time for such creativity. I enjoyed the characters very much.
I loved the people and the world but found the plot slower and less gripping than I would have liked. Once I had got passed the initial chapters of setting the scene I found the book slowed and faltered. The book seemed to get engrossed in the politics of the world and the interaction between families which didn't quite work for me. It did pick up again later but it was a close call to not completing the book.
Generally a good read but I am not totally sure that I will read more in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

The depiction of a human colony on Venus is gorgeously imagined: it feels as if the author has lived there. Descriptions of the "landscape" are detailed, beautiful, and tangible. Everyday life is lovingly described, down to the aftertaste of the food and the discipline of the survival procedures.

The plot is familiar: pioneer family trying to make its individualistic way stakes everything on one big roll of the dice. The evil Bankers do everything short of twirling their mustaches. Dad is the crusty patriarch, one of the sons is dutiful and another is prodigal, the good daughter tries to hold everything together, etc.

But the proof is in the telling, and the author has constructed a good story; these are interesting people, each trying his best, caught up in remarkable circumstances. And, within the heroic archetypes, the characters are a mix not often seen in hard science fiction: e.g., a Downs Syndrome adult and a transgendered adolescent. The sarcastic straight-talking engineer is even gay.

I look forward to the next book in the series.

I've read other books by this author, and liked them. He's got a good imagination and writes well. This book has interesting characters and the setting is unique, and of course the plot is important, and after a slow start it was enjoyable. I'm not a fan of incomplete endings, but otherwise it was a good read.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

This one took me weeks to read, not because it was bad, but rather because it was so dense and well written that I took my time to absorb every detail. There is always something happening - character growth, romance, adventure - this book had it all. Add the Venusian life, the clouds, and the scientific intricacies, and you'll need to really focus or you'll miss something big!

For most of the book, we follow three of the D'Aquillon family members, getting different perspectives of their lives in the cloud banks of Venus. Each one of them (Pascal, Marthe, and Emile) has their own struggles to face. There is great LGBTQ+ representation in this book, without overshadowing the overarching mystery of the plot.

There's also a Down Syndrome character present, which we see even less of in books. The government urged the D'Aquillon family to abort since his mental defect would weaken the population - which the parents refused - and the government then refused his medicine. This added another line of tension to the story.

The main plot is fully based on science, and I'm sure that I'll never be able to explain this part well. It was so interesting to read, immersive and well thought out, that even an unscientific person like me could enjoy the book. Also, spoiler - there is a cliffhanger ending...

Derek's writing had me hanging onto his every word with its detail. I felt transported to the clouds of Venus, feeling the excitement, danger, longing, loss, desperation and fear of the characters. I haven't read a fictional book with this much diversity in years either!

A definite must-read for Sci-Fi fans!!

I found this novel thoughtful and interesting. People live in the sulfuric clouds of Venus mining minerals to survive. They try and keep their independence from Earth and the conglomerate above them. But one family discovers an alien artifact on the planets surface. And everything changes. Looking for to the sequel.

Since the inception of the genre Sci Fi has been about ideas and world first and characters second, this book is an exception, from the first chapter I found myself falling more and more in love with the characters. That's not to far that the world building isn't interesting and emersive, because it is, but I loved everything to do with the characters and character development more than I do most books much less most Sci Fi.
I'd totally recommend this to fans of the genre and especially people trying to get into the genre.
All in all I loved it and can't wait for more from this author.

I loved the first in this series and was so excited as I thought this was the second, i was wrong.
Here's the review:
"An excellent hard sci-fi, gripping and entertaining. The storytelling is excellent as the world building and the character development.
It's the first book i read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine"

I'm glad my review of this book didn't disappear from goodreads the way it did from NetGalley. This is not the first time my review has been deleted from NetGalley, I don't know what that's about. I did contact customer service once but I think they assumed it was user error and ignored the problem. Anyway, here's what I thought when I read the book on Sep 14, 2020 (I actually was hoping this was the sequel when I requested it again, so still waiting for that!):

The science in this book is SO interesting!!! So believable and plausible. An absolutely fascinating look into what it might be like for humans to live on or near Venus, with the dense atmosphere, sulfuric acid rain, and intense heat. This was presented as just a sort of everyday set of minor difficulties, instead of the overwhelming obstacles they first seem, so its also fascinating to think of how adaptable humans could be. The story is also very interesting and well told, with politics, personal relationships, and many well developed and unique characters. I definitely want to hear how the story proceeds past where it ends in this book, which was not a cliffhanger but leaves tons of more story to tell! I highly, highly recommend this book!