Ymir is a sci-fi retelling of Beowulf and follows Yorick who has left his homeworld over two decades ago. He has wished he would never see his homeworld ever again, but he ends up being shipped back to his homeworld due to his employer's mines are being threatened by an alien machine. So, he is tasked to hunt it down.

I am finally going through my backlog of NetGalley books, and I ended up requesting this as an audiobook from Libby.

As I was listening to Ymir, I felt like I was thrown right into this story not knowing what was actually going on. I was left confused for most of it. When looking on Goodreads it does say it is the second in a series, BUT it is read as a standalone.

Ymir does have an intriguing plot line when you read the synopsis and Rich Larson does a great job of building the world and its characters. Larson does well to creating the world in this book and making us as the reader see it clearly as a cold, bleak, and dark place.

When it comes to Yorick and the side characters, they were not developed super well to where you would have that connection with them. Due to this I think that is why I was not in love with this story. I found Yorick to be boring and one dimensional.

I do wonder if I read this physically if I would have enjoyed this story more, but with me not being a fan of Yorick and finding the execution of the plot boring it made it a different experience for me with the audiobook. Also, to note I think I have come to the conclusion that I am not a fan of Beowulf retellings because I seem to rate these types of retellings around a 3 star or lower rating.

I totally recommend this book to people who love Beowulf or is super into sci-fi but read this physically.

Stars: 5 out of 5.

Well, this book tugged at my heartstrings from the beginning till the end. I honestly didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I always say that I don't particularly enjoy books with unlikeable characters I can't empathize with. Well this book proved me wrong. Turns out, I do enjoy unlikeable characters when they feel like fleshed-out human beings. 

Yorick is a mess. He has so much suppressed trauma that he is a self-destructive mess. Most of the things he does to himself and to others are rather horrible and make him unlikeable... but you can't help but feel empathy for the guy. The more you learn about his past, the more you understand why he is so messed up. And returning to Ymir, which is the place of his nightmares, only triggers all those memories, all that trauma. No wonder he spirals. I would as well.

I also really liked the world of Ymir. It feels foreign, unforgiving, but also like home to the people who chose to live there. And the author did a great job illustrating that by creating a culture and traditions for those people that are very different from what "company men" bring to the table. The wake for the dead was fascinating. The dirges and ballads and the folklore about spirits and the underworld, when layered on top of this cold and starless world, paints a harsh but beautiful picture of Ymir. These details make the reader understand that the people who call this world their home will never be subjugated like the company wants. They are too proud and independent to bend the knee, no matter what the algorithm thinks. 

And the story of Yorick and Thello is heartbreaking as well. They both did the things they did because they loved each other and wanted to create a better life for each other. Problem was, they saw what that better life could be very differently. Yorick decided that the only way to survive abuse was to become tougher and meaner than his abusers, not realizing until too late that by doing so he became no better than them. And that he lost the person he loved the most - his brother, along the way. He tries to repair at least some damage that he's done once he realizes the truth.

I love that there is no happy ending at the end of this book. No big teary reunion with hugs and declarations of love and forgiveness. There is too much hurt between the two bothers for that. There is silent acceptance of things as they are, and that's the best these two can hope for.

There is also no real resolution for Ymir either. Yes, the grendel disrupted the Company's systems when it left, but was that only on Ymir or everywhere? And what comes now? After all, the company wasn't all bad. It also brought progress, technology, and access to things that made the life on this harsh planet fore bearable. In fact, this ending is just the beginning of another story, and I will be interested to see if the author will continue with it, and where he would take it.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Larson's writing is gripping and immersive, with a keen sense of pacing and tension. The story is well-crafted and thought-provoking, exploring complex questions about the nature of consciousness and the meaning of humanity. Ymir is a compelling protagonist, struggling to find its place in a world that sees it only as a tool.

One of the strengths of "Ymir" is its exploration of the relationship between humans and machines. Larson does an excellent job of depicting the furies as complex beings with their own desires and motivations, rather than mere machines. The story raises thought-provoking questions about the nature of consciousness and the ethics of creating artificial intelligence.

The world-building in "Ymir" is also superb, with a fully-realized setting that feels both familiar and unique. The political and social tensions between humans and furies are woven into the story seamlessly, creating a sense of realism and depth that enhances the story's themes.

Overall, "Ymir" is a fantastic science fiction novella that explores complex themes with skill and sensitivity. Larson's writing is powerful and engaging, and his characters are well-drawn and memorable. If you're looking for a thought-provoking science fiction story that tackles issues of artificial intelligence and morality, "Ymir" is definitely worth checking out.

It was very well written, and having the short chapters kept things moving, but that felt like a way to obfuscate the fact that not a whole lot happened. Yorick was a pretty unlikeable character (which isn’t a bad thing - in fact, I would say that was one of the best things about this story: that Yorick in his distinct unlikeability was compelling and realistic and above all interesting enough to carry the whole ponderous plot on his shoulders).

I would have liked seeing him interact with more people - both before and after his identity is revealed. By isolating him, I feel like we do his character and growth a disservice. There was also a development that I felt came out of left field and while it ended up being of only passing relevance, it was a pretty big deal in the moment.

Overall, I think I would read Larson’s short stories (because that’s what he’s known for) but I’m not sold on him as a novelist.

An interview with the author was published by the Wrath of the iOtians podcast on 1/1/2023. This interview was intended to run in August 2022, but there were production issues with the recording. In an earlier episode, I enthusiastically reviewed this novel, which is amongst the best books I read last year. It deserved more fanfare.

Rich Larson is one of the most interesting science fiction authors writing at the moment. From short stories to full-length novels, his work always offers something interesting and imaginative. Engaging plot and excellent prose. Recommended. (Especially if you are already familiar with his work.)

I'm a sucker for a good retelling and had great luck earlier this year with a scifi retelling of a classic. So when I found Ymir, a scifi retelling of Beowulf, I was so excited to pick it up. Unfortunately, it quickly became more of a chore to read than a joy, and beyond the existence of a Grendel there was little similarity to the original source material, which left me feeling a bit deceived. Larson does a great job of building the world around his primary character, the writing style overall was solid, and there is a core mystery to solve running through the entire narrative. Where I struggled in Ymir is that it follows a scifi trope that I deeply dislike, creating a world of tech jargon to try to set it apart from reality and then aggressively leaning into that jargon creating nonsensical sentences that leave even an avid scifi reader like myself feeling lost.

I definitely think there is an audience for this book but it was not me.

Yorick is a company man who is sent to the ice world of Ymir to hunt down the grendels (alien bioengineered AI) that are stalking and killing people in the mines. However, there he meets his estranged brother who wants his help with staging an insurrection, which lands him in between a rock and a hard place.

Ymir by Rich Larson is gnarly, futuristic cyberpunk novel filled with cool technology and a morally grey cast of characters.

I do want to be upfront and say though that, while the blurb markets this story as a far-future Beowulf retelling, this story doesn’t share much is common with the Old English ballad asides from using the name Grendel. That’s not necessarily bad though! This book is its own unique animal.

At its core, this is a tale about the fine line between love and hate and two brothers with a lot of bad blood between them, and I think that’s what made the story so compelling for me.

However, my one complaint with this book is its worldbuilding. I feel like much of the world’s history is alluded to (like with the mysterious Oldies), but never fully explained. I’m not sure if this is because the author intends to revisit this universe later down the road, but I would have loved to have seen it fleshed out more.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

science fiction is really a hit or miss for me but i wanted to give this book a try because it sounded interesting. it ended up being easy for me to get lost at times with the jumble of scientific words used and other parts could be hard to follow. because i didn’t particularly care for any of the characters, it was also hard to keep myself fully immersed in the story. that being said i still enjoyed this book to a point and thought the world building was well done and the story was unique, i think i just wanted a little more from it. however, i would definitely recommend this book to someone who likes this genre!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc!

<b>7 / 10 ✪</b>

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2022/08/05/ymir-by-rich-larson-review/

A dark, otherworldly retelling of Beowulf takes place on a dystopian ice-world where the company owns and tells all. A tale of two brothers separated by time, space, and bad blood. Yorick hunts monsters—specifically the eyeless grey terror known as the grendel, that lurk beneath the earth on many company worlds. He left home early, after a spat with his brother that cost him his jaw.

And now he’s back in the one place he hoped never to be again: the ice-world Ymir.

Thello is a mystery. In Yorick’s mind, his homecoming would coincide with his brother’s apology—that or a fight to the death—but upon landing Yorick finds neither. In fact, he hasn’t seen Thello at all, instead greeted by a company man Dam Gausta, his former mentor, the woman who ushered him into the company; and a hulking red clanswoman, Fen, who clearly wants to gut him at first sight. At first Yorick thinks that she must know him—but no, he’s been gone decades, and the Butcher that Cooked the Cradle must be assumed to be well and truly dead by now.

Without his brother, there is only the hunt that matters now.

But this grendel is different than the mindless killing-machines Yorick has dispatched in the past. Beneath that cold, clammy skin there is definitely a very alien mind at work, but there is also something disturbingly human to it as well, something Yorick recognizes and knows all too well. Thello.

—

Written in the style of Takeshi Kovacs, Ymir takes a fast-paced, minimalist story designs of Richard K. Morgan and applies them to a Beowulf inspired tale, complete with nordic themes and terrifying grendels. A dark, gritty tale takes place on both sides of the ice of Ymir, even plunging deep underground in pitch-black tunnels where only those desperate or alien live.

The pacing itself is strange, but it is what the story makes it. It’s the way the story is told; in glimpses—with chapters so short we might as well be visiting the story as opposed to spending a book’s length with it. We jump from action to action, spending just enough time to progress the plot—but no more.

While I loved the dark, gritty feel of the ice-world Ymir, there was never enough of it to go around. When you’re only spending one to five pages in the same place, it’s hard to get a real sense of worth from it. Thus, instead of a full-body immersion, this was like a bath taken in quick dips, where you get a shock of cold that eventually builds up into a deep freeze, but only after a long period. It was an interesting way to tell a story—and not one I entirely enjoyed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the narrative between the two brothers, though it didn’t last as long as I’d’ve expected, coming to a cliffhanger well before the close that felt like a foregone conclusion rather than a mystery by the time it was resolved at the end.

<b>TL;DR</b>

While there was more than enough to like about Ymir, very little about the tale wowed me. It did prove a great read and a good story besides, as well as an interesting and unique retelling/tale based heavily on the epic Beowulf. But there was just too little there: too little time spent in any one place; too little depth on any of the supporting characters; too little backstory on the company, the grendels, Ymir itself, anything of the world to make it feel real. Overall, while I enjoyed pretty much everything I saw from Ymir, I’d’ve liked to have seen more of… pretty much all of it. For what is a tale told in glimpses than no tale at all?

Ymir does a lot right, but it loses its footing about halfway through the story. A sci-fi retelling of Beowulf (which, when it comes down to it, feels more like a light nod), this story has a lot of unique elements but paired together muddled the story a bit.

This was one of my highly anticipated reads of the year, and while I enjoyed the reading experience, I was left wanting more from it. There's a lot of jargon that I think is reasonably easy to infer if you're a sci-fi reader, but I think can get confusing and read more like a jumble of words that want to sound different, futuristic and techy. And because of that, it can lose the impact of what it means relative to the story unfolding and the immersion in the reading experience in general. I also wasn't super fond of pretty much any of the characters, so it was hard to stay invested when you're not really rooting for anyone or anything.

This was fine. But it was only fine. I'd be interested in picking up something else from Rich Larson. His ideas are great, I just wanted more out of the execution.

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the ARC!

Ymir is an immersive grim dark sci-fi with a surprising heartfelt message. The world the author created grips you from the start! I did find myself lagging during some of the action based scenes in the middle of the book and I wish some of that could have been cut down to focus more on the emotions and relationships of the the main character because that is what really sold this book for me!

Thank you to Orbit Books and Netgalley for the complementary eBook and physical ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

A grim dark sci-fi thriller, far future retelling of Beowulf. I have yet to have read Beowulf, but Ymir makes me want to change that soon! This was a very enjoyable read with a steady medium pacing. Gritty, brutal, bloody, with intense scenes that’ll have you gripping the pages.

I thought the world building of this futuristic world was done well, with the writing and detail feeling very vivid and cinematic. I could easily see this book being adapted to screen. Furthermore, the plot was deep and intricate, with lots of palpable tension, and lots of layers.

Ymir is filled with complicated relationships that add many of these extra layers to the story, as well as provides great character background and development.

A very intricate and interesting book that keeps you on your toes and wanting to know more as you read on. Ymir is definitely what you should read if you’re looking for a good dark sci-fi. Rich Larson’s writing is very unique, and I look forward to reading more of their work soon.

This was a grim, harsh sci fi story. It’s not your usual space opera fare, the setting and content is much more dark.
While I could appreciate this type of tale, I found it a bit hard to follow at times. I also like answers, and the author leaves some things to mystery which I also had a hard time with.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rich Larson, and Orbit Books for a copy.

Solid sci-fi. It has all the elements of a good story from plot to characters to good writing. Although a bit bleak, sometimes that what happens in good stories. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Thank you to Rich Larson and Orbit Books for providing me this free e-arc via Netgalley. My review is given voluntarily.

In a 2008 movie review, film critic Roger Ebert wrote: "Magnolia" is a film of sadness and loss, of lifelong bitterness, of children harmed and adults destroying themselves.

I mention that because Yorick, the main character, has a mantra he repeats throughout the book that reminded me of the final scene in Magnolia. And Ymir is about Yorick (and others around him) drowning in loneliness and sadness, hate and love. Yorick thinks he is fighting monsters, but it takes time and many painful lessons to see the true monsters.

Ymir definitely pays homage to Beowulf, but it also reminds me of Bladerunner's Rick Deckard, Season 1 of the Terror, the Belters of the Expanse series and the Altered Raven hotel. But that is being reductive. It reminds me of those works, but is its own thing that as a whole is different from most sci fi I have read. The characters were not easy to like, but they were complex and interesting and garnered my empathy. I can't say I liked any of them, but I still cried, more than once, for the pain they experienced.

I was impressed with the world building. Through the use of rituals, jargon, and language, it made me feel like I was delving into a different culture -- a lived in and real-feeling world. And the decriptions varied from beautiful to grotesque in a vivid and immersive manner.

i requested this because I reread Beowulf this year and the description intrigued me. I expected monster hunting on an ice planet. I got that, but it was weird, sad, brutal and sometimes poetic in feel. I would highly recommended for anyone who loves a good book about the beauty and ugliness in people and how our choices shape us.

To quote Magnolia: "We may be through with the past, but the past is never through with us."

Chillingly grim but totally fascinating. If I were asked to sum up my experience with Ymir in five words, these would be the perfect choice: this novel’s blurb likens it to a spacefaring version of Beowulf, and there are indeed some connections to that famous epic (including a request for a monster’s arm as a trophy), but Ymir is very much its own story, and a compelling - if sometimes harsh - one.

The alien planet of Ymir is a frozen, forbidding wasteland in which humanity (or rather a genetically modified branch of it) toils by mining its resources under the aegis of the Company, a ruthless cartel which grinds its employees with little or no regards for their rights or comforts, and quashes any attempt at rebellion with swift brutality. But the Company’s profit is threatened by grendels, alien constructs which are part flesh and part cybernetic components: a recent attack from a grendel in the depths of a mine cost the Company a number of workers and, far worse from their point of view, a stop to the extraction activities, so Yorick, the best grendel hunter in their employ, is dispatched to Ymir to solve the problem.

Yorick was kept in torpor (a sort of cold-storage suspended animation the Company employs to make its assets last longer, among other uses) for a long time, and once awakened he’s not happy to be returned to his home planet, from which he’s been absent for a subjective time of ten years, while on the world twenty have effectively elapsed. The hunter is considered a traitor on his home world, since he joined the ranks of the Company and committed some serious atrocities in their employ, but what’s worse he has some huge unfinished business to deal with: before he left he violently clashed with his brother Thello, who shot him with a needle gun taking away the lower half of Yorick’s face, which has since then been replaced by a prosthesis (warning: this is something of a gross detail in the narrative).

The timing for the hunt could not be worse, however, because a widespread rebellion against the Company is brewing under the icy surface of the planet, and Thello might be at the center of it, forcing Yorick to deal with the conflicting emotions generated by his past associations and his present duties: the road he finds himself traveling is fraught with dangers, and they don’t come only from the grendel’s threat…

‘Fascinating’ was the word I first used for this novel, and it is indeed despite its bleakness, which starts with the descriptions of Ymir, where darkness and ice extend as far as the eye can see, taking their toll on the miners and reflecting in their living spaces, where there is almost no respite from the harshness of the land. The workers are just as hard and unforgiving as the environment they live in, the physical changes wrought on them from generations turning them into creatures as alien as the place they live in: there are several flashbacks from Yorick as he recalls his and Thello’s childhood, marred by the lack of acceptance from their peers - who called them half-breeds - and by their mother’s abusive behavior, a consequence of her though living and working conditions. Young Yorick wanted nothing else but to escape from Ymir, taking Thello with him, while his younger brother felt stronger ties with the place and its people, and that difference was the spark that ultimately led to their final, bloody encounter.

Still, family ties can exert a strong pull on Yorick, and from the start we see him torn between love and hate for Thello and the planet were they were born: getting to know Yorick, and connecting with him as a character, is the most difficult part of the book, because he’s not an easy or relatable figure. Past actions have branded him a monster, and the old disfigurement added to the image, but what makes Yorick such a anti-hero is his self-destructive attitude: we see him literally wallowing in recreative drugs or in performance-enhancing drugs, and it’s clear that what’s left under that mountain of self abuse is a broken individual with little hope and almost no dreams - only nightmares. The skilled, heartless hunter is nothing but a shell under which the damaged child still dwells:

He takes his space like a gas giant, making his body as big as he can. […] Inside, when nobody can see him, he always makes himself small.

What ultimately saves Yorick from being a despicable character (and I assure you that looking past that constantly drugged fog is NOT easy…) is his desire to re-establish a bond with Thello, to still try and save him as he was unable to in the past. I’m sorry I can’t say more because I risk treading on spoiler territory, but Yorick’s attempt at a redemption arc is what manages to bring to the surface what little humanity is left in him. And this is enough.

Ymir might not be the easiest book to read, but it offers such a compelling narrative that it will prove quite difficult to set aside.

I have not been disappointed by a single Orbit title this year. I’m betting I won’t be disappointed for the rest of the year either after finishing ymir. I have completely forgot about Beowulf since it has been many years since I read it, so I went into this as something fresh and new. For the love of god, this needs to be a movie or some form of visual format because I can only imagine what these places would look like. Without giving anything away, think epic sci-fi with a good love story. I thought Yorick was such a great protagonist. I really hope this title becomes huge.
Thanks again Orbit for putting out another hit.

Cue Pain by Three Days Grace

This was so good, and gritty and just everything I want in a revengeful weird scifi. If you're looking for comp titles, I'd say it's a less thought out Count of Monte Cristo but on planet Hoth. And obviously Beowolf, but I am not subjecting myself to compare it to the 2007 movie.

Yorick and Thello's relationship, just tug on my heart strings already. So complicated, and wholesome at the same time? Yorick's relationship with his memories and home planet, also complicated. The world building too, just amazing! It wasn't overly complicated but still was complex enough that it kept things engaging. Just well done all around.

I look forward to other people gobbling this up, because Yorick is great and as flawed as a character he may be, he deserves his time in the sun.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Orbit Books for an advanced copy of this new science fiction thriller.

Sometimes a person can go home again. To a planet that is cold and brutal, both environment and people. Where the only family left is a brother who tried to kill that person, and succeeded in scarring that person forever. Where a the name that person was born with is used to either keep children from disobeying parents, or to stroke the flames of hatred against the company that controls every aspect of their lives, even past the point of their bodies dying. However when the monsters appear, a hunter is called, and home is where he goes. Ymir by Rich Larson is a powerful science fiction novel, full of monsters, both robotic and human, love, hate, maybe redemption, but a whole lot of revenge. And probably the sleeper book of the summer.

Yorick is a stalker of the creatures called Grendels who haunt the depths of mines and other places that the all- seeing, all- powerful company sends their human workers in search of minerals and other treasures to feed the company's coffers. Yorick is sent to the planet that he was born on, that he escaped after committing many atrocities to his family and others, which earned him a destroyed face at his brother's hand. Years have passed on Ymir, but to Yorick the pains are still fresh as so much time in suspended animation travelling the galaxy hunting Grendels, a mix of robot and alien flesh, whose violence to miners causes expensive disruptions to trade. Yorick has to pretend to be someone else as he hunts, as the world is prime for revolt, and danger could come from anywhere.

What a great book that took me completely by surprise. The story starts with just such an assured writing style that a reader knows they are in good hands. Everything the world, the environment, the science, the story unfolds carefully setting the reader in and not overwhelming but keeping the reader entertained, and wanting to know more. Yorick is a interesting character, that again the reader wants to know more of. The supporting characters are all described well, there place in society and role in the story all make sense. And once the story hits the book just goes for it storywise, even with jumps in view and time, but again never losing or confusing. The author really did quite a lot of work and it shows. A side note, this book gets a little vicious in some spots, and a lot bloody, but in the frame of the story it really makes sense.

This is the first book that I have read by Rich Larson, but it will not be the last. I'm excited to find another new author to put on my to read list. Really good science fiction, with a lot of heart and love surprisingly. Recommended for readers of the Sten novels, by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch, Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton and for the Beowulf content The Legacy of Heorot by Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven and Steven Barnes.