Thank you to get valley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this title.
A good novel with three parts that is at times confusing but at the same time confusing. There are many things left asked but unanswered. I wanted to like this more thank did.

This story had me absolutely HOOKED. This was a first time read with anew author and boy was I impressed!!!
I absolutely loved the creepy and unsettling vibes I got, but the layers of the characters and their storylines... "Chef's Kiss".
I highly recommend this novel for all lovers and creepy and anyone in a reading slump, this book had me at the edge of my seat!!

Clay West Economics professor Falls in Love with his student Karla. They live in a time were the human population is dying from a drug called 'Dying Wish'. Surrounded by a lot of loss, Clay and Karla get romantically involved. Clay is fired when their relationship is discovered and he is left devastated With the Loss of Karla to the Drug she has taken. Clay joins a space Mission, set out to deploy a group of people in pursuit of other inhabitable planets.

The Story is split into parts. The future in space where Clay awakes many years later aboard a craft with AI and malfunctioning sleep pods. As the surviving crew is slowly awakened, They race to find a solution to their damaged ship, shortage of food and dominating AI minds aboard. You also go back to the Past; how it all began. Dying Wish, how it was created. The minds behind the AI development and you also follow the backstory to Clay and Karla how they met, fell in love and the night Karla took the drug. A bit difficult to follow half way through the plot, there is a lot of technical AI terminology and even Politics intertwined. The plot gets a bit repetitive with all the reality versions that take place with the characters and AI clones. Lots of Intense page turning moments that keep you on the edge and wanting more. I loved the story between Clay and karla; transcending throughout time and space.
I really Really enjoyed this book. A Creative, refreshing, sci-fi, thriller with a hint of Horror.
Highly recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial | Parliament House Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Good concepts, but doesn't work.
I was intrigued by the metaphysical and speculative nature of the plot but this was one of the confusing reads.

We follow Clay West who awakens on a ship earlier than others while most of the crew has died in their cryo-sleep (how? We don't know!). His life is uprooted when the love of his life, Karla, dies and he is on the ship to find her or the answers again! What follows is his quest for answers (not really) followed by an elaborate backstory on how the ship came about (this was the only interesting part) and then a round 2 of Clay trying to find Karla (don't ask how they reach there).

The story is told in three parts - the first part is the story of the protagonist Clay West waking up on the ship. Most of the crew is dead except 4 others. Then the creepiness starts. It is an eerie atmosphere when people start dying as well. This is followed by an elaborate backstory in second part where we understand the context, the parallel universe, how the ship came out as well as the objective of the ship's journey. The final part is the concluding part of Clay and Karla finding each other and exploring the labyrinth of the multiverse.

With such an intriguing context, why didn't I like the book? Because it was a confusing mess. The first part where the story could have been a roller coaster horror story. However, things seem to happen without a reason. People have psychotic breaks. Why? Don't know. What does our protagonist do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing except wallow in self-pity. It was quite a lot of effort to navigate the first part.

The second part is actually quite interesting and prompted me to move further with the book. Would have loved for it to turn into something.

If the first part was tedious, then the third part was absolute drudgery. First and foremost, was it an alternate reality or an amalgamation of multiple realities? We don't know. What is one-thing? What happened to the AI war? These are just a few of the multiple open questions. There are a lot of subplots that don't go anywhere.

The author picked up multiple themes including multiverse, sentient AIs and their war, perceiving multiple realities, immortality, space travel and so on. Rather than connecting it in a converging plot, it became an incoherent mess. Would have been better if the author picked up a couple of themes and explored them. May have been interesting read that way but alas!

Thanks Netgalley and Parliament House Press for providing an ARC.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary eARC from the author, since I had already enjoyed and reviewed his debut novel The Between in 2021. This didn't influence my review in any way.

LARGER THAN LIVES

On his site, Ryan Leslie states that it took him ten years to complete this novel, and let me tell you, I'm not at all surprised. Colossus is an ambitious blend of genres and ideas, spanning Earth, space and parallel universes/converging realities, clones and AI wars, science and philosophy, and last but not least, love and loss. It could have gone very well or very badly, but luckily, the result is impressive, and far less challenging that one might think (I mean, it's still a complex book, but you won't get lost while reading it). Putting his own twist on quantum science and the many-worlds theory, Leslie came up with a story where the scientific angle is just as prominent as the human one, since the two characters/forces that clash during the course of the novel and ultimately engage in a life-or-death battle are - net of the science and the technology that laid the groundwork for such a battle - the product of very human emotions. And I found it fit that the author would devote the first two thirds of his story respectively to the hero's and the villain's genesis (though Clay's section is a mix of real-time plot and flashbacks) - I mean, the general consensus seems to be that Part 2 is a tad too long, or too complex, or less intriguing, but after a couple of chapters, I started to vibe with it, and I ended up finding it both necessary and enjoyable...not to mention, funny at times. The last third is kind of an acid trip in the best way (which I suppose it indeed is, since the infamous Dying Wish makes an apparition 😂), a poignant yet sharp climax steeped in quantum physic and wrapped in a horror nightmare, and if you're into this sort of stuff, it's guaranteed to make your pulse race.

CHARACTER CONUNDRUM

I'll be honest: I found the story, with all its implications, more interesting and enjoyable than the characters. That's not to say that they weren't well-rounded or quirky enough, because for the most part, they were (though I couldn't really get a read on Eric, and I wish that the whole spaceship gang, not to mention Karla, had been given more space to breathe). What I'm trying to say is, as much as I'm on board with a flawed/damaged hero, most of the characters (including leading man Clay) seemed to lean a bit too much into that side, and some of them made me question the very idea of sending them on a deep-space mission together. Also, I found some of their quirks a bit controversial, especially in this day and age - did Lisa really need to go around wearing only her home-made scent (or smell 😂) under her mink coat, or to use the bathroom with the door open? (For your info: Lisa is an intriguing character, a tech wiz with a hippiesque streak who doesn't care what other people think of her - which I can very much get behind, but this?). And I couldn't help but detect some manic-pixie-dream-girl undertones in Karla's personality, though not in the classic sense. Lastly, while the epilogue was satisfying on the whole (if probably a tad too open/vague for certain readers' taste), I have some reservations about its playfulness and a certain character's antics. That being said, this novel is indeed a...colossal endeavour, and I can only be in awe of what the author managed to accomplish - hence the 5 stars. In short: Colossus is a strong science fiction specimen, but despite its many layers, accessible enough to cater to the occasional reader of the genre as well - and if you're a fan of crazy, yet somehow plausible science and are fond of "what if" scenarios, you'll find a lot to love in this book.

Actual Rating: 2.5/5 stars

I’ve been on a “cerebral-sci-fi-kick” for a few months now, so when this independently published novel’s synopsis came to my attention, I immediately felt like it might just scratch that itch. Although I was fascinated and by the themes and ideas explored here, I was ultimately left with mixed feelings overall.

The Story:
We follow Clay, an economics professor whom rationally centered life is uprooted by the passing of his wife Karla, by her own hand. Karla, equally filled with scientific curiosity as himself, has taken an elusive drug called Dying Wish, which supposedly reveals the nature of reality moments before it claims your life. This loss drives Clay on a quest for answers. A quest that will eventually lead him to the deepest recesses of space, and his own memory alike…

What I loved:
Our story is told in three parts, and throughout the first part I was utterly engrossed. We are introduced to Karla and Clay, as well as the world and the themes that will be explored throughout. Without going into full-spoilers; this book dives heavily into the philosophical and cerebral side of science fiction. There are no gun-blazing space-battles here. Instead, we’re quickly entrapped in a web of multiverses, parallel realities and the concept of “quantum immortality”. The set-up is fascinating and hooked me in. Unfortunately, the story didn’t fully fulfill the promise of its premise.

What I didn’t love:
In the second part, we find Clay as one of the few survivors of a hibernation-failure aboard a space-vessel; his only companion being an AI that prompts him to question everything he thinks he knows. The interactions between the AI and Clay are supposed to feel philosophical, but due to the way they’re written, felt extremely flat and tedious to me. I honestly lost a lot of steam throughout this second part and had to push myself to keep reading, hoping for a satisfying ending. That only partially delivered…
Overall, this novel does a great job of asking questions, and a rather poor one at answering any of them. That might be by design, but I’m not sure Colossus pulled it off. Often, leaving unanswered questions only works if the story convinced me enough that the author knows the answers, but deliberately choses to withhold them from the reader. In this case, I wasn’t convinced the author knew that himself…
Additionally, it didn’t help that the author tried to cram in so many classic sci-fi themes into one story. Sentient AI’s, quantum theory, the multiverse, space travel and its effects on the mind, pharmaceuticals, immortality and so much more all make a brief appearance. Every new element subtracted from the strength and coherence of it all, rather than adding to it. I’d have preferred if the author had chosen a single topic to explore in depth, rather than skimming over so many briefly.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I finished it, and almost enjoyed it, but at the end of the day I can't get over the fact that the primary driver of the story is an older male professor getting sexually involved with a student. Reader, what a choice this author made. I mean, at least make it a former student--it wouldn't have made a difference and would have been way less gross. Every scene the author wrote with the young woman just read like it was meant to justify the wildly inappropriate "romance" that was apparently foundational to the plot. Presumably Leslie himself isn't a creep, and I enjoyed his prose enough to try another novel down the line, but yeesh...what a choice to make.

Ryan Leslie gives us Colossus (2024) , a sci-fi epic about economics professor Clay who is aboard the spaceship called Child in the Dark. He is initially alone, with only the AI Justine to keep him company. The rest of the crew, brought along at the behest of the illustrious Gabriel Alvarez, has been placed into suspension pods to keep them alive on the long journey to wherever it is they are headed. Suffice it to say, that place isn’t simply Earth.

Clay has a very specific reason for taking this journey— the promise of seeing his beloved girlfriend Karla once again. An illicit drug called Dying Wish has upset the balance of traditional (recreational) drug use among the same students that Clay taught every day. Karla, it seems, was one of them. We get several flashbacks to Clay having first noticed Karla in one of his many classes. We get scenes of their courtship. Karla is an ethereal sort of girl, just as smart as her former professor, and they definitely click in an intellectual sense.

Ryan Leslie’s book asks of the reader: What, in fact, is the nature of consciousness? What is this state called “reality” which we seem to (at times begrudgingly) exist in? And how would it be possible to alter that reality, to repossess once again things and people we have lost?

Leslie’s book is at times rather dry and dull (overly descriptive scenes about science, such as parallel universes and quantum mechanics) sometimes emotionally moving (the loss of a loved one), and other times creepy (being in deep space with only your (potentially) mentally unstable crew mates and the Artificial Intelligence for company).

The atmosphere depicted within was well crafted. You can tell Leslie really cared about his subject matter, though at times the book sort of lost me with all the science-heavy theories and other little bits. Colossus is, ultimately, a story about people, and how they react in difficult situations—rather than a treatise about the future of technology and space travel. The book is competently constructed and the characters were memorable, particularly Justine, as she was almost the comic relief character in this one. I would certainly read anything else this author writes next.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a NetGalley ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

Science fiction is a genre I’m trying to read more of, but at the same time it’s not totally unusual for me to pick a few up each year. Based on the synopsis for Colossus, I figured this would be one that I’d enjoy, and I was right! I didn’t find the science in this to be confusing, but admittedly I didn’t fully understand it either and took it at face value. The premise of multiple dimensions / multiverse and AI elements of this book were really intriguing. It has a dark, sort of dystopian feel throughout which I also enjoyed. Some of the characters are really strange (looking at you, Lisa) but it added interest and humanity to otherwise less important secondary characters. My only hang up was the pacing of the plot, especially around 40-50% starts to feel a little slow and difficult to get through, whereas usually that’s the point in a novel where things are really taking off. Most of the action happens at the start and end of this book. Overall a great read, and something I’ll definitely point the sci-fi lovers in my life toward.

Did not finish @ 61%. I had high such hopes for this after loving The Between by the same author, but it's a complete let down.

It's divided into three parts. The plot doesn't really go anywhere in the first section. I enjoyed certain bits the middle section - particularly the characters of Lisa and Julian, which is why I've given it 2 stars - but by the time I got to the third part of the book, I was over it, frustrated and bored.

I'm still really looking forward to the sequel of The Between even after this dud. Leslie is fantastic at writing funny and entertaining dialogue but this "serious" sci-fi is a total miss.

Normally books take me anywhere from a day to a week to finish, but this one….woof. Nearly a month later and I was still struggling.

I wanted to like this based on the synopsis. I wanted to like what this author was trying to accomplish for the doomed ship in space genre.

Clay is a character that is hard to get behind: obsessed with a past lover, self-centered, a drunk, and wholly unsuited to an excursion into space as a former economics professor. There’s a lot of back and forth between his current predicament and flashbacks to his tenure as a professor that, to me, didn’t really add much to the narrative other than as an excuse to fill pages.
Without giving away any huge spoilers, the fact that I was bored to near tears while the Big Bad action sequences were in full swing because the characters were so damn unlikeable….it’s a no from me, dawg.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you Netgally, Ryan Leslie for letting me review an ARC of Colossus.

I went into this book excited as deep space thrillers and horror are my weakness. The premise and the blurb about the book seem pretty straight forward and could be creepy. I will say I enjoyed the first part of this book at times it got a bit confusing for me and a little over my head. I really wanted to enjoy this book and some of it I did just not all of it.

I liked this book but it was not my type I could see the author has put a lot of hard work into this title and I wish them the best of luck for their launch!!

I might have found this book more interesting, if I was into things like quantum immortality, computer programming, and alternate realities. For me, the scientific details were a slog to get through.

I also found Clay’s obsession with Karla distracting and a bit odd, considering they had only dated for three months.

I could have done without the descriptions of characters urinating.

I did find the AI aspect kind of interesting! Especially Justine.

At some points, I thought I was going to get too bogged down in the "science" part of this science fiction, but there was enough plot to keep it moving forward at a good pace for me.

I really want to give this book 4 stars, it was creative, interesting and made me think..

However, *slight spoiler* - - -


I really didn't love that the overarching love story, the whole point of everything, started as a professor/student romance... I get that it's written in a way that she was the pursuer.. But it still just felt kind of gross..

Unfortunately, I'm putting this one down at about 20%. While the idea itself is intriguing, ultimately, I've just found that the book itself feels too formulaic when compared to the other sci-fi/horror style novels I've read over the years, where people wake up after a slumber and things are not what they seem. I was curious when I started this, but now, I simply can't bring myself to return to the book and I no longer care to find out what happens.

"Colossus" is a refreshingly creative take on hard science fiction. It follows the adventures of Clay West, an economics professor who finds himself thrust into a long-distance space expedition.

The book offers compelling characters, a vivid setting, and a thought-provoking exploration of life, death, fate, and technology. At times, the scientific details are hard to follow, but that didn't detract from the experience.

All in all, this book is a must-read for sci-fi fans, and with its philosophical themes, would make a great choice for a book club.

Thank you Netgalley and Parliament House Press for sending me an advance copy of this book for review consideration.

I liked the overall story, a mysterious space ship trying to start fresh and the story of who’s on it, but some parts were a chore to read. The three scientists we learned about through reading a journal that was so full of weird jargon I really had to force myself through.

sadly, I did not like this one very much. I was drawn in by the comparison to The Gone World, one of my favorite books of all time, but The Gone World it ain't. I do think this book had some really thrilling moments, especially in the last third or so, but where it failed for me was the lack of character work. I did not care about any of these characters, from the lead to the supporting characters who were basically just names + maybe one personality quirk to, oh my god, the supposedly epic romance at the center of this book. I think that's where this book really fell apart. Karla is such a non-character I kept expecting a big twist that would tie her and Clay's "love" into the bigger picture, but... nope.

add in the fact that this book is divided into thirds, and the middle third is a bunch of honestly unnecessary, rambling backstory, and yeah. not exactly awful, especially since the pacing is pretty good, but not for me.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

I liked the first section. The story was interesting, and had some Sci fi elements. (This was the Six Wakes- esque part of the book.) The second section was kind of a slog... and then later sections turn into some nonsensical stuff plus some horror? The premise was interesting, but I think it all got lost somewhere along the way.