About the Book

Trust no one.

It is six months since the Arcadia set sail for the first time in forty years. But this wasn’t the freedom the inhabitants were hoping for. Esther Crossland did what she had to do, but it has left a trail of destruction in her wake. Now the wrecked ship is abandoned. Its inhabitants are in exile, trapped in sprawling make-shift shelters made up of warehouse, tents, shipping containers.

Esther and Nik, architects of the rebellion, are on the run. Esther is in hiding, desperate to do something to help her people, and Nik seems to have abandoned all hope, on a journey taking him further and further from home. And neither of them want to face up to their true feelings about one another . . .

Not only that, there is a new villain in town. With the fall of Commander Hadley, it’s left to the ruthless Admiral Janek to deal with the traitors, and her own past is beginning to catch-up with her.

Then the shaky ceasefire negotiated by General Lall, Nik’s mum, falls apart. Nik and Esther find themselves in a world of betrayals and double crossings – a game of power, with no one to trust but themselves.

It’s time for the final showdown.

About the Author

Sarah Daniels is an ex-archaeologist who escaped academia and now writes stories from her home in rural Lincolnshire. Her work has been published in various online magazines and has been nominated for best British and Irish Flash Fiction and Best Small Fictions.

If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:

Website:  http://www.sarahdanielsbooks.com

Instagram: @sarahdanielsbooks
TikTok: @sarahdanielsbooks
Twitter: @sarahdanbooks

What I Thought

With a gap of a few months since the end first book The Stranded we spend a little while filling in what and happened and why. We also get some new POV characters introduced. First up we return to follow Esther who is stuck in the camp but exiled from the rebellion she was instrumental in. Although there’s a new love interest in town to keep her somewhat busy.

And Meg, a character we met in book one but who was never named then. Meg is a complex character and as readers our relationship with her is equally as complicated. 

While the pace of the first book was breakneck it does slow a little here, allowing us to settle into the reality of Esther’s new day to day. There’s quite a few chapters back and forth between these two until we get to hear from Nik again – and Hadley’s old Boss Janek picks up where his evil left off. Nik has run away from everything – literally -and his grief for May continues and isn’t just swept aside.

I guess one aspect I’d have liked to better understand in this series is what happened to split the US apart so dramatically and how the Federated States came to be so dire in relation to human rights but then I look at what is currently happening in the world (not just the US) and sadly can see how something like that could happen. 

In the first book Hadley – although terrible – had a personal backstory that gave a hint of relatability to him. Janek has no such redeeming feature and just seems intent on destruction. Luckily some of the other characters around her have more humanity! 

As soon as Nik and Esther were back together I felt the tension ratchet – both between them and in the story as a whole. It was another white knuckle ride to the finish. 

I have to admit that the bot technology I found freaky as anything, and the scene with Nik near the end did not help with my fear of normal nor robotic spiders. 

Overall this Duology has a great series of characters, a compelling drive towards escape and freedom and brilliant writing. I did slightly prefer the claustrophobic nature of book one but this was a strong conclusion which upped the stakes from fighting the Coalies on the ship to battling the whole Federated States and a lot of evil individuals along the way. The ending was both hopeful for our characters and disappointing for society – because humans never learn from our mistakes and seem doomed to repeat them! 

One of the things I loved the most was that this was not a chosen one tale. Neither characters had special powers, and both were thrust into positions in the rebellion they weren’t ready for. I enjoyed how Esther’s calling as a doctor remained consistent throughout and although she steps up into badassery and wavers at times, she remains gentle at heart too.

Huge thanks to The Write Reads and the Publisher for the gifted copy for the purposes of this honest review. The rest of the tour is ongoing but I think everyone is loving this series.