Axiom's End

Axiom's End
Lindsay Ellis, 2020

Premise: Cora thought that being the daughter of the world's most notorious conspiracy theorist/whistleblower (depending on your point of view) was as weird and stressful as her life was likely to get. Then it turned out that aliens were real.

If you know internet personality/film critic/media analyst Lindsay Ellis, you know that she likes genre stuff of all types, but has a special place in her heart for the Transformers. This is evident in her novel but I didn't find it distracting.

In broad strokes, the plot has a lot in common with many Transformers stories. Two alien factions come into conflict on Earth; a human with the ability/opportunity to communicate with one alien gets involved, as does the United States government.

Beyond that, the story plays with techno-organic lifeforms, alien methods of communication, and very human reactions to extreme situations. It took me a while to get into the story - I found the first section a bit too full of exposition and events I didn't understand. I also wasn't a big fan of Cora for a while - she was a bit bland and hapless at first. I did really like the speculation and world-building surrounding the question alluded to in the title. 

The book tipped a bit more toward tension and action than I expected, more thriller and less adventure, which isn't generally my taste, especially in 2020. However, once the plot picked up steam, I really enjoyed the read.

3 Stars - A Good Book