SYNOPSIS
Book Two in the Mars Alone Trilogy
It’s 2313 and a battle for the future of humankind is brewing. The battleground is space
Last year Leo Fischer and Skater Monroe were normal kids living normal lives, worrying about school, dealing with family issues, planning their futures…
This year they’re hiding out on Mars, hunted by a psychopathic megalomaniac – who happens to be the most powerful individual in the Solar System. He claims the two of them are interplanetary terrorists and is demanding their heads on a plate.
In the thrilling second instalment of the Mars Alone Trilogy, Leo and Skater, together with an artificial intelligence called Taffy whose mind contains the knowledge of an ancient alien civilisation, must face the consequences of fighting an enemy who has been lying to the entire human race and will stop at nothing to protect his secrets.
MY REVIEW
I would first of all like to thank the publishers @EyeandLightning and @AndrewStickland for sending me a copy of book two in this brilliant Trilogy. It was lucky I received it as I have moved address but luckily still had a few weeks left on my post being forwarded.
I am so glad I received this I loved book one The Arcadian Incident and I urge anyone who wants to read this book please read book one first as this one will make much more sense if you read them in order.
I was pleased to be back with Skater Monroe and Leo Fischer in book one they were 15 years old going on holiday to Mars Leo was meeting up with his mother and Skater was meeting her dad for a well earned holiday before they are due back on earth for their exams.
Things are quite different in book two the crew are having to hide out in a shelter where hopefully no one will find them, hunted by a psychopathic megalomaniac who is demanding their heads on plates calling them terrorists. But what do Skater and Leo have that would bring this person down?. Can they escape?
The beginning of this book has Skater breaking into a university to steal an AI device which Leo hopes to make into a functioning AI. They have plans to bring Carlton Whittaker the now First President of the new independent Mars. But Skater and Leo know what his real plans are and they are not good. But there are also other plans in the making regarding Whittaker.
Skater is feeling restless she is looking for more excitement, especially as Leo is so focused on his AI and getting it communicating. He spends all his time working on that or his computer. The AI is initially known as Cenotaph but then it gets shortened to Taffy.
It’s not long before the mine they are all hiding in is found and an attack happens the only thing they can do is leave, and leave fast. Or die. When the assault happens Captain Mackie leads Leo and Skater further underground to safety. It’s not long before they are aboard Nightrider and into space after an action packed fight.
There are so many things happening in the second half of the book that will have you on your edge of the seat. I’m not going to go into it all as that would spoil the story. With an assassin after them how could it not get more exciting.
I would recommend this to any Sci Fi readers, no matter the age this is one good read, now being on the conclusion in book three.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Stickland is a prize-winning poet and short-story writer whose work has variously been published by the British Fantasy Society, Games Workshop, the Royal Statistical Society and The Economist. He studied law at University College London, then creative writing at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. He lives in Cambridge.
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