Σ

A demigod goes to war against a vampire from space in Lopez’s debut SF novel.

The planet of Ninivon is ruled by a tyrant: The alien Vampire and his blood-drinking, purple-eyed soldiers arrived from space and conquered the free nations, human and humanoid alike. Zeno fought the Vampire’s forces as a member of the Rangers—the elite fighting force of the Republic—but after hearing reports of the death of his closest friend, Alexandra, he quit the war. Now, 10 years later, he serves as a librarian in the semi-independent city of Sarpedon, keeping his head down so as not to wind up in one of the Vampire’s feeding camps. He’s on the verge of suicide when he has a vision of Alexandra, in the form of an owl, who reveals to him that she’s still alive. Soon after, Zeno gets word of a rebel group called the Blue Order that has begun launching terrorist attacks against the Vampire’s rule. It turns out Alexandra is fighting with the rebels, and though Zeno questions their tactics, he’ll do whatever he can to keep Alexandra safe from harm. Meanwhile, Zeno begins to see the sign “Σ” everywhere, a mysterious symbol associated with the wisdom goddess Sofia. The followers of the goddess believe that Zeno is descended from a special bloodline and that he alone can defeat the Vampire and liberate Ninivon. But is he up to the task? Lopez’s muscular prose succeeds in creating a sense of wonder in this Greek-tinged sci-fi epic: “Some of the Stokians standing along the halls held some kind of trumpet-like instrument. They now raised these and blew them. Zeno had never heard such a sound before. It was neither pleasant or unpleasant. It just was, and was otherworldly. It was a sound from outer space.” Unfortunately, the proportion of in-world mythology to character development is out of balance; readers will frequently find themselves sifting through expository esoterica when they would rather just get to know Zeno and Alexandra as people.

An imaginative but stilted novel blending SF, horror, and fantasy.