TERMINUS

An ordinary man finds himself a key combatant in a longtime battle between godlike beings in Edge’s SF novel.

Investigative journalist/hacker Kevin Touns stumbles across a shadowy group of powerful men known as the Pandekon and set on global domination. His friend and associate Hamster discovers that the Pandekon’s members are followers of an alien set on purging humanity from the planet. Kevin, his friend Griff, and Hamster become wanted men after they destroy a Pandekon facility in Paris. Kevin and Griff are captured by the Bereft, a group that protects the Terminus, a mysterious gateway through which souls pass to reach their next destination. Kevin is introduced to Mut, a “Mother of the Earth,” whose role is to protect humanity. Kevin is told that he’s actually Mut’s runaway son, Torch, and that his mission is to find a replacement body for the soul of his dying mother. Kevin now has to contend with crises caused by human zombies created by a bioengineered fungus, intergalactic vampires, and invading alien slavers. There is a lot to unpack in this first installment of the author’s Book of Xaal series. Like Kevin, the reader is constantly blindsided by confusing developments, which makes for a frustrating reading experience. Edge introduces far too many characters, settings, and events without sufficient context, making the narrative difficult to parse. The strength of Edge’s novel is its cast. Kevin/Torch is a man of mystery (“No one uses my formal name for reasons of anonymity, my friendships are mostly online rather than face to face these days. I am part of a small clandestine group…”) whose complicated history is skillfully doled out by the author. Griff and Hamster, his steady and colorful companions, are also well developed. Here’s hoping that all the setup Edge has crammed into this first volume will pay dividends in future entries.

This opening salvo of a new SF series alternates between intriguing and overwhelming.