Revenant-X DEALS
In the ever-evolving science fiction genre, David Wellington has carved out a space at the intersection of my two favorite genres: sci-fi and horror. With his acclaimed works such as The Last Astronaut, the Red Space trilogy as well as his multiple zombie novels and many more, he consistently delivers stories that fill you with dread, make you care about the deep and well-written characters, and keep some non-stop suspense going.
His latest book, Revenant-X, is the second book of the Red Space trilogy released in 2024. It invites readers to venture into the unknown with a mix of suspense, horror, and gripping space exploration. Whether you are a fan of sci-fi or horror or are looking for something new to discover, this trilogy is lining up to be one of those must-read books.
Revenant-X Summary
Revenant-X is the second book in the Red Space trilogy, directly following the events of Paradise-1. The crew of the main character, Alexandra Petrova as well as her teammates, Sam Parker, Dr. Zhang, and the robot Rapscallion, marginally avoided death, escaping from the psychological virus from the first book and “successfully” landed (read crashed) on the planet of Paradise 1.
Expecting a thriving human colony, that has lost contact with the outside world, they are greeted with an empty town… Without any way to contact the home base for a rescue mission, they must understand the mysterious events that happened on the planet.
However, despite there being no survivors in sight, plenty of deadly “zombies” (called Revenants) come out at night with the only goal to kill them. The crew must try to adapt and survive this hostile world and the revenants, try to find a way to communicate with the home base to get rescued, and also accomplish their main mission: to understand what has happened to this colony of 10,000 people.
Yet again, they embark on a deadly mission with odds forever against their favor…
Rapscallion played an audio clip that sounded like it came from an old horror vid. A hollow voice wheezing out, “Braaainsss…”
RelatedParadise-1 Review: A Terifying Psychological Sci-fi Horror You Won’t Be Able To Put Down
Revenant-X Strengths
Characters
As with the previous novel, one of Revenant-X‘s strengths is the characters and the constant suspense. David Wellington has a knack for writing deep characters that are easy to relate to, as well as making dreadful situations funny, mainly with the robot Rapscallion. He is probably my favorite character in the novels!
The robot played an audio clip of an audience laughing wildly in a theatre. “I was not thrilled by the prospect. I gave some thought to murdering you all in your sleep. Then I got to know you guys and realized you weren’t so bad.”
The characters are very well written, especially the main character, Alexandra. David Wellington is very adept at writing female hero characters in his previous novels. In our recent interview with him, he mentioned: “I love writing female characters because you can just throw away half the junk people have built up around male characters – all the macho posturing. Especially in horror you need your characters to be vulnerable, with a wide spectrum of emotional responses. … I treat them like they might be human beings? You just have to get out of the traditional writerly headspace that sees women as objects, as foils for men or even as rewards for the men to attain. Real women are so much more interesting than that.“
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The horror and suspense aspects of the book are simply amazing. There is little to no downtime in the story, everything is on edge, which keeps the reader glued to the book.
We were just talking about how sunsets here suck because the revenants come at night. The most beautiful thing on any planet, anywhere, and they’ve ruined it.
There are many tense situations in the book where I could not stop reading. One thing led to another and things just kept happening. The short chapters also help with dividing the story and keeping the suspense going. You do not get too much thrown at you at once, but this is exactly what makes the story suspenseful.
If you think that the heroes have accomplished a part of their mission and might have some downtime to relax before the next leg of their adventure starts, you are wrong. Something is always happening behind the dark corner that is awaiting them, usually with death on their minds.
The parasite was impatient. What else was new? It was close to its goal and it wanted her [the main character] to keep moving. Get closer. Even if that meant walking right off a cliff, apparently.
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Weaknesses
Pacing
The book itself was great and moved the story along as it should. However, a minor thing that I noticed while reading it, was the pacing of the story.
Yes, it is the second book and yes it is meant to be a bit slower in order to build a solid foundation for the third and last book. However, starting to read it right after finishing Paradise-1, I definitely felt the change of pace.
Despite the fact that the story was a bit slower this time around, I understood why it was so. It did not bother me as much, even if it was noticeable.
Lack Of Diverse Horror
Again, only comparing it to the first book, the horror elements were not as diverse, which again, makes sense given the nature of the story and where the main characters ended up.
In Paradise-1, you had no idea what shape the horror elements would take. There was something new at almost every turn. In Revenant-X, most of the horror elements came from the revenants and the setting of the story.
It was definitely not bad per se and it did not take away from the story because this is something that I was expecting, however, I wish it had a bigger ensemble of horror. I would discount the psychological horror that the characters have to go through, however. There was definitely a lot of that which was great!
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Key Themes
Revenant-X covers a wide variety of themes, which is a good continuation of the previous novel. Some of those themes include;
- Strive to survive: the characters are under constant threat from the revenants or the harsh environments they face. As mentioned, there is no downtime in this book and the survival elements are constantly present. Even in the most dire situations, survival is key and they always find a way to persevere and move forward.
- Human and robotic relationships: the relationship aspect is very well developed in the books and it does not come only from human-to-human relationships. There are a few great passages where the main character is conflicted about her relationship with an AI. Humans, especially in life-or-death situations, still need and want comfort and that is explored not only from a physical perspective but also from an emotional/psychological one in a great way.
- The fine line between humans, AI, and monsters: the novel explores what it means to be human, especially as it relates to the characters, AI, and the monsters they have the confront.
Final Thoughts
If you are a fan of the intersection of sci-fi and horror, Revenant-X is one of those books that just needs to be read. Despite its slower pace, it has all of the elements that a fan of sci-fi horror would enjoy; deep characters, constant suspense, and horror as well as an evolving story that leaves you wanting more.
Revenant-X is part of the Red Space trilogy. The third book, as far as we know, is currently being worked on and I cannot wait to read the final novel of the story.
*Disclosure: We only recommend books that we love and would read ourselves. This post contains affiliate links, as we are part of the Amazon Services LCC Associate Program and others, which may earn us a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
The Review
Revenant-X
Revenant-X is the second book of the Red Space trilogy by David Wellington. With deep characters and constant suspense, it will keep you on the edge of your seat.
PROS
- Constant Suspense
- Deep Characters
- Horror Elements
- Great story
CONS
- Pacing
- Lack of diverse horror elements
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