A lot of the wildlife merged, but there are some animals called Primes that are still in their original form. The planet has two moons, and it changes names dependent on the season. Almost the entirety of the action takes place on Eden – actually, Magnia, because isn’t it just white people’s humanity’s way, to name something that already has a name – and there are a lot of descriptions of the local wildlife, the dominant species (called the Adamites by Babel, they are actually called the Imago), and their cities and technology. Nyxia Unleashed delivers on a lot of promises from the first book. An enemy that is all-knowing and all-powerful is boring, and we can only hope that Anton’s actions in the closing pages of the book will have some kind of effect on the plot, otherwise what even is the point? The problem with this is that Babel is – at least by the end of this book – seemingly undefeatable. In this way, Babel becomes an even more stereotypically evil corporation, one that must now be defeated at all costs. Basically, Babel has lied about everything – sending them home, their entire purpose for the mission, the alien species…everything. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long to realize that Babel lied, more than the Genesis kids realize. Nyxia Unleashed picks up from the moment we left off in the first book, with Emmett plummeting to the planet after being forced to fight Roathy for his chance at a lifetime of wealth. Ten children are plucked from poverty by a giant, stereotypically evil corporation who somehow managed to secretly discover an inhabitable planet out in the far reaches of space, populated by sentient beings, and royally screw it up.

Nyxia is The Hunger Games meets Ender’s Game meets Red Rising. Nyxia Unleashed delivers on a lot of what was promised in Nyxia – namely, ALIENS – but it also manages to fall short in a few ways. Return to Eden and our intrepid heroes from Genesis 11 and Genesis 12 in Scott Reintgen’s Nyxia Unleashed, the second installment in his Nyxia Triad series.

Morning nyxia