Colossus Rising: A Dark Sci-Fi Epic Fantasy

Torth, Book 2

By: Abby Goldsmith

Narrated by: George Newbern

Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

In this thrilling dystopian space-opera, escapees flee a ravaged Earth—but what's more dangerous: the wasteland of their past or the one that lies ahead?

Having obliterated entire civilizations, the Torth Majority is now threatening humanity itself. Barreling through deep space—and hunted every dark mile by armadas, saboteurs, and kamikaze armies—the passengers of a refugee streamship must outrun everything they left behind if they hope to stay alive.

Instilled with illegal superpowers, Ariock is a literal giant among gladiators. It's in his blood: his legendary great-grandfather outwitted the Torth, and Ariock himself dared to betray them. Thomas, on the other hand, is a supergenius. Sure, he's physically disadvantaged, but his mind is a brainwashing, telepathic, terrifying wonder to behold. What he's done to outlast the abuses of his youth is something of a mystery . . . and possibly malevolent. Not even Vy, his caretaker and foster sister, knows all of Thomas's secrets.

What all three share is a fear of the unknown. Their ship on the last dregs of fuel, they crash-land on a distant planet still under the toxic, storm-filled fallout of an ancient nuclear war. Turns out this hell-scape is the ancestral homeworld of the Torth. And while that savage empire couldn't withstand this poisoned sludge of a planet, it doesn't mean they're not still guarding it.

On a predatory world of mutant monstrosities and relentless galactic enemies, Thomas foresees nothing but death and defeat. But it's do-or-die for Ariock and the streamship exiles who are fighting to survive—and somehow find light in a dead city of eternal night.

The second volume of the hit sci-fi fantasy series—with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

©2024 Abby Goldsmith (P)2024 Podium Audio

Well, that was certainly an abrupt ending.

So the story thus far (including book one) has all the fundamentals necessary for an interesting science fiction premise. I can see many intriguing questions the author could present and even more ways to answer these questions, or to at least let various ideas play out in ways that are thought provoking and probe a boundary here or there. The problem that I experience as a reader (listener), is that there was never a good foundations upon which to establish the core relationships between the main characters (specifically between Ariak and Thomas). They were not given time or even dialogue to establish even a basic rapport before being swifted away. Another obvious thing that’s difficult to digest is the constant self doubt felt by everybody, everywhere, for every little thing. Everyone spends so much time stewing in their own self doubt, convinced that they’re just the worst person for failing to live up to impossible expectations that it actually drags the story down in tempo and direction. There’s also a lot of setup to big events that then seem to not go anywhere (in which case why make a big scene at all?). Sometimes stories build up a lot of deficit and provide little payoff (like Game of Thrones) while others are pretty well balanced (like Wheel of Time). This story seems to lack both a buildup of true deficit and also lacks any substantial payoff. It toys with big ideas but it seems hesistant to dive into said ideas with confidence. Many of the ideas here are similar to the ideas presented in the three body problem (with telepathic aliens confronting non-telepathic aliens). It would be fun and interesting to see this played out in even greater detail here but there doesn’t really seem to be much direction in terms of being able to tell where the story is going.

Too slow 🐌 😴...

The story had lots of potential (humanity vs aliens), this book was all about an underground society. Really nothing new to add to the survival of Earth. Can't say I look forward to the next book.