The fifth entry of Daniel Arenson’s Earthrise series opens
with one of the main protagonists, Addy, a prisoner of the antagonistic aliens
known as the marauders, who yearn to fatten up their prisoners before feasting
upon them. Addy plots insurrection with the other humans, and is ferried back
to the ruinous planet Earth, where she seeks her old boyfriend Steve and his
friend Stooge. She ultimately forms the Human Resistance with survivors of the
marauder conquest, given the decimation of the formal Human Defense Force (HDF)
by the aliens, although other factions such as human supremacists somewhat mar
Addy’s attempt to unite her people.
Meanwhile, Marco, Lailani, Kemi, and Einav Ben-Ari fly through space far from
Earth, quickly abandoning their vessel, the Saint Brendan, in favor of the
captured alien ship, the Anansi, with which they continue to outrun the marauders
tailing them whilst continuing to seek the fabled Ghost Fleet that could hypothetically
turn the tide in the war. They eventually find themselves on a planet with
peaceful and intelligent beings, the four-armed and -mouthed Nandakis, one who
joins them in their adventure. Furthermore, the remnants of the HDF make one
last stand against the marauders under the leadership of Brigadier-General
James Petty.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed this entry of the series, with the different plot
threads generally being easy to follow, with occasional humor and
popular-culture references from the latter half of the twentieth and early
twenty-first centuries. The fifth book also divulges some backstory on Addy and
Einav, with the latter learning the true fate of her vanished father later on in
the story. It’s certainly by no means a flawless story, and some reminders as
to the appearance of the characters and alien species would have been welcome,
but I would definitely recommend it to science-fiction fans in general.
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