Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

WHO GIVES YOU LIFE?
PATER AETERNUS.

WHO GIVES YOU PURPOSE?
PATER AETERNUS.

WHO GIVES YOU JOY?
PATER AETERNUS.

This book was a wild ride! Pater Aeternus, governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire, is run by the Eternal Father. He dictates your status, the work you can do, who you can marry, and women’s purpose is to have as many children as possible. The entire planet is heavily surveilled and even a whisper of discontent is immediately quashed. People are routinely snatched up and disappear forever (sound familiar?). Most are murdered. A few are “re-educated” and come back as fanatical loyalists.

Katherine Fuller’s husband, who was a staunch member of Pater Aeternus, died and left her a fortune. Without his oppressive presence, Katherine begins to think for herself again and is restless for more. She is offered a dangerous opportunity: purchase a virgin world, and create a better, fairer society. But who to trust on this endeavor? And will Pater Aeternus let her quietly slip away, or will they have other ideas for her new world? She has to put her trust in someone, and decides on a university student, disgraced investigator, and a hypersled pilot to help her build her dream world. However, it’s hard to not reflexively distrust other people, and when things start to go wrong, Katherine doesn’t know who to turn to.

The worldbuilding in this book is done very well. Each main character is organically introduced into the story with sufficient back story for the reader to understand what they’re about and what motivates them. The first book in a SciFi or Fantasy series is often boring to read because the author has to write so much worldbuilding to set the stage for the rest of the series, but the author here does a great job. There is no big info dump – the worldbuilding is layered and each part builds on the previous section to enhance it and progress the story along. The book is well paced and contains a good balance between action and character and story building.

Katherine frustrated me at the beginning because she blindly accepted what all the government lackeys told her and it took a long time for her to figure out she was being played. I mean, up until then her life had been very protected and she was not encouraged to think for herself, so I had to give her a break, but c’mon. Get with it girl! I listened to the book and the narrator did a fantastic job. He was able to wonderfully portray the broken spirit of the government employees who were downtrodden and had basically given up the will to live. The nasty voice he used for the government tyrants was chilling. You could tell that some of these guys took so much joy in hurting people and abusing their authority. It was amazing to hear the change in the tone of the characters’ voices of those that escaped the hold of Pater Aeternus and gained free will. They were completely new people.

There is a lot of political intrigue in this book with multiple characters and storylines. The reader needs to really listen/read certain sections carefully to fully grasp all of the moving parts. It’s not a problem though, because you will be glued to the book. I listened to it in record time. The book ends on a satisfying cliffhanger that sets up the next book well. I cannot wait for the next book in the series. I have a feeling it’s going to be epic.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy from Macmillan Audio Early Listeners. All opinions are my own.