Extinction Dream – Andrew Najberg

4 stars

Extinction Dream is a stark reminder that history is written by the victors, and what we think we know is all a matter of perspective…

Damn it, Andrew, WHY DO I FEEL BAD FOR THE BAD GUYS????

This story was a ride and had me questioning at every page everything about reality and perception I’d ever been taught. Even now, almost 20 minutes after I finished the book, I still have no idea what’s real and what’s not. I think I’m stage two-ing, or spiraling, in the best way!

In Extinction Dream, Andrew reminds us of humanity’s most toxic trait: I’ll hurt you before you hurt me. Our inherent need to charge into situations with reckless abandon often leads us into the very situations we were trying to avoid. We f*cked around, and now it’s time we find out.

It was rather comforting, however, to see that even in the future when faced with certain demise via rapidly dying planet, nuclear warfare, or interplanetary beings that we don’t understand, Russia, China and the United States will absolutely never work together for the greater good of humanity.

I did have a few instances where I got a little lost between scenes. Maybe the confusion was meant to be intentional, but I wasn’t always sure of the state of things and where I actually was in the setting. This could’ve been done on purpose to really mess with the readers’ minds, but it had me a little more confused at times than I’d like to be.

This was a great book from start to finish, though it’ll be a long time until I get those descriptions of horrifying flesh ship melding out of my head! They’ll be a great addition to my Book Trauma That Must Be Shared mental folder!