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Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel – Themis Files #2

When I received the ARC for this novel, it was all I could do to wait until the release day to read it. I generally try to read ARCs close to their publishing date, but it was a struggle for me to wait for this one. I absolutely LOVED Sleeping Giants, and I’ve been waiting for so long to find out what the author had in store for the sequel. So thank you to the author, publishers, and NetGalley for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

When Rose Franklin was a little girl, she fell onto a giant metallic hand buried within the Earth.  Now that she’s an adult, she has spent her life working to solve the mystery of the hand as a scientist. After years of investigation, she has produced some intriguing answers – and even more perplexing questions – about this robot and its origins. And the need for more information becomes urgent when a second robot, more massive than the first, appears and uses deadly force. Now, humankind is faced with a danger that they are in no way equipped to handle. Can Rose and her team at the Earth Defense Corps unlock the last secrets of this advanced alien technology and keep Earth – and all of its inhabitants – safe?

When I compare this novel to the first one in the series, I have to admit that it wasn’t as good. That being said, this novel was really really cool and it took the story in a direction I wasn’t expecting. The author did a good job of resolving a lot of questions from the first book in this one, and that felt sooooo satisfying to me; I hate unanswered questions! He also left me with a lot more questions, which I HOPE will be answered in another book! There were a couple new characters introduced, and they were nice additions to the story. There was also the brief return of other characters into the plot line, and this was done in a very nice, cohesive way. I’m going to give a mini-spoiler here: some characters die. Their deaths made me really really sad, especially because I really liked them. However, I’m curious to see how this series will move in the next installment (which I hope will be released soon)! This novel had a lot of action, a lot of science, and enough confusion to keep the reader intrigued and perplexed, in the best way possible. I’m really in love with the author’s writing style, as the novel continues to be written in interview, letter, and email format; it just makes for such an interesting read. If you liked the first book, you are going to have a great time with this one. And if you like science fiction, and alien robots, then you need to get this series on your must-read list!

Happy reading ~