• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
FanFiAddict

FanFiAddict

A gaggle of nerds talking about Fantasy, Science Fiction, and everything in-between. They also occasionally write reviews about said books. 2x Stabby Award-Nominated and home to the Stabby Award-Winning TBRCon.

  • Home
  • About
    • Reviewers
    • Review Policy
    • Contact
  • Blog
    • Guest Posts
    • Lists
    • Neurodivergence in Fiction
    • Why You Should Read…
  • Reviews
    • Children’s / Middle Grade Books
    • Comics/Graphic Novels
    • Fantasy
      • Alt History
      • Coming of Age
      • Debut
      • Epic Fantasy
      • Fairy Tales
      • Grimdark
      • Heroic Fantasy
      • LitRPG
      • Paranormal Fantasy
      • Romantic Fantasy
      • Steampunk
      • Superheroes
      • Sword and Sorcery
      • Urban Fantasy
    • Historical Fiction
    • Horror
      • Debut
      • Demons
      • Ghosts
      • Gothic
      • Lovecraftian
      • Monsters
      • Occult
      • Psychological
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves
      • Witches
      • Zombies
    • Science Fiction
      • Aliens
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Alt History
      • Cyberpunk
      • Debut
      • Dystopian
      • Hard SciFi
      • Mechs/Robots
      • Military SF
      • Space Opera
      • Steampunk
      • Time Travel
    • Thriller
  • Interviews
    • Book Tube
    • Authorly Writing Advice
  • SFF Addicts Podcast
    • SFF Addicts Clips
    • SFF Addicts (Episode Archive)
  • TBRCon
    • TBRCon2022
    • TBRCon2023

Review: Catalyst Gate (The Protectorate #3) by Megan O’Keefe

June 17, 2021 by Manny Henri Leave a Comment

Amazon
Barnes & Nobles
Goodreads

Rating: 9/10

Synopsis

In the final book of this explosive Philip K. Dick Award-nominated space opera, the universe is under threat and an ancient alien intelligence threatens to bring humanity down – unless Major Sanda Greeve and her crew can stop it . . .

The code has been cracked. The secrets of the Casimir gates have been revealed. But humanity still isn’t safe. The alien intelligence known as Rainier and her clones are still out there, hell-bent on its destruction. And only Sanda can stop them.

With the universe’s most powerful ship under her command and some of the most skilled hackers, fighters and spies on her team, it will still take everything she has to find the key to taking down an immortal enemy with seemingly limitless bodies, resources and power.

Review

There’s a lot to unpack in this review as I read all 3 books in the series one after another over the past couple of weeks. And it feels like I just read a 1600-page book, as it definitely appears like it was carefully crafted and planned that way. So, although the review focuses on Catalyst Gate I’m providing an overall review of the series, as the final book delivers on all the promises and questions raised throughout the trilogy and I can’t review the conclusion book without considering the previous tomes. Overall, there were a few slower moments in the second book—definitely on purpose—but in the end, I loved it through and through.

The plot is spread out over several components throughout the series (and concluded in Catalyst Gate) and if you enjoy chapter ends that pushes you over the edge (“What?”), then you’ll be served. You experience politics, mostly through the eyes of Sanda’s brother Biran as he blossoms into a leader in the Keepers’s world. Also, we have Sanda—the main character—who throws us left and right through a sequence of events starting with her and a sentient ship in the first book all the way to godlike forces derived from ancient aliens and technology. As a Sci-Fi narrative, the Protectorate series delivers all the parts you expect in this type of novel. 

We also get an extensive supporting cast of characters without a single person having the same skills, personality and behaviours…and they all strategically fill a role in the overarching trilogy…and I simply loved it! In the initial chapters, each character got their introduction and I couldn’t quite grasp their role in the larger scheme of things, but eventually it all made sense. The trilogy is thoroughly planned and delivers on all cylinders. 

And the series presented a history and world building that connected to our present—and showed how we could evolve—if the elements presented in these stories were our reality. Absolutely logical and believable. 

So if you didn’t get my passion for Megan O’Keefe’s books in this review; I truly enjoyed them and looking forward to read more from her. In conclusion, if you’re looking for a space-opera trilogy, filled with tension-driven scenes, politics, tech to fill a 30th century gadget magazine, Catalyst Gate and The Protectorate series is a must Sci-Fi read.

Filed Under: Artificial Intelligence, Military SF, Reviews, Science Fiction, Space Opera Tagged With: Megan O'Keefe, Orbit Books, Orbit Publishing

About Manny Henri

Emmanuel Henri grew up in Chambly, a city in the tail of Quebec (Canada) near Montreal. He’s an established technologist with 25 years of experience in the world of programming and design, and also published 125 courses on several platforms such as Linkedin Learning, Pluralsight and O’reilly. Since his teens, he always had a knack for storytelling, especially monster-driven tales, and has compiled a boatload of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and horror ideas he’s thrilled to put into words. To keep his head sane and healthy, especially after his close call with cancer in 2020 (now in remission), he’s pledged his body to a strict diet and rigorous exercise plan. He’s currently working on his novel “Ashes” and editing “From the mist” and several short-stories, such as “The Agency”.

Other Reviews You Might Like

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

Review: Blindspace (Book #2 of The Common) by Jeremy Szal

Review: New Yesterday by Frasier Armitage

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored By

Use Discount Code FANFI For 5% Off!

Follow FanFi!

Sign up for updates and get FREE stories from Michael R. Fletcher and Richard Ford!

What Would You Like To See?(Required)
Please select the type of content you want to receive from FanFi Addict. You can even mix and match if you want!

FFA Recommends

Get This Book
Get This Book
Get This Book
Get This Book

Recent Reviews

Recent Comments

  1. Adrian M. Gibson on Author Roundtable: Indie Marketing (with Kian N. Ardalan, Ryan Cahill, Aparna Verma & Gourav Mohanty)March 23, 2023
  2. zidane on Review: A Fractured Infinity by Nathan TavaresMarch 14, 2023
  3. Gary Weston on Bender’s Top 10 Fights in Fantasy BooksMarch 14, 2023
  4. David S on My Top 15 Favorite Male Anime Protagonists (So Far)March 13, 2023
  5. Komikinime on My Top 15 Favorite Male Anime Protagonists (So Far)March 11, 2023

Archive

Copyright © 2023 · Powered by ModFarm Sites · Log In