• 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: Fermi’s Progress: Descartesmageddon (Fermi’s Progress #2) by Chris Farnell

August 5, 2021 by Paige Leave a Comment

Rating: 7/10

Synopsis

“The Fermi is the Earth’s first and last faster-than-light spaceship. The last, because it turns out its engine vaporises entire star systems in its wake. And nobody knows how to turn it off.”

The Fermi’s faster-than-light engines have destroyed the Earth, and an alien Dyson sphere, and its crew still have no idea how to switch it off. What’s worse, as they reach a planet of sentient fungus, their supplies are already running low.

But this world has its own problems. People have been losing their souls, with the survivors huddling together in abandoned shopping malls as society falls apart. And when the Fermi’s crew arrive they will discover something that will challenge their very idea of what it is to be human.

Review

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

In the second installment of the Fermi’s Progress novella series Chris plunges us into yet another totally alien yet fully-realized planet. Following the same core characters as before (now with the extra addition of The World) we get a glimpse into yet another alien civilization before they are wiped off the face of the universe.

The story of Descartesmageddon lies in a zombie tale. The aliens on this planet are living through their own version of a zombie apocalypse, complete with barricaded safe hubs, zombies that are attracted to noise and roam at night, and the idea that you’re never quite safe. There’s also a philosophical element here about what makes someone human, as it isn’t quite the zombie plague you expect. The philosophical stuff went slightly over my head, but that’s entirely a me thing.

Part of what makes this stand out is Chris’ mastery of creating alien species. The first time we meet the aliens it’s through their own eyes and interactions, there’s no mention of how the function or what they look like. I started out with a very humanoid image which quickly got scrapped when the humans meet the aliens and you discover what they are actually like. I was way off the mark with the image I had.

In such a short amount of time Chris makes a world, an alien species and a whole backstory for them. I’d love to see a full length novel set on this planet because Chris gives us so much to explore and, while the book doesn’t feel lacking in any way, I would love to see what he could do with all that extra time!

Our humans split up in this volume. So we see the apocalypse from two sides, those within the safe walls and those outside. I loved this because it added an element of mystery to some of the plot points and it made me question who was right and who was wrong. I won’t give anything else away but it was a great choice on Chris’ part.

Chris has a talent for building worlds and societies in this series. Each one feels real and fleshed-out, it’s almost a shame to say good bye to them at the end of each novella. These are so worth adding to your TBR, I promise you will not be disappointed!

Brought to you by the amazing people at The Broken Binding. They live to serve all of your fantasy and science fiction needs with signed books, fantastic reprints, and the most amazing gift wrapping you could ever ask for. Make sure to visit them at http://TheBrokenBinding.co.uk and tell them that the FFA crew sent you.

Filed Under: Aliens, Reviews, Science Fiction, Short Stories Tagged With: Chris Farnell

About Paige

Paige started book blogging 7 years ago and never looked back. She started out in YA and has since moved on to Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror, although it’s rare for her to read something she doesn’t enjoy! Paige is chronically out of shelf-space but that doesn’t stop her buying books. She is an avid gamer when she isn’t reading.

Other Reviews You Might Like

Review: The Mountain In The Sea by Ray Nayler

Team Review: The Given Day by Dennis Lehane ft. Krystle Matar & C.M. Caplan

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

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. James on Review: Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) by Steven EriksonMarch 25, 2023
  2. Adrian M. Gibson on Author Roundtable: Indie Marketing (with Kian N. Ardalan, Ryan Cahill, Aparna Verma & Gourav Mohanty)March 23, 2023
  3. zidane on Review: A Fractured Infinity by Nathan TavaresMarch 14, 2023
  4. Gary Weston on Bender’s Top 10 Fights in Fantasy BooksMarch 14, 2023
  5. David S on My Top 15 Favorite Male Anime Protagonists (So Far)March 13, 2023

Archive

Copyright © 2023 · Powered by ModFarm Sites · Log In