Synopsis:
The survivors of the South Pole massacre will find that getting off the Antarctic continent may cost them their lives…
Months after the events of Symbiote, sunrise has come to the ice continent, bringing with it the beginning of the annual tourist season. where 1,500 summer visitors will soon call the coastal McMurdo Station home. With them are the architects of the classified CIA program that unleashed the deadly microbes, who are determined to uncover what happened with their experiment and harvest samples of the mutation to turn into a biological weapon.
However, when Ben Jacobs returns from an impossible journey to the Pole and is reunited with Penny – an asymptomatic carrier of the symbiotic microbes – all hell breaks loose. When the sea ice surrounding the station becomes a fertile breeding ground for a new and more dangerous infestation, Rajan Chariya and his friends will have to join forces with the CIA to fight the onslaught of infected “sea people” roving the streets. With tensions high and stakes even higher, the question becomes when will the group stop being useful, and start becoming targets who know too much?
Worse, there may be more than one asymptomatic carrier….
Review:
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. A big thank you to Angry Robot Books for the opportunity!
Sentient isn’t just a tale of survival against Antarctica’s harsh and brutal climate, but against an intelligent microbial predator too. But what made this book more terrifying than anything is the very plausible real-world politics (and government coverups) featured in the story. It was intense, and one hell of a wild ride.
I loved the first book (Symbiote), so when I was given the opportunity to read the sequel, I pounced on it. And I was so glad I did. Sentient took the story to a whole new level, introduced some unexpected twists, and left me hungry for more.
While the main focus of Sentient is still the microbial outbreak and the attempts to contain it, we see more of the government coverup side of things than we did in book one. Because of course the government doesn’t want anyone to know that they manufactured the contagion that is decimating Antarctica. A few of the new characters are CIA operatives sent to “deal” with the situation, but they aren’t prepared for what they walk into. Because the microbe has evolved again. They’re forced to work with the survivors from South Pole Station while they attempt to save McMurdo, contradicting their original orders.
Another of the new characters is a reporter from a major newspaper, determined to learn the truth of what’s going on at the South Pole after receiving a disturbing (and partially-redacted) document from a government source. So naturally, the CIA isn’t happy once they learn she’s at McMurdo and talking to people.
The latest evolution of the microbe—and the fact that it could infect more than the humans on Antarctica—gave some of the later scenes a zombie-apocalypse feel. It was sheer madness at times, and much like the first book, there were far more infected than not before the end.
And based on the final page, I don’t think either the microbe or the government coverup is finished yet. I’m looking forward to a third book one day.
Sentient is available for preorder and will release February 24, 2026.
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