Synopsis:
World War III rages, and the scientists at the South Pole are thankful for the isolation – until a group of Chinese scientists arrive at the American research base with a dead man in their truck. The potential for a geopolitical firestorm is great, and, with no clear jurisdiction, the Americans don’t know what to do. But they soon realize the Chinese scientists have brought far more with them than the body…
Within seventy-two hours, thirteen others lie dead in the snow, murdered in acts of madness and superhuman strength. An extremophile parasite from the truck, triggered by severe cold, is spreading by touch. With rescue impossible for months, it is learning from them. Evolving. It triggers violent tendencies in the winter crew, and, more insidiously… The beginnings of a strange symbiotic telepathy.
From an exciting new voice comes this propulsive SF-thriller, infused with authentic details about life in one of the world’s harshest, most mysterious landscapes, Antarctica.
Review:
Thank you Angry Robot for sending me an early copy of Symbiote.
Symbiote is a ride and I was there every terrifying step of the way. Described as Contagion meets The Walking Dead I knew this was going to be something I really enjoyed, and I wasn’t disappointed. Nayak takes an already terrifying idea and dials it all the way up. Because what’s scarier than a parasite that turns your co-workers into rage-fuelled cold-loving hosts? When you’re stuck so far from civilisation that you have no hope of escape.
In an author letter that came with my early copy Nayak talks about how he has actually been deployed to the South Pole, and how he wrote the book while he was there. It makes every single part of the book so much more real because Nayak knows what it’s like to live at the South Pole, to experience the isolation and the bitter cold. It firmly roots this story in the real world.
Coming in at just under 400 pages I still had no idea how it was going to end at page 350, because Nayak put the remaining crew in such a tough spot, and it felt like it could go either way all the way until the very end. And I believe it’s been confirmed that there’s going to be a second book… I’m so in.
I’ll admit that at first I didn’t like any of the South Pole crew. The vast majority of the crew we’re introduced to are not good people, they’ve all got secrets and issues and it makes everyone in the book that bit more real. No one is perfect, and it provides the perfect breeding ground for the anger the parasite induces. Symbiote has those moments where you see people make a bad decision or trust the wrong person, and you find yourself shouting internally as you watch the events unfold knowing what they’ve just done to themselves.
The parasite itself almost becomes a character. It changes and evolves throughout the book until it’s almost unrecognisable. It keeps the pace of the book high and keeps the story fresh. It definitely had me cringing as I got into the later stages of the book, something about it just gave me the creeps.
I loved Symbiote. From the fast pace of the story, to the worldbuilding through interjected excerpts from a book (a really great way to give context imo), there was never a dull moment. This is a sci-fi thriller with a dose horror that will keep you reading late into the night.
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