Synopsis
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith comes a brand new novella set in the world of the Hell Divers series.
Before you knew him as the king or the Immortal, he was Commander Xavier “X” Rodriguez—with ninety-six dives under his belt, the most experienced Hell Diver on the airship known as the Hive. Time after time, he dived through the electrical storms, returning with parts to keep his home in the sky. Then, on a jump into Hades, the most hostile environment in North America, he sacrificed everything for mission and team. They returned to the airship with the fuel cells needed to keep the Hive running, but X was left behind.
This is the story of how he becomes the last man on Earth. His will drives him to keep fighting, to survive the monsters and the radiation in the wastes, to find a way back home. But as the days pass, he feels the things that make him human slipping away. He has become a waif, a phantom, with little to live for. Then he stumbles upon something that makes him feel again.
This is the chronicle of those lost years, told for the first time ever.
Review
When I saw this was releasing, I was already a couple of books into the series and a big fan. I bought the first book on kindle to get the newly included novella, but something didn’t feel right, and I didn’t end up reading it. Finally, I realized it was because I went with the audio for the series, and the narration from R.C. Bray is simply too good to just switch to reading the text. So I bought the audiobook for this one separately… IYKYK.
While the Hell Divers world is filled with badasses, no one even scrapes the surface to how intense X is. Almost 100 dives, a feat that no diver is even close to, and now he’s survived what the others considered to be certain death. Some may say he’s just too stubborn to die, but even so, he’s my favorite.
So what took place on earth while Tin was growing up? For the first time ever, we finally know! Well, part one of it at least. X survives the fall back down to land, and if that wasn’t harrowing enough, now he has to survive in a wasteland that’s not meant to be survived in. He’ll need batteries for his suit—or at least a charger, medical supplies, ammo, shelter, and most importantly, safe food and water. But how will he find anything safe in a red zone? How will he sleep at night with the monstrosities fighting for flesh? This is something that only X could figure out.
I was a little saddened by how long it took for readers to first meet Miles, but I’m pleased to see that it’s only a part one. And while being stranded can seem like a lot of searching and waiting, this still packed in an awful lot of scifi, post apoc goodness.
“This is commander Xavier Rodriguez, I’m still alive you motherf**kers.”
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