Synopsis:
Death waits beneath the waves as two estranged lovers face their demons…
Sergeant Nix Marr left her dark past buried beneath the sea. Then Kessandra, the people’s favourite princess (and Nix’s much-loathed ex), recruits Nix for a covert mission. Their goal – to investigate a massacre in the under-water city of Fall. Nix tries to refuse, but finds herself boarding a luxurious submersible as Kessandra’s bodyguard. After all, Kess always gets what she wants.
As they descend to the city, Kessandra reveals the chilling truth. They aren’t investigating a massacre, but the trigger that caused it – a sickness that turns victims into mindless killers. And when a royal passenger is murdered, it’s clear the infection is on board . . . and no one on the submersible is safe.
Trusting Kessandra, despite her lies, will become Nix’s only hope.
From the Sunday Times bestselling author Rebecca Thorne, This Gilded Abyss is an intense, utterly thrilling steampunk adventure for fans of Arcane, BioShock and Tamsyn Muir’s The Locked Tomb
Review:
I was sent a copy of This Gilded Abyss by Tor UK. Thank you, Tor!
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you have played and loved Bioshock, you will love this. It has the same vibe, scope and darkness of that series, plus the addition of seeing how this huge submarine fell.
The vast majority of This Gilded Abyss takes place on what is essentially a gigantic submersible as it makes its way from the surface to the underwater city of Fall. Our main character Nix has been there before, to the mines, where something dark lurks. She said she’d never go back, but there was a massacre in the city of Fall and so she is making the journey back.
I generally try to avoid re-hashing the plot in my reviews, but just the whole premise of This Gilded Abyss is so my thing. It ticks so many boxes for me, and as things were uncovered it just ticked more and more of them.
Nix is a great character, a strong, badass woman who cares deeply for her squad. She fell in love with the subarch Kessandra when she visited Fall last, but their time together did not end amicably. They now have to work together. It sets up an interesting dynamic, and of course this book has a romance sub-plot. But this is not a romance, and for me it wasn’t a huge focus of the book.
Rebecca Thorne sets up a executes so many hints to the plot and where certain elements are going. The scope of the world is so much bigger than I originally thought it was, and by the end I just wanted to keep reading. I originally thought this was a standalone, and I am SO glad this is a series. I can’t wait to explore Fall more and see what Thorne has store in us through the rest of the series!
Dark, deep and unforgettable. This Gilded Abyss had me hooked.
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