Originally published on Set The Tape
'Environmental disasters and uncontrolled AI armies have caused the human population of Earth to flee. They lie scattered across innumerable space stations and colonies, overcrowded and suffering. The Earth is cut off by the Interdiction Zone: a network of satellites to prevent anything getting into or out of the planet. The incredible cost of maintaining it has crippled humanity, who struggle under the totalitarian yoke of the Sol Commonwealth government, whose rich grow richer while the poor are on the brink of starvation.
'Many have been driven to the edge of society, yearning for freedom and taking any work offered, criminal and otherwise, in order to survive. The crew of the Arcus are just such people.
'A client has come to the table claiming to have the codes necessary to penetrate the Interdiction Zone. Once through, a world of priceless artifacts awaits, provided anyone crazy enough to make the run can be found. They've all heard the rumors - ships that have set down, pilfered the ruins of a museum or private collection, and escaped with enough priceless works to retire. Arcus Captain Lynch knows better - he's been on-world before, a brief and harrowing experience that he's in no hurry to relive. But fuel is running low and cred accounts even lower, and the Arcus' survival might depend on taking the job.
'Yet on arrival on Earth, the crew discovers that what remains on their world is not as they have been told, and the secrets they find are big enough to bring the entire Sol Commonwealth tumbling down... '
Stolen Earth is the latest science fiction book from published Titan Books, a novel that transports readers to a future where humanity has fled the planet, forced to eek out a life on run down ships, remote space stations, and struggling colonies. However, when the captain of a small pirate vessel is hired for a dangerous mission, it soon becomes clear that nothing is as anyone has been led to believe.
The book focuses on the Arcus, a small ship with a crew of five misfits and outlaws who've come together on the fringes of society to try and survive the best they can in extreme circumstances. Set over hundred years after humanity were forced to flee earth thanks to a war that quickly escalated beyond their control. After a series of AI's were put in charge of the military across the continents the battlefield soon span out of control. With nanite viruses and ecology changing weaponry sweeping across the planet those that could fled to the stars, taken in by those already living out in space. But the majority of humanity were left behind to their fate.
Generations later the crew of the Arcus, led by the former navy captain Grayson Lynch, is hired to sneak their way through the Interdiction Zone, an array of satellite weapons surrounding Earth to keep the AI's contained within, so that they can land on the planet and collect relics of the old world. Knowing that the mission is incredibly dangerous, but also highly profitable, the five of them decide to go through with the task; but soon discover secrets that could forever change the lives of every human in the entire solar system.
One of the things that's great about Stolen Earth is how it very quickly sets up its universe, thanks to a first chapter flashback to Grayson in school having to learn the history of Earth, but then begins to subvert and twist what you've just learned; allowing the reader to discover that most of what we've learnt might actually be a lie. Even before the crew of the Arcus head to Earth we see this in action, as we're told the Sol Commonwealth are there to help all of its citizens, and that life is better with them, before then seeing that many people live in squalor, barely able to survive thanks to tightly controlled resources.
One of the main themes of the book is learning that the information we're given by those in power is often a lie. They'll spin the narrative to make themselves look better, even making themselves the heroes. They'll also act like those who don't follow their specific ways are in the wrong, that they're making a stupid choice to walk away from all the great things that they can do for them, just because they value their freedoms over slavery. This theme is reinforced time and time again when across the course of the book the people you expect to be enemies turn out to be potential allies, decent, reasonable people who are just trying to do their best.
Titan have marketed the book as 'Firefly meets The Expanse', and that's actually a really good way of looking at it. We've got a ship full of misfits and outlaws, people who are fighting against the status quo because they can see that things the way they are aren't great, that the innocent are often left to suffer whilst the corrupt get wealthier and more powerful. And I think that if you're a fan of those shows this book will definitely appeal.
Stolen Earth is the second science fiction book I've read from J.T. Nicholas and Titan Books, and so far both books have been incredibly inventive, immensely engaging, and absolutely riveting novels filled with wonderful characters, a layered and complex narrative, and a central mystery that has grabbed me. Nicholas writes in a way that really draws you in, a way where you can't help but become engrossed in the characters ad the world that he's created. I was genuinely sad to see this book end, as I'd have been more than happy to see this extend beyond the bounds of this book into a series of its own. Perhaps that will happen one day, and J.T. Nicholas will come back to this universe in the future; but until then, and even if that never happens, this is an absolutely phenomenal stand alone novel.
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