*This review will not contain a review of Hellhole Inferno, as it has not yet been released at the time of writing*
BEWARE OF SPOILERS!
These novels tell the tale of General Tiber Adolphus and his battle to gain independence from the oppressive Constellation and it's ruler, Diadem Michella.
These books are brilliant. In my mind, there are very few negatives, and I can't understand why these books are criticised as much as they are. Characters are fully formed, with a strong sense of morality, even if they are different from the norm. I have not, at the time of writing, read any other of the authors' collaberative work, so there will be no comparison to their other works.
Hellhole begins with the final battle of Adolphus's first rebellion with Percival Hallholme, who uses a dishonourable tactic to defeat the General. Diadem Michella, after Adolphus's surrender, exiles him to a planet in the Deep Zone, dubbed "Hellhole".
Ten years later, and Adolphus has a thriving colony and network with other DZ worlds, much to Michella's surprise, who thought he would die out there. Soon, colonists stumble upon Slickwater, which contains the "souls" of the ancient Xayans, who were wiped out by an asteroid strike, aside from four who survived in a reinforced vault. Meanwhile, Antonia arrives on Hellhole, trying to escape her old life. When she arrives, she forms a relationship with Devon. Soon after, they immerse themselves in the Slickwater and become true lovers.
Meanwhile, the Diadem's assistant, Ishop Heer discovers that he is descended from a noble family who was disgraced 700 years previously. He goes on to take revenge on the families who disgraced his family. This sets a chain of events which results in the Diadem's daughter, Keana, ends up on Hellhole, and ends up in the Slickwater and becomes a "Shadow-Xayan", along with hundreds of others. Adolphus enforces the network between the DZ worlds, allowing independence from the Constellation. This pisses off Michella and she wants to wage war on Hellhole to get them back. Hence, Adolphus sends a Xayan and a small team of Shadow-Xayans to Sonjeera, the capital of the Constellation, to treat with Michella. She kills them all to stop this "alien disease".
This ends in a cliffhanger, which was annoying; I hate cliffhangers when the next book isn't immediately unavailable.
Luckily, Hellhole Awakened picked up on this in an amazing way.
Percival's son, Escobar, is sent to battle Adolphus. Unfortunately for them, Adolphus carries out a plan which leaves them stranded in space with no way to get to Hellhole, seemingly. Adolphus is pretty pleased with that, until the Black Lord Riomini devastates the world, Theser, before moving on Hellhole. Adolphus persuades the Xayans and Shadow-Xayans to use their Telemancy abilities to stop Riomini's fleet and cripple the Constellation. Meanwhile, Escobar's crew are malnourished and dying. Many have to be killed for others to survive, and some revolt and are killed. The large burst of telemancy used to stop Riomini attracts "unwanted attention" and two asteroids head for Candela, which must be evacuated using Adolphus's military haulers. Unfortunately, at this time, Escobar's fleet finally arrive at Hellhole. However, his crew are dying of famine, so they surrender in return for supplies. Escobar refuses to surrender, and he and his crew put a virus on the ships Adolphus has captured which renders them useless. While Adolphus accepts their "surrender", Escobar's associate, Gail Carrington, kills Antonia. Devon kills Gail with his telemancy. He takes Antonia to the Slickwater to try and heal her, but they both drown in it. However, Percival Hallholme has been sent to Hellhole in light of his son's failure and he arrives shortly after Escobar's surrender and Adolphus's ships are being screwed over by the virus Escobar put on them. Luckily, Adolphus has a trump card; the telemancy from the Shadow-Xayans destroys the weapon on Percival's ships, forcing him to flee. The asteroids destroy Candela, which I personally expected to be diverted by the Xayans into Percivals ships, but oh well. When the Xayans are questioned about the asteroids and how they seemed deliberate, they reveal the existence of the Ro-Xayans, who wish to kill the other Xayans to stop their bid for Ala'ru, their one goal in life. There's more going on back with Ishop and Michella, including an assassination attempt on the Diadem by one of the noble families and Ishop's bid to revive his family name, which goes horribly wrong.
And it's left on that cliffhanger, meaning I have to wait until September for it to be resolved.
Hellhole
+ Brilliant characters, with a sense of their own morality and values+ The Xayans are pretty awesome, and contain huge elements of mystery
+ Devon and Antonia's relationship is a nice change of atmosphere from the dystopia around them
+ Ishop's quest
- Lack of focus on other DZ worlds, although they are very important to the plot
8/10
Hellhole Awakening
+ Brilliance of Hellhole continued+ The Ro-Xayans and possibility of a new threat
+ Escobar's desperate situation
+ Tension building is masterful
- Less focus on certain characters (Keana for example)
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