The Saga of Vivex – Xyne

A Surprising Pleasure

Vivex - referred to in most of the first book as “the neonate” - belongs to a high-K species. Many offspring are hatched, and only a few will survive. The most common cause of death is each other. Vivek herself is the runt of the lot, and hence a natural target for culling. But she’s smart and she’s stubborn.

This is book 1, so it is not a serious spoiler to reveal that Vivek will survive to be around for book 2. Book 1 takes place on an island where a large number of hatchlings compete, and a few survive to enter the larger and more-complex world.

There are many ways this book could have gone wrong. The author is threading multiple needles in telling an interesting story about a protagonist who isn’t humanoid and doesn’t think like one. Although the action takes place on an isolated island, there are hints of a larger and more-complex world, and we see some of it intrude.

The book didn’t go wrong; the author makes it work.