The Most Action-Per-Page I’ve Read In A Long Time
5 out of 5 stars
There is something to be said about a Nicholas Sansbury Smith book. I know going into it I’m going to get a few things – one of them is action. And when I say action, I mean nonstop action from beginning to end. I think the one thing that sets a NSS book apart from its competition is the sheer amount of scenes that he throws at the reader. This book and every other one of his that I can think of has some of the most action-per-page that I’ve ever read, and I love it. That being said, it makes these books take up a ton of brain space when I’m reading them. I say that as a compliment. Some books I read for their ability to clear my head and some I read to block out all of the other noise. NSS books are the latter. They take residence in my head and don’t let go until the final chapters. And even then I end up thinking about them long after because of the premises and ideas that Smith employs throughout.
So, after that diatribe to open this and I STILL haven’t really talked about E-Day, I’ll save the thing I wanted to bring up next for a bit later. E-Day II: Burning Earth is one of those books that feels like a fever dream in the best way. Every time things seem to settle down – something changes. Or once I get comfortable with a character, boom roasted :). It honestly felt like it was nonstop action as I mentioned above but that’s not to say the characters weren’t well thought out and weren’t likable. The duo of hearing and deaf brothers obviously being a standout in this group. I know their story and who they are. Once things in their life changed – I ended up genuinely being worried for their families’ well-being.
That combination of great characters that you fall for and an insane amount of action is what makes a NSS book to me. They fly by and I’m always sad when they’re done. Each series has it’s own feel and it’s own thing but they all feel similar. And I mean that in the best way because the way they feel similar is just the sheer amount of heart that Smith puts into each book. His own and his characters. It’s awesome to be able to feel the passion that an author has – but these books, especially the E-Day series… I can feel how much he wanted to write them.
Now, back to what I wanted to point out before… since this book is set in space for the majority of it the first thing that popped into my brain was “oh man, I would LOVE a pure science fiction book from Smith”. And what I mean by that is something like The Martian or the old-school sci-fi that I read as a kid. I know that Post-Apocalyptic is his wheelhouse – but the stuff that he wrote about in E-Day II about the colonies and the way that things were set up on space made me salivate for a NSS pure-sci-fi book.
Book Description:
The war started and ended in a day.
The machines won.
Now the fight for survival begins…
E-Day: The moment the machines evolved and humans nearly went extinct. In the chaos, one million people escaped Earth and fled to a secret colony on the dark side of the Moon. Deep beneath the lunar surface, in the cold, they wait for the inevitable–a second attack that will wipe humanity out forever.
Sergeant Tadhg Walsh is tired of waiting. He wants to fight back and return to Earth to search for Shadow Squad. But he has new orders from the Lunar Defense Corps: protect the colonies at all costs and forget about any survivors back home.
Captain Akira Hayashi is one of those survivors, forced to heal from his injuries in a submarine while the planet burns. Shadow Squad won’t be hiding for long, but before they can don their armor again, they must find a safe haven to plan their attack. When they locate a research station in the Mariana Trench, their submarine heads into the depths. What they find in the darkness changes everything they know about E-Day.
On the Moon, the LDC will do everything in its power to keep the truth about survivors on Earth a secret, even if it means sacrificing the few for the many. On Earth, Shadow Squad will have to make tenuous alliances with old enemies to stand a chance against the enemy. If they can unite, they might just have a chance of stopping the machines from wiping out humanity on Earth and the Moon.
E-Day II: Burning Earth by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Narrator: R.C. Bray
Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
Series: E-Day #2
Published by Recorded Books on November 16th 2021
Genres: Technothriller
Format: Audiobook
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Also by this author: Extinction Horizon, Extinction Edge, The Extinction Cycle, Extinction Age
Also in this series: E-Day, Dark Moon (E-Day #3)
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