"Imminent Dawn," by R. R. Campbell

Science Fiction

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and direct from the publisher, NineStar Press.

Book Blurb

Four people. One study. The internet-access brain implant to bind or destroy them all.

Art-school dropout Chandra would do anything to apologize for her role in her wife’s coma—including enroll in the first round of human trials for an internet-access brain implant.

At first, the secretive research compound is paradise, the perfect place to distract Chandra from her grief. But as she soon learns, the facility is more prison than resort, with its doctors, support staff, and her fellow patients all bent on hatching plots of their own, no matter how invested they might seem in helping her communicate with her wife.

Making matters worse, a dark wave of uncertainty crashes down on the compound, forcing Chandra to become an unlikely but pivotal player in conspiracies stretching from the highest levels of the North American Union government to the lowest dredges of its shadowy hacking collectives.

To save herself and her wife, Chandra and her newfound friends from the study will have to overcome the scheming of a ruthless tech magnate, the naïveté of an advancement-hungry administrative assistant, and the relentless pursuits of an investigative journalist, all of whom are determined to outpace the others in their own quests to resurrect lost love, cover their tracks, and uncover the truth.

A twistedly delightful clockwork of intrigue and suspense, EMPATHY: Imminent Dawn is an electrifying sci-fi debut from author r. r. campbell.

My Review

*wipes brow and flops heavily into writing chair* Okay, folks, this week’s read was a doozy. As many of you know, the majority of my reading history has been focused on romance or novels with a strong romantic subplot. I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to reading epic tales with intense, mind-twisting plots. (Not to say romance novels can’t have intricate and intriguing plots—because they can and quite often do—but they don’t compare to the amount of brain-power and focus it takes to make sense of a science fiction or fantasy.) That all being said, Imminent Dawn by R. R. Campbell was definitely one of those long, twisty, challenging reads… and, I adored it.

Yes, I’ll admit it took me some time to get into the read. Coming from a romance background, I find it difficult to connect with characters if there are more than two POVs. I also find it challenging to wrap my mind around huge new worlds with lots of creative words and ideas far outside my modern day comfort zone. (And this can often be true with historical reads too.) However, once I dug in my heels and kept reading, I found myself anxious to see what would happen next. I’m not sure I “bonded” with the characters in the same way I might have had there been less POVs, but the richness of the story and the world Mr. Campbell created went a long way toward making up for that.

This story is a rollercoaster of intrigue, suspense, and gorgeously crafted wonder. Once I latched onto the story, I couldn’t put it down. The writing is beautiful and the world building is superb. It took me a while to get a firm grasp on it all, but that could very likely be due to my inexperience with this genre. I could tell Mr. Campbell put a great deal of effort and love into the telling of this tale.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys well-developed, deep, research-invested scifi stories, but I would also strongly suggest anyone into fantasy or dystopian futuristic novels give it a go. As are all NineStar Press releases, this has an LGBTQ+ twist, but a subtle one. It isn’t a romance and it doesn’t pretend to be, yet there’s some wonderful moments of love, compassion, and position representation that make this a delightful addition to the world of LGBTQ+ fiction.

So, what are you waiting for? Imminent Dawn is available now for your immediate reading pleasure! In addition, Mourning Dove, Book 2 in the Empathy series, will be released on April 29, 2019! Check below for preorder info! 🌈👍