Review: Axiom's End

Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had originally rated this higher, but after the passage of a few days, I decided to downgrade it. This is because, for the most part, the characters and plot of this book simply haven't stuck with me, and I have no desire to revisit it. I think its biggest problem is the specificity of its time period. It's set in 2007, and namechecks both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. While I wish Bush could have been booted from office a year before the end of his second term (although maybe not if Cheney took over, as he would've had to do--gah), this dragging in of such recent history--even if, as in this case, it turns out to be an alternate history--simply does not mesh with the story the author is trying to tell.

Unfortunately, the book also does not stick the landing, and the ending left a sour taste in my mouth. After its convoluted tale of an Area 51-style alien invasion, and the protagonist's admittedly well-drawn character growth, the story just kind of...dribbles away to nothing, with no real resolution of the issue raised in the last few pages. (In fact, the ending was so abrupt I wondered if some pages, or an entire scene, had been left out of my copy.) Which, fine, that's obviously being reserved for the sequel, if there is one. But frankly, I am not invested enough in these characters to go on to the sequel. Your mileage may vary, and all that. However, I think I have far better books waiting for me in my TBR pile.

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