Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

In a not too distant future, Google has taken over the world. Hang on, Babel has taken over Google and taken over the world. Their secret (other than immense wealth)? A substance called Nyxia, found on an alien planet, which can be manipulated to do almost anything. Emmett Atwater, a poor kid from Detroit, is chosen to go to said planet to mine for Nyxia for a period of time, with the reward being the kind of wealth he could never have imagined. Turns out there’s more to the plan than first thought. On the flight, he has to compete against nine other teens for the right to go mine, with the two losers being sent back to Earth with a mere pittance. Wait a minute, don’t stop reading. This is no teen “fight school” type book, it goes way deeper. In fact, by the end of the story, you will realise we’re just scratching the tip of the iceberg. Here’s my take on the novel:

• Emmett, the main character who tells us the whole story, is a great MC. He’s likeable, self aware, and just smart enough to know something is going on, without easily figuring it out. He’s driven to succeed, courtesy of his family’s slave heritage, hammered into him by his father who works three jobs to make a life for Emmett and his dying mother. The other characters seem very different at first glance, and part of the early part of the book involves Emmett finding out how they are all linked
• The contest between the characters is well written and tense. There are no guarantees about who will win, and they are often brutal, with no prisoners taken. People get hurt, and it can affect their standings, badly if they are out for too long. Each person has their own motivations for being there, and each has the same drive as Emmett. Watching them build relationships and working as teams is a big part of the book, and watching their creative solutions to some of the problems are fun. They build relationships along the way, and Emmett’s friendship with his roommate Kaya is a treat
• Babel is the real bad guy here. As Emmett and Co unravel more of the plot, the more we boo and hiss. But…we spend so much time watching what’s going on, we fail to wonder about the real driving force behind the whole show. What is Babel up to? Is it just wealth? Is there something else going on behind the scenes (that I can assure is very much the case)? As Emmett peels back the layers of Babel, we get to see what’s behind the curtain. Okay, enough cliches, the plot is the best part of the book
• We don’t get to see the alien world (yet), except in simulations, but it appears to be just as unfriendly as the games run by the Babel overseers, except fatalities are real. There is an alien humanoid species, which apparently dislikes adults, but likes children, hence the reason for teen astronauts (sorry for the spoiler). The spaceship itself is something we really want to see more of, but our heroes are kept to just a small part of it. However, as Emmett investigates, bits are revealed to whet our appetites for a big reveal. There is no Scooby Doo ending though, just more questions going forward, making a read of book two a must
•  I don’t generally read a lot of YA books, as I tend to curate my books carefully as my reading time is in short supplies these days. This one, however, caught my eye, and I was rewarded for my efforts. This is a great read, one of my favourites of the year, and while it won’t be mentioned along the big names like The Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, it definitely deserves to be up there. To be honest, I liked it more than Ender’s Game. 

Verdict

A Young Adult novel with Old Adult appeal.