Ten Low, the latest novel from Stark Holborn, is a gripping science fiction thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where resources are scarce and violence is rampant, the story follows the eponymous Ten Low, a former enforcer for a brutal gang who is now trying to leave her past behind and start anew.

Holborn's writing is gritty and atmospheric, painting a vivid picture of the harsh world that Ten Low inhabits. The characters are well-drawn and complex, with Ten Low in particular being a fascinating protagonist who is both tough and vulnerable.

Ten Low is an engrossing read that will appeal to fans of both science fiction and thriller genres. Holborn has crafted a tense and thrilling story that is sure to leave readers wanting more.

Ten Low, the latest novel from Stark Holborn, is a gripping science fiction thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where resources are scarce and violence is rampant, the story follows the eponymous Ten Low, a former enforcer for a brutal gang who is now trying to leave her past behind and start anew.

Holborn's writing is gritty and atmospheric, painting a vivid picture of the harsh world that Ten Low inhabits. The characters are well-drawn and complex, with Ten Low in particular being a fascinating protagonist who is both tough and vulnerable.

Overall, Ten Low is an engrossing read that will appeal to fans of both science fiction and thriller genres. Holborn has crafted a tense and thrilling story that is sure to leave readers wanting more.

This standalone scifi adventure offers so many great things:
- a desert setting inspired by with thieves and bandits with a history of a galactic war looing behind them. It's also queer-inclusive!
- Ten Low, an ex-army medic protagonist who is haunted by her past and is trying to turn her life around (which is quite tricky when you have escaped prison)
- Gabi, one military-engineered teenager who stands at odds with Low on multiple fronts and who does not make rescuing her easy at all
- an action-packed chase through a barren world with few resources and fewer friendly faces

Ten Low is a story about choices. Making the right ones, atoning for the wrong, and figuring out which possible future is the most desirable. The extreme setting only ratches the tension up as survival is not guaranteed at any point in the story. Low and Gabi have to work hard to get to where they want.
The worldbuilding is dropped in small breadcrumbs that don't drag you down like heavy exposition would but give you enough information to keep flipping the next page.

I'll start this review saying that I hated this book cover... I asked it because of the description but it sat in Kindle all this time because of the cover. But I read the description again and thought that it was time.

And man! This book! I couldn't put it down! I always read multiple books at the same time but not this one!

Great characters, well written action scenes, plot twists and an amazing world building!

I hope there'll be other stories to be told. I'm sure I won't forget Ten, Falco, Silas or the general quickly.

Creo que empiezo a ver un patrón en la obra de Stark Holborn, ese sabor a western y a historia fronteriza que era muy patente en Triggernometry y su secuela, que sigue presente en este Ten Low, aunque disfrazado de colonización de otros planetas, algo que también trae a la memoria la serie Firefly.


Teniendo en cuenta estos precedentes, es normal que nos encontremos ante una novela descarnada y cruel con sus personajes, que se ven envueltos en una espiral de violencia y conspiraciones de la que es difícil encontrar salida. El entorno, una luna apenas terraformada que es pasto de los bandidos y otras gentes de malvivir tampoco acompaña.

Seguiremos los pasos de Ten Low, una protagonista de oscuro pasado que ejerce como médico ambulante entre los distintos asentamientos, mientras hacer referencia a unos cálculos que tiene que compensar. Stark juega bien sus cartas en ir dejando entrever a qué se puede referir, aunque conforme va a avanzando la lectura ya se puede intuir. Hay otro punto, no obstante, en el que mantiene el secreto de forma casi obsesiva y no estoy segura de que esto favorezca el desarrollo de la trama, dejando sin embargo muchas posibilidades abiertas para una continuación. Hay una fina línea entre guardar cosas para posteriores entregas y hacer interesante cada volumen de una historia y Holborn se arriesga mucho con esto.

En su deambular se encontrará con el resultado de un accidente aéreo y acudirá pronta a ayudar, sin saber que este impulso cambiará lo que tampoco es que fuera una vida sosegada por una carrera sin fin.

Me interesa mucho el ambiente que ha creado la autora, esa sensación desasosegante de peligro continuo aderezado con picos de acción, bastante bien traídos. A pesar de no tratarse de un libro especialmente largo, hay algunos tramos que me han parecido que rozan la repetición, con escenas de huidas muy apuradas y enfrentamientos casi constantes con una u otra facción de las que se disputan el poder en el planeta.

Aunque personalmente me gustó más su obra anterior, publicada en España como Plomo al cuadrado por Ediciones El Transbordador con traducción de Manuel de los Reyes, creo que Ten Low puede tener también su público. A mí al menos me tiene intrigada por saber qué le deparará su futuro a Low.

The best Science Fiction will tell a story, but also build a world. I prefer my tales to hint about the wider world and what happened to land the protagonists in their current position. Take Ten Low for example, a medic who roams a dusty moon. Her only goal in life is to survive and help others that she comes across. How did she end up on this remote moon? How did she get that nasty scar across her throat? And who are the mysterious Seekers? In Ten Low by Stark Holborn, we visit a mysterious Moon, but learn so much about the wider Universe.

As Ten Low trudges through the barren lands she comes across a crashed craft, the only survivor is a young girl called Gabriella Ortiz. Like with so many things on this Moon, Gabriella is not who she first seems. Despite Gabriella’s duplicity, Ten’s sense of honour means that she will help the young women survive in this harsh environment. It is not like Ten has not got her own secrets she wishes to hide. She is haunted by voices who guide her to atone for a crime she will not admit to anyone.

Ten Low is an evocative Sci Fi Western, so much so that you can almost taste the dust blowing into your mouth as you read. It begins in a mysterious fashion as we follow the lone Ten on her travels. Slowly the book begins to reveal itself as we meet new characters and new locations. Most residents of the Moon have a name given to them by another. This is because they are former convicts and the last act the warden provides is a new name. These ex-cons now must scrabble for a living on the edge of space, forever stained with a name of shame. Some learn to own the name, for others, it will get them killed.

This book is full of great ideas like the above. The reader never learns about the prisons, but through the story of Ten and the people we meet, the world is revealed. Gabriella comes from a totally different background and highlights those who managed to be on the winning side of a war that spanned the galaxy. There are also the mysterious Seekers, a group of people who attack the weak, stripping them of anything of use from technology to organs.

In all, this is a harsh existence on the fringes of space. No one really cares about the likes of Ten and that is what makes her character so compelling, as she still cares. She has an obsession to help others and only using her medic skills for good. Continue to read and you realise there is a reason for this compulsion, one that may shock many readers. Ten Low is book that contains several of these slow burning reveals that are woven into the narrative. As you learn more about the characters’ past, it changes the way that the story evolves.

This clever form of storytelling is in keeping with the world building. This is a science fiction novel for fans of the genre who like to be challenged with several ideas at once. The central plot may be of a Wild West story in space, it reminds you of the Man with No Name, but in this case the reader does start to learn about the mystery behind the protagonist. A multi layered and intriguing science fiction novel, with both action and mystery. What’s not to like?

WOAH. This book is one of the best that I’ve read in awhile. I felt extremely engaged and invested in almost every single character in this book, and the plot had me cringing and gasping along.

I got big time ‘Mad Max’ vibes from this book, with incredibly strong female leads and ridiculously vivid world building. Ten Low is an ex con living on Factus (an extremely shitty moon,) just doing her best to help people and chip away at her “tally.”

At every single turn, chaos ensues. The imagery in this book had me FEELING the dust that whips around on Factus, and there were equal parts internal shrieking and cheering.

PLEASE check this book out if you love sci-fi, dystopian novels, and/or bad-ass female characters that are terrifying and admirable in the same beat. As I reached the end of this book my brain was screaming that I needed it to be a series so it doesn’t end, and that I needed it to be a stand alone so I could sleep easier tonight knowing what happened.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the eARC of this incredible title!**

There’s no other way to say it: this book is a masterpiece. The pacing, the characterization, the setting, the plot…they all come together flawlessly. This is a mixture of Mad Max Fury Road and Firefly, with a splash of The Matrix thrown in for flavor. My mind also cast fuzzy, nostalgic Fallout (the games) impressions and Stephen King Gunslinger memories to the fore. Nettie Lonesome (A Wake of Vultures) was also never too far from my thoughts.

In spite of all these lovely tingly cherished feelings of past enjoyment, this book was original and unique as hell. I’m coming to find that I adore Westerns, and this book has cemented that realization for me.

The writing was expert level, mind-blowing, dare I say, metaphorically, orgasmic. This is my favorite book of 2021 so far, and Stark Holborn will be an instant buy from me until the last of my days.

Buckle up for the ride of your life, this one is a doozy!

Raw, haunting prose and a fantastically detailed desert moon. I especially enjoyed the detail and consistency in the worldbuilding, including all the diverse locations and cast, and wanted to explore more about the Ifs, a compelling concept I haven't seen elsewhere.

This one wasn't for me. I found the characters to be pretty thin, especially the general, who seemed to remain condescending and bitchy the entire time people were moving heaven and earth trying to save her life. It made it tiresome.

Book Review: Ten Low

Autor: Stark Holborn
Editorial: Titan Books
Idioma: inglés (nivel medio)
Páginas: 320

7,5 / 10 ⭐

Faltan unos pocos meses para que la editorial @ediciones_el_transbordador publique en España la traducción de 'Triggernometry', una divertidísima novela corta de Stark Holborn donde unos matemáticos forajidos intentan dar un golpe al tren del dinero. Esto en un mundo donde las matemáticas están prohibidas.

Mientras tanto, la autora acaba de publicar en inglés su primera novela larga, 'Ten Low'. El personaje que da título a la obra es una antigua médica del ejército que, atormentada por los crímenes de los que fue testigo además de otros que ella misma cometió, vive retirada en un planeta alejado de las rutas más transitadas. Hasta que un día una nave se estrella cerca de donde vive. De sus restos rescata a una joven niña que tras recibir los cuidados necesarios se descubre como una general del bando rival del que Ten Low formó parte.

A partir de aquí comienza una carrera por sus vidas. Ambas se verán forzadas a colaborar si quieren mantenerse con vida ya que los enemigos de cada una de ellas intentarán acabar con ellas por distintos motivos que iremos leyendo. La novela se vende como una mezcla de 'Dune' por sus escenarios y también 'Firefly' aunque en mi caso me siento más identificado con 'Mad Max' en su conjunto.

✅ Imposible dejar de leer. Siempre están pasando cosas. Siempre hay revelaciones y decisiones que tomar a consecuencia de ellas. Un pasapáginas como pocos.

✅ La mezcla de géneros. A veces parece un western, otras una space opera, pero siempre con la ciencia ficción como foco.

❌ Me hubiera gustado conocer algo más sobre el pasado de Ten Low, que hubiera dado algo más de trasfondo. ¿Habrá precuela?

This book is basically the old Wild West with a sprinkling of Mad Max...and some spaceships. One thing to keep in mind while reading this is there isn’t a lot of world building right off the bat, nor background on the characters. These things are sprinkled in throughout the book. So you will have times when you’re a bit lost on what is being referenced, but it will explain itself by the end. I really enjoyed Ten as a character immensely. She is tough when she needs to be yet empathetic and remorseful. I will admit that within a day I would have left the General somewhere to rot, but that’s just me. The introduction of the Ifs was an interesting concept (whether you consider them a character, alien, idea, or mental illness is up to you). I was a bit slow to get into the book but by the end it was a great read and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley & Titan Books for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Ten Low is a stand-alone sci-fi novel by Stark Holborn. It takes place in not-so-distant future from earth at the edge of the universe, on a badly terraformed moon that’s basically a desert. People fleeing from the dominant political force, the Accord, and ex-convicts try to make the most of the meagre reserves they have. It’s a desolate, violent place where bandits and protectors alike prey on the weak. And the most feared of all are the Seekers who harvest the organs of the dying.

But the humans know they’re not alone on the moon. There are beings no one can see and only a few can sense; beings of potential and chaos, who feast on human will. They were there first. And they are very interested in some humans, like Ten Low.

Ten is an escaped convict, a former army medic with a past she’s trying to atone by striving to save as many lives as she can, and never kill again. One night, the beings give her a vision of potential futures. Compelled to follow the path they show her, she ends up saving an enemy general, a genetically enhanced child soldier, Gabi.

The story follows the pair as they try to make it to safety through a hostile terrain where safety is only an illusion. Ten is on an inner journey as well, as she begins to trust the beings that guide her steps, for reasons that she doesn’t understand. Little by little we learn what she has done to earn her sentence and why she’s atoning. And little by little it dawns on her that the atonement is not what she thought it would be.

This was a great book. It’s a blend of sci-fi, western dystopia, and paranormal. It’s told solely from Ten’s point of view, and she’s strong enough to carry the narrative, though it leaves the side characters, even Gabi, slightly vague. The world is gritty and dry, and the action is plenty. As the story progresses, the paranormal side takes over more and more, creating improbabilities that nonetheless become realities. And somehow it works. Really well.

If you want your Firefly (sans spaceships) with a hefty dose of mystical, this is for you.

Ten Low was an army medic for the side that lost an intergalactic war. Now she’s scratching out an existence in the desert wastes of Factus, a moon on the edge of the settled universe, plagued by ‘Ifs’ and guilt for her past actions. Trying to make amends leads her to rescue a teenage girl from a crashed ship – but all is not what it seems. Genetically enhanced to be a perfect soldier, General Gabriella Ortiz was on the other side in the war. Now she needs Low’s help to survive – and Low needs a great deal more if she’s ever going to atone.

As they journey across the barren landscape, perils pile one on top of another. Everyone is out for what they can get, it seems, including the mysterious and deadly Seekers – a roaming band that like to attack travellers… and harvest organs!

And on top of all of that, there is something mighty strange in the desserts of Factus. In the pioneer-like settlements, no one dares play games of chance. The ‘Ifs’ might get you, if you do. Are they real? Are they dangerous?

I was beyond pleasantly surprised by this book – it’s rare that anything lives up to a blurb that includes “Firefly meets Dune” but by golly this gave it a good go! It’s got that western vibe, the bleak scrabble of existence that Firefly had, along with a sense of camaraderie from the veterans. It’s got a real darkness at it’s core, too, and yet it’s not a depressing book at all – there’s a hopefulness, mainly from Low’s quest to ‘make amends’, but also from every character we meet who isn’t utterly awful.

I absolutely loved the world building, and it was so easy to visualise the setting and the desperate struggles for life, as well as placing Factus in a much wider universe even if we don’t really see any of it. If I had any criticisms of the book it’s that perhaps I could visualise it in terms of a combination of a half-dozen movies and tv shows, but rather than being unoriginal, it’s a huge boost in forming that mental image more easily, and then placing the story within it.

And it’s quite the story! Although it seems relatively simple – escape the bad guys, etc – it provides a few twists, enough layers to stay really interesting, and then – without ever letting up on a breakneck pace – weaves the different elements into quite the final piece. I wasn’t at all sure how it was going to be brought to a conclusion, but I can at least say it didn’t disappoint!

Recommended for fans of Mad Max, perhaps a bit of Stephen King’s Dark Tower but sci-fi, and yes of course Firefly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan for the ARC. This in no way impacted my review.

Wow. Just… wow. This was just really, really good.

Ten Low is an ex-convict, a former medic on the losing side of an interstellar war trying to eke out a living and atone for the crimes she committed. Living out on Factus, a barren moon on the edge of law-abiding space, she finds plenty opportunity to work off her tally – all the while being haunted by them, a presence that has a special interest in her.

Her path crosses with Gabriella Ortiz, a child soldier from the opposing side of the war. Gabriella has been genetically engineered, is a decorated general and quite the force to be reckoned with. When it becomes clear that she is in danger, Ten takes on the challenge of keeping Gabriella alive and thus begins a thrilling journey across Factus aided by a gangsters and smugglers.

Ten’s story is a compelling one, told from her point of view with her backstory fed in drips. She’s a likable character, despite the shadows of her past – and boy, are they some dark shadows. It’s not just her story though, but Gabriella’s too, and their not-quite-hatred-not-quite-friendship bond drives the plot forward through twists and turns, leaping from one high-stakes situation to the next. The tension never quite lets up – and I wouldn’t have wanted it to. It’s the sort of book that’s exactly the right length: never dragging, always surging on, and yet, still leaving you wanting more.

The queernorm world of Ten Low is bleak and cruel and dangerous, but there’s still a kernel of hope buried deep beneath the surface, because even in this world people live and love. They’re friends, lovers (Mala/Peg <3)), family – and to see that still exist even though life is hard, food and water scarce, that’s something that the book does really well.


Five stars. And I repeat. Wow.

Ten Low is a gritty science fiction adventure set on a stark empty moon settled by former convicts and miners. Most of the moon is barren wasteland, dotted with mines, trading posts, saloons, and spaceports. There is little law and order on the world. Smugglers abound and in the interior it is the Seekers who control, not the Accord, who rule the rest of the known galaxy with an iron hand. The Seekers take anyone they find and harvest their organs, leaving nothing behind, not even shadows, not even memories. Shoot first and ask questions later is the motto of those that survive here and, if it reminds you of the American west in the 1800’s, that is perhaps no accident. Its sparseness and the Seekers who control the lawless interior remind many of Dune and the Fremen. Mad Max (with or without the thunderdome) could also describe this place.

Ten Low is both the title and the name of the lead character, a woman who survives out in the wastelands on her own with a few friendly smugglers to rely on. As we quickly learn, Ten Low is a medic, also referred to as Doc, and she has a tally she must fill to make up for her sins of the past. It is not till much later in the story that we, the readers, learn about Ten Low’s past and who she was and what she did. What we do know upfront is that she is a gritty, hard-nosed, survivalist, who makes a fateful choice to investigate a crash and lend aid to the survivors.

One of the survivors is our second major character, the General, Gabriella Ortiz. In a nod to Card’s Ender’s Game, the General appears to be a twelve-year-old, but is enhanced and improved and singlemindedly focused. Ten Low takes the General and flees across the surface of the moon with half the known universe on their tails. And, yes, most of these hard-nosed survivors are women.

There’s also a bit of a magical sense of flitting back and forth between realities and buzzing creatures that are barely seen, but who pre-date the advent of humans on this orb.

Overall, an excellent science fiction read.

A sci-fi western set on a strange planet. If I'm being completely honest, I was quite lost and confused throughout the book, but I really do think that was my fault so I’m not going to let that influence my rating.
Not really my thing, but I can see why people seem to have enjoyed it a lot. I did like the ending which is also why I’m giving it three stars.

A bleak post-war landscape on a moon where most citizens were war criminals and prisoners, dropped into what is essentially hell because it's cheaper than maintaining them in prison. In true space western fashion, we have travel, heist, shootouts, and of course a train scene.

But I think what makes this story so compelling is Ten Low herself. A medic with a dark past and a fierce, almost self-sacrificial need to save lives. Combined with the "are they or aren't they real" creatures that manipulate chance and break down moments into distinct possible futures. Low is wracked with guilt but also good sense and a mighty dose of self-hatred. To see her then confront a world that hates not just her but everyone like her - people who fought on the losing side of a brutal and bloody war - and a government that refuses to care for them.

Instead we see hardy people and scavengers and bandits and myths. We see "doing what you need to in order to survive" ending again and again with Low at gunpoint needing to make a choice: to fight or to die.

The pacing never lets up and the book ends taking into account that they haven't fixed the root cause of the oppression on the moon, but that they've bought themselves a brief reprieve.

This novel claims to take inspiration from Dune by Frank Herbert, and I certainly see it. Ten Low is surreal, engaging, and completely fascinating; while still maintaining a deep rooted colonial criticism in a futuristic post-war landscape of outlaws and bitter desert heat.
I really enjoyed the characters in this novel, chief among them Ten Low herself. I loved how her mysterious past was slowly revealed as the story progressed, and how there was always a sense of unreliability about her as a narrator. Those odd moments when she is stuck inside her own head and you, as a reader, are unsure if there is this invisible force communicating with her, or if she is simply losing her mind to her own guilt—I loved that!
The world building in this book was really interesting, and while I felt that I got enough of a sense of it for the context of the story, I do find myself hungry to know more. Conversely, I did get a little confused in regards to where places were in relation to one another geographically (is it still geographically when it’s in space?), but that might just be a me thing. I have a terrible sense of direction.
The only thing that stopped this short of being a perfect read for me is that the descriptions and inner monologues felt a little long winded at times, but the plot itself felt too condensed. I would have liked to see more of the travel time in between major events, like when Low and Gabi are on the smuggler’s ship, rather than have so many short time skips.
If you prefer character driven science fiction, then I would definitely recommend picking this one up.

So what do you get when an ex-con and genetically enhanced thirteen year old military general cross paths on a desert planet? Crazy wild west interplanetary fun is what you get! Ten Low is an ex-con who travels as a medic on a sand covered planet. Gabi is the 13 year old general she finds after a ship crashes and is the lone survivor. Each has something the other one needs but they also have secrets that will dramatically change the course of their futures.
The story takes place on a moon called Factus which has been colonized and is basically neglected by the Accord (the entity that colonizes planets). Factus is a desert ruled by lawlessness and shaped by the inhabitants belief in "the ifs". Something invisible that thrives off of chaos and chance.
Seriously, this is one of the best sci-fi books I've read in a really long time. It definitely feels like Dune, Firefly, and Ender's Game hung out and created this fantastic tale of survival on a forgotten moon. I really hope there's more coming. Loved it!