Picking up right where Glow left off, we find unlikely hero Rex living with figures from one of his many past lives, the memories imparted to him from the pernicious drug fostering a feeling of love and loyalty within him towards them. Meanwhile, new character Keller is making a deal with a scrap merchant for the remains of something which - had he any inkling into its origins - he would be leaving well alone. But Keller is keen to acquire any salvageable tech in the hope that he can upgrade partner Casima’s many cybernetic parts, so it’s out of love and desperation that he takes ownership of the ravaged black torso topped with a leering crystal skull. On his trail comes the mysterious Steelos, a Burn - a cybernetically enhanced human soldier, capable of being reincarnated into a new body by Convolver leader Knoss. Fellow Burn Jorben, meanwhile, has his own traumas to work through, haunted by a past that he fears he’s doomed to repeat.

In short, if you thought for one second that Afterglow might not be as ambitious as Glow, I’m here to tell you - with no small amount of joy - that you’re dead wrong. With conspiracies within conspiracies, shady alliances, a host of new and returning characters with their own motivations and more high tech hijinks than ever, Afterglow hits the ground running and doesn’t stop until the final page. The relentless pace of the action scenes makes them breathlessly exciting, with one section in particular roughly two thirds in being probably one of my favourite action sequences ever. I defy anyone to read chapter 51 onwards and not feel a rush of adrenaline. Voidians don’t do all the heavy lifting in this department this time around either, the aforementioned Burns being more than capable of taking on multiple opponents. Solo, they’re terrifying, but in a squad they’re virtually unstoppable, their inbuilt “detent” occasionally flipping them into a berserk state; no doubt harrowing for all around them, but exhilarating for us.

Casima and Keller form much of the emotional core to the tale, their relationship easy to accept and get invested in. Keller suffers with a form of PTSD, which occasionally causes him to freeze up in stressful situations (which, like every character, he goes through plenty of - Jordan does like to put his players through the wringer). Casima, meanwhile, is struggling to keep herself together in the more literal sense, as her cybernetic parts degrade and her organs struggle to cope. Their actions are pragmatic even whilst being governed by their love for one another, which makes their relationship feel believable and positively refreshing compared to the blinkered decision making that often goes along with other fictional relationships. Casima, it has to be said, is a particularly brilliant addition, a likeable and resourceful badass who absolutely refuses to go down without a fight. As an added bonus, returning central character Rex also feels easier to understand now, his train of thought not so much derailed this time around as occasionally finding itself on a different track thanks to his rather unique headspace.

Put simply, Afterglow is everything you could possibly want from a sequel. Jordan takes everything that was great about Glow and expands upon it confidently, resulting in a story that’s well-paced, gripping and exciting. Cool, slick and stylish, this is another thrilling slice of scintillating cyberpunk.

I was sure I read Glow but I didn't. I cannot compare this book to the previous and sometimes was a bit confused as I think I didn't catch some references to the previous book.
That said it's well written, entertaining, and I liked the world building.
More to come after I've read Glow.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

(Received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for a review)

After being approved for this book I realized that, while I had the first book in the series, I hadn't read it yet, which meant that I had to bum-rush through both books ASAP, which may have colored my opinion a bit. With that said, both books were great, with maybe the first one edging out this one a tad. The book propels itself forward on the strength of its human, post-human, and non-human characters, even when the story lags a little bit toward the middle.

A decent followup to a decent first book. I didn't stay engaged with this and it's a bit uneven. I think the author is off to a good start, and will better with time. This has some good aspects, don't get me wrong.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!

It has idiosyncratic novelties like robot nuns and multiple personalities, but…but…the entire thing is such a plodding convoluted mess and so prolix with it, it takes forever to get through, it’s a drag the entire way and in the end there isn’t much to show for it, outside of checking that science fiction box.
Again, this is a very subjective opinion. I read a lot and as such encounter sh*t books with some frequency and this isn’t a sh*t book, it’s just one that really didn’t work for me. It didn’t grab me at first and failed to do so throughout, it didn’t begin to even remotely interest until about fifth of the way in, but even then it was never enough

A good sequel for the Glow but not great.

I had a fun time , but other than that it was good