I 100% choose this book for the cover. C’mon, it’s super cool!

An action-fueled sci-fi with a heavy emphasis on world-building, Incitatus is a terse, slow-building thriller.
Like the slow crawl of Tantive IV at the start of A New Hope, Incitatus is a novel that builds gradually. Yet, this isn’t a bad thing if you have patience. The last thirty percent of the book is absolutely addictive (I told myself I was only going to read for twenty minutes, and the next thing I knew, I was an hour past when I wanted to go to sleep, and I’d finished it), and once you wrap your head around all the characters and their goals, it all comes together.

What I’d call this book, most of all, is ambitious. It’s complex, like an Ian Banks or Kim Stanely Robinson novel, with a large focus on crafting this corporate-run universe (no aliens, surprisingly, given the cover). It’s quite frankly impressive in its scope and details (both in terms of technology and how the universe functions) and leans a bit harder into hard sci-fi than space opera, though I wouldn’t classify it hard sci-fi.

The name is a reference to political ineptitude, stemming from a favourite horse of the Ancient Roman Emperor Caligula (whom he claimed he wanted to be a senator). This fits the book in a sense, as the Incitatus in the novel is a poorly run prison barge.

If you’re a fan of action and don’t mind violence, this book is full of it, especially the last sections. Despite the blurb only really talking about Shao, there are a few other main characters, including a mercenary who really walks that line of morally gray, a space cop, and Shao’s hot corporate daddy.

Unfortunately, each of these stories - while they do intersect at the end - has their own complex exposition that we needed to be filled in upon, so that no one, not even Shao, feels fleshed out. We get that she’s a bit risky and that she’s young and spoiled, but that’s about it. All the characters are distinctive, but we get no backstory on anyone, and sometimes we go so long between seeing characters that I forgot who they were and it took me out of the story. In truth, it felt like the Ranger’s side-plot and hot daddy’s were competing for space in an otherwise already full cast and plot, though it’s clear they’re there because of book two.

Had the characters had more time together or perhaps had their backstories been disseminated in flashbacks or in dialogue rather than their own chapters, they could have played off one another and given us more character development. The best bit of dialogue between the characters is at the end when Milosh and Lederman exchange quips.

Then again, I am also a very big fan of character-driven stories, so if you’re more of a plot-driven person, you will enjoy this quite a bit! This is more of a preference on my part than a failing of the novel.

The ending of the novel is just bonkers - in a great way. It absolutely doesn’t go where you expect and I am intrigued enough to check out book two.

Highly recommended if you like corporate intrigue, no-holds-barred action, and the movie Escape from L.A!

This was a little all over the place at the beginning but in the end I liked the overall story and is a bit confusing to start. There are a LOT of points of view in this book that creates a bit of the confusion as it dives right in and you're not really sure what is going on. I think with less POV's we may have gotten a bit more character development of some of the mains, but it is what it is.
Overall I got an "Alien" type vibe from about the last third of the story which is kind of cool. I enjoyed the story over all and look forward to seeing where it goes from here.

I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did! The plot was so intriguing, well thought out and the author put a unique spin on the sci-fi genre.

The atmosphere really drew me in. It created an eerie feeling and, along with the storyline, made the book stand out.

I am very much looking forward to the next book. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for a chance to read and review this book.

This was such a creepy and atmospheric read. Dark and almost gothic in its approach it was well written with a compelling storyline and strongly developed characters, which was one of my favourite parts of the book. I enjoyed it,