Forget binge-watching. Louise Carey’s Inscape series is the binge-read series you need in your life. 




Like all memorable reads, Louise Carey makes this post-apocalyptic nightmare a potential future for us all. The book lives up to its genre. Downfall is a thrilling Cyberpunk.

By creating characters that don’t conform, don’t disappoint, and stacked with their own agency, once hooked, Louise Carey’s writing doesn’t let go.







Downfall’s intense read picks up where Outcast left off. Intech’s program, Harlow 2.0 upload has obliterated society’s personality. Tanta and Cole prevented it from doing far worse, are on the run and must act quickly to save their friends. Their only protection from the update is to remain underground. Fliss is their way out of this problem. Her lack of implant makes her immune to Intech’s modification. This third installment opens with Fliss, the action starts as she acquires a vital part to Tanta and Cole’s new mission; reverse Harlow 2.0’s damage. Her secret mission sets the tension and pace for the rest of the book. The gruesome scenes  and their underground lives portray desperate despair of those not lost to Harlow 2.0. The author dishes out hope in small, tantalising doses.


Carey writes Intech’s invasive technology in an accessible, understandable, and relatable way so as not to drop you from the bleak projection of a future world torn up by political manipulations and corperate ambition. Those who enjoy their sci-fi character driven will feel at home.


Despite all the grand-grimness of the Inscape trilogy world, it’s immersive and engaging as opposed to overwhelming. As events in unfold Downfall the focus expands beyond London, and we get to see settlements and the wider impact of Intech and the ruthless Thoughtfront’s, ambitions. The subplots of Tanta and Reet’s conflicts, and Thoughfront versus Intech are as satisfying as seeing the outcome of Tantra and Cole’s ordeal.

It's always said that joining a series in book three isn't advised, but the approach to balance backstory and pace is enough for a familiar genre reader to still savour and enjoy it. And, of course, go out and snap up the other Inscape novels.




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Please note, Downfall is the third book in the Inscape trilogy. It is highly likely that what follows will contain minor spoilers if you haven’t read books one and two. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

THE SAFETY OF INTECH’S RESIDENTS IS PARAMOUNT.
INSURRECTION WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

Tanta and Cole may have stopped the mass murder of InTech’s residents, but the cost was severe. Despite their efforts, Harlow 2.0 – the update to InTech’s mind-based operating system – fed out. Now its citizens are compliant zombies, and Tanta and her crew are trapped underground.

All except for Fliss, who has no system to update. She alone can go outside, and it’s Fliss the crew are relying on to help get them out.

For only then can they dismantle the damage Harlow 2.0 has done. If Tanta, Cole and InTech’s residents are to truly be free, it needs to be destroyed. But Tanta knows that task will put her on a collision course with the corporation that raised her, her oldest friends, and the woman who was once her soulmate.

And this last mission might ask more of her than she’s able to give.

After an extended break from The Eloquent Page, I thought it was high time I got back to this book reviewing lark. Due to reasons I’ll not bore you with, I haven’t picked up a book since last November. My first foray back into genre fiction in 2023 had to be something awesome. Something that was going to grab my attention and refuse to let go. Downfall by Louise Carey was the perfect solution to my quandry. The third book of the Inscape trilogy has been on my bookish radar for a while now. Book one and two were a great deal of fun.

The action picks up not long after the events at the end of Outcast. Tanta has been literally forced underground to survive, while Reet finds herself rising swiftly through the corporate ranks.

The chapters alternate between Tanta and Reet’s perspective. I was struck by how Reet’s interpretation of the world mirrors that of Tanta back in book one. As far as Reet is concerned, InTech can’t be anything other a benevolent force in people’s lives. Every action InTech take has to be for the greater good* of society. Meanwhile, Tanta is determined to open people’s eyes. She needs people, particularly Reet, to see the indoctrination they have been forced to endure.

The novel ends on a suitably breathtaking high note. You can’t beat a bit of corporate espionage with a dash of revolution thrown in for good measure. There is also a suggestion that two of my favourite supporting characters, Yas and Fliss, have a bright future together. I would happily read about their further adventures. Carey’s dystopian vision of life focuses in and around what was once London. What of the rest of the country? I’m rabidly curious to find out more. Who knows? Perhaps if I’m really lucky the book gods will smile upon me and other novels will follow. I certainly hope so.

Louise Carey’s exciting tale has achieved something I thought impossible a couple of weeks ago, her writing has reminded me why I fell in love with the escapism of reading in the first place. I’ll most definitely be looking out for whatever she does next.

Downfall is published by Gollancz and is available now. If you’ve read the rest of the novels in this series I can guarantee this will not disappoint.

My musical recommendation to accompany this novel is the soundtrack to Crimes of the Future by Howard Shore. I have been listening to this album a whole lot ever since I discovered it and I’ll admit I’ve been waiting for the perfect book to pair it with. It has a suitably near-futuristic vibe that complements the tone of the novel perfectly. If like me, you enjoy a bit of music while reading I can heartily suggest this.

*I’m willing to bet at least some of you that read that sentence repeated the words “the greater good”.

Downfall concludes Carey’s excellent Inscape trilogy set in post-apocalyptic London that’s been divided between two corporations, InTech and Thoughtfront, that are at constant war over resources and technology. Tanta used to be an InTech posterchild, until she learned the extent with which the corporation controls the minds of its residents with technology, and rose to oppose it with Cole who is the architect of the mind control system.

The previous book ended with InTech uploading an improved version of the programme, which completely wipes out everyone’s personality. Tanta and Cole barely escaped in time, and they are now fugitives hunted by InTech. They must try to remove the improved programme, which is a threat to them too if they return to InTech, and end the mind control system for good.

I had small trouble getting into the book, as it opened with a POV of a side character I didn’t remember, but the story soon gained speed. The book broadened the world a little, showing that there are settlements outside the corporations where people are surviving and even thriving. Their residents are willing to help Tanta and Cole, but in the end, it’s up to the two of them to not only to save the residents of InTech from the corporation, but to save InTech from Thoughtfront too.

Tanta’s and Cole’s friendship continued to be the core of the story, despite Tanta constantly pining after her former girlfriend Reet, who’s now the enemy. I liked the odd dynamic where they are in turn the teacher and the pupil, parent and the protegee. I especially liked how it didn’t turn into a romance. I wasn’t as interested in the other characters in their team. They had their uses, but I was never so attached to them that I would’ve mourned if they had died. Reet was never my favourite to begin with.

The ending was great and not the solution I saw coming. It’s conclusive enough that the trilogy can comfortably and satisfyingly end here, but open enough that if the author wishes to return to her world, there’s room for it. I wouldn’t mind reading more.

The endgame of a war and revolution can be a dangerous time. Stakes are the highest, mistakes will get you killed and if your get even just some bad luck it can all end badly. I’ve been a huge fan of Louise Carey’s cyberthriller series for its inventive look at a world where corporations have gone mad (very apt after 2022!) and the intriguing way augmented reality gets meshed with corporate workers to create something rather dangerous. In the very fine third book an epic conclusion of warring corporations; spies and reengages comes to a very satisfying end.

A brief recap where we left things. Tanta was once the shining example of an InTech agent. Intelligent, tactically aware; able to infiltrate and also use physical force when necessary aided by her Inscape augmented reality software. But Tanta worked with the middle-aged cybertech specialist Cole on a mission who they found Cole actually invented the Agent Mind programme and also rebelled when he realised the company had wider plans for mind control. After various twists and turns now Tanta and Cole are exiled in the wastelands outside what was once known as London; InTech has released their mind programme Harlow 2 and now all its citizens and employees work without question for the Board. The only ally the duo have is a young Wastelander named Fliss who has been brought on side and now these characters have to try and work out how to bring InTech down while not being killed for being traitors.

Carey after the two books left a lot of arcs hanging and does a great job of resolving the story. I really appreciated the number of set pieces and adventures in the story. An interesting development is that now Fliss is the young spy and Tanta stuck in a nuclear bunker is the spymaster giving advice. A tense adventure in London shows this development to fine effect with drops; escapes and spycraft used to fine display also showing us how Fliss matured from the last book. This sets in motion a range of adventures taking our team from the bunker to the Wastelands to meet Fliss’ own original community in Gatwick and then the final third has a fascinating battle between InTech, it’s rival Thoughtfront who have taken Corporate takeover to a military level of attacks and underneath the battleground of wated London Tanta and Cole are trying to work out how to free their people from mind control and in opposition Tanta’s ex-girlfriend Reet who is fully under InTech control and sees Tanta as a Traitor. Carey is now very good at action and also subtler spy games knows when to crank up the tension and also to let the action fly be it in car chases, escapes, or fights. The pace is high and never feels like it is bogged down in plot or exposition making this fly by when I was reading it.

Giving the tale heart are the characters and after two books I’m very pleased to meet the cast again and yet also spot the development Carey made in the books now pay off again. Tanta is no longer naïve and now takes the lead all the time. Its her battle with Reet which gives the story a bittersweetness that these two are now on the wrong side and Carey doesn’t make it a simple happy ending in sight. Reet sees Tanta as the enemy very clearly misguided but still wrong so how far will she go to stop her is a key plotline and Reet is very good at her job too! Alongside Tanta is Cole – the boffin who has a ruthless streak is now a m ore active character too taking Intech on less in the physical world but in terms of using his tech skills to beat them and the problems posed by this new mind control is actually a satisfying science fiction puzzle to solve too and the ultimate solution is rather cleverly delivered. Lastly it was great to see Fliss again now no longer just a mercenary smuggler but a woman with purpose but still plenty of attitude and there is an arguing sister like vibe between her and Tanta over who should be in charge which adds much needed humour.

This was a very good ending to this set of adventures but does suggest possibilities for more tales in the same world. I would not say no to that! What it does confirm is that Louise Carey is one of UK Science Fiction’s up and coming writers and I’m very interested to see what we have to look forward to in the future. A fine series and highly recommended!

Boom! That was the sound of my head exploding as I completed the most recent book in the Inscape trilogy and my goodness this one is so taut, I nearly snapped!
Downfall brings the Inscape Trilogy to its thrilling and climactic conclusion, decisively pitting our two heroes Tanta and Cole against the mind enslaving Intech Corporation.
Yes folks! Gather round for the epic David and Goliath antics that abound in Downfall.
At the end of Outcast, the die was surely rolled, and we knew that Tanta and Cole are definitely on the outside of the Intech dysfunctional family and the lines were definitely drawn as Intech won the battle for the hearts and minds of the Intech population by releasing the dreaded update of Harlow 2.0.
In Downfall, we see the effects of that update as it has turned the residents of Intech into enslaved automatons, slavishly and fiercely under the command of Intech. Now Tanta and Cole have to launch as assault on the very core of the corporation. However, this is not as easy as it seems.
Firstly, they are only a small crew. Yes, their numbers have literally doubled in size with the addition of Fliss and Yas to their ranks, but that makes them only four against a massive conglomerate and all its armies.
Not only that, Tanta, Cole and Yas cannot leave the Brokerage where they have set up camp following the events of the last book as they are all fitted with Inscape technology. And with the threat of the technology embedded in their brains being updated with the latest iteration of the Harlow program they cannot leave the confines of the brokerage.
So, with the odds stacked against them, Tanta and the crew draw up a plan to strike and reverse the update that threatens them all.
However, not all is rosy on the Intech side either! With the continued hostilities with the rival Corporation Thoughfront threatening to cause major damage to the mighty Intech, they are battling on two fronts, both the incursion of Thoughtfront into Intech territories and insurrection on the inside.
Downfall begins immediately where we left off in Outcast with Tanta’s estranged partner Reet continuing her stratospheric rise in the Intech ranks, and throughout the book we see how the action plays out from both Tanta and Cole’s perspective and also on the other side of the fence from Reet’s perspective.
Now it’s no secret that this little reviewer absolutely loves this series. From the beginning I have been gripped by Louise Carey’s cyber thriller and it has kept me engrossed throughout the whole of the trilogy. From the moment I met Tanta and her unflinching loyalty to the corporation to where she is now, I have been waiting impatiently for the next in the series.
Downfall is chock full of action as it rockets towards its inevitable conclusion. However, in the midst of setting up the apocalyptic ending we get to see more of the world that Tanta and Cole inhabit and as we visit the free town of Gatwick. Not only that we get to see lots of character development, particularly with Fliss and Cole.
I cannot tell you how much this book had me gripped! When I was not reading it, I was thinking about it, and when I was reading it, I didn’t want to put it down. Curse you everyday life for interfering in my reading and making me do things like eat, sleep and actually go to work. Can someone please build me a switch to turn reality off whilst I am reading!
Downfall is unquestionably a fine end to the series. It is satisfying, gripping and engrossing. At no point did I know how the heck Tanta and Cole were going to pull of their plans and I would be frantically devouring the pages to see how they obtain their goal. Again, Louise Carey had me gripped with the story and again I fell head over heels with the characters as this is one of my favourites series in recent years.
So, if you find yourself at a loose end dear reader, and don’t know what to read next, can I heartily recommend this series.
Right! Unashamed gush over! Go back to what you were reading!

This is book three of this trilogy and, as such, you need to have read books one and two first. There is a bit of catch-up to be found herein but it's really meant as a memory jogger rather than a fill-in.
So, having stopped the mass murder, Tanta and Cole have fled. They are now hiding underground as they failed in the second part of their mission and the mind-based control system upgrade was released. Underground they are safe from the technology that would automatically upgrade them too. Instead they have to rely on Fliss who is safe. So... new mission. To reverse the upgrade. It will be the most brutal and most dangerous mission of their lives, and, as you have already read the first two books, you'll know what they have already gone through...
As with the previous books, I simply whizzed through this one. As well as the main characters, there are a whole host of newbies and also a few old friends pop up too. As well as being a cracking sci-fi book, containing a plethora of mostly easy to follow technology, it is also quite character driven. Which helps me, being still a novice in this genre.
The story told within this final part completes the overall trilogy wholly and satisfactorily. There are perils and pitfalls along the way and I did read certain parts with my heart in my mouth - reading behind a cushion so to speak! I have grown quite fond of certain characters along the way and as well as being intelligent and swashbuckling, I also find their human side fascinating. So much so that, as the end approached, I was already starting to miss them...
All in all, a cracking finale to a trilogy I will probably re-read in time (and I do not say that often). I do wonder, now this is done, what the author will turn her hand to next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The final installment in the Inscape trilogy is an extremely well written exploration of what happens next to all the characters from the first two books. Tanta and her crew have objectives old and new to achieve in this dystopian southeast England. There is a lot more character development and new detours to explore.
Carey's writing is fantastic and easy to read whilst her world building is strong, without falling prey to too much description. The pacing of the book in three sections also works well.
However the final denouement is a thrilling ride, true to the adventurous thrill of the first two books.