Symbiote brings us to the icy isolation of Antarctica in 2028, where a U.S. research station faces long nights, hostile weather, and—oh yeah—a killer microbe with mind-control powers. Think The Thing, but with more science jargon and fewer flamethrowers.

The premise is solid: a mysterious microbe that thrives in the cold, a murder mystery in the snow, and the looming threat of a U.S.-China conflict. The atmosphere is properly claustrophobic, and the body horror delivers some squirm-worthy moments. However, the story struggles under the weight of its sprawling cast-40-odd characters, most of whom are interchangeable. Keeping track of who’s who becomes a chore, even with a character list to reference.

Rajan, our soft-spoken soldier-turned-scientist protagonist, does his best to hold things together, but the plot’s testosterone-fueled chaos often overshadows deeper character moments. And while the ending ties things up decently, some humor and character dynamics might not land well with every reader.

Overall, Symbiote is a decent sci-fi thriller for fans of gore, action, and survival horror. It’s not groundbreaking, but if you don’t mind some rough edges, it’s a chilly ride worth taking.

This book was genuinely quite scary! I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This book is so intense and just jam-packed with action. It’s very fast paced and things happen, and then escalate very quickly.

We follow a lot of different characters in this story, many different perspectives, some quite innocent to what’s happening, some with a more scientific lens and then some with more nefarious involvement. This does ramp up the intensity as you’re trying to keep up with the different characters as they’re uncovering information about what’s happening and the encounters they’re having. There is actually a main character in this, but that didn’t become clear until the end because of the different perspectives we are presented with. I didn’t mind this too much and I was able to keep up with who everyone was.

This is most definitely a science based thriller and we see how people react when exposed to a microbial threat in Antarctica. The characters have different skills and it was interesting to see the different scientific and medical approaches they took to investigate and deal with the situation (as well as a good amount of administrative incompetence from certain management people). This was my favourite approach seeing how they investigated and then reacted to new information and the solutions they had to quickly come up with.


There’s an abundance of action in this book and it does get quite violent. It didn’t feel gratuitous though.

Enjoyed this book! I did feel like I was holding my breath with tension the whole way through though!

Set in the unforgiving cold of Antarctica during WWIII, Symbiote delivers a tense, claustrophobic thriller as an evolving parasite turns scientists into violent hosts. The vivid isolation of the setting and the creeping horror of the organism create an eerie atmosphere. While some scientific details stretch believability, the unique premise and diverse cast make it an engaging and chilling read.

Sadly this is a DNF for me. I went in curious to see how a well-trod path (yep, 'The Thing' most notably) would be handled here. The idea of an ongoing war in the World Outside seemed interesting in particular.

Sadly I'm noping out at about a third through. None of the characters are likeable, the random scientific info-dumps are confusing and the constant undercurrent of pretty vulgar sex really feels uncomfortable. To me this reads more like a 1980s Thriller for Men.

Apologies, but John Carpenter's still unbeaten.

A science fiction thriller set in the Antarctic during world war three. I had to give up on this novel, too many characters, messy dialogue and no true protagonist. The setting was vivid and the novel will appeal to science fiction fans, not me.

Symbiote combines a lot of things that I love in books—a snowy isolated setting, a sci-fi element, horrifying descriptions—so I had high expectations and it absolutely lived up to them! The story is set in the near future at an Antarctic research station, with WWIII raging in the background. As polar night descends, so does a group of Chinese scientists fleeing from a neighbouring station—and they’ve brought along a strange parasite.

The research station and the freezing temperatures are both so evocatively described, making this a perfect Thing-esque winter read. The cold and isolation also ramps up the tension as our characters have nowhere to escape to. I loved the science aspects and learning about this parasite. Overall, this is a brilliant sci-fi thriller with a little dash of horror. I’m looking forward to whatever Michael Nayak writes next—be that a follow-up to Symbiote or an entirely different story!

World tensions have exploded. China and the United States are poised to start World War III. Russia's in the mix too. The question: How will world events affect the researchers and staff at the geopolitically neutral Antarctica research facility? When a small crew of Chinese scientists show up with the horribly mutilated body of one of their colleagues, it's chaos: The first murder in Antarctica. Worse, it's winter so it's incredibly cold and all communication with the rest of the world has been shut down. But the cause of death isn't something as simple as a kitchen knife or poison, it's an unknown parasite that thrives in the extreme cold. It aggressively goes after humans who turn extremely violent once infected.

And the parasite's evolving...

I quite enjoyed this surprisingly tense and claustrophobic novel that is likely inspired by "The Thing from Another World" (1951 movie), itself based on the chilling novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell Jr. Both take maximum advantage of the isolation of the location and the inevitable friendships, intimacy, jealousy, and tensions that arise among a small group of smart, dedicated people who are cut off from the rest of the world while a terrifying life-threatening crisis unfolds.

Recommended.

An unknown pathogen strikes a research station in Antartica pitting scientists and crew against each other. This was a fun and entertaining read that reminded me at times of John Carpenter’s The Thing. It seemed a little rushed at the end, but all in all a good read. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

“Symbiote” is the dark story of a viral outbreak at an isolated research station in Antarctica. Those afflicted experience madness, heightened sensations, heightened emotions, and are capable of feats they could not do in their natural state. As bodies pile up and WW3 rages beyond Antarctica’s shores, the virus is learning from its hosts in a twisted parasitic relationship. There is a level of depth to the detail of how the Antarctic landscape and isolation is described, which I appreciated. However, any level of suspense I would have felt regarding the spreading contagion and political conflict involved was pushed to the side by how utterly disgusting I found the “humor” in this book, and the lack of any single likable character.

Thank you so much to Angry Robot for providing me a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

In the not-so-distant future, World War III has begun raging. However, at the South Pole, the research stations have an uneasy truce. When a Chinese truck travels the distance to the American base, they bring a body, a horror story, and another invisible passenger. The crew must battle time and the cold to figure out what the organism is and how to destroy it before it threatens humanity.

This book had a premise that really excited me! The Walking Dead meets Contagion was definitely delivered in this fast-paced horror novel. However, I feel like it resembled The Thing in a few ways rather than The Walking Dead. I love a good plague, but I had to knock off a few points for a few silly things that make this microbiologist roll her eyes a little bit. However, this book was incredibly unique, I had no idea what direction the story was going to take or how it would end.

It is so rare to see an author successfully navigate such a large cast of characters. Michael Nayak did such an amazing job balancing the stories and motivations of all the individual characters in the South Pole American research base. I never felt overwhelmed by how many people were introduced or got anyone confused. The cast was diverse and all very interesting people.

There were great technical explanations, it is clear that the author is very familiar with the setting and some of the roles. This was probably one of the strongest parts of the book; the setting was well-characterized and extremely believable. The horror in this book starts off with an appropriate amount of gore, but transitions to something more insidious. I feel it was very effective, especially with the isolating atmosphere.

If you’re looking for your next horror novel with an isolating setting, diverse cast, and a mysterious evolving organism, then Symbiote releases on February 11th!

Symbiote is a wild, fast-paced sci-fi thriller perfect for winter! I am always down for survival horror, especially set in extreme climates; and it’s hard to get more extreme than an isolated base in Antarctica. Symbiote is fast-paced biological horror, perfect for fans of The Thing and readers who enjoy contagion stories, alien parasites, and isolated settings. I would recommend it especially to fans of Michael Crichton and Kali Wallace. If you enjoy any of these authors or tropes, you will enjoy Symbiote!

Thank you to NetGalley & Angry Robot for the arc! All thoughts & opinions stated in the review are my own.

Symbiote is a fast paced contagion style horror book about researchers and workers in Antarctica that are exposed to a parasitic entity that thrives in the cold.
Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. I am giving this book 3 stars.
I think that if you are a fan of the movie The Thing that you will enjoy this book. I was happy that this wasn't so close to that movie that it felt like an imitation but it is definitely comparable.
The biggest issue I have with this book is how the women in the book were handled. While the men had back stories, internal emotions and thought processes, the women were mostly relegated to.arm candy. Their significance was purely based on who they were sleeping with and their places.in love triangles that motivated acts of violence by the men.
While I would be interested in exploring more books by this author in the future and will make.sure to post about this book on my social media (TikTok and YouTube) closer to its release date, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed by this one.

Interesting techno-thriller/SF book that really had me captivated for large chunks. Maybe not as well written as I would have liked but the action and cool science ideas made up for that for the most part. Definitely check it out if you like the works of Michael Crichton or Douglas Preston. A more thorough review to follow on my blog.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

The premise was decently interesting, as well done infections and plague survival thrillers are definitely packed. However, what really bothered me most about this is extremely sexist and racist portrayals and dialogue. I do believe that including these is to be a sort of undertone regarding current events that humanity has experienced such as the global pandemic and the ensuing results. The writing includes a lot of data, twists, and the pace is truly an avalanche halfway through. Great for isolated survival themes!

I flew through this book. It is fast moving, engaging, frightening, and just a real good read. Recommended for horror/thriller fans and people that loved Andromeda Strain. It is biological terror at a very high standard. 4.25

Enjoyed this, although I felt it could have been trimmed down somewhat.

Characters are well flushed out with their own mental state, what they’ve been through and how they view themselves. Really appreciated the characters.

World felt constantly cold and when parts of the story they were feeling hot, you, as the reader, felt hot with them.

The story flows really well, it was very interesting and it had me hooked the majority of the way. The only problem is I started to lose steam towards the end, it felt like the story could have been tied up earlier than what it is.

All in all, very enjoyable and will be looking out for book 2.

This was a great contagion read and reminded me a little of The Thing. At times it was hard to follow the story as there were many character introductions, but overall a good read.

I like the idea but I was never hooked. It would benefit in being a bit shorter and tighter. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Loved the premise, it sounded very interesting and I have liked similar stories before set in very contained spaces., but I was left wanting something else or something more. It felt too long, and I lost interest fairly quickly even though I wanted to pay attention. Didn’t connect with the characters.

One could tell the author has experience with the environment described which added to a realistic feel to the story,

Combining the isolation from any outside help with a deadly biological threat that infiltrates an Antarctic research base - Symbiote remains grounded in reality as chaos threatens to take over. This book felt like a fantastic combination of a zombie and survival thriller, where every step the main characters take to learn more about the microbe - it is also learning about them, as well.

One thing I really loved about this book was how realistic the biological threat present in this book felt. Even as the body count began to stack up and the chaos was building - everything felt like it could be happening right now, and no one not at the bottom of the world would even know about it. I also loved the surprise with how the politics of the world, and the war currently going on, was incorporated into this story, as up until a certain point I wasn’t certain the relevance of the specific timeline. However, with the current political climate this book felt almost too realistic, at times.

I also really liked how this book took the typical bones of the typical zombie virus and developed it into its own story as the novel progressed. The microbe present in this book evolved and developed in ways I never anticipated, and I really loved the changes that occurred from the start to the ending of this book. It seemed that once the main characters got a handle on how to survive and eliminate the threat, it would change in a new way to still outmaneuver them. I really liked how at no point was I certain who, or how, anyone would survive to the end of this novel.

Also, this book ends with such a bang! This ending could be perfect just on its own to read this book as a standalone - but it also lends itself for a sequel to continue the story. And I was so excited that the author’s note promised more to see how everything develops after the chaos of this book. I’ll absolutely be wanting to read the next installment to see what happens next.

The only thing I struggled with during this book was some of the technical names, naming conventions, and buildings and their locations. While my copy did include a brief glossary of characters and their titles, as well as the abbreviations that were used throughout this book, I do think it would benefit with a small map (nothing fancy) of the buildings and their locations to allow the reader to more easily picture and track the movements of the characters throughout the novel.

If you like zombie thrillers, Antarctic/Arctic horror, and authors like Darcy Coates and SA Barnes, I would highly recommend picking up this novel to read for yourself With no true heroes or villains, only people desperate to survive a chaos they never expected when they signed up to work at the bottom of the world - Symbiote is a strangely realistic tale of survival against all costs, even when the odds are stacked against you.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Angry Robot for providing this e-ARC.