Review by Booklist Review
On the run for 10 years, Caiden has stayed away from his friends in order to protect them from his hybrid makeup--his Graven genes (as discussed in Nophek Gloss, 2020). While that power can be useful when employed to escape adversaries, to Caiden it is an evil to be avoided whenever possible--he fears it is changing him, that he will become worse than those he wishes to stop. While escaping a well-arranged ambush, Caiden encounters a deadly biomechanical bounty hunter and discovers it was controlled by Leta, the childhood friend he thought killed in the same raid he escaped many years ago. Leta has been trained by a powerful enemy to use her mind to travel across space and time while leaving her unconscious flesh-and-blood body safely behind. Caiden is determined to find and free Leta's body but is unaware that she is also trying to protect a found family and has been deliberately sent to lure him into a more elaborate trap. Intriguing metaphysicals concepts, more fast-paced action, and a climactic revelation regarding Caiden's mysterious genetic heritage will have fans eager for the next book in the Graven series.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The second time proves less of a charm in Hansen's splintered second Graven space opera (after Nophek Gloss), which continues the machinations of supercharged beings across multiple pocket universes. After 10 years as a freelance problem solver, Caiden Winn discovers that his childhood friend, Leta, was not killed in a massacre as he thought, but survived to become a special operative for Dynast Prime Abriss, the most powerful person in the largest universe, Unity. Caiden attempts to free Leta from Abriss's employ--and keep Abriss from freeing her own brother, Threi, Caiden's onetime mentor and current prisoner--but soon realizes he'll need the help of his former crew mates to succeed. Worse, he discovers that saving Leta from Abriss's service may require dipping into the coercive mental powers granted to him by his link to the ancient Graven technology he despises, but which both Abriss and Threi seek. Hansen brings in a lot of backstory in this volume, with Leta assuming an important voice, but the additional viewpoints and the extension of the characters' abilities to shift through space and time complicate the story without adding to the human element. There's far more emotional impact when Leta and Caiden are allowed to simply sit and reminisce. This is strictly for series fans. Agent: Naomi Davis, Bookends Literary. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
For the last 10 years, Caiden has attempted to stay ahead of Casthen forces while keeping Threi (the Casthen Prime) imprisoned within a pocket universe. With his ship Azura and his nophek companion, Caiden has stayed isolated from his found family. Yet when he discovers that his childhood friend Leta is alive, Caiden must face the one person who could be more powerful than Threi--Threi's sister, Abriss. Leta's loyalty is with the Dynast Prime Abriss, and her survival lies in the Prime's hands. As Caiden faces being caught between two formidable powers and the truth about his own heritage, death is at his heels, along with the fate of all of the multiverse. A fast pace and emotional connections between those who cannot be friends keeps the story moving. VERDICT Nophek Gloss's sequel brings back all of the incredible characters that revolve around a young man coming into his power. An exciting science fiction story that keeps readers guessing the true intentions of everyone.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton
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