4.5 out of 5 stars
This was a crazy book from beginning to end. I did read the first book in the series and it felt a bit confusing to start but then settled into a nice groove. Helios was similar but Robinson and Ellis just bounced all over the place and didn’t include one history lesson/relic/era in this book – the hodgepodged them together to make this crazy adventure book that had the Herculean Society bouncing across the globe.
The irony is that all of the pop culture things that I would compare this book to, they included in the book. It’s very Indiana Jones thrown into the world of Assassin’s Creed with a little Tomb Raider thrown in there. If Robinson and Ellis aren’t gamers I’d be a little shocked. Some of the characters “origin” stories came from watching Indiana Jones as a kid. A nice way to tie in the Jones references into Helios.
This was a little different than most Adventure books because they throw in a bit of a Sci-Fi vibe to it. There’s an over-arching story that involves space and satellites. They included some cool autonomous equipment, too – which I enjoyed.
Jeffrey Kafer provided the voice for this one and I’m glad he did. There’s something about when he works with Robinson that just makes it work.
Overall, I thought that Helios was an enjoyable adventure thrill-ride from beginning to end. I flew through this one and I’m glad I picked it up. It didn’t disappoint me and I hope if you pick it up it doesn’t disappoint you either. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.