The House of Saints

, #2

by

English language

Published Aug. 29, 2023 by Black Library, The.

ISBN:
978-1-78618-867-0
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(2 reviews)

The Stunning conclusion to the Venus Ascendant series, from the world of The Quantum Magician.

George-Étienne and his children have formed The House of Styx, after finding a mysterious artefact on the surface of Venus herself. But with the discovery comes great risk, not only from a planet that kills with its very touch but also from the banks and powers of old Earth, who will stop at nothing to claim this new technology for themselves.

From humble origins, The House of Styx is determined to become one of the most powerful families in the known galaxy or die trying.

1 edition

reviewed The House of Saints by Derek Künsken (Venus Ascendant, #2)

Review of 'The House of Saints' on 'Goodreads'


House of Saints starts slowly, dealing mostly with oppressive politics, subterfuge and straining relationships.

It took me a while to get through the first half of the novel.

Things heat up in the second half, and we get to see more cool engineering as our beloved characters try to survive under the oppressive conditions of Venus, the government and the bank.

I finished the second half of the novel in one day.

I especially enjoyed Pascal's continuing transition story, it is nuanced and beautiful.

Note that This is not The Quantum Magician, it is slower, it broods.

P.S.

Venus Rising is a duology, so we get an ending.

reviewed The House of Saints by Derek Künsken (Venus Ascendant, #2)

A Fantastic Conclusion

This book is filled with sorrow and loss, but also hope. The two books of this series are beautiful. The detailed worldbuilding meshes well with the sibling series, but is separate enough to be fresh and new. Künsken lovingly handles issues of gender identity, poverty, and the crimes people commit for survival, sometimes with a gentle caress and sometimes with a fist to the face. He explores how governments react to those self-preserving crimes, and also how the governed may deal with their intuitions. There is a lot of hard SF here too. Near-future science on a vivid and believable Venus drive the story.