This has been such a brilliant series and fortunately the author has not fallen at the final hurdle but has offered up a pretty pitch perfect finale - I loved it.

The premise extremely imaginative, the eclectic characters immensely engaging both hero and villain alike. I'm going to miss them all, it has been a roller coaster ride with more action and adventure than you can shake a stick at.

If you like your sci-fi brilliantly written, intelligently plotted and best of all wildly entertaining then this trilogy will definitely be for you.

Thanks to #NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in return for a fair review.

This is the third installment in The Protectorate trilogy, following Velocity Weapon and Chaos Vector.. Please do read the first two books before embarking upon this one, it is not a standalone novel.

Megan O'Keefe gives us an amazing protagonist in Sanda Greeve, accompanied by her misfit crew and the snarky AI Bero ‘I continue to be the most effective weapon in the known universe.’
Fantastic wordbuilding, explosive action and plot twist galore! A great finale to the series.

Me parece que la trilogía espacial de Megan O´Keefe ha pasado desapercibida injustamente, porque aunque la primera entrega quizá no dejaba entrever toda la complejidad del relato, es innegable que con cada nuevo libro la historia ganaba en profundidad, hasta llegar a conformar una space opera más que atractiva.


En esta tercera entrega tendrán lugar revelaciones que pondrán en contexto muchos de los acontecimientos que acaecieron antes, pero los puntos fuertes de la novela, como son los personajes y sus relaciones, siguen estando presentes. Me encanta Sanda como protagonista, una mujer fuerte capaz de sobreponerse a las adversidades pero que sigue demostrando su amor por su familia y amigos a cada paso. Su némesis, no obstante, es algo más plana, quizá por su origen, que aquí veremos al fin desvelado.

Se trata de una novela bastante larga, pero la autora ha sabido equilibrar la cantidad de información que tenía que hacernos llegar a través de diálogos con las escenas de acción que salpican toda la trama, tanto de lucha cuerpo a cuerpo en abordajes espaciales (que son espectaculares) como en las carreras por llegar a ciertos lugares.

Vuelvo a insistir en que en esta última entrega las apuestas están tan altas que algunos de los descubrimientos que se llevan a cabo son de quitar el hipo y espero no destripar mucho si hablo de que la novela tiene visos de convertirse en una de mis favoritas de este verano, tocando temas como el primer contacto y la realidad del ser humano de una forma atractiva y reflexiva. También se habla sobre lo que supondría la elevación del ser humano mediante tecnología alienígena, algo que puede ser positivo o negativo no solo por las consecuencias, si no por el trayecto que se tendría que recorrer y lo que habría que dejar atrás.

Los arcos de redención de algunos de los personajes me han parecido un poco forzados, como si la autora le hubiera cogido demasiado cariño a algunos de los malvados y buscara la forma de resarcirles a pesar de sus actos abominables.

El universo que ha construido O’Keefe es apabullante, asombroso y terrible a la vez y la conclusión de la trilogía es plausible y convincente.

Catalyst Gate is the third book in The Protectorate trilogy (after Velocity Weapon and Chaos Vector). The Protectorate is absolutely the kind of trilogy you need to read in order and if you haven't read the others, and you want to understand whether to read the trilogy, you need to go back to my earlier reviews and not read on here because spoilers. (Hint: you should read the trilogy).

If you've been following The Protectorate you will almost certainly want to read the third part, so part of me wonders what I'm actually doing in this review. I often have this with trilogies, and my answer is basically (1) How well is the author closing off her sequence - does this book stand comparison well with the others? (2) How good is the trilogy overall?

Taking these questions in order, my answer to the first would be, VERY WELL. There are a lot of moving parts in The Protectorate. The story follows Sanda, a commander of the Fleet who's been through all kinds of weird stuff; experimented on by a hostile power; deceived by the first incarnation of the AI known as Bero into believing that her world has been smashed and that she has been marooned in deep space for decades; romanced by plausible rogue, spy-for-hire and, potentially, artificial lifeform, Tomas; framed for an assassination and hunted by her own side; and much more besides. It follows Sanda's brother Biran, a rising politician and Keeper in The Protectorate, who has discovered that its history and politics and a lot less pure that he believed. There was also the group of gutter rats who, for most of the first two books, were coping with the consequences of their disastrous heist-gone-wrong, as a result of which their leader Jules has become the loosest of loose cannons, allying with the alien entity known as Rainer.

In this third book O'Keefe deftly takes forward all these main protagonists (and more). She still has plenty to say about them all - we aren't just going through the motions - even as Rainier's endgame approaches. There are further surprises, and a series of calculated risks taken by all involved. Things kick off very quickly at the beginning of the book - there is no lengthy recap, but O'Keefe still manages to keep the reader in the frame about backstory and motivations so that the story develops organically and everyone feels "real". Yes, there were a few (a very few) exceptions, when I asked myself "why did he/ she do that?" but I feel that is inevitable in any sequence of this length.

As well as the characters, we are still learning more about this universe and its history. This is far-future SF, following humanity long after it has left Earth, and it turns out there are secrets to be told about that whole history. Topically they're bound up with the originals of "Prime Inventive", which I had always seen as a society but which is actually the descendant of a private company - the one which happened to win out in the contest to explore space. Firmly believing that nothing good can come from over-mighty corporations, I wasn't surprised to learn there'd been dirty work at the crossroads and that it involved the alien tech whose origin and purpose has been a prominent theme through this trilogy. And yes, we finally discover more about that too.

I am, I think, moving on to my question (2) above and my answer is that while each part of this trilogy has been very good indeed, the whole has a kind of commonality and progression which makes it more than the sum of the three parts. Seen together, these books present questions - and warnings - about our stewardship not only of this planet but of the wider Universe, about loyalty, the nature of humanity and the corruptions of politics. In some ways the most human characters we meet here are composed of bits and bytes or of naneites; or are unregarded outsiders or junior players. The gilded priesthood of the Keepers shows a tendency to guile and self-interest rather than the common good, making it ten times harder to deal with the threat of Rainier and that's not an aberration but totally in keeping with the history and politics of Prime. In contrast, Sanda and her Fleeties, the rogues and criminals of the Grotta, Bero and Tomas, have a sense of humility and fragility that fires their suffering into strength and integrity. As O'Keefe writes of Sanda, 'Those pressures collided against the woman... compressed her, made her as hard and immovable as the deep ice...'

O'Keefe integrates these themes and makes her three novels into a single, coherent whole, no easy task in such a vast story, creating an absorbing and convincing world with compelling characters whose stories are told with humour and grit. I'd unreservedly recommend the sequence, if you've been waiting to see how it would turn out, and Catalyst Gate as its culmination.

This is the third book in a series and I would recommend reading the previous books first to fully understand the world building and characters.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read - full of twists and turns ( perhaps one or two too many) where
secrets are slowly revealed .
The action starts immediately in the aftermath of Chaos Vector - here is where reading the previous books
first comes in - unless you are familiar with the books you would have a hard time understanding what is going on
as the Author gives no overview at this time .
The story is split between the three main characters with the Author managing to weave the storylines together
to make an enjoyable whole , with revelations that are life changing for Sanda and her cohorts .

I look forward to reading more by the Author - perhaps more in this Universe !

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Okay, it’s tricky writing a spoiler-free review of a sequel at the best of times, but Megan O’Keefe has made it impossible with Catalyst Gate, the conclusion of The Protectorate trilogy.

Unexpected plot twists have essentially become O’Keefe’s callsign, with all three books in this series delivering WTF moments every other chapter. So, as with my reviews of Velocity Weapon and Chaos Vector, I’m not even going to discuss the plot for fear of spoiling the fun. I recommend reading this series without even looking at the back cover.

The Protectorate is a fast-paced sci-fi adventure driven by action and intrigue while still allowing time for plenty of feels. It checks all of my SF boxes along the way (sentient spaceships, politics, mysterious space technology, queer characters and found family), making it one of my favourite series out there. Catalyst Gate was no exception to this, keeping up the pace and big plot moments in a way that makes The Protectorate feel more like a serialised novel than a trilogy. The ending is as epic and satisfying as you would expect, having come to trust O'Keefe in the pilot's chair.

And–holy strong female lead, Batman–Sanda is such a memorable character. In fact, I love all the characters and their various, complicated relationships.

If you've already read Velocity Weapon and Chaos Vector, you won't be disappointed with Catalyst Gate (although if you have a terrible memory like me, a quick re-read of books one and two won't hurt). If you're yet to start this series, I can't recommend it enough! That's all I can say.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

Trigger warnings: bodily harm, brainwashing, death, emotional trauma, self-harm, torture

O'Keefe gets straight into it with the third instalment of a trilogy that very much pulls no punches. It's a bit like Mass Effect, only you're not allowed medi-gel and that wouldn't fix the emotional ruination anyway. That said, I enjoyed Catalyst Gate a lot (though not as much as Velocity Weapon)- the action felt more focused, and I enjoyed the deeper dives into Jules and Biran, and the revelations about Rainier that made up the end of second act-beginning of third act bridge.

However, by the time the book ended, I did feel as if there were one or two revelations too many. It was just a bit too much - I had begun to feel numb as Sanda, Biran, and Tomas were put through the physical and emotional wringer, and the beats began to not has as much impact as O'Keefe clearly wanted them to.

Perhaps I'm too much of a weenie for this series. It was an excellent ending, anyway, and I'm very glad Sanda and Bero can rest now.

CATALYST GATE is the final instalment in <em>the Protectorate</em> trilogy, a space opera with fast pacing, and an expansive world and plot as Sanda and her team try to stop the artificial intelligence bent on destroying humanity to rectify humanity's theft.

As you'd expect from this series, there are lots of twists and turns, and the secrets of the past slowly come to light. I loved seeing the hints laid in the first two books, many of which just read as incidental lines at the time, pay off. So much has been set up since the first book, in a very subtle way, and seeing it all come together was such a rewarding experience.

It's hard to say much without spoilers, but I downed this book VERY fast, wanting to know how it all ended, how the characters survived - and who would die. Rannier is a very impressive and terrifying villain, given her capabilities, origin story, and what she can do not only to the human characters, but the AI ship Bero.

Also Tomas is back with Sanda and they have a lot to work out, both together and about themselves personally. After his part of the story went dark at the end of CHAOS VECTOR, I was hoping he'd be much more integral this time and yes he was. Particularly after the reveal about him at the end of the previous book, which he had to work through.

Yes, Jules is still my least favourite character, because she still feels very unconnected and important to the main plot for much of the book. She was at least important for the ending, so it did come together But, yeah, at least I was consistent with who I didn't enjoy as much as was hoping to get to the end of her chapters because my little quirk of wanting everyone to be deeply and continually linked to the character I deem the main (Sanda in this case) continues!

The ending was interesting. I can completely see why the final few chapters happened, but me being me (a secret lover of tragedy) I felt that it did undo a bit of the emotional resonance of the previous chapters (the Tomas-Vladsen scene was one of my favourites in the whole book - a shocking amount of character depth and growth and healing in one.) However, the tone of the very final page pulled back to focus on the toll and loss, which felt very appropriate and poignant to end it not as a big victory but with that tragic element at the fore.

Megan O’Keefe’s motto for the third and final book of her Protectorate series, Catalyst Gate, seems to be “go big or go home”. She goes big and she delivers. O’Keefe’s contained and effective debut Velocity Weapon exploded outwards into a much larger and more complex universe in Chaos Vector but left plenty of questions and allegiances hanging. Catalyst Gate does its best to answer those questions (after posing some new ones), unmask various traitors or verify the goodness of some allies, and all within a page-turning, do-or-die plot. Being the final book in a trilogy this review may contain spoilers for the first two volumes. If you love space opera and don’t want to be spoiled, go back and read those first.
Catalyst Gate starts in the aftermath of Chaos Vector. Once again, there is no prelude or recap, readers are thrown into the action. And that action is once again split across three main characters. Sanda Greeve and her team of misfits aboard the intelligent space ship The Light pick up Nazca spy Tomas who has big secrets to reveal but can possibly help them in their fight against the alien Rainier; her brother Biran is trying to weed out Rainier clones from his ranks while also leading a critical mission but finds that Rainier’s conspiracy goes deeper than he imagined possible; and Jules is trying to make amends for launching a biological weapon that has brought an entire planet to its knees. The three stories will wind around each other, dropping both life-changing and galaxy-changing revelations along the way to resolution.
There is a lot going on here but O’Keefe keeps a handle on it all, using her three-focus structure to set up a bunch of cliffhangers for her characters. The action is once again well handled but also balanced against great character work. Sanda herself is the same kick-arse, punch first ask questions later, risk taking hero she has ever been but increasingly desperate as time and options run out. Her team may have felt like they originally came out of science fiction found-family casting in Chaos Vector (the doctor, the tech-head, the ex-soldier, the spy with a heart of gold) but all emerge further from any thought of typecasting.
Catalyst Gate is as good an end to this trilogy as fans could hope for. O’Keefe asnwers more questions about her universe and resolves the main mysteries but leaves plenty of uncertainty for the future. Whether or not O’Keefe ever returns to the universe of The Protectorate it is just exciting to wonder what she might deliver next.

There’s a lot of things that makes this series great, but what stands out most is its balancing act. I usually prefer a character-first story, with the plot and world-building backing that up. Megan O’Keefe has hit the sweet spot with Catalyst Gate – and the entire Protectorate trilogy, really – by delivering equal amounts of awesome characters, ‘holy-shit!’ plot reveals, and ‘whooooaaa, coooolll’ events that ultimately brings this space opera into blockbuster territory.

Commander Sanda Greeve, her sundry crew of universal misfits and her AI friend Bero are back on board The Light with the sole purpose of bringing down Rainier, the alien tech/human hybrid bent on humanity’s destruction. Sanda’s brother Biran, now vaulted into a powerful leadership position within the High Protectorate, is trying to root out Rainier’s evil from within the populace, while tracing these events back to the source. Tomas the former spy is struggling to find direction with his new-found, unshackled identity, but is still driven by emotions from which he cannot escape. And Jules Valentine – well, Jules being Jules, single-minded as ever – “easy to lose everything you love, when you’ve only ever loved one thing” – continues to be the universal wild card, a bent cog in the machine that could save or destroy everything. Usually both. Always both.

There’s a lot going on. And there’s a lot of ends to tie up. Plot-wise, the end of the story is incredibly exciting, with some hugely satisfying developments in its final acts. There’s a bomb-drop that’s been slowly percolating since book one that finally rears its head, and it is awesome. The major characters finish their arcs in compelling fashion, and the universe is much different than how it started. However, I was hoping to see some more A to B development from the supporting cast. Although we spent time with some great supporting characters, like those on The Light and one or two in the Protectorate – they weren’t given much room to grow. It might be asking too much from a book with so much space dedicated to several POVs, but I found myself wondering if Nox, Arden, and even Bero changed much from the beginning to the end of their arcs.

Catalyst Gate ends a trilogy that I gave high marks to across the board. I really loved this story. O’Keefe’s writing moves at a blistering pace. There’s a protagonist with disability, several LGBTQ+ relationships, and traumatic challenges to overcome. Wild ideas, cool tech, wonderful representation, and suspenseful as hell -- an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a grand adventure in the stars.

9.0 / 10

So, let's talk about Catalyst Gate. It’s the conclusion of Megan O’Keefe’s absolutely cracking Protectorate space opera series. I’ve had a great time in the universe of the Protectorate, with its twists and turns, deep secrets and complex characterisation. And this book, this book raises the already very high bar.

If you’re one for worldbuilding, you’ve come to the right place. O’Keefe expands her intricate, intriguing space, filled with mysteries and old atrocities. What was once a universe defined by the gates one uses to get from place to place the lines of travel, is blown open, in terms of both geography and history. The space we see here is something new, unexplored, in both the physical and temporal case.And each piece of the universe is part of the puzzle, each interlocking part helping to reveal a greater whole, while revelling in its own details of wonder and terror. O’Keefe gives us a humanity which has reached out to the stars. But a humanity whose old wounds and old grudges are part of what defines them. And that’s true too, of the force we see moving against them. Rainier, the creature-that-was-an-AI, is also a fish swimming in a sea of missing gods. Because this is a universe which was not always ours. And even those parts that were, the world we came from, the cradle of us all, hides its own secrets. This is a universe filled with deep secrets, deep magic, wonder, and hidden blades. It’s a universe which has space for something other than us in it, and one where the fire of humanity can both gutter and inspire. I won’t spoil it (and that’s going to be a theme of this review), but there’s revelations about the setting which turn everything up to now on its head (again), and make you rethink everything you’ve read. And it’s still a vivid, beautiful, bloody, unknowable universe.

The people share a depth and emotion with the world. They have a resonance, a humanity which you can feel in your bones. And Rainier, the not-exactly-AI, is something else. A broken horror in borrowed clothes, straining against a leash. Both the people and the Other are whole, and real. Not always nice, no not at all. Not always charming, no, not at all. But filled with passionate intensity and love and comfort, and revenge and horror and everything that makes us feel that we’re something other than vehicles for our impulses. These characters, two books in, you can feel their moods. You can understand what you think their goals to be. You can try to understand the rest, to see the cloaked motives of masked truths. But, to be a bit less poetic about it, you’ll do it because the people on the page will grab hold of you, take you by the hand and make you care about them - from the wounded, vicious AI to the troubled survivor of a planetary slum, and from there to the family of fathers and siblings, deep in their affection and unflinching in their duty. They’re people. And because they’re people, you’ll care about them. Live with them, die with them, cry and laugh and love and live alongside them, as this chapter of their life, as this series, draws to a close. And they’re characters that capture the intimacy and beauty of humanity, as well as our stupidity and cruelty, and the alien and the unknowable that shifts outside our experience is drawn onto the page with skill and wonder in equal measure.

I don’t want to be this vague, I don’t, but this book. This book is willing to turn on a dime and smash your expectations, of people, places and events. I dare not plumb the depths in case I give something away. Because the plot is a thing of joy. A precision work of narrative. It works. It compels your attention, it refuses to let you stop reading. Each word in a sentence in a page in a chapter carries meaning and truth and moments where you just want to express your surprise, loudly. I, personally, used expletives. You’re probably reading this coming off the revelations from the first two books in the series. I can promise you that they are easily overshadowed by things here. And on a narrative level, the story is compelling, intriguing and perfectly paced; a page turner which will keep you reading long, long into the night. And, if you’re wondering: yes. The ending is a wonder. It’s cathartic and smart and warm and, well, exactly what the series needed. This book is the series ending we deserve, the ending we needed, and it’s brilliant. Go pick it up, right now.