Chad Lester’s “Titan’s Tears” is a mind-bending thrill ride that will leave you equal parts dazzled and deeply unsettled. Set in a near-future Alaska where human augmentation and robotic labor are the norm, Lester crafts a world both eerily familiar and terrifyingly advanced.

The beauty of “Titan’s Tears” lies in its slow-burn approach. We follow three seemingly unconnected characters: a disillusioned slaughterhouse worker, a brilliant but ostracized scientist, and a nanny grappling with a strange protege child. As the story unfolds, Lester masterfully weaves their narratives together, building a sense of unease that creeps up on you like a rogue AI in the night.

The real chills begin when hints of a superintelligence lurking behind the scenes start to emergehinting at the potential dangers of unchecked technology, making you question the convenience of a world where robots do your bidding and spare organs can be 3D printed. Buckle up, because as the plot threads converge with a series of well-placed twists, you’ll find yourself rethinking your morning commute in a self-driving car.

“Titan’s Tears” isn’t just a thrilling sci-fi adventure; it’s a stark warning about the potential pitfalls of progress. By the time you reach the climax, you’ll be both exhilarated and terrified, a testament to the power of this novel. “Titan’s Tears” is a dystopian sci-fi tale that will stay with you long after the final page.

This book was a little slow at first but then once the story got started I was hooked. I loved it and would recommend reading

I’m afraid I wasn’t able to finish this ARC - I managed about 10%, but I found it really underwhelming. It just seemed to be trying to do too many things at once; I couldn’t place the story in a time or setting I understood and I eventually lost patience with the number of times I read ‘she found herself in…’.

I struggled with this novel though liked the premise. However, though well written I failed to finish. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Bella is a nanny but can’t get a job. She seems a bit lost and feeling like she is missing something. Stuck in a town that’s isolated and in what feels like a dead end life. She wants something more. Out of nowhere, Belle gets an offer she thinks is too good to be true.

Seth is good at his job, but the machines are taking over. So he tries his hand at another job, which he becomes more than proficient at. Unfortunately the machines have progressed again and he looses his job again. He has huge loss in his life and a diagnosis that he only has months to live. He becomes disillusioned with everything and resigned to his fate. Until he gets an offer he can’t refuse.

Billionaire Sophia is the figurehead of her company, a scientist, a recluse and she lives on a secluded island with her secret daughter at her research facility. Are Sophia’s experiments ethical? Is her science the future or the downfall?

This book has so many twists, turns and ‘I didn’t see that coming’ moments.
I found this book very hard to put down!

It also makes you question, ‘Is AI a good or bad thing?’

I will be looking out for more Chad Lester novels.

#TitansTears #NetGalley

Oh my goodness. What a ride! I had no idea that this was going to be an exhilarating dystopian story that’s just on the right side of plausible. The setting; remote and I inviting, just off the Alaskan coast. That’s creepy for starters. The central characters; Belle, charged with murder, a slaughterhouse worker and Sophie, a troubled scientist. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot it seems. The story around these three characters is so carefully plotted and builds bit by bit after a relatively slow start, I was transfixed and it’s difficult to describe without revealing too much by way of plot, but it’s an engaging exploration of science going potentially mad and the awful consequences. Original, disturbing and I absolutely loved it.

I received a free copy from Netgalley to review, below is the blurb
"Just when Belle had thought her life couldn’t get any weirder, she finds herself arrested for murder. Only a few months ago, she was living in a peculiar village, cut off from civilization, where she suffered from bizarre hallucinations and nightmares. Then she received a mysterious invitation to work for the world’s most brilliant scientist—the enigmatic Sophia Eccleston. The pay was outstanding. The accommodations, second to none. The catch? Belle had to live on isolated island and follow strict, often bizarre security protocols.

Meanwhile a slaughterhouse worker is declared obsolete, replaced by machines, and becomes a bearded recluse. As he sits in his crumbling manor awaiting the cancer to take him, he too receives an unusual invitation to the strange island, where either his salvation or damnation awaits.

Things aren’t going well for Sophia, either. She’s facing the hostile takeover of her life’s work—her company—all while striving to keep the true identity of her eight-year-old daughter a secret. The three will meet on an isle where murder-machines and transgenic creatures run amok, in a gothic odyssey of technology unleashed."

I really enjoyed reading this book. I love reading stories where different characters tell their story that seem unrelated but eventually come together, and this definitely was one of these. A fascinating take on a popular theme at the moment on where AI might be taking us. I felt invested in all the characters in this novel especially Seth. A great read, however the ending did not feel as strong as the rest if the story. Having said that, I have been recommending it to friends as a great book.

This was a DNF for me I'm afraid. I tried to give it the best chance possible but it was so choppily written with characters I just couldn't connect to, and dialogue frequently became monologues on what I can only assume are the authors thoughts on AI, automation, and capitalism. I'm not opposed to a polemic-style novel- sometimes they can even be great- but they have to be better executed than this.

Now this was a really interesting story, a woman in nowhere’s ville Alaska becomes the nanny to one of the most powerful and richest woman on the planet to look after her daughter and that’s when things start to look a little odd. Why her?? This near ish future shows us the potential dangers of AI. One thing that I wasn’t to sure on was the way Belle, the nanny, was quite vocal with Sophia the scientist about how she should look after the child. But all in a exciting page turner with a nice twist.

Such an intriguing book - and a subject matter that is so apt right now. I am sure that there will be lots more in this genre.

With what feels like two entirely separate storylines, Titan's Tears doesn't feel all that far into the future anymore with daily updates on AI advancements in the real world. 

Chad Lester does a brilliant job of describing the futuristic world inhabited by Sophia and her wonderful inventions, while at the same time bringing the day to day drudgery of Seth's world to life. Lots to think about in Seth's world, with the sobering depiction of humans being continually replaced in the workforce.

I loved all the animals and species that were un-endangered and think this would work really well on Netflix.

WOW I really enjoyed Titan's Tears by Chad Lester it was my first time reading a book by this author. This is a sci-fi thriller which made me think that this content could well be the future outcome for ourselves and is actually happening in some parts of the world as we speak.

The story begins with an unmarried Mother Sophia placing her baby daughter into a convent as she wanted to further her career aspects and it would be feasible if she was single and without commitments.

This was a time when a third of the population were human and the rest android/bots. Sophia became the CEO of her own company called Eccleston Evolution where she has created the Dream Maker/Darwinisim.

Seth is an employee who worked in a warehouse and later a slaughter house to provide for his family Anna and baby girl Joan. Nobody warned the employees that they would be working with hazardous material and a lot left or went off sick and some tried to warn Seth not to work there but to no avail as he wanted to make a better life for Anna and Joan no matter what it cost.

Belle who was adopted from a convent by a couple who loved l her ike she was their own flesh and blood. Belle became a Nanny to disabled children but wanted badly to leave the village she lived in as life was so monotonous as the majority of the villagers were not socialble and she felt like she was being watched.

One day out of the blue Belle gets an invitation to leave the village and work for an inventor, Sophia as a Nanny to Juno who is her daughter.

Belle remembers her adoptive parents telling her "Love is blood sweat, and tears and it's both an agony and the highest form of beauty.

Parts of this sci fi reminded me of Jurassic Park and is jam packed with plenty of chases, danger, murder and also a beautiful love story.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for this arc.

I love a dystopian novel and this one did not disappoint! At the beginning I didn’t quite connect but as I read more I then did and couldn’t put it down. The story focuses on four characters through three POVs a set in rural Alaska. There are twists and turns throughout, some I predicted but some I did not. A very gripping sci-fi dystopian novel I would recommend to many!

Sophia is not only the cleverest person in the world, Nobel prizewinner for the unifying theory, but also CEO of the worlds biggest, most innovative tech company. Belle is a disorientated outcast in a remote village who, out of the blue, receives a job offer she can't refuse - nanny to Juno, the blind daughter of Sophia.. She has to live in the tech company citadel, under the tightest security. Unbeknown to her there is a move afoot to dislodge Sophia from the head of the company. A drama is about to erupt. Its an action packed thriller set in a post Jurassic park swarming with deextinctioned beasts and forces Belle never could have imagined. Its a struggle between good and evil and the only thing Belle has to offer is that she loves Juno and will doo anything and everything to protect her..

Titan's Tears is a futuristic tale of how far some people are willing to go to push the boundaries of science and what it means to be human. Is AI evil, or is it humankind?

The book follows Belle, who is an orphan but has limited memories of her past. She is offered the job opportunity of a lifetime, acting as a nanny to Juno. The daughter of the worlds most powerful and rich women, Sophia Eccleston. This makes no sense to Belle as she has not applied for the job, nor does she have any particular experience that would set her up for such an opportunity. It all seems too good to be true.

Alongside Belle's story, we get Seth's. Seth's story starts 25 years in the past and then quickly catches up to the current events. Both stories intertwine in a cat and mouse chase where it is unclear just whose side you need to be on.

I really enjoyed this book. Yes, some aspects are far-fetched, but it is science fiction, not reality, so I am happy to suspend belief! I liked the different viewpoints, and they way it all came together and made sense at the end. The story kept me engaged, and I wanted to know what was going to happen. I will definitely look out for more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author Chad Lester for providing an ARC copy for an honest review.

Sci-fi allows an author to make up rules (as long as they're plausible) and take you anywhere. I quickly got into this futuristic Alaska and the characters were well written. There are twists and turns to keep you guessing and there's a satisfying ending. Well done Mr Lester.

I thank the author, Publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy of this book in return for a fair review.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, albeit that it required a massive suspension of disbelief as it neared its conclusion. It is a mixture of fantasy, science-fiction and mystery. I cannot say too much about the plot in order to avoid spoilers. The set-up is excellent introducing the reader to two of the main characters but giving us no clues as to their linkages and then throwing in a “mad scientist “. There are lots of twists and turns and the characters are well drawn to engage our empathy. I look forward to more books by this writer.

This was such a great read. The twists had me confused right to the end and loved that it was set around so much unknown still in the world and the possibilities of what science can achieve.
Would recommend to all my friends

This is a dystopian future novel, covering topics of biomedical advances and artificial intelligence. It is narrated by a tech CEO, her daughter, a nanny and a gig-economy worker. It looks at the impact of technology on people in general and the god-complex attitudes of those creating the technology, all folded together in a mystery to be solved.

a read that starts off a little slow, but pays off in the end with a satisfying ending and a well-integrated story. it’s an interesting look into the future of a world heavily reliant on technology and with the recent rise of ai, it gives you a lot to think about. sci fi isn’t my usual genre even though i’m up for it if the premise looks interesting, and i’m happy this delivered. thank you for the arc!

Hang in there - this starts slowly, but it is worth the weight. Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.