An intense and weird sci-fi psychological thriller that takes you beyond death and into the stars. I really have to process how I feel, or maybe I don’t …

I expected dark, scary environments combined with interesting AI from the blurb and cover - hey, I’m a sucker for a good cover, what can I say? Colossus delivered on both.

Clay, a disgraced former economics professor, finds himself hurtling through space aboard the vessel Child in the Dark after his girlfriend takes Dying Wish, a drug that reveals everything, everywhere right before killing you. He’s awakened before the rest of the crew - but before long, the ship starts to malfunction, and he is joined by others before their anticipated arrival. And why are they on this ship, again?

The sci-fi environments were vividly described and terrifying to explore with main character Clay. It felt cold and alien exploring Child in the Dark. Flashbacks to Clay’s past didn’t have that same chill of space to them, but they helped to propel the story and gave me time to start putting the puzzle at the center of this book together. The second act of the book is a deep dive into the workings of this universe, but after the fast-paced first act, it took a bit of adjustment to the slower speed here. Stick with it - it starts to come together before long. I would have loved a little more delving into the mechanics of this universe, but overall the story was cohesive and enjoyable. I found my hunches about the book to be right about as often as they were wrong, and it was fun to see some expected tropes foiled.

Science fiction sometimes suffers from unrealistic dialog, but I found the dry humor of this book to be just my speed. I found myself chuckling several times at the behavior of the under-pressure crew and the AIs.

Overall, an enjoyable SF/Horror read, though I thought it leaned more sci fi than horror. If you’re reading for that ongoing sense of foreboding and enjoy being in the dark while you scramble to piece the story together, this is a great pick.

I don't usually read Sci-Fi but if all are written as well as this i will def read more of the genre.

The book has all the things in this novel - deep space, self aware als, fringe science. This was written to where it kept me engaged and not wanting the story to end. The characters are easy to follow for someone that doesnt read alot of Sci Fi so that is a plus.

i was so glad it was very easy to follow.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for a review!

this book took me a hot minute to read just because of how much stuff was going on---science, quantum physics, guys stuck on a ship---but i think i understood most of it in the end!. the prevailing sentiment of reviewers seems to be a dislike of the estaban section, wishing for more of the clay sections, but I actually disagree. i think the esteban section was the most interesting just because it explained things, and even though the science was obviously impossible the lines of reasoning seemed real and understandable. the first and last thirds of the book were distinctly within the thriller genre, while esteban's segment was very very sci fi :)

don't get me wrong, i didn't LIKE esteban (its pretty hard to like anyone a lot in this book, they all have their bad sides and good sides) but the ent team was fascinating to me all around. and also oberon was very scary at the end but i liked his narration it was goofy

fun science fiction thriller that i wish had more science because the science that WAS there was really really awesome!

'Colossus' starts in a way that immediately drags you into the story. Clay’s waking up on a space ship, far away from Earth. While he’s trying to figure out his whereabouts, the story gets intertwined with flashbacks from around 100 years before (close to our current time), it’s all working very well together to keep the reader’s attention. It’s not the first book I read in which someone wakes up like this, on a far away starship, seemingly all alone, but the story line is laid out nicely and kept me curious. Clay’s presence on the ship is one part of the story, the Dying Wish drug is another one. Both parts of the story are mysterious enough to keep a reader’s attention, and descriptive parts and dialogue are all well written. Justine, the ship’s AI, has a nice sense of humour on top of that.

In no time the first of three parts is over. Starting from the second part, the pace drops. The second part is one big flashback which basically explains a lot of things. Was the extensive explanation needed for the story? I don’t know. Some of it certainly, but maybe it was a little bit too much. I found myself bored at times here.

Last part, with the reader now knowing much of what there is to know, and we are back on the ship. We have a totally different understanding of what has happened and what is happening, and it is clear now that the author has done a good job stretching the possibilities of story telling in an environment full of multiverses, quantum mechanics and AIs. Although the third part was weird and chaotic at times, and drags on a little bit, it explored and incorporated several interesting ideas and seemed to go towards a certain (expected) ending. But it’s a bumpy road and it remains unclear for a long time whether the protagonists will eventually get where they want to be. It's nice that the tension is kept until the end.

I still don’t know what to make of the end though. I don’t even know if I understand it. The physics used in the book is clear to me, but I failed to form a solid idea of how the story actually ends. I don’t like fuzzy or open endings. In this case I don’t even know which of these two types of ending it is. Bummer. 3.5 stars.

(Thank you Netgalley and publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Mind boggling. While I was reading this I was enthralled. There are so many little details that pieced the everything together so well. At no point did I know where this story was taking me but I enjoyed the journey. There were parts that were terrifying, others that were intriguing, and I never wanted to put the book down.

Clay West is a professor of economic at the University of Texas. His girlfriend, Karla, one of his students (ick) becomes enthralled with and then takes Dying Wish, a medication which allegedly reveals the nature of the universe right before it kills you. Clay is devastated once Karla dies and he joins a space mission to get answers. This turns out to be a bad move.

On the ship Child in the Dark Clay’s deep space sleep port malfunctions and he awakes years too early, as do Susan John’s, Father K, Eric Farmer and Mirabel LaFlemme. The rest of the crew, including everyone with real information doesn’t make it. So they, along with AI Justine are left to puzzle it all out. But are they really alone?

This all sounds really promising, doesn’t it? However, this is only a small portion of the beginning of the book. Then there’s a big break and the story turns to quantum mechanics and the scientists who love it. Then back to Clay. It’s all very meta. And confusing. And it was a real struggle for me, and I didn’t care at all about any of the characters, so it was hard to invest. This was a miss for me.

I'd like to thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the eArc received in exchange for an honest review.

That said - this book was fantastic! I love grand scale SciFi and having just finished the Three Body Problem I needed something similar in quality to follow up - Leslie didn't disappoint.
Colossus has all the tropes I love: a journey to deep space, true self-aware AIs and the moral dilemmas they pose (and face), fringe science, and tech that grows out of human control. All told with a seamless prose that kept me engaged all through the story. The characters are well rounded, coherent and believable in all their forms (trust me, this will make sense once you read it).
Lastly, it's important to note too that while the book does explore some complex theories and fringe science it's not overly wordy or complex in a way that alienates the casual reader.
Hope to add this one to my physical shelves very soon :)

(ARC review from NetGalley)

Oh man, I didn't realize I had a real thing for the Sci-Fi trope 'issues with cryo-sleep' (maybe because Passengers wasn't such a great film and it distracted me from liking the trope) but Colossus absolutely brings out the best of this.

The book follow Clay West. A former economics lecturer who for various (spoilery) reasons finds himself volunteering for a long (unbelievably so) term space journey for what has been described as a colonizing mission to create a new society. The book begins as Clay is woken prematurely from a cryo-sleep and is faced with about a dozen moral dilemmas as he tries to figure out a. what to do and b. a seemingly endless amount of mystery about the true purpose of the mission.

As the story progresses we learn more about Clay's backstory, Part I dances between the 'present' and this history in a seamless and well paced narrative. I often get annoyed with badly done backstory but this book does it well! We're also introduced to the complex and controversial drug "Dying Wish" a substance which allegedly brings the most euphoric realizations but is always fatal.

If you're wondering what a powerful drug has to do with a sci-fi about a very deep space mission, don't worry - as Part I comes to an end the rabbit hole of concepts grows ever deeper and crazier and it does not disappoint.

So overall I REALLY liked this book. I love sci-fi that doesn't shy away from really intense concepts but also manages to balance the human angle and good character stories alongside the big picture ideas.

My only beef is that Part II where the book takes us away from MC Clay for quite a while to explore the background of the more technical stuff - I recon it could have been 1/2 the length and still captured the vital parts of the story, Part II felt like a real slowing of the pace of this awesome novel and while it was worth getting through it, the section dragged a little.

As this is an advance review I'll avoid a deep dive into the concepts - but I anticipate coming back to this after release to see others interpretations and explanations, its definitely the sort of book that will generate a lot of analysis!

I got this book from Netgalley.. And the thoughts I've shared here is completely my own.

I rarely read science fiction, once or twice a year and this was the first one. Ryan, you literally blew my mind. Even when I was working I'd be eager to read it.

Part 1: Clay was our usual hero. I actually liked the fact that by the end of Part 1 he decided to go into the TET because he had had enough. Justine is my favorite. She is a good AI and loved how she was loyal to Clay. Never liked Eric and Susan. I felt bad for father K. And Mirable was strong. The last part where Justine said in a muffled voice was sad.

Part 2: This one was taken from Esteban's journal. We read about Lisa, Gabriel, Julian and Esteban. I believe that this was required. We needed more background info. I liked the Shakespeare, Harry Potter the most here. Project Oberon was an interesting read. Well, in between the past we get back to present on the child in the dark as well but it is terrifying to read. Here, my fav ch was ch 27, the video transcript.

Part 3: Clay is back, we see Justine in her interface. Justine tries to explain how, what was it. So initially clay and Justine are dead, they now clay-many and Justine-many. Disheartening to read but interesting. He sees Karla again. Justine saves him and they are on their way to Colossus. When Esteban came back, I guess it was obvious that he wanted to be a human again. Well, Susan's death is horrific. Clay is really smart. Because as u read towards the end you'll get a better clarity on it! Esteban as demon was just wow! Father K really gave the priestly vibes in here. The end, was just... I don't have exact words but yes it made me want more.. So many things happen here. I liked the epilogue too.

The most shocking thing for me is towards the end when Karla says that Esteban protected her and tried to send her back to Clay.

The nano plague was terrifying and I hate spiders.

This part is crazy.. I liked the references made of Airavat and Indra, savitri and satyavan.

Tip: Give it a read but read it slowly, don't rush or just skim through it. Every single sentence is important.

I love horror/sci-fi blends, and the synopsis was right up my alley. There were some moments I was creeped out and others where I was flipping through pages wondering what will happen next. However, I didn’t care for any of the characters. I never found myself rooting for them or hoping no harm came to them. The footnotes surprise in the middle was unwelcome and honestly, I didn’t bother with them. There were also times when the dialogue between multiple characters felt written by a middle grader.
Overall, I think this author has fantastic ideas for unique stories I haven’t seen yet. I would definitely try another book by him in the future.

I won’t even begin to pretend that I understood much of the science in this book. It’s never been my best subject and I’ve never even taken a physics course. And this is a VERY science-y book.

However, I absolutely adored it. While the sci fi goes fairly hard at times, Leslie does a great job of putting it into words that make it obtainable for a non-science person such as myself. The book itself is pretty wild but the story is more of a slow burn. I was absolutely invested but did struggle a bit with part 2. Lisa was a super strange but very lovable character. I enjoyed Clay, Father K and Justine as well.

While the sci fi aspect was difficult at times, the themes in this book (converging realities) is something I’ve always loved and as a result I would definitely recommend this book.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Absolutely mind bending!

I don't tend to read a lot of sci-fi but the synopsis caught my attention. And wow! This hard sci-fi book encompasses everything! From cryogenic space travel, AI, and quantum physics; to psychodelic drugs and philosophy, to parallel universes, and beyond! I won't go into the plot because I believe this is the type of novel which is best read going in blind.

Leslie seems to know his science. And it is explained so well that it's easy to comprehend, unlike some other hard sci-fi novels. I could go on and on about this novel as there were so many layers and complexities to it. The only thing I had a little trouble with was the middle of the story when things got a little bit slow, when we're given the backstory, and there were even (cringe) footnotes. However, even though they slowed the story down even more, I thought they ultimately did add to the story.

If you love sci-fi, get this novel!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book legit gave me the creeps, no joke. I was reading it, and I couldn't put it down, but at the same time, I was lowkey terrified. The way the author set up the scenes and messed with your head, it was like a rollercoaster of suspense. Every time I turned a page, I was like, "What's gonna happen now?"

There were these moments that caught me off guard, and I was just sitting there, wide-eyed, thinking, "Did that really just happen?" It's like they took all the things that give you the heebie-jeebies and cranked it up to the max.

The whole vibe of the book was intense, and I swear, I was hearing weird noises in my house while I was reading. It's like the story got under my skin, and I couldn't shake off that feeling of unease. Even after I finished, I was checking the corners of my room before turning off the lights.

No doubt, this book left me on edge. It's like, if you're into getting spooked without a doubt, this is the one.