Ocean's Echo

June 1, 2022

In the universe of Maxwell's LJ-starred, Alex-winning Winter's Orbit, man-about-town Tennal is a neuromodified mind reader shadily conscripted into the military and assigned to Lt. Surit Yeni, who can influence minds. Too principled to obey illegal orders to control Tennal, Surit instead plots with him to fake a sync bond and help him escape. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

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Starred review from August 15, 2022
Helming this brilliant and decisively modern space opera from Maxwell (Winter’s Orbit) is charming rogue Tennalhin “Tennal” Halkana, who can read minds and makes that everyone else’s problem—until his powerful aunt forces him into the military as punishment for using his powers illegally. The military uses Readers to navigate “chaotic space,” and it has a solution for Readers who rebel: a “sync,” or permanent mental bond with an Architect, people with the power to control others’ minds. Faultlessly dutiful Surit Yeni, the son of a legendary traitor, is handpicked to sync with Tennal and with him take a salvage crew into chaotic space, searching for an abandoned station. But when Surit learns that Tennal is an unwilling civilian, he instead agrees to help Tennal escape—just as soon as they get through the mission. To do so, they must pretend the sync was successful. This is hard enough—but then it turns out that the wreck they’re salvaging is where Surit’s mother blew herself up, and what they discover inside reveals the true, awful source of Reader and Architect powers and plunges the sector into a bloody coup. With this outing, Maxwell incisively challenges military and alien artifact SF and digs into the uncomfortable core of these tropes. The queernorm world and heart-tugging slow-burn romance between the leads only enhances the experience. This earns a space on shelves alongside the very best of the genre.

Starred review from September 1, 2022

Tennalhin Halkana is a reader: one who can read people's minds and navigate the chaotic space around the gateways to the full universe. When his exploits become too much for his aunt, Tennal is conscripted into the military and prepped to sync with an "architect," who will be able to influence and control him. A sync merges the reader's and architect's minds, and neither Tennal nor Lieutenant Surit Yeni, the architect chosen, want this to happen. So they pretend to sync in order to finish their job of a salvage retrieval, get Surit's promised promotion, and find a way for Tennal to escape. When the salvage reveals not only a powerful treasure that could bring about a war, but the truth behind the traitorous legacy of Surit's mother, the two realize they may have to complete the sync to save themselves from the military--and save their world. VERDICT This stand-alone set in the same universe as Winter's Orbit is an exciting, fast-paced sci-fi adventure with great worldbuilding and complex characters. Fans of Jessie Mihalik and J. S. Dewes will enjoy.--Kristi Chadwick

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2022
Maxwell's latest is queer romantic sf and a truly original story. It is also a triumphant return to the same universe as her best-selling debut, Winter's Orbit (2021), though this novel stands alone. It follows the growing bond between privileged and self-sabotaging Tennalhin Halkana and by-the-book Lieutenant Surit Yeni. Tennal has run away from military service for his entire life, only to be conscripted after embarrassing his powerful family one too many times. Tennal is ordered to sync with Surit because both men are neuromodifed--Tennalhin is a "reader" who can not only read minds but can navigate chaotic space, and Surit is an "architect" who can mentally force others to follow his directives. Syncing is a way for a powerful architect to bring a dangerous reader in line. But such control comes at a great cost--once synced, the bonded pair must stay within proximity of each other forever or face certain death. When Surit learns Tennal is being forced into the sync, he may rebel against an order for the first time in his life. Writing fantastically memorable characters, Maxwell masterfully draws out a rich and complicated story which explores military incursions, familial ties, and the impact of secrets revealed.

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