What do you think?
Rate this book
Pharus Awakens
To the rest of the Solar System, Pharus is an uninhabited planet with a self-sustaining Beacon stationed at each pole. Each Beacon guides traveling ships through the planet’s treacherous gravity and slingshots them deeper into the System. However, at the northern and southern stations, a single keeper lives in isolation, connected to the other only by radio. For fifty years at a time, they enter cryosleep, waking for a single year to tend to and repair their respective Beacons.
After a seemingly normal cryocyle, the southern keeper, Theta, wakes to find her partner’s Beacon has fallen silent, and his cryotube has malfunctioned. She must cross the planet, a perilous and unprecedented journey, confronting past traumas and unearthing hidden secrets buried for centuries in her quest to wake Axis.
Meanwhile, brother and sister Valerius and Valentina crash-land on Pharus in search of their friend, who has been falsely accused of treason by their father, the Chancellor Absolute. As the characters’ paths cross, they form a tentative truce and journey across the planet. But all is not as it seems on Pharus. Beliefs are challenged, foundations are shaken, and it seems the planet itself is designed to thwart them at every turn.
What secrets lie beneath the planet’s surface? What dangers lurk at the top? And what is that creeping feeling of impending dread crawling up the spine that none of them can seem to shake?
After a seemingly normal cryocyle, the southern keeper, Theta, wakes to find her partner’s Beacon has fallen silent, and his cryotube has malfunctioned. She must cross the planet, a perilous and unprecedented journey, confronting past traumas and unearthing hidden secrets buried for centuries in her quest to wake Axis.
Meanwhile, brother and sister Valerius and Valentina crash-land on Pharus in search of their friend, who has been falsely accused of treason by their father, the Chancellor Absolute. As the characters’ paths cross, they form a tentative truce and journey across the planet. But all is not as it seems on Pharus. Beliefs are challenged, foundations are shaken, and it seems the planet itself is designed to thwart them at every turn.
What secrets lie beneath the planet’s surface? What dangers lurk at the top? And what is that creeping feeling of impending dread crawling up the spine that none of them can seem to shake?
438 pages, Paperback
Published June 24, 2025
2 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Arden Mackensie
3 books4 followersHi, I'm Arden Mackensie! Florida native, copy editor, voracious reader, and lover of all things creative. In addition, I am a self-proclaimed beverage goblin and practical cinematic effects apologist. Also, I write books sometimes.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 16, 2025
The world-building is totally immersive! I started this book expecting it to be a run-of-the-mill sci-fi novel with vague, difficult to understand technology but I was so impressed by the way the world building feels natural and the technology is enough to feel real without being overwhelming. The characters are interesting and feel very human while still being likable (or straight up detestable for the villains). A few twists, mysteries, and thriller moments make it difficult to put down. Overall, I was very happily surprised and thoroughly enjoyed it! Now go read it!
July 14, 2025
ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED!!!! I’m not usually a sci-fi reader, but Pharus Awakens pulled me in from page one. The world-building is extremely detailed without being overwhelming, and really sucks you into the lives of all of the characters. I couldn’t stop reading. Can’t wait for the next book!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews