What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sleeping Gods #2
Erebus
“You’re going to learn a thing or two about space-time. Probably more than you ever wanted to know.”
Humanity has tamed the worlds of Sol and taken the first, tentative steps to the stars. It’s an age of peace and prosperity. For most.
In a country long since abandoned to its own devices, Inspector Layton Trent is investigating the massacre of fifteen people when an event occurs in Jupiter space.
The sparsely populated moon, Io, is destroyed in a terrorist attack. Hundreds are dead in the cataclysmic explosion. Thousands become refugees as the shattered remnants of the moon threaten the Jupiter Alliance. Billions throughout the Solar System are wondering, Where next?
Those responsible must be found and brought to justice. The explorer ship, Erebus, is reassigned from its mission and sent to Jupiter to investigate this atrocity with Trent’s international team onboard.
Their enemy is lethal, elusive, with access to vast resources and advanced technology. So begins a hunt across space and time that will take Trent from the burning deserts of Africa to the cosmopolitan space cities of the Jupiter Alliance. From the heart of civilization to the very frontiers of human space and far beyond.
And what Trent discovers, amongst the relics of the alien Sleeping Gods, will change humanity’s place in the universe forever.
a Sleeping Gods novel from the author of the Amazon best-seller, Endeavour.
Humanity has tamed the worlds of Sol and taken the first, tentative steps to the stars. It’s an age of peace and prosperity. For most.
In a country long since abandoned to its own devices, Inspector Layton Trent is investigating the massacre of fifteen people when an event occurs in Jupiter space.
The sparsely populated moon, Io, is destroyed in a terrorist attack. Hundreds are dead in the cataclysmic explosion. Thousands become refugees as the shattered remnants of the moon threaten the Jupiter Alliance. Billions throughout the Solar System are wondering, Where next?
Those responsible must be found and brought to justice. The explorer ship, Erebus, is reassigned from its mission and sent to Jupiter to investigate this atrocity with Trent’s international team onboard.
Their enemy is lethal, elusive, with access to vast resources and advanced technology. So begins a hunt across space and time that will take Trent from the burning deserts of Africa to the cosmopolitan space cities of the Jupiter Alliance. From the heart of civilization to the very frontiers of human space and far beyond.
And what Trent discovers, amongst the relics of the alien Sleeping Gods, will change humanity’s place in the universe forever.
a Sleeping Gods novel from the author of the Amazon best-seller, Endeavour.
347 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 4, 2016
125 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 16, 2016
Really good sci-fi and a great story
I rarely write reviews but this author has impressed the hell out of me. I've been reading science fiction for 35 years and I'd place Mr. Kern in the top 5% of anyone I've read in that time. Interesting characters, a well thought out story, and the "I can't wait for the next one" feeling at the end.
Get busy Mr Kern, we are all waiting!
I rarely write reviews but this author has impressed the hell out of me. I've been reading science fiction for 35 years and I'd place Mr. Kern in the top 5% of anyone I've read in that time. Interesting characters, a well thought out story, and the "I can't wait for the next one" feeling at the end.
Get busy Mr Kern, we are all waiting!
May 19, 2016
Need more !!!
Thoroughly enjoying the sleeping God's books and I can't wait for more I need to find out how so many things have turned out talk about leaving people hanging
Thoroughly enjoying the sleeping God's books and I can't wait for more I need to find out how so many things have turned out talk about leaving people hanging
July 29, 2016
This is my second book by Ralph Kearn and, sadly, it suffered from exactly the same problems as Endeavour the first in this series and was therefore equally frustrating. The problem is that the story is excellent – interesting and compelling – the delivery, however, is not.
There were pieces of dodgy science (as far as I’m aware the anchor point for a space elevator must be on or very close to a planet’s equator – the Mediterranean on Earth simply wouldn’t work) though less than in Endeavour.
There was some significant padding; the entire first 50 odd pages' sole purpose was to introduce two characters and provide an unnecessary motive. It is not necessary for a policeman to be provided with additional motive to chase a bad guy; a professional dedication to their duty is sufficient. Adding a very dubious sense of revenge for an incredibly indirect death was both implausible and totally unnecessary. The whole of that first section of the book could have easily been dispensed with.
Then there was the editing. This was not technically a self-published offering but the publisher is a very very small publisher who is really catering mainly to authors who would otherwise only self-publish. And to be fair Kearn did bring in an editor (all self-published authors desperately need to do this if they wish to be taken seriously) but I don’t know whether that editor was just working on editing the story rather than proof editing as the latter left much to be desired (as it did in the previous book). Either way Erebus has far too many typos, clumsy phrasing and missing or extra words that made my reading of it a distinctly staccato affair.
This is a terrible shame as a little more effort in polishing his work would result in stories that could stand comfortably alongside many more well-known authors.
I will probably carry on to read more by Kearn but I suspect I will have to grit my teeth to get through to what will probably be very good stories.
[Should you read this Ralph I’d be very willing to give your work a (free) beta read to pick up on this stuff next time around! :)]
There were pieces of dodgy science (as far as I’m aware the anchor point for a space elevator must be on or very close to a planet’s equator – the Mediterranean on Earth simply wouldn’t work) though less than in Endeavour.
There was some significant padding; the entire first 50 odd pages' sole purpose was to introduce two characters and provide an unnecessary motive. It is not necessary for a policeman to be provided with additional motive to chase a bad guy; a professional dedication to their duty is sufficient. Adding a very dubious sense of revenge for an incredibly indirect death was both implausible and totally unnecessary. The whole of that first section of the book could have easily been dispensed with.
Then there was the editing. This was not technically a self-published offering but the publisher is a very very small publisher who is really catering mainly to authors who would otherwise only self-publish. And to be fair Kearn did bring in an editor (all self-published authors desperately need to do this if they wish to be taken seriously) but I don’t know whether that editor was just working on editing the story rather than proof editing as the latter left much to be desired (as it did in the previous book). Either way Erebus has far too many typos, clumsy phrasing and missing or extra words that made my reading of it a distinctly staccato affair.
This is a terrible shame as a little more effort in polishing his work would result in stories that could stand comfortably alongside many more well-known authors.
I will probably carry on to read more by Kearn but I suspect I will have to grit my teeth to get through to what will probably be very good stories.
[Should you read this Ralph I’d be very willing to give your work a (free) beta read to pick up on this stuff next time around! :)]
January 20, 2016
What a great book there mates - very fast read high action with lots of options for follow on books in the series. Best one yet for sure and well organized - I bet Mr. Kerns military Sci Fi will be great but I love the mix reminds me of the Graveyard: The Mutant Files series by William C. Dietz with the police background in the Sci Fi. I recommend this book highly to all who like Science Fiction with lots of action and a good who done it plot running through the mix.
Can not wait for the next, Ralph Kern has a permanent reader here for life. I am not one for long winded reviews but take my word for it this is good stuff hope to see much more over the years, Cheers all
Can not wait for the next, Ralph Kern has a permanent reader here for life. I am not one for long winded reviews but take my word for it this is good stuff hope to see much more over the years, Cheers all
March 19, 2021
Well, it took me awhile to get around to reading this books and I'm not sure why. It is somewhat different than the first book, "Endeavour" which was a really good story, but kind of hard to get your head around. I say that because both of these stories involve time-travel, but not in the sense you think about just hopping back and forth in time. No the first book and this one actually use quantum gates, or stargates, to travel vast distances in space at the speed of light. These stargates can send a ship with it's onboard crew and passengers to another solar system light-years away. So, for those people, it would seem like a blink of an eye, while anyone on Earth would have aged a light-year. In this story the trip would be an eight-light-year distance which would mean those people doing the traveling wouldn't be returning back to Earth for at least sixteen years (eight years going and eight years returning). For those on the starship, that would be like going through a door, turning around and stepping back into what would be 16 years in the future on Earth. So, with that out of the way, let me tell you how this book begins...it's not the way you expected!
Meet Inspector Layton Trent of the Hague War Crimes Investigation division. He's a cop and he and his partner, Jacques Deveraux, is about a very gruesome attack on an innocent hospital by as bunch of thugs who apparently were out for the drugs they could get. But, they certainly didn't have to torch the place and everyone in it as they did. They also had killed a UN peacekeeper and then butchered him to get his implants! This whole crime scene really disturbed Inspector Trent and he knew he and his partner were going to have to follow some pretty small leads to track down whoever had been involved.
So, the beginning of this story is a cop story, not what I'd call a military science fiction story, but don't stop now. Oh, it gets much, much better. While police investigation is very interesting , it can become very deadly. What was obvious in the attack on the hospital, the criminals were going to be very vicious and probably not easy to take down when the time came. And that proved to be the case! Inspector Trent is going to lose someone very close to him and he's now vowing to seek revenge on whomever did this and that meant he would be there at their Hague Tribunal when they were sentenced. Or so he thought!
Something came up during his pursuit of one member of the gang responsible for the hospital massacre. It was partially responsible for what happened to Trent's partner, but that was really just a freak accident of timing. What had happened wasn't even on Earth, but out near Jupiter and specifically with one of it's moon's, Io! Now, we're getting to the meat of this story. See, what happened on Io needs investigating and Inspector Layton Trent is an investigator. But, he certainly didn't expect to be traveling in space. This was so far from his norm that it was hardly conceivable he was even doing it. Yes, of course his investingation it going to take him to and around Jupiter, but then it's actually going to take him much farther than that. You see, when Layton Trent gets on the trail of a serious criminal, he doesn't stop. And in this case, it might never stop or if so, it could be somewhere far, far in the distant future.
I'm not so sure I would have been as dedicated to the job as was Trent! Chasing down a criminal in your own neighborhood is one thing, but following him out to as far as Inspector Trent goes, well, that's not going to happen for me. But, it was very interesting and there certainly is a lot of science fiction going on in this story. I liked it a lot and I'm not a fan of crime stories, but this one is well worth reading. I do hope the author finds someway and has the time to continue with the story-line. I'm not sure where it will lead, but then I'm not the writer!
Meet Inspector Layton Trent of the Hague War Crimes Investigation division. He's a cop and he and his partner, Jacques Deveraux, is about a very gruesome attack on an innocent hospital by as bunch of thugs who apparently were out for the drugs they could get. But, they certainly didn't have to torch the place and everyone in it as they did. They also had killed a UN peacekeeper and then butchered him to get his implants! This whole crime scene really disturbed Inspector Trent and he knew he and his partner were going to have to follow some pretty small leads to track down whoever had been involved.
So, the beginning of this story is a cop story, not what I'd call a military science fiction story, but don't stop now. Oh, it gets much, much better. While police investigation is very interesting , it can become very deadly. What was obvious in the attack on the hospital, the criminals were going to be very vicious and probably not easy to take down when the time came. And that proved to be the case! Inspector Trent is going to lose someone very close to him and he's now vowing to seek revenge on whomever did this and that meant he would be there at their Hague Tribunal when they were sentenced. Or so he thought!
Something came up during his pursuit of one member of the gang responsible for the hospital massacre. It was partially responsible for what happened to Trent's partner, but that was really just a freak accident of timing. What had happened wasn't even on Earth, but out near Jupiter and specifically with one of it's moon's, Io! Now, we're getting to the meat of this story. See, what happened on Io needs investigating and Inspector Layton Trent is an investigator. But, he certainly didn't expect to be traveling in space. This was so far from his norm that it was hardly conceivable he was even doing it. Yes, of course his investingation it going to take him to and around Jupiter, but then it's actually going to take him much farther than that. You see, when Layton Trent gets on the trail of a serious criminal, he doesn't stop. And in this case, it might never stop or if so, it could be somewhere far, far in the distant future.
I'm not so sure I would have been as dedicated to the job as was Trent! Chasing down a criminal in your own neighborhood is one thing, but following him out to as far as Inspector Trent goes, well, that's not going to happen for me. But, it was very interesting and there certainly is a lot of science fiction going on in this story. I liked it a lot and I'm not a fan of crime stories, but this one is well worth reading. I do hope the author finds someway and has the time to continue with the story-line. I'm not sure where it will lead, but then I'm not the writer!
February 7, 2017
Disappointing. In the first book, Endeavor, Kern had exploration, new worlds, and mysterious ancient alien intelligences whose stories I was eager to learn about. In this book, we see a solar-system spanning society of our future, and an exciting, mysterious chase across varied star systems.
And it all ends with evil, genocidal aliens with the usual lack of motive? Yawn.
And it all ends with evil, genocidal aliens with the usual lack of motive? Yawn.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2016
A really good mystery
Ok......if you like mysteries.....READ THIS! Good story...good characters....good SF.....good mystery. Who could ask for more. Highly recommended. Can't wait until the next one
Ok......if you like mysteries.....READ THIS! Good story...good characters....good SF.....good mystery. Who could ask for more. Highly recommended. Can't wait until the next one
November 6, 2016
Thought the first book in the series good, but this better. I liked the approach of a wholly separate narrative with well placed links between the first and second book. Looking forward to the last title in the trilogy.
March 19, 2016
Pretty good follow on .....next please...
October 23, 2016
Wonderful. I thought his first book was good but he's hit this one out of the park. Highly recommended.
August 22, 2021
There's a weird thing about star-ratings on Goodreads. Sequels often seem (to me) to have a higher rating than their quality deserves. This makes sense because most people read series in-order and anyone who hated book-1 is unlikely to read book-2. So, the average is moved up a little. Because of this, I would normally ignore the much-improved rating for the second in a series let me opinion of the first guide me.
I may need to revise this system given what I just read. I gave Endeavour a so-so rating and was tempted to give it a not-great one. But, Erebus turned out to be much better than it's predecessor. I decided to give Erebus a try because the publisher's summary mentioned that this book is a resolution of the most interesting unresolved plot-point in Endeavour. That turned out to be accurate. And, I the resolution was cool. And, to my great surprise, the fundamentals of Erebus were better than those in Endeavor.
The characters were more interesting and memorable. The settings were less diverse, but more thoroughly described. The story felt like it had teeth to it. It wasn't just a galactic travel log. Sure, the science was still a bit slapshot. But, I sort of wish there was a third book since the quality trajectory of this series makes me think the third book might make it to my favorites-list.
I may need to revise this system given what I just read. I gave Endeavour a so-so rating and was tempted to give it a not-great one. But, Erebus turned out to be much better than it's predecessor. I decided to give Erebus a try because the publisher's summary mentioned that this book is a resolution of the most interesting unresolved plot-point in Endeavour. That turned out to be accurate. And, I the resolution was cool. And, to my great surprise, the fundamentals of Erebus were better than those in Endeavor.
The characters were more interesting and memorable. The settings were less diverse, but more thoroughly described. The story felt like it had teeth to it. It wasn't just a galactic travel log. Sure, the science was still a bit slapshot. But, I sort of wish there was a third book since the quality trajectory of this series makes me think the third book might make it to my favorites-list.
August 22, 2025
Traveling through space portals chasing an augmented man who leaves destruction in his wake . . . what's not to like? The space detective that are our eyes and ears steps out of his comfort zone to complete his mission to apprehend the criminal and to get justice for his friend who died as a result of the criminal's actions.
But . . .
There's always a "but" isn't there? Our detective is not a space man. He knows nothing of other worlds and other cultures, let alone life in a spaceship. Yet, he faces all of that and more as his mission pushes him on. I love having the perspective of space flight being new, with all of the strange feelings that come with acceleration and changes in gravity. The ignorance of other cultures and having to adjust to working with seasoned space soldiers. So much is going on here emotionally, as well as all of the action.
Battles fought in space that are never typical due to ever changing vessels, gravity and what not. Very creative scenes that are descriptive enough to put an image in my mind where I watch it all unfold. Add in the criminal, an augmented man who does not want to kill anyone he doesn't have to. Beyond the augmentations, his humanity shows through and that is the ultimate deciding factor in this whole story.
Amazing stuff. Enjoy.
But . . .
There's always a "but" isn't there? Our detective is not a space man. He knows nothing of other worlds and other cultures, let alone life in a spaceship. Yet, he faces all of that and more as his mission pushes him on. I love having the perspective of space flight being new, with all of the strange feelings that come with acceleration and changes in gravity. The ignorance of other cultures and having to adjust to working with seasoned space soldiers. So much is going on here emotionally, as well as all of the action.
Battles fought in space that are never typical due to ever changing vessels, gravity and what not. Very creative scenes that are descriptive enough to put an image in my mind where I watch it all unfold. Add in the criminal, an augmented man who does not want to kill anyone he doesn't have to. Beyond the augmentations, his humanity shows through and that is the ultimate deciding factor in this whole story.
Amazing stuff. Enjoy.
February 12, 2025
Really brilliant book that feels ridiculously incomplete - it is not often that a book that starts out this strong disappoints me.
More of an anthology than a Duology, Both Books of the Sleeping Gods series seem to end incomplete, which is a shame because they always feel so full of potential.
This one is especially bad because it has no real resolution after springing the whole plot on in the last 5 chapters - would have given it the benefit of the doubt that a sequel is coming but considering 9 years have passed I'm not going to hold my breath.
More of an anthology than a Duology, Both Books of the Sleeping Gods series seem to end incomplete, which is a shame because they always feel so full of potential.
This one is especially bad because it has no real resolution after springing the whole plot on in the last 5 chapters - would have given it the benefit of the doubt that a sequel is coming but considering 9 years have passed I'm not going to hold my breath.
April 25, 2023
Amazing
A substantial plot beautifully expounded in elegant style, with characters hewn from the 21st century. The imagination that drove the books through time and space gave really plausible political and scientific backdrops enabling the reader to suspend disbelief and become one with the people living in the unfortunate scenarios depicted. All in all these first two books are a terrific read, exhausting yet satisfying, and thoroughly absorbing.
A substantial plot beautifully expounded in elegant style, with characters hewn from the 21st century. The imagination that drove the books through time and space gave really plausible political and scientific backdrops enabling the reader to suspend disbelief and become one with the people living in the unfortunate scenarios depicted. All in all these first two books are a terrific read, exhausting yet satisfying, and thoroughly absorbing.
February 3, 2025
This really didn’t finish off book one. The book is more of a detective story rather than a space exploration adventure. The book is a big departure from the original story. It’s in the same series and universe. I wanted more space exploration and less cop drama.
November 16, 2018
I have to admit that this was hard to get into. It had some interesting things about it with the story though and it went in a way that I didn't think it would end up going.
September 27, 2019
What a well done story of trying to solve crime in space & using time displacement to realize a great horror
March 28, 2021
Good story. Will definitely read the next one.
January 28, 2022
Enjoyed this more than book 1 though it starts slow. This has more action than expected, still a thinking slow moving SF book in general.
May 16, 2023
Mass effect without the aliens
February 27, 2025
So very different and also much more compelling than the first novel.
May 11, 2025
Great twists and turns. Kept me reading.
July 23, 2025
Was ok. Totally different to part 1.
July 27, 2025
3.5
I for some reason enjoyed the sequel more than the first book.
I for some reason enjoyed the sequel more than the first book.
July 22, 2020
Brill
After reading part 1 I couldn't wait for part 2
But it started a different story trajectory still I was hooked and I was amazed....
After reading part 1 I couldn't wait for part 2
But it started a different story trajectory still I was hooked and I was amazed....
September 2, 2025
Meh...secind book I. the aeries...still good.I wish the author would stop referring to the dark Forrest theory or couch his story in explaining Fermis Paradox. His answer is rather unoriginal, he should let the book stand on its story. It lacks the depth to he anything else...but that's that enough.
January 29, 2017
"I was really beginning to long for the days of just running after thieves and shoplifters down Islington Upper Street. Instead, here I was in a starship, racing toward the most destructive force in the universe at full burn, chasing down a cybnetically enhanced killing machine while worrying about whether the laws of physics would rip me to shreds."
Ralph Kern is fast becoming a classic “must read” modern science fiction writer.
His first book, Endeavour, read like a cross between Poul Anderson’s Tau Zero and Joe Halderman’s Forever War. It took us out to a far future that was believable, full of great ideas, along with a grand unfolding plot. My only criticism with that book was perhaps we could have enjoyed more character development.
In Erebus, Ralph Kern easily addresses that with a colourful international cast. What begins as a thriller soon uncovers a much bigger picture of space. And, of course, that brilliantly imagined vision of the future is still there.
Rather than a sequel to Endeavour, Erebus works within the same frame of reference. There are plenty of bits of continuity between them, but Erebus appears written to work as a standalone novel - heck, even the first part of a series.
I’ve long been frustrated with modern SF - there are almost no visionaries to match the grandmasters of the 60’s and 70’s. There are plenty of easy-reading derivatives of Star Trek, and dull engineering narratives that are already out of date when published. Almost no modern science fiction writers are trying to imagine a future to wow us.
Ralph Kern is one of the few that is. He writes with the vision of a grand master, tackling big science themes, while paying attention to little details. All in a way that’s wholly believable.
Erebus is another hard SF book to put on your bookshelf beside the classics.
Ralph Kern is fast becoming a classic “must read” modern science fiction writer.
His first book, Endeavour, read like a cross between Poul Anderson’s Tau Zero and Joe Halderman’s Forever War. It took us out to a far future that was believable, full of great ideas, along with a grand unfolding plot. My only criticism with that book was perhaps we could have enjoyed more character development.
In Erebus, Ralph Kern easily addresses that with a colourful international cast. What begins as a thriller soon uncovers a much bigger picture of space. And, of course, that brilliantly imagined vision of the future is still there.
Rather than a sequel to Endeavour, Erebus works within the same frame of reference. There are plenty of bits of continuity between them, but Erebus appears written to work as a standalone novel - heck, even the first part of a series.
I’ve long been frustrated with modern SF - there are almost no visionaries to match the grandmasters of the 60’s and 70’s. There are plenty of easy-reading derivatives of Star Trek, and dull engineering narratives that are already out of date when published. Almost no modern science fiction writers are trying to imagine a future to wow us.
Ralph Kern is one of the few that is. He writes with the vision of a grand master, tackling big science themes, while paying attention to little details. All in a way that’s wholly believable.
Erebus is another hard SF book to put on your bookshelf beside the classics.
October 14, 2018
Good space opera
The series is slow if measured against action novels and is more of an interstellar exploration saga. This book is also more of an interstellar detective story. It's very cool, with the human race beginning to spread out across this arm of the galaxy.
The Fermi paradox is being answered differently in each book and the series plot gets more twisted with each installment, I suspect. The universe is nicely defined with a decent, consistent tech base.
The characters are more like those in the Expanse than anything else. The dialogue really emphasizes the cultural differences between the varying branches of humanity. Overall, humanity seems like a species worth saving, which is not often the case in space opera.
I am looking forward to the next volume.
The series is slow if measured against action novels and is more of an interstellar exploration saga. This book is also more of an interstellar detective story. It's very cool, with the human race beginning to spread out across this arm of the galaxy.
The Fermi paradox is being answered differently in each book and the series plot gets more twisted with each installment, I suspect. The universe is nicely defined with a decent, consistent tech base.
The characters are more like those in the Expanse than anything else. The dialogue really emphasizes the cultural differences between the varying branches of humanity. Overall, humanity seems like a species worth saving, which is not often the case in space opera.
I am looking forward to the next volume.
August 13, 2016
Fantastic follow up to Endeavor. Better in my opinion as it is more action based, so more my style.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews