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The Factus Sequence #2
Hel's Eight
Ten Low and her ragtag comrades take on an ultra-rich tycoon who owns entire planets in this high-octane clash of law and lawlessness across the stars, for fans of Gideon the Ninth, Anne Leckie and Becky Chambers.
Who controls the future, controls it all...
Ten "Doc" Low is a medic with a dark past, riding the wastes of the desert moon Factus, dispensing medicine to the needy and death to those who cross the laws of the mysterious Seekers. Cursed by otherworldly forces, she stays alone to keep herself safe, and to keep others safe from her...
But when she experiences a terrifying vision of conflict and the deaths of those she once called friends, she must drag herself back to the land of the living to stop a war before it begins. With rebellion brewing, the Accord's grip on the Outer Moons weakening and a sinister tycoon buying up all land in sight, Ten must find allies where she can and face the past in order to save the future. The cost will be greater than she could ever have imagined...
A wild, adrenaline-packed, whip-smart crash of storytelling and shoot-outs, ideal for fans of Becky Chambers' Wayfarers and Alex White's Salvagers.
Who controls the future, controls it all...
Ten "Doc" Low is a medic with a dark past, riding the wastes of the desert moon Factus, dispensing medicine to the needy and death to those who cross the laws of the mysterious Seekers. Cursed by otherworldly forces, she stays alone to keep herself safe, and to keep others safe from her...
But when she experiences a terrifying vision of conflict and the deaths of those she once called friends, she must drag herself back to the land of the living to stop a war before it begins. With rebellion brewing, the Accord's grip on the Outer Moons weakening and a sinister tycoon buying up all land in sight, Ten must find allies where she can and face the past in order to save the future. The cost will be greater than she could ever have imagined...
A wild, adrenaline-packed, whip-smart crash of storytelling and shoot-outs, ideal for fans of Becky Chambers' Wayfarers and Alex White's Salvagers.
298 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 21, 2023
29 people are currently reading
271 people want to read
About the author
Stark Holborn
29 books138 followersStark Holborn is a novelist, games writer, film reviewer, and the author of Nunslinger, Triggernometry and Ten Low.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
February 2, 2023
What’s your favourite sequel? The Empire Strikes Back? The Godfather Part 2? T2: Judgement Day? The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly?
One thing that all those classic sequels hold in common is this: they don’t just add to what happens after the events of the original story — they add to what came before.
And this is what puts Hel’s Eight right up there with the best sequels — why it’s reminiscent of all of them. You don’t just get more of the same. You don’t just get everything you loved about the first one repeated at a more intense level. You get a snapshot of Factus before Ten Low — the curtain peeled back on all the “whys” and “whats” of the first book. And it’s absolutely brilliant.
Hel’s Eight picks up right where Ten Low left off in terms of intensity, grit, and violence. Years have passed, and the moon is changing, but Low is still trying to save people — a medic in exile, always hoping to account for the tally of lives she’s taken.
When a familiar figure from her past turns up at her door and asks for her help, she’ll be forced to choose a road that she’s put off for so long. It’s a road that’ll take her closer to becoming all that she fears.
Where the first book explored loyalty and redemption, this one delves deep into the nature of choice, and whether we have any control over the path we walk. The speculative elements are a lot clearer cut this time around — sharper — as if Stark Holborn has been polishing her blade just for this. It feels like all the things that were cool about the first book are given purpose here in a more incisive and deliberate way.
Interspersing the main narrative of Low (and her journey to save Factus from the unwelcome attention of the off-world Xoon Company) is the historic account of Ma’ Pec Esterhazy, who makes a brief but unforgettable appearance in book one. She was among the first to land on Factus, and to encounter the truth of what The Ifs really are, and understand what they could be. The way her tale weaves into the main story is nothing short of inspired.
The back and forth between Ten Low’s story and Ma’ Esterhazy’s account adds so much to the pacing of the book. It allows for breathing room between the action to happen off the page so as not to slow it down. There’s an immediacy about the story this time around which is really refreshing and impressive, and makes the whole atmosphere of the book more visceral somehow.
And if you’re wondering whether to skim the Ma’ Esterhazy flashbacks because you’re not sure if they’re really necessary or if they’re going to be relevant to the story later on — then all I can say is this: don’t! The payoff is quite simply awesome. And that’s what this book feels like — a kind of payoff, which makes it very satisfying to read.
There’s still the same otherworldly, abstract prose that made Ten Low so unique. Still the same reality-hopping future-dodging set-pieces. Still the same glorious spaghetti-western vibe that makes you feel like Sergio Leone should really have tried his hand at sci-fi. But the balance between these elements is richer somehow. Even when it comes to new characters versus familiar faces, there’s a finely tuned balance struck here which glues the whole thing together.
If you’re hoping for another round of Mad Max meets John Wick in space, then you won’t be disappointed. But this is so much more than just cool action and clever standoffs. Like its protagonist, the book is deeper, dirtier, and more dangerous the second time around.
If you loved Ten Low, you’ll love Hel’s Eight even more. It’s bigger in scope and broader in heart, and if you flip the coin and take a chance on this sequel, you definitely won’t regret it.
One thing that all those classic sequels hold in common is this: they don’t just add to what happens after the events of the original story — they add to what came before.
And this is what puts Hel’s Eight right up there with the best sequels — why it’s reminiscent of all of them. You don’t just get more of the same. You don’t just get everything you loved about the first one repeated at a more intense level. You get a snapshot of Factus before Ten Low — the curtain peeled back on all the “whys” and “whats” of the first book. And it’s absolutely brilliant.
Hel’s Eight picks up right where Ten Low left off in terms of intensity, grit, and violence. Years have passed, and the moon is changing, but Low is still trying to save people — a medic in exile, always hoping to account for the tally of lives she’s taken.
When a familiar figure from her past turns up at her door and asks for her help, she’ll be forced to choose a road that she’s put off for so long. It’s a road that’ll take her closer to becoming all that she fears.
Where the first book explored loyalty and redemption, this one delves deep into the nature of choice, and whether we have any control over the path we walk. The speculative elements are a lot clearer cut this time around — sharper — as if Stark Holborn has been polishing her blade just for this. It feels like all the things that were cool about the first book are given purpose here in a more incisive and deliberate way.
Interspersing the main narrative of Low (and her journey to save Factus from the unwelcome attention of the off-world Xoon Company) is the historic account of Ma’ Pec Esterhazy, who makes a brief but unforgettable appearance in book one. She was among the first to land on Factus, and to encounter the truth of what The Ifs really are, and understand what they could be. The way her tale weaves into the main story is nothing short of inspired.
The back and forth between Ten Low’s story and Ma’ Esterhazy’s account adds so much to the pacing of the book. It allows for breathing room between the action to happen off the page so as not to slow it down. There’s an immediacy about the story this time around which is really refreshing and impressive, and makes the whole atmosphere of the book more visceral somehow.
And if you’re wondering whether to skim the Ma’ Esterhazy flashbacks because you’re not sure if they’re really necessary or if they’re going to be relevant to the story later on — then all I can say is this: don’t! The payoff is quite simply awesome. And that’s what this book feels like — a kind of payoff, which makes it very satisfying to read.
There’s still the same otherworldly, abstract prose that made Ten Low so unique. Still the same reality-hopping future-dodging set-pieces. Still the same glorious spaghetti-western vibe that makes you feel like Sergio Leone should really have tried his hand at sci-fi. But the balance between these elements is richer somehow. Even when it comes to new characters versus familiar faces, there’s a finely tuned balance struck here which glues the whole thing together.
If you’re hoping for another round of Mad Max meets John Wick in space, then you won’t be disappointed. But this is so much more than just cool action and clever standoffs. Like its protagonist, the book is deeper, dirtier, and more dangerous the second time around.
If you loved Ten Low, you’ll love Hel’s Eight even more. It’s bigger in scope and broader in heart, and if you flip the coin and take a chance on this sequel, you definitely won’t regret it.
September 5, 2024
Review of the Factus Sequence on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2TeNrXPa56E
Another fun, gripping, rousing sci fi western from Stark Holborn. There’s just a vibe to these books that I dig completely. This is the second (Ten Low being the first) but they can be read as standalones. They’re well imagined, action packed and full of characters you actually care about. Smashing stuff.
Another fun, gripping, rousing sci fi western from Stark Holborn. There’s just a vibe to these books that I dig completely. This is the second (Ten Low being the first) but they can be read as standalones. They’re well imagined, action packed and full of characters you actually care about. Smashing stuff.
March 30, 2023
4.5 stars
The nitty-gritty: An excellent sequel, Hel's Eight brings readers more of Ten Low's desolate and dangerous desert setting and larger than life characters, with just the right balance of action and emotion.
Last year I read Stark Holborn’s Ten Low and loved it, and I’m so happy that the author decided to continue Ten’s story. Hel’s Eight is just as good as the first book, although I found it to be a much darker story. I was thrilled to be reunited with some of my favorite characters and meet some new ones as well. Holborn raises the stakes and expands on Ten Low’s gritty world, a science fiction/old west mash-up that calls to mind the Mad Max movies but has its own unique style.
Please note: mild spoilers for the first book ahead.
The story is set on a moon called Factus and takes place five years after the events of the last book. When we last saw Ten, she had made a bargain with the Seekers in order to save her friend General Gabriella Ortiz’s life. Alone with only her mechanical dog Rowdy for company, Ten has been roaming the desert and using her medical skills to help others. Now, with the Seeker’s symbol cut into her chest as a reminder of her bargain, Ten returns to her old life when Gabi comes to her for help. Lutho Xoon, the villainous man behind Lutho-Plex, is trying to wrest control of Factus by buying up parcels of land. Gabi wants Ten to ask the Seekers for help to defeat Xoon, but Ten is leery of losing control, especially when her connection to the Ifs—otherworldly entities who are drawn to games of chance—is unpredictable and deadly.
When Ten reluctantly agrees to help, she’s reunited with people from her past, including Silas, the man she loved but had to leave behind.
The main story is interspersed with journal entries from a woman named Peccable “Eight” Esterházy, a convict who has just been assigned to a work duty on Lunar Body XB11A, also known as Factus. Pec and the rest of Cohort Two are taken to a remote mining outpost where they make a chilling discovery about Lutho-Plex, the company in charge of the mine. Pec’s story takes place thirty years prior to the events involving Ten Low and Gabi, and eventually the two stories merge in some very surprising ways.
Stark Holborn’s tale is intricately plotted and perfectly paced. The first chapter rockets out the gate and sets the tone for the rest of the story, a fast-paced, thrilling adventure full of dubious characters and dangerous gangs. Factus is a desert wasteland where food is scarce, enemies are often disguised as friends, and everyone carries a gun. This is Wild West sci-fi at its finest, where you can pay for goods and services with a pint of your own blood and gangs rule the streets. Everyone is afraid of the Seekers, a group of people who kill and then harvest organs and flesh from their victims. And then there are the Ifs, the mysterious entities that are never completely explained or described, who can change the future. Ten has the ability to see all the different outcomes of events whenever the Ifs appear to her and she can choose her path. For example, she might see herself dying from a gunshot wound, but in that split second she can duck down and avoid being shot. This is what Lutho Xoon is after, Ten’s ability to “control” the Ifs, although as she repeatedly tells people, no one can actually control them.
Holborn’s characters are multi-layered and vividly drawn, and even the bad guys appealed to me on some level. Ten feels the weight of responsibility on her shoulders, as she’s still trying to atone for a mass killing she unwittingly played a part in years ago. Each life she saves as a medic is one step closer to that atonement. She also knows that whenever the Ifs appear, people die, so she’s torn between being with people she cares about and keeping them safe by staying away. I loved Gabi’s character as well. Gabi was only thirteen years old in the last book, so she’s grown up quite a bit, but she hasn’t lost her grit and drive to keep her people safe.
Rouf was one of my favorite new characters. When we first meet them, they are a member of a dangerous gang called the Metaldogs. But after one nail-biting fight scene, Rouf ends up joining forces with Ten and Gabi and the rest of their group, although it’s not always easy to tell whose side they’re on. Rouf was adorably complex, and there’s a side plot involving Ten’s mechanical dog Rowdy and Rouf that made me cry and then gave me warm, squishy feelings. I know that sounds strange but trust me, you will fall in love with Rouf as well.
And of course the story wouldn’t be the same without Pec. I absolutely loved Pec’s journal entries, which serve to fill in some of the background world building as well as give readers an exciting, self contained story about Lutho-Plex’s involvement with the Ifs and the shady events that happened at Outpost 11. From the beginning we’re told that someone named Hel the Converter is a wanted criminal, but who exactly is Hel? Is she Pec? Or Ten? At first it’s hard to figure out how Pec’s story fits in with Ten’s, but later everything comes together and makes sense.
I still don’t completely understand the Ifs, but I love the idea of creatures that appear whenever a coin is flipped or dice are rolled. Holborn is rather vague with descriptions, although I get the sense that they might be alien in nature. Ten has a coin with an infinity symbol on one side and a snake eating its tail on the other, and this coin appears throughout the story and is always connected to the Ifs.
I mentioned earlier that Hel’s Eight is a very dark story, and it turns out there are plenty of horror elements, especially during Pec’s chapters where we learn the grim truth of what happened to Cohort One. These darker sections balance nicely with Holborn’s top notch action scenes, and for me they made the story even better.
By the end, I was fervently hoping that Holborn has plans to write a third book, if only to tie up some loose ends. But even more than that, I’m not quite ready to leave the world of Factus and these characters behind.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
The nitty-gritty: An excellent sequel, Hel's Eight brings readers more of Ten Low's desolate and dangerous desert setting and larger than life characters, with just the right balance of action and emotion.
Last year I read Stark Holborn’s Ten Low and loved it, and I’m so happy that the author decided to continue Ten’s story. Hel’s Eight is just as good as the first book, although I found it to be a much darker story. I was thrilled to be reunited with some of my favorite characters and meet some new ones as well. Holborn raises the stakes and expands on Ten Low’s gritty world, a science fiction/old west mash-up that calls to mind the Mad Max movies but has its own unique style.
Please note: mild spoilers for the first book ahead.
The story is set on a moon called Factus and takes place five years after the events of the last book. When we last saw Ten, she had made a bargain with the Seekers in order to save her friend General Gabriella Ortiz’s life. Alone with only her mechanical dog Rowdy for company, Ten has been roaming the desert and using her medical skills to help others. Now, with the Seeker’s symbol cut into her chest as a reminder of her bargain, Ten returns to her old life when Gabi comes to her for help. Lutho Xoon, the villainous man behind Lutho-Plex, is trying to wrest control of Factus by buying up parcels of land. Gabi wants Ten to ask the Seekers for help to defeat Xoon, but Ten is leery of losing control, especially when her connection to the Ifs—otherworldly entities who are drawn to games of chance—is unpredictable and deadly.
When Ten reluctantly agrees to help, she’s reunited with people from her past, including Silas, the man she loved but had to leave behind.
The main story is interspersed with journal entries from a woman named Peccable “Eight” Esterházy, a convict who has just been assigned to a work duty on Lunar Body XB11A, also known as Factus. Pec and the rest of Cohort Two are taken to a remote mining outpost where they make a chilling discovery about Lutho-Plex, the company in charge of the mine. Pec’s story takes place thirty years prior to the events involving Ten Low and Gabi, and eventually the two stories merge in some very surprising ways.
Stark Holborn’s tale is intricately plotted and perfectly paced. The first chapter rockets out the gate and sets the tone for the rest of the story, a fast-paced, thrilling adventure full of dubious characters and dangerous gangs. Factus is a desert wasteland where food is scarce, enemies are often disguised as friends, and everyone carries a gun. This is Wild West sci-fi at its finest, where you can pay for goods and services with a pint of your own blood and gangs rule the streets. Everyone is afraid of the Seekers, a group of people who kill and then harvest organs and flesh from their victims. And then there are the Ifs, the mysterious entities that are never completely explained or described, who can change the future. Ten has the ability to see all the different outcomes of events whenever the Ifs appear to her and she can choose her path. For example, she might see herself dying from a gunshot wound, but in that split second she can duck down and avoid being shot. This is what Lutho Xoon is after, Ten’s ability to “control” the Ifs, although as she repeatedly tells people, no one can actually control them.
Holborn’s characters are multi-layered and vividly drawn, and even the bad guys appealed to me on some level. Ten feels the weight of responsibility on her shoulders, as she’s still trying to atone for a mass killing she unwittingly played a part in years ago. Each life she saves as a medic is one step closer to that atonement. She also knows that whenever the Ifs appear, people die, so she’s torn between being with people she cares about and keeping them safe by staying away. I loved Gabi’s character as well. Gabi was only thirteen years old in the last book, so she’s grown up quite a bit, but she hasn’t lost her grit and drive to keep her people safe.
Rouf was one of my favorite new characters. When we first meet them, they are a member of a dangerous gang called the Metaldogs. But after one nail-biting fight scene, Rouf ends up joining forces with Ten and Gabi and the rest of their group, although it’s not always easy to tell whose side they’re on. Rouf was adorably complex, and there’s a side plot involving Ten’s mechanical dog Rowdy and Rouf that made me cry and then gave me warm, squishy feelings. I know that sounds strange but trust me, you will fall in love with Rouf as well.
And of course the story wouldn’t be the same without Pec. I absolutely loved Pec’s journal entries, which serve to fill in some of the background world building as well as give readers an exciting, self contained story about Lutho-Plex’s involvement with the Ifs and the shady events that happened at Outpost 11. From the beginning we’re told that someone named Hel the Converter is a wanted criminal, but who exactly is Hel? Is she Pec? Or Ten? At first it’s hard to figure out how Pec’s story fits in with Ten’s, but later everything comes together and makes sense.
I still don’t completely understand the Ifs, but I love the idea of creatures that appear whenever a coin is flipped or dice are rolled. Holborn is rather vague with descriptions, although I get the sense that they might be alien in nature. Ten has a coin with an infinity symbol on one side and a snake eating its tail on the other, and this coin appears throughout the story and is always connected to the Ifs.
I mentioned earlier that Hel’s Eight is a very dark story, and it turns out there are plenty of horror elements, especially during Pec’s chapters where we learn the grim truth of what happened to Cohort One. These darker sections balance nicely with Holborn’s top notch action scenes, and for me they made the story even better.
By the end, I was fervently hoping that Holborn has plans to write a third book, if only to tie up some loose ends. But even more than that, I’m not quite ready to leave the world of Factus and these characters behind.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
March 25, 2023
A brilliant and even better sequel to Ten Low (though can be read as a standalone) weird SF and a touch of cosmic horror with all the pace of Fury Road. Mysterious and compelling I absolutely loved it
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
April 3, 2023
My rating : 4.5 of 5 stars
Another excellent outing for 'Doc' Ten Low on the moon of Factus. This one is at least as good as the first one, though less Dune and more cosmic horror this time round. There are a few unresolved plot points at the end of the book, so it feels like there might be another chapter to this story at some point, and if so I will definitely be buying it.
If you haven't, read Ten Low first (though it's not necessary - it's just a damned good book) but then read this one and be prepared to have the ride of your life.
Another excellent outing for 'Doc' Ten Low on the moon of Factus. This one is at least as good as the first one, though less Dune and more cosmic horror this time round. There are a few unresolved plot points at the end of the book, so it feels like there might be another chapter to this story at some point, and if so I will definitely be buying it.
If you haven't, read Ten Low first (though it's not necessary - it's just a damned good book) but then read this one and be prepared to have the ride of your life.
March 16, 2023
This one was really well-paced - between sections narrated by Doc and fragments of Esterhazy’s personal record (aka diary). I would have liked to see a bit more of Xoon and what they really wanted, but it felt more true to Doc as the narrator to only see the pieces that we got, to experience her horror and outrage and confusion despite not having all the answers.
I also really like that the Ifs were a bit more concrete (in a cosmic horror way) and played a larger, more direct role than they did in Ten Low (where they were more like an unspoken fear than an entity with stakes in the game). The world remains bleak and the characters desperate and hungry - it was nice to see how some money and shiny new toys really threw everything on its head compared to the starved and dying husks from Ten Low.
I will say that I wish the Accord played a bigger role, particularly with Xoon encroaching on their territory so heavily - and with the knowledge that Xoon has been encroaching for decades, seemingly without issue and not directly impacted by the war that we can see. (The war obviously happened between the events of Esterhazy’s diary and the events of Ten Low, but it would have been nice to see a little bit of how that may have overlapped)
Overall, solid space western with a fun monster and solid big bad and good worldbuilding and supporting characters.
{Thank you Titan Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review; all thoughts are my own}
I also really like that the Ifs were a bit more concrete (in a cosmic horror way) and played a larger, more direct role than they did in Ten Low (where they were more like an unspoken fear than an entity with stakes in the game). The world remains bleak and the characters desperate and hungry - it was nice to see how some money and shiny new toys really threw everything on its head compared to the starved and dying husks from Ten Low.
I will say that I wish the Accord played a bigger role, particularly with Xoon encroaching on their territory so heavily - and with the knowledge that Xoon has been encroaching for decades, seemingly without issue and not directly impacted by the war that we can see. (The war obviously happened between the events of Esterhazy’s diary and the events of Ten Low, but it would have been nice to see a little bit of how that may have overlapped)
Overall, solid space western with a fun monster and solid big bad and good worldbuilding and supporting characters.
{Thank you Titan Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review; all thoughts are my own}
March 23, 2023
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.
An amazing sequel that lives up to the first novel, Hel’s Eight is a riveting, action-packed story with a tortured heroine and wonderful diverse side characters.
While this novel could easily have just piggybacked on the first book, in terms of setting and characters, it is not just a “this world is already established” sequel. We have a new antagonist and new stakes. While we have some characters reappearing (which was great!), they are all five years older. And the world-building in this book is almost more expansive than the first. In book onem we are given enough of a backstory to set the scene and explain Gabi but it felt like Factus existed as this kind of abandoned penal colony of sorts, whereas in Hel’s Eight we’re shown not only how and why this dumpy planet is important to the universe at large, but we see other places! There’s a really cool dystopian Blade Runner-like world at one point that was so interesting; I wished we’d spent more time there.
Like in the first book, the action in this book is impressive, immersive, and gritty. It retains a very Western feel with lots of shoot-outs, hand-to-hand, and realistic wounds. Where the book really shines though, are the few scenes where we get more explanation (or at least extrapolation) into what the “Ifs” are. It gives an almost fantastical element to the story that, paradoxically, serves to ground the action.
The characters are fantastic and fun and loveable. I’ll never get over the cleverness of the name “G’hals” for the one gang of women. I loved the edition of a journal by one of the characters from the previous book, which helped explain a lot of things about book one and the world itself. Ten, as usual, was a conflicted woman who wants to be moral but keeps getting dragged into crappy situations. One thing I will say is that this novel needed more Gabi! I was kind of sad that she was no longer a kid, as she was hilarious as a preteen, but I also really liked the dynamic between her and Rouf. They were also a great addition to the story as well. I’m also super fond of Rowdy, the robot dog.
The prose is wonderfully descriptive and full of evocative yet grounded metaphors, with lines like, “A fresh smell of wet green branches that makes my body cry out for mist and leaves and forests” and “my eyelids are steel doors that I have to heave open.” These lines may be altered or removed in the final printing (as I read an ARC).
On top of being an extremely quick read (I flew through it because I have no self-control when it comes to reading and, well, pizza and some other things), it also carries a theme about predetermination vs destiny and what that means about the choices you make. What choices do we really have, sometimes? And how much blame are we allowed to place upon ourselves for mistakes that are sometimes the result of outside forces?
Overall, a fantastic novel that I really could not put down. It’s so much fun! I loved it.
An amazing sequel that lives up to the first novel, Hel’s Eight is a riveting, action-packed story with a tortured heroine and wonderful diverse side characters.
While this novel could easily have just piggybacked on the first book, in terms of setting and characters, it is not just a “this world is already established” sequel. We have a new antagonist and new stakes. While we have some characters reappearing (which was great!), they are all five years older. And the world-building in this book is almost more expansive than the first. In book onem we are given enough of a backstory to set the scene and explain Gabi but it felt like Factus existed as this kind of abandoned penal colony of sorts, whereas in Hel’s Eight we’re shown not only how and why this dumpy planet is important to the universe at large, but we see other places! There’s a really cool dystopian Blade Runner-like world at one point that was so interesting; I wished we’d spent more time there.
Like in the first book, the action in this book is impressive, immersive, and gritty. It retains a very Western feel with lots of shoot-outs, hand-to-hand, and realistic wounds. Where the book really shines though, are the few scenes where we get more explanation (or at least extrapolation) into what the “Ifs” are. It gives an almost fantastical element to the story that, paradoxically, serves to ground the action.
The characters are fantastic and fun and loveable. I’ll never get over the cleverness of the name “G’hals” for the one gang of women. I loved the edition of a journal by one of the characters from the previous book, which helped explain a lot of things about book one and the world itself. Ten, as usual, was a conflicted woman who wants to be moral but keeps getting dragged into crappy situations. One thing I will say is that this novel needed more Gabi! I was kind of sad that she was no longer a kid, as she was hilarious as a preteen, but I also really liked the dynamic between her and Rouf. They were also a great addition to the story as well. I’m also super fond of Rowdy, the robot dog.
The prose is wonderfully descriptive and full of evocative yet grounded metaphors, with lines like, “A fresh smell of wet green branches that makes my body cry out for mist and leaves and forests” and “my eyelids are steel doors that I have to heave open.” These lines may be altered or removed in the final printing (as I read an ARC).
On top of being an extremely quick read (I flew through it because I have no self-control when it comes to reading and, well, pizza and some other things), it also carries a theme about predetermination vs destiny and what that means about the choices you make. What choices do we really have, sometimes? And how much blame are we allowed to place upon ourselves for mistakes that are sometimes the result of outside forces?
Overall, a fantastic novel that I really could not put down. It’s so much fun! I loved it.
April 16, 2023
I read this immediately after finishing the previous book, Ten Low. I was a little concerned Holborn wouldn't be able to recapture the magic of Ten Low but I needn't have worried. Hel's Eight picks up the story from Ten Low and makes it even better.
It's a well known idea in SF (and indeed in theoretical physics) that the universe forks with every decision to form a multiverse of all possible universes. It's also a well known idea in SF that there could exist beings able to directly perceive the multiverse and see all possible outcomes for any action. But Holborn uses the idea beautifully to write a fast paced, gripping, novel full of enough mystery to keep SF fans like me entertained. And they manage to do this while keeping the main character human enough to be interesting even as they become superhuman.
I can't recommend the two books in the Ten Low series highly enough. For the hard code SF fan they should be at the top of your reading list. They aren't great works of literature and don't pretend to be. They are just cracking good stories in the grand tradition of science fiction.
It's a well known idea in SF (and indeed in theoretical physics) that the universe forks with every decision to form a multiverse of all possible universes. It's also a well known idea in SF that there could exist beings able to directly perceive the multiverse and see all possible outcomes for any action. But Holborn uses the idea beautifully to write a fast paced, gripping, novel full of enough mystery to keep SF fans like me entertained. And they manage to do this while keeping the main character human enough to be interesting even as they become superhuman.
I can't recommend the two books in the Ten Low series highly enough. For the hard code SF fan they should be at the top of your reading list. They aren't great works of literature and don't pretend to be. They are just cracking good stories in the grand tradition of science fiction.
March 31, 2024
This is a follow-up to Holborn's novel 'Ten Low' and continues the adventures of Ten on the brutal moon world of Factus.
It is some years later and Ten is living on her own, travelling the dust world doing what she can to atone for her past misdeeds. The description is great. The mood is bleak, and it is more of the western in space. Not like Star Wars, oh no! It's more like The Good The Bad and The Ugly, though this book makes Leone's western look like a Disney cartoon.
The story is divided into two parts. The present, with Ten, and the past, via personal notes from Pec 'Eight' Esterhazy. Both parts are equally intriguing. There are lots of gunfights and action, but also a lot of foreboding menace. I liked it a lot.
It doesn't get the full 5 because, like the first novel, I did find some of the story elements too vague and confusing. Almost like Holborn didn't know how to explain how stuff happened... so didn't. A lot of people like this open-endedness, and while I can accept it in well-written stories like this, I don't normally like it.
Apart from that, I loved it and cannot wait for vol. 3.
It is some years later and Ten is living on her own, travelling the dust world doing what she can to atone for her past misdeeds. The description is great. The mood is bleak, and it is more of the western in space. Not like Star Wars, oh no! It's more like The Good The Bad and The Ugly, though this book makes Leone's western look like a Disney cartoon.
The story is divided into two parts. The present, with Ten, and the past, via personal notes from Pec 'Eight' Esterhazy. Both parts are equally intriguing. There are lots of gunfights and action, but also a lot of foreboding menace. I liked it a lot.
It doesn't get the full 5 because, like the first novel, I did find some of the story elements too vague and confusing. Almost like Holborn didn't know how to explain how stuff happened... so didn't. A lot of people like this open-endedness, and while I can accept it in well-written stories like this, I don't normally like it.
Apart from that, I loved it and cannot wait for vol. 3.
May 6, 2023
Fearsome and haunting, HEL’s EIGHT switches the space western sequel to TEN LOW onto an ominous track. Stark Holborn built something visceral and powerful with this series. This book peels back the layers and legacies of the exomoon Factus. We learn more about the history of its settlement and the frightening endemic beings known as the Ifs. This is a fight for survival in a gritty land that shows no mercy, but does offer the power of choice. I don’t want to spoil this journey: its twists and turns and questions ought to be savored. Unlike any other series I’ve ever come across before, these books represent modern classics of science fiction. HEL’S EIGHT will linger with me a long time.
April 26, 2024
4.5 stars! very very good read, nice and diverse too! it's technically a sequel but I read it as a standalone as apparently it works as one. I'd say I mostly agree but do feel like I might've enjoyed the story a tad more if I'd had the knowledge of what happened in book one. but that's totally my fault, it was still good and I definitely want to pick up ten low, and the new one when that comes out!!
March 13, 2023
**Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, and the author for the ARC of this incredible title!!**
If you haven’t checked out the first book in this series yet, Ten Low, please do yourself a favor and start there!
Hel’s Eight picks up where the first book left off. I truly wish I had reread the first book before I got into this one, but even without doing so I LOVED this book. Holborn has created an insanely immersive world that I just can’t get enough of. It took me a couple chapters for my brain to catch back up, but once it did I couldn’t put Hel’s Eight down.
Everything comes together in this book, with all the gangs, groups, rebels, and weirdos from Factus dealing with a central enemy - Xoon. Xoon is buying up all the land, all the people, and all the property they can - destroying anyone that gets in their way.
Ten Low / Life / Doc, must decide wether she is ready to come off the edge and deal with ‘them’ again. The ancient forces that secretly (and not so secretly) control everything on Factus.
Please check this book out if you love sci-fi, fantasy, space themes, terraforming, badass characters that you will fall in love with, and books that you can’t put down!
If you haven’t checked out the first book in this series yet, Ten Low, please do yourself a favor and start there!
Hel’s Eight picks up where the first book left off. I truly wish I had reread the first book before I got into this one, but even without doing so I LOVED this book. Holborn has created an insanely immersive world that I just can’t get enough of. It took me a couple chapters for my brain to catch back up, but once it did I couldn’t put Hel’s Eight down.
Everything comes together in this book, with all the gangs, groups, rebels, and weirdos from Factus dealing with a central enemy - Xoon. Xoon is buying up all the land, all the people, and all the property they can - destroying anyone that gets in their way.
Ten Low / Life / Doc, must decide wether she is ready to come off the edge and deal with ‘them’ again. The ancient forces that secretly (and not so secretly) control everything on Factus.
Please check this book out if you love sci-fi, fantasy, space themes, terraforming, badass characters that you will fall in love with, and books that you can’t put down!
February 14, 2023
Hel’s Eight is an enjoyable read and a worthy sequel to Ten Low.
It’s a story that can be described as a dystopian space western taking place in a science fiction distant future. In this installment of the story our protagonist, Ten Low, finally gains answers to the true nature of the ‘ifs’ and what exactly are the seekers. The plot is solid, the characters are flushed out fully, and the story is brought to a satisfying conclusion.
Like the first novel, I found it to be a page turner that I was able to finish in a single sitting. If you enjoy “space westerns” then Hel’s Eight is exactly what you are looking for.
It’s a story that can be described as a dystopian space western taking place in a science fiction distant future. In this installment of the story our protagonist, Ten Low, finally gains answers to the true nature of the ‘ifs’ and what exactly are the seekers. The plot is solid, the characters are flushed out fully, and the story is brought to a satisfying conclusion.
Like the first novel, I found it to be a page turner that I was able to finish in a single sitting. If you enjoy “space westerns” then Hel’s Eight is exactly what you are looking for.
April 6, 2025
The otherworldly and incomprehensible Seekers are so intriguing. I try to wrap my mind around them but it is impossible. You get a full backstory of Pec from book one. It’s like reading two separate but deeply interconnected stories at once.
April 7, 2023
A worthy sequel to Ten Low. A complex, violent and mysterious story. I say no more, just read it (and Ten Low)...
April 7, 2023
“We are all Hel”
If there is one takeaway line from this book then that would be it, Hel is a way of survival on Factus, a way of life, an ethos, a humanity; for those who carve out a way of life for themselves on the moon.
Where Ten Low felt like a story of discovery, Hel’s eight is its gunslinging, sharpshooting sibling. Gunfights are a huge part of this story and Stark Holborn writes them so well but they are also nicely balanced out by the diary pages of Pec “Eight” Esterhazy, which gives not only a change of pace but also a potted history of Factus and Xoon industries weaving into Ten’s story in all the right places. I liked how this back and forth gave the book some definition from a format perspective and it was easier to then pick up and put down.
Like spending time with the If’s, I found myself questioning the reality of what I was reading, finding mystery’s in every sand filled corner. I had to keep pulling myself back to the early line to remind myself not to get lost.
I enjoyed the variation in landscape this time round, Factus felt more of a civilisation with its city seemingly a nod to Mad Max’s Thunderdome, with larger than life leaders and its own martial law, Punishments dished out over the flip of a very important coin, which plays into the long running theme of the story.
Hel’s Eight built on the friendships and fundamentals of Ten Low and created a new narrative from it, one that felt more tangible and yet at times completely ethereal, it was a great follow up to Ten Low, with a cinematic feel and a story that wove itself perfectly. Still sad about Rowdy though!
If there is one takeaway line from this book then that would be it, Hel is a way of survival on Factus, a way of life, an ethos, a humanity; for those who carve out a way of life for themselves on the moon.
Where Ten Low felt like a story of discovery, Hel’s eight is its gunslinging, sharpshooting sibling. Gunfights are a huge part of this story and Stark Holborn writes them so well but they are also nicely balanced out by the diary pages of Pec “Eight” Esterhazy, which gives not only a change of pace but also a potted history of Factus and Xoon industries weaving into Ten’s story in all the right places. I liked how this back and forth gave the book some definition from a format perspective and it was easier to then pick up and put down.
Like spending time with the If’s, I found myself questioning the reality of what I was reading, finding mystery’s in every sand filled corner. I had to keep pulling myself back to the early line to remind myself not to get lost.
I enjoyed the variation in landscape this time round, Factus felt more of a civilisation with its city seemingly a nod to Mad Max’s Thunderdome, with larger than life leaders and its own martial law, Punishments dished out over the flip of a very important coin, which plays into the long running theme of the story.
Hel’s Eight built on the friendships and fundamentals of Ten Low and created a new narrative from it, one that felt more tangible and yet at times completely ethereal, it was a great follow up to Ten Low, with a cinematic feel and a story that wove itself perfectly. Still sad about Rowdy though!
June 28, 2024
Fantastic sequel. Had be gripped throughout.
October 26, 2025
No sabria ben bé per on començar. Suposo que millor ser breu, doncs estem parlant de la segona part de la trilogia de Factus i, si heu llegit per sort o per desgràcia alguna cosa meva amb anterioritat, no m'agrada gens aixafar la guitarra amb la trama.
Feia temps que un llibre no em feia plorar. Trobo que és la continuació perfecta de 'Deu Ras', on es fa molt incís en les desventures de la nostra Doc favorita. Per aquellis que no sigueu gaire fans de la Gabi, us diria que no patiu, va sortint però no de manera tan protagonista com al primer. Tanmateix, ja s'albira una evolució al personatge de la Generala que deixa entreveure que ens espera un bon viatge per al darrer llibre de la saga.
Crec que la prosa es magistral, i encara que em repeteixi, la l'atmosfera polsegosa, decadent i desesperançadora es filtra a través de les pàgines. Recordem que ens trobem en un entorn que respira Western en mons llunyans, en l'extrarradi de corporacions controladores i on hi ha forces més enllà de tota comprensió.
Aquesta és una seqüela que millora exponencialment la saga, on gaudirem de retrobar-nos amb personatges estimats i patirem quan les situacions els siguin adverses.
Cita: '[...] Ella va caminar pel Caire, va anar pel camí entre realitats, va viatjar més lluny del que qualsevol de nosaltres podria arribar a somiar. Qui sap en què es convertirà, fora del temps.'
Feia temps que un llibre no em feia plorar. Trobo que és la continuació perfecta de 'Deu Ras', on es fa molt incís en les desventures de la nostra Doc favorita. Per aquellis que no sigueu gaire fans de la Gabi, us diria que no patiu, va sortint però no de manera tan protagonista com al primer. Tanmateix, ja s'albira una evolució al personatge de la Generala que deixa entreveure que ens espera un bon viatge per al darrer llibre de la saga.
Crec que la prosa es magistral, i encara que em repeteixi, la l'atmosfera polsegosa, decadent i desesperançadora es filtra a través de les pàgines. Recordem que ens trobem en un entorn que respira Western en mons llunyans, en l'extrarradi de corporacions controladores i on hi ha forces més enllà de tota comprensió.
Aquesta és una seqüela que millora exponencialment la saga, on gaudirem de retrobar-nos amb personatges estimats i patirem quan les situacions els siguin adverses.
Cita: '[...] Ella va caminar pel Caire, va anar pel camí entre realitats, va viatjar més lluny del que qualsevol de nosaltres podria arribar a somiar. Qui sap en què es convertirà, fora del temps.'
January 25, 2023
I got an ARC of this book and a full review will appear on the fantasy-hive in due course.
Suffice to say this has all the fluid prose, immersive plotting, and grittily imaginative world building that Stark demonstrated so eloquently in Ten Low. An absolute delight that I stayed up into the small hours of the morning to finish in one extended last sitting.
Suffice to say this has all the fluid prose, immersive plotting, and grittily imaginative world building that Stark demonstrated so eloquently in Ten Low. An absolute delight that I stayed up into the small hours of the morning to finish in one extended last sitting.
April 6, 2023
Ten Low was one of my favourite reads of 2021. It blended together dystopia, science fiction, western aesthetics, gritty action, and mystery into this wonderful creation that left you wanting more. Luckily, we now get more, as Stark Holborn takes readers back to the desolate moon of Factus as war is about to break out.
It's been several years since the events of the first book, and Ten Low has been living away from society, on the Edge, where she can avoid people and try to make up for the things that she's done in her past. However, when a nearby settlement she's visiting comes under attack from a roving gang that is being backed by Lutho-Plex, a huge off-world corporation that's trying to take over the satellite. Having to give up on staying out of things, and taking several lives, Ten realises that she's not going to be able to wait out what's happening on Factus.
Meeting up with several of her friends from the first book, she takes part in the mission to try to save Factus from falling into the hands of the villainous Lutho Xoon. However, she soon starts to learn that there's more going on than she first realises, and that the Ifs are a big part of it. Delving into the history of Factus, Ten will learn ore than she ever imagined about the true nature of the Ifs, and the path that she will have to take.
Ten Low was a wonderful sci-fi western story with a grizzled older lead protecting a kid as they fought to get them through a dangerous area to a place of safety. It's a popular genre, and the book did it extremely well. It crafted an incredibly interesting setting in the form of Factus; and a large part of that was down to the otherworldly elements that it included. Factus isn't just a desert moon home to raiders, gangs, and outposts. It also holds a dark, unknowable form of life. The Ifs.
The Ifs weren't explained in any great detail in the first novel. They were this ghostly presence that almost bordered on cosmic horror. They were this thing that existed on the edges of the story, with rules that the reader would learn along the way, but we never found out much about them. Hel's Eight is the book where the spotlight very much shifts to focus on the Ifs. And it makes it such a good follow-up.
Holborn could have easily copied the style of the first book, could have focused on the human elements of Factus, the warring clans, the struggle to survive; and the book would have been great. But, rather than doing that, this time round we get a deep dive into the history of the moon, the first people that came to call it home, and those people's connections to the Ifs. This shift away from the more grounded elements in order to lean into the fantastical makes this feel like more than just a simple sequel. Holborn isn't just retreading the same ground, but is instead creating whole new ground. This includes going backwards in time, and providing us with interesting and at times really creepy, history as we get diary entries from one of the moons first inhabitants, Esterhazy.
Hel's Eight manages to weave the stories from these two time periods very well, and both move at a decent pace, encouraging you to keep reading. The book has plenty of mystery, action, and character moments in each time period that both feel like fully realised, fleshed out stories in their own rights. Speaking of characters, the sections in the present does introduce a new character into the narrative that was particularly enjoyable to read. Rouf Cinque is a gang member that Ten picks up along the way. At first they're something of an antagonist, forced to work with our protagonist against their will; but over time they slowly start to integrate into the main team, and eventually feel like a part of it. They're also referred to with they/them pronouns, so it's great to have a gender non-conforming character as part of the core group.
I had a really good time with Hel's Eight, and it's a fantastic follow-up to the first novel. I'm excited to go back and read both of them again, and can't wait to see how well they work going straight from one to the other. Much like the first book, the ending does feel like an end. In a lot of ways it feels like Ten's character has been put to bed; but, I thought that come the end of book one, and then she came back in a new and exciting way. So, I guess I'm hoping that happens again, that perhaps we might get a trilogy or more out of this character and her story. But, if this is the end then it's a fantastic end.
It's been several years since the events of the first book, and Ten Low has been living away from society, on the Edge, where she can avoid people and try to make up for the things that she's done in her past. However, when a nearby settlement she's visiting comes under attack from a roving gang that is being backed by Lutho-Plex, a huge off-world corporation that's trying to take over the satellite. Having to give up on staying out of things, and taking several lives, Ten realises that she's not going to be able to wait out what's happening on Factus.
Meeting up with several of her friends from the first book, she takes part in the mission to try to save Factus from falling into the hands of the villainous Lutho Xoon. However, she soon starts to learn that there's more going on than she first realises, and that the Ifs are a big part of it. Delving into the history of Factus, Ten will learn ore than she ever imagined about the true nature of the Ifs, and the path that she will have to take.
Ten Low was a wonderful sci-fi western story with a grizzled older lead protecting a kid as they fought to get them through a dangerous area to a place of safety. It's a popular genre, and the book did it extremely well. It crafted an incredibly interesting setting in the form of Factus; and a large part of that was down to the otherworldly elements that it included. Factus isn't just a desert moon home to raiders, gangs, and outposts. It also holds a dark, unknowable form of life. The Ifs.
The Ifs weren't explained in any great detail in the first novel. They were this ghostly presence that almost bordered on cosmic horror. They were this thing that existed on the edges of the story, with rules that the reader would learn along the way, but we never found out much about them. Hel's Eight is the book where the spotlight very much shifts to focus on the Ifs. And it makes it such a good follow-up.
Holborn could have easily copied the style of the first book, could have focused on the human elements of Factus, the warring clans, the struggle to survive; and the book would have been great. But, rather than doing that, this time round we get a deep dive into the history of the moon, the first people that came to call it home, and those people's connections to the Ifs. This shift away from the more grounded elements in order to lean into the fantastical makes this feel like more than just a simple sequel. Holborn isn't just retreading the same ground, but is instead creating whole new ground. This includes going backwards in time, and providing us with interesting and at times really creepy, history as we get diary entries from one of the moons first inhabitants, Esterhazy.
Hel's Eight manages to weave the stories from these two time periods very well, and both move at a decent pace, encouraging you to keep reading. The book has plenty of mystery, action, and character moments in each time period that both feel like fully realised, fleshed out stories in their own rights. Speaking of characters, the sections in the present does introduce a new character into the narrative that was particularly enjoyable to read. Rouf Cinque is a gang member that Ten picks up along the way. At first they're something of an antagonist, forced to work with our protagonist against their will; but over time they slowly start to integrate into the main team, and eventually feel like a part of it. They're also referred to with they/them pronouns, so it's great to have a gender non-conforming character as part of the core group.
I had a really good time with Hel's Eight, and it's a fantastic follow-up to the first novel. I'm excited to go back and read both of them again, and can't wait to see how well they work going straight from one to the other. Much like the first book, the ending does feel like an end. In a lot of ways it feels like Ten's character has been put to bed; but, I thought that come the end of book one, and then she came back in a new and exciting way. So, I guess I'm hoping that happens again, that perhaps we might get a trilogy or more out of this character and her story. But, if this is the end then it's a fantastic end.
March 25, 2023
One day older and deeper in debt...
Taking place in the same setting as Ten Low, Hel's Eight picks up the story a few years later with ex-convict "Doc" Ten living in a shack in the forsaken wastes of the moon Factus.
As soon becomes clear, Ten isn't out there for her own good. She is doing what she can to treat the desperate people who scratch a living in the dust, trying to level the score, to atone for the great wrong she believes she did. And by living in isolation, accompanied only by her battered robot dog Rowdy, she hopes to avoid bringing down further trouble on anyone else. She's cut herself off from such friends and acquaintances as she still has, including her sometime lover Silas.
Then one day, the past comes knocking on Ten's door. A showdown is looming with the acquisitive Xoon Futures corporation, which seems to have money - or at least, company tokens - to throw around and which has been muscling in on Factus, threatening the fragile lives and fragile independence of its inhabitants. You'd think Factus a place so wretched and perhaps cursed that surely anyone sane would stay far away. We saw in the previous book how the moon is haunted by the bizarre Ifs - generally referred to in superstitious areas as just "They". They might be fates, gods or who knows what but They seem able to surf the possibilities of the future, feeding off the alternates. It seems now that Ten may have unfinished business with Them - or They with her - but others may now have learned that and have plans to make use of her. So Ten has to decide whether to listen to the call and come back for one last adventure...
As Ten struggles with that dilemma, we are given additional context about Factus through diary entries written decades earlier by 'Pec "Eight" Esterházy', a convict who came to Factus and whose fate may explain a little of what is going on.
Ten is a fascinating and complex character who has lived a fascinating and complex life. One senses the tension in her, the regret at what she's done, the fear of what it may do to her, but also her desire to protect and to rescue the inhabitants of Factus from a grim choice between a grinding existence and ownership by Xoon. In this remote part of space (on the edge of 'the Void') those endless alternate outcomes that feed Them seem to be opposed by a commercial monoculture in which everything and everyone is owned and controlled. What play of possibilities can there be in that, what freedom?
It's just brilliant how Holborn takes the tyranny embodied by the "company town" and dials it up to, oh, twenty three or something, weaving it into a truly existential, spiritual menace that is only heightened because out here on the edge, there is nobody to ride to the rescue.
That concept is sharpened by the obvious fun that Holborn is having here with a setting that while firmly futuristic and more than a little bit weird, also echoes there classic Western - transport by some sort of vehicle referred to as a "mule", dusty, dead-end towns and trading-posts, abandoned mines and the gangs of 'Road Agents'.
I just loved this book, equal parts horror, Western and SF (and some other things too) and fully, gloriously itself, its own twisted, wonderful thing, an absorbing read and a truly distinctive one.
Taking place in the same setting as Ten Low, Hel's Eight picks up the story a few years later with ex-convict "Doc" Ten living in a shack in the forsaken wastes of the moon Factus.
As soon becomes clear, Ten isn't out there for her own good. She is doing what she can to treat the desperate people who scratch a living in the dust, trying to level the score, to atone for the great wrong she believes she did. And by living in isolation, accompanied only by her battered robot dog Rowdy, she hopes to avoid bringing down further trouble on anyone else. She's cut herself off from such friends and acquaintances as she still has, including her sometime lover Silas.
Then one day, the past comes knocking on Ten's door. A showdown is looming with the acquisitive Xoon Futures corporation, which seems to have money - or at least, company tokens - to throw around and which has been muscling in on Factus, threatening the fragile lives and fragile independence of its inhabitants. You'd think Factus a place so wretched and perhaps cursed that surely anyone sane would stay far away. We saw in the previous book how the moon is haunted by the bizarre Ifs - generally referred to in superstitious areas as just "They". They might be fates, gods or who knows what but They seem able to surf the possibilities of the future, feeding off the alternates. It seems now that Ten may have unfinished business with Them - or They with her - but others may now have learned that and have plans to make use of her. So Ten has to decide whether to listen to the call and come back for one last adventure...
As Ten struggles with that dilemma, we are given additional context about Factus through diary entries written decades earlier by 'Pec "Eight" Esterházy', a convict who came to Factus and whose fate may explain a little of what is going on.
Ten is a fascinating and complex character who has lived a fascinating and complex life. One senses the tension in her, the regret at what she's done, the fear of what it may do to her, but also her desire to protect and to rescue the inhabitants of Factus from a grim choice between a grinding existence and ownership by Xoon. In this remote part of space (on the edge of 'the Void') those endless alternate outcomes that feed Them seem to be opposed by a commercial monoculture in which everything and everyone is owned and controlled. What play of possibilities can there be in that, what freedom?
It's just brilliant how Holborn takes the tyranny embodied by the "company town" and dials it up to, oh, twenty three or something, weaving it into a truly existential, spiritual menace that is only heightened because out here on the edge, there is nobody to ride to the rescue.
That concept is sharpened by the obvious fun that Holborn is having here with a setting that while firmly futuristic and more than a little bit weird, also echoes there classic Western - transport by some sort of vehicle referred to as a "mule", dusty, dead-end towns and trading-posts, abandoned mines and the gangs of 'Road Agents'.
I just loved this book, equal parts horror, Western and SF (and some other things too) and fully, gloriously itself, its own twisted, wonderful thing, an absorbing read and a truly distinctive one.
March 21, 2023
Hel’s Eight is the second novel in Ten Low sci-fi-dystopia-western-paranormal series, a combination that shouldn’t work, but which does, beautifully. The first book, Ten Low, was one of my favourite reads the year it was published.
We return to Factus, a desert moon at the edge of the universe that has resisted all attempts to terraform it. It’s a harsh, dry, airless place populated mostly by former convicts. Societies are violent, water is scarce, and games of chance mean automatic death—by the beings that were there first.
Ten Low is a former army medic trying to atone a massacre she was instrumental in. In the first book, she discovered the Ifs, as they are called, beings of possibilities that live on humans, and the Seekers who have dedicated their lives for them. At the end of the book, she became their mouthpiece.
Where they go, death follows, so Ten has lived five years outside all civilization. But then an old friend/enemy comes asking for help, and the Ifs are pushing her to action too. Reluctantly she agrees.
A businessman wants to harness the Ifs so that he can guarantee a future where he is the ruler of the moon. He believes Ten is Hel, the controller of the Ifs, because she’s able to manipulate the possibilities the Ifs show, so he wants to capture her. Ten knows she’s not Hel, because she knew the woman who was. But the Ifs know differently—and to become Hel is to die.
The second book was as interesting and good as the first. The world is unique and the atmosphere tense and creepy. But it was a bit more difficult to get the hang of. I had no recollection of the Ifs, and since they weren’t explained in any way here, I’m not sure I understood them correctly. I’m not entirely sure what Hel was either, a leader, prophet or a speaker of the Ifs, or something else. In addition, the title of the book never became clear.
The book is told in Ten’s first-person point of view, but there were additional notes too by Pec Eight Esterhazy who was the previous Hel, as she discovers the Ifs decades before Ten. Ten remained an interesting character struggling with her past and the actions she had to take, including killing people even though she had sworn never to do that. Side characters were a bit distant, but I was invested in them. The ending was good, but maybe a bit hasty and vague, though that could be because the review copy seemed to be missing some scenes. But it leaves the door open for more books. I’m looking forward to reading them.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
We return to Factus, a desert moon at the edge of the universe that has resisted all attempts to terraform it. It’s a harsh, dry, airless place populated mostly by former convicts. Societies are violent, water is scarce, and games of chance mean automatic death—by the beings that were there first.
Ten Low is a former army medic trying to atone a massacre she was instrumental in. In the first book, she discovered the Ifs, as they are called, beings of possibilities that live on humans, and the Seekers who have dedicated their lives for them. At the end of the book, she became their mouthpiece.
Where they go, death follows, so Ten has lived five years outside all civilization. But then an old friend/enemy comes asking for help, and the Ifs are pushing her to action too. Reluctantly she agrees.
A businessman wants to harness the Ifs so that he can guarantee a future where he is the ruler of the moon. He believes Ten is Hel, the controller of the Ifs, because she’s able to manipulate the possibilities the Ifs show, so he wants to capture her. Ten knows she’s not Hel, because she knew the woman who was. But the Ifs know differently—and to become Hel is to die.
The second book was as interesting and good as the first. The world is unique and the atmosphere tense and creepy. But it was a bit more difficult to get the hang of. I had no recollection of the Ifs, and since they weren’t explained in any way here, I’m not sure I understood them correctly. I’m not entirely sure what Hel was either, a leader, prophet or a speaker of the Ifs, or something else. In addition, the title of the book never became clear.
The book is told in Ten’s first-person point of view, but there were additional notes too by Pec Eight Esterhazy who was the previous Hel, as she discovers the Ifs decades before Ten. Ten remained an interesting character struggling with her past and the actions she had to take, including killing people even though she had sworn never to do that. Side characters were a bit distant, but I was invested in them. The ending was good, but maybe a bit hasty and vague, though that could be because the review copy seemed to be missing some scenes. But it leaves the door open for more books. I’m looking forward to reading them.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
August 26, 2024
I loved Hel's Eight!
It's about Ten “Doc” Low who is a medic with a dark past, riding the wastes of the desert moon Factus dispensing medicine to the needy and death to those who cross the laws of the mysterious Seekers.
Cursed by otherworldly forces, she stays alone to keep herself and others safe but when she sees a terrifying vision of conflict, and foresees the deaths of those she once called friends, she must drag herself back to the land of living to stop a war before it begins.
The first thing I'll say is that while technically, this can be read as a standalone and can be enjoyed as so. I definitely think it was a lot better and had a bigger impact, having read the first book.
I ended up loving Hel's Eight even more than Ten Low as everything I loved in the first book was just so much better in this book!
There were also a lot more horror elements that I loved, and it was great to see all the characters again that I grew to love in the first book.
There is so much more I want to say, but I'm pretty that I would end up spoiling some things that are better discovered for yourself.
The world that Stark Holborn had created is just amazing and unique, and I loved getting to see more of it in Hel's Eight.
One of my favourite parts of the book are the Seekers and the Ifs. The Ifs are such fascinating creatures that, to be honest, still confuse me a little, but I think it works really well that way.
The action scenes were also so well done, and I really think this book series would be amazing to see as films.
I definitely highly recommend this book and this series, especially if you are interested in a sci-fi western with horror and supernatural elements!
I'm so excited to pick up the third book!
It's about Ten “Doc” Low who is a medic with a dark past, riding the wastes of the desert moon Factus dispensing medicine to the needy and death to those who cross the laws of the mysterious Seekers.
Cursed by otherworldly forces, she stays alone to keep herself and others safe but when she sees a terrifying vision of conflict, and foresees the deaths of those she once called friends, she must drag herself back to the land of living to stop a war before it begins.
The first thing I'll say is that while technically, this can be read as a standalone and can be enjoyed as so. I definitely think it was a lot better and had a bigger impact, having read the first book.
I ended up loving Hel's Eight even more than Ten Low as everything I loved in the first book was just so much better in this book!
There were also a lot more horror elements that I loved, and it was great to see all the characters again that I grew to love in the first book.
There is so much more I want to say, but I'm pretty that I would end up spoiling some things that are better discovered for yourself.
The world that Stark Holborn had created is just amazing and unique, and I loved getting to see more of it in Hel's Eight.
One of my favourite parts of the book are the Seekers and the Ifs. The Ifs are such fascinating creatures that, to be honest, still confuse me a little, but I think it works really well that way.
The action scenes were also so well done, and I really think this book series would be amazing to see as films.
I definitely highly recommend this book and this series, especially if you are interested in a sci-fi western with horror and supernatural elements!
I'm so excited to pick up the third book!
April 10, 2023
Stark takes the good, the bad and the brilliant from westerns and moves into outer space with style, drama and jaw dropping action.
The followup novel to 'Ten Low' , it can be read as a stand alone novel though, as someone who is new to this world, I will be picking up a copy of Stark's first novel as soon as I can because I want more of the immersion experience I had ebing off world with Ten 'Doc' Low.
Army medic, hellbent on saving lives and marking the tally on her skin to remind herself of what she owes, stuck on the desert moon of Factus,she is asked to help an old friend she once believed dead.
Cursed or gifted with psychic visions, Doc's reputation precedes her and she appears to bring death and destruction wherever she goes.
But being solo is no longer viable in a universe where a person with more money than morals, Xoon, is using mercenaries to destroy small outposts then buying up the remains to take over everything he can. Doc can no longer hide and focus on fixing those who are in need of repair.
Its time for her to ally herself with those she can cautiously trust for the greater good of what is left of humanity.
A searing look at what it means to be human in a place and time where modification, addiction and putting a prcie on the head of rebels has diluted all that could be good, this is a brilliant 5 star read from a rising name in the world of science fiction . It took me a while to get into the world of Factus but when I got there, I was in an orbit I did not want to leave. Highly, highly recommended!
The followup novel to 'Ten Low' , it can be read as a stand alone novel though, as someone who is new to this world, I will be picking up a copy of Stark's first novel as soon as I can because I want more of the immersion experience I had ebing off world with Ten 'Doc' Low.
Army medic, hellbent on saving lives and marking the tally on her skin to remind herself of what she owes, stuck on the desert moon of Factus,she is asked to help an old friend she once believed dead.
Cursed or gifted with psychic visions, Doc's reputation precedes her and she appears to bring death and destruction wherever she goes.
But being solo is no longer viable in a universe where a person with more money than morals, Xoon, is using mercenaries to destroy small outposts then buying up the remains to take over everything he can. Doc can no longer hide and focus on fixing those who are in need of repair.
Its time for her to ally herself with those she can cautiously trust for the greater good of what is left of humanity.
A searing look at what it means to be human in a place and time where modification, addiction and putting a prcie on the head of rebels has diluted all that could be good, this is a brilliant 5 star read from a rising name in the world of science fiction . It took me a while to get into the world of Factus but when I got there, I was in an orbit I did not want to leave. Highly, highly recommended!
March 8, 2023
Ten Low and now Hel's Eight are some of the best science fiction books I've read in ages! Hel's Eight picks up several years later after Ten has gone to stay close to the Edge where people won't find her unless they need her medical assistance. But as fate would have it, her friends need her skills with the Seekers whom she has been marked by to help stop a war before it begins.
This is the type of story I find very hard to put down and it really stays with me afterwards. Ten is such an amazing character and the world that Stark Holborn has created is so insane, I love it. Ten is the character you would get if you took River Tam from Firefly and Neo from the Matrix and mixed them into this complex and unforgettable character.
The world that Stark Holborn has created is both terrifying and intriguing and you don't know if you should love it or hate it. I just know that I love this series and it will definitely be read again in the future. I highly recommend them.
This is the type of story I find very hard to put down and it really stays with me afterwards. Ten is such an amazing character and the world that Stark Holborn has created is so insane, I love it. Ten is the character you would get if you took River Tam from Firefly and Neo from the Matrix and mixed them into this complex and unforgettable character.
The world that Stark Holborn has created is both terrifying and intriguing and you don't know if you should love it or hate it. I just know that I love this series and it will definitely be read again in the future. I highly recommend them.
April 28, 2023
Brilliant!
Loved the first book, Ten Low, and Hel's Eight follows on by ramping the stakes up to 11! Think Mad Max meeting Firefly in the desolate Outer Rim territories (Tatooine) of Star Wars with plenty of action, especially in the final third!
Great to reacquaint with some of the characters from the first book, and to see how events from that book has affected them, none moreso than Ten herself, who's living in isolation until a surprise visit from Gabi sets things in motion.
The mystical Ifs, or 'them' as they are mostly referred as, play a bigger part here. And was good to see some of their mystery explored.
The journal interludes of one of the early convicts to arrive on Factus, adds another layer of lore, and neatly ties up some threads by the end of the book.
Overall, really enjoyed this book, plenty of drama and action with some great characters. Can't wait for the next book!
Loved the first book, Ten Low, and Hel's Eight follows on by ramping the stakes up to 11! Think Mad Max meeting Firefly in the desolate Outer Rim territories (Tatooine) of Star Wars with plenty of action, especially in the final third!
Great to reacquaint with some of the characters from the first book, and to see how events from that book has affected them, none moreso than Ten herself, who's living in isolation until a surprise visit from Gabi sets things in motion.
The mystical Ifs, or 'them' as they are mostly referred as, play a bigger part here. And was good to see some of their mystery explored.
The journal interludes of one of the early convicts to arrive on Factus, adds another layer of lore, and neatly ties up some threads by the end of the book.
Overall, really enjoyed this book, plenty of drama and action with some great characters. Can't wait for the next book!
August 27, 2024
This series is honestly incredible. This was a sequel to die for and I loved how it all played out. Yes some parts could have been fleshed out more but I’m a sucker for a good sci-fi that does the job under 400 pages.
Gabi continues to be my favourite character with Falco a close second. I love that we get Pec’s beginning in addition to the rest of Ten’s story; the way it all links together gave me shivers. I’m a sucker for faith and all that.
Now I will say, sometimes Ten could be a pain to read about - in other words, a bit too dry and not as fun as the side characters- which soured my enjoyment a little. But we made do. A lot of her inner monologues go back and forth and back and forth, sometimes I wanted to reach in and SHAKE her. She did the right thing in the end and that final battle- CINEMA WORDY!!
I can’t wait to read more about Gabi- FINALLY- in the next book!
Side note- every character is queer!
Gabi continues to be my favourite character with Falco a close second. I love that we get Pec’s beginning in addition to the rest of Ten’s story; the way it all links together gave me shivers. I’m a sucker for faith and all that.
Now I will say, sometimes Ten could be a pain to read about - in other words, a bit too dry and not as fun as the side characters- which soured my enjoyment a little. But we made do. A lot of her inner monologues go back and forth and back and forth, sometimes I wanted to reach in and SHAKE her. She did the right thing in the end and that final battle- CINEMA WORDY!!
I can’t wait to read more about Gabi- FINALLY- in the next book!
Side note- every character is queer!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2023
Hel’s Eight returns to Ten Low, an ex-army medic with dark secrets that won’t stop stalking her. Ten Low must reunite with the crew from book one when she realizes that the forces that impact her life are not done with her yet. Ten will need to rally her allies, gather medical supplies, and try to control her fate in a world that is determined to take her choices from her.
Hel’s Eight is a high-action and dystopian adventure. There is never a dull moment! The supporting cast really helped raise the stakes and define who Ten Low is, a character with a very mysterious past. Ten is intent on making amends for her past mistakes, which was very compelling to watch. I was really interested to learn about the mysterious and often malevolent forces that pressure Ten to make unimaginably hard choices. I’m curious to see this revealed even more in the next book!
Hel’s Eight would be perfect for readers who enjoy Stina Leicht (Persephone Station) and Tamsyn Muir (Gideon the Ninth). Fans of Mad Max: Fury Road would also love this book!
Thank you to Stark Holborn, Titan Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Hel’s Eight is a high-action and dystopian adventure. There is never a dull moment! The supporting cast really helped raise the stakes and define who Ten Low is, a character with a very mysterious past. Ten is intent on making amends for her past mistakes, which was very compelling to watch. I was really interested to learn about the mysterious and often malevolent forces that pressure Ten to make unimaginably hard choices. I’m curious to see this revealed even more in the next book!
Hel’s Eight would be perfect for readers who enjoy Stina Leicht (Persephone Station) and Tamsyn Muir (Gideon the Ninth). Fans of Mad Max: Fury Road would also love this book!
Thank you to Stark Holborn, Titan Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 1, 2023
Thank you to Titan Books for including me in this tour!
When they say for fans of Gideon the Ninth, they mean it! What a fascinating world that Stark Holborn has created! Reading this was like watching Alita: Battle Angel but darker, heavier, and with more grit.
I found this book so easy to read, the pace, the dialogue and the descriptions flowed so well. Sometimes science fiction novels can feel gruelling to read and understand but as someone who hasn’t read book 1 (trust me I plan to) there was no floundering around, the premise was so well explained and digestible from the very first page.
Hel’s Eight is described as a space western, mixed with gangs, outcasts and rebels. The themes on redemption and morality were fantastically portrayed throughout and made the characters relatable. Truly such a fantastic sci-fi book, I have to recommend it!
When they say for fans of Gideon the Ninth, they mean it! What a fascinating world that Stark Holborn has created! Reading this was like watching Alita: Battle Angel but darker, heavier, and with more grit.
I found this book so easy to read, the pace, the dialogue and the descriptions flowed so well. Sometimes science fiction novels can feel gruelling to read and understand but as someone who hasn’t read book 1 (trust me I plan to) there was no floundering around, the premise was so well explained and digestible from the very first page.
Hel’s Eight is described as a space western, mixed with gangs, outcasts and rebels. The themes on redemption and morality were fantastically portrayed throughout and made the characters relatable. Truly such a fantastic sci-fi book, I have to recommend it!
November 22, 2023
Ten Low is back and trouble finds her once again. She has been hiding out, staying alone to protect her friends from herself, but it hasn’t worked and they are in extreme danger, not just from who she is but also from someone trying to buy the planet and its power. Such a wild and crazy story-full of action & shootouts, good & evil, love & loyalty….and lots of heart. I love Ten Low and all of her friends-absolutely fantastic characters and their world is incredibly developed and well-built. You can read this as a standalone BUT I think reading the first book (“Ten Low”) will really add to the reading experience. Great story and I can’t wait for the next one!! Top top top book of the year!!! I preordered “Hel’s Eight” as soon as I could and I waited a LONG time for it to arrive-SO WORTH THE WAIT!!!!!!
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