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Nethereal (Soul Cycle Book 1) by [Brian Niemeier, Marcelo Orsi Blanco, L. Jagi Lamplighter]

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Brian Niemeier

Nethereal (Soul Cycle Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Brian Niemeier (Author), Marcelo Orsi Blanco (Illustrator), L. Jagi Lamplighter (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

94 ratings

Book 1 of 4: Soul Cycle

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He was drawing closer...The flow of Teth had carried him to myriad worlds left diminished by his presence. Now his search had compelled him to take ship with scofflaws. And he was drawing closer.

The Sublime Brotherhood of Steersmen holds the Middle Stratum in its iron grip. Jaren Peregrine, last of the Gen, raids across fringe space with Nakvin—her captain’s best pilot and only friend, apprentice steersman Deim, and mercenary Teg Cross.

Hunted by the ruthless Master Malachi, Jaren and his crew join a conspiracy to break the Guild’s monopoly with an experimental ship. But when its maiden voyage goes awry, the Exodus flies farther off course than its crew could have imagined.

Print length

618 pages
Language

English
Publication date

June 9, 2015
File size

4335 KB
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Books In This Series (4 Books)

Complete Series

Soul Cycle

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1
Nethereal (Soul Cycle Book 1)
Brian Niemeier

(94)

Kindle Edition

$0.99
2
Souldancer (Soul Cycle Book 2)
Brian Niemeier

(44)

Kindle Edition

$2.99
3
The Secret Kings (Soul Cycle Book 3)
Brian Niemeier

(35)

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$2.99
4
The Ophian Rising (Soul Cycle Book 4)
Brian Niemeier

(30)

Kindle Edition

$2.99

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Niemeier is a best selling science fiction author and a John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer finalist. His second book, Souldancer, won the first ever Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel. He chose to pursue a writing career despite formal training in history and theology. His journey toward publication began at the behest of his long-suffering gaming group, who tactfully pointed out that he seemed to enjoy telling stories more than planning and adjudicating games. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ZBDOHKU
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 9, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4335 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 618 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #352,340 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,185 in Metaphysical Science Fiction eBooks
- #2,631 in Space Exploration Science Fiction eBooks
- #2,730 in Space Fleet Science Fiction eBooks

Customer Reviews:
94 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		53%
4 star		33%
3 star		8%
2 star		3%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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J. Dooley

A wild, crazy, eclectic ride

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2019

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A wild, crazy, eclectic ride

Buckle up, because this space opera has an absolute TON of plot. From the opening chapters, the breakneck pace does not relent. Don't take too long to read, or you'll lose your place in the story.

Sometimes the book feels like a slog because the plucky space pirates' end goal is continuously muddled by the wild and crazy plot. Where is this going? was a thought that often popped into my mind, as this story has everything: evil gods, baals, the undead, necromancers, monsters, magic, resurrections, exorcisms, portals to other dimensions, the nine circles of Hell, and a showdown with the devil himself. The first quarter of the book or so struck the right balance IMO. After that I stopped trying to make sense of things and tried to enjoy the ride.

Regardless of my reservations about the plot, the author has a lot of writing talent. His prose is hard-hitting, and his characters pop off the page with their snappy dialogue and bold actions.

The fictional world is fully realized without lingering too much on detail. There's some really cool geographies, both terrestrial and space-bound. There's magic and gunfights galore, all thrillingly described.

In all, an eclectic, pulpy page turner.

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Alex

Nethereal puts the fun, the mystery, and the monsters into the space opera, and I couldn't be happier about it.

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2017

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Brian Niemeier has done it. He has taken the best aspects of Dune, Star Wars, and Star Trek, classic sci-fi like Flash Gordon, and pieThe Divine Comedy and crafted what can only be called a space opera fantasy horror. Whatever the genre, Nethereal delivers.

I'll admit that reading Nethereal feels a bit like being thrown into the deep end of the pool. At first, the world and the terminology make little sense. But the more you read, the more you piece the mythos together, and I found it difficult to put this down, eager as I was to see what would become of Jaren Peregrine and the rest of the Shibboleth's crew as they took a mission helming the mysteriously powerful ship, the Exodus, through the nine circles of hell.

Fast-paced and imaginative, Nethereal reads like the greatest pen-and-paper campaign or classic console RPG you never played.

I have some minor quibbles. Jaren, for instance. Other than his pining for his lost people, the Gen, there really isn't much to him. He's like a straight man, almost comically single-minded, mediating between the mercurial Nakvin and the rougeish (and highly entertianing) Teg Cross. I never really understood what it was about Jaren that made him such an inspiring leader, but he's likable enough and, along with the rest of the cast, has a heroic underpinning that more than makes up for what I viewed as a rather inscrutable characterization.

And then there is Deim. I don't get Deim. Hopefully he gets more time to shine in the next book.

But the villains . . . the rather pedestrian Marshal Malachai aside, the rest of Nethereal's rogues gallery is top notch. I don't want to spoil anything; I'll just say that the vile, scheming, demonic bastards all act as perfect foils for our heroes.

Brian has crafted an interesting world that you will not want to leave. Highly recommended, and I look forward to digging into book 2!

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Adam Lane Smith

The most unique sci-fi story I have experienced in years

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2017

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This book does a lot of things right. I enjoyed it and I've already bought the second book, and look forward to seeing where the story goes.

The author defies tropes and takes story set pieces well beyond where you think they're going to go. This is not a tired rehashing of rearranged tropes that most of sci-fi has become. The author brings fresh ideas to the table time and again. Many times I reached a new plot reveal only to gasp or exclaim, "Oh F@&$!" Brian Niemeier pulls no punches and does not look away when decency would otherwise demand it. This book will take you to uncomfortable places, but it does so tastefully and in an entertaining manner.

As to the content, the author is obviously well versed in both very old sci-fi (Nethereal hearkening back to the dawning of the genre and tasting strongly of Lovecraft) and also in theology, based on the intricacy of his world building. No tired borrowing from real-world religions here, instead we see the frenzied fever dreams of a madman standing as divine creation, and it matches the setting perfectly. That setting is vastly unique and incredibly deep, with a mountain of stories waiting to be told within it. I look forward to seeing what other stories this author pulls out of his world for us to experience.

There were some minor bits which left me with mixed feelings, as with any book. Particularly two things: a main character seems to act far outside of character during the second act in trusting someone very quickly, and a moment late in the second act ends with a strange reveal that seems to come from nowhere and has no explanation so it comes across as contrived. Given the depth of care taken in building the rest of the setting, I suspect that the author knows the answers to these two questions. Neither moment ruined my suspension of disbelief, but they did stick out to me as the two weak points of the narrative. As a reader, both could have easily been addressed in small scenes that just show me what the characters are feeling and thinking, and I would have felt satisfied. I also wish that the glossary had been included at the beginning, because there are some hefty metaphysical concepts that aren't explained as plainly as other books might do. That adds to the mystery and horror as the reader tries to infer the way things work, but it was a relief to finally get some solid answers at the end. Being that this is the author's first published novel (I do believe), I can forgive these minor points and focus on the rest of the story, which certainly has enough action and intensity to engage even the most picky of readers (myself).

The book deceives you a bit, masquerading as a story about a few characters on a horrifying adventure when really it's the culmination of a plan to hatch something new. This book is the story of a birth; that newly birthed thing, perhaps, is an entire series with this initial book as it's base. Go into this book expecting it to be the introduction to a world, rather than simply one contained story that opens and closes cleanly, with all answers wrapped up neatly inside.

I've got a high stack of books waiting to be read, but I bought the sequel to this book and put it on top of the stack. Is there a better review than that?

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Top reviews from other countries

Alex Boyce

Dante's Inferno meets scifi space opera

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2018

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I liked the pacing of the book and I found the setting / characters to be interesting and unique. Overall, I think it works as a holiday / commute read but falls a bit short of hitting hugo award levels. I've taken off a few stars for 2 main reasons:

1) A number of times the author referenced 21st century items which didn't fit at all with the setting (set hundreds of years in the future with no mention of earth). Why would there be cars or soft drinks? For such an otherwordly space opera, I found these references took me out of the world Brian was building.

2) Because of the fast pacing, things felt confusing at times and some things about the world building didn't make sense. It would have been nice if the author spent a bit more time with elaborating on the universe as well as all the theology and especially on how the 9 circles of hell worked. It just seemed the internal logic seemed to be bounce back and forth.. not to mention the fact that the book went back and forth between normal space adventure and supernatural horror story.

Emily

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2017

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Loved this book. Really enjoyed getting to know the characters and can't wait to read more from this author. Recommend to sci fi fans

Justin T. Robinson

Dark and gripping space opera

Reviewed in Canada on May 1, 2020

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This book is like the first time I listened to dubstep; at first the rhythms and conventions seemed strange and alien, then I started getting comfortable with and enjoying them, but then new surprises and twists kept coming. If you want another analogy, imagine Star Wars mixed with Repo: The Genetic Opera. Nethereal is thrilling, at times highly unsettling, occasionally confusing, and beautiful in a grim way. Give it a shot!

PaladinPhil

Not for me

Reviewed in Canada on April 29, 2018

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It's an interesting concept and very twisted in concept and execution. Only reason I have rated it as "Meh" is because it's not my personal cup of tea. The characters were fascinating and the world building was intriguing. Just that it had too much of a sense of horror for my personal liking.

Scott Osmond

A New Author For Me To Follow

Reviewed in Australia on October 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

Space pirates in hell. Demons, space battles and plenty of well paced action. This book defies categorization, a mashup of sf and mythology with a dash of necromancy for flavour and it works, for me anyway. I liked the characters, they had depth. I'll be reading the next one to find out what happens next.

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