Escaping Exodus: Symbiosis

Revisiting the future world of Escaping Exodus, in which humans live inside huge, spacefaring creatures, Drayden’s jarringly fast-paced sequel explores fraying relationships and political intrigue. In a matriarchal society whose population encumbers the beast they have colonized, Doka Kaleigh is a rare male leader with many enemies and a civilization to save. Family structures now feature several spouses with relationships that vary from romantic to platonic, and Doka endangers his political career and the sanctity of his family when he develops feelings for his purely platonic will-wife, Seske. Together, Seske and Doka unearth dark secrets of their society, but their political opponents will do anything to maintain the status quo. The worldbuilding is as strange, inventive, and occasionally perplexing as ever, and Drayden delivers large helpings of grotesque body horror as the human characters explore the organs of their living vessel. The convoluted, breakneck plot never quite comes together, however, with several aborted subplots and a climax that relies heavily on deus ex machina. Die-hard fans of the first installment will enjoy revisiting this world, but casual readers will find the plot too garbled. [em]Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Agency. (Feb.). [/em]