The Year Before The End

By Vidar Hokstad

Zo, a mercenary, takes a job that may be the most difficult and dangerous task she has ever undertaken. Zo and her crew are hired to retrieve proof of a paradigm altering conspiracy from one of the most fortified space stations in Earth’s orbit.

In the year 2105 mankind learned that they were not alone in the universe. A race dubbed “The Centauri” sent a message to Alpha Centauri hoping to ‘reach a developed civilization to trade with.’ The message included instructions on building ‘jump-gates’ and ‘suitable transports’. As a result the colonial expansion that started in 2060 boomed. Space stations, mining colonies, and population centers grew speedily as materials and people were able to reach their destinations faster.

Zo, and her crew, devise a perfect way to break into the station. Everything goes to plan, until a few ships from Mars start firing on the station while the crew is in the middle of stealing the ‘proof’. In the confusion of the station attack, the crew is able to get away with what they had been hired to steal. 

Once free of the station, and on their way to the drop-off, Zo begins having concerns about what they’ve stolen, and they turn out to be true. The shadowy figure that hired them to steal the ‘proof’ is the same shadowy figure at the head of Sovereign Earth, a political movement arguing for full Earth control of colonies, and an end to the Earth-Centauri gate. He plans on using the ‘proof’ to start a war. Can Zo and her crew stop him before it’s too late?

This space age story is rich with detail and feeling. The background information is incorporated in such a way that it doesn’t constrict the narrative. The reader feels for the main characters and wants them to succeed. I would love to read more about Zo and her team.

I received this book for free for this review.

About the Author:

Vidar Hokstad is Norwegian, but has lived in London since 2000. His time is split between his day-job as a technical architect / software developer, and his writing. He started planning Galaxy Bound around 2016, but put it aside for other projects. The first 6-book cycle will be published during the end of 2020 and throughout 2021. * Author information pulled from Author website.*