BookView Review

Gadeken’s debut installment in the Nabukko Trilogy explores memory, identity, and survival on a richly imagined alien world. Eff awakens alone on an unfamiliar planet with only fragments of her memory intact. Unable to remember how she arrived or what became of her crew, she survives by scavenging abandoned supply pods until two human scouts capture her and take her to the isolated settlement of Nabukko. The colony’s wary inhabitants insist they’re protecting themselves, but Eff soon suspects they know far more about her missing past than they’re willing to admit. As hidden agendas surface and loyalties shift, she discovers that someone would rather kill than let the truth emerge.

Gadeken steadily expands what begins as an absorbing survival story into an intricate science-fiction mystery populated by memorable characters and layered worldbuilding. The alien ecosystem feels convincingly strange, while Nabukko itself emerges as a believable frontier society shaped by fear, secrecy, and competing visions of its own history. Eff’s intelligence, resilience, and quietly humorous narration keep the increasingly complex plot grounded even as revelations reshape everything readers think they understand. Although occasional stretches of exposition briefly slow the pace, they ultimately strengthen the novel’s carefully constructed mythology. 

An intelligent, character-driven blend of first contact, survival adventure, and psychological mystery that promises an equally rewarding continuation.

***