Science Fiction

Axiom's End

Axiom's End

  • Downloads：4978
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-02 14:54:04
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Lindsay Ellis
  • ISBN：178909531X
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

An alternate history first-contact adventure set in the early 2000's about a young woman who becomes the sole point of communication between humanity and a potentially hostile alien civilization。

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Reviews

9987 ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Story was okay， did not like the writing style much。 She tended to repeat things phrased slightly differently a few sentences on， to such an extend that I double checked I hadn't accidentally skipped my audiobook back a bit。 And the word choice was often clunky。 Oh and the implied romance with an alien was a bit cringy。 Especially with the ending that they're now bonded and she is now 'addicted' to him？ Gross。 Story was okay， did not like the writing style much。 She tended to repeat things phrased slightly differently a few sentences on， to such an extend that I double checked I hadn't accidentally skipped my audiobook back a bit。 And the word choice was often clunky。 Oh and the implied romance with an alien was a bit cringy。 Especially with the ending that they're now bonded and she is now 'addicted' to him？ Gross。 。。。more

Maria Catrina ，

Great story！ You can broaden your audience by publishing your story on NovelStar Mobile App。

Chris ，

The exact type of fear when reading a book from someone whose content you enjoy。 Ellis comes off very strongly on her videos， darkly sardonic but incredibly smart and well spoken。 Going into her book I expected some of her tone to translate and while she has shades in the book I found the book a bit empty。 The ideas and themes presented are fun but not exactly novel。 I didn't ever really find a emotionally development to the charcaters or plot。 It seemed like set up for further books。 The book w The exact type of fear when reading a book from someone whose content you enjoy。 Ellis comes off very strongly on her videos， darkly sardonic but incredibly smart and well spoken。 Going into her book I expected some of her tone to translate and while she has shades in the book I found the book a bit empty。 The ideas and themes presented are fun but not exactly novel。 I didn't ever really find a emotionally development to the charcaters or plot。 It seemed like set up for further books。 The book was fast paced， at times to a fault， but again I never got much of a charcater spark。 It's very dry at moments。 Towards the end the book starts to use its Sci fi genre to its advantage and start diving deeper into crazier areas。 I am interested enough to continue the series but I hope I find more investment。 。。。more

Beppie ，

"TRUTH is a HUMAN RIGHT。"This simple， yet inarguably true sentence， sets the tone and overarching theme for this outstanding and uncannily prescient debut science fiction offering by Lindsay Ellis。 I'd also like to say from the get go that if you see the words "science fiction" and think "Not for me" then you will be missing one of the most compellingly original offerings of really， really on point social commentary that I have encountered in recent months。 To say that this fantastically realist "TRUTH is a HUMAN RIGHT。"This simple， yet inarguably true sentence， sets the tone and overarching theme for this outstanding and uncannily prescient debut science fiction offering by Lindsay Ellis。 I'd also like to say from the get go that if you see the words "science fiction" and think "Not for me" then you will be missing one of the most compellingly original offerings of really， really on point social commentary that I have encountered in recent months。 To say that this fantastically realistic tale of the *First Encounter* with an alien life form takes its lifeblood from our own society's struggles with our own real-life fantastically hard to fathom issues with hate of anything/anyone who smacks of *OTHERNESS* would be a gross understatement。 This novel is chock-a-block full of on point observations of human behavior and the concurrent ripple effects that choices and preconceptions can have on future outcomes。 There is a single sentence （uttered partway through the novel） that was both eloquently stated and blaring in its truthfulness， for this reader， at least。 I will close my review with its "food for thought" message。 A message not only from this story but more importantly in my view for its application to our world's current state of tribal defensive and the devisive state that the *US* vs。 *THEM* mentality foments。。。"Why would I correct misinformation when it works to my benefit that you believe it？"🤔😟🤔😟🤔😟 。。。more

Nikoleki ，

This book has some good moments， but the strongest impression it left me with was that its messy。 There isn't any structure to the plot。 The whole time I was reading， I kept trying to pinpoint key moments like an inciting incident， a midpoint， etc， and it was so muddy that I couldn't confidently pick out any moment other than the climax。 It was really meandering。 The prose was really description heavy。 It feels like Lindsay focused far more on choosing the right words to invoke the emotion she w This book has some good moments， but the strongest impression it left me with was that its messy。 There isn't any structure to the plot。 The whole time I was reading， I kept trying to pinpoint key moments like an inciting incident， a midpoint， etc， and it was so muddy that I couldn't confidently pick out any moment other than the climax。 It was really meandering。 The prose was really description heavy。 It feels like Lindsay focused far more on choosing the right words to invoke the emotion she wanted than on building the structure of her story and making everything cohesive。 The intense level of description is so consistently applied that the important moments don't feel as important and the less consequential moments feel overdramatic。 There were also some moments that read as really juvenile and reminded me of the kind of thing I would have written as an inexperienced， edgy teenager。 It was also pretty exposition heavy in certain parts and I found it hard to follow。 I don't really know who Cora is as a character。 I know she plays guitar， has messily dyed hair， and hates her dad。 I don't think I can say with confidence that I know anything else。 I don't know why she cares so much about saving her family （in the moments that she actually remembers they exist）， and I don't know why she cares about Ampersand。 For that matter， I don't buy the relationship that Cora and Ampersand have。 I think the intent was to build the relationship over time， starting with a lack of trust and fear of the other， and growing into a strong familial （or romantic？ can't say for sure） bond。 But as I read， I didn't see that progression happening。 It was distrust one moment and cuddling the next。 Then back to distrust and back to cuddling。 And for theme， well， saying "truth is a human right" during certain moments of the story， and not really elaborating on that concept any further， doesn't really make much of a theme。So meandering plot， no structure， hollow characters， weak theme， and overly descriptive prose。 Not bad enough for me to personally not finish it。 There were some moments I could get into。 Overall: meh。 。。。more

Marija Plavcic ，

I felt this should have been narrated from the first person。 There is not a single line in this book that couldn’t have been told from Cora’s perspective。This book was very ambitious with the theme， but didn’t deliver。 The pace is weird， it felt repetitive。 Some parts were better than the others， but overall it was a drag to finish this book。

Susan ，

Disclaimer: You do not need to be familiar with Ellis' work as a video essayist to enjoy Axiom's End。I like the idea of writing alternate-history science fiction that doesn't fall into the two biggest categories of "But what if the South won the Civil War？" and "But what if the Nazis won WWII？" The history being rewritten here is the Bush administration circa 2007 - an era that feels both incredibly distant and also not that long ago。Elements of Axiom's End feel both incredibly familiar and also Disclaimer: You do not need to be familiar with Ellis' work as a video essayist to enjoy Axiom's End。I like the idea of writing alternate-history science fiction that doesn't fall into the two biggest categories of "But what if the South won the Civil War？" and "But what if the Nazis won WWII？" The history being rewritten here is the Bush administration circa 2007 - an era that feels both incredibly distant and also not that long ago。Elements of Axiom's End feel both incredibly familiar and also very particular to their time。 Ellis does a careful job of setting the scene to feel authentic to the specific moment she has chosen - America on the brink of economic collapse， wrestling with increasing public mistrust of government transparency （or lack thereof）。 Nils Ortega， protagonist Cora Sabino's famous whistleblower father， is a charismatic leader leveraging his online following to sow suspicion around an alleged government cover-up。 The impact of Ortega's choice to prioritize his crusade over his family hangs like a fog over the Sabinos （Cora， her mother， her two younger siblings， and their aunt）。 When some of Ortega's allegations turn out to be true， Cora finds herself the unwitting center of a storm of political and military maneuvering to contain information regarding the alien visitors currently loose and causing havoc among the populace。I would recommend Axiom's End to readers who find themselves drawn to protagonists who make the most of situations almost entirely beyond their control。 Cora seizes power in the few places she can but for the majority of the novel， she's barely keeping one step ahead of her adversaries。 Tension is driven by the relationship between Cora and Ampersand （one of the extraterrestrials）， Cora and her family （particularly her aunt）， and Cora and the US military。 Cora's quest for knowledge and therefore power （the power to keep herself and her family safe， at least） takes her deep into the heart of a conspiracy with existential implications。 While I would still consider this a science fiction novel， it has elements of a political thriller as well。 I will probably read the next book in the series when it comes out。 。。。more

Paul O'Neil ，

Clever premise， well thought out characters， and a twist of an ending。

Laura Veitch ，

A slow beginning and a drawn out ending but worth it for the delicious center！

Gennady Gorin ，

who cares

Bryan Steinkopf ，

I love Ellis’s work。 But I felt this story has been told many many times。 Her writing seemed fine but it may just be fatigue of the “estranged parent in on a conspiracy and discovery of an alien/robot friend”。 And to be honest my rating isn’t fair as I stopped 1/3 of the way through。 So maybe it got better but I couldn’t stick with it to find out。

Melanie ，

I had a wild ride with this book。 Initially I enjoyed it， but I made the mistake of reading a one star review before finishing it myself and so much of that review rang true that my own opinion was sullied。 Also i found out that the author is a YouTuber and I just find that embarrassing。 I feel tricked into reading this。

Jess ，

was hoping this would either be good sci fi or a crazy alien romance but unfortunately it wasn’t really either

Audrey Hacker ，

Hmm I really wanted to like this but？？？？？？？ I could not visualize any of the descriptions， and the main character was so bland？ so many loose ends with her too， like mentioning her linguistic studies in college then just Never mentioning it again， and y’all the YOURE LIKE A DRUG IM ADDICTED TO YOU in that last chapter。。。cringe

Jeramy Ruiz ，

If i had a nickle for every Youtuber i watched who published a best selling book about a college aged woman who found herself knee deep in a first contact situation while being horribly under qualified and with a lot of personal baggage， i would have two nickles。 That is not a lot， but it is weird that it has happened twice。 Yokes aside， i enjoyed the design of the aliens and that's about the best i can say for this book。 It was a chain of events of things that mostly happen TO the main characte If i had a nickle for every Youtuber i watched who published a best selling book about a college aged woman who found herself knee deep in a first contact situation while being horribly under qualified and with a lot of personal baggage， i would have two nickles。 That is not a lot， but it is weird that it has happened twice。 Yokes aside， i enjoyed the design of the aliens and that's about the best i can say for this book。 It was a chain of events of things that mostly happen TO the main character to pad the time until we get another scene of a human being slightly horny for a metal bird the size of a golf car。 A decent read if you're itching for some light sci fi but nothing out of this world。 I hope the sequel gets weirder。 。。。more

Chuk ，

This is neat， a First Contact novel that ties in with a very Wikileaks like organization and the family members of the man who runs it。 Interesting aliens and the story was good too， even if maybe there was a bit too much time spent on the run。

Apan Apansson ，

Did not finish。

Kim Thomas ，

This book was so creative—I couldn’t put it down。 I loved her interactions with the aliens。 I loved their discussions on which species was more barbaric （both）。 Can’t wait for book #2。

Alex ，

I yelled when I finished reading this。 I know there's a sequel which I will 100% read， but AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH。 Also， loved the feeling of being transplanted back into the Bush years -- not that they were good， but because this was accurate as heck。 I yelled when I finished reading this。 I know there's a sequel which I will 100% read， but AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH。 Also， loved the feeling of being transplanted back into the Bush years -- not that they were good， but because this was accurate as heck。 。。。more

Chris ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This is a book about daddy issues。

Cam ，

This review contains spoilers for Axiom's End。 Page references are for the ebook。General Impressions:This book was abysmal。 Lindsay Ellis makes no moves to hide the fact that this is heavily based on the 2007 Michael Bay Transformers movie。 It follows the plot through the entire story， takes place in the same year， has many 1:1 character analogs， and draws inspiration from aspects of transformers fan culture and extended transformers lore。 Axiom's End is to Transformers what 50 Shades of Grey is This review contains spoilers for Axiom's End。 Page references are for the ebook。General Impressions:This book was abysmal。 Lindsay Ellis makes no moves to hide the fact that this is heavily based on the 2007 Michael Bay Transformers movie。 It follows the plot through the entire story， takes place in the same year， has many 1:1 character analogs， and draws inspiration from aspects of transformers fan culture and extended transformers lore。 Axiom's End is to Transformers what 50 Shades of Grey is to Twilight。 While an alien romance might sound like it should be a fun， campy romp， this book is utterly depressing。 Despite the low bar to clear， it manages to take a step backward from the source material with a rushed， awkward romance mixed in with poorly handled themes of eugenics and genocide。 It had painful pacing issues as a result of being cloned from a movie with similar problems。Themes: "Genocide，" Cora said airily。 （Pg。 242）The handling of it's themes is the most important and major issue with this book。 The alien race that Ampersand belongs to， the Superorganism， base their entire culture in eugenics， creating 'subspecies' for specific purposes and performing "routine genetic purges"， which Ampersand separates from genocide， defined by the book as "sudden and politically motivated"。 （Pg。 242） The Fremdan， the friendly aliens currently hidden away by the US government， are one of these groups who barely managed to escape with The Allspark Genome， a vessel of genetic information needed to create future Fremda。 There are two extremely concerning angles to the Fremdan that were painful to read:1。 The Fremdan landed initially in Guam in the 1970s。 They are described by the human characters as being passive and extremely submissive， bowing on the ground where they landed to the humans to indicate surrender， and saying almost nothing since。 （Pg。 136） When one of the Fremdan commits suicide， 4 of the others， referred to as his followers， also commit suicide as they had "come to the end of their purpose。” （Pg。 162） They are called Amygdaline， after their "almond-shaped" eyes。 （Pg。 137） Removed from the context of being aliens， the Fremdan are rife with anti-Asian and Pacific Islander stereotypes。2。 The Fremdan have been secured as part of a coverup by the United States government， particularly the CIA， who wants to hide first contact。 Nils， Cora's father， is a conspiracy theorist who leaked documents about the Amygdaline， described by Cora as "reptoid"/"reptillian"。 （Pg。 48 and 377） He stirs up religious outrage towards the government for hiding aliens， in a way reminiscent of antisemitic "lizard-people" conspiracy theories。 Cora describes some of the lower ranking Fremdan as "like golems， existing only as statues waiting to be brought to life"。 （Pg。 189） While reading an encyclopedia near the Fremdan， Cora focuses specifically on an entry about mass murder and genocide of Jewish people during the Black Plague， without providing specific reasoning for why she focuses on it （Pg。 197）At one point， a CIA agent， Sol Kaplan， reveals to Cora that he is Jewish while they review cases of alien contact the CIA believe may be legitimate， including 'reptilians'。 After making a joke about blood libel and lizard people conspiracy theories being unfounded， Ampersand humorlessly says "we shouldn’t preclude the possibility。” and points out an artist rendering of an alien that looks like Ampersand （a 'reptoid' himself） eating a human， referring to them as a member of his 'sister species' （Pg。 213）。 It steps across the line between mocking to justifying antisemitism by creating a universe in which conspiracy theorists like Nils are actually right and then drawing direct lines between the plight of the Fremdan group and historical violence against Jewish people。During a tense scene， Ampersand explains to the Secretary of Defense that he believes the nature of all living things is ultimately imperialism and genocide， citing the genocide of Native people by "the more powerful Europeans" as an example of how he believes 'interspecies' contact is destined to go。 （Pg。 220） Ampersand espouses fascist talking points about how colonialism is the natural， inevitable consequence of different societies interacting， which goes almost entirely unchallenged by the characters， and is only weakly rebutted by the fact that Ampersand becomes romantically involved with Cora later。 Ellis wrote him saying this about a real genocide， using it as a set piece for his character growth instead of treating the topic with the respect it deserves by leaving it out of of this story。 That's to say that， no matter what she does with them， there's no right or respectful way to discuss these topics while they're propping up her Transformers romance fanfiction。Writing:More silence。 Tense silence。 His focus was growing and contracting slowly like a fist slowly contracting and expanding。 （116）The writing is extremely unpolished， with clunky phrasing and poor wording that feels like it should have been caught in the first or second draft。 It interferes with both comprehension of large scale alien concepts and smaller scale scenes of intimacy。 She also struggles with basic dialog， constantly switching out or modifying 'said' with other terms that distract the reader from the scene。 Majorly， Cora's position in the plot is as an interpreter， but Ellis is extremely inconsistent with how this is played out。 Sometimes Ampersand's exact words will be shown to the reader， and she will interoperate his meaning in her own words， while other times she will simply speak for him， followed by a "she paraphrased"。 It breaks the flow of conversation and makes longer discussions between Ampersand and other characters frustrating to read。 “What are you doing here？” Cora nearly screamed when she noticed that there was a person on the couch， and that said person was playing her copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion。 （23）The entire book is littered with Ready Player One style references to properties of 2007。 Whatever poor song or franchise she references is almost always referenced to with their full titles， in a very jarring way。 These references are often dwelled on for far too long， and returned to with awkward timing。 They add little to the story， even in the way of setting the time period， as the conflict between her father and the Bush administration serves that purpose already。 At one point， she makes a two page long comparison between her hiding in a closet during her parent's divorce and Princess Leia's time on the Death Star in A New Hope。She also references her own YouTube video series in the same way， with italics and repetition。 The amount of emphasis she puts on these （admittedly few） self references get on my nerves as someone who understands them， but would probably blend right in with her confusing and unpolished writing to someone not familiar with her work。Romance“Whatever you did， it did something to me。 It hurts me， the thought of you leaving。 I don’t know if that and the bond are related。 I think they must be。 I’ve never felt like this before。 It’s like， I don’t know， I feel like an addict。 Like if you leave， I’ll go into withdrawal。” （Pg。 383）Despite being one of the major differences between Axiom's End and Transformers （2007）， the relationship between Ampersand and Cora isn't very well developed or well balanced。 For the first two thirds of the story， Ampersand and Cora do not have a very positive relationship。 Ampersand attacks and drugs her multiple times， implanting various devices to control， track， and communicate with her， which remain with her for the majority of the book。After they finally form an alliance， they mostly seem mutually annoyed by each other's differences， until she breaks down and he awkwardly asks for her consent to touch her， and for her to teach him how to hug her and pet her hair。 It's mechanical， its weird， its uncomfortable in every sense， especially as an arachnophobe who can't stand descriptions of Ampersand's two foot long， spider-leg fingers。 This scene introduces consent as a theme of their relationship。 In every following romantic scene， he asks for consent before touching her and she asks for his in return， which helps to ease their power imbalance slightly。Then they throw that away。 While they were getting to know each other more， Ampersand and Cora discuss sexuality and Cora finds out that Amygdaline's do not have sex for pleasure， but rather 'fusion-bond' with each other for life （non-monogamously） and communicate with each other intimately in the impossible to understand 'high-language'。 Fusion bonding is notably similar to popular Transformers and Star Wars fanfiction concepts， force-bonding and spark-bonding。 Near the end of the book， when Cora comes under threat from Ampersand's chronically jealous lover， Obelus， and it becomes clear that her tracking device will soon be removed， Ampersand bonds to her without her knowledge and consent。 When this is revealed in the last handful of pages at the end of the book， she says it feels as though she will go into withdrawal if he leaves。 It's almost distressing， undermines the running theme of consent， and it immediately kills any sense of affection for their strange dynamic in the story's final moments。 。。。more

Karen ，

Definitely NOT your typical first contact story。 Yes， it has the government cover ups and the typical scientist vs military tropes， but the aliens themselves and the humans most involved with them take center stage and explore their relationship despite the chaos around them。

Ariana ，

3。5

T ，

My heart。A read that was gripping from cover to cover。 Definitely aspects of the writing that seemed somewhat ameteur， or fanfiction like。 Nevertheless the concept was great。

Maya ，

I loved this book！ It’s an original take on the first contact story and feels fresh in a crowded genre。 I’m glad to see there’s some fiction aimed at us 2000s kids！

Iris ，

20%

Anna-Karin ，

Bit slow to start， but once it picked up I couldn't put it down。 Bit slow to start， but once it picked up I couldn't put it down。 。。。more

Alex Llopis ，

Más 3，5 que 3 a secas。En general me ha gustado， tiene ideas y conceptos muy interesantes que aunque ya vistos en infinidad de contenido de ciencia ficción， consigue dotarlos de un algo diferente。 No llega al nivel de sus referentes pero mantiene muy bien el tipo。Quizá le cuesta un poco arrancar， no tanto por el ritmo sino quizá por el estilo de escritura o por la personalidad de la protagonista。 Admito que al principio me costaba acabar de conectar y tenia la sensación de que estaba más “all ove Más 3，5 que 3 a secas。En general me ha gustado， tiene ideas y conceptos muy interesantes que aunque ya vistos en infinidad de contenido de ciencia ficción， consigue dotarlos de un algo diferente。 No llega al nivel de sus referentes pero mantiene muy bien el tipo。Quizá le cuesta un poco arrancar， no tanto por el ritmo sino quizá por el estilo de escritura o por la personalidad de la protagonista。 Admito que al principio me costaba acabar de conectar y tenia la sensación de que estaba más “all over the place” que más avanzado el libro。 Aún así， pasado el primer tercio， ya es todo disfrute。 Creo que consigue crear algo diferente sin intentar disimular sus referentes y que puede dar mucho juego en futuras entregas， un inicio solido aunque no excelente。 Deja con ganas de leer más， y eso es más que suficiente。 。。。more

esztereszterdora ，

me， when I found out Lindsay Ellis wrote a book: good， interestedme， when I found out it's a sci-fi: very good， very interestedme， when I found out it's about First Contact: OOH， YEAH！！！me， opening the book: *visibly vibing*And I vibed through the book。 It has everything a good， action-focused sci-fi needs: UFO crash， goverment shenaigans， an unwilling protagonist who gets dragged into， surprisingly likeable aliens， the aliens being more trustworthy than your own goverment， unwanted and unexpect me， when I found out Lindsay Ellis wrote a book: good， interestedme， when I found out it's a sci-fi: very good， very interestedme， when I found out it's about First Contact: OOH， YEAH！！！me， opening the book: *visibly vibing*And I vibed through the book。 It has everything a good， action-focused sci-fi needs: UFO crash， goverment shenaigans， an unwilling protagonist who gets dragged into， surprisingly likeable aliens， the aliens being more trustworthy than your own goverment， unwanted and unexpected emotional attachment to aliens， conspiracy theories， EVERYTHING。The story sometimes even wandered into philosophical depths， not too much and I found it adequate in the story and hope to see it more in the next installment。Oh， and the main girl using a shovel to beat some serious ass because she's pissed is my all time favorite trope。 Wanna see it more。 。。。more

Rachel ，

This author is a s****y person， please DONOT buy or read any books by her， she has shared some very racist views。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Axiom's End

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Axiom's End&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Axiom's End&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0