HEL’S EIGHT by Stark Holborn – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Hel's Eight by Stark Holborn
Series: Ten Low #2
Published by Titan Books on March 21 2023
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: An excellent sequel, Hel’s Eight brings readers more of Ten Low‘s desolate and dangerous desert setting and larger than life characters, with just the right balance of action and emotion.

Last year I read Stark Holborn’s Ten Low and loved it, and I’m so happy that the author decided to continue Ten’s story. Hel’s Eight is just as good as the first book, although I found it to be a much darker story. I was thrilled to be reunited with some of my favorite characters and meet some new ones as well. Holborn raises the stakes and expands on Ten Low’s gritty world, a science fiction/old west mash-up that calls to mind the Mad Max movies but has its own unique style.

Please note: mild spoilers for the first book ahead.

The story is set on a moon called Factus and takes place five years after the events of the last book. When we last saw Ten, she had made a bargain with the Seekers in order to save her friend General Gabriella Ortiz’s life. Alone with only her mechanical dog Rowdy for company, Ten has been roaming the desert and using her medical skills to help others. Now, with the Seeker’s symbol cut into her chest as a reminder of her bargain, Ten returns to her old life when Gabi comes to her for help. Lutho Xoon, the villainous man behind Lutho-Plex, is trying to wrest control of Factus by buying up parcels of land. Gabi wants Ten to ask the Seekers for help to defeat Xoon, but Ten is leery of losing control, especially when her connection to the Ifs—otherworldly entities who are drawn to games of chance—is unpredictable and deadly.

When Ten reluctantly agrees to help, she’s reunited with people from her past, including Silas, the man she loved but had to leave behind.

The main story is interspersed with journal entries from a woman named Peccable “Eight” Esterházy, a convict who has just been assigned to a work duty on Lunar Body XB11A, also known as Factus. Pec and the rest of Cohort Two are taken to a remote mining outpost where they make a chilling discovery about Lutho-Plex, the company in charge of the mine. Pec’s story takes place thirty years prior to the events involving Ten Low and Gabi, and eventually the two stories merge in some very surprising ways.

Stark Holborn’s tale is intricately plotted and perfectly paced. The first chapter rockets out the gate and sets the tone for the rest of the story, a fast-paced, thrilling adventure full of dubious characters and dangerous gangs. Factus is a desert wasteland where food is scarce, enemies are often disguised as friends, and everyone carries a gun. This is Wild West sci-fi at its finest, where you can pay for goods and services with a pint of your own blood and gangs rule the streets. Everyone is afraid of the Seekers, a group of people who kill and then harvest organs and flesh from their victims. And then there are the Ifs, the mysterious entities that are never completely explained or described, who can change the future. Ten has the ability to see all the different outcomes of events whenever the Ifs appear to her and she can choose her path. For example, she might see herself dying from a gunshot wound, but in that split second she can duck down and avoid being shot. This is what Lutho Xoon is after, Ten’s ability to “control” the Ifs, although as she repeatedly tells people, no one can actually control them.

Holborn’s characters are multi-layered and vividly drawn, and even the bad guys appealed to me on some level. Ten feels the weight of responsibility on her shoulders, as she’s still trying to atone for a mass killing she unwittingly played a part in years ago. Each life she saves as a medic is one step closer to that atonement. She also knows that whenever the Ifs appear, people die, so she’s torn between being with people she cares about and keeping them safe by staying away. I loved Gabi’s character as well. Gabi was only thirteen years old in the last book, so she’s grown up quite a bit, but she hasn’t lost her grit and drive to keep her people safe.

Rouf was one of my favorite new characters. When we first meet them, they are a member of a dangerous gang called the Metaldogs. But after one nail-biting fight scene, Rouf ends up joining forces with Ten and Gabi and the rest of their group, although it’s not always easy to tell whose side they’re on. Rouf was adorably complex, and there’s a side plot involving Ten’s mechanical dog Rowdy and Rouf that made me cry and then gave me warm, squishy feelings. I know that sounds strange but trust me, you will fall in love with Rouf as well.

And of course the story wouldn’t be the same without Pec. I absolutely loved Pec’s journal entries, which serve to fill in some of the background world building as well as give readers an exciting, self contained story about Lutho-Plex’s involvement with the Ifs and the shady events that happened at Outpost 11. From the beginning we’re told that someone named Hel the Converter is a wanted criminal, but who exactly is Hel? Is she Pec? Or Ten? At first it’s hard to figure out how Pec’s story fits in with Ten’s, but later everything comes together and makes sense. 

I still don’t completely understand the Ifs, but I love the idea of creatures that appear whenever a coin is flipped or dice are rolled. Holborn is rather vague with descriptions, although I get the sense that they might be alien in nature. Ten has a coin with an infinity symbol on one side and a snake eating its tail on the other, and this coin appears throughout the story and is always connected to the Ifs.

I mentioned earlier that Hel’s Eight is a very dark story, and it turns out there are plenty of horror elements, especially during Pec’s chapters where we learn the grim truth of what happened to Cohort One. These darker sections balance nicely with Holborn’s  top notch action scenes, and for me they made the story even better.

By the end, I was fervently hoping that Holborn has plans to write a third book, if only to tie up some loose ends. But even more than that, I’m not quite ready to leave the world of Factus and these characters behind.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.