4 Stars

Publisher: Diversion Books

Date of publication: March 15th, 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: The Circuit

Executor Rising – Book 1 (review here)

Progeny of Vale – Book 2

Earthfall – Book 3

Where you can buy this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

In the thrilling sequel to THE CIRCUIT: EXECUTOR RISING, Cassius Vale has drawn the Circuit into open war.

After arriving on Ceres Prime, ADIM, ever the loyal companion created by Cassius Vale, is hesitant to help the Ceresians. Their hatred for his Creator will never wane and he starts to understand the danger all of Cassius’ many rivals pose. ADIM must realize the true magnitude of his abilities in order to keep him safe.

When Sage Volus finds herself a captive of Cassius, she begins to struggle with her role in the coming war, and what exactly it means to be an Executor. The removal of her cybernetic implant reveals emotions she thought she’d buried too deep to be found. She must make a decision on who she truly wants to serve: Cassius Vale, The Tribune, or herself.

After breaking free of the Solar-Ark Amerigo and certain death, Talon Rayne finds himself in unusual company. His quests to hold his daughter again brings him to places he never thought he’d go–into the very arms of his people’s most hated foe.

As the battle grows ever closer, threatening the all-out war that could annihilate millions, these four must determine what part they intend to play, who they will align themselves with, and what it means to be human in a universe where that means less and less.

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My review:

This book starts right where book 1 (Executor Rising) leaves off.

Sage awakens on Cassius Vale’s ship, The White Hand, after reliving the worst memory she has, the death Caleb Vale, Cassius’s only son. She has no clue where she is and leaves sickbay to explore. Sage finds out where she is, who she is with and what was done to her. She is sedated and brought back to the medical bay.

Cassius reveals that he was an Executor (which explained things from book 1). He had his implant removed, for the same reasons he removed Sage’s, to free himself from the Tribunal. The implant helped suppress any bad memories but it also allowed the Tribunals to look through the eyes of the person.

ADIM is getting to know the little girl he saved from Kalliope and intends to give the girl to Cassius as a gift to ease his sadness over losing Caleb (big awww moment there). Her name is Elisha and she’s Talon’s daughter. ADIM and Elisha form a friendship while traveling to meet up with Cassius.

Talon escaped the Amerigo with a Keeper, Tarsis, and is floating in space. Tarsis has an advanced case of the Blue Death and sleeps most of the time. They are not expecting to be rescued when a miracle happens, they are picked up by a shipful of Vergent merchants. Their relief is short-lived because right after they are picked up, a Tribunal ship hails the Vergent ship and demands that they allow them aboard for a routine check of the ship. Which they say no to and they make a beeline towards Kalliope on Talon’s suggestion.

Sage is reeling from Cassius’s revelations. She decides to attack him when he comes to visit her one day in the medical bay and make a run for it. But, she doesn’t get far at all. She is subdued by ADIM and taken to the hangar to be put on a ship home. Sage is given a sedative so she won’t be able to tell the Tribunal where she was. But, before she is gone, Cassius makes a series of confessions to her. When Sage awakens, she realizes that Elisha is aboard the ship with her. When she gets in contact with the Tribunal, they have her go right to Cassius’s old compound. There, Elisha is taken from her and she is immediately stripped of her weapons and taken for questioning.

Cassius and ADIM have their own agenda. After seeing off Sage, ADIM detects life aboard the Solar-Ark Amerigo, goes in and discovers carbon copies of itself. Cassius reassures it that those are only copies and that ADIM is the only one with something called “Dynamic Intelligence“. Basically, he is the only one that is self-aware and can make decisions on his own. Which might or might not be a bad thing.

I won’t go into the book after this. I will say that there is a death, a fake death, a couple more revelations and the beginnings of a war.

Sage is becoming my favorite character in this series. In the first book, she seemed like an emotionless robot (not knowing that the implant suppressed her emotions). Once Cassius removed the implant, she started to flush out and by the end of Progeny of Vale, her character was awesome.

Talon is tied for my 2nd favorite character. Even though he is dying, he is willing to not go down without a fight. When he realizes that Kalliope is destroyed and thinks Elisha is dead, he goes into berserker mode.

Cassius is my other favorite character. He has his own agenda and isn’t afraid to pit opposing factions against each other in order to wipe out the Tribunal. I can’t wait to see what he’ll do in the next book.

The book ends on a cliffhanger. If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you know how I feel about cliffhangers. But with this series of books, they actually work. I think that it is because I am actually reading them back to back.

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I would give Progeny of Vale an Adult rating. There are sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Progeny of Vale. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**