The Nexus Series by C.A. Farlow will take you on a journey across genres that will keep you transfixed. It is undoubtedly science fiction in part but also has elements of fantasy. It also includes journeys to different worlds across time.
Book One: A Quantum Convergence
Lauren Beckwith is an environmental scientist and has training as a pediatric oncologist. She has a new project in Mount Zirkel in the Colorado mountains. She stays with her best friends locally before trekking off into the high mountains to set monitoring equipment. Lauren falls into an ice-covered lake and is overcome by a severe storm while trying to get to cover. She finds some caves and falls unconscious.
Lauren wakes up in a different reality and time, having been rescued by the fantastical animals of Fuar Cala, who need her help to save their Queen Alexandra Aoeron Aonwyn.
Alex is gravely injured while on a secret mission to the Comin homeworld to find a cure to an illness caused by a Comin bioweapon that has devasted her world’s children.
The Fuar Cala (Terra) world is slowly revealed to Lauren as she gets to know Alex and her people, along with their ideas of bravery and old-fashioned honor. The story details their falling in love, with acts of betrayal by ruling council members in the background.
Book Two: A Quantum Uncertainty
Lauren and Alex are spending their time trying to aid Terra’s recovery from the insurrection that damaged the technology and the people’s happiness. Alex tries to isolate the traitors responsible for the treason while Lauren is preparing to become her Consort which will involve a series of tests. Lauren is struggling because she’s suffering from horrific nightmares caused by trauma due to the betrayal and because she knows that her close friends in Colorado will be mourning her.
Alex and Lauren eventually decide to return to Earth with a number of their fantastical animals and a group of friends. Some time has passed since Lauren left, and they must decide how to approach Lauren’s friends.
Book Three: A Quantum Singularity
Lauren and Alex are returning from Earth when one of the traitors, kidnaps Alex and steals her away to an unknown galaxy. The people of Terra are upset, and although Alex wanted Lauren to take over her role, Lauren has to convince the council she can both take the lead and work out a plan to rescue Alex. Their bond is unlikely to survive unless she can save her.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Nexus is a knockout series, and although it has taken some time to release all three volumes, it has been worth the wait.
The world-building is exemplary, with the contrasts between the Colorado mountains on Earth with Terra and the tribal scots-based culture of the Fuar Cala with the grandeur of the Comin. The final space chase sets the series apart and is a real page-turner. The characters surrounding Lauren and Alex are supportive, and at the start, each has their circle of specific friends. The boundaries become blurred as the stories unfold. The wolves and horses bonded to Alex and, later, Lauren adds an extra, often amusing perspective; they show a deft touch.
I loved the science explanations. I am so happy that Farlow explained things so that I, the complete non-scientist, could understand them and relate to them too. To know this is all possible is mind-blowing.
The books are all page-turners, and the writing flows effortlessly, although I stumbled over the Gaelic names, and I’m sure my pronunciation of them will make everyone laugh.
Lastly, I have to mention the characters of Lauren and Alex. They provide an excellent foil to each other, and although at the start I expected Alex to take the lead in most things as the Queen, it is Lauren that has the leading role in many places. Again an unexpected and excellent touch.
Cons And Heads Up
Nothing
The Conclusion
The Nexus Series will take you from the current day to a parallel world using science fiction and a hefty dose of fantasy. Volume two is a mix of science fiction, fantasy, and present-day Earth. Volume three is science fiction and space opera with a bit of fantasy. In other words, it is broad in appeal and has a cracking, well-thought through story. I have my fingers crossed for a fourth volume as there are many unfinished threads.
Excerpt from The Nexus Series by C.A. Farlow
From: A Quantum Singularity
Another wave of panic rose and threatened to swamp her calm. Alex took another deep breath. In, out. And another. In, out. Just like Lauren taught her. A small smile formed on her lips. Lauren taught Alex this meditation technique to help manage stressful situations. She found it especially useful when dealing with her truculent Terran council and now it may prove the savior of her sanity.
When her breathing and heart rate returned to normal, Alex stood. Almost at once her head struck a ceiling, gasping at the sudden pain, she dropped to her knees. Once her head cleared, she reached out, slowly. Her fingertips just brushed a cold, metal ceiling. She stretched her arms to each side and touched walls, her arms still slightly bent at the elbow. Lying back down, she extended her legs, her feet pushed against another wall in front of her. She was in a box, a very small box.
Again, panic overwhelmed her, and she curled into a small ball. She closed her eyes to escape the darkness and tried to focus on her breathing, tried to make each breath deeper and longer than the last. In…out. In…out. As her breathing became regular, her panic receded once more.
Forcibly relaxing her muscles, Alex stretched out and extended her other senses outward. She felt the warmth of her torque around her neck and the minute flutter of her scales as the Old One also relaxed. She noticed a vibration which rose from the floor in rhythmic oscillations. Alex placed her palms flat on the walls of her box. She felt the same vibration, though less strong than through the floor. It was a familiar sensation—a gravitational wave drive. She was on a ship, and it was traveling at faster-than-light pulse speed. Which ship? Going where?
Alex continued to piece together information about her surroundings. She took another calming breath. Wait, I am in a box, but I am able to breathe. Fresh air was flowing around her. It had to be coming from somewhere, her box was not impenetrable. Her resolve to escape this box increased and her heart leapt.
As she felt each of the walls, a trickle of psi-energy tickled her bond. It was faint. Almost imperceptible. Alex reached out and pulled on the strand. Yes! A nanofilament of psi-energy so fine she almost missed it. I am still connected to Lauren. Even over the rapidly expanding distance, their bond held. Relaxing, Alex smiled in the dark. She was not alone.
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Series
A Quantum Convergence
A Quantum Uncertainty
A Quantum Singularity
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9781633042193
Publisher: Launch Point Press
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