Waking Gods: Book 2 of The Themis Files

The centerpiece of the Earth Defense Corps is a giant alien robot, found scattered across the world and reassembled by a team led by scientist Rose Franklin, who died during its early test missions. But now Rose is back, resurrected by unknown forces, and she’s not the only one making a dramatic appearance. A second robot has appeared, and the world is panicking. What do the aliens want? Who resurrected Rose? And what will remain of the planet when these titanic forces collide?

Waking Gods follows a few years after the events of Sleeping Giants, and Neuvel really ratchets up both the intrigue and the sheer scale of his storytelling with his sophomore effort. It’s a tightly-woven, tense narrative where nothing feels out of place.

Neuvel manages to make both the first contact and alien invasion tropes feel fresh and new, and the quiet moments of the book wonderfully punctuate the tension of the previous scenes. The cast of characters is engaging, all so genuine in their flaws and foibles.

Waking Gods is an outstanding sequel, one that pays off everything the first book set up and makes you hungry for more.