Author: Brendan Reichs
Genre: Science Fiction
Published on: March 5, 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
The stunning finale of the Project Nemesis trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Brendan Reichs.
The 64 members of Fire Lake’s sophomore class have managed to survive the first two phases of the Program—and each other. Now, they alone have emerged into the dawn of a new era on Earth, into a Fire Lake valley that’s full of otherworldly dangers and challenges. Although staying alive in this broken world should force Min, Noah, Tack, and the others to form new alliances, old feuds die hard, and the brutality of the earlier Program phases cannot be forgotten. But being a team isn’t easy for the sophomores, and when they discover that they may not be alone on the planet after all, they’ll have to decide if they’re going to work together…or die together.
The quest to save humanity continues in this final entry of the Project Nemesis series. With the way Genesis ended, the author could have satisfactorily wrapped it up as a duology. Min Wilder, the main protagonist, managed to save all 64 members of her sophomore class. They went through Phase Two of Project Nemesis for millions of years while Earth healed from an apocalyptic event. Thanks to living as data inside a supercomputer, the students experienced all that eternity in a few months. Now they’re back in physical bodies in the real world.
It’s been a few months since Min and her classmates emerged from the supercomputer. They returned to a vastly different Fire Lake than they remember. Along with Noah, her boyfriend, Min’s built a fledgling community. Project Nemesis left them with every supply humanity could need, stored in a decommissioned missile silo. For the moment, their world is small. The student’s former town of Fire Lake is now an island surrounded by a vast ocean. There’s nothing around, except for an island a day’s sail away.
Considering how Phase Two went, Min and the others have it easy. They’ve all forged a rather stable alliance. The most hostile of their number (including Toby) were let go to find themselves another place to be. As humanity’s pretty much been saved, I wondered what complication the Fire Lake community would face next. Perhaps Toby and his cronies would come back and strike? Unlikely, and foolish. The whole point of Project Nemesis was to save humanity. Still, Min’s village is attacked one night by a dozen unknowns. She wakes up later, tied up in a storage shed.
I can’t discuss any more of what happens without letting huge spoilers slip. You probably have an idea of what Chrysalis will be like, as I did. I’ve never read a book where humanity has to rebuild after an extinction-level event. I wanted to see if this one would go as I imagined. I was invested in the characters already after spending two books with them. Min is a strong, worthy leader. She’s proved herself resilient and charismatic. Noah’s also different, after Min helped him see the error of his ways in Phase Two.
Min’s best friend, Thomas “Tack” Russo, is also back. He doesn’t show up for a good portion of Chrysalis, though. It turns out Tack was a tad in love with Min. After she chose Noah, he couldn’t bear to be near them anymore. So Tack left with a group to explore the day-away island. Min’s sad, but at least she’s glad Tack is alive. She’s still sure she did the right thing saving her whole sophomore class instead of the 20 that Project Nemesis required. Unsurprisingly, that choice may soon have consequences.
I’m not sure I like the ending of Chrysalis, though. On one part, it answers a few questions I had after the first two books. I wondered why a super-secret government project would pick a single sophomore class, out of all of humanity, to save from the end of the world. That didn’t make much sense to me. I was hoping for a certain thing to have taken place. SPOILER: Maybe a few other powerful countries found out about the U.S.’s Project Nemesis and decided to launch their own? SPOILER ENDS. The main antagonist also seemed a little what the?. It felt a bit as if Batman had fought the Coluan Indigo in The Dark Knight Rises instead of Bane. Plausible, but quite out of left field and not really fitting with the previous two installments. This villain would feel a lot more at home in a different sci-fi novel.
Despite its shortcomings, Chrysalis was a good end to this trilogy. It’s primarily a survival story, and it does its job. Min, Noah, and their peers manage to survive long enough to rebuild society again. It’s good to see them get a happy ending (I don’t think it’s a spoiler to mention that). One thing I’m wondering is how Min and the new world will fare without technology. They’ve all essentially been sent back to the Stone Age. Everything must be built anew. Unfortunately, the main villain’s actions have a side effect I didn’t like much. It doesn’t make the story worse, but still. It would be hard to live in a world like the one Min and the others will rebuild. At least they formed solid bonds during the trials they faced.
My rating: ★★★★
4 stars - Definitely enjoyed it!
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