Exiles

Curlicue plot twists and an Among Us vibe both enhance and plague this space gothic from Coile (William). Robots One, Two, and Three were sent to Mars years before the start of the book to prepare a base. Now humans Dana, Kang, and Blake follow. Dana, the narrator and the team’s “badass” medical doctor, was orphaned at age 15 and has since learned to stifle her emotions while honing her fighting skills. When a mysterious force begins poking holes in the base and engineer Kang turns up murdered, suspicion falls on the bots, who, unbeknownst to Mission Control, have become increasingly human-like during their years on Mars, even taking on names and genders. Robots One and Two, now Shay and Wes, still try to protect and assist the humans, but Robot Three, Alex, abandons them for the open desert. Blake and Wes believe Alex is behind the attacks, but Shay insists that some more malicious force is at work. Mason nimbly juggles themes of sexism, space colonization, and AI sentience for a time, but abruptly drops them when the plot takes a darker turn. As allegiances switch, backstories are revealed, and the real murderer emerges, readers may struggle to keep a grasp on events. Still, with its tough-as-nails heroine and scheming robots, there’s plenty here to hold sci-fi fans’ interest. (Sept.)