Exordia

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By Seth Dickinson

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Publisher Description

Michael Crichton meets Marvel’s Venom in award-winning author Seth Dickinson’s science fiction debut, named one of The New York Times' Best SFF Books of 2024.

"Agonizing and mesmerizing, a devastating and extraordinary achievement."—The New York Times

“Magnificent. . . . A science fiction action juggernaut.”—Tamsyn Muir

“Anna, I came to Earth tracking a very old story, a story that goes back to the dawn of time. It’s very unlikely that you’ll die right now. It wouldn’t be narratively complete.”

Anna Sinjari—refugee, survivor of genocide, disaffected office worker—has a close encounter that reveals universe-threatening stakes. Enter Ssrin, a many-headed serpent alien who is on the run from her own past. Ssrin and Anna are inexorably, dangerously drawn to each other, and their contact reveals universe-threatening stakes.

While humanity reels from disaster, Anna must join a small team of civilians, soldiers, and scientists to investigate a mysterious broadcast and unknowable horror. If they can manage to face their own demons, they just might save the world.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

52 Reviews

3.5

sylvegoo

Created 13 days ago

M. Mo.

Created 22 days ago

“This was my second science fiction book, after Andy Weir's 'Project Hail Mary', which I had read in 2024. So my expectations were pretty high for this genre. So when I did indeed start this book, I immediately wanted to put it down. Anna, pre-alien invasion was not a very well fleshed out character, her interactions with Ssrin weren't very believable. I don't think, I believed with my limited knowledge that a 8-headed snake monster would pop in my life and I would be rather unfazed. But again, I am not Anna, and nor did I know her, so who was I to judge. So when Roman's death led to the universe free-falling, spiritual thoughts thrown around, and other characters walked in, I was interested. Intrigued rather, by the morally gray, maybe sociopath Clayton Hunt, and the general moral compass of the melee Eric Wygunt. Two opposing personalities, yet the same preferences. Khaje and Davoud were introduced in the story, with Khaje being a badass woman, and Davoud, a presumed typical religious man with one dream: to fly. They both fit so well together, one who was tired of dreaming, living, existing, and the other, ambitious, daredevil in some cases, and cowardly in almost other aspects, yet both of them were chosen communicators; Ssrin and Iruvage respectively. Iruvage was a good villain, pretty much the evil caricature, who was opposed by the now changed Ssrin. While indeed their species was damned to hell, they both wanted to now break through the cycle. Chaya and Aixue were by far my favourite. This duo, with Li, succinctly describing their relation as she understood the two subjects of physics and math. Inherently different, yet when combined, extraordinary. However, when the spiritual badass explanation comes in, I am hooked. The concept of hell, the Blackbird and the science behind it, fractals, Zipf and prime numbers, so complicated, yet explained easily. The Khai, their need to attain heavenly ascension, Rosamaria, the limb of God, and Rosamaria, the human, were so well developed, so real, so dynamic, their stories, the seven stories, and the seven people, who became so important in the fight against Exordia, they became stories themselves. As Dickinson states: 'People are just … books. They dry out, they tear, they snap at the spine. They rot in the dark. You leave them alone and they stop meaning anything at all.' These chosen characters, the fight for what is correct, what is moral, what is right, what is survival and what is life, were touched upon. Covered in hilarious banter, and when you think you've finally reached the end of their fight, another problem arises. This book kept me at tenterhooks all the time; reeling me in, with its final arc leaving me empty. Dickinson's writing is similar to watching an action movie, leaving one adrenaline crazed and impatient, waiting for a proper good hero wins end. The major problem though is that the end is a cliffhanger. Eric, the moral man is always thrown against the wall, and killed when attempted to do something right. Clayton was too helpless, Chaya had too much potential, and Aixue had a lot of knowledge. Where does the story end for people who felt too many things? What about Anna who went through literal and figurative hell? Will the Khai ever achieve a good ending? Who betrayed Ssrin? What does Rosamaria, the Blackbird become when Rosamaria the human was killed? Will anyone ever attain heaven? What is heaven for Aixue who has now looked for fractal geometry and math everywhere? Whose concept of life is better: Eric or Clayton? Does Anna find out what she really wants? The book ends with a lot of whats, hows and whys. But it was a long book. In the start, I wished it wouldn't drag on, but when it picked up its pace, why didn't Dickinson want to clean up the loose ends? It made me so disappointed reading the end. I just wanted to end with a win; I wanted atleast one conclusion to be reached. I felt that, no issues were resolved after this book, so many problems, but no win for the characters. It made it so bleak. So, I therefore, rate this book a 3.7/5. It was indeed a good book, but I wanted more from it.”

Diverse representation Likeable Strong relationships Addictive Clever plotting Gripping/exciting Dystopian Immersive world-building Violence War violence

Udayan

Created 29 days ago

“Full of great ideas. Over-indulgent and laboured execution leading to a tepid ending. Not holding my breath for rest of the series. Was expecting a lot more from the author who wowed me with Baru Cormorant.”

Inconsistent Action-packed Unsatisfying conclusion Clear but uninspired

Sadiecoocoo

Created about 1 month ago

“I loved this book so much!!! And it tackled so many harsh subjects all in one go, such as corruption, homophobia, genocide, racism, religious guilt/abuse and just so much more Every main character really had their own personality that brought the story together so well, and, honestly, everyone in this was very morally grey, but you can’t help but love them anyway! Also the slow burn was KILLING me, but as long as there’s a sequel I’ll be okay lol The plot and mystery of it all really intrigued me, and even though a lot of the science of it felt clunky I honestly kind of felt like I learned something from it, and in the end it all started to make sense. The way that a few characters haunted the narrative without even being in it other than being mentioned was also insanely well written (talking about both Rosamaria and Anna’s brother and father) And the way that the relationships were written were so well! Like you didn’t realize some of them liked each other until they practically told you, but then you see how much chemistry they’ve had from the beginning, and then with another pair you know from the beginning that they’re both absolutely obsessed with each other and are in their divorce arc without even ever have been dating (not saying names for spoilers sake, but I will say there are lesbian, bi, straight, and gay relationships in this, though the straight one is arguable and I don’t really think they’ll end up together… either way, very inclusive!) I will say that the reading was clunky at times, and it can be difficult to get into it because of all the sciencey and math stuff (still worth it tho and I felt like i learned something lol) Anyways, I’ll stop ranting, but if anyone ever wants to yap about this book I’d be open for discussions <3”

Phin

Created about 2 months ago

About Seth Dickinson

SETH DICKINSON is the author of the Baru Cormorant novels and many short stories, as well as much of the lore and backstory of Bungie Studios’ Destiny. Exordia is Seth's first science fiction novel.