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Metropolis Down (The Void #1)

Name: Metropolis Down (The Void #1)
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
ISBN: u77EasnnKG

By Vesper Doom

Publisher Description

A relationship broken.
A ship in distress.
Jett and Eddie stand between life and death for hundreds of thousands of souls.
But can they save each other?

The QSR Neo-Tokyo was the first ship in the Metropolis-class fleet: an immense spaceship housing an entire city and half a million people in its hold. For forty years, it has traveled from Jupiter to Pluto and back without issue. So, when it leaves Ganymede after routine maintenance, no one aboard could’ve anticipated what would happen.

Eddie Stone, First Officer of the Neo-Tokyo, wants to prove his worth once and for all. Now he has the chance as Captain of a brand-new, luxury spaceship: the QSR Golden Lion. Pushed to pick either his future or his long-term boyfriend, he makes the difficult choice to further his career and break things off with Jett. But he’ll remain on the Neo-Tokyo for four more months until he can join the Golden Lion.

Jett Valla, the Neo-Tokyo’s Head of Security, wants answers about why Eddie left him when their relationship was essentially perfect. But when the truth comes, it’s as he’s spiraling, unable to fight off nightmares from his traumatic past, and his only comfort is now denied to him.

Despite avoiding each other for months, Eddie and Jett are forced back together when the Neo-Tokyo intercepts a distress signal that leads them to a ship filled with unexpected horrors. What Jett finds there raises more questions than it answers, and leaves Eddie haunted by the terrors on board.

When they return to the Neo-Tokyo, something sinister follows them, and soon the crowded city streets run with blood.

Metropolis Down is an adult space horror novel with an achillean second-chance romance starring two neurodivergent men. It is the first book in the Void series.

There are heavy cws for this book, please refer to the authors website for a detailed list.

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Metropolis Down (The Void #1) Reviews

4.0

vi_iv

Created 3 months ago

“*I received this eARC for free in exchange for my honest review.* If you enjoy space horror with a little second-chance romance, this book is for you. The story mainly focuses on the romance between Jett and Eddie after their initial breakup. I really appreciate how all of the characters are older adults, in their 30s and 40s, and some of the drama between the main characters could be resolved through talking it out. I wished to see more interactions with some of the side characters like Jack and Ell. The plot felt a little slow in the beginning when it focused on the relationship between Jett and Eddie, and picked up once we were introduced to the tragedy on the Golden Lion. The worldbuilding is definitely the strength of the novel. The setting felt gritty like Cyberpunk with the tension and horror of Alien. It was very immersive and gave me a sense of dread while reading. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It is a bit different from what I normally read, but I'm glad I took the risk of trying something new. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series!”

Faye Moser

Created 3 months ago

“Thank you to Vesper Doom for providing me with an eARC of Metropolis Down. All opinions are my own. I am a sucker for space horror, and this delivered exactly the kind of gritty, neon lit atmosphere I was hoping for. The setting of the Neo-Tokyo is basically its own character. It feels both massive and claustrophobic at the same time, and the shift into pure sci-fi horror once the rescue mission begins is incredibly effective. I loved the eerie, cosmic horror elements and how genuinely unsettling the song within the code felt throughout the story. Vesper Doom is great at building a world that feels heavy and lived in. The queer representation and the romance were definitely a highlight for me. Jett and Eddie have such an unapologetically messy and layered dynamic, and their history as a broken second-chance romance added a lot of emotional weight to the high stakes. Seeing two neurodivergent men navigate that kind of trauma while fighting off mind-shattering horrors was exactly the kind of representation I want to see more of in this genre. It makes the characters feel so much more grounded than your standard sci-fi leads. I am landing on a very solid four stars for this one. Like some other reviewers have mentioned, the pacing felt a little bit sluggish in the middle before picking back up for the finale. However, the world-building and the absolute gut punch of an ending made it a completely worthwhile read. If you want a bleak, atmospheric space horror with actual heart and complex characters, you should definitely pick this up.”

Stephanie 🌺📚

Created 4 months ago

“I'd sincerely like to thank Vesper Doom for accepting me onto their ARC Team for this fantastic read. I feel so honored to be one of the first of many to read this amazing novel. Rating: 4.5 ⭐ A Short Summary: Metropolis Down follows Head of Security Lieutenant Jett Valla and First Officer Eddie Stone as they struggle in their relationship coming to an end. They live and work on the Neo-Tokyo, the first ever metropolis sized ship fit to hold half a million people. Now estranged, they have to work together with a group of their friends and their trusted Captain to plan a rescue mission when they receive a distress call from an elite ship the Golden Lion. Jett, who is trained in rescue maneuvers takes in a team and what they learn on the ship in distress is horrifying. Seeing and hearing things that aren't there, Jett and Eddie must work together to stop the thing that followed them back to the Neo-Tokyo, to stop it from destroying the only real home they've ever known. My Thoughts: I have so many complex feelings surrounding Metropolis Down. First, the plot. It was so in depth, it had such an epic scope of action and emotion and tiny tidbits of things you can feel will be brought up in later books. The story feelings unfinished, because it is. You can feel the broadness of the plotline Doom has developed, and I'm so excited to continue it. Second, the characters. I am so drawn to Jett, he and I have the same PTSD trauma response, which while unhealthy sure, I've never seen in a character before. I have also learned quite a bit about myself through Eddie's chapters, I am fast to get annoyed with him and his actions. I have often stated to neurotypical people that introducing two autistic people is like introducing new cats to each other, you need time to warm up to them. Which I did, in the end. It was interesting to read this though, because I've never experienced this feeling with a character before, I knew where he was coming from, and why he felt that way but the way he reacted was not the way I would've reacted and I ultimately found my response to him very interesting. I loved the way he was written, I've never read such an accurate autistic character before. I loved the gore and the body horror that persisted from the prologue to the last page. The imagery really paints a picture in my head and I'm so interested to see more art of the inside of Neo-Tokyo to know if my imagination is accurate to Doom's. I can also envision myself drawing something for this book and its series in the future, the imagery like I said is very cool. The concept of a city in space on a ship is so cool, with cyberpunk-esque bars and body parts and tablets. I also loved that while the romance was There in the plot it was soft without being fluffy, it was as intense as the plot was and while they dance around each other, the plot is moving and its rough and wild and dangerous. Trying to think of people to recommend this book to is interesting. It's such an intense read that my first thought is, for fans of You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White. Though its less sexually explicit, it shares a weird creature and has a cultish vibe to it, a religious creature god aspect for sure. I think it's action and body horror scenes really would fit well for fans of Run Like Hell by Eira Brand, its very descriptive and if you can handle one I think you could handle the other. I think if anyone loved the in space living feel of The Darkness Outside Us but wanted more of an adult relationship and maybe some weird horror, I'd recommend it to that crowd. Metropolis Down really is what it's advertised as; Adult Sci-Fi Horror Romance that deals with trauma accurately with the backdrop of an epic scope cosmic nightmare. Trigger Warnings I Gathered: body horror, self harm, PTSD, Anxiety, mentions suicide, torture, plague/epidemic, mentions SA of a minor”

Captivating Challenging Engaging Cohesive Flows well Thematically-structured Effective visuals Engaging Death Explicit sexual content Grief Murder Self-harm Violence

LunaSolLove

Created 4 months ago

“*ARC Review* Thank you to Vesper Doom for the ARC! I loved meeting Jett and Eddie. It was so nice reading a book with romance where our love interests aren’t 19. Typically I’m not a big fan of second chance romance stories but this one proved that like vegetables it’s about how you cook it! I enjoyed their story and found it relatable in a way that I think most in a long term relationship might. The difficulties both of them face. Eddie with his family being so controlling and image obsessed and how that affected their relationship and how he sees himself leading to his emotional unavailability and lack of communication with his partner while he’s getting played like a fiddle. And Jett! With the amount of trauma he has been through to get to where he was at and lending to his own trust issues. I love them as a duo and enjoyed witnessing those barriers break down between them. I’m looking forward to watching that love grow in the following books (there is more right? Because I need more). The sci fi horror was what had caught my attention when I initially signed up for a copy. I was really looking forward to finding out what that horror would be and Vesper Doom did not disappoint. I did not see Jones coming, the void, or the Affected for that matter. I didn’t know what the horror was going to be but I was glad I signed up for this ride! Spoiler! There is undead, mind control, and a strange psychic connection that I still don’t entirely understand but I gobbled that up so quickly. I was tense and on the edge of my seat. I grieved with them and I was hyping up Jett thru out all his trials. That being said as much as I loved a lot of the ideas in this story and plot points in general it did at times feel like I missed something. Like some of the story development was happening off page and I’m left trying to catch up. The secondary characters I would have liked to learn more about and be more invested in. They just didn’t feel very fleshed out. Kind of like I was barging in half way thru their story.”

Captivating Engaging Underdeveloped thesis Easy to read Ableism Abuse Grief Self-harm Violence

Morgane P.

Created over 2 years ago

“The way I will act once I’ve got my hand on this book. Sorry not sorry Edit : I read it. I finished reading Metro, and I had to read through my tears. Thank you very much Doom. I was one of the lucky person who got the privilege to beta read Metro, and I’m so glad Dom is publishing it next year so I won’t have another favourite to choose from at the end of the year. Metropolis down is a space opera, with a second chance romance, fucked up gods and HORROR. If you know me, you know I don’t read horror because I like to sleep at night thank you very much. But I became SO obsessed with Jett and Eddie, every snippet I read made me go feral, so Dom let me read it as she wrote it. And I was probably the least efficient beta in the history of beta”