Book Review: Erebus-13 by David Wellington

Solid Action Based Conclusion With Less Abject Horror. This conclusion of this trilogy is both quite different than the books that came before it - while still continuing their tale - and yet also pretty damn close to what at least I expected coming out of Revenant-X. This book picks up "shortly" after that one leaves off, and as with Mass Effect 2's ending (particularly from The Arrival DLC) portending one hell of an epic final fight - also for Earth - and then Mass Effect 3 largely delivering on the sheer scale of epicness while also being quite different in many ways from the tale(s) that came before, this is again following that well known path.

What we actually get here, to be clear, is in fact quite horrific in many ways, but the tale ultimately is much more action based, with our ragtag group of... well, not heroes, but still humanity's last hope, whether they realize it or not... often jumping from one battle to the next, though usually with some set piece or plot armor based maneuvering between.

Could this have been edited down? Likely. It is *also* already the shortest book in the series by over 100 pages, or perhaps by even as much as nearly 200 pages, depending on the exact form you're reading these tales in, and if anything based on the previous books in the series for all that happens here Wellington could likely have doubled this page count and still not really felt excessive.

This being the conclusion of an explicit trilogy, this is absolutely *not* the book to start this trilogy with. You'll be able to follow along reasonably well if you do, because Wellington explains enough of the prior history well enough... and repeatedly enough (one of the areas he could likely have shaved a few words here and there and likely saved at least a dozen pages or so without really losing much)... that you'll be able to follow along well enough. But to *really* get this book - and really understand all that happens in the endgame in particular - you really do need to read this trilogy from its beginning in Paradise-1 through to this conclusion. Hell, in this regard it is actually *easier* on those first encountering this story via this book than Mass Effect was on those (like me) who first came into the game via Mass Effect 3. (Though I *did* in fact play through Mass Effect 1 and 2 before actually playing 3... because I bought them both in the few weeks just before 3 released. ;) )

There is actually another video game parallel with this book, particularly with its endgame, but to reveal even the franchise would likely give away the actual endgame here, and come to think of it there is also a movie series with an entry with a similar effect - and in fact mentioning the mere existence of both of these may well come damn close to spoiler territory, particularly for certain types of scifi geeks that would likely be the exact target audience for this very trilogy to begin with.

Overall truly one hell of a conclusion, one I'm glad Wellington had the balls to go where he did here in many cases. Sadly far too few authors these days have that level of bravery, and Wellington is to be commended for taking this story to such an ultimately satisfying conclusion.

Very much recommended.

This review of Erebus-13 by David Wellington was originally written on July 17, 2026.