Emmett’s first-person voice is immediate and innocent: he realizes that Babel’s ruthless and coldblooded but doesn’t apply that to his understanding of what’s really going on.

Textual descriptions can be scanty however, copious action and a reality TV atmosphere (the scoreboard shows regularly) make the pace flow. Awkward moments in the smattering of black vernacular are rare. Emmett's initial understanding of his own blackness may throw readers off, but a black protagonist in outer space is welcome. It even forms language-translating facemasks, allowing Emmett, a black boy from Detroit, to communicate with competitors from other countries. They head through space toward the planet Eden, where they’ll mine a substance called nyxia, “the new black gold.” En route, the corporation forces them into brutal competition with one another-fighting, running through violent virtual reality racecourses, and manipulating nyxia, which can become almost anything. Surely it’s the jackpot: they’ll each receive $50,000 every month for life, and Emmett’s mother will get a kidney transplant, otherwise impossible for poor people. When Babel Communications invites 10 teens to participate in “the most serious space exploration known to mankind,” Emmett signs on. Kids endure rigorous competition aboard a spaceship. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. But I think my favorite thing about handing this book to you, dear reader, is that some of the moments in this story are a decade in the making. Since querying Greyglance, I've written a total of 21 other novels-9 of which are published, with more on the way. It's a different story with different characters. A Door in the Dark was born from the ashes of that first book. I started picking through the bones and pulling this or that. And to my great surprise, I found a few things that still had traces of that magic. This vast, complicated thing that was once full of magic for me. It was like picking over the corpse of a dragon. I went back to Greyglance a few years ago.

Eventually, I set it aside and worked on the next book and the next one-until I published my debut, Nyxia. I wanted to know: was it good enough?! That book slowly piled up about 50 or so rejection letters. Like any new author, I eagerly went from finishing the manuscript to querying my work. Eventually, My very first completed novel was called Greyglance. My very first completed novel was called Greyglance. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Nyxia by scott reintgen