The Rise of Europa Prince is the first book in The Venom Sector by Alon M Lavie, a roller coaster of a sci-fi story. A team of Earth’s scientists experience a devastating failure in space, but then there are aliens just watching and waiting to descend and destroy humanity. Earth is under serious threat of destruction and only the help of an alien race, one that might have evolved from humans, can offer hope to humanity. The problem is that there are traitors among them and they are as powerful as the enemy humanity dreads. Can the few heroes outwit the cunning aliens, build the right alliances and save Earth?

There is a lot in this book for fans of the genre — the intense action, the innovative science, aliens, top-notch storytelling skills and more. Alon M Lavie begins the series with a lot of action, and the reader is immediately pulled in, thanks to the emotional depth of the story. Characters like Ayana, Alexa, McKinney, and others are well developed and whether they are facing the Killer Bees with modified bombs, missiles, and torpedoes or working a way out of a trap, their humanity comes out clearly. The stream of consciousness, the focused scenes, and the pulsating action are captured in clear and vivid prose. The writing is as enjoyable as the plot, and the author makes sure there is no pause. Readers will enjoy the cast of female characters, the realism injected into the narrative, and the cunning with which the plot is handled. The Rise of Europa Prince is gripping and hypnotic, a great read, indeed.

The Rise of Europa Prince is a fast-paced science fiction novel by Alon Lavie, and the first book in The Venom Sector series. We begin with the strong heroine, Alexa, a former prisoner with a great deal of bravery and smarts, and the story expands from her daring escape into a worldwide catastrophe. Aliens are coming, and they have one thing in mind: total extermination of humanity. Through our own failed experiments, humanity has brought Armageddon on itself, and Alexa finds herself sucked into its centre. As if the aliens weren’t enough, Alexa’s adversary - Black Widow - is keen to hunt her down, a villain so despicably cruel she evens murders the officers of her own fleet in order to pursue one too-clever young lady.

I really enjoyed the many threads to The Rise of Europa Prince and I found that both the main heroine and villain had solid character arcs which developed over time. Black Widow appears with a bang in traditional wicked villain style, but she was fleshed out well as time went on and I became just as interested in how her mind worked as how Alexa would escape her clutches. Alon Lavie writes with speed and precision, favoring action and dialogue over too much description. In this case, the technique works well to bring an intriguing and twisting plot line to life. If you’re looking for a suspenseful, no-frills sci-fi that’s quick to read but hard to put down, look no further than The Rise of Europa Prince.

As Alexa wakes up on a battle cruiser, where she has been imprisoned for months, she realizes that her life and the whole of civilization depends on her escape. The infamous, callous alien, the Black Widow, and her army are set on invading Earth and taking it over. As time is fast running out, it is up to Alexa to locate and destroy the path of entry into the solar system. Meanwhile on Earth, Ayana joins forces with Trident, a friendly alien who comes face to face with the Black Widow as she arrives on Earth and puts her deadly plan into action. The battle lines are set and, with the clock ticking, can they save Earth from the unstoppable force of the Black Widow?

From the first sentence, The Rise of Europa Prince: The Venom Sector by Alon Lavie is a novel that grabbed my attention, I knew this was going to be a nail-biter, and it did not disappoint. The author can certainly set a scene of tension and excitement and keep the reader's interest through every page. Every character was brilliantly created from Lavie's vivid imagination. They all had unique, colourful personalities and the author managed to bring them all to life. I loved the strong and feisty female characters of Ayana and Alexa, who both came across as confident and fearless. The Black Widow was absolutely devoid of any empathy, and her actions were blood-curdling. The conflicts were blended into the plot exceptionally well as they tried to capture the Black Widow. I loved the twist in the end and I feel the author left an opening for a sequel. I would love to read it if Alon Lavie ever decides this story could be continued.

The time line is off, and events have been accelerated for one simple reason. Black Widow. A cold, callous creature with her sights set on Earth. Her intelligence is well established, and the glass web knows everything. Well, almost everything; they are not yet at full capacity but that will change. Countries are dropping like flies to her control. Her arrival acted as a catalyst, forcing the other insect species to bring forward their plans for hostile invasion. The Europa Prince is on its way, housing the great invasion fleet. Ayana, an agent for the US Department of Defense, is determined to stop Black Widow at every turn. Armies are building, alliances are being formed and lost, and the very fate of Earth rests on the shoulders of just a few.

I often don't like reading books written in the present tense, but the author made it so effortless that I didn't really notice. The Rise of Europa Prince is the first instalment in Alon Lavie's The Venom Sector and whilst it is part of what I imagine will be a much larger series, it is easy to follow as a complete story in its own right. It is full of strong female characters with diverse and interesting personalities, not to mention being packed with action, suspense, and a touch of mayhem. Things in this story go from bad to worse, an invasion fleet is on the way, and the people of Earth have less time than expected to form a plan. Time scales are altered and the threat is upon them before they are prepared. A character-driven plot like this allows ample time to develop characters, relationships and motivations, and the sci-fi aspects are easy, perfect for a newbie sci-fi fan who finds too much tech info overwhelming, while still holding appeal to regular sci-fi readers.