Alice-9

I’ll admit, I went into *Alice-9* expecting another *Halo*-meets-*The Expanse* shoot-’em-up, but Lamb’s novel is far more interested in the psychology of war than the pyrotechnics. The NeHaw aren’t just faceless invaders—they’re a mirror, forcing Jake and his team to confront how much of their "human" strategy is actually being dictated by the ALICEs. The book’s strongest scenes aren’t the battles (though they’re visceral and well-paced) but the debriefs, where characters grapple with the ethics of delegating life-or-death calls to an AI that might have its own agenda. Drummond’s narration sells this introspection; he delivers Jake’s internal monologues with a weariness that makes you believe this is a man who’s seen too much, yet still trusts the machines more than himself. That said, the book isn’t without flaws. The female recruits, while individually compelling, sometimes feel more like archetypes (the sniper, the hacker, the diplomat) than fully fleshed people, and Lamb’s tendency to resolve key conflicts off-page in favor of post-action analysis can frustrate if you’re craving in-the-moment tension. The audio production is crisp, though I docked half a star for a few instances where Drummond’s pacing drags during technical explanations—ALICE’s data dumps, while necessary, occasionally feel like listening to a PowerPoint. Still, the payoff is worth it: by the final act, when the lines between ally, enemy, and overlord blur, you’ll be as hooked as I was. If you love sci-fi that’s more *Ghost in the Shell* than *Starship Troopers*, this is your next listen.