ACADIA

Children of Acadia, Book 1

By: Sterling Nixon

Narrated by: Euan Morton

Two hundred years ago, the Roaches swept across the Earth, annihilating everything in their path. Humanity’s remnants retreated behind the walls of Acadia—a militarized city where every citizen’s worth is dictated by a ruthless merit score. Earn enough points and you live in safety. Fall short, and you’re Rifted—cast into the depths beyond salvation.

Jessica teeters on the edge of that fate, forced into the Mahghetto—an unforgiving gauntlet where failure means death. Cojax is a young soldier desperate to prove himself in a society that sees him as expendable. When they uncover a long-guarded secret, the two are thrust into a conspiracy that could shatter Acadia’s rigid order and ignite a war it cannot win.

In Acadia, loyalty is rewarded… until the day it kills you.

©2025 Sterling Nixon (P)2026 Sterling Nixon

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Brutal, Addictive Military Sci-Fi

I picked up ACADIA on a whim and ended up losing sleep over it. Not exaggerating. I told mmyself “just one more chapter” at least six times. What hooked me wasn’t just the action (though yeah, the combat scenes are absolutely insane). It was the idea behind the city. A soceiety built entirely on validation, rank, performance… were your worth is constantly measured. It’s uncomfortable in a way that makes you think. And honestly? That’s what made it so hard to put down.

The armor is cool! The battles are brutal. But the quiet moments are what got me. The looks between characters. The doubt. The fear of not measuring up. There’s this constant tension humming under everything. The enemy is the overwhelming Roaches. Not cartooon villains. They feel overwhelming. Relentless. The scale of it all feels massive, like humanity is barelly holding on.

The writing isn’t flowery — it’s sharp. Clean. Direct. It fits the world. Sometimes I’d read a line and just go, “dang.” You can tell the author knows exactly what kind of story he’s telling. Is it intense? Yes. Is it violent? Also yes. But it earns it. Nothing feels thrown in just for shock value.

I’ve read a lot of sci-fi that blends together after a while. ACADIA doesn’t. It has its own identity, its own tone, its own weight. Definitley not your typical sci-fi story. And I’m still thinking about it days later.

That’s how you know it’s good.

Awesome read!

I liked that the story jumped right in and got started pretty soon. When you introduce a hierarchy in a story like this, it can be hard to follow at first but that was NOT the case with Acadia. I burned through it in a week!

Military Sci-fi--not so much dystopian

This fits much better under the military sci-fi genre. Very well written. So much depth to the characters, the plot, and the setting. I especially enjoyed Marcus' story arc. The second book can't come soon enough.

Anyone who enjoys some good ol' military sci-fi fiction gonna love this one.

Merit Before All

Epic in every way that matters!

I just finished ACADIA on audiobook and I’m honestly still thinking about it.

The world building is insane in the best way. The city, the Wall, the armoor, the whole merit-based system — it all fills real and lived in. The battle scenes are intense without being confusing, and the emotional moments actually hit. There were a couple parts that legit made me pause and just sit there for a minute. Cojax and Jessica especially feel layered and human, not just “hero types.” You can tell a lot of thought went into the structure of this world.

And the narrator absolutely nailed it. His voice gives weight to the military tone but still brings out the vulnerabilty in the quieter scenes. The pacing was perfect — not rushed, not dragging. Some of the speeches gave me chills. I’ve listened to a lot of sci-fi audiobooks and this one stands up there with the best of them.

It’s gritty without being edgy just to be edgy. Smart without being pretentious. I didn’t expect to get this pulled in, but here we are.

Highly recomend if you like military sci-fi with heart. I’ll definitly be continuing the series.

Amazing story and original

Love this book. It’s an original idea in many ways, and it manages to be intelligent and complex. Highly recommend