The Second Initiative

A Science Fiction Thriller (The Helios System, Book 2)

By: Alyssa Hazel

Narrated by: Son of Sonnet

A Sister Turned Convict. A Brother Turned Killer. A Trial of the Soul.

For Sister Catina De Baciu, surviving the evils of Colony 76 was all the adventure she needed. Her homecoming to the planet Kasian should have heralded a quiet, peaceful life. But her arrival was not empty-handed. And secrets, even those nestled deep in the earth, rarely stay hidden. It wasn't long before the Transport Administration, cuffs in hand, appeared at her door...

Rayner Burke would have turned his back on Gods, Mitrite, and Civil Wars. But as a slum rat of Breccia, a recently emancipated mining colony, apathy was not an option. Especially with his brother, Dag, slipping further into ore-addled madness. Though his position as Crusher Under Lieutenant provided a roof over their heads, it has not been enough to find a cure or slow Dag's degradation...

The Second Initiative did not care for either. It loomed in the depths of space: the vessel for experimentation, greed, and avoiding human rights tribunals. For Catina, it means freedom in exchange for her humanity. For Rayner, it holds the cure to his brother's illness: a prize for which he and his men would be willing to kill.

The Second Initiative, a science-fiction thriller with western sensibilities, is the hotly anticipated follow-up to The Third Test.

©2025 Alyssa Harrington (P)2025 Alyssa Harrington

Catina returns in a completely different story

It helps to read “The Third Test” because that’s where the main character and her universe is introduced, but it’s not absolutely necessary to follow this book’s plot because it’s fairly standalone and doesn’t build too much on the plot from the first book.

The book starts off with Catina and arrested. Think of it like sort of like a tasteful women in prison exploitation film. After that, most the rest of the story takes place in the titular locale.

Performance is great as always. The narrator has more acting and different voices than many high budget big name audiobooks.

Hope we see more books in this series!

One Part Spiritualism, One Part Cosmic Horror

A slow burn to be sure, but the best sci fi books tend to be. In it we glimpse a future in which man kind has managed to gain power from a Faustian bargain that they no little about, but are dependent on. A girl whose faith and miraculous biology rendering her seemingly immune to the horrors of the very thing humanity is reliant on. And a gang of criminals embarking on a mission to save one of their own.

Well worth reading, and you don't have to read the first book as the second does a good job alluding to the events of the first book, and it largely serves as a stand alone. I look forward to the next book in the series.

New fiction? And it’s all science-y?

Alyssa Hazel is new on the author scene, but if she keeps putting out interesting work, she’ll be here a long while.

This one is worth a listen or a read. I hear part three is even better-er. Will see for myself.

The adventure of Katina continues

I found it hard to stop listening and when the end credits rolled, I just wanted to start over. Son of Sonnet does an excellent job of translating flat words on a page to a solid performance you can feel as you listen. Alyssa has spun a tale that culminates in a desperate fight for survival against both physical and metaphysical threats. There's a unique and imaginative universe here just waiting to be expanded