Leanne Olson

by S.A. Barnes

releasing April 8, 2025 from Tor Nightfire

I love starting off the year right with a 5-star book.  S.A. Barnes’ new space horror novel, Cold Eternity, is her creepiest and best novel yet.

The protagonist is a somewhat naive government official on the run, trying to build a new life for herself while hiding from her former employers. She takes a secret job on an old ship to earn money…and has been warned that previous caretakers have lost their minds and seen spooky things.  Very The Shining in space.

I love how each of Barnes’ books has a basic “Flawed female protagonist takes a kind of suspicious job in a remote area of space, and shit gets weird” premise…but the shit getting weird is so different and unexpected each time.

Cold Eternity embraces Alien-style anti-corruption and anti-capitalist themes, which I always love in a sci-fi horror.  It also brings in some weird mythological aspects that I loved. It’s Barnes’ most complex novel, with her most interesting protagonist.

I’m also scared of any sound in my walls now, so thanks for that.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for my review copy. 

Read my reviews of Barnes’ previous novels, Ghost Station and Dead Silence.