SPSFC4 Review: The Scorching Just Press Play by Nick Snape

Blurb:

Joshua Nkosi, cop, joker, vlogger and an octopus's best friend…but Earth’s saviour?

On an Earth devastated by The Scorching climate event, the Drathken land their giant plantships with the promise of healing the planet. Joshua Nkosi vlogs and jokes his way through an easy life guarding a deep-sea mining operation while watching old vids. That is until he, and his modded octopus partner, Marc, get caught up in a plot to steal radiation rich materials from the seabed, fuelling the terrorists’ plan to destroy a Drathken plantship, and ultimately put an end to the alien/human alliance.

Nkosi and his sarcastic tentacled buddy are forced to enter the Burnout Zone, only to come face to face with humanity’s stark future when the hunt for the terrorists' lab takes a devastating twist. As conspiracies deepen and the jokes fly, Nkosi and Marc enter a dark journey of discovery—one they decide humanity desperately needs to listen to.

Review:

We are brought into an Earth that has been ravaged by skyrocketing temperatures, an overburdened ecosystem, and wars. A peaceful alien race, the Drathken, have settled in to help humans turn things around. 

Enter Joshua Nkosi, an Underwater Ranger Force (URF) Sea-cop. A bit of a swaggering guy, who likes to make asides for us, his watchers in his “live streaming” kind of dialogue. His partner on the “beat” is a teched out octopus named Marc. She is basically his conscience, and tries her best to keep him grounded.  

The action begins when they are tasked with guarding an undersea harvester from marauding pirate rebels. Things quickly escalate, and take our two heroes topside to terra firma, to help the military branch track down rebels.  

The story lets loose with intense skirmishes and firefights, loyalties and lies are hopelessly tangled, and the Drathken are at the heart of it. Funny, tense, surprising, and a bit heartbreaking, we get a real understanding of Nkosi and his motivations. They aren’t simple.  

All in at the end, and I highly recommend giving this a read!  

Guest Reviewer Bio:
My name is Vivian Cicero, and I am one of the judges for the SFF Insiders SPSFC4 team. I will be posting guest reviews of the titles I’ve selected to read for the competition. I’m an alpha/beta/ARC reader, as well.