LOST WORLD OF THE VOID Book Review

Lost World of the Void¹ (book 2 in The Empire Marathon series) by Andrew Valenza, physical, 328 pages

Synopsis from Goodreads: Explorers from Earth, Dex and Lacy have only barely escaped the clutches of the Empire of the Void and drift without direction through space. In search of sanctuary, they soon find themselves on a planet far from the Heart of the Void.

While at first a peaceful life feels within reach, they are quickly pulled back into the fray as the shadow of the Empire threatens to find them again, and a tribe of natives force them into action.

Join Dex and Lacy in the newest adventure of the Empire Marathon as they journey across the Lost World of the Void.

BOOK REVIEW: The descriptions and imagery are spectacular in this book just like in book 1 (see related posts but that review is also posted the same day as this one). What I did not anticipate was not only does the story pick up right where we left off but the chapter numbers do as well! Like Empire ended with an epilogue but it had 14 chapters. Lost World starts not with chapter 1 but with chapter 15! A true continuation of the story that I have never seen before and I think it's my favorite thing ever for a series like this! I love how music plays into this one a little more than it did in the first.

Back to the imagery. The natives...OMG...I'm struggling to put into words what I see when I close my eyes. Like they're described as frogs which is awesome...but I see them with these giant eyes like a lemur or a galagos. Does that even make a lick of sense? And the monster they fight off made me think of a rat snake but with arms and legs. Totally gross. There are a few Tarzan references and I found this article and discovered that I was picturing a cross between Lex Barker and Johnny Weissmuller for Dex.

I need to thank the author real quick for his love of movies because I know that is what gives him the ability to create such amazing imagery! This is a 5 star for me, again! It fills me with nostalgia for all the shows I used to watch when I was a kid. Yes I am in my 40s and was a kid in the 80s and 90s but some of my favorite shows were The Addams Family, The Munsters, Mork & Mindy, Batman (sorry Superman but you didn't make the cut in our house), and others from the 60s and 70s. Those are what I see that bring this story to life for me in my head! I know I mentioned wanting to know what happened to Korr in the previous book, Dex says he sacrificed himself for them to get away but I just have this feeling that we haven't seen the last of him! I hope! At the time this review is posted, this book is part of the KU member library and available as eBook and paperback.

5/5 Stars

2026 Reading Challenge: 30/55 complete

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