Alien Incursion by Brandon Ellis and Max Wolfe

Blurb:

The mission was never supposed to be easy. Traverse dimensions, shift through alternative timelines, protect the Earth.

Andrew Ethridge had always known the stakes were high. Yet, nothing prepared him for the truth.

Jumping through parallel universes left Andrew with more questions than answers. As a member of the Cross Dimensional Corps at Area 51, he faces the daunting task of understanding why aliens were collapsing dimensions. It’s a race against time to save not just Earth, but the very fabric of the universe.

When inside a dimension where Atlantis dominates the world, Andrew and his team find themselves cut off from support. Their only way back is to rescue scientist Sabina Caelia. She knows about the aliens. And she’s on a mission of her own.

Then came the turning point. A revelation so profound, it threatened to shatter everything he knew. Andrew discovered a device capable of saving Earth across all parallel timelines. But in the wrong hands, it could mean the enslavement of humanity.

Now, Andrew's mission transcends mere survival or military protocol. Existence is on the line. Can a team of professionals achieve the impossible?

Experience the beginning of this sprawling action-filled sci-fi entry to the Blink series. If you’re a fan of Arrival, the Matrix, the Three Body Problem, or if you want to know what aliens are actually like, you'll love this military sci-fi epic.

Please note, this novel offers a unique two-in-one experience. Part I presents 'The Beginning,' a complete novella. Part II delves into 'Last Atlantis,' the first full novel in the series. Enjoy this almost 500-page dual literary adventure!

Review:

There is something inherently exhilarating about a story that treats the multiverse not just as a scientific concept, but as a playground for high-stakes action.

Alien Incursion: Blink by Brandon Ellis and Max Wolfe, feels like a summer blockbuster translated into prose, this is it. It is fun, unapologetically bombastic, and carries a cinematic energy that kept me turning pages well into the night. As someone who has always been fascinated by the "What If" scenarios of speculative fiction, I found this to be a refreshing, high-octane take on the parallel-world trope.

Consequences

The narrative engine of Blink is driven by a fascinating piece of technology: portable devices that allow the protagonists to slip between different layers of reality. For a fan of science fiction, the mechanics of these jumps are a delight to witness. It immediately put me in mind of the dynamics we saw in Fringe, where the tension arises from the subtle, and sometimes jarring, differences between "our" world and the one just a vibration away.

Ellis and Wolfe treat these devices as a gateway to exploring the very nature of choice and consequence. The sense of momentum as the characters "blink" from one reality to the next creates a rhythmic, driving pace that never lets up.

Authentic

In the modern SFF landscape, we have become almost obsessed with the "anti-hero": the morally gray, brooding figure who is often just as jagged and dangerous as the villains they fight. Because of this trend, it has become increasingly difficult to find a "good" guy character who feels authentic. We are often presented with protagonists who are either hopelessly cynical or, on the flip side, so childishly simple that they feel corny and disconnected from reality.

Finding a character like the one in Blink is a genuine breath of fresh air. Here is a protagonist who is deeply, fundamentally good, yet the authors manage to portray this without falling into the trap of making him one-dimensional or naive. He is a hero in the truest sense, someone you can root for because his morality isn't a lack of experience, but a conscious choice made in the face of multiversal chaos. He feels like a grounded, capable anchor in a sea of shifting realities, proving that a character doesn't need to be "dark" to be compelling. Having a hero who is simply good provides a necessary emotional north star for a story that moves at such a breakneck speed.

A different political outcome

One of the most rewarding aspects of this journey is seeing how Ellis handles the concept of divergent timelines: we are stepping into versions of Earth that feel eerily familiar yet fundamentally transformed. It is fascinating to observe how a few key moments in history, when altered, can completely reshape the cultural dynamics and technological landscape of a dimension. In one world, society might have evolved with a heavy emphasis on advanced bio-tech; in another, a different political outcome might have led to a more regressive, survivalist culture. These "shadow" versions of our history provide a rich, speculative backdrop that gives the bombastic action a surprising amount of intellectual weight.

Grounded

The writing style here is lean and visual, clearly designed to evoke the feeling of an on-screen thriller. These parallel dimensions feel tangible, you can practically smell the ozone of the jump devices and feel the atmospheric shifts as the protagonists cross the threshold. The focus is squarely on the experience of the travel and the immediate dangers of an incursion, making the book feel like a lean, mean narrative machine. While the scope is vast, the story remains grounded in the immediate struggle of the characters, ensuring that the "big ideas" of the multiverse never overshadow the adrenaline of the chase.

This was a quick, exhilarating read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys stories where the stakes are as large as the multiverse itself. It’s the kind of book that reminds you why we fell in love with Science Fiction in the first place.