The alien beings known as the Assembly are hunting Zoey, a young girl who has the power to stop humans from succumbing to the Tone. Holt, Mira, and the dog Max are determined to do whatever it takes to protect Zoey- even if it costs them their lives. Zoey can't remember her past but she knows she must reach THE SEVERED TOWER if she is to set things right in the world again. What will Mira, Zoey, Holt, and Max find in this rapidly changing world that was once the Earth we know?

THE SEVERED TOWER is the second book in the Conquered Earth series and will be best appreciated if read in the context of the series as a whole. Friendships, alliances, and even betrayals have already occurred and will have our main characters in doubt as to who or what they can trust. I particularly like the inclusion of the alien walkers without colors as it adds a new dimension to the storyline and humanizes the machines just a bit.

J. Barton Mitchell has crafted a desolate apocalyptic world where alien machines rampage and humans gradually succumb to the alien signal called the Tone. THE SEVERED TOWER shows us glimpses of hope and lets us see that, while things are still bleak, not all is lost. I can easily envision both THE SEVERED TOWER and the first book, Midnight City, as big budget scifi flicks as the action practically jumps off the screen of my Kindle while the characters have you rooting for them even when everything seems hopeless.

THE SEVERED TOWER is a must-read for fans of post- apocalyptic tales and aliens. The characters are multidimensional, often forced to make hard choices, and the world building is stunning. I love the idea of the artifacts and how the Freebooters use the artifacts and can't wait to see what J. Barton Mitchell has in store for us as we forge even further into the Strange Lands.

Book Summary

J. Barton Mitchell's sci-fi tour de force Conquered Earth series set in an alien-invaded post-apocalyptic world returns as the children forge deeper into the most dangerous lands in search of The Severed Tower

Holt, Mira, and Max have fled Midnight City with Zoey after watching her repel an entire Assembly army. Zoey's powers are unlocked, but who and what she is remains a mystery. All she knows is that she must reach the Severed Tower, an infamous location in the middle of the world's most dangerous landscape: The Strange Lands, a place where the laws of physics have completely broken down. But the closer they get to the Tower, the more precarious things become. The Assembly has pursued Zoey into the Strange Lands. Among them is a new group, their walkers and machines strangely bereft of any color, stripped to bare metal, and whose agenda seems to differ from the rest. To make matters worse, the group hunting Holt are here, too, led by a dangerous and beautiful pirate named Ravan. So is Mira's first love, Benjamin Aubertine, whose singular ambition to reach the Tower threatens to get them all killed.

Then there's the Strange Lands themselves. They have inexplicably begun to grow, spreading outwards, becoming more powerful. Somehow, it all seems tied to Zoey herself, and the closer she gets to the Tower, the weaker she becomes.