I really enjoyed book one of this tetralogy, so i dived straight into book two, and really enjoyed this as well.

Not as flowing as the first book as its essentially two separate stories set on two separate worlds, but it still flows as well as it can be.

As with the first book, there's no words wasted on pointlessness.   Everything keeps the story moving forward, which is what we like.

More clues are added to the puzzle of what caused the Variant in the first place, yet i'm not left hoping for the answer any time soon as i'm quite enjoying putting the pieces together in my own head.   Yes, it's definitely one of those, 'Can-you-guess-yet?' stories.

And because you're always eager for more clues to the puzzle you just have to keep reading.   And so it's straight onto book three. ( )

My original Transient Echoes audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

In the Amber Project we left Terry in a new world after he closed the rift, which will be called the Second Jolt. This story starts three years later, in the year 2350. There are two parallel stories in this book. On one hand, Terry is scouting around the new place were he got trapped and where the variant came from, and on the other hand, his friends John and Mei are investigating what could have happened to Terry, and whether he may still be alive. Mei leads an investigation team on the place where the Jolts took place, to check why there is an increasing radiation in this area and to investigate a new power source. The increasing radiation will be the main issue that will prevent them to get to the exact place where the Jolts originated, and where Terry got lost.

The style of this book is completely different to the first one, keeping the story fresh. It is more slowly paced and we are presented with two parallel stories. Chaney knows how to keep us interested though, since in both stories there are mysteries to be revealed, and we accompany the characters in their way to finding the truth. I think this is one of the aspects that I enjoyed most of this book: investigating and discovering things along with the characters, making hypothesis now and then. When an author gets this from their readers, I think it is a complete success. Chaney really knows how slowly unfold the truth and keep us interested until the very end.

Another strong point is how the characters are built. We are not given a zillion details about them but they are alive, they feel human, and one can easily connect with them.

I was surprised about this book being narrated by someone else than the first book, and it took me a while to get used to Steve Barnes' husky voice (in a way I felt that somebody was whispering in my ear), but his speech is clear and he successfully transmitted the characters' emotions.

This is a transition book, and there is still a lot to know about the world where Terry now lives. Transition books are hard to build, since you need to keep your readers interested while going from A to B. The two parallel stories helped to create this bridge, and the story was cleverly constructed.

Something that made me doubt a bit is that days seem to have the same duration on Earth and on the planet where Terry lives. As I have said, there is still a lot to be revealed about this new world, and I do hope we will get the answers to our questions. Building a transition book is difficult, but a good ending is even more difficult. Let's see what Chaney comes up with. I am impatient.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author. ( )

Transient Echoes by JN Chaney is book 2 in the Variant Saga but can by read as a stand alone. After I read book one, it was so good I contacted the author and asked to review any of his future books since that is what I do. I was so fortunate, he sent me this book right away. I had about 20 books ahead of this but book one, The Amber Project, was so good that I had to jump right in. This book takes place a few years after book one. The hole/rift has been closed that sucked Terry to the new and strange world and has left micro wormholes. The story is about Mei and John, and crew, trying to continue to figure a way to make life better top side now that the Variant gas is slowed down and about Terry's new life on this strange world. Both stories are so action packed, full of life and death issues, lots of surprises, strange creatures, many twists and turns, great fantasy, imagination, dialogue, and great sci-fi adventures. Wonderful series! Going in my favorites!!! ( )