Editorial Review: First Elite by Emmanuel M Arriaga

Embarking on a dangerous journey to take revenge on the person who killed his wife, Neven Kenk will have to go further than he ever thought possible. Wracked with grief and struggling to come to terms with the loss of his wife, Zun, to a violent clash, Neven Kenk sets out on a quest of pure revenge - they will hunt Entradis down no matter the cost. The experience of loss upon loss is palpable when Zun is rendered almost physically repaired but in a coma with no brain activity, followed by the arrival of a lawyer who will execute the "Do Not Resuscitate" clause in her will. To top it all off, Neven then discovers that she had also been carrying their child when she was killed.  The road to revenge is not a simple one for Neven and his companions. There are a great many obstacles in their way including becoming stranded in space for months, the ramifications of what happens when three people are trapped in a small space with no hope, and the fallout of those actions after they are rescued against all odds. Neven knew It wouldn’t be easy, but he never would have expected to uncover the hidden history of the galaxies and truths no one was ever meant to know.The exploration of grief and loss that First Elite takes readers through is a complex one. While it is, primarily, a story orbiting around revenge it also takes the time to examine a few of the things that mark humankind apart. The all too human descent into grief, the lust for revenge, and bone-deep hatred for the person who caused it is explored artfully by Arriaga, but more than that First Elite dives deep into the process of moving through the loss and finding yourself on the other side of it.  Particularly interesting is the deep dive into Artificial Intelligence and sentience through the existence of Ellipse, Neven Kenk's personal 'synaptic systems intelligence'. Known as an SSI, Ellipse harbors plenty of what could be termed 'human traits' such as jealousy, attraction, and the capacity to make mistakes, yet her inhuman qualities are almost always at the forefront of her interactions with the world. Through the use of different points of view, the reader First Elite gains a deeper and more far-reaching insight into the world Arriaga's characters exist within. Though witnessing events through different filters of experience, the reader is seeing first-hand the ways each individual's unique history and outlook influences the way they process what is happening around them. First Elite by Emmanuel M Arriaga is the third book in the Foundra series and provides a high-octane sci-fi adventure filled with intense characters and deep emotional developments. While this is the third book in a series and those who have read the preceding books will benefit from that background knowledge, any events or key pieces of information that are required for the understanding and enjoyment of this installation are presented to the reader in context to eliminate the in-universe learning curve.  A genuinely epic saga spanning immense space and experience, First Elite by Emmanuel M Arriaga is an intense and expansive story packed with high-stakes action.