Book Review: They Came First. In The Beginning (Eemians Book 2)

Paul McGowan takes us back 100,000 thousand years to hear from the first ones that lived on our planet. He paints a picture of their world as one on the brink of climate collapse. Some say the collapse is from war’s others point to a fuel source that is killing the planet. The people are divided into two groups. One that wants to forget the old problems and save humanity and the other stuck in their ways and won’t give up the fuel that’s killing them and the planet.

The story is told through the eyes of three young adults and friends. Paul does a great job of creating a good backstory for each of them as they move into adulthood. One of the three, a young man named Laum overhears his father and one of the leaders of their group planning to travel to speak with the other faction. They know it will be a dangerous trip and one they may not return from. After Laum hears their plan, he explains the details to Alluria a young woman he is secretly in love with, and they decided to stowaway on the ship and hope that they can help protect the group.

At this point in the story, everything changes. We soon find that even their group is splintered with some still angry about the past and want revenge. While the other faction is also splintered into two sides. One that is secretly trying to save humanity, and the other is still stuck in their way’s and sure that this new power source being offered will destroy them. Betrayal and intrigue explode making it a race to stay alive and find their way back home to warn the others of the pending doom.

Now on a scale of 1 to 5 a 1 being don’t bother and a 5 a real page turner. I’m going to give They Came First a solid 4. This is a really good read, but to me it felt like it could have been part of the first or the third book. Either way it is a really good read.