The Cold Light of Fate: BlueInk Review (Starred Review)
STARRED REVIEW
The Cold Light of Fate
Kim Catanzarite
Forster Publishing, 322 pages, (ebook) $4.99.
(Reviewed: May 2025)
Author Kim Catanzarite should be lauded not only for writing a compelling pentalogy—a five-
part epic science fiction series that offers readers an amazing journey across time and space—
but for publishing all five in just four years. Few writers have the discipline to be so productive
and imaginative without burning out.
The Cold Light of Fate finishes the absorbing narrative begun in 2021 with They Will Be Coming
for Us. Overall, the books cover the rise of a family of royal Jovians —- aliens from Jupiter —
who have settled in small-town Pennsylvania and help protect the Earth.
This final novel begins with a helpful list of characters, but anyone familiar with the previous
books will orient themselves quickly. (Readers new to the series, however, will likely find
understanding the tangled dynamics challenging.) The story picks up with various far-flung
characters heading back to what they call "Jovian Earth." Humans on the planet now know
about the aliens in their midst and have thrived with their co-existence.
However, a new threat sparked by Jovian in-fighting has unleashed another alien race on Earth
that’s killing Jovians, their clones and humans alike, resulting in the possible destruction of life
on the planet. With various family members and humans who previously left Earth now returning
home, the novel shifts into page-turning high gear.
Throughout the series, dramatic twists and tensions within the Jovian family leadership abound.
Catanzarite is a terrific storyteller who keeps her narrative focused even when it covers plentiful
voices in many settings. The dialogue is always crisp and engaging. And readers get to know
the characters deeply, which elevates her books above the average thrillers about monsters; the
draw is the various relationships (and a budding romance), which anchor the series in humanity.
The author offers three separate epilogues to tie up loose ends, leaving readers fully satisfied.
Note to studio execs: In addition to being a terrific read, this series would make a blockbuster
action movie franchise.
