After the Fall    by Edward Ashton Order:  USA  Can St. Martin's, 2026 (2026) Hardcover, e-Book     Reviewed by Hilary Williamson I've enjoyed Edward Aston's SF series featuring extreme underdogs - from his uber-expendable Mickey7 to his free artificial intelligence, Malware. He does it again in After the Fall. It introduces a future world, mostly uninhabitable, its remnants taken over by alien grays. They breed humans and bond them as pets, often treated very badly and slaughtered on a whim. John has long been bonded to one of the good grays, Martok Barden. They barely eke out a living, but get along well as long as John follows the rules - 'Humans must be silent. Humans must be obedient. Humans must be good.' Then Martok reveals his latest scheme - he's put up John’s bond as collateral to purchase a remote property as an inn, John knows he's a goner if Martok fails to pay up. As in all Ashton's series, his hapless hero escapes one frying pan to stumble into fire after fire, young Six (just bonded by Martok) at his side. They encounter dangerous feral humans, and make an alliance of sorts, while trying to keep them secret from Martok. Matters move from bad to worse, yet eventually, after learning who Martok really is, John manages to turn an imminent disaster into a workable truce. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more SF books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews