In Diego Tovar's Escape From Perihelion, a distant-future Los Angeles survives beneath a sealed dome powered by a rare Martian mineral. Araya Santera is taken from the desert settlement of Nova Angeles after a state lottery assigns her to fifteen years of off-world labor. She is forced through a controlled intake system and delivered to Perihelion, a mining facility where workers are stripped of their identities and driven into lethal tunnels under Director Sorev. As Araya fights to stay alive in a workforce already shaped by prior uprisings, her partner Zaheen Mandisa refuses to accept the removal and enters a covert resistance network determined to disrupt the system that feeds the dome. When Zaheen targets the family of a government official linked to the program, her actions begin to change the balance of power, setting both women on intersecting paths inside a system built to keep them apart.

Diego Tovar’s Escape From Perihelion is an ambitious novel with a brilliant premise: Earth’s ecosystems have failed, leaving a controlled city and its outskirts, and off-world Mars extraction systems worked by labor. I like the alternating points of view of Araya and Zaheen, but the story is always a bit more immersive when we are on Mars. I absolutely love Iman Kalima, an older miner who is essential to Araya’s survival, teaching her how to be unnoticed after a previous worker was executed for trying to flee. The most fascinating is Victor Kol, who controls the system that governs both Earth and Mars and is everything a reader wants in a bad guy. The landscapes and action scenes are stunning, and I was locked in a massive sandstorm in the desert, with visibility diminishing as armed groups tried to locate each other. With great writing and heart-thumping twists, this is the perfect read for those who enjoy classic science fiction with a contemporary, sophisticated edge. Very highly recommended.

Escape From Perihelion by Diego Tovar drops you into a brutal, dust-choked future where Earth has basically been stripped dry, and survival depends on who you are and where you live. The story follows Araya Santera, a tough but hopeful outsider from the wasteland town of Nova Angeles, who gets forcibly drafted into fifteen years of labor on Mars by the powerful TerraLux Minerals. Her partner, Zaheen Mandisa, is left behind and refuses to accept Araya’s fate, setting her on a path toward rebellion. Along the way, Araya meets others who are just trying to survive the system, while on the other side of it all is Victor Kol, the cold, calculating figure who built the entire empire that exploits them.

I found Escape From Perihelion by Diego Tovar really engaging and easy to get pulled into. The writing has an immersive feel without being too hard to follow, and the author does a great job of making the world feel harsh but real. Araya is a likable main character because of how stubborn and determined she is, and her relationship with Zaheen adds a lot of emotional weight to the story. The pacing is strong, especially in the opening, and the plot keeps moving with enough tension to keep me interested. Although some of the worldbuilding feels a bit familiar, the execution and character focus make it stand out anyway. Overall, it’s the kind of book that’s easy to get invested in and hard to put down once things really get going.

Escape From Perihelion by Diego Tovar is set in the year 2999, when Araya and Zaheen are trying to survive. Living in a world where privilege makes you invincible, Zaheen and Araya are neither. All they wanted was to build a simple life in Nova Angeles, the second-class district of Los Angeles. Their world comes crashing down when Araya is taken and transported to Perihelion, a mining colony on Mars. There she will be subjected to brutal labor, live in danger, and fight to survive in the dangerous Martian environment so that the rich on Earth can get richer. Meanwhile, Zaheen is trying to evade the snatchers and is simply trying to survive. Separated by two planets, the women know they need to make some tough choices if they want to survive and meet again. But will they?

Author Diego Tovar created a believable world where anything was possible. Zaheen and Araya are two incredible characters who make you root for them and cheer them on as they try to survive. While Araya is determined to endure the harsh environment and living conditions on Mars, Zaheen tries to stay sharp and vigilant to evade the people who want to take her. However, I loved their character arcs and how quickly they adapted to their new realities. The narrative style is perfect for the story, and the pace is just right. The multiple POVs enabled the characters to share their stories in their own words. I loved that the science fiction elements were believable and not far-fetched. This quality made it an instant recommendation for my friends' book group! I cannot praise Escape from Perihelion highly enough.