Review: Scion by James Islington

 

Scion by James Islington
S&S/Saga Press
Publication Date: September 1st, 2026
Hardcover. 240 pages.

About Scion:

"John Wick meets Ghost in the Shell in this fast-paced cyberpunk thriller by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few.

My job, when you think about it, isn’t so different from a lot of people’s.

The more old-fashioned crowd do still get hung up on the "killing people" part of it, I guess, but that’s a them problem: it’s been perfectly legal to take out lifers for ages. Besides, once ultrawealthy morons realised they had a way to live forever—limited resources be damned—there was only ever going to be one genuinely practical deterrent.

So, sure, I have to deal with a ton of boring planning. Inconvenient hours. Some pretty awkward face-to-face interactions. And like most of us, I’m really only clocking in to try to crawl out from beneath my debts. But someone’s got to do it.

Luckily, my genetic compatibilities make me really, really good at doing it.

Still. This next job...I don’t know. It’s something I haven’t had to deal with in years. Kind of the opposite of my regular duties. Strange, that it got thrown my way.

I’m sure it’ll all go totally fine though.'"

I was really curious to see how Islington would tackle sci-fi, let alone a much more compact, thriller-style story. His previous fantasy series are sprawling, complex fantasy stories that aren't exactly what I would call fast-paced and are generally pretty different overall in structure with layers upon layers of plot. In contrast, Scion is a mere 240-ish page cyberpunk sci-fi thriller that takes a big step away from that style while retaining Islington's knack for intricate worldbuilding, creative ideas, and twisty plotting. I’m sure that because of that there will be a lot of mixed feelings on this one, but personally I can report that I loved this one!

In Scion, we follow Azure, who is essentially a professional hitman who tends to be deployed on missions to take out "lifers,” the ultra wealthy who aren't really dying anymore. Occasionally, however, he's employed to protect people (usually lifers), and that's where we find him in Scion. Azure is sent to protect a mysterious elderly woman for two weeks, only to quickly discover that quite a few people are trying very hard to kill her, making his job a bit more difficult than anticipated. It also leaves Azure wondering exactly who this woman is, despite his best efforts to maintain the professional distance he usually keeps between himself and his work.

To aid Azure in his work, he has undergone extensive modifications to his body known as "revs," which enhance his abilities both physically and mentally and make him pretty difficult to beat in a fight. He also heavily relies on his AI assistant, Atti, to help carry out his daily tasks. Atti has an endearing, sarcastic personality that added some great color to Azure's own personality whenever she appeared on the page.

I really liked seeing Islington craft a character like Azure. In his other series, his protagonists tend to be younger, still learning about the world, and generally quite thoughtful and respectful toward those around them. Azure is definitely a departure from that, and it made for the perfect personality for this particular story. He's sarcastic, flippant, emotionally detached, and has a dark sense of humor that I really enjoyed. At the same time, it's easy to see how much of his personality has developed as a result of his professional lifestyle, some traumatic experiences, and what he's been trained to do. He felt very lifelike, and I appreciated seeing him struggle at times with his emotional detachment through many frustrations that occur along the  way, along with his warring feelings about things when he tries so very hard not to care.

The plot is constantly twisting, and while I found some of those twists fairly predictable, it never bothered me because there was also always something new and captivating waiting around the corner. The pacing is fast, which works perfectly for this type of story, and the ending has left me feel quite impatient for more of this story! There's also plenty of action in this book, which can definitely be hit or miss for me, but I actually enjoyed pretty much every scene in this book and followed along easily. 

I also loved the worldbuilding. There was somehow so much to explore in this book, and although we learn an impressive amount in such a short time--and without it ever feeling like an infodump!--I still feel like there’s so much more to this world to learn, and that’s one of my favorite things an author can do because it makes the world feel real and authentic, something that is lived-in and has a history. I also just had a great time learning about all the technology, mods, and other sci-fi elements Islington created for this world.

And in addition to the tech and action and world-building, Scion also plays with some fascinating ideas. There’s obviously an exploration of wealth inequality and how extreme wealth can fundamentally change the way people experience life--which, in this case, is quite literal, since they can literally have more life than everyone else. Azure’s modifications also pose some interesting questions about what exactly makes people who they are (and there are a few later plot points that also expand on this topic, but I will refrain from mentioning those due to spoilers!). There’s almost a bit of a Ship of Theseus element to some capacity, where it made me wonder about at what point replacing or altering pieces of yourself fundamentally changes who you are as a person--or does it? THat’s not entirely what this book is about, but just an example of some of the more thought-provoking concepts that made me think even more about it.

If you love Islington’s fantasy and are going into this wanting more of exactly that, then I’m going to gently stop you there and let you know that that’s not what you’re getting. Scion is what I’d call a “bingeable" novel, which is certainly not how I’d describe his other books, and I think that difference is going to surprise some readers. I, for one, loved seeing Islington explore a new genre and style while retaining so many of the qualities that make his other work so compelling and favorites of mine. I truly had a blast with this one and can’t wait for more.

*I received a copy of Scion courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*

Buy the book: Bookshop.org | Amazon