Cardew, humanity’s greatest threat in 2218, is cloning himself into an army of superhuman, deranged cyborgs who can’t be killed. Aiden and his crew must track him down and find a way to eliminate him before he does further harm. Though their actual mission will be kept top secret at all times, Aiden’s crew onboard the Sun Wolf is officially labeled as a survey expedition and the first to investigate the new astrocell. Will their mission aboard the spacecraft lead them to save humanity from destruction as they traverse planet after planet in search of their incredibly powerful foe? The Light Within Darkness, book three in David C. Jeffrey’s Space Unbound series, is a sci-fi story about journeying across space on a spine-chilling quest to thwart a god-like monster set on growing his army of cyborgs and annihilating humanity.

The book’s amazing details are one of its most noticeable features. Sci-fi lovers will love how extensive its descriptions of its scientific components are and how seamlessly they’re woven into the plot. For example, a planet is designated as “the system’s gas station” because it has a robust magnetosphere with plenty of antihydrogen. The backdrop for this grand narrative of valor, teamwork, and possible apocalyptic disaster is a futuristic period in which space flight is the norm and humanity’s population stretches beyond the planet. You have the opportunity to picture going to various planets with its characters and naming newly found ones. The rich descriptions of these planets and their fascinating characteristics are easy to visualize. Aside from space travel, another sci-fi treat from the novel is the well-explored theme of artificial intelligence, as the protagonists are seen engaging in fascinating discussions with AI.

Aiden is a strong, empathetic leader that goes above and beyond to solicit his crew’s feedback and make them feel involved. Despite this, he makes it clear that he has the last word as captain, even when the crew is divided. It was pretty engrossing to follow their teamwork and problem-solving tactics. The villain’s fearsome minions are also quite intriguing. I had concerns for the protagonists since they were up against “cloneborgs” that were significantly more powerful, nimble, and intelligent than humans.

Even though I had not read the prior novels in the series, I quite loved and understood this one. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to reading the rest of David’s Space Unbound series. The Light Within Darkness is a sci-fi gem with perfect, well-developed features. Core sci-fi aficionados will especially love this book, just like I did.