SF of the highest quality . . . Defenders works as a morality tale of mistrust and betrayal on an epic scale * SUN *
Vividly cinematic, at times uncomfortably brutal, and it reads like a runaway train . . . Will McIntosh is one of the brightest stars in science fiction right now . . . If you're not reading him yet, you're missing out * TOR.COM *
McIntosh is without a doubt one of the most underrated science fiction authors writing today. Defenders is an emotional, action-packed story . . . McIntosh's cautionary near-future tale, told from multiple perspectives, serves as a brutally honest portrayal of how humans carelessly exploit, destroy - and in this case create - other species * RT Book Reviews (Top Pick) *
What makes Defenders such an incredible novel is McIntosh's pure elegance, the beauty of its simplicity. Each element of the novel, the characters, the situations, the world, the results of the world's actions, organically feed into each other as the novel progresses * SFFWorld *
This military science fiction novel offers fast paced action * Publishers Weekly *
McIntosh's novels often blend unlikely scenarios and genre tropes in ways that make you rethink them. Here he's brought together the classic veterans' coming home story with telepathic alien invasion and issues around what it means to have been genetically engineered for one purpose. It's a posthuman scenario that McIntosh is exploring in all its messy complexity * io9.com *
A fascinating take on how political alliances shift over time: One's bosom friend today can be one's deadly enemy tomorrow, and vice versa. McIntosh has his finger on the pulse, again * Kirkus *
When the characters scream run, you will want to run. When Lila's fear paralyzes her, you won't be able to move. As the story continues the writing only gets better, the plotting only gets tighter, the tension ratchets up again and again and again. Every book I read by McIntosh, the guy just gets more and more amazing in his ability to absolutely shatter me * Little Red Reviewer *
