Cold Eternity

By: S.A. Barnes

Narrated by: Amara Jasper

"You'll want to read this one with the lights on."—Katee Robert, New York Times bestselling author

Cold Eternity is the newest action-packed space horror from S.A. Barnes perfect for fans of Severance, where desperation for eternal life leads to a fate worse than death...

Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most fortunate citizens from more than a century ago…

The cryo program, created by trillionaire tech genius Zale Winfeld, is long defunct, and the AI hologram "hosts," ghoulishly created in the likeness of Winfeld’s three adult children, are glitchy. The ship feels like a crypt, and the isolation gets to Halley almost immediately. She starts to see figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents.

It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from….

Also by S.A. Barnes:

Dead Silence

Ghost Station

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.

©2025 S.A. Barnes (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"You'll want to read this one with the lights on. Terrifying and lonesome with a heroine who you'll root for, S.A. Barnes has quickly become one of my go-to horror authors!"—Katee Robert, New York Times bestselling author

"Cold Eternity is the S.A. Barnes Creature Feature we've all been waiting for! Tense, nasty, and melancholic. The perfect combination of sleep deprivation and a space station monster!"—Caitlin Starling, author of The Starving Saints

"So well done and creepy, with a twist that will shock you!"—Hildur Knútsdóttir, author of The Night Guest

Sorry but no

Really wanted to like this book but it was waaay to slow. Took more than half the book for it to pick up.

Original and Scary

This was a fun read. I could not stop listening. The Narrator was excellent. I liked the smoky velvet in her voice. Scary, original, well paced plot.

Liked it but not as much as her other 2 books

Good but suffered some from the MC not really having much contact with other sentient beings. So we spend a lot of time in her head or listening to action sequences, both are well done but I really missed the amount of dialogue usually present in a book. This probably accounts for this book being much shorter than her others.

Still, given how much I read and how much is not so good, I found this one much more enjoyable than most--in part because like all her books there are a number of "mysteries" the MC needs to solve.

Interesting concept and good story.

The voice actor couldn't settle on Alec or Alex's when plurals came up, and there are a few cutting errors. The story is gripping even though the start is slow. Fans of multidimensional main characters will perhaps enjoy the first 12 chapters. A lot of groundwork is layed early for good payoff.

Chilling and Compelling

I get so excited whenever S. A. Barnes puts out another sci-fi horror book. I binged this one in just a few days. I didn't want to stop listening. Definitely worth your time if you're a fan of the genre.

Great escape

I really like the of earth stories. Space is daunting all on its own, add humans to it & it’s just fun!

Terrifyingly Engaging

Started as something to pass the time at work and became a story I couldn't stop listening to. As an avid lover of sci-fi and anything remotely Alien, this was a find. I will definitely listen more than once

Please hire an editor

There's a really cool story idea here...but it get's buried in the minutia of false scares and way too much scene description.

Like I'm pretty sure the reader understand that the main protagonist has gone off the grid and is on the run...after they reflect on it for like the 50th time halfway through the story.

Also, spoilers:












The overall theme of the story regarding how "taking a stand is more important than what effects it has on the material conditions of the people it affects" seems so ridiculously and grossly out of touch given we, as of this review (7/1/25), live in an age where the U.S. is not only seeking mass deportations...but also seeking to strip citizenship from naturalized citizens because it would make them easier to charge with crimes warranting deportation...I'm sorry but just no. The central theme of this story is that it essentially boils down to "it's better to let a despot win an election who would oppress the majority than it is to try to rig it to favor the populist candidate who aims to materially improve the conditions of the working class." Like again...this story was being finalized during a time where we could foresee this being a real thing....and to think the author could just should her shoulders and go "well at least I took the highroad"....is ridiculous.

Speechless

I think this is my favorite yet. It leaves you wishing, wanting and chilled. I couldn’t believe how well everything fell together!
Katerina’s plight was something we could all touch and her predicament left my anxiety reeling. Def a re-read.
Also the narrator killed this! I’d listen to her read me anything!

Yaaaas S.A. Barnes is the Queen of spooky space adventures!!

Now this is space horror at its finest. A wild spooky ride I wish I could experience for the first time again and again. Absolutely worth the credit spent.