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Daniel Kraus’s THE SIXTH NIK was always going to be my most anticipated read of 2026.

Then he went and won the goddamn Pulitzer Prize for ANGEL DOWN! What an amazing moment for him & for the whole horror genre, really! (here’s my review for ANGEL DOWN, a book I’m still thinking about).

Over the last couple years, Kraus has definitely become my favorite author. Three of his books (WHALEFALL, THE LIVING DEAD, and THEY THREW US AWAY) instantly became all-time favorites of mine when I read them, each of them deeply personal and important to me in different ways. And now, here I am, trying to reckon with the idea that maybe THE SIXTH NIK is my new favorite of his? I’m still mulling it over and I’m also planning to reread this on audio when it releases. But this book blew my fucking mind apart. It’s remarkable in so many ways.

And I also think it’s going to be a bit controversial and maybe more than a bit divisive. I’m going to try to unpack some of that as best I can, with an eye towards sensitivity and also not spoiling the whole damn book. So bear with me.

Daniel Kraus is a horror author, full stop. So while his books spill over into other genres (there’s plenty of fantasy in THE TEDDIES SAGA, there’s crime fiction in BLOOD SUGAR, and I’d argue that both WHALEFALL & ANGEL DOWN have plenty of literary fiction/contemporary aspects to them), they always feel like horror novels to me. And so while THE SIXTH NIK is being billed as Kraus’s first full-on sci-fi novel (and it is!), this is also, without hesitation, the most horrific thing I’ve read from him. 

For sure, this one has so many of the trappings that sci-fi fans will know & love, but this book is unrelenting in its horrors. It is disgusting. Harrowing. Grueling. This is going to challenge readers (it challenged me, anyway), but I am left (again) stunned by Daniel Kraus’s talent. 

Our main character is Sisilla (the entire book is from her first-person POV), the 55th Niffakoq. Part of a nomadic Inuit tribe from Greenland known as the Nuna Naavoq, each Niffakoq is a young girl, chosen from birth for a special Chore. Shortly after birth, the Niffakoq’s brain is implanted with six niks, small metal discs that enhance their intelligence, physical abilities, and empathy. 

Their Chore begins at age nine.

They die by age eleven.

So, yeah. Right away there’s a very grim aspect to this story. And we learn early in the story that Sisilla, tortured by headaches,  once violently removed one of her niks (the one that suppresses emotions) from her eye. It’s left her with the trademark pink spot you can see on the cover. She has kept the removal of the sixth nik a secret from everyone, including Tûma, who has looked after her and trained her for her whole life. 

Sisilla’s Chore will see her journey to the planet Fém, to question the inhabitants of the strange metal world. They are all survivors of a plague that is more horrifying than you can imagine (that’s all you’ll get from me), and the triworld government, whom Sisilla represents, has some questions. 

The journey to Fém comprises a significant portion of this novel (the most significant, to me), and if will feel familiar to space opera fans: the ragtag group of colorful spacefaring characters, zipping across galaxies and forming deep connections.

It’s that. But like. Run through a fucking meat grinder. 

The ship is called The Sickness, and it is basically a fleshy, flying tumor. It’s deeply responsive to its inhabitants (creepily so), but this ship is just…revolting. Kraus’s descriptions of the interior of this abomination are truly stomach-curdling, so be mindful. 

Rounding out this extremely memorable cast of characters:

-Murder 005, a nonbinary assassin who serves as Sisilla’s bodyguard aboard The Sickness. Part of an order of assassins called Murders, the 005 is the current tally of their victims. They dress in an all-white bodysuit, and you pray you never see them in their black suit, because then it’s over for you. Wry, enigmatic, and fiercely protective of Sisilla, Murder 005 is a fucking blast to spend time with.

-Feng Chaon, the ship’s medic. He’s got a tragic backstory, a peyote addiction, and a really funny yet philosophical approach to life. 

-Jayne Mae Marilyn Bardot, the heavily-modded engineer of the ship. Jayne is fucking fabulous, has wildly different outfits for every occasion, and takes on a de facto mothering role to Sisilla. 

-Craig Arzan, the only NonMod human on the ship. He’s the Captain of the vessel, and he seems to have a real grudge against Sisilla. There are many people in this world who think the Nuna Naavoq are a cult, and they want nothing to do with a Niffakoq.

The world building in this book is more complex than anything I’ve seen in a Daniel Kraus book. I feel like I’ve written so much about the story/plot, and I’ve barely scratched the surface here. This is a wildly ambitious book, and it takes some getting used to. The first little section of this one, I had no fucking idea what was happening. But as I started to settle into the rhythm of this story and began to understand more about this world, it turned into one of the most exciting reading experiences I’ve ever had. 

In his latest newsletter (and it’s a great newsletter, highly recommended!), Kraus referred to THE SIXTH NIK as “my sci-fi / horror about bodily autonomy and those who want to take yours from you,” and I want people to bear that in mind if they decide to pick this one up. 

THE SIXTH NIK is upsetting and disturbing in a way few books I’ve ever read are. I was angry at this book. I hated the things that were happening to our characters. I wanted to scream and cry and rage about it. Sadly, I don’t know anyone else who has read this yet, so I had to quietly endure this book’s horrors alone. I would strongly encourage people to check the content warnings for this book before deciding if they want to read it. 

I think with Sisilla, Daniel Kraus has created one of the greatest protagonists in the sci-fi or horror genres. This isn’t a slasher, but Sisilla is the ultimate final girl. This whole book is about destiny, in a way. Sisilla’s story was written for her the moment she was born. Her fate was decided. But then…she went and removed that one pesky nik, and everything changed. And her future becomes unwritten. It becomes her’s. And what she becomes is something amazing. 

I’m already planning to reread this one on audio when it comes out (Kimberly Woods is the narrator, she’s great!), because I just can’t get this story out of my head and I want to go back to this world immediately, and then again and again. I think THE SIXTH NIK is a total masterpiece, and I just loved this book with my whole heart.

Endless thanks to Saga Press for sending the ARC my way! THE SIXTH NIK releases June 23rd!