Month: July 2017

The Ex-pacifist, by Sarah K. L. Wilson (Matsumoto trilogy book 1)

In the world of the Ex-Pacifist, The Matsumotos run the largest empire.  All the Matsumoto cousins are trained as ambassadors and their number one rule is that they must not commit any violence, even to protect their own lives.  Vera and her guard are sent on their first mission but it goes very badly by the emperor’s standards and expects to be sentenced to death.

Instead, she and a new guardian, Roman, are sent off to see what happened to her cousin Denise, who disappeared while investigating odd happenings on a planet outside of the empire.  She is given two weeks to find Denise or the fleet will attack the planet and she face a death sentence again.

The book is very well written in a style that I would classify as dystopian sci-fi with young adult characters.  Since the teens have very adult responsiblities, it doesn’t completely feel like a typical YA book.

I look forward to reading other books in the Matsumoto trilogy.

Kasey Briggs Leave a comment

Maruvian Bride by C. J. Scarlett (Celestial Mates 5)

Maruvian Bride is book 5 in the Celestial Mates Series. It helps a bit to have read the other books, but most important backstory happenings are explained. As the book begins, 2000 Earth women are on a spaceship headed to one of the Krylon worlds. They volunteered to leave their low-status life in underground housing on Earth, where males are scarce, for a chance to be a treasured bride on the Krylon world, where females are scarce.

Sisters Cassidy and Carolyn are eagerly learning about the Krylons. Cassidy notes a group of Krylons that are different. They are unkempt and have long hair. She quickly learns the rules and orders a reluctant Commander Daron, to explain their appearance. She learns that they are “clanless”. Krylon is a clan-driven society, so if one is kicked out of their clan for any reason they are demoted to being clanless and their only hope is to try to buy their way into a clan someday so they can have hope for a future with a wife and family. Cassidy is attracted to Commander Daron but he discourages her because he has nothing to give her. She explains that she was not high-status before and doesn’t care about material things. She and her sister also spread the word among the earth women about the plight of the clanless, much to the Krylon commander’s dismay.

While on the way to the Krylons planets, the ship is attacked by an insectoid species. While freeing the other women, who were locked in their rooms with the insectoid Maruvians, Cassidy observes that the insectoids are killing the men, but not the women. She uses a dose of a translation serum to communicate with one of the Maruvians. He explains that they are looking for a female to be their queen. Cassidy quickly negotiates a truce; She will go with them and the Maruvians will stop attacking ships in the sector. They quickly agree.

On the way to the ship Carolyn intervenes and shoots her sister in the shoulder. She explains to the Maruvians that the old queen is broken but she will be their queen. Carolyn quickly takes over as ruler of the Maruvians and lets her sister stay with Daron

The Maruvian Bride is really the story of two brides and it is a really fun read. The writing is good and the banter is funny. The antics that Cassidy and Carolyn get up to before and after they find their mates are hilarious. I recommend this series to any fan of the alien romance genre.

Kasey Briggs Leave a comment

Demon Hero, by Jae Vogel (Dark Fae Hollow book 1)

Verdant, Vee for short, is a fairy living in hiding in a repressive anti-fae society. She works at a bar with Sol, who has always treated her as an equal. One night she hears one too many anti-fairy boasts from a group of drunken bigots and she gets angry and outs herself. Talon, another Fae, takes advantage of the situation to have his group fight the police and then help Vee escape the aftermath of the fight.

There are big things going on in the world and, after Vee experiences a few moments of freedom to be herself, she realizes how repressed and afraid everyone is. She finds out Sol has been hiding his own secrets and pain. The government is dealing with the “fairy problem” by offering “naturalization” a way to become human with an injection. Mass injections are scheduled for just a few days after the bar fight.

Demon Hero, as the start of a new series, focuses on the conflict and Vee’s exploration of the choices available to her and the philosophy and considerations about freedom, inter-species relations, government’s role and “human nature”. There is a lot of philosophizing in this book and at times it bogs down the story. There are great action scenes and the bones of an exciting world, but this is for the more thoughtful reader.

Demon Hero is book 1 in the Dark Fae Hollow series.

Kasey Briggs Leave a comment