Peace Maker (Verdant String, #6) by Michelle Diener – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, Michelle Diener, romance, scifi, scifi romance, series

Review of Peace Maker

Fjern is off the beaten path when it come to the Verdant String. When it was settled, the ancestors sent the Gyra with them for protection. Gyr are the Fjern who have been changed by the gyra nano-technology. It makes them stronger and faster. Fliss has lived in a remote part of the world and never been exposed to the Gyr culture. She is not like the typical Gyr in many ways. When she leaves home to join a Gyr team, her ‘sponsor’ Dakar, keeps the fact that she is Gyr secret from his team. Dakar’s death launches Fliss into a situation where she will need to learn fast.

Han, the leader of a Gyr team sent to investigate Dakar’s death, is immediately drawn to Fliss. And she is drawn to him. And their gyra are drawn to each other.

While the Gyr are dealing with the death of Dakar and the new Gyr who is different from them, their world has already been quietly invaded by aliens who are on Fjern to steal resources. Fliss is lured to their base in a trap, Han is looking for Fliss and Gyr command (composed of non-Gyr) is trying to maintain an arcane status quo. Things are about to get interesting ….. and dangerous.

I loved these characters. Fliss is quiet, and not likely to take any crap. Han is the great leader with a well-honed team of fellow Gyr. These characters are well-developed with just enough background and are further shaped by the events of the story. The complication of a stogy old Gyr command who seem to be interested only in power, adds a political aspect to the action-packed adventure.

When I read the last book of the Verdant String series, Wave Rider, I said it was my favorite in the series. Well, now I have a new favorite – Peace Maker!

Many thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book. My review is my honest opinion.

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About Peace Maker by Michelle Diener

Fliss knows all about her ancestors, the Travelers, who were forced to land on Fjern thousands of years ago, but when it comes to the Gyr—the enhanced warriors who protect the people of Fjern from the monsters that inhabit the planet—she’s in the dark, even though she is one herself. There’s plenty of ceremony and arcane tradition set up around who receives the gyra—the nanotech that makes the warriors the super-protectors that they are—but Fliss doesn’t care about any of that, she just wants to brush off the dust of the tiny mining settlement she’s been protecting all her life and leave the combative relationship she has with her father far behind her.

When the Gyr who offered her a way out of her old life dies in spectacular fashion, though, she comes to the attention of a host of powerful people, both the Gyr and the administrators from the institution that controls them, alike. Fliss is about to find out more about the Gyr—and herself—than she ever dreamed of.

Gyr leader, Hannu Kardenian, thought he was being called to investigate the strange death of a fellow warrior, but what he finds instead is a woman who breaks every rule he’s ever lived by. Everything about her sets his own gyra on fire, and when she comes to the attention of Gyr Command—the institution that mandates the Gyr’s very existence—he is determined to make sure she never ends up in their clutches, even if he has to upend the very structure of Fjern itself.

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Wave Rider (Verdant String, #5) by Michelle Diener – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, Michelle Diener, romance, scifi, scifi romance, series

About Wave Rider by Michelle Diener

Isolated . . . Verdant String scientist, Anja Farucci, is frightened. Her calls for help from her remote coastal research station on the moon Fynian have been going unanswered, and strange things are happening with the leviathan pod she’s studying. Out of options, she sets out on the dangerous three-day journey to Rinc, Fynian’s only city.

Stranded . . . Cal is a wave rider, and if anyone understands leviathans, it’s him, but when Kada, a young leviathan, grabs his boat and strands him on the southern peninsula, Cal is at a loss as to what is going on.

Thrown together . . . When Cal and Anja cross paths, they discover Anja’s communications have been deliberately sabotaged. Someone doesn’t want anyone coming or going from the southern peninsula. When the people involved start hurting leviathans, though, neither Cal nor Anja can let it go.

What they don’t know, as they get deeper and deeper into the mystery, is that the secret they discover in the cold waters of Fynian’s ocean will change them forever.

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Review of Wave Rider

Wave Rider stands alone, but is part of the Verdant String series.  Those who have read the previous books will be familiar with the ancestor’s colonization of the system, the silver balls, and the adversaries that don’t play well with the Verdant String planets. 

Just as important as main characters Cal and Anja, are the leviathans that swim in the oceans and provide the druk, a valuable natural resource.  No one understands the leviathans better than the wave riders who harvest the druk.  Except perhaps the biologist who studies them.  When outsiders take an interest in the area the leviathans inhabit, wave rider Cal and scientist Anja get caught up in their schemes. 

When the bad guys dump Cal, Anja and Cal’s friends in the ocean, the leviathans help the group survive by getting them to a small island that also happens to be the location of a downed ancient spaceship that the bad guys are looking for.  Well, it really is not chance that brings them there, but to explain that might lead to spoilers.   

Waver Rider takes place on a moon called Fynian.  The out of the way location means a close-knit community of folks who watch out for one another.   When people go missing (which is going to happen), rescues are launched (meaning there is a lot at stake).

The confluence of wave riders, leviathans, a biologist and ancient technology make for a breathless cat-and-mouse adventure.  Someone is always hunting and someone is being hunted.  The plot is constantly moving and being shaped by both the people and the leviathans. 

The intelligence of the leviathans, the closeness of the community and the attraction between Cal and Anja are what make Wave Rider such a great story.  Yes, I mentioned the leviathans first because they are critical to the story in many ways.  Wave Rider may be my favorite book in this series so far.

Many thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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Pets in Space 5 By Many (12) Authors- Review

Tags

5 stars, Alexis Glynn Latner, anthology, Book Review, Carol Van Natta, Cassandra Chandler, cats, dogs, frogs, J.C. Hay, Kyndra Hatch, Laurie A. Green, Leslie Chase, Michelle Diener, other worldly creatures, Pauline Baird Jones, pets, Pets in Space, Regine Abel, S.E. Smith, scifi romance, Veronica Scott

About Pets in Space 5

The King’s Quest (Dragon Lords of Valdier) by S.E. Smith

A playful trick leads to love for a Goddess, but will the King she falls in love with accept her for who she really is?

Dark Ambitions (Class 5) by Michelle Diener

When a planetary exploration trip takes a dangerous turn, a human woman and her powerful AI friend will need all their skills to come to the rescue.

Star Cruise: Return Voyage (Sectors SF Romance) by Veronica Scott

She survived the worst interstellar shipping disaster in history as a child but can she survive the Return Voyage as an adult?

General’s Holiday (Project Enterprise) by Pauline Baird Jones

A General is ready for another fight—this time for the woman he loves.

Juggernaut (The Inherited Stars) by Laurie A. Green

A security commander must decide if she can trust a mysterious stranger and his bioengineered StarDog when the secret underground site she protects is threatened.

Galactic Search and Rescue (Central Galactic Concordance) by Carol Van Natta

Two military first-responders and an animal team of rescuers are the only hope for saving an entire town when disaster turns deadly.

Reaper (Xian Warriors) by Regine Abel

With time running out, a woman accepts her fate only to find hope in the genetically engineered warrior created by her captors.

Pastfinder (Starways) by Alexis Glynn Latner

A woman’s psychic gift might be the catalyst needed to save the life of the man she loves—in an ancient archaeological site that contains a stupendous discovery.

Mittens Not Included (TriSystems: Smugglers) by JC Hay

He craved order and discipline to help his life make sense. She offered him cats instead.

Finding Mogha (Before The Fall) by Kyndra Hatch

A human’s effort to save a sentient being takes her straight into the path of a Korthan warrior.

Rate of Return (The Department of Homeworld Security) by Cassandra Chandler

Falling for an Earthling sends an alien and his adorable, six-legged pet in a tailspin.

Glitch (Crashland Colony Romance) by Leslie Chase

An alien pirate and a human find love in the shadow of disaster.

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Review of Pets in Space 5

I can’t believe there are 5 Pets in Space collections already.  My how time flies when you are enjoying great stories.  Pets in Space 5 is the best collection yet!

Many of the stories are a part of series that I am following.  Having the qualities of both new and familiar make them favorites in this anthology.  However, whether you follow the series or not, all of these stories stand pretty well on their own.  For me, there was one exception that seemed a bit disjointed because I had not read any books in the series.  Individual results will vary.  However, I still enjoyed every tale in this book!  Today, I am offering a few short reviews of some of my favorites.

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Dark Ambitions (Class 5) by Michelle Diener

Rose, having lived on a ship for some time, is excited to be able to set foot on a planet.  This is where she meets Sweetpea, a small squirrel-like critter.  Make that flying squirrel.  Daz is off on a mission, but Sazo is still in contact with Rose.  Good thing.  There will be trouble for Rose and her explorer friends.  I am a big fan of the Class 5 series and was especially pleased to go back to the story of Rose, Daz and the original Class 5, Sazo.  Sazo has not changed much, so imagine him to be very protective of Rose while not especially concerned about the others.  The ongoing education of a superpower ship/AI is one of the things I like about the series.  Sweetpea makes a delightful addition to Rose’s family while Daz sweeps in for the assist.  But leave it to Rose to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to being the heroine.  After all, she is from gravity-rich Earth.

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General’s Holiday (Project Enterprise) by Pauline Baird Jones

I am a long-time fan of the Project Enterprise series.  General Halliwell is a recurring semi-major character who really deserved his chance at romance.  Halliwell, who likes to wonder WWPD (What would Picard do?) runs into the engaging and lovely Naxe and her friend who happens to be a frog.  If you read Ms. Jones’ book, you now that sentience can occur in just about any type of creature.  Add some impressive, if scary, plants, a long-deserted ship complex and some bugs that create quite the buzz and you get another Project Enterprise adventure full of plenty of Picard moments.

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Juggernaut (The Inherited Stars) by Laurie A. Green

What you need to know about The Inherited Stars series is that the order the books are released is not an indicator of the time line of the overall story arc.  Each new story sheds light on something you may have read about that will happen on a future timeline or something that happened in the past.  Either way, it is a unique and entertaining way to read a series.

In Juggernaut, the reason for the threat to the project Dek is providing security for reads as secondary to the immediate situation she finds herself in.  That is, Dek is more concerned with the actual attack and with the enigma that is Sno Telon.  Dek and Telon are a natural couple once they decide they can trust each other.  It should be noted that CaSandra, Telon’s stardog, intuits that Dek is on the right side immediately.

Back to that reason for the threat.  It is part of the big story arc picture.   It is not critical for taking care of the threat, nor does it play into the romance.  However, if you have read the series, when you get done with the story, you might think “Hmmm”.  (If you haven’t read the series, you can still enjoy this story very much.  You can just skip the “Hmmm”.)

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Reaper (Xian Warriors) by Regine Abel

Dark is the word I would use to describe the beginning of Reaper.  Having been imprisoned and stranded in an underground bunker for years, Janelle and her Creckel companions are running out of resources.   Death is near.  The arrival of genetically engineered soldiers/peacekeepers may be her last hope, but the first one to find her, Reaper, looks too much like her former captors.

After a minor glitch, Reaper and Janelle hit it off just fine.  Really it is a major glitch, but I don’t want to worry you too much.  Besides the glitch adds humor to what was a very dark situation.

Of all the ‘pets’, I think the Creckels are the least fluffy.  I mean that in the sense that they are way too ferocious and deadly to be considered a pet.  In fact, companion is probably a better word.  Just the kind of companion one would want in a hostile situation.  

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Finding Mogha (Before The Fall) by Kyndra Hatch

Ms. Hatch’s After the Fall in Pets in Space 3 blew me away.  The two follow up stories, Interrupting Starlight in Pets in Space 4 and Finding Mogha in this anthology have helped to fill in the details of the world(s) of the Korth and a few human women that seem to get in their way.  In each story, there is a new planet to test the humans and the Korth as well as an enemies-to-lovers romance that tests the ability of sentients of diverse backgrounds to overcome prejudice.

And there are moghas.  Mogha is the term for an alien that forms a bond with a Korth warrior.  Every warrior longs to find his own companion mogha.  In Finding Mogha, K’vyn is sorely disappointed to find the mogha, C’hase, has already bonded with a human woman, Dani.  The odd circumstances of their meeting are just a warm up for the adventure because the mogha homeworld will soon be under attack.  Warning: humans are the bad guys in this one (except Dani).

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Even though the anthology is supposed to be about pets, many of the cats, dogs and otherworldy creatures are so much more than pets.  Many are sentient companions, have specific purposes and even seem to be as in charge of things as their partners.  Pet lovers can relate to this.  Not only does my dog appear to understand me, he often seems to direct me to certain actions (fill the water bowl, go for a walk, toss a ball).  He would make a great SFR companion-hero!

No two stories are alike!  There is enough variety, with 12 original stories, everyone that reads Pets in Space 5 is sure to find their own 5-star story.  Probably several stories!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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