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Review by Riley
About Last Ship Off Polaris-G
A bureaucrat and an interstellar trader must overcome treachery and their broken past to save the last inhabitants of a dying planet. Frontier planet Polaris-Gamma is dying, afflicted by a suspiciously-timed blight that destroys all crops. Worse, the whole system is now under military quarantine by the Central Galactic Concordance to prevent the catastrophic blight from spreading. The settlers must escape—or perish.
Caught behind the blockade, independent trader Gavril Danilovich finds his interstellar trading ship commandeered in the desperate plan to escape. He tells himself that’s the only reason he stays, and not because he’s worried about the woman he walked out on two years ago—who still lives on Pol-G.
Government supply depot manager Anitra Helden races to gather the last of Pol-G’s assets. Her plan to launch a mothballed freighter off Pol-G may be crazy—but it can work, if she can talk Gavril into helping. Their precious cargo? Four thousand stranded colonists.
Can Anitra and Gavril, and their ragtag crew get past the deadly military blockade?
It’s a desperate bid for freedom in deadly deep space—get your copy of Last Ship Off Polaris-G today!
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Review of Last Ship Off Polaris-G
One of the things common throughout the series is the constant diversity in the characters. Not just race, but also ethnic background, family arrangements and age. I absolutely love that these characters have some history. Anitra is 55 and Gavin is 56. These are people who have life experiences to give them a basis for their current actions. If you are less than, let’s say 35, you should know that 55- and 56-year old characters are just as interesting as their younger counterparts. And no, they don’t act old. And they are not wise old sages. But they are used to going with the flow and adapting. And it is this process of adaptation that make people grow and become more interesting.
Despite that fact that in this futuristic world, youth-extending treatments are possible, the cover does not match description of the main characters. Gavril is 56 but described as looking 15 years younger – so 41. Anitra is described as looking to be in her early 30s. On the cover both characters look to be in their 20s. So while the books have quite a bit of diversity, the covers do not reflect that diversity. But what do they say? Oh yes, don’t judge a book by its cover.
So I should talk about content.
I’m quite certain, that this is the first time I have read about a failed colonization and a mass exodus. This creative setting leads to all sorts of interesting problems to overcome and plots to uncover. But the real draw of the story is not the setting or the plot. It is the characters.
Anitra is a basically a bureaucrat. How often do you see a bureaucrat as a heroine? But she has vision and hope, plus she is just a little bit devious. Those qualities are enticing and they snag the attention many, including Gavril. Anitra and Gavril had a fling once. But they parted ways, each wanting different things.
They meet again.
Gavril is struggling with this minder talent (empathy), which is a rare thing at his age. But he has never had the proper training. Anitra can help with that. In return, Gavril will fix a derelict ship to get them off of Polaris-G. They form the perfect business partnership. Yeah, well. It is not going to remain as just a business partnership. Remember, they had a fling. And now, just maybe, they might want the same thing.
The story moves quickly from the forming of a partnership between Anitra and Gavril to the escalation of trouble on the planet to the actual exciting exodus off of Polaris-G on the good ship Deset Diamantov. I started and finished this book in the same day. The novella length was perfect.
I really like this series. In the Central Galactic Concordance series, each story stands alone. The overall series is a sweeping arc, made up of complex, yet well integrated stories. Each story builds on the last and adds more complexity. Last Ship Off Polaris-G has the distinction of simplicity. Oh, you can see the mess coming, but, at least for now, the danger is straightforward and the characters have the luxury of worrying only about themselves and those around them rather that the entire galaxy. According to the series note on the Amazon blurb:
The events in Last Ship Off Polaris-G take place several years before Overload Flux (Central Galactic Concordance, Book 1). Think of it as an introduction to the series, and a foreshadowing of things—and people—to come.
So judging the book by its content, I would have to say that Last Ship Off Polaris-G is a 5-star addition to the Central Galactic Concordance series. If you have not read any of the series, Last Ship Off Polaris-G is a great place to start. If you have read the series, you will appreciate this little piece of the universe that is Polaris space. And if you don’t, you can suck flux. Okay, I apologize. That was rude. But I just wanted to use that phrase once. 🙂
The author provided a copy of her book so that I could bring you this honest review.
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