Yay! Always exciting!
Reminder #1: CAPTIVE ends on a cliffhanger!
Reminder #2: There’s a glossary at the back!
Every soldier knows there are endless ways to die.
Every Ubezhishche soldier knows there are far worse fates than death.
Sevastien one zero two four, S line third modification, has survived the destruction of his own ship and an enemy station. But he was rescued by the wrong side — by Nalyn Ila, captain of the Elysian destroyer Invictus. Now he’s facing a difficult problem: How to persuade Captain Ila and her people that he is not an enemy combatant. That if there was an act of war, it was committed by her people, not his own.
Sevastien is almost certain he was an innocent bystander of disaster … unless his own people set him up, aiming to get him aboard Invictus for reasons he can’t yet understand. Maybe they did. It’s just the kind of thing Ubezhishche Command might do.
Nalyn Ila is almost certain Sevastien is an enemy agent, placed aboard her ship by Ubezhishche Command. But no one, not her own people nor the enemy nor Sevastien himself, can possibly guess what use she might actually have for an Ubezhishche soldier. Even if he actually is an innocent bystander, she may be able to use him in her private long-laid plans. And if he’s actually an enemy agent … that might be even better.
***
Reminder! There is a glossary and a short note about history at the back. I have definitely read books where, only when I reached the end, I discovered a glossary or a dramatis personae. Then I kick myself because I wish I’d realized that earlier. Flipping to a glossary is a pain in an ebook, I know, but sometimes I think it’s worth the trouble. I’m therefore hoping readers notice these things are there when they skim past the ToC.
Meanwhile! I’m closing in on the necessary last tweaks to the second book, after which I’ll send myself a clean electronic copy, create a paper version and get a proofing copy in paper, and continue proofing. I’m feeling relaxed about this. There’s almost a whole month before I need to upload the final versions. I expect I will feel much less relaxed around October 5th, but at the moment, all is proceeding according to plan.
No plan ever survives contact with the enemy.
Especially when you can’t be certain which side is your enemy.
Nalyn Ila did her best to lay plans for every imaginable contingency. But some contingencies were not imaginable. Now Ila has no choice but to change her plans as fast as she can, trying to stay one step ahead of disaster. Without Syova’s help, everything she has tried to achieve will certainly fail.
Now that everyone’s secret plans have been revealed, Syova has no choice but to reassess everything he knows about his enemies—and his friends. The Ubezhishche people haven’t yet gone to war with Elysium … not quite. Now devastating war may be unavoidable. Unless Captain Ila is telling him the truth.
With the survival of both his own people and hers at stake, Syova had better make all the right choices.
Please Feel Free to Share:
Looking forward to reading it! What a great start to the weekend
Hooray! I have it purchased and downloaded, but I am a hater of cliffhangers so I’m holding off reading it till I have the second book too!
Maigen, that’s what I’d do! Though just a few weeks isn’t as bad as hitting the end and realizing the next book wouldn’t be out for a year, which used to traumatize me when I was a kid.
aaaah I couldn’t not read it, even though you warned us so clearly about the cliffhanger, and now I’m going to be (metaphorically) tearing my hair out for a month! I don’t want to post spoilers so I will just say I loved it but I do kind of wish I had had enough self-control to wait!!
CLICK!
And fast as I was, someone else has already given it five stars!
Off to a great start :)
I meant to wait to read both together… but I am weak and could not resist shiny new book. And once I started I could not put it down!
I loved it! I was counting the days after the teaser chapter, and now I am counting the days until the second installment! How will I distract myself until October 15? Oh, yes, read it again!
I should have been cleaning the house in preparation for my brother’s visit, but couldn’t resist taking a peek – getting sucked in – and reading it all this weekend.
It’s engaging, and exciting, and I’m very glad it’s not that long to wait until October.
This one reminded me of C.J.Cherryh’s SF, especially the Foreigner series.
Not that the stories or plots are similar, but they share elements that I’ve enjoyed in C.J. Cherryh’s writing, though I’m very happy you have the second half already in the pipeline and aren’t planning to turn it into a 22 book series!
More in the way The City in the Lake has a flavor of Patricia McKillip in the way it is written, this one has a Cherryh flavor to the writing, for me, that I find very engaging.
Both the Atevi and Ubez have that strong sense of loyalty, the situation of a lone stranger among the others, the sense of large plans and important decisions made at speed by highly-competent protagonists, with shadowy political manouevres in the background, and the bouts of introspection combined with fast-paced action when it’s the right time for that.
I really enjoyed it, and marvel at your versatility.
I posted a review on Amazon, saying more or less what I mentioned above.
Is that okay? I usually can’t figure out how to talk about what I love about a book without getting into spoiler territory, so then I just don’t.
But I think this comparison is nonspoilery enough to be safe?
Hanneke, YES, for many reasons, that’s great!
Personally, as a reader, seeing a review for anything that says, “Reminds me of ____ by Cherryh,” or “Reminiscent of Patricia McKillip” is a HUGE selling point, and I’m sure other readers feel the same way. As a writer, it’s deeply satisfying to see a review that compares one of my books to an author I particularly love. On top of all of that, of course any positive review is very welcome! It’s not at all spoilery, and thank you!