Rating: 4.5⭐️
Dark Matter is fantastic. The Class 5 series is just getting better and better with each new book.
Bane, the AI who decided to remain independent and has been on the periphery of the storylines as a enigmatic character is front and center here. And I’m so excited for this.
Each newly freed AI Class 5 battleship will be eventually associated with a human woman (or more accurately several in its history). Here, Bane was given information by the AI Paxe before Paxe sacrificed himself (yes each “thinking machine” decides to gender identity) that there’s yet another human female being held by the Tehrans. And she needs to be rescued at all costs.
That’s Lucy Harris, who harrowingly escapes from the Tecran science lab where she’s been a prisoner and is on the run for her life on the Tecran planet.
Grih Commander Dray Helvan is traveling to carry out the Council’s mission of punishments for breaking the UC law when Bane informs him of Lucy’s presence on the planet. And the race is on to rescue her before she’s recaptured.
It’s thrilling, suspense filled and action packed with battle scenes and moments of drama and heart-stopping sequences when the reader is right there with Lucy on the run.
Bane is as terrifying as you might imagine and Dray Helvin the next soldier and commander who realistically wants the Tecran to pay for the atrocities that they’ve committed.
Diener expands on her overall universe, answering questions that I had about why only women, and other elements while still exploring the galactic conspiracy and ongoing conflicts involving the women and the Council.
Just a great series and group of characters.
A another winner from an author who’s become an auto read.
Class 5 Series (7 book series)
Dark Horse #1
Dark Deeds #2
Dark Minds #3
Dark Matters #4
Dark Class #5
Collision Course #6
Crash Course #7
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Dark Matters (Class 5 Series Book 4)
Blurb
DARK MATTERS . . . taking matters into her own hands
A time bomb, waiting to go off . . . Lucy Harris is on the run, not sure where she can turn to for help, or if help is even available. But even as her abductors chase her down, she realizes they don’t just want to recapture her, they want to erase her. When your very existence puts a planet at risk of war, there’s no choice but to do everything in your power to stay out of your enemies hands.
A predator . . . waiting for the chance to pounce The powerful AI battleship, Bane, is accompanying the United Council envoy to Tecra to mete out the punishment the Tecrans have earned for breaking UC law. He revels in the power he’s about to have over his old masters. But his mission isn’t only to rain down retribution on the people who kept him chained for years, he’s also looking for a human woman one of his fellow Class 5s mentioned in the final seconds of his life. Paxe admitted to taking Lucy Harris from Earth, and Bane has been looking for her ever since.
A warrior conflicted . . . Commander Dray Helvan thinks the Grih made a mistake in not pushing for war with the Tecran, but he’s had to accept the compromise, that he and the other envoys from the United Council will go to Tecra and dismantle its military from the top down. His mission is not one of his choosing, but when he and his team arrive, he’s handed a very different job. While he distrusts Bane on principle, when the Class 5 tells him there’s a woman running for her life on the planet below, he will do whatever he has to to see her safe. And if that means war for Tecra, well, then it means war.
Note: Dark Matters is book 4 in the Class 5 series.
Eclipse
Publication date
October 15, 2019
Language
English
Print length
320 pages
Book 4 of 7
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 