Tag: LGBTQIA Science Fiction

A Free Dreamer Review: Line and Orbit (Root Code #1) by Sunny Moraine and Lisa Soem

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Line and OrbitWhat he’s been taught to fear could be his destiny…and his only hope.

Adam Yuga, a rising young star in the imperialist Terran Protectorate, is on the verge of a massive promotion…until a routine physical exam reveals something less than perfection. Genetic flaws are taboo, and Adam soon discovers there’s a thin line between rising star and starving outcast.

Stripped of wealth and position, stricken with a mysterious, worsening illness, Adam resorts to stealing credits to survive. Moments from capture by the Protectorate, help arrives in the form of Lochlan, a brash, cocksure Bideshi fighter.

Now the Bideshi, a people long shunned by the Protectorate, are the only ones who will offer him shelter. As Adam learns the truth about the mysterious, nomadic people he was taught to fear, Lochlan offers him not just shelter—but a temptation Adam can only resist for so long.

Struggling to adapt to his new life, Adam discovers his illness hides a terrible secret, one that the Protectorate will stop at nothing to conceal. Time is growing short, and he must find the strength to close a centuries-old rift, accept a new identity—and hold on to a love that could cost him everything.

 I’m always a sucker for some good sci-fi/fantasy and “Line and Orbit” definitely did not disappoint. It was funny, addicting, creative and unique.

Adam has it all: lots of money, a successful career, perfect health. That is, until he has to go through a health check for a promotion. The doctors find a small problem with his heart. Nothing life threatening, not in this day and age, but anything other than perfection is simply unacceptable and Adam suddenly finds himself without job, money and a rapidly deteriorating health. With his last bit of money he buys an old spaceship and leaves his home.

Lochlan hates the very thing Adam stands for, but when Adam literally falls in his arms, half dead and on the run, he saves the man’s life and takes him to the Bideshi homeship.

I absolutely loved the idea of the Bideshi. They’re space nomads, outsiders, exiles, outcasts and yet they have a rich history and a deep understanding of the stars, of their line and orbit. They’re magical. It’s not something I’ve ever encountered before and the authors did a wonderful job describing everything in great detail, without making it feel like an info dump, leaving me with a sense of wonder and a longing to join the Bideshi. That’s an example of excellent world building right there.

The romance is very slow to develop. It’s a bit of enemies-to-lovers, a trope that I really don’t like. That’s the only reason I didn’t give this a five star rating. But the slow pace suited the story. The two protagonists are so very different, everything else would have felt unrealistic to me. And I’m always thrilled when an author actually takes the time to develop a real romance, and doesn’t take the easy option of insta-love. Sex did happen, too, but it wasn’t explicit, and that kinda fit the story as well. The romance part was very balanced with the rest of the plot.

At times I wasn’t too sure if I like Lochlan, but he always won me over. Ultimately, I think I really like him, his character just takes a bit of getting used to. Adam, on the other hand, was somehow immediately likeable.

“Line and Orbit” does get a bit violent at times, so beware. Personally, I think fantasy isn’t really fantasy when you don’t get at least one battle scene and this book didn’t disappoint. I liked the spaceship battles, it’s not something I’ve read before.

Long story short: If you like a mix of romance, fantasy and sci-fi, you should read “Line and Orbit”.

I couldn’t help comparing this book to the truly epic “Song of the Navigator” by Astrid Amara. While “Line and Orbit” wasn’t quite as epically awesome, I can definitely recommend this to fans of “Song of the Navigator”.

I’m definitely going to read the rest of the series. I really enjoyed this.

Cover: I really like the cover by Kanaxa. It looks delightfully mysterious and the planets fit with the overall theme of the book.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 325 pages
Published February 5th 2013 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN 1619212196 (ISBN13: 9781619212190)
Edition LanguageEnglish
URL
SeriesRoot Code #1

Series: Book 1 of the Root Code Series

A BJ Review: Wildfire Psi (Guardians of the Pattern #4) by Jaye McKenna

Rating:  5 stars out of 5          ★★★★★

Wildfire PsiThings are finally going well for Luka Valdari. He’s found a home and family at the Institute for Psionic Research, and he has a job he loves. When a training mission takes him back to the streets of downside Riga, he’s got plenty of reason to be uneasy, and when a psionic cry for help leads him to a nightmare from his past, Luka’s ready to bolt.

Things are not going so well for Damon Korsov. He’s got voices in his head, a hole in his memory, and strange dreams that may or may not be glimpses of his past. The one man who might hold the key to Damon’s past is the one man he can never ask. Because somehow, Luka knows Damon, and it’s clear to Damon that Luka hates him.

Unwilling to expose anyone else to the danger Damon represents, Luka volunteers to train him. He wants to hate Damon, but instead finds himself fascinated. Before they get a chance to sort things out between them, the two men are thrown into the middle of a terrifying plot that puts every human life in the galaxy at risk. Can Luka and Damon confront both of their pasts and work together to prevent disaster? Or will all the human worlds burn in the flames of wildfire psi?

This book takes place right after the events of book three. Initially, there are two parallel storylines: one follows Tarrin and Miko as they continue their mission from the end of book three, and the other follows Luka who has returned to his duties at the Institute. I admit that sometimes it can be hard for me to read books that switch around like that, but in this case I was so involved with both storylines and both groups of characters that it never did. I was always eager to get back to the other couple so the switches never pulled me from the story or made me want to put the book down. In fact, one of the things I enjoy about this series is how we get to follow along with all the characters even when the primary focus switches to another couple. But also, the author did an absolutely seamless job of bringing the two storylines together perfectly and naturally at about 60%.

This book’s main couple is a doozy. I totally did not see this one coming. At all. We first met both Luka and Damon in book one, Psi Hunter, where Luka was a central character, but not a romantic lead. And Damon… well, Damon was someone else. I won’t say who as you should read it to find out.

I enjoy a good enemies-to-lovers story, and if you do too, then you should adore the heck out of this book! This isn’t your typical version of that trope. NO generic enemies where the guys are on the opposite sides of something but after getting to know each other as individuals, they overlook that and become loving adversaries. NO personality conflict that’s offset by intense physical attraction and results in lots of hate sex that gradually leads to the real thing. And thankfully, NO simple misunderstanding that could easily be cleared up by talking (those kinds often make the characters seem sort of clueless for me). Nope. None of those. This is the real deal. Two guys with a legitimate “I hate you because of what you did to me” reason to be enemies. No easy fix kind of hate here! And I loved that.

Since I knew these guy’s background from prior books, I just couldn’t imagine how the author would manage to move those two to a place where they could trust and love one another. Heck, I couldn’t even foresee how she’d make me like one of the characters given what I knew of his past. But she did both. Believably and well.

While the plot and action moved along at a satisfying clip, the gradual change in the relationship between Luka and Damon was built on plausible reasons that weren’t based on physical attraction. I enjoyed the natural development of an emotional bond and the slow formation of a tentative, but fragile trust that made it possible to move past hate. But when the past came back to bite them in the ass, could that trust stand up? The way they built that final bridge, an integral piece of the overall story arc, felt natural and right.  A unique and exceptionally well done take on the enemies to lovers trope.

In this series overall, the world-building is complex and exceptionally detailed. While there’s a complex overall story arc running through the series, each book focuses on a new main couple and how their involvement moves everything forward. But past characters aren’t dropped. Nor do the guys from previous books  just make random cameos like in some series. They continue to play their own important roles in the overall arc and to grow while still remaining in character.

Which leads me to mention a favorite character of mine ever since book 0.5, the ever-mysterious Draven. The more I know of him, the more intrigued I am and the more I want… well, more. A few of the scenes he had in this book have me absolutely chomping at the bit to learn more about that illusive man. Mysterious, smart, scheming, a bit broken… rather reminds me a bit of Laurent in Captive Prince. And just like with him, I absolutely cannot wait for more Draven.

The cover by Chinchbug shows Damon with the red crystal artifact and aptly represents this story. Also I’d never noticed until recently when a bundle of the first four came out that each cover fits side by side, half faces with the next. Nice touch.

Sales Links:   ARe | Amazon | Buy It Here


Book Details:  

ebook
Published January 27th 2016 by Mythe Weaver Press (first published January 2016)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesGuardians of the Pattern #4.0

Guardians of the Patterns Series (with links to BJ’s reviews):

Guardians of the Pattern is a science fiction series in which the line between science and magic blurs. In the galaxy-spanning Federation, psions are still fighting for basic human rights. Some worlds adopt a live-and-let-live policy, but on others, psions are hunted down and murdered because the public fears their psychic talents. When ancient weapons of mass destruction are unearthed on a planet populated by primitive nomads who still believe in magic, psions may be the Federation’s only hope for survival.

Can the people of these two very different cultures come together to prevent disaster? Or will the Federation’s hunger for power trigger a psionic chain-reaction that has the potential to threaten all of humanity?

A BJ Review: Affiliations, Aliens & Other Profitable Pursuits (Claimings #3) by Lyn Gala

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

Affliliations Aliens and Other PPA desire for status has brought Ondry and Liam to a human world to trade, but dealing with humans has brought up all the old pain in Liam’s heart. Even though Ondry would do anything to protect his beloved palteia, he doesn’t know how to protect Liam from himself. Worse, Ondry isn’t sure how to shield Liam from the shifting politics on the Rownt ship where the Calti Grandmothers are nothing like the ones they left behind on the planet.

With everything in their lives changing, Ondry and Liam have only each other. If Ondry can’t find a way to defend Liam from the ghosts of the past and overcome the impossibly short life span of a human, their small family might be over long before either of them is ready to let go. Ondry has always been a dominant and possessive Rownt, and with Liam in danger, those traits are necessary as he challenges the world to protect his lover.

In this third installment, the pace is slow and languid (maybe even a bit too slow at times which is why I couldn’t quite give it five stars), but it’s also full of depth and endeavors on some deeper level.

We get a dual POV with Ondry and Liam this time, which I very much enjoyed. Seeing his side of Liam’s claiming, and all that led up and went after, was fascinating. Diallo is there but not a focus this time, which I was pleased with. The story focuses more tightly back on the relationship of Ondry and Liam, how they interact with each other as well as with Rownts and humans.

The author also explores new territory by taking us off the Rownt home planet and into a huge Rownt where Ondry and Liam plan to advance his status through trade as well as eventually get in contact with a much advanced race to try and extend Liam’s lifespan to be a bit more in sync with Ondry’s.

The sex scenes were hot, and not just because of the tail sex! What I enjoyed most in this one was Ondry learning about. On a trading expedition with humans, Ondry happened to see two humans kissing. After some explanation about this tradition, Ondry, who is ever determined to give Liam everything his palteia wants/needs, proceeds to explore. Wouldn’t you know it, kissing ending up being something they could both enjoy at the same time. Yay.

As for depth, well, I loved the nuance of meanings and Ondry’s protectiveness and pride, and the further exploration of the whole concept of palteia and of value. How amazing to be valued so highly–to have someone always willing to listen. Swoon. Also saw depth because in seeing how humans are so different from aliens, this story also points out to us just how different each individual human is from each other one. Which got me to thinking how much effort we have to invest if we want to truly understand another individual. Unfortunately, in my life experience anyway, there are very few people willing to actually put in the time and effort to attempt to do so.

It’s hard for me to really envision Ondry and the Rownt. On the covers, we’ve seen purple skin and muscles and a tail. In the description, we get height and mass, talk of laying eggs and cracking out of shells (a mention of a claw caught in a shell). For some this this has evidently brought turtles to mind, but I’m not quite seeing that. While thin lips might fit with turtles, most don’t have sharp teeth. Regardless of what Ondry looks like, his other traits are enough to have won me over. Again.

There’s a twist at the end involving the introduction of a new human. I find that interesting and hope that we will get to explore the relationship between Mora and the Grandmother further.

The cover adds very little to what we’ve already been shown of the guys but does give the feel of being in space.

Sales Links:  Loose Id LLC | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here


Book Details:  

ebook, 186 pages
Published November 24th 2015 by Loose Id
ISBN139781682520024
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series Claimings with links to BJ’s reviews:

A BJ Review: Chrysalis Corporation (Chrysalis Corporation #1) by T.A. Venedicktov

Rating:  3.25 stars out of 5

Chrysalis Corporation cover

Together, they can change the rules of the galaxy and the definition of humanity.

When Damion Hawk is offered an opportunity to escape the destitute life of a miner on Mars and become an elite Alpha Fighter pilot, he jumps at the chance. Within the Chrysalis Corporation, Damion must learn to work with his Core—a man with computerized implants, no human emotions—and no rights. But unlike other Fighters, Damion can’t treat Core 47 as a tool. He sees 47 as more than a machine, and he’ll take deadly risks to help 47 find the humanity inside him.

Fighters and Cores are designed to work together and enhance each other’s strengths in defense of their employer. Damion and 47 will need each other’s support as suspicions about the all-powerful Chrysalis Corporation arise. Someone wants Damion and 47 gone, and they need to find out who and why while hiding 47’s growing emotions and the love forming between them. If they can succeed, they might save not only themselves, but all Cores enslaved by the Corporation.

The fundamental storyline we’re presented with in this book is extremely intriguing as are the various characters for the most part. I adored 47 and felt absolutely awful for the life he’s been handed at the same time as I admired his steadfast determination to make something of it. Some things 47 said during this story got to me in a major way. So I’ll begin this review by saying that the writers definitely achieved the single most important thing I hope for in any story I read—to make me connect to a character. On the other side of that coin, being that I admired 47 so much, I found that the way others treated him, even Damion towards the end, thoroughly angered me.

The first half of the book kept me entertained, but as the pages slipped by, I began to have quite a few quibbles. First off, while the Fighter/Core team’s purpose is to fly their ships and defend against enemies/rebels, they really do very little of that… at least not on page. There’s a couple simulation runs, then later a reference to some off-page flights. Only at the very end do we get to see action, see the two working together in a space fight. For the length of the book and it’s set up, I’d expected more. But this book dealt more with relationships between the characters, and to be honest, it rather devolved into more sex than I felt the story warranted. Now, believe me I like the sexy bits, but I was left wanting more than that from the story, more sci-fi or action or something. Another quibble stemmed from the frequent debate/bickering between the characters, after a while that started to get wearisome.

But the single thing that bugged me the most was Damion’s treatment of 47. The Corporation creates the Cores from infants and controls their entire lives. We’re told the Cores are expensive and time-consuming to create and thus are valuable. Yet they’re not treated as if they have value but as if they are extremely disposable. The Corporation and even many of the Fighters, treat Cores as tools, not as human. Cores have no say over their own body or life–ever. It’s really very heartbreaking. Then comes Damion, and yes, he’s a better Fighter for 47 than those he’s been assigned to in the past. Yet he’s not very considerate, caring, or even smart in the things he does and says to 47. It bothered me that he (and his Fighter friend Juni) had so little concern about how what they chose to do would ultimately affect their Cores.

Given that Cores are programmed to obey their Fighters, while Damion may not have thought he was ordering 47 around, in essence, he was all along. I tried to mark this treatment and lack of empathy down to youth. However, it reached a point where Damion’s treatment of 47 really started to get to me. In the second half, he came across to me as rather selfish, inconsiderate, and unfeeling. I could see that he was frustrated, but still! He just seemed to make very little attempt to understand what 47 was going through when the Core was obviously being pulled apart inside. I didn’t feel the consideration/concern from Damion enough, which bothered me and kept me from really liking or feeling connected to him.

From a writing perspective: there were times the POVs slipped, times when the way the dialogue was handed confused me because it didn’t flow smoothly and had me sometimes looking back to try and figure out what the speaker was responding to again, and there was quite a bit of redundancy and repetition. In my opinion, the story would’ve benefitted by being tightened up, especially since it ended up quite lengthy at 350 pages.

Being that this book is from DSP, I wasn’t expecting a traditional HEA/HFN ending, however, neither was I prepared for the abrupt cliffhanger, to-be-continued ending. Do be prepared for that when you pick this story up! If you’re the type who hates waiting for the rest of a story, perhaps read this together with the rest when available.

For me, while I’m not a fan of cliffies, I will be coming back for the next book. And hoping with fingers crossed.

The cover by Anne Cain is as intriguing as the blurb, both did their job of draw me to the story admirably. But one thing that bugged me just a tiny bit is the cityscape at bottom when mostly the story revolves around spaceships.

Sales Links: DSP Publications |  Amazon | Buy It Here


Book Details:  

ebook, 350 pages
Published November 17th 2015 by DSP Publications
ISBN13 9781634761727
edition language English
series Chrysalis Corporation #1

A Special Inside Look at ‘Y Negative’ by Kelly Haworth (Guest Post on Genetics, and Giveaway)

Y Negative cover

Y Negative by Kelly Haworth
Published by Riptide Publishing
Cover art by Jay Aheer

Buy it here at Riptide Publishing

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to welcome Kelly Haworth here today to talk to us about her  latest novel Y Negative and give us a little insight into the inspiration and science inside the story. Welcome, Kelly.

~

Hi guys!  I’m Kelly Haworth here with my debut release Y NEGATIVE.  At various stops on this book tour, I’ll be sharing with you what it’s like to live in Ember’s world: where mascs rule and a guy’s gotta fight for his right to live and love freely.  Posts will range from what the difference between a masc and an andro is, to what on earth a guy does for fun in a dystopia.  Hope you come along for this in-depth look. You’ll also have a chance to win a $20 Riptide voucher!

Please follow the tour to check out all the stops.

Counting all the little X’s – The Genetics of Y Negative by Kelly Haworth

Okay guys.  Here’s the deal.  I have a degree in genetics, and a big inspiration for Y Negative involved me completely geeking out over weird genetics and rare genetic disorders.  I’ll be discussing those in this blog, and things get a bit technical.  You have been warned!

Ember lives in a world that has been rebuilt from the ground up.  Everyone knows something happened to mankind to make the world the way it is now, but only the scientists really care to investigate what that event may have been.  Nuclear bombs?  An asteroid?  A volcanic eruption? Whatever happened, I figured that the human population dipped so low that there could be some truly science-fiction-esque changes.  Essentially, the Y chromosome is gone.  Instead, the genes that make a biological male fully functional, what I call the “Y-gene cluster,” have relocated to an X chromosome.  What this means is that Y Negatives (biological females) have the genetic make-up of “XX”, and mascs (biological males) are “XXY”.

It turns out that “XXY” actually exists in our world.  It is called Klinefelter syndrome, and is a genetic disorder that occurs randomly in the human population.  These males are sterile, and only sometimes are there other symptoms, which can include weaker muscles and breast tissue.  Occasionally, the symptoms are severe enough to warrant testosterone injections.   You can read more about this disorder here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klinefelter_syndrome.

The variation of symptoms in Klinefelter syndrome is due to a process called “X-inactivation.” This is the same process that allows a female calico cat to have her distinct markings.  In all individuals with two X chromosomes, each cell randomly turns off one of them.  Cats happen to have fur color genes on their X chromosomes. So the patterns of a calico’s fur are due to different parts of her skin turning off different X chromosomes, and thus displaying different colors.  Think of it like each part of her skin threw dice to determine which color fur it’d grow.  All female humans also undergo X-inactivation, though there’s no convenient color difference for you to see it happening (thank god.).  But in Ember’s world, all females and males have two X chromosomes, and as we just learned with Klinefelter syndrome, males have a hard time with two X chromosomes.

When I learned about Klinefelter syndrome, I knew it applied to my boys and that I wanted it in the book.  Though, I did take liberties to fit my science fiction world, seeing as every male would be at least XXY.  Namely, my males aren’t sterile, and fewer males show symptoms than we would expect to see.  The guys who do show symptoms are called exins. Get it?  “X-in”activation? Hah!

Exins are usually in the same social circles as mascs; they’re just one of the guys. But if they are known to have particularly severe symptoms, or if they need to inject testosterone, they will most likely be ridiculed by their peers. Also, in Ember’s world, exins tend to be shorter, though in the real world, Klinefelter males tend to be taller.

Now I want to look at the bigger picture.  In Y Negative, homosexual relationships are the norm.  Given the quirky genetics I mentioned above, this leads to a pivotal rebalancing of society.  Technology exists that allows two biological males to father a child through the use of in-vitro fertilization.  So when young Y negatives (biological females) have their eggs harvested, the genetic material in the eggs is discarded, so that the genetic material from two masc fathers is used instead.   The resulting child is a biological descendent of both fathers (I actually call them “dad” and “father” because using the same name would have been totally confusing, right?).  So let’s look at the percentages using a diagram called a Punnett Square:

table Y negative
Assuming each male has one regular X chromosome, and another that carries the Y-gene cluster, he has a 50% chance of passing either chromosome to his offspring.  You may notice that only one of the above 4 boxes is going to be female (XX).  That means there’s only a 25% chance of these two mascs having a female child.
What this means for Ember is that he’s living in a world where at the very most, only 1 in 4 people are female.  And Ember points out to the reader that the percentage is a bit less—it’s closer to 20%.  With so few females in this world, so few Y negatives and andros, is it any surprise that they have become second class citizens?  That their voices have become so quiet as to not be heard?  This gives you a glimpse at some of the prejudice that Ember faces as an andro, a biological female, in this male-dominated world.  It’s a good thing that he is stubborn as hell and isn’t going to take that kind of shit lying down.
Thanks for joining me on this rather technical post, I hope to see you at the next stop of the tour!

About the Book

In the last surviving cities of a ruined world, the concept of “woman” has been forgotten to history. Those unfortunate enough to lack a Y chromosome live as second-class citizens in a world dominated by mascs.Y Negative cover

Ember is Y negative. He is scorned, bullied, abused by every masc he encounters, at work and at the gym. Not even his Y negative roommate cuts him any slack. He wants so desperately to be accepted as a masc that he’d rather buy black market testosterone than food. Something’s gotta give—he needs a change in his life, but has no idea how to find it.

Jess is a masc with a passion for studying the recovery of their devastated world. His boyfriend is pressuring him for more commitment, and his father expects him to take over the family business. He can’t wait to get away from civilization for his seasonal research out in the wild.

When Jess offers Ember a job, their lives collide in the isolated wasteland, and their initial attraction turns into a relationship that horrifies those around them. Soon their struggle to stay together and to be who they are turns into a fight for their lives.

Buy It Here: “http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/y-negative“

About the Author

Kelly Haworth grew up in San Francisco and has been reading science fiction and fantasy classics since she was a kid. She developed way too active an imagination as a result, thus, she started writing. Being genderfluid and pansexual, she loves to write LGBTQ+ characters in genres such as science fiction with diverse aliens, and urban fantasies with shifters and fire sorcerers. With degrees in both genetics and psychology, she works as a project manager at a genetics lab. When not working or writing, she can be found wrangling her toddler, working on cosplay, or curled up on the couch with a good TV show or a good book.

Connect with Kelly:

Y Negative_TourBanner

The Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Y Negative, Kelly is giving away $20 in Riptide Publishing credit! Your first comment at each stop on this tour enters you in the drawing. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on November 21, 2015. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Follow the tour for more opportunities to enter the giveaway! Don’t forget to leave your email or method of contact so Riptide can reach you if you win! Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.