Review: The Stark Divide (Liminal Sky #1) by J. Scott Coatsworth

Some stories are epic.

The Earth is in a state of collapse, with wars breaking out over resources and an environment pushed to the edge by human greed.

Three living generation ships have been built with a combination of genetic mastery, artificial intelligence, technology, and raw materials harvested from the asteroid belt. This is the story of one of them—43 Ariadne, or Forever, as her inhabitants call her—a living world that carries the remaining hopes of humanity, and the three generations of scientists, engineers, and explorers working to colonize her.

From her humble beginnings as a seedling saved from disaster to the start of her journey across the void of space toward a new home for the human race, The Stark Divide tells the tales of the world, the people who made her, and the few who will become something altogether beyond human.

Humankind has just taken its first step toward the stars.

This was pretty fascinating and if you're into sci-fi this will definitely hit the spot.

This starts off on the Dressler with Captain Colin McAvery, Dr. Anastasia Anatov, and Engineer Jackson Hammond as they float through space carrying a seedling towards an asteroid where it will be harvested. The ship they are on is made from bio and mechanical parts, and the scientist (Ana) on board is harvesting the seedling to create a fully bio ship/world for humans to live on. It's all pretty intriguing.

Throughout the story we get a glimpse into the ship mind which appears to have independent thought, and dreams often. It wasn't in the creepy ghost in the machine way, but a cognizant being worthy of respect and consideration.

Some drama ensues during this harvest mission but the end result works well.

Part Two is set 10 years after the seedling is harvested and a colony is being built (grown) on this new ship/asteroid world. Jackson's son has arrived on this new world and is ready for an adventure and some answers.

I loved the lush world that is built in this story. I can picture it in my mind and would love to visit. The additional characters introduced were generally well developed and interesting, but mostly I just loved the world. The writing style was easily followed, and although there is some technical language, it isn't overwhelming. The flow is easy, and I got lost in the adventures, and imagining the surroundings.

If you're looking for a fairly easy to read, but complex adventure story set in futuristic space, this is definitely a winner for me.

I will be looking out for this author’s other work.

  

Don't miss The Stark Divide blog stop HERE!

Review: Exodus (Valens Pack #2) by Bailey Bradford

Survival of the fittest? Not when chaos rules.

Rivvie does his best as beta, but he’s lonely and secretly nursing a broken heart. He fell for Matthew instantly, to no avail. Matt was too busy screwing every female in sight. He didn’t give one whit about Rivvie. Well, he told Rivvie he wasn’t interested. Rivvie just didn’t think he meant it.

Matt’s whole life has changed. He was the good son, the village hero, and the village stud. Now he’s just a man in a pack full of exceptional men. He’s a human—smaller, weaker and slower than the shifter males he lives with. External chaos has nothing on the internal crap he deals with every day.

When Rivvie and Matt are paired together for a task, sparks fly. It’s just possible that there’s more to sex—and more to Rivvie—than Matt ever suspected.

While Rivvie is dancing around an attraction to a certain human male, his brother, Valen is trying to lead his pack and take care of his own mate, Aaron. Just when he thinks he’s got everything under control, that very control is yanked from him by a powerful series of natural disasters, and soon Valen’s leading his pack on an exodus he’d never expected.

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of BDSM, spanking, CBT and biting.

The reader advisory for this story called to me like a siren’s song.

I should start by saying I have not read the first in the series, Run with the Moon. That being said, I had no trouble following along with the overall story arc in Exodus. I’m not generally a big fan of diving into a series, mostly because I have the attention span of a hamster and by the time the next book comes out I’ve lost enough details in my brain to be thoroughly confuzzled as I try and keep up. But, Bailey Bradford is really good at keeping you locked in to one of her series’ which is probably why I stick with hers pretty faithfully. The next book will always give you just enough recap and detail without feeling like a regurgitation of the first story and it flows organically through the second (or third, or fourth) enough so that it becomes part of that story.

My only niggles I’m sure are because I didn’t read the first though, so I’m going to be shining those on somewhat. Valen and Aaron (the focus of Book 1) play a big part in Exodus, so I felt like I knew them pretty well. From what I can gather, Matt and Rivvie were pretty prominent in Book 1 as well so I’m definitely going back to read it to get their full character development. Either way, I really like the two of them together. Putting humans and shifters together in one pack has led to some interesting dynamics just by the nature of their species and the adjustment is hard on every one. Shifters are bigger, stronger, faster and usually nekkid. The humans don’t really know what to do with that. Just because Matt was top dog in the human village, doesn’t mean he quite measures up when they merge with the shifters and it makes him seriously pissy. But underneath, he’s just an insecure dude who’s kind of lost his way, reading about him finding and accepting himself was a great part of the story.

Rivvie is just plain awesome. He’s smarter than he gives himself credit for and so he’s got his own insecurities to deal with. Valen has the idea to pair up one shifter with one human to complete tasks around the village and to try and develop some cohesiveness with the two species. Guess who gets to work together? Yep, it’s Rivvie and Matt and the two of them are constantly on the edge of either fucking or fighting. It becomes a big part of their acceptance of themselves and each other and shows what a smart alpha Valen really is.

I’m really loving the world building and overall story with this series already. There is an illness spreading through the remainder of the human population and no one knows what it really is, how contagious it is or how to prevent it. It’s basically a death sentence for anyone who contracts it (a really ugly and awful death sentence) and for all they know all the humans in their pack may already have the disease, it just hasn’t presented itself in them yet. So, not only are they trying to survive the new landscape and the pack dynamics, they have this pall hanging over them with no real answers.

Now, as far as Rivvie and Matt together and the aforementioned reader advisory. I love nothing more than when two characters have a bit of a kink and then find each other. Both these cats love that extra little bite of pain where too much is just enough and they’ve both hidden it away forever. So, thank the gods and goddesses they’ve found each other, because damn do these boys fit one another. It’s nothing too terribly extreme or squinch-worthy, in fact it kind of felt like just the beginning of their kink adventure. I hope they get to explore more in book 3.

The intro of characters at the end of this one has me completely hooked on the series. I’m not even going to say what happened because you’ve got to check it out for yourself, but if that doesn’t hook you nothing will. So, I’m off to read the first one because I want all the details and am anxiously awaiting the third installment.

For more info on Exodus, Valens Pack #2, check it out over at Goodreads.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: Fallout by Lisa Henry & M. Caspian

High-school boyfriends Jack Haldane and Bastian Wade thought everything would be perfect once they reunited at college, putting disapproving parents and small-town attitudes firmly in the past. Now Jack’s on track for a PhD scholarship and a career as a researcher, and Bastian . . . well, living inside a broken body and trailing along in Jack’s shadow didn’t feature in his lofty teenage ambitions. A weekend camping trip back home offers a chance for them to reconnect, but an ugly confrontation with the local motorcycle gang is only the start of their problems. When disaster occurs and the world unravels, will Bastian and Jack manage to hold on to each other, or fall further apart as they try to survive? 

"If we want to survive, we adapt."

I have a confession to make. I'm a blurb skimmer. I try to read them. I really do, but under certain conditions I tend to lapse. This was one of those times. My blurb skim for this went a little something like:  "blah, blah, blah, two dudes who've known each other for a long time, yada, yada KRAKENRY!!!!!!!!" during which there was much squealing, squeeing and, if I'm totally honest, an approximation of a jig. 

Do not let this happen to you. 

Fallout is not a romance. It's a fascinating look at human nature and its capacity for both good and evil during a catastrophe with the central characters being an established gay couple who are in a low point in their relationship. They go on a hiking vacation back to their home town in an effort to rekindle their relationship. And all hell breaks loose.

The first chapter hooked me and I initially thought Fallout was going to delve into the difficulties of sustaining a relationship after the honeymoon's over and life has dealt them some hard knocks. Then chapter two happened. If you're familiar with these two authors, it should come as no surprise that they are comfortable and even revel in darkness. If you're squeamish, I wouldn't recommend this. There is on page rape and torture.

Now that I've gotten all the warnings out of the way I'm going to gush. I think the cat's out of the bag regarding my feels on these two authors, but they hit it out of the park here. I do hope they collaborate again because this felt like something special. For as dark as it can be it has pockets of beauty that left me a little verklempt, a feat in and of itself. They manipulated the English language to their will, wielded it with artistry in both the characterizations and the narrative which drew me in like a tractor beam then threw me around like a piñata at a party of seven year olds jacked up on cake and Mt. Dew. 

Fallout kept me on the edge of my seat. I don't mind saying at one point I had serious concerns one of the MCs wasn't going to make it. But the level of research they must've done to build this world is what made this stunning. Jack is working on a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and they get stuck on vacation during a freak volcanic ash fallout. Bas has a spinal injury that requires frequent monitoring and treatment. They folded in legitimate environmental concerns through the underbelly of this story which appealed to me as an environmentalist and illustrated the challenges of mundane daily activities by someone who has suffered a spinal injury. They gave them both depth by focusing on the details of what makes each of these men tick.

Bas and Jack spend the majority of Fallout apart after being separated shortly after the fallout begins. Their faith in their ability to survive is repeatedly tested and they both find themselves thrust into situations they never could have imagined. They discover truths about themselves, encounter atrocities and meet some extraordinary people. The genius, for me, was the plausibility of the catastrophe and, by extension, human nature under extreme conditions. 

How does one reconcile actions committed under extraordinary circumstances with their self-schema in the aftermath? 

He needed to know that Jack still wanted to touch him. He needed that to be the only thing that had never changed, and would never change.

It's a dark roller coaster of emotions but it's also, paradoxically, beautiful. If the warning tags don't scare you, you will be rewarded by what KRAKENRY have accomplished.

An ARC was provided by the authors in exchange for an honest review.

Find out more on Goodreads.