Loved this! Beautiful love story, great adventure, alien cultures, space battles just great! ( )

Wow! This is an amazing science fiction story that swept me away into a world of crooked fleet officers, men valiantly fighting for their freedom and the right not to become ‘experiments’, and an alien race that has a very interesting way of looking at life. The combination of a fascinating view of a potential future and a hot romance between two men whom I quickly grew to care for was as spell-binding as the world they live in.

Isaac is a communications officer with a problem: a malfunctioning brain implant has stopped him from achieving his dream of becoming a pilot, and left him with crippling seizures. He does not let that stop him though, and his courage is as inspiring as his sheer stubbornness. Nobody tells him what he can and cannot do and when he is part of a rescue mission that finds a mysterious survivor, even the somewhat dangerous aura the warrior exudes doesn’t stop Isaac from caring for him. Isaac follows his instinct and has the brainpower to back them up. He may not be the strongest man physically, but, boy does he make up for it mentally and emotionally.

Turk is a Corzin warrior, ‘on loan’ with the human fleet. His exact role and abilities only emerge slowly and are too much a part of the intriguing plot for me to be able to reveal details here without spoiling the surprise. But let me tell you – what a surprise it is! On top of all that he is a warrior in the truest sense, his honor and courage are impeccable and his love for Isaac shines so brightly in each of his actions, it brought more than the occasional tear to my eyes.

Angel Martinez has designed an interesting and consistent future world that makes good use of some well-known sci-fi concepts, adds a few new ideas, and wraps everything up in one irresistible (well, for me) package. And even if I STILL don’t know what a GEM drive is (I would have loved to find out what the abbreviation stands for), I can only recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction, sweeping space-adventure stories, truly heroic men who fight for what is right, and exploring the concepts and behaviors of an alien race that is tantalizingly beyond the human grasp. I am definitely hoping for a sequel in the nearest possible future! ( )

4.5 stars. Books like this make me question why I generally avoid sci-fi books. The world building was excellent, and all the characters were very well developed, even the side characters. Isaac was adorable, Turk was the sweetest "barbarian" I have ever seen, Rand and Travis, as well as Nidar, had me laughing more than once. And I was SO happy to see Logan pop up again at the end, dare I hope for a sequel featuring him?

It wasn't an overly long book, but it felt like a LOT happened, and yet somehow, none of it felt even a little bit rushed, hats off to the author for this amazing feat. ( )

3.5 stars. I enjoyed reading this book. :) I hope this will become a series (or even a sequel or two). I'd love to read more stories based on this universe.

I enjoyed reading this book. :) I hope this will become a series (or even a sequel or two). I'd love to read more stories based on this universe. ( )