Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly, Issue 05 by Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly

Emotion, SF and SFR Recently, I tried hunting down part of an interview with the late Isaac Asimov where he essentially said that character development was not necessary (or even warranted!) in a science-fiction story. I don’t mean to single out Asimov but, certainly, his stories are bankrupt short on the kind of character arcs that, say, romance readers are used to. Then again, so are the characters of many other SF writers, including Lem, (Poul) Anderson, Vance, van Vogt, Clarke, (Alastair) Reynolds, (EE ‘Doc’) Smith, Stross, (Gordon R) Dickson, Vinge…well, the list goes on and on. (And to those who say that there was “no such thing” as character development in them old days, I have one name for you: Henry Kuttner.) When we say “character development” we, of course, mean emotions—those things that colour a character's decisions, more fully explain motivations, and help build more complete protagonists and supporting characters. Yet they are glaringly absent from a lot of SF. Why? Are the writers somehow incapable of mixing technological musings with complex character motivations? Maybe they don’t care? Maybe they can’t see the purpose in writing about beings who actually, y’know, feel? I was being facetious when first thinking up reasons why (especially male) writers might abandon emotions but, by sheer accident, I think I stumbled across something profound regarding character complexity within SF/SFR. You see, I think the authors who are interested in writing the “hyper-masculine” heroes are actually gearing their stories towards one purpose: ESCAPE. Whereas the authors who are interested in writing complex emotional characters are gearing their stories towards a different purpose: EXPLORATION. I’m remembering one author who was famous for his interstellar “secret agent” series. His character would save the galaxy and maybe leave a tearful woman or two in his wake. (Which series? I know, there are so many to choose from.) This character never evolved. There was little regret or rationalisation. The women were always abandoned to cry over their “hyper-masculine” love. Their love for whom, exactly? A lanternjawed organic robot bereft of feedback loops? (This observation has also been noted by author Eva Caye in her TO BE SINCLAIR series.) (Am I picking on SF in this? Oh, absolutely. I have also read many horror novels, fantasy tomes and thrillers where it seems the entire object of the game is to retain the main protagonist as an emotional midget. But, you see, I don’t love horror, fantasy or thrillers the way I love SF. So you can consider this editorial as a bit of “tough love” from a true fan.) I have come to the realisation that what is touted as “hard” SF (as well as most space opera) is not really about science or even adventure…it’s about escape; escape from those messy emotions that always screw up the descriptions of time dilations and information ingestion as energy states of atoms excite at the event horizon of a black hole; or which get in the way of those ravening beams of pure energy that blast through gigantic shields of titanium till they run white-hot and peel off in molten spheres that harden instantly in the arid, unthinkably frigid coldness of space. Putting a fully-realised character into either situation is to bring human reality to an escapist science fantasy, and such a thing is generally not appreciated by its targeted reading audience. SFR, on the other hand, seems mainly concerned with exploration. Exploration of ourselves within speculative scenarios. What does it take to attract us? Repel us? What is needed to betray someone? To comply with orders that challenge our moral code? To love, to hate, to cooperate, to collude…to a greater or lesser degree, that is the axis around which both SFR and social SF revolves. In other words, both inner and outer exploration.

3 A character without emotional development is sterile at best, which prompts the exceedingly rational question of why I should waste my time reading about such “people” in the first place…unless I wish to escape my own complexity. Do you care whether your toaster is feeling fulfilled this morning, or do you just want it to carefully burn your bread already? The robot sweeping the floor at the spaceport, day in and day out? Meh . The robot sweeping the floor at the spaceport, day in and day out, while wondering how to break its programming so it can go on adventures? Now I’m interested. My current theory is that what we now call “SFR” grew out of frustration—frustration of readers who loved technology, space, and what-if scenarios, but hated the fact that the characters who moved through such provocative scenarios were little more than banks of limited-capacity, pre-punched cards, incapable of changing their behaviour based on new information. Do I really want to read yet another story about a steelyeyed, morally inflexible hero who keeps executing the same tricks in book after book, without a shred of selfreflection? And it seems that other readers have thought the same way. While I appreciate the emotional richness of social SF, my own wish is for space battles AND fantastical architecture AND a universe-on-theedge-of-exploding AND complex, changing characters. Yes, all in the same book! If the environment is so rich, why not the people who inhabit it? We created the space stations and the General Systems Vehicles and the Nexus-class replicants and the Ringworlds…they didn’t create us. So why are we written as diminished beings in our own creations? It makes no sense. Unless, as I said before, you wish to escape yourself. You’ll notice that I haven’t drawn any gender lines regarding who reads SFR and who doesn’t. That’s because I firmly believe that humans of all inclinations are interested in human complexity. And that’s where I think the next challenge lies for SFR and its authors. We’ve already shown that SFR can tackle the space opera elements as well as anyone else. What we need to do now is to widen the audience and break out of the “wimmin” ghetto that SFR appears to be relegated to. Humans reach out to humans; humans reach out to aliens; humans reach out to cyborgs. That’s what we do/will do, because we’re biologically and psychologically wired that way, and that’s what we all wish to explore. I was recently watching a documentary detailing the making of Pink Floyd’s DARK SIDE OF THE MOON album. When asked about its longevity (fourteen years on the charts!), Dave Gilmour replied that it was all down to the “emotion” of the album. Why did a disc of vinyl have (and continues to have) such a profound influence on people worldwide? Because of its emotion , its timeless resonance, its eternal human dilemmas, encapsulated in a 43-minute capsule of sound and mental imagery. And we come back to the power of emotion: the resonance, the dilemmas, the multi-layered realities of both social SF…and SFR. I think we need to forge a clear path away from the emotionally-stunted regions of SF. We need to convince readers of every colour, creed, inclination and species ;) that characters and technology are not mutually exclusive, and can happily coexist within SF. Can we put ”hard“ science into our books? Sure, if we want to. Can we write compelling characters? But of course. SFR authors have learnt the lessons of romance when it comes to fully-realised characters and we continue to learn the lessons of SF when it comes to otherworldly vistas. To my mind, only historical romance writers come close. We need to encourage new writers of the genre, critique constructively, support overwhelmingly and build up enough of a critical mass to make a difference in this, our most beloved of genres. See us over here, waving our hands and jumping up and down? Come on over and let’s chat.

KazAugustin

PS For any SFR authors reading this, we have expanded our promotion opportunities to include full chapter excerpts of selected new releases. Please see the “Advertise with us” tab on the website for more details.

Releases - September We strive to include as many sci-fi romance releases as possible, but with current time constraints, we apologise in advance if your release was not included in our round-up.

HAVOC: The Dred Chronicles #2 (Ann Aguirre, novel, $7.99pb/$5.99eb, ACE)

skills. Mutual attraction grows as the walls of the space ship close in, and they come The Conglomerate’s to an arrangement that most dangerous convicts satisfies them both, have made the prison while allowing them ship Perdition their professional distance. home. And they will The distance doesn’t defend it… last, not as they grow Perdition is under siege. to understand Mercenaries have themselves…and each boarded the station with other as someone who orders to take control of just fits. the facility—and execute Not all is as it should be the prisoners. Their among the stars. commander is offering Their ship is attacked, and the moons of Jupiter are full pardons to the first not exactly untouched when they finally arrive. The five inmates willing to little world they’ve built high above terra firma is help the mercs complete their mission. about to smack down in the middle of a dangerous, Dresdemona “Dred” Devos hasn’t survived hard time maybe even deadly, reality. If Shields didn’t attract just to surrender to the Conglomerate’s armored trouble like fireflies on a bug zapper, the two might thugs. Leading a ragtag army of inmates, Dred and have an actual shot at true love. her champion, Jael, wage a bloody guerilla war of chaos and carnage against impossible odds. But no matter how dire the outlook, the Dread Queen never FUTURE PROSPECT: Love Under a New Star (Lynn Rae, backs down…

STARLIGHT COWBOY: Beyond Fairytales (Stephanie Beck, novella, $3.99eb, Decadent Publishing)

From the storybook of the stars. A groundbreaking mission to the moons of Jupiter should have been Annalina’s big ticket for advancement, but instead of captaining her own ship, she’s second fiddle to Shields Albright. Playboy, adventurer, immature. Shields has been called it all, but really, he just wants to fly and hasn’t spent a lot of time on his social

novel, $4.99eb, Liquid Silver Books)

Surly stellar cartographer Colan is less than happy when he’s ordered to serve as a liaison with Lia, a freshfaced bureaucrat determined to build a perfect settlement. He’s even less happy to find himself utterly attracted to her. When tensions

5 between residents and new comers escalate into acts of terror, they’ll have to work together to end the conflict before the burgeoning community is destroyed, as well as any chance of exploring their growing mutual attraction. Lynn Rae is pleased to present Future Prospect, Book 1 of her new sci-fi romance series, Love Under a New Star.

THE CLOCKWORK DAGGER: Clockwork Duology #1 (Beth Cato, novel, $14.99pb/$1 0.99eb, Harper Voyager)

Full of magic, mystery, and romance, an enchanting steampunk fantasy debut in the bestselling vein of Trudi Canavan and Gail Carriger. Orphaned as a child, Octavia Leander was doomed to grow up on the streets until Miss Percival saved her and taught her to become a medician. Gifted with incredible powers, the young healer is about to embark on her first mission, visiting suffering cities

in the far reaches of the war-scarred realm. But the airship on which she is traveling is plagued by a series of strange and disturbing occurrences, including murder, and Octavia herself is threatened. Suddenly, she is caught up in a flurry of intrigue: the dashingly attractive steward may be one of the infamous Clockwork Daggers—the Queen’s spies and assassins—and her cabin-mate harbors disturbing secrets. But the danger is only beginning, for Octavia discovers that the deadly conspiracy aboard the airship may reach the crown itself.

CONTENTS

Editorial........................................................................2 September releases.....................................................4 October releases ........................................................ 6 November releases ..................................................13 December releases .................................................. 17 The Cosmic Lounge: The Intersection of Love & Technology .................................................20 Scopebox: Alien Abduction - The Beans & Rice of SFR? .............................................................22 Reviews ......................................................................24 SF Mistressworks .................................................... 43 Opinion: Science Fiction Romance and the Empire Trope ...........................................................46 Focus: Ten Best Sci-Fi Romances to Give As Gifts ............................................................................48 Roundtable............................................................... 50 Sneak Peek: On a Rogue Planet ..........................56 Fiction ........................................................................69 This issue's team .................................................... 77

Releases - October We strive to include as many sci-fi romance releases as possible, but with current time constraints, we apologise in advance if your release was not included in our round-up.

HELLCAT’S BOUNTY (Renae Jones, novella, $2.99eb, indie)

Lesbian romance meets adventure in the first Rosewood Space Western. The hellcat of Rosewood station is the best of the best. Anelace Rios is a good old-fashioned troublemaker, fiercely independent, and best of all, a steady hand with a flamethrower. Carnivorous amoeba are slowly taking over the half-abandoned mining port, and the freelance exterminator rakes in big bounties killing them off—then she spends those bounties in a grand way. Work hard, play hard. Meidani Sintlere’s reputation is exactly the opposite of her wild friend. She’s the station’s hardworking black market doctor. She’s shy. She’s nice. She’s got a weakness for imported chocolate and pastel dresses. And she gets mad as a sani-vacced cat when Anelace shows up missing chunks of skin. The hellcat never lacks for a willing partner. Even so, Meidani’s got notions to cut to the front of the line and stay there. She upends everything Anelace knows about good girls and the bad girls who don’t deserve them, and in a blisteringly hot night they go from friends to lovers. But their new closeness forces the kind of reckoning even tough Anelace can’t escape unscathed. She thrives on her job, relishes the payoff, but now she’s endangering more than her own adrenaline-junkie hide—every run risks Meidani’s happiness. For the first time, Anelace is risking her shot at love.

WHEN STARS COLLIDE : Darkon Warriors (S.E. Gilchrist, novel, $3.74eb, Escape Publishing)

The third full-length novel in SE Gilchrist’s best-selling erotic SF series mixes one sexy spy, a soldier looking for salvation, and an unlikely mission to save the world. Reece, contortionist bubble dancer and part time spy, has one goal—a safe haven and independent life far from the war. But her plans go awry and her future becomes dangerously uncertain when she is falsely accused of the murders of her friend and a Darkon traitor. Now her new list of goals includes payback. In her way is Ulrac, a banished Darkon patroller, responsible for incarcerating females for barbaric ‘treatments’ and ‘research’ on the planet Isla. He’s determined to use the capture of the spy and her intel to win the approval of his father—a hard-line Traditionalist with his own agenda—and help him overthrow the current ruler of Darkos. But the war of the Seven Galaxies has reached a critical stage, and personal plans and goals suddenly hold very little meaning. The enemy is poised to unleash a terrible weapon and no one stands between him and total domination of all the universes. No one—except Reece and Ulrac.

THE STAR PRINCESS: Beyond Fairytales (Jessica E. Subject, novella, $2.99eb, Decadent Publishing)

In one week, Princess Ro’sa will board a spaceship, leaving her home on Minjet to be with her betrothed on Earth. The only problem is, she detests the prince’s selfish and arrogant ways, preferring to spend time with his personal aide, a man who stirs her desires in ways she never imagined possible with his radiant blue eyes and smouldering lips. And oh, the way he touches her. Earth’s post-apocalyptic landscape offers little but the alliance offers much and a princess must do her duty, no matter the danger to her person and to her heart.

UNEXPECTED: Planet Alpha #8 (J.J. Lore, novella, $3.99eb, Evernight Publishing)

As two Alphan warriors on the fast track to promotion and improved status, Mikel and Felix of the Tauride have their future planned out. They intend to go from performing security duties for the Prince while he visits Earth to eventually earning the right to seek out their human mate and rescue her in some dramatic way, impressing her and earning her love. But a chance encounter with a lovely young woman sends them both down a markedly different path. Shy Alisa Sorrel merely wanted to see a rose garden, then retreat back to her safe and sequestered life in the Women’s Refuge on Earth, but once she encounters two earnest and determined

8 Alphan officers, she’s forced out of her shell and into a whole new world of passion. Even as the bonds they share tighten and satisfy needs they’d never imagined, Alisa, Felix, and Mikel are soon faced with danger and betrayal from the machinations of humans and Alphans alike. The Alphans will have the chance to rescue their fair damsel after all, but will they make it in time? Be Warned: menage sex (MFM), m/m interaction

rampant commercialism, tacky jumpsuits, sexual perversions, unjust socioeconomics, interstellar travel, and inconsistent use of the Oxford comma. In this first of many planned interactive adventures, Mari Shu’s decision to stick to Olde REALM OF THE ICE QUEEN: Airship Earth opportunities, such Adventure Chronicles #4 (Lara Nance, as professional sexxoring, novel, $3.99eb, indie) has deeper consequences than she could ever have Belle and Rett’s dreamed possible. adventures are not over. Warning: Book contains offensive material. Buttloads While Rett is involved of boatloads of offensive, vulgar, disrespectful, and possibly triggering material. Sexual, political, in rebuilding the destruction caused by economic, racial, physical, typographical, religious—really, trying to hit all the big ones. Please Dr. Krakov in the capitol city, the queen make sure to sign your correct name to the hate mail calls on Belle for a vital so we can give proper credit in the follow-up volume entitled, “The Hate Mails to Mari Shu”. mission. She sails off to Icelandia to negotiate MARTIAN CONQUEST: The Adventures of a treaty with the Mari Shu #2 (Jody Wallace, novella, eastern countries, only $2.99, Meankitty Publishing) to find the queen of that frigid land is hiding a secret Mari Shu, a factory drudge in the year 4000that threatens to derail the vital progress of peace. something, must choose how to protect her sisters, Rett unwittingly uncovers a threat beneath her purity, and her own conscience in a bleak Aereopolis, more dangerous than the attack of the futuristic society that’s mad scientist. This discovery sets off a chain of been polluted by smog, events that unleashes a century-old menace. rampant commercialism, tacky Once again, Belle and Rett must count on jumpsuits, sexual resourcefulness, courage, and old friends to escape perversions, unjust peril and save the day. socioeconomics, interstellar travel, and EARTHBOUND PASSION: The Adventures inconsistent use of the of Mari Shu #1 (Jody Wallace, novella, Oxford comma. $0.99eb, Meankitty Publishing) In this second jubilant Mari Shu, a factory drudge in the year 4000outing, Mari Shu decides something, must choose how to protect her sisters, to desert Olde Earth for her purity, and her own conscience in a bleak the unfamiliar comforts futuristic society that’s been polluted by smog,

9 and sexual practices of Mars…and possible elevation to the elite Martian rover class.

survive, and she’s seen the best and the worst of humanity. Hope seems lost until a tall, INTO DARKNESS: Night Prowler #6 (J.T. gorgeous hunk of a man Geissinger, novel, $3.99eb, Montlake from another world Romance) appears out of nowhere. In New Vienna, capital of Captain Liam Estros a the oppressive global soldier for the Drastan government formed after Nation who has been the Flash, three things sent to investigate a are certain: the sun is mayday call over five poisonous, speaking out years old. Believing the is dangerous, and being detour a waste of time, he doesn’t take the hunt for different will get you survivors seriously until he’s captured and taken killed. hostage by a small human woman. And Lumina Bohn is In a world torn asunder by ignorance and violence, extraordinarily different. some will always revel in the chaos, preying on those Living in terror of just trying to survive. Heroes will rise from the ashes, discovery, Lu knows and hope will come from the stars. Two hearts and nothing of her past—but two species. They must both overcome terrible odds she knows she must to find love in desolation. pretend to be human to survive. When an incident at Warning: For Mature Adult Audiences. Contains work triggers her astonishing powers, she becomes language and actions some may deem offensive. M/F the target of an international manhunt. Only one person can save her: Magnus, the enigmatic stranger haunting her dreams. REGION 7: The Travelers Series (Moira Stanton, novel, $2.99eb, Soul Mate Magnus rescues the outcasts called Aberrants from Publishing) capture and torture. As Lu begins exploring her powers among her people, her feelings for Magnus For Maya, a Warrior-Traveler of the Multi-verse, the intensify. He’s determined to stay emotionally assignment to save an Energy Child from death distant, yet their smoldering passion soon becomes means she must face not only the mystery man who impossible to resist. has dominated her dreams, but her own past and her But when a shocking revelation threatens the lives of refusal to trust in love. every remaining Aberrant, Lu and Magnus must risk With evil stalking them everything, confronting their enemies in an explosive at every turn, Maya and final stand to save their kind from the darkest fate of Kantu must navigate a world where the all: extinction. population is “ringed” to control emotion. If the DESOLATION: Earth Evolution #1 (KD Energy Child is ringed Jones, novella, $4.99eb, KD Jones and eradicated, her Publishing) world is doomed, as she alone holds the power to Maggie James was sixteen years old when the Earth self-destructed. She’s spent the years since fighting to destroy the Guardian of the rings. protect herself and the band of subway-dwelling misfits who took her in. Every day is a struggle to

10 As Maya and Kantu work to save the Energy Child, they reignite a love that has spanned lifetimes and discover the time has come to trust one another so they can finally and forever change the course of that love.

RETURN TO EMERALD CITY: A COLLECTION OF SCI-FI ROMANCE NOVELLAS INSPIRED BY THE WIZARD OF OZ (Allyson Lindt and Sofia Grey, anthology, $3.99eb, Acelette Press)

Dorothy’s Red Shoes: There’s no place like home… Dorothy is already feeling homesick for Emerald City, and wonders if taking a job halfway around the world was a mistake. When her love life crumbles–again–will she run for home? His Replay Girl: If he only had the nerve… Ten years ago, Quinn made the best choice of his life, and the biggest mistake. It’s true, his band, Lionheart, is one of the biggest in the world, but how much does it mean if he can’t tell the woman he loves how he feels? His Reboot Girl: If only he had a brain… Scott woke up with his head spinning and not much else going on up there. Now he’s a suspect in a terrorist plot, and on the run. One woman insists she’s the key to his past and his freedom. Too bad he doesn’t remember her. His Rewind Girl: If he only had a heart…. Cam is as much machine as man. There are days he loathes the CyGes implants that saved his life but couldn’t do the same for his family. They replaced his limbs, but now he needs someone to mend his heart.

UNWRAPPING MISS MILKY WAY (Candace Sams, novel, $5.99eb, The Wild Rose Press, Inc.) A lonely starfighter captain, Datron Mann, faces intrigue, adventure, and the dubious honor of

judging galactic females in a beauty contest. He even faces certain death after accepting a mission to track down dangerous weapon smugglers—all in a day’s work. When a beautiful mechanic stows away on his vessel, he’s simultaneously furious and enchanted. Nothing in the universe has ever made him feel as alive as this one woman. But even if he manages to subdue the criminals and make it home, he faces ultimate heartache. His beloved is dying and there’s no cure for the disease ravaging her brain. Eager to teach the vaunted captain a lesson in decorum, Former beauty queen, Charlotte Grayson, devises a scheme to embarrass the unruly captain. Unfortunately, that plan lands her in the middle of an undercover operation fighting murderous smugglers alongside the detestable man. With their lives in danger, can they find a way to work together or is heartache the eventual outcome? Smugglers bearing mind-controlling drugs and advanced weaponry are just the beginning of their problems. For one of the intrepid heroes, being killed on the mission was never an issue. For one of them...death is the only outcome.

BLUE ABYSS: Time Walker Chronicles #3 (Michele Callahan, novel, $3.99eb, indie)

Half-blood Immortal Prince, Raiden of Itara, has been a battle commander in the war with the Triscani for over a century. But now the Itaran high Queen sends him to Earth with one purpose, to hunt down and catalog all human females with Timewalker D.N.A. for her personal army. To ensure his compliance with her vile scheme, she places an evil Remnant of her own soul in his body. Should he fail his mission, or fail to return to her, the Remnant will consume him, drive him mad, and cost him his life. But someone knows the truth, sabotages the ship, kills Raiden’s entire crew, and forces the damaged space ship to

11 crash land in the blue abyss of the Bermuda Triangle. With no power, no crew, and dying a slow death by poison, Raiden is forced to take a desperate gamble, place himself in stasis and hope someone finds him before it’s too late. For two years, visions of a dark prince have haunted Marina’s dreams. At times terrifying, at others sensual bliss, the nightmares have become an obsession that the Santa Fe native can’t resist. With no family and nothing left to lose, Mari has dedicated years of her life learning to dive the oceans and explore underwater caves…where the dreams insist she’ll find him. When she locates his stasis pod, she’s not prepared for the monsters who’ve taken him, the inhuman Triscani Hunters, who guard his body like a precious treasure. Death is sure, until an Archiver and a Seer from Itara pull her from the jaws of death and genetically enhance her dormant D.N.A. Mari finds out she’s not quite as human as she’d always believed. She’s a Timewalker. She has to go back and kill the monsters. And she’s in love with an alien prince who’s destined to destroy her.

PROSPERITY (Alexis Hall, novel, $4.99eb/$13.59pb, Riptide Publishing)

A breathtaking tale of passion and adventure in the untamed skies! Prosperity, 1 863: a lawless skytown where varlets, chancers, and ne’er-do-wells risk everything to chase a fortune in the clouds, and where a Gaslight guttersnipe named Piccadilly is about to cheat the wrong man. This mistake will endanger his life…and his heart. Thrill! As our hero battles dreadful kraken above Prosperity. Gasp! As the miracles of clockwork engineering allow a dead man to wreak his vengeance upon the living. Marvel! At the aerial

escapades of the aethership, Shadowless. Beware! The licentious and unchristian example set by the opium-addled navigatress, Miss Grey. Disapprove Strongly! Of the utter moral iniquity of the dastardly crime prince, Milord. Swoon! At the dashing skycaptain, Byron Kae. Swoon Again! At the tormented clergyman,

Ruben Crowe. This volume (available in print, and for the first time on mechanical book-reading devices) contains the complete original text of Piccadilly’s memoirs as first serialised in All the Year Round. Some passages may prove unsettling to unmarried gentlemen of a sensitive disposition.

GHOST PHOENIX: The Phoenix Institute #3 (Corrina Lawson, novel, $5.50eb, Samhain Publishing)

The cure they desperately need just rose from the ashes of evil… Richard Plantagenet, self-exiled prince of an immortal court, is content living the uncomplicated life of a California surfer. Until his brother’s sudden death and his Queen’s wasting illness wrest him from his ocean-side solitude for one last quest. The Queen needs a cure. To get it, Richard needs assistance from someone with a singular—and slightly illegal—talent. As the latest of a long line of ghost-walkers, Marian Doyle can, literally, walk through walls—bringing

12 objects with her. Her gift comes in handy for her family’s shady antiquities business, but Marian’s had it with breaking the law. She wants a life of her own choosing. Instead, she gets Richard. Their mission seems simple: Find the body of Gregori Rasputin and procure a small sample of his DNA. But when they discover the Mad Monk of Russia is very much alive, the prince and the phantom must form a bond to battle a man who desires to remake the world in fire.

between them that even their secrets can’t destroy. But before they can explore what’s left of their future, they have to survive the mission. Warning: Space is no place to go it alone. We recommend taking along a telepathic cat, an immortal mercenary, and a cybernetically augmented Imperial SpecOps agent. You never know what kind of trouble you’ll run into…

A HERO FOR THE EMPIRE: The Dragon’s Bidding Saga #1 (Christina Westcott, novel, $5.50eb, Samhain Publishing)

IN THE VOID: Tales from the Edge #2 (Sheryl Nantus, novel, $2.69eb, Carina Press)

Catherine Rodgers doesn’t like Mercy spaceships, or the courtesans who work on them—not after her husband left her for a Mercy woman. But after her luxurious transport ship gets blown up to prevent her from cracking the lid off a corporate scam that’s left hundreds dead and a few people very rich, the only vessel around to save her is the Bonnie Belle. Sean Harrison has worked as one of the Belle’s courtesans for years, bringing happiness to countless women along the space lanes. When he’s asked to look after Catherine while the Belle brings her to safety, it should be just another job. Somehow it’s anything but. Sean is captivated by Catherine’s sense of justice and responsibility. And Catherine finds a softer, more emotionally intelligent man in Sean than she expected. Drawn together in darkness under the threat of death, they find the beginning of something lasting. But with pirates after the Belle and a price on Catherine’s head, that beginning might be all they get.

Releases - November We strive to include as many sci-fi romance releases as possible, but with current time constraints, we apologise in advance if your release was not included in our round-up.

ON A ROGUE PLANET: The Phoenix Adventures #3 (Anna Hackett, novel, $3.99eb, indie)

running her profitable fortune-telling business and never letting anyone too close. But when Unlucky-in-love salvage assailants attack her in mechanic, Malin Phoenix, didn’t intend to pursuit of a powerful get caught up in a coup artifact, Relda collides and kidnapped by a sexy with the city’s handsome, new marshal. cyborg. But she finds A man who leaves no herself swept into an stone unturned and no adventure to help the secret covered. deadly, emotionless War has left former CenSec, Xander Saros, Galactic Special Forces retrieve an ancient Terran artifact and save Captain Hunt Calder tired and empty, but one look at sexy Relda—with her his planet. Soon she’s racing across wild curls and lush curves—brings him back to life. When she’s threatened over the mysterious Trojan uncharted space and is magnetically drawn to the cyborg whose strong arms Moon, Hunt will let nothing stop him from protecting and muscled body ignite a desire that burns brighter her. Even Relda herself. As they face alien attackers and killer droids, Relda than a supernova. But Mal can never let herself can’t resist her burning attraction to Hunt. But she forget that she can’t fall in love with a cyborg who knows he’s the most dangerous threat of all, because can never love her back. he doesn’t just want her body, he wants her trust and The crowning glory of the Centax Security program, Xander is heavily enhanced, his emotions dampened her secret, too. A secret with the power to destroy Hunt and Relda, the city, even the planet itself. to nothing to allow him to be the most efficient, lethal killer in the galaxy. As he and Malin hunt for the remnant of the galaxy’s first computer, the DESOLATION: Mankind’s Redemption #2 Antikythera Mechanism, their quest leads them into (Colette Black, the lair of a dangerous technomancer. But Xander novel, can’t identify his greatest threat—the enemy or the $3.99eb/$12.99pb, fascinating woman who’s making him feel. Drapukamo

BENEATH A TROJAN MOON: The Phoenix Adventures #4 (Anna Hackett, novella, $0.99eb, indie)

Publishing)

Aline and Lar escaped the attack on Noble Ark, but Lar’s former ship, Desolashon, is still a Fortune teller Relda Dela-Cruz is a woman with a secret. One she’ll do anything to conceal. She hides in threat. As tensions grow plain sight on the market world of Souk, content with and Lar and Aline’s situation worsens,

14 finding a way out becomes secondary to daily survival. Murderous plots and jealous rivalries threaten their lives, but even greater danger lies in the secrets they dare not reveal.

Detective Aloysius James and his partner, Noir, are at a crossroads. Figuring out how to reconcile their careers with their WHEN DARK FALLS (Pippa Jay, novel, relationship is harder $4.99, Breathless Press) than catching the bad In a city where Dark guys. Technologies Inc. now Now that Noir has runs the show, Kadie learned to control her Williams has more invisibility and is immediate concerns making a name for than the fall of Blaze, herself among the city’s their guardian artist collective, Al superhero. Almost senses there’s something she’s keeping from him. every morning for the And he doesn’t know how long they can remain last few months she’s partners. Or even lovers. woken up with cuts and Noir isn’t sure how Al would take it if he knew how bruises on her body, deeply he has touched her artistic soul, or how he and no idea how she got them. There are no could react if he saw the secret drawings that have helped heal the wounds of her past. nightmares. No evidence that she sleepwalks, or any sign of a break When a murder lands them on opposite sides—Al in. And nothing to tell her who’s been cleaning up ready to arrest a suspect Noir insists in after her. As just one of thousands of civilians innocent—they’re going to need to unwrap all the conscripted to slave away in the labs of Professor ghosts of their pasts to make this Christmas the first Dark, she knew there’d be trouble ahead. But she of many. Or it could be their last. never expected it to be so bad, or so personal. Desperate for answers, Kadie looks to the new THE KRAKEN KING: The Iron Seas #4 defender of the night, the only person who can (Meljean Brook, novel, $7.99eb/$17.00pb, hinder the total domination of Professor Penguin) Dark—Nocturnelle. The mysterious vigilante A former smuggler and superhero came from nowhere with her cybernetic thief, Ariq—better sidekick Shadow, set on putting an end to the known as the Kraken brutality of Dark’s regime. But as his laboratories King—doesn’t know work on a new secret super-weapon, Nocturnelle and what to make of the Shadow may not be enough to save Nephopolis...or clever, mysterious to save Kadie either. woman he rescues from an airship besieged by GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST: The marauders. Unsure if Phoenix Institute #3.5 (Corrina Lawson, she’s a spy or a pawn in novella, $3.99, Samhain Publishing) someone else’s game, Ariq isn’t about to let Christmas can be murder on a relationship that’s on her out of his sight until the rocks. he finds out… As Christmas approaches in crumbling Charlton City,

15 After escaping her fourth kidnapping attempt in a year, Zenobia Fox has learned to vigilantly guard her identity. While her brother Archimedes is notorious for his exploits, Zenobia has had no adventures to call her own—besides the stories she writes. But when she jumps at the chance to escape to the wilds of Australia and acquire research for her next story, Zenobia quickly discovers that the voyage will be far more adventurous than any fiction she could put to paper… Mel Teshco, Denise Rossetti and I are writing a SFR continuity called ES Siren to be published by Momentum. The first 3 books (all novellas between 30-40k) come out on August 28 and the next 3 late November.

and old Earth money still has power. When disaster strikes and threatens the lives of everyone on board she realizes that that sometimes no choice has to be made. Why should love have limits?

MINE TO KEEP: ES Siren #5 (Denise Rossetti, novella, $2.58eb, Momentum)

He’s all puppy charm, but he smiles like a wolf. Trust him? She’d have to be out of her mind. All Sandy wanted was some R&R in Sydney before joining the Earth Ship Siren as head of MINE TO HOLD: ES Siren #4 (Shona Husk, Military Police. What she novella, $2.72eb, Momentum) gets is a night of mystery and pleasure with a man Captain Leo Grady is making his third trip to so wickedly fascinating he Solitaire. He’s spent five can’t possibly be lawabiding. years in space and is ready for a change. Not For professional con man Peter Stanton, Master wanting to go back to Sergeant Alanna Sanderson, with her kick-ass body Earth, he’s chosen to and cool blue eyes, is the most fun he’s ever had. pay off on Solitaire. All Eight months later, on the Siren, he gets to meet her he needs is a woman again, but now he’s Prisoner 141 , and they’re out willing to be his wife. among the stars, half way to the penal colony on Given that women are Solitaire. heavily outnumbered When a micrometeroid shower strikes the convoy, on the fleet of first Sandy and Prisoner 141 are stranded on a stricken settlers he knows he ship. Will he pull off the ultimate confidence trick can’t sit around and wait. He has to act. and sacrifice Sandy for his freedom? Vance Knox has been working with vet, Silke Rask, for If only she could command her heart as easily as she the last six months. He fancies her, but refuses to do wields her stun gun, because when he betrays her, as anything about it because he still has a twenty year he surely must, she’s going to have to kill him. sentence to serve. He has nothing to offer any lover and he expects nothing. He made his choices a long time ago. But it burns to see her getting closer to MINE TO SERVE: ES Siren #6 (Mel Teshco, Grady. novella, $2.72eb, Momentum) Silke is torn between the sensible choice of Grady When Lucinda Farrell is found guilty of a crime she and the more dangerous attraction she has for didn’t commit, she’s resigned to her fate. It’s either Vance, but as secrets are revealed she realizes that stay on a dying Earth or travel through the galaxy to she has to fight for what she wants. Not everyone on the new world of Solitaire to complete her three-year the ship is there because they earned their place, sentence. Many claim the space bucket, Earth Ship

16 Siren, won’t make the long twelve-month journey and are almost proven right when a micro-meteor shower hits and cripples one of the three ships heading to Solitaire. As pilot of the ES Siren, Jarred Cooper has never been short of female admirers. But he’s got a secret he

holds close to his chest—literally. Letting go of his past has never been so difficult when he’s yet to find a woman who makes his breath catch and his heart beat fast. He knows love at first sight doesn’t exist. Then he glimpses the beautiful prisoner, Lucinda. But when overcrowding and rationing of food become serious issues, getting her to understand they can make things work, despite his past and their huge social divide, just might be the biggest hurdle of them all.

Releases - December We strive to include as many sci-fi romance releases as possible, but with current time constraints, we apologise in advance if your release was not included in our round-up.

DIRIGIBLES ARE FOREVER (Tina Christopher, novella, $3.99eb, Loose ID)

have become home to the human race. Gin loved a woman once, Working as an Aether Traffic Controller saved and he paid a heavy price for it. Now he’s Holly Acklin after the being forced to marry death of her husband, for the sake of the war, but now she wants more—including a night and he’s prepared to do it until he sees the of uninhibited passion with Jack Smith, whose bride. Not only is she very presence has kept gorgeous, she’s also the woman who stole his her body tingling for heart and broke it all months. those years ago. He Special Agent Jack thought he’d seen her die, and now that she’s back Smith kept his identity a all of his nightmares have come with her. secret when he came to Maeve has never gotten over Gin, and now the war is the London Royal Port Authority with one assignment, one he cannot fail. It heating up. To save her people, and those closest to holds him back from following his attraction to Holly. her, she will sacrifice anything. Even her heart. What But on the eve he must complete the mission, Holly once seemed so cut and dried becomes an agonizing fight for the future, the past, and the present as Gin asks for one night with no rules or boundaries, and and Maeve take on the enemy and their memories his control snaps. together. Is is possible to leave the past behind and When London experiences an unexpectedly white find love again? The oldest saying on Dinara is that Christmas, all dirigible traffic is grounded, leaving the strongest loves are Forged in Fire. Holly and Jack free to act upon their stormy passions. Holly finds her determination to stay emotion-free crumbling unaware Jack is experiencing BEYOND GALAXY’S EDGE: Phoenix the same need. Each lover wishes for more, but fears Adventures #5 (Anna Hackett, novel, $3.99eb, indie) it can’t be. Instead they focus their desires in mindblowing passion. Ambitious Patrol Captain Nissa Sander has spent three years at the galaxy’s edge keeping the law and But when Holly discovers that Jack isn’t who he claimed to be, everything is thrown into turmoil. Can order, and chasing scoundrel smuggler, Justyn Phoenix. But the charming rogue has always she trust the man she thought she knew? outwitted her and she’s had a hard time ignoring his hard body and handsome face. But when one of the FORGED IN FIRE (Amy DeClerck, galaxy’s most important documents—the US Nevermore Press) Constitution—is stolen, Nissa finds herself working Gin Draven was born a soldier and he fully expected with the very man she’s been trying to throw in her to die a soldier. Called to the highest military rank in brig. the galaxy, Gin is now the sworn Sword Guardian of Justyn Phoenix embraces life and offers everyone a Dinara. His job is to protect the nine planets that

18 wink and a smile. He’s also in love with a spitand-polish Patrol captain. Yep, crazy in love, and he knows she’ll never love him back. But when the opportunity arises to work alongside Nissa on a wild and crazy mission to recover the US Constitution, he can’t resist. But nothing on this treasure hunt is as it seems. The trail leads them to fake documents, rival treasure hunters, and a millennia old mystery. As the hunt takes them beyond the galaxy’s edge, Justyn and Nissa will face the firestorm of their desire, and soon learn if they can survive long enough to save the galaxy.

ON A CYBORG PLANET: Phoenix Adventures #6 (Anna Hackett, novella, $0.99eb, indie)

After a vicious coup, cyborg Axton Saros, Prime of the planet of Centax, is trying to rebuild his world. Still recovering from his captivity and dark guilt, he

won’t let anything get in his way. But a priceless artifact, stolen during the attack, is still missing and Axton wants it back. What he doesn’t want is the emotionless and infuriating Centax Security cyborg, Commander Xenia Alexander, heading the investigation. Everybody knows CenSecs are the galaxy’s deadliest killers. So enhanced that their emotions are dampened to nothing. But Xenia’s been keeping a secret her entire life—her systems don’t work and she feels. Working with Axton to find the Da Vinci Codex, he makes every emotion in her flare to brilliant life, but to be the perfect CenSec, she must not succumb. As they follow a trail of clues and booby traps, Axton vows to do everything he can to show his beautiful cyborg the pleasure she’s never experienced. Even if she fights him every step of the way. But as the hunt takes a deadly turn, their desire might be the only thing that can save Xenia from annihilation.

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The Intersection of Love & Technology, Part 1 Heather Massey Science fiction romance has a unique place and function among romance genres since so many of the tales occur in the future. A core component of the genre is the concept that the future will be a different place from the present—not just aesthetically, but also at all levels of society. In particular, we expect that a story’s featured technology would have developed in conjunction with other societal changes. One kind of change inevitably affects another, creating a ripple effect. Think of how much societies across Earth changed when cars generally replaced horse-drawn wagons. We didn’t—couldn’t—just switch out cars for horses and leave everything else the same! Technology especially has a wide-ranging impact. It affects everything from manufacturing to communication. Romance is no exception. SFR’s very nature is rooted in created worlds that ideally reflect at least a few key changes at the societal and cultural levels. Readers expect the stories to take into account the role technology plays in those changes. Therefore, if the setting isn’t far enough removed from contemporary times, readers are in the position of having to question why they’re reading an SFR in the first place. Additionally, “futuristic” or “in the future” generally implies many things will not only change, but also change for the better. (As a twenty-first century Earthling, I sure thank my lucky stars I can wear shorts and a tshirt on a humid summer day.) Dystopian settings might be the exception to a progressive future, but even in those stories, usually everyone’s rights are repressed, not just women’s and children’s. When so many hundreds of cultural changes have occurred in real life right here on planet Earth because of, for example, increased gender equality, why would an SFR story play out as if to minimize the importance of such changes, or act as if there were a point past which societies couldn’t progress? For example, if I’m reading about a lesbian starship captain, I’m going to examine the text for signs that she enjoys the same constitutional rights as everyone else. Therefore, her HEA can involve marriage if she and her partner so desire. In other words, I’m going to expect that technological advances are correlated with significant cultural changes of one kind or another. Think about this scenario: If a contemporary heroine time traveled to the far future, how would her beliefs about issues like female sexuality and gender equality be different from that of her futuristic counterparts? If an SFR claims there wouldn’t be any significant differences, the prose needs to provide a compelling reason why. If an SFR doesn’t take into account the possibility of technology-influenced societal and cultural change in some way, then readers may have difficulty suspending disbelief. It’s a complex creative issue, and some stories seem to struggle with how to depict said changes, especially those related to female sexuality and gender roles. For example, a far future hero may say he prefers sexually experienced partners, but the story communicates a different value when it pairs him with a virgin heroine. Some SFR stories function to project an author’s worldview, either consciously or unconsciously. Or the

stories are processing contemporary issues such as gender role imbalances. A few authors may be purposefully writing allegorical stories—all valid. Yet unexamined assumptions and biases can limit stories. This creates lost opportunities and results in fractured worldbuilding that provides little insight into the intersection of love and technology. An SFR with a contemporary mentality can undermine an author’s worldbuilding efforts. An SFR’s subtext is important. It can either clash or align with the worldbuilding. Does a story predict certain technology-related cultural changes, or is it simply regurgitating contemporary beliefs and practices? Does it prompt readers to question their assumptions about issues like gender, race, and sexuality? In the next issue of Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly, we’ll examine some areas SFR has the potential to explore in greater frequency when advanced technology is taken fully into account. See you then!

Alien Abduction - The Beans and Rice of Sci-Fi Romance? Charlee Allden One of the most entertaining topics to ponder in Sci-Fi Romance is the alien abduction trope. So many popular Sci-Fi Romance authors have an alien abduction story in their backlist that it seems almost a mainstay or staple. The human fascination with aliens certainly didn’t start with our favorite genre. Seemingly alien imagery appears in ancient art and our interest likely dates back to the first person to look at the moon and see a face staring back. It’s our nature to look for recognizable forms in the unrecognizable and to weave stories to explain the unexplainable. Understandably, UFO sightings captured our imagination about the time our technological advances were turning our attention to the stars and alien-abduction stories leapt into the public consciousness in the same decade that we were tirelessly pursuing a way to take man to the moon. Those stories were often terrifying and twisted, so how and why did those stories of being abducted, examined and probed against the abductees’ will become the fodder for romance novels? Perhaps it’s because the trope taps into the desire to be “chosen” above others. Or because it’s the only way we can explain why a reasonable woman of our times would choose to leave Earth and take up with a space alien, no matter how hunky. Maybe it’s a good way to amp up the drama of an opposites-attract romance. Or it could just be a fun way to start an excellent Sci-Fi adventure. To be honest, I don’t think these stories are meant to be read too deeply. Whatever the case, the alien abduction scenario is out there and shows no sign of fading. Personally, I’m happy at the thought because I adore the trope. Without further ado, I happily submit a few book suggestions for your consideration and reading pleasure. One of the most fascinating and original alien abduction stories I’ve read is a book I reviewed for my blog back in 2010. Captured by Julia Rachel Barrett went on to be an EPIC finalist in 2011. This freshly told story begins with a woman who wakes up prematurely on the space ship hauling her and many others to a planet where they are slated to be harvested for food. A series with fresh, fascinating world-building is The Survival Race series by K.M. Fawcett. In Captive, the first book in the series, we are introduced to an alien world where super-sized aliens keep humans as pets and breed them to race in a deadly competition. This series features human couples, but the heroine of Book One is abducted from Earth at the beginning of the story and she is introduced to other humans who were either abducted or raised in captivity. If you go poking around the backlist of indie phenom, S.E. Smith, you’ll find that her Dragon Lords of Valdir series is full of titles like Abducting Abby, Capturing Cara and Ambushing Ariel. While I haven’t yet worked my way through her extensive back list (I only discovered her this year) I love her storytelling and feel confident recommending any of her books. Her heroes are the triple threat: sexy, protective, and devoted to their heroines. The earliest releases from another one of Sci-Fi Romance’s New York Times best-selling authors, Laurann Dohner, were in the Zorn Warriors series. All the books in the series are flavored with alien abductions, and Book Two is appropriately titled Kidnapping Casey. It features a woman running from threats by her ex-boyfriend when she comes across a Zorn warrior she initially mistakes for Bigfoot. Luckily, that doesn’t

stop her from having a sexy fling with him behind a waterfall, after which he decides to take her home to his planet. There are many, many more great alien abduction romances out there, far too many to name. But if you’re not yet convinced that alien abduction is the rice and beans of Sci-Fi romance, consider this—to this day my post on Captured remains the second-most viewed post on my blog. I’d love to hear your thoughts on alien abduction stories. Please feel free to comment on this article or to contact me directly. I’m not hard to find. Happy reading!

You asked for it. More reviews, you said. Well we have a bumper crop in this issue, including a h-u-g-e effort from Marlene with the Phoenix Institute series. Happy reading!

A Hero for the Empire: The Dragon’s Bidding #1 (Christina Westcott) Review by The Book Pushers

Commander Kimber FitzWarren is running on borrowed time. The cybernetic augmentations that give her superhuman strength and speed have also shortened her life. The success ofher next mission is imperative, not only to save her Empire, but because this operation could be her last. She and a cabal ofother idealistic officers are plotting to topple the corrupt Imperial government. The key to placing missing military legend Arianne Ransahov on the throne lies with the one man who can find her, mercenary Wolf Youngblood. Having just survived an Imperial assassination attempt, Wolfis understandably on edge when Fitz shows up in his bedroom at 0-dark-30. Except she isn’t there to kill him, but to plead for his help. Help he’s reluctant to give—until another assassin pushes the issue. Pursued by Imperial forces, left with no one to depend on but each other, a bond begins to form that even their secrets can’t destroy. But before they can explore what’s left oftheir future, they have to survive the mission. Warning: Space is no place to go it alone. We recommend taking along a telepathic cat, an immortal mercenary, and a cybernetically augmented Imperial SpecOps agent. You never know what kind oftrouble you’ll run into… [Blurb from Goodreads]

I was really excited when I read this blurb because it talked about a strong female lead, who happened to have cyber augmentations, a mercenary, another strong female, space, and the title contained the word dragon. While I ended up finding A Hero for the Empire both interesting and intriguing it didn’t quite live up to my hopes for a couple of reasons but I really want to know what is going to happen next. Kimber is dedicated to the Empire. It took her out of the streets and gave her the tools to live a successful life. Sure her augmentations also came with a reduced life expectancy but it was better than scrabbling for a living and dying way too young. Sadly during her time as a SpecOps agent she realized loyalty to the Empire wasn’t necessarily the same thing as loyalty to the Emperor and sometimes a regime change was needed. She was tough, smart, adaptable but a bit too dependent on her augmentations and had a sense of physical superiority over those she deemed unaugmented. I really liked that aspect because it meant she wasn’t the perfect person but one who could and did make mistakes. Wolf had a lot of secrets and was not pleased with his recent visitors. One attempted but failed to kill him and the other was trying to drag him back into the mess he left far too many years ago. Then he realized

the assassins weren’t going to leave him alone despite his mercenary group remaining neutral. Wolf’s secrets made him too much of a potential enemy for the Emperor to continue to ignore his presence, especially once he decided to expand his control. Wolf was very good at what he did but also suffered from overconfidence due to the effects of his particular augmentations. I mostly enjoyed Kimber and Wolf’s interaction but they spent a large part of the story trying to leave each other behind in “safety” or arguing over who was in charge. When they were working together they could accomplish a lot but they weren’t as productive as either should have been. Sadly I wasn’t as fond of Kimber’s ship as I wanted given how it seemed partially sentient. I had the impression the ship was fully capable of free thought and action but only exercised them to thwart Wolf regardless of the potential consequences. And those consequences certainly happened. I did love the flawed, dedicated and so loveable telepathic cat. I think the cat really helped Kimber and Wolf learn to trust each other and his insistence on never leaving anyone behind was also a good lesson for them. Westcott packed a lot of activity into her world almost too much at times. It seemed like both Kimber and Wolf’s organizations suffered from a traitor because assassins and Imperial fleets showed up to various locations when they should have been elsewhere. Then there was everything Kimber discovered after reaching the last known location of the missing military hero. I am not going to mention the specifics because they are spoilers but it seemed a bit much and I didn’t always understand or see the motivation or reason for some of the events. The last main reason why A Hero for the Empire didn’t work as nicely for me as I wanted is I kept comparing it to another set of stories I really enjoyed. This was just similar enough for me to keep mentally comparing and different enough (thankfully) for things to not add up. However, I was unable to completely separate them and I found this execution lacking but not to the extent that I was ever tempted to stop reading or start skimming. Overall, this was a slightly rough introduction to a rather complex universe with some interesting rather flawed characters. A Hero for the Empire ends with things on the crux of change and the knowledge this particular change won’t be easy. I am rather curious to find out how things will go for the Empire. I also want to watch Kimber and Wolf work through Kimber’s new position and her potentially new lease on life. I am hoping the next installment is a bit smoother and evenly paced.

I give A Hero for the Empire a B-/C+. Break Out (Nina Croft) Review by Jo Jones

Who can resist a Science Fiction novel with a Vampire space ship owner? I couldn’t. I first read Break Out as a novella and loved it. My one complaint was the weak world building. That changed when the novella was rewritten as a novel. Now there is interesting world building, great characters and a really convoluted plot. Everything a book needs to make it a difficult to put down. Richardo Sanchez is a two thousand year old vampire who really has learned how to change with the times. In 3048 he is the owner of the space ship El Cadazor (or “Blood Hunter”). The ship is filled with an eclectic crew, each with secrets of their own. They take on a rescue mission for Skylar Rossaria who is also full of secrets. Skylar is not what she seems. Her mission is not what she thinks. And then there is her attraction to Rico. He is a further complication she just does not need. The job the crew of El Cadazo accepts – to break an assassin from the most secure prison in the galaxy.

That is a great plot idea and Croft keep it moving with dialog, character development and action. It is interesting to see the change in Rico as the story progresses. He never had much to do with his crew but with the addition of Skylar he becomes more involved in the everyday affairs on the ship. He also has some of the very best dialog in the book. Here are a few examples: “Son of Satan,” the priest cried. Rico rolled his eyes. “We’re not actually related.” Tannis swiveled her chair to face him. “Been eating the natives, Rico?” “Dios, I go out for a snack and all I get is hassle. I’ve got to eat.” “Is she dead?” “No, she’s not bloody dead.” Rico ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus why does everybody think I go around killing people?” Skylar snorted. “This big stupid brain-dead, bloodsucking idiot thought we’d attack first.” “All-dead, actually,” he inserted cheerfully.

Look for an interesting crew, great dialog and a surprise ending. Break Out is a very good combination of Space Opera and Science Fiction Romance. Just the kind of book I love and to make it even better there are more books in the series. After you finish Break Out, pick up Deadly Pursuit, Death Defying and Temporal Shift.

Fluency (Jennifer Foehner Wells) Review by Weirde

The book I want to talk about today is Fluency, by Jennifer Foehner Wells, a new and fresh voice in the sci-fi genre. It’s time a good new author appeared on the sci-fi scene. Many have tried, but many have also failed. Some became lost in too many technicalities and details, others were able to create great characters but with poor world-building. Finally, we have someone with a good plot, a good idea, solid world-building and good characters. Hallelujah. The story narrated in this book has a simple background. Back in the 1960s, NASA discovered an alien ship lurking in our asteroid belt. They kept the Target under intense surveillance for decades, letting the public believe they were exploring the solar system, while they worked feverishly to refine the technology needed to reach it. The ship itself remained silent, drifting, during all this time. Finally, after years of research, in the year 2014 they were ready to approach it, so assembled a squad to send on this mission, with the purpose of exploring the mysterious starship.

Dr. Jane Holloway, a university professor and geek, is one of the members of this squad. She has a great gift for languages, those nearly extinct and modern, and she can learn any dialect with the outmost speed, just like Hoshi Sato of Star Trek’s ENTERPRISE series. But she is no astronaut, or military officer, so the physical aspect of the mission scares her. The one thing that made her decide to accept this mission, even if she didn’t say so and would never admit it, is the presence of another scientist in the squad: Alan, an engineer, good looking, easygoing, someone who is able to make a serious person like her laugh. He is attracted to her, just as she is to him, but the nature of their mission, and their own private issues, hold them back from declaring themselves. When the squad finally reaches the ship, the story becomes similar to the start of ALIEN or PROMETHEUS. All is mystery and danger. The ship appears deserted, but there is something watching them and adapting to their physiology…and there are many traps…what is happening? Jane begins hearing a voice in her head, guiding her, instructing her in the way of the ship. With its help, she can save her companions, but they believe that an alien is brainwashing her and distrust her advice. Only Alan supports her. A virus that can trigger violence in the infected aggravates the situation, and only the mysterious voice can help Jane. But help will come at a price. A great price and, in the end, we will discover that from the very beginning of the mission nothing was as it seemed to be. We learn that even good aliens can toy with humans, if they have a mission to accomplish. In this book, ALIENS meets STAR TREK, but also introduces something completely new. There is mystery, a love interest, adventure, fighting, a virus, aliens, alien slugs, and mutant alien slugs! It’s a fun book that I recommend to everybody but especially to sci-fi lovers. Finally a novel that can transport the reader to a realistic sci-fi adventure, worthy of a film adaptation. The only defect is the fact that it is the first book of a series, so the end is a huge cliffhanger. And the next book will be released only in 2015.

Hellcat’s Bounty (Renae Jones) Review by RK Shiraishi

A novella length lesbian romance space western. That pretty much sums it up in a great tagline. And you know, it’s lots of fun. The story centers around life on a space station mining port—Rosewood—that is under constant threat by amoebic type life forms, generally called blobs. It’s a harsh, unforgiving, space station full of people managing to survive and build a life. Thus, the very close parallel to the western setting. The romance centers on Anelace, a woman who makes her living hunting blobs and Meidani, who works out a saloon in town, but also provides underground medical care. Anelace is injured on a job once again, and she goes to Meidani to help. The simmering love between the two begins to ignite. This is a solid love story set in space. Most of the focus is on Anelace—she’s funny, tough, fiercely independent, but has a gentle heart and a desire to be loved. Meidani’s life is not as fleshed out, though we get a sense of conflict in her background concerning her birth father and his unwillingness to acknowledge her and help her get into medical school. There are a lot of interesting

places—saloons, church, a shopping district. The colorful characters and quick, witty dialogue are what make the story work. There is the good girl/bad girl, femme girl/butch girl dynamic: but Jones turns it on its head and you never know what to expect. It’s also interesting that gay marriages are fully accepted as the norm along with straight marriages, and there don’t appear to be any strict male/female gender roles. Rosewood becomes the western environment that has all the inclusion that a “real” western story tends not to have.

It’s short. It’s fun. It’s sexy. Some explicit sex. Mission to Mahjundar (Veronica Scott) Review by Jo Jones

Mission to Mahjundar started with great promise and, for me, ended with great disappointment. The promise

was the first meeting between Mike and Shalira. Both were part of a crowd when a bomb went off and Mike kept Shalira from being trampled. Mike has already been identified as an off-worlder and we immediately find out that Shalira is blind. A quick meeting and some back-story later Mike and his sergeant are asked (or made) to accompany Shalira to meet her groom. That was the promise. Great start to the story and plenty of time for a relationship to develop. The disappointment started soon after the journey began. Here was a really interesting strong female character that knows she is in danger. Instead of slowly building up to a relationship we get almost instant love and a lot of danger. The book became an action thriller. The characters went from one impossible-to-live-through situation to another and the focus of the book was on escaping each. By the third one, everything was so contrived that I wanted to throw my hands up in despair. Really!! The blind princess needed to see so she was no longer blind. They had a way off of the roof where they were trapped and waited to take it. I also felt there was never enough world building or back-story for both the world Mike came from and the world Shalira lived in. Scott did a good job creating interesting and strong characters. What they needed was time to build a relationship. Instead they became the main characters in an action thriller. This was so close to being a really good Science Fiction Romance. Instead it is just OK as the romance got lost in the action.

Phoenix Rising: The Phoenix Institute #1 (Corinna Lawson) Review by Marlene Harris

Phoenix Rising is a fairly popular title. I mean that literally, there are a slew of books with the title “Phoenix

Rising”. The first time I thought I was reading this book, I discovered after I finished that I had read the wrong book titled Phoenix Rising. (It was still good. And also steampunk, so somewhat germane). I digress.

The Phoenix Rising by Corrina Lawson is a “making of the superhero” book, especially if you parse that word as “super” and “hero”. Alec Farley was born a powerful telekinetic with the ability to control fire. He doesn’t just start fires, he can also stop them and direct them. It is an extension of his TK, he just makes the molecules move faster and faster, until they burn. At the beginning of the story, while Alec may be super, he isn’t a hero. It’s not that he’s a villain (there is one in the story) but that he isn’t in control of his own life enough to be a hero for anyone else. There is an element of Pinocchio becoming a real boy (a real man, Alec is 23). Alec is being manipulated and controlled by his foster father Richard Lansing, who is very definitely the villain of the piece. Alec just thinks of Lansing as someone who plays mind games, without realizing that a big part of those mind games is controlling Alec’s entire life and convincing him that it is for his own good. Lansing has a contract with the CIA to investigate powers like Alec’s, and quite a few government military contracts to use Alec and his team of excellent ex-military soldiers to fight terrorism and criminals that need Alec’s special gift. Alec doesn’t realize that his team are also his minders. Until Beth Nakamora enters his life. Beth is a counselor for troubled teens, particularly those with angermanagement issues. The difference with Alec is that if he loses control of his temper, he also loses control of his fire. The CIA is worried that Alec is on the road to causing more collateral damage than any of his ops cause actual damage. But Beth has a secret. Beth has several secrets, but her biggest secret is that Beth also has a gift—she is a telepath. However, her power is suppressed as a result of an extreme childhood trauma. Her other secret? Her foster father is a CIA agent who manipulated his contacts to get Beth assigned to work with Alec, because he knows Richard Lansing is keeping Alec a virtual prisoner, even if Alec doesn’t know enough about real life to figure that out. Putting Beth together with Alec turns out to be explosive, in more ways than one. They have off-the-charts sexual chemistry, something that neither of them is quite prepared to deal with. Alec has some experience of sex, but none of real relationships. And Beth is too scared of revealing her secrets to have let many people into her life. Their chemistry is explosive in another way—something about Beth’s telepathy amps up Alec’s power, and vice versa. But the real explosion is the dismantling of all the secrets surrounding Alec’s life and his manipulation by Lansing. As Alec starts to see, not just what he’s been missing, but what an adult life is supposed to be, Lansing turns up the screws on Alec, Beth, and Beth’s mysterious foster father, Philip Drake. Lansing is playing for ultimate power at any cost, and he won’t let anyone stand in his way—not even his sons.

Escape Rating A-: Phoenix Rising reminded me quite a lot of the X-Men movies. Phoenix Rising would be roughly equivalent to the story of the start of Professor Xavier’s Academy, but with Xavier as a firestarter instead of a telepath. There’s definitely that

sense of the creation of the Phoenix Institute out of the ashes of “The Resource” in order for Alec to have the opportunity to give people like him a better start than he had.

Also the universes have a similarity in that so far, the gifted are born and not made in laboratories. There is some genetic engineering going on, but even that starts with at least one, or possibly two, parents with gifts. Also one of the gifted is 200 years old, born in a time when the genetic engineering necessary to produce a “super” from not much would have been pure fiction. As an origin story for the Institute and Alec, it works very well. One of the fascinating subplots is the relationship between fathers and their children, and how that can go both wrong and right, whether the children are born to the one who parents them, or whether that responsibility is taken on voluntarily. In this particular circle of life, we have four people with gifts; Richard Lansing, Philip Drake, Alec Farley and Beth Nakamora. Lansing is a self-healer, and he’s over 200 years old and has gone nutso. He’s convinced that he is a superior being, and that superior beings should rule the world, under his direction, of course. He also has a large dose of Victorian era “white man’s burden” imperial racism just to make him even more intolerant (and intolerable). Philip Drake is Lansing’s biological son, but Lansing rejected him because his mother was part Native American. It wasn’t until after Drake reached adulthood that Lansing discovered Drake had inherited his gift for self-healing. But they couldn’t come to terms because Lansing couldn’t get past his racism. On the other hand, Lansing adopted Alec Farley and raised the firestarter as his son. He was a distant, manipulative and emotionally abusive father, but he actually did his best. It just wasn’t very good in the nurturing sense. Lansing raised Alec to be a living weapon, and it is a testament to Alec’s innate good nature that Lansing failed. There’s a third hand in this one. Beth Nakamura is Drake’s foster daughter. He rescued her from a lab when she was 8, and he’s watched over her ever since. Now that Beth is 23, their relationship has changed a bit, but it is obvious in every scene they have together that they love each other and would do anything for each other. Even though Drake is not Beth’s biological father, he is her real father in a way that Lansing never was to him or Alec. Drake learned from Lansing, as well as from an abusive step-father, what not to do. So he did the opposite and raised a marvelous woman who is definitely her own person. Phoenix Rising also lays the groundwork for the worldbuilding in this series, and it does an excellent job while still telling a heart-pounding adventure with a sweet, sexy romance.

Phoenix Legacy: The Phoenix Institute #2 (Corinna Lawson) Review by Marlene Harris

Phoenix Legacy is the direct sequel to Phoenix Rising, unlike Luminous which told a side story in this same

fantastic universe. The impact that Luminous has on Phoenix Rising is that it provides the excuse for telepath Beth Nakamora to be out of town and unavailable during the events of this book. IMHO the mystery would have been way too easy to solve if Beth had been around to read everyone’s occasionally tiny mind. She’s not, so it takes some more good old-fashioned talking for the good guys to all get on the same page and deliver the bad guys their just desserts. Phoenix Legacy is a story about all the chickens coming home to roost. Including, in one very important part of the story, with eggs (or egg). Everyone’s past, including the past of the Phoenix Institute itself, come back

to bite everyone’s ass one more time. The skeletons in everyone’s closet all come out to dance, and it makes for one wild ride. Alec Farley has been investigating the many and varied programs and businesses owned/sponsored by his late and unlamented foster father, Richard Lansing, as owner/creator/perpetrator of The Resource. Alec created the Phoenix Institute out of the ashes of The Resource when he inherited it from Lansing. There are a lot of rocks to turn over, and way too many nasty things crawling out from under those rocks. Now that Beth Nakamora and Alec are lovers, Beth’s foster father, the ex-CIA agent Philip Drake, is unhappy that Alec is trying to clean up the existing structure instead of scrapping it and starting over. Or running away. Drake knows that Lansing did a lot of dirty dealing, and dismantling his old organization puts Beth in danger. However, the rock that Alec turns over in this story brings way more trouble and danger to Drake than Beth. And it turns out to be a good thing. Lansing, among other nefarious dealings, was the co-owner of a genetics lab that was researching the possible creation of a psychic healer who could heal others and not just him- or her-self. Lansing and Drake were/are both self-healers. In order to create this super-healer, Lansing gave the genetics lab (Orion) three sperm samples, his own, Drake’s, and Alec Farley’s. The kind of guy Lansing was, neither Drake nor Alec were informed or consented. And, it turns out, neither was the woman who was artificially inseminated with that sperm. Not that she didn’t know where the sperm came from, but that she was kidnapped and medically raped, and then abandoned back at her home with a gap in her memory. Lansing, having been a complete bastard, picked Drake’s childhood friend to kidnap and impregnate. Of course the baby is Drake’s. There would have been no fun for Lansing in tormenting a woman he didn’t know, the whole point of choosing Delilah Sefton was to hurt and possibly control Drake. But Lansing is dead, and his partners are still after the baby, for what appear to be megalomaniacal reasons of their own. Philip Drake, dead certain that he is not worthy of the love of the woman he used to call Lily, can’t help himself from protecting her and their unborn child—whether Lily can ever forgive him for all the pain he’s caused her in the past, or not. It’s going to take a LOT of forgiveness to fix his earliest and greatest mess.

Escape Rating A: Of all the stories in this series so far (I’m up to #3.5) Phoenix Legacy was the most fun, at least for me. Drake is one of those tortured, wounded souls that just cries out for healing and a happy ending, no matter how difficult achieving that HEA is going to be, or how little he thinks he deserves it. Also, Drake has been an enigma through the first two books in the series. His backstory was twisty and convoluted and sad, and I’m glad that we got to find out what makes him tick. As much as a man like him ever reveals such intimate details about himself.

Delilah Sefton, formerly known as Lily, is the first person we’ve met who knew Drake when he was very young. The events that pushed them toward an intense childhood friendship, and its brutal aftermath, were a critical part of Drake’s character formation. From her story, we find out what we need to about him. At the same time, Delilah’s medical rape and the dangerous pursuit that follows in its aftermath make for an adrenaline fueled suspense story. The people pursuing her see her as a lab experiment, and not as a woman who was raped and is going to have a child. But then, they see her son as a guinea pig and not as a real person. Delilah’s ability to get one of the surviving scientists to pull his obsessive focus away from his work to see the harm he did was awesome. But the surviving backers of the experiment have a hidden worlddomination agenda that is even scarier than Lansing’s delusions. They are willing to do anything to imprison Delilah and take her baby when he’s born, for reasons that only half make sense to Drake. When all is revealed, it makes for a jaw-dropping conclusion. Which doesn’t take one iota of evil away from the insanity they cause. The romance that develops, or partially redevelops, between Delilah and Drake is meltingly hot, and even more fantastic for the way that this very scary badass manages to fall in love, be intensely protective, and still come off as dangerous and scary to everyone but the one woman who finally reaches what is left of his soul. That there wasn’t much left to reach, and that Delilah manages it without giving up her agency or her core self, says awesome things about her character. This story is a winner.

Ghost Phoenix: The Phoenix Institute #3 (Corinna Lawson) Review by Marlene Harris

I read The Phoenix Institute series all in one giant binge, and I’ll admit that Ghost Phoenix is the point where it almost jumped the shark. But the romance between the hero and heroine was so much delicious fun that it pretty much jumped back. The evil dude in the previous book, Phoenix Legacy, went by the name Edward P. Genet V. At the end of the story we discover that his real name is Edward Plantagenet, briefly King Edward V of England. Back in the late 1400s. If the name rings any bells at all, it’s because Edward V was also one of the famous Princes in the Tower. Shakespeare claimed that Edward and his brother Richard were killed by their uncle, the recently discovered Richard III. (Contrarians say that the Princes were murdered by their sister’s husband, King Henry VII. We may never know.) But it turns out that the people that the Phoenix Institute has discovered are not the only folks out there with special gifts. The Plantagenets have a strain of self-healing in their DNA, making some of them effectively immortal. Edward was one such, as was his brother Richard. In this scenario, they weren’t killed after

all—they disappeared into the shadow court of their immortal queen, who turns out to be Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor is wasting away of some unknown malady that is preventing her from accessing her healing talents. Edward’s pursuit of Delilah and Drake’s genetically engineered baby was all part of his plan to create someone with the talent to heal others. However, messing with Drake’s family was a guaranteed way of getting killed. A sword through the heart will kill anyone. Even a self-healer can’t heal around a big honking piece of sharp metal in a truly vital organ. Richard is forced back to court by his duty to his brother, and to his queen. He never approved of Edward’s methods, but now he has to find out what truly happened to his brother, and find a cure for the queen. Since Drake and Delilah’s baby is now out of reach, the court has discovered another possible method—studying the corpse of the mad Russian monk Rasputin, who was also had the power to heal others—as well as being a charismatic and nuttier than a fruitcake. Legend has it that Rasputin was poisoned, shot and drowned, so it is assumed that one or all of those methods overcame his self-healing ability. Richard thinks he’s looking for a valuable corpse. So he hires Doyle Antiquities, especially Marian Doyle, to dig up (if necessary literally) the body of Rasputin. The Doyle family is known for possessing a rare psychic gift—the ability to turn to mist and go through walls. Marian is the only member of the family in this generation to possess the gift—as well as a talent for researching where lost treasures might be found. Richard discovers that Marian is the most pleasantly surprising person he has met in centuries. She is intelligent, beautiful and talented, and always manages to do the unexpected. As they hunt what they think is an artifact, they discover that in spite of the centuries, they belong together. If they can survive the mess they have gotten themselves into. Rasputin is still alive, and his followers are every bit as fanatical in the early 21st century as they were in the early 20th.

Escape Rating B+: The combination of the immortal Plantagenet court with Rasputin went really too close to the “believe three impossible things before breakfast” idea. In a world where multiple people have some kind of psychic/telekinetic talent without having had the equivalent of a mutated spider bite them in a lab, it is logical that there would be others with some talent.

There are so many stories about Rasputin, that it isn’t a stretch to believe he had some real power. He and his followers certainly thought he did. But adding the Plantagenet court into the mix almost went over the top. But Richard Plantagenet is surprisingly empathetic as the surfer dude who could be king. He has rejected much of the isolation of the court and become a surfer in California. He may love the queen, but his attachment is to contemporary life. Watching him straddle both worlds makes him more human. He is still an autocrat at times, but he also knows how to value the short-lived human lives around him—and he knows there are lines that can’t be crossed, a lesson his brother never learned. Richard meets with the Institute and Philip Drake, yet everyone walks away with their organs intact. He mourns his brother, but acknowledges that Drake’s actions were more than justified. He would protect himself and his to that same extreme—he can’t fault Drake for doing the same. However, it is Richard’s relationship with Marian that grounds him and makes him human enough to feel for. He needs to win her love and approval, and she keeps him on the relatively human straight and narrow.

It is also her talents that discover the truth about the Queen’s illness. He needs her, and she needs him to boost her confidence so she can break away from the family that uses her and takes her for granted. In the early scenes, where Richard puts her overbearing grandfather in his place, that makes the reader first see him as “one of us” and not “one of them”.

Luminous: The Phoenix Institute (Corinna Lawson) Review by Marlene Harris

Okay, I’ll admit it, the name of the town in this book made me crack a smile every time. This entry in The Phoenix Institute series takes place in “Charlton City”. I never knew my husband’s family had a whole town named after them, even a fictional one. I know, I’m digressing. Again. Although Luminous is a novella in The Phoenix Institute series, the Institute (or its characters) doesn’t appear until the very end of the story. This one is about the kind of person the Institute wants to help, and how she’s coped without their help until now. It also shows that there are more “gifted” people in the world than just the few that the Institute has found, and that there are more evil mad scientists fooling around outside their expertise (and mental stability) than just the ones employed by Richard Lansing before his timely demise. In some ways, Luminous reminds me more of BATMAN than the X-MEN, who seem to be the inspiration for the Institute. In Luminous, we have a mysterious crime fighter a la Batman, teaming up with a righteous cop in a corrupt city, a la Commissioner Gordon and Gotham. The difference is that in Luminous, our mysterious crime fighter has lost the ability to “take off her mask” and her relationship with the cop is way more than just a crime fighting partnership. Our heroine only knows herself as “Noir”. Years of being the victim of sadistic experimentation by a truly mad scientist have left her with no memory of her life before she was kidnapped, and a bad case of “Invisible Woman” syndrome. Noir is completely invisible, even to herself. That invisibility is what allowed her to escape from her tormentor, but she can’t remember, or find a way, to turn it off. When she needs to be seen, she dresses in black from head to foot, including a mask and gloves, so that there is something there for people to react to. Not that she lets people see her to have a reaction very often. But Noir has a goal; to find and stop the doctor whose diabolical experiments caused Noir so much pain. She also needs to stop the monster that her tormentor has created out of the man who used to be that same doctor’s brother. The kidnapping, bank robbing, murdering spree has just got to stop. Noir has lots of information on Doctor Jill and her Monster Brother Jack, but no way to put it in the right hands—until she watches Police Lieutenant Aloysius James take charge at the scene of the monster’s latest rampage.

While it can be said that Noir is trying to be a hero, she also needs a hero. She needs someone she can trust, someone who will both believe in her and believe her, and someone who can accept her as she is, invisibility and all. Al James is the one uncorrupt cop in a very corrupt city. Because he isn’t on the take, he’s always alone—none of the other cops think they can trust a man who isn’t as morally bankrupt as they are. Yes, there is an irony in that. The untrustworthy are only capable of trusting those equally untrustworthy. But in his isolation, Al is willing to trust a woman he can’t see over a bunch of his fellow cops who he sees all too clearly. He may not be able to see Noir’s face, but he can tell from her actions that she is on the side of right. Too many of his supposed brothers in blue are all too ready to take a payoff to either turn a blind eye to the evil in Charlton City, or to turn Al in to the forces of evil for cold, hard cash. Noir is the only person who can save him from the crap he’s stepped in to—and Al is the only person willing to save Noir from her life on the invisible run. But first, they have to take down evil. Together.

Escape Rating B+: Luminous reads like a combination of Batman (with a gender twist) and Frankenstein. Doctor Jill certainly qualifies as the evil scientist who creates a monster (or two monsters, counting her crazy self).

In the mad scientist vein of SF (and SFR) we’re never quite sure in this book whether Noir’s power of invisibility is an accidental side-effect of Doctor Jill’s experiments, or whether it is something that was latent in her all along. One of the scary things for Noir is that she doesn’t know either. Al and Noir are both messed up people, and their fairly heavy baggage draws them together. Al needs both a case where he can really make a difference and to let someone or something into his life besides work. Noir needs someone she can trust with her secret, someone she can be herself around, even if that self is invisible. Under her invisibility, she’s still a woman who needs contact with other people. Both Al and Noir are wearing masks in one sense or another. Noir’s disguise is literal, she can’t be seen. Al hides his love for the city he serves (or at least its people) under sarcasm and cynicism, just as he hides what Noir discovers is a totally find body under rumpled and even slightly oversize clothes. Noir is able to be herself with Al, even if the only self she knows is the one she has constructed in the few months since she escaped the experimental lab. Al needs to re-discover a self that is not just a workaholic cop, but actually has a real life. Al’s road is surprisingly rockier than Noir, in spite of, or perhaps because of, his ability to remember his whole life. Solving the case turns out to be easy—for certain bloody and beat up cases of easy. Solving the possibilities of a real future relationship turns out to be a lot more difficult, but we don’t discover those details until Ghosts of Christmas Past. The Phoenix Institute turns up at the end, as Al discovers both Noir’s identity before her kidnapping, and that the Phoenix Institute wants to help people like her. The future involvement of the Institute, and particularly psychic Beth Nakamora, provides the plot-excuse for Beth to be unavailable in the next Phoenix Institute story, Phoenix Legacy. The case in that story would have been much too easy to solve with Beth’s telepathy on tap. But Noir and Al’s story is a terrific superhero-type romance/adventure all on its own.

Ghosts of Christmas Past: The Phoenix Institute #3.5 (Corinna Lawson) Review by Marlene Harris

Ghosts ofChristmas Past is a direct sequel to the earlier novella in this series, Luminous. It fills in some of the

background gaps that were left at the end of the first book, and tells a lovely story about what happens to the hero and heroine after the supposed happy ever after. The journey to HEA is a bit rockier than anyone expects. And the nod to Dickens is totally exploited. The scenes of A Christmas Carol do come into play in this story, in a way that is novel but totally in keeping with the season. But don’t read Ghosts ofChristmas Past without having read Luminous first. The Al and Noir stories feel like a separate sub-series in The Phoenix Institute. You know the Institute is in the background, but Noir and Al only have limited contact with it. The issue in this story is their contact with each other. At the end of Luminous, Al hands Noir the results of his research into missing young women at the time she was taken. He helps her reunite with her parents, and gives her the information she craves about the person she was before the kidnapping. Lucy was a 17-year-old artist. She was also a white girl from the middle-class suburbs. Al is a black cop in a corrupt city. He’s also about 15 years older than Lucy. Between those facts, and Al’s general lack of belief in himself and his ability to be anything other than a workaholic cop, Al is certain that Lucy will leave him sooner or later, possibly sooner. So he’s already detaching himself. But Lucy isn’t just Lucy anymore. She suffered over 5 years of being a human guinea pig and then rescued herself with her own latent psychic abilities. Lucy may be part of Noir, and vice versa, but she is not the woman she would have been if the kidnapping hadn’t happened. She needs to find her way to being a synthesis of Lucy and Noir. While she loves her parents, and is grateful to have found them, she is very, very far from being the little girl they remember. Lucy is her own woman, and that woman loves Al James, workaholism and all. She just has to get him to believe it. While they both help and work against each other to solve a murder and corruption case in City Hall. They’ve always been good at solving crimes together. Now they have to figure out if they trust each other enough with all the other parts of their lives. And Al needs to finally develop some other parts to his life, before it’s too late.

Escape Rating B+: Ghosts of Christmas Past feels like it completes the story in Luminous. We find out a bunch of things about both Al and Lucy/Noir that we didn’t learn in the first book. It was not clear by the end of Luminous whether Noir’s talents were created in the lab, or whether it was something in her all along. It was good to see that question answered, and to discover that Noir’s talents were latent, but they were something within Lucy’s DNA. Doctor Jill (Frankenstein) was crazy but not that talented. It also fits better into this worldbuilding that Lucy was a latent. So far, none of the gifted have been created in a lab, and I like it better this way. We have met the future, and it sometimes turns invisible. Or heals itself.

Lucy’s talent is also a variation on Marian Doyle’s talent in Ghost Phoenix. The self-healing talent seems to be surprisingly wide-spread in this relatively small group, so it is good to see that other talents are as well. But the core of this story is about trust. Al can’t let himself trust that Lucy will stay. Lucy is having a difficult time trusting that Al will make room in his life for her, especially since he isn’t recognizing the way that she has and continues to make room in the life she is creating for him. Lucy is both Lucy and Noir, but Al seems to think that she has to make a choice, and that it won’t include him. Lucy feels forced from all sides—her parents want her to be the girl she was, and Al wants her to be Noir and not Lucy. Meanwhile, Al has to solve a murder at the City Museum that involves corrupt officials, the lover of one of Lucy’s friends, Tiny Tim’s crutch and Snow White’s glass coffin. Al needs Lucy and her new artist friends to solve the case. It just takes him a while to see that putting the case together is a metaphor for their relationship.

Prosperity (Alexis Hall) Review by RK Shiraishi

Prosperity is a steampunk, fantastical, romance, adventure story. It’s got inventive steampunk knick-knacks all

over the place. And it’s all done in a stylized dialect that takes some getting used to, but which you really start to like once you’re into it. It’s different, thrilling, entertaining, and stretches the mind. I love the words. I love the pacing. I love the total immersion into something very, very different. That being said, it’s so stylistic that it almost takes over the story; at least for someone expecting a more standard romance novel. The main voice we follow is that of Dil, short for Picadilly, a sort of low-level thief and card shark who crosses the high level wrong sort of guy and ends up on an aethership, Shadowless, that floats above a city. Dil is taken there after his run-in with a ruthless crime boss, Milord, who is sometimes friend/possibly foe. The aethership passengers include Ruben, an intellectual priest and Miss Grey, good at shooting and fighting, though her character lacked some of the depth of the others. Perhaps, there just wasn’t much to do with her in this particular plot. The pilot of the aethership is Byron Kae, a genderfluid/dual gender character referred to as “they” with some sort of symbiotic relationship with the Shadowless. I love Byron Kae. They are awesome. I really, really want a Byron Kae story. The scenes between Byron Kae and Dil are some of the best—witty, interesting, with an erotic subtext. But that’s not the romance of the book—this time around, the great romance is between Ruben and Milord, almost two opposites with a deep passion for each other. And Dil, who also falls for Ruben. But mainly we see the great romance played out in front of him—a third person view of the romantic plotline. Believe it or not, it works. There is definitely a fantastical element: monsters and very, cool steampunk zombie. As a romance, if you’re looking for something traditional, this may not be it. However, I found it engrossing.

Some explicit sex. Some violence and profanity.

The Clockwork Dagger (Beth Cato) Review by Normalene Zeeman

Octavia is a medician or healer but, although they are valued for their talents, that doesn’t mean the government supports them in anything like the style you would think they would. After graduating from the academy and getting ready for her first assignment, Octavia gets on an airship, similar to a dirigible, and within the first night is almost assassinated. Red herrings abound, for who is behind these attempts and why they are directed at her? Mrs. Stout is an awesome addition to the cast and is more than just a supporting character; I loved her story arc. Alonzo Garrett is a flawed and wounded man whose story is heartbreaking and yet so real that you hope things go well for him…until you find out who he really is, then, maybe not so much. The motivations for the characters to act the way they do makes sense and you can relate to them. I have many reasons to love this author: she lives in Phoenix, she amazingly set up the scene where the word “defenestration” is exactly the absolute perfect word to use; there are so few grammar and spelling errors that I was so proud of her; and there aren’t pages and pages of graphic sex that I have to wade through to get to the plot. In fact I think there are only a few kisses, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any sexual tension, because there was and the relationship between the two main characters was appropriate for the world and the culture. The world building and history was given in such small doses that I never stumbled over an infodump that threw me out of the story—a big plus! Character development was managed in such a way that by page 30, I was invested in these characters. When things started to go wrong, I really cared what happened. I felt the relationship was believable and that it grew organically from the author’s ability to feel how her characters should feel. The author left us in a good way at the end but there is still room for a sequel and if there is one, I will be reading it.

The Lady is Blue/Dragons of Vkani (Aurora Springer) Review by Normalene Zeeman

When scaled, humanoid refugees come to live on Eden, secret Terran agent, Dr. Lucy Stannis is tasked to learn as much about them as possible through the “blue” alien, Sa Kamaris. When, through various shared experiences, they fall in love, you know it might be a rocky relationship. There is much more to the first book than that, as it nicely sets up the world and the alien color hierarchy. Many of the main characters experience stellar growth, but you really do need to read the first one

to fully appreciate the second one. I did love the twist at the end of book one, but I’m not going to tell you what it is. Dragons ofVkani starts about two years after the end of The Lady Is Blue. Lucy and Veedak have an 18-month old boy and some of the other characters also have inter-species relationships. When Lucy’s brother, a Trader on a traveling ship, lets her know he has made contact with Veedak’s sister—still on their home planet, Vkani—a decision is made to attempt her rescue and that of others who might like to relocate to Eden. Of course this does not go smoothly, but we learn about Veedak’s planet, some history of their race and his family and much about the conflict that caused them to leave the planet in the first place. Once the team gets to the planet Vkani, the action gets more intense; although there is very little gore, violence abounds. There is not so much character development of existing characters here, but we do meet many new characters who fit nicely into the plotline and set us up for volume three. There is not much world building for Eden as it is an Earth-like planet, but I would have liked to know more about the history of how they got there and why Earth was not more involved in the story; the history of Vkani and how it developed was spectacular and I hope to learn more about is as the series progresses. I liked the world and the characters and will wait to see how it plays out in the next story.

Yours to Uncover: ES Siren #1 (Mel Teshco) Review by The Book Pushers

Is she willing to sacrifice everything to keep her secret and her lover safe? It’s the year 2202. Earth is grossly overpopulated and seriously polluted. Rita Songworth has spent halfher twenty-two years trying to escape the dying planet. It’s taken the last five ofthose years to realize making it in the hardass infantry is her only way out, via space transporter Earth Ship Siren. But the journey to Unity, the new colony, isn’t easy. Rita has to resist an attraction to hard, brutish prisoner, Tristan MacFallan, whose masterful hands create more than the beautiful art he’s been assigned to make. His forbidden touch affects her profoundly and he sees things in her no man ever has before. But obeying Zane, her ex-lover and malicious lieutenant, who is appointed to keeping the prisoners under guard, comes at a high price. Is she willing to sacrifice everything to keep her secret and her lover safe? [Blurb from Goodreads]

**Potential triggers: Physical/Sexual abuse towards women**

I am a sucker for ships traversing beyond the known universe to find a new place for humans, so when I read the blurb I was pretty excited. Unlike other stories I have read, this ship purposefully carried prisoners, not just people with either the money, precious perishable skills, good genes, or the known ability to reproduce. Granted the prisoners were supposed to provide hard labor and were viewed as disposable, but they had the opportunity for a new start if they survived their sentences. I really wanted to like this story but unfortunately several elements didn’t work for me, one of which was the length. At less than a hundred pages, the complexity of the setting—backstories of the main characters and their conflicts—seemed delivered more through telling instead of showing, which left me doubting the emotional arcs, connections between characters, and their motivations.

Rita was in the hard-ass infantry and should have had some inner strength to survive so I didn’t understand why she initially became involved with Zane and how, given his treatment of her, she could easily trust someone else intimately. I also didn’t understand how Zane could have so much power, not just shipboard but in forming the complement of people transported on the ES Siren. Tristan was also a contradiction, convicted as a dangerous felon and therefore subject to additional restrictions, but given extra benefits to preserve his talent as a gifted artist until he crossed Zane. I was glad to see Rita finally start to stand up for herself and what she wanted, but it was also evident Zane did not have any limits to what he would do when thwarted. Zane was also able to influence or scare others into doing what he wanted in his place. Since Rita made her move publicly, I really had the sense this story was left unfinished because, given Zane’s characterization so far, I couldn’t see him leaving Rita and Tristan alone. Yours to Uncover had a lot of promise and possibility but sadly I was never able to completely buy into the characters, their motivation, emotional connections, and the intricacies of this shared world. I also had a severe issue regarding the lack of consequence for Zane and his actions. It made me think much less of those he worked for and really concerned for the success of the colony.

I give Yours to Uncover a D.

Yours to Command: ES Siren #2 (Shona Husk) Review by The Book Pushers

He would do anything to protect her, ifonly she’d let him. Corporal Sienna Jade wasn’t given a choice about joining the mission to Unity. Seen as a troublemaker after reporting an assault by a senior officer, the army wanted her gone. Sienna resents the army for assigning her to Earth Ship Siren, and suspects the fleet’s Unity mission will fail. But others would do anything to escape Earth… Alex Tariel knew his only chance to get a place on ES Siren was as a prisoner, so he stole water rations. As a former construction foreman, his skills make him a valuable prisoner on board, but still a prisoner unable to control his own life. Instead ofkeeping his head down, he gets involved in the fights set up for gambling privilege tokens, the only currency aboard ship among the prisoners. Getting patched up by Corporal Jade might be the best thing that’s happened to Alex on the trip so far, but becoming her ship husband puts him between her and the lieutenant who tried to kill her for kicks on Earth. While Sienna tries to keep control ofher feelings for Alex, Alex would do anything to protect her, ifonly she’d let him. As ES Siren faces its first crisis, a little trust and love goes a long way. [Blurb from Goodreads] Yours to Command is the second in the shared world of ES Siren

following the romantic entanglements of certain individuals onboard the Siren as it travels to set up a new colony away from overly crowded Earth. Like Yours to Uncover, the central relationship involves a member of the military, a prisoner, and the bullying lieutenant Zane. I requested this story at the same time I requested Yours to Uncover because I thought the blurb looked intriguing.

Unfortunately, while I thought the characterization was a bit more complete in this installment and I thought the romance more developed, I still had some issues. Sienna, after reporting an assault by a superior officer, found herself labeled as a troublemaker and shipped off to the new colony. Even more unfortunately, one of the superior officers on-board happened to be the same individual she reported and he retaliated in several different ways. One way was by assigning her permanently as a med tech for the male prisoners, which kept her mostly isolated away from anyone, except prisoners she treated and her roommate who covered the opposite shift. Despite this, Sienna made a point to study in hopes of getting approved for specialized training and a transfer away from Zane. In addition to tormenting women who refused his advances, Zane had initiated semi-sanctioned regular fighting bouts. They were a way for prisoners to earn credits, which could buy certain luxuries, allow others to release some bloodlust or aggression, and gamble. I have been in situations where sanctioned “boxing smokers” or “grudge matches” occurred and they did relieve tension BUT they didn’t involve prisoners and everyone had to volunteer to participate. In this story the fighters were all prisoners and not all of were fighting of their own free will. Zane also proved later in the story that he was willing to use the fighters as additional retaliatory tools. Unlike the hero in the first installment, Alex became a prisoner and therefore part of the Siren’s complement by his own free will. He judged the price of being a prisoner worth the chance to live and build something away from the overcrowded and polluted Earth. He was also gambling on his technical skills and knowledge to gain a position as a valuable worker and therefore a better life than a skill-less worker. However, he came to Zane’s attention and was forced to participate in the fights, jeopardizing his goals and almost losing his life. I enjoyed the slow building trust and romance between Jade and Alex. The shift in power dynamic provided by Alex’s prisoner-with-restraints status allowed Jade to regain her sense of confidence, control, and sexuality which were damaged by Zane’s assault. Watching their encounters transition from Jade controlling every aspect to slowly giving Alex her trust and the freedom to become both an equal participant and sometimes take the lead was rewarding. I was glad to see them decide to take a chance and become “legal” partners, providing both a measure of protection. While I liked the romance, I had a bigger issue with the world. I really did not like how one evil person could have such a long-lasting negative impact on so many lives in a hierarchical structure and not have limits placed on his influence after the next rung up was made aware of his tendencies. This was the same structure who had forms/documentation in place to ensure any sanctioned relationship was entered willingly by the participants but kept Zane in control over his chosen targets. Given his pattern of behavior through the first two installments, without evidence of any sort of disciplinary action, I kept waiting for him to retaliate against those who had apparently escaped his clutches. While I like the idea of this overall shared world, for me personally the “condoned” abuses towards those in positions of less power has severely marred my enjoyment of the ES Siren and its journey.

I give Yours to Command a C.

Yours to Desire: ES Siren #3 (Denise Rossetti) Review by Psyche Skinner

The setting of this novella, a long haul space ship, feels authentic from the very first page. Not because the reader is subject to lengthy exposition but quite the reverse, from the first page each room the characters enter seems to have a palpable patina of age and use that does not cause one to wonder about all of the mechanics behind it. To begin with, the main characters seem somewhat exaggerated examples of their types—the reformed tough guy and rich nerd girl—but over the course of the story they become more convincing as the details of their personal histories emerge. The course of the romance from initial attraction, through a series of obstacles, to consummation is certainly not complex but it is essentially believable. More depth might have been added if I had read the first two books in the series but the story seemed quite complete without them. The plot is more in the nature of a traditional romance than an erotic romance—with misunderstandings, delayed consummation and matrimony. But a plot revolving about a drug that makes women uncontrollably libidinous combined with a lot of fantasies and yearning makes for an erotically charged story throughout. It might, however, have helped if a few episodes outside the romance were shared so the reader could understand what sexmeth was used for and who the victims were, to explain the obsessive nature of Lily’s research and Connor’s investigation. Lily Kwan is more convincing as a research scientist than is common in genre romance where women’s careers are often skimmed over or unconvincingly described. It is not that her work is described at the molecular level or that her approach to developing a drug antidote is at all conventional, but her haste and self-justification seem to spring from a the character’s driven mindset rather than resulting from the author glossing over difficult details. I had only two reservations about this book. Firstly [spoiler alert] the villain is given an unnecessarily hideous fate about which the ostensibly honest characters in law enforcement are completely blasé. One would hope that police characters we are meant to admire would not just shrug over a prisoner being sentenced to cruel and unusual punishment and them tortured and murdered illegally while incarcerated because they personally had decided he deserved it? [/ spoiler alert] The second is not really about the story at all but an old bugbear of mine about inaccurate covers. The main characters in the story are described as a blue/black-haired heroine of East Asian descent and a tough tattooed and dark-haired Hispanic-looking hero—but the cover shown on Amazon depicts them as a blond clean-cut Caucasian male and brunette Caucasian female. One hopes this is out of carelessness or lack of appropriate stock photos, because for readers like me, diversity is an attraction in a book and not something that needs to be white-washed away. This title is currently available at no cost from Amazon and I think that it is well worth a look if you are interested in a story that is a traditional romance at heart but set in a world that is the very opposite of the usual bonnets, breaches and fields of flowers path-to-true-love clichés.

A SPACESHIP BUILT OF STONE (Lissa Tuttle) Ian Sales Back in 1975, two authors who had yet to have novels published collaborated on a novella. It was published in Analog, was shortlisted for both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and placed first in the Locus Poll for novellas. Two more novellas followed, in 1980 and 1981, the bulk of the work apparently done by only one of the authors. The other writer, however, had since had a collection and a novel published. In 1981, a fix-up novel of the three novellas was published, the debut novel of one of the pair. In the decades since… one author had nine novel in a variety of genres and six collections published, while the other wrote a further three novels, edited a successful series of shared-world anthologies, before turning his hand to epic fantasy and becoming one of the best-selling writers in genre fiction. That 1981 fix-up novel was Windhaven and, obviously, one of its authors was Lisa Tuttle. The other was George RR Martin. And it’s a shame Tuttle’s career has not followed the same trajectory as Martin’s because she’s plainly the better of the two writers… as this collection, A Spaceship Built ofStone, plainly shows. While the stories in this collection are all science fiction, not all of them read like science fiction—they skirt the edge of genre, they flirt with genre tropes, they make use of science fiction’s toolbox but refuse to place themselves firmly in the genre landscape. And that is perhaps their greatest strength. In opening story ‘No Regrets’, a published poet returns to the university town in which she once lived fifteen years before to take up a post as a visiting lecturer. She had not been a student at the university, but her boyfriend had and she’d moved to the town to be with him. He wanted her to marry him, but she wanted to be a poet… so she left him. She is lent a house owned by the university in which to stay… and it proves to be the one she’d shared with that boyfriend of years before. Who is still at the university, but now a lecturer. The house proves to be haunted—not by ghosts, but by echoes of the life the poet might have led had she chosen to stay with her boyfriend all those years ago. And when she gets to meet her exboyfriend—now married, with two children of his own—and they discuss the life they might have lived had she stayed… Well, there’s a superb deconstruction of the ex-boyfriend’s perception of what might have happened had they actually married. Read this story not for its central premise but for the excellent way Tuttle uses it to interrogate women’s roles. Women’s roles are also central to ‘Wives’… except the wives of the title are not human, but the natives of some alien world that has been conquered by humans. The “wives” use techniques unique to their alien nature, as well as those used by human women, so as to effect the appearance their husbands desire. But Susie begins to question the role she has been forced to play: She thought about going back to her house in the settlement and wrapping herself in a new skintight and then selecting the proper dress and shoes to make a good impression on the returning Jack; she thought about painting her face and putting rings on her fingers. (p 29)

She thinks the wives should reject the parts they are playing, throw off their disguises, and return to the lives they led before the humans came. She is persuaded against this by the other wives because all that would happen… is what has already happened. It’s perhaps not the subtlest of allegories, but it makes its point forcefully and intelligently. ‘The Family Monkey’ is one of the longest stories in the collection. An alien crashlands in Texas in the nineteenth century and is taken in by a nearby family. The alien cannot talk, and its telepathy has been severely restricted by injuries sustained during the crash. Over the generations—the story is told in the voice

of one member from each generation—the alien remains with the family, and at least one member can communicate emotionally with it. Until the present day, when its fellows contact Earth and arrived to take it home. But the alien’s presence in the family has led to changes in the women—they have become more independent. One goes off to New York to study, and on her return finds the courage to stand up to her father. And another in the present day doesn’t want to go away with the alien because her telepathy makes her a freak. ‘The Family Monkey’ feels a little like two stories welded together—one set in the nineteenth century and one set in the present day—and suffers as a result. The wrasse, a brightly-coloured fish found in on the Great Barrier Reef, apparently exhibits unusual social behaviour. Each male has a harem of up to six female fish, but when the male dies, one of the female takes over his role and biologically changes sex to do so. This is the central premise of ‘Mrs T’, in which a journalist visits a woman who has discovered something important. There’s no much that is unexpected in this story, and though the writing is good its predictability makes it seem a lighter read than it is. Though the title might suggest otherwise, ‘The Bone Flute’ is one of only a few stories in A Spaceship Built ofStone which inhabits genre heartland. It is set in a sketchily-described interstellar civilisation, and involves a trip to a world that has been cut off from the mainstream of humanity for several centuries. The protagonist is a trader and has taken her toy boy, Venn, with on her trip to the world of Habille. The world is notable for the fact its inhabitants form lifelong attachments—in direct contrast to the trader and Vann. While visiting a small village, the two witness a man playing haunting music on a flute, and he later explains that the flute was made from a bone of his dead, and still much-loved, wife. Venn then falls in love with a local woman and decides to stay on Habille, despite being warned by the trader that he must remain committed to his new lover for the rest of his life (and she knows he’s incapable of doing so). A decade later, on another world, the trader is present at a recital given by a bone flute player from Habille—and it is the woman her boyfriend left her for. Venn is also present. But the flute player tells the trader that the flute is made from the bone of her dead lover… Apparently, there was some controversy around this story and its Nebula Award nomination—see here. The title story is based on one of those superb premises every genre writer wishes they had. Tuttle only skims lightly across the top of the premise, rather than interrogates it rigorously, and while she uses the same approach in some of the other stories in A Spaceship Built ofStone, here it demonstrates its effectiveness. A teaching assistant at a university is using dreams as a topic for discussion, and himself dreams of visiting a ruined city in a desert, beneath which the inhabitants are hiding in tunnels. On the bus to the university, he sits beside a young woman he finds attractive and sees that she has doodled in her sketchbook a design he remembers from his dream. They discover their dreams matched… as do a further five of his students in his class. Some time later, a new Anasazi ruin is discovered in New Mexico, and it resembles the ruined city the teaching assistant and the other dreamt. And then the Anasazi are among them, as if they had never died out, and they petition the US government for their ruined city… No one seems surprised or puzzled by this except the protagonist, who theorises about a people who use dreams to prepare their way before peacefully infiltrating Earth and becoming just one more culture on the planet.

‘The Cure’ refers to an injection designed “to stimulate and strengthen the body’s own defences against microscopic invaders” (p 128). But babies born to women who have taken the Cure prove to be without language. A woman has given birth to such a son and she appears to have lost language in sympathy. The story is addressed to the woman by her lover, who wonders if she too might end up the same but wlecomes it if it means saving their relationship. Ron has died but Felicia has paid for him to be “revived”, but in ‘The Hollow Man’ the husband who comes home from the hospital is not the man she remembers. As the title suggests, there is something missing inside him—and this is apparently true of all of those who have been revived, though their loved ones may refuse to see it. Ron originally committed suicide, but since being revived he can’t even care enough to do it again. He will go on living as a revived person because to do anything would require some sort of commitment. Again, the shape of story is hardly unexpected once the set-up has been described, but Tuttle’s story is not about Ron and his struggle to survive, it’s about Felicia and her relationship with the person she knows to be her husband. If ‘The Other Kind’ feels a little old-fashioned in plot, the sort of story that might not have looked out of place in a 1960s or 1970s sf magazine, the way the story is told certainly owes more to the New Wave. The humans on the world of Ederra live lives of plenty, waited on hand on foot by the native Ederrans, or Teddies. The aliens are not slaves, the humans tell themselves, because they work for the humans out of love. The narrator is a young man who feels at odds with his fellows humans, and is increasingly drawn to the Ederrans—even sexually. He explores his new feelings, enters into a relationship with an Ederran, and discovers that it is possible, through surgery, to become a Teddy. Except what he learns as he undergoes his transformation is not what he had believed. Perhaps the final revelation is not exactly a surprise. The final story, ‘Birds of the Moon’, is the most overtly fantastical of the stories in the collection. Amalie dreams of cold birds on the Moon, and has done since her husband Jim, an Apollo astronaut, returned from there. He is also having an affair, but when Amalie is confronted by her husband’s lover in the supermarket she knows the affair is not serious. Meanwhile, her daughter Carmen is—autistic? Amalie has lost her husband—not physically but certainly emotionally, a result of his lunar mission. Nor can her daughter connect emotionally to her, or indeed anyone else. This is what the birds are. Stories featuring astronauts, especially ones from real space programmes, I feel need to be solidly grounded in detail, because there is something extraordinary in the profession and to treat it like any other fails to make use of that. While Jim’s experiences have created the situation described in ‘Birds of the Moon’, his background doesn’t really impinge, other than providing the central metaphor and some of the imagery used to describe it. This is a story that bears rereading, but I would have preferred it be better earthed, so to speak. For a collection published in 1987 and containing stories published between 1976 and 1985, A Spaceship Built ofStone is very strong. The title story alone is worth the price of admission. Some of the others perhaps feel a little well-worn these days, though there’s no denying they’re written in classy prose and several still have power. ‘No Regrets’, ‘Wives’ and ‘Birds of the Moon’ are good, the ending of ‘The Bone Flute’ lifts it above other stories of its type, and ‘The Hollow Man’ works really well because it is not about the titular character. Jo Fletcher Books is apparently in the process of republishing Lisa Tuttle’s back-catalogue, and A Spaceship Built ofStone is already available as an ebook. I don’t know if a paperback edition is planned, but if you have an ereader then this is certainly a collection worth buying.

Science Fiction Romance and the Empire Trope Sabine Priestley When I was asked if I’d write a short piece on the Empire trope in Science Fiction Romance (SFR) I jumped at the opportunity. I’m a major fan of this trope in all its forms. First, a bit on SFR. A friend recently asked me what the difference between Sci-Fi and Sci-Fi Rom was. Not to be rude, but duh. Ok, I had to step back a bit because unless you’re a writer, maybe it’s not a bad question. Here’s the thing: a romance is going to end with, at minimum, an HFN (Happy For Now) and usually, an HEA (Happy Ever After). Pure sci-fi is usually heavy on the science and fiction. Romantic elements are generally just that—elements. This is the real world, however, and every possible mix in between exists. Unlike sci-fi, an SFR always features a central romance and has an upbeat ending. For the sake of this article I’m going to use “Federation” and other similarly constructed forms of government to fall under the empire trope because they all provide the same thing: framework and a set of built-in assumptions. I love the trope for this very reason. Is your empire on one world or does it encompass an entire galaxy? I prefer galaxy-wide for all of the technology that it inherently implies. For example, you can’t have a galaxy-wide empire without the ability to travel from one end to the other. The implied technology is a playground in which I can pick and choose where to shine my spotlight. Faster-Than-Light travel, for one. How do you get it done? Interstellar portals? Hyper drives? This speeds things up. Decisions made can have impact within weeks or days. Are you ambling around the galaxy using solar sails? Things are going to move a lot slower. Either way, pick your spaceship and travel the galaxy. You simply can’t say Empire and Science Fiction Romance in the same sentence without mentioning possibly the most famous example of our times. Can you say Star Wars? I was not quite a teen when the first movie came out and it changed my life. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up on Lost in Space and Star Trek, but nothing had the sheer magnitude of George’s Star Wars. Building a story in an empire or collection of confederations (hello Firefly, oh how I miss you) gives you parameters to work with, eliminating the need to start from scratch. The detail into which the author delves is entirely her choice. Is the empire integral to the story or simply part of the background? A good example of an SFR with an empire and hard sci-fi elements is G.S. Jennsen’s Aurora Rising books. These are substantially heavier on the technology aspect than most SFRs. The romance was key but the main characters didn’t get jiggy until 70% through the first book. I was so wrapped up in the competing and fighting factions that the light romance early on didn’t bother me (much). When it came, it came hard and fast, just the way I like it.

In Jennsen’s books, the two confederations are key, as is their animosity toward each other. Not to mention the alien race that complicates matters further. The book would fall apart without the competing confederations it was built upon. It seems unlikely that given interstellar travel, you wouldn’t, at the very least, be dealing with a group of loose confederations and, at most, an empire where the biggest and baddest simply takes what it wants. In Independence Day, aliens were coming for us because they could. ’Nuff said. Personally I think having an evil empire or corrupt government is far more interesting than the alternative. Fiction is all about tension. Setting a story in a peaceful, harmonious framework just sounds boring. When building a romance, empire-based settings also give more opportunity for conflict, especially if our main characters are from different sides of the fence. Here are some of my favorite SFRs with heavy Empire themes: >

G.S. Jennsen’s Aurora Rising series. Jennsen does a nice job of playing with the idea that an “evil empire” may simply depend upon which side you’re on. > Pippa Jay’s Tethered. This story was interesting in that it raises questions about preconceived notions, social mores, and how those can differ across societies and even species. Love, sex and death were among the top contenders. > Terminator. Not only an evil empire, but one consisting entirely of machines that were made by man. And the romance spans not only space, but time as well. > The Fifth Element. The empire trope is more implied here, but I had to add it because I flipping love this movie.

My own Alien Attachments is set in the crumbling Sandarian Empire. With the world as they know it falling apart, the main characters struggle with a bond that is equally undeniable and forbidden. If you’re looking for more, I just discovered the second set of “Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales” is now out on Kindle. Hope you enjoy it!

The Ten Best Sci-Fi Romances to Give as Gifts Anna McLain Sci-Fi Romance is extremely diverse, combining the best of science fiction with romance and hints of other genres. That makes it easy to find something for everyone this holiday season.

1. Adventure Fans – At Star’s End by Anna Hackett. 137 pgs. An archeologist, treasure hunters, and the Mona Lisa combine in a rip-roaring race through dangers and pursuit across planets in search of legendary treasures. 2. Fantasy Fans – Keir by Pippa Jay. 263 pgs. Castles, space warps and the meaning of personal destiny are swaddled in a love story where tech and talents feel like magic. 3. Mythology Fans – The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald. 416 pgs. Australian myths, a spacefaring military, and alien technology make this story of true love, sacrifice and destiny poignant and memorable. 4. Fairy Tale Fans – Ice Red (Once Upon a Red World) by Jael Wye. 230 pgs. Loosely based on Snow White, this story is about power, love, and a space elevator to a geosynchronous space station. 5. Paranormal Fans – Breakout (Blood Hunter #1) by Nina Croft. 140 pgs. In the far distant future, the vampire pilot of a starship cruiser—in a world of mortals who have discovered the expensive secret of immortality—decides to help a gorgeous woman break prisoners from the elite’s maximum security prison. And the fun begins. 6. Fans of Geekdom – Tin Cat by Misa Buckley. 102 pgs. Comic books, a cat, bank robbers and a cyborg dressed as Blade. Could a girl ask for more? 7. Anthology Fans – Tales From the SFR Brigade by various authors. 276 pgs. These diverse stories from talented Brigade authors will satisfy a short story reader’s thirst for out of this world adventures. From cyborgs to apocalypse survivors, from prisoners of war to artists, these stories feature characters overcoming out of this world issues to find love. 8. Steampunk Fans – The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell. 83 pgs. Time pirates with a twist. Stormy Gale isn’t from Earth’s future, she’s from the past. In a race to prevent the world as she knows it from unraveling due to time tampering, she must return to her own time and face issues that might change her life forever. 9. Short Story Fans – One for Kami by Charlene A. Wilson. 37 pgs. Poetically written with fleshed out characters, this story is a gorgeous gem. Kami travels across dimensions in search of true love, not knowing how close it can be. 10. For Men in Black Fans – Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch. 389 pgs. Funny, fast paced and chockfull of aliens, this series is addictive. Kitty thought she was ordinary, until she single-handedly took out a

big fugly whatever-that-was. A gorgeous male in Armani peels the layers off the onion of her life so fast that all a girl can do is blast some Aerosmith and jump in the first car of this rollercoaster adventure. Bonus! For Kitchen Sink Fans â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Apocalypse Babes series by Bella Street. Zombies, robots, vampires, werewolves, love, betrayal and the meaning of family and friendship. Nothing is quite what it seems in the full circle of the apocalypse that catches Seffy by surprise at the tanning booth. This series reads as one continuous novel with depth, growth and surprises all the way to the end. The world of Sci-fi Romance is vast and varied. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fun and fast, quirky and quiet. But running through it all is love.

Speculative Romance from Finland Magdalena Hai, Anne Leinonen, J.S. Meresmaa Although one may not be aware of it, Finland is small in area but big in female speculative writers! We touched base with a group of such writers and asked them to share their perspectives on speculative fiction, romance and "Finnish Weird". Participating in this discussion are the authors Magdalena Hai (Magdalena H), Anne Leinonen (Anne L) and J.S. Meresmaa (JSM). They all are pioneers of the Finnish science fiction and fantasy literature in their own field. All of them are also members of the publishing cooperative Osuuskumma specializing in the otherwise marginal genre of science fiction and fantasy literature.

Anne, how would you summarise the publishing landscape of speculative fiction in Finland? Anne L: The Finnish language area is small: there are only some 5 million Finnish speakers in the world. However, Finnish literature is a strong phenomenon and evokes passionate attitudes among the people. There’s been science fiction and fantasy literature in Finland since the 19th C, but its full bloom was only reached in the last twenty years. Our speculative fiction mostly exists next to mainstream fiction, competing with the same readers. Quite a lot of science fiction has also been translated into the Finnish language, and it’s always been an important part of the literary awareness of both readers and writers within the country. A tradition of commercial sf/f magazines never got formed in Finland. Science fiction has grown and advanced together with fandom, the local sf-societies, and writers’ associations. Many of those have offered publication in fanzines, and short story competitions, to writers dreaming of renown. Speculative fiction has moved closer to the mainstream; our big general publishers publish fiction regardless of the genre, with some small press publishers concentrating in speculative fiction. At the present time, there isn’t any strong domestic production of romantic fiction in Finland, and the genre of “science fiction romance” simply doesn’t exist. Where science fiction does include romantic relationships and passionate encounters, those may have sometimes a significant, sometimes a minor, role in the story. As a group, what have you written that may have relevance to SFwRE [Science Fiction with Romantic Elements]? Magdalena H: My main work during the last few years has been the steampunk trilogy Gigi ja Henry (Gigi and Henry); its third volume Susikuningatar (The WolfQueen) was published in August 2014. I have also written a children’s picture book and several short stories. I wouldn’t necessarily describe romance as being the main feature of my work, but it is always part of the story. I like to write about the encounters between characters, and these often involve romance, erotism and love as a natural element. After all, love is a big part of our lives! In my stories love often appears as a thing that sustains the characters and gives them comfort. For instance in my short story Siivekäs mies Isaac (The Winged Man Isaac) two protagonists, who have undergone great hardships and lost practically everything that matters to them, meet each other in

the middle of a violent urban war. On the other hand, sometimes the love that I describe can be a little twisted, as in my short story Vaskimorsian (The Brass Bride), where a man cannot cope with his fiancée’s death, but reawakens her as a machine. (The story is a tribute to the sf and horror classics of the 19th C.) In the Gigi and Henry series, on the other hand, I wanted to write about the experience of first love. I think first love is one of the most significant loves in a person’s life. Gigi and Henry are best friends, who both fall in love, separately, for the first time during the series. In Gigi’s case, I wanted to catch the innocence of a very young love. When Gigi meets Naseem, she’s only 12 years old, and doesn’t actually understand that she’s in fact falling in love. It was challenging to write the story of Gigi and Naseem in a way that celebrates the strength and intensity of first love. First love is important. Everybody remembers their first kiss. Henry, however, is older when he falls in love, and his feelings are the true, more mature love of a young man. It was very different to write about Henry’s love, perhaps also because the story did not end well. I felt very cruel writing it. JSM: I have written three epic fantasy novels and a trilogy of novelettes representing erotic picaresque fantasy. I’ve also published several short stories. Here I’d like to mention a romantic story of woman pilot meeting a saboteur in a post-apocalyptic future, and two steampunk short stories set in an alternative history Paris, Augustine and Alexandre. I’ve also edited steampunk anthologies. Ann L: I’ve specialized in shared authoring, and together with Eija Lappalainen we have written a series of novels called Routasisarukset (The Frost Siblings). It is an ecological sf-dystopy set in the 2300s Europe. In this future world, adoptions and polyamoric relationships are the basis of human relations. Of my own personal creations I might mention the novel Viivamaalari (The Line Painter), where even the mating relationships are decided by lottery. My short stories often include fatal love relationships, which generally have no happy ending.

LOL. Why is that? Is it hard to write an ending of “happily ever after”? Magdalena H: I don’t think it’s any harder than an unhappy ending. I live intensely with my characters, whatever their fate, good or bad. I also believe that well-constructed characters will support the story plausibly up to the end; one could even say that a character that’s sufficiently alive and real will define how her/his story will end. S/he can only make certain choices and react in a certain way. JSM: It happens. Sometimes, when writing, you notice that a superhappy ending would disintegrate the story line, but on the other hand, it might be a slap in the reader’s face if there’s no happy ending—that’s what is expected in a romance, after all. But when you’ve started with the expectation of writing a romantic story that leaves the reader in bliss, you’ve got to redeem your promise. Often, however, it’s just a question of where to end the story. The story form also affects this: in a concise short story it’s easy to keep a light tone, but with novels you’ll often go so much deeper that surprises will be the rule rather than an exception. Ann L: Especially in my short stories, love and romance often motivate the action, and will even lead to tragic consequences. In novel-length stories I’ve had the patience to construct happier endings. In my recent novel of alternate history and future, Ilottomien ihmisten kylä (The Village ofthe Dour People), a budding romance is the central factor in the protagonist’s decisions.

Magdalena and J.S., if you don’t mind me saying so, you both use a pseudonym, and you are known for your steampunk cosplay. How important is it to the both of you to engage yourself personally as authors, in order to create the atmosphere of the story? MH: To me, the milieu and the world are of primary importance for the story. They have to feel authentic. That requires a personal involvement. On the other hand, one can always ask how much this kind of approach to writing comes from just being the kind of person I am? I do everything wholeheartedly. Using a pseudonym to write is part of that personality trait. When I take the role of an author, I become slightly a different person. Perhaps by separating my author self from my everyday self, I’m able to jump in to things and situations where my everyday self would tread cautiously. An author has to be able to engage herself totally, because what touches the writer’s heart, will also touch the reader’s. What fascinates me in steampunk is the blending of the literature and the aesthetics. I can both write steampunk and apply it visually in my own life. On the other hand, to some extent writing steampunk stories and steampunk cosplay are separate areas in my life, since the dressing-up is connected to doing things with my hands and being interested in the cultural history of the 19th century, while my writing is based on my longer “career” as a reader and writer of science fiction. JSM: To me a writer’s job seems rather two-sided : there are the long, lonely phases of writing, and there are the public performances which the publishers and the books demand. The transitions between a social and an asocial state sometimes feel burdensome. I’ve noticed that to clearly assume an author’s role eases the transition. Writing is a very private state, and a role is necessary when you meet the outside world. Dressing-up, engaging yourself wholly and maintaining a sense of play reinforce the role. And since being a writer isn’t my only job, it seems especially important to separate the professional roles. Dressing-up and fooling about also help to create collegial community spirit and one’s public image as a writer, but I don’t think that they’d have anything special to do with writing or creating a story. The stories are born from an internal necessity, and the writer’s public role is an external necessity. The person however stays the same, whatever the role. This year, the Finnish literature had a prominent place in the Frankfurt Book Fair. For instance such authors as Johanna Sinisalo, Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen and Emmi Itäranta are accessible in English. What do you see as the special features of the Finnish science fiction genre? MH: I think the strength of the Finnish science fiction lies in its credible and distinctive characters and in the inherent strangeness caused by being, on some level, outsiders. The Finns are a small, separate nation, different linguistically and culturally even from our closest neighbours, the Scandinavian countries and Russia. We are used to looking at things from the outside, as observers. We also have a historically strong ideal of an equal society, and though there’s still need for improvement, women have for a long time been equal and visible actors in the Finnish society. Therefore Finnish prose, and especially the speculative fiction, has strong female characters in abundance (whatever the writer’s gender), and the portrayal of gender and ethnicity is rather pluralistic, unaffected and smooth. JSM: It’s quite a challenge to approach this topic from the inside: when you belong to the group of writers yourself, all comparisons are necessarily rather subjective. Offhand I’d say that the Finnish speculative

fiction exhibits a highly literary style of expression—and it’s very ambitious. Actually, very little of the kind of science fiction that aims for light entertainment has been written here. At the moment, however, the field of speculative writers has spawned a crowd of active writers who also want to publish stories that are more playful, humorous and unashamedly entertaining. I’ve also observed that merely the Finnish way of seeing and thinking about things may, from the standpoint of a foreigner, produce a strangeness and charm which a Finnish reader wouldn’t even notice. As if something we perceive as realistic, another reader would consider basically fantastic. MH: Our science fiction is alive and versatile also because the country’s overall level of education is quite high and we are technologically oriented as a people. Johanna Sinisalo in her book Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi (Not before Sundown) caught hold of something very essential about Finland and the Finns: We are a people of bright-eyed futurists in troll-skins.

I like that comparison! You are all members in the small press cooperative Osuuskumma (“Co-op Weird”). What kind of texts does it publish, and how do you assess the significance of this publishing activity? MH: Osuuskumma was founded to meet the need for high-quality Finnish speculative fiction for adults. As a consequence of the genre categories traditional in the publishing field, most big publishers even today quite automatically categorize speculative fiction as YA-literature or literature for younger readers. This affects the kind of fiction that is published, and how the selected manuscripts are revised to suit different target groups. We wanted to offer a publication channel for the more marginal manuscripts of speculative fiction aimed for adult readers, including professional editing, cover design and distribution channels. Osuuskumma publishes annually several thematic anthologies, plus some 2-3 short story collections or individual novels. We publish a wide spectrum of speculative fiction: science fiction, alternative history, steampunk, fantasy and new-weird. So far our only translated publication (from English) has been The Jaguar and the Butterfly, a wonderful collection of six short stories by Aliette de Bodard. Ann L: The small press activity broadens the Finnish publishing field. Since large prints or profit are not the goal, there is room for marginal voices to be heard. The authors have also become active doers, who themselves find out about the professional practices of publishing—and try to change them after due consideration. For instance, Osuuskumma has taken the line of publishing e-books cheap and DRM-free. JSM: The publishing programme includes diverse formats from drabbles [short pieces offiction exactly one hundred words in length --Ed.] to full-length novels, but at the moment we are probably best known for our quality anthologies. Our writers have been well represented on the shortlists of “The Year’s Best Short Story”; during our two years of existence, even the winners have come from our anthologies. Since Osuuskumma is a cooperative, it mainly publishes the texts of its members, but that’s by no means automatic. We have our own Editorial Board that chooses only the best of the submitted manuscripts. One of our core functions is to help our members’ professional development of their literary career. Small-press publishing is very rewarding, though it takes a lot of willpower and tenacity. It has its own freedom, when you can actively participate in the group and know that you’ll get both candid feedback and support even for the crazier projects. There’s freedom to experiment and to try different things. For

instance, Osuuskumma offers a drabble-service, where the subscriber receives a drabble twice a week by email, plus at the end of the year a printed anthology of the published drabbles. We’ve also made drabble postcards and organized steampunk parties, where people have constructed steampunk poems and engaged in drabble battles! It’s especially great to work with so many gifted and enthusiastic persons. There’s power in the people!

I see that one product of Osuuskumma is the speculative romantic magazine, Ursula. Please tell us more about it. MH: Ursula is a biannual e-zine of short stories concentrating on romantic speculative fiction. It’s free of charge, and anybody may submit their stories to the editors. We wish to encourage new rising talents to publish their texts through this medium, and on the other hand, perhaps even invite new readers to try some “weird fiction”. JS: Ursula is our common effort to present light romantic speculative fiction to the readers. It’s getting harder and harder to get a short story published in the printed zines—there are too many good short stories compared to the space available in them—and particularly the short stories with a light tone and happy ending find it hard to compete with the more serious ones. Ursula also functions as a display window to our publishing. Ann L: I see Ursula as an important part of our sf-fandom’s publishing tradition, but also as an innovator. So far, e-books haven’t been a great success in Finland. That’s partly caused by the pricing policy (an e-book often costs no less than a hard-back print), partly because the hardware basis is so heterogeneous it slows the introduction of e-books. Ursula accustomes the readers to take up fiction in the e-book form—and at the same time, it offers a much needed publishing channel to the short stories. What are your thoughts on more romantic science fiction being published in Finland? Do you think it’s feasible for such stories to be translated into English? And, given such an assignment, what kind of books would you three write within the genre? MH: Romantic science fiction (with special emphasis on the romance) would indubitably be something new. In Finland we do already have loads of novels in the romantic fantasy and paranormal romance genres, but I think traditionally we are still used to thinking about those genres as “the romantic kind” of speculative fiction, while science fiction is perceived in a straight technological frame. But one might suppose that especially the new, up-and-coming generation of writers has fewer prejudices than the previous, and they might also see a possibility for romance in science fiction. The popularity of steampunk in its part will surely upset and perhaps even break some of these invisible psychological barriers. I believe that Finnish speculative fiction would have a lot to give on the literary market were it translated more. Science fiction is based on new scenarios and fresh points of view, and I’d bet we have those to offer. I hope, that with the publicity Finland received in the Frankfurt Book Fair, more and more foreign publishers will find their way to the high quality Finnish science fiction.

JSM: Of course it should be published more, as long as it’s of high quality. There’s never enough of good literature, and I think that a variety of supply will serve all the actors in the field at the end (even if its abundance sometimes feels frustrating!). Certainly more books ought to be translated into English: though the native English supply already is huge and varied, it wouldn’t do any harm to get additional and different tones considering also the ethnic background. I usually have several different writing projects going on, and one of them is a romantic science fantasy adventure of a group that is saved from a burning spaceship and is threatened by an inevitable death in an escape pod. It’s a rather traditional thriller in a closed space, where the secrets and emotions make people behave unpredictably. Ann L: Osuuskumma’s Ursula might well produce an edition concentrating on SFR. Perhaps we’ll all three write something for it? So far, however, Ursula is only available in Finnish, and our work still awaits translation. Anne, Magdalena and JS, thank you very much for sharing your opinions with us. For those readers who will be in/near Europe next summer, there will be a Nordic con called ARCHIPELAGON at Åland (an island between Finland and Sweden). Nordic fiction will be heavily represented. For the con, there will be a new edition ofthe web-zine Usva, where you will be able to read both Magdalena’s and J.S.’s short stories in English. A short story by Anne is available in an earlier English-language edition ofUsva. And let’s not forget that the Finns have made a bid for the Worldcon 2017 in Helsinki! We wish them all the best with that! Advertisement

Sneak Peek For our very first SNEAK PEEK feature, we're delighted to host Anna Hackett. If you've been browsing the NEW RELEASES for this issue, you'll see that Anna has been working very hard indeed over the past few months. She writes the kind of edge-of-your-seat SFR that enthralls fans and keeps us coming back for more. For your reading pleasure, here are the first two chapters of On a Rogue Planet. Take it away, Anna!

On a Rogue Planet (Anna Hackett) Release Date: 17 November 2014 Publisher: Anna Hackett Available formats: All digital formats Price: $3.99 URL: annahackettbooks.com/books/the-phoenix-adventures ~ Official Document ~ Centax Security - Planet ofCentax CenSec Record #5A69312-B Subject: Training Acceleration for Trainee X941 - Xander Saros

It is the recommendation of the Centax Security Enhancement Team that the training for security trainee X941, Xander Saros, be accelerated. The trainee shows physical and mental abilities that far outstrip all security trainees—past and current. His ability to absorb bio-mechanical enhancements has never before been seen. The trainee is of a much younger age than our protocol for accelerated enhancement allows, and at risk of emotional deadening, but the Enhancement Team believes the reward far outweighs the risks. We recommend he be removed from his family unit into the care of Security. He will truly be the crowning glory of the CenSec program. We cannot allow anything to jeopardize his training and abilities.

Chapter One

She loved the smell of starship fuel. Malin Phoenix grinned to herself and hitched up the well-worn tool belt around her waist. She took another deep breath, breathed in the fuel and the scent of metal and engine grease. Mmm. What more could a girl want? She also loved the salvage yard at Haxx. The capital city of the planet of Centax had such good stuff. She spun slowly, eyeing the hulks of retired starships, the engines of smashed planetary transports and…a few wrecks even she couldn’t identify. Ooh. She spotted an intact Centaxian Infiltrator. She crouched and ran a hand over the side of its dark, obsidian hull. It only seated one pilot and was made to go in fast and stealthy. Centax was renowned throughout the galaxy for designing some of the best tech-starships, computer systems, armor and

biological enhancements. The Infiltrator was a beauty and she wanted it. Mal stood and swiped her hands on her coveralls—only to remember she wasn’t wearing her coveralls since she wasn’t at home in her salvage yard on Khan. She stared at the grease stain on her tan cargo pants. Oopsie. With a shrug, she grabbed her personal Sync communicator off her belt. She had a buyer who’d pay top e-cred for the Infiltrator’s shield system. She tapped the screen, adding the Infiltrator to her list. Her long list. Stars, she loved going on salvage trips. She smiled again. Okay, she also loved being at home in her starship graveyard, stripping parts, tinkering with engines, and arguing with her cousins. But her father had put a love of wandering in her blood. A pang hit under her ribs. It had been four years since he’d died and she still missed him so much. But she also knew he’d be thrilled she’d found a home with her rough-andtumble, treasure-hunter cousins. She pictured them now. Her oldest cousin, Niklas would be in his study, hunched over a console studying some sort of ancient historical record. He had astro-archeology running through his blood. Her cousin Dathan and his wife, Eos would be either arguing or locked in their bedroom. And the youngest of the Phoenix brothers, Zayn, was off-world, spending his honeymoon with his bride, Ria, amongst the waves of the beach resort world of Duna. Mal rubbed a hand between her breasts. A year ago she’d never have guessed that two of her macho cousins would be married. And so in love. She sighed. Damn it, she envied them. She was so happy for them but—she glanced around the salvage yard, at the silent hulks of ships and engines—it underscored her own aloneness. “Phoenix.” The gruff voice made her turn. The salvage yard superintendent, Traxan, was stomping toward her with his young offsider, whose name she’d forgotten. With a shake of her head, Mal threw off her melancholy. Centaxians were a tall race with dark hair and skin, thanks to the close proximity to their sun. Their skin tone ran the spectrum from Traxan’s spacedark ebony to his offsider’s deep bronze. But what interested her most were the circular metal implants visible on both men’s necks. The Centaxians intrigued her as much as the scrap around her. Centax was a cyborg planet. Man and machine, implants and enhancements to increase strength, speed, brain function and who knew what else. Centaxians had made enhancements a way of life. “You finished deciding what you want?” Traxan growled. If Traxan were a starship, he’d be a battered starfreighter. An older model. Bulky-looking, full of quirks, but always reliable. “Yep, Trax.” She held up the Sync. “Got the list here. Hey, how’s Xalla and your son?” Traxan’s plain face softened for a second. “Pax was accepted into the Xeon Academy here in Haxx. Starship design. Xalla’s proud as a Deltan hen. He’s also just received his first enhancement.” Malin knew enhancements were a source of pride here. Most kids got their first around sixteen. “Congratulations.” Trax took the Sync from her and handed it to the younger man without looking at it. “Laxon, get what Ms. Malin wants loaded onto her ship. And make it quick.” Malin watched the younger man’s face. It was far less expressive than Traxan’s. But Laxon had far more implants and—if she wasn’t mistaken from his gait—mechanical legs. She’d heard that the more enhancements Centaxians had, the less they felt. That all that tech dampened their emotions.

Mal shivered at the horrible thought. Maybe once or twice in her life she’d wished for the ability to not feel, to numb the pain and hurt. She’d had her heart trampled on more times than she liked to admit—but she knew she’d never permanently give up feeling for anything. Without the lows, you couldn’t experience the highs life had to offer. She focused back on Laxon. If he were a ship, he’d be a newer-model freighter. No quirks for him. Touch the control and he’d do exactly what was asked. As if to prove her right, Laxon spun without a word and went to do his boss’s bidding. “Trax, as always, it’s a pleasure doing business with you. I’ll transfer the e-creds into your account and—’ she waggled her eyebrows “—have your man offload that sweet Argylian scoutship you wanted.” Traxan’s lips quirked. “You do know how to tempt a man, Ms. Malin.” If only that were true. Her stomach turned sour. How long had it been since she’d dated, let alone had a good, sweaty session between the sheets? She had zero ability to tempt a man. Aston ’son of a bitch’ Granger certainly wouldn’t agree with Traxan. The charming, cheating salvage dealer had been only too happy to cheat on her and then dump her. She’d thought he’d loved her. Boy, had she been wrong. And before Aston, it had been Ben and before him, Tarr. All of them had taken great pleasure in showing her just how easy it was to walk away from her. Mal squashed her thoughts. Hard and ruthlessly. She wasn’t going to give Aston, or the others, another wasted thought. But Aston’s words echoed in her head. A man doesn’t want a woman with grease under her nails, Malin. No one likes a woman who smells like starship fuel and whose wardrobe is filled with coveralls. I don’t feel anything for you, Malin.

Snotty bastard. She straightened. Better off without them, Mal. She managed another smile for Trax, but inside she wondered if she’d ever find a love like her parents had shared. Her father had pined for his dead wife until the day he died. Just once, Malin wanted to be the center of someone’s universe. “Trax, I—” An explosion in the distance had them both spinning. Mal saw a huge, mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke rising above the central part of Haxx. Her pulse tripped. “What in stars’ name—?” Trax was frowning. “An accident, maybe.” Haxx was a beautiful city. Graceful towers of glass and metal speared into the sky, wide at their bases and tapering to elegant points high above the ground. In between were the lower academy buildings where the planet’s designers worked and trained their apprentices. The academies were sprawling structures of gleaming white, with rounded metallic domes. There was a roar as a formation of black Infiltrators screamed overhead. “Ms. Malin, something is very wrong. I think you should get back to your ship—” Another explosion. Not very far away. The ground beneath them shook and Malin grabbed onto the ruined ship beside her to stay on her feet. Laser fire sounded. Really close. Inside the salvage yard. “Go!” Trax yelled as he sprinted toward the sounds of fighting. Crap. Mal spun and raced back toward the small landing pad beside the salvage yard where her baby—a

Norian starfreighter she’d named the Firebird—was waiting. She ducked around the wrecks and engines, running as fast as she could. She was in good shape—she yanked parts off ships, swung tools and lifted heavy things every day—but she heard the distinctive sound of laser fire getting closer, accompanied by deep shouts of multiple men in a guttural language her lingual implant didn’t recognize. She stopped and pressed her back against the rusting hull of a ship that had obviously been in the yard longer than she’d been alive. Air sawed in and out of her lungs. What the hell was going on? Centax was an orderly planet and they had Centax Security. No one messed with CenSecs. Everyone in the galaxy had heard of the deadly, emotionless CenSecs—heavily enhanced cyborgs, they were said to be faster, stronger and more intelligent. The ultimate fighters. Nobody was crazy enough to go up against CenSecs. Sudden silence. Okay, the laser fire had stopped. Time to get out ofhere. She took one step and then was jerked backward. Strong, black-clad arms wrapped around her and she was yanked back against a hard body. Mal went wild. A childhood spent traveling the galaxy with her father as he collected scrap meant her dad had taught her to protect herself. She shoved an elbow back, which met with a rock-hard abdomen. She dropped her weight, twisting as she did, trying to break his hold. His arms were unyielding. He was strong. Too strong. “Be still.” A quiet, lethal whisper that raised the hairs on her arms. She opened her mouth to scream. A gloved hand slammed over her mouth. She twisted and struggled, but he dragged her back, inside the hulk of the rusted ship. He pulled her down, his big body surrounding hers to hold her in place. He felt hot, far hotter than a regular man. With his other hand, he pointed out into the scrapyard. When she saw what he pointed at, she stopped moving. A huge man, a fricking giant, stalked into view. He was at least six foot eight, with shoulders as wide as a planet and legs like starship landing struts. His skin was mottled with dark stripes that made her think of the pelts of the hunting cats on Panthon Prime. His head was bald and when he lifted his face, she saw strong features and… stars, fangs. And he was…sniffing? The man behind her loosened his grip on her mouth. “Stay silent.” A near-soundless murmur against her ear. The warmth of his breath made her shiver. His other hand rested near her hip, two fingers touching her hip bone. A touch that seared through her. She wasn’t sure if he was ordering her or asking her, but when she nodded, he moved his hand away. Suddenly, the giant stiffened and let out a sound caught between a yell and a roar. Then he looked right at their hiding spot. The man behind Mal went unearthly still. Her heart thundered in her chest. They were going to die. Then the man brushed past her and launched himself at the giant. A lean, black bullet moving so fast he was a blur. Mal gasped, helpless to do anything but watch the deadly fight in front of her.

The man hit the giant with the force of a falling meteor. He was tall, but not as tall as the giant, and far leaner. There was no way he could match the enormous beast-man. Heart lodged in her throat, she glanced around, trying to find an escape route. A roar from the giant made Mal jerk. The beast-man was going down, the man in black moving, somersaulting over the giant and landing back on his feet. He straightened and Mal finally got a good look at him. Holy Stars. He was probably six foot three with wide shoulders narrowing to lean hips, all encased in a space-black uniform. On one shoulder was a silver insignia of a mechanical cog. The circular silver implant set in his temple told her he was Centaxian. But that face…he was gorgeous with sharp, lean features set off by short black hair and dark-bronze skin that gleamed in the sunlight. All his focus was on the giant pulling himself to his feet, shaking his head. The Centaxian flexed his gloved hands but was otherwise still. The giant lowered his head and charged. The Centaxian didn’t react. “Move, damn you,” Mal muttered, clenching her hands together. At the last second, the man sidestepped and the giant raced past. Then the Centaxian turned and the fight started for real. He was methodical. Kicks and hits landed with precision and all of them hard and unforgiving. The giant staggered, never finding his balance and never once getting a direct hit on the man. Another enraged roar filled the air before the giant charged again. This time in her direction. Mal held her breath. Stars save her. The giant slammed into the hull of the starship, setting it rocking. Dust and shards of metal rained down on her, but she forced her quivering body to stay where it was. Even though she wanted to run. Really wanted to run. Dazed, the giant shook his head. If he looked up, he’d see her. Beyond her attacker, the Centaxian leaped into the air, higher than any normal man should be able to. He slammed down on the giant’s back. He looked directly at her and their gazes locked. His eyes were concentric bands of emerald green and burnished gold. Like nothing she’d ever seen before. Long, dark lashes ringed those amazing eyes. But his beautiful face was blank. Empty of everything. No emotion. Nothing. Frighteningly emotionless. He pressed a palm down on the giant’s neck and then the green in the Centaxian’s eyes lit up and turned neon. Like the lights on a cockpit control console. She felt a rush of power fill the air. The giant convulsed, his back arching, a groan of pain ripping from his throat. The Centaxian landed back on his feet, bending his knees slightly to absorb the impact. He stared at the giant without any expression. The giant collapsed and didn’t move. Then the Centaxian turned and headed in Mal’s direction. She stayed crouched where she was, panic threatening. Why the hell did she feel more frightened now? The Centaxian had saved her. But he’d just taken out a giant warrior without even breaking a sweat or showing a single emotion on his aristocratic face.

Whatever enhancements he had, it was more than just that deceptively simple silver disc at his temple. Mal watched him come, barely realizing she’d pulled her multi-tool off her belt and flicked on the laser cutter. Her fingers clenched around it. The man stopped nearby. “Come out.” His voice was even, calm, not giving anything away. She watched him for a second and realized his eyes were back to normal, the eerie green glow was gone. Mal ducked out of the wreck and stood. She saw the man’s gaze move to the laser cutter, then come back to her face. She drew in a deep breath. “Thank you. Uh…I’m—” “Malin Phoenix.” Oh. “You know who I am.” “Yes.” Chatty guy. “You ever speak more than two words?” “Yes.” Mal waited but he didn’t say anything else. Right. “I was here—” “You have a salvage license for Centax.” She saw his eyes flicker, realized he was accessing those records at that very moment. Amazing. “You have me at a disadvantage. I have no idea who you are.” “Centax Security.” A CenSec. A shiver snaked through her. She’d already guessed as much but had secretly hoped it wasn’t true. No one wanted to run into the galaxy’s deadliest killers. “Do you have a name?” A pause. “Yes.” She waited, suppressed the frustration bubbling in her chest. “Are you going to tell me?” “Xander Saros.” Xander. Yep, it suited him. He looked like a Xander. “What the hell is going on?” “A coup.” “A coup?” Shock was a punch to her stomach. “Who the hell would try and take over Centax?” And take on this scary cyborg and the other CenSecs like him? “No time for explanations. More like him—” a nod at the dead giant “—will be on their way.” “Right.” She didn’t want to face anymore giants. “Starfreighter.” She blinked. “What?” “Starfreighter. You have one.” “Yes—” “I need it.” He wrapped a hand around her bicep and started pulling her toward the landing pads. “Now hang on! I plan on getting off-planet. Right now.” “As do I.” Stars. She was practically jogging to keep up with him. She tried to pull her arm away, but wasn’t surprised she couldn’t budge a single centimeter. “Look, I’d like to help…but don’t you have an entire security force? And far better starships than my freighter?”

Her question hung in the air, unanswered, as another giant stepped into their path from behind abother junker. A nasty grin spread over the giant’s rugged face. He lifted a small pistol that glowed blue along the barrel. Xander froze for a second. Then he shoved her behind him, so hard she stumbled. There was a whine of an energy weapon. Mal saw blue electricity race over Xander Saros’ body. He didn’t collapse but he dropped heavily to his knees, his arms hanging by his sides. In front of him, the giant’s gaze fixed on Malin, his grin widening, baring his fangs. The breath left her lungs in a rush. Oh, shit.

Chapter Two Malin took a step closer to her rescuer. “Xander?” She looked down and saw that neon green flickering wildly in his eyes. Just like a console with a loose connection. Shit. “Run.” His tone was hard, authoritative. But there was a hint of something else in his voice. She noticed the slight sheen of perspiration on his brow and the fine tension in his shoulders. He was in pain. Whatever the giant’s weapon was, it had messed him up. She glanced back at the giant and her stomach dropped to her knees. He hadn’t moved, but stood there, watching, looking at her like he wanted her to run. So he could chase her down. She stepped up beside Xander, her laser cutter clutched in her hand. Xander glanced at the cutter and his brows drew together for the briefest instant. “Did you hear me?” he growled. “Yes.” Xander blinked slowly. Poor tough guy. Probably wasn’t used to anyone disobeying orders. Too bad. She might be scared out of her brains, but she wasn’t leaving him here to die. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted the giant was still not moving, just rocking on his heels. Was he trying to psych them out? Toying with them? Xander’s gaze lingered on her throat where she knew her pulse was fluttering like an out-of-control avian droid. “But…you’re afraid,” he said. She tightened her grip on the laser cutter. “Thanks for the pep talk.” He blinked again. “You are either very brave or very stupid.” “I’d prefer to go with brave…but I’m actually neither.” “He outweighs you by a hundred and fifty-seven standard pounds.” He could tell how much she weighed? “I said, enough with the pep talk. Now quit distracting me.” She forced herself to focus solely on the giant. The giant reached behind his neck and there was the scraping sound of metal on leather. He pulled a

wicked sword from a scabbard on his back. It was a dark, glassy color with jagged edges. Great. Mal tried to hide her dismay. “I will bathe in your blood,” the giant said with a wide grin, his words harsh and heavily accented. “A sword? You had to have a fricking sword.” Mal shook her head. “My day is going rapidly downhill.” Beside her, Xander gathered himself then lurched upward, managing to get one foot under him. With a roar, the giant started in their direction. His yellow gaze was now on Xander. Oh, no you don’t. Malin remembered everything her dad had taught her about fighting dirty. She took two steps forward and ducked low. She swiped out with the laser cutter. And ran the golden laser against the giant’s heel, severing his Achilles’ tendon. With a bellow, the big man spun, taking his weight off his damaged leg. He swung out with his wicked sword. Xander managed to push upright and slam Malin out of the way. She felt the whoosh of air as the blade passed close to them. Really close. “Again,” Xander told her. She dropped again and swiped at the giant’s other heel. This time he dropped to the ground on his knees. Surprise was stamped across his face. With a quick, almost dainty move, Mal bounded to her feet and stabbed the laser cutter into the giant’s thick neck. Blood the color of Regalian sapphires spilled out, splashing down his chest. Then he pitched forward and fell in an ungainly heap on the ground. She’d killed someone. Oh, stars. She couldn’t deal with the thought right now. Wasn’t going anywhere near it until she was safely back on her ship. No, until she was back on Khan. Or maybe she’d never think about it. She moved back to Xander’s side. “Time to go.” She wedged a slim shoulder under his arm and helped him to his feet. Jesus, he weighed a ton. “Put your arm over my shoulders.” He towered over her. Her shoulder didn’t reach his armpit, so she just had to press it against his hard side. Xander stared down at her for a second, like she was some foreign entity that wasn’t in his database. With obvious reluctance, he dropped his arm over her shoulders. Tough guy wasn’t used to leaning on anyone. Despite everything, Mal felt a smile tug at her lips. They moved forward, awkward at first, until they found a hobbling rhythm. “You are more muscular and a lot tougher than I’d calculated,” he said. “I’m a salvage mechanic. We’re tough stock.” They stumbled a few times and she muttered several curses under her breath. Then they tripped over some scrap steel and overbalanced. Xander fell to his knees and groaned. Mal tugged at him. “Up.” Sweat was dripping down the side of his face now and his mouth was pinched. “Can’t you block the pain?” “No. My systems…are not functioning at optimal levels.” The reluctance in his tone was front and center. She guessed kick-ass CenSecs disliked admitting weakness. “The weapon did something to you.” A nod. “It disrupts my advanced systems and implants.” “Makes you mortal like the rest of us, huh?” Those amazing green-gold eyes flicked her way. “Yes.”

“Don’t worry, tough guy. Not much farther.” She grunted. He was really heavy. “Thirty-three meters to the landing pads.” Who needed a computer to do calculations when you had a CenSec? “There she is. The Firebird.” Xander managed to lift his head. They were coming up on the salvage yard landing pads and sitting on the pad closest to them was her small starfreighter. She didn’t look like much. The Firebird’s hull was a dull, striated gray. The back was larger for cargo storage, and the front tapered to a rounded nose forming the cockpit. Mal loved every inch of her. They passed through the fence surrounding the pads. Ahead, Mal saw clouds of smoke rising above Centax. Xander made a small noise and she saw he was staring at the smoke as well. The icy look on his face chilled her. Whoever was behind this was going to pay and she suspected this cyborg would be the one collecting. Another stumble. This time Xander cursed. “Hey, keep it together a bit longer, tough guy.” Mal bumped her shoulder up against his side and tightened her arm around his middle. Damn, the man was all hard muscle under his black uniform. “Nearly there.” “Fifteen meters.” His voice was hoarse. A roar sounded behind them and they both stiffened. “Fuck.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Double fuck. Move it!” Her pulse surged, blood racing through her veins. Three giants were running in their direction. Mal and Xander managed a hobbling run toward the ship. Shit, they weren’t going to make it. The whine of laser fire sounded from nearby. Mal expected to feel the burn of it cut through her. Instead, she spotted Traxan huddled beside a starship engine, firing at the giants. The giants scattered and Mal focused on reaching the ship. At the entry, she pressed a palm to the pad beside the door and it hissed open. “Go!” They made it in. She leaned Xander against the wall to keep him upright. The giants were nearly on them. Trax was nowhere to be seen. She pressed the control and closed the door. Please stay safe, Trax. “They’ll bypass…your…security,” he barely managed to get the words out. The run had clearly taken it out of him. “They can try,” she muttered fiercely. She touched the matching pad on the inside, yanked off the cover and disconnected some wires. “We need to take off…like yesterday—” A weight hit the door, making Mal stumble back. It was followed by more thumps on the metal, and the faint sound of growls and snarling. Mal spun. "I’ll dump you in sick bay and get us off-world, then I’ll—” “No.” She blinked. "No? What do you mean no?” “Coming to…cockpit. Can help.” “Tough guy, you can’t even stay on your feet by yourself.” “I. Can. Help.” His gaze was intense. Men. She huffed out a breath. It was quicker not to argue. “Come on, then.” Again, with her shoulder in his side, they travelled the dull-gray corridors to the front of the ship.

The cockpit was open and spacious, with a large, curved viewscreen showing a burning Haxx ahead of them. She saw him take everything in. No doubt it was very different from the sleek, snug Infiltrators he was used to piloting. Freighters went longer distances and were rarely under fire, so they could be more comfortable. Four seats sat along the curved console below the viewscreen, the middle two designated for pilot and navigator. The other two were comms and engineering. “Strap in.” She helped him into the navigator’s chair. When he struggled with the straps, she reached over and clicked them in place. He stared at her hands. She knew what he saw. Short nails, callused fingers and probably the remnants of starship grease. She snatched her hands back and felt heat in her cheeks. She dropped into the pilot’s chair. The clang of metal on metal echoed through the ship. “Shit.” She reached out and touched a screen. It flashed to life, and showed camera footage of the ship’s entrance. The giants were attempting to batter their way in with a ram. “Engines,” Xander said. She didn’t argue. Her hands began a frantic dance across the screens. Moments later, the engines roared to life. Xander’s eyes narrowed on the command console. “Not standard.” “Nope.” She plotted their course. “Not much is standard. I’ve added a few enhancements.” His gaze moved to her and stayed there for a long moment. “Hidden depths.” “You betcha. Now, hold on.” She touched the controls and the ship lifted off. As they rose, she executed a quick turn. Her baby was a lot more maneuverable than a standard Norian freighter. The viewscreen gave another glimpse of Haxx and the thick plumes of smoke rising above the academies. Xander’s hands clenched on the armrests of his chair but his face was its usual blank mask. Then they shot forward. Fast. “Engines aren’t standard either,” he said. She turned her head and grinned. “Nope.” He studied her for a long moment before focusing again on the viewscreen. “Five minutes and we’ll clear atmo.” She checked the engine power levels. “Then we’ll get the hell out of here.” But the sudden wailing of an alarm made them both tense. “Fuck!” Mal leaned to the left, flicking at various touchscreens. “Incoming.” She looked his way. “Squadron of Infiltrators.” He slammed a fist against the console so hard he dented the metal. “Hey! Don’t damage my ship.” She pushed his hand off the console. “Can you contact them? Call them off.” “They are not under Centaxian control. The mercenaries have seized control of the Security spaceport.” Not good. Mal chewed on her lip. “You telling me those giants are flying those Infiltrators?” “Most likely.” “Shit.” She tapped at the controls. “I’ll try and pull some extra power from—”

Another alarm sounded. This time Xander reached forward and touched the screen in front of him. “Incoming ion missile. Starboard side.” He spoke like he were giving her a weather report. “Shields are up.” “Won’t stop these missiles. They’re designed to penetrate shields.” Her stomach dropped. “What?” “New Centaxian tech.” The ship shuddered and they were both tossed forward in their seats, held in place by their straps. More alarms sounded. Mal worked furiously at the controls. “We’ve lost grav and enviro in the cargo area. No hull breach.” “Yet.” “Hey, positive attitude please.” Another hit. The ship shuddered again and this time the console to the right exploded, sparks raining over both of them. “Damn it. I’ve lost one of the engines.” Her hands flew in a blur over the controls. “We can’t take another hit.” Xander reached forward and touched his palms to the console. “What are you doing?” she bit out. He ignored her, his gaze turned inward. Once again, his eyes flared that eerie neon green. Even in the midst of chaos, she couldn’t help but stare at him. Damn, he was a handsome. Not to mention scary. “Xander—” “I’m strengthening the shields and the weapons systems.” “Your eyes-” “A sign I’m utilizing my advanced cyborg systems.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “However, they are still not fully back online. But we will get off Centax, Malin.” His voice was colder than ice. “I will do whatever is required to get us out of here.” Mal couldn’t look away from him. The luminescence of his eyes cast a glow over his black uniform. She saw the lines of pain on his face soften, and that scary blankness deepen. He looked less man and far more…something else. Another insistent alarm. She palmed the screen in front of her. “Infiltrators are coming back! Weapons are locked.” Her heart pounded in her chest like a wild animal attempting to burst free. She glanced out the viewscreen, could just see the squadron of five sleek black ships heading straight toward them. Then her ship’s lasers fired. An explosion ahead. The lead Infiltrator went down. She turned her head toward Xander. He stared straight ahead, his chest rising and falling at an even, steady pace. Her freighter’s lasers opened fire again. Looking back at the viewscreen, she saw two Infiltrators go wild, spiraling downward and out of control. The remaining two ships veered away. “Environmental controls are reestablished in the cargo area,” Xander said in a monotone. Mal slowly turned back to the man beside her.

“Unfortunately, the gravity system is damaged.” “That’s okay.” She swallowed. “So is the primary engine. I can only get thirty-five-percent power from it.” With a shake, Mal focused back on her touchscreen, confirming Xander’s assessment. “Not great. But I can still get us home on that and a functioning secondary.” “To Khan.” She stilled. “You know where I live.” “Yes.” Her lips firmed. “What else do you have in those records of yours?” “I know your cousins are the Phoenix brothers. And I need their help.” “Why?” “The mercenaries have stolen something. Something of great value to Centax. I need—” Suddenly, his body spasmed. His palms flattened against the console, his body arching forward. “We’ve lost the rear stabilizers.” Her eyes widened and suddenly the ship lurched in a sickening spiral. “Shit…shit.” Without the stabilizers, they weren’t going anywhere. She tapped the screen, trying to repair the system. Nothing. The ship veered starboard, slamming her against her straps and her shoulder into Xander’s hard body. “I can’t fix it…from here." She worked feverishly, shutting down systems they didn’t need and shunting power into the stabilizers. It didn’t work. “We’re headed toward Charox,” Xander said. Centax’s only moon. A hunk of unforgiving rock. Malin yanked her harness off, jumped up and ran toward the engineering console. She crouched, yanked off the outer cover and pulled out the cables beneath. If she could splice the navigation conduit with the stabilizer controls, maybe, just maybe, they could avoid smashing into teeny tiny pieces on Charox’s surface. But nothing she did succeeded in getting the stabilizers back online. “Damn it.” She slammed a fist against the console. “I have to go down to the engine.” It was a long shot. “Maybe if I can—” “Malin, strap in.” Xander’s voice now sounded strained. He was leaning over the command console, palms still flat against it. But his big body was straining, sweat dripping down his face. “What are you doing?” She raced over. “Strap in.” He was clearly still interfaced with her ship. “What are you—?” “Strap. In.” His words were like bullets. She sank into her chair and pulled her straps on. Slowly, the ship righted. Her lips parted and she stared at the screen. The stabilizers were back online. Not at full capacity, but enough for the ship to function.

It wasn’t possible! They were too damaged. Her gaze shot to Xander. Lines bracketed his mouth and his face was pale. He was killing himself to stabilize the Firebird. “Xander, enough.” He ignored her. She gripped his arm. “Enough!” “Almost…there.” “You’re going to kill yourself!” She heard the fear in her tone. “Enough.” She managed to yank one of his hands off the console. His body started convulsing. “Shit.” She helped him back into his chair and his head slumped forward. Please don’t be dead. She touched her fingertips to his neck. Felt a pulse. Okay, the best thing she could do for him was get them safely back to Khan. He’d nearly killed himself to get the Firebird functional again. She set a course for the Phoenix moon. Then she noticed the flashing red light on the console and her chest tightened. Damn it. Couldn’t they catch a break? Enviro was failing…not just in the cargo bay but across the ship. She glanced at the unconscious CenSec beside her. This time she was on her own. She had to find a way to keep him and herself alive. Advertisement

GEL by Embe Charpentier The ten-centimeter square clock reads 000 and blinks to the rhythm of the chime. I touch my own flesh again for the first time in thirty days. Fascinated by the way the gel has changed me, determined to preserve every drop of it, I depress two buttons within my capsule. One opens the lid; the other prevents notification of my awakening. I know she is paying attention. Taja shouldn’t be watching me. She’s the second-shift navigator and should be focused on her instruments. When I rise from the darkness of the capsule into the small storage area where I’ve been hibernating for forty-one days, I see her pillow and blanket on the floor. I can salvage most of my gel from a sitting position. I gently trace my new skin with one broad finger, placing the clear jelly I secreted into a foil bag that I lodge between my feet. The glissade of my fingers along my new body acquaints me with my reality. Thicker muscles are defined in swaths and slung in powerful strands. My chest stretches wide over new lung capacity. My shoulders range broad as I sweep the gel from my back and swipe it into the container. Within the shells of my ears, in my crotch, between my toes: every drop pays my passage to my destination. The one blemish that remains on my flesh, the deep rosy ring around my neck, identifies my status. I, Setun, have nothing more to give but blood and bone. I will never excrete the gel again. I have endured the final metamorphosis in safety. The rest of my life can be spent free of fear. My planet has been an armed camp for four hundred years. The gel our glands secrete has been sought after by criminals throughout the galaxy. Huge galleons have bombarded us; every Kanila monitors radar installations for five years of his life. Despite the attacks, our force fields have never been penetrated. In choosing to use the gel to fund my route out, I forged my future. I use renewed muscles to step out of my capsule. The wider shoes I need are not where I left them, for she moved them to make room for her blanket. Amazed that she used my tunic and pants to pillow her head, I hope the changes I’ve undergone don’t startle her. By now, the camera’s motion detectors will have set off the hastily-rigged instrumentation used on the bridge to monitor me. I exit the storage room to find the privy. The shining silver wall shows me my adult face for the first time, but I’m not sure I prefer it to the third version of my face. The fourth and last is carved, harsh and angular; my already prominent features are larger; the irises of my eyes have lightened to burnt umber. My short black hair, still slick with gel, has changed from curly to straight. Until the day of my death, I will remain so, unoxidized, as impervious to the air as gold. Three loud knocks on the door end my appraisal. “Wait,” I respond, in a voice louder and deeper than I intend. I find the captain less than impressed by my transformation. He squints at my face as he squeezes past me in the narrow hall. “You saved every bit of that gel, Setun?” He’s an idiot to ask, but there’s no point in insulting him. The ship lists gently, and I use my hand to steady me along the narrow corridor. My legs strengthen with every step. The angry battle scars that creased my legs and forearms have been erased. I pass through the heavy metal portal to the bridge, where I assume Taja awaits. The first shift navigator, a calm Genrena, notices the difference in my appearance, but she’s more interested in the gel’s effect on my physiology. “Use the ID instrument to see how much your heat signature changed. I’m curious.” I shift my weight differently as I walk, and Wills, a small-framed Terran, laughs so hard his belly shakes. He

70 turns the scanner lights down to look at me in the cabin’s ambient light. “Plus five centimeters in height? Look at your goddamn feet!” As my head tips down, he roars. “Looking to see if a sixth toe grew in?” Without comment, I pass the white handheld unit over me. The numbers tumble. “Your old HS rating was 458.79,” the navigator reminds me. “492.01 now. The retinal scan won’t match either,” I explain, putting down the unit. “You Kanila are a bizarre fucking species,” Wills says. “Canti is less than a week away. Your ninety kilos will be off this ship. My pockets will be full. And if you’re looking for Taja, she went to her quarters. She told me she’d rather sleep on the floor next to your capsule than fuck me. You’re an asshole even when you’re asleep for a month.” “I’m an awake asshole now. Be cautious. We Kanila speak loudest with our fists.” I make my way through the tunnel to the staff quarters, but Taja’s bed is tightly made. Taja, a typical Nola, wouldn’t make a dent in anything heavier than insulating foam; she possesses small facial features, a narrow frame, long limbs, and skin pale as a summer cloud. Their fragility makes sex more dance than exercise, but we Kanila have experience with the Nola that goes back centuries. Their delicacy and need to feel personally attached lead to them to profound devotion. Once we shared a planet in peace; for an unknown reason, the ancient Kanila, whose DNA I’ve just awakened, granted them a settlement permit denied other species. I was told their weakness engendered our leaders’ pity; those who appear fragile must survive more by stealth than strength. Troubled, I pace the few corridors of this small smuggler-ship to the cargo bay. The sum total of my possessions is still affixed by ropes to the confined deck, pockmarked with secret hatches. Taja is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, insight focuses my search. I return to my containment capsule to find it locked from within; the pass code to the unit has been altered. The capsule shifts gently. The barely-squeezed gel-containment bag rests against the far wall. “Taja!” I slam my hand three times against the impermeable lid. “Why? There is no research on the effects of Kanila gel on the Nola. You could mutate radically.” She explains in a volume I know must exhaust her. “No more weakness. The rannic acid solution I’ve been drinking will deaden my pain. My size enables me to use your remaining gel. I will be a Nola of the ancients. Artists in the past marveled at the exotic beauty of our ancestors. I will need your protection from now on.” Though my plans don’t include protecting anyone, I remain with her. I rest on her blanket beside the capsule, and advise her how to manage hunger and thirst. I run the variables through my medical handheld and discover she has a maximum time of twenty-five hours to remain in the capsule without drinking. Soon, the Captain enters and retrieves the gel bag. “Her stunt’s cost us 1 00 bars. When we get to Canti, I’m firing her. I’m tempted to pry that capsule open, but she has to come out sometime.” I stand. “No discipline against her when she comes out. Consider yourself warned.” As any emergency physician would, I counsel her to monitor her pulse. I explain the relevance of the temperature and humidity readings. I allay her occasional fear with pleasant reminders of sex we’d enjoyed before I entered the capsule. I set the timer for eight hours and lower myself onto the hard floor, atop a blanket as white as Taja’s thighs. I fall asleep estimating which of her compliments were exaggerations, and how many merely lies. At the end of Taja’s twenty-five hours I tap on the dark, plastic cover of the capsule. When she emerges, her soft, short hair is streaked light blonde and platinum. Within her lush, rosy-gold flesh, her muscle mass has nearly doubled. Her oval face is graced by a petite nose, and plump mauve lips burst from a face whose mouth was previously but a thin line. Almond-shaped pink eyes have shifted to luminous amber flecked with

71 copper. I rush to block the camera lens with my palm. She says it did not cause as much pain as she’d anticipated, but she leaves the capsule with a labored bending of her back. Then I smell her scent: vernita flower, bitter orange, vintage wine. My senses flood. “Taja, you will need protection wherever you go. When you see how you have changed…” I speak honestly as her nude body emerges. I find my medical bag and inject her with a muscle relaxant. “Shower, now, before you change further.” Despite her pain, she shines with delight. “Look at my arms! My legs! My DNA has reverted properly, hasn’t it?” I rush her into the individual shower stall as though she is afire. I help her wash her every cell, tell her to rinse her mouth and eyes. Her soft, golden nipples peak among streams of water and warm soap bubbles. My hands glide over her roseate skin, shining and smooth, velvet glass. “Look.” I hold her shoulders and present her to a mirror which has long pushed past patina. A smile of pride lifts her head as she appreciates her side portrait. “I do resemble Jhitma well enough!” she trills. “My projections of this experiment didn’t account for such a convincing result!” She stops to place a hand beneath my chin. “And I haven’t complimented you on your change, Setun. Your face is stark now. No sense of youth remains. Imagine: this handsome face will hardly age.” She rubs the stubble growing on my face with her index finger, and then traces my prominent cheekbones. “My pride is justified in choosing this opportunity so carefully. Now Jhitma lives.” Jhitma, “essence of light”, a creature of legend, might as well stand before me, for Taja of Uaru seems but a discarded shell. “You shouldn’t do it. Not for money or for power. To impersonate a deity this way—doubters will research your past and find out you worked as a smuggler. You could be jailed. Or harmed. You have no right.” Taja stretches her neck backwards and hums. “I endured the pain willingly, so I gained every right. Jhitma never possessed the gift of healing. She listened to others and provided guidance. Those things I can do. Our legends say Jhitma convinced the Kanila to allow us to settle on your planet years ago. Without armor or weapons, a Nola goddess stood among an army of Kanila males and blessed them. For the first time, the Kanila chose peace over war, generosity over self-interest.” “Nola legend, not fact. This is nothing we Kanila have ever been told.” She interrupts with a finger across my lips. “As a warrior and emergency physician, you are perfectly suited to be my protector. Obviously, donations to our cause will be welcome, and you can protect our funds as well.” “I won’t do it,” I respond. “I have principles. I am not a con artist.” She doesn’t touch me as I walk away, but I hear her prophesy. “You Kanila love your grand metal castings, but you are no statue forged in flame, Setun. Prepare yourself for my imprint.” Suddenly, a Nola who cannot lift ten kilos is my foe. Her beauty could influence me to accept her fully, to imprint and take her as mine for life. My newfound freedom could be lost. *** I avoid Taja for two days, no small feat on a smuggling ship. I worry that Wills and Captain Stune will succumb to desire for her. Though she is not strong enough to physically resist them, her voice and scent can pacify them. Crouching in the cargo hold, its barely insulated structure leaving me pierced with frozen needles, is no plan. Eventually, I must face her, a fact she knows well and need not prepare for. My hunger leads me to the galley. I forage for a can of protein supplement I can stir into water, but my body

72 craves meat. For a moment, I visualize a meal before me: a rare steak, a ripe yam, a slab of hot bread, and glass of thick, dark malt. I lick my lips, and the juiciness of meat coats my throat. The only warning I have is a delicious scent, which arrives before she does. I rummage for the protein powder in the highest cabinet, since I am the only one aboard tall enough to reach it. But I am not fast enough, because her hands lift my shirt and touch my back. Softness envelops me. She is not tall enough to reach my ear; if she were, the brush of her tongue would weaken me. My pants tighten. “Use my new name.” Her hands reach around my waist. “Taja, leave me alone. I gave you my answer.” The touch of her hands bastes me in hot oil. I refuse to allow her to co-opt my reason. “I have a job waiting for me on Canti. I can live in peace, without fear of being kidnapped for the first time in my life. Let me be happy.” A Kanila’s last conversion leaves him a normal being; finally, we go our own way, to see the rest of the worlds that await us. I cannot allow Taja her opportunity. My freedom is at risk. Kanila imprint upon one partner alone. My new life, not even begun, will not be my own if she succeeds. She calls my name as she holds me, and I remove her arms with care, remembering the moments before I hibernated. She squeezes her body against me, taunting every sense. “Come to my room. Don’t let one more night slip by us.” I turn to face her. “You are no goddess.” The scent, her warmth weaken me, erode me. I push her away as she reaches for me with a delicately fashioned upraised palm. “How do you know that? Perhaps there is reincarnation, as some believe.” The liquid amber of her eyes is all I see. “It is the effect of the gel! You were Taja days ago, and still are.” I try to make sense of this accident of fate. I question my own judgment as she embraces me. “Come to me, Setun.” She allows me to push past her. It takes a half-hour for me to realize I am still starving. *** I don’t, can’t, won’t sleep. I find no comfort on the floor of my capsule since her devotion rested there. I remember the way she trusted me despite our people’s history. Her dubious claim about Jhitma’s effect on my people may be merely another con, but when I see her before me, I believe she has spoken the truth. I stride toward her room only to hear her scream. Wills bangs on her door with closed fists. The thin metal portal shudders under the force of his blows. “Get away, Wills.” Words of command come easily, but the velocity of his charge exceeds my expectations. My back hammers against the steel wall behind me. I grab his shoulders and push back. “You damned Kanila! Fucking predators!” Wills screams. I lift my knee and shove his testicles deep into his crotch, then throw him down on the metal grid of the floor. “Enjoy being right,” I mutter. He slinks off. Adrenaline pounds as I knock. “He’s gone, Taja.” “Did you sleep?” Her sweetness appeals so deeply that I cannot look away. She uses that single delicate fingertip to trace a puffy area below my eye. She does not invite me, take me by my shirt and pull me in. My desire leads me. I sit in the one rusty chair battened to the floor of her cabin. “When you get to Canti, crowds will form to receive you. If you’re lucky, no one will ever investigate your origins. Worshippers will follow you. Any male would guard you willingly. Did

73 you ask me because of the protection I’ve given you aboard this ship, or do you know the way I am drawn to you, Taja?” She sits cross-legged on the floor and takes the narrow restraining band from across her breasts. “None of those things. You wanted me when I was frail and weak, and treated me gently. The same gel that carved your handsome face made my transformation possible.” My eyes don’t leave hers as I consider the strange metamorphosis that connects us. “The best of your race are admirable. Show the worlds we visit the true nature of the Kanila. Imprinting is not something to fear.” Imprinting. I see the inevitability of my actions and hate my own need for her. Just as I have found my freedom, I lock the shackles on my own wrists. As I take off my clothes, I acknowledge the irony of imprinting upon the weakest of creatures, now turned more powerful than any muscle in my renewed body. In years to come, the impression will fade. By then, love will have replaced the chemical changes that tonight’s passion will create in my mind. I remember who she is, what she plans. “If I join you, will you remain faithful to me? This is no game. Kanila, both male and female, have killed themselves in shame when their siamu leaves them.” She wastes no time answering. “I pledge myself to you without reservation.” I ask her how she knows the words in Kanilata. “I studied them while you slept. I wanted to say them perfectly.” Though doubt batters me, my will is snapped like a dead tree limb. Soon she is in my arms, and my mind swings between past and future. My body breathes her air and pulses her blood. She touches me with hands that mark me hers. I lay back, so she places one lengthened leg on either side of my waist. Around her head I view the first flush of the corona, and panic. “Don’t run from this,” she pleads. My body heaves upward, almost knocking her over. I hyperventilate as she presses my shoulders down. I am so disoriented she can pin me with her palms. My spine shudders. Though male elders have told me what would happen, I underestimated the depth and breadth of it. My legs shake. Like a runaway ship entering a foreign atmosphere, my rattling threatens to rip me apart. The corona about her burns, blushes in carmine, scarlet, and claret. I feel her squeeze my shaft inside her body. Every nerve in me aches with relief. As she tilts her hips, I feel the rise and fall of her tight around me, and I close my eyes to slow my pace. Yet her luscious scent invades my pores, brings with it the taste of the meat I craved, covered in syrup so thickly sweet that shouts of joy melt in my mouth. She rides me and moans, begs me to change positions, tells me what she wants. Her voice is soft and distant, passing through the clouds that block my ear canals. She dismounts me and takes my hand, motions for me to stand, and lays on her back, arms raised. I rest atop her gently, as though she were still the Taja I took upon my lap weeks before. Yet her taut legs encircle me, and I reenter her. She orders me to keep my eyes fixed on hers. The corona radiates fuchsia, a glow that I understand as passion, mutual pride. Our union blossoms as I push within her. I hallucinate concentric rings of coral and tangerine and my body burns for hers; my skin flushing with patches of auburn heat. Deep gravity waves strike my flesh until I hear her cry out, a well of bubbling ecstasy that allows me to spend myself completely for the first time since my transformation. My every cell has emptied. I roll to her side; my weight should not burden her. Even her scent has changed; bitter orange is now nectar; the wine has aged into viscous, creamy richness; her florals are balm beyond description. My mind whirs and buzzes and thrums. I kiss her cheek and she smiles. “You will never regret tonight. Now we are one.” She rejoices, kissing my face, each touch of her lips a benediction.

74 Jhitma herself lies beside me. *** The ship landed far from the city five days ago. Her debut in Capitol Square was followed by spontaneous celebration, religious observances, and long-winded speeches about the return of Jhitma, Patroness of Petitions. Today, the cupola of the domed pilgrimage temple in Canti’s great city of Semanta is decorated in pink and rose prayer flags: pink, a prayer offered; rose, a need satisfied. The people of Canti acclaim Taja as the bearer of heaven. The truth of Jhitma’s legends are spoken with reverence. Believers claim she possesses more than an ambrosial scent and a touch that relieves pain. They profess visions of her ability to direct animal migrations, to mass bees for pollination, to make rain. They say a handful of soil cast from her hand will bring forth abundant harvest. How can myths as ancient as constellations’ light, the dreams of the deluded, be made real in the hands of a charlatan? How many glorious days do I have with Taja before no miracles come to pass? Everyone requests Taja’s blessing. The faithful kneel and beg her to deliver their petitions to what deities and demigods they worship. If the pious bring a token item for Taja to touch, the believers leave assured their beloved rests in heaven, for her charisma resolves all doubt. When yesterday Taja preached of a future of peace and cast her hands over the heads of the people, the multitudes answered by clasping their arms together and singing hymns. Taja is no longer of the Nola, pale and thin like bleached parchment: she is Jhitma, a draught of amber, amrita, and apricot. I pray only to remain anonymous, to defend her from harm, to measure my devotion in decades.

TOUCH by Sage Collins DL recorded every word Kristie said into his memory banks without really listening to her. His enhancements would process the information in the background while he slept in this chair, having given Kristie the single bed in the cheap motel room they occupied. He would examine her words for any useful pieces of information she might have provided, but in the past week of protecting her, he had determined that most of what Kristie said to him was not related to the mission. A nearby movement startled him. His hand shot out and caught Kristie’s. “Some invisible cyborg bodyguard you are. I’ve been talking to you forever, and you didn’t know I was here ’til now?” She sat on the bed’s edge, facing him, though not really looking at him since she couldn’t see him. Her legs were crossed, her foot moving up and down. It distracted him, and he made a note to download information about disorders that would cause foot spasms when he was less exhausted. “I can’t go back to sleep,” she said. “I see that.” “Lucky you.” She folded her hands in front of her mouth, looking pensive. “What do you look like?” “I am a Caucasian male with a height of five feet, eleven inches and a weight of one-hundred, ninety-three pounds. I have dark brown hair, and my blue eyes appear green due to my ocular enhancements.” “But…if I drew that, I could do it any number of ways. I’m sitting right across from you, but I can’t imagine what you look like. Can’t you compare yourself to someone I’ve seen?” “I do not believe so.” She reached her hand towards his head. Again he caught it. “What are you doing?” She smiled and took his hand between hers. One hand traced his fingers while the other pressed against it, palm to palm. “See, I have an idea what your hand looks like. Your fingers are longer than mine, the entire thing is wider.” She touched the inside of his wrist. “Where do you connect to the computer?” At the side of his wrist, he worked her fingers under the flap of skin hiding the cable he used for direct connections to computers. She fingered the thin universal interface at the end of the cable. “Yes, I can feel it. It’s well hidden, though.” Her hand wrapped around his wrist, the thumb on top of his veins. “Your blood’s really pumping,” she said. “It’s simu-blood. Blood would impair my enhancements.” “Whatever it is, it’s flowing fast.” She slowly ran her hand up his arm, her fingers leaving a tingling trail as if transmitting a message from his wrist to his brain. She got to his biceps and smiled. “Good. I was worried you were stacked like a bodybuilder. This is better.” His brain barely processed the compliment, so focused was he on her attempt to ascertain his appearance. Her other hand touched his opposite shoulder, mirroring the first. She brought them forward, across his pectorals—he wondered how his vest affected her mental image—then up to his neck. He tensed, and she paused. “Relax." Her voice was quiet, mellow. "I’m not going to strangle you.” He closed his eyes and forced his shoulders to relax. Only after the slight drop of his chin, allowing her access

76 to his head, did her fingers continue, exerting light pressure as they progressed up his neck. She ran them along the edges of his ears and into his hair. “It’s longer than I expected.” He silently waited for her to move her hands through his hair, and her thumbs crossed his temples, meeting at the center of his forehead. She brought them to the top of his nose, then over his eyebrows. Very lightly, she ran them across his eyelids to his nose, which she traced to the end with a single finger. She traced his cheekbones down to his chin and brought two trembling fingers to his mouth. She brushed them against his lips, lingering at the center just a moment before removing them. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding and opened his eyes. Her face was centimeters away. “I think I can picture you now,” she whispered.

Meet the editorial team Editor: KS "Kaz" Augustin loves space opera, SFR and all things geeky. She currently lives in Malaysia, where she loves the shopping for tech gadgets, but hates the heat! Her website is at www.KSAugustin.com and she also runs Sandal Press (www.SandalPress.com). If you're a Twitter fan, you can find her at @SandalPress . Send all feedback to edi t or {@} s c i f i r oma nc equa r t er l y {. } c om (I hope we don't have to tell you how to string an email address together; we're all geeks, right?) Fiction Editor: Diane Dooley is the Fiction Editor for Science-Fiction Romance Quarterly. Born in the Channel Islands, raised in Scotland and now resident in the USA, she is an author, an editor, a voracious reader, an unrepentant troublemaker, and a geek of intergalactic proportions. You can follow her on her blog or on Twitter. Live long and prosper! Releases Editor: Heather Massey is a lifelong fan of science fiction romance. She searches for sci-fi romance adventures aboard her blog, The Galaxy Express. She’s also an author. Her stories will entertain you with fantastical settings, larger-than-life characters, timeless romance, and rollicking action. When Heather’s not reading or writing, she’s watching cult films and enjoying the company of her husband and daughter. To learn more about her work, visit HeatherMassey.com .

This issue's contributors Charlee Allden is a long time fan of SciFi, love, adventure, and happily-ever-afters. She grew up in Florida where a huge fallen oak tree in the swampy woods near her home served as her very own Star Ship Enterprise. Luckily the alligators were almost never a problem on her space ship as the flight deck was several feet above the muddy ground. She did lose a few tennis shoes on away missions, though. By day she’s a technical writer; in her spare time she pursues a variety of geek endeavors, including blogging. She is the founder of the Smart Girls Love SciFi and Paranormal Romance blog. When the moon is full, she writes fiction. She’s a veteran of Dragon*Con, a member of Romance Writers of America©, and has a tendency to take on more projects than any sane woman would. Sanity is over rated, anyway. You can find out more about Charlee at her website , catch up with her musings at her blog and she’s also active on Twitter. The Book Pushers are six book-loving girls from around the world who share a love of all things romance. From small town contemporaries, to sweeping historicals, to gritty paranormal, to the futuristic science fi, they read it all. They are known for their fun, conversational style joint reviews, and can be found lurking on their website , on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and Booklikes.

Marlene Harris is currently the Technical Services Manager at The Seattle Public Library. She's also one of the co-editors of SPL's Romantic Wednesdays feature on Shelf Talk, which gives her a chance to expose her love of romance novels. In addition, she's also a reviewer for Library Journal's Xpress Reviews, and the author of their annual Librarian's Best Ebook Romance feature. Because she can't resist talking about the books she loves, and occasionally the ones she hates, she has her own book blog at Reading Reality. In her professional persona, before coming to Seattle she previously managed Technical and Collection Services Departments at libraries in locations from Gainesville Florida to Anchorage Alaska to the Chicago Public Library. Jo Jones is a retired pilot who, after retiring, had an RV and traveled 6 months out of the year. After traveling seven years she left on a trip and realized that she was ready to spend more time at home so she sold the RV. She isn't giving up travel; she just takes the trips that did not fit with RVing. When at home, she gardens, reads, plays bridge, hikes, visits with friends, and volunteers. Jo is an unabashed big cat lover and shares her home with TC, her shelter cat. Both of them live in the Ozarks in Northwest Arkansas which, they unanimously agree, is one of the best places in the country to live. Reviewer RK Shiraishi is a long time science fiction fan, as well as a fan of all things fantasy and paranormal. She spends her spare time deep in the world of classic SF television, movies, and even radio plays. Her alter ego is as fantasy writer Echo Ishii. Her first novella, MR RUMPEL AND MR GRIMM is available from Less Than Three Press. You can follow here on Facebook (RK Shiraishi), Twitter and Pinterest (mrsbookmark).

Normalene Zeeman spent 12 years in military intelligence not being able to talk about her job—now she is the adult services librarian supervisor at Prescott Public Library in Arizona and talks about her job and great books all the time and loves it! She reads scifi, romance, mystery and (of course) espionage books, with the occasional economics book thrown in for some balance. You can find more reviews by her at her Goodreads account—look for Normalene, there is only one! Weirde was born in Italy during a wonderful Mantuan summer. A compulsive reader from childhood, she began writing her own stories from high school, trying to give vent to the fertile imagination that has always characterized her. She runs a book-blog “The art of writing…maybe” that is well-known throughout Italy, thanks in part to her reviews of English-language fiction. You can also find her on Facebook. She is partial to paranormal, steampunk and SF genres. Her idol is Jane Austen but she also loves Lois McMaster Bujold and Mary Balogh. She likes unconventional stories, vampires, and romances with heroines who are not beautiful but are crazy smart. She hates zombies. Reviewer Psyche Skinner is a working scientist with a taste for imaginative fiction. She is constantly seeking novels that combine hard speculative science with well-rounded characters--although she also appreciates a good space opera.

Ian Sales has recently been working on a quartet of novellas, the Apollo Quartet. The first, Adrift on the Sea of Rains, was published in 2012. It won the BSFA Award for that year and was shortlisted for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. The second book, The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself, was published in early 201 3, and the third book, Then Will The Great Ocean Wash Deep Above, in late 201 3. The final novella, All That Outer Space Allows, will appear in 2014. He is represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency, can be found online at www.IanSales.com and he also tweets. Artist Felipe Barros is a Brazilian illustrator and concept artist who has a deep love for Sci-Fi. When heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not painting or drawing, he likes to read a lot of (you guessed it) Sci-Fi and Fantasy or play the guitar. You can check out his portfolio at http://fpbarros.daportfolio.com/, as well as more personal pieces, sketches and doodles at http://artflip.tumblr.com/

Anna McLain is a hopeful SFR author. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a fan of SF since she started reading as a young child, and wrote SF fanfic for most of her life. After a decade in the military, she settled in Tornado Alley in the US with her husband, three kids, and two Dachshunds, where she devours all the SFR she can find.

Sabine Priestley grew up in Phoenix, but has lived in eight states and counting. She has a BS in Electrical

Engineering Technologies and did everything but her thesis for a Masters degree in Cultural Anthropology. A life long fan of Science Fiction and Romance novels, Alien Attachments naturally gelled in her imagination. Sabine lives in Florida with her husband, kids, cats and whole mess of characters in her head. A published poet and short fiction author, Embe Charpentier has recently finished her first science-fiction novel, Olympia, which is presently under consideration for publication. Her 2014 Nanowrimo sci-fi winner Vouchsafe, is serialized at JukePop. An urban fantasy-romance novella, Beloved Dead, is also slated for publication in 2015. She was trained by the Cherokee Rose Branch of the Federal Writing Project in 2012. She writes for her local community newspaper and nurtures young writers in middle and high school.

Sage Collins works as a mad scientist, testing water to keep it safe from supervillains and industries. In her free time, she likes writing about magical girls and invisible boys. Occasionally, you can find her tweeting as @SageCollins. Her YA fantasy novel Love Sucks is available from Musa Publishing. If you're interested in following up with the Finland roundtable conversation, the two conventions you might be interested in are Archipelagon and Helsinki 2017. The three authors who took part in the Roundtable were: Magdalena Hai, Anne Leinonen and J.S. Meresmaa. Here is more information on the USVA webzine and the Osuuskumma small press cooperative.

Advertise with us! Here at Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly, our mission is to empower and entertain with sci-fi romance stories and original artwork. To accomplish this goal, we rely on the sustenance of your advertising contributions. Advertising with Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly is a smart way to grow your readership because our readers are passionate about SFR. If you’d like to support this magazine and also reach a highly motivated audience of power readers, then please consider advertising with us. Deadlines for Issue 6: Quarter-page ads – 15-March 201 5 Two-chapter excerpts – 01 -March 201 5

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For a quarter-page ad in SFRQ, we require an image that is: 250px by 300px Full colour Minimum 140dpi One URL (for click-through) The ad will appear on the website and in the EPUB, Mobi, PDF and Flipbook formats of the magazine. Price: $16 if you supply the magazine-ready ad / $26 if we create the ad for you. Questions? Email Promotions ~at~ SciFiRomanceQuarterly ~dot~ org

Two-chapter excerpts

*Please read this section carefully and do NOT send any funds unless specifically requested by us. Any funds prematurely sent to us will NOT be refunded (they will be regarded as donations!), so make sure you understand what’s in this section first.* In order to satisfy readers’ curiosity about SFR releases, Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly is currently soliciting excerpts for a new section we call “SFR Excerpts.” Excerpts will appear on the website and in the EPUB, Mobi, PDF and Flipbook formats of the magazine. “SFR Excerpts” submission guidelines > Only excerpts from current releases will be considered (i.e., last quarter, this quarter, and the following quarter) > The excerpt must be suitable for readers ages 1 3 and up. Excerpts with sex scenes will be automatically rejected > Create a new document. On the first page, include the book’s title, your name, release date, publisher, available formats, price, click-through URL and your contact email address > Place the first two chapters of your book after the title page

81 > Save your document in DOC/DOCX/ODT format > Send the document to Promotions ~at~ SciFiRomanceQuarterly dot org, with “ EXCERPT – [book title] – [author name]” in the Subject line > The Editorial Team will evaluate your submission. Any excerpt with sub-par cover art, formatting errors, copious typos and/or grammar mistakes will be declined. > All rejections are final. Rejected excerpts are ineligible for future consideration > Authors will be notified if their excerpt has been rejected/approved

If your excerpt is chosen and you wish to have it included in the magazine: > Cost is $30 per excerpt. An author may advertise up to two (2) approved excerpts in a given calendar year. > Bonus discount: If you purchase a quarter-page ad for the same issue where the excerpt is running, the price will be $41 for excerpt plus a DIY ad, or $51 if we create the ad for you. (Regular price $46 / $56) Disclosure

As you may know, Heather Massey, Diane Dooley and KS Augustin (i.e. the Editorial Team) are SFR authors themselves. With this in mind, and to preclude any perceived conflict of interest, the Editorial Team will be restricted from using this opportunity for a full year of issues; that is, from Issues 5 to 8, inclusive. Questions? Email Promotions ~at~ SciFiRomanceQuarterly ~dot~ org. We are constantly thinking of opportunities we can offer to help promote SFR, so watch this space! And thank you for your support. you! For short story and artwork submissions, please refer to our website at www.SciFiRomanceQuarterly.org

Correction

Bottom Draw(er) Publications (they spell their name two different ways on their website) contacted me (Kaz) to assure me that SILVER STRIFE (reviewed in Issue 4) is not self-published and that the assumption "was based on a single answer on the FAQ page on our website". Bottom Draw(er) Publications wish to inform all readers that they are "a small but growing full-service Australian publisher that undertakes a 3-step editing process as well as providing extensive marketing and promotion of the books we publish at our cost, which is clearly noted on our website under our submissions pages."

Issue 6 will be out on 31 March 2015