Fortune's Rising

Outer Bounds #1

by Sara King

OUTER BOUNDS: FORTUNE’S RISING is a gripping tale that spans the range of human character. From a sociopathic seven-year-old to a reluctant rebel heroine, a cocky cyborg to a malfunctioning robot, a double-crossing smuggler to dangerous saboteur, Sara King writes a science fiction epic that will still be read and loved fifty years from now.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Audiobook, Dystopia, Science Fiction Fantasy

515 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 5, 2012

About the author

After a long, twisted road, Alaskan Fury is my 15th book. The rest (aside from the first five or so ‘practice books’) spent the last 3-6 years languishing on my hard drive as I waited for some really cool editor at a big, traditional publishing house to notice me. It didn’t happen, even with a world-famous agent doing his damnedest to get my books out there.

So, because I’ve got a stubborn streak a mile wide—and some say because I’m a naïve, dumbass Alaskan—I’m striking out on my own and putting my books out there. Basically casting my dice to the Fates, and seeing what happens. If you like my books, please tell your friends. I don’t have a huge advertising team behind me, so word-of-mouth really helps.

On that note, my books never went through a copyeditor. What you see is the result of a few dedicated volunteers, all of whom have poured untold hours into the crafting of the book in your hands. They are awesome, steeped in awesome, sprinkled with awesome. Thanks, guys!

Further, I write fast. I can easily write 6 novels a year—8 if I don’t get distracted—and during those long years waiting for somebody to notice me, I was finding myself in the extremely frustrating position of watching my manuscripts pile up because traditional publishing companies can only take 1 or 2 novels by a single author a year. Keep an eye out for a bunch of new books from yours truly, as I've finally got an outlet for all that creative drive. :) Enjoy!

I can be reached at: kingnovel@gmail.com
Friend me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kingfiction

Reviews

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

I've read a couple of Sara King's books now and what readers can expect is: a LOT of pages, violence, heavy torture, everyman characters who have heart but not brains, oppressive regimes, silly romance, and fluid storytelling. With Fortune's Rising, King takes all of those themes and tips them completely over the top; it translates into a lot of stupid people in soppy romances with egregious torture porn throughout - at a whopping 600 pages. Admittedly, by about 90% listening to the Audible version, I had had enough and felt dirty and disgusted with the whole thing. 10 showers later and I still can't wipe the filth off from this book - it managed to hit nearly every trigger. It's far more enticing to Saw/Hostel horror fans than science fiction aficionados.

Story: Fortune is a planet with a treasure: alien creatures with psychic abilities whose eggs can be harvested to create a powerful drug. But harvesting is dangerous and if the harvesters (called eggers) aren't killed in the process, they eventually go mad from proximity to the yolk. Nephyrs (cyborgs) control the eggers and reap the profits of the yolk. Among the inhabitants of Fortune: twin rebel brothers Milar (who escaped becoming a Nephyr and bears the scars from the process) and Patrick, nephyr operator Tatiana who crash lands on the planet and is found by the brothers, egger sisters Magali (who harbors a terrifying secret) and preternaturally gifted but highly sociopathic Anna, a former smuggler and now prisoner/egger Runaway Joel, and an AI robot who becomes fully sentient, Doberman. Their paths will intertwine as a prophecy comes to fruition.

Our lovable but oh-so-flawed characters will do things to each other that far outweighs anything the bad guys can do. If someone is called a sociopath in a Sara King novel, they are truly going to do very terrible things with aplomb. The twist here is that our sociopath is 9 years old. The ugliness adds up fast.

With Forging Zero, King's previous work, we had a hero that was tortured but very likeable even with his flaws. No such character exists in Fortune's Rising - everyone is really stupid (and I mean really really dumb), so they can make huge mistakes that get them tortured in some way or other (unnecessary surgeries, heavy beatings, rapes, forced to kill children, etc.). Further compromising any chance of liking them, we get a LOT of soppy romances that in effect take strong women, turn them into marshmallows, all for the love of falsely swaggering man-childs. Add in one character who could actually kick butt but refuses to throughout the book (she wants to be a mother, not a killer!) so a lot of people die horribly and continually around her - and you get a frustrating story with a lot of frustrating characters.

I have always suspected there was a mirror universe in sci fi to contrast intricate and nuanced works like CJ Cherry's Alliance-Union books or Tanya Huff's confederation worlds. Sara King found that bottom feeding area, definitely. Easy writing, chirpy if bland/dumb characters, and torture replacing space action as the theme. There's not a lot of depth to the characters or the worldbuilding even though there is an intricate plot. It's pretty much torture, flirt, torture, flirt, action, torture, flirt.

I think the big problem with Fotune's Rising is that it is just too much - too many words, too many characters, too much torture, too much stupidity, too much romance. There's a really good story in there - that interweaves and then comes together in the end. King knows how to write a good story. I only wish she had more restraint to make a tighter and more focused group of characters and plot. With Fortune's Rising, I made it to 95%, which is a lot of time invested in this large book (600 pages), and still I couldn't finish it. I hated all the characters and the relentless torture scenes of every.single.character far passed my tolerance threshold. It was just too much, to the point of being intolerable and flagrant.

I listened to the Audible version and the author did a good job of creating unique sounding characters but I found that I hated them even more as a result: Tatiana sounds like a vapid and stupid valley girl, Joel like an idiot who thinks he is God's gift to women, 9 year old Anna very childish and frivolous, and Magali even more useless than portrayed in the book.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kindle freebie. Tortured Han Solo seeks "sexually liberated" Teenytiny PrincessSweetieCupcake to see past his scars and gosh-darned virginity to save the world. Can't swing a dead cat without smacking a reluctant hero. Evil Empire. Female Ender Wiggin leads child-genius brigade. Her sister, River Tam, just wants to paint and play house. The Yolk must flow.

[Kim B · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a mix of fantasy, an element of the erotic/romance genre, OB embraces a number of genres as the story goes along, but I'd classify it primarily as Sci-Fi. You have your hero's and or heroine's, your war, space battles that beg a 3-D movie script and your nasty deadly aliens. However, this story takes you in a different direction in how it draws the reader in and echoes in the mind long after it is finished.

There is a true character driven story here, the characters are created with interesting and yet frustrating flaws, Miss King kept my interest high that implored me to find out how they will deal with them. Anna the seven-year-old sociopath and her "pet" robot Dobie, Magali the Killer, Runaway Joel, Milar and Tatiana, just to name a few, are mixed with amazing plot twists & development, superb snarky dialogue and totally sucked me into their world of Fortune. It has seeds of hope, hints of better things to come, grim situations and completely unexpected surprises within the 516 pages. There are plenty of layers where the bad guys are not necessary totally evil or the good guys totally good. Sara does a great job of changing up our opinions of her characters as this book progresses. A delightful style of writing kept the tension building, the dialogue realistic, with a smooth flow sprinkled with rousing moments where you can't stop a smile from spreading all over your face and laugh out loud.

It is so hard to write about this story without giving away spoilers, just know that the story ends and leads the reader to want to buy the next book in the series, "Outer Bounds: Fortunes Folly" - which I look forward to. This is truly a little wonder of a book! You just have to take a chance sometimes and this is one time that you get your reward for doing so. It's a page turner that holds its grip on you and doesn't let go - even when you are finished.
A well-crafted story that held my interest as it stepped neatly over standard genre boundaries and melded them into a single cohesive body of work, Outer Bounds: : Fortune's Rising by Sara King was an excellent choice.

[Sarah (is clearing her shelves) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed the story, loved the characters. I even liked Anna, at least until she got her hands on Tatiana. Definitely going to be hunting down the next book in the series.

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good parts;
- writing was fluid
- the psycho girl was interesting as was one other character associated with her. we don't normally get stone cold children so that was refreshing.

Bad;
- All females thought like hormonal teenagers
- Opposing factions acted like it was all a big game. When taking prisoners they didn't bother to secure them, gave them critical info, let them escape multiple times, never followed through on threats.
- The whole PG thing happens even against a history of personal tragedy (wives, sisters etc killed/raped)

All in all this would be ok to read if you like pg books about girls and boys set against a war that never gets too real.

[Sue "DavinciKittie" Brown-Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmph. GoodReads' ranking system doesn't always mesh with my own. On GraveTells, I would have given this a 4.0 but on GoodReads "Liked it" is a 3, so 3 it is. I'm not even going to try to sum up what this book is about, lest I send you quickly navigating away with a "WTF?" and "Uhhh okaay". After a 24 hour reading binge, I think I'll just leave you to safely read the blurb. ;-)

Fortune's Rising starts out simply enough, featuring two siblings drafted into a worker class of colonists forced to endure filthy and deplorable living and working conditions, and quickly spirals into a mass of twisting plotlines more complex than an AI's biometrics. There is so much story packed into this book, and the plot and character interactions change frequently enough, that I decided early on to stop trying to predict and project (because I was usually wrong; Ms. King doesn't follow predictable patterns of story arc) and just sat back to enjoy the read.

At times edgy and gritty, Fortune's Rising has its share of hidden comedic gems... A female lead ripping up a romance novel with no sex, angry she'd "wasted" two hours on it. A cocky, muscle-bound survivor of a hero who turns out to be a virgin who reads said romance novels for pointers. Sly similarities to Star Wars with references like "Princess" and "Your Majesty".

Ms King really puts her characters through the grinder, with a show-no-mercy style of plot building and setting up sequences of story that make you think "wow, she actually went there" before charging ahead to see what happens next.

Characterization is thorough and believable and, with such a large cast of characters that have constantly shifting and intersecting story arcs, impressively unique. Each time I felt the plot was tapering into predictability or losing my attention, some new character with a completely unexpected purpose would pop up, obliterating my predictions and pulling me back in.

Fortune's Rising is a creative, engaging scifi read that sets the stage for an epic series to follow. If you enjoy straight scifi (meaning little romance and closed door sex, when there is any at all) and are looking for a new series to start, check out Outer Bounds!

[Sue Schofield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sara King has become one of my must read authors. Her stories are all character driven. OB has a large cast of characters. Some appear 'good' to start with and I slowly realised I didn't like them at all. My favourites started as very unsympathetic and I slowly grew to love them faults and all.

All the characters however are interesting and I want to find out even more about what will happen with them next and why.
Ob is hard to write about without giving away spoilers so I'll mention very little about the story other than to say it is brutal at times and there is foul language. If that is not your thing then avoid but for me without that the book would lose realism and impact.

OB is the start of a series but still feels satisfying at the end. For most of the characters its the end of a stage so it felt natural to pause here in the story.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yup,Sara King remains one of my fave new authors. Action, humor, character development, huge books coming out frequently (Hear that Mr. George RR Martin?). I'm in it for the long haul eagerly waiting many more books from Mrs. King

A psychotic child and a robot with a developing conscience, cant wait to see what it leads to..........

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars for enjoyment. If you've read other series by Sara King, you know she creates complex worlds and galaxies as well as myriad intriguing characters, both human and other species. It typically takes some time for the reader to settle in, for your head to start to grasp all the players and world details. But, trust me, it's worth it. King doesn't do "technobabble," as she calls it. She's just insanely inventive. Her stories are heartwarming and terrible, tragic and hilarious in turn, and, in the end, you are so wrapped up in the fate of the players that you put one book down only to turn hungrily to the next one.

In Fortune's Rising, book one of the Outer Bounds series, most of the action takes place on the planet Fortune, located in the outer bounds of a galaxy of planets conquered and ruled over by the Coalition. The original inhabitants, called colonists by the rulers, are basically enslaved and treated as nothing more than fodder to fuel the mining operations of Yolk, a mysterious substance used to expand the intelligence of the ruling class.

There are many primary characters in the story: Colonists Anna, a 7-year old sociopathic genius; Magali, her older sister, a never-miss crack shot prior to their capture; Milar, a huge, hunky, perpetually angry escaped soldier; Patrick, Milar's equally huge and hunky (but nicer) brother; Runaway Joel, a cocky colonist smuggler; and Tatiana, a physically modified mech operator and brilliant pilot for the Coalition. Their adventures separate and intertwine throughout the book, and love, hate, fear, violence and changing loyalties mix together to make each one fascinating. One of the things I love about the series is that none of the main characters are all good or all bad. They're just like the rest of us - well, if the rest of us had crazy powers and prophesies pushing us in multiple directions all at once.

Fortune's Rising is a delicious book, a roller-coaster ride of emotion, and, in total, something I truly enjoyed. The next book is also the final one of the series. And here's something interesting: in the bonus story of Anna's younger years (found at the end of the book), I read hints that there is a secret, even more powerful group of shadow entities pulling the strings of both the Coalition and the Colonists. I can't wait to read about what the heck is really going on and how things turn out.

[AudioBookReviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABR's original Fortune’s Rising audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Warning: Extreme violence and graphic torture scenes that may disturb sensitive listeners or young adults.

Fortune is the name of a planet that was long ignored in the vast colonized galaxy. That is until its inhabitants were discovered to have disproportionately high I.Q. levels. It was discovered that a native animal laid eggs, that when harvested at the right time produce enhanced mental abilities. The eggs became enormously valuable, so much, that most of the colonists are enslaved, harvesting eggs until driven insane or dead.

Fortune’s Rising has a complex plot, far too intricate to summarize here, but essentially, a group of rebels is fighting to free Fortune from its cruel masters. The story is set far in the future and there are plenty of futuristic ideas: neffers, super soldiers with artificial skin, incredible speed and strength, but also unimaginably sadistic and cruel. After reading the first volume, one could say this is going to be long and amazing ride, space opera, might be the right description. More volumes will tell.

The characters are rich and well developed, such as the brilliant 7 year-old sociopath, her maternalistic sister who hates violence but can kick ass, twin rebel fighters as different as night and day, a claustrophobic fighter pilot, and a crazy vegetable carving oracle. The action continues along at a good pace, broken for character development and history. Though an extremely violent book, it has plenty of humor, some of it quite dark.

Alison Johnson reads the story with great skill. Her voice is easy to listen to and her characterizations are excellent. She knows the story and reads it with the pacing and emotion it deserves.

Fortune’s Rising is just over 17 hours of listening and is just getting warmed up. You’ll want to move right into book 2 when it’s available.

Audiobook provided for review by the publisher.

[Andy Coleman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:

WTF? If you read the description of this book and thought it sounded good, I've got some bad news. It, in no way, reflects the actual story. The book description could better be described as the prologue, but the author didn't even have the decency to add it to the book as such. Let's go through it a bit: Humanity leaving Earth? Nope, happened so long ago it isn't even mentioned. Mysterious alien technology and megastructures? Nope. One alien ship in the story and there is no discussion of the technology within it. Key to the alien collapse? Not. Even. Mentioned. Once.

The actual story is a mediocre tale combining several cliches from the genre: evil government, rebellion uprising, redemption, and robots. There are a few interesting additions, such as the "yolk" and its effect, but even these aren't really explored much.

Look, if the book description was honest, this book could be a three-star story with potential for an interesting series. But with this bait-and-switch crap?

Skip it!

[sonofapharmacist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goddammit this was good. Of course I was trying to rank this the whole time next Foundation or something with an overt meaning being the driver of the story but that's just not sara king. This is your straightforward, super awesome, gunslinger revolution story. King is getting more badass too, and I'm OK with that. (inb4 female protagonists #gamergate)

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely liked the idea, the quality of the writing, and the exposition of story and characters. The brutality really bothered me.

[Reader4Life · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure how to define the ideal audience for this lengthy sci-fi novel.
=1= Readers who appreciate heinous and varied torture and violence. (Someone must appreciate it for the contrast it creates, or it wouldn’t be in the story, right?)
=2= Readers who enjoy romance that’s based on a pre-pubescent girl’s fantasies.

I don’t want to read about either of those topics, but the story had so much potential that I finished the novel.

One of the most annoying facets of the novel is where the two “target audiences” intersect: the women who fall for the tortured-yet-swaggering men, probably out of some sort of maternal instinct. Yes, “women” and “men,” plural, because the author couldn’t stop with one such couple. Strong women turn into Jell-O at the slightest hint of puerile romance, then regain their capabilities again when the big strong studs are not present.

The writing style is simple. It’s not elegant prose, but the simpler language is better-suited to this story.

The world-building was good. There are lots of main characters, albeit shallow, and their storylines overlap and unfold in creative ways, making the plot seem intricate. I especially enjoyed the prophecies, how they were delivered to the characters, and how they were revealed to the reader. I think the varied dependencies — the antidote type, not the romantic type — will add interest to future novels.

Unfortunately, all of the main characters kept doing stupid things, again and again. This almost made the story into one big reactionary misadventure of self-sabotaging heroes, instead of capable people working towards a goal. I’m not really sure what saved it, but I didn’t stop reading.

The 7-year-old (or 8 or 9) evil genius was waaaaaay over the top (and not just because she appears to have the dexterity of a surgeon while typical 7-year-olds improve motor skills by trying to color inside the lines). The military captain falls into vapid Valley Girl speech far too often, and I got tired of hearing about how she should not be capable of this-or-that because she’s a tiny 4’9”. I didn’t like any of the characters… except perhaps the robot.

I wanted to know MORE about the technology of the world. It simply existed, and was not described or explored.

In most other areas, I wanted LESS. Less torture (convey the hardships some other way). Less frat-boy-type flirting and insipid innuendo. Less blushing from the hunky macho beefcakes. Less whimpering from the frightened or submissive women. Less stupidity. Less volume (it’s about 600 pages).

And stop calling the women Sweetie, Pumpkin, Cupcake, Princess, etc. Sheesh! (Well, Pumpkin might not have been in the novel. That might have been a flash-back to my childhood when the family dentist called all of the little girls Pungkun. Even if he’d pronounced it correctly, I’d have still hated it.)

Yet, I read it to the end. I suppose the spice… I mean yolk… must flow.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author has described this book as a character novel, a sci-fi novel "about the people within their pages, not the tech." The book certainly is not focused on technology, but it doesn't do such a great job with the characters, and the story lacks anything of real interest.

A colony of people are oppressed and forced into servitude by the cyborg soldiers of the ruling Coalition. A group of rebels come together to challenge the Coalition. This plot line gets little attention while the reader is subjected to a constantly cruel, sociopathic 9 year old, relentless insult-laced sexual tension between characters and mindless cruelty, both real and threatened, from the Coalition against the colonists.

I never got into the storyline because it's buried behind the cruelty and sexual innuendo. On a positive note, the final 5 chapters contained a real semblance of a story, and there was the beginning of some true depth from two of the characters. However, after 48 chapters and 500+ pages, it felt like a hook to get the reader to dive into book 2, which I won't be doing.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah. Not even finished yet (almost done, I think? Hopefully?) and had to write to say, don't bother. This book really stinks. The story was pretty interesting to start, with a cool world and interesting characters, but it really peters out. Characters are frustratingly one-dimensional. I was rooting for them all at the beginning, but then realized they don't seem to be learning from their circumstances. I'm finally at the point where I honestly don't care what happens to any of the characters. THEY ALL DESERVE WHATEVER HAPPENS TO THEM, I SAY! A million opportunities to dig themselves out of their messes, but nope. Brutal violence for the sake of it (writer: "bad guys are Really Bad, see, look, I'll show you"). Kindle lending-library freebie. Writing gets progressively worse - never seen so many grown men blushing and flushing, or women whimpering (man, am I tired of reading that word).. the writing's a mess, and the story can't save it. Ye be warned.

[devynreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really intense book. I grew to love Magali (once she stopped resisting her fate) and Tatianna. I even can stand Milar now, after he stopped saying "sweetie" every five fucking seconds. Anna is a true evil psycho, and I hope she gets put in her place by the end of this series. I'm curious about this Jersey person, too....

The world-building was absolutely phenomenal, as was the writing!! I'm so glad to have discovered another wonderful sci-fi author, and I plan on looking into more of her work. The plot for this story seems too massive to conclude in only 2 books, but I guess it has to since the next book is the last one! I can't wait to find out what happens to all these characters!

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about a super smart child that has to make her way through the Universe? Yes, Anna Landborne has some similarities to Ender Wiggin, but brilliance was about the only thing they shared. Annas sociopathic tendencies' were in place to help her survive. And even if she was heartless you couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for her situation. The story revolves around different characters that all tie into the same timeline. A world where being 'TOO SMART' can get you drafted to do unspeakable things. Knowledge is power, and Fortune is dangerous place to be without a plan.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story full of well developed characters and world building. Also I'm ready for the next in the series!

[Hannah P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept, would have benefited from more in depth background/explanation of the planet.

[Howard Brazee]

I'm not rating this, it may be good or bad, but it isn't my cup of tea. I want something more pleasant than what I've read in the first few chapters.

[SR · Rating 5 out of 5]

BONKERS high-speed sci-fi thriller, gorgeous tech, amazing characters, hilarious dialog, OH MAN I HAD SO MUCH FUN.

[Bona Fide Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about those who have and those who don’t. The native population of this planet are enslaved. The conquerors are basically a military society. Those that live in slave camps are forced to work in caverns collecting eggs from strange blobs called Shriekers. The eggs, once processed, have the ability to give a person unbelievable intelligence, as long as they continue to ingest them. One fearful aspect of these slaves’ lives is that if they do it long enough they lose their minds.

The slaves are constantly harassed by the guards – from the moment they get up until they go to sleep. Many of them are broken people, knowing they will die in the mines, for no one is ever released and no one ever escapes. Although, there are a few with stubborn hearts and minds, whose goal is to fool the military machines and escape. Of course, the story is about some of those brave individuals.

It is also about one of the territories in the wilderness that is home for some of the people who are able to avoid the military in every way possible – afraid for their lives, their families and friends, and the small villages they live in. Often these homes and the people are totally demolished if a team of soldiers find them. Everyone knows a rebellion is on the slow burner and it won’t take much for one to begin.

This book is a great read. There are several characters who strive to survive and, if possible, improve their lives. They have horrendous interactions with the enemy, and they rescue and protect each other. There are times where the story is actually somewhat light-hearted in the midst of the daily challenges having to be met. I will admit that they didn’t seem to take place among the enslaved.

My reading experience was challenged by some disbelief in one chapter when a naked woman climbed down a steep cliff to find a gun. There was no way to protect herself or to carry this gun back up the cliff. Being a woman, I could not quite get past the image of a naked lady scaling a cliff. Another interesting note was the mechanical soldier. The pilot of this machine kept referring to it as “the soldier”. I continually watched for a person and wondered where was this soldier he was talking about. It is a strange-looking thing, standing on two appendages, well-armored, two arms, and various weapons arrayed upon it. The top half opens and the bottom half is filled with gelatinous goop. The naked human sits down in the soup and proceeds to hook up to the machine by various portals in his body. Soon, the top closes and the human begins to breathe goop and function as a part of the mechanical soldier. As I contemplate this, my response is “Eww”. However, I am totally impressed with an author who can think up such a soldier, but not so much by the naked woman clinging to the mountainside.

I did not find this to be a sweet, easy read, but a fascinating sci-if without being so far out I had to slog through to the end. I was disappointed when the book ended and wanted to go straight into the next. I decided not to focus on individual characters, because this is truly a fantastic read – higher reader involvement on every level. I read this in four days, even though it is a staggering page count of over six hundred pages.

The rating:

Genre and general reading age – I decided to label it science fiction, but there are probably several other genres that it could fit into. The age is more adult, just because of the length and involvement of the story.
Level of sexuality – There are some flirtatious innuendo, but overall there is not much action.
Is there graphic language? Some, but it did not distract me.
Did I cry? No, but I felt sadness at certain times.
Did I laugh? A bit. There were scenes that deserved it.
Is this part of a series? Yes, the Outer Bounds series.
Level of character development – It was interesting to see the characters develop. I did find that there was believable maturing in many.

Since I was intrigued by the story and totally entertained by the characters in one way or another, I give this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ shiny stars.

[Plamen Nenchev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take a seven-year-old precocious sociopath. A runaway android freed of the shackles of its programming. A trained killer who can't make herself hurt even a fly. An imbecile who can carve the future onto a zucchini. An operator of a mechanical soldier who suffers from claustrophobia. A failed smuggler and a couple of resistance fighters. Place them right in the middle of a brewing conflict between the oppressed local colonists and the occupation forces of the ‘Coalition’. Add ‘Yolk’, mere drops of which can turn a fool into a genius. And, of course, the creatures that produce it, ‘Shriekers’, which can fry your brain in mere seconds. Season with barbaric, cyborg ‘Nephyrs’. Shake everything real’ well, pour some snarkiness and swagger right on top and get ready for pages and pages of relentless entertainment!

Sara King's Fortune Rising offers a fresh premise, incredibly vivid characters and great world-building. Dialogues are particular fun to read, with so much snarkiness and sarcasm dripping out of every line that the quips exchanged between the characters alone will make the book worth your while. Action is fast-paced, with a story development that is extremely entertaining and several twists that I honestly never expected. But... (and here we move on to the less pleasant parts of this review):

‘Slapdash’ would be the best word to describe Sara King’s attitude towards her novel. Choosing to start your book with “So you’re about to read about cyborgs and aliens and laser pistols and life on other planets” usually implies you won't be contending for the Pulitzer—and this is the last thing this book does. Editing is practically non-existent, there are plot holes the size of craters, and pretty much all the characters have the same bad-ass, big-mouth, carefree attitude that keeps getting them into outrageous trouble all the time for no apparent reason. Even though this does indeed make for some super entertaining dialogue, it also gives the book somewhat of a slapstick look.

Finally, I firmly believe Miss King should stop using her books as an outlet for her sexual fantasies. The lascivious way she describes some of the male characters could easily make an impressionable person blush, and descriptions like ‘a piece of hunk’ or ‘a slab of dragon-covered meat’ (referring to a muscular, tattooed guy) could easily make you confuse the novel’s genre. For those who try their luck with the second instalment in the series, Fortune’s Folly (which I incidentally do not recommend), be warned that the lasciviousness devolves into something that closely resembles soft porn.

Tremendous pity as both the characters and the story have potential for greatness.

[Ramona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was going to let this go, but after skimming rapidly through the last half of the book, just so I wouldn’t say I wasted my money, in the end, I got this frustrated rant from the author that the evil publishing industry is stifling her genius by not publishing her books, and she wants to “change the world” and make sci-fi about the characters, not about “mind-numbingly dry technology”… What?... I was so shocked I could barely process this. It’s called Science – Fiction! It’s supposed to be about technology! Asimov must be spinning in his grave… No offense, but if no one wants to publish you, take a hint. This was THE worst book I ever bought. Twighlight seems like Hamlet compared to this one. Here are the basics:
-I bought the book because the blurb seemed interesting but this blurb probably belongs to another book because nothing described in it actually ever happens.
-You have no idea what the characters want and what the plot is until halfway, and even then, the characters don’t seem to care much about their goals, they prefer to insult and threaten each other, no threat actually manifesting, so it just seems like a bunch of angry neighbors screaming at each other.
-They also prefer to flirt endlessly and engage in ridiculous 3’rd grade “sexy” banter, repeating the same insults to each other, even though they are in mortal peril and are supposed to focus on escaping.
-This brings me to the next one: the repetition in this book is just phenomenal, the same lines, the same points are repeated hundreds of times until you go insane. And they’re not even good lines.
-Even though there is a lot of action, nothing ever seems to progress and nothing gets done. It’s amazing how the writer even accomplished this.
-Meaningless violence that just drags on and on until you start to yawn. This is when I started skipping pages.
-I’m not even going to go into the victim falling in love with her abuser trope because we would be here all day. I don’t mind the trope, you could make this trope work very well, with some dark and psychological commentary, but it’s not working here, that’s for sure. It’s just poorly romanticized violence.
I can’t talk about this anymore, I have to go read something actually good otherwise my brain will wither and die.

[Sarah Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far my favorite book by Sara King yet. That is saying a lot. Fortune's Rising had me at the edge of my seat and unable to put it down. I stayed awake until 4am to finish it...something which no book has made me giddy enough to do in many years. I was left in shock more than once when I thought "she wouldn't go there, she wouldn't... she went there!" But it turns out the events were totally integral to the book and perfectly executed. I wish I could give it 6 stars.

Sara King makes a big deal about being a character writer. It's important to her, and that makes a big difference in her books. Each character feels so real like they actually exist in this world that Sara placed them. Another reviewer compared the "Yolk babies" in this book to the kids in the Enderverse and I think that is spot on. Not copied from OSC - but as rich and varied and unique as the Ender characters in a very GOOD way. Each character has their own uberhuman skill or character trait that they must learn to use to their advantage. At the same time those traits create a void at the opposite end of the spectrum that they must learn to overcome.

The way the characters lives intertwine and the way that comes to light is simply brilliant, and leaves you with the feeling that there is so much more to discover. The dystopian world she creates is absolutely fascinating. As the book progresses, you can feel the tensions rising at the brink of a revolution that I'm sure will be equally gripping in the next installment of her Outer Bounds series.

[Red Tide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice universe

What a strange universe, t!his one is. This story takes place in a galaxy far from the Milky Way and included a broken human society which doesn't see its own weaknesses. The character cast is interesting but not stellar.

The Coalition shock troops are suitably evil but for humans with no skin, they sure do a lot of raping. I don't see any way from the descriptions how that even happens. The lack of research into the nature of the Shriekers is realistically short sighted but no one has studied their place in the ecosystem. If you farm a creature, it seems prudent to understand its lifecycle, environment and interaction between its biology and the environment. The dead races and their tech are as much characters as the humans, which is cool but confusing.

The big issue is the budding revolution. The Little Red Book goes something like 1) know yourself - emotional drivers, goals, weaknesses and resources, 2) know your enemy - emotional drivers, goals, weaknesses and resources, 3) educate, then organize your population around shared perceptions of the preceding, 4) only then create the military needed for that struggle.

Training successive classes of soldier wannabes without an understanding of the reasons for fighting or the methods of the enemy feels like the cart before the horse. Losing special children to a draft because parents don't shield them from identification, hide them through a series of fosters and possibly eliminating the slavers is a big story hole.

I liked the book and will read the next.

[Diane G Coup · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had some hope for this, even though the general plot has been done before: Only one planet in the universe create a much needed psychic substance, but instead of spice from worms (Dune), it's yolk from shreikers. Even has the psychotic little sister. After that all else fails: the characters are pretty similar - brilliant or idiotic, depending on the moment; moody and illogical,and very inconsistent - the evil overlords torture everyone to death in the most heinous fashion except the heroine whom they conveniently set-up to escape. And although the author dismisses the Sci(ence) part of SciFi, she needs to pay some attention - you can't have the same transponder have a limited range (within a few miles of base) and then a worldwide range in the next section. Eventually it all just doesn't add up. Not interested in the rest of the series.....

[Ernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is okay -

It was very slow to start and I wondered if it was actually going to go anywhere. While it wasn't bad it also wasn't great.

It does have some dark humor to it and the robot "Dobie" adds a lot to comic effect however some of the story arcs are just unbelievable.

However with all that said its still just good enough to make me read the next one and from there I will decide if I will continue. I'm in not rush though but it will be on the back log.

[Caden Ganz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't compare to Sara kings Zero books. Haven't been able to stop thinking about Zero for weeks.