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The Rogue King #1
The Rogue King
Outside is dangerous.
Such is the warning Koral has heard for twelve years. Born a product of genetic manipulation, he knows little else of the world beyond the steel walls of his home.
When fate gives him the choice between certain death and the unknown, there's no question in what he must choose. But he's about to find out the sands he must brave are full of more than mere monsters.
Providing the desert doesn't kill him first.
This is a world ruled by instinct, where innocence is drowned in blood. Here, men are offered up to the great Serpent God, Lorric, only to emerge as the most feared killers on the planet: The Rogues.
With the god's sights set on turning Koral into a legend, he must sacrifice himself to survive and be reborn as... The Rogue King.
Such is the warning Koral has heard for twelve years. Born a product of genetic manipulation, he knows little else of the world beyond the steel walls of his home.
When fate gives him the choice between certain death and the unknown, there's no question in what he must choose. But he's about to find out the sands he must brave are full of more than mere monsters.
Providing the desert doesn't kill him first.
This is a world ruled by instinct, where innocence is drowned in blood. Here, men are offered up to the great Serpent God, Lorric, only to emerge as the most feared killers on the planet: The Rogues.
With the god's sights set on turning Koral into a legend, he must sacrifice himself to survive and be reborn as... The Rogue King.
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
207 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2014
About the author
Aldrea Alien
17 books174 followersMother. Animal lover. Vampire. Fangirl.
Aldrea Alien is a multi-award-winning, USA Today Bestselling, bisexual and genderfluid author from New Zealand. She writes fantasy romance of varying heat levels and sexualities.
She grew up on a small farm out the back blocks of a place known as Wainuiomata alongside a menagerie of animals, who are all convinced they're just as human as the next person (especially the cats). She spent a great deal of her childhood riding horses, whilst the rest of her time was consumed with reading every fantasy book she could get her hands on and concocting ideas about a little planet known as Thardrandia. This would prove to be the start of The Rogue King Saga as, come her twelfth year, she discovered there was a book inside her.
Aldrea now lives in Upper Hutt, on yet another small farm with a less hectic, but still egotistical, group of animals (cats will be cats). She still hasn't yet found an off switch to give her an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind, a list that grows bigger every year with all of them clamouring for her to tell their story first. It's a lot of people for one head.
Website | Twitter | Facebook
Aldrea Alien is a multi-award-winning, USA Today Bestselling, bisexual and genderfluid author from New Zealand. She writes fantasy romance of varying heat levels and sexualities.
She grew up on a small farm out the back blocks of a place known as Wainuiomata alongside a menagerie of animals, who are all convinced they're just as human as the next person (especially the cats). She spent a great deal of her childhood riding horses, whilst the rest of her time was consumed with reading every fantasy book she could get her hands on and concocting ideas about a little planet known as Thardrandia. This would prove to be the start of The Rogue King Saga as, come her twelfth year, she discovered there was a book inside her.
Aldrea now lives in Upper Hutt, on yet another small farm with a less hectic, but still egotistical, group of animals (cats will be cats). She still hasn't yet found an off switch to give her an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind, a list that grows bigger every year with all of them clamouring for her to tell their story first. It's a lot of people for one head.
Website | Twitter | Facebook
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 29, 2017
This book started out really well, and I thought I was going to love it... But, no.
The major problem for me is that quite a few times the story skips several years, and that kinda makes it feel like this is a story the author didn't really want to write - or was told it was too long, so she cut huge chunks out.
I would have liked to have those "missing" years. The author is a good writer, so the extra wordage wouldn't have bothered me at all.
Really disappointing.
The major problem for me is that quite a few times the story skips several years, and that kinda makes it feel like this is a story the author didn't really want to write - or was told it was too long, so she cut huge chunks out.
I would have liked to have those "missing" years. The author is a good writer, so the extra wordage wouldn't have bothered me at all.
Really disappointing.
March 2, 2017
This got a bit confusing towards the end.... the dream was it what was happening in real life or just a dream, until the next one I shall wait and find out what happens next.
June 21, 2014
Koral runs away from his spaceship home and finds other members of his alien race. After a short time, he is given as tribute to the gods and becomes a rogue who is possessed by the spirit of a god.
This is a science fiction novel, but many aspects have more of a high fantasy feel about them. I felt it was an excellent blend of the two genres that fans of both will enjoy. Koral is a fascinating character, and we get to see several years of his life in this one novel.
At first, Koral came across as a little bit stupid. He was a kid, after all. Though he didn’t know exactly what rogues were, he thought it would be better to join them than to get married and father a child at his young age. Even though such an act might have saved him from being handed over to become a criminal, he is still willing to take his chances. He was young, so I can forgive that stupidity. The book spans until he is thirty (sixty in human years), so it was nice to see him grow and mature in his line of thinking. He came across as realistic to me, despite being an alien repto-humanoid.
I loved the fact that he was created by some sort of “mad scientist” experiment. I didn’t get all the details, but I’m sure they’re coming in future installments. This book presents the idea of his hybridization and possible link to an ancient race of extinct aliens known as the trexans. Unfortunately, the story veers off into a romance, and I was disappointed with how the action slowed. I would much rather have had him go on a quest to find out where he truly came from, but that is a personal matter. The romance is nicely done (if you enjoy romance), and there are some steamy scenes.
The only thing I disliked was that there are too many pages dedicated to Koral’s inner turmoil about having sex with Lisal. It dragged on and on until I wanted to scream “just do it already!”. I enjoyed Lisal’s action scenes much more, where she proves herself tough and good in a fight. The action is expertly written and kept me glued to the page.
I loved the idea of his crimes being committed while inhabited by an evil god. That is more high fantasy to me than sci-fi, and it worked very well for my tastes. I did think he had too easy of a time getting through this period, and he comes through none the worse for wear. One would expect him to be traumatized, and maybe he is a little. The story moves along by leaps and bounds, and we miss out on quite a bit because of the book spanning about twenty years.
Just fair warning to those who might be easily offended. There are some pretty intense scenes of violence, and there is also rape. The rape scenes are not so detailed, but some might find them disturbing nonetheless. Consider yourself warned. I did not feel that these scenes were overly graphic, and there was nothing added just for shock value.
I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a science fiction novel, but many aspects have more of a high fantasy feel about them. I felt it was an excellent blend of the two genres that fans of both will enjoy. Koral is a fascinating character, and we get to see several years of his life in this one novel.
At first, Koral came across as a little bit stupid. He was a kid, after all. Though he didn’t know exactly what rogues were, he thought it would be better to join them than to get married and father a child at his young age. Even though such an act might have saved him from being handed over to become a criminal, he is still willing to take his chances. He was young, so I can forgive that stupidity. The book spans until he is thirty (sixty in human years), so it was nice to see him grow and mature in his line of thinking. He came across as realistic to me, despite being an alien repto-humanoid.
I loved the fact that he was created by some sort of “mad scientist” experiment. I didn’t get all the details, but I’m sure they’re coming in future installments. This book presents the idea of his hybridization and possible link to an ancient race of extinct aliens known as the trexans. Unfortunately, the story veers off into a romance, and I was disappointed with how the action slowed. I would much rather have had him go on a quest to find out where he truly came from, but that is a personal matter. The romance is nicely done (if you enjoy romance), and there are some steamy scenes.
The only thing I disliked was that there are too many pages dedicated to Koral’s inner turmoil about having sex with Lisal. It dragged on and on until I wanted to scream “just do it already!”. I enjoyed Lisal’s action scenes much more, where she proves herself tough and good in a fight. The action is expertly written and kept me glued to the page.
I loved the idea of his crimes being committed while inhabited by an evil god. That is more high fantasy to me than sci-fi, and it worked very well for my tastes. I did think he had too easy of a time getting through this period, and he comes through none the worse for wear. One would expect him to be traumatized, and maybe he is a little. The story moves along by leaps and bounds, and we miss out on quite a bit because of the book spanning about twenty years.
Just fair warning to those who might be easily offended. There are some pretty intense scenes of violence, and there is also rape. The rape scenes are not so detailed, but some might find them disturbing nonetheless. Consider yourself warned. I did not feel that these scenes were overly graphic, and there was nothing added just for shock value.
I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 17, 2015
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I wavered between a 3 and 4 star rating for this novel. Author Aldrea Alien has obvious skill as a story teller, and has built a unique world and alien creatures. The story concept is intriguing, I liked the idea of humans landing on an alien planet and using their superior technology and time travel skills as barter to create a unique breed on the world. The mix of species was also a major draw, so many differing races all living together, with such a wide variety of deities that actually interact with the culture. The story is fast paced, had easily followed time line, shows character and moral growth in the very young protagonist throughout his maturity and adventures, a complex religious and political society, and the violence/sexual content was acceptable for all ages of reader.
The things that made this novel a 3 for my reading tastes likely won't matter much to most sci-fi/fantasy readers today. There were many aspects of the story that felt undeveloped and left too many unanswered questions: for instance why the humans were stuck on the planet and why they created Koral; why were the nomads/desert people cut off from the rest of the planet's kingdoms; what purpose did the Rogue's serve in the scheme of religious and planet wide politics; why the All Mother wanted Koral/Vengence to father a child; is Lasil also a creation of the humans.
The story felt rushed with the author narrating all the relevant facts that led Koral to becoming a sacrifice to the God Lorric, growing a reputation as a savage Rogue, and then becoming the King by killing one Rogue. Nothing in his actions shows him as a strong politician, or more savage killer than any of the other Rogues. In the final quarter of the novel, when Veng finally meets the love interest, the author finally allows Veng and the young Lasil to form and emotional bond with the reader through a deep, well done dual third person perspective. Perhaps the toughest aspect of the story for me was the way the author "humanized" the characters by referring to them as "people" "man" "woman" and only occasionally using their unique description in the narrative.
Overall, this was an intriguing story with a unique world and characters. A more emotive POV, slower pace, and deeper exploration of the many plot concepts would have made this a satisfying read for me. The author has a gift for creative creatures and alien societies.
I wavered between a 3 and 4 star rating for this novel. Author Aldrea Alien has obvious skill as a story teller, and has built a unique world and alien creatures. The story concept is intriguing, I liked the idea of humans landing on an alien planet and using their superior technology and time travel skills as barter to create a unique breed on the world. The mix of species was also a major draw, so many differing races all living together, with such a wide variety of deities that actually interact with the culture. The story is fast paced, had easily followed time line, shows character and moral growth in the very young protagonist throughout his maturity and adventures, a complex religious and political society, and the violence/sexual content was acceptable for all ages of reader.
The things that made this novel a 3 for my reading tastes likely won't matter much to most sci-fi/fantasy readers today. There were many aspects of the story that felt undeveloped and left too many unanswered questions: for instance why the humans were stuck on the planet and why they created Koral; why were the nomads/desert people cut off from the rest of the planet's kingdoms; what purpose did the Rogue's serve in the scheme of religious and planet wide politics; why the All Mother wanted Koral/Vengence to father a child; is Lasil also a creation of the humans.
The story felt rushed with the author narrating all the relevant facts that led Koral to becoming a sacrifice to the God Lorric, growing a reputation as a savage Rogue, and then becoming the King by killing one Rogue. Nothing in his actions shows him as a strong politician, or more savage killer than any of the other Rogues. In the final quarter of the novel, when Veng finally meets the love interest, the author finally allows Veng and the young Lasil to form and emotional bond with the reader through a deep, well done dual third person perspective. Perhaps the toughest aspect of the story for me was the way the author "humanized" the characters by referring to them as "people" "man" "woman" and only occasionally using their unique description in the narrative.
Overall, this was an intriguing story with a unique world and characters. A more emotive POV, slower pace, and deeper exploration of the many plot concepts would have made this a satisfying read for me. The author has a gift for creative creatures and alien societies.
May 12, 2014
The Rogue King is an interesting book. One of the main reasons for this is there are very few humans in the story, with the majority of the characters being part of alien races. These include wolenas, katesses, and reptereons. The story itself takes place on a planet named Thardrandia. I think it is this aspect of The Rogue King, along with the world building which includes various deities and their machinations, which caught my attention and kept me reading all the way through. It's definitely different from a lot of other science fiction books and movies I've seen, and I can't think of a comparison.
The main character is Koral/Vengeance/Veng. He's unique in the fact that he doesn't really fit neatly into any of the categories of the various races, but believes he's part reptereon and part walfre. It's not only that though. There are things that other characters notice about him that set him apart as being different because he has traits that aren't typical. I found his story to be compelling as it unfolded, and I grew to like him quite a bit by the end of this book as well as Lasil.
This is the first book in a series, and I'm interested in seeing how this story continues. There are a lot of unanswered questions and various plot lines that were part of this book that haven't been resolved yet. In all, I thought it was a good science fiction story, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction. My rating is 4/5 platypires.
The main character is Koral/Vengeance/Veng. He's unique in the fact that he doesn't really fit neatly into any of the categories of the various races, but believes he's part reptereon and part walfre. It's not only that though. There are things that other characters notice about him that set him apart as being different because he has traits that aren't typical. I found his story to be compelling as it unfolded, and I grew to like him quite a bit by the end of this book as well as Lasil.
This is the first book in a series, and I'm interested in seeing how this story continues. There are a lot of unanswered questions and various plot lines that were part of this book that haven't been resolved yet. In all, I thought it was a good science fiction story, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction. My rating is 4/5 platypires.
April 30, 2014
So many questions and emotions. Here you have a story about a being who was created through genetic manipulation and sheltered until he decided he needed to escape in order to survive. Having left the comfortable confines of his then home, he becomes educated in the way of the world outside the peaceful settlement he knew. Pain and suffering become and instant lesson that is learned and as a reader we are taken on an emotional roller coaster as we root for the main character and sometimes dislike the main character. Vengeance or Redemption? What will be the final outcome to this story?
June 30, 2015
From Iraida Torres
Very interesting. The book was sometimes difficult to follow due to all the various species. The book sometimes felt as if dragging. I was given a chance to read and review by its author. I had a difficult time with all the changes with the characters. However, I finished the book and felt sad as the child had to be sent away to be safe and not knowing the future for him. I recommend the book because it does keep the reader interested and must be read to appreciate the author's fictional idea behind the book. I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
March 4, 2016
Thardrandria is a curious combination of an enthralling and forbidding alien planet.
Read full review in the 2016 March issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2016 March issue of InD'tale Magazine.
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March 2, 20162.0/5.0
Read full review in the 2016 March issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2016 March issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews