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Mankind's Redemption #1
Noble Ark
Mwalgi pirates, parasitic aliens who consume human spinal fluid, are boarding the Noble Ark. When Larkin Trovgar, a half-human member of the attacking alien ship, turns on his own people, saving Aline Taylor’s life, she feels duty-bound to watch over the impossible monstrosity. Despite his easy-going charms and virile physique, she’s determined to see him as she would any Mwalgi—nothing better than an animal. As Larkin’s presence brings out the best and worst in the human crew, and the Noble Ark is harassed by more Mwalgi ships, will Aline look past Larkin's alien heritage to find love, or will mistrust cost her everything?
382 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2014
5 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Colette Black
4 books10 followersWhen Colette Black isn't caring for her family, dogs, and a mischievous cat, she spends her time writing. Born and raised in the United States, she has also lived in the Philippines and Switzerland. Currently, she resides in the far outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona, where she loves the warm weather and the cotton fields.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 1, 2018
I can see why this book had to funded via Kickstarter. Poor story development makes this story difficult to enjoy reading. I struggled to read this book and finished solely because I didn't the money I spent on paying for it to go to waste. There was potential, but this book seriously needed a much better editor to make this flow well.
January 29, 2016
In the far future, spacefaring humans are preyed upon by a parasitic alien race called the Mwalgi (which is a mouthful to pronounce, so the humans refer to them colloquially as Gi), who depend on human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF for short) for their survival. Aline Taylor is a combat-trained passenger aboard the ship Noble Ark, though she is not officially part of the defense force due to her age. (She is 19, and you have to be 20 to be part of the guard.) During an attack by Gi pirates, one of the pirates turns on his shipmates and defends the humans, saving Aline’s life in the process. After the attack, he remains on the Noble Ark and is taken prisoner, as no human is willing to trust a member of the race that has killed so many of their own. Lar, the Mwalgi, is different from the others they have encountered, though. Instead of having scaled armor all across his body as other Gi do, he has patches of human-looking skin, and he claims his mother was human. Aline, feeling honor-bound to protect Lar since he saved her life, agrees to be in charge of guarding him rather than putting him in the brig where he will undoubtedly be abused by hateful crewmembers. Over time, as Lar behaves as nothing but a model prisoner, the two grow to like and trust each other and eventually fall in love, which causes all sorts of problems with the rest of the crew.
The Mwalgi Colette Black has come up with are a unique race of aliens that I find fascinating. Though they are basically humanoid in shape, they are covered with scaled armor and have wickedly sharp retractable talons on their hands and feet. I also found it very interesting the way Lar talked. English isn’t his native language, so he mixes up the order of words in a sentence a lot, putting verbs at the end and such. I thought the way he spoke was a great way of showing he was from a foreign culture, since I know that some languages besides English put verbs at the end of sentences like that. (German, for example.) It made it feel more authentic.
Another thing I liked about Noble Ark was the technology. Instead of using some form of energy weapon like every clichéd scifi out there, the combatants aboard Noble Ark use what they call acid guns. Not “burn-your-face-off” type acid, but something that is poison to the Mwalgi and makes the humans all loopy when they get hit with it. Other than that, there are force fields, and the Gi use a sort of stun gun the humans call a paralyzer to immobilize their prey. (The paralyzers kind of reminded me of the Wraith stunners in the TV show Stargate Atlantis, and anything that reminds me of Stargate is a good thing.)
A huge plus for Noble Ark was that Aline and Lar did not suffer from the “insta-love” that seems to run rampant in YA fiction nowadays. You know what I mean—when the main characters meet each other for the first time and then are declaring their undying love for each other a few days later. When Aline and Lar first meet, it is as enemies, and that shows in the story. Aline hates the Gi as much as or probably more than the next human, so it takes most of the book for her to grow to like and trust Lar. It probably helped that Lar was a perfect gentleman the whole time she was guarding him.
Things to watch out for: this book has some mature themes. There is violence due to the parasitic nature of the Mwalgi, but it never gets overly graphic—I would say it is less graphic than Chris Paolini’s Inheritance books. One of the characters is also what I would call a player or womanizer, and we get to see into his thoughts during some portions of the book. They’re just crude enough for readers to recognize that he’s a slimeball, but nothing that would be out of place in a mild PG-13 movie. This character attempts to rape a girl, but doesn’t get any further than rough kissing before he’s stopped, so if you were okay with the similar scene in the book/movie Divergent, you should be all right reading Noble Ark. Additionally, all the cursing in the book consisted of made-up words—there was no real profanity, which I appreciated.
I noticed in the acknowledgements that Noble Ark was self-published. That said, it was markedly better edited than a lot of similarly produced ebooks I have read. Typos were minor and few and far between. Thumbs up on your choice of editor, Colette Black!
One warning: the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Thankfully, book 2, Desolation, is coming out in a few months (October 2014, if I remember correctly), so there’s not long to wait. I know I will definitely be reading it when it comes out! Colette Black, you have a new fan. To everyone else, give Noble Ark a read if you want a scifi that doesn’t rehash the same old tropes. It’s totally worth your time!
The Mwalgi Colette Black has come up with are a unique race of aliens that I find fascinating. Though they are basically humanoid in shape, they are covered with scaled armor and have wickedly sharp retractable talons on their hands and feet. I also found it very interesting the way Lar talked. English isn’t his native language, so he mixes up the order of words in a sentence a lot, putting verbs at the end and such. I thought the way he spoke was a great way of showing he was from a foreign culture, since I know that some languages besides English put verbs at the end of sentences like that. (German, for example.) It made it feel more authentic.
Another thing I liked about Noble Ark was the technology. Instead of using some form of energy weapon like every clichéd scifi out there, the combatants aboard Noble Ark use what they call acid guns. Not “burn-your-face-off” type acid, but something that is poison to the Mwalgi and makes the humans all loopy when they get hit with it. Other than that, there are force fields, and the Gi use a sort of stun gun the humans call a paralyzer to immobilize their prey. (The paralyzers kind of reminded me of the Wraith stunners in the TV show Stargate Atlantis, and anything that reminds me of Stargate is a good thing.)
A huge plus for Noble Ark was that Aline and Lar did not suffer from the “insta-love” that seems to run rampant in YA fiction nowadays. You know what I mean—when the main characters meet each other for the first time and then are declaring their undying love for each other a few days later. When Aline and Lar first meet, it is as enemies, and that shows in the story. Aline hates the Gi as much as or probably more than the next human, so it takes most of the book for her to grow to like and trust Lar. It probably helped that Lar was a perfect gentleman the whole time she was guarding him.
Things to watch out for: this book has some mature themes. There is violence due to the parasitic nature of the Mwalgi, but it never gets overly graphic—I would say it is less graphic than Chris Paolini’s Inheritance books. One of the characters is also what I would call a player or womanizer, and we get to see into his thoughts during some portions of the book. They’re just crude enough for readers to recognize that he’s a slimeball, but nothing that would be out of place in a mild PG-13 movie. This character attempts to rape a girl, but doesn’t get any further than rough kissing before he’s stopped, so if you were okay with the similar scene in the book/movie Divergent, you should be all right reading Noble Ark. Additionally, all the cursing in the book consisted of made-up words—there was no real profanity, which I appreciated.
I noticed in the acknowledgements that Noble Ark was self-published. That said, it was markedly better edited than a lot of similarly produced ebooks I have read. Typos were minor and few and far between. Thumbs up on your choice of editor, Colette Black!
One warning: the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Thankfully, book 2, Desolation, is coming out in a few months (October 2014, if I remember correctly), so there’s not long to wait. I know I will definitely be reading it when it comes out! Colette Black, you have a new fan. To everyone else, give Noble Ark a read if you want a scifi that doesn’t rehash the same old tropes. It’s totally worth your time!
May 3, 2015
3.5, but I'll round up just cause I enjoyed it.
I think I probably enjoyed this more than it deserved, because when I started mentally tallying all the points I wanted to make in this review the criticisms outnumbered the compliments. But I still enjoyed it. Sometimes that just happens with a book. In such cases, I tend to go with my emotional response, even if not all together logical. So, the final takeaway is that I had fun reading Noble Ark.
The simple fact is that a lot of this plot is...*shakes head*...well, I couldn't believe half of it. The amount of freedom of movement Larkin, an enemy hostage, is given is unprecedented.
But before I even get to that though, there is the fact that almost everyone on board the ship hates the Mwalgi, except for a few convenient people in Aline's life who suddenly and inexplicably turn out to be Mwalgi sympathisers. Most notable of these are the family of her best friend and her therapist. Isn't that convenient to the plot? The people most likely to bring her around to not hating Larkin are the only ones who don't hate his kind to start with.
The necessity of putting Larkin in Aline's room, instead of the brig is utterly ridiculous. Even if your father is the captain, especially if your father is the captain, there's no way he's risking your life like that just be cause you ask. NO WAY! There had yet to be any indication to anyone but Aline that he was anything but the blood-thirty monster all other Mwalgi are seen as.
Then he's allowed to walk around with her mostly because, and I shit you not, her psychiatrist tells her to spent more time getting to know him. Sure, "Bring your enemy, alien hostage to your therapy sessions, where we'll talk about all your personal trauma in front of him." seems like a perfectly normal AND BELIEVABLE thing for a therapist to insist on. At the very least, that has to be a HIPPA violation.
What's more, dehumanising the enemy during war times is the norm, not something her counsellor would be having kittens over in the first place. So, why does he want her to get to know him and see him as more human? No one, NO ONE, else is concerned with seeing the enemy as human. (For that matter no other Mwalgi in the book are presented as human, they're all shown to be the evil monsters people believe them to be.)
Plus, when the few important characters who don't see them as monstrous all give Aline the 'but we're all human, really, it's just our governments that are at war' it felt forced and was unpleasantly sappy. It was the most juvenile part of the book and despite the books' general lack of believability, one of the few time I found myself truly disappointed by it.
Another one was the games. I found it unlikely that Larkin would have been allowed to participate, convenient archaic rule or not and I find it even more unlikely that other participants would play with him. Realistically, most should have been traumatised by the sight of him. Plus, they just lasted for flippin' ever! I thought they might never end, detailing every single stage and points scored as the section did.
I also found the onboard baddie, David, shallow, uni-dimensional and too insanely focused to be as smart as he was said to be. This is very much a YA sci-fi romance. A lot, A LOT, more time is spent on board with Larkin, Aline and David that with enemy engagements. So, for most of the book this angsty teenage attempt at romance is the main focus.
Given that so much attention was paid to the onboard drama, a lot less attention was paid to the galaxy and general world-building. I was often confused on what the treaties and conventions that were obviously being ignored were meant to actually establish, who/what species were, how many types, was there a multi-world alliance of some sort, etc. This was a very real weakness.
Now, I did really appreciate that the author allowed bad things to happen. I don't mean I like bad things, but in circumstances in which there can be no happy ending, the reader needs to know tragedy can strike. But many authors aren't willing to go there and I'm glad Black did.
The book is well written and I didn't notice any glaring editorial errors. Plus, like I said at the beginning, I really enjoyed the book. Larkin is a wonderful hero and, with exception of her extreme and annoying naivety concerning David, Aline was a strong fun heroine. There were some interesting tech and species described as well. So, though I had a lot of complaints, I'd still recommend readers pick it up. You kinda gotta give up on reasonable believability and just go with the flow, but if you can do it, it makes for a pleasant read.
I think I probably enjoyed this more than it deserved, because when I started mentally tallying all the points I wanted to make in this review the criticisms outnumbered the compliments. But I still enjoyed it. Sometimes that just happens with a book. In such cases, I tend to go with my emotional response, even if not all together logical. So, the final takeaway is that I had fun reading Noble Ark.
The simple fact is that a lot of this plot is...*shakes head*...well, I couldn't believe half of it. The amount of freedom of movement Larkin, an enemy hostage, is given is unprecedented.
But before I even get to that though, there is the fact that almost everyone on board the ship hates the Mwalgi, except for a few convenient people in Aline's life who suddenly and inexplicably turn out to be Mwalgi sympathisers. Most notable of these are the family of her best friend and her therapist. Isn't that convenient to the plot? The people most likely to bring her around to not hating Larkin are the only ones who don't hate his kind to start with.
The necessity of putting Larkin in Aline's room, instead of the brig is utterly ridiculous. Even if your father is the captain, especially if your father is the captain, there's no way he's risking your life like that just be cause you ask. NO WAY! There had yet to be any indication to anyone but Aline that he was anything but the blood-thirty monster all other Mwalgi are seen as.
Then he's allowed to walk around with her mostly because, and I shit you not, her psychiatrist tells her to spent more time getting to know him. Sure, "Bring your enemy, alien hostage to your therapy sessions, where we'll talk about all your personal trauma in front of him." seems like a perfectly normal AND BELIEVABLE thing for a therapist to insist on. At the very least, that has to be a HIPPA violation.
What's more, dehumanising the enemy during war times is the norm, not something her counsellor would be having kittens over in the first place. So, why does he want her to get to know him and see him as more human? No one, NO ONE, else is concerned with seeing the enemy as human. (For that matter no other Mwalgi in the book are presented as human, they're all shown to be the evil monsters people believe them to be.)
Plus, when the few important characters who don't see them as monstrous all give Aline the 'but we're all human, really, it's just our governments that are at war' it felt forced and was unpleasantly sappy. It was the most juvenile part of the book and despite the books' general lack of believability, one of the few time I found myself truly disappointed by it.
Another one was the games. I found it unlikely that Larkin would have been allowed to participate, convenient archaic rule or not and I find it even more unlikely that other participants would play with him. Realistically, most should have been traumatised by the sight of him. Plus, they just lasted for flippin' ever! I thought they might never end, detailing every single stage and points scored as the section did.
I also found the onboard baddie, David, shallow, uni-dimensional and too insanely focused to be as smart as he was said to be. This is very much a YA sci-fi romance. A lot, A LOT, more time is spent on board with Larkin, Aline and David that with enemy engagements. So, for most of the book this angsty teenage attempt at romance is the main focus.
Given that so much attention was paid to the onboard drama, a lot less attention was paid to the galaxy and general world-building. I was often confused on what the treaties and conventions that were obviously being ignored were meant to actually establish, who/what species were, how many types, was there a multi-world alliance of some sort, etc. This was a very real weakness.
Now, I did really appreciate that the author allowed bad things to happen. I don't mean I like bad things, but in circumstances in which there can be no happy ending, the reader needs to know tragedy can strike. But many authors aren't willing to go there and I'm glad Black did.
The book is well written and I didn't notice any glaring editorial errors. Plus, like I said at the beginning, I really enjoyed the book. Larkin is a wonderful hero and, with exception of her extreme and annoying naivety concerning David, Aline was a strong fun heroine. There were some interesting tech and species described as well. So, though I had a lot of complaints, I'd still recommend readers pick it up. You kinda gotta give up on reasonable believability and just go with the flow, but if you can do it, it makes for a pleasant read.
January 5, 2016
I was only half way through this book when the library wouldn't let me renew it. *annoyed face* but I really liked this one. It was slow-paced but it was very interesting. Only reading about half of the book, I was left wanting to know more about Lar and Aline's pasts and whether Aline would ever overcome her hatred of Mwalgi and whether Lar would ever be accepted into society. (I'm guessing it's yes to the first and no to the second at least until later in the series)
I feel it unfair for me to rate this book because I haven't finished and because I do like the book. But I don't know the end. The end could be bring-to-tears beautiful in which case I would give it 5 stars. Or the whole book could be really good but the end really dumb with which case 2 or 3. But I don't know. So it remains unrated.
Overall I do recommend this book but you must know it is very slow-paced.
Until the next good book I read, 'sgetti for all as long as you don't eat more than Aline. (That part was hilarious).
EDIT:
FINALLY I was able to recheck this book out from the library. Every time I looked it hasn't been there for me to finish reading but now I finally did.
I really liked this book and my rating is actually 4.5 stars but since you can't put that... It's 4. But really it's 4.5 stars. I'm actually shocked this book has so little ratings and reviews. It's because you're judging the book by its cover aren't you? Yes it's a shirtless alien on the cover, no you shouldn't judge the book by its cover. Seriously this book is really good.
The plot is slow paced at the beginning but once you get about half way it really picks up. It's kind of a slow read because the book is dense . I don't know how to explain it because the book is only 350 whatever pages yet it took me hours upon hours to read. The book is just a dense book. But it really becomes worth it especially when you read the end.
No the end wasn't 'bring to tears beautiful' as I'd hoped above. However it was really good and it was a cliff hanger. And I definitely did not see the plot twist coming. (I mean I kind of suspected but I thought I was wrong) so when it happened I was shocked.
I really liked Lar as a character and felt bad for him. Honestly I sided with Lar more than I sided with Aline. I mean I liked Aline but she had some flaws. While that certainly made her more believable it also helped to make Lar my clear favorite. The thing I disliked most about Aline is when she complained that guys didn't like her because she was "too tough" and "too good at fighting". But as far as I can tell Aline, you've nearly died in every battle you've been in and Lar has had to save your sorry excuse for a fighter. Don't get me wrong though this wasn't too prominent (I have read my fair share of over complaining main character females and this CERTAINLY isn't that) and I still really liked Aline... Just not as much as Lar.
Overall I liked the whole idea of the Mwalgi and I'm eager to learn more about the Chaerlis that supposedly make all the rules. This book was very interesting: the plot was interesting, the idea was interesting, the characters were interesting etc. I definitely recommend this to everyone who likes science fiction romance. I'm glad I got to finish reading it as now I'm hooked on the series.
Until the next amazing book I read, you know what goes on in the storage closet *wink wink*
I feel it unfair for me to rate this book because I haven't finished and because I do like the book. But I don't know the end. The end could be bring-to-tears beautiful in which case I would give it 5 stars. Or the whole book could be really good but the end really dumb with which case 2 or 3. But I don't know. So it remains unrated.
Overall I do recommend this book but you must know it is very slow-paced.
Until the next good book I read, 'sgetti for all as long as you don't eat more than Aline. (That part was hilarious).
EDIT:
FINALLY I was able to recheck this book out from the library. Every time I looked it hasn't been there for me to finish reading but now I finally did.
I really liked this book and my rating is actually 4.5 stars but since you can't put that... It's 4. But really it's 4.5 stars. I'm actually shocked this book has so little ratings and reviews. It's because you're judging the book by its cover aren't you? Yes it's a shirtless alien on the cover, no you shouldn't judge the book by its cover. Seriously this book is really good.
The plot is slow paced at the beginning but once you get about half way it really picks up. It's kind of a slow read because the book is dense . I don't know how to explain it because the book is only 350 whatever pages yet it took me hours upon hours to read. The book is just a dense book. But it really becomes worth it especially when you read the end.
No the end wasn't 'bring to tears beautiful' as I'd hoped above. However it was really good and it was a cliff hanger. And I definitely did not see the plot twist coming. (I mean I kind of suspected but I thought I was wrong) so when it happened I was shocked.
I really liked Lar as a character and felt bad for him. Honestly I sided with Lar more than I sided with Aline. I mean I liked Aline but she had some flaws. While that certainly made her more believable it also helped to make Lar my clear favorite. The thing I disliked most about Aline is when she complained that guys didn't like her because she was "too tough" and "too good at fighting". But as far as I can tell Aline, you've nearly died in every battle you've been in and Lar has had to save your sorry excuse for a fighter. Don't get me wrong though this wasn't too prominent (I have read my fair share of over complaining main character females and this CERTAINLY isn't that) and I still really liked Aline... Just not as much as Lar.
Overall I liked the whole idea of the Mwalgi and I'm eager to learn more about the Chaerlis that supposedly make all the rules. This book was very interesting: the plot was interesting, the idea was interesting, the characters were interesting etc. I definitely recommend this to everyone who likes science fiction romance. I'm glad I got to finish reading it as now I'm hooked on the series.
Until the next amazing book I read, you know what goes on in the storage closet *wink wink*
April 29, 2014
Exciting story. I like my sci-fi to have lots of action and this book satisfies. The new race is well thought out and the character interactions are compelling. There is plenty of action to satisfy and not too much in the love story (although enough to keep my wife interested...)
I thought the story pacing was really good and helped keep me engaged. I had a hard time putting this book down and read through it about as fast as humanly possible (which for this human is fairly slow).
I highly recommend this story. I was hooked by the third page and can't wait to continue the story.
I like having a strong female character. I think there was a nice balance and we also could see and relate to the vulnerable side of Aline and Lar as we saw their struggle with their prejudices and external forces.
Treat yourself to an exciting, fun and satisfying adventure with Aline and Lar!
I thought the story pacing was really good and helped keep me engaged. I had a hard time putting this book down and read through it about as fast as humanly possible (which for this human is fairly slow).
I highly recommend this story. I was hooked by the third page and can't wait to continue the story.
I like having a strong female character. I think there was a nice balance and we also could see and relate to the vulnerable side of Aline and Lar as we saw their struggle with their prejudices and external forces.
Treat yourself to an exciting, fun and satisfying adventure with Aline and Lar!
May 14, 2014
"Noble Ark" was a book I couldn't put down. From the very first page I felt taken in by the brilliant imagery, the character development, and the intricate way the author wove the plot. Ms. Black has created a world rich in a combination of fantasy and scifi.
I am glad the complete title includes "Book 1," as I cannot wait until Book 2 comes out!
I am glad the complete title includes "Book 1," as I cannot wait until Book 2 comes out!
November 10, 2016
Great action, fast-paced, and a sweet love story! What more could you want from a book!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews