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Fleet of Malik #1
Bodies In Motion
A body at rest stays at rest unless acted on by an equal and opposite force.
– Newton’s First Law of Motion
Selena Caryll lost everything in the war: her ship, her crew, her family. The only thing keeping her going is the hope that somehow the feuding, ground-bound settlers and the fuelless space fleet can set aside their differences. But getting the politically-fractured fleet moving again is more than she can manage alone. For now, she has to settle for working undercover with the planetary police force.
When someone tries to reignite conflict between the planet-siders and the fleet, there’s only one person who has the rank and ability to help Selena protect the fleet: Titan Sciarra, Fleet Guardian—the one man she’s tried hardest to avoid since the war destroyed her life.
In a world where the stagnant weight of tradition can be as deadly as any knife, the only way to survive is to keep moving.
– Newton’s First Law of Motion
Selena Caryll lost everything in the war: her ship, her crew, her family. The only thing keeping her going is the hope that somehow the feuding, ground-bound settlers and the fuelless space fleet can set aside their differences. But getting the politically-fractured fleet moving again is more than she can manage alone. For now, she has to settle for working undercover with the planetary police force.
When someone tries to reignite conflict between the planet-siders and the fleet, there’s only one person who has the rank and ability to help Selena protect the fleet: Titan Sciarra, Fleet Guardian—the one man she’s tried hardest to avoid since the war destroyed her life.
In a world where the stagnant weight of tradition can be as deadly as any knife, the only way to survive is to keep moving.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 19, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 23, 2017
I really want to rave about this story in all the best ways... and you need to know that I'm a Brooks fangirl for a dozen reasons--including the fact that she's my editor. So if you want to take this review with a grain of salt, sobeit.
This tale reminds me of Lois McMaster Bujold's "A Civil Campaign" from the perspective of how flawed and wounded humans negotiate their healing through love. And the setting and world-building share all the hallmarks of complexity that Bujold manages across her multi-volume series, so I'm very much looking forward to additional installments of reading about the characters that come with this world.
Those Bujold parallels aside, this is a unique and engrossing story all on its own. Characters enhanced by technological implants and the contrasts between "ground-sider" and "star-sider" mores and cultures were profoundly embedded into the narrative, making some passages almost lyrical. The murder mystery and Brooks' penchant for things that go "boom" were consistent with all of her other works, but carried a very different flavor in this context. This series contrasts sharply with her Time and Shadows series for the profound hopefulness she imbues in the main characters. And yet the characters face their own perils and struggle to reach the happy-ever-after required of a romance.
For anyone looking for a well-crafted story set in a rich world with believable scifi, I can't recommend this strongly enough.
This tale reminds me of Lois McMaster Bujold's "A Civil Campaign" from the perspective of how flawed and wounded humans negotiate their healing through love. And the setting and world-building share all the hallmarks of complexity that Bujold manages across her multi-volume series, so I'm very much looking forward to additional installments of reading about the characters that come with this world.
Those Bujold parallels aside, this is a unique and engrossing story all on its own. Characters enhanced by technological implants and the contrasts between "ground-sider" and "star-sider" mores and cultures were profoundly embedded into the narrative, making some passages almost lyrical. The murder mystery and Brooks' penchant for things that go "boom" were consistent with all of her other works, but carried a very different flavor in this context. This series contrasts sharply with her Time and Shadows series for the profound hopefulness she imbues in the main characters. And yet the characters face their own perils and struggle to reach the happy-ever-after required of a romance.
For anyone looking for a well-crafted story set in a rich world with believable scifi, I can't recommend this strongly enough.
September 26, 2017
A fantastic new SFR with Brooks's characteristically glorious worldbuilding and snappy, flirty dialogue.
September 26, 2017
A delightful SFR with seriously badass characters and a fun plot.
The tech is strange, but presented in a familiar (and thankfully not bloviating) way. The character interactions make perfect sense for a clan-like society that is trapped by its own rules and prejudices.
While part of the plot wrap-up feels as though a character from a future book was thrown in w/o enough set-up, that could be entirely the result of my interpretation, and did not effect my enjoyment of the book.
The society set-up leaves me excited for the prospect of the continuing series.
The tech is strange, but presented in a familiar (and thankfully not bloviating) way. The character interactions make perfect sense for a clan-like society that is trapped by its own rules and prejudices.
While part of the plot wrap-up feels as though a character from a future book was thrown in w/o enough set-up, that could be entirely the result of my interpretation, and did not effect my enjoyment of the book.
The society set-up leaves me excited for the prospect of the continuing series.
February 6, 2020
This sweet science-fiction romance-thriller is more science-fiction than romance, creating a complicated culture of grounded spacers living in an uneasy-truce with the colonists they transported. The romantic interests were on opposite sides of the spacer war – now cold war on the ground – and all that feeds into the thriller aspects.
Ms. Brooks does it again! If you loved her Time series (Discoherence, etc), you will love this.
I admit, it took me a few chapters to grasp how the tech-enhancements created the psi-powers the spacers use. Actually, I read the chapters and took a nap – after sleeping and letting my brain short it out overnight, everything made sense.
But WOW – my friends who talk about “enhanced humans” will LOVE this series. This is exactly where people hope that technology will take us. And Ms. Brooks mashes up the enhanced human but claustrophobic culture required by spacers and their ships with the less-enhanced grounders but more-versatile culture allowed by being on planet and not worrying about where your next breath will come from if the environmental machines will fail.
Amazing worldbuilding, great characters, complicated story, murder, theft, possible political coups, … just wow.
And if you just want a sweet sci-fi romance, you got that too.
Received from publisher for an honest review.
Ms. Brooks does it again! If you loved her Time series (Discoherence, etc), you will love this.
I admit, it took me a few chapters to grasp how the tech-enhancements created the psi-powers the spacers use. Actually, I read the chapters and took a nap – after sleeping and letting my brain short it out overnight, everything made sense.
But WOW – my friends who talk about “enhanced humans” will LOVE this series. This is exactly where people hope that technology will take us. And Ms. Brooks mashes up the enhanced human but claustrophobic culture required by spacers and their ships with the less-enhanced grounders but more-versatile culture allowed by being on planet and not worrying about where your next breath will come from if the environmental machines will fail.
Amazing worldbuilding, great characters, complicated story, murder, theft, possible political coups, … just wow.
And if you just want a sweet sci-fi romance, you got that too.
Received from publisher for an honest review.
January 20, 2019
The author has opened up a bright new world to explore. Gear up, you're in for a wild ride.
September 21, 2021
Great
I’ve heard of Liana Brooks for a while but this was the first time I’d read one of her books. It was great! I can’t wait to see what happens next!!
I’ve heard of Liana Brooks for a while but this was the first time I’d read one of her books. It was great! I can’t wait to see what happens next!!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews