Review: Spicy Space Opera!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 15, 2013
Stacians take wagers seriously so when Stacian starship commander Rast sen Drenthan's commanding officer proposes a bet involving human Lira Jannholm, Rast cannot refuse. Nor can Lira, though she'd like to. Humans and the luxury-loving copper-eyed Stacians have been sworn enemies for centuries and she has no reason to trust Rast will honor the terms he is offering.As it turns out, Rast is an honorable man and when Lira is wrongly labeled a traitor and dismissed from the Gaian military in disgrace, he refuses to allow her to face her future alone. The two form an uneasy alliance to track down those responsible for her reversal of fortune and in the process uncover a conspiracy that has its roots in the complicated diplomacy that binds both civilizations.THE GAIA GAMBIT is the most recent entry in Christine Pope's loosely linked sci fi romances published under the umbrella title of the "Gaian Consortium Series." Characters from the first novel in the series, BLOOD WILL TELL, make pivotal appearances, and the Zhore--those enigmatic aliens from BREATH OF LIFE and A SIMPLE GIFT make their presence known as well. (You don't have to have read any of the other books in the series to enjoy THE GAIA GAMBIT as it is a stand-alone novel.)The mystery of who is manipulating events and why is genuinely engaging and that story plays out in parallel to the adventure of Rast and Lira discovering their cross-cultural love for each other. Neither ever expected to love the other but politics makes strange bedfellows. As with Pope's fantasy series, TALES OF THE LATTER KINGDOMS, the world-building here is rich and deep. The universe of the book is a complicated place, inhabited by a wide variety of aliens and humans with complex and layered histories and cultures.There's adventure here along with the romance and the stakes are high--not just personally for the protagonists, but also for their worlds and the galaxy as a whole. The action is tense and believable, with Rast and Lira staying just one step ahead of their pursuers who include mercenaries working for the gangster whose ship Lira stole. (Falling into his hands would literally be a fate worse than death for Lira, although death would come to her eventually.)In between dodging pulse bolts and evading both human and alien pursuers, Rast and Lira explore their growing attraction to each other, feelings that surprise both of them and will delight the reader as they're treated to a series of sensual love scenes. (Let's just say it's not ALWAYS cold in space.)This book has a little something for fans of three different genres. It's a satisfying mystery, science fiction and romance novel all in one. Fans of Pope's character-centric stories will not be disappointed, and for readers who have not yet discovered her books, THE GAIA GAMBIT is a great place to start.