Review: All the trimmings of a great science fiction story!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 16, 2014
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***You must read Alpha Trine prior to reading this book.  The story picks up right where the first book ended.***In Alpha Trine we meet Zeus.  He began life as the sole survivor on a vessel found in deep space by the Mar’Sani, a reptilian race.  At the time he was two months old and blind.  He was adopted by the Emperor and Empress of Mar'Sani and raised as one of their own.  Zeus’ parents had his vision restored when he was around 12 or 13 in order to better protect him from others who wish to do him harm.  Though Zeus was loved and cherished by his adopted family, there were several Mar'Sani families who did not like a human playing the role of a prince on their planet.  Zeus left his home planet to work on a spacedock as a Master Mechanic.  There he is kidnapped and comes in contact with a symbiote Dar Massaga, Dargon and Alpha.  Dargon and Alpha recognize Zeus as theirs and together the three form an Alpha Trine.  At the end of the book, the three are expecting a child through Alpha's pregnancy.  In the mists of all of this, Dargon and his crew of misfits are traveling across space with a group of Fal'Amoric, a race of individuals who were captured and forced into slavery.  Zeus discovers he is actually a Fal'Amoric prince.  It is imperative that the Fal'Amoric are returned to the council before the evil bug race, V'Saar, recaptures them.This is where Striker begins. Zeus is  pulled into the Waters of Poseidon by his long lost brother.  He is warned that there is a trap set-up for him and the ship if they continue on their course.  Zeus and the crew go to the planet where the Qrxzl live.  They are there to seek help but the Qrxzl attempts to fatally hurt Zeus, which leaves both Zeus and Dargon injured.  Because of their actions, Zeus and his group do enlist the help of the Feteine.  While there, Alpha is reunited with his first son Star Eater.During the time the group searches for allies and formulates a plan to arrive on Zeus’ home planet, Zeus, Dargon and Alpha prepare for the arrival of their children.  Alpha’s pregnancy is only 1 month so they are not going to make it planetside before the births occur.  With everything going on, all three are worried about the safety of their little ones and Zeus is fighting his natural instincts of nesting and aggression while Alpha and Dargon carry the babies.This book was extremely fast paced and very detailed.  I’m amazed by Ms. Ander’s creativity with the different species.  Each one was explicitly described.  There was a lot of information thrown out at you, which made it difficult to follow at times.  It has been a while since I’ve read the first book, which made it harder to pick the story up again.The book has all the trimmings of a great science fiction story such as a  galaxy wide war and interesting species, but the book also touches on the power of accepting oneself and others, and how looks can be deceiving.  My favorite part of the series is Zeus’ adopted family.  They are great.  Their loyalty to Zeus is extremely touching and at times funny.  The relationship between Zeus, Dargon and Alpha is also sweet.  The reader really gets to know a lot more about Alpha and his past.  I wish Dargon played a larger role in the book though.  There was a lot of Zeus and Alpha, but Dargon always took a backseat due to one thing or another.Overall a great science fiction series.  The universe created is creative, vivid and unique.  I can’t wait to read the other books.