Review: Stands on it's own merits quite well.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 22, 2013
Read from July 19 to 20, 2013Book Infoebook, 275 pagesPublished June 3rd 2013 by Misque PressASIN B00D6KC6Y4edition language EnglishSource:From Author in exchange for honest reviewBook Buy LinksAMAZONB&N;BOOK SYNOPSISOn a hell-class world where feudal lords joust with mechs and use memetic tech to imprint loyalty onto their vassals and thralls, all Charlie and his people ask is to be left alone, free to think for themselves.Then, on his wedding day, Charlie's bride is kidnapped to be a thrall. As he fights for his life and her freedom, he discovers the war helm of an ancient and powerful lord. He needs the knowledge in the helm to bring the battle to his enemies. But if he uses it, he risks losing himself... and becoming embroiled in a war that will soon span the galaxy.My ThoughtsCharlie Cooper is the main character and whose POV is how the story unfolds. This is a very complex tale that encompasses a span of time less than 20 years but in the time frame there is a lot of changes in store for Charlie that are both good and bad in their own way.When the story starts it starts out full blast without taking too much time out for world or character development which allows the reader to get involved immediately with both in a way that is at times overwhelming but also allows one to take in each detail as it happens rather than waiting for an elaborate setup.To say that this is an easy book to read would be an untruth but it is also not that hard to follow if you just allow the narrative and action to flow naturally without over thinking about what you are absorbing as the pages pass.The book is one that details the change from someone who has only been exposed to a very narrow view of life, in his years alive on his home world of Neraka Charlie Cooper has only dreamed big one time in his life and that is to spend every moment from his wedding day forward with his beloved Benisse but thanks to a cosmic irony fate has other things in store for the two starting with the arrival of an unexpected "guest" to their wedding who changes everyone's fate in one fell swoop for years to come.Author Tara Maya has once again taken her own unique brand of writing style and combined it with her vision of a future for her characters that is both outlandish as well as very believable. The conflicts that Charlie faces during the intervening years from his origins of early life to the later years where his entire way of thinking is turned upside down over and over again are just a part of what makes this read interesting as it makes you think long and hard about what it would be like to try and save a sense of self under very trying emotional and physical conditions.More than just a story about galactic warfare Strat is full of revelations about the inner workings of what truly makes one human and what it takes to strip that humanity to the very bone when push comes to shove.[KINDLE COPY FROM Author in exchange for honest review]