Review: 4 stars
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 19, 2013
There was a long-held fear among the known races of the galaxy that no matter how powerful or technologically advanced they became, there would always be someone stronger--hiding far out in the deep recesses of the cosmos.That fear has now been realized.A destructive alien armada has arrived, triggering a brutal war that will change the galaxy forever.The only hope for survival rests with two, mortal adversaries--who must rise above their mutual hatred to work together on a dangerous mission. One is a lethal assassin unleashed on an unsuspecting enemy--a man so dangerous that even his own government wants him dead. The other, a ruthless alien invader with his own shocking agenda.With enemies on both sides of the conflict, the assassin undergoes a personal revelation, striking at the very core of who and what he is. But will this epiphany lead to the salvation of the galaxy?Or assure its destruction...INSERT COVER IMAGEWhen I signed Bad Blood up for Story Cartel, I had this brief moment of "I wonder what the Story Cartel experience is like for a reader..." And by brief moment I mean brief moment, because no sooner had I thought it then I turned around and downloaded a book.This book, actually.And then I felt sort of ambivalent...See, the thing is, when you first open the book many of the sentences start with the word I.  It's all "I did this..." and "I did that..." and "holy crapballs what did I get myself into..."But I rarely if ever give up on reading books, and this time there was a story to be told (that might even help me out in the long run) so I stuck with it.Now I don't actually know if many of the sentences continued to start with the word I, because by chapter four I sort of stopped caring.(I just scanned back through, there's less I-ing.  Which is now a thing.  Because I said so.)What happens in chapter four, you ask?  Well, for starters, the monks show up.  And that, my friends, is when sh*t gets real.  I cannot tell you why, since it would spoil some of the surprise, but let me just say that things are pretty awesome in the world that Mr. Vann created.  Okay, one thing is pretty awesome.The rest is actually kind of sh*tty.See, there is this race (the Brenin) trying to take over the known galaxy.  And not only are the other races seemingly unable to work together to get them to back off, but the hostile race has these super shields that makes them almost invincible.But the Udek (this race of super aggressive dick bags) have  a plan.  One that kind of gets muddled rather quickly.  Leaving Tien (an Udek) in a position where he's forced to work with a Brenin.  Something neither one is very happy about, which only leads to more awesome.Plus the way these two have to work together... BRILLIANT.Oh, and then they help this third race, the Obas.Which, I might add, is the only point of the story where I went "oh really."  Not because it didn't make sense, but because Tien was all "we have to help them" and I was all "really, you just have to?  Couldn't possibly get around it?"  *rolls eyes*I got over it quickly though because the Obas homeworld, the race in general and Boe in specific made me geek out....Don't judge me.  Water worlds are badass.(I'm trying a new thing in my reviews, so please bear with me.  I haven't worked out the transition from up there to down here...)Idea:  I really liked the idea behind this story.  I mean, I like science fiction so that's kind of a given, but beyond the ships and races there are trying to snuff each other out there's two really interesting concepts that it's killing me not to be able to share with you.  KILLING ME.Execution: Aside from the I-ing at the beginning and that one "you just had to help" it was well executed.  Fast paced and easy to follow.Content Level:  Some graphic violence along with the description of how a character had been tortured off screen.Genre:  Space-tastic Science Fiction with new races and space ships and space ships that do battle.Solid idea, good execution, and I found myself going "is there going to be a sequel?"  Which is always a good sign.  Also, I have no idea since it wasn't clearly marked on goodreads and my headache prevented me from searching further than that.4 StarsA free copy of this book was provided by Story Cartel in exchange for a fair and honest review.