Review: Exciting Sci-Fi Adventure Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 24, 2013
Oh, I really enjoyed this one!  From the very beginning it was dangerous and full of adventure.  I love it when a book grabs me in the beginning and I have a tough time setting it aside to do other things and I'm just waiting for the opportunity to pick it up again.  I think it was the whole 'Sword of Damocles' notion of waiting for the poor innocent to figure out what was going on when he learns of his betrayal on two counts plus the other hero's untenable position he is put into through no fault of his own that requires him to either get really lucky to come out with life and what means more than his life intact.The story opens with 'Mike' a Covert Operative for the Alliance working with a few other deep infiltrators to gain recon info to help a group of the natives against the big Doctrine war machine seeking to take over the planet.  Mike's from the Alliance whose presence on this independent planet is not supposed to be known.  Mike is supposed to gain intel for others which he does and in so doing his intel brings a change in his orders.  Now he is supposed to seduce a Doctrine officer and use him to learn about troop movements, supplies, plans, etc.  This doesn't sit well with him, but its orders and he'll follow them.Sergei is a young captain and the invading Doctrine Army General's assistant.  He is eager with this new posting and hoping to see some action.  That is until the general forces relations on him that he can't say 'no' to or face drastic consequences.  When the general takes a leave to return to the home world, Sergei breathes a sigh of relief and suddenly finds himself propositioned by a mysterious scholar who may be more than he seems.  Sergei sees something different in Mike and decides to tempt danger and take a chance with him.  It is with Mike that Sergei learns all that he has been missing out on in his dreary life.  Soon, he comes to trust Mike deeply and finds a way to keep him close, but in the meantime his rejection of the General brings dire consequences.  And it is not long before the horrifying truth is revealed making Sergei wonder if death or oblivion are entirely bad things.This riveting plot alternates between both Sergei and Mike's points of view.  It was so important to have both men's perspectives and feelings for this story to work.  It would have been very difficult for the characters to garner my liking and sympathy without having access to their motives.  Mike and Sergei represent two opposing ideologies though they still manage to connect on a fundamental level and it is that connection which makes the story go from average to amazing when their backgrounds are teased out and they should be hated enemies.The authentic military backdrops of the guerilla warfare in the mountains and the big army muscle steamrolling all before them with the operatives like Mike ghosting around I thought were a great enhancement to the story.  That whole Doctrine world with its 'live this way or face the consequences' was scary stuff to me and just ratcheted up the tension for me as Mike and Sergei's story unwound before me.As to the secondary characters, I thought they were good too.  That general- I loathed him and found myself giving him a mental death wish for what he did to Sergei.  Mike's compatriot Pat and Sergei's aunt were pretty straight forward, but I couldn't help but feel ambivalent about several others.  There were three individuals that I could have wished to know more about because in the end I still wasn't ultimately sure about them and wanted to know if my suspicions were correct.  I don't wish to speculate further and create spoilers and in the end further detail about these folk didn't affect the resolution.It is a Sci-Fi though I couldn't help, but feel that other than the technology and the creatures that it could have been almost any genre because of the stronger elements in it that were universal- the military feel as one army came to conquer another, covert operatives from another army, freedom fighters, forbidden romance, and corruption.  This observation is not meant as a criticism since it truly was a wonderful story and the Sci-Fi tones were strongly present.  I guess what I'm trying to say in a wandering sort of way is that more than Sci-Fi lovers would enjoy this book.  So to whom do I recommend this story?  Almost everyone!