Review: Hierax

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As a database programmer from Arizona and a fan of sedate, indoor activities, Indi Smith doesn’t belong in outer space. Certainly not in a star system with a broken wormhole gate and no way home. But through no fault of her own, that’s where she’s landed, and nobody on the ship, not even the genius chief engineer Hierax, knows how to repair the gate. The only clue that could help is an untranslatable transmission coming from an uninhabitable planet with no atmosphere. Though she’s a fish out of water, Indi is determined to use her knack for analysis and recognizing patterns to decode the transmission and help Hierax fix the gate, whether he wants the assistance of some civilian woman or not. She refuses to die in the middle of nowhere, even if it means she has to prove her worth to an arrogant, know-it-all engineer. She’s had experience dealing with geeks, albeit not ones with such big, sexy muscles, but that doesn’t mean working with him will be easy. Chief Hierax is used to being in charge of all things mechanical, and he’s used to being the smartest person on the ship. Few of his burly Star Guardian colleagues were recruited for their brains. So when Indi shows up with a clever way of looking at the alien transmission, one he hadn’t thought of, he’s not sure what to make of it—or her. His focus should be on fixing the gate, but he finds himself speculating about romantic endeavors. Would she be interested in seeing his hobby projects or maybe his favorite tools? It’s hard to tell. He has a hard time understanding women—and people in general, for that matter—so charming her may be tougher than finding a way home.

Genre: science fiction romance

Publication date: August 2017

Mature content: yes

Review: I loved it! Hierax is book four in the Star Guardians series by Ruby Lionsdrake, and closely follows books one (Orion), two (Treyjon) and three (Sagitta), and it's a page turner. I had a lot of fun with Hierax and the banter between him and the other crew members.

 

 

 

   

 

 

The romance isn't all that great - a bit lukewarm during most of the book and then with two sex scenes almost back to back - but the rest of the plot is great, in the true science fiction, space exploration sense. 

However, this is a book that can't be read as a stand alone: you need to read the previous in the series to have the context, and then you feel the need to read the next ones to know how the story ends.

I have by now moved on to book five and post a review of that one as soon as I finish it.

Happy readings,

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