Sara's Review: Saving Askara by J.M. Link
REVIEWER PURCHASE PUBLISHER: J.M. Link RELEASED: February 5, 2018 GENRE: SCIFI, ROMANCE, FANTASY LENGTH: 258 pages FORMAT: ebook, paperback
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Victoria's day starts out like any other aboard the transorbital ship, Phoenix. Such is the life of an emergency medicine specialist in the age of "post-discovery". Sure, she had always dreamed of interacting with intelligent extraterrestrial life- the real thing, not those microbes on distant moons. Who wouldn't? She was still happy with her career, however mundane and demanding it might be. That's what it took to run a ship the size of a small city smoothly. Monotony. But all that changes one morning, and suddenly she's not so sure she didn't stick her foot in it...
Be careful what you wish for.
***
Escape had been their only drive, and even death was preferable to the alternative. But they never thought their flight for freedom would put them in an uncharted system. Forced to interact with an isolated world and its inferior, albeit curious people. When it affords them an unforseen and unprecedented opportunity to take back their world from those who seek to destroy them, however, Aderus begins to wonder if it wasn't fate. Earth's proposal is shocking and uncomfortable for a fierce, independent race that relishes in their solitude. But the more he learns of humans, the more he comes to admire and respect them. One, in particular.
*WARNING* Not intended for readers under 18. Contains explicit sexual content. 4.5 (FIVE) BOUNDLESS STARS
What drew me to this book was the cover, I mean come on its stunning, and an excellent rendition of what Aderus looks like. I love it when authors write books where the aliens are alien. Most of the time they are just bigger men built to perfection with huge you know whats and usually purple or green. Aderus is a feline looking humanoid or at least that’s how I imagined him. The Askara are solitary like big cats and have violent matings. The Askara people are technologically advanced yet solitary and act and react a lot on instinct. This seemed contrary to how a technologically advanced society would work. But what do I know I am just a human. After their ship is damaged and they are forced to come to the humans for aid, Aderus and Tori form a tentative relationship trying to bridge common ground and make an alliance. Tori is fascinated with Aderus from the start especially by his eyes. She is weary. These beings are unknown, and the culture is entirely different than Earth’s. Aderus is resigned to working with Tori to aid his people, yet he deems her and her kind as inferior and wants nothing to do with her. That is until she makes a bold move that changes everything. The world and especially the character building of Saving Askara was excellent. This does end in a cliffhanger, so I am anxiously awaiting book two, Chasing Earth. This was Link’s debut novel, and I was astounded by its depth and imagery, the only issue I had at times is it didn’t read smoothly, and I would have to re-read parts. But overall it was superb and one I thoroughly enjoyed, and I am giving it 4.5 Boundless Stars.