Book Rating: ★★★.5 (3.5 / 5 stars)
When an ambitious bureaucrat wants to rise to power, what does he do? Simple: hire a bunch of rogue minions to get the job done. Yet this is not the usual group of criminals: there’s Raza, a beautiful and cunning leader, Uthrairth, a deadly headhunter, Djaem, a hive-master rogue, and Scythia, a broke psychic. Can they put their differences asside to complete the assignment? Or will it all be for naught?
I had the pleasure of speaking with Author Jesse M. Harvey earlier this month. What a wonderful individual, and it really did help me with understanding the world of Scythia Protostar (pronounced Scythe-ee-uh, not Sith-ee-uh). This novel, short and action packed, is in a way the “pilot episode” of an ongoing series. You’re thrust into the action, getting a taste of the world (or…galaxy) at large, in a way reminiscent of the show Firefly. It may take some time to figure out exactly what is happening, but once it all clicks, you see the uniqueness of each character, as well as the strange beauty of the hive world unseen in many other stories.
Yet the speed of the story is probably one of its faults…at least for me. I like books that take a bit longer (although not too long) to establish things. I’m not the biggest fan of being thrown directly into the action. If the story took some time to set the scene a bit more, or perhaps slowed down just a little bit, I may have connected with the characters somewhat more…especially when it came to Raza and Uthraith. I loved Djaem’s and Scythia’s dynamic, I just wish I had a chance to understand more.
But no doubt, the next books in the series will help establish more about these characters and built upon the fight they will endure. Will they stay loyal this bureaucrat? Or will they rebel? What will happen?
I guess I’ll have to wait for book 2 to find out.
What’s it about?
An ambitious bureaucrat has brought together an unusual team to help him rise in power. In a world so dark that the only way to get ahead is by taking them. He has worked hard to gain the loyalty of the cunning and beautiful, Raza. He has found Uthraith, the deadliest headhunter from the far feral reaches of space. It took months of searching but he finally caught Djaem, the best hive-master rogue in the inner-sectors. And at last… he found it… His secret weapon. Scythia, a broken psychic from the Citadel.
Can this batch of imperial criminals, cooperate long enough to complete an assignment? Only time will tell.
Join them on their first mission, as they are sent to a hive mining colony to gather Intel and contain a Tyrling demon. Now he just as to hope that they will return intact with the colony still standing.
E.S. Barrison 