Customer Reviews

Shooting Star (Oasis, Book 2)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The thrills of "Stargazer" continue in this first sequel! When "Stargazer" ended, hotshot pilot Reuben casually remarked that "he's a prince, too." More than that: he's also caught up in a deadly game of politics and interstellar drug trading. Has his luck run out when his ship is shot down?

Slave Tess and her son seem destined for a life of drudgery and sexual abuse, but find their lives at risk from the traders of a mysterious, hypnotic drug. Has Tess found an escape and true love when she rescues Reuben from his crashed starship, or a dreadful fate at the hands of the Circe?

If this book has a fault, it's that the story is less a romance than a science-fiction thriller. I was a bit turned off by Tess' role as a sex slave, and hoped for a bit more sensuality since Reuben really melted my butter in "Stargazer." The intrigue and action compensate,and hooked me for the rest of the series. The writer cleverly ties up enough loose ends to satisfy the reader on the last page while leaving the door ajar for more adventures. Hardcore fans of the genre will recognize elements of "Dune" and "Star Wars" as well as the influence of Marian Zimmer Bradley, Anne McCaffrey, and other classic female writers who truly defined sci-fi romance.

More books are on the way, and fans of this series can entertain themselves with this author's other series in the interim. Colby Hodge is actually Cindy Holby, creator of the "Chase the Wind" western series, and Kassy Tayler of "Obsessing Orlando", the Young Adult bestseller.

One of twenty-one sons of the all mighty all knowing Emperor Rashad DeMarco Monaco, Rubjikhan Benjamin, son of the ruler's fourth wife, feels honored that his sire is hosting a public birthday party for him. That is until his dad wishes the wrong son a happy birthday leading Ruben to realize his father does not know who he is. He vows to cut all ties with the Emperor as soon as possible.

He becomes an interstellar trader who has nothing to do with empire politics until he learns he is the target of a mass manhunt for apparently committing patricide; the price on his head is 750,000 credits as reported by SNN news. As friends betray him, he suffers strange dreams that his brother Stefan is in trouble, but cannot stop to help him. On the run, Ruben crashes his ship the Shooting Star on a primitive orb where Tess the slave and her six years old son Boone save his life. He recognizes her from his weird dream, but fears something is not right as he senses evil especially with the Circe witches in the middle.

Fans of romantic science fiction thrillers will want to read Colby Hodge's faster than the speed of light tale, SHOOTING STAR. Ruben is a fascinating lead character who learns a life lesson at his twelfth birthday party. Actually his sire eventually recognized him as the warrior amongst his offspring, but by then even with a gift of a blade Ruben severed all ties until he becomes galaxy-wide headline news for allegedly murdering his father. Ruben makes the story line fun to read as he learns who his friends are as the price on his head is a fortune. Tess is his ideal partner though she has trust issues. The audience will appreciate this entertaining story while afterward stargazing at the skills of this talented author.

Harriet Klausner

This is the second novel I've read by this author, the first one being Stargazer, which I really liked. Unfortunately this book is not on the same level as the first in the series.

The story started and progressed in fits and starts, and the chapters just did not flow.

The first portion of the story details 12th in line Prince Reuben's birthday when he was a child, and how the emperor mistook another son for him, and then his background on who he is today when he gets a psyhic feeling that his younger brother Stefan is in trouble. Next we get slave Tess and her cruel lifestyle w/ her oh so wonderful son. When Tess rescues Reuben, all she wants to do is get rid of him. From there they both get involved a mystery of murder, assasination, kidnapping, witches, drug smuggling, and etc.

From one chapter to another, the transition is very abrupt especially when the the point of view changes. The romance in the story is kind of strange too, I'm not sure where the attraction is either.

Tess is a failed sex slave so she has been sold to a farmer whose son abuses her. I found it hard to relate to her and to like her. As for Reuben, I'm not sure why the beginning chapters emphasized his royal and warror details, none of it really had any bearing on the plot. The assasination of the emperor and the 1st in line to the throne was kind of thrown out there as a plot device, but it really didn't make much of a difference to the plot either.

The entire story felt like the author wrote all these separate chapters from different points of views and just forced them into the book. If you didn't read the first book, Stargazer, the whole Circe witch plotline would resemble a Dune book. Not much was furthered on the Circe witches storyline either. Lilly and Shaun from the previous book didn't seem to fit w/ this story either because their characters began to overpower all the main character traits.

I wouldn't recommend this book, and I'm now leery of other books in this series. I am disappointed because I did like the first book. I couldn't decide to rate this book a 1 or 2 stars. Maybe 1.5 stars.

The editing errors in this book have been driving me crazy. From simple spelling errors to having two princes 12th in line to the throne to Tess's owner's son being referred to once as her husband and the rest of the time as just the dead rapist, there are tons of little inconsistencies that someone should've caught. I very rarely nitpick things like this, but in this book, it's every single page and definitely distracts me enough to me out of the story.

More than that, though, the plot just doesn't have much romance in it. There's pages and pages of developing the relationship between the 6 year old Boone and Ruben, and almost nothing showing any attraction between Tess and Ruben until--wham--they're in bed! What??? You'd think that a woman who'd been brutally raped and traumatized would require more care and tenderness, but when they get together, it's definitely a wham-bam thing and she's 100% all for it. It just doesn't ring true to me.

The characters are one-dimensional. The bad guys are 100% bad, the good guys are 100% good, and there's nothing in between. By the end, Tess and Ruben are both determined to die to save each other, both assuming that the other one will take care of Boone after they're dead. Neither seems to entertain the idea of fighting to live and love together.

I gave it two stars because I *am* finishing the book and haven't given up on it. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, though.