The Star King (Star Series, Book 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Susan Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2000

A beautiful fighter pilot is shot down over Saudi Arabia, and ends up in the arms of the king of a distant galaxy.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

From All About Romance: Susan Grant's second novel, proves that her first terrific romance, Once a Piratewas no fluke. This is an author who writes romantic and exciting books that conjure up exotic locales and peoples. Grant is equally at home creating an advanced civilization light years away as she was conjuring up a pirate's ship off the coast of Spain, and that's no small feat. Author Grant is masterful in her creation of the Vash culture where religion, politics, and commerce are seamlessly related. Readers will pick up subtle similarities between the upbringing of Vash royalty and some Arabic cultures, and Sharron and his cult will bring to mind the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinri Kyo. And, anyone who remembers Luke's blindfolded laser-sword training will recognize Grant's homage to George Lucas in the scene where Jas and Rom play a game with sens-swords in he dark. As heroic characters, Rom and Jas simply shine. Both are complex and strong individually, but as a couple, they are fantastic. Descriptions of what Jas sees throughout her travels are extremely well done - the other-worldly is easily visual in Susan Grant's words. There are some wonderfully funny moments as well - a hulking bodyguard with a name that is guaranteed to make you laugh, and a running gag involving beer. If you're looking for some excitement and adventure, The Star King will provide it -- in spades.

About the Author

One of the first women to graduate from the US Air Force Academy, Susan Grant piloted jets in the USAF before joining United Airlines. She currently flies 747s around the world.

Susan Grant is the author of two other aviation romances: Once A Pirate (Feb 2000) and The Star Prince (Nov 2001).

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Love Spell (December 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0505524139
• ISBN-13: 978-0505524133
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #833,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mom, RITA award winner, New York Times best-selling author, former USAF jet pilot and current 747 international airline pilot Susan Grant loves writing about what she knows: flying, adventure, and the often unpredictable interaction between men and women!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Galactically Smart and Tender, February 13, 2001

By 

C. Gilson (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star King (Star Series, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

As a hopeless romantic about flying, I needed to check out the media buzz surrounding Susan Grant--an elite pilot (U.S. Air Force and now global 747s)who writes highly-original, exotic, and steamy adventures about aviatrix heroines.

It's not just buzz. Grant is the real deal, and performs aerobatics of the heart like no other author.

The pacy, passionate Star King concerns Jas, a no-nonsense USAF fighter pilot struck by a missile and forced to leave her jet the hard way by ejecting to earth. Hurt on an arrid desert, she prepares for anything but what occurs--a transcendent encounter with another wounded warrior. His name is Rom, a starfighter pilot from a distant universe. Now this golden demigod lies dying with the awful knowledge that he has just killed his brother in the skeleton of their burning ship, beaten by an enemy warlord. Painfully, Jas and Rom save each other, with a shared passion that will leave you limp. Is it real, or just the theater of Jas' delerious mind?

You won't know where you are at every minute in this book, but that's a very good thing because you're in skilled hands.

Abruptly, twenty years later, Jas' youthful fire has been extinguished. Now she's a dutiful mother stung by divorce who long ago gave up victory rolls in an F16 for a minivan, a surprisingly-talented artist who paints promising but only half-finished paintings. Then earth receives visitors from an advanced civilization. Among them, Rom re-appears, and Jas' real life could begin--if her golden, aristocratic ET weren't as hardened as Rick Blaine in Casablanca, by cruel fortune and a fruitless search over time and space for the mythic desert angel who once saved him.

How Grant brings Jas and Rom together, and the glory is definitely in her details, can involve sly humor (e.g. in Rom's world, all the men stand when a woman enters the room and, as a lover, he admires the artistry of her stretch marks.) But she's also capable of snap-turning you from light-as-a-feather giddy to a sudden plunge into emotional despair. You will not guess the twists and turns before they unfold, but you will root mightily for this couple to survive and fulfill the promise of their long-ago stolen moment in time.

This is just a wonderful novel that combines passion and writerly control in a fresh new way. I hope Rom has more family, because you can feel a series here.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Five Star Read from Susan Grant, December 26, 2000

By 

Carolyn Stahl (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star King (Star Series, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was up until 1:30am Christmas Eve, not wrapping presents but finishing The Star King. Susan Grant's first book, Once A Pirate is a delightful frolic in the sun; this story touches the depths of human emotion.

The Star King starts with a bang, literally, as Jasmine Hamilton fights to keep her F-16 fighter plane in the air. Shot down by friendly fire over the hot Iraqi desert, she has an out of body experience that leaves her awash with unexplainable emotion.

Rom B'kah's otherworldly perspective of the unusual woman with dark hair is one of meeting his destiny. He is in the midst of a battle of galactic proportions with life-threatening injuries and has just witnessed his brother's death. Her presence both encourages and dooms him, he survives because of her but the physical ramifications of lingering too long in a hostile environment make him an outcast from his family.

Susan's interpretation of an alien arrival into earth's politics is refreshing--for example no one automatically speaks our languages. And this story is above all a ROMANCE. She doesn't bog us down with boring technical data about how things work or lengthly descriptions of weird life forms with antenna eyes and suction cup fingers. Readers will find The Star King a very satisfying read with plenty of adventure, excitement and soul-searing love. I highly recommend The Star King and believe readers of any genre of romantic fiction will be enchanted.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written, emotionally heartwarming love story, May 7, 2000

By 

Mary A. Gibbons (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star King (Star Series, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have never read science fiction, always believing that they had little or no romance or interaction between the characters. Not so with THE STAR KING. This book captivated me as no book has done in a long time. It flowed beautifully. I lived and breathed this story, visited every planet, saw every color, and experienced every emotion. I felt the passion between Rom and Jas and I fell totally, completely,and unabashedly in love with Rom. I hated to see this story end, and look forward to the sequel. The writing is crisp, dialogue easy to understand, the humor is wonderful, and it's filled with sexual tension! The story is fast paced, yet the technology doesn't get in the way of the romance. When the action and adventure culminated in a wonderfully emotional and very surprising ending, I had goose bumps all over from it!

Don't let your reluctance to read a science fiction book keep you from experiencing this beautifully written and emotionally heartwarming love story. This is a must read for all lovers of romance and science fiction alike!