Lucius: Spartan Warrior

by Stormy Glenn

[Siren Classic Erotic Alternative Futuristic Romance, M/M, sci-fi elements, HEA] Lucius is Spartan, a genetically enhanced soldier created for the sole purpose of fighting. But what is he to do when the war is over? Exiled with his unit to an island off the Pacific coastline, Lucius is shocked when he finds more than a deserted island when he meets Ari, a man determined to live by his own rules even at the cost of his own life. Ari was just a teenager when he was abandoned by his family and exiled because he didn't meet the new moral code. He does what he needs to do to survive. When he meets Lucius and the other Spartan, he finds that the fierce warriors need even more help than he does. Emotions have been drummed out of the Spartans, deemed useless to men taught nothing but killing. Teaching them to feel just might be harder than Ari thinks, especially when he needs Lucius to be the killing machine he was born to be in order to save them all when the enemy attacks. But the cost might be the man he is falling in love with. ** A Siren Erotic Romance

Genres: M M Romance, Science Fiction, Romance, M M Science Fiction, Abuse, Paranormal, Gay

131 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 22, 2013

About the author

About Me
I believes the only thing sexier than a man in cowboy boots is two, or three men in cowboy boots. I also believes in love at first sight, soul mates, true love, and happy endings.

I live in the great Northwest region of the USA, with my gorgeous husband and soul mate, two boxer/collie puppies, one old biddy cats, and three fish. When I'm not being a mother to my six teenagers or cleaning up after my two 70 pound lap puppies, you can usually find me cuddled in bed with a book in my hand and a puppy in my lap. Or on my laptop, creating the next sexy man for one of my stories.

I welcomes comments from readers, so drop me a line. stormyglenn@hotmail.com

What do I do ?
I'm a writer of erotic, paranormal, werewolf, futuristic, contemporary, gay, and Ménage a Trois romances. I'm currently published with Siren Publishing, Torquere Press, and Noble Ellora's Cave.

Reviews

[Serena Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is it that makes us human and differentiates us from animals or machines? The answer this book gives is very clear: emotions, and the key to unlock them all is love. Many stories exist that speculate about what would happen if we ever managed to create the "perfect soldier", using human genetic material and training to generate perfect fighting machines. This is one of them, and it looks at what happens after the war. The government's solution in this version of our near future is easy: the soldiers are sent away to an isolated deserted island with orders to establish an outpost and wait for new orders. There is only one problem: the island isn’t deserted and the people already there may not be super-soldiers but they have been banned as well.

Lucius is an interesting character. He starts out as a soldier with a few very private thoughts and no desire to do anything but obey orders. Lucius isn’t stupid: he has been educated and has a few ideas about what he is supposed to be fighting for. But as he finds and gets to know Ari, a civilian, Lucius begins to realize not all is as he has been told. He needs a new purpose, and this time it is his to decide what, or who, that is. His growing ability to recognize the emotions he had been trained to suppress was fascinating, and I enjoyed taking this journey of discovery with him. As he allows himself to feel more and more, the emotions he has for Ari deepen.

Ari is a farmer, eking out an existence in the harsh world of what used to be Oregon. Now an island (due to a major earthquake), it is an area full of people who refuse to die. They may be threatened by hunger, lack of medical care, and a marauding enemy called "the Horde", a band of misfits with weapons, but they are determined not to give in. Ari is courageous, willing to help his friends and neighbors, and while Lucius scares him at first, then frustrates him because he doesn't react "normally", the rough soldier also awakens feelings in Ari he didn't expect to ever have.

Together, these two men learn to listen to their hearts, defend what is theirs, and begin to build a new life. Several setbacks and serious threats to Ari's life stand in their way, but once they make up their minds to stick together, what grows between them is beautiful. If you like slightly dystopian stories about a future where parts of humankind are rejected and need to learn how to survive their new reality, if you enjoy reading about tough soldiers who are introduced to the feelings they've been trained to ignore, and if you're looking for a sweet story with a few rough patches, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Siren Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucius reminded me of Kurt Russell in "Soldier" - one of my favorite movies. It was a nice romance and I wanted to totally love this story. Unfortunately, there were nagging logic plot holes: The Spartan not taking out the Horde when they had the opportunity. Lucius leaving Ari unprotected without a guard after their fight. Lucius being too knowledgeable about sex for having no education (including porn), socialization, and experience. It would be wonderful if Stormy Glenn would rework this book plus make this great storyline into a series!

[Riayl · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

Felt really short. Stormy Glenn's books are all generally fairly short but this one just felt much shorter, whether it really was or not.

Would have liked to have known more about what was going on in the world in general, but wasn't terribly necessary I suppose.

Lost half a star because these guys are supposed to be super-warriors, the best and baddest. Which I couldn't really see because they kept making bonehead moves. (There seems to be a run of this in m/m stories lately, elite warriors making dumb decisions.) The Spartan warriors are trained for fighting and killing, the book tells us this, but I didn't really see it. Ari gets kidnapped, they sneak in and get him out. They obviously could have taken out most, if not all of the bad guys while they were there, but didn't. Then Lucius makes Ari mad, Ari kicks them out and they just leave, knowing that the guy that hurt Ari last time is still alive and well. Ari gets hurt again, his farm gets burned down and Lucius vows not to leave again. Then, Lucius makes love to Ari in the forest, leaving themselves open to be attacked by the big baddie. *scowls* If this is how great the Spartan warriors are, I think I'll ask Scooby and Shaggy to guard me instead. At least they know all the good hiding places.

Gripes aside, I will read the next one, if this turns into a series, because I'm sort of addicted like that and when I don't think too hard the book is enjoyable.

[Hc · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I thought while the beginning world explanation was on the bit lacking side, all in all the set up at the beginning was pretty good. I could easily see this turning into a series. (I don't see confirmation that it IS in fact a series...yet)

Of course, there are a few things that I didn't like or bothered me. When we finally get to full on sex... you're talking about a guy that didn't know anything about sexual attraction or kissing but without being told he knows the mechanics of sex? Male on male sex? Like with no direction at ALL from Ari.. This just didn't fit with the scheme.

Then, another fight scene. Since Lucius let himself be 'bossed' to prevent damage to Ari.. I don't know.. he lost man points for me. Not that that's a bad thing but these guys are built up to be big time warriors who everyone is scared of and he just meekly seems to take it? No special moves or anything?

Lastly.. like mentioned earlier.. I could see this turning into a series so it bothered me that everything seemed to be wrapped up nice and tight at the end. Even though there's something there that COULD be explored if any future books along this line come, it just seemed to neat now for that. Bummer..

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, really, really enjoyed this story. It reminded me of a movie that I always liked with Kurt Russell titled 'Soldier'. I loved all of the Spartan warriors and I honestly hope the author writes more in this world.

I adored Ari and Lucius was far too cute for words. There are definitely some answers that I still need because the author didn't explain them. I was also giggling because for a guy who has never had sex before, Lucius sure knew all about stretching and how to find the prostate. LOL. Oh, and how did they get the bottle of lube?

None of that matters, however, because for me watching Lucius learn about his emotions and allow himself to feel them, was a journey well worth taking.

[SarkyB* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the blurb I really liked the idea of the book, tough emotionless spartan's, all cold logic, being taken away from their usual environment and placed somewhere new. Having to deal with civilian's in a non-military way. Having to deal with baddies without their usual military grade weapons. New sensations, new emotions, new experiences, love, relationships, the first fight...The premise sounded ripe for some good story telling. But, some of the character typing seemed to unravel as the book progressed. Which is a shame, because the beginning of the book flowed really well.

First we have Ari, he's been dumped/cast out of his home/city?and placed on the island for commiting unsavoury acts (I'm guessing that's the gay bit) he works on a farm and lives in a building. Said building that doesn't have hot water because 'gosh, i never seemed to have the time' what? To get hot running water -uh wouldn't that be like a priority? What else do you do with your time? Then we have Lucius, who should have been Mr Luscious - I filled in my own character description...cue hawt description...well you can imagine. I was thinking he was going to be all silent and broody but... The character set-up in the book and the progression of change seen in the MC's behaviour was very choppy and stunted and there was no explanation for the leaps in development both emotionally, logically or experience wise. For example in the beginning Lucius is all rationale and 'sir-yes-sir' and ok I can understand that being thrown into new surroundings can lead to some new behavioural facets showing themselves. Lucius's inability to comprehend the new emotions he experienced for example, was understandable and believable to a degree. What I can't understand is, Lucius is a born leader, a warrior, yet as soon as Ari throws a strop or misunderstands something Lucius does, like when Ari tells him to leave -he leaves! Where is the commanding soldier? Where is the logic? For some reasons I thought that Lucius saw Ari as his new commander but that was half baked because Lucius was so set on keeping Ari safe and bossing him around to do it, so the two ideas don't mesh. Look after Ari/leave Ari alone in vulnerable village to be abused...confused face. It's all "oh well, yeah if we leave the Horde will come in and kill them all, oh well, maybe they won't, oh look the village is burnt down, oops." Lucius starts of being this awesome fearsome character and slides into being this blonde rather dizzy automaton with bouts of emotional outbursts. Then the sex scene - ok so we've gone from a soldier who doesn't know what a kiss is, to full on anal sex? With rimming and penetrations sans the lube? Reality check? I don't think he even used spit. Ouch. And Ari, this is a guy who is basically being used as a sex slave and he even admits to horrible abuse and yet he's ok with anal sans lube with the inexperienced tank of a bloke with the emotional development of a two year old? I guess love really is blind. And ok, it's science fiction so a leave from reality is kind of a given but...some realities are a constant, I mean no lube...? ok if you're like some alien with some self lubing cock, fine - but human on human and virginal at that..uh no. That and Ari had just had the crap beaten out of him. Magic cock heals all eh? I dunno, the book began really well, and then around the 70 page mark it started to jump around and it almost reads like an editor got hold of it and just chopped out sections, like the editor flicked through the book, picked out the first kiss, the admittance of reciprocated attraction, penetrative sex then the three magic words and said well, we're done here, everything else you can cut out. So anyway...good start...poor middle and an end where disbelief had to be suspended. :( Other peeves; lack of world building, descriptions on surroundings -sights, sounds, tastes, physical sensations etc... on people - quirks that make a character unique, strengths/weaknesses, reasons for emotions etc. And when world building did take place, it was explained by a character, usually observations from Ari, and not shown in interactions which also kind of distracted me from the story. The potential for being brilliant is there!! It just needed more of the above filled in.

[Mika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kinda liked it. Its fun to read and I like the story.

But I feel like there are a lot of information missing. At some part I felt like I missed a few pages or a chapter.... but no, I didn't miss anything.

Attention big spoilers coming.

I mean the part where Ari and Lucius have sex for the first time. It goes from Lucius having no idea about emotions or sexual realationsships to Lucius knowing everything about sex. He doesn't know how to kiss but doesn't have to ask about sex. It makes me wonder how he got the knowledge.

Or for example Ari scars, wich he got before he came to the island. We never get to know how he got them.

As I said before. It was a nice read for a autumn evening and I enjoyed it. I just would have appreciated a few more background information.

Looking forward to the next book.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting. I really enjoyed it, though as others have commented, there could have been a little more info about the world war and what/who they were fighting , with the need to create a so called super soldier. There always has to be the unhinged villain who upsets everyone, even in a place where exiles have been dumped. I hope this is the start of a HE for all the Spartans.(Love their names, too)

[Ericka Walden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kinda like this.... The 4* rating is did what I hope will be a continuation with more information and explanation about the world and more about the Spartans. Does that make since?? Hmmmmmm.... Okay. Enjoyable book... But hoping for MORE. Good start with no '' cliffhanger '', but open-ended to allow for several more stories.

[Avril · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is this book so buried...

In Stormy's book list? This book is amazing!
Lucius, I just totally got him, his motivation and reason. Ari, him too! These characters just lived for me!
The story itself has some awesome background, the world building subtle!
Y'all must really read this!

[Tj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute read. The plot isn't really a unique idea but it is still a fun one. I loved Lucius with his uncertainty and then total devotion to Ari. Ari is perfect for him. He loves him without being scared of him. The two are so cute finding their way to love.

[Lilladii · Rating 3 out of 5]

ahh hmm well I like the idea of the spartans abd there seems to be more going on within the story. I would have liked more oomph from this for me it felt somewhat flat. I am hoping the next story will have more story more depth. so ill give it a 3.45 stae rating.

[Heather♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Arzu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

[Marsha Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to more in the series. It was an interesting concept and was action packed!

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5

[terranova.books · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring crap 2,7 *