Hakusan Angel

by Alex Powell

Kaede is a Source, capable of powering a machine with her own energy, but she has been hiding the full extent of her abilities. Given the tenuous relations between her country and their rivals, she fears discovery of her full power would provoke the war that hangs over them. But others disagree, and firmly believe that power like Kaede's is far too valuable to be hidden away...

Genres: Lesbian

103 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2014

Reviews

[Elizabetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The premise is great. Hakusan (White Mountain) is a powerful war machine, a kind of tank that needs a highly skilled pilot and Source to command it. A Source is someone whose body has been engineered with ports which, when connected to the machine, will funnel their energy to power it. Someone with the capability to power the Hakusan is very rare and in demand. Such a human ‘battery’ could also off-set the delicate balance between two rival worlds which are in an arms race with each other.

I really like sci-fi stories that feature bio-engineered characters. Voinov and Haimowitz’s Break and Enter and Ann Tenino’s 18% Gray come to mind with their main characters outfitted with hi-tech prosthetic limbs that can do all sorts of clever things. And I’ll never forget Sumi’s My Rifle Is Human with its (fantastic title) quirky take on soldiers who can morph weaponized limbs.

Those stories are more successful, however, in delivering well-developed worlds in which to show off their special heros. It’s a pity that with Hakusan Angel we really don’t find out much about this world and what motivates the aggression in it. Most of the development is about the strain between the pilot and Source cadres and how the military has reinforced this.

The delivery is ok. It all feels a little stiff, though. The dialogue, especially, feels stilted, almost like it’s been translated from another language. This is a Asian-inspired world -- discerned by the character names, and the battling ‘monsters’ which are reminiscent of old B/W Japanese movies. I’m left wondering if there were stylistic choices made in the writing which mostly ended up confusing me.

Hakusan Angel picked up the pace about half-way through, after loosely setting things up. It’s a bit of dry reading until our hero, Kaede Nomura, realizes her true potential when she, a Source, gets matched up with the Hakusan war machine. Kaede also gets paired with spunky pilot, Mariko (Mari) Ishigaki. All manner of things get stirred up and these two realize they have more in common than war machines.

So, an interesting idea. But with little information about the characters and the conflict in their world, it’s hard to buy into it. The F/F tag intrigued me. There is the start of a sweet, platonic romance between Kaede and Mari that is only realized at the very end of the story. My guess is that if I remember anything from Hakusan Angel months from now, it will be the idea of humans adapted with ports to power machinery. Now, that’s cool.

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[Adrian Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great world. I was almost immediately sucked into the world. There were a few points at the beginning where I was confused and there was a whole lot of "level" talk going on, but that quickly subsided into the plot.

The plot for this one is fantastic. We're dropped into the middle of a war, both politically and within the military. The classic pilots who get in trouble and the "officers" who always do the right thing and are snubbed. This novella has both the political, the action and the interpersonal relations in it to keep the reader interested.

My only complaints are this. There was basically zero description of the characters. If they're human, then we need to know that. If they're not, then that's all the more reason to put them in. Secondly, and almost sadly, the romance aspect seemed tossed in at the end to appease the reader that yes, this is a lesbian novel. I felt as though it didn't quite fit in with the timing of the piece and the characters. I would have preferred this book without it. There doesn't have to be a relationship for a character to identify as lesbian. Also, the transgender/intersexed characters seemed tossed in there for no reason. If this is an alien world, then they wouldn't necessarily identify in that way. I liked the attempt at diversity, but it seemed to fall short of being fully realized.

Over all, a great read, lots of action and fast pace to keep the plot moving.
~I received this ARC from Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review

[Inked Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

FourStars
This was a great world. I was almost immediately sucked into the world. There were a few points at the beginning where I was confused and there was a whole lot of "level" talk going on, but that quickly subsided into the plot.
The plot for this one is fantastic. We're dropped into the middle of a war, both politically and within the military. The classic pilots who get in trouble and the "officers" who always do the right thing and are snubbed. This novella has both the political, the action and the interpersonal relations in it to keep the reader interested.

My only complaints are this. There was basically zero description of the characters. If they're human, then we need to know that. If they're not, then that's all the more reason to put them in. Secondly, and almost sadly, the romance aspect seemed tossed in at the end to appease the reader that yes, this is a lesbian novel. I felt as though it didn't quite fit in with the timing of the piece and the characters. I would have preferred this book without it. There doesn't have to be a relationship for a character to identify as lesbian. Also, the transgender/intersexed characters seemed tossed in there for no reason. If this is an alien world, then they wouldn't necessarily identify in that way. I liked the attempt at diversity, but it seemed to fall short of being fully realized.

Over all, a great read, lots of action and fast pace to keep the plot moving.
I was given this in return for an honest review by Inked Rainbow Reads.
~AJ

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a really good read. The story kept me completely hooked throughout, and I found myself disappointed that I had to go out this morning and couldn't just stay in and finish reading.

I loved the world building, and the little details that set the scene. I enjoyed the strained relationship between source and pilot and the side characters were great.

My main complaint with this story is that there isn't more. The book was perfectly built and paced, but I'd love to read more about the side characters and I found myself really, really interested in Morwe. I want a series, damn it! :P

I thought the romance could have been a little more built up and evenly paced through the story, but that didn't really bother me all that much as this was a great little sci-fi story with a good plot and interesting themes.

If you're thinking of reading this book, my advice is definitely to do so. Like, right now.

[Sascha Broich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just to short for a proper character introduction and development. Also at least some world explaining would have helped. Maybe as part of a series. But as a standalone it's to much a scaffold.