Fabulous story, boring romance, cardboard characters
Tana Stone's alien romance, Bounty, frustrated me. On the upside, this is an incredibly-well imagined and multi-layered story of potentially epic proportions. Finely constructed world-building sets up multiple conflicts:
1. viciously competitive bounty-hunter rivalries,
2. women staking out their place in a male-dominated field,
3. an evolutionary divergence in an alien species which leads to a bitter cultural divide,
4. the threat of extinction to both alien populations
5. one alien warrior's personal loss and quest for vengeance,
6. political machinations in the tribe of alien warriors alien warriors
7. an all-female, mixed species crew stranded on the aliens' desert planet
It's a treasure-trove of science fiction tropes that interweave in tantalizing snapshots, always leaving the reader eager to know more, slowly compiling an understanding of the bigger picture. I'm fascinated. I'm hooked!
The downside? All this is viewed through the multiple POV of Danica (human female ,bounty hunter), and K'alvek (barbarian alien warrior). Their supposed love story is weird, and oddly un-engaging. The author contrives for them to have dream sex before they even meet. The romance proceeds along a well-worn path - initial resistance followed by tediously detailed sex, despite the fact that she's awaiting rescue and he is focused on his mission... The romance has no fire, the sex is downright boring.and Danica in particular is a complete stereotype. But the overall tale is SO compelling, I ended up skimming the soporific sex, and really enjoying the rest of it. Readers whose focus is sex will love this book. Readers who want all the feels, not so much. SF and fantasy fans will find much to delight them, while regarding the romance as a trivial annoyance. I have to call it three stars, but I do intend to pursue the series. This is a voluntary ARC review.