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Between Fleets
A Character-Driven Space Opera Romance
When the Casarian Star Kingdom is heading into a new collision, a young officer of the Royal Star Navy named Luke unexpectedly meets a new Kherrian friend, Shaera, from the Kherrish Peregrine Fleet. On the lush paradise world of Irillia, a maiden world in the Andromeda Galaxy, they must navigate the differences between their respective cultures. However, as the astropolitical situation grows tense, the Irillian populace's deeply entrenched xenophobia revitalises.
Shaera's peregrination to prove herself to her people brought her right into the lion's den, and only Luke can guide her through it. In doing so, the two slowly grow closer and find that their species are more alike than different. Despite the sprouting political fallout between their species, love sparks between them.
In a realm where fate and volition spar, neither one of them truly knows what awaits them beneath the heaven's dour tar...
When the Casarian Star Kingdom is heading into a new collision, a young officer of the Royal Star Navy named Luke unexpectedly meets a new Kherrian friend, Shaera, from the Kherrish Peregrine Fleet. On the lush paradise world of Irillia, a maiden world in the Andromeda Galaxy, they must navigate the differences between their respective cultures. However, as the astropolitical situation grows tense, the Irillian populace's deeply entrenched xenophobia revitalises.
Shaera's peregrination to prove herself to her people brought her right into the lion's den, and only Luke can guide her through it. In doing so, the two slowly grow closer and find that their species are more alike than different. Despite the sprouting political fallout between their species, love sparks between them.
In a realm where fate and volition spar, neither one of them truly knows what awaits them beneath the heaven's dour tar...
296 pages, Paperback
Published March 2, 2026
About the author
Andrew C. Merrick
1 bookAndrew C. Merrick is a science-fiction author known for his immersive worldbuilding, character-driven storytelling, and thoughtful exploration of interstellar politics and culture. His work combines elements of space opera, futuristic technology, and emotional depth to create the richly detailed Astral Lion universe. Merrick writes with a focus on human relationships, high-stakes conflict, and the complex societies that develop across the stars.
When he isn't writing, he studies history and culture, shaping the layered civilisations featured in his work. Between Fleets is his debut novel, introducing readers to a sweeping space opera universe filled with intrigue, heart, and cosmic scale.
When he isn't writing, he studies history and culture, shaping the layered civilisations featured in his work. Between Fleets is his debut novel, introducing readers to a sweeping space opera universe filled with intrigue, heart, and cosmic scale.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 27, 2026
When I started reading Andrew C. Merrick’s Between Fleets, I was immediately hooked by its ambitious sci-fi premise. It’s a sci-fi romance that mixes first contact, cultural differences, prejudice, politics, and the search for a lost home world.
I liked how the book deals with prejudice and racism in a completely different world. That made the story feel more meaningful to me. Underneath all the spaceships, military groups, alien cultures, and political fights, there’s a simple idea that feels familiar: people often fear those who are different just because they don’t understand them. Luke and Shaera’s relationship challenges those beliefs and shows how understanding can slowly replace fear and suspicion.
I liked how the book deals with prejudice and racism in a completely different world. That made the story feel more meaningful to me. Underneath all the spaceships, military groups, alien cultures, and political fights, there’s a simple idea that feels familiar: people often fear those who are different just because they don’t understand them. Luke and Shaera’s relationship challenges those beliefs and shows how understanding can slowly replace fear and suspicion.
July 17, 2026
An amazing world to spend time in! This romantic sci-fi book feels both unique and familiar at the same time. I loved how the author included modern-day issues like racism in a completely different world. It made the story feel even more meaningful while still being fun, exciting, and full of romance. I really enjoyed every moment and can't wait to read more from this author!
July 16, 2026
Andrew C. Merrick’s Between Fleets is a sweeping science fiction romance built around first contact, cultural misunderstanding, and the difficult work of turning strangers into allies. The story follows Luke MacLaughlin, a young officer in the powerful Casarian Star Kingdom, and Shaera, a Kherrian engineer undertaking a traditional peregrination away from her nomadic fleet. Their meeting begins violently when Shaera is attacked on the resort world of Irillia, but Luke’s decision to protect her gives both characters a chance to look beyond the suspicions they’ve inherited. From there, the novel grows from a personal rescue story into a larger tale about finding the lost Kherrian homeworld and deciding whether two wary civilizations can share a future.
The book’s greatest strength is its commitment to making both societies feel substantial. Casarian uniforms, military ranks, poetry, religion, political factions, and historical grudges fill the novel, while the Kherrians have their own naming conventions, rites, technologies, family structures, and spiritual traditions. Shaera’s khersuit is especially effective as both a practical piece of technology and a symbol of her people’s isolation. It keeps her alive, but it also places a physical barrier between her and everyone she meets. Merrick spends a lot of time explaining this universe, sometimes pausing the action to do so, but that detail gives the story the texture of a history that began long before Luke and Shaera entered it.
Luke and Shaera’s relationship provides the book’s emotional center. Their romance develops through curiosity, conversation, shared danger, and the gradual discovery that their cultures have more in common than either expected. Luke’s reserved sense of duty balances Shaera’s eagerness to prove herself, and their awkward attempts to understand each other are often charming. The supporting cast adds warmth and humor, particularly Tamara Basińska, whose teasing keeps Luke from becoming too solemn, and Doctor Vasić, whose medical interest in Shaera’s biology becomes essential to the larger mystery. The relationship moves quickly once their attraction becomes explicit, but its importance to the plot makes sense because their intimacy becomes a small-scale version of the political union taking shape around them.
Readers of Becky Chambers, especially The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, will recognize the emphasis on cultural exchange, companionship, and the everyday details of life among different species. Merrick’s novel is more militaristic and ceremonial than Chambers’s work, with a stronger interest in naval hierarchy, national identity, and political ideology. It also has the expansive setting and interspecies diplomacy associated with space opera series such as Mass Effect. What gives Between Fleets its own personality is the combination of formal military culture and unabashed romantic optimism. The book believes that institutions can change when individuals choose empathy, even while acknowledging how pride, trauma, and prejudice make that change difficult.
By the final chapters, the search for Raekhuna brings the personal, scientific, and diplomatic threads together in a satisfying way. Shaera doesn’t simply find a planet. She helps restore a homeland, reshapes her people’s future, and earns a place in their history. Luke’s journey leads him from quiet grief and professional caution toward a life defined by connection rather than isolation. The novel’s closing image of the two building a home on a recovering world captures what the whole story has been reaching toward: belonging created through trust, effort, and shared purpose. Between Fleets is an earnest, richly imagined space opera that pairs first-contact politics with a sincere love story and treats hope as something its characters must actively build.
The book’s greatest strength is its commitment to making both societies feel substantial. Casarian uniforms, military ranks, poetry, religion, political factions, and historical grudges fill the novel, while the Kherrians have their own naming conventions, rites, technologies, family structures, and spiritual traditions. Shaera’s khersuit is especially effective as both a practical piece of technology and a symbol of her people’s isolation. It keeps her alive, but it also places a physical barrier between her and everyone she meets. Merrick spends a lot of time explaining this universe, sometimes pausing the action to do so, but that detail gives the story the texture of a history that began long before Luke and Shaera entered it.
Luke and Shaera’s relationship provides the book’s emotional center. Their romance develops through curiosity, conversation, shared danger, and the gradual discovery that their cultures have more in common than either expected. Luke’s reserved sense of duty balances Shaera’s eagerness to prove herself, and their awkward attempts to understand each other are often charming. The supporting cast adds warmth and humor, particularly Tamara Basińska, whose teasing keeps Luke from becoming too solemn, and Doctor Vasić, whose medical interest in Shaera’s biology becomes essential to the larger mystery. The relationship moves quickly once their attraction becomes explicit, but its importance to the plot makes sense because their intimacy becomes a small-scale version of the political union taking shape around them.
Readers of Becky Chambers, especially The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, will recognize the emphasis on cultural exchange, companionship, and the everyday details of life among different species. Merrick’s novel is more militaristic and ceremonial than Chambers’s work, with a stronger interest in naval hierarchy, national identity, and political ideology. It also has the expansive setting and interspecies diplomacy associated with space opera series such as Mass Effect. What gives Between Fleets its own personality is the combination of formal military culture and unabashed romantic optimism. The book believes that institutions can change when individuals choose empathy, even while acknowledging how pride, trauma, and prejudice make that change difficult.
By the final chapters, the search for Raekhuna brings the personal, scientific, and diplomatic threads together in a satisfying way. Shaera doesn’t simply find a planet. She helps restore a homeland, reshapes her people’s future, and earns a place in their history. Luke’s journey leads him from quiet grief and professional caution toward a life defined by connection rather than isolation. The novel’s closing image of the two building a home on a recovering world captures what the whole story has been reaching toward: belonging created through trust, effort, and shared purpose. Between Fleets is an earnest, richly imagined space opera that pairs first-contact politics with a sincere love story and treats hope as something its characters must actively build.
October 5, 2026
This is essentially a love story between Luke, a Casarian officer of the Star Kingdom and Shaera a Kherrian. Encased in their khersuits to avoid contamination and infection, due to their weakened immune system, the Kherrians appear even more alien. This different appearance singles them out for prejudice and racial hatred. The suggestion is that this prejudice has resulted from previous conflicts and misunderstandings. Luke is portrayed as someone who stands up for his principles and humanity as a whole, no matter the species. Shaera is young and naïve and only seeks to fit in and does not understand the prejudices of other people. In the end, the two species find they have more in common than previously thought and co-operation brings harmony.
The appendices at the back of the book make up 15% of the total Kindle version and are devoted to history, language, and world-building, which perhaps would have been better integrated into the story. For example, the prejudice extends from the war, but we are not told what it was about. Also, Shaera goes on a quest, but seems to do little towards the final outcome, which appears to have been left to other people. This is a clean romantic sci-fi, but more could have been done with the story.
The appendices at the back of the book make up 15% of the total Kindle version and are devoted to history, language, and world-building, which perhaps would have been better integrated into the story. For example, the prejudice extends from the war, but we are not told what it was about. Also, Shaera goes on a quest, but seems to do little towards the final outcome, which appears to have been left to other people. This is a clean romantic sci-fi, but more could have been done with the story.
September 22, 2026
Between Fleets is set in space and touches on the romance between two different races. I like the point about Luke fighting the prejudice against Shaera and her people. Also, the author did a good job of showing Shaera's struggles after leaving her people.
However, most of the book felt like an info dump, and the dialogue could be simpler. Also, the romance between the characters could have been worked on further, as it was difficult to feel it as a reader. Sci-fi lovers would possibly enjoy this.
However, most of the book felt like an info dump, and the dialogue could be simpler. Also, the romance between the characters could have been worked on further, as it was difficult to feel it as a reader. Sci-fi lovers would possibly enjoy this.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews