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Cortii #1
Through the Hostage
Khyria Ilan is a commander in the Cortii, the most elite mercenary organisation in known space. With a past she can’t remember, and commanders who would love to see her dead, her future is likely to be short: her command faces their ultimate test to prove their right to survive.
When the odds are impossible, sometimes the only thing to do is play the game ...
When the odds are impossible, sometimes the only thing to do is play the game ...
- GenresScience Fiction
345 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 2015
4 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
J.C. Steel
7 books188 followersBorn in Gibraltar and raised on a yacht around the coasts of the Atlantic, I’m an author, martial artist and introvert. In between the necessary making of money to allow the writing of more books, I can usually be found halfway to the further galaxy.
Science-fiction and urban fantasy are my favourite genres. I grew up on a rich diet of Anne McCaffrey, Tolkien, Dorothy Dunnett, and Jack Higgins; I can't point the finger at any one book or author that set me in my current direction, but I'd blame my bent for characters with an inclination to drastically practical solutions on some mix of those. If I can mess with peoples' heads by tossing in a bit of gender- and genre-bending, so much the better. Status quo is boring.
I hope you enjoy reading the books half as much as I enjoyed writing them. Grab a freebie!
Come and meet me at my other online hangouts:
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Science-fiction and urban fantasy are my favourite genres. I grew up on a rich diet of Anne McCaffrey, Tolkien, Dorothy Dunnett, and Jack Higgins; I can't point the finger at any one book or author that set me in my current direction, but I'd blame my bent for characters with an inclination to drastically practical solutions on some mix of those. If I can mess with peoples' heads by tossing in a bit of gender- and genre-bending, so much the better. Status quo is boring.
I hope you enjoy reading the books half as much as I enjoyed writing them. Grab a freebie!
Come and meet me at my other online hangouts:
Amazon Author page
Independent Author Network
iAuthor
Google+
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 27, 2017
I am a great Sci-Fi and Space Opera fan and I enjoyed Through The Hostage by J.C. Steel thoroughly. The setting in an cut-throat alien mercenary race was very well done and all the characters came to live for me. The story was convincing, very suspenseful and I am looking forward to the next books in the series.
August 10, 2015
Through the Hostage by J C Steel is a story of intrigue within a unit of genetically altered trainee mercenaries on an alien world. A world full of danger, mistrust and political power. The action follows the leader of the unit, Khyria, her unofficial second, Taiva, and their human hostage, Jack. Khyria has not followed the straight path of the trainees. In veering from the expected, she has made a lot of enemies, both inside her command and in the political ranks. Rumour surrounds her and she allows the mystery to build. Khyria is ordered to take a human hostage and the strange pull she feels towards the hostage deepens the puzzle and threatens her life. Tension builds for the Unit and commander as the date for their testing is advanced. Will they be ready for the biggest challenge of their lives? Despite their mercenary training, a part of their genetic make-up cannot be denied. Is it their strength or their weakness? The human hostage, who is the observer for the final test of passage for the trainees, witnesses the unit’s struggles to prepare and discovers an unexpected connection.
J C Steel does a wonderful job of building a world on an alien planet and characters who draw you into their intrigues and challenges. Khyria’s life is in constant danger from without and within her unit, but the determination hidden in her devil-may-care attitude makes you cheer for her and keep fingers crossed that she will survive the challenges placed in her path. I hope to see more in the series!
October 21, 2016
This book was a little too much to grasp and in the end it had me wondering if it balanced out with the plot. The whole new alien world with mercenaries, I found the ranks a bit confusing. But apart from that it was a great book. Khyria was a fearless leader, (she had to be with people trying to kill her all the time), and Taiva was a pretty good second in command. The abilities, politics, tests and trials it was all enthralling. And I flew through the book like a breeze.
I received a free copy of the book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.
I'll be picking up the next book soon.
I received a free copy of the book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.
I'll be picking up the next book soon.
January 13, 2016
This book was another wild and crazy adventure through Sci-fi world. I enjoyed the ride and all the fun we had. The action was great and I loved, Jack, the hostage who was human. This book has some mystery and suspense and lots of action and fun. * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
March 5, 2020
The Wildcat Cortiia, a command unit training to face its final test called the Crossing, struggles to accept its leader Cortu Khyria Ilan. She’s a rebel in her heard and abandoned the Cortiia during the first phases of its training and now her second in command Taiva is trying to persuade her to take her responsibilities and lead Wildcat into the Crossing. Failing to do so, will result in the failure of the Crossing and their possible death. Same would happen if their Cortu dies, before or during the Crossing.
To everyone surprise, during the training, and before passing the Crossing, the Cortiia is sent to earth to retrieve an observer, but what Khyria finds out about Jack after meeting him is something that threatens both their lives.
This is the last novel I will be reviewing in 2019 and the first one to appear in my blog in 2020, and I was not disappointed at all, by the story narrated in Through the Hostage book 1 in the Cortii Universe by J C Steel. Her descriptive style and world-building are amazingly vivid despite describing an alien race of altered mercenaries and their alien environment. The excessive use of adverbs and the repetition of the smile verb in the last few chapters of the first half of the novel made that segment a little bit boring, but the story wanted to be read and I obliged. Besides this, everything seems to fall into line in this adventure of intergalactic proportions. Highly recommended for those who want to taste something ‘alien’, but still close home somehow.
To everyone surprise, during the training, and before passing the Crossing, the Cortiia is sent to earth to retrieve an observer, but what Khyria finds out about Jack after meeting him is something that threatens both their lives.
This is the last novel I will be reviewing in 2019 and the first one to appear in my blog in 2020, and I was not disappointed at all, by the story narrated in Through the Hostage book 1 in the Cortii Universe by J C Steel. Her descriptive style and world-building are amazingly vivid despite describing an alien race of altered mercenaries and their alien environment. The excessive use of adverbs and the repetition of the smile verb in the last few chapters of the first half of the novel made that segment a little bit boring, but the story wanted to be read and I obliged. Besides this, everything seems to fall into line in this adventure of intergalactic proportions. Highly recommended for those who want to taste something ‘alien’, but still close home somehow.
February 18, 2018
This is my debut read of A Steel novel and it took some effort to sort things out.
It was well worth the effort.
Steel has the ability to make characters who, while regimented and subordinate to a command structure, have not abandoned their humanity ... well, their near-humanity. They are both recognizable and alien, comforting and disquieting.
The plot is intricate enough to show off Steel's writing chops, leading you down one primrose path after another before she throws you a slider.
I have bought up all the novels I can find of hers and well into Elemental Conflict as I write.
It was well worth the effort.
Steel has the ability to make characters who, while regimented and subordinate to a command structure, have not abandoned their humanity ... well, their near-humanity. They are both recognizable and alien, comforting and disquieting.
The plot is intricate enough to show off Steel's writing chops, leading you down one primrose path after another before she throws you a slider.
I have bought up all the novels I can find of hers and well into Elemental Conflict as I write.
May 1, 2019
I often found the characters emotionally opaque. The commander’s bisexuality is in the background but is of minimal importance to the plot.
June 6, 2018
An amazing tale. I loved it!!!
November 10, 2018
A new name to an old Sci-Fi fan like me, J.C. Steel has created an impressively strong new Sci-Fi epic series.
Bursting with fresh ideas - perhaps too many ideas giving more than a little of a 'crammed' feel to the early chapters at least. At the start of our entry to a new Universe, we need to be led gently. I can understand that maybe she was after a feeling of the reader joining a fully-formed story, in a fully-functioning universe, with all the elements underway already, but we do need some markers, some recognisable landmarks - from our own time - to help us get a grasp of what's going on. Otherwise, she's going to lose new readers, who would think "What the heck? I thought that she was...oh bugger it, life's too short..." In my defence, I have defended my policy of always reading and finishing books against these arrogant know-it-all bigots several times.
Then, around the p70 mark, something happens. Is it the hostage of the title? Is it something else? Where were we? Were we really on...? The whole time? And what is The Crossing then?
Obviously, you'll have to read it to find out, but suddenly, in a moment, the whole story, the descriptions, the new worlds, begin to make sense. My mind has something, an idea, to hang on to and put all that has gone before, and all that comes after, into its place. "Ahh! So that's it. I see it now!" And from there on, it unfolds to become the start of what promises to be really richly imagined, fully-fledged science-fiction epic. The characters fold out to become more than just black and white sketches, to become fully fledged, nuanced shades of interesting and, in the case of Ilan, highly intriguing. They make me, if not exactly want to be them (!), find out more about them. There are some rocky parts of course, the names and the assumptions that we know already exactly what she's talking about, can be confusing sometimes, but after the first hallelujah! moment, I forgave her that. J.C. Steel is a woman (!), so the woman characters are correspondingly the lead figures and very strongly portrayed. That's a first for my Sci-Fi reading (in my defence, I haven't really been near the Sci-Fi genre in a long time).
My only other problem is one of the names. Though this isn't limited to, or begun by, this book, to be fair. It's also true of most Fantasy and/or Sci-Fi books. No two names are ever the same. Have you noticed? And all, all, all, even in the future, or the long forgotten past, have different spelling - not always based on the idea of names/words being pronounced differently back then (or forward then) - to anything we know how to pronounce now. I mean...I know, even here in Denmark, of another person with my forename. On a Facebook group I'm a member of, there's another guy who shares my surname. With a book like Through The Hostage, some more regular - spelling, at least - names would have helped tremendously. And, referring to the main character, or other characters, by different names, doesn't add depth, just confusion in the start, until their character develops. If you have a name that is difficult to pronounce - in your mind - easily first time, then my mind skates over it, doesn't then really get a grip for the rest of the book. Accordingly, the character becomes rather anonymous. There were Stephens and Davids two hundred years ago, and it could be possible that a 'Steve' or 'Dave' exists two hundred years in our future, so why assume that names have become so radically different? If you really want to be irritated by this sort of thing, go read some Robert Jordan.
However, Returning to the matter in hand...if you can get through the smoke and confusion the fire and the sound blast of the opening, I promise you will be richly rewarded and, not least, entertained by Through The Hostage.
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Bursting with fresh ideas - perhaps too many ideas giving more than a little of a 'crammed' feel to the early chapters at least. At the start of our entry to a new Universe, we need to be led gently. I can understand that maybe she was after a feeling of the reader joining a fully-formed story, in a fully-functioning universe, with all the elements underway already, but we do need some markers, some recognisable landmarks - from our own time - to help us get a grasp of what's going on. Otherwise, she's going to lose new readers, who would think "What the heck? I thought that she was...oh bugger it, life's too short..." In my defence, I have defended my policy of always reading and finishing books against these arrogant know-it-all bigots several times.
Then, around the p70 mark, something happens. Is it the hostage of the title? Is it something else? Where were we? Were we really on...? The whole time? And what is The Crossing then?
Obviously, you'll have to read it to find out, but suddenly, in a moment, the whole story, the descriptions, the new worlds, begin to make sense. My mind has something, an idea, to hang on to and put all that has gone before, and all that comes after, into its place. "Ahh! So that's it. I see it now!" And from there on, it unfolds to become the start of what promises to be really richly imagined, fully-fledged science-fiction epic. The characters fold out to become more than just black and white sketches, to become fully fledged, nuanced shades of interesting and, in the case of Ilan, highly intriguing. They make me, if not exactly want to be them (!), find out more about them. There are some rocky parts of course, the names and the assumptions that we know already exactly what she's talking about, can be confusing sometimes, but after the first hallelujah! moment, I forgave her that. J.C. Steel is a woman (!), so the woman characters are correspondingly the lead figures and very strongly portrayed. That's a first for my Sci-Fi reading (in my defence, I haven't really been near the Sci-Fi genre in a long time).
My only other problem is one of the names. Though this isn't limited to, or begun by, this book, to be fair. It's also true of most Fantasy and/or Sci-Fi books. No two names are ever the same. Have you noticed? And all, all, all, even in the future, or the long forgotten past, have different spelling - not always based on the idea of names/words being pronounced differently back then (or forward then) - to anything we know how to pronounce now. I mean...I know, even here in Denmark, of another person with my forename. On a Facebook group I'm a member of, there's another guy who shares my surname. With a book like Through The Hostage, some more regular - spelling, at least - names would have helped tremendously. And, referring to the main character, or other characters, by different names, doesn't add depth, just confusion in the start, until their character develops. If you have a name that is difficult to pronounce - in your mind - easily first time, then my mind skates over it, doesn't then really get a grip for the rest of the book. Accordingly, the character becomes rather anonymous. There were Stephens and Davids two hundred years ago, and it could be possible that a 'Steve' or 'Dave' exists two hundred years in our future, so why assume that names have become so radically different? If you really want to be irritated by this sort of thing, go read some Robert Jordan.
However, Returning to the matter in hand...if you can get through the smoke and confusion the fire and the sound blast of the opening, I promise you will be richly rewarded and, not least, entertained by Through The Hostage.
Blog: Speesh Reads
Facebook: Speesh Reads
Pinterest: Speesh Reads
October 1, 2018
“When the odds are impossible, sometimes the only thing to do is play the game ...”
Ok, admit to being totally hooked by that line in the publisher’s blurb for J C Steel’s Through the Hostage, the first book in The Cortii series. When survival is all that matters you do what’s needed and that’s certainly what the fantastic lead here, Khyria Ilan, does. The result is an exciting novel that benefits from great world building and truly well-crafted characters (the group dynamics within Ilan’s Cortii unit are especially worth noting as they’re perfectly drawn). I was hooked from the start and suspect that anyone who enjoys this genre will be as well.
But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises - the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
Ok, admit to being totally hooked by that line in the publisher’s blurb for J C Steel’s Through the Hostage, the first book in The Cortii series. When survival is all that matters you do what’s needed and that’s certainly what the fantastic lead here, Khyria Ilan, does. The result is an exciting novel that benefits from great world building and truly well-crafted characters (the group dynamics within Ilan’s Cortii unit are especially worth noting as they’re perfectly drawn). I was hooked from the start and suspect that anyone who enjoys this genre will be as well.
But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises - the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
October 26, 2016
I have a confession to make. I’m not a sci-fi fan. There, I’ve said it. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love sci-fi movies. Serenity is a particular favorite of mine. But in my books? I like to stick to my nice, comfy little reading rut, which just happens to be romance and the occasional zombie apocalypse book. But I’ve been thinking lately that it’s time expand my horizons. And because this book has a great-looking cover that was obviously professionally designed and a short but highly impactful blurb, I thought this was most definitely a good opportunity to branch out into the world of sci-fi novels. The result? Well, I can’t say that I’ll give every sci-fi book I come across a chance going forward, but I’m certainly glad I read this one. Full review on the blog: http://www.knockinbooks.com/reviews/t...
October 2, 2018
Dazed😵 and Confused.
No warm and fuzzy space monsters👹 or alien warriors🐺🔪 in this book📑.
The beginning is confusing😵 because the reader is plopped right into a story of backstabbing mercenaries in the middle with no explanation of what is going on or why.
I 💘love sci-fi but was disappointed in this book. I felt no connection between characters except for their continuous struggle for power amongst themselves. I found myself skipping around in the book trying to find a section I could relate to.
DNF
ARC Received from HG.
The book📑 was $2.51 on Amazon at the time of this review.
No warm and fuzzy space monsters👹 or alien warriors🐺🔪 in this book📑.
The beginning is confusing😵 because the reader is plopped right into a story of backstabbing mercenaries in the middle with no explanation of what is going on or why.
I 💘love sci-fi but was disappointed in this book. I felt no connection between characters except for their continuous struggle for power amongst themselves. I found myself skipping around in the book trying to find a section I could relate to.
DNF
ARC Received from HG.
The book📑 was $2.51 on Amazon at the time of this review.
August 30, 2017
Overall, I enjoyed Through the Hostage, but it occasionally suffers from a lack of context. The story hangs together very well, and it creates an interesting look into at this group of mercenaries during the long stretches of story that deal with a single plot element, like the Cortia’s first mission and their final training mission. But in the in-between, things don’t always seem to click together quite like they should. There were times when I found myself asking why this event or that one was important. I knew why the event was happening, but found myself wondering where these people came from and in one or two instances why they cared so much.
The characters were well-developed and interesting to follow, though I would have liked a little more background on the main character. She starts off the story self-destructive, but we’re only given glimpses of how she got there and we’re left to puzzle out the rest.
The setting is richly detailed with constant glimpses at a galaxy full of entities and peoples often at odds with one another. It’s great incentive to explore more. Overall the story has its ups and downs, but with markedly more ups. It’s a worthwhile read for someone looking for a quick sci-fi jaunt and or for delving into a new series. And I'm interested to see where Steel takes Book 2.
Reviewed by Cris Meyers
The characters were well-developed and interesting to follow, though I would have liked a little more background on the main character. She starts off the story self-destructive, but we’re only given glimpses of how she got there and we’re left to puzzle out the rest.
The setting is richly detailed with constant glimpses at a galaxy full of entities and peoples often at odds with one another. It’s great incentive to explore more. Overall the story has its ups and downs, but with markedly more ups. It’s a worthwhile read for someone looking for a quick sci-fi jaunt and or for delving into a new series. And I'm interested to see where Steel takes Book 2.
Reviewed by Cris Meyers
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May 11, 2022Khyria's only ally is the woman who drugged and seduced her 6 years ago. And she plays for keeps...
5 stars, Readers' Favorite: 'If you want a science fiction read that digs deep and goes beyond the surface, this is going to be the book for you. I highly recommend it.'
Get yours:
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5 stars, Readers' Favorite: 'If you want a science fiction read that digs deep and goes beyond the surface, this is going to be the book for you. I highly recommend it.'
Get yours:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Kobo
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews