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Hybrid #6
Gladiatrix
Librarian's Note: Alternate-cover edition for ASIN: B011SEHJUA
Kill or be killed is the only thing that matters to Azrica, the red-eyed ‘devil’ who scared the humans in the slave compound of the garian arena almost as much as the lizards she fought against. The garian philosophy that only the best of their young, the strongest, the most cunning and intelligent should make it to adulthood played right into her hands. Azrica’s philosophy was far simpler, killing as many lizards as possible before she had that inevitable ‘unlucky’ day. Federation humans were nearly as bad, as they were equally responsible for her situation.
The only fly in her simple, ordered life was a certain blond stud male named Hal. Bred to fight and reproduce, he did both frequently and damn well as he made his way steadily up the slave hierarchy. Despite the brutality of his life and the ever-present prospect of a violent death, he always had a smile on his face and a flirtatious comment on his lips. He treated her as a friend, a future lover, even though she did her best to persuade him otherwise by slitting the throat of a man who had tried to bed her.
When Azrica unexpectedly survives a final level bout, not only is she given control of the warmblood compound and tasked to produce more successful human gladiators, she is awarded a slave. Unfortunately for Hal, a newly caught, puny, white skinned male, named Jeron is selected instead of him. She couldn’t possibly prefer him, could she?
Contains graphic M/F scenes and violence. It is intended for a mature audience only.
Word count: 66,000 plus 10% excerpt from Hybrid 7: Chimera
A version of this book was previously published as part one of Cat Clan 3 Chimera.
Kill or be killed is the only thing that matters to Azrica, the red-eyed ‘devil’ who scared the humans in the slave compound of the garian arena almost as much as the lizards she fought against. The garian philosophy that only the best of their young, the strongest, the most cunning and intelligent should make it to adulthood played right into her hands. Azrica’s philosophy was far simpler, killing as many lizards as possible before she had that inevitable ‘unlucky’ day. Federation humans were nearly as bad, as they were equally responsible for her situation.
The only fly in her simple, ordered life was a certain blond stud male named Hal. Bred to fight and reproduce, he did both frequently and damn well as he made his way steadily up the slave hierarchy. Despite the brutality of his life and the ever-present prospect of a violent death, he always had a smile on his face and a flirtatious comment on his lips. He treated her as a friend, a future lover, even though she did her best to persuade him otherwise by slitting the throat of a man who had tried to bed her.
When Azrica unexpectedly survives a final level bout, not only is she given control of the warmblood compound and tasked to produce more successful human gladiators, she is awarded a slave. Unfortunately for Hal, a newly caught, puny, white skinned male, named Jeron is selected instead of him. She couldn’t possibly prefer him, could she?
Contains graphic M/F scenes and violence. It is intended for a mature audience only.
Word count: 66,000 plus 10% excerpt from Hybrid 7: Chimera
A version of this book was previously published as part one of Cat Clan 3 Chimera.
212 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 12, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 8, 2016
One of the best books in the series in my opinion, we get to find out about some characters that we have only heard about before in a great setting.
August 17, 2016
It may seem odd to start reading the Hybrid series at Book #6 Gladiatrix but as it appeared to be a standalone I took the plunge and jumped in to the universe of humans, dakarans and garians.
It didn’t take long to decide that the bad guys were the lizard like garians. They even seem to have it in for their own young as they operate an arena system of gladitorial combat to only get the smartest and fittest of their young to adulthood. The rest are either killed by their opponents in the ring or by their own brethren in a bloody battle for supremacy.
Here we are introduced to Azrica, a female dakaran. She is the gladiatrix of the title and a slave of the garians forced into combat in the arena. She’s a most kick-ass heroine. There aren’t many people she doesn’t want to kill, garian, human or her own kind. And the remainder she’s happy to watch die as long as they take as many garians with them as they can.
The supporting cast of characters all come alive in this strange, combative world. Best of all is Hal, the stud slave, who if he isn’t impregnating one of the female brood slaves is trying to. Hal provides some light relief in the bloody darkness of Azrica’s revenge driven world. Slavery, casual murder and sex are the only life the humans of the arena know. Emma Jaye does a good job of showing the brutality of this life.
The downside for me is the arrival on the scene of characters from previous books in the series. I’m sure their appearance would have meant more to me if I’d come through the whole series, as it was I didn’t have a great deal of empathy with them which may have been different if I’d followed them from the start.
Despite this, Gladiatrix does hold its own as a novel, although the abrupt ending clearly points me in the direction of Book #7. I’m heading back to Book #1 rather than continuing with #7 to find out more of the background of the universe that Emma Jaye has created before moving on.
It didn’t take long to decide that the bad guys were the lizard like garians. They even seem to have it in for their own young as they operate an arena system of gladitorial combat to only get the smartest and fittest of their young to adulthood. The rest are either killed by their opponents in the ring or by their own brethren in a bloody battle for supremacy.
Here we are introduced to Azrica, a female dakaran. She is the gladiatrix of the title and a slave of the garians forced into combat in the arena. She’s a most kick-ass heroine. There aren’t many people she doesn’t want to kill, garian, human or her own kind. And the remainder she’s happy to watch die as long as they take as many garians with them as they can.
The supporting cast of characters all come alive in this strange, combative world. Best of all is Hal, the stud slave, who if he isn’t impregnating one of the female brood slaves is trying to. Hal provides some light relief in the bloody darkness of Azrica’s revenge driven world. Slavery, casual murder and sex are the only life the humans of the arena know. Emma Jaye does a good job of showing the brutality of this life.
The downside for me is the arrival on the scene of characters from previous books in the series. I’m sure their appearance would have meant more to me if I’d come through the whole series, as it was I didn’t have a great deal of empathy with them which may have been different if I’d followed them from the start.
Despite this, Gladiatrix does hold its own as a novel, although the abrupt ending clearly points me in the direction of Book #7. I’m heading back to Book #1 rather than continuing with #7 to find out more of the background of the universe that Emma Jaye has created before moving on.
March 3, 2016
Gladiatrix is the sixth installment to the Hybrid series I have been reading. Sadly, it is getting the lowest rating so far, but I have my reason so you will just have to be patient with me. First, I want to say that his book is full of new characters, there only a few that we have actually already read about. So I am going to talk about the ones we already know about.
Which leads me to start of with the red-head male Jeron, he is talked about in the last couple of books. We know that he is to believe to be the brother of Silk (the main character of the last book.) What we already know is that he went MIA, and was engaged to Raine. But now he is on the Garian’s home world, where he finds him self in the company or a red-eyed women.
One character that we already read about makes an appearance but I am not going to say who they are, mainly for spoiler reasons. But I was so excited when they showed up. :-)
Now let me begin why this book lost some stars. They are for personal taste, so I know someone else might not have the same issues. First, it was because this book is full of new characters that we mainly knew nothing about and I was thrown for a loop. The main reason I disliked it was the flow that Emma Jaye used, I think it could have been better if certain chapters were moved around. Something similar to the first book would have worked, how the first couple of chapter was the back story and then she jumped in the story. I don’t know why but I think something like that would have worked better.
The second reason, is because I saw the POVs kinda tripped me up on this book. It took me a second on certain scenes to know who’s pov it was, when that happens is it knocks me out of my reading pace and agitates me.
I did love the main character in this book. Az, is such a badass, and I hope to read more about her. Hal is quiet charming also. I swear Emma can write some sexy, whitty men. Well, this book left me on a cliffhanger, so I am going to run and read the next book and see what is going on.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
Which leads me to start of with the red-head male Jeron, he is talked about in the last couple of books. We know that he is to believe to be the brother of Silk (the main character of the last book.) What we already know is that he went MIA, and was engaged to Raine. But now he is on the Garian’s home world, where he finds him self in the company or a red-eyed women.
One character that we already read about makes an appearance but I am not going to say who they are, mainly for spoiler reasons. But I was so excited when they showed up. :-)
Now let me begin why this book lost some stars. They are for personal taste, so I know someone else might not have the same issues. First, it was because this book is full of new characters that we mainly knew nothing about and I was thrown for a loop. The main reason I disliked it was the flow that Emma Jaye used, I think it could have been better if certain chapters were moved around. Something similar to the first book would have worked, how the first couple of chapter was the back story and then she jumped in the story. I don’t know why but I think something like that would have worked better.
The second reason, is because I saw the POVs kinda tripped me up on this book. It took me a second on certain scenes to know who’s pov it was, when that happens is it knocks me out of my reading pace and agitates me.
I did love the main character in this book. Az, is such a badass, and I hope to read more about her. Hal is quiet charming also. I swear Emma can write some sexy, whitty men. Well, this book left me on a cliffhanger, so I am going to run and read the next book and see what is going on.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 8, 2016
On the Garian home world, life is reduced to basic biological functions-- if you live at all. Garians are reptilian meat eaters. They eat each other and any other species is considered extra tasty. The only form of culture, status or entertainment is survival of the fittest. Their hatchlings are only worthy of maturity if they prove themselves in the arena by killing and eating their opponents of whatever species. Off world slaves are the preferred food of Garians and are entirely doomed to that fate. For a slave on the Garian home world, you are used as either breeding stock or adversaries for the hatchlings in the arena. Either way you are only livestock, destined to be eaten—today or tomorrow. The first moment you are not productive in the breeding pens or the arena, you are immediately eaten, dead or alive. The story revolves around the hopeless struggle for one more day of life for the alien and human slaves, one of which has a special ability, a second soul, and a desire to see the primary lizard overseer dead.
This book is part of a series and the author has made it work both as a stand-alone and for advancing the world building in this alternate universe. The plot and pace are very well done, capturing the reader’s interest from the first page and keeping your interest from start to finish.
The writer has considerable skill and imagination, creating very believable characters and situations. Circumstances require the central characters to be self-absorbed, the only trait that’s considered admirable, because it’s the only way anyone has any chance to live for one more day. I found the hellish conditions and completely amoral behavior sad to the point my memory of the story will only be how horrible everything was.
I was given a copy of this book for an unbiased review.
This book is part of a series and the author has made it work both as a stand-alone and for advancing the world building in this alternate universe. The plot and pace are very well done, capturing the reader’s interest from the first page and keeping your interest from start to finish.
The writer has considerable skill and imagination, creating very believable characters and situations. Circumstances require the central characters to be self-absorbed, the only trait that’s considered admirable, because it’s the only way anyone has any chance to live for one more day. I found the hellish conditions and completely amoral behavior sad to the point my memory of the story will only be how horrible everything was.
I was given a copy of this book for an unbiased review.
March 16, 2016
This was my first book in the series, but I felt it easy to pick up and follow along. I wouldn't say it is a stand-alone, as there is no resolution at the end (cliffhanger ending typical of a serial, so be ready for that!) but as far as reader confusion there was none. The author did a good job of making everything easy to understand.
The strength in this story is definitely the world-building. Lots of complexity here, and some interesting characters as well. My only complaint would be it got a bit repetitive at times, but only in a minor way so I'm not detracting a star for that. The world is harsh, and there is a feeling of hopelessness about the character's fates that is a bit of a downer, but the characters are strong and interesting so it is very readable in spite of that dismal outlook.
The major flaw, in my opinion, is the many instances of back-tracking, describing things that had happened. It would have been far more interesting to read these events in real time, or simply to skip them and move on to more action. In many ways, it felt as if this story could have been much, much longer. Lots of stuff was summarized, in a sort of "telling" way. Which was okay, because it was interesting stuff, but would have made for a more dynamic read had it been more show, less tell.
Still, it was a fun read that kept me interested and wanting to read the next installment. Would recommend!
**I received this book in exchange for an honest review**
The strength in this story is definitely the world-building. Lots of complexity here, and some interesting characters as well. My only complaint would be it got a bit repetitive at times, but only in a minor way so I'm not detracting a star for that. The world is harsh, and there is a feeling of hopelessness about the character's fates that is a bit of a downer, but the characters are strong and interesting so it is very readable in spite of that dismal outlook.
The major flaw, in my opinion, is the many instances of back-tracking, describing things that had happened. It would have been far more interesting to read these events in real time, or simply to skip them and move on to more action. In many ways, it felt as if this story could have been much, much longer. Lots of stuff was summarized, in a sort of "telling" way. Which was okay, because it was interesting stuff, but would have made for a more dynamic read had it been more show, less tell.
Still, it was a fun read that kept me interested and wanting to read the next installment. Would recommend!
**I received this book in exchange for an honest review**
February 14, 2016
Gladiatrix is a sci fi novel with clear fantasy traits. We follow the life of the slave Azrica, a female of the Dakaran race, a race that resembles homo sapiens, only stronger, and with keener senses. Trapped in an arena prison, and serving as a gladiator slave, she is captured by the lizard like race of Garians. Her only drive in life is to kill as many of the lizards as possible.
The book is tightly written, with cool dialogue and a fast pace. It reminded me of my role playing days of old, and especially the AD&D world of Dark Sun. I like the characters, and Azrica is a main character close to my heart, as I like bad ass main characters. You don’t mess around with Azrica, truly an amazon. I recommend this book for sci fi and fantasy fans.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The book is tightly written, with cool dialogue and a fast pace. It reminded me of my role playing days of old, and especially the AD&D world of Dark Sun. I like the characters, and Azrica is a main character close to my heart, as I like bad ass main characters. You don’t mess around with Azrica, truly an amazon. I recommend this book for sci fi and fantasy fans.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 20, 2016
Hybrid 6# Gladiatrix is a departure from the previous books in the series. I would actually called this a stand alone story as well, but I know that it will all tie up in the end. This story tells of Azrica, a Dakaran warrior, if you will. She has been in captivity for most of her life, serving as a slave to a barbaric race, called the Garians. She has been forced to fight in the sands, a gladiatorial arena, surviving everything that is thrown at her. She only has a handful of friends in this godforsaken place, Hal, Jeron and her Garian guard, if you could call her a friend? There are a few surprises as you read through, and everything will make sense the further you read.
The story is well written, and brutal in places, quite gory. I love that! And I would recommend this read to anyone, and can't wait to get stuck in to the next book.
The story is well written, and brutal in places, quite gory. I love that! And I would recommend this read to anyone, and can't wait to get stuck in to the next book.
July 14, 2018
This was not bad book, yet it Would not be 4 or 5 stars read as I could not Connect with The story and felt Like put in The middle of action without knowing what is going on. Maybe with Chesca it Would have worked but with characters That were only mentioned in previous books.
I hope That book 7 will be a blast as I already got to know those characters.
I hope That book 7 will be a blast as I already got to know those characters.
March 12, 2016
This novel was far more than I expected, and was a thoroughly enjoyable read! Unlike some of the others in this series, Gladiatrix manages to balance out a lot of the more graphic sex scenes with action, world building, and character development. I found learning more about the greater galaxy in which this series was set was probably my favourite part of the novel, especially as there is a rich backstory there I have really enjoyed. It was also interesting the way the main character was linked to an earlier character in the series, without them ever actually meeting. And I reallye enjoyed Azrica as a character too - there was an interesting tapestry that made her tick.
Probably the main thing that detracted from the story were spelling and grammar errors, as these were fairly distracting. There was also a bit of repetition towards the end, with the second prisoner federation man following a very similar thought trajectory as the doctor.
Probably the main thing that detracted from the story were spelling and grammar errors, as these were fairly distracting. There was also a bit of repetition towards the end, with the second prisoner federation man following a very similar thought trajectory as the doctor.
April 24, 2016
Gladiatrix
I really enjoyed this novel. It's part of a series, and although it's the first one I've read, and there are 5 others that preceded it, the book stood very well on its own. I had no trouble jumping into the plot. Emma Jaye is a fantastic writer and does a marvelous job creating her alien world. The characters were all unique and very three-dimensional. I would definitely recommend this book to friends who enjoy science fiction, and I plan to read the other books in the series as well.
I really enjoyed this novel. It's part of a series, and although it's the first one I've read, and there are 5 others that preceded it, the book stood very well on its own. I had no trouble jumping into the plot. Emma Jaye is a fantastic writer and does a marvelous job creating her alien world. The characters were all unique and very three-dimensional. I would definitely recommend this book to friends who enjoy science fiction, and I plan to read the other books in the series as well.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews