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From the World of Ambasadora
Starrie
In this caste-ruled society, where multiple partners are the norm, celebrity, beauty, and power mean everything. Love and jealousy are considered emotional fallacies, nothing more than fleeting moods and sentiments biased by hormones. But sometimes people just fall in love…and that can be deadly.
Ben Anlow and his team embark on a revenge mission to bring down serial murderer and rapist, Liu Stavros, at his fortress in the inhospitable mountains of Tampa Three. But contractor Naela Starrie already has her own kind of vengeance planned for Stavros. Even as a battle-hardened soldier, Ben’s not prepared for the darkness he sees in the female assassin, nor the way she challenges his prejudices about her people when she makes a sacrifice to save to his life.
What They’re Saying About Starrie
“With explosive action, kick-ass heroes and romance that hits all the right notes, Starrie gives fans of science fiction romance everything they want—at a breakneck pace. Plan to stay up all night finishing this one, it’s impossible to put down!” —Rhonda Mason, author The Empress Game
“Take authentic, straight-ahead space opera. Stir in a highly trained, kick-ass assassin on a mission of vengeance. Toss in a career soldier and watch them battle together, and grow together, as adversity piles on. Serve hot! Heidi Ruby Miller’s Starrie is the perfect concoction of nonstop, take-no-prisoners SF action and romance, set against the intriguing backdrop of the brutal and dangerous world of Ambasadora, and deftly leaves us wanting more.”
—Win Scott Eckert, coauthor with Philip José Farmer of The Evil in Pemberley House and author of The Scarlet Jaguar, 2014 New Pulp Award winner
Ben Anlow and his team embark on a revenge mission to bring down serial murderer and rapist, Liu Stavros, at his fortress in the inhospitable mountains of Tampa Three. But contractor Naela Starrie already has her own kind of vengeance planned for Stavros. Even as a battle-hardened soldier, Ben’s not prepared for the darkness he sees in the female assassin, nor the way she challenges his prejudices about her people when she makes a sacrifice to save to his life.
What They’re Saying About Starrie
“With explosive action, kick-ass heroes and romance that hits all the right notes, Starrie gives fans of science fiction romance everything they want—at a breakneck pace. Plan to stay up all night finishing this one, it’s impossible to put down!” —Rhonda Mason, author The Empress Game
“Take authentic, straight-ahead space opera. Stir in a highly trained, kick-ass assassin on a mission of vengeance. Toss in a career soldier and watch them battle together, and grow together, as adversity piles on. Serve hot! Heidi Ruby Miller’s Starrie is the perfect concoction of nonstop, take-no-prisoners SF action and romance, set against the intriguing backdrop of the brutal and dangerous world of Ambasadora, and deftly leaves us wanting more.”
—Win Scott Eckert, coauthor with Philip José Farmer of The Evil in Pemberley House and author of The Scarlet Jaguar, 2014 New Pulp Award winner
Kindle Edition
First published March 11, 2016
4 people are currently reading
423 people want to read
About the author
Heidi Ruby Miller
22 books279 followersHeidi Ruby Miller uses research for her stories as an excuse to roam the globe. With degrees in Anthropology, Geography, Foreign Languages, and Writing, she knew early that penning fast-paced, exotic adventures would be her life. She's put her experiences and studies to paper in her far-future AMBASADORA series and her two new thriller series.
In between trips, Heidi teaches creative writing at Seton Hill University, where she graduated from their renowned Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program the same month she appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. AMBASADORA was her thesis novel there, and the multi-award winning writing guide MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT, which she co-edited with Michael A. Arnzen, is based on the Seton Hill program and was named #5 in The Writer magazine's Ten Most Terrific Writing Books of 2011.
She has had various fiction and non-fiction publications, as well as various jobs, including contract archaeologist, foreign currency exchanger at Walt Disney World, foreign language teacher, and educational marketing director for Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob. In 2012, Heidi created the Dog Star Books science fiction imprint for Raw Dog Screaming Press and was the managing editor for the line for three years.
Recently she was the Director of Professional Writing Relations for the Pennsylvania Literary Festival, an event she co-founded in 2014.
Her formal memberships include The Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, Pennwriters, Science Fiction Poetry Association, and the SFR Brigade. Heidi is fond of high-heeled shoes, action movies, chocolate, and tea of any sort. She lives near Pittsburgh with her award-winning writer husband, Jason Jack Miller, and a sweet little kitty.
In between trips, Heidi teaches creative writing at Seton Hill University, where she graduated from their renowned Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program the same month she appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. AMBASADORA was her thesis novel there, and the multi-award winning writing guide MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT, which she co-edited with Michael A. Arnzen, is based on the Seton Hill program and was named #5 in The Writer magazine's Ten Most Terrific Writing Books of 2011.
She has had various fiction and non-fiction publications, as well as various jobs, including contract archaeologist, foreign currency exchanger at Walt Disney World, foreign language teacher, and educational marketing director for Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob. In 2012, Heidi created the Dog Star Books science fiction imprint for Raw Dog Screaming Press and was the managing editor for the line for three years.
Recently she was the Director of Professional Writing Relations for the Pennsylvania Literary Festival, an event she co-founded in 2014.
Her formal memberships include The Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, Pennwriters, Science Fiction Poetry Association, and the SFR Brigade. Heidi is fond of high-heeled shoes, action movies, chocolate, and tea of any sort. She lives near Pittsburgh with her award-winning writer husband, Jason Jack Miller, and a sweet little kitty.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 25, 2016
Full disclosure. I've been waiting for this book for some time! Green Shift made it clear there were more worlds to explore, more adventures to be had in Miller's 'Ambasadora Verse,' and if I've learned one thing reading these books, it's that nobody does Space Opera better than Heidi Ruby Miller! These are "big" characters, larger than life, doing extraordinary things, yet HRM makes sure that they're always relatable, you always care about them, and their lives matter. Naela Starrie is an assassin to fall for. She's also a character deserving of more prequels/sequels. This is a FAST read (I swear I blinked and it was over). The pacing never falters, and Heidi takes care to ensure the tension is always rising.
Loved it!
Loved it!
January 8, 2021
Starrie--a sci-fi romance that's not for the starry-eyed.
In the glamorous and violent Ambasadora-verse, the escape of beautiful rogue assassin Naela Starrie from the lair of a sadistic human trafficker triggers pursuit by two men who have far different goals in mind. When a solar flare knocks out transportation and communication, Naela must overcome years of conditioning about the “emotional fallacy” and her scars from childhood abuse if she’s to survive.
Heidi Ruby Miller does her usual masterful job of exploring emotional challenges while maintaining the fast pace and gritty conflict of a sci-fi thriller. With an anthropologists’ insight, she portrays the trickery of ruthless humans who leverage their stratified social hierarchy like a weapon. Miller’s detailed worldbuilding provides a rich backdrop, from the stark beauty of an aurora-bathed alien landscape to lethal threats from genetically modified beasts.
In the glamorous and violent Ambasadora-verse, the escape of beautiful rogue assassin Naela Starrie from the lair of a sadistic human trafficker triggers pursuit by two men who have far different goals in mind. When a solar flare knocks out transportation and communication, Naela must overcome years of conditioning about the “emotional fallacy” and her scars from childhood abuse if she’s to survive.
Heidi Ruby Miller does her usual masterful job of exploring emotional challenges while maintaining the fast pace and gritty conflict of a sci-fi thriller. With an anthropologists’ insight, she portrays the trickery of ruthless humans who leverage their stratified social hierarchy like a weapon. Miller’s detailed worldbuilding provides a rich backdrop, from the stark beauty of an aurora-bathed alien landscape to lethal threats from genetically modified beasts.
June 29, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed diving back into the Ambasadora universe that Heidi Ruby Miller created. Starrie did not disappoint, with its punchy writing, fast pace and unexpected turns and thrills. Cannot wait until the next tale comes out!
March 23, 2016
STARRIE is Firefly meets Battlestar Galactica - and it's a non-stop ride through terraformed planets.
Having previously read the first novel in the AMBASSADORA universe, I was well aware of Ms. Miller's excellent writing style and pleased to have the chance to read this side story set within as well. It's always nice to read a novel that is well plotted, uses point-of-view properly, and is free of irritating errors that slow so many stories down. So since there is no need for me to breakdown those elements here, let's move onto the storyline.
The world-building in STARRIE is excellent, and if you're like me and have had at least some exposure to the space opera genre in books, movies, or television, you'll easily find yourself enmeshed in the fictional universe created here. I cracked up with the 'docking' euphemism (think about it) and several other word usages that took on whole new meaning here. Even with such a far-out-there imaginative world, the story never bogs down with heavy-handed telling and achingly long descriptions (thank you!), while the action continues to keep things moving forward at a well-paced clip. There are familiar tie-ins with some of the elements from MARKED BY LIGHT that were nice to see and get a better feel for in this outing. And, of course, there's the Anlow brothers.
We open with Ben Anlow and his team on a mission to take out a sick and twisted member of the Embassy, the ruling order, on the frozen planet of Tampa Three's highest peak, Durstal Ki. But someone else got to Stavros just before them, a contractor assassin on the Embassy's payroll. Through a series of dire circumstances, Ben is separated from his team and must depend upon Naela Starrie, the assassin in question, to get him off of Tampa Three or at least keep him alive and safe from the hunters until contact can be made to the outside world. Naela knows who is hunting them, and her crazed cousin won't stop until he has what he's always wanted - her.
After a genetically altered puma attack on Tampa Three marred the team's own attack plan atop Durstal Ki, Char must race to get her prime back to civilization before the blood loss and poison have their final effect. But that means leaving the team's leader behind in the hands of a deadly assassin - and also explaining to Embassy officials why their mission failed.
Like I said, excellent pacing, nearly non-stop action, and great world-building (not to mention an error-free experience) make STARRIE a fabulous read for those who enjoy science fiction, particularly the aforementioned shows. I guess that means I'm exposing my nerdy/geeky side. I did get a little dizzy and had trouble following all of the media drones toward the end and how the characters' recorders worked, but that was only a minor annoyance. Content warnings: graphic and bloody violence (dismemberment), mild sexual situations, and strong language usage throughout, so definitely an 18+ read. For the wild adventure, five stars from me.
Having previously read the first novel in the AMBASSADORA universe, I was well aware of Ms. Miller's excellent writing style and pleased to have the chance to read this side story set within as well. It's always nice to read a novel that is well plotted, uses point-of-view properly, and is free of irritating errors that slow so many stories down. So since there is no need for me to breakdown those elements here, let's move onto the storyline.
The world-building in STARRIE is excellent, and if you're like me and have had at least some exposure to the space opera genre in books, movies, or television, you'll easily find yourself enmeshed in the fictional universe created here. I cracked up with the 'docking' euphemism (think about it) and several other word usages that took on whole new meaning here. Even with such a far-out-there imaginative world, the story never bogs down with heavy-handed telling and achingly long descriptions (thank you!), while the action continues to keep things moving forward at a well-paced clip. There are familiar tie-ins with some of the elements from MARKED BY LIGHT that were nice to see and get a better feel for in this outing. And, of course, there's the Anlow brothers.
We open with Ben Anlow and his team on a mission to take out a sick and twisted member of the Embassy, the ruling order, on the frozen planet of Tampa Three's highest peak, Durstal Ki. But someone else got to Stavros just before them, a contractor assassin on the Embassy's payroll. Through a series of dire circumstances, Ben is separated from his team and must depend upon Naela Starrie, the assassin in question, to get him off of Tampa Three or at least keep him alive and safe from the hunters until contact can be made to the outside world. Naela knows who is hunting them, and her crazed cousin won't stop until he has what he's always wanted - her.
After a genetically altered puma attack on Tampa Three marred the team's own attack plan atop Durstal Ki, Char must race to get her prime back to civilization before the blood loss and poison have their final effect. But that means leaving the team's leader behind in the hands of a deadly assassin - and also explaining to Embassy officials why their mission failed.
Like I said, excellent pacing, nearly non-stop action, and great world-building (not to mention an error-free experience) make STARRIE a fabulous read for those who enjoy science fiction, particularly the aforementioned shows. I guess that means I'm exposing my nerdy/geeky side. I did get a little dizzy and had trouble following all of the media drones toward the end and how the characters' recorders worked, but that was only a minor annoyance. Content warnings: graphic and bloody violence (dismemberment), mild sexual situations, and strong language usage throughout, so definitely an 18+ read. For the wild adventure, five stars from me.
April 15, 2016
This is a really good romantic suspense novel, and the addition of a fully-developed science fiction setting only makes it better. The setting brings depth to the story, meaning to the characters, and interesting twists to the plotline that I never saw coming, especially in the climax.
LtCdr Ben Anlow of the Armadan special ops forces, with his team, breaks into a mountain fortress to arrest a human trafficker and serial killer. But a kinda-rogue-kinda-not-rogue assassin is already there, and I really can't tell you much more of the story without inserting major spoilers. Suffice it to say the plan gets knocked off kilter and the team has to respond as surprising events unfold, all the way to the finish.
Some responses are military and the fight scenes are realistic without being gory. Clever tactics count as much as weaponry and physical prowess, and while sensitive readers might wince once or twice, they shouldn't be bothered too much to continue. Other responses are strategic, taking advantage of that fully-developed science fiction setting, and readers of the author's previous books should be surprised but delighted by them.
The ending rocks and it's fully satisfying. If you like romance, suspense, or science fiction, this is a good read. Best yet, none of those categories overwhelms the others, so you don't have to like all three to enjoy the book.
Of particular interest to this reader were two quiet references, one on p157 ("…sections, especially below ground that are unmonitored and abandoned or used for secret projects") and the other on p159 ("…his cousin had a way of surviving what the normal contractor couldn’t"), which could easily be setups for future books. Just an FYI to the author — that would be sweet.
Cons… well, the reviewer who said the romance felt rushed does have a point. It *is* rushed, mainly because the entire story happens in a matter of a few days. It's gotta be rushed. But considering these are characters with deep emotions and strong vulnerabilities, the romance remains believable. You couldn't go through this particular set of circumstances without building a lasting affection for the soldier beside you. With sexual attraction thrown into the mix, it becomes inevitable.
It's also nice that the sex scenes are neither gratuitous nor detailed. It's there, you know it happened, but this is not erotica nor erotic romance. Nicely played.
This one's gotta be five strong stars. Not to mention an excuse to re-read the previous books…
LtCdr Ben Anlow of the Armadan special ops forces, with his team, breaks into a mountain fortress to arrest a human trafficker and serial killer. But a kinda-rogue-kinda-not-rogue assassin is already there, and I really can't tell you much more of the story without inserting major spoilers. Suffice it to say the plan gets knocked off kilter and the team has to respond as surprising events unfold, all the way to the finish.
Some responses are military and the fight scenes are realistic without being gory. Clever tactics count as much as weaponry and physical prowess, and while sensitive readers might wince once or twice, they shouldn't be bothered too much to continue. Other responses are strategic, taking advantage of that fully-developed science fiction setting, and readers of the author's previous books should be surprised but delighted by them.
The ending rocks and it's fully satisfying. If you like romance, suspense, or science fiction, this is a good read. Best yet, none of those categories overwhelms the others, so you don't have to like all three to enjoy the book.
Of particular interest to this reader were two quiet references, one on p157 ("…sections, especially below ground that are unmonitored and abandoned or used for secret projects") and the other on p159 ("…his cousin had a way of surviving what the normal contractor couldn’t"), which could easily be setups for future books. Just an FYI to the author — that would be sweet.
Cons… well, the reviewer who said the romance felt rushed does have a point. It *is* rushed, mainly because the entire story happens in a matter of a few days. It's gotta be rushed. But considering these are characters with deep emotions and strong vulnerabilities, the romance remains believable. You couldn't go through this particular set of circumstances without building a lasting affection for the soldier beside you. With sexual attraction thrown into the mix, it becomes inevitable.
It's also nice that the sex scenes are neither gratuitous nor detailed. It's there, you know it happened, but this is not erotica nor erotic romance. Nicely played.
This one's gotta be five strong stars. Not to mention an excuse to re-read the previous books…
April 10, 2016
Mixed Feelings about the book
The greatest weakness in this book which is a study into a romance of an incestial and polygamous (in the weird way of having multiple partners consecutively not all at once) is that the obvious pairing between Ben Anlow and Naela Starrie is the development of the passion is rushed. Naela's attempts to resist the union are not impressive and it seems the author tried and failed to make it feel authentic. Authentic in the sense that two soldiers who pseudo-understand each other and have the hots for each other despite cultural disapproval end up in steamy (literally steam bath) situations which quickly draws their affection for each other out. What doesn't make sense is the contradictions in thinking between Naela's past in sexual abuse quickly being disarmed by what seems like is nothing special Ben Anlow...almost to the point the author goes to make Anlow seem less impressive fighter than Naela though it wasn't the point but still we don't see a positive reason for her attraction to overcome her gigantic reservation (past sexual abuse).
The story is nonetheless and intriguing read and some characters are more interesting than others and I would be interested to see the author grow her depth in the female and male characters to overcome some of the tendency towards polarizing from social norms to the point of creating gender roles then confusing them.
The greatest weakness in this book which is a study into a romance of an incestial and polygamous (in the weird way of having multiple partners consecutively not all at once) is that the obvious pairing between Ben Anlow and Naela Starrie is the development of the passion is rushed. Naela's attempts to resist the union are not impressive and it seems the author tried and failed to make it feel authentic. Authentic in the sense that two soldiers who pseudo-understand each other and have the hots for each other despite cultural disapproval end up in steamy (literally steam bath) situations which quickly draws their affection for each other out. What doesn't make sense is the contradictions in thinking between Naela's past in sexual abuse quickly being disarmed by what seems like is nothing special Ben Anlow...almost to the point the author goes to make Anlow seem less impressive fighter than Naela though it wasn't the point but still we don't see a positive reason for her attraction to overcome her gigantic reservation (past sexual abuse).
The story is nonetheless and intriguing read and some characters are more interesting than others and I would be interested to see the author grow her depth in the female and male characters to overcome some of the tendency towards polarizing from social norms to the point of creating gender roles then confusing them.
March 28, 2016
Couldn't put this one down! The very first scenes--in which Ben and his team infiltrate a fortress on the top of a snowy peak and Naela deals with a target whose crimes are personal to her--pulled me in, and the story refused to let me go. Ben is an admirable hero who uses his cleverness and humor to deal with challenges, and Naela is tough in many ways, but she's also allowed to be emotional and open with Ben. Their relationship deepens believably and sweetly. Overall, this is a wonderful addition to the Ambasadora universe!
December 23, 2016
At times icy cold and at times blazing hot! Neala Starrie took me by surprise and gave me what I wanted of a female lead.
I never read Miller's other work but now I'm interested in the Ambassadora story. I've always been a fan of Steven Brust's assassin books and Starrie was as fun as Vlad Taltos and the Hunger Games mashed into a fun new adventure. I'm a fan! Great work.
I never read Miller's other work but now I'm interested in the Ambassadora story. I've always been a fan of Steven Brust's assassin books and Starrie was as fun as Vlad Taltos and the Hunger Games mashed into a fun new adventure. I'm a fan! Great work.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews