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Star Sojourner #5
Satan's Forge
This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN B00K60LX2I.
There must be forces at work that prevent our hero, appealing, nice guy, astrobiologist Jules Rammis, from returning to Earth and studying Blackroot, the intriguing plant/animal he discovered on planet Halcyon.
This time, it's a rapacious Altairian slave overlord and master of Lithium Love Mine on planet New Lithnia. And Jules, with his sacrificial hero nature, will risk life and limb to dethrone the demigod and free Terran and alien slaves who are being tortured and worked to death, along with the mine ponies.
It keeps our guy up to his ears in trouble and danger, but Jules is used to that from previous adventures around the star systems. In fact, I'm afraid it's becoming addictive.
Again, his team is involved: Joe, the gruff but savvy older leader who is forever concerned about Jules' recklessness; Huff, the bearlike Vegan, a strong but simple soul who thinks of Jules as his cub; Chancey, the brash Harlem tag, and gentle Bat, the Southern medic who chases after our reckless hero with his medkit.
This time, spice is added to the mix in the form of Sophia Rella; beautiful, smart, and head over heels for our tall, blond hero.
Is it possible that Jules has finally met his match? Sophia adds a feminine quality to the team, but she's no camp follower. As headstrong and resourceful as Jules, but more grounded, Sophia is embraced by the team as a member.
Jules just might want to keep her around in future adventures.
There must be forces at work that prevent our hero, appealing, nice guy, astrobiologist Jules Rammis, from returning to Earth and studying Blackroot, the intriguing plant/animal he discovered on planet Halcyon.
This time, it's a rapacious Altairian slave overlord and master of Lithium Love Mine on planet New Lithnia. And Jules, with his sacrificial hero nature, will risk life and limb to dethrone the demigod and free Terran and alien slaves who are being tortured and worked to death, along with the mine ponies.
It keeps our guy up to his ears in trouble and danger, but Jules is used to that from previous adventures around the star systems. In fact, I'm afraid it's becoming addictive.
Again, his team is involved: Joe, the gruff but savvy older leader who is forever concerned about Jules' recklessness; Huff, the bearlike Vegan, a strong but simple soul who thinks of Jules as his cub; Chancey, the brash Harlem tag, and gentle Bat, the Southern medic who chases after our reckless hero with his medkit.
This time, spice is added to the mix in the form of Sophia Rella; beautiful, smart, and head over heels for our tall, blond hero.
Is it possible that Jules has finally met his match? Sophia adds a feminine quality to the team, but she's no camp follower. As headstrong and resourceful as Jules, but more grounded, Sophia is embraced by the team as a member.
Jules just might want to keep her around in future adventures.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2014
5 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 4, 2020
Jules the dearest tangles with an Altairian slave lord. Not on purpose, who gets kidnapped on purpose? Jules is just as lucky as he's prone to be.
Karma's a bitch, so it's Jules who gets called Blondie here (yeah, Sophia's a handful, isn't she?).
Altairian logic for kidnapping people (and kids) doesn't seem to be very logical but then again, they are aliens what else would they do if not invent new logic for themselvesand mine lithium?
Q: “Some aliens are just plain born stubborn, (c) it seems.
Planet-traipsing has never been as engaging:
Q:The stars blazed like fires in the clear sweep of the galaxy, and I wondered again, as I rested my head on the air pillow, what lifeforms and civilizations existed out there on star systems yet to be discovered. I could spend my life exploring planets and never make a dent.(c)
... or romantic:
Q: Her bare shoulders shined in the planet's two rosy moons. (c)
Jules being oh-so-very-irresistible and every woman (even underage) fawning all over him all the time are getting a bit stale by this installment.
Q: “You look like a Nordic god. I could eat you up like a candy bar. (c) Ugh.
Also, Jules the religious leader? What?
Intergalactic slavery didn't have a chance:
Q: Why the fuck don't they just use androids to work the mine?”
“There are laws against treating androids badly,” (c) And there aren't any against treating humans badly. Nice world.
Telepath adventures:
Q:
I imaged a red coil behind my eyes. I lowered my shields and let my essence lift from the protection of the flower Star Speaker had given me as an image to lock onto. I reached down to the core of my being and spun the coil with my life energy.
...
I pictured a tornado spinning, sucking up my energy like a warm current and creating a vortex. Wind howled within my mind. Energy coalesced in the center of my being. This was going to cost me, I knew. I spun the tornado faster, a dark monster surging up, moving toward my objective, fifteen miles away. I pictured water rising into a frothing tsunami, racing ahead of the black, spinning funnel.
...
The image came like a holo stage of real life. I forced the tornado to swell, an electromagnetic storm that enveloped the men outside the cabin, and then I threw the message ...
Through the pain of the headache, I felt a sense of elation at the knowledge that I had just increased my tel power. It would never again revert to its former dimensions. (c)
Other fun:
Q:
We called them BEMs for bug-eyed-monsters because of their huge disk eyes and because no race in the known galaxy could pronounce their real name for themselves. (c)
Q:
“If ye weren't the tel I would slice ye in half.” ...
“If you didn't have that rifle,... “I'd make crocodile hamburgers out of you.” (с) Croco hamburgers??
Q:
I walked over and picked up the bag to examine it. It was heavy with flapping, thick-bodied crustaceans. (с)
Q:
“It's a slimeshitting welfare state!”
“A welfare world,” (c)
Q:
“You have any ibuprofen?” I asked him.
He whined and shook his head. “Only Vegan Grow-New-Undercoat pills in my pouch.”
“I'm so depressed,” (c)
Q:
“Is that water?” I asked. “Can I have a drink?”
“Chancey,” Bat said, “why do y'all listen to him? He's delirious.”
“I figure it's his natural state,” Chancey said. (c)
Q:
“Jules!” Chancey called. “Where the fuck are you going, man?”
“I don't know,” I called back. “I'll tell you when I get there.” (c)
Q:
It must have been mid-afternoon when I awoke, stretched, and yawned. And got a mouthful of fur. Huff had found me during the night and was curled against my side with a foreleg thrown over my chest. His musky smell was pleasant, but I gently lifted his foreleg and slid it off me. (c)
Karma's a bitch, so it's Jules who gets called Blondie here (yeah, Sophia's a handful, isn't she?).
Altairian logic for kidnapping people (and kids) doesn't seem to be very logical but then again, they are aliens what else would they do if not invent new logic for themselves
Q: “Some aliens are just plain born stubborn, (c) it seems.
Planet-traipsing has never been as engaging:
Q:The stars blazed like fires in the clear sweep of the galaxy, and I wondered again, as I rested my head on the air pillow, what lifeforms and civilizations existed out there on star systems yet to be discovered. I could spend my life exploring planets and never make a dent.(c)
... or romantic:
Q: Her bare shoulders shined in the planet's two rosy moons. (c)
Jules being oh-so-very-irresistible and every woman (even underage) fawning all over him all the time are getting a bit stale by this installment.
Q: “You look like a Nordic god. I could eat you up like a candy bar. (c) Ugh.
Also, Jules the religious leader? What?
Intergalactic slavery didn't have a chance:
Q: Why the fuck don't they just use androids to work the mine?”
“There are laws against treating androids badly,” (c) And there aren't any against treating humans badly. Nice world.
Telepath adventures:
Q:
I imaged a red coil behind my eyes. I lowered my shields and let my essence lift from the protection of the flower Star Speaker had given me as an image to lock onto. I reached down to the core of my being and spun the coil with my life energy.
...
I pictured a tornado spinning, sucking up my energy like a warm current and creating a vortex. Wind howled within my mind. Energy coalesced in the center of my being. This was going to cost me, I knew. I spun the tornado faster, a dark monster surging up, moving toward my objective, fifteen miles away. I pictured water rising into a frothing tsunami, racing ahead of the black, spinning funnel.
...
The image came like a holo stage of real life. I forced the tornado to swell, an electromagnetic storm that enveloped the men outside the cabin, and then I threw the message ...
Through the pain of the headache, I felt a sense of elation at the knowledge that I had just increased my tel power. It would never again revert to its former dimensions. (c)
Other fun:
Q:
We called them BEMs for bug-eyed-monsters because of their huge disk eyes and because no race in the known galaxy could pronounce their real name for themselves. (c)
Q:
“If ye weren't the tel I would slice ye in half.” ...
“If you didn't have that rifle,... “I'd make crocodile hamburgers out of you.” (с) Croco hamburgers??
Q:
I walked over and picked up the bag to examine it. It was heavy with flapping, thick-bodied crustaceans. (с)
Q:
“It's a slimeshitting welfare state!”
“A welfare world,” (c)
Q:
“You have any ibuprofen?” I asked him.
He whined and shook his head. “Only Vegan Grow-New-Undercoat pills in my pouch.”
“I'm so depressed,” (c)
Q:
“Is that water?” I asked. “Can I have a drink?”
“Chancey,” Bat said, “why do y'all listen to him? He's delirious.”
“I figure it's his natural state,” Chancey said. (c)
Q:
“Jules!” Chancey called. “Where the fuck are you going, man?”
“I don't know,” I called back. “I'll tell you when I get there.” (c)
Q:
It must have been mid-afternoon when I awoke, stretched, and yawned. And got a mouthful of fur. Huff had found me during the night and was curled against my side with a foreleg thrown over my chest. His musky smell was pleasant, but I gently lifted his foreleg and slid it off me. (c)
May 23, 2015
I Never Knew What Would Happen Next!!
What a Ride!! Satan’s Forge was an adventure, which kept me on my toes from the beginning to end. I loved the alpha hero at the same time as I thought him crazy for all the messes he got himself into, instead of just leaving well-enough, alone. I thought he would be killed countless times and had no idea how he would get back to safety or if he even could. This is a top-notch Sci-Fi romance with page-turning non-stop action, suspense and unexpected twists and turns. If you like any of the above, you will love Satan’s Forge by Jean Kilczer.
What a Ride!! Satan’s Forge was an adventure, which kept me on my toes from the beginning to end. I loved the alpha hero at the same time as I thought him crazy for all the messes he got himself into, instead of just leaving well-enough, alone. I thought he would be killed countless times and had no idea how he would get back to safety or if he even could. This is a top-notch Sci-Fi romance with page-turning non-stop action, suspense and unexpected twists and turns. If you like any of the above, you will love Satan’s Forge by Jean Kilczer.
May 11, 2014
This Science Fiction novel has everything: Action that make you turn pages as fast as you can read, laugh out loud humor (lots of humor,) love (and lots of sex, of course,) politics, battles, and a hero that will have you wanting to read more stories about him. Fortunately, there are several more in the series.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews