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The Maverick Heart Cycle #2
Gatecrasher
The Maverick Heart is bored. That is until it discovers a top team of engineers and scientists in a barren, backwater system have created the Gate, a stable, artificial wormhole that will revolutionize interplanetary travel forever. Breaching the wall of secrecy around this radical new technology is a temptation too sweet for human partners Keene and Lexa-Blue to resist.
Elsewhere, Ember Avanti is a thief, with the highest of high tech toys in his arsenal. And he's damned good at it, too. But sooner or later, every thief chooses the wrong mark. When he targets Quintaine DiaStellar, he soon learns the corporation will stop at nothing to make the Gate its own.
Ember's team and the Maverick Heart crew must unite in a desperate attempt to stop the most vicious act of industrial espionage in the history of the Pan Galactum.
Elsewhere, Ember Avanti is a thief, with the highest of high tech toys in his arsenal. And he's damned good at it, too. But sooner or later, every thief chooses the wrong mark. When he targets Quintaine DiaStellar, he soon learns the corporation will stop at nothing to make the Gate its own.
Ember's team and the Maverick Heart crew must unite in a desperate attempt to stop the most vicious act of industrial espionage in the history of the Pan Galactum.
- GenresScience Fiction
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 16, 2017
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Graham King
11 books29 followersStephen Graham King (He/They) is a disabled survivor of metastatic synovial sarcoma, a story chronicled in the memoir, Just Breathe: My Journey Through Cancer and Back. Since then, he has concentrated on writing speculative fiction, in particular, queer-themed space opera, and his short fiction has appeared in the anthologies North of Infinity II, Desolate Places, Ruins Metropolis, and the forthcoming Nothing Without Us Too. His first novel, Chasing Cold, was released in 2012, followed by the books in the Maverick Heart Cycle: Soul’s Blood (2016), Gatecrasher (2017), A Congress of Ships (2019) and in 2022, Ghost Light Burn. He has been a frequent guest on podcasts and panels, passionately advocating for lived experience queer and disability narratives in stories of the future. They are also an avid black and white photographer, with two of their photos appearing in an installation at the Art Gallery of Ontario. They are also working on a book compiling their intimate and immediate photos captured on the streets of Toronto, where they currently reside.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 28, 2017
Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.
This book is the sequel to Soul's Blood, and is far better. The pacing, character development, and plot complexities are far more fun. The first book had serious trouble in the second half.
This sequel is a true Space Opera, but starts with some interesting action on the ground. New characters Ember, Malika and Seiji are introduced, and their relationship is well-presented.
Lexa-Blue, Keene and Vrick (spaceship's AI) have known Seiji, and come across him, Ember and Malika just after they have gotten into some trouble with a scam they've pulled.
The action moves along very well, and the world-building is pretty good. There are some plot holes, but hey, this is entertainment!
Some new characters are nicely introduced later in the book, but not too many to track.
All-in-all a far better book than Soul's Blood.
This book is the sequel to Soul's Blood, and is far better. The pacing, character development, and plot complexities are far more fun. The first book had serious trouble in the second half.
This sequel is a true Space Opera, but starts with some interesting action on the ground. New characters Ember, Malika and Seiji are introduced, and their relationship is well-presented.
Lexa-Blue, Keene and Vrick (spaceship's AI) have known Seiji, and come across him, Ember and Malika just after they have gotten into some trouble with a scam they've pulled.
The action moves along very well, and the world-building is pretty good. There are some plot holes, but hey, this is entertainment!
Some new characters are nicely introduced later in the book, but not too many to track.
All-in-all a far better book than Soul's Blood.
July 17, 2017
I’ve long been a lover of Space Opera, but it was so rarely a place I saw myself represented that I drifted away from it over my years as a reader. I always felt a disconnect: how come we got to the stars, but there’s never a queer person in sight? Why can’t the cocky space pilot be bi? Why can’t the tech-smart engineer hook up with another guy?
Well, they can. Allow me to introduce you to the Maverick Heart Cycle.
I reviewed this for Out in Print. Full review at the link there, but suffice it to say this was awesome.
Well, they can. Allow me to introduce you to the Maverick Heart Cycle.
I reviewed this for Out in Print. Full review at the link there, but suffice it to say this was awesome.
April 4, 2025
Another rollicking space adventure with Keene and Lexa-Blue. The characters are developing more depth and complexity with each new story. And Vrick! Ey is wonderful as always but also growing more complex and loveable. As with life we must take the bad with the good and some characters don't see the end of the story but that doesn't make it any less worthwhile. The writing is so vivid and compelling that I found myself trying to crawl into this wonderful world with the characters and see it from their point of view. I sincerely hope there is more to come and this is not the last we hear of the Maverick Heart and es crew.
September 7, 2018
It was so great to be reunited with the crew of the Maverick Heart and the sentient ship itself in this sequel to Soul’s Blood. And as much as I adore the original “meat” duo of Keene and Lexa-Blue, I also love the addition of Ember. I can’t wait to see how he fits in with the team going forward. Fantastic world building, great story. The Maverick Heart Cycle will definitely be a favourite series of mine and I can’t wait for the next book.
September 3, 2017
(Received by Netgalley)
I'm a sucker for any kind of well written sci-fi, and this book fit right into my tastes. The plot was arching and had the protags flying around the known universe, the characters were tough, and the settings were novel. I can't say that I found this to be the most novel or most mindblowing science fiction book I've read recently, but I did find it to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience, to the point where I definitely plan on reading more books in the series.
The strong points: Funnily enough, I thought the best characterization came from the non-human character: the Maverick Heart. An artificial sentience (basically artificial intelligence to the next level) is a concept I've seen in other books, but I think that this is my favorite portrayal of it. Vrick (the artificial sentience) is a delightful character to read, and to be perfectly honest, Vrick's personality shines through perhaps more than any of the human characters. The incorporation of the mechanics of being an artificial sentience into Vrick's personality and actions was quite clever, and Vrick's interactions with the humans onboard (Keene and Lexa-Blue) were quite refreshing in that they all treat each other as equals despite the obvious differences.
The weak points: The characterization of the rest of the characters fell a little flat to me. Perhaps if I'd read the first book, I'd have a better feel for Keene and Lexa-Blue, at least, but I found Keene, Lexa-Blue, Ember, and Malika all to be a little one dimensional. As soon as I thought I was getting a hold on them, they change in a way that made me confused. Obviously, characters can develop and new sides of their personality can be revealed, but it just wasn't as smooth as it could have been. I also felt that the author cared more about Keene and Ember than about the female characters, who came off as quite one-dimensional.
That's not to say there wasn't potential. I liked Keene the most as a character, and I feel like with a little work, Keene and Ember could be really good characters. Keene and Lexa-Blue had some good banter going on, and I think if I had read the first book I would have found it more natural. I was also intrigued by , but again, I feel that it just didn't get developed enough to be fully satisfying for me. I can see how maybe there just wasn't enough room in this book for it to make sense, but I still was left wanting more. Perhaps something that will get picked up in the next book?
As for the plot, it was solid, but it didn't stick in my mind beyond the plot of any other similar space opera-esque sci-fi book that I've read lately (Tanya Huff's Valor series comes to mind when it comes to unique plots and stellar characterization). Like with the characterization, I didn't find the plot bad, it just didn't quite reach the level that it could have.
I'm afraid I sound overly critical, but it's just because the whole book read like something with a lot of potential that didn't quite break through the barrier that would make it truly great. I did truly enjoy this book though, and will definitely be looking into other books by this author!
I'm a sucker for any kind of well written sci-fi, and this book fit right into my tastes. The plot was arching and had the protags flying around the known universe, the characters were tough, and the settings were novel. I can't say that I found this to be the most novel or most mindblowing science fiction book I've read recently, but I did find it to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience, to the point where I definitely plan on reading more books in the series.
The strong points: Funnily enough, I thought the best characterization came from the non-human character: the Maverick Heart. An artificial sentience (basically artificial intelligence to the next level) is a concept I've seen in other books, but I think that this is my favorite portrayal of it. Vrick (the artificial sentience) is a delightful character to read, and to be perfectly honest, Vrick's personality shines through perhaps more than any of the human characters. The incorporation of the mechanics of being an artificial sentience into Vrick's personality and actions was quite clever, and Vrick's interactions with the humans onboard (Keene and Lexa-Blue) were quite refreshing in that they all treat each other as equals despite the obvious differences.
The weak points: The characterization of the rest of the characters fell a little flat to me. Perhaps if I'd read the first book, I'd have a better feel for Keene and Lexa-Blue, at least, but I found Keene, Lexa-Blue, Ember, and Malika all to be a little one dimensional. As soon as I thought I was getting a hold on them, they change in a way that made me confused. Obviously, characters can develop and new sides of their personality can be revealed, but it just wasn't as smooth as it could have been. I also felt that the author cared more about Keene and Ember than about the female characters, who came off as quite one-dimensional.
That's not to say there wasn't potential. I liked Keene the most as a character, and I feel like with a little work, Keene and Ember could be really good characters. Keene and Lexa-Blue had some good banter going on, and I think if I had read the first book I would have found it more natural. I was also intrigued by , but again, I feel that it just didn't get developed enough to be fully satisfying for me. I can see how maybe there just wasn't enough room in this book for it to make sense, but I still was left wanting more. Perhaps something that will get picked up in the next book?
As for the plot, it was solid, but it didn't stick in my mind beyond the plot of any other similar space opera-esque sci-fi book that I've read lately (Tanya Huff's Valor series comes to mind when it comes to unique plots and stellar characterization). Like with the characterization, I didn't find the plot bad, it just didn't quite reach the level that it could have.
I'm afraid I sound overly critical, but it's just because the whole book read like something with a lot of potential that didn't quite break through the barrier that would make it truly great. I did truly enjoy this book though, and will definitely be looking into other books by this author!
July 15, 2017
I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
Although not having read the first book in the series I found this to be a ok space opera.
The characters are fairly interesting and the story was well paced.
Although not having read the first book in the series I found this to be a ok space opera.
The characters are fairly interesting and the story was well paced.
August 22, 2020
An origin story of Stargate meets DS-9, and the lengths heterosexuals will go to have absolutely everything for themselves.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews