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Aftermath: Hathe Book Three
The war is over, but can they win the peace?
Read the thrilling conclusion to the romantic Hathe trilogy.
War or Peace. It doesn't matter. There is always an enemy, and Jacquel des Trurains of the planet Hathe knows all about enemies. He’s just spent years as an undercover spy battling the Terran invaders of his home world. Now the war is over and the Terrans routed, but Hathe has been left divided and hurting. Some one has to fix it, and who better than a decorated leader of the Resistance. Jacquel is sent back into battle, but this time he fights to restore his home.
It won’t be easy, even for the man dubbed the most charming hero of the Resistance. Years of oppression have left their mark on every dirtsider who stayed behind. And what of the Hathians who fled to the moon? The greed of a few for the sparkling jewel of the colonial worlds threatens to destroy everything when they return.
So, Jacquel’s bosses decide he needs some help.
A gifted diplomat, Rheia asn Postrova spent the war off-world, embroiled in twisted games to protect the secrets of Hathe. Talk, promise, beg; whatever it took to stop the other worlds betraying Hathe’s schemes to the Terrans. She's more than paid her dues to her home world. Yet just when it seems she is free to seek what peace she can, she is sent to the last place she ever wanted to visit and ordered to help a stubborn man build bridges instead of walls.
Together, they must find a way to heal their home.
Read the thrilling conclusion to the romantic Hathe trilogy.
War or Peace. It doesn't matter. There is always an enemy, and Jacquel des Trurains of the planet Hathe knows all about enemies. He’s just spent years as an undercover spy battling the Terran invaders of his home world. Now the war is over and the Terrans routed, but Hathe has been left divided and hurting. Some one has to fix it, and who better than a decorated leader of the Resistance. Jacquel is sent back into battle, but this time he fights to restore his home.
It won’t be easy, even for the man dubbed the most charming hero of the Resistance. Years of oppression have left their mark on every dirtsider who stayed behind. And what of the Hathians who fled to the moon? The greed of a few for the sparkling jewel of the colonial worlds threatens to destroy everything when they return.
So, Jacquel’s bosses decide he needs some help.
A gifted diplomat, Rheia asn Postrova spent the war off-world, embroiled in twisted games to protect the secrets of Hathe. Talk, promise, beg; whatever it took to stop the other worlds betraying Hathe’s schemes to the Terrans. She's more than paid her dues to her home world. Yet just when it seems she is free to seek what peace she can, she is sent to the last place she ever wanted to visit and ordered to help a stubborn man build bridges instead of walls.
Together, they must find a way to heal their home.
414 pages, ebook
Published June 1, 2018
2 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Mary Brock Jones
13 books30 followersMary Brock Jones lives in Auckland, New Zealand, but loves nothing more than to escape into the other worlds in her head, to write science fiction and historical romances. Sedate office worker by day; frantic scribbler by night.
Her parents introduced her to libraries and gave her a farm to play on, where trees became rocket ships and rocky outcrops were ancient fortresses. She grew up writing, filling pages of notebooks and filling her head with stories, but took a number of detours on the pathway to her dream job. After four grown sons, more than one house renovated, grandchildren, a career as a government veterinarian (now retired) and a farm to play on in the weekends, her wish came true.
Her books have won an SFR Galaxy Award and made the finals list for the Romance Writers of Australia RUBY awards, the RWNZ KORU awards, and the RWNZ Clendon awards.
You can find Mary here:
www.marybrockjones.com
https://www.facebook.com/MaryBrockJon...
https://twitter.com/MaryBrockJones
Her parents introduced her to libraries and gave her a farm to play on, where trees became rocket ships and rocky outcrops were ancient fortresses. She grew up writing, filling pages of notebooks and filling her head with stories, but took a number of detours on the pathway to her dream job. After four grown sons, more than one house renovated, grandchildren, a career as a government veterinarian (now retired) and a farm to play on in the weekends, her wish came true.
Her books have won an SFR Galaxy Award and made the finals list for the Romance Writers of Australia RUBY awards, the RWNZ KORU awards, and the RWNZ Clendon awards.
You can find Mary here:
www.marybrockjones.com
https://www.facebook.com/MaryBrockJon...
https://twitter.com/MaryBrockJones
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 7, 2018
Because Jacquel des Trurains was such a pivotal character in book 1 of this series, Resistance, I was very please so see him get his own story.
The post war setting of Hathe and its people is a fascinating background. Because of the huge subterfuge the Hathe people pulled over on the Terrans, the Hathe population has become split between the population that stayed on Hathe and played the role of peasants, and the rest of the population that escaped to the moon Mathe and hid there for the duration of the war. Known as the dirtsiders and the moonies, they are not re-integrating into the post-war world very well, now that the Terrans have been ousted. This quote from The Resistance may give some insight to the general mood of the planet:
I like that there is no love lost between the two at first. No love at first sight. The friendship develops slowly, through shared experiences, on the job and off the job. Some of those off the job experiences are unexpected and dangerous. Someone on the team is trying to get rid of Rheia, which makes Jacquel very unhappy. Not only is he starting to like this Rheia, but that someone is messing with the whole re-integration thing. Jacquel is not only unhappy, he is pissed.
While it is easy to sympathize with the downtrodden dirtsiders, in fact, there are good guys and bad guys among the moonies and the dirtsiders. Which is how it should be. Black and white is only a decorating color scheme.
There are plots. Jacquel will take a huge stand against those who would mess with his unsung heroes. And there are more plots. Rheia will risk her own life to try to uncover the masterminds behind the biggest plot. One man’s conspiracy is another man’s business venture. Like so many issues on this planet and every other planet, the drive for power and money keeps the intrigue alive and kicking.
Aftermath has a complex plot, engaging heroes and heroines, and disagreeable villains. The slow burning romance between Jacquel and Rheia is satisfying. But their roles as revolutionaries in the post war situation are what makes Aftermath a great read.
There is enough backstory in Aftermath to allow the reader to appreciate it as a standalone. But don’t do that. Enjoy the entire Hathe series (including Resistance and Pay the Piper). Once you get started it will be hard to stop. I binge read the series in a matter of about 4 days, so I know what I am talking about.
The author provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.
The post war setting of Hathe and its people is a fascinating background. Because of the huge subterfuge the Hathe people pulled over on the Terrans, the Hathe population has become split between the population that stayed on Hathe and played the role of peasants, and the rest of the population that escaped to the moon Mathe and hid there for the duration of the war. Known as the dirtsiders and the moonies, they are not re-integrating into the post-war world very well, now that the Terrans have been ousted. This quote from The Resistance may give some insight to the general mood of the planet:
On that day, when Hathe rose high in the sky to stand above the center of the ancient pillars on Mathe, the Resistance threw off their invaders in one swift reversal of power and took back their home.When Jacquel is put in charge of a team tasked with cleaning the environment the Terrans poisoned, he grudgingly accepts the ‘garbage duty’ assignment. On his team, Rheia asn Postrova, a moonie with expertise in interplanetary affairs – in other words, a diplomat. Why the heck does he need a diplomat on his team? His boss forces Jacquel to eat his own words about re-integrating those who stayed on Hathe with those now returning from exile. Which is how Jacquel and Rheia get together.
It should have brought the shining future they had been promised, but too many had found the future ……. their old jobs taken by returning moonies and their confidence long eroded by constant subservience to their Terran conquerors.
Breaking out of that servitude was proving far harder than the Hathian Council had expected. First, you had to give a man back his self-esteem. Only then could you give him back his life.
I like that there is no love lost between the two at first. No love at first sight. The friendship develops slowly, through shared experiences, on the job and off the job. Some of those off the job experiences are unexpected and dangerous. Someone on the team is trying to get rid of Rheia, which makes Jacquel very unhappy. Not only is he starting to like this Rheia, but that someone is messing with the whole re-integration thing. Jacquel is not only unhappy, he is pissed.
While it is easy to sympathize with the downtrodden dirtsiders, in fact, there are good guys and bad guys among the moonies and the dirtsiders. Which is how it should be. Black and white is only a decorating color scheme.
There are plots. Jacquel will take a huge stand against those who would mess with his unsung heroes. And there are more plots. Rheia will risk her own life to try to uncover the masterminds behind the biggest plot. One man’s conspiracy is another man’s business venture. Like so many issues on this planet and every other planet, the drive for power and money keeps the intrigue alive and kicking.
Aftermath has a complex plot, engaging heroes and heroines, and disagreeable villains. The slow burning romance between Jacquel and Rheia is satisfying. But their roles as revolutionaries in the post war situation are what makes Aftermath a great read.
There is enough backstory in Aftermath to allow the reader to appreciate it as a standalone. But don’t do that. Enjoy the entire Hathe series (including Resistance and Pay the Piper). Once you get started it will be hard to stop. I binge read the series in a matter of about 4 days, so I know what I am talking about.
The author provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.
January 2, 2019
Mary Brock Jones’ Hathe series has been truly superb. I loved the first two books (which actually need to be read together as there’s a monster of a cliffhanger at the end of book 1) in which readers follow along star-crossed lovers Hamon Radcliff of Earth and Marthe an Castre of Hathe as the Hathians deal with the conquest of their planet by the Terrans and then five long years of occupation before they were overthrown. Now, in Aftermath: Hathe Book Three, we get to see what happens next as the newly freed planet deals with crushing environmental damage (thanks Terrans) and huge social issues between those who stayed on planet under the Terran boot and those who hid themselves on its moon. It’s great seeing Jacquel des Trurains, a key resistance character in the series, get his own turn as the lead, and his relationship with Rheia and Postrova, who had effectively been a moonie off world ambassador, is a pleasure to see develop as they deal with everything thrown at them. Once again readers get a superbly plotted novel full of adventure, romance, and cut throat politics and wonderfully crafted characters. This book is a real treat. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to 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.
December 9, 2019
Aftermath by Mary Brock Jones is the third installment of the haithe book series. You really should read book one and two in order to understand how important the main character in book three is to the series.
As the book suggests this is the Aftermath of what the Terrans have done to the planet and destroyed it. Now it’s trying to put their world back together and try to handle the reintegration of the moonies back on hathe. That isn’t exactly going over well and Jacquel is task to work with Rheia in order to clean the toxic environment for everyone.
Jacquel isn’t fond of Rheia at first, it takes time for friendship to form as there is hostility for those who went to hide and those who stayed and fought against the terrans. Through the hardships they face together Jacquel does start falling for Rheia and trying to keep her safe as someone is trying to kill her. Rheia is working trying to figure out who would want to intergration of moonies and dirtsiders to fail. There’s both good and bad from dirtsiders and moonies and the political pool in it all.
The book is written out nicely and though it is a complex plot it doesn’t let you down. You’re able to keep up and the author did an awesome job in keeping my attention while reading the book.
As the book suggests this is the Aftermath of what the Terrans have done to the planet and destroyed it. Now it’s trying to put their world back together and try to handle the reintegration of the moonies back on hathe. That isn’t exactly going over well and Jacquel is task to work with Rheia in order to clean the toxic environment for everyone.
Jacquel isn’t fond of Rheia at first, it takes time for friendship to form as there is hostility for those who went to hide and those who stayed and fought against the terrans. Through the hardships they face together Jacquel does start falling for Rheia and trying to keep her safe as someone is trying to kill her. Rheia is working trying to figure out who would want to intergration of moonies and dirtsiders to fail. There’s both good and bad from dirtsiders and moonies and the political pool in it all.
The book is written out nicely and though it is a complex plot it doesn’t let you down. You’re able to keep up and the author did an awesome job in keeping my attention while reading the book.
March 29, 2020
I received a free ARC of this novel via Hidden Gems in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is my own.
This is the third book in a really intriguing science fiction series that I have really enjoyed. I had hoped that this book continued with where the second book left off. However, I was really happy that Jacquel got is own story as his character peeked my interest in the first two books. His story overlaps in the overall timeline of the second book and mentions the leading characters from that book. This entire series kept me sucked in the whole time. This plot added a lot to the background of this seies and made it richer than it already was. The character intereactions were very well done. I cannot wait to see what happens next!
This is the third book in a really intriguing science fiction series that I have really enjoyed. I had hoped that this book continued with where the second book left off. However, I was really happy that Jacquel got is own story as his character peeked my interest in the first two books. His story overlaps in the overall timeline of the second book and mentions the leading characters from that book. This entire series kept me sucked in the whole time. This plot added a lot to the background of this seies and made it richer than it already was. The character intereactions were very well done. I cannot wait to see what happens next!
October 13, 2018
3.5/5.0
“Aftermath” is imaginatively written, set on a war-torn planet that is pretty easily imagined.
Read full review in the 2018 Oct issue of InD'tale Magazine.
“Aftermath” is imaginatively written, set on a war-torn planet that is pretty easily imagined.
Read full review in the 2018 Oct issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews