At 22, Commander Ellen Ryu is a little young to be "retired." Yet she's planned--and bled in--more battles than veterans twice her age. And, well, she didn't exactly retire so much as desert. Betrayed by her superiors, turned into a science experiment, and nearly driven insane, Ellen seized the chance for freedom when a shadowy organization offered her a ship of her own and an elite, all-female crew. She's got a new mission now: get revenge on the scientist who almost destroyed her. Nobody is going to get in her way this time. Especially not the merc who's just shown up at her cargo hatch, looking to hitch a ride.
MERCENARY. CONVICT. RENEGADE.
In the middle of an op gone wrong, cyborg mercenary Kael Sidassian gets stuck with a mission he can't refuse: carry a capsule to safety, the contents of which would bring the galaxy down on his head if anyone knew what was inside. But he's also got damaged hardware in his head and a plan to escape from the barbaric merc company that forcibly conscripted him over a decade ago. So when a humanitarian ship grants him passage, he thanks his lucky stars for a job that'll solve all his problems at once. That is, if the attachment he's forming to the ship's commander--one that goes way beyond duty and loyalty--doesn't get in the way.
As a new threat rises, the prodigy and the renegade discover far more in common than they ever thought possible. Now both their missions will have to wait, because if they aren't audacious enough to work together, they'll never survive what's coming for them. For lovers of romantic space opera, Lois McMaster Bujold, and David Weber, THE EMPRESS CAPSULE is the first volume in the new Audacity series.
R. K. Thorne is an independent fantasy and science fiction author whose writing is fueled by her addiction to notebooks, role-playing games, coffee, and red wine.
She has read speculative fiction since before she was probably much too young to be doing so and encourages you to do the same.
She lives in the green hills of Pennsylvania with her family and two gray cats that may or may not pull her chariot in their spare time.
“The Empress Capsule (Audacity Saga #1)” is not really lesfic; it’s a sci-fi book with a strong female lead character and an all-female crew, other than two exceptions. Yes, the women on the ship have playtimes together, but all the action is off-audio, and only occasionally alluded to. The hetero heat level is also PG….it takes forever for the MCs to kiss, despite mutual insta-attraction.
Kael Sidassian, the Theroki cyborg is actually more interesting than Commander Ellen Ryu, who, despite her long years in the military seems very immature, even for a 22yo.
The story is pretty entertaining. I wouldn’t call it campy, really, but it’s a fun space adventure with several likable characters who often engage in fun banter.
“The Empress Capsule” is book one of “The Audacity Saga”, and book #2, “Capital Games” is already out on KU. I look forward to “Capital Games” being released on Audible. 4* for “The Empress Capsule”.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
My rating and my review was not in anyway affected by my having been provided a review copy.
Ship crewed mainly by women is undertaking missions to destroy operations where innocents are being experimented on. The crew, and their commander, are good strong female characters and this did start off with a bit of a Firefly vibe. Then they bring aboard an enhanced and damaged male mercenary and suddenly our empowered females turn into 14 year old schoolgirls, especially our formally capable commander who falls head over heels. The growing relationship and romance was (to me) just horrible. Even our male mercenary was an interesting character so there was no need to sling some eye fluttering romance in this, strong characters and interesting background plots ruined by a bit of slushy nonsense. So if you want space opera, action and romance this might be for you. If, like me, romance does nothing for you, then this is probably not for you. See less
Can I have book 2 now? This is such an awesome start to a series and I loved the characters! I do have a lot of questions that will hopefully be answered in book 2! Hopefully I don’t have to wait too long!
I'm a big fan of space operas, and this one did not disappoint. The main character, Ellen, is a strong, confident female lead, and she was supported by an interesting cast of supporting crewmen. I enjoyed Kael and his struggles, both internal and external. The plot moved along at a very good pace, and I don't feel like the ending was rushed (which I feel has become an increasingly common problem in other books lately). The author took the time to reveal histories of the characters as well as introduce bits and pieces about the universe in which Empress Capsule is set. I felt like I got to know everyone and everything sufficiently to get immersed in the story, which is a really important aspect to me. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next in the series!
***spoilers below***
The only thing that wasn't 100% to my liking was how much time Ellen and Kael spent thinking about each other. Their internal monologues were almost entirely taken up with how much they wanted to be together, and yet all Ellen did was angst about not wanting him to be a distraction. Toward the end, she does do a little introspection about this, but for someone who has been such a badass, it just seemed like it took up a lot of her time. Then again, she is really young, and my head was pretty full of boys at that age too. :) And I do love me some romance so I'm excited to see where this relationship goes!
A new style of writing to get used to. One of the main plot lines is that our hero's fight to fix the human universe. Strong and weak hero's in the same person. Is there a romance? Or just more fighting? And what happened to the important cargo? And why is the commander so happy?
This has interesting elements - conflict between factions who favour greater or lesser degrees of gene modification, rogue scientists, and a ship of people devoted to stopping those rogues from hurting people. But all of that is used as background to a will-they/won't-they teenage angst style romance between two of the characters, which doesn't do it any favours at all.
This book was not my typical genre but I got it in a blind date with a book — if sci fi is your thing, it’s great but the cyborg relationships did not do it for me
I am not going to give any spoilers here. I downloaded this book from an ad on Facebook. The plot is well driven and the characters are well developed. The author does a wonderful job of getting you invested in their lives as well as the action so that you can't wait to see how the story ends. I am looking forward to the next book in the series to see where we go from here.
Kael is a Theroki mercenary tasked with protecting a high ranking scientist. Ellen Ryu is the commander of the ship Audacity. She and her crew travel around space overtly treating victims of a war between Puritans and Enhancers. But she has another, covert, mission: to find secret laboratories where illegal experiments are carried out on innocent victims. This is a time where people either opt for an enhancing chip or are forced to accept one that basically enslaves them. Both Kael and Ellen have been forced to accept chips that control them. Ellen is only 22 but she had her chip removed 5 years before and went through hell trying to adjust. Kael was forced into the Theroki mercenary outfit eleven years before but never fit in even though he had the same chip as the rest of his outfit. Now his chip has been sabotaged leaving him to deal with feelings that he has been immune to courtesy of his chip but he has an oath driven task to perform and Ellen’s ship is offering passage off this planet. Neither Kael nor Ellen are prepared for the attraction that sparks between them which leaves both of them confused. Kael has a package to deliver on behalf of the scientist while Ellen has a mission ahead of her and a crew to protect. I liked this book a lot. It is insightful but has some good action in it too but I hope that the future isn’t as bleak as shown here.
I very much enjoyed the characters and the premise of this story. I like the idea of a large, well funded humanitarian foundation and the idea that there's people out there working for good. For me, the story was compelling. I had to only give three stars however as the subject constantly reverted to sex. Not that I'm a prude but it gave a bit of an immature feeling to what was otherwise a good story. And it's not that I minded it happening, it's just that it kept happening...over and over again. The two main characters felt more like teenagers at times than competent adults. The other problem I had with this story was that the author doesn't lay much of a foundation at the beginning. The book jumps right in to the characters on a mission and there's not really much explanation of who is who and what they are all about until later in the book. I could still follow along with the overall story arc but it felt like it took a long time to really get a complete picture. I still have only a rough idea of who the main crew is, and how many people are aboard. Still, the book ends with what feels like just the beginning of a bigger story. I will definitely read the next one and I'm hoping all the sexual immaturity of the two protagonists takes a back seat to the much more interesting (in my opinion) story of the search for evil scientists and people in need of help.
Take a crew made up almost exclusively of women, some veterans of the army like our heroine Ellen Ryu, put them in a super spaceship with hyper high-tech equipment and send them to fight evil scientists and free innocents taken captive to serve as guinea pigs ... Until then, I follow you. And then one day add in a hot mercenary, Kael Sidassian, a thick half-cyborg brute from a group of brainless muscle heaps that they've beaten down countless times and here we are. Our strong and independent women have all become unnecessary... Ellen Ryu is supposed to be a former special forces commander, sort of a military genius. We hardly see any of it. The author's desire to give her only 22 years is perhaps in question: genius or not, to give her a few more years and a little more depth would have really changed the story for the better. It lacks a certain relief to her character which tarnishes the rest of the book with an insipid aftertaste when it could easily have been totally different. On the other hand strangely, our thick brute filled with doubts becomes a character much more interesting and deep. We see him evolve and doubt, asking questions about his role and his purpose in life. His interactions with the IA of the ship are particularly tasty.
Overall, I enjoyed the book although my review may seem harsh. However, I adore my heroines and nothing frustrates me more than a character who could have been exceptional and missed her flight.
Read For: Scenes narrated from Kael's point of view, a quiet little romance with a light Sci-Fi backdrop. Lack: a little more of everything, depth to the characters, adventures to spice up the story and even a little more electric romance ...
I didn't understand the non-lethality towards enemy combatants and their gruesome scientist paymasters. Stealing their data and destroying their labs, I could understand but leaving them able to replicate their work elsewhere seems to defeat their purpose.
I had to stop reading at about a third of the way in, when the captain has a weird internal dialogue describing the scarred, scruffy mercenary as a prize that would cause her mostly female crew to fight each other to have. It might not be a military ship but these women certainly aren't sorority sisters.
The female characters are a confusing and contradictory lot. The dialogue was not helpful and the early flirtation was strange. Without a sense of the size of the ship, its crew size and its armament the missions were difficult to picture.
As a romance, The plot makes more sense. The universe wasn't complete, the characters were sketchy and it felt like Charlie's Angels in space. It wasn't the book for me.
First off, don't be fooled by the comment in the blurb about a "ship full of women": unlike a lot of Kindle speculative fiction, this is not a harem piece.
Commander Ellen Ryu doesn't want to fall for the formerly enemy merc who takes passage on her ship. Kael Sidassian doesn't want to fall for the jaded special forces operator-turned-ship captain and raider of illegal genetics labs. They do (but don't expect any sexytimes in this book).
It's not the best sci-fi romance I've ever read, but it was good enough to make me want to see where their story goes in the next one. I was indeed favorably reminded somewhat of Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan in Lois McMaster Bujold's Shards of Honor.
The characters do not get together in this book. Lots of questions aren't answered. The book does not end on a cliffhanger, but I think of this as the first part of a story. When the rest of the series comes out I'll be better able to judge. These characters are very easy to root for, especially the protagonists and their patron. Ellen and Kael are dealing with some pretty heavy emotional baggage. Fantastic worldbuilding and baddies. Fast-paced and clear action sequences. So I think it's fantastic but incomplete. If you want to know will-they-won't-they, you'll have to wait until the series progresses.
I did the listen/read option for this book. I thought it would never end! The story was so slow I stopped listening just so I could quickly finish it. Honestly, Kael is the only reason I kept reading. Even towards the end I wasn't a big fan of the Commander, and you know its bad when you don't remember any other names or care too. I feel like the characters weren't well developed. I've read books were I've fallen in love with all the characters including the animals. I wanted to like this book because of Kael but it didn't happen. I won't be continuing to book 2.
This is a PG-13 Space Opera Romance with Religious (mostly Muslim and a mentioning of Christianity). It remains pretty PG in its language except for an odd curse word and one make out session a little more than half way through the book.
It started off kind of rough, but by chapter 2 it was in full swing. I’d rate it four stars, and it could have been 5 if Commander Ellen Ryu didn’t come off like a middle school girl with a crush throughout the whole book. Her character seemed to far fetched. A former special forces commander who led a huge army that killed thousands and she is 22. If the author used tech to give her knowledge beyond her years it would have been better. Like the chip she had installed caused her to have to memories of hundreds of years of command experience or something like that.
Kael was a far better character even with his constant boiling rage that threatened to explode every chapter. He had real depth and he came out as the true protagonist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Really good book about finding redemption with people who should be your enemies. Kael and Ellen will make a good couple once old personal baggage gets checked and stowed away. The debate between morality and the advancement of science is a good one and I look forward to exploring it in the next installment.
I'm retired military. I read a LOT of sci -fi military books. Some pretty good,some not so much. I realize that for fiction, you need to suspend belief on some......this book is not one of those! Great pace, believable characters, great action without bogging down in details. Only complaint? I finished it to fast. Already have the next book!
I love science fiction with good plots, strong characters, a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, and lots of action. This book has them all. Also, it is well written, though it needs some more world building. But, as there are more books in this series, it will probably be expanded then. I strongly recommend it.
This was a real find. It's very well-written science fiction, with strong and honorable characters, both male and female. It's easy to become attached to most of the people on the ship. There is also a simmering romance between the two main characters. I'm eager to read the next in the series.
Fun and engaging space opera. I was expecting a romance, but while there were romantic elements, this was much more science fiction than romance - which is not a bad thing! I'm excited for the sequel.
This is a very good book and a great beginning to the series. I am anxiously awaiting the next installment. I have high hopes that this series will end up on my annual list (the list of books I read at least once annually).
Lots of fast action in this book. Reminds me a lot of Lindsay Buroker's Fallen Empire series with former enemies now team mates. Looking forward to them resolving their tangled emotions.
This was a fun ride with lots of mystery as to who everyone was. But the author took her time and explained things in an understandable way. I enjoyed the action, the tension, the mystery, and the points of view.
Good storyline that should build into several fun stories. Has a good pace, easy to stay engage. Like the characters and world view is reasonable and amusing. Overall this book made me smile.
I started this book because it sat on my "to be read" list for a long while. Surprisingly, I was hooked right off the bat! I love the pace of the story line and the characters. Great read! Buying book 2 now!
Very good story. Love the struggle the hero fights through to reinvent, or at least rediscover himself. A lot of action and depth, and wonderful characters. I received a free review copy of the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was such a pleasure to listen to So thoroughly enjoyed the Characters & Story!! The Narrator did a Excellent job of bringing this to life. The 2 MCs dance around each other a bunch because they both keep wondering what the other is thinking. Highly Recommend
Very good read. It held my attention well with no craving out anywhere. Looking for 2nd book to see how well flowed from the 1st and builds up the story line.