Liberate

Starship Renegades #2

by S.J. Bryant

Human experimentation, government cover-ups, and a fight for justice.

Kari’s sister died ten years ago. No warning. No funeral. Just a letter with the Imperium crest. But now a list of names has Kari wondering.

What if it was just a lie to stop Kari looking?

Now she must find her sister before the Imperium kill her - for real this time.

Kari will do whatever it takes to save the only family she’s got left. She and her ragtag crew will team up with the rebel cause to fight the Imperium. But plasma pistols and underground connections may not be enough.

If you enjoy grimy space-bars, starship battles, and galactic empires, then you’ll love Starship Renegades: Liberate. Get it now.

Genres: Science Fiction

169 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 17, 2019

About the author

Saffron Bryant is an Australian author with a passion for fantasy and science fiction. She began writing at a very early age and hasn’t stopped since.

She has a degree in Biomedical Science (with honours) and recently completed a PhD in chemistry at the University of Sydney.

Unfortunately her cupboard didn’t open onto Narnia, she didn’t get a letter from Hogwarts, and a strange man in a blue box hasn’t shown up… (here’s hoping for an old Wizard on my 50th!!)

So she spends her time writing stories and releasing them to the world.

~Happy Reading!~

Saffron is best known for her science-fiction action adventure The Nova Chronicles , which she describes as "Tomb Raider in Space".

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a loyal fan of this author for several years and have read all of her Nova chronicles. I readily admit I have a crush on Nova so, it's hard for me to change (fantasy) loves easily. Keri is the unofficial leader of a small band of Renegades with some amazing skills. They have come together for various reasons but find they are unwilling to ignore the horrific and often inhuman behavior of the Imperium. Keri's younger sister was abducted by the Imperium many years ago and led her to believe she was dead. Keri learns her sister is alive and is being treated to a scientific program looking to enhance basic and super-human skills. Keri and her band of misfit cohorts bluff their way onto an abandoned mining asteroid where these enhancement programs are conducted in order to rescue Keri's sister. This is no easy task and only the unique skills of each member allow them to pull off an amazing rescue. Unfortunately, the Imperium has identified each of them as well as having tagged Keri's ship making them all easy to track. Incredibly, Keri's sister demands that the rest of the prisoners' beings subjected to these cruel experimental enhancements be rescued as well.
I normally don't like what I call HS Book Report style Reviews that attempt to summarize a story. However, I've just described the beginning of this action-packed adventure. There really aren't any cliff-hangers in this story but, it's filled with near-misses and narrow escapes that only work because of the various unique skills of the crew members. I'm reminded of the earlier James Bond movies where he utilized more of his personal skills than enhanced technology to get out of trouble. The only "character" I don't understand is an AI Robot who is apparently suffering from PTSD and substance abuse. He consumes inordinate amounts of Coolant that render him untrustworthy, ineffective, and intoxicated. As hard and tough as Keri presents herself, she has compassion for this character and the experiences he's suffered. I'm hoping he'll have some redeeming qualities in future episodes. Otherwise, I'd put him outside the airlock and have him organize Moon Beams.

Review by THE HOLEY ONE

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The crew of the Ghost, ostensibly led by the owner and captain of the ship, Kari, don't just look for trouble. They invite it in, serve it stale beer, then start brawling with it before it has a chance to take that first nasty sip. For every attempt to do good, disaster surely follows - and the Imperium is the driving force behind all that's wrong with their sector of the universe.

Now that Piper has been rescued and the facility where she was kept compromised, nowhere is far enough away for the crew to hide. The problem is that the Ghost's ID has been made, the crew has been ID'd, and Enforcers are already crawling all over them looking for Piper and another rescuee, Ray. While parked on the asteroid Zenith trying to get help and intel, things go from bad to much worse.

Kari simply cannot say "no" to Piper. That inability seems to produce a lot of dead Imperium Enforcers. That makes at least a few of the crew members happy.

In "Liberate," the characters of Wren and Atticus really begin to take shape. The reader is teased with some important history of the Imperium and gets just enough backstory to flesh out Kari's obsessiveness. There are moments pertaining to Rusty which are sublimely satisfying.

And once again, Saffron gut punches her readers with a cliffhanger! This time, it's not just personal. Or is it? I can't wait to read "SR: Betrayal."

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starship Renegades is a great series. Great characters. Wonderfully written story I look forward to the next one coming out

[Melanie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This enjoyable saga of a ragtag group of renegades in space continues as the motley crew join forces with the renegades.