Core of Confliction

Core #1

by Maquel A. Jacob

Dark secrets can change the fate of an entire race.
Charles is just a low level runner with his own small crew. One hot sunny day during their lunch break they witness a bizarre event in a strip mall and realize their boss, Halfar, may not be what they think he is. Curiosity leads to Charles being drawn to an alien planet by a vortex where he learns not only that he himself is the leader of a nearly destroyed race but that his boss on Earth is a ruthless alien ruler who caused the destruction of his beloved planet, Lhasa. As Charles regains his core and his memories, he discovers more secrets connected to the planet’s demise and his relationship with Halfar. How can he deliver the vengeance on every Lhasian’s mind but still keep his secrets hidden?
Halfar, the supreme ruler of a planet far beyond our solar system, is passing the time on Earth by taking over crime syndicates in the U.S. His ultimate secret lies with Charles and his crew. He would do anything to keep Charles…and has. When everything starts to be unveiled, Halfar must choose whether to complete his conquest of an unprepared Earth or make an alliance with the leader of Lhasa.

Genres: Science Fiction

Audiobook

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

Maquel A. Jacob has had a passion for the written word since the age of seven, reading everything she could get her hands on which included encyclopedias and the thesaurus. At twelve, she had her first encounter with a Stephen King novel and was hooked. She became inspired to write her own brand of fiction. Combining multiple genres is her way of keeping things interesting.
Always ready to learn new things, her search for knowledge never ceases. So far she has an Accounting degree, a Business Administration degree, became a certified Nail Technician via Cosmetology school and studied Digital Film and Video at the Art Institute of Portland.
She is a huge Anime fan, loves a great bottle of wine and rocks out to heavy metal music. Green and lush Oregon is where she currently resides spinning imaginary worlds in her head while daydreaming.

Reviews

[Maquel A Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I am the author, of course I love the story. That said, I will refrain from giving myself a review.

[R. Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you set yourself a task that seems to dwarf your talent. Such is the case with my goal to write a worthy review of this series.

Core of Confliction challenges so many of my perceptions that I had a difficult time understanding it. Not, mind you, because the author conveyed her topics poorly. Instead it was because I wasn't ready to face the unpleasant realities she gave me about my own world and my own time.

I was far more comfortable leaving this whole thing in a far distant future, in a galaxy too far away to really matter to me.

There is an alliance of empires spanning a galaxy. One race amongst this alliance are shape shifters. They can morph by choice between humanoid and other, sometimes monstrous, bodies. They can range from immense proportions to tiny ... and can be any sex they prefer.

In Core of Confliction, one member of this species, the empire's leader, forces another from a male shape into a female shape that he finds alluring. Then he fathers a child on her, forcing her to carry that child to term against her wishes.

Monstrous for any thinking, reasonable being - especially one which mostly shares humanoid features. There is so much more to this series. So much rich detail and action, and galaxy spanning war, peace, peace-keepers, war-makers, and internal politics. I found myself focused on this one aspect, though. And that was because I needed that internal focus to better understand myself!

What this work did was to open my eyes to my own world. We have people who will eagerly and aggressively force others into shapes and forms that most please themselves. We have people who will then force the objects of their desire into reproductive activities against their will. And, we have people who gleefully force the victims, forced to be females, of this monstrous behavior to carry unwanted babies to term.

Maquel A. Jacob has created a culture so different from our own that it almost escapes the reader's attention that they are exactly the same. These characters are real. Far too real for comfort.

In the end, there is retribution and justice. In the end, it's a 5 out of 5 for me.

I was horrified. I was appalled. I was ... compelled to keep reading in spite of thinking just how much I hated this book and the whole series. Then, I developed an understanding of what I was feeling.

I transferred my revulsion about aspects of my own culture into a revulsion for this work. Then I realized what the author had done. I had developed better insight into my own kind after reading about a distant race of alien kind.

Thought provoking. Challenging. Amazing.

[Marsilisa]

I'm dropping it 53% in (2 and a half hours left of the audiobook). For some reason it was advertised as "A gender shifter Space Opera with a touch of romance" by amazon and LGBT+/MM where i saw it first. Ended up being a very good idea but....
No MM components so far. One of them shifts to female every time sex is even implied (if the "couple" is even MM). One full male couple so far and they don't even display affection on page. Sex is clinical, short and explained.
100+ POV (because every single character has his own) and it switches between them by chapter (and sometimes even during). I have to admit J.S. Arquin (the narrator) actually managed to have separate versions of all the characters and i was never confused.
Book was rushed and time was ... Not important.

Over all very good book whit a good idea behind it but just not my type of book.

[Michael Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual Dynastic Military Space Opera

This book is unusual in several different ways. The Earth is a backdrop, but the fighting is primarily between two alien races. The races seem to hate each other, one race actually tried to totally destroy the other--a sort of global-racial cleansing that only failed by the smallest margin. But the leaders of the two races could be attracted to each other in some strange way.

Lots of action, potential coup attempts, aliens mutate or merge...changing forms in unexpected fashion.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun-to-read character driven Sci-Fi novel. Gives a good intro into her series. Great deal at 99 cents. :)

Could benefit from some further editing though.