Ash Planet Warriors

Ash Planet Warriors #0.5

by V.K. Ludwig

She’s the female I can’t have. And she’s in heat.

Called a filthy half-blood by many, I try to claim my place as a shaman among the tribespeople, but the goddess refuses me her gifts.

Until a ship from Earth crash-lands on Solgad, triggering my first vision. It leads me to the wreck and the woman trapped within, her scent so potent it lures me to the edge of a rut. Lia speaks to something deep within me, triggering the urge to claim her as mine.

I promise our warlord to keep her safe from the dangers of Solgad, but can I protect her from my instincts?

Ash Planet Warriors is the Prequel to the Sci-Fi Alien Romance series of the same name, featuring a tortured hero who is trying to find his place in this world. Please note, this novella ends on a cliffhanger, and the series' storyline will revisit this couple in book #3, Bound to the Warlord.

Genres: Aliens, Romance, Science Fiction, Novella, Science Fiction Romance, M F Romance, Short Stories

85 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 22, 2021

Reviews

[Just Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great!

It’s very hard to pull a decent prequel of. At least I am so bloody picky with them, but damn, this was a delight.

Great world holding, just strange enough creatures, but not so off it was weird, and I really enjoyed the writing style. It flowed so nicely!

Read: 04/09/2021
1st rating: 4 stars
Genre/tropes: Sci-fi/smut/alien romance
Cover: 4 stars
POV’s: Dual -1st person (Zerim & Lia)
Will I recommend: Yes

[Starr (AKA Starrfish) Rivers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. I felt bad for the guy without his tail claw.

[Averie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short alien romance novella about Lia and Zerim. Lia is a human woman whose family spaceship ends up crash landing on Zerim's alien planet. Zerim comes across her in her crash pod and decides to help her gain her strength and acclimate to this new world. The two of them spend a few days out in the alien wild before Zerim brings Lia to a city where she will hopefully get passage home. Neither of them assumed the lust-filled pull the two of them had toward each other.

This is a freebie that I downloaded off of Amazon last month. This is the prequel to the Ash Planet Warriors series and the beginning of the story of the couple from the third book in the series. I am excited to read book three! I was really interested in this world and cannot wait to read the full-length books!

TROPES: alien romance, insta-lust, novellas, sweet heroes

[TheBookPlatypus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet novella about Zerim and Lia. Lia and her parents crash on Ash Planet and are rescued by these aliens .. Jal’zar.

Zerim is a mix raced species and therefore his warlord and tribe haven’t fully accepted him. He’s different. And outcast. A virgin….

When Lia is rescued she’s about to go in heat or ovulate which can put these aliens in a rutting craze so Zerim keeps Lia away from camp and they get to know eachother.

This novella ends with Lia leaving the planet and Zerim making a big decision for his future and they included leaving her without a goodbye. It was kinda sad and not an HEA but their story is book three of the series!

[Mads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice prequel to the series… but dang that ending left me needing book 3 (the continuation of this story). No HEA :(… yet. Zerim is so sweet I loved him so much. Can’t wait for his second chance with Lia.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (2/28/2022)! 🎁

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok... Comment est-ce que je vais faire pour lire tous les livres qui sont dans ma liste en train d'attendre patiemment, si on me bombarde avec de l'alien smut qui donne envie de lire toute la saga ? Raaaah ! Just Jodie it's on you !

Merry

[Liesel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to read Stolen by the Warrior but the preface said to read this first. well developed story, characters, and world-building for a novella. good opening to a series. word of warning: the ending is a to be continued and the characters do not reappear until book 3.

[Mary Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's highly unusual for me to leave 2 stars. I always give credit to any author who can complete a book, get it published, and attract readers. I have tried and it's a formidable task! The ending of this book was, for me, a gut punch. I was lured in to caring about the characters, and enjoying watching them find redemption through each other.

****SPOILER ALERT!!!!!****


Then, it suddenly ended, with them parting, with no warning, the girl left devastated, and a quip from the author saying, sometimes people are not ready for a relationship, and, "No HEA, but at least you got disappointed for free." What!! If I were blessed enough to have readers, I would never, ever smack down any of them with a blow like that. No one reads romance because they want to re-experience being dumped. Sorry, but 2 stars for effort, and 2 stars for disrespecting readers.

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

This is book 0.5 of the Ash Planet Warriors series, which is chronologically correct.

But I suggest to read this after book 1 + 2, because this is the direct prequel to book 3, Bound to the Warlord.

Book 3 can theoretically be read on its own, but I really think that this prequel is the whole entire set-up for the book.

So don't miss it!

[Suz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed this novella if it hadn't ended on such a flagrantly insulting and manipulative cliff hanger. The author even crows about it at the end and tells us that at some point in the future we'll get the rest of the story.

Not only is that unacceptable to me, but I'm putting the author on my "don't buy until the series is finished if at all" list. Pity, the world has potential.

[Jean Stillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't read author V.K. Ludwig's work, what are you waiting for!? This book is the prequel for her newest series by the same name. It is also the bridge from a previous series, Garrison Earth, where we are first introduced to the Jal'zar world. If you haven't read that series, Do It! But, you can start here and go back to catch up, as the books are excellent, even as stand alone books.

Those of us who have read the Garrison Earth series have been anxiously awaiting this new series. All of Ms. Ludwig's work is exceptionally well written, with characters will have you laughing out loud, or in some cases leave you an emotional mess! And you know that if you have a book hangover when you finish a book, it had to be a great one! This new series will be no exception, if this Intro book is any indication! In this short intro, we meet Zerim and Lia, who are young and have had very different lives. Zerim is a hybrid; his mother was Jal'zar and his father was an important Vetusian. (In the Garrison Earth series, the Vetusians invaded Earth, following their invasion and the conquer of Solgad, the Jal'zar's world.) Lia is also a hybrid, but her mother is human and her after is Vetusian. Zerim meets Lia in this book when an Empire spaceship, carrying Lia and her family, crashes on Solgad, and Zerim is left to care for Lia until she is no longer ovulating. (That's a juicy tidbit in this book and about the Jal'zar race as a whole! Lia is part human and part Vetusian. and she is in heat! Because Zerim has a flaw in his makeup, he is considered lacking and therefore safe. But, is he? God, it is so good! Warning: This book will end with a cliff hanger. The rest of Zerim's story comes later. I know it will be worth the wait! V.K. Ludwig's books always are! Happy Reading!!

[Shelby | Spicy.booknook · Rating 4 out of 5]

* ​MF Romance
* Aliens/Sci-Fi
* Forced Proximity
* Sweet Read
* Spicy
I was very pleasantly surprised by how good this little novella/prequel was. For something so short, I got a good understanding of the world and inhabitants and the featured couple, Zerim and Lia. Lia crash lands with her parents and Zerim has a vision and finds them. The parents are taken to the city, but Lia must stay behind with Zerim so she can be protected from the other males. What follows is a sweet little romance between the two. This ends in a non-HEA cliffy that takes care of itself in book 3.
I am avoiding temptation to skip to book 3

[kimchikingreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

OVERALL 4.5 STARS
Writing: 4.5 Stars
Story line: 4.5 Stars
Steam: 4 Stars
Hero: 4 Stars
Heroine: 4 Stars

*QUICK ONE-LINER OPINION*
I always love a good understated Hero and I think Zerim does it for me. I can't wait to see him stand up for himself and claim Zia for his own!

WILL I...
• Recommend this book? Yes
• Read the next book? Yes!! I am in fact thinking of skipping Book 1 and 2 and jump straight to Book 3, which is Zerim and Lia's story!

SAFETY
• H (Hero): Zerim son of Zavis
• h (heroine): Lia
• Descriptive sex: Yes
• Safe sex: Yes [Apparently H is unable to breed h unless he has a tailclaw, which he does not have.]
• OM (Other Men)/OW (Other Women) drama: No
• Sexual acts with OM/OW: No
• Sex scenes with OM/OW: No
• Virgin: Hero
• Insta-love/attraction: Yes
• Push/Pull: Yes [H tried resisting h as he felt he could not give what h needs.]
• Separation: Yes [They were separated at the end of the book but since this is a prequel, they should meet again in their main book.]
• Angst: Very Low
• Possible Triggers: N/A

BOOK INFO
• Type: Standalone Novella - Prequel (approx. 20k words)
• Genre: Paranormal Romance
• Tropes: Alpha J/P Hero, Alpha-Omega, Dystopian world, Science-fiction, Alien-Human
• POV (Point Of View): First person - Dual
• Ending: HFN

DISCLAIMER
This IS NOT an ARC review.

*Legend:
ABO = Alpha-Beta-Omega / ARC = Advance Reader Copy / BJ = blow job / dub-con = dubious consent / FTB = Fade To Black / H = Hero / h = heroine / HEA = Happily Ever After / HFN = Happy For Now / J/P = Jealous/Possessive / MC = Main Characters / non-con = non-consensual / OM = Other Men / OTT = Over-the-top / OW = Other Women / POV = Point Of View

[Rasheta · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more a 2.5 nearly three stars. I can't add the .5 part of it though. That said the good parts of it were that it was not terribly written novella. I thought it was a good setup with decent lore for the world. I didn't mind either lead character usually. I found some of the dialogue to be clunky and strange. Why would the alien man know Earth slang? Even if he had visited Earth he probably wouldn't have heard street slang and why would either of them use it? it was just a very strange way of speaking. Also, the end wasn't very good. I get that this is a novella but this wasn't even an ending. it just ended with no explanation. It was just odd to see how it ended.

[Ähmsry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read it to ease the way for Bound to the Warlord #3 - and it is still such a good prequel and introduction to Ash Planet Warriors - reading recommendations!

[Kayla (onthefritz) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zerim + Lia

Reading this right after reading and loving Chained was just a freaking delight, even though it is just a little teaser for their full HEA book. So even though we are soon to be expecting human women coming to Solgad, this happens before that when Zerim is still working as a Ward with the different clans not fully "of age" yet even though he is like.. 20 or something.

Lia's ship crashes on Solgad, she is 19 and planning to go to school to be an intergalactic teacher. Zerim has his first vision and saves her after the crash. The two spend time out in the sands alone because she is in heat and will drive all the males mad, but Zerim is a hybrid so he shouldn't be affected. They fall in love and are torn apart it is time for her to leave with her family.

Very sweet romance, almost mimicking Zerim's parents romance without the war. I'm wondering how fate with bring them back together, he mentions that once he is not a ward anymore that he is free to travel off world but if he is going to be the full shaman of a clan.. will he be able to leave? I will say it is a bit of a gut punch to then have to wait until book 3 for their second chance, but makes sense having to give more time and world building for their book. And having to wait for certain books usually pays off as well.

Since Zerim is a hybrid, he cannot sting her and create the soulbond, so he longs for her love and family and future with her that he knows he can never give her because he doesn't have a tail claw. But fate has other plans I'm sure as there is a hint of them having the Gaia Link since they are both half Vertusian.

[First · Rating 4 out of 5]

Format: 📱ebook
POV: Dual; 1st Person
❤️Favorite character(s): Zerim, Amelia/Lia, Jerem
👎🏻Least Fav. Character(s): Razgar

█▓▒▒░░RATINGS░░▒▒▓█

(Ratings are out of 5)
OVERALL: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Fun Factor: 5😀
• Writing Style: 4½⭐️
• Characters: 4👤
• Plot: 4🖊
• Setting: 3🌎
• Romance: 1❤️
• Tension: 3💥
• Spice: 4🌶
• Tears Lost: 1💧
• Narrator(s): N/A


█▓▒▒░░CONCLUSION░░▒▒▓█

A fascinating new find! I'm pleasantly surprised by how well this novella is written. The story is fun and enjoyable, the characters are likable, the smut is delicious without being overdone, and it only has a couple grammatical errors. I really like the FMC and MMC, and am looking forward to reading their book (#3 in this series) because that ending is NOT satisfying.

I already like this story as much as Ice Planet Barbarians and Choosing Theo! I'm eager to find out how this series overall compares to them (IPB and the Clecanian series).


█▓▒▒░░QUOTES░░▒▒▓█

“The goddess had cursed me with the physical attributes of a shaman, save for one detail, but never blessed me with the gift of visions. Or beastsight. Or rune divination. Actually, I couldn't even brew a tea without accidentally poisoning someone."
—Zerim

“I've never heard of a shaman developing the gift of visions after their tenth sun cycle."
“Yeah, well, neither has anybody heard of a shaman with a cock dangling between his legs, but there it hangs."
—Kenar and Jerem

Lia frowned. “What's on your mind?"
“Nothing," I said, because mentioning a soulbond and children to a woman I'd known for less than two suns sounded insane even to me.
—Lia & Zerim

[Christina (stinarinareads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5✨
1.75🌶️

This was a pretty nice prequel to one of the later books of the series, and explored the way the couple first met. It includes some hallmark alien romance tropes readers know and love, like:

👽 Human female crash lands on planet and rescued by alien male
👽 Protective male alien instinct
👽 [potential] Mating bond
👽 Alien anatomy

It was a short read, but we still got an emotional connection between the MCs, and even some spice! So there was some insta-lust happening, just because of how short the read is, and how short of time the MCs were actually together. But I thought it still worked because of how engaging they were as a couple.

My only gripe would be that sometimes the author would have the aliens use language that was obviously Earth-like and it took away some of the immersion for me.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is a great introduction to the Ash Planet Warriors. I happened to read it after already reading Books 1 & 2 of the series, which just doubled my eagerness for Book 3 which picks up with Zerim and Lia several years in the future.

This series is fantastic and this novella is a great introduction to the world VK Ludwig has created. Each character is well developed and the storylines are super engaging and enjoyable.

While this novella doesn’t have a HEA, it lets you speculate what might happen when these two young characters are a little older when they once again cross paths. Since Lia triggered Zerim’s first vision and warning from Mekana, it seems like they have a deep connection of some fashion and I can’t wait to find out all about it.

[The Tunita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read this one before the first two of the series. I read it before reading its successor and I'M SO GLAD I waited until then because I wasn't prepared for that cliffhanger (we were warned by the author so I knew what I was getting myself into).

There's not a lot I can say about this novel because it's really short, and the characters are still young. Let's say they're still trying to find themselves; each struggling with something that they think won't let them be together.

There's a couple of external conflicts that are explored thoroughly in the next book. In contrast, some internal problems persist between this and the next one, but I'm glad to report they're explored thoroughly.

Not a lot happens until the very end but together with its sequel, it has become one of my favorite books. I liked the characters in this book but I absolutely loved them in the next one.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to pick this up as I wanted to try this author and I love alien romance. This has a cliff-hanger ending but it was so sweet.

Zerem is considered other in his tribe as he is half Jalzar and half Vetusian and is picked by their goddess as a shaman when only females have this role. Moreover he does not possess the typical physiology of a Jalzar male: a barbed and spiked end at their tail where his is blunt. He is shamed by his warlord for this and does not feel accepted.

I liked how he was mellow and took care of half human half Vetusian Lia after she crash lands. Their planet and culture sounded very interesting and I was sad by the ending.

It is pretty obvious that they are fated mates.

Tropes: Fated mates, close proximity, virgin hero, care taking

[MissClo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this!

Getting to know Lia and Zerim a little here with small glimpses into the alien planet was intriguing!

I’m a little confused with all the alien terms and names and cities etc because I hadn’t read any other books that predate this new series, but Ludwig’s style is so easy!

I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to read the rest of Zerim and Lia’s story in book 3!

PS- I see some low rated reviews because of the ending. I think that’s ridiculous and entitled. The story does have an end- it’s not a HEA for now, but it’s a conclusion in one way or other. I don’t think this is a reason to deduct stars at all.

[Wanda Jewell]

This is the second book in the series. You can read it as a stand alone book. There are adult scenes so it needs a mature reader. I find this book interesting in how the aliens soul bond with each other by the males stinging the female with their tails. in the ribs. I liked the characters very much. I thought they were well thought out and I could feel the feelings being described. If you like alien love stories you will enjoy this book. I know I did and would recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[zaire wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cliffhanger

Lia and Zerim is a story I can’t wait to finish. I didn’t know this was a prequel until I stumbled across the Ash planet series, and had to double back and read this story before I read there entire one and I am far from disappointed. I laugh when young people make such foolish mistakes like leaving a thousand gutless letter, and deny their instincts, but it makes for a good story line. I like that she wasn’t a shy maiden and how Ludwig always writes stories that tug on your heart strings yet keep you wrapped up in the adventure and romance.

[I. Vélez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Want More Zerim Now 😭

This novella grabbed since the start and Zerim made me fall in love with him easily. Too easily, damn. Waiting for the novel that ends Zerim and Lia's story will be sheer torture. I'm too in love with tha alien shaman... And the end? I'm crying thick tears over here.

It's not fair. It's definitely not fair what the author did to us readers 😭. I want more Zerim now 😭.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should read after second book.

I know this is a prequel, but it should be read after the second book in the actual series that follows this prequel. And I don’t mind that it’s not a happily ever after, because not everyone finds the love of their life the first time around. Duh

This was an excellent 80 pages to read. All meet all quality… One of the best HEA/non-HEA books I’ve ever read.

[Jurnee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written! I enjoyed learning about these characters and want to see more of them so I can’t wait to continue the series. The sex scenes were great as well!

I’ve already read the first book, since this is a prequel, and I’d say it’s better to read this one after Stolen by the Warlord. The world is explored better in book 1 than in this prequel so it’s helpful to have an idea of what the world is like when stepping into this book.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book is short but steamy. I liked the writing style very much.
When I finished reading the book, I wanted to read Book 3 straight away to find out how things will go on with Lia and Zemir, but unfortunately the book has not yet been published at this point. But the prequel made me curious about the series.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lia

I give this story 4.5 stars. It was a a page turning story that sucked you into the story. But I was left in suspense when it ended abruptly without an ending that felt complete. No HEA, no idea of what the note said in 3 words no next book in a series. Well written but felt incomplete.