Into the Abyss

Rogue Hunter: Gaia #1

by Kevis Hendrickson

Intergalactic bounty hunter Zyra Zanr pursues a dangerous fugitive in possession of a mysterious, but deadly weapon. Zyra must recapture this weapon before it is unleashed upon the unsuspecting people of the galaxy. The hunt begins! Book 1 of 3.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Ebooks

ebook

Published November 27, 2009

About the author

Kevis Hendrickson is the author of eight Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, including The Legend of Witch Bane and the Rogue Hunter series. His second novel Rogue Hunter: Quest of the Hunter won the Red Adept Annual Indie Award (2010) for 'Top Science Fiction'. His most recent novel is Rogue Hunter: Valor. The sixth book in the series, Rogue Hunter: Death Moon, is scheduled for release in 2017. Along with an epic fantasy re-telling of Cinderella, he is working on a brand new urban fantasy series which also makes its debut this year. He has also published one novella, one epic poem, one non-fiction book, and eight short stories.

Reviews

[The Pirate Ghost (Formerly known as the Curmudgeon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

((I’ll include Gaia #2 and #3 on this and cut and paste it to the other two.))

Okay. Book-plot inventory time!

Hot blond in tight leather and lingerie…check.

Full contact, anything goes WWE style, MMA Duke it out chick fight…Check.

Space ships, blasters, blue and green skinned aliens…check

Pirates…check

More pirates that happen to also be hot babes in skin tight leather and lingerie with dirty mouths…Check.

Dastardly wicked villianesque Army dude…check.

Cool grumpy old bastard Navy Admiral …Check.

Can we go back to the hot blond and the chick fight? Check!...or was that a “Check-shwing!”

Okay fast paced with lots of action. This could be the next big “B” grade made for Television Movie on the Sy-fy channel. It has all the elements, right down to the spandex. Unfortunately it’s probably too fast. This book reads like a comic book. Three books barely stretched for three chapters of a full length novel with too many plot twists and turns for so short a story to manage without help. In other words, it’s too big for its britches. But then, Zyra probably looks good in tight britches.

The villains were a bit cartoonish, the heroine, Zyra Zandr loost right out of a comic book, right down to the spandex and about a thousand cliché’s wrapped into three parts.

Gaia #1 showed lots of promise. There were some editing things that bugged me, like the action tags in every sentence … “zyra did this, zyra did that, zyra did the other thing, zyra hates the pirat spandex leather and lace outfits.” This book could use an investment in pronouns. Having said that, there were some wonderful descriptions that suggested, if given a full length book and a marginally better editor, this could have been a lot better.

Zyra actually makes a really cool, heroine. She’s all business, and kicks butt, and has more balls than the Admiral… um… if you’ll pardon the ill-fitting metaphor. (cough). Even though I think the vehicle had some serious flaws, Zyra’s one of the better female heroines I’ve come across in a while.

And, I loved the Molly Black Zyra fight at the end of the first installment.

Bottom line- The book was too short to take on so many plot twists. There were some editing issues that were hard to ignore, but the writing wasn’t a total waist. Zyra’s a powerful female character, if a bit super human at time, generally she fit the fiction “bad ass” heroine role well. As long as nobody wants a lot of money for these, their worth the hour it takes to read them. I’d read a full length novel to see if it’s any better but I’d have the safety off of the eject button just in case.

Warnings (always warnings):
1) Nasty talking girls. One quick scene in the first book involves some sexually suggestive activities and a dirty joke. It makes little difference to me if it’s guys or girls talking dirty, either way, the subject matter is not for children.

2) Zyra isn’t exactly a Betty Crocker Housewife. She’s a bounty hunter. This book contains a good bit of violence and the fight scene at the end of the first book is a tough fight. I think it’s well written, and within reasonable boundaries, but, …it’s a tough fight.

3) Exploitation or good Marketing? Hard to tell yet, but pirate babes in tight leather and lingerie that shows more skin than not… a chick fight? Naughty girl talk. I don’t know. It seemed to straddle my idea of what was exploitive and what was just a fun story. Of course it appealed to my Dirty Old Sailor side.

Three stars. There are some editing problems but, call me a male schauvanist pig, or a feminist supporter… I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t recommended it, but I’m not so snobbish I won’t admit I enjoyed it. New shelf-… guilty pleasure.

[Vincent Hobbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll preface by saying this: the other day I bought a pack of gum, and it cost me $1.39.

I can’t say it was money well spent, but I’m not complaining.

I bought this eBook for $.99—I’ve even seen it advertised for free.
At $.99, I consider Rogue Hunter: Gaia #1: Into the Abyss money well spent.

I recently purchased a Kindle, and I’ve been on a short story kick lately. I download mostly free stories, but I’ve read this author before, and wanted to read more of his work. Mr. Hendrickson also wrote The Legend of Witch Bane, a young-adult fantasy tale, and one I highly recommend.

I downloaded Rogue Hunter: Gaia #1, and finished reading it in one night.

I’ve read some negative reviews of this book, and I can even understand some of the complaints. First, this is not actually a book in the traditional sense, more like a short story. Correction: Rogue Hunter is more like part of a story. It is only fifty or sixty pages. That being said, I knew it was told in parts, so that was no surprise to me. As I stated earlier, I felt it was money well spent. Those who complain about a free story...well, I don’t quite understand.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I thought Zyra was a strong female character. I felt the storyline was interesting enough for me to want to know what happens next—which is, of course, the point of a good story. I’m not a hefty reader of sci-fi, and I appreciated that Mr. Hendrickson didn’t make it complicated. I wasn’t lost in technicalities of space travel and science, instead thrown into a fun and exciting story.

As for the negatives: I felt this book was a bit abrupt. Not so much that it was short, but I felt the cliffhanger ending was mid scene, that it needed a bit more. At times, the dialogue was off, but nothing that distracted me from the story. A few other things, but overall the story was enjoyable. As I stated earlier, it was money well spent.

Mr. Hendrickson is a good writer. I feel he has a promising career, and look forward to reading more of his books. He is one of the few small press/self-published authors I enjoy reading. His description is always good, and the story is always intriguing.

If you enjoy fantasy or science-fiction, I suggest you reading Mr. Hendrickson’s work.

I’ll be downloading the second book in the Rogue Hunter series soon...

Vincent Hobbes

[Johan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rogue Hunter, a trilogy that has a story totaling between 50-60 pages.
I was looking for a nice pastime between reading the Watchmen and starting a fantasy or SF trilogy. I wanted something on a lighter note.
The first book was still acceptable, the second book made me question my decision to continue reading, and the third book made me regret it.
The series contains elements found in many other SF books, but there the authors take their time developing the story, using a couple of hundreds of pages per book.
Rogue Hunter contains too many plots for 60 pages, or not enough pages for the number of plots. Either way, I didn't enjoy it. If the author would have focused on the main story and given the characters some depth, maybe it good have been a nice read of 60+ pages.
I have read quite some (hundreds) SF adventure stories, but even as a free download (advertised here on Goodreads) I cannot recommended it.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so much a story as the start of something else. Also, only about half the listed 35 pages, as the rest is a sample of the following story/book. So, all around disappointing as a stand-alone read.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life is cheap in the far-future world of Rogue Hunter, Gaia #1. Hormonal impulses are the stuff of jokes as female protagonists conquer the opposition, only to fall prey to each other. Readers might wonder why a bounty hunter would sport “long golden hair” but hey, a girl needs her vanity. And the galaxy needs... something, but Zyra’s not too worried about that, as long as she gets paid.

The story ends abruptly at the end of an exciting battle sequence, reminiscent of Buck Rogers perhaps, or a first-person shoot-em-up computer game, leaving readers eager for more.

[Maureen Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rather enjoyed this. Of course, the ending left me hooked so I have to continue, but that's a good thing. Gaia is a strong and unique character and I enjoyed the scenes with Molly. This was a perfect quick read for me. All too often I am struggling to find time to read and this was perfect because I could read it in one sitting.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short space opera. Bounty hunter vs pirates. Quick and fun. Guards wearing lingerie? Lots of action.

[D.M. Dutcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short preview of what looks to be some engaging pulpy cheese.

Bounty hunter Zyra lands on a planet to recover something from pirate Molly Black. That's about it for synopsis, because the book is very short. It's more like a sneak peek for an upcoming novel than even a full fledged short story or novella, so keep this in mind.

However, it shows enough to realize why kind of book it will be: some straight out cheesy pulp action with plenty of fighting and beautiful girls. It gets marks for realizing this, and going into the crazy action and purple prose right away. I mean come on, they drop Zyra to her target from space using a comet which hatches out a metal squid which launches a cannister with her in it. How much more over the top can you get? Disposable metal space squids.

So check it out, but turn your brain off first.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

So really 1.5 stars. I guess.

The reason why I say I guess is because if you see this as a YA book, or a book for someone who has never read sci-fi before, it might be better.

But you should know, I picked this up free for the Kindle on Amazon.

The writing is fine, in terms of sentences and such. The book gets points for a female heroine. Yet, I have to ask while all other women are either bad and in most cases, stupid. I have to wonder why everyone in a position of power is a man. I have to wonder why an experienced bounty hunter would wear her hair down.

Points though, for having the brunette kick ass.

Not enough to make me want to read the others, though.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know this is the first book in a trilogy, but as such, I expect there to be enough material to understand the basics of the story! In this first story, I was very confused my the different characters, aside from the main two (Zyra, Molly). The basic plot and understood it was that Molly had something and Zyra was going after her. This story had a lot of loose ends which were not described well enough to make sense. The action scene was written horribly, full of overly technical terminology and too much detail. Aside from the weak cliffhanger ending, there's nothing here that made me feel like continuing the trilogy.

[Booklover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Into the Abyss by Kevis Hendrickson is a quick sci fi short story that is supposedly the first in the Rogue Hunter: Gaia series. I would view it more as a "serial" than a series, however; Into the Abyss was not really a stand-alone story at all. It was pretty well written, set up the characters and setting well in the short story framework (which is not often well done) and had great action, but there was no closure of any kind. I don't recommend reading this unless you already have the other two in this "series" - I do not, and was quite frustrated at the end.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

i downloaded this awhile back and just now got to it. this is the first in a series i think and it starts in the middle of the action . the only thing i felt this author was missing is maybe a good editor but its okay there were not really that many mistakes. my only complaint was that he could have added a bit more and not ended so fast but i liked it and want to read the rest. the author also said he has another book int he series coming out so i need to catch up, lol.

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is action packed science fiction, unfortunately it's also poorly written.
I've never read any pulp fiction, mainly as it was published a fair bit before my time, but this is always how I've pictured it.
No substance to the story, cardboard cutouts for characters and cheap dialogue and action scenes.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried to read this and the other two parts, but mostly skimmed through them. I could not find the relationship between the two women, their battles or the main character's reactions to these battles convincing, and their final reconciliation was terribly rushed. However, now that Kevis has explained that this is a prequel I may try the full book as it does seem to get good reviews.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. I like the concept of cyroprotectant when freezing someone to preserve life...never seen that done before. In this first book, Zyra arrives on an underwater pirate base and tries to capture a former pilot who has stolen something that belongs to the galaxy Alliance.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good for a free ebook. I really like Zyra and I thought the story was exciting. I'm excited to read the next 2 in the story.