#Friday Review - Starflight by Melissa Landers (Young Adult, Science Fiction)

Series: Starflight # 1
Format: Hardcover, 369 pages
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Library
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She's so desperate to reach the realm that she's willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.

When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he's been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world—and each other—the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe...

*Key Characters* Solara Brooks, Doran Spaulding, Crew of SS Banshee, Phineas Rossi, Kane, Renny, and Cassia Rose.

*Setting* SS Banshee, Zenith

Starflight, by Melissa Landers, is the first installment in the Starlight series. The story features and alternates narratives between 18-year old Solara and Doran. Solara, aka "Rattail" because of the birthmark on her neck, is hoping for a full ride to the outer realm where she has a job offer waiting for her as an engineer. She has two problems: (1) She has tattoos that label her as a felon, and (2) she has no cash and would need to indenture herself to someone for the duration of the time it would take to travel to Vega. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at things, Solara ends up with her former nemesis Doran Spaulding as her "master" after he agrees to pay for her journey. Solara and Doran have a long history of him taunting and making her life miserable and she, in turn, won the cherished Richard Spaulding Alumni Award right from under his nose. Solara tries to alter his memories of being master/servant relationship but things take an interesting twist. 

Doran Spaulding is a spoiled rich kid who is also the heir to the Spaulding Fuel Group. When he see's Solara, he knows that he can get the most out of her and she won't complain if she wants to make it to the end of her destination. Sent on a mission by his father to a barren planet, and tricked by Solara into her being his master, Doran finds that he is now a fugitive, and wanted on earth to face all sorts of charges. 

Doran and Solara find themselves on board the Banshee and among a group of crew members that have all sorts of issues. There is the captain with no leg (Rossi), the kleptomaniac second mate (Renny), the cook (Kane) who has eyes for only one person, and a secretive girl (Cassia) who is running from something or someone. They must work together as a team in order to avoid Enforces, bounty hunters, secrets, and pirates if they are to survive.

Starlight appealed to me on many different levels. The first reason is that the story takes place mostly in outer space, and I am a science fiction nerd. Second, the story reminded me of Firefly to the point where I was actually comparing characters to the actors on Firefly. In fact, if you cast Nathan Fillion as Capt Rossi, Jewel Staite as Solara, and Alan Tudyk as Renny, you have the newest movie called Starlight! 

One could say that the romance is fairly predictable. Solara and Doran go from hating each other to mutual respect, to a literal roll in the hay to get things going. The good news about this first book is that it is basically a standalone with a beginning and an ending. The second novel Starfall, will feature Cassia Rose and Kane.

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#Monday Review - Invaded by Melissa Landers (Young Adult, Science Fiction)

Series: Alienated # 2
Format: Hardcover, 356 pages
Release Date: February 3, 2015
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Library 
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

The romantic sequel to Alienated takes long-distance relationships to a new level as Cara and Aelyx long for each other from opposite ends of the universe...until a threat to both their worlds reunites them. 

Cara always knew life on planet L’eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L’eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her.

Things look up when Cara is appointed as human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L’eihr. A society melding their two cultures is a place where Cara and Aelyx could one day make a life together. But with L’eihr leaders balking at granting even the most basic freedoms, Cara begins to wonder if she could ever be happy on this planet, even with Aelyx by her side.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx, finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L’eihr relations. Humans don’t know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx’s people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists’ multiple attempts on Aelyx’s life.

The Way clearly needs humans’ help . . . but with what? And what will they ask for in return? 

Invaded is the second chapter in Melissa Landers Alienated series. Things are about to get a whole lot more crazy for Cara Sweeney and Aelyx from the Planet L'Eihr. While Aelyx is staying behind on Earth to fix the alliance between planets that he helped unsettle, Cara is heading for Aelyx to complete her part in the exchange and to say for an extended period of time. Cara is supposed to learn more about the culture, the colony that she and Aelyx are supposed to be settling, and a deeper look at the Way, whose word is law. Landers alternates narratives between Aelyx and Cara, but it really is Cara's adventures that take center stage.

Cara arrives on L'Eihr alongside her brother Troy, and Aelyx's sister Ellie who is also a medic, and the who ends up guiding Cara into understanding the new culture including the brutal physical training. From the onset, Cara really is the alien this time around. Her time on planet will be anything but easy. She faces discrimination, and a puzzling secret that nobody wants to talk about, and the ogling of disturbing character who just won't leave her alone. Cara learns about the colony, and becomes a citizen of the planet by way of a ceremony called Sh'ovah which is perhaps another way to make Cara feel less than human. But, Cara also learns by doing her own research, that an ancient alien species is sending probes to L'Eihr. What do they want? Are they allies, or enemies? Is there anyone working for them that she's met?

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, Aelyx and Syrine are trying to change people's image of the L'eihr with stops across the nation, and interviews with select talk show hosts. It becomes obvious that there are those who don't want to see the alliance go forth. In fact, Aelyx ends up being an assassination target more times than you can shake a stick at even with a bodyguard alongside. Aelyx also begins to wonder why the alliance is so important to the Way. They pretty much ignore his assassination reports, and move in the quickest way possible to have a treaty signed so that they can fix the problem with the water supply. Even though there is some issues between Aelyx and Cara's long distance relationship, in the end it still manages to keep things interesting. One of the most awe inspiring scenes is when Aelyx sends Cara a special present to make her miss him less.

The way things end for Invaded, is obvious that there is a necessity for a third installment. Apparently, that book called United will be released later in 2016. There are just too many unexplained mysteries that haven't been uncovered. There also way too many characters who are just not what they seem. Are they working for the Aribol. or are they trying to destroy the alliance? What does it mean now that Cara is a member of the Way, and also the human representative for the Colony? Will Aelyx feel left out? Guess if we desire the answers to these questions, we will be reading the third installment.

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