Synopsis

Review

5 “favorite series” stars!

They did it again! Won my heart and made me swoon and fear and cheer and ….

This book was one of my most awaited for 2019. I read Honor Among Thieves after having read fantastic reviews by Shanah, Raven and Dani.

I didn’t know what to expect as I am (or rather was) not a scifi or space adventure fan.

I ended being swept off my feet by that book. It was totally unique, unexpected, emotional, right …well you get it I just loved it.

Honor Bound landed in my mailbox on Friday. I began reading on Friday night and ended on Saturday afternoon! If I did not have to sleep and do several chores I would have read all night long!

That’s how gripping it was!

I was also enormously relieved because I had such high expectation that I really feared being disappointed. But no I am still enamored with this series and I can’t wait for the third book!

Now let’s get to what makes this book so dear to my heart:

First you have “Zadim”. Nadim and Zara are just fantastic together! And even if a leviathan is a huge living spaceship and of course you can’t have a traditional “relationship” with it (because size and …just well hell no!) their bond is still the most beautiful kind of love that I’ve read about.

I was deeply touched by this bonding aspect in the first book and also totally caught off guard. I did not expect it!

Now the element of surprise is of course absent but they are maturing and adjusting in their bond. This is really how honors and leviathan should be as it made Nadim incredibly stronger. He was at his best when they bonded.

“Yet I have done what no leviathan has before me, chosen my own partners for the journey. It feels like freedom all others ought to be afforded. How can any Elder know my private heart or understand what I need?”

And this is kind of a totally unexpected metaphor about “love makes us better, stronger”.

“It came to me with clarity right then that I loved Nadim. Alien ship that he was in the flesh, I loved the bright, perfect core of him. Mind loving Mind.”

Second you have Zara Cole. She has matured and came a long way from the time she had to survive in the Zone! Now she is a very capable honor. She is still badass and will kick some butts in this book! With Chao Xing (C-X) they will have to win fights if they want to bargain some advanced repairs for Typhon and Nadim. I so loved the fighting scenes!!!!

Many of you are science fiction fans and it won’t probably be new to you but the “gladiator” thing in a space context with “no rules” in the arena was just an adrenaline shot! I cheered each time Zara won!

Zara is the epitome of a survivor. Not only does she have a gift to adapt fast to new environment and new circumstances she can also always pinpoint her opponent’s weakness. Handy in a fight!

She has sass and is not frightened easily even by alien mobster boss!

Third you have the Adventure and the Action with a big “A”.

So many things are happening that you’ll never have a dull moment. Honestly these two authors work wonderfully together to make the plot run smoothly, efficiently and quickly! There is a saying in French that you have more ideas in two (several) brains than in one and that’s so true!

You will have desperate actions in dire situation. You will have unexpected moves pulled at the last second and all along these intense passages you will forget to breathe!

Fourth all characters have a purpose and really add to the story!

We got some new characters by the end of the last book: Yusuf and  Starcurrent  will complete the crews and come handy in many circumstances. This all feel like a small honor army ready to face a huge threat to the world! They may be sometimes vastly different but some recurring themes like slavery are not exclusive to one race. There is so much diversity in the book but really what the authors show us is that diversity is only superficial. At the end of the day we all dream, hope, despair, suffer and love the same, human or aliens alike. I think this is a lesson to be learned here.

Fifth the world building is flawless! You have all kind of alien creatures: phages, …. You have ancient civilizations long gone but still posing a threat. Intergalactic “outlaw cities” kind of like a Las Vegas stranded in space where everything is allowed. You have mortal and unexpected enemies. You have songs as currency, you have ….

Sixth you have heroes and sacrifices.

All honors were ready to sacrifice themselves to save the leviathan race. They were collateral damage in the grand scheme of things and were ready to die for their ship and for the universe.

By now I hope you are convinced that this series is just the next best thing!!

There is only a slight problem: I thought we had two books but there is more to come! It’s a good thing as I’ll have more of Zadim but it’s a bad thing as this ends on a double cliffy and I doubt I’ll be lucky to get an ARC. Long wait ahead!!!

Have you read this series? What do you think of it? Are you ready to try now?

Thanks for reading

Sophie