A feisty gatherer with a dangerous heritage and a mysterious starfarer from a mighty race engage in a delicate dance of love, faith, longing and survival, while the sector burns around them!A powerful entity readies to join the war in Sector Araloka. The Ur’quay’s return to their old stomping grounds will have repercussions for the sector — affecting the present, changing the future and shining … future and shining more light on the past.
Sila
Sila Gatherer hides a deadly secret on a rural planet. Until an accidental encounter with an alien starship changes her life. Threatened, exiled and adrift, Sila must survive far from home and everything familiar.
Zh’hir
Star Captain Zh’hir Mu’raat is Ur’quay – legendary starfarers renowned across the galaxy. On a desperate mission to a distant corner of the galaxy, his world collides with Sila’s. Thrown together, the starfarer and his accidental captive forge an extraordinary bond.
The Farmer & the Starfarer
Drawn to each other against all odds, Sila and the Star Captain must fight for a future together as the war, her ability, Ur’quay tradition and a complicated legacy test their faith. When a powerful foe threatens their new coalition, they race against time to unravel a centuries-old secret. With the fate of Sector Araloka and the Ur’quay at stake, can the starfarer follow his heart or will history repeat itself again …
Author’s Note : This is the second book of The Araloka Chronicles, a collection of SciFi Romance tales with swashbuckling adventure.
The story is standalone, though a reader’s experience will be enhanced if the books are read in order.
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I haven’t read that many sci-fi romances and I’ve noticed that it’s a neglected subgenre on my reading list. However, between The Starfarer and the previous book in The Araloka Chronicles, The Mercenary, I’ve realized that I’ve been missing out!
I don’t know if it’s because at the time when I started reading this I was also rewatching and binging on Star Trek TNG, DS9 and Voyager (yes, I’m a Trekkie), but this story read just like an episode from any of these shows. It was all too easy to picture it on the screen, which made it not only an enjoyable read, but also an entertaining one.
I loved the slow build of the romance between Star Captain Zh’hir Mu’raat and Sila. The author perfectly captured the barriers to the first meeting and to their eventual friendship, such as communication, culture, experience, etc. Once they realized how compatible they were, it was beautiful to watch how their feelings for each other evolved. Despite themselves, despite the odds, they dreamt of a future together and I couldn’t help but want the same.
The battle between the Alliance and the Empire is far from over, but with new allies and new strategic weapons, I think they stand a better chance at winning. I’m definitely on the side of the rebels. I had so much fun immersing myself in the battle scenes. The author did a fantastic job of drawing a well developed picture, putting me right there on the front lines, driving up my adrenaline like I was there during each fight.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, which will give an in-depth look at the leader of the Alliance. He’s part cyborg and I can’t even begin to imagine the intricacies of this character.
Original review: https://myshelfbooks.wordpress.com/2020/02/02/review-the-starfarer-by-petra-landon/
This is one of those books I want to update the mark to make it lower after a second thought, but I want to be honest with my first impression after ending the book. As the author claims, this was meant to be a short story that evolved into something else. The same way I prefer a Pikachu to a Raichu, I would also have prefered that this story would have remained in the short size. This second part of The Araloka Chronicles is clearly inferior to its older sister, but it still has some bite. Let’s jump to the Henia to start this new journey!
This time we follow Zh’hir, a mysterious Ur’quay starfarer who is the new secret face of the peculiar treaty between the Ur’quay and the Alliance. His homeworld needs a natural resource to survive and some of the Alliance planets have plenty to offer. One of them is Terra 5, where Sila is just a farmer leading a very simple life. By accident, the ship where Zh’hir is First Commander kidnaps her when taking some samples. The starfarer makes his own quest to deliver her to safety, a task that puts him way closer to her than expected. Sadly, the accidental kidnap has stirred some dangerous waters and Zh’hir doesn’t leave Silas as safe and sound as he thinks. Will the alien run to her help or will he leave the poor terran to her own devices? If you pick the second option, you should really read more Romance books…
The main enemy of this book is its own size. Let’s be honest, the story doesn’t have enough weight to properly fulfill almost 400 pages. It should have been half of that size, because most parts of the books are just endless loops or repetitions that get us nowhere. The cadence chosen for this story is as follows: one good chapter with a good pace followed by two or three chapters that are slower than a lazy snail. I’m not a quitter as a reader, but this time I have struggled with myself in order not to give up and just forget about it. The lively parts were good, but sadly not that good as to make me forgive the densely narrated chunks were almost anything happened. Or worse, what happens was already told in the first book.
When there is action and danger and space ships involved, this book gets entertaining. Yes, one of those scenes is rather similar to one we read in the first book; but at least we have some fire to warm us before the long winter. When this book gets a plot of its own, the author show us her easiness at building complex galactic conflicts and filling them with plenty of cultures to last a lifetime. All the lore pills we have to ingest leave a very pleasant aftertaste and feel like a reward after the more boring scenes of the book. One thing I must admit is that the Araloka System could be a caulddron for hundreds of stories and I don’t imagine myself getting bored of them. The distilled version of this second story is Space Opera at its best! I’m actually suprised about the epilogue, though. I do not like that something that big gets such a tiny portion. I don’t think it is an ending of the saga, but it cheates us from a good and hugely important space battle.
The story was good, but too slow. Sadly, the characters are mostly sleep-inducing ones. The main ones are so plain, that is hard to mention something about them. Sila is just the classic good girl of the Romance genre. A bit naive, but with enough punch for modern standards. Zh’hir is just the big alien, who is good at figthning and that falls in love almost at first sight. Neither of them have any distinguishable personality trait to make them mildly interesting. That made the romantic aspect of the story a very unremarkable one and a part I could discard without blinking twice. Their relationship is terse most of the book, with stiff dialogs where both of them were incapable of using first names and akward moments were I couldn’t tell if they were about to kiss or butt heads. I’m usually a defender of relationships that follow all the logical steps to true love, but this time I would have just prefered a hormonal fest to aliviate my boredom.
I was expecting something more of this book. Actually, the story has almost everything I want (except an enjoyable romance), but it is buried under dozens of pages that suffocate it. But I really like the setting and its unending opportunities, so if a third book is ever published I have no doubt I will read it.
Landon has once again delivered.
This is the second book in the Araloka Chronicles, it can be read as a standalone. Though in my personal opinion the story flows better and is more emotionally potent having read the first book.
If you are new to The Araloka Chronicles you are in for a treat!
The world building is spectacular – Landon has built such a complex and vivid universe with this series. The storyline is meticulous and engaging, effortlessly drawing me in and keeping me entertained.
Sila and Zh’hir are enchanting main characters. Both are well scripted and endearing – as a reader I couldn’t help but be drawn into their emotional vortex
Sila is surviving and it seems she is not always without mishap, but she tries. An error by the Ur’quay’s lands her in a bit of a situation. The resulting incidents that follow her return change her life forever providing her with the adventure she has always sought but possibly at a higher price than she can afford to pay – the old saying “be careful what you wish for” possibly applies here
Zh’hir understands that it is time for his people to step forward and embrace the new world or face the possibility that their race will die out and become only starfire stories. He has chosen to embrace.
The Starfarer is an action-packed space opera that will indulge all of your reading whims – action, suspense, adventure, exploration, and romance.
I absolutely craved the turn of each page – each new twist and discovery a consummate reflection of the strength in Landon’s writing”
I read a copy via kindle unlimited
I love Sila and Zh’hir! It was so interesting to see them learn about each other and how to take care of one another. Starfarer is so vividly written that I felt like I was right there on the spaceships with the characters. Loved it!
Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Note for those who loved the first book: Buy this one, you won’t be disappointed! In book 1 there are unexplained references and the reader just knows those stories are out there, waiting to be told. Which brings us to book 2, The Starfarer. The heroine, Sila, was introduced in book 1 as was her hero, the legendary Star Captain Zh’hir. This is their story. It begins before the previous book and catches up to the ending of The Mercenary about half way through – at which point the story lines pretty much march together.
And for those who haven’t read the first book; I highly recommend it. No, you don’t have to read The Mercenary first, but I suspect you WILL want to read it. So why not pick up both and read them in order?
First a word about what this book is NOT. It is not a hunky alien guy who’s courtship consists of “You belong to me. The bedroom’s this way.” Star Captain Zh’hir treats the terrified accidentally captured human with kindness and patience – even going so far as to violate his own laws and possibly jeopardize the alliance to protect her. He allows her to learn about the wider world and encourages her to grow into the person she can be before he even lets her know he is attracted. And he allows her to make the choices that are right for her.
I think a common theme for the two books could be summed up as “One person CAN make a difference.” In book 1, Zoran made a difference to Saakshi and through her to balance of power between the existing power blocks of the sector. In book 2, Zh’hir saves both Sila and her planet, and commits the strength of his people to fighting their fight against the Empire. [FYI, neither of these women are wimps, they do a lot of saving as well.] It is obvious that the Universe is a better place for having these four in it.
I found this to be a richly nuanced story about fascinating people and cultures and yes, I am pantingly waiting for book 3!
I received both of these books for free as review copies [thank you, Ms Landon] but I purchased copies of both after I had read them. Writing like this needs to be encouraged.
The Starfarer puts all other sci-fi romance books to shame. The way Petra Landon seamlessly wrote the sci-fi action and romance together has put The Starfarer in a class of it’s own! I’ll start off by saying this is the second in the Araloka Chronicles, The Mercenary being the first, and you don’t have to read the first one but I highly recommend it! Now that I’ve said that, let me continue to wax poetically about how much I friggin loved The Starfarer. I’ll be honest, I knew I’d love it but I thought it wouldn’t be able to compare to my love for The Mercenary. I was wrong! Petra Landon stepped this one up by about 100 notches. We meet the Star Captain and Sila in the first book, and you are instantly curious about them. This book starts off a bit before the last one and continues on from there. Sila is from a farming planet and hasn’t been content in her life for awhile. A mishap brings her aboard the Henia and into the sights of the Star Captain. After learning they share some secrets, an unlikely friendship arises. When Sila is finally sent home, they both realize they will miss each other. This is a time of war, not everything will be neat and not everything will happen as it’s suppose to. When these two meet back up, we are gifted with one of the most sweet and innocent romances to ever bloom.
I am so in love with this world. I really am. Not only do we have the sweet romance blooming, we also have an unavoidable war blooming. With the Star Captain and his people being the secret weapon. These pages are filled with love, hope, action, and courage. I kinda want to shout from the rooftops that everyone needs to read this!
The writing will have you so wrapped up in the story that you won’t notice what time or day it is. You get so lost into the pages that you have no desire to set it down. These characters just jump off the pages. They feel so real. Everything does.
Obviously I recommend this book to everyone. Any sci-fi fan will spend hours lost in this book. The Starfarer will grab you and not let go until the final page, all while wishing you could be immersed in this world again.
Cosmic tale and epic love story…
A glorious tale of derring do in a star system many lifetimes away from here… I have spent some considerable time debating the essence of this captivating book: it is most assuredly a thrilling sci fi adventure with warring parties and a despicable enemy, but underlying the excitement and adventure there is a slow-burning, sweet romance between Sila, a young, gifted woman, accidentally and irrevocably caught up in off world politics, and her Star Captain Zh’hir Mu’raat a hero-warrior and leader from a legendary alien race….
Fundamentally, I think it is suffice to say that this book works on many levels: it has strong empathetic characters, who may be extra-terrestrial, but seem very much human with their dramas, hopes, humour, and emotions; it has a vividly described backdrop landscape, which may be an authors invention, but is realistic and completely fascinating; and it has a plot that is original, unpredictable and enthralling.
The author has such a fertile imagination, and within these pages she has skilfully woven a wonderfully detailed alternative universe and storyline…everything seems so believable, the politics, the interplay, the good, and the bad, that it is almost possible to believe Arakola actually exists out there beyond our stars..
This is a standalone story but it fits perfectly with the story of Saakshi and Zoran that began with The Mercenary and continues within this story… and whilst it is not essential to read the first book, the writing is so good and the world building so compelling why wouldn’t you…..I can not commend this book highly enough to anyone who enjoys a cosmic tale and an epic love story……I received an advanced copy of this book from the author.