Jalia hasn’t ever played a game she can’t win.The Promise of a Queen’s Ransom is too much for life-long gambler Jalia to pass up. The untouched planet of Minos is rumored to be so wealthy, one can walk along the beach and pluck diamonds from the sea. According to the contract, all she has to do to win is solve a few puzzles and navigate a labyrinth or two. Simple!But she didn’t read the fine … didn’t read the fine print…
She isn’t competing to win treasure, she’s competing to become Queen of Minos. Marriage to the king: Mandatory.
A king who sends men to their deaths by the dozen kills anyone who dares speak against him, and his people live in fear of his wrath.
Bound by the contract, Jalia has no choice but to try or die while the challenges grow ever more deadly. Even if she wins, marrying the Monstrous king of Minos may be a fate worse than death.
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This book was a welcome surprise. Visiting Minos and watching the romance blossom between the two main characters was very entertaining. I loved Jalia and Dhega and how the two evolved through the course of the book. The use of the labyrinth’s was fun to read about and a unique take on this myth.
I would highly recommend this book and I’ll be checking out this author’s other works.
Complex, detailed world-building that leaves me with a vivid and entrancing picture in my mind of the universe the author created, clever plot, wonderful characters (including the side characters, one of which absolutely fascinates me to the point that I want to beg for his book next).
New author for me and though this wasn’t perfect I did enjoy it a lot.
In fact, it was my sheer fascination with the unfolding imaginative story and the fabulous world-building that made what I did have slight issues with fade into the background.
I will definitely pick up other books by this author in the future.
So this one was so unique and I adore how the mythology here has been interwoven within the sci-fi.
This actually gave me a mythical, sci-fi, final fantasy with a touch of Sinbad vibe.
It was really unusual and unique.
Our main girl here is Jalia a human who is a bit of a free-spirited wandering space-nomad.
She loves puzzles and conundrums and always wins so what better prize than the vast treasure offered on Mino to the victor of a unique competition.
Only Jalia didn’t read the small-print and actually finds herself competing along with five others to prove herself worthy of marriage to the king of Mino himself.
Mino is a world of might, here the worthy take and keep control through there own blood, sweat and wits.
The Minoans are a bull-like species with horns and herds and deadly labyrinths.
They are also not as technically advanced as other planets still using the old ways to heal, fight and travel.
King Dhega is coldly brutal and rules with an iron fist or horns even.
He is willing to do whatever is necessary to keep order among his people who definitely fear his legendary displeasure.
He is instantly fascinated by the snarky little human and her courage and ideals slowly start to affect him for the better, tempering his harsher persona at least in regard to her.
So this was slow-burn and very intriguing with fantastical world-building.
It also had a vein of humour running through it.
It’s quite a lengthy read and the first half of this I enjoyed the most.
The second half well I felt that the story here had already concluded to my satisfaction between Jalia and Dhega and this was really just extra filler.
I still enjoyed it but it did feel out of place slightly like it was two books in one.
There were also a couple of things that were not filled into my satisfaction like Jalia’s brother Jared And his serving time on a UC prison planet.
There wasn’t much explanation regarding this at least to satisfy my curiosity regarding his actual consequences and then there’s Jalia’s sister Jade.
I felt her inclusion in this with Nivir was not really needed and was more of an unnecessary side-story.
At first, I thought they were being set up for a future book then realised that wasn’t the case, it just seemed odd and out of place.
Finally, that ending with Angel-eyes and Tom didn’t seem organic to the story and came completely out of left field.
There was literally no trail or signs leading to this particular reveal.
Despite the above, I still recommend this highly and I would definitely love to read more from this world in the future.
It was incredibly detailed and set in a truly fascinating world that I appreciated a lot.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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Fan-bloody-tastic retelling/twist of the labyrinth of the Minotaur.
Blending sci-fi/romance/adventure/fantasy with mythology.
From the first page I was gripped…hoo, line and sinker and was a much willing victim. I loved this book hard..with its fantastic original story, beautifully creative world building, no shit taking heroine and gruff, grumpy marshmallow hero!
This book was a pleasure to read and I would love to see more form the same world.