Half Man. Half Machine. All Hers.
Rage, the Humanoid Alliance’s most primitive cyborg, has two goals—kill all of the humans on his battle station and escape to the Homeland. The warrior has seen the darkness in others and in himself. He believes that’s all he’s been programmed to experience.
Until he meets Joan.
Joan, the battle station’s first female engineer, has one goal—survive long enough to … long enough to help the big sexy cyborg plotting to kill her. Rage might not trust her but he wants her. She sees the passion in his eyes, the caring in his battle-worn hands, the gruff emotion in his voice.
When Joan survives the unthinkable, Rage’s priorities are tested. Is there enough room in this cyborg’s heart for both love and revenge?
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Cynthia Saz has built an amazing world with her Cyborg series. This is the first book in the long series and it’s amazing. The Hero, Rage, is completely possessive and Alpha. What he says goes, no matter what…but at the 85% drama, he shows exactly how far he’d go for his woman. Even though what happened to her was awful and tragic, somehow Sax made it beautiful at the same time. This book is somewhat dark and lots of graphic stuff happens, but I think that’s why what Rage does is so amazing. Anyway…this one and Ghost of a Machine are my favorites in the series, but I recommend all of them! 🙂
First of all, I loved everything about this story. Rage and Joan freaking OWNED me! Their initial meeting, with the threat of certain death almost tangible, and yet they still found themselves irresistibly attracted to each other and falling so deeply in love. WOW!! Second of all, why did no one steer me in this authors direction before???
Rage threw back his head and roared, rattling the metal fragments scattered around him, filling the chambers with the sounds of his horror, his regret, his sorrow. They did this to her, the humans, and they would all die.
Joan was an intelligent and perceptive engineer who garnered no respect from her peers. From the overt mysogyny and physical abuse from her coworkers, her life was far from ideal. She cared deeply for cyborgs, especially because one saved her life many years ago. She was living on borrowed time and she knew it and counted herself lucky to find love and passion with Rage in the meantime. As for Rage, he was one of the last of the older model cyborgs left and had endured tortures that boggle the mind. He had no love or trust for humans and no one could blame him. So when Joan became his new engineer, he let her know her life was over. He couldn’t have predicted his instant connection to her or her innate submissiveness. She was utter perfection and a contradiction to everything he believed. These two were sweet forbidden love at its finest!
Rage bent over and brushed the soft curls away from his little engineer’s beautiful face. The tendrils coiled around his fingers, embracing him, strands of red interwoven with the brown. Even her hair knew she belonged to him.
When I picked out this book, I thought it would be a smutfest of robotic proportions. I was prepared for very little story and lots of hot sex. I couldn’t have been more wrong. While the intimate moments between Rage and Joan were pretty incendiary, this book had such an intricate and detailed plot. The author didn’t miss a point. Every time I thought the story would go in a much ‘easier’ direction, the author showed me that she was willing to dig deeper. I got a story about hope and freedom. A story that delved into the utter desolation of oppression and the determination to be rid of the shackles. I was enthralled by the characters and this story controlled every one of my responses. I couldn’t think beyond the next moment. I couldn’t feel anything other than what I was directed to feel. And I loved every moment of it!
“We’ll survive this, female.” He pressed her face against his body armor. “Because that’s who we are.”
“Survivors,” she mumbled against the hard material.
I’m 100% dedicated to every character introduced in this book. I’m excited to meet each one in their own story and I’m eager to find out how they navigate their newfound freedom. Cynthia Sax is a new-to-me author and she’s most definitely found a new fan in me.
Well, I liked that story, but I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. This book isn’t for the faint of heart and contains several triggers (violence, abuse, torture, strong D/s themes) that might upset people who are sensitive to those issues.
On the positive side, the sexy scenes are hot (and there’s plenty of them), the romance gets cuter and cuter as the story progress (if you like the possessive bossy alpha caveman type), and the secondary characters are likable and funny.
The plot wasn’t the strongest, but it didn’t bother much, except near the end, because it was dragging a bit longer than I liked (it was very predictable and lasted for a lot more pages than necessary).
I’ll give book 2 in the series a shot.
Loved it ( going in for more )
This appears to be the start of a series, since it’s the Cyborg Sizzle, #1. The author has created a brave new world populated by the scientists who created cyborgs, which are grown in a lab to have an accelerated growth rate, so that within a year or two, the cyborgs are fully-grown adult warriors. Engineers have to work on them, to increase the efficiency and strength of the somewhat human warriors. But many humans see them as merely machines, despite their having self-awareness and consciousness.
In this story, Joan Tull is the first female engineer on a battle station, which means she gets insulted by all of the men who call her “Tits,” taking their lead from the commander, who despises women. When she’s assigned to have a cyborg of her own to tend to, she’s thrilled. When she discovers it’s a C-level cyborg, with grey skin and only the rudimentary programming essential for battle and breeding, she’s even more happy, even though he’s called Rage because he’s a killing machine who is often violent and angry.
When she was only 11 she lived on an agri-planet that was attacked by aliens who were stopped only by the cyborgs sent by the Human Alliance. The cyborg who rescued Joan after her entire family was slaughtered, was a C-level cyborg. This is her chance to repay that kindness with her own. So she’s dismayed to discover that the other engineers have been torturing the cyborgs, presumably for “fun.” The cyborgs’ programming doesn’t allow them to communicate with each other while on the battle station, and the engineer-handlers have weapons that can neutralize a cyborg, so they have to obey. But that doesn’t mean they have to like it–and a cyborg has a very long memory when he or she has been abused.
The story is about how Joan is able to convince Rage that not all humans want to hurt him, and he does indeed deserve respect for serving the Human Alliance so well for so long–despite the inevitability that they will decommission him at some point, and keep him alive while they remove all of his “parts” for reuse in other cyborgs. And Joan learns that the huge C-level cyborg is indeed more human and humane than his creators and handlers.
Note: there is a violent multiple rape that isn’t described, but alluded to about 2/3 of the way into the book. I wasn’t prepared for it–I almost didn’t want to finish the book because of it. Then there is a scene where Rage brutally tortures the commander–we all despise him, but I didn’t feel good about myself cheering for his death. But I’m glad I kept reading, because once Rage uses his nanocybotics to heal Joan, and she proves to be stronger than most humans, life gets much better. And she gets to have her HEA with her grey C-level cyborg.
3 stars – I liked It
TW: Rape
Rage, the Humanoid Alliance’s most primitive cyborg, is determined to escape and kill all the humans on the station when he does. When he is assigned a new engineer, he expects treachery and pain from them. Instead, he gets a female who is submissive and caring.
This was a steamy start to a series. Rhage is one of the oldest models of cyborgs left. He knows if he isn’t careful the Humanoid Alliance will decommission him. It just makes him more determined to escape with his fellow cyborgs. Rhage comes across as an unfeeling machine to everyone but Joan, which I love.
Joan was one tough cookie. She is the only woman to make it through the engineering program and had to deal with constant insults and threats against her to do it. Now she is surrounded by a ship full of men who hate her and want her to fail. The only peace she finds is with Rhage, which I loved. While she does get brutalized by the crew, Sax didn’t drag out the details or make her trauma overwhelm the story. It was heartbreaking but her love for Rhage got her through.
I enjoyed this first glimpse at this world. But I do hope we get more information in the next few books about why the Humanoid Alliance is so sadistic towards cyborgs, yet uses them to fight their battles. That was the only thing about this book that bothered me because there wasn’t a clear reason given. Overall though, this was a sexy cyborg romance and I look forward to the next book.
The story is explosive! The way Joan and Rage’s relationship builds is unique and moving. Joan is well-educated, emotionally strong and intelligent. Still, she realizes Rage must be in control to accept her assistance. The way this relationship develops is fascinating to experience, and SO rewarding! Yes, there are dark passages, but love overcomes all.
This book guarantees I will read each book in this series. Book budget? Pssht! I’ll figure it out!
My first by Cynthia Sax and won’t be my last!! While most avid readers would find this to be a “short” story… It is at least a complete story! Very well written with excellent character development and world building!!
I’m not normally one for cyborgs but this novel changed my mind. Loved the characters and really felt for them and all they’d been through. Actually cried while reading one part of this book. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Joan is in charge of keeping Rage ready for battle. His last engineer was sadistic and Rage killed him. Joan doesn’t know if she will suffer the same fate; however, she and Rage become lovers which angers the rest of the misogynistic crew. You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens: you will love the ending. Action, danger, romance and just desserts abound.
A fantastic story about survival! A fantastic story with a sexy and protective hero, eventually, and a smart and brave and also protective heroine. I was pulled in right from the start when joan had to fight a negative environment, as the only woman on a space station, which is just a mess waiting to happen. She was surrounded by guys who did not wish her well. The cyborgs were also mistreated and expected the same from all humans. The love story with Rage, evolves organically, but retains an uneven balance of power. This is a strong story, with a very violent scene that was written with only implied sexual aggression, but the violence is real. I thought it was nicely done with a fair approach to describing the graphic fight. I couldn’t put it down, the book is worth staying up all night for!
Totally wonderful. Amazing heroine!
This was my first Cynthia Sax book. Joan is the first female engineer on the battle station she is assigned to. It just so happens the man in charge is very sexist and against woman holding “mens jobs” and he hires like minded men. When she gets assigned to Cyborg “Rage” it is because he killed his last handler and everyone assumes he will kill her too. Joan is partly in love with the C Model Cyborg before she ever meets him. As a child she was saved by a C Model Cyborg when the rest of her family was killed. The Cyborgs are considered just machines by everyone but Joan on the battle station. The other handlers abuse them in every way imaginable. They are planning to escape and destroy the humans. The story is about Joan and what she does to convince Rage to trust her.
This book has violence from both the humans and the cyborgs. There is a scene that might be a trigger for some people. I liked the story but would have liked some more background on their world before just jumping in. I felt a little lost. I am interested in reading some of the others in the series.
If I had read the reviews before reading this, I would not have read it. It did give a warning that it was dark. Violence does not bother me and I do love alpha males but…sigh. I would have loved this book, but there were scenes that made me uncomfortable. Maybe if there was more background information, I probably would have been ready for this world. I got through it. Now that I know what this world is about and what to expect (or maybe it was just this story in the series), I will continue this series because I want to know about the secondary characters which I found would have been hilarious if she wrote more about them. Oh well. I’m hardly ever impressed with book one in a series. Who knows, I may become a fan.
I didn’t just “like the book” – I LOVED IT. It’s my first by the author – and was totally a happy accidental find. I really enjoy the world that the author is building – even if some twists (the one at the end) was obvious to any reader….I really enjoy “angsty” books – books were the man screws up and then feels terrible and then comes to save the day. Thus, my love for this book.
My favorite of all her books. This book was so different from anything I had ever read and really drew me into scifi books. It was so heart wrenching. I cried. I rejoiced at their happy ending.
I absolutely LOVED this book!!!
Ok, ok, I almost stopped reading it at the beginning. I wasn’t sure what to think about Rage and how he treated Joan, and wasn’t exactly sure where the story was going.
BUT.
I am SO happy I stuck with it!!!
This book is so full of EMOTION. I kid you not, I was in tears at one point. The feelings were conveyed so well, and I couldn’t get enough of Rage and Joan.
True to its genre, this book is graphic. Blood and gore await, but it fit in perfectly with the story.
And holy smokes, can Cynthia write a love scene! Not only that, but the evolution of the dynamic between Rage and Joan and the corresponding changes in their sexy times were just so beautifully done.
Yep. I’m hooked on this series!!!
“Female”
When I read, I find myself engaging both my heart or, if you prefer, emotions, and intellect. I am also of the belief that intelligence cannot exclude the human heart (emotion). The impetus to reproduce, create life, is seated in the emotions even if the holder of said emotions wishes to deny this intellectually…and, even if sometimes the emotions aren’t all that productive and healthy. Most of the eminently acclaimed scientists know that there is a point in the study and investigation of our universe that knowledge and logic fail in the absolute understanding of things. It is at this point that an emotional decision is made to ascribe meaning to our human condition or not. It is not an entirely logical or informed decision, it is a human decision. Love, belief, grace and mercy are qualities that allow us to transcend the limits of the infinite reality that our scientific minds place before us. Where the limits of our knowledge and logic confine us to the limits of that reality we observe. It is belief, love, grace and mercy that lift us up out of these limits and allow our minds and hearts to soar in other realms that we cannot actually prove exist.
Pardon me, I digress. This book came out of the imagination of a skillful author who imagined a future world of new planets, new discoveries, new technologies, new alien enemies?, half-human/half-machine sentient beings. Some of the ideas were enchanting. Some made my blood run cold. Ultimately she fell a bit short in the actual world building.
I recall seeing a movie titled “A.I.” (Artificial Intelligence). “The screenplay by [Steven] Spielberg was based on a screen story by Ian Watson and the 1969 short story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss.” – Wikipedia. This was a futuristic world wherein a technology company finally created a thoroughly convincing android with human emotions that imprinted upon its primary user emotionally and as it turns out, irrevocably for eons. The movie depicts how humans treated this android of a little boy as disposable when they had no longer any use for him and disposed of him as others disposed of their useless androids. Their owners thought to simply release them to be on their own instead of decommissioning them. These androids continued to learn from each other in their own rogue communities. They were rounded up, pulled apart and treated in grossly inhumane fashion. They were machines, right? Who cares? It was a spectator sport where folks visited their outrage at all the machines blamed for every misery or resentment at technology harbored by the “Average Joe or Jane”. The androids from earlier to later models would huddle and comfort each other as the raucous patriotic? crowd did their worse to these beings. It is as if the more intelligent the androids became, they began to exhibit empathy, a thoroughly and completely human emotion. Again I digress but there is a point.
One of my guiltier pleasures is reading about the idea of a beautiful cyborg man and all the lovely possibilities that can be had if this half-man/half-machine loves, yes, his choice, loves and pleasures a woman . To this author’s credit, she can write some mighty fine delectably dirty cyborg sex scenes that impart some incredible side benefits.
For example, Rage, the Model C Cyborg was a fierce beautiful, but really scarred battle and breeding machine. His new cybernetic engineer, Joan Tull is reverent of his being, aware of his sentient intelligence but startled at his lack of trust and overall hatred of human beings. Joan has dealt with the extreme of male misogyny. She had to literally physically fight to be trained as a cybernetic engineer. Males in her world where of the extreme view that “females” did not have the capacity to be engineers. Their brains were not capable as male brains.(Echos of a treatise recently written by a male engineer at Google?) At her duty station in space, along with openly calling her demeaning names, they were violent about it . Her commander instigated hate and violence against her with impunity.
When she met the violent cyborg that was to be her responsibility, she felt instant awe and began to experience desire for him. In her careful ministrations to clean and upgrade his mechanics, she discovered that his previous male handler had physically and sexually abused this being to the point of mutilating his genitalia. Furthermore, she discovered that the other male cybernetic engineers assigned to each cyborg did the same or worse to the half-human/half-machine beings that fought for them, provided them safety and kept them alive. I was sickened.
Is this going to be one the dangers to our human soul of having androids with artificial intelligence? For the most part, there does not seem to be an impulse by man to abuse any other machine or equipment used to insure survival within our story or without. Of course the author maintained continuity of the character of these particular men in their stupidity at abusing the lone female in their midst as they continued in their abuse of the the half-human machines entrusted to their care.
So while this was an erotic and futuristic tale of cyborg love and romance…(Eventually our heroine, Joan endures the absolute worse a woman can endure. The manner in which she was made whole again may upset some. In fact, the whole scenario of her attack is yet, another cause for concern.)
…ultimately, after I read this book, I felt a chill go up my spine and whether intentional or not, there are some warnings made plain by this story.
Judge your leaders by how they treat the most vulnerable around you. Sooner or later you will be vulnerable yourself. Speak out against cruelty to sentient beings. Cruelty is neither logical or good. Cruelty in the end destroys lives, characters and snuffs out the flames of compassion. Maybe if the human world…and the times before this futuristic time in the human world depicted in this book had the intellectual and emotional intelligence of “female” there would not have been so much war with interplanetary species and unnecessary killing. The cyborgs could go back to simply breeding. “Make love not war”
Always…always have the courage, whether man or woman, to speak out against language, actions and policies that hurt or injure another and have no basis in intellectual understanding…cannot be supported logically with that which we know to be empirically true. Perhaps in this way, our interstellar and interplanetary future will be far brighter than what is imagined so far.
I give this book a 3.5 stars. Again the author clearly has imagination. The erotic scenes sizzled. I thought a derogatory phrase ascribed to the human males was overused to the point of irritation. A huge plot hole or dilemma existed in my mind surrounding the healing substance the cyborgs had in their saliva and body secretions. Surely the men were not that stupid. The creation of new life was not given full attention, and the opportunity to say more was lost here. The ending felt rushed, the story incomplete and little was said about anything changing the future outlook of these worlds after all the meaningful drama.
I take no pleasure in expressing my negative impressions. I’m still soothing my broken heart wondering if all the trauma suffered was worth the read. I, as usual, tend to round up with my 3.5 to 4 stars.