Gladiator Galactic Gladiators Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Anna Hackett Vivienne Leheny Books
Download As PDF : Gladiator Galactic Gladiators Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Anna Hackett Vivienne Leheny Books
Fighting for love, honor, and freedom on the galaxy's lawless outer rim...
When Earth space marine Harper Adams finds herself abducted by alien slavers off a space station, her life turns into a battle for survival. Dumped into an arena on a desert planet on the outer rim, she finds herself face to face with a big, tattooed alien gladiator...the champion of the Kor Magna Arena.
A former prince abandoned to the arena as a teen, Raiden Tiago has long ago earned his freedom. Now he rules the arena, but he doesn't fight for the glory, but instead for his own dark purpose - revenge against the Thraxian aliens who destroyed his planet. Then his existence is rocked by one small, fierce female fighter from an unknown planet called Earth.
Harper is determined to find a way home, but when she spots her best friend in the arena - a slave of the evil Thraxian aliens - she'll do anything to save her friend...even join forces with the tough alpha male who sets her body on fire. But as Harper and Raiden step foot onto the blood-soaked sands of the arena, Harper worries that Raiden has his own dangerous agenda...
Gladiator Galactic Gladiators Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Anna Hackett Vivienne Leheny Books
I started this book really, really wanting to like it. The premise is a solid space opera trope: "Earthlings are kidnapped by evil aliens and sent to fight for survival in a gladiator arena." The opening action scene is very strong with detailed extraterrestrial imagery and obviously well researched scientific elements. There was a lot of room for the author to get creative with plot, characterization and world building. As a hard-core sci-fi fan, world building and setting is--for me, anyway-- almost like a character of its own that the story couldn't exist without. Unfortunately, this author didn't deliver in either character development or world building. Nor did the strong sci-fi elements of the opening carry over though the rest of the story. The primary protagonists, Raiden and Harper are stereotypical characters that I have read or seen literally 100's of times. Stereotypes aren't necessarily bad, but the author didn't do anything to make them interesting or unique...or even particularly empathetic. Raiden is your run of the mill Gary Stu warrior-hero with a tragic past and a grudge against the primary antagonists. He's big and muscular and (he *has* to be because of the Alpha!Male trope of the moment which may be more of a genre requirement than author's choice) the best fighter of his gladiator squad. He also has a bunch of tribal tattoos. Other than one being his family name, we never learn the significance or meaning behind them, aside from being super sexy looking and fetishized. I felt by not delving onto the cultural and personal significance of the body art, the author missed both world building and character building opportunities.Harper is your standard issue super tough, bad ass, female Space Marine with a tragic Mary Sue past and OMG! Raiden can't help but want her upon sight. Again, this may be a genre requirement, but I think a little more angsty tension as the M/F protagonists fall in love/lust with each other would have helped their character development. She also seems to adjust very quickly to her new circumstances. Harper has had a sad life on earth, but "no family/no friends/no attachment" heroes do run the risk of seeming a little maladjusted and superficial. Characters like this frequently exist in the romance genre, but in this story, it seemed more of a contrivance to explain Harper's half hearted desire to return to Earth, rather than an essential part of her character. Oh, did I mention she's so super tough and bad ass that she doesn't have to put any effort into learning a new fighting skill and style. She just "takes down" evil aliens and gladiators without even trying. Yeah, literally. Nearly every very fight scene describes a bad guy getting "taken down" somehow, the specific action is never described, which I found lazy and repetitive.
I could have overlooked tropey characters (because, honestly,this is escapism reading and that's what tropes are for) if I could have immersed myself into the world of Kor Magna. Unfortunately, it was so much like ancient Rome, that the story could have been time travel. (Heck, it might have been easier to suspend my disbelief if it was interdimensional time travel or Alternate Universe) I didn't feel there was anything particularly alien about it, in spite of the double suns and startlingly humanoid aliens walking around. It was like the author was basing it off the set for Sparticus: Blood and Sand, and thought: "Oh, dang! I need to make it more sci-fi... I know-- I'll give it double suns and some Star-Trek and Jon Carter-esque looking aliens. Done! SFR boxes checked." I expected a more unique and creative take of the already well established gladiator/arena theme.
I will give the author credit where credit is due: the opening is strong and vividly imaged sci-fi, several of the tertiary characters are very interesting and the sexy times are HOT. I found myself skimming to find them. So, if you're looking for a not too deep read with type cast-characters, a familiar setting with a side of scandalous erotica, give this book a go. If you're looking for the merging of solid, complex character-driven space opera with a strong romantic sub-plot-sex included, you might want to pass.
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Gladiator Galactic Gladiators Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Anna Hackett Vivienne Leheny Books Reviews
Interests Science Fiction Romance, Space/Aliens, Medieval fighting
Quick Summary
Space Marine, Harper Adams, is stunned when her ship makes alien contact and then she's terrified as her and several other women are taken prisoner. Suddenly Harper finds herself on a strange planet, being sold as a slave to fight in the Kor Magna Arena. Ex-Prince, now champion gladiator, Raiden Tiago fights not for his freedom, but for vengeance against the evil Thraxians. As soon as he sees the small but gutsy Harper fight he's fascinated by her and he can't stay away. But there's one rule of the Arena -- not everything is as it seems.
What I Liked
This was a fun action romp filled with varying types of aliens and lots of butt kicking. I particularly liked how tough Harper is and that she can take care of herself. Raiden is attracted to this quality so he never tries to take over from Harper, only make sure she's ok. Harper, as an Earth human, is much smaller than most of the alien species but she's trained in weapons and fencing and she refuses to be anyone's slave. Her devotion to her friends is also very strong. Raiden is a somewhat typical uber-alpha warrior but he doesn't seem to have the jerk qualities that sometimes come with alphas. He's used to getting his way but he's still respectful of Harper. There were lots of other gladiators introduced and I look forward to reading their stories and learning more about this alien world and how they each got to the Arena.
What Needs Work
This was short so the story and characters are only so developed and it does rely on the characters falling in love quickly but that doesn't personally bother. There was one TSTL moment that Harper has and that was pretty annoying. She gets a letter, supposedly from her friend, telling her to meet somewhere alone and she goes off without even once thinking it could be a trap. I can understand her acknowledging a trap but being so loyal and determined to save her friend that she's willing to risk it but that wasn't even the case. She just immediately believes it's real.
I started this book really, really wanting to like it. The premise is a solid space opera trope "Earthlings are kidnapped by evil aliens and sent to fight for survival in a gladiator arena." The opening action scene is very strong with detailed extraterrestrial imagery and obviously well researched scientific elements. There was a lot of room for the author to get creative with plot, characterization and world building. As a hard-core sci-fi fan, world building and setting is--for me, anyway-- almost like a character of its own that the story couldn't exist without. Unfortunately, this author didn't deliver in either character development or world building. Nor did the strong sci-fi elements of the opening carry over though the rest of the story. The primary protagonists, Raiden and Harper are stereotypical characters that I have read or seen literally 100's of times. Stereotypes aren't necessarily bad, but the author didn't do anything to make them interesting or unique...or even particularly empathetic. Raiden is your run of the mill Gary Stu warrior-hero with a tragic past and a grudge against the primary antagonists. He's big and muscular and (he *has* to be because of the Alpha!Male trope of the moment which may be more of a genre requirement than author's choice) the best fighter of his gladiator squad. He also has a bunch of tribal tattoos. Other than one being his family name, we never learn the significance or meaning behind them, aside from being super sexy looking and fetishized. I felt by not delving onto the cultural and personal significance of the body art, the author missed both world building and character building opportunities.
Harper is your standard issue super tough, bad ass, female Space Marine with a tragic Mary Sue past and OMG! Raiden can't help but want her upon sight. Again, this may be a genre requirement, but I think a little more angsty tension as the M/F protagonists fall in love/lust with each other would have helped their character development. She also seems to adjust very quickly to her new circumstances. Harper has had a sad life on earth, but "no family/no friends/no attachment" heroes do run the risk of seeming a little maladjusted and superficial. Characters like this frequently exist in the romance genre, but in this story, it seemed more of a contrivance to explain Harper's half hearted desire to return to Earth, rather than an essential part of her character. Oh, did I mention she's so super tough and bad ass that she doesn't have to put any effort into learning a new fighting skill and style. She just "takes down" evil aliens and gladiators without even trying. Yeah, literally. Nearly every very fight scene describes a bad guy getting "taken down" somehow, the specific action is never described, which I found lazy and repetitive.
I could have overlooked tropey characters (because, honestly,this is escapism reading and that's what tropes are for) if I could have immersed myself into the world of Kor Magna. Unfortunately, it was so much like ancient Rome, that the story could have been time travel. (Heck, it might have been easier to suspend my disbelief if it was interdimensional time travel or Alternate Universe) I didn't feel there was anything particularly alien about it, in spite of the double suns and startlingly humanoid aliens walking around. It was like the author was basing it off the set for Sparticus Blood and Sand, and thought "Oh, dang! I need to make it more sci-fi... I know-- I'll give it double suns and some Star-Trek and Jon Carter-esque looking aliens. Done! SFR boxes checked." I expected a more unique and creative take of the already well established gladiator/arena theme.
I will give the author credit where credit is due the opening is strong and vividly imaged sci-fi, several of the tertiary characters are very interesting and the sexy times are HOT. I found myself skimming to find them. So, if you're looking for a not too deep read with type cast-characters, a familiar setting with a side of scandalous erotica, give this book a go. If you're looking for the merging of solid, complex character-driven space opera with a strong romantic sub-plot-sex included, you might want to pass.
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