Warlord Sky

i was not expecting all that. i couldn't put it down till i finished it. Made me laugh, cry, and a couple steamy scenes in there too. The writing style is clipped, resembling the Dark series - i guess that is the author's unique style rather than the style of the characters. i will read more of her for sure.

What can I say? The emotions elicited by Ms. Sax’s characters are deep. I feel the anguish of a young child being bullied and battered, the pull of a warrior to his gerel, the relief of a woman who can trust her innermost secrets with her mate, the satisfaction of acceptance from others...
I love Nayan’s hard-won strength and the way she puts her own needs into creating designs that benefit not only her, but her Warlord and his people. Qulpa is wonderful! He’s suffered great losses and now counts his team members as his family (there’s room for more). Qulpa is romantic: “He had touched her systems, revved her engines, found joy in handling her vessel...” He never wavers in his pursuit of his gerel, placing her needs before all else. Although there aren’t many things being blown up, the explosive anger of a warrior seeking retribution for harm to his gerel is a sight to behold!
Awesome writing, highly recommended!

Warlord Sky is actually a pretty good book on its own. So why only three stars? I have to say that I'm a devoted fan of Cynthia Sax's wildly rough and sexy Cyborg Sizzle series, with its uniquely bio-mechanical POV, pan-galactic species-inclusive vocabulary, and well-built universe-at-war setting. Chamele warlords are not cyborgs, but darned if they don't act, think, and sound just like the Cyborg characters. Identically styled and underpinned by identical themes of diversity, prejudice, and social change based on a minority-lead shift in core values, the book marches to the same drumbeat as the earlier series. Fine, they're great and noble themes and all, but a writer as capable of originality as Ms. Sax can surely do better, yeah? I am so disappointed.