Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

I’m all for the fun action movie, especially when it’s science fiction, but I generally look for more when I read. This book had me worried because it starts in the middle of the action and at a mad run, but I should have had more faith. Yes, there’s action a plenty, but there’s also strong characters and people discovering who they really are.

The story focuses around Aly, who is an arms smuggler not out of ambition but rather from a lack of choices. Her history and her brother drove her down this path, but she’s not what most people would expect of ex-Corp military personnel. She’s faced with having to accept the corruption of her path or move beyond it, and each time something goes too far, she makes an active choice.

I like how she is developing from a “now” person into a “What do I want to be” kind of person. Sure, her choices are driven by her need to save her brother at first, but they become more almost without her consent, or rather, the consequences of the choices are outside of what she reasonably expected. Still, she could have given up at any point, and she could have made the final step of losing her sense of morality. Her options, and her existence, would have been much easier if she had.

Aly never takes the easy path, and trust isn’t something she’s willing to risk, but she makes connections with people almost against her will, and often against what appears to be her self-interest. She’s complex, haunted, and driven, nor is she the only character with that deep of a story. The whole crew of the transport ship that simultaneously rescues and kidnaps Aly in the beginning is much the same, each with a darkness they can’t forget but a determination to do something to make up for that past. There’s an element of revenge, but beyond Aly, they are mostly forward-looking rather than after blood.

There’s a lot to enjoy in this story, and despite what I said at the beginning, the things that stuck with me were almost entirely characters. People looking for a pure adrenalin rush might just find themselves pulled into a moving story of how Aly learns she has more than just her brother to count on, and there’s much more to live for than the value of throwing her life away on revenge.

It certainly offers hopes for the fun things to be found in the rest of the Spectras Arise Trilogy. ( )

I can't remember exactly how I stumbled across this book and the rest of the Spectras Arise trilogy, but I thought to myself "If the story is half as good as the cover art, I'm in."

I made the mistake of starting the book at a bad time and didn't even get a chance to pick it up again until last week. That tripped me up a little and I spent a little time being confused because I couldn't remember what I'd already read, but the plot is structured in a way that it wasn't hard to get back up to speed. We receive reminders and new glimpses into the characters' background information throughout the story, and motivation to learn more kept me hooked.

One of my favorite things about sci fi stories is that every author has their own idea of what the future (or the alternate-universe equivalent) will be like. Contract of Defiance's setting reminded me a lot of Firefly; rich, upscale worlds are controlled by the Admin, and the outer planets are home to settlers - farmers, miners, smugglers - who are fighting to get by. The cast of protagonists also reminded me of Serenity's crew. They're a likable bunch of characters who each have unique qualities but still mesh perfectly. It actually took me awhile to warm up to them, but that may just be because it took the main character awhile to warm up to them... in which case they were written flawlessly!

Aly Erikson is the epitome of a strong female character. She's literally strong, a badass hardened soldier who always has a gun at her side, but she's also strong in the sense that she's well-written. We catch glimpses of her humanity as she devotes all her energy toward finding her brother. She doesn't want to care, but she knows she does care, and that makes for a really interesting character.

I've already downloaded the next two books and can't wait to see what becomes of Aly, Vitruzzi, Strahan, and the rest of the Sphynx's crew! If you're looking for a fast-paced, action-packed story with awesome sci-fi tech, strong female characters, and an intriguing plot, this book is for you. ( )