Nina Munteanu

I had the pleasure to listen to this book 5 or 6 years ago, and I really enjoyed it then. I’m very pleased to say that this book has stood up well over the years. Rhea Hawke is still the bad ass I want to be when I grow up. I love her dress sense (boots, weapons, sentient great coat), her sorta pet tappin (kinda a cat with 3 tails), and her best friend Beni, who is the AI on her little work-issued spaceship. Alas, she messed up big time at work (the Galactic Guardians, which is way more bureaucratic than it sounds), and she lost all but her boot and her sorta cat.

While wallowing in her self-pity, wondering what to do with her life now, she joins a gym where she meets Serge. He’s way more sexy than his name hints at. Pretty soon, she’s spending nearly all her time at his place. She’s held back from snooping into his past, as she would have done in a heart beat when she worked for the Guardians. That’s going to come back to bite her in the butt.

I especially enjoyed the tangled relationship she has with her mom. She loves her (maybe) but hates her too (and definitely hates that she sleeps around so much!). But her mom has kept some really big secrets from her and that had to sting, so I see her point most of the time.

So many aliens! I love this aspect to the story because humans aren’t the focus. In fact, they are basically an endangered species. Barely tolerated in most civilized places, Rhea has had to work twice as hard to prove herself worthy. She’d rather do that than take the path her mom did (free love).

Then there’s the evil Vos. Cue evil laughter. So many rumors about what they can do, what atrocities they have done. I know it’s quite silly, but I love this because that’s my last name, minus and S, pronounced the same way. Hahaha! If I lived in Rhea’s universe, I’d have to change my last name or risk being shot on sight.

My one little quibble with this tale is the little bit of mystic stuff tossed in, like about all the over diverses and how they can be connected with a dream portal and how soul mates will find each other across the divereses no matter what, etc. Yawn. Honestly, this story rocks without all that and a little technical-sounding stuff tossed in to explain bridging multiple universes would have worked better.

I’m very glad I revisited this exciting space opera. So looking forward to completing the trilogy. 4.75/5 stars.

The Narration: Dawn Harvey does a great job with all the different alien voices. She really went the extra mile, making them sound as described in the text of the story. I don’t know how she made some of those voices, but they really worked! I did notice a few mispronounced words this time around – like ‘Bedouin’ and ‘Hopi’ but that’s easily forgiven considering how much effort she put into the alien voices. The pacing is perfect. Her voice for Rhea is spot on – a hero that is sometimes vulnerable. There were no issues with this technical recording. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Nina Munteanu. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.… (meer)

There were plenty of questions from Book 1 and Book 2 plops us right down into the action. The first few hours, I was confused. I think there’s some jumping around the time line, or perhaps it’s jumping back and forth between the outer and inner diverses (since most people have a twin in the opposite verse). But then there was Serge, who I was 100% sure was dead at the end of Book 1 (which I’ve read twice). So I wasn’t sure if it was flashbacks to Serge before he died via Rhea’s death stare…. but, no, Serge is alive and well throughout Book 2. So, obviously I missed something and with the number of shapeshifters and dopplegangers, I guess that could easily happen.

Anyway, after about 2 hours, things level out and we stick to 1 universe and 1 timeline for the majority of the rest of the story. In fact, Rhea gets to go to prison. That was a delicious mix of Thunderdome and gray coveralls are the new black. Plenty of prison fights and Rhea has to come to terms with her previous mindless loyalty to the Galactic Guardians, an enforcement organization that isn’t above slavery and mass murder.

From there, Rhea has to confront yet another relative and she faces betrayal by a good friend. Enemies & frenemies alike still want the specs on her fancy gun. This lands her shape shifting into a blenoid in order to flee across a desert. I really liked this part of the book since it delves into animal biology. The blenoids are hunted for food but they are also seen as one of the universe’s most vicious creatures.

The tale ends with Rhea pulling together some tattered ideas of how to fight the nihilistic evil Vos, who want to damage Rhea’s universe. Along the way, she’s met several Vos and she now understands that not all are evil, but many are fine with standing aside and letting the evil Vos do their thing.

There’s so much I have enjoyed about this series so far. Rhea is a fascinating character from the start and she continues to grow throughout the tale. There’s her AI ship, Benny, her sentient great coat, her special made gun, and her own hidden shapeshifting abilities. Then there’s a cast of interesting characters, good guys and bad guys. I love that I don’t know how things will turn out; the plot keeps me guessing.

And then there’s the mystical portal to the alternate universe which is accessed via anal sex. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s just flat out odd. It came up in Book 1 (and I mentioned it in my 2013 review) and Book 2 starts off with Rhea confronting the mother of the mystical anal sea snakes which gave her some telepathic connection to the big mother snake… and that all ties in with a Vos trying to convince Rhea that she can be transported to this alternate universe once her body is prepared via superduper secretions during anal sex.

Yeah, I know. I say it out loud, try to explain it to my husband, and it just sounds too fantastical for this space opera. While I have taken some deranged glee in trying to explain this aspect of the story to others, the entire mystical aspect still bores me. Yawn.

Other than that, it’s a very entertaining space opera. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Dawn Harvey does another great job. She was most excellent with Book 1 and she continues the same superb quality with Book 2. I love how she makes all the different alien voices, and I can’t even guess how she makes some of them. She’s got the perfect voice for Rhea and she tackles some tough emotional situations in this book too. Her male voices are masculine. There were no technical issues in this recording. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Nina Munteanu. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.… (meer)

I had a hard time getting into this third installment of this series. I fell in love with the characters in Book 1, continued to enjoy them in Book 2, but here in Book 3 they don’t get much done. The first 4-5 hours is spent on romantic entanglements, miscommunication, and hurt feelings. For me, that was pretty darn boring. The book does pick up a little in the last 3 hours. There was a point where our hero Rhea has a big important climatic moment, and I could have lived with the story ending there. However, it continues on after for perhaps another 2 hours.

The things I enjoyed about Books 1 & 2 (the hunt for bad guys, fancy weapons, action, mistakes made, alliances broken, etc.) were largely missing in this book. The things that I found a bit boring in the previous books (the big spiritual ideas, romantic angst, mystical portal opening sex, etc.) make up the bulk of this story. I really wonder why Serge is still alive. Why hasn’t Rhea killed him (again)? He seems to be very split on his allegiances.

I did find it a little predictable in a few ways. In Book 1, we learn early on that Rhea absolutely hates Eosians. Then, boom! She finds out she’s part Eosian. So in Book 2, she absolutely hates the vile, evil Vos. Then, boom! She finds out that she is part Vos. Haha! So, you can guess what happens in Book 3. I won’t tell you which species it is this time.

I did enjoy the return to the Sekhmet prison to assist the Rill even further. I felt that was a good way to bring the story home. Rhea has grown as a character and is striving to make amends for her past wrongs. Overall, this tale lacked the awesome of the previous two books but I’m still glad I closed out the trilogy. 3/5 stars.

The Narration: Dawn Harvey continues to bring a great performance to this series. Her narration is so well done. She’s got the perfect voice for Rhea Hawke. I love how she manages all the different alien voices. Truly, I don’t know how she pulled some of them off, and with such consistency across all three books. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Nina Munteanu. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.… (meer)