Blurb:

In flagrante apocalypto.

A paranormal romance fantasy.

The DOGs want to destroy the world. The gods want to make a new one. The trick is to survive both.

Warned by her friend Mike Augustine, Char Meadowlark tries to get off planet before a pending eco-terrorist attack, but the Defenders of Gaia strike while she’s at the airport. Jake Ardri, pilot of the shuttle Space Junque, rescues her and delivers her to the Imperial Space Station where Mike awaits.

When the DOGs’ final onslaught goes global and the material world threatens to implode, the ancient gods reemerge to take control over humanity. Through the ensuing chaos, Char must juggle two men, orbiting eco-terrorists, and a goddess with her own agenda for a new world order.

Will there be any room for love in flagrante apocalypto?

My Thoughts: Sci-fi is still a new genre to me so I try to easy myself gently into it. Space Junque is a short sci-fi romance novella, which despite its length constrictions managed to excel on several levels.

I found the science fiction aspect of the story engaging, the unique world created by L.K. Rigel is exciting and original, without being overwhelming even for sci-fi newbies like me. L.K. Rigel created a different society, another species and a specific hierarchy but despite all the new and extraordinary elements of this universe the reader does not feel lost as we are given enough explanation and guidelines to understand how this world works.

The characters are interesting but unfortunately due to the length limitations of the story, it is mostly Char (the heroine) who is well developed and given enough background and history to make her a well fleshed out character. Char is an outstanding, strong heroine and I loved how much L.K. Rigel let us readers in to understand her character’s feelings and motivations. I would have liked to learn more about the hero too to elavate him from his supporting character rank, but hopefully maybe there will be time for that in Book #2. I enjoyed reading about the other secondary characters, and hope to see a few of them again in later books.

The plot of Space Junque is surprisingly complex and layered considering its shortness, and I found the unveiling and the resolution of the mystery satisfying.

My only complaint concerning Space Junque (besides its shortness) is that I found the romantic storyline rushed and not as detailed and developed as I would have liked it to be.

What I loved the most about Space Junque is that despite the thrilling action, the romantic subplot it had a deeper meaning and made the reader experience a wide range of emotions.

Verdict: Space Junque is an engaging space travel novella with an exciting premise, interesting characters and an intriguing ‘bigger picture’. I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next instalments of the Apcalypto series, and lucky for me Book #3 has been released recently, so I can continue my reading 🙂