Boy, I was so not expecting this book to hit me over the head. I really really like it, and I'm officially on sci-fi binge after Silver Shark as you can see.

First of all, the imagery of the book doesn't deserve this plastic cover. I imagine more of Cliff Neilsen luminous art to describe the look of Sara Mendoza.

I can't believe this book was written as a thesis work on sci-fi. Delightfully twisted world. There is no clarity of Ilona Andrews in it, more of hazy madness of Blade Runner.



Sara starts up as a naive debutante who only thinks about her marriage to Chen, her Rogue partner. Then couple of pages after she is on the run from the government agents being set up by Chen and left to fend for herself.

She spends a month tortured, scarred beyond any recognition and tripping out of her mind on strongest hallucinogens in the hands of an evil female contractor, Faya, all because a mad Sovereign thinks she conspired against him with the Fraggers (rebels).

Then he decides to blackmail her into becoming his spy on a ship suspected in fraggers activity.. She undergoes reconstructive surgery and becomes one of the Embassy's Ambasadoras - diplomats with beautiful live light designs on their arms.

The rest is an absolutely wild and brutal ride rigged with layers of intrigues, betrayals, assassins and fight to survive and regain Sara's sanity.

There are quite a few main characters - Sara, Sean - the ship's tech, David - ex-military and the ship's captain, enigmatic contractor Rainer and many more. They are engaging and different, - none of them are there to just fill the space.

There is also no romance the way we used to it. Instead there are two paranoid and scarred individuals who become close to each other. There are also plenty relationships around them.

I'm being as cagey as possible because I don't want to give away more than I already have, but this is a book certainly worth reading if you love a dash through space with laser guns and totally alien reality. Wonderful sci-fi. I'm in love! ( )

"The book has a lot of themes, dealing with issues of caste, social mores, sexuality, freedom and the danger of a person gaining too much power over others. Like any good piece of science fiction, it makes the reader really think about things while at the same time creating an entertaining world to experience; in this case, the author took her background in anthropology to create a very realistic world. Highly recommended."
-K. Sozaeva "Obsessive bibliophile," Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer and Vine Voice

"This author's many strengths include complex world building, complex societal structure, complex technology. The plot was well-crafted as well."
-J. Wells, Amazon Vine Voice

"The author has a way of paying attention to details to the point where every nuance is covered; the reader will be able to picture the environment, expressions, and scenes very well."
-Chels, Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer

"AMBASADORA has a lot to say about the human spirit and it says it well."
-Mike Resnick, Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author

"With an anthropologist's eye for world building and an engaging fast-paced style, Heidi Ruby Miller hurtles her characters through a dystopian labyrinth in which hollow beauty is revered and love a virtual crime."
-Christopher Paul Carey, author of EXILES FROM KHO

"Beautifully vibrant and intricately textured, Heidi Ruby Miller's AMBASADORA explores the value of true humanity, the limitless power of desire and the triumph of the individual soul. Amidst edge-of-the-seat action, Miller effortlessly incorporates the conflicts of the modern woman inherent in upholding feminist sensibility. AMBASADORA is a banquet of sumptuous words, a truly exciting adventure that fans of science fiction are sure to enjoy."
-Mary SanGiovanni, author of THE HOLLOWER series ( )

The premise: ganked from the author's website: If everyone told you love wasn't real, would you still be willing to die for it?

Sara Mendoza and Sean Cryer are.

In their multi-partner, caste-ruled society, love and jealousy are considered emotional fallacies, nothing more than fleeting moods and sentiments biased by hormones. Relationships and conceptions in this world obsessed with celebrity, beauty, and power are based on DNA and lineages...or should be. But not everyone believes in the ruling traditions of the all-powerful Embassy. A quiet rebellion prowls the dark underground of this shiny world where techno-militants calling themselves fraggers grow in numbers and bravado. The Embassy intends to silence the fragger movement before the heresy of equality spreads throughout the system.

Sara Mendoza is part of the Embassy's plan. Captured, tortured, and falsely accused of treason, she is given a chance to win back her freedom. She only needs to charm information from one of the fragger leaders, then kill him. But by the time she figures out the Embassy's intel is flawed and that Sean Cryer is her true mark, she's already in love with him.

Sean knows why Sara is on his ship from the start, but as a lonely, anti-social doser, he doesn't value his life, only his ideology within the fragger organization. Against his better judgment, he becomes her protector, each day caring more about a future he was always afraid to hope for.

My Rating: No Rating

I don't do this very often, but when I do, I have lots of reasons. Please note: "No Rating" does not, in any way, imply a negative review. Instead, just imagine that I'm not doing a rating system at all. I go this route when it's a book I don't feel qualified reviewing, such as Sebastian Copeland's photography book Antarctica: A Call to Action. But I also reserve this rating for cases when I know the author and/or am too close to the work. In this case, I clearly know the author. There's also the chance that one day, I may work with the author in a professional capacity, so I'd be kidding myself if I tried to be unbiased on the rating.

That being said, there's a lot to enjoy in this book, but this is a book that I would kill to see an editor take his/her time with and polish it into a hard, hard shine. I hope that one day, Ambasadora finds a home with a traditional publisher, because I'd love to see the difference between the self-published version and said traditionally published one (if there's a difference at all!). I think the book could stand to be a little longer, give the characters a little bit of breathing room so that a little more clarity is achieved as the end unfolds. But the premise is still fascinating, and Miller brings the story to a rather nice circular conclusion (and a good ending), and that's something I personally appreciate. One of these days, I'd like to download Miller's prequel Greenshift from Amazon, and I'm quite curious to see how the sequel Fragger plays out. I wish Miller all the best, and if you're a reader who has a Kindle and is a fan of science fiction romance, this is an easy book to recommend. Sure, it's self-published, and while there are places that could be tightened and clarified (though let's be real, I've read far, far worse books published in the traditional manner, so let's just call the weaknesses as we see them and leave it at that), overall, it's a solid action story with plenty of characters to root for and a fascinating premise. I'd be happy to read this again, should Miller get it published elsewhere.

Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. I think it'd be a cruel thing to spoil a book that can be purchased so cheaply for the Kindle, so you're welcome to read the full review without spoilers. Said full review may be found in my blog, which I've linked to below. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Heidi Ruby Miller's AMBASADORA

Happy Reading! ( )

Ambasadora is classed as a science fiction romance book written by Heidi Ruby Miller. It features an Upper caste socialite called Sara Mendoza. In Sara’s world which is run by Sovereign Simon Prollixer head of the Embassy a caste system operates. In this system there are various castes such as Uppers who are beautiful people who have better educations and jobs, Lowers who do less glamorous jobs that involve labour, Contractors who enforce the Embassy’s rule, Armadans who are warriors and Fraggers who are the rebels against everything that is the Embassy. Life is different in Sara’s world everything revolves around your lineage and passing on your genes by having children, nothing is more important than this. If you are sterile people host a party where they will commit suicide rather than bring shame on their family by not carrying on their line. People also have more than one partner or amours as they are called and it is quite normal to have six partners and have children with each one of them. It is at one of the suicide parties where Ambasadora begins. Sara has been brought to a party by her future amour Chen, she is very excited as he has just given her a piece of obsidian jewellery which shows that they are to become amours. Life is perfect and brilliant for Sara then suddenly everything goes to hell and she finds herself being accused of downloading data. After months of torture by the Embassy Sara is transformed onto an Ambasadora and is forced into hunting down the downloaded data or face not being able to carry her line by having her fertility taken from her.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked Sara a lot and it was wonderful to see her change and grow throughout the book. She starts out a socialite whose only concern is her looks and lineage into a fighter who will gladly give away her lineage for the safety of her friends. We are introduced to other characters two of which are Sean who I didn’t warm to at first but loved him at the end and Rainer who I did like at first but then….well I’ll let you find out for yourself. There are parts in the beginning of the book that dragged a little for me and this was when the story turned to Sean’s pov but then there were other parts mainly involving Sara that were so exciting I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I did struggle at the beginning of the book trying to understand the caste system but I eventually got there. The science part of it was just right for me not too light and not too difficult to understand. There was lots of action, great world building and some romance which I think was tastefully done. Whilst the story was resolved the ending is left open so maybe we will Ambasadora two. All in all a very good read and I would like to give this book 4 out of 5 stars. ( )

Ambasadora has everything written into one package. Gritty to the core with hope, love, pain, rage and violence weaved into and around. Gripped with emotion, I enjoyed this title and then some some.

Sara is a heroine for the history books. She is an unexpected hero and by no choice of hers. Thrown into a disastrous situation and left to hold together shattered pieces that was once her life. Sara is a survivor and what she embarks on changes the lives of many. In a world where deception and personal gain is everyone's game who is Sara to turn to?

While reading, I was emotionally invested in Ambasadora's story. I was really hoping for one particular man to step up to the plate but the saying 'too little too late' applies here. I've found myself wishing the worse possible fate for a few characters. I could not stop reading and wanted to see Sara through. Heidi Ruby Miller is an outstanding writer and story teller. Heidi writes full force giving her readers the whole story. Violence and love- both equally written to be felt.

All in all, I would recommend this novel to adult readers who love riveting story lines like urban fantasy readers. This novel is Science Fiction Fantasy and contains a whole new world just waiting to be discovered. ( )