I received Striker from the author through the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s ‘Don’t Buy My Love’ review program for an honest review. The story is told in third person through the eyes of Prince Zeus Pylos Vondorian, Alpha-Zetamite, and Dargon a Dar Massaga. Briefly, the story is told through Empress Ashari Vondorian eyes, the mother of Zeus.


Striker is the second book in The Valespian Pact series. This book is not a stand-a-lone read. You really need to read the first book in order to understand what’s happening in Striker because this story takes off soon after the ending of Alpha Trine. It’s a mix of mythology and ideas from sci-fi shows like Babylon 5 and Star Trek.

I’m not going to go into the details of who all the people are in the story, the races, the planets or the plotline. Partly because most of that is all covered in the first book, and partly because with science fiction, there are so many created worlds, species and convoluted happenings I’d end up writing a book instead of a review. Suffice it to say, other reviews have given a good briefing of the story. The main people you need to know are Zeus, Dargon and Alpha, for they comprise the Alpha Trine a highly rare and highly respected poly relationship between a symbiote, his host and their partner.

As I mentioned, this story picks up right after the first book, only a few years down the line with Zeus working as the chief mechanic on a space station. He is nearing the end of his stint before returning to his planet when he gets caught in the middle of huge galactic events. Suffice it to say, he’s kidnapped, his royal brothers give chase across the galaxy, the ship he’s on has a secret that pursuers will stop at nothing to acquire. There’s a fight on board, then another huge battle on the planet where they are to drop off their ‘cargo’. It’s non-stop action after action. There really weren’t any boring parts that I recall. In the midst of all that, the author continued with the Trine relationship although the story was mostly focused on revealing the mysteries established in the first story, and the battle. I was quite pleased this second book was as good as the first.

What I’d like to mention is that the main theme of Striker is family. It tells us that no matter whom our birth parents were or what we look like, it doesn’t matter as long as we have a loving family who supports us, loves us and guides us. The author showed us two different views on how this works. Zeus as we already know from book one, was found as a baby by the Mar ‘Sani and adopted into the Royal family. Despite that there are those who are filled with contempt for him because they saw Zeus as human, but his family saw him only as Mar ‘Sani. Zeus always saw himself as Mar ‘Sani and never felt the need to find out where he came from. When he finds his sister and she wishes him to be part of their family again, he doesn’t want to be. Then there is Canry, the Royal family’s lost son who answered ‘The Calling,’ only to return later when he was desperately needed. He wondered if his parents still loved him. Canry has nothing to fear because they never stopped loving him. This brings up the question of Zeus. If his parents have survived, how will he feel toward them if he finds he was forcibly taken from them, instead of left behind? So the readers get two views that are similar to adoption. Some children wish to find their birth parents and others are so happy, they never have the desire.

I have two issues with this book. I really hope they get someone in who is better at editing and proofreading than the people who are doing it now. There are quite a few missing words, but the one thing that annoys me the most, is the change of names. At the beginning of the book, there is one character named ‘Star Eater.’ His name is changed to ‘Sun Eater’ in the latter part of the story no less than four times. It bugged me so much I highlighted the name and I have never highlighted items in stories before. So that is my strong advice. Get better or more editors, betas or what not, because if a reader can find many mistakes on one pass through, that’s not good.

The other issue is with a scene that happened after the battle on the planet and Zeus and Warlord Sohm’lan are resting in a tent protected by the elite Mar ‘Sani Monticore guards. The Monticore are the most skilled and terrifying guards of the galaxy, yet a spy from the traitorous side is able to make his way to the outside of their tent and have a very brief talk with them inside. The Warlord has disguised his voice during the chat. Anyway, how can this person get this close to Prince Zeus and a Warlord when the area is swarming with Monticore? Is he some kind of ninja spy? He said he’d tell his ‘Master’ about their conversation, so it strikes me as this person is not all that skilled, more like a slave. This scene completely took me out of the story as I’m trying to analyze how on earth this was possible considering the author presented how ferocious the Monticore were and how closely they guarded the Princes. This strange scene really didn’t add anything to the story, even when we find out more about it later.

I enjoyed this story immensely and can’t wait for the next book. However, because of the spag issues and the strange scene, I’ll have to take away a star. In the end I give this 4 Stars but highly recommend this book.

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‘Striker’ is the second adventure of the “Alpha Trine”, a triad between Mar’Sani Zeus, Dar Massaga Dargon, and the mysterious symbiote Alpha. The fantastic world building deepens, the plot tension increases, and the main characters get closer than ever before. But there are also some unexpected revelations, a growing alien threat, and galacto-political machinations and implications that have far-reaching consequences. This is an action-packed space adventure from page one and the intensity of the love story between the three main characters only increases. The result is a thrilling science fiction novel that held me enthralled from beginning to end, and even though it could stand alone, I recommend you read ‘Alpha Trine’ first to increase your enjoyment of this sequel.

Zeus has come a long way since he was found as the only survivor aboard a spaceship adrift in Mar'Sani space, adopted by the royal family, and fled his homeworld to prove he isn’t weak and unable to survive on his own. He has bonded with Dargon and Alpha with somewhat unforeseen consequences, but when their enemies step up their attack on galactic peace, Zeus jumps right into the middle of the fray to ensure everyone’s safety. He makes some interesting discoveries about his biological family, the attitude of some of the Mar’Sani people, and galactic history – all of which have implications for the kind of future he wants to help create.

Dargon supports Zeus as much as he can, but he has his own drastically changed situation to deal with. He and Alpha are more than competent to handle it, but it was fun to watch the mini-power struggles between the two of them and Zeus as to who could be more protective. There is no question all three of them need to work together if they want to break the blockade on Valespia and stop the galaxy from being overrun by an ancient enemy, and it was a very close call more than once!

Like the first book, this sequel (which is much longer) took my breath away. I loved discovering all of the historical details, the cultural differences between all the alien species, and finally finding out why humans are so despised. If you like detailed visions of the future with frightening machinations on a galactic scale, if you enjoy stories where the alien cultures, as alien as they are, seem more humane than the one prevalent on Earth, and if you're looking for an exciting read that is impossible to forget, then you will probably like this novel as much as I did. I think it is stunning, and can’t wait for the next book in the series.


NOTE: This book was provided by Less Than Three Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )