Title: The Cat Star Chronicles: Slave
Author: Cheryl Brooks
Published in October 2008 by SourceBooks' Casablanca Romances
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
ISBN 10: 1-4022-1192-9
ISBN 13: 978-1-4022-1192-8
Related Books: The Cat Star Chronicles: Warrior, The Cat Star Chronicles: Rogue
"I found him in the slave market on Orpheseus Prime, and even on such a god-forsaken planet as that one, their treatment of him seemed extreme. But then again, perhaps he was an extreme subject, and the fact there was a slave market at all was evidence if a rather backward society."
It was a hot-or-miss proposition, and so far for Jacinth Rutland it has all been a total wash. On the tips appeared to have been good, but it was a case of “too little too late,” and when you are hunting for a special someone, the too late part always hurts. In Jacinth’s case, the special someone was her younger sister, who was kidnapped from her side at a trader’s meeting. That Ranata wasn’t supposed to be there didn’t matter, her kidnapping by parties unknown is what started Jacinth on this odyssey, and she promised to bring Ranata back home no matter how long it takes. To do that, she has to find her, and after what Jacinth has been through so far, she was beginning to have some odd doubts. It has been six years since the tall and statuesque woman with the odd moniker of “Jack” started the hunt, and with any amount of true luck, she was getting closer to her goal. She knew needed help because her latest bit of intelligence was daunting, and if true, she was more determined than ever to get her sister back home to Earth.
There were some places in the universe, where slavery was condoned, and apparently some creatures, people, aliens, whatever you wished to call them would go to any means to acquire new species for their own, or if they were intelligent, for sale as slaves. This is what brought Jack and her ship, the Jolly Roger, to Orphesus Prime, and the dingy dirty slave market of this backward and almost totally lawless world. Posing as a man in hopes of purchasing a humanoid slave to assist her in yet another charade was the goal. What she wasn’t expecting was the creature she found, a very cat-like humanoid, big, strong, and very abused. The price was right too, and even though she was prepared to deal, the owner had staunchly denied her bargain of fifty credits, telling her he could get more at auction. That is how, for five credits, Jack ended up with Cat, and when she set him free, he refused to run. There was something unusual about the man, he was humanoid, but he had been greatly abused, and Jack figured he was very wild, very angry, and exceptionally dangerous. She didn’t want to take that kind of risk, but for five credits, she could well afford to set him free, and was greatly surprised to have him follow her, and find that inside that sad excuse of a creature was something more precious than all the wealth she had accumulated in her search. Here Jack found mush more than she bargained for, loyalty, strength, and the determination to pay his debt and protect her with his life if necessary…
His home, the planet Zetith was gone, destroyed in an act of war. He had seen it in his mind’s eye, the destruction of his planet by the Nedwuts, haunted him, as did the many millions of souls who had screamed out to him in their death throes. Many did not know what hit them, but Cat knew. His problem and his pain were not the physical torment and torture he suffered and was suffering in slavery, it was the destruction of so many innocent souls, and the total oblivion of his world, his life, and the lives of those on his home world that no longer existed. The why of it still remained, but Cark knew he would do whatever he could to revenge for himself and his people. The first order of business was always to gain his freedom, however hopes in that area were almost gone. He had been passed from master to master, it was almost a case of each one being worse than the previous, and this current situation was no better. He wondered what the next would bring, because once again he was apparently going to change hands yet again. He was afraid to hope for circumstances to be better this time, but there was just something about the alien inspecting him now, the way he carried himself, and, if Cark was right, in what he was looking for that stirred the embers of his almost dead hopes…
Carkdacund, once a valued warrior of his people, the Zetithians is now a slave, and a very badly mistreated one though that was partly his fault. It was war, and it took him away from his home, his family, and most of his friends. When the end came, it was sudden, brutal, and unexpected for those left behind, and it was a horror he lived with every day. Slavery was his life, freedom, as he once knew it, was gone forever. Now, as far as he was aware, there was no honour left to him, only pain and yet possibly, since he was up for sale, the prospect of better treatment. It did not behoove him to hope, however, for that was how he got into his current bind. The rest of his kind were gone, most likely dead or dying, abandoned to extinction. He did not know why his world was attacked, and he was looking for reasons. He was dirty, he hurt, had been beaten, now was to be sold. It was something that occurred over and over till it was hard to find a reason to live. He did not know what to expect this time until he was faced with the reality of his new master being a woman, not a man, and one who actually set him free after purchasing him. Here was warmth, promise, a debt owed, and something that allowed him to regain a bit of his dignity. He was not going to let her get away because he did not want to be a slave again, and it could just be his best chances could be found in her company. In a real way she was protection, and with this woman, was kindness, maybe hope and freedom he hadn’t realized in a very long time, but from experience he didn’t trust it to last for very long.
The Cat Star Chronicles are a series of tales about the people of Zetith, the remainder of them actually. Some of the Zetithians were taken by the Nedwuts and, instead of being destroyed as was ordered, were sold into slavery. Now they are scattered across the universe, including Orphesus Prime on which Jacinth found Carkdacund, whom she soon nicknamed Cat. What he is not expecting is a bond of any kind with his new master. That he turns out to be a she is a surprise, and that Jacinth, or “Jack” as she likes to be called, is the one female with whom he will find enough love to last a lifetime is an even greater shock. Carkdacund has been horribly maimed, yet enslaved as he is, he finds freedom in a way he has never before experienced. For someone as gravely hurt and used as Cat, it is a reward which has been a long time coming. Love is something he was not expecting to find, for all Cat knew it was definitely not in his fate, and he figured he would die. Being passed from one master to another, sold over and over as a commodity without the smallest glimmer of hope was debilitating. When Jacinth finds Cat, she is strangely moved by his plight. Thinking him unsuitable, but having the extra money, she purchases him anyway. This is the beginning of something Jack was totally unprepared for, but at the same time, it not fully unwelcome. If only she can find Ranata and bring her home, Cat’s price would be more than worth his freedom.
The Cat Star Chronicles: Slave is the first book in the series, and is a wonderful read full of excitement and action. Although it is written in the first person, I found myself actually lost in the characters. Ms Brooks has a talent for writing that uses more than just the I and me of first to tell a bland and rather boring story. There are not many who can actually immerse you in the surroundings when writing in first, and fortunately Cheryl has more than enough talent in the area. She manages to give you a glimpse of things around Jacinth, and do it in such a way it draws you into the trials she faces hunting for her sister. There is a depth and richness she draws from, and it allows you to experience events that are happening around the character, albeit in a limited way. I picked up this first book in the series, The Cat Star Chronicles: Slave, almost by mistake, and for most of you, knowing how much I hate first person, you would chuckle. I soon became engrossed in the story, and when the opportunity to review The Cat Star Chronicles: Warrior came about, I had to jump and go for it. I have not been disappointed. All I can say is that I highly recommend this series, and so far, definitely the first two books. If Ms Brooks keeps up the quality of the writing, and I have not a doubt in the world about this, the rest of The Cat Star Chronicles will also be as necessary to purchase as The Cat Star Chronicles: Slave I suggest you check out these fine books through SourceBooks' Casablanca Romances or at Amazon.com and get your copy of The Cat Star Chronicles: Warrior today, too.
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
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