Trapped on Talonque by Veronica Scott Series: The Sectors #7
on August 21, 2016
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 322
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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When a Sectors Special Forces soldier and his team crash land on an alien planet, they're taken captive and given a challenge--win at the violent ball game of sapiche and live. Lose, and they die, sending a mysterious, alien beauty to an even uglier fate. To survive, these soldiers must win the game and find a way to free the dangerous prisoner from her locked chamber.
Nate Reilly and his team are in deep trouble. Prisoners on a backward alien planet, they're brought before an alien 'goddess', sleeping in her high tech seclusion. Nate is astonished when she awakes and establishes a psychic link with him. But her news is not good--he and his men must win a brutal challenge set by their captors, or they will die. She'll give her aid, but in the end their courage and strength must win the contest.
Returning from a mission, they crash land on a world with a primitive alien culture and find themselves tributes to a death god and warriors to a sleeping ancient alien thought of as a goddess and oracle by the natives. Special Forces leader, Nate Reilly, and his team are all about survival let alone escape until the alien sleeping beauty links with his mind and he has no plans to leave her behind.
Trapped on Talonque is the seventh of The Sectors series and is a standalone sci-fi romance featuring the accidental goddess and sci-fi tech meets native cunning.
As with previous books in the series, this one harkened back to recognizable historical earth cultural roots. When the primitive alien society was described, particularly their worship of a death god who demanded human sacrifice and some of the god’s tributes came through a game, my mind turned immediately to the Mayan civilization. And, that was interesting for a sci-fi backdrop.
Nate and his friends are taken to a fortress city to the king and his evil queen where they are made aware of their perilous situation. They are alien to these superstitious people so the rulers who are trying to hold their throne against another group battling to end their death cult despotism, decide that Nate and his guys plus another captive who believes in the goddess and not their death god, are thought to be powerful sacrifices. They have to escape and hope their ship is still flyable, but first, Nate is determined to save the other captive, Bithia, who has become over time while she slumbered a goddess of legend. She has been in forced sleep for centuries and Nate isn’t sure she will want to be rescued to a time that calls her people ancients and long gone and looks so different from her own.
I enjoyed learning the mysterious past of Bithia as they put together her history even as they work to escape. It got exciting and had some good twists so just when it seems they’ve made it, they encounter more trouble. My only gripe was the abrupt ending. Readers are told earlier what their plans are, but there was a suggestion to it all that there would be difficulties even if they got off the planet. Perhaps there will be follow up news later.
After laying the ground work for what was going on and filling in the background for how it came to be, the story got up and moving which I was relieved to see happen. Like others in the series, this one feels like a blend of sci-fi with fantasy (even though Trapped on Talonque is more legend than magic) and I would recommend it to those who enjoy a blend of no-tech and high tech backdrop.
About Veronica Scott
USA Today Best Selling Science Fiction & Paranormal Romance author.
Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.
MISC FACTS ABOUT VERONICA
Seven time winner ~ SFR Galaxy Award
Proud recipient ~ NASA Exceptional Service Medal but must hasten to add the honor was not for her romantic fiction!
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt – I’ll improve your process (mwahahahaa)!
Elvis Presley’s best friend once serenaded Veronica on a local TV telethon…now that could be a novel…
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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Sophia Great review, what a fantastic sounding world. I love the fact that you can recognize earthly things from the past and just how exactly does one become an accidental Goddess?
Yes, its interesting to see ancient earth blend with sci-fi. Haha, you show up on a no-tech alien world with tech and some psychic power so that you seem pretty powerful and exotic to the natives. 🙂
I’ve read a couple of her books and really liked them. This sounds like a book that I would like.
I’ve had a blast reading through the series this year. Hope you get the chance to read more of her stuff, Mary. 🙂
I like this premise of landing on Earth and then learning about an ancient civilization. Very cool!
Yes, it was exciting to see something like the Mayan culture in a sci-fi adventure. 🙂
Glad to hear you’re still enjoying the series, Sophia! Wonderful review! 🙂
For sure! Thanks for dropping by, Rachel!
This sounds really well done. I definitely hope to give this book a try at some point.
Yes, these sci-fi adventures have been a big hit for me as I work through the series, Carole. 🙂
awwww I need a good sci-fi adventure soon.
Ha! One should definitely not have a long dry spell for these, Carole. 🙂