Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Lucius is Spartan, a genetically enhanced soldier created for the sole purpose of fighting. But what is he to do when the war is over? Exiled with his unit to an island off the Pacific coastline, Lucius is shocked when he finds more than a deserted island when he meets Ari, a man determined to live by his own rules even at the cost of his own life.

Ari was just a teenager when he was abandoned by his family and exiled because he didn’t meet the new moral code. He does what he needs to do to survive. When he meets Lucius and the other Spartan, he finds that the fierce warriors need even more help than he does.

Emotions have been drummed out of the Spartans, deemed useless to men taught nothing but killing. Teaching them to feel just might be harder than Ari thinks, especially when he needs Lucius to be the killing machine he was born to be in order to save them all when the enemy attacks. But the cost might be the man he is falling in love with.

 

Book Review

What is it that makes us human and differentiates us from animals or machines? The answer this book gives is very clear: emotions, and the key to unlock them all is love. Many stories exist that speculate about what would happen if we ever managed to create the "perfect soldier", using human genetic material and training to generate perfect fighting machines. This is one of them, and it looks at what happens after the war. The government's solution in this version of our near future is easy: the soldiers are sent away to an isolated deserted island with orders to establish an outpost and wait for new orders. There is only one problem: the island isn’t deserted and the people already there may not be super-soldiers but they have been banned as well.

Lucius is an interesting character. He starts out as a soldier with a few very private thoughts and no desire to do anything but obey orders. Lucius isn’t stupid: he has been educated and has a few ideas about what he is supposed to be fighting for. But as he finds and gets to know Ari, a civilian, Lucius begins to realize not all is as he has been told. He needs a new purpose, and this time it is his to decide what, or who, that is. His growing ability to recognize the emotions he had been trained to suppress was fascinating, and I enjoyed taking this journey of discovery with him. As he allows himself to feel more and more, the emotions he has for Ari deepen.

Ari is a farmer, eking out an existence in the harsh world of what used to be Oregon. Now an island (due to a  major earthquake), it is an area full of people who refuse to die. They may be threatened by hunger, lack of medical care, and a marauding enemy called "the Horde", a band of misfits with weapons, but they are determined not to give in. Ari is courageous, willing to help his friends and neighbors, and while Lucius scares him at first, then frustrates him because he doesn't react "normally", the rough soldier also awakens feelings in Ari he didn't expect to ever have.

Together, these two men learn to listen to their hearts, defend what is theirs, and begin to build a new life. Several setbacks and serious threats to Ari's life stand in their way, but once they make up their minds to stick together, what grows between them is beautiful. If you like slightly dystopian stories about a future where parts of humankind are rejected and need to learn how to survive their new reality, if you enjoy reading about tough soldiers who are introduced to the feelings they've been trained to ignore, and if you're looking for a sweet story with a few rough patches, then you will probably like this novella. 

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by siren Publishing for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 37728 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	22-October-2013
Price	$5.50 ebook
Buy Link	http://www.bookstrand.com/lucius-spartan-warrior