Dianne Duvall - The Renegade Akseli Cyborg

Too many years of hunting psychotic vampires night after night have left Rachel with a desperate need for change. So when the opportunity to travel across the galaxy aboard a Lasaran warship to a utopian planet arises, the powerful Immortal Guardian jumps at the chance. Rachel eagerly looks forward to making a fresh start… until an enemy attacks and she ends up alone in an escape pod so far from alliance-occupied space that no one can hear her communications. No one except a renegade cyborg who shouldn’t exist.
After a grueling, hard-fought rebellion, Wonick and his cyborg brethren settled on a distant planet, where they’ve finally carved out a peaceful existence. The Aldebarian Alliance believes every Akseli cyborg died long ago. And battle-weary cyborg leader Wonick is determined to prevent anyone from discovering otherwise, knowing such would spark the fiercest manhunt in the galaxy. Yet when he hears Rachel’s communications, temptation drives him to speak to her, sparking friendship and a longing for a very different future.
Rachel finds Wonick even more appealing when she meets him in person, and the friendship they’ve formed soon deepens into love as the cyborgs—no more immune to her fun-loving, laughter-inducing nature than Wonick—cautiously welcome her into the fold. But the warriors’ unbridled ability to collect intel uncovers a secret the enemy has guarded for decades, one that compels them to embark upon a mission fraught with danger.
If they succeed, they may end the enemy’s attempts to conquer the galaxy once and for all.
If they fail, it could cost Wonick and Rachel...

Comment: This is the most recent installment in the Aldebarian Alliance series by Dianne Duvall, a sci-fi spin off from the Immortal Guardians PNR series.

In this story Rachel is stuck inside one of the pods which was sent from the Kandovar right before the Gathendians got to it and she isn't certain on how to proceed since it seems there's no one and no planet around where she can find some way to communicate. She decides to send messages anyway, in the hopes someone might listen, and that finally happens.

The problem is that who listens is Wonnick, a cyborg who lives in a remote and unknown planet his brethren is eager to keep hidden, since they are all being persecuted by their home planet rules, the Akselis. At first Wonnick can't help Rachel, but realizing she might be in danger, eventually makes her location known to his friend Janwar... but when things become dire, will he be brave enough to help Rachel in a better way?

This story pretty much follows the events of the previous one and, I have to say, the development and situations are very similar to those of The Akseli, which isn't bad since I like the world and the characters already, but it does seem a little repetitive too. I wonder if the author couldn't have introduced other novelties apart from the cyborg content? Perhaps a different type of romantic relationship? This story feels incredibly similar to the first one in everything and a few other changes might have made it more vibrant too.

I say this but I did like the story... only if one has read the others, many situations are kind of predictable. Still, Rachel and Wonnick are a good couple and of course I liked how resourceful Rachel was in her complicated situation, as well as how she and Wonnick became closer just by talking. As for the rescue and how things were presented until she is at Wonnick's planet, everything was so repetitive that while enjoyable, it didn't provide special elements. I was, of course, more interested in the whole cyborg existence while they were starting to get along.

When Rachel reaches the planet where the cyborgs live, other things had been shared already and I figured this would need to force the plot to go a certain way before everyone is friends and starts to plot what to do next. Well, it's true there are a few scenes right after Rachel lands that are different and I thought this would provide interesting dynamics and perhaps even differences in how the characters would interact, hopefully a romance which would develop differently from the others... but no. The "conflict", if I can call it that considering how quickly it was solved, wasn't too much of an issue.

Therefore, after this, the plot settles in to the usual pattern readers are used to in these stories where the heroine is stranded but then helped/rescued (three books by now): she easily adapts, she is immediately liked by everyone, she is more than others would expect, she likes weapons and fights and is very clever and eager to find her friends and defeat the villains. I like these traits, of course, but the execution of the books doesn't offer much.. I wish perhaps the heroine would not be as confident or as able...perhaps the romance could be less easy/obvious... maybe the interactions with secondary characters could have other types of situations... I don't know, something to make the story feel different from the others.

Despite this, I liked reading because things are familiar, there are many references to past situations and characters and it's like comfort reading, I just know things will turn out to be alright. When the romance is a fact and things are settled, of course there's more to plan and Rachel thinks a good way to accelerate the help of so many people is to defeat the Gathendians in a way their military could not bounce back from. I've found this idea and how things come to be really far fetched. I mean, no one had thought about it before? Is it only due to Rachel's powers and presence that their plan is achievable?

I know that what I'm writing makes this story feel leas than desirable but it's really not this bad. I feel frustrated, that's all, because of the missed opportunities in what else this plot might include... still the whole cyborg idea was interesting and I did like the fact the rebels live together in a planet they want to keep hidden, not only for fear or being hunted and killed, but also to protect the planet, which would be damaged by the villains. Some scenes described really make this idea seem great and I could very easily imagined some of the planet's features.

All things considered, reading this was bittersweet to me. On one hand, the book has everything necessary to make it familiar and comforting and clearly part of this world, on the other is too predictable. Nevertheless, I'll certainly read the next, even if it's as predictable, when it's out.

Grade: 7/10