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Class 5 #1
Dark Horse
Some secrets carry the weight of the world.
Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.
Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.
She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.
In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.
Winner of a SFR Galaxy Award 2016 and the Prism Award 2016 for Best Futuristic.
Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.
Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.
She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.
In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.
Winner of a SFR Galaxy Award 2016 and the Prism Award 2016 for Best Futuristic.
381 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 15, 2015
About the author
Michelle Diener
47 books1,878 followersMichelle Diener is a bestselling, award-winning author of historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy. Having worked in publishing and IT, she's now very happy crafting new worlds and interesting characters.
Michelle was born in London and currently lives in Australia with her husband and two children.
When she's not writing, or driving her kids from activity to activity, you can find her online at Twitter and Facebook.
Michelle was born in London and currently lives in Australia with her husband and two children.
When she's not writing, or driving her kids from activity to activity, you can find her online at Twitter and Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 847 reviews
February 9, 2016
I loved, loved DARK HORSE by Michelle Diener!! It kept me up way too late. It's a science fiction romance with great worldbuilding and a wonderful romance between two characters I truly liked.
October 31, 2023
You know those improv games where you give someone three elements and they create a story? This would be if you gave Mercedes Lackey a kidnapped human, an AI, and an interstellar alliance of five races with instructions to write for Harlequin imprint. Extremely readable, it kept me entertained through the last four hours of my mom’s emergency room visit. In fact, it was so readable that I really didn’t want to leave the world and decided to start on the second book shortly after finishing (curses, kindle and amazon!) (clearly, I have an addiction problem).
“No one can guarantee any sentient being will only work for good. A sentient being is by definition autonomous, and therefore free to behave as it wishes.”
I do have some concerns, but really, I didn’t want to think a great deal about them; I wanted to be thoroughly distracted by an unfortunate ER stay. I will note that it reminds me of what I thought an ideal relationship might be when I was fifteen or so. Likewise, the world is glossy without deep complexity. It is a Star Trek version of the world, highly simplified with fairly clear motivations. Understand, I’m not disparaging, merely describing what I felt could be a weakness. Could be a strength as well, if you are like me and you want something absorbing but undemanding.
“No one can guarantee any sentient being will only work for good. A sentient being is by definition autonomous, and therefore free to behave as it wishes.”
I do have some concerns, but really, I didn’t want to think a great deal about them; I wanted to be thoroughly distracted by an unfortunate ER stay. I will note that it reminds me of what I thought an ideal relationship might be when I was fifteen or so. Likewise, the world is glossy without deep complexity. It is a Star Trek version of the world, highly simplified with fairly clear motivations. Understand, I’m not disparaging, merely describing what I felt could be a weakness. Could be a strength as well, if you are like me and you want something absorbing but undemanding.
December 28, 2022
If you love science fiction and enjoy romance with it - this books is for you.
It's one of the BEST romantic science fiction novels I read so far.
I've always loved sci-fi, but I must admit I enjoy it even more if it has romance in it like Rules of Redemption and Polaris Rising.
Dark Horse was utterly captivating and enthralling. The world building was fabulous, the characters were fantastic, but the AI was beyond awesome.
Each Class 5 ship has an Artificial Intelligence, and in Dark Horse it's a rogue AI connecting with a human. I loved the idea, the execution, EVERYTHING!!!
The AI was actually my favorite character of them all, and his friendship with Rose my favorite part of the novel.
The novel is utterly enjoyable, easy and fast to read, with smart and witty writing as well as engaging dialogues. The banter between the AI and Rose is fantastic, and makes this book a very enjoyable read.
It's one of the BEST romantic science fiction novels I read so far.
I've always loved sci-fi, but I must admit I enjoy it even more if it has romance in it like Rules of Redemption and Polaris Rising.
Dark Horse was utterly captivating and enthralling. The world building was fabulous, the characters were fantastic, but the AI was beyond awesome.
Each Class 5 ship has an Artificial Intelligence, and in Dark Horse it's a rogue AI connecting with a human. I loved the idea, the execution, EVERYTHING!!!
The AI was actually my favorite character of them all, and his friendship with Rose my favorite part of the novel.
The novel is utterly enjoyable, easy and fast to read, with smart and witty writing as well as engaging dialogues. The banter between the AI and Rose is fantastic, and makes this book a very enjoyable read.
October 16, 2023
I really loved this character driven sci-fi story. It had the perfect blend of action, intrigue, romance, humour, and cool sci-fi technology! It also really helped that I found Michelle Diener's writing to be quite engaging and that I was interested in the plot and emotionally engaged with the likeable characters.
It was the books blurb that drew me to this one:
Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally - a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.
Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead - all except for one strange, new alien being.
It sounds like a fun premise and thankfully the story delivered! Rose and Dav were both fairly easy characters to root for and Sazo was extremely intriguing. The AI helped Rose escape her captors but there was always that hint of doubt over its motives and aims.
The sci-fi world was an interesting one. Four alien races make up the UC (Unified Council) and on the surface they seem like the sort of typical societies you would find as a Star Trek Federation member. Under the surface they are as seething with political intrigue and manoeuvring as your typical human ally nations!
The discovery of Rose, the first advanced sentient alien discovered in over 200 years, causes a storm in the UC. Especially as her arrival in Gree territory on board an experimental new advanced Tekron ship (full of dead Tekrons) causes an explosive diplomatic situation. A situation further worsened when it soon becomes known that the Tekron's have breached UC rules by abducting and experimenting on Rose.
The story held my interest all the way through. It was easy to root for Rose as she tried to carve out a new life in a far flung region of space. The Gree were very similar to humans in both temperament and appearance but also different enough to provide some fun moments as Rose got to grips with them and their culture.
The romance between Dav, who was also super easy to like, and Rose was a good one. It got plenty of time and benefited both characters but also did not feel like an overwhelming part of the story.
All in all I really loved reading this one. It was just the sort of character driven sci-fi I've been longing to find for ages! I wish sci-fi books of this type were not so incredibly rare.
Rating: 5 stars. This definitely had a few flaws but since it had me so addicted to the story that I flew through 14 hours of audiobook in under 2 days I think it is well worth its 5 star rating just for the entertainment value alone!
Audio Note: I took a little bit of time to warm to Christina Delaine narration of this but by the end I was very happy with her performance. Her chosen voices for the AI's and the various aliens all grew on me.
Reread Update: Just as good the second time around. Just like the first time I struggled to put this story down. This might actually be the quickest I’ve blasted through a book in a couple of years. This just confirms that this series is well worth a place on my all time favourites list!
It was the books blurb that drew me to this one:
Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally - a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.
Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead - all except for one strange, new alien being.
It sounds like a fun premise and thankfully the story delivered! Rose and Dav were both fairly easy characters to root for and Sazo was extremely intriguing. The AI helped Rose escape her captors but there was always that hint of doubt over its motives and aims.
The sci-fi world was an interesting one. Four alien races make up the UC (Unified Council) and on the surface they seem like the sort of typical societies you would find as a Star Trek Federation member. Under the surface they are as seething with political intrigue and manoeuvring as your typical human ally nations!
The discovery of Rose, the first advanced sentient alien discovered in over 200 years, causes a storm in the UC. Especially as her arrival in Gree territory on board an experimental new advanced Tekron ship (full of dead Tekrons) causes an explosive diplomatic situation. A situation further worsened when it soon becomes known that the Tekron's have breached UC rules by abducting and experimenting on Rose.
The story held my interest all the way through. It was easy to root for Rose as she tried to carve out a new life in a far flung region of space. The Gree were very similar to humans in both temperament and appearance but also different enough to provide some fun moments as Rose got to grips with them and their culture.
The romance between Dav, who was also super easy to like, and Rose was a good one. It got plenty of time and benefited both characters but also did not feel like an overwhelming part of the story.
All in all I really loved reading this one. It was just the sort of character driven sci-fi I've been longing to find for ages! I wish sci-fi books of this type were not so incredibly rare.
Rating: 5 stars. This definitely had a few flaws but since it had me so addicted to the story that I flew through 14 hours of audiobook in under 2 days I think it is well worth its 5 star rating just for the entertainment value alone!
Audio Note: I took a little bit of time to warm to Christina Delaine narration of this but by the end I was very happy with her performance. Her chosen voices for the AI's and the various aliens all grew on me.
Reread Update: Just as good the second time around. Just like the first time I struggled to put this story down. This might actually be the quickest I’ve blasted through a book in a couple of years. This just confirms that this series is well worth a place on my all time favourites list!
November 15, 2023
Yet another ugly book cover/series/title doing a disservice to a really great book. I've had this book on my TBR shelf for a while, but I didn't prioritize picking it up because, well, the aforementioned ugly book cover. I'm book-cover-shallow, I know. But luckily my GR friend Corina's review had me picking this up because of her comparison to one of my favorite books, Rules of Redemption. And she did not steer me wrong! This is everything she said it was - a romantic sci-fi story.
I will say, if you are looking for an overtly smutty book, this isn't that. And if you are someone who enjoys well developed sci-fi opera type stories, this isn't that either - the villains are pretty paper thin and not really the focus of the story. But if you are someone who likes relationship and friendship centric stories with a dash of sci-fi, then this is your book. And this was definitely my book! :)
I will say, if you are looking for an overtly smutty book, this isn't that. And if you are someone who enjoys well developed sci-fi opera type stories, this isn't that either - the villains are pretty paper thin and not really the focus of the story. But if you are someone who likes relationship and friendship centric stories with a dash of sci-fi, then this is your book. And this was definitely my book! :)
June 19, 2015
What an unexpected gem!
I thought this would be the usual alien abduction book, but I was very pleasantly surprised!
Rose and Dav were wonderful, but my favorit was Sazo! LOL
Who wouldn't like such an AI?! I'm sure I would! He was such an endearing and at the same time very dangerous being!
Rose was great too. A level-headed heroine with really clear and clever ideas! I very much appreciated her honesty and her reasoning (with Sazo!). She didn't do TSTL things and she was very, very clever!
Dav was great too. An alien who didn't jusmp her bones after one day! I very appreciaed that too! LOL
The ideas explored in this book were interesting and well done. I loved the confusion Rose had when she discovered how Grih felt about music! A turly alien ideal!
Also lovely is the moment when Rose explains to Sazo about Sherlock Holmes and Watson!
A great SF adventure with lovely romance and great friendship!
I thought this would be the usual alien abduction book, but I was very pleasantly surprised!
Rose and Dav were wonderful, but my favorit was Sazo! LOL
Who wouldn't like such an AI?! I'm sure I would! He was such an endearing and at the same time very dangerous being!
Rose was great too. A level-headed heroine with really clear and clever ideas! I very much appreciated her honesty and her reasoning (with Sazo!). She didn't do TSTL things and she was very, very clever!
Dav was great too. An alien who didn't jusmp her bones after one day! I very appreciaed that too! LOL
The ideas explored in this book were interesting and well done. I loved the confusion Rose had when she discovered how Grih felt about music! A turly alien ideal!
Also lovely is the moment when Rose explains to Sazo about Sherlock Holmes and Watson!
A great SF adventure with lovely romance and great friendship!
June 20, 2022
3.5 stars
I started this because I was really craving a story similar to the Firebird series by TA White. And just to put it out there, this is nothing like it. The only similarity is that we read about events taking place in space and learn of different races which are more advanced than humans and I suppose there is also the fact that there is an AI character who helps the heroine and is a sort of sidekick but with a twist.
Now onto the quality of the story. I personally did not get engrossed in the events as they unfolded. I kept checking my page count to see how much progress I’d made (and I never do that - unless my brain is telling me to find something more entertaining and overall better).
I felt as if everything unfolded at snails pace and the actual story/conflict wasn’t very exciting. Most of the book is filled with people talking about protocols, reiterating events that happened in previous scenes to other characters, having to report to a million of other superiors on the chain of command (as they kept popping up) the same thing over and over. It was tedious. I think it was done to achieve enough pages and drag the story into a full length novel.
None of the characters were truly interesting. Some if not most were interchangeable. And also, there were too many characters. All with long alien names and titles, and they really didn’t serve any purpose in the story. We are most likely never going to come across any of them ever again in the next books so my brain was bombarded with all these names, physical descriptions, character traits and formal military rank of people with no consequence to the story whatsoever.
I suppose the bottom line is that this was mostly boring and I didn’t feel the excitement of the unknown and the curiosity of finding out the world order of all these new races which dominate a galaxy well beyond earth. I should have been on this ride with the heroine. I should have been excited to turn the chapters. I was just hoping to finish it.
There is a bit of a romance - it’s very tame and not the principal element in the story, but I did like the hero and how he advocated for the heroine. I think he was portrayed in a manner which maintains his place of duty in his society but not at the expense of his relationship with Rose. So that was nice.
I am going to check out the next book because I do think there is potential here. I think we have the bones of the story so to speak and if the author starts cutting unnecessary stuff out and gives us a truly engaging conflict and an even more detailed world building - this series could become really good.
I started this because I was really craving a story similar to the Firebird series by TA White. And just to put it out there, this is nothing like it. The only similarity is that we read about events taking place in space and learn of different races which are more advanced than humans and I suppose there is also the fact that there is an AI character who helps the heroine and is a sort of sidekick but with a twist.
Now onto the quality of the story. I personally did not get engrossed in the events as they unfolded. I kept checking my page count to see how much progress I’d made (and I never do that - unless my brain is telling me to find something more entertaining and overall better).
I felt as if everything unfolded at snails pace and the actual story/conflict wasn’t very exciting. Most of the book is filled with people talking about protocols, reiterating events that happened in previous scenes to other characters, having to report to a million of other superiors on the chain of command (as they kept popping up) the same thing over and over. It was tedious. I think it was done to achieve enough pages and drag the story into a full length novel.
None of the characters were truly interesting. Some if not most were interchangeable. And also, there were too many characters. All with long alien names and titles, and they really didn’t serve any purpose in the story. We are most likely never going to come across any of them ever again in the next books so my brain was bombarded with all these names, physical descriptions, character traits and formal military rank of people with no consequence to the story whatsoever.
I suppose the bottom line is that this was mostly boring and I didn’t feel the excitement of the unknown and the curiosity of finding out the world order of all these new races which dominate a galaxy well beyond earth. I should have been on this ride with the heroine. I should have been excited to turn the chapters. I was just hoping to finish it.
There is a bit of a romance - it’s very tame and not the principal element in the story, but I did like the hero and how he advocated for the heroine. I think he was portrayed in a manner which maintains his place of duty in his society but not at the expense of his relationship with Rose. So that was nice.
I am going to check out the next book because I do think there is potential here. I think we have the bones of the story so to speak and if the author starts cutting unnecessary stuff out and gives us a truly engaging conflict and an even more detailed world building - this series could become really good.
Read
April 15, 2022Dark Horse was a book that simply wouldn't let me work on anything else. It got its talons in me and wouldn't let go until I had finished it. Science fiction romance is a new genre for me, but I have had so much fun writing about alien abduction, artificial intelligence and life on the other side of the galaxy in Dark Horse, I'm definitely going to do it again.
As a huge fan of the original (and the new!) Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars and Star Trek, as well as new science fiction movies like Serenity, Guardians of the Galaxy and the two new Star Trek movies, it was great to make up my own story in the stars, and I hope readers are caught up in discovering what happens to my heroine, Rose, as she is taken from Earth and finds herself in a galaxy far, far away.
I particularly liked working out the character of Sazo, the artificial intelligence who is both Rose's saviour and her biggest headache, and so far, reviewers and readers have told me that Rose and Sazo's relationship is one of the best parts of the book for them.
I hope other readers enjoy it just as much.
You can find out more about Dark Horse on my website: http://www.michellediener.com/books/d...
As a huge fan of the original (and the new!) Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars and Star Trek, as well as new science fiction movies like Serenity, Guardians of the Galaxy and the two new Star Trek movies, it was great to make up my own story in the stars, and I hope readers are caught up in discovering what happens to my heroine, Rose, as she is taken from Earth and finds herself in a galaxy far, far away.
I particularly liked working out the character of Sazo, the artificial intelligence who is both Rose's saviour and her biggest headache, and so far, reviewers and readers have told me that Rose and Sazo's relationship is one of the best parts of the book for them.
I hope other readers enjoy it just as much.
You can find out more about Dark Horse on my website: http://www.michellediener.com/books/d...
August 1, 2022
I picked this up on a whim because I thought it would follow Jessie Mihalik's mold of sci-fi-flavored romance. Only I look now and this predated Mihalik by, like, four years. So alrighty, then, this sub-genre is more established than I thought? I dunno. All I know is that this one hit the spot very well.
And here's where I get a bit careful about genre because this is really a space fantasy with a romance main plot. And all of that is made up because it makes sense to me. I mean, it's not hard-sf, but then again, Sazo is well-thought-out and his awareness is beautifully portrayed. I'd say he's a great mix of Murderbot and ART only this predates Murderbot by a couple years, too! And okay, he doesn't have the snark and brilliance of Murderbot but who can compete with Martha Wells?!?
Where was I? Oh yeah, so Sazo is fleshed out like the best hard-sf but a lot of the other sci-fi elements are generally space magic and only well-enough defined to move the plot along smartly. Which isn't a bad thing. It's just not a hard-sf thing so I think in terms of space fantasy. And that's reinforced by the main human-like aliens having elf ears and the oppositional aliens being essentially space orcs (Warcraft orcs, not Tolkien orcs).
I was drawn into the story primarily by Rose. She's all kinds of determination and grit and her treatment of Sazo like he's a person, an extremely powerful person, but still a person, was everything. I loved how deliberate she was with him and teaching him her moral limits and why they existed made for tense and interesting dialog when lives were on the line. That she had been as much a slave as he was helped them form a bond of understanding that she built shamelessly upon and that drew me into sympathy with both very much (even when Sazo was being a ruthless jerk). But I also liked that Rose was alien to those around her just by being completely herself. I liked Diener's innovations on the alien expectations, having humans be denser and stronger than expected is a rare twist (besides John Carter, but you know what I'm saying). But I also liked that they kept underestimating Rose because they know she comes from a "primitive" species. And that some could see her as a person and knew better, making her work for her victories.
The only real detraction I have to the story is that the romance is a little shallow. Dav doesn't have much reason behind his attraction than that she's cute and gets crap done. Which, okay, that was enough for me, too, so I don't have a leg to stand on here because I knew I wanted to marry mine within a similar timeframe, too. Hmmm. Fine. I wanted more connection and I'm not sure I can define it very well. Sigh.
Anyway, this was an easy five stars, but with the note that I love this sub-genre irrationally. The sci-fi is light and the romance was shallow, but somehow it still added up to all my jam.
A note about Steamy: There are a couple of explicit sex scenes putting this in the not-quite-middle of my steam tolerance. Yes, the sexual compatibility is lampshaded. No I don't care because those scenes worked very well, I think.
And here's where I get a bit careful about genre because this is really a space fantasy with a romance main plot. And all of that is made up because it makes sense to me. I mean, it's not hard-sf, but then again, Sazo is well-thought-out and his awareness is beautifully portrayed. I'd say he's a great mix of Murderbot and ART only this predates Murderbot by a couple years, too! And okay, he doesn't have the snark and brilliance of Murderbot but who can compete with Martha Wells?!?
Where was I? Oh yeah, so Sazo is fleshed out like the best hard-sf but a lot of the other sci-fi elements are generally space magic and only well-enough defined to move the plot along smartly. Which isn't a bad thing. It's just not a hard-sf thing so I think in terms of space fantasy. And that's reinforced by the main human-like aliens having elf ears and the oppositional aliens being essentially space orcs (Warcraft orcs, not Tolkien orcs).
I was drawn into the story primarily by Rose. She's all kinds of determination and grit and her treatment of Sazo like he's a person, an extremely powerful person, but still a person, was everything. I loved how deliberate she was with him and teaching him her moral limits and why they existed made for tense and interesting dialog when lives were on the line. That she had been as much a slave as he was helped them form a bond of understanding that she built shamelessly upon and that drew me into sympathy with both very much (even when Sazo was being a ruthless jerk). But I also liked that Rose was alien to those around her just by being completely herself. I liked Diener's innovations on the alien expectations, having humans be denser and stronger than expected is a rare twist (besides John Carter, but you know what I'm saying). But I also liked that they kept underestimating Rose because they know she comes from a "primitive" species. And that some could see her as a person and knew better, making her work for her victories.
The only real detraction I have to the story is that the romance is a little shallow. Dav doesn't have much reason behind his attraction than that she's cute and gets crap done. Which, okay, that was enough for me, too, so I don't have a leg to stand on here because I knew I wanted to marry mine within a similar timeframe, too. Hmmm. Fine. I wanted more connection and I'm not sure I can define it very well. Sigh.
Anyway, this was an easy five stars, but with the note that I love this sub-genre irrationally. The sci-fi is light and the romance was shallow, but somehow it still added up to all my jam.
A note about Steamy: There are a couple of explicit sex scenes putting this in the not-quite-middle of my steam tolerance. Yes, the sexual compatibility is lampshaded. No I don't care because those scenes worked very well, I think.
December 16, 2015
Dark Horse tries to do three different things but fails to do any of them well. It tries to be a sci-fi romance, an alien abduction story, and a space opera all in one. Throw in a slow pace and an underwhelming protagonist and you get a book that just doesn't deliver much on the interesting premise.
Rose McKenzie finds herself prisoner on an alien warship after being abducted from Earth. With the help of a self-aware AI, she breaks free of her prison and lands on a remote planet waiting for a nearby peaceful alien race, known as the Grih, to help her. Captain Dav Jallan is the Grih officer who finds her on the remote planet and is almost instantly taken by the universally sexy Rose. As it turns out, humans and Grih are very similar in appearance and sexually compatible (odd coincidence huh?). Unfortunately the Grih are terrified of AI and would kill her friend if they knew he was helping her. Rose must lie to protect Sazo, her AI friend, but she finds herself in the middle of an interstellar incident that could start a war.
Of the three subplots, the love story is the one that made its way on to the page the most often. Rose finds herself enthralled with the tall, strong, handsome and elven Captain Jallan, not giving a moments thought to the fact he's an alien. His appearance is described as humanoid with the exception of the pointy ears and greater height. Tall, dark and handsome shows up to save the helpless young blonde, carrying her away from danger in his big strong arms.
Why is Dav attracted to Rose? Well she's a small, surprisingly intelligent woman with large breasts and an amazing singing voice. By intelligence I mean she is modern and not from a primitive race of stone age cave people.
Dav comments countless times on Rose's short stature, great curves, and her voice (I thought modern men weren't supposed to focus on these superficial things). By comparison, Grih women are taller, thinner, and can't sing at all. There is very little emphasis on personality, chemistry, or the potential to help one another grow as people. This is more akin to a late night Cinemax movie than a modern love story. The romance develops very slowly and is interrupted with the other major events taking place in the story. There is limited chemistry between the two would-be lovers, unless you count Rose's constant need for a rescuer. She is placed in mortal danger several times, giving Dav plenty of opportunities to demonstrate is potent manhood.
The author is also a bit shameless in titillating the reader. Rose takes about ten showers during the book and in one scene goes for a swim in an oversized bathing suit that keeps slipping off. There were moments I was sure the author had to be a guy. The author keeps drawing attention to Rose's body. To her credit, Rose never intentionally uses Dav's infatuation with her to her advantage.
As an alien abduction story, Dark Horse skips over the abduction itself. The novel begins with Rose mostly adjusted to her situation, and has even learned several alien languages when the story begins. Thoughts of Earth rarely come up. Her entire character is built upon her three month ordeal on the alien vessel and the drama that happens afterward. It is as if she never lived on Earth.
The space opera portion drives a lot of the second half. The powers that be know Rose is keeping a secret, the one that would explain how she escaped captivity. That secret is her AI friend Sazo. Unfortunately the slow pace and weak world-building saps a lot of the strength from this part of the story. In general, there is very little tension in this novel. Everyone is so damn calm, polite, and reasonable with one another. The aliens apologize to Rose countless times for various insults, actual or perceived. Despite the intense military situation, it feels like everyone is on valium.
Finally, the novel could've used another round of revisions to fix a few issues. The prose is solid for the most part, but there are a few mistakes and a lack of description in places where it could've helped a lot. Another troubling but minor issue is the title itself. The author uses Dark Horse as a term that describes an unknown factor in a complex situation. That is not its common usage in the US. A dark horse is a competitor that is not considered a likely contender but rises to surprise the odds makers. Rose is not a competitor, nor is there any real horse race taking place. There are also a couple contradictions in the dialogue and story an editor should've caught.
There were chapters that got me hooked for a while and some clever twists towards the end. The cultural differences between Grih and human were also interesting at times as well. The prose was pretty solid but again, could've used one more round of edits and revisions.
I think if the author could've decided on one type of story instead of trying to write three, Dark Horse could've been much better. To make such a complex story, a lot more research and work was needed to make it connect, in my opinion.
Rose McKenzie finds herself prisoner on an alien warship after being abducted from Earth. With the help of a self-aware AI, she breaks free of her prison and lands on a remote planet waiting for a nearby peaceful alien race, known as the Grih, to help her. Captain Dav Jallan is the Grih officer who finds her on the remote planet and is almost instantly taken by the universally sexy Rose. As it turns out, humans and Grih are very similar in appearance and sexually compatible (odd coincidence huh?). Unfortunately the Grih are terrified of AI and would kill her friend if they knew he was helping her. Rose must lie to protect Sazo, her AI friend, but she finds herself in the middle of an interstellar incident that could start a war.
Of the three subplots, the love story is the one that made its way on to the page the most often. Rose finds herself enthralled with the tall, strong, handsome and elven Captain Jallan, not giving a moments thought to the fact he's an alien. His appearance is described as humanoid with the exception of the pointy ears and greater height. Tall, dark and handsome shows up to save the helpless young blonde, carrying her away from danger in his big strong arms.
Why is Dav attracted to Rose? Well she's a small, surprisingly intelligent woman with large breasts and an amazing singing voice. By intelligence I mean she is modern and not from a primitive race of stone age cave people.
Dav comments countless times on Rose's short stature, great curves, and her voice (I thought modern men weren't supposed to focus on these superficial things). By comparison, Grih women are taller, thinner, and can't sing at all. There is very little emphasis on personality, chemistry, or the potential to help one another grow as people. This is more akin to a late night Cinemax movie than a modern love story. The romance develops very slowly and is interrupted with the other major events taking place in the story. There is limited chemistry between the two would-be lovers, unless you count Rose's constant need for a rescuer. She is placed in mortal danger several times, giving Dav plenty of opportunities to demonstrate is potent manhood.
The author is also a bit shameless in titillating the reader. Rose takes about ten showers during the book and in one scene goes for a swim in an oversized bathing suit that keeps slipping off. There were moments I was sure the author had to be a guy. The author keeps drawing attention to Rose's body. To her credit, Rose never intentionally uses Dav's infatuation with her to her advantage.
As an alien abduction story, Dark Horse skips over the abduction itself. The novel begins with Rose mostly adjusted to her situation, and has even learned several alien languages when the story begins. Thoughts of Earth rarely come up. Her entire character is built upon her three month ordeal on the alien vessel and the drama that happens afterward. It is as if she never lived on Earth.
The space opera portion drives a lot of the second half. The powers that be know Rose is keeping a secret, the one that would explain how she escaped captivity. That secret is her AI friend Sazo. Unfortunately the slow pace and weak world-building saps a lot of the strength from this part of the story. In general, there is very little tension in this novel. Everyone is so damn calm, polite, and reasonable with one another. The aliens apologize to Rose countless times for various insults, actual or perceived. Despite the intense military situation, it feels like everyone is on valium.
Finally, the novel could've used another round of revisions to fix a few issues. The prose is solid for the most part, but there are a few mistakes and a lack of description in places where it could've helped a lot. Another troubling but minor issue is the title itself. The author uses Dark Horse as a term that describes an unknown factor in a complex situation. That is not its common usage in the US. A dark horse is a competitor that is not considered a likely contender but rises to surprise the odds makers. Rose is not a competitor, nor is there any real horse race taking place. There are also a couple contradictions in the dialogue and story an editor should've caught.
There were chapters that got me hooked for a while and some clever twists towards the end. The cultural differences between Grih and human were also interesting at times as well. The prose was pretty solid but again, could've used one more round of edits and revisions.
I think if the author could've decided on one type of story instead of trying to write three, Dark Horse could've been much better. To make such a complex story, a lot more research and work was needed to make it connect, in my opinion.
November 7, 2015
My criteria for a five star book is simple: if I can't wait to re-read it again immediately after finishing it and I can't stop thinking about the storyline and characters - then it gets five stars from me.
Dark Horse gets an enthusiastic 5 star stamp from me because I have not stopped thinking about the nuances & characters since I finished it. The author tied in music in an extremely clever way, and now all of my favorite songs cause me to wonder...
I will try to give a more thorough plot summation tomorrow after I have gone through my second reread ;)
It is more science-fiction than romance without a doubt. The story manages not to get bogged down in technical details and remains about character, mystery and battles.
This heroine is fantastic.
Dark Horse gets an enthusiastic 5 star stamp from me because I have not stopped thinking about the nuances & characters since I finished it. The author tied in music in an extremely clever way, and now all of my favorite songs cause me to wonder...
I will try to give a more thorough plot summation tomorrow after I have gone through my second reread ;)
It is more science-fiction than romance without a doubt. The story manages not to get bogged down in technical details and remains about character, mystery and battles.
This heroine is fantastic.
January 19, 2019
DNF at 50%
It bored me.
It bored me.
October 12, 2015
YOU GUYS I HAVE BEEN IN SUCH A SLUMP LATELY. Or rather, not in a SLUMP as much as I get so into my own projects (currently juggling 3? 4? 5? something like that) that there is literally no room in my head for other people's stories. But I saw my boo Jane Litte recommend this and I love me some Sci Fi Romance, so I gave it a spin. The story wasn't perfect but it was a lot of fun.
So basically the heroine is captured from earth by the bad guys and experimented on. She meets this thinking AI who helps her get to the good guys, and a lot of the book is basically 'fish out of water'. Heroine meets the new race, everything heroine does is Exciting and New, etc. If you are a nerd that loves fish out of water stories like me? THIS SHIT IS GOLD, YO. The heroine is also very Julie Garwood in that she is what I like to call Pretty Princess. Everyone adores her and loves her and thinks everything she does is JUST THE CUTEST. So if that is not your jive, you might want to skip this. I don't mind it as long as it is written well, and this one was written well. I didn't want to slam her head into the wall at all! I actually liked Rose because she knew she wasn't the strongest person around. She was well aware of her faults and worked around them.
There was a thread in this book with the AI (who is called Sazo) that reminded me of Anne McCaffrey's brain ships series (which I lurve because they're romantic as fuck but still adventurous). Except instead of being sweet and happy brainships, these are like KILL ALL SONS OF BITCHES. The AI was really creepy at times and I worried right along with the characters how they were possibly going to control him. The author did a GREAT job of selling him as this super powerful sociopath computer.
(Side note, could I possibly cuss more in a review? Maybe)
The romance was more of a subplot? Like the hero was sweet and dashing but he definitely took a backseat to the main plot of Sazo and what to do with Rose etc.
I think I took a star off because the worldbuilding was hella dense and I tended to get some of the alien races confused for a bit. Oh, and I wanted more of an exclamation point on the ending and what would happen with Sazo the Possibly Evil AI Who Likes One Person And That's About It. Like, what happens if Rose dies? Does Sazo lose his shit and start killing through the galaxy? What? I think it was wrapped up satisfactorily, but the AI was such a huge, scary part of the story I wanted more of a definitive ending for him.
But overall! Still an awesome read and I would read a sequel like, yesterday, yo.
So basically the heroine is captured from earth by the bad guys and experimented on. She meets this thinking AI who helps her get to the good guys, and a lot of the book is basically 'fish out of water'. Heroine meets the new race, everything heroine does is Exciting and New, etc. If you are a nerd that loves fish out of water stories like me? THIS SHIT IS GOLD, YO. The heroine is also very Julie Garwood in that she is what I like to call Pretty Princess. Everyone adores her and loves her and thinks everything she does is JUST THE CUTEST. So if that is not your jive, you might want to skip this. I don't mind it as long as it is written well, and this one was written well. I didn't want to slam her head into the wall at all! I actually liked Rose because she knew she wasn't the strongest person around. She was well aware of her faults and worked around them.
There was a thread in this book with the AI (who is called Sazo) that reminded me of Anne McCaffrey's brain ships series (which I lurve because they're romantic as fuck but still adventurous). Except instead of being sweet and happy brainships, these are like KILL ALL SONS OF BITCHES. The AI was really creepy at times and I worried right along with the characters how they were possibly going to control him. The author did a GREAT job of selling him as this super powerful sociopath computer.
(Side note, could I possibly cuss more in a review? Maybe)
The romance was more of a subplot? Like the hero was sweet and dashing but he definitely took a backseat to the main plot of Sazo and what to do with Rose etc.
I think I took a star off because the worldbuilding was hella dense and I tended to get some of the alien races confused for a bit. Oh, and I wanted more of an exclamation point on the ending and what would happen with Sazo the Possibly Evil AI Who Likes One Person And That's About It. Like, what happens if Rose dies? Does Sazo lose his shit and start killing through the galaxy? What? I think it was wrapped up satisfactorily, but the AI was such a huge, scary part of the story I wanted more of a definitive ending for him.
But overall! Still an awesome read and I would read a sequel like, yesterday, yo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2016
There were a lot of things to like about this book:
☆ Rose was a great heroine, sassy and a fighter. I loved that when she made a promise she kept to it no matter what.
☆ And Dav was quite sexy, especially his ears ;-)
☆ I loved all the difference species, all from different worlds. It was very interesting learning how they differed from each other.
☆ The plot was very interesting, especially with all the intrigue regarding Sazo and Rose, why they were captured and who was trying to kill them.
☆ My favorite part of this book was probably Sazo the A.I. It was a lot of fun seeing him learn emotions from his interactions with Rose.
This was an entertaining sci-fi romance, with a very light emphasis on the romance. It was basically like a Star Trek novel with some romance on the side.
August 22, 2017
Loved it! A great read; well written, smooth flowing and action packed. It kept my rapt attention throughout and it was refreshingly different & unpredictable.
Captain Dav Jallan is determined to find who killed the entire crew of a Class 5 battleship, especially when the sole survivor is an Earth woman, a prisoner, who seems innocent and relatively harmless. Rose is a Dark Horse, the unknown variable in a problem. He does not know that Rose has found a very powerful ally, a fellow prisoner, Sazo, who is an artificial intelligence that controls the battleship. Dav has to stay impartial and ignore his growing feelings for Rose so that he can focus on keeping his ship and crew safe.
Dark Horse had me totally intrigued, wondering if Rose could really trust Sazo and how it was all going to play out. Rose and Sazo made a great team; Rose balanced out Sazo, offering him moral guidance and friendship while Sazo used his logic and intelligence to keep them alive and one step ahead of the Tecran who desperately want their battleship back.
It is non-stop action from the first page, easy to read and follow along with the different aliens and their politics. The Sherlock Holmes & Watson references as well as the misunderstandings of the different customs between humans and the alien species kept it entertaining and light.
Captain Dav Jallan is determined to find who killed the entire crew of a Class 5 battleship, especially when the sole survivor is an Earth woman, a prisoner, who seems innocent and relatively harmless. Rose is a Dark Horse, the unknown variable in a problem. He does not know that Rose has found a very powerful ally, a fellow prisoner, Sazo, who is an artificial intelligence that controls the battleship. Dav has to stay impartial and ignore his growing feelings for Rose so that he can focus on keeping his ship and crew safe.
Dark Horse had me totally intrigued, wondering if Rose could really trust Sazo and how it was all going to play out. Rose and Sazo made a great team; Rose balanced out Sazo, offering him moral guidance and friendship while Sazo used his logic and intelligence to keep them alive and one step ahead of the Tecran who desperately want their battleship back.
It is non-stop action from the first page, easy to read and follow along with the different aliens and their politics. The Sherlock Holmes & Watson references as well as the misunderstandings of the different customs between humans and the alien species kept it entertaining and light.
February 8, 2017
Loved it.
A big thanks to Gavin for turning me onto this series.
Full review once I finish the trilogy, though I just wanted to say I'm sad there aren't more books.
A big thanks to Gavin for turning me onto this series.
Full review once I finish the trilogy, though I just wanted to say I'm sad there aren't more books.
January 4, 2016
I have had this book laying around for months, the idea of it just did not sound interesting ..... add this to that list of "Stupid Things Doug Has Done"
This may have been one of the best things I have read in months, I have read a lot of great books over the last 12 months but I can safely say this one gets into the Top 10.
It is a story of a very odd friendship, a touch and go romance (which in the action, strategy and mystery type plot might have been a bit weak) but overall it was a story I could hardly stand to put down, I hated going to bed, I got the next morning to get right back to it.
So let me see, addicting story, amazing characters, mystery and surprises, nope nothing left to do but give it 5 Stars and move on to the next book. If the synopsis sounds boring ignore it, it is probably inadequate to describe this book.
This may have been one of the best things I have read in months, I have read a lot of great books over the last 12 months but I can safely say this one gets into the Top 10.
It is a story of a very odd friendship, a touch and go romance (which in the action, strategy and mystery type plot might have been a bit weak) but overall it was a story I could hardly stand to put down, I hated going to bed, I got the next morning to get right back to it.
So let me see, addicting story, amazing characters, mystery and surprises, nope nothing left to do but give it 5 Stars and move on to the next book. If the synopsis sounds boring ignore it, it is probably inadequate to describe this book.
January 14, 2016
Maybe my expectations were just too high after reading all the fantastic reviews, but I didn't like this at all.
I won't bother with a recap of the plot. You've no doubt read several already.
Very Light Spoilers Ahead!!!
One of my biggest requirements for enjoying a novel of any kind is that its main characters act in a way that is believable to me. Believable circumstances are an added bonus, but believable decisions, actions, thoughts, etc, in a character are a must. Dark Horse failed me here.
Imagine if you were kidnapped by ALIENS from your home planet and taken prisoner in their ship to a far away Galaxy. How would you respond? I would think most people would absolutely have a mental breakdown at most and/or be beyond terrified at the very least. Rose? She learns a language and develops a partnership with an AI. Did I mention that she has only been a captive for 3 months?!
Now, I know that she is a linguistics professor back on Earth, so I'll grant that she may have a gift for learning languages, but Grih, the alien language she masters in such a short time, would not have any similarities to anything she's ever heard before. So I found this highly improbable.
Rose has also been tortured and experimented on. What kind of torture? We aren't told really. What kind of experiments? Not sure on this either. We just know it involved CUTTING HER OPEN WITH A LASER AND SOLDERING THE WOUND CLOSED.
Let's recap: Rose is kidnapped from Earth, has no hope of ever seeing her family again, is operated on and kept in a tiny glass prison by aliens, and....learns a new language in less than 3 months. Strike one.
After being set free, she almost immediately comes into contact with a brand new alien species, the Grih, whose language she has already mastered. Is she terrified? No. She thinks the "guy" she just met looks like Legolas from Lord of the Rings, complete with pointy ears. How nice.
Fast forward a couple days and she's sleeping with him with no reservations. Now, any reasonable woman who had just been through what Rose had been through would not be HORNY, she'd be TERRIFIED!!! Is he going to kill me? Rape me? Could I get pregnant? Does his skin cover some grotesque lizard-like body a la the TV show V? Not one of these or any other realistic thoughts enters her mind. Let's be honest here. Rose has the good fortune to come across an alien species that--except for their ears, hair and voices--is identical to humankind. How fortunate!
I could go on and detail how Rose works out on an alien treadmill, goes swimming in an alien pool in a swimsuit that is apparently so large, it cannot stay put over her breasts which are greatly admired by the "guy", and generally fits in so well she never spares a SINGLE thought for her family or friends back home. Yeah, yeah, she has a crying jag in the pool because she misses the water back home. How loyal of her.
And why does she adapt so well? Humans have imaginations, don't you know? And she is not surprised by anything because it's all been imagined back on Earth. Are you kidding me? I have seen and read many sci-fi/fantasy movies and books, but if I was kidnapped from Earth by aliens I would not be okay with it!! Rose accepts her fate so nonchalantly!
I had other problems with the book, but disbelief of characters' actions, thoughts, decisions, is what made me give up about 70% through.
I won't bother with a recap of the plot. You've no doubt read several already.
Very Light Spoilers Ahead!!!
One of my biggest requirements for enjoying a novel of any kind is that its main characters act in a way that is believable to me. Believable circumstances are an added bonus, but believable decisions, actions, thoughts, etc, in a character are a must. Dark Horse failed me here.
Imagine if you were kidnapped by ALIENS from your home planet and taken prisoner in their ship to a far away Galaxy. How would you respond? I would think most people would absolutely have a mental breakdown at most and/or be beyond terrified at the very least. Rose? She learns a language and develops a partnership with an AI. Did I mention that she has only been a captive for 3 months?!
Now, I know that she is a linguistics professor back on Earth, so I'll grant that she may have a gift for learning languages, but Grih, the alien language she masters in such a short time, would not have any similarities to anything she's ever heard before. So I found this highly improbable.
Rose has also been tortured and experimented on. What kind of torture? We aren't told really. What kind of experiments? Not sure on this either. We just know it involved CUTTING HER OPEN WITH A LASER AND SOLDERING THE WOUND CLOSED.
Let's recap: Rose is kidnapped from Earth, has no hope of ever seeing her family again, is operated on and kept in a tiny glass prison by aliens, and....learns a new language in less than 3 months. Strike one.
After being set free, she almost immediately comes into contact with a brand new alien species, the Grih, whose language she has already mastered. Is she terrified? No. She thinks the "guy" she just met looks like Legolas from Lord of the Rings, complete with pointy ears. How nice.
Fast forward a couple days and she's sleeping with him with no reservations. Now, any reasonable woman who had just been through what Rose had been through would not be HORNY, she'd be TERRIFIED!!! Is he going to kill me? Rape me? Could I get pregnant? Does his skin cover some grotesque lizard-like body a la the TV show V? Not one of these or any other realistic thoughts enters her mind. Let's be honest here. Rose has the good fortune to come across an alien species that--except for their ears, hair and voices--is identical to humankind. How fortunate!
I could go on and detail how Rose works out on an alien treadmill, goes swimming in an alien pool in a swimsuit that is apparently so large, it cannot stay put over her breasts which are greatly admired by the "guy", and generally fits in so well she never spares a SINGLE thought for her family or friends back home. Yeah, yeah, she has a crying jag in the pool because she misses the water back home. How loyal of her.
And why does she adapt so well? Humans have imaginations, don't you know? And she is not surprised by anything because it's all been imagined back on Earth. Are you kidding me? I have seen and read many sci-fi/fantasy movies and books, but if I was kidnapped from Earth by aliens I would not be okay with it!! Rose accepts her fate so nonchalantly!
I had other problems with the book, but disbelief of characters' actions, thoughts, decisions, is what made me give up about 70% through.
January 3, 2019
4.5 Sazo stars!!!
I really wish GR would have .5 stars to offer.
What a surprise this was! A good one, at
that. I'd like to thank Ira, for recommending this to me. I love the star trek movies but for some reason, I don't read sci fi that much. Time to remedy that this year. :)
Anyho, I really enjoyed reading about Rose. She was abducted from Earth.
"She could whine about her fate, or embrace it, and one thing Rose had never been able to stand was a whiner.
Yup, not a whiner and very loyal.
We have space adventure in this one with just enough romance to spice it up. Here's this one line that really cracked me up.
"I come all the way to the other side of the galaxy, and what do you know, itʼs still populated by boob men.”
I didn't really warm up to the H. He's just okay in my book.
But Sazo is the winner. He's sooo cool! The Rose and Sazo team made this book for me.
I really wish GR would have .5 stars to offer.
What a surprise this was! A good one, at
that. I'd like to thank Ira, for recommending this to me. I love the star trek movies but for some reason, I don't read sci fi that much. Time to remedy that this year. :)
Anyho, I really enjoyed reading about Rose. She was abducted from Earth.
"She could whine about her fate, or embrace it, and one thing Rose had never been able to stand was a whiner.
Yup, not a whiner and very loyal.
We have space adventure in this one with just enough romance to spice it up. Here's this one line that really cracked me up.
"I come all the way to the other side of the galaxy, and what do you know, itʼs still populated by boob men.”
I didn't really warm up to the H. He's just okay in my book.
But Sazo is the winner. He's sooo cool! The Rose and Sazo team made this book for me.
June 15, 2015
Starting Dark Horse I was excited to read it but I was also a little worried I wasn't going to like it as much as the author's other titles because, although I love science-fiction, I haven't actually read many books in the genre. But I should've known not to worry because this is Michelle Diener we're talking about and I ended up absolutely loving this book!
This book is mainly about Rose McKenzie, a human from earth who gets abducted by aliens and taken captive for three months until she escapes with the help of Sazo, an artificial intelligence. The story starts pretty much in the middle of Rose escaping until eventually she gets picked up (again with the help of Sazo) by Captain Dav Jallan and his crew. This is where her loyalties start start getting divided.
This book was all kinds of awesome so I'm not sure where to begin.I love stories that feature aliens, especially artificial intelligences like Sazo was. Sazo scared me a little bit in the beginning because he seemed so out of control and reckless but he ended up as my favorite character in the entire book, with Rose coming close as second favorite.
Rose was also an amazing character. I just loved her attitude to her situation. She never gave up and she stayed loyal to Sazo the entire time while also not wanting to betray Dav and the others. And I loved Sazo and Rose's relationship and I loved how Rose refered to Sazo as Sherlock Holmes and herself being his Watson. They were really a good team and it was just so endearing to me.
Dav Jallan is yet another favorite character in the book. Just like Rose I really enjoyed reading his point of view. I liked even though he and his race were aliens to Rose, they did resemble humans mostly, just bigger and with pointy ears. But anyway, he was great! I loved the way Rose intrigued him and the chemistry they had with each other.
Nearing the end of the book I found myself wanting to read slower (but of course I couldn't) because I didn't want this fantastic story to end. The pace of it was steady, the world and character building was excellent (like always) and although I probably say this about all the author's books, Dark Horse is absolutely a top favorite of mine. I can't recommend this book highly enough!
This book is mainly about Rose McKenzie, a human from earth who gets abducted by aliens and taken captive for three months until she escapes with the help of Sazo, an artificial intelligence. The story starts pretty much in the middle of Rose escaping until eventually she gets picked up (again with the help of Sazo) by Captain Dav Jallan and his crew. This is where her loyalties start start getting divided.
This book was all kinds of awesome so I'm not sure where to begin.I love stories that feature aliens, especially artificial intelligences like Sazo was. Sazo scared me a little bit in the beginning because he seemed so out of control and reckless but he ended up as my favorite character in the entire book, with Rose coming close as second favorite.
Rose was also an amazing character. I just loved her attitude to her situation. She never gave up and she stayed loyal to Sazo the entire time while also not wanting to betray Dav and the others. And I loved Sazo and Rose's relationship and I loved how Rose refered to Sazo as Sherlock Holmes and herself being his Watson. They were really a good team and it was just so endearing to me.
Dav Jallan is yet another favorite character in the book. Just like Rose I really enjoyed reading his point of view. I liked even though he and his race were aliens to Rose, they did resemble humans mostly, just bigger and with pointy ears. But anyway, he was great! I loved the way Rose intrigued him and the chemistry they had with each other.
Nearing the end of the book I found myself wanting to read slower (but of course I couldn't) because I didn't want this fantastic story to end. The pace of it was steady, the world and character building was excellent (like always) and although I probably say this about all the author's books, Dark Horse is absolutely a top favorite of mine. I can't recommend this book highly enough!
August 12, 2015
Nicely done sci fi romance. The sci fi element was very strong here. The romance was sweet and understated. This was a SFR which wasn't just an excuse for some sex scenes. The world building was strong.with believable tech and well thought out history. The plotting made sense and moved right along. There were quite a few interesting secondary characters. The main character was believable as a woman snatched from Earth. Like all good sci fi the book asked some hard questions. In this case about artificial intelligence. I hope the author writes more SFR.
August 28, 2022
The first time I read this, I stayed up until 3am before accepting that I needed to stop reading and actually get some sleep.
The second time around, I stayed up until 6am before crashing and spent most of the morning drooling on my Kindle and dreaming about being an AI in outerspace. Woke up and immediately finished reading.
I FUCKING LOVE THIS BOOK.
The second time around, I stayed up until 6am before crashing and spent most of the morning drooling on my Kindle and dreaming about being an AI in outerspace. Woke up and immediately finished reading.
I FUCKING LOVE THIS BOOK.
February 6, 2017
4/5; 4 stars; A-
I really enjoyed this light sci fi romance. There were good guys, bad guys, Intelligent thinking systems, space ships and lots of adventure.
I liked this book enough to go right out and buy the next two in the series. I wanted to check this author out and found I like her style. I would rate all three books the same.
I really enjoyed this light sci fi romance. There were good guys, bad guys, Intelligent thinking systems, space ships and lots of adventure.
I liked this book enough to go right out and buy the next two in the series. I wanted to check this author out and found I like her style. I would rate all three books the same.
July 4, 2017
Some secrets carry the weight of the world.
Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.
She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.
In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.
3.5 stars.
Dark horse is a light space opera read. I've enjoyed several of Michelle Diener's other books and was excited to see that she ventured into space opera territory. For the most part the main character Rose was very likable. She was smart and resourceful. I would have liked to have seen more PTSD as a result of her captivity and torture, which I might add was not discussed in any detail in this book. There were a few scenes where she became upset over things that had happened, but those seemed to be conveniently placed so that the potential love interest could get close to her and comfort her, which is fine to a point. The scene at the pool felt especially awkward and seemed a bit strange for two people who hardly knew each other. It was a little bit too insta-love for me. I would have liked to have seen them come together differently, but I did enjoy their romance and liked that it wasn't overdone.
There was still plenty of story that didn't involve the romance part. I loved Sazo and his relationship with Rose and I kept wondering if he could really be trusted for a good portion of the book. I really would like to read more about the other class 5s and also find out more about the other alien species that were mentioned in the book. A bit more action in future books would be nice a well. I'm looking forward to eventually reading the two companion books.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.
She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.
In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.
3.5 stars.
Dark horse is a light space opera read. I've enjoyed several of Michelle Diener's other books and was excited to see that she ventured into space opera territory. For the most part the main character Rose was very likable. She was smart and resourceful. I would have liked to have seen more PTSD as a result of her captivity and torture, which I might add was not discussed in any detail in this book. There were a few scenes where she became upset over things that had happened, but those seemed to be conveniently placed so that the potential love interest could get close to her and comfort her, which is fine to a point. The scene at the pool felt especially awkward and seemed a bit strange for two people who hardly knew each other. It was a little bit too insta-love for me. I would have liked to have seen them come together differently, but I did enjoy their romance and liked that it wasn't overdone.
There was still plenty of story that didn't involve the romance part. I loved Sazo and his relationship with Rose and I kept wondering if he could really be trusted for a good portion of the book. I really would like to read more about the other class 5s and also find out more about the other alien species that were mentioned in the book. A bit more action in future books would be nice a well. I'm looking forward to eventually reading the two companion books.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
October 18, 2015
4 ½ stars. Good sci fi and good character development. Very enjoyable.
It got a little slow in the middle, but most was good and the end was cool. I loved Rose’s intelligence and loyalty. There is a little romantic relationship development, and a good romantic ending.
Rose had been a prisoner in a Tecran star ship for three months. Sazo is the artificial intelligence “thinking system” that runs the ship. Sazo figures out a way to communicate with Rose and helps her escape. He tells her how to free him from Tecran control which she does. The two of them escape. They are picked up by a Grih star ship.
I loved the way Rose was as honest as she could be with Sazo and with Dav the Grih captain. Sazo did not want Dav to know about him. But Dav needed to know. Rose was in the middle and tried to do what was best for both of them.
This is a stand alone story, but the author plans to write two more sequels. I can’t wait.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: Kindle count length 4,986 ( 381 to 468 pages per different sources). Swearing language: strong but not often used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 1. Setting: unknown time could be current time on star ships and other planets. Copyright: 2015. Genre: sci fi with a little romance.
It got a little slow in the middle, but most was good and the end was cool. I loved Rose’s intelligence and loyalty. There is a little romantic relationship development, and a good romantic ending.
Rose had been a prisoner in a Tecran star ship for three months. Sazo is the artificial intelligence “thinking system” that runs the ship. Sazo figures out a way to communicate with Rose and helps her escape. He tells her how to free him from Tecran control which she does. The two of them escape. They are picked up by a Grih star ship.
I loved the way Rose was as honest as she could be with Sazo and with Dav the Grih captain. Sazo did not want Dav to know about him. But Dav needed to know. Rose was in the middle and tried to do what was best for both of them.
This is a stand alone story, but the author plans to write two more sequels. I can’t wait.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: Kindle count length 4,986 ( 381 to 468 pages per different sources). Swearing language: strong but not often used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 1. Setting: unknown time could be current time on star ships and other planets. Copyright: 2015. Genre: sci fi with a little romance.
April 1, 2023
This sci-fi story was so interesting! I loved Rose and Dav and even Sazo. There were so many great philosophical ideas that were brought up and intelligently explored. I loved Rose's dilemma with Sazo. Can she trust him? How much should she tell Dav? Is she being double-crossed all around?
The romance was just right. It didn't overpower the main plot but was believable and satisfying.
The Sci-Fi Nerd in me really loved this book!
Safety
The romance was just right. It didn't overpower the main plot but was believable and satisfying.
The Sci-Fi Nerd in me really loved this book!
Safety
March 25, 2021
The book had it all! Excellent world building, friendship with an AI, romance with a yummy Captain, military intrigue, and a kick-ass heroine! The musician in me loved the musical angle of the story, certainly made me look at music in a different way.
It was reading Corina's review of this book that made me check it out, and I’m so thankful I did!
It was reading Corina's review of this book that made me check it out, and I’m so thankful I did!
October 17, 2023
4.5/5.0
A fabulous sci-fi romance that is rich and super well-written! Just the right amount of all things that make a reader bite their nails while swooning all at once!
A fabulous sci-fi romance that is rich and super well-written! Just the right amount of all things that make a reader bite their nails while swooning all at once!
August 23, 2015
Dark Horse is a sci-fi book by author Michelle Diener. This to me wasn't really a romance story at all like I thought it was going to be, it was more along the lines of a sci -fi adventure maybe. The book revolves around "Thinking machine" Sazo. From what I gathered he IS the class 5 battleship. He just "woke up" and is curious about things around him. Rose (the heroine of the book, shes an abducted victim on the ship) becomes Sazos friend and helps him to break free of his "cage" and starts to think on his own and takes back control of himself (the ship). Sazo orchestrates a series of events in an area (killing his captors, freeing rose etc) where he believes Rose will find a home with an alien race similar in looks to her. Dav (commander of his own non-thinking ship and the 2nd hero in the book) is in the area and finds the ship (sazo) and rose.
I believe this book was longer than it should of been, kind of dragged in areas. The romance felt so forced. I mean the whole story really was about Sazo not Dav and Rose. I just didn't feel their connection at ALL. Nothing. Since I came into reading the book for the romance reason, I was a bit disappointed. I did like Sazo though. I liked his drive to find the other "thinking machines". I liked Rose for the part she played in helping Sazo.
I believe this book was longer than it should of been, kind of dragged in areas. The romance felt so forced. I mean the whole story really was about Sazo not Dav and Rose. I just didn't feel their connection at ALL. Nothing. Since I came into reading the book for the romance reason, I was a bit disappointed. I did like Sazo though. I liked his drive to find the other "thinking machines". I liked Rose for the part she played in helping Sazo.
May 27, 2024
A page-turner! Couldn't leave it out of my hands (or you get the idea cause I was moslty listening to it).
I'm beyond intrigued by the world building and the AI.
Rose is an amazing heroine, smart, strong-willed and kindhearted.
I loved everything about this story and I really, really, REALLY hope the rest of the stories are the same.
I'm beyond intrigued by the world building and the AI.
Rose is an amazing heroine, smart, strong-willed and kindhearted.
I loved everything about this story and I really, really, REALLY hope the rest of the stories are the same.
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