i really enjoyed reading this, the characters were great and I really enjoyed learning about them. Hopefully there is more in this world.

Starts really good, but didn't quiet catch me till the end. Since it is called a space adventure, I immagined the story to be a little diffenrent.
Anyway I got a good picture of the book and the writing and could reccommend it to customers looking for that kind of story.
Thanks for the sample copy.

3.75-Nadja Bikram travels to a planet to join a survey team but when she gets there she discovers a bit of chaos with the leader gone missing. This is a time when the human body can be made to be younger but traveling through space takes its toll and certain measures need to be taken that are described later in the book. In order to find the missing leader, Nadja teams up with military members who have become friendly with the alien race named Lacertians who act as guides to help them find their missing member as they themselves are on a certain mission in which Nadja and her team aid in. The travels with the Lacertians make up a majority of the book with battles being fought and discovery on how humans customs and Lacertians customs differ but they both find friendship with one another. The part where it is discovered how one another eliminates their food wastes had me laughing. I felt a little bogged down at times during the journey with a bit too many details, but overall a different kind of sci-fi read.

I found this book fascinating. Not quite a "first contact" book, we're introduced to a completely new world and an alien form of life that seems beyond comprehension. The author does a wonderful job with world-building and helping us to understand the Lacertians. For me, the human characters were a bit flat, and the ending was a little disappointing.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Skiathos follows the story of Nadja Bikram, who travels to the alien planet after studying it from afar for a number of years. When she arrives, people from her team have died and she has to take control, something she wasn’t expecting to have to do (does anyone expect to be in command?). From then on, it’s a matter of survival in the harsh landscape. Can she keep her people safe, while also finding out more about these aliens of Skiathos?

I don’t know how many people reading this book have also watched the Star Trek: The Original Series episode called “Arena”, but the description of the Lacertians made me think of the Gorn. Bigger and scarier than the Gorn, perhaps, and with more teeth, but still, it’s a great mental image to have in mind while reading this book.

I struggled reading this book in the beginning and at the end. My favorite parts were the middle bits with the Lacertians. I loved that as big and toothy as they were, that they were also so protective and kind and gentle. I can tell that the author really spent a lot of time developing the world and the aliens. That being said, some of the book did frustrate me, because it was infinitely less interesting. Basically the lead up to being on the planet and then once Nadja was off the planet were not as interesting because the tone shifted to being more sterile and less warm. Maybe that was the point, and I could see how within the context of the story that could be what the author was going for, but I’m not sure if that’s the case, that it was entirely successful.

I liked that the history of the world got explained a bit, though I feel that did fall a bit flat as well. There were a few things that I don’t feel fully were explained. I always love worldbuilding and history of worlds, so I am always eager for more details.

Overall, the book was enjoyable, and I’m super attached to the Lacertians. Who would have thought such giant toothy aliens would also appear to be so gentle?

Skiathos is home to the Lacertians, a species of gentle giants who live in bands of a few hundred members and roam the planet shepherding their flock of animals, regularly battling each other for grazing land. The book follows Nadja Bikram, a soldier turned linguist who, after crashing on the surface, finds herself stranded and forced to tag along with a band of friendly Lacertians. The aliens become convinced that she along with two other humans are cubs in need of protection. Studying the language and developing bonds with the Lacertians, Nadja slowly uncovers a plot that sets in motion armies, other races, new discoveries and many more.

That’s the story. Now then, perhaps the biggest critique that I have is that the characters lack true depth and development. They start and conclude the story exactly the same as they were, without a sign that any of their adventures mattered in any way. Moreover, everything is much too convenient for a sci-fi story. The alien food is readily edible to the humans, the aliens themselves are one-dimensional, honor-bound, and their behavior is always constant and rather easy to understand. Finally, the story is quite monotonous. Most of the book builds up to a final battle which promises to explain everything but which turns out to be pretty disappointing, and it is swiftly dealt with in about 30 or so pages.

On the other hand, “Skiathos” is easy to read, action-oriented, pretty cheap and keeps you curious as you flip its pages. Another Sunday read.