I need more! There are many interesting ideas and a great cast of characters in this book and I can't wait to read more.

Part science fiction, part action adventure, a pinch of romance, all fun!

I would have given this four stars except the ending wasn’t an ending at all. I don’t like it when authors use this tactic to get us to buy the next book.
The story was slow starting but ended up a page turner. It is an excellent and unusual theme and most of the characters were interesting. Elmyra was very human and Zayn was a different kind of male protagonist. ***SPOILER*** There are hints of a relationship building between them but the book leaves the reader hanging without any resolution in sight. Anyone with answers to her other questions is dead and suddenly she has this super arm she doesn’t know how to control.****
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through NetGalley and was under no obligation to leave a favorable review. All opinions are my own.

Some humans left Earth and made a new home elsewhere, evolving differently and unbeknownst to those left behind. They are the Meridians. Some evil folk steal an artefact and head to Earth with nefarious plans. A disgraced young Meridian soldier withdrawing from drugs must join forces with a scaredy-cat civilian, one of her sworn enemies and a Earthling to try to stop them.

There is a lot of good story here and I’d love to see the movie. The writing lacks. Perhaps it is actually aimed at tweens? The real downfall is the cheesy romance between the Meridian soldier and her enemy. And then the book doesn’t even finish the story. It literally ends with “to be continued” so I guess the author decided to split it over two books. Bit annoyed about that.

Would I read the sequel? Hmmm. Probably. The story is interesting enough I’d like to see what happens. And the writing is simple enough it’s a fast easy read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in return for my review.

This book was entertaining but the writing was not impressive and the characters didn’t feel fully fleshed out to me. I liked it because it reminded me of Battlestar Gallactica, but besides the nostalgia factor, this novel didn’t have much going for it on its own. It feels like it just needs a few more rounds of editing to bring the characters to life and cut some of the clunky writing, and then it could be great!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an e-galley in exchange for my honest review. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 because I think it has potential!

An alternate reality centered on a group of diverse individuals whose ancestors immigrated to a tech heavy world , leaving behind a doomed planet Earth as well as many less developed civilizations. After 300 years, this world too has developed many of the weaker habits of the communities they had left behind. S Ghali has developed a very realistic world setting that feels as if it could be possible. He has populated this world with so many different personalities and given each an equally well developed back story. This group of misfits and renegades must become a team to stop a group of mercenaries from gaining access to a super weapon and destroying any who would stand in their way. Using their combined skills and the few pieces of equipment that manage not to break down, they will learn the hard way that their way of life has not prepared them for a battle that they cannot afford to lose.

I do have a few issues with the portrayal of the females in this story. The author has managed to incorporate many actions and behaviors that could easily have been written in a different manner. It does detract from the story somewhat but the overall book is well worth the read.

Ok, I have tried sooooo many times to get into this book, but it's just TOO much. It seems like every chapter is a different character, a different story line, but all part of the same plot. We just don't know how they fit together just yet. Fine, ok, I can handle that when it's oh, two POVs, but I'm up to like 4 right now, barely maybe 20% into the book and it's too much. I can only imagine how much more complicated this book will get. Yes, it was well written for the 20% I read, but not enough to get me to stick to it.

3 1/2 rounded up. This was a pleasant surprise for me. I haven't read sci-fi in a long time and just thought I'd check it out. Turned out to be a great decision.

This story line hooked me right away and I really enjoyed the story. It's an interesting concept of humans leaving the earth to colonize elsewhere. That civilization thrives (called Meridians), while Earth is as we know it- war-torn, pollution, unrest, etc. When a rival alien race comes to Earth as well to discover a missing artefact, The Meridians are sent to keep the mercenaries from gaining that artefact that could destroy whatever it comes in contact with.

A fun look at alien races and how contact with them could look like. Not at the same level as Orson Scott Card, but still super fun and clean read. I am really looking forward to the next book!!


Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book describes different versions of humans. It was a little hard to follow the beginning of the book, but we can see what happens later on. The book is full of action and is quite the quick read. I enjoyed this book. Warning! Be prepared to want to read the second book right away!

There I was, merrily reading along in this science fiction book. Then WHAM, S. Ghali ruined it completely. How? They depicted the main female character as having an irresistible attraction to the alien who was her enemy minutes before, a member of a race she's been raised to consider lower than animals. Of course, she doesn't understand what she's feeling, and I imagine she'll fight it to some extent, but that was it for me.

Are you ready for the human race to explore the galaxy? Are you ready to be part of an advanced civilisation that values science and knowledge? Are you ready to save Earth from a super weapon? Then step right up and read this book! I had a bit of trouble with the time lines but if you ignore that little issue you’ll get on fine with this book.

An ancient and wise civilisation offered humans a new way of living 300 years ago which a bunch of them grasped and they left the original earthlings to fight it out over a depleted planet. They called themselves Meridians. A few other species were also involved in establishing a new Alliance. The trouble starts when the Antharians who are guarding an artefact of unimaginable power get raided by mercenaries and the artefact is stolen and then gets activated on Andromeda and heaps of people die.

Elmyra Conrad is a cadet soldier on a mission she is not fully briefed on to go back to Earth and neutralise the weapon. However the trip is plagued by sabotage and everything goes haywire. Elmyra finds herself having to rely on a brutish Antharian prince, a timid Meridian and a clueless Earthling to save the planet.

The first few pages of this book were...let’s just say I was wondering what I was doing reading it. But stick with it! It gets a lot better. I think perhaps the intended audience was a bit (a lot maybe) younger than me. It may even have been intended as YA sci-fi. I do enjoy the occasional sci-fi but I’m very picky and this book was not what I expected. There were lots of references to Star Trek and it read like a YA nerd fantasy. There are also a few little plot holes but they don’t detract too much. But surprisingly the book grew on me and by the closing chapters I was willing Elmyra and her little band on. Unfortunately the book ends on a cliff hanger and I’m not sure if I’ll read the next instalment - but I might! Thanks to Netgalley and the author S. Ghali for providing me with a copy to review.

I liked the book. Elmyra and Zayn are quite a pair. Both have some serious emotional issues and a world ending problem to solve. It took a bit for the book to get going, but the background makes it better. There were a couple of times I questioned the action being quite believable, but the rest of the book made it worthwhile.

I just love this world. I can’t wait to read the next book! I can’t wait to learn more about Zayn and Elmyra chemistry. Also, I want to read a prequel and see about the previous 300 years on Gaia.

Some humans left Earth 300 years ago and went along to experience advanced space travel, technology etc. In their new galactic world a small group of humans and aliens is sent back to Earth to overcome a group of rebels who hold some sort of device that could destroy life.
It's not a bad story but it did grate a bit. No great technology leap forward so its not challenging to read, life for the aliens and life in Earth seem too similar, the English language had not changed over 300 years, of course the galactic force landed in the USA, and why did the hero young lady have to suddenly get the hots for the alien dude? The story just seemed too safe and did not test any new boundaries.

Started reading this book and three chapter into it, I am so disgusted by the misogyny, that I can't bring myself to read further. Even the alien race is chauvinistic and callow.
Example: an alien prince is sworn to an arranged married with a veiled tribal princess while his younger brother is in bed with, count them: FIVE beautiful young women.
Meanwhile, on another planet, a young girl is crushed by the verbal tirade of a cold and uncaring militaristic father, and sent off on a campaign of war in order to kowtow her way into his good graces.
That's it. I am done. I gave it two stars because it is at least written with good (not perfect) grammar.

I really enjoyed this sci-fy thriller. It provided an alternative theory of life here on Earth. Humans left with the Gods 300 years ago to explore and settle other planets. The humans were left on Gaia and built up a technology heavy world with none of the violent traits of the humans left on earth. In between Earth and Gaia is a world called Anthara. It too is inhabited by human-like creatures called Antharians. They were left on Anthara and are war lovers. The story revolves around characters from Gaia, Anthara and old Earth. Spell binding events, murders, sabatage and deaths keep the action fast paced. Good start that leaves you hanging for the next book in the series.

Interesting premise... weak delivery. The plot of this book felt a little too fast paced, and often I had to keep checking back to make sure I'd kept up to date with everything and understood all the details in the fullest. The worldbuilding from page one was quite heavy, and that often dragged the story down as it made it harder to get through. There were a fair few characters, and I think the inclusion of a cast list and just general glossary would be useful. Not a terrible novel, but it wasn't quite up to my tastes

Not terrible! Not what I’d usually read and it made a nice change. I wouldn’t read another in the series though - I was quite disappointed with the ending. The plot wasn’t brilliant and I think this should have been worked on in more detail before writing the book, because the character development was far better than the plot. I started to lose interest when I got to 86% of the way through and couldn’t see it ‘going’ anywhere.

The first few chapters were by far the most interesting. I loved the back story of the different alien species and the meridians. The moral aspect of the story was interesting with the meridians choosing to abandon humans / humanity for their own more refined way of life. Some parts of the book (memory loss serum? DNA hybrids...) definitely seemed like an afterthought. Overall? If you’re interesting in reading sci-fi about alien species then it’s not terrible.

I enjoyed it, I was very impressed by how I ended up liking it, it was well paced and I liked the plot a lot, it was very creative even with the names of the characters

This was a great start for this series!

It was a bit of a weird start and lots of names to remember, but once they all connected I couldn’t put it down.

I can’t wait for the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ebook arc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading this immersive tale that seemed to end all too soon. I would recommend this title to my high school students, especially the boys since this title is not as "girl-centered" as some titles are.