Another sci-fi romance for you guys! I’d seen this book around a couple of times, mainly because the second book is Aurora Blazing which tends to come up if you search for Aurora Burning! Anyway, I saw the audiobook on the BorrowBox app (a great app which is run through your local library service!) and I decided to download. This is only the second time I’ve listened to a book without first reading it in physical form first.
Ada is on the run. As a member of one of the three high houses she is expected to marry for political advantage, and she doesn’t want that. We meet her as she is getting captured by mercenaries who have just captured the most hunted man in the universe, Marcus Locke. After Ada’s jilted fiancé attacks the ship that captured her, Ada and Locke form an unlikely partnership. But neither of them realises just what they’re getting into, and that Ada’s refusal to marry just might be the spark of war…
For me this book had quite a slow start. I’m not sure if that was just because I was listening to it though rather than reading. A couple of hours in, Ada and Locke were still imprisoned, and their relationship didn’t seem to be going anywhere. I did actually come to like the slowness of the relationship development (and again this may be due to the format) as it didn’t feel like they were rushing, it felt believable.
This is another sci-fi romance, but it definitely has quite a complicated plot too. I liked slowly discovering more and more about the world Ada and Locke live in.
Ada was quite a likable character. I liked her strength throughout and the way she went after what she wanted. I struggled with her pride for her house. It might be because I don’t have siblings, so I don’t quite get that bond, but I just didn’t see why she hadn’t made the decision to say fuck it and get away from them. I certainly didn’t see her insistence to go back if it came to war, I mean she has four siblings – surely that’s enough. It’s not like her parents were begging her to come back, other than to be married off.
Locke was a pretty typical alpha male type character. Now that I’m really thinking about it, I’m wondering quite where the attraction Ada feels for him is coming from. Like I get it, he’s hot but other than being a bit of an arsehole at first and then turning protective, I’m not sure where it comes from. It feels more like Ada fell for him because she knew that he wasn’t after her name.
But this is only really when I’m thinking about it. They do build up a relationship slowly and I can see why someone like Locke is so appealing given Ada’s history.
There was some enjoyable smut in the book and it’s got my interest enough that I’m feeling like reading the other books in the series – they follow two of Ada’s sisters but I think, given this ones ending, they follow the same overarching plot.
One thing I did have a problem with, that I probably never would have picked up on if I’d read it physically as opposed to listening, was the way they spoke was a bit robotic sometimes. Like they say, ‘I am…’, ‘I will’, etc. It doesn’t feel like a big thing, but it just didn’t work sometimes, it felt unnatural to speak like that sometimes.
Nevertheless, an enjoyable sci-fi romance! I’m not sure I like it enough to buy the physical book but I think it was a 4* read.
The London Faerie 