A review by beckiebookworm1974
Planet Zero by Lydia Hope

5.0

This was a fantastic read I had exceedingly high hopes after previously reading Homebound and devouring it so this one had a hell of a lot to live up to. The world-building here was immense and so well done some of the best I’ve encountered to date. This really showcased the strength and will to survive that was possessed by one human woman. But not just surviving also managing to forge a whole new place for herself on this strange brutal planet and then actually be happy. The resilience and dogged determination Addie possessed, her compassion and backbone she was one hell of a woman. Every time she was knocked down she just came back at life a whole lot stronger and all the time staying true to her own character and big heart.

This isn’t your typical sci-fi romance it’s so much deeper. It’s not incredibly graphic and it's all very slow-burn. The Romance here also isn’t the focus either to me it seemed more of a building background concern in fact I’m not sure if I’d even label this as a romance. It’s there of course but the focus here appeared to be more about survival and acceptance with some romantic overtones thrown in for good measure.

This starts two years after Addie’s ship crash-landed here and I loved that she had an established start so different from the usual sci-fi stories in this genre She’s a nurse by profession a natural healer and she finds herself now living in a permanent settlement with some others of her kind along with rejects of the For people. The woman of her kind provide a sort of needed service to the male natives and it all felt a bit sordid. Thankfully this is something Addie has managed to avoid up till now with her abilities as a healer.

The impression I got from these aliens was they lived in nomad tribes and were very like prehistoric humans in custom their appearance I’m still a little slightly confused over as it wasn’t described in any great detail but I sought of imagined them as Neanderthal looking but with sharp teeth and strange red eyes. They have some strange ways and customs and they despise weakness including permanent injuries usually ostracising those afflicted from the tribe.

When Addie's settlement is destroyed by Wrennlins (think of the film tremors) she finds herself alone with all of her people now dead she sets out across the plains. Meeting native For’s from a nearby tribe Addie slowly integrates into their life. Learning so much from them. But not everyone is as accepting and Addie earns herself enemies from the onset. One For Zoark seems to particularly dislike her looking down on her with derision and scorn from day one.

Zoarke can speak Addie's language he initially spent time in Addie's old settlement giving him a very low opinion of human women which he isn’t afraid to voice. But Zoarke is termed a cripple (not my words) this society is very biased towards disabilities and Zoarke has a bum leg and scars left over from a Wrennlin attack labelling him as such by the other For’s in his tribe he is now awarded the lowest place on the totem pole without influence and considered practically worthless by the others.

As I said earlier this one is massively slow on the romance front it really is a soft slow burn and these two definitely aren’t initially lusting after each other. So If you are after a steaming hot romance with plenty of sauce this probably isn’t the story for you this one is less steam more substance for sure. but if you like richly crafted fantasy worlds and epic sagas this is for you and though this one is labelled a sci-fi it could very well be any barbarian type historical it very much had that particular Vibe about it just one set on an alien planet. This is all told from Addies POV it’s extremely well written and the words definitely paint a vivid picture of life on this alien planet. I definitely recommend this and the elaborate world-building certainly deserves all the stars.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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