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A review by shell_s
Galactic Hellcats by Marie Vibbert
5.0
The Galactic Hellcats gang WILL be back for a sequel!
Too excited not to start off by sharing that, in case any readers hadn't heard the good word.
This is the kind of book I could re-read in two days easy, and will surely be tempted to do. I'm definitely going to keep buying this series and also any other novels Marie Vibbert publishes, probably multiple copies and formats so others can enjoy them with me.
Marie Vibbert's humor and her characters, who are so kind and vulnerable and occasionally exasperating to themselves and their families and friends but trying to be better, they just speak right to my heart.
If someone took the upbeat tone, wisecracking team, and computer hacking-and-hot pursuit heist action of the TV show Leverage and blended it with the multi-ethnic cast and near-future space colonized setting of Artemis by Andy Weir, it would end up something like Galactic Hellcats.
Except that this debut novel's cast is an all-female biker gang in space who decide to liberate a foreign prince who has long been forced to hide his feelings (and desire for men) from his abusive, tyrannical family. This paragraph contains all I needed to know before I bought it.
Once I started reading, I was surprised to find the trio of ladies weren't a lightspeed jumping, slick Ocean's 8 kind of crew, but individually gifted amateurs--Ki the infiltrationist/thief, Margot the military stock clerk veteran good with strategy and organization, and Zuleikah the hacker and mechanic---whose goals and personalities are often at odds while the forces trying to shoot them out of the sky. These gals were hilarious and played off each other well.
But more importantly, I was delighted by how emotional the core of the story was, both for them as individuals and as a budding ride-or-die sisterhood.
Characters are my favorite element in most any story, and this one has four distinct narrators yearning so hard for a more fulfilling life that I couldn't resist any of them.
I might have taken a longer time to warm up to streetwise con-artist Ki, who steals impulsively and looks at other people (including, initially, Margot and Zuleikah) as marks, IF the author hadn't opened with Ki's heart-melting friendship with her terminally ill best friend that ends up gifting her the cherry red space motorcyle--er, solo-flyer.
I immediately felt for Margot, living at home after her stint in active military duty on Lunar Colony and struggling to find work while fending off anxiety, post-combat zone stress, and her parents' very vocal disappointment. Not yet allowing herself to think about doing something that would make her happy, like exploring the galaxy or finding love with a special lady.
Zuleikah starts out living alone in a swank apartment on planet Ratana, independently wealthy and unburdened by mental anguish or getting her next meal, which seems like paradise compared to Ki's and Margot's straits. But I still sympathized for how isolated she was, how she felt she had to hide her passion for mechanics and hacking and all other pursuits from her micro-managing yet detached parents. And then there's the doomed crush on a certain prince who frequents the same online message boards.
Ratanese Prince Thane's lonely situation is a far more dire and intense version of Zuleikah's, every minute of his days tightly controlled by the queen and her minions, groomed till it hurts and beaten for the slightest offenses. He's not even allowed proper rest and meals between official royal appearances, which invariably mean being trotted around like a prized thoroughbred racehorse to attract a wealthy buyer, er, bride. The suffocated royal's only escape is in sneaking access to popular dramas and their fan sites on which he's an avid debater---at least, until three space biker women swoop in to give him the most terrifying and thrilling time of his life.
Andrei and Autumn the (ahem) companion robots (my roundabout term, not the author's) on the space station outside planet Jefferson are also hilarious and endearing, and I'd love to see them return.
One of my favorite android exchanges, from Chapter 19:
Prince Thane: "I shouldn't be talking to a robot about this. No offense."
Andrei: "I am incapable of being offended, but I can fake it if you want."
In other words, come for the hijinks--the tech hacking, break-ins, space age chases, tricky negotiations with spaceship pirates or planetary colonies and their security forces, and a pair of flirty companion robots who are expert soothers of conscience.
But stay for the found family sweetness among scrappy outlaw gals and their newest recruit, the quietly rebellious royal, every one of whom it's hard not to root for.
WHEN A BOOK FLIES BY TOO FAST, SPEAK UP---BOOST THE SIGNAL!
Too excited not to start off by sharing that, in case any readers hadn't heard the good word.
This is the kind of book I could re-read in two days easy, and will surely be tempted to do. I'm definitely going to keep buying this series and also any other novels Marie Vibbert publishes, probably multiple copies and formats so others can enjoy them with me.
Marie Vibbert's humor and her characters, who are so kind and vulnerable and occasionally exasperating to themselves and their families and friends but trying to be better, they just speak right to my heart.
If someone took the upbeat tone, wisecracking team, and computer hacking-and-hot pursuit heist action of the TV show Leverage and blended it with the multi-ethnic cast and near-future space colonized setting of Artemis by Andy Weir, it would end up something like Galactic Hellcats.
Except that this debut novel's cast is an all-female biker gang in space who decide to liberate a foreign prince who has long been forced to hide his feelings (and desire for men) from his abusive, tyrannical family. This paragraph contains all I needed to know before I bought it.
Once I started reading, I was surprised to find the trio of ladies weren't a lightspeed jumping, slick Ocean's 8 kind of crew, but individually gifted amateurs--Ki the infiltrationist/thief, Margot the military stock clerk veteran good with strategy and organization, and Zuleikah the hacker and mechanic---whose goals and personalities are often at odds while the forces trying to shoot them out of the sky. These gals were hilarious and played off each other well.
But more importantly, I was delighted by how emotional the core of the story was, both for them as individuals and as a budding ride-or-die sisterhood.
Characters are my favorite element in most any story, and this one has four distinct narrators yearning so hard for a more fulfilling life that I couldn't resist any of them.
I might have taken a longer time to warm up to streetwise con-artist Ki, who steals impulsively and looks at other people (including, initially, Margot and Zuleikah) as marks, IF the author hadn't opened with Ki's heart-melting friendship with her terminally ill best friend that ends up gifting her the cherry red space motorcyle--er, solo-flyer.
I immediately felt for Margot, living at home after her stint in active military duty on Lunar Colony and struggling to find work while fending off anxiety, post-combat zone stress, and her parents' very vocal disappointment. Not yet allowing herself to think about doing something that would make her happy, like exploring the galaxy or finding love with a special lady.
Zuleikah starts out living alone in a swank apartment on planet Ratana, independently wealthy and unburdened by mental anguish or getting her next meal, which seems like paradise compared to Ki's and Margot's straits. But I still sympathized for how isolated she was, how she felt she had to hide her passion for mechanics and hacking and all other pursuits from her micro-managing yet detached parents. And then there's the doomed crush on a certain prince who frequents the same online message boards.
Ratanese Prince Thane's lonely situation is a far more dire and intense version of Zuleikah's, every minute of his days tightly controlled by the queen and her minions, groomed till it hurts and beaten for the slightest offenses. He's not even allowed proper rest and meals between official royal appearances, which invariably mean being trotted around like a prized thoroughbred racehorse to attract a wealthy buyer, er, bride. The suffocated royal's only escape is in sneaking access to popular dramas and their fan sites on which he's an avid debater---at least, until three space biker women swoop in to give him the most terrifying and thrilling time of his life.
Andrei and Autumn the (ahem) companion robots (my roundabout term, not the author's) on the space station outside planet Jefferson are also hilarious and endearing, and I'd love to see them return.
One of my favorite android exchanges, from Chapter 19:
Prince Thane: "I shouldn't be talking to a robot about this. No offense."
Andrei: "I am incapable of being offended, but I can fake it if you want."
In other words, come for the hijinks--the tech hacking, break-ins, space age chases, tricky negotiations with spaceship pirates or planetary colonies and their security forces, and a pair of flirty companion robots who are expert soothers of conscience.
But stay for the found family sweetness among scrappy outlaw gals and their newest recruit, the quietly rebellious royal, every one of whom it's hard not to root for.
WHEN A BOOK FLIES BY TOO FAST, SPEAK UP---BOOST THE SIGNAL!