When I read Diesel Jester‘s first installment of the Fallen Stars series, I was intrigued because I’m not familiar with sci fi, but I was a little bummed at the relative lack of character development with the main female character, Sara.
Thennnn, he promised me that there would be more in the second installment, Binaries, so obviously I had to read that one, because I love good character growth.
(Before I forget, here’s a link to my mini-vlog, you can access the full-length vlog from that video)
But, I was initially confused because I was like, “Who is this Sophie character and where is Sara??” Patience, my dear readers, she comes back later, as does sassy-Sam. (yay)
So, let Jester introduce you to Sophie, like Sara, she’s a citizen of the Confederacy, and, also like Sara, she’s sold into sex slavery… bummer. But arguably, her sale is a bigger bummer because her ex-husband is a total jerk who didn’t even put up a fight, unlike Sam… but we’ll get to that later. Over the course of a year(ish?) Sophie starts out with a slave-trainer, who sells her to a friend. I don’t want to give too much away, but she ends up with a third master and falls in love with him. Eventually, he too falls in love with her–my little romantic heart was cheering.
Buuut, hold your horses, because obviously there’s more drama than just multiple sales (I mean, that’s pretty traumatic for Sophie, but I’ll get back to that in a sec). Her third master, a space-elf named Ayen, is royalty and his father wants him to marry some well known space-elf-lady, who, frankly, is the worst. She’s just a generally disagreeable and callous character–and you enjoy hating her. Their proposed betrothal seriously messes with Ayen and Sophie’s relationship, especially since he realizes that Sophie has abandonment issues… which is where her trauma, Sam, and Sarah come back into play.
Again, I don’t want to give away too much, because this was a fun little surprise for me, but I’ll say this. Sara is a badass and totally hands it to crazy-space-elf-lady! And while she’s doing that, Sam’s up to his badass-ery putting it to Sophie’s sorry excuse of an ex, and they all lived happily ever after.
Or at least, that’s how it seems…
Now, onto my thoughts. I have a lot of feelings about this series. I loved Sam’s sass and Ayen’s compassion. I adored the juxtaposition of Sara and Sophie, and especially loved to see that Sara finally has a personality and can take some names too. I would have loved to see the development as it happened, but, I dunno, maybe it could be like, an in-between supplement to the trilogy?
As for Sophie and the juxtaposition–in book one, Sara repeatedly realizes that “she’s been broken” and isn’t a mindless sex slave, but she seems like more of a plaything than a person. Sophie, meanwhile, has feelings and thoughts, and questions them–she’s pissed at her ex for letting her become a slave; she feels conflicted, AND TALKS THROUGH IT, about her newfound servitude and how she feels both guilty and empowered; she clearly loves Ayen but struggles with the fact that…she’s a slave, and that he’s supposed to marry some uptight chick. Like, I don’t love the whole “master” thing, and how she’s pretty quickly like, “welp, this is my life now.” But I do like that she holds her own in her own way; like, she really claims her own power, especially with her second master after an…incident. Think of me like River Song here…lol
Then there’s Sarah, so, like I alluded to earlier, book one Sara was just kind of boring. Sure, she had her outbursts when she saw Sam and it was clear that she still loved him, but there was literally a part where she was like “he broke me, I am a slave.” Then there was the whole Sam rescuing her and her immediate response is “I’m your slave and your wife.” That, for me, just… I’m not a fan. Like, yes, it’s erotica, she can be submissive and we can read about it, but like, where’s your self confidence, girl?? (I was so pumped that Sophie didn’t do it, and then she kinda did and I was slightly bummed, ngl.) But then in book two: she’s confident, she teaches Sophie about pleasure–unexpected but interesting–she’s in charge. I loved her growth! Like I said, I would’ve liked to have seen more, but this was really Sophie and Ayen’s story.
So, as for my thoughts and feelings… I think the concept of a future with hedonistic and conservative parts of the galaxy is really interesting. I liked the discussion/questioning/etc. of what style of society is best to really find one’s sense of self. I genuinely like the characters and think that they’re well developed, and even though book two focuses on a new cast, I liked how Jester brought back Sam/Sara.
But… I’m just not sure if I’m an erotica reader. We all know that I love romance, but, I dunno, there’s something about this particular genre that makes me a little squeemish. Jester isn’t painfully graphic, but he is very descriptive, and I could do without knowing about each and every thrust and grunt.
On that note, if you’re not an erotica reader, if you don’t like strong language (there’s lots of F-bombs), or violence (there’s not a lot, though), this may not be the series for you. If, however, you’re down for all that, this is a really interesting world that Jester’s created and the dynamics of the characters operating in the two contrasting societies are incredibly engaging.
That’s all I’ve got for now! Be sure to look out for next week’s posts on Brenda Lyne‘s book, Sister Lost.
Happy Reading!
A Little Bit of Happiness 
