Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Song of Song
AUTHOR: L.J. LaBarthe
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 270 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 18, 2016
BLURB:
It is the year 2275, and though some consider Earth a paradise, for most people on the planet or her outer-world colonies, it’s anything but.
Dex is a Boxie—a genetically engineered human created for the sole purpose of caring for wealthy bio-humans. His best and only friend is an AI cat named Manx, a secret Dex keeps from all around him. While he knows little about his sexuality, he’s attracted to Song.
Song designs ships that traverse deep space and has created the first fully sentient vessel called Fa’a. When he hears of a plot to capture Fa’a for nefarious purposes, Song flees Earth with a small band of misfits. Meanwhile, Dex’s fear of losing Manx drives him to take the cat and escape on a transport.
Song and Dex are brought together by chance. Just as their relationship blossoms from cautious and shy to romantic and erotic, new dangers threaten to destroy not only their love but also Fa’a, their friends, Manx, and all they care about.
REVIEW:
Dex was born and raised to serve others and it’s the only life he’s ever known. When his friend Manx’s life is threatened, however, he takes a chance and escapes; besides, any existence off of Earth has to be better than the one he was already living. Song used to live a life of privilege until he was forced to flee Earth in an attempt to keep his ship, Fa’a, from being misused. A violent encounter with those hunting for him and his crew has Song desperate to find an engineer but its luck that leads him to Dex. The attraction is instantaneous and mutual but with a plan in the works that threatens not only their lives but several planets in the Milky Way, will they ever have the chance to be together?
Let me start out by saying I loved this book! For some reason I haven’t been able to consistently find good m/m sci-fi books but I’m so happy to have found this one. I loved Dex; he is so completely out of his element but he’s still determined to succeed because failure, and what it means, is unacceptable. Also, much like Song, I found myself addicted to his blushing; it was just adorable. Song and the rest of his crew were all so unique that I found myself really liking all of them. I liked how Song was very upfront with his thoughts, at least once he got around to actually talking to Dex, anyway.
The best part of this book wasn’t the romance aspect, however, it was the overall story. I thought the plot was unique and the story was engaging; I never really knew what was coming next and I found myself loathe to put it down. Everything was just really well developed from the beginning to the end. I do wish that I’d been able to actually see Dex and Song’s relationship develop more, however; its obvious time has passed but I didn’t get to see them together as much as I would’ve liked as a couple. Regardless, the book was so good that I don’t even mind that very much. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future!
RATING:
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