Reviewed by Chris

TITLE:  The Wayward Prince 

SERIES:  Mind + Machine #2

AUTHOR:  Hanna Dare 

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  229 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 13, 2018

BLURB:  

Spaceships, daring heists, and interstellar intrigue! 

Since murderous AIs drove humanity from Earth more than a century before, people have been rebuilding civilization. That doesn’t mean the galaxy is anywhere close to being civilized.

A liar and a scoundrel – and he’s the good guy. 

The thing that Captain Sebastian Garcia values most of all is his ship, The Wayward Prince, and like most of his possessions, it’s something that he stole. Now the ship’s original owner has found Sebastian and he’s looking to collect what he’s owed.

When you want something stolen, call a professional. 

Ren is someone Sebastian never expected to see again, and the one he never could forget. But Ren’s not offering forgiveness. Unless Sebastian can pull off an impossible heist on a distant planet he’ll lose everything – including a second chance with the man he once betrayed and still cares for.

REVIEW:  

Captain Sebastian Garcia has an ex problem. Mostly in that he has a lot of them, and most of them are not particularly fond of him. This is exemplified in Ren, a young man who he met, seduced, and then stole from, years earlier. The prize he stole? His ship, The Wayward Prince. Now Ren is back and looking for Sebastian to help him out with a little problem. The problem? Well, Ren is need of a group of morally ambiguous people to help him steal back a gem from Ren’s homeworld that has gone missing. The payment? A withdrawal of the bounty on the ship and Sebastian. As well as enough credits to keep the crew in cheap coffee and dubious alcohol for a while. With an offer like that, what could Sebastian say but yes? If only things stayed that simple…

I was pretty sold on this story when I realized I was going to get a jewel-heist in space. That is just…all kinds of yes. But while that didn’t take up nearly as much page time as I thought it would, I found the story beneath and around it to be compelling enough to not really care.

First off, this was all kinds of fun. Spaceships, jewel-heists, exes coming back from the past, and double dealing going on in the shadows. Can’t really say no to any of that.

This story takes a lot of the elements of the first book in the series and draws them closer in so it is not so dependent on this cosmic-danger, but instead on things vital to a smaller group of people. Ren’s world needs the jewel, Sebastian wants to help Ren out, and the crew would really like to get paid. I never really felt like the fate of the universe was held in the balance, and I liked that. The jewel does becomes a bit of a MacGuffin, but since the action it propels thru the story is so entertaining, I can’t say I care all that much. I really like scifi stories like this, that make the stakes more personal to the characters and don’t focus so much on big cosmic, life-ending matters.

I’ve also become increasingly intrigued by the universe in which this series is set. As I learn more about the Singularity and its ramifications on the humans left in the aftermath, I find myself desperately wanting to know more. This world where technology exists, but alongside it is a deep-seated fear of AI, is very compelling. We don’t get a lot more information in this second book, but it certainly builds on the ideas presented in the beginning of the series. I can only hope that we get more books set here so that I can learn more. What had started off as an interesting idea is growing into something truly fascinating.

Lastly I think the two romantic leads in this story were very well done. Not as nearly combustible as Rylan and Jamie in Machine Metal Magic, but the more quieter pining between Ren and Sebastian is still great to watch. Their somewhat interesting pasts makes for a good set of obstacles to overcome, and as the trust between them grows you can really start to see a viable connection between them start to take hold. There chemistry is never in doubt, but by the end there is finally a foundation for something deeper and more lasting.

I can’t help but recommend this book to lovers of scifi, especially if you are in the mood for something a bit lighter. It has some very compelling ideas going on in the background dealing with science and technology–and how humans react to it–but is also good at focusing on characters that make you connect with the story on the whole. This series is probably best read in sequence, though, so you might want to go back and read the first book if you have not done so yet. It has a bit bigger scope, in terms of stakes, but it is just as well written as this one. And after you have caught up, you can join me in waiting for whatever Hanna Dare has in store for us next.

RATING:  

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