Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Ostakis
AUTHOR: Angelica Primm
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 208 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 18, 2019
BLURB:
The Human Planets Collective sent young Ambassador Kaj Deder to the former colony planet Ostakis to establish relations. But in the twenty-five hundred years since Earth lost contact with Ostakis, the people of that colony have dramatically changed. Kaj is tasked with finding the reason for these changes while he forges trade links between the HPC and Ostakis. Without trade with the HPC, the dwindling resources of Ostakis will ultimately end human life on the planet. But his mission faces a huge obstacle in the form of Most Reverend Thyenn Sharr, the head of the Faith Progressive Church, who sees the arrival of Kaj as the beginning of the end of the Church. Kaj’s powerful attraction to Trademaster Klath’s son, Arlan does not smooth relations.
Arlan Klath, the son of the Trademaster of Ostakis, bears the secret that the pious people of his planet want to hide from the homeworld and the HPC. The Curse of the Unspoken, wrought through the unspeakable acts of the First Colonists, afflicts all Ostakians, but some more strongly than others. Arlan is totally Cursed, considered born sinful and he lives without legal rights or property. He is scrutinized by Sharr who is enraged that Arlan’s father defiantly refuses to submit Arlan to a cruel act to “redeem” Arlan’s soul. The stakes increase when Arlan and Kaj form a relationship that Thyenn Sharr considers ample justification to usurp the Trademaster position through the power of his Church.
REVIEW:
This was an interesting read and while it is a science fiction book, the conflict caused by the meshing of politics and religion is certainly a contemporary one that most readers would relate to.
Our main characters are Kaj and Arlan, and the story is presented from both men’s point of view. Kaj is a representative from the Human Planets Collective, an organization that seemed somewhat similar to the European Union, as in you join their group for extra benefits such as trade agreements. He’s been sent to Ostakis, a planet settled then practically forgotten by humans 2500 years ago. His job is to assess their suitability before allowing them to join the collective. At first I thought this was going to be a bit of a commentary on the negative impact of colonization, and I guess it is a little, but that all happened thousands of years in the past. Earth has finally come to acknowledge the danger posed by practicing inequality and fanatical religion, and it is cautiously evaluating human settled planets before forging any agreements. Kaj was already aware that on Ostakis, women were considered lower status than men, but he didn’t understand why certain men also seemed to be included in that discrimination. But Kaj soon discovers that these aren’t men at all, but a third gender, known only as the Cursed.
Arlan is one of the Cursed, considered an abomination by the reigning Ostakis religion. He is considered property rather than a person, and is only saved from physical abuse thanks to the love of his rich father. I actually loved the idea of the Cursed, and how they are so reviled by the majority of the population. How often these days do we hear people say that you are born a certain gender and that’s that? Well here we have people physically born this gender and they are still hated and misunderstood.
I liked these two men together, the way they found strength in each other to stand up for what was right, rather than avoiding rocking the boat. And they had the support of an awesome secondary cast. Even the bad guy was manically interesting whenever he made an appearance.
My only criticism, which is a rather major one, is that I found the beginning of this book very confusing and that confusion carried on for quite some time. The first meeting between Kaj and the representatives of Ostakis is fraught with innuendo and hidden meanings couched in political politeness. Problem was, I just couldn’t understand the feints and hints because I was yet to learn these characters or the rules of the planet. It made it hard to really start enjoying the book and I felt like I was forcing myself to keep wading through. However, having said that, I did end up thoroughly enjoying the story by the time I finished.
I think that the author has created a world that is imaginative and deserves further exploration. Now that I understand the planet of Ostakis better, I truly hopes that Angelica Primm chooses to continue setting stories here so we can find out what happens to the population as they break from the restrictions of the church. I would especially love to get Pib’s story!
RATING: 
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