A young princess escaping an arranged marriage may be a familiar idea, though typically this might be associated with a fantasy story. Jessie Mihalik takes that idea and transposes it to the far future of a galactic empire (or Royal Consortium, in this case) in her debut novel Polaris Rising. The princess is Ada von Hasenberg and she is on the run with a bounty on her head. As a result, she finds herself in a prison with the most wanted man in the galaxy, Marcus Loch. Do they get along?
“Polaris Rising is space opera at its best, intense and addictive, a story of honor, courage, betrayal, and love. Jessie Mihalik is an author to watch.”–Ilona Andrews, #1 New York Times bestselling author
A space princess on the run and a notorious outlaw soldier become unlikely allies in this imaginative, sexy space opera adventure—the first in an exciting science fiction trilogy.
In the far distant future, the universe is officially ruled by the Royal Consortium, but the High Councillors, the heads of the three High Houses, wield the true power. As the fifth of six children, Ada von Hasenberg has no authority; her only value to her High House is as a pawn in a political marriage. When her father arranges for her to wed a noble from House Rockhurst, a man she neither wants nor loves, Ada seizes control of her own destiny. The spirited princess flees before the betrothal ceremony and disappears among the stars.
Ada eluded her father’s forces for two years, but now her luck has run out. To ensure she cannot escape again, the fiery princess is thrown into a prison cell with Marcus Loch. Known as the Devil of Fornax Zero, Loch is rumored to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion, and the Consortium wants his head.
When the ship returning them to Earth is attacked by a battle cruiser from rival House Rockhurst, Ada realizes that if her jilted fiancé captures her, she’ll become a political prisoner and a liability to her House. Her only hope is to strike a deal with the dangerous fugitive: a fortune if he helps her escape.
But when you make a deal with an irresistibly attractive Devil, you may lose more than you bargained for . . .
So we have a budding romance between two characters, both of whom have a rather checkered past. While there are familial and dynastic politics that drive a great deal of the external conflict of the novel that drives Ada’s actions, the meat and heart of the novel is the relationship between Ada and Loch. In other words, Polaris Rising is largely a Planetary Romance. There’s a great deal of action throughout the novel as Ada is continually on the run from the man who would have her as his wife, the scion of the family her father set her up to marry. It doesn’t help that this man who is hunting her, Richard of House Rockhurst, is an unsavory individual who has grudge against Loch.
Polaris Rising is Mihalik’s debut novel and is an impressive showcase for the writer’s talents. In Lady Ada von Hasenberg, she’s created a charming protagonist. Ada is resilient, emotionally rounded, honest and ultimately, a likeable person. There’s enough mystery around Loch at the outset that clouds who he is and makes him an interesting character and a good romantic interest for Ada. Their strong wills play off of each other quite well. Since the story is told by Ada, we only see Loch from her point of view so his motivations are largely unclear to her, and consequently us as the reader. What we do read are Ava’s thoughts: she is enamored with Loch, at least from a physical standpoint. He is all but described as a man-god chiseled from stone.
The plot moves along pretty briskly, largely because of Ada. As mentioned, she is the first person narrator of the novel so a reader’s enjoyment is going to rest squarely on her shoulders. Mihalik, as I said, did a very good job of constructing a believable and likeable character. If readers don’t connect with Ada, then chances are readers likely aren’t going to enjoy the novel.
For my part, I found Polaris Rising to be an impressive debut. I typically don’t reach for novels leaning quite as heavily on the sex and romance as did this novel. Throughout much of the novel, I found strong resonance with the Paradox/Devi Morris novels Rachel Aaron published as Rachel Bach. Both stories are filled with action and contain a heavy dose of romance, maybe a heavier dose of romance in Mihalik’s case. I also found myself drawing parallels to Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War novels, though Moon focused more on military and much less on the romance aspect.
In sum, Polaris Rising is a fun, well-paced Science Fiction novel. As I said, I don’t typically lean towards novels with such a potent romance angle, but I’m more than happy to have experienced Polaris Rising. With a strong romance as its backbone, Mihalik surrounds that backbone with enough meat for a fully enjoyable adventure.
© 2019 Rob H. Bedford
February 2019 | Trade Paperback | 448 pages
https://www.jessiemihalik.com/
Excerpt: https://aerbook.com/books/Polaris_Rising-196332.html?social=1&retail=1&emailcap=0
Review copy courtesy of the publisher, Harper Voyager
