Taken to Voraxia

Xiveri Mates, Book 1

De: Elizabeth Stephens

Narrado por: Benjamin Charles, Blaire LeBlanc

Duración: 10 h y 28 m

Resumen del Editor

Miari:

Blue skin. Seven feet. Strapped with corded muscle, the aliens have come again but this time, their king is here and he's watching me with hunger.

A hybrid with red alien skin and brown human eyes, I've got no family and am not desired by colony men. I'm an inventor, a mechanic, a tinkerer. The alien king seeks to claim me, but he'll have to find me first.

Our little colony is a scary, desperate place and I'm willing to meet it head on if it means escaping him and the alien sensations he stirs deep in my gut, where light and truth cannot touch them.

Raku:

She is my Xiveri mate, yet she runs from me—straight into the horrors of her savage moon colony. Does she not know that I would slaughter in her defense?

Nox, she does not.

My brilliant hybrid thinks herself a slave–my slave–and in place of acceptance, offers me only pacts and bargains. Shamed by her pacts, I still take them all gluttonously, because she is mine–my hybrid, my Xiveri mate, Voraxia's queen, and mine to worship.

Taken to Voraxia is a full-length sci-fi alien romance and book one in a nine-book (+one novella!) series. Xiveri Mates books come with a guaranteed HEA. Books three and six feature Xiveri Mates from outside of the Voraxian constellation, while the rest are best listened to in sequential order. YES for alpha alien overlords, warrior heroines, fated mates who are also enemies-to-lovers, action and violent battles, world-building and extra steam. No for abuse, dubcon, noncon, cheating, menage, harem, or love triangles. Subjugation of human women is an early theme in book one and, while it ends spectacularly, may be a trigger for sensitive listeners.

©2020 Elizabeth Stephens (P)2022 Elizabeth Stephens

Treat yourself!

I've read this book twice, (no, really) and I was very satisfied with this. I thought Zoran accent and the little clicks he pronounced were sexy.

New world

I loved the learning of the different in cultures as the story develops between the couple.

I’ve love this series.

I’ve read this whole series thus far so I was curious if the narrators would do it justice. So liked it. I understood how to say the X words like Xveri but I will say how he said it started to get grate me after a while. But I still appreciate her language in this book and the world she’s book.

Pleasantly surprised

The first review listed was scathing so I wasn’t sure how to feel about this book. But there were so many things I loved about the characters. I have found that at times I can’t relate with FMCS because they tend to be whiny and they fight for former situations that were fraught with difficulties. They do not ask questions but make assumptions and can despite wanting the MMC, they deny and act as if they are overtly scandalized by the male even while admitting to themselves that they want what the male offers. It is unrealistic. It feels like a plot spacer but one that is wreathed in constant self worth issues in the FMC, and it’s tiring. Which is why I enjoyed this book. The plot flowed from one space to the next with a FMC that despite being virginal embraced her sexuality while not seeming weak. She doesn’t make the MMC bow and scrape (too much) but they find equality together. The MMC while a little bossy and overbearing in the beginning strives to learn his woman and listens well. I thought that there was a good balance of plot line to relationship building and I am ready to experience the next story. I also LOVED the voice actors, especially when he was growling some responses 😮‍💨🤌. I also appreciated his language, it felt different.

Loved this Dark and Gritty Sci-Fi Romance!!

A gritty story of a planet of women forced to offer themselves up (at a certain age) for a protective shield which does allow them to survive, but just. This is not “protocol”, and when found out things improve. The king Xoran visits the planet and not only discovers his fated mate, but stops the atrocities.

Miari is “too young”, but Xoran promises to return for her. She is not interested and hides outside the shield. This is almost a fatal decision.

For full disclosure I listened to the audio version, which I am pleased with after hearing the difficulty some readers found in the “language” in the book. Not an issue to listen to - in fact there is a dangerous creature whose call gave me goosebumps on the audio.

Excellent world-building, strong characters, and edge-of-your-seat action. It is dark, but also quite romantic.

***** I am voluntarily leaving my honest review of this book *****

💙💙Elizabeth Stephen very good Author 💙💙

The Narrator's are awesome 👌 Male and female🥰🥰🥰 Certainly hope she will release more of her books. I came from kindle reading her books. And had to definitely come and listen to them in audio. They are really well written Syfy⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ She actually tells a good story. This will make a great series! Thank you so much! Is very well worth the🌹🌹🌹

AMAZING AUDIOBOOK

i absolutely love this series with my entire heart, and getting to listen to it as audiobooks has been awesome! the narrators are PERFECT and really made the entire story even better. 10/10 recommend this series!!!

Stephens does not dissapoint!

I like the author on tiktok and I've been dying for any of her books to come in audio format. She did not disappoint!

The FMC is strong, nuanced, interesting, and competent. She's respected for her tenacity and isn't punished for owning her own power. He's morally grey but ultimately honorable, making him absurdly sexy. Their flirtation is her negotiating with him and winning.

I'm pretty sick of the slave falling in love with her owner trope, but this is done so well. It subverts the tropes and very directly discusses themes of subjection, violence, and colonialism. Love is found through justice, empowerment, and equity, not further disempowerment. It has a PoC FMC and a PoC author, and you can absolutely tell. It's excellent.

I LOVED it in audio. The language has clicks and specific pronunciation, and we see the FMC learn to pronounce the words. It felt like important character development that can only be communication in audio. The narrators are truly excellent and it was so easy to get a living sense of the characters.

I hope we get the rest of the series, and the Population series!

loved the narrative and narration

it is very hard to find a sci-fi romance with a black woman as the mc and even harder to find one that is well written. needless to say I'm bing reading/listening to this series of books.

the narration style ruined me. the voice actors were perfect in their roles and the fact that the male lead read all the male parts and the story didn't have the female lead trying to change her voice to mimic a males has set a standard high for my audiobook experience lol.

over all great book in this genre 👌

A whole new world!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️💜
Heat: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍
Character development: 😒😚🥲😍

The heroine: Miari - she is a mechanic and an inventor. She speaks out against the aliens who invade their planet each rotation (three years). Every time they invade, all the females between 7 and 15 rotations old have to kneel naked when the ship lands and the aliens disembark, those chosen by an alien are hunted for breeding purposes. It all happens again each rotation. Miari is not yet of age until the next rotation. Though she feels she would not be chosen anyway, since she is a half-breed of the hunt and her mother died giving birth.

The Hero: Raku - he is the Raku (King) of Voraxia. He has decided to see what his General Boraku has been doing each rotation when he and his men go off to one of the small colony planets that is so unremarkable it has no name. He is surprised to find that the colonists are fearful of him and have no basic necessities, such as translators.

The Story: Raku sees Miari and knows immediately she is his Xiveri mate. He is astounded to see that she couldn’t understand him and is afraid of him. Miari’s friend Svera had learned the language and is able to translate but they don’t understand what a Xiveri mat is. All they know is that in the next rotation when Miari is of age, Raku will return for her and will take her off world.

Miari and her friend Kiki run during the next rotation at the time the Voraxians are set to return. Kiki was already of age during the last few rotations and due to her beauty was the one chosen by the evil Boraku. She no longer speaks due to what she went through. They take to the sewers and break through to a cave that goes outside the Drolax dome that keeps the humans safe from the creatures that roam the rest of the planet. They end up regretting their actions.

This book introduced Va’Raku who also found his Xiveri mate in Kiki and Miari’s friend Svera who helped Miari when she ran away and was taken aboard Raku’s ship to a warrior named Krisxox. This all sets up the second and fourth books in the series and the couples involved in those books.

I don’t want to go into more of the plot but to say this is another alien romance that is unique in it’s storyline. Not only is the heroine a human/alien hybrid, but they are not from earth. The book is told in dual points of view by duet narration, which I was surprised and delighted with. Narration was done by Benjamin Charles and Blaire LeBlanc. I don’t believe I have ever heard these two before but they do a great job. Blaire has a soft voice with a pleasing tone and Benjamin has a deep voice which works well for Raku.

One thing I did not like about this one was the fact that so many foreign words were used. I know it is genuine that there would be language differences between alien races as well as foreign concepts that would need their own words. However, you would think once they have translators, most words would be the same. It just got a bit distracting for me.