Invictus, Part 1

Captive

Every soldier knows there are endless ways to die.

Every Ubezhishche soldier knows there are far worse fates than death.

Sevastien one zero two four, S line third modification, has survived the destruction of his own ship and an enemy station. But he was rescued by the wrong side -- by Nalyn Ila, captain of the Elysian destroyer Invictus. Now he's facing a difficult problem: How to persuade Captain Ila and her people that he is not an enemy combatant. That if there was an act of war, it was committed by her people, not his own.

Sevastien is almost certain he was an innocent bystander of disaster ... unless his own people set him up, aiming to get him aboard Invictus for reasons he can't yet understand. Maybe they did. It's just the kind of thing Ubezhishche Command might do.

Nalyn Ila is almost certain Sevastien is an enemy agent, placed aboard her ship by Ubezhishche Command. But no one, not her own people nor the enemy nor Sevastien himself, can possibly guess what use she might actually have for an Ubezhishche soldier. Even if he actually is an innocent bystander, she may be able to use him in her private long-laid plans. And if he's actually an enemy agent ... that might be even better.

©2023 Rachel Neumeier (P)2025 Rachel Neumeier

Twisty plot with twisty characters

Reminds me of CJ Cherryh. Complex story focusing on well constructed psychologically complex characters from differing cultures.

GRIPPING

fron chapter 3 the characters are very well constructed and each one a deep personality. The story is unique and literally a cannot put down book. The aspects that it examined are extremely relevant and very well developed as the story moves forward. Now going to continue immediately with book 2 because I can't wait to continue the saga of the characters

Good narration, good characters

The narration was very good, as were the characters. So much so that it made up for other areas I found a bit off putting.

It seems like every sentence is said in triplicate, once from the main character's viewpoint and twice from everyone else's. While it is interesting to get other people's perspective, and I even found myself looking forward to it a few times, it is indeed quite repetitive.

Additionally, the main character is incredibly passive. Things mostly happen to him rather than because of him. This is super lame because he is super powerful and we rarely get to see him cut loose. This is a more cerebral story, and it is good at that, but I did wish it had a bit more action in it.

dropped before it got to science fiction

didn't like it. a lot of talking back and forth, repeating the same thing. there might be something later but I dropped after 4 chapters