In Her Name: Empire – Michael R Hicks.

I’m not a huge reader of the Science Fiction genre, but when this book was recommended to me by none other than Michael R Hicks on twitter, I thought I’d give it a read. I also had the bonus of this read being free on Kindle, so what do I have to lose? Who knew, I may even enjoy it.

Enjoy it I certainly did. The journey of the human child Reza as he grows to manhood captured by an alien race, which see him as an experiment and novelty rather than a sentient being, is compelling and gripping. The world which Hicks has created is well thought out and immersing, at no point in the story did any of the minor details jolt me out of the story. 

The Kreelan culture is well thought out too, there is a reason for everything that is mentioned in the novel, nothing is frivolous and alien for the sake of it, which for me is an important aspect of world creation. If a building is curvy, it needs a good reason to be that way! Thankfully, in Hick’s novel, there are these reasons.

The book is a real page turner and the language is well commanded but at the same time, it is not a chore to read. It was a real pleasure to grab five minutes to read it and not feel lost in verbose imagery. The metaphors and similes are often amusing and well thought out. Not a cliché in sight, which is always nice!

The character development was superb throughout as well. Reza becomes more imbedded in the Kreelan culture the longer he is there but he never loses sight of his own humanity and it is this that creates great conflict at the end of the novel. I was shocked at the choices that he makes but not surprised. I won’t give it away as I hope some of you will go out and read this book. You should do if you are a lover of traditional Science Fiction novels. It is the first of a trilogy and although I don’t have the burning need to go out and read the next one right this second like I did with Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself trilogy, I will be purchasing the next one in the near future.

Thank you Hicks, for suggesting your novel in some shameless self-promotion! It really worked for me