An orphan boy gets picked up by a military battleship and grows up to become a gifted super spy.
Rafian VCA is a gifted soldier in the planetary alliance but his life becomes complicated when he joins an elite group of spies known simply as the jumpers. Although his military career is beyond impressive, and his superiority on the battlefield is legendary, the jumpers force Rafian into a reality that makes everything he had accomplished prior to them seem menial.
To complicate things even more, Rafian finds himself in love with two women from two different worlds. His home planet is invaded and he is unable to assist. He is thrown down a rabbit hole of pain, confusion, and loss until he realizes that everything was meant to prepare him.
Rafian's true destiny is to save the galaxy of Anstractor--starting with the human planet of Vestalia. It is a charge that will take him across multiple planets, multiple galaxies, and multiple realities. He must save the galaxy but he cannot do it alone...
Excerpt
“These guys must really be in a panic!” he whispered to Val. “This is basic-level stuff, bro. You gotta watch your flank.”
He was wondering at the general ease with which they had taken the city, but he was right about the panic, as the lizards mostly retreated to the main city to make their last stand against the invaders who were intent on taking their moon. Along with Rafian’s crew and the pilots of the Nighthawk, Colonel Rend had coordinated eight drops around the city at various positions. His thought was to move the eight squadrons into the center simultaneously and disallow the Geralos any chance of reinforcements or escape.
Professional Reviews
James Bond in Space
My sci-fi background is heavily in Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov and Orson Scott Card. I did however like the Phule's Company series by Robert Asprin so I tried Anstractor: Vestalia with that in mind.
Very entertaining and full of action, sex and enjoyable characters. The main hero was like-able but mysterious enough to keep his impressive soldier/spy demeanor captivating- not too far off from an exotic, pulpy James Bond. I definitely see a lot of potential for follow-ups, focusing on many of the under-used interesting characters.
Looking forward to any more in the Anstractor series.
Nice blend of SciFi and Romance
I received this book from Paranormal Romance and Authors that Rock in exchange for an honest review.
Review: I love how authors these days are blending genres in their novels. One of the more common blends is paranormal romance, and it is also one of the most popular. However, there are several authors who have also blended science fiction and romance to good effect. And Greg Dragon is one of them. His novel, Anstractor: Vestalia tells the story of a boy who finds himself on a space vessel after escaping from almost certain death. Orphaned and alone, Raffian rises through the ranks of the cadets to become an ace pilot. Much of the tale of Raffian’s training reminded me strongly of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game which is one of the highest compliments I can pay it.
The romance portions of the novel are not as emphasized as the science fiction portions, but the novel follows many romance novel conventions, so I do not have a problem at all considering it sci-fi romance. My heart went out to Raffian’s first real love as complications arose and I felt myself really rooting for Cammie. There were portions of the story that may have been stretched out a bit too long simply to fill pages, but that is really the only complaint I have about the book. The love scenes are not extremely explicit and the violence is well-handled, so I would say the book is acceptable for anyone 16+.
The book ended in a way that this book is an excellent stand-alone or the author can pick up the story and continue the saga of the Anstractor galaxy. I am of two minds about which the author might choose because I enjoyed the book well enough to want another, but I also hate when authors write sequels simply to write sequels. So I may have to get my fix by searching out something else by Greg Dragon.
Not your typical Sci-Fi
When I started reading this book, I truly did not know what to expect. Early in the book there were similar tones and themes you would find in a lot of sci-fi stories, but as the book moved on it started to differentiate itself. This book seems to have a large back story that seemed too much to cover in one book. This left some aspects inside the story that could use some more detail, like the technology being used, background on races, and worlds. To put all of this into one book would have probably doubled the size of the book which is the only reason I suspect those were not in there. The book uses a combination of the way we interact in the real world, and ways that characters interact in the fantasy galaxy created by the author. This didn't bother me that much, but I suspect some readers may be critical of usage of the word babe (as one reviewer already commented on), but in reality it's a common term used by couples on a regular basis and it didn't detract from my experience.
The book did a good job of developing the main characters that are focused on often, the secondary characters are not developed as much. This leads to a bit of wondering about how all the relationships work among the characters, and the way this book is written one of the main focuses is on the relationships of the characters. Does it have fighting, technology, ships, aliens, battles, and adventure? Yes, it has all of that, but the main focus is relationships and how those events shape the dynamics between the characters.
The main character Rafian VCA is not your typical hero who is likable and just an all around good guy. He is flawed and unaware of how his actions affect some of the other characters. This fact alone made the book interesting as I went from page to page and the main character had the same problems to deal with that any other man would given his situation. I am not sure if the author is planning a second book, but the book was satisfying while also leaving many questions to be answered. Overall it's a good read, and I enjoyed the story while hoping there is another book coming.
Modern Mythology is a collection of fifteen imaginative stories having mythological themes and also possessing interesting mythological allusions and characters.
