Slaves of an Alien Game
by Nina Schluntz
GENRE: Science Fiction Romance
Series BLURB:
Game
Wardens rule most of the galaxy by a fierce empire built on enslavement and
brokered deals. The only means to earn one’s freedom is by playing in the Alien
Games. Two slaves go in the arena, the survivor, if there is one, is given
their freedom and crowned a king, earning them a small country to rule and
slaves of their own.
To
make the battle more fun for spectators, genetically enhanced monsters,
sahalias, are given to the combatants, but they must found in a scavenger hunt.
Five orbs, each hatching into a lizard that will bond with their keeper, are
hidden on a random planet. If the competitor finds all five, they have a great
imbalance of power over the other, who will have none. The sahalias are created
with one purpose, to battle to the death and destroy the other competitor.
Blurb: Slaves of an Alien Game - Book 1
Caden works at an all night diner in a small town near the interstate. When a man comes in late at night, asking for access to the roof, Caden knows the man is a bit off. But his ruffian nature and a small bribe makes Caden decide to let him go up.
“It’s a scavenger hunt,” the man says. Caden thinks he’s being helpful when he finds the item, a black orb, but when he touches it, he unknowingly becomes a competitor in an intergalactic competition that ends in a battle to the death. Manipulated and lied to, drugged by the alien Incubus, Raghib, whom he is now allied with, he must train his lizard battle creatures to fight for him on an unknown planet with rules he barely understands.
He has little chance to survive and although he wants to trust, Raghib, who will earn his freedom if Caden wins the battle, he worries he is simply being used. A bit of truth is revealed when one of the Game Wardens takes a liking to Caden, but his alien species is known to eat humans, so Caden isn’t sure if the desire is that of hunger or true romance.
Either
way, Caden is nothing but a slave to their alien games.
Blurb: Slaves of an Alien Game - Book 2
Caden is free. He won his battle and got what he wanted. Sent back to Earth with his won kingdom given to the slave, Raghib. However, life on Earth, back at the diner isn’t the same after living on an alien planet. He still suffers from withdrawals from the Incubus influence and drugs Raghib forced on him, and nightmares from the horrible battle to the death.
When a woman arrives, the latest competitor in the alien games, she offers him a chance to visit Raghib. All he has to do is be her slave during the games and help her find the orbs. He agrees and finds she is a higher level competitor than Raghib was, the hunt is on a deadlier planet, one covered in darkness and monsters.
Caden is eventually reunited with Raghib and gets to see the kingdom he won. Raghib is more broken from the battle and haunted by the brutality of it than Caden. He has a new lover and is driving his country to poverty so he can buy drugs to forget the pain. Caden turns to the Game Wardens for help, offering to go back in the arena again, with the woman he helped in the scavenger hunt. He is a fan favorite and knows their ratings will improve if he goes in again.
He arranged to go in as her pretend slave, in a role that will have safety features turned on so he will be in no real danger. He thinks its his idea to go back in. Confident he’s messing with the structures in place and trying to leverage the Game Wardens to change the deadly games into a nonlethal form.
However,
it was their plan for him to go back in from the start. Caden is still nothing
but a slave to their alien games.
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Blurb: Slaves of an Alien Game - Book 3
Caden’s long-term girlfriend on Earth is pregnant, and Caden is missing. Jenny worries he has been kidnapped and drugged again. A strange woman arrives, saying she knows Caden and where he is. She offers to take Jenny to him, if she helps her… they just need to find some orbs in a scavenger hunt. Jenny agrees, but is careful to not touch the objects. She doesn’t trust this woman.
They find four orbs and encounter the other competitor. The fifth orb is there, and Jenny is forced to pick it up. The other competitor forfeits and Jenny finds herself now in the games, the woman she’d been helping now announced as her deadly competitor.
She is taken to an alien planet and united with a distraught Caden. He confesses that he has a relationship with a man, an alien man, an Incubus named Raghib, and the woman Jenny must fight is Raghib’s daughter.
Caden is in an impossible situation, either his lover’s daughter dies or his childhood sweetheart dies, but there is a rule in the games, a protection for slaves and their offspring, who are viewed as profitable future slaves. A pregnant woman may not enter the arena, instead the sire must.
Caden
is again forced to play in the games, but this time he has no sahalias to
battle on his behalf, and safety features are not allowed. If Caden is to
survive, he must find a way to not be a slave in their alien games.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle of a Thousand Deaths-Day 1-Jenny is Officially a
Competitor! Join Team Jenny Today!
Jenny
The hurried man only paused for a moment before running a
hand down the front of his suit to smooth the wrinkles. “I heard she might be
interested in the game.” The excitement was noticeable in his tone. He was
practically jumping around like a giddy child.
“Ivard, she will hear her options and gauge her decision
without bias,” Vicr said.
“I know, I know.” He raised a hand to silence Vicr and
looked at me. “But you would be…,” he took a deep inhale, “a hero. The fans.
They love you. They want to see you win. Hell, I want to see you win.”
“Fans?” I asked.
“Ivard,” Vicr growled.
He waved his hand dismissively again and held up a tablet.
He had a photo of me and lots of writing that I quickly recognized as a fan
page full of comments.
“They are furious Caden’s girlfriend was betrayed, and they
want to see justice. They want you to slay Erum in the arena,” Ivard said. He
looked at Vicr. “You’re the one who said we need to start moving away from
barbaric fights. People want stories and background. She’s proof. It doesn’t
even have to be a real fight. We can stage it, and—”
“Please excuse Game Warden Ivard,” Vicr said, grabbing his
shoulder and pushing him out the door.
“We can make it worth your—” The door was shut before he
could finish.
“I apologize,” Vicr said. “Please resume.”
“What exactly is this?” I asked. “What are the Games?”
One of the lawyers slid a tablet across the table in front
of me. I’d taken a few history classes in college and recognized the words were
in Old English.
“This is the historical context. If you care to read it.” He
pushed a second tablet. “This goes over the rules of the game, including what
you would win as the victor and what you lose should you opt to go into the
game with safety features.”
“Why wouldn’t everyone use the safety features?”
“A deal must be made with a Game Warden. Someone must
sponsor you. That’s the only way for the safety features to be on. If you win,
you are free of the contract. But should you emerge after losing, you are obligated
to whatever commitment you agreed upon with the Game Warden.”
“You would make the deal with me,” Vicr said. “I would do it
for Caden. I’ll have something drafted. Your obligation to me would be
marginal, but some trade would be required.”
“Why would you do this much for Caden?”
“He’s good for business,” Vicr quickly said, making me think
there was more to his words than he was saying.
Series link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMXTJLSV
Book 1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BM4HLGJL
Book 2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BMY6H3P7
Book 3
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BMZC24SF
Kindle Vella
(serialized version of the series, available in USA only)
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BKTF9LMF
Book Video
Links
Book 1: https://youtu.be/uN3P7D3oY4c
Book 2: https://youtu.be/4AXEX23pA3A
Book 3: https://youtu.be/_d_7Ki4S_MI
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Nina Schluntz is
a native to rural Nebraska. In her youth, she often wrote short stories to
entertain her friends. Those ideas evolved into the novels she creates today.
Her husband
continues to ensure her stories maintain a touch of realism as she delves into
the science fiction and fantasy realm. Their three cats are always willing to
stay up late to provide inspiration, whether it is a howl from the stray born
in the backyard or an encouraging bite from the so called “calming kitten.”
https://mizner13.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/mizner13
https://www.facebook.com/nina.schluntz.novels
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1980193.Nina_R_Schluntz
https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/nina-schluntz/
2 comments:
Sounds like a good book.
I really like the book covers!! Beautiful bright colors and quite intriguing!!
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