3 out of 4 stars
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Thumar by M. Timothy Murray is a sci-fi romance novel set a few hundred years in the future. The story opens with the AS Armstrong standing watch, as the alliance builds a listening post in the neutral zone near Terelian space. Suddenly they detect five Terelian cruisers closing. Captain Arnold, being an experienced captain, has faced these kinds of odds before and is not too worried. As they draw closer, the Keks insignia can be seen on the bows of the cruisers. The battle erupts and it soon becomes evident that these are not standard Terelian cruisers. After a brief fight where several of the cruisers were destroyed, the AS Armstrong escapes into hyperspace badly damaged.
The AS Armstrong makes it to the space dock above the planet Thumar. They report in to the alliance and a battle fleet is dispatched immediately to assist. Derak is the relatively new alliance liaison to the planet. He is informed immediately the AS Armstrong docks and is none too thrilled when he finds out who the leader of the coming battle fleet is. Having to report these happenings to the government brings us into contact with the culture of Thumar for the first time. In this process he comes into contact with Shesian, a beautiful voluptuous woman who is the niece of the president.
Derak and Shesian fall in love, and get engaged. This takes us deeper into the culture of the planet. As part of the engagement process the couple has to be medically examined. This reveals something very surprising about Derak! Then the unthinkable happens, the Orion Syndicate deploys a weapon that will wipe out the whole Thumarian solar system. Can anything be done?
I found this a very enjoyable and easy book to read. M. Timothy Murray describes people and places in a way that brings them to life in the imagination. I could travel to Thumar and from his descriptions of the life there, fit right in. The festivals and the clothing worn at them were amazing and I was thrilled to be invited to participate in them.
I did find the lack of progress in the subplots to be annoying. The Terelians attacked the alliance and the Orion Syndicate set of the ultimate weapon! That was it for both parties; nothing was heard from them again. The whole story takes place over ten months, plenty of time for other things to happen. As I kept reading I expected them to appear and make themselves known in other ways, but I was disappointed.
The book appears to be well edited with only a few formatting issues noted. These could be due to the eBook format and didn’t really disturb the flow of the book. The chapter titles are very informative of what is happening in the story and could easily be used to go back and reread something if you needed clarification. Because of the lack of subplot development that I felt the book was missing I can only give this book 3 out of 4 stars. I think this book would appeal to anyone who likes romance novels, but due to the sexual content I think it would be unsuitable for a younger audience.
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Thumar
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