Jolie Mason is an indie writer of sci-fi romance / space opera. This genre is an amazing amount of fun, and this particular author is especially enjoyable. She has created a complex, multi-faceted universe into which the installments of two different series fit as precisely as puzzle pieces. I have read 4 out of her 6 books, including her new release, and I’m chomping at the bit to get to the other two.
Jolie Mason grew up just off the Mississippi River on the New Madrid fault line, which she says may explain her proclivity for thinking disaster movies are comedy. She's returned there to live with her three children and a menagerie of strays and pets that just show up. She calls herself a gamer mom, which is different from a soccer mom in that she drives a police car and not a mini van.
Her work is predicated on this question: What if society never really changed? What if all the technology in the world didn't change a thing, but only made the sandbox bigger? That theme carries through both her series: Home in the Stars and The 47th Lancers.
The Home in the Stars Series (Home is the Sailor, Home from the Hill, and Home from the Sea) follows the loves and adventures of the rotating crew members of a particular starship, each of them fascinating in his or her own way. The 47th Lancers Series (Riding Redemption, Redemption Lost, and the brand spanking new Seeking Redemption) follows the exploits of a company of mercenaries with hearts of gold. The denizens of her universe live under various threats, including greedy criminals, invading aliens, and their own increasingly desperate Imperial government. The main characters are uniformly both charmingly sympathetic and precisely portrayed.
Her new release, Seeking Redemption, has both action and romance, mortal danger as well as family drama. It combines the hardness of science fiction with the softness of a kiss in a very appealing way. There are enough ties to the other books that you can see the connections, but not so many that you can’t read this one without reading the others. The novel takes place on a planet whose population faces threats from within and without and features a mech pilot and a planetary leader who share a passion for more than just protecting the planet. I always love a romance where the two parties are both equally competent and equally in need of love. Jolie Mason’s romantic leads totally fit the bill.
Basically, if you like mechs with your kissing or kissing with your spaceships, you owe it to yourself to check out Jolie Mason. Happy reading!
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