The “Her Instruments” trilogy
Earth rise Author: M. C. A. Hogarth Publisher: Studio MCAH ISBN-10: 1-4849-9651-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-4849-9651-5
Rose Point
Author: M. C. A. Hogarth
Publisher: Studio MCAH
ISBN-10: 1-4927-4787-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-4927-4787-1
Laisrathera
Author: M. C. A. Hogarth Publisher: Studio MCAH ISBN-10: 1-4993-4838-X ISBN-13: 978-1-4993-4838-5
Disclosure: A free copy of this book was furnished by the publisher for review, but providing a copy did not guarantee a review. This information is provided per the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission.
This trilogy, written and professionally self-published by Maggie Hogarth in Tampa, FL, is a well-integrated blend for adolescents and adults of male-oriented space opera and women’s romance. Imagine the better Star Trek fan-fiction with original adult female-male protagonists, instead of the notorious Kirk-Spock homosexual love affair.
In a 25th-century interstellar civilization, Teresa “Reese” Eddings is the Martian-born descendant of human colonists (the cover illustrations by Julie Dillon emphasize her African ethnicity) who becomes the captain of the Earthrise, a rattletrap independent merchant spaceship flying in the fringes of the United Alliance, a democratic galactic federation of human, Pelted (futuristic bioengineered human-animal hybrids), and alien planets. There is also an area beyond the UA of independent stellar nations, many of which are not democratic. The Earthrise usually avoids going there. However, six years before the beginning of this story, Reese was facing bankruptcy and the loss of her ship when a Mysterious Benefactor offered to cover her debts in return for a favor someday in the future. Reese has not been any more successful since then, and she has been dreading the return of that benefactor. When the latter does return, though, she does not want the money repaid, but for Reese and the Earthrise to rescue an “investigator” imprisoned on a non-Alliance planet, before he can be sold into slavery there.
The agent is an “Eldritch”, a member of a species of non-humans that look like tall, albino human mythological Elves with powerful (and dangerous) telepathic abilities. The Eldritch find mental contact with normal humans extremely painful, and as a result, humans are barred from landing on their planet. Hirianthial Sarel Jisiensire, the handsome “Space Elf” investigator, is accustomed to mingling with humans. In Earthrise, Reese and the mostly Pelted crew of the Earthrise rescue Hirianthial and escape with him back into the UA in a running battle with space pirates. Due to the telepathic Eldritch being paranoid about allowing any non-Eldritch to visit their planet, they cannot take Hirianthial home, so they are forced to add him to their crew as supercargo. By this time, it is obvious to Reese and the reader alike that her Mysterious Benefactor is the Eldritch Queen Liolesa. There are new adventures throughout the United Alliance, some featuring the furry Pelted prominently. Both Reese and Hirianthial are used to being fiercely independent individuals, so naturally they gradually fall in love, with each refusing to admit it. (For one thing, the Eldritch live for hundreds of years, and Hirianthial cannot bear the thought of Reese growing old and dying while he remains young.) Earthrise ends with Reese saying, “‘After that… who knows? I guess we’ll go wherever sounds most interesting.’”
In Rose Point, the second novel, the telepathic Hirianthial begins to exhibit new mind powers beyond those of the other Eldritch. While this helps Reese and her crew to escape from that book’s first adventure, Hirianthial fears that his new powers may unintentionally endanger them. He desperately needs training and help that only are available on his home world. Reese finally gets permission from Queen Liolesa to bring him there. The Earthrise will be almost the first non-Eldritch to see their world; a never-expected, “once in a lifetime” opportunity for Reese and her crew.
Laisrathera brings them to the legendarily beautiful Eldritch homeworld just in time for a full-scale war. The planet has been betrayed to the Eldritch’s enemies, and Liolesa and her court have been forced to flee offworld by the invaders and their native quisling figurehead. The enemy include the space pirates that the Earthrise have been running into ever since Reese and her crew rescued Hirianthial in the first novel of the trilogy, plus dragons! Most of the Earthrise’s crew are already on the Eldritch world to help the loyal underground there. “It was not in him [Hirianthial] to argue. If she [Liolesa] was right and they were leaving soon, he needed all the rest he could have now … because when they left for home again, there would be nothing between him and Theresa but the bodies of their enemies, and he fully vowed to be the one to slay them all.” (p. 8)
Yes, it’s a star-crossed romantic space opera, featuring a strong woman from Mars and an incredibly handsome, rich, and powerful all-but-human Space Elf, plus a supporting cast of the Earthrise’s Pelted crew who look like humans with a variety of fur and tails. The “Her Instruments” trilogy is both space-opera science fiction and women’s romances, for the fans of both.
Warning: This trilogy is more accurately a single novel in three volumes, like Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. You have to read all three books, and in the proper order: Earthrise, then Rose Point, and finally Laisrathera.
The detailed bibliographic data is:
Earthrise – June 2013, $15.99, 420 pages, Kindle $4.99
Rose Point – October 2013, $16.99, 356 pages, Kindle $5.99
Laisrathera – May 2014, $16.99, 400 pages, Kindle $5.99
