Review: Hive & Heist by Janine A. Southard

Hive & Heist by Janine A. Southard

Published: Martian Cantina, 2014

Series: Book 2 of the Hive Queen Saga

The Book:

“Is it really stealing when you take back what's yours? Exhausted and broke, Rhiannon's Hive limps into John Wayne Station on the Ceridwen's Cauldron. Safe at last, this stop-over is looking bright until the authorities steal their ship's engine. The only solution: steal it back! Between stage-handing a play (at the local brothel) and avoiding their law-enforcement roommate (a sentient robot), they grow into a real team. A real Dyfed-style Hive.

The law enforcement robot, meanwhile, is busy detecting a series of thefts and murders. She's determined to use all her skills-programmed both before and after she clawed her way to sentience-to protect anyone else from getting hurt. Agents from a rival law enforcement group, however, bump into her investigation and create problems that she could really do without. She has a job to do, even if they're determined to get in her way.” ~JanineSouthard.com

This is the second book of the Hive Queen Saga, which the author has kindly given to me for review consideration.  This is the sort of series that really needs to be read in order, so I would recommend new readers to start with Queen & Commander. Southard has also written a short story about the origins of the sentient robot in Hive & Heist, titled ‘The Robot Who Stole Herself”, and she is currently working on a new comedic fantasy novel unrelated to the Hive Queen Saga (her website is here).

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed Queen & Commander (hereafter referred to as Q&C) and the story seems to be only getting better with Hive & Heist (H&H).  The first novel introduced the ensemble of characters and the general setup of the universe, and H&H further develops both of these areas. H&H uses the same approach to world-building as Q&C, where new information is provided only when it comes up naturally in the story. Rhiannon’s group is now traveling in foreign (American) space, though, so their culture shock means that the reader gets more information about the local way of life and of the relationships between different spacefaring human cultures. I feel like I now have a better sense of the wideness and diversity of the universe now, and it will be fun to see more societies in future novels. A continuation of a subplot from near the end of Q&C also gives a bit more information on the Hive-Queen bond, and it looks like I was pretty far off in parts of my understanding from the previous book.  This sideplot hasn’t quite connected back in to the main Ceridwen’s Cauldron storyline just yet, but I’m interested to see where it will go from here.

In terms of the characters, H&H picked up the arcs of the different hive members right where the previous book left them, and I especially enjoyed seeing how the hive grew and changed this time around.  Even without the external problem of their stolen experimental drive, there’s plenty of conflict within the hive.  By the end of Q&C, Rhiannon still hadn’t really learned how to be a good leader, but their time on John Wayne station gives her plenty of time to puzzle out where she’s been going wrong.  While she’s figuring herself out, though, Luciano is becoming even more disillusioned with her as a queen, Victor is struggling to find his role in the group, and her best friend, Gwyn/Lois, is slowly growing into a new assertiveness about herself and her needs.  I enjoyed watching them try to learn how to function as a team, and seeing Rhiannon struggle towards understanding what they needed from her as a leader.

Aside from the hive members, a main new addition to the story is the sentient robot Melissa.  Sentient robots are not an especially common sight in American space, so Melissa has had a hard time carving out a life that suits her. At the moment, she’s basically a Texas Ranger of space!  Given the vast space territory covered by humans and the difficulties of communication, I think it makes sense that this style of law enforcement would be welcomed.  I enjoyed a lot of the details of Melissa's life, such as how she has carefully learned mannerisms that translate well into human nonverbal cues.  Melissa is as much an outsider on the station as the Welsh teens, so it made sense how their stories converged.

On top of the new world information and character development, H&H also provides a fun story about a heist, a criminal investigation, and a theatre production at a brothel. None of these plotlines are especially complicated on their own, but they come together well for the climactic ending.  It feels like these first two novels complete the first adventure of Ceridwen’s Cauldron, and it seems clear that there will be many more adventures in the future, both in foreign space and in their Welsh home. I will look forward to reading the next book in the series!

My Rating: 3.5/5

Hive & Heist continues where Queen & Commander left off, with Rhiannon’s hive stuck on John Wayne station and their ship’s experimental engine stolen by the local authorities.  I enjoyed seeing another society in what seems to be a diverse collection of spacefaring human civilizations, as well as seeing how the character arcs that began in the first novel played out in this second part. An interesting new major character is also introduced, a sentient robot Ranger named Melissa, who is tracking a thief and murderer.  With Melissa’s investigation, the hive’s planned heist, and even a theatre production, there’s plenty of action to propel the story along to an entertaining conclusion. I’m excited to see what adventures Rhiannon and her friends will encounter next! 

New Voices: Queen & Commander by Janine A. Southard

Queen & Commander, by Janine A. Southard

Published: Self-published, 2013

Series: Book 1 of the Hive Queen Saga

Awards Won:  Ippy Award (Silver Medal for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror E-book)

“The Welsh-colonized world of Rhiannon’s home has a strict career tracking system, designed to direct each person to their optimal future.  Unfortunately, Rhiannon knows her personality and intelligence will mark her as a future "Perceiver", when what she really wants is to be one of the elite “Queens”.

The “Hive” system organizes the best and brightest men into small teams to be overseen by a strong, charismatic woman, their Queen.  Rhiannon manages to finagle her way into her chosen career path, but then her friends draw her into a reckless scheme. Before long, she’s recruited an unusual hive, dropped out of high school, and taken over running an old spaceship, Ceridwen’s Cauldron!” ~Allie

Janine Southard kindly gifted me a copy of this novel, as well as the recently published second novel of the series, Hive & Heist, for review consideration.  Southard has worked in fiction and marketing writing and editing, and Queen & Commander is her first science fiction novel.  You can read the first two chapters on her website.

This is the first self-published novel I’ve reviewed on my blog, mostly because I have still not really figured out how to navigate the market.  As far as I can tell so far, the Ippy Awards seem like a good starting point for checking out self-published fiction. 

Queen & Commander targets a young adult audience, and I expect that it would work well down to early middle school age.  The prose was simple, but functional, and the characters seemed like a good representation the mental and emotional state of teenagers. Even with the far-future setting, some events even echoed my memories from high school years, such as the scene where a store clerk refused to acknowledge one of the teens as a legitimate customer.  However, I also liked that the main characters’ perspectives did not seem to be shown as unquestionably accurate. For instance, Rhiannon was convinced she ‘outsmarted’ the test.  From my perspective, I suspected that the adults were not tricked, but rather chose to allow her to attempt her desired career.  They even signed her up for counseling, to help her adapt to a career that wasn’t perfectly suited to her personality. I also really enjoyed the imperfections of the characters, such that they were able to make believable and serious mistakes. 

Some of the most noticeable of these mistakes were Rhiannon’s attempts to manage her Hive. Rhiannon’s team includes her shy best friend Gwyn, Gwyn’s possessive boyfriend Victor, her classmates Luciano and Gavin, and her one unexpected recruit, Alan. I have a lot of experience with managing small groups, and I appreciated how clearly the story communicated the group’s dynamics, as well as what each of them needed from their leader. The perspective shifted between the characters, allowing the reader to get a good grasp on the distinct personalities of each character and the ways they related to one another. I am looking forward to seeing how their group develops in future books, and how Rhiannon cultivates her leadership style.

I am also hoping that the next book will contain more information about the interesting world that Rhiannon and her friends inhabit. While the most plot-relevant details were introduced, I felt like there wasn’t quite enough background to set the story firmly in context. For instance, the Welsh are the dominant space-faring culture, but there is, as yet, no future-history to explain how the current situation came about. Also, while the story established the concrete rules of the Hive system, it didn’t really explain why the system existed in the first place. I was also baffled about the purpose behind the strict gender roles (women cannot be in a Hive, men can’t be a Queen), given that Hives are defined by loyalty and common purpose, not romantic attraction. The lack of context also left me uncertain about how to interpret the teenager’s scheme.  It seemed to me like their spaceship gig was the equivalent of dropping out of high school and getting a job—maybe unexpected for a University-tracked student, but not unprecedented.

Queen & Commander is clearly intended as an introduction for a series, and I felt like the main purpose of the story was to set up Rhiannon and her friends for future adventures.  However, the plot moved quickly, there was plenty of excitement in their spaceship’s maiden voyage. The latter part of the book began to set up part of what I expect will eventually be the main conflict of the series, and the story ended on a cliffhanger.  I enjoyed getting to know the crew of Ceridwen’s Cauldron, and I am looking forward to seeing how things develop in Hive & Heist!