Morgan’s Choice by Greta van der Rol (2011)

Smashwords / Amazon / Author’s Site

3/5 stars

Description:
He will use force if necessary to remind her of her place…

Autocratic, aloof, Admiral Ravindra wants to use the strange alien female and her gifts in his battle against an unknown force threatening to annihilate his worlds. Born to rule, a man of wealth, power and privilege, he will have what he most desires.

She will use courage and independence to carve a new future…

Morgan Selwood is a Supertech, bioengineered from birth to stand against the horrors of the Cyber Wars. Her abilities and appearance are the stuff of legend, exactly what the resistance needs to throw off the yoke of millennia of oppression. Caught in the crossfire Morgan must choose sides.

Together they will face a threat beyond imagining.

Review:
Cyborg meets alien admiral; space opera meets romance. This results in an awesome premise with twice the pulp, as if the half-naked guy in front of a spaceship didn’t already spell that out for you. There are space battles, insurgent separatist movements to throw off the yoke of a caste system, and sexual tensions of the you’re-hot-but-you’re-kinda-the-enemy! variety. Morgan’s Choice has the makings of an action-packed space opera adventure (with all kinds of action).

The prose is slick and easy to get into, and the story wastes no time in piling up the conflict. Morgan finds herself being used for the military and political factions of an alien world, because her Supertech abilities make her a powerful weapon. She can compromise security systems, fly enemy spaceships, and pretty much hack everything. But it’s difficult for her to figure out which side she should be on, especially when things heat up with the Admiral.

The repulsion-attraction dynamics between the two are well-done and manages to avoid major unfortunate implications, which is important given that Morgan’s a prisoner and the Admiral comes from a super patriarchal society. Van der Rol writes Morgan well as a resourceful heroine doing her best in an unpredictable environment. I really enjoyed the first half of this book and would give it a solid 4 stars.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that the final portion is as strong. The antagonists are underdeveloped, the chase sequences feel lacklustre, and the world-building around the Supertechs could be clearer. Why could Supertechs only reproduce with other Supertechs? What are the limitations on a Supertech? Morgan’s special abilities are treated like magic without a cohesive rule system. I didn’t have a problem with it early in the book, but as the story went on without these abilities being explained and the Rule of Cool lost its effect, my suspension of disbelief drifted away.

My final criticism is that the romance becomes dreary in the absence of richer character development. One of the most interesting tensions is Morgan’s romantic feelings for the Admiral versus her dislike of his arrogance and being a product of a very repressive and patriarchal culture. This gets resolved, but not in a way I found impressive, because it relies on a formula romance resolution which trivializes the conflict. I think romance readers who want a tidy ending would be satisfied, but I was looking for something more.

If you’re looking for a space opera/romance adventure, Morgan’s Choice serves up some fast-paced pulp, but don’t expect much else.

You might like this if you like…
Action-packed space opera; planetary romance; racing and chasing; cyborg hackers

Readers interested in Morgan’s Choice should check out the author’s other sci-fi books, as they seem to be same vein of space opera crossed with romance.