Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Ice Planet Barbarians (Ice Planet Barbarians, #1) by Ruby Dixon

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Fall in love with the out-of-this-world romance between Georgie Carruthers, a human woman, and Vektal, an alien from another planet, in this expanded edition with bonus materials and an exclusive epilogue--in print only!

You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women--including me--on an ice planet.

We're not equipped for life in this desolate winter wasteland. Since I'm the unofficial leader, I head out into the snow to look for help.

I find help all right. A big blue horned alien introduces himself in a rather . . . startling way. Vektal says that I'm his mate, his chosen female--and that the reason his chest is purring is because of my presence. He'll help me and my people survive, but this poses a new problem.

If Vektal helps us survive, I'm not sure he's going to want to let me go.


I love that Ice Planet Barbarians is something Ruby Dixon initially wrote just for herself. It took years for this book to spiral into the success it is today, and it was totally unexpected. (The power of TikTok, right?) Dixon loved Science Fiction but wanted something more. She wanted something she couldn't find in the books that were already written, so she decided to create her own world and write her own story. All of this is in the author's note. She didn't write this book with the intention of it becoming a bestseller, she wrote it because it made her happy to have blue, pussy-eating aliens with ridged dicks who are led by their khui's and live on a desolate ice planet.

Vektal and his fellow Sa-khui are massive and fierce, but they're also insanely protective of their women and mates. I really liked their reverence for Georgie and the other human women, and how they treated them with the utmost care and respect (initial, non-consensual oral sex aside). And the purring! The idea of a khui resonating in someone's chest - a vibration that rumbled throughout their body - was one that always made me smile. I like when characters are "fated mates" and thought the physical manifestation of their connection was a nice addition to the story.

Does this book have a super deep plot with various fleshed out secondary characters? No. Is that what I expected when I picked up this book? Nope. Ice Planet Barbarians is exactly what I thought it would be: a smutty sci-fi romance with steamy sex scenes and a tolerable storyline. The story wasn't bad, but it's definitely not believable. You absolutely have to suspend your disbelief for this one to work, and certain aspects of the book were entirely too convenient (like how their language barrier was resolved). Did any of that detract from my overall enjoyment of the book? Not even a little. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Ice Planet Barbarians, because I didn't go into it with any expectations other that hot alien sex.

I do dislike that the author changed part of her book because people found a certain aspect upsetting. She had her reasons for including it (she wanted to show how high the stakes were for Georgie and the others), but decided to remove the explicit details to make it more palatable. Dixon said she decided it didn't belong in the book, but she did originally publish it with the rape scene included, and it was there for years before being removed and only vaguely referred to. We all know what's happening even if the author only alludes to it. It's not like the act itself was removed from the book, just mentioned instead of outright explained. I wish the author hadn't changed her book because other people wanted her to, but I can also understand why she did it. (★★★★☆)

I plan on reading the next book in the series and want to thank Berkley Romance for the copies! I also want to thank Blissfully Bookish for the merch (picture originally posted on my Instagram).

2 comments:

  1. I don't think I like the fact that the author changed part of her book because some people found it upsetting. Those people shouldn't read the book then. It sounds like a good read though.

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    Replies
    1. Definitely a good read! I think you'd really like it, Mary. :)

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“Stuff and nonsense. Nonsense and stuff and much of a muchness and nonsense all over again. We are all mad here, don't you know?”
― Marissa Meyer, Heartless