Aliens Skies is the third book in the Wankanrean science fiction series by Carmen Webster Buxton and I have become engrossed in the characters lives. We have romance and intrigue that arises because of their desire to be together, even though they are different races. Not races like ours, but of the alien kind.

There are many who feel like people should stick to their own kind and will go to extremes to keep it that way. They will kidnap and kill to accomplish their goals.

BUT, there are those that feel a prophecy will be fulfilled because of it and do whatever they can to protect them.

We do have humans amongst the Wankanreans, MiloransTerrans, and other species.

It all started with Yulayan’s mother marrying a Terran, a human. No one considered the possibility of her becoming pregnant and delivering not one, but two part human/part Wankanread babies.

Alien Skies is Yulayan’s story and it is filled with love, romance, intrigue and danger.

Them and the characters surround have quickly grown on me as I learn their differences and likenesses to each other. Their love is so deep, yet filled with problems, politics, insecurities, work, kids, cooking, laundry and things that we all deal with on a daily basis.

The best way I can describe the mating habits of Wakanrean’s is that it’s like imprinting for werewovles. They don’t have a choice, it is a biological occurrence that doesn’t end until one of them dies. Not so for us humans, so part of the couple’s problems is navigating the ins and outs of the Wakanrean’s shagunrah and the human’s marriage.

I do recommend reading the books in order because each book leads to the next. I did accidentally read the second book first, went back to the first book, then read the third book and didn’t get lost, but felt I missed out on the full story.

I have gotten lost in this wonderful series that brought to mind Star Trek and Star Wars because of the different species and worlds, though we spend most of our time on Wakanreo. The characters are richly developed and grow as the story is told, becoming more real in my mind. Now, that’s some great writing.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Alien Skies by Carmen Webster Buxton.

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Alien Skies is the third in what I understand to be a trilogy, but Carmen has left herself plenty of room to continue the story, and I'd be glad if she did. One really must read the volumes in order.

This takes a turn away from the original two, although it continues some of the same threads. I saw the series as a science fiction romance, and expected the third book to be the romantic adventures of Dina and Kuaron's grandchildren, and more of an examination of attraction and pair bonding. Unlike the second book, which started when Dina's & Kuaron's children were entering adulthood, this takes place only a couple of years after the second book: the child that Kamuhi Hailoaka & Yulayan Du were expecting in the second book is a toddler. This time the point of view character is a male, Kamuhi. I think that while the romantic elements of the first two books were very enjoyable in and of themselves, they were also carefully crafted to set up the situations that dominates this volume.

Having decided that astrophysics no longer has enough challenges, Kamuhi has decided to switch fields, join ThreeCom, and be flung around training rooms while he learns unarmed combat. Yulayan is working on her own physics degree, and I think it must be rather frustrating to her that Kamuhi can just blitz through what requires hard work for her. It is interesting to see the acceptance among the various alien species. Most of the ThreeCom people don't see one another as different, particularly. They simply, for example, have a selection of chairs to accommodate all physiques.

While he is going through basic training, Yulayan and their daughter, Malia, take the opportunity to spend time in Central America with Kamuhi's parents. Everyone seems to enjoy one another, and she gets to learn about Kamuhi's early life, as well as the difficulties his parents had trying to raise a prodigy. Yulayan & Malia stay with them until Kamuhi gets the rather unwelcome news that he will be stationed on Wakanreo. It becomes clear in this book that ThreeCom and its top officials are devious and secretive in their ways. Yulayan and Malia join him, although this is not the best news she ever got. Yulayan is very flexible and realistic in accommodating Kamuhi's career, and she's going to need all the devotion and flexibility she has in more ways than one.

The tensions between Terrans and Wakanreans are escalating. Yulayan, and hence Malia, is a parundai, a descendant of the revered prophet Paruian, who did so much to end warfare and unite Wakareans planet-wide. Wakareans are divided on whether Paruian was simply a great human being, or actually divine, and might decide to reincarnate in mortal form. Kamuhi & Yulayan return to learn that a parundai leaving the planet created an enormous scandal. Inchauro Perduay, Yulayan's unwanted shagunrahai is still active. While Yulayan has had an operation to eliminate the pheromone-based attachment, Inchauro hasn't, and he wants his partner back, even as he despises her for being half-Terran. The ThreeCom is also giving choices to some Wakanreans that the conservatives don't think they should have. Kamuhi & Yulayan are entering a mine field, and they can't help but wonder why ThreeCom decided to send them there. Malia will become central to the situation in ways her parents never anticipated, especially for a toddler.

I have some limited sympathy for the conservatives if not for their methods. I never quite understood why Commodore Matthew Perry was such a hero for forcing his way into Japan. In the same way, the Wakanreans didn't want aliens on their planet, but Terra convinced ThreeCom to press for it, purely for the same sort of commercial reasons that the United States sent Perry to Japan. If the conservative Wakanreans stuck to shunning Terrans, I wouldn't blame them. But no, they have to try and make all Wakanreans, even those who welcome some of the changes, do what they want, even if it takes violence and intimidation.

We also get more on the differences between shahgunrah and Terran mating habits. Wakanreans are not sexual until they go into shahgunrah – they don't even seem to have a sexual orientation, unless it is subtly expressed through their pairing. If their partner can be of either sex, and it makes no difference in their attachment. There is therefore, neither sex before shahgunrah, nor infidelity after it, and the Yulayan's family has had to deal with the possibility of both in Terrans. (Widowed shagunrahai can form relationships with one another, but it's not the same. If the series continues, maybe we'll explore how that works out.)

I like the fact that Carmen does not drag out plot lines. The crisis described in the blurb doesn't dominate the rest of the book, the characters go on to other situations. I don't like books where the entire plot consists of Our Heroes battling an apparently psychic and omnipotent antagonist for the entire book until suddenly, now the the end of the book is coming, the antagonist's superpowers fail. The situation is complex, even though the same antagonists may re-occur. I also love the x-ray feature in this book. Instead of the x-ray simply showing the first paragraph where a character is mentioned, Carmen has written descriptions of each character. She also has an excellent glossary of Wakanrean words.

A very fine book and trilogy. ( )