Sci-fi romance aficionados will probably gasp in disapproval when they read this, but I’ll be honest. I’m not super into alien romance. Even so, Ice Planet Barbarians has been on my “want to read” list for a while, now. This book started a phenomenon, from what I’ve heard. It was originally self-published but was such a hit that it was picked up by a big publisher. And after nearly a decade, it’s still number four on Amazon’s sci-fi romance bestsellers list.
I’ve been interested to see what all the fuss is about, so even though Ice Planet Barbarians is not available in e-book form on my preferred reading app, I went ahead and invested in the audio version.
After listening through the whole story in two days, I can report that I do indeed see why this series appeals to so many thousands of readers. What woman wouldn’t like the concept of a strong, protective warrior who adores his soulmate and wants nothing more than to fulfill her every desire? It’s a fantasy for most women, I’d wager. I have a feeling that a lot of women who might roll their eyes at the idea of alien romance would actually find this novel a very pleasant read if they gave it a chance.
But how does a human woman end up in the bed of an alien caveman with no knowledge of space travel, you ask?
Floridian bank teller Georgie goes to sleep on a normal Tuesday after work and wakes up drugged in a cell. She’s welcomed by a group of women who’ve all been abducted, too. Little green men treat the women like cattle and worse, and seem to intend to sell them as slaves.
But just as the women enact an escape plan, the alien captors encounter trouble and they’re forced to jettison their human cargo on an ice planet.
After a crash landing, the injured women are in no condition to survive the planet’s hostile environment. So Georgie puts on an alien space suit and leaves the damaged cargo hold in search of civilization.
Instead, she finds a big blue alien caveman who immediately claims Georgie is his fated mate.
Together Georgie and alien Vektal trek the icy wilderness toward Vektal’s home, where they intend to gather a rescue party and save Georgie’s injured friends. On the way, they explore their mutual attraction while attempting to overcome their language barrier and cultural differences.
The plot isn’t complicated, but it’s done well. Dixon infuses the world of the Ice Planet Barbarians with a surprising amount of depth for such a short novel. She gives the two POV’s each a strong sense of character voice that highlights Georgie’s and Vektal’s differing ways of thinking. And she manages to make their interactions cute and funny despite the high level of steam.
Speaking of steam, there’s nothing really kinky in this book besides Vektal’s slight physical differences, but I rated the steam level of this book at 4 kisses just because such a high percentage of the word count is devoted to sex scenes.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a good third of the book was devoted to sex, foreplay, kissing, or the characters thinking about the aforementioned activities. Georgie wakes up to Vektal already trying to go down on her when they haven’t really even met yet, and the sexy times just don’t stop. The couple boinks like newlyweds through the entire book.
But it makes sense with the whole “fated mates” thing. They are basically newlyweds.
Overall Ice Planet Barbarians was a really fun read. But I do want to warn readers that there is a rape scene. It’s not described in graphic detail, and it’s not committed by the good guys nor does it happen to the POV character. But it is definitely “on page” and not just implied. I was surprised because I had read on Wikipedia that a rape scene had been edited out of this book, so I wasn’t expecting it. I can only imagine that perhaps the scene was toned down from it’s original version, and that maybe that’s what the Wikipedia contributor meant when they said it was “edited out.”
I’ve read YA books with scarier near-rape scenes, and I didn’t find this one too traumatizing, but readers should know it’s there before choosing to read.
Despite the aforementioned scene being a potential turnoff for some readers, on the whole this book is really sweet and really sexy. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes steamy romance and doesn’t mind the aforementioned triggers. Ice Planet Barbarians has definitely earned it’s place at the top of the sci-fi romance charts.
