"The Harvest: Taken" Is Sci-Fi Survival Of A Species

“It does seem as if the more one gets the more one wants.” ― Louisa May Alcott

BLURB: In the year 2050, humanity finds out they are indeed not alone.

Massive space ships appear without warning above the capital cities of all major nations. The planet Tah’Nar is dying. Chemical warfare has reduced the once-intersexed warrior race to sterility. They need fresh DNA in order to reproduce and have an idea for a harvesting program… and so they turn to Earth.

Earth governments negotiate a lottery, and Dale Michael assumes he’s safe since he’s under the Harvest age limit. How wrong he is. He’s illegally harvested and claimed by Tah’Narian starship captain Keyno Shou. From the moment Keyno sees Dale, he knows he must claim the spirited human male for his own. What he doesn’t expect is a spitfire with a mind of his own—and a deadly disease that will require a risky procedure to cure.

REVIEW: I don’t read a lot of Sci-fi books, I am more of the contemporary or paranormal type reader, so When this one came up for review I wasn’t completely sold on it, but I figured what the heck, I will give it a spin. Boy, am I glad I did.

This story is set in the not-so-distant future. It turns out that no matter what we think, there is other life out there in the great unknown. There are many other races and many other worlds we have no knowledge of. This all changes when the Tah’Narian ships appear over the capital cities around the world.

Basically, the Tah’Narian race was a very greedy race. They decided to attack another race they thought was weaker than them for no reason other than they thought they could. The counter-attack was a biggie. Since the Tah’Narians were inter-sexed, the males of their race could, and did, carry their young. That is, until their opponents struck back with a virus that made all Tah’Narians infertile.

With their race dying out, they begin traveling the galaxy looking for male mates that can help them repopulate their species. Through a show of brute force, they negotiate a deal with the government to initiate a lottery. Every cycle they are given a set number of men, but there is an age limit. Our MC, Dale Michael, believes he is safe since he is under the age limit; however, a very powerful male has set his sights on Dale and he won’t be denied.

When Dale is “harvested” they have to drag him kicking and screaming, literally. Since he assumed he was safe, he wasn’t prepared to be torn from his home and family. After being drugged, examined and passing out, he awakens in a strange bed and this is when he first meets Keyno. Even though Dale believes he has been unjustly kidnapped and wants nothing to do with Keyno, he realizes he also has no choice in the matter.

He finds some solace in the fact that his childhood friend is on the same ship as he is, but he feels let down when he realizes that his friend has chosen to assimilate and even fell in love with his kidnapper. Somehow Dale is going to have to come to terms with his fate. After learning some of the history behind these Tah’Narians, he realizes while he may not like their actions he can almost understand why they are doing it.

When a new group of “mates” are brought on board, there is tension from the beginning. As time goes on, disaster strikes, and Dale realizes he isn’t just going with the flow any longer. He has fallen in love. He isn’t sure if it’s true love or if it is Stockholm Syndrome, but he knows he can’t live without Keyno.

Once they return to Tah’Nar, there are some surprises about the family he has mated into and the lengths some of the men will go to in order to get a mate. He and Keyno have some issues to work through and some fences to mend with another race.

I was happily surprised that I adored this story. It isn’t my usual, but maybe I am finding a new usual. I think Dale and Keyno are a great couple, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series to see what their next adventure will be. I highly recommend this book, but I will warn you, the ending is more of a HFN than a HEA. I know I will be gnawing my nails waiting for the next one to come out.

You can buy The Harvest: Taken here: