Book Review – The Girls From Alcyone by Cary Caffrey

Series: The Girls From Alcyone

BooK: 1

Review by d c mallory

Where does the changing of the DNA of a human life form lead us in the grand scheme of things in our deliberations between science and the Creator? What is expected of those leaders who are supposed to watch out for us, but allow our flesh and blood to sell us into bondage at the first opportunity? Why is the life of those who live on the apocalyptic earth in the 24th Century so dismal? Can there be no reason left to live? Nothing left to make us want to continue, despite how terrible our own lives may be? Well, in the case of The Girls From Alcyone, there is more; there is one hell of a love story between two girls from earth who grow to womanhood together and realize that having each other is the only essential thing in the world!

In the 24th Century on Earth, all is doom and despair. Even the weather is gloomy and dismal, rain being the dominant weather trait, and all is apocalyptic across the planet. Everything that was ever good about Earth is lost to the ages, and those that have not fled to other planets in the various solar systems that exist throughout the galaxy are either too poor to leave or are so filthy rich that they can live in the most beautiful parts of what the dying planet has to offer.

Then there are those corporations which prey on the children of those parents whose lot in life is at rock bottom. Most of the children sold into bondage by their parents would be better off dead; we always have need of sex slaves and factory workers, and the younger the better.  Those corporations that would buy the children do not have the youngsters best interest at heart, and when the young one’s miserable lives are spent those in charge can always throw those children away and buy more. Despite how bad things are on Earth, there are no shortage of children, nor of the parents who would cast them aside for thirty pieces of silver.

But, there are those very few and far between children that are special, those children who have the right mix of genes that corporations would kill anything standing in their way.

The Kimura Company has found that a tiny percentage of female children have exactly the right type of genes that lend themselves to be changed through a process of changing the DNA makeup of these genes. Through a combination of gene-splicing and other biological and combined hardware updates that radically enhance the girl’s abilities; strength, speed, endurance, and other physical traits to the point of making them into superhumans. On top of that, these girl’s genetic makeup tend towards accepting the gift of augmentation with the latest technologies that allow them to sense what dangers around them and in how to react to them. In this, Sigrit is one of the lucky girls.

Sigrit’s parents are approached by Dr. Garrett of the Kimura Corporation. This Corporation is interested in acquiring Sigrit for their program, even though the girl is very small and weak for her age. The parents, like many others, are at rock bottom, quickly agree to sell their only child. What is it to them if their daughter has to work the rest of her life to pay off the debt the parents incurred at the time of the arrangement? After all, the girl can never achieve anything on her own and is nothing more than a burden to her parents; they will be better off with the girl gone. And, while one might think the girl would look back on being sold and hate her parents for what they did to her Sigrit, to her credit, apparently does not hold a grudge. Me? I’d spend the rest of my life hoping they burned in hell for all eternity, and do my best to make sure I helped them on their way to greet the devil. I guess it’s a good thing this story isn’t about me.

So Sigrit soon finds herself on Alcyone, a small planet in the middle of nowhere, in a “special school” where they will teach her many things, both physical and psychological. She is put in with some other gifted girls who are also in the enhancement project. From day one at the school Sigrit finds her small size makes her a target of the others. They are punished along with Sigrit when she is too slow at running laps, or not able to hold her own in fight training or other physical activities. Sigrit’s shortcomings lead a group of bullies, led by the prime bitch of the bully squad, Sara, to pick on Sigrit incessantly. Because of the abuse, Sigrit begins to curse the day she was ever sent to this school and, for the most part, her early life at the school is miserable. And yet for Sigrit all is not lost.

There is hope for her in a girl named Suko. Suko has a good heart, and since she is much larger than Sigrit and the other girls, Suko makes looking out for the smaller girl her purpose in life; she sees something in the smaller girl that makes her want to keep her safe, to claim Sigrit as her own. Whenever she can, she protects her friend as well as she can, and for the most part, Sigrit is safe with Suko looking out for her. The companionship between the two grows more with each day, and the two become nearly inseparable. When Sigrit is running far behind the others, Suko is running right by her side. When Sigrit has tasks to finish before the girls can eat, Suko prods her into going faster so her abuse at the hands of the others will be less severe. No matter the issue at hand, Suko sticks by Sigrit, never getting mad at her or losing faith in the girl.

As the years go by, the girls continue to receive their DNA treatments, and when they are teenagers, they have the computer controlled augments added to their bodies which are designed to work alongside the continued gene-splicing procedures. Because of these procedures, the Girls from Alcyone are slowly becoming something more than other people outside the Kimura Corporation are comfortable with, and those people and companies begin to think something must be done about the project before it is too late to stop it. There are several attempts on the girls, both as kidnap victims or, that with those attempts being unsuccessful, then as victims of assassinations.

Even with the new attempts on the girls, life continues for them, both in training and physical upgrades. By now the original group of girls has been relocated into a new annex on Alcyone, and a new group of young girls takes over the old barracks left behind by this group. In the new space, each girl finds they each have a dorm room to call their own. With the newness of not being bunched together, Sigrit finds in strange to try at sleep at night, and to her delight, Suko comes in to join her in her bed to keep her company.

It’s not long before Sigrit and Suko find out that their bond has turned into more than just a deep friendship. They spend many a night in the company of each other, exploring the possibilities open to them as far as their bodies are concerned, and are quite happy with what they find in each other. But, while they have found comfort in each other, they realize all too soon it just wasn’t meant to last as they are not in control of their destinies.

As the girls have been trained to be superior bodyguards and assassin’s, and their training is now complete, it is time for some of the girls to move on, fulfilling the purpose of their training. Sigrit, the first girl to be given a “contract,” is assigned to Hiroti Kimura, the CEO of the Corporation which runs the program. Despite Sigrit’s diminutive size, she has turned out to be the best of the group as far as her abilities and is now a force to be reckoned with. For this reason, Sigrit is to be Hiroti-san’s personal bodyguard. Unfortunately, this means that Sigrit must leave Alcyone behind her, and worse, she cannot take Suko with her. It is not until Sigrit is on a ship headed for her new home that she finds she truly misses Suko, and figures out that not only does she love Suko as a friend, but she is In Love with her friend. Sigrit makes a silent vow to herself to find her way back to her lover before their love moves on.

When big trouble hits the Kimura Corporation, Sigrit is drawn back to Alcyone to find Suko. When she arrives on the planet all she sees is an empty shell covered in destruction. Suko, who stayed on Alcyone to train the new girls figuring that this would be the first place Sigrit would look for her should she seek her, is gone along with almost everyone who was on the planet; Those who were not gone are dead. Sigrit does not know what took place, but she knows that since she did not find her lover among the dead, the only thing for her to do is to search the galaxies until she finds Suko, and then spend her life with her lover, no matter what lies in her way.

The search for Suko leads Sigrit and her new crew, one she put together in her quest for her lover, to a far away planet which is about to be under attack by a Conglomerate of Corporation’s warships. With Sigrit and her crew going in the back door, and the invasion force going in the front, those inside the underground building are in for a world of hurt. Those inside the building includes Suko and some new girls who are being held captive.

The Girls From Alcyone is a good read and a some what wild ride. While some might not think of this as a great book, I have read it many times. I gave this book a rating of 4 stars. Yes, yes, it is hard to believe the book received a decent rating from me considering how I’ve trashed far more books than I’ve praised. The book starts slow, but with enough going on that it doesn’t seem to be unbearable or hard to continue reading. As the story progresses, more and more action takes place. The rescue of Suko and the new batch of young girls occurs in a world-wind battle and tests Sigrit’s faith in the loyalty of her crew as well as in her self. But, even with the conspiracies, treachery, and action, the bottom line is this; I’m a sucker for true love. And when the lovers are both female? Yee Haw! Sign me up. So for Action, Adventure, and true love, check out The Girls From Alcyone – I suspect you won’t be sorry you picked this book up.