The Segonian by Dianne Duvall, Kirsten Potter 
Published by Tantor Audio on January 19, 2021
Genres: SciFi
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Kirsten Potter
Length: 12 hrs 31 min
I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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Eliana is hurtling through space on board a Lasaran battleship and getting to know not one but two alien races. It's the most exciting adventure of her long life . . . until the ship is unexpectedly attacked. Amid the chaos, she valiantly helps everyone she can before an explosion renders her unconscious. When Eliana awakens, she finds herself alone, floating in space, clad only in a spacesuit, with no ship in sight. Commander Dagon and the crew of the Segonian battleship Ranasura respond to a distress call from their Lasaran allies and join a massive Alliance-wide search-and-rescue mission. He quickly achieves communication with a lone Earthling female and races toward her. Every time they speak, he becomes more desperate to reach her before her oxygen supply runs out. Her strength, bravery, and humor entice him, even more so when she defies all odds and they meet in person. As he and Eliana embark upon a quest to find her missing friends, a bond swiftly grows between them. But they are not the only ones searching for Earthling survivors. When Eliana herself becomes the hunted and their enemies begin to close in, can the two of them fight their way to victory? Contains mature themes.
After meeting Eliana in Broken Dawn and reading the first few teaser pages after The Lasaran, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Segonian and once again, Dianne Duvall didn’t disappoint me. The Segonian dives further into Dianne’s unique galaxy far, far away, introducing us to even more interesting characters and shows the galaxy just how much fun an Earth girl can be.
In Broken Dawn, we met Eliana and were delighted by her lively nature and humor. She does what she can to protect her fellow Immortals and even plays matchmaker so her friend Nick can find happiness. In The Lasaran, Seth chose Eliana to act as a guard for the female gifted ones who want to travel to the Lasaran home world to create a new life but the ship was attacked by the Lasaran’s enemies while traveling in what we would call a worm hole leaving the escape pods to be jettisoned out and scattered along the galaxy making rescue even harder as their allies try to locate all the missing Earth women.
In The Segonian, after getting all her charges to escape pods, Eliana helps get as many of the Lasarans on the ship to escape pods as well. As the ships shields begin to fail and an explosion knocks Eliana unconscious, she was stuffed into a space suit before the ship exploded.
Eliana awakens after hearing a call from a Segonian battleship searching for survivors. As she comes to, Eliana has to face something more frightening than any battle against vampires or mercenaries has ever spawned. Eliana is drifting alone in a spacesuit with only 22 hours of oxygen and the closest ship is nearly a month away. Okay, since this is a SciFi romance, I am not giving anything away by saying Eliana will use her Immortal strength and abilities to survive until Segonian ship can reach her, because it would be a really terrible story if she didn’t, but every time she spoke with the Dagon, the Commander of the ship, knowing they couldn’t get there any faster was torture to Eliana, the crew and to us, the readers. As the crew raced across the stars and spoke to other rescue ships, they learned more about the brave woman who put others before her own safety, even asking the Segonian crew not to risk themselves to try and get to her sooner. Even though they all knew there was no real chance of Eliana still being alive by the time they could reach her, they couldn’t just leave this brave woman to die without trying to get to her and every time they reached out to her, they were amazed she was still alive. This was only my second audiobook from the Dianne Duvall series but I am glad I was listening to Kirsten Potter’s presentation through this because she really brought out the tension felt both from Eliana and the crew and when Eliana tries several times to record a message for Seth in case she doesn’t make it, I was tearing up as much as Eliana.
This whole first section was so well written. We knew Eliana had to survive and be rescued but every conversation between her discovery and her actual rescue were equal parts wonderful and painful. It obviously sets up the meet between the main characters and in such a way that they immediately bond and we get a strong understanding of their basic characterization: Eliana’s bravery and temper, making jokes and lightening the mood even when terrified; the mettle of Commander Dagon and the crew that they would continue on what they would believe is a worthless quest to rescue a woman who couldn’t be saved.
Not only does Eliana’s bravery and wit win over the crew but also her kindness in the simple fact that she personally thanks every member of the crew, from Commander Dagon to the maintenance crew, for coming to her rescue. Even before her rescue, Eliana has become one of them and it doesn’t take long before Commander Dagon isn’t the only Segonian enamored by this tiny warrior who is nothing like the volatile, selfish Earth creatures they have been warned about.
But finding and rescuing Eliana is only the beginning of this story. Even after floating for a month before she was rescued, Eliana then finds out that none of the other Earth woman have been recovered by the Lasarans or their allies. With only two months of life support in the escape pods, the rest of the Eliana’s charges are now running out of time and Eliana feels responsible for each and every one of them.
We meet some amazing new characters aboard the Segonian ship, as well as some interesting new aliens, along with tons of alien technology (all of which Eliana wants to get her hands on). We will also get our first look at the bad guys of this series, the Gathendians. I have no idea who Dianne will be introducing us to next, but I am absolutely looking forward to more adventures in the Aldebarian Alliance.
Favorite Scene:
I took this from the audiobook so misspellings don’t count.
He paused and motioned for her to enter a room near the next curve in the hallway. Smiling she stepped through the doorway. Her eyes widened as she slowed to a halt. Much larger than she she’d expected, the room appeared to be divided into two section. On the right, several men set at tables about the size one might find in an office cubicle on Earth, polishing and servicing weapons. On the left, one man stood alone with his back to them at a u-shaped workspace that boasted a plethora of electronic equipment and tools she couldn’t identify. The wall beyond him displayed dozens of weapons. Each different from previous one. She noted multiple firearms. Some looked like the could take down a damn dinosaur. That or blow up a ship. Others were so small and compact, that even Eliana could hide them in her clothing with none the wiser. There were also staffs with a wide variety of lengths and tips. Most were plain. A few however swirled with beautifully engraved designs. A variety of maces graced the wall as well, and she practically salivated when her gaze landed upon the blades, long, short, straight, curved and everything in between.
She looked up at Dagon who waited patiently beside her while she looked her fill. “I’ll have one of everything please,” she said, her voice full of awe.
He threw his head back and laughed. All heads turned, eyes widened. The seated men set down their weapons and rose. Eliana didn’t know if it was because their Commander had entered the room, if it was a chivalrous thing for her, or if they were simply shocked to find a woman in their midst. The solitary man on her left turned with a frown that smoothed out the instant he spotted them. Abandoning whatever he toiled over, he removed a pair of white gloves, tossed them on the table and headed their way.
“Commander Dagon.”
Dagon nodded. “Joral.”
Joral’s curious gaze settled upon Eliana. He was older than Dagon. He short dark hair graying at the temples and slimmer of build beneath the leathery looking apron he wore. Nevertheless, his shoulders and arms bore plenty of muscle, leaving her no doubt that he personally tested each weapon he created. Dagon rested a hand on Eliana’s back, setting her pulse to racing.
“This is Eliana of Earth. Eliana, this is Joral, our chief weapons designer.”
She extended her hand to the man. “Hi, it’s so nice to meet you.”
Joral’s eyebrows rose as he grasped her forearm. “I’m honored to meet you, Eliana.”
When he released her arm, she smiled and motioned to the room around them. “I have to tell you, this is my new favorite place.”
Dagon chuckled. “Eliana is a warrior on her world and like all soldiers, holds a deep appreciation for fine weaponry.”
Joral’s face lit with amusement, little creases appearing at the corners of his eyes. “Then you are very welcome here.”
She grinned. “Let’s see if you’re still saying that after a day or two of bumping into me every time you turn around.”
He smile broadened.
Eliana turned to the other men who watched with avid interest and offered them a wave. “Hi, I’m Eliana. Thank you all for coming to my rescue.” The men shared startled looks, then offered half bows and murmured responses. Eliana turned back to Joral. “So, Joral,” she hesitated. “May I call you Joral?” She wasn’t sure what the social protocol was in Segonian society or their military.
“You may.”
“Excellent. So, Joral, I lost my weapons in the battle with the Gathendians and feel totally naked without them.”
Joral’s gaze dropped to her chest then hastily returned to her face. “I would be pleased to outfit you with new weapons, Eliana.” He motioned for her to join him as he strolled toward his workspace. “Is there anything in particular you have in mind.”
“Well, what I really want is one of those.” She pointed to the wall of weapons.
“Which weapons are you pointing to?” he asked, following her gaze.
“All of them. I want a wall just like that in whatever room I end up staying in.”
He stopped and cast her a look of stunned disbelief. Dagon laughed. Eliana did too, then shrugged.
“What can I say, I love weapons.”
I’m so glad that you enjoyed Dagon and Eliana’s story, Lucy! Thanks for sharing your review.
The Segonian is out January 19th, 2021. Happy reading!
~ Crystal @ Author’s Taproom
This is amazing! Thank you for sharing!
I can’t wait to listen to it!
I already had a soft spot for Eliana too. Another great review, Lucy.