#thecaphenon

The link for the first book of the series: https://books2read.com/Caphenon

The premise is like this. In this universe, a confederation called Protectorate is the explorer and protector. They’re very similar to federation of Star Trek. And there is this group called Voloth, a Gaian species that believes has the right to conquer all underdeveloped world that are useful to them. And one day they decided to attack a planet called Alsea. The crew of The Caphenon succeeded in defending but crashed into the planet making an unplanned first contact with the Alsean.

Let me give you a brief rundown of main female characters.

*Ekatya Serrado: The captain of The Caphenon, of the Protectorate, Human(Gaian). In 40s. Courageous, a damn fine strategist. Sometimes get stuck on rules and regulation but always fair

*Lhyn Rivers: Anthropologist and Linguist. Allendohan(Gaina). In 40s. Girlfriend of Ekatya. Very open-minded and always curios scholar. Knows how to speak up for what she believes in

*Candini: A hot shot pilot! Gaian. Very confident and cheerful and cokcy. Royal to her captain. In 30s (I think?)

*Andira Tal: The planetary leader of Alsea. Alsean. In 40s. Also the leader of the warrior group. Very intelligent, has the highest empathetic abtiliy, great at combat and in debate, and has the ability to see the big picture. Has too much of responsibilities on her shoulder and keeps to herself.

*Lanaril: A religious leader on Alsea. In 50s. (Not the typical narrow-minded, discriminating religious type at all! The kind of one that you would want to see, full of compassion, always giving and standing up for the people in need)

*Salomen Opah: The head of the household and the owner/producer of big farm. In 40s. Very direct and fierce but also has a huge heart. She comes head to head with Andira but eventually falls in love with her.

*Vellmar: The primary guard of Andira. In 30s. Very competent and bright, excellent warrior who are yet unsure of her abilities but grows to find her true self and love.

And this is just from the books 1 and 2. And there will be at least 2 more main female characters that directly influence the story arc of the whole series but if you count supporting but contributing ones, the number of complex and dynamic female characters is close to 15! Most importantly, there are 5 wlw couples in the story!! And the two of these couples(hence 4 characters) are the center of the whole series. The series also has a various female relationships; from friends to colleagues to mentor/mentee and strategic opponents. There are asexual and polyamorous representation too. Most bad guys are the male characters but the author doesn’t paint them as flat and one dimensional. Well, most of them. There are a couple of evil ones. But there are also good and wise ones too. You can see a healthy example of female/male relationship.

What I loved initially was how scientifically realistic it was. Because often times when you watch a space opera or other scifi series set in space, everyone is automatically speaking English. There is a translator but when you encounter a new race or species, it doesn’t make sense that the translator would work immediately! But in this series, the author has Lhyn, a great anthropologist and linguist and had her research the planet for a substantial amount of time so that she can learn and program Alsean language into the translator chip! So much better than “just accept it, it’s a fantasy!”

And in most of the first contact situation, it’s always that they are rather underdeveloped ones. Sometimes primitive or hostile. But in this book, it’s not. Alsea doesn’t have a space travel technology yet but is a very advanced society in every aspect especially in terms of medical field so it’s not like a one-way giveaway. Both parties have their own things to offer. AND! Alsean is an empathic race. The can sense, hide and project emotions to others. Which give them a big advantage when they first meet the crew of The Caphenon because they can detect their emotions thus intentions. Of course, being able to read emotions does not equal to read thoughts because what you feel can be caused by various reasons.

Lastly but not the least, Alsean can reproduce regardless of their gender!! And they have no periods!(I want it the most!!) Instead, if they want to get pregnant, they make sure to stay high in hormone level so that one of them can produce a sperm packet. Anyway what I want to emphasize here is that it gives you so much freedom in terms of one’s sexuality and being sexually active without any stigmas. There is a concept of gender but it’s pretty an equal society. When the family wants to pass on its family business, they choose an heir based on their aptitude not on the hierarcy of birth or gender meaning because you’re a son.

The first book is about first contact situation and has lots of wonderful battle scenes and learning one’s culture. And then 2nd and 3rd books deal with the aftermath. How will the society cope that has just learned the existence of an alien? How will it affect its politics and culture? If some of the aggressors are left behind in the world they had just invaded, how will they be treated? I loved that it wasn’t just happily ever after but it dealt with the societial changes. Because Alsea is a pretty utopian world compared to Earth but it has their own prejudice and discrimination and this contact to alien made possible that those problems to arise. Also, one of the strengths of the author is her deep and rich writing of characters’ psychology. You get to see a deep character insight in each and every one of them.