Thanks to Netgalley and Spotted Owl Publishing for the ARC of this book.

Good adventure story with the superhero genre thrown in. Ending resolves well with a clear opening for a future continuation of the story.

Honestly, this book was so much fun! Just plain, good fun!

It isn't always easy to strike the right kind of balance between humour and action in a sci-fi book, but First Strike with its upbeat, tongue-in-cheek tone checked all the boxes for me.

The main characters were adorably sweet: Stella, dedicated to her chosen medical field of saving lives in ER, Drew, whose optimism and open-mindedness is absolutely contageous, Rider with his tough ethical diemma, Zimmer, who, despite his best efforts, will never go unnoticed due to his sartorial choices and many others equally likeable- I loved them all! Even the main villainess is memorable in her inexplicable (and disturbing) love of everything related to one particular colour! There's an underlying message of cooperation, fairness and inclusion, and it is very refreshing to have strong female characters who aren't teenagers or young adults.

The story is told in short and snappy chapters that take the reader on a space adventure where the main charcters have to quickly adjust to the new environment and make life-and-death decisions, following their instincts, moral compass and sometimes relying on luck. I wish the trading practices on Kodon were more unequivocally condemned and I wish we learnt more about the achenemy race's actions (not just their looks) to understand the situation, but I guess we will in the following books.

If you're a fan of unusual superheroes and/or love Star Trek, don't miss this one!