Wow, this was truly intriguing. I had doubts going into this if I'd like it or not.. but wow, this story was so compelling, emotional, and interesting. Breaker will forever be my favorite character. Dalton's moral decisions and character development were truly amazing to watch. This sci-fi book truly had me on the edge of my seat, unlike anything I've ever read before. I love that they had translators. It was truly hilarious when the translator and Dalton would bicker back and forth. I even giggled a bit about it and when Breaker made jokes or sarcastic comments. So many great parts of this story, I was in awe and amazed. I felt so deeply for Dalton, the Counselor and Breaker in different moments. I loved this thoroughly! Thank you for sharing your talent with the world Edward Ashton, this was a truly remarkable book!

I received this ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

This book is so out there. Holy cow I thought it was so good. How far really would you go to survive, and how wild of a shot would you give love.

The beginning is hilarious, humans and another alien race get stranded on a planet (with low technology) that they are trying to convince join them. Above in the sky the ships from booth visitors fight and explode each other. Now the two envoys are stranded on a planet that they must win to their side before their backups arrive.
I had a lot of fun with this book because the author created a situation where two humans are left alone to deal with an entire planet of aliens (different types), but only one has to deal with diplomacy and a very funny sentient translator. I like Neera a lot. She is like a dragon left undisturbed in a cave until she's not and makes her appearances (not very diplomatic ones) occasionally giving her partner a hand.
At the same time, this futuristic setting is highly tainted with an elevated sense of honorable acts to follow rules (their alien rules). It's a very cool mashup of ideas from court intrigue and honorable duels (very French and British regal times vibe), but at the same time, we never know if our main character is going to be assassinated in the next paragraph (he, too, fears it). There are plenty of attempts, lots of political moves, decisions, games to play, and badass action with humor in writing and character personalities, which is characteristic of the author's style.