Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon is arguably the most famous sci-fi, monster romance in the bookish realm, but somehow, I had never read it. After reading yet another rave review on social media, I decided it was high time to see what all the fuss was about.
Georgie Carruthers has been abducted by aliens. And somehow, things only get worse for her from there. When the cargo ship she and the other captives are on crashes, they find themselves stranded on a planet of ice and snow.
The situation could not be more dire. Then Vektal finds Georgie, hanging upside down from a hunting trap. He’s seven feet tall, blue, and immediately in love with Georgie.
This is a short book, less than two hundred pages long, so there’s not a ton of time for vast character development, but that’s really not the point here. Readers get a solid sense of the characters and the plot (and spice) does the developing for them.
I was immediately hooked on Ice Planet Barbarians from the first page. Despite the dark shit going on with the women’s initial capture, the writing style is casual and humorous in a way that makes it easy to read.
Honestly, this book as a whole is fucking hilarious. It has such a creative premise executed in a way that is so fun and sexy. It’s weird, it’s hot, I’m in.
The spice in Ice Planet Barbarians is interesting, to say the least. Our hero here is not human. His tongue is a whole different situation, and don’t even get me started on the downstairs. Vektel and Georgie don’t speak the same language, so their connection is something otherworldly. But given their differences, their interactions are so sweet and loving.
I will say that this book had oddly long chapters for such a short book. I think it would have been a slightly smoother read if the chapters were broken up a little more, but this is not a huge issue in the grand scheme of things.
Ice Planet Barbarians is a wild, interspecies romance about unlikely love and desperate survival. It’s very weird, kind of sweet, and so much fun to read. If monster romance is your thing, I get why this is such a popular choice.
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