Alesia Galati from We Read Smut joins Space Admiral Kandas and Shane on SciFi Book Pod to decode Elizabeth Stevens' indie sci-fi romance Taken to Voraxia. Together, they break down Alesia's 5-level spice rating scale, compare female vs. male romance writing perspectives, and navigate the political intrigue of alien fated mates.
"I'm scared to go 5, I'll tell you right now!" 🌶️
What happens when a 58-year-old sci-fi fan reads his first open-door alien romance novel? This week on Sci-Fi Book Pod, Space Admiral Kandas and Shane (Space Cadet Second Class) welcome Alesia Galati, host of the We Read Smut podcast and founder of Galati Media, for an in-depth dive into Elizabeth Stevens' indie romance Taken to Voraxia.
Together, the trio explores:
🔗 Guest Links & Resources Mentioned:
Discussing Spice Scales and Introducing the Sci-Fi Book Pod Hosts and Guest
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah. So I consider one to be closed door or kissing only, fade to black, et cetera. Two is like maybe one spicy scene, very lightly descriptive. Three is your typical open door scene. Doesn't matter how many scenes there are. If there's open door and they're descriptive in how things are happening, then that's, a three. Four is your lighter kinks, a little bit of breath play, maybe some orgasm denial, that kind of thing. And then five is your heavier kinks, where you're looking at degradation, bdsm, et cetera. So that's how I kind of range it. And that helps me when I'm like telling people, hey, this is what you can expect in this book, that they can get an idea based on that scale. But that's a specific to we read Smut and Alicia scale. Everyone is going to have a different scale on what they're comfortable with.
>> Kandas Rodarte: I'm Space Admiral Kandas.
>> Shane: I have no idea what I am today.
>> Kandas Rodarte: What's your name?
>> Shane: I'm Shane and I'm, Space Cadet second class. That's what I'm trying to say.
>> Kandas Rodarte: You are listening to sci fi book Pod. And today we are chatting with the host of Reread Smut, Alicia Galati, about one of her favorite sci fi series Smut books taken to Voraxia by Elizabeth Stevens. Welcome, Alicia.
>> Alesia Galati: Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to, be here and to talk about this. You know, it's interesting because I have not read this book in years and I had to reread it for this and I was like, oh, it gets better in the next books. Like the whole series, I would have to say, is my favorite just because it is a fully completed series. But it does get better after the first one.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Really?
>> Alesia Galati: So this is better.
>> Shane: Better, in which way?
>> Alesia Galati: Better in that you get to travel to other planets. There's a lot more world building and things like that. So you get to each book. I have the series behind me for anyone who, if you're doing video. And so there's like 1, 2, 9, 10 in the whole series. So each book is a different character, different characters, different couple, different planet. One of them is back on Earth and like, what's happening to Earth during this time? So, yeah, it's. The whole series is fantastic. And I would say my favorite. But you can't read the other ones without reading this one first.
Establishing the Sci-Fi Universe: Earth's Destruction and Future Survival
>> Kandas Rodarte: Yeah, it sets, it sets the stage for the universe that we're in. Okay, so let's talk about the universe that we're in. So we're talking way into the future. Yep. And, the way that I read it, Earth had destroyed itself. But now you're telling. Telling me that Earth is actually still thriving.
>> Alesia Galati: No, it is not thriving. Earth has definitely destroyed itself. There are mutated monsters that live on the surface. And where we pick up in the book taken by the Picosa warlord is the one that's back on Earth is that these are humans that have been in cryostate for thousands of years, and they're picked from all over the world, like, the best of the best. All right, now we're. We're in this kind of underground bunker. And now we need to help revitalize Earth or help fix Earth, because everybody else is gone. And so that's where it picks up for what's happening on Earth.
Why Taken to Voraxia? Exploring Sci-Fi Tropes and Diverse Characters
But, yeah, Earth is a desolate land.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Okay, so tell us why you chose this particular story taken to Verexia.
>> Alesia Galati: What I like is that. Well, one, I don't, at the time when I started reading this series, I didn't read a lot of sci fi. And I am. I'm a huge Star wars fan. Give or take the other one. I can't think of what it's called.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Star Trek.
>> Alesia Galati: Star Trek. Yeah. Like, I just. I never really got into it. Huge Star wars fan. Absolutely love it. My entire bedroom is Star Wars. I'm a huge fan. So I like the idea of it. And then you add in smut, and you're like, okay, cool. Another thing that I appreciate is that a lot of the. At, least what we see in sci fi romance today is that a lot of the characters are white. And in this one, there's a lot more diversity of the characters. The author is a woman of color, and you have this. Maybe we'll get into it, maybe we won't. But this idea of like a tri God, which is like the future of what religion could be if you mixed up the predominant religions of today and turned it into one.
Analyzing Sex Scenes in Sci-Fi Romance: Male vs. Female Authorial Perspectives
which I thought was a really interesting take on religion in the future.
>> Shane: But, yeah, the book itself, it's a little hot, a little spicy. I think the plot could be probably about five pages, but the spiciness is pretty much the entire book. And so, I had to take a cold shower at the end, but it was okay, obviously. is this a woman writer? Right?
>> Alesia Galati: Yes.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Yes.
>> Shane: Okay. So it kind of reminds me basically kind of like Outlander. that's a woman's writer, Right?
>> Kandas Rodarte: Okay.
>> Shane: So you see where men and women have a Different way of looking at things sometimes.
>> Alesia Galati: So I have some thoughts on, on male writer versus female writer, especially when it comes to sex on page. Right? Because when a female writer is writing a story and then there are sexual scenes within it. And I would classify this as like a three out of five for spice on my scale. Right. Because I read mostly open door sex scenes in the books that I read. But when it comes to female writers, they tend to write it from a female pleasure perspective. And like even some of the discussions around consent in this book and some, even the reviews around it, does this book actually have consent when she is exchanging one thing, the freedom of her people for, hey, I have to be in this relationship with this alien dude. And I think that when there's that exchange, then you get into sex work, right? And like the ethics of that and is it actually consent or is it not? Right. There's a lot of that that happened in this book. But the way that women tend to write sex is around based around female pleasure, whereas when a male writer is writing sex, it is not based on female pleasure at all. And it tends to be almost like, all right, they banked it out and then we're moving on to the violence and the gore. And there was some violence and gore and things like that that happen in this story. But you're going to find definitely a difference when there's a female writer writing a sex scene versus a male writer. You m. Can even see it in movies and directors and who chooses to do what with the scenes.
>> Shane: I think she nailed it. I think she nailed it as a male perspective because she said basically everything's a hunt with them.
Exploring Male Perspectives in Romance: The Hunt and Preparation vs. the Act
You know, there's, there's, you know, and if you kind of look at male, writing romance in a way that it's to pursue that gets the most attached attention. it's not so much the act itself. The act is usually wham, bam, thank you ma' am kind of thing. You know, where's my sandwich and feed me. But if you, if you look at the male's perspective of, of, of the if you're going to write a male perspective, you're going to have a lot of, let's just lose the word. Build up to the hunt is more of. Basically you'll have more dialogue of, let's say the preparation. Okay, more than in the act itself. The act is probably one page or two, but the hunt, the preparation and the hunt itself will probably be like three or four different chapters kind of thing or the entire book and the
>> Kandas Rodarte: hunt and foreplay are not the same thing.
>> Shane: No, right.
>> Kandas Rodarte: The hunt is the pursuit.
>> Shane: Well, that's, that's the thing. that's. That's. That's the, that's. I'm just saying that's how a male brain is wired in a way compared to a woman's brain is wired in a way.
Evolutionary Drivers of Behavior and Recognizing Story Frameworks in Sci-Fi
And there's a reason behind that. If you kind of go down the evolutional path kind of situation, you kind of understand where, where, where that comes from. 1. I mean, it's all based on need, basically, and survival of species. And that's what this book is out about, really. It's about a small survival of species.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Very much. Very much about survival of the species. Fascinating.
>> Shane: So I knew exactly where. Basically I'm halfway through the book and I knew exactly where the other books were going to go to because I knew the. You know, I've read enough of these where I know the framework of them. Now here's the thing is that even if you know the, the framework of the book, like, okay, well, I know where this is going. This is like Firefly, or this is like this. Or this is like Fahrenheit 451.
The Importance of Character Development and Story Structure in Sci-Fi Narratives
The main thing about writers, and this is what distinguish basically good writers from bad writers, is the character buildup and the character writing and how the charact is. Is, perceived. So it's kind of like that's the. I said this before, that's the stage. You can have an empty stage, but if you got good character writing, your audience is going to be glued because even the, the, the guy that the. Or, the, What. What's his name? What was Raku, the main guy? Raku.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Raku, right.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah, it was Zoran, I think, was his name, and Raku was his.
>> Shane: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, Zoran. Oh, Zoran. Right, right. It's just like. Oh, yeah. And then, then his buddy, his, his sidekick, his Robin, who's supposed to take care of, her friend, right. You know, ends up being this shy but very attractive to her. And you knew this was going to play out. Right. But the thing is, it was. Again, even if you know the ending, it's fun, it's. It's entertaining. Right. Because the author makes it that way.
>> Alesia Galati: Right.
>> Shane: She knows you've been down this road before with other novels and other books.
>> Kandas Rodarte: let's do a brief synopsis of the book for the listener in case listener.
Synopsis of Taken to Voraxia: A Moon Colony's Desperate Pact and Fated Mates
We assume you've read the book or you don't mind spoilers. So, Alicia, give Us a little bit.
>> Shane: I think you can do a spoiler on this one.
>> Alesia Galati: So this one is like, like you said at the beginning, based on hundreds, maybe thousands of years in the future, there is a colony of humans on a moon to a, a superior species of aliens. And there was an agreement that was made a couple hundred years ago that the, in exchange for resources, the humans would provide women who would be hunted down and potentially raped, most likely, by these higher species, alien or higher intellectual aliens who have the resources. And so it was an exchange. The, eventually the women come to or the people, I guess I should say, because you get more of like what the men feel on the planet as on the moon as well later in the series, but they come to resent that. And so there's a lot of discord around that. But also like this is the only way that we have access to the very little bit that we have. Unknown to the humans, these aliens have very faded mates, kind of like. So if you're like, okay, what are the fundamentals fated mates of these aliens where they have a kind of like a, a pulling to. This is the person that is going to be your person for the rest of your life and no one else. And so these aliens, one of the aliens who is the leader comes, wants to check out what's going on on this moon that this guy on my council is a little too secretive about. what's going on here he goes, he finds out that his zaveri mate, which is what they're called, zaviri mate, is on this planet. But she's not old enough yet, according to their customs. So he waits. The year comes back, she is nowhere to be found. He has to chase her down because she has decided I'm going to leave and so doesn't get very far, ends up getting chased down. And so that causes that immediate discord where he's like, what are you trying to do? You're trying to harm, put yourself in harm's way.
Hybrid Characters and Political Intrigue on a Corrupt Moon Colony
You're trying to harm me like this. I don't understand why like you are my perfect person and yet this is happening. And it's a lot of it is because of the back history with the aliens that, that she's seen over the years. Also note that she is a hybrid. So she is a human alien hybrid based off of one of these previous hunts, I should say is the best way to describe it. Yeah. And so she exchanges, hey, if you're gonna like keep my people safe, you're the king. Okay, cool. Keep My people safe. I will do whatever you want. But she is a tinker, an inventor. She likes to kind of like build things together. And so there's a, that in her storyline, but really it's about them coming to an agreement but then eventually finding love. And you've got a lot of the other characters and side characters. There's some a lot of the other aliens come for their big wedding and so you get to meet some of the aliens that you meet in later series. But they are like, oh, breedable humans. Interesting. Let's get some of those. And so then it's up to the king, the Raku to help protect his wife's people. So yeah, it's that would be the synopsis, I guess.
>> Kandas Rodarte: There is so much political BS in this intrigue in this. Not only is his right arm, right hand man, you know, keeping this huge secret about all these maable humans on this planet. You know, he's, it's like he wants to move himself. But the actual governance of the moon itself is completely corrupt. I mean they, for a year they are receiving extra supplies and the people on the moon continue to starve. Right. They had negotiated extra supplies for the moon and the people on the moon didn't get any of those supplies. Where'd they go? M.
Uncovering Corruption: Betrayal, Exploitation, and the Raku's Investigation
>> Shane: I mean the reason the raku found about foundation, the reason why he was investigating was there was accounting. In other words, there was resources going to a place he didn't like. Why is it so much going there? So that's why he basically red flags. Now the raku, okay, is not like the other ones. See, the other ones are kind of like just mercenaries or they're part of the group but they're not nice people. All right? They found this little path.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Raku is a king. He's, he's royalty.
>> Shane: But yeah, but his, his, his people he was in charge or basically he trusted betrayed him because he had a thing going. And everything they did was against basically tradition and, and the, in their rule of life. So in other words, he was shocked to hear, just literally shocked to hear that they were raping people on that. He was shocked to hear that they were breeding people and the mothers were dying. He was shocked to hear. So he was like, he was like, bring this guy to me. I'm you know, what are you doing? You knew about this and you went, you, you exploited it.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Wasn't that dude a different.
>> Shane: I got a feeling she was too.
Understanding Alien Species and the Struggle for Procreation in the Sci-Fi Universe
She was a misfit.
>> Kandas Rodarte: But his right hand man, whose name I Can't remember right now. He was a different species in raku, like from a different planet.
>> Alesia Galati: Right. So they're this, A lot of them are very similar in species. Like for his council, they're very similar in species, but they have different planets. So it's like if humans were to go off and like go on to multiple planets, we're all humans, but we maybe run things a little differently on our planets.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Yeah.
>> Shane: Kind of like think of, of, of like it's kind of like the. Right. Their empire is kind of like the Federation. They have a lot of different planets, a lot of different people, and they all have. And but the thing is, the common thread that I got from it is that basically everybody's having trouble having kids.
>> Alesia Galati: Right.
>> Shane: Due to, due to basically. Because I think correctly, the more you advance, the lower that you will have kids kind of thing. And I think they got to the point where basically it was hard for everybody to have kids. And his raku's, the species only can have what, one kid because he was shocked that she could have multiple kids.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah.
>> Shane: Kind of thing.
The Significance of Reproduction and the Consequences of Corruption and Exploitation
So the reason why kids or why the women or whatever was so like the, the, the traditions were surrounded by that, like protecting that. And so when this, his, his, the guy who was doing all the raping
>> Kandas Rodarte: and the villaging, the Right Hand man,
>> Shane: they said yeah, they went crazy. They literally went crazy. And they had corruption and this, that and the other thing. So once the other space, other, other species in their empire figured out that basically there was a woman or there was a species that could have multiple kids, they tried to kidnap her kind of thing because, and this is how I, guarantee this is what, this is how the whole thing is laid out in a way they're all fighting for basically. And if you think about it, what did we do as a species when we came out of the cave? We went to the other cave and stole their women.
>> Alesia Galati: Yep.
>> Shane: You know, and their resources.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah. Yeah.
>> Shane: So, so, so I, I, the book is fun, I'll give you that. It's, it's a fun book.
Character Names, Titles, and the Disrespect of Revealing Personal Names
There's, there's, there's times is, is like I, I got done listening to it. I'm going, I'm going, Raku, Raku. Raku. What was her, what was her name?
>> Alesia Galati: Rakukuna. M. Miari Miyari.
>> Shane: That's that Mirari.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Okay, so the, the Right Hand man who was just awful was General Boraku.
>> Alesia Galati: Yes. But his, he had, so that was his title. Right. So that's where I think like when like, listening. Re. Listening to it. I was like, oh, my God, I totally forgot a lot of the. Like. Like you weren't supposed to know the person, the alien's, actual name. Because if they went by, like, that was disrespectful or that was seen as, like they were stripped of their title. Almost like call someone an Earl, like, thinking back to like, those kinds of things. Like, no, you had to have that title. And so now he's not that title anymore. He's whatever. He stripped of that and now he's whatever. I forget what. I was trying to look in the book that I have here to see if I can remember what his name was. But then now he is whatever that. And then giving someone else that title is the decision to go from.
>> Shane: So someone else. So basically saying their own private name out loud in front of everybody is a disrespect from their title.
Comparing Sci-Fi Universes: Star Trek vs. Star Wars and Themes of Communication
>> Alesia Galati: Yes.
>> Shane: And that's why she only. Should she use her name. His name within, Within them.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah. And that's why he was like.
>> Shane: Right.
>> Alesia Galati: Why? Yeah, Zoran was his name. And she. That's why any time that he would. She was like, oh, I tried to introduce herself. He was like, I did it. No, no, like, do not give them your name kind of thing. And, it's like Miari. Yes.
>> Shane: Miari and Zoran at.
>> Kandas Rodarte: From Star Trek.
>> Alesia Galati: Okay.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Miari and Zaron at Vraxia. That would be. That would be the total Star Trek. The total Star Trek, 60 years. Star Trek has been part of the canon of the world, of the life of the world. Sorry that you don't like it as much as Star Wars.
>> Alesia Galati: I just gotten into it as much. That's the only thing.
>> Kandas Rodarte: I think the appeal about Star Trek for me is that it's actually a future that I would want to live in, whereas Star Trek, Star wars is just too much war. Everybody's still fighting with each other. I want everything far, far away. Yeah, yeah, that's true. That's true. Okay, so back to the storyline.
The Tragic Fate of Human-Voraxian Hybrids and the Cruelty of the Bohrok
Miari is one of two human Voraxian hybrids. Only two survived and all of their mothers died. The process of giving birth to these. To these hybrids was, you know, you couldn't survive it. Right.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah.
>> Kandas Rodarte: And that is because of this Bohrok who. General. There's General Baraku, wanting to be so secretive about this. But if you can imagine all of these women who had been raped, you know, this negotiation, the, Raku. Raku actually believed that the hunt was something that the humans wanted.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Because Some species enjoy it. And so when, you know, all these women that were raped, that were impregnated, that could have had children, all of these children could have been part of the Vraxian Empire, and they were gone. And that was just devastating. Devastating to everybody who wasn't Boraku and the. And Bo Raku's minions.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah, that's the part that, like, I think, helps with almost endearing the aliens at a later point, right? Because when you get into the story, you get right into, whoa, we're on this moon planet, things are going down, very unsavory things are happening, and they're having to, like, these women are having to prostrate themselves, do this thing they don't want to do, and then if they do end up getting pregnant from it, then those have to be aborted, because otherwise the women will die.
From Despair to Hope: Understanding Alien Emotions and Simplifying Communication
And so, like, you're in this terrible place, and then this king dude shows up and you're like, man, screw that guy too, right? but then you come to find out, like, it's not just him who's like, oh, I'm the only good guy on this planet. And I feel terrible about this. Everyone else is like, I cannot believe that this is happening. They're medical professionals, are like, we have the resources that we could have saved hundreds of children. And they're devastated. Right? And, the one thing I really like about this is that this series in particular is that you can see the aliens emotions on their foreheads, right? Because they have kind of like these almost like. I think of them as like, laundry vent flaps. The laundry, like the vent that goes out the side of the house, the little flaps, as I think of it, like that. It probably doesn't look like that at all, but they show colors based on what they're feeling. So, like, if they're mad, then it's red. You know, the very typical colors of what you would assume. And so, like, some, like, you have to be able to control that so that other people don't know what you're feeling or thinking. But when the humans are able to understand, hey, they show that on their forehead. They show that on their face. I think it helps with that communication that maybe might be missing in other sci fi series or sci fi romances where there is that, like, I have no idea what this dude is thinking because his face is just stoic.
>> Shane: It's a shortcut. It's actually just a shortcut because you could either spend another, I don't know, three or four pages trying to figure that out then you lose the meaning of what you're trying to say in the first place.
Authorial Shortcuts: Using Mood Rings and Avoiding Overly Descriptive Scenes
Or give this forehead mood ring scenario and make that part of that species alone kind of thing. Which helps. It helped me. It probably helps anybody reading actually looking at this because I mean that way it gives. She actually used it where. Mari. Mari. Mari. I can't pronounce her name. Even said so much is that I can't. I'm not. I don't understand all the colors yet or I can't figure out what he's thinking because it's blank kind of thing. And so it is an express facial expression kind of thing, you know, that all. Most humans can see from another human of the. If they're happy, sad or whatever. So this kind of is a shortcut to that which, you know, I. It was very helpful and I like that. I like. I like when. When, when. When authors take something that's complicated and makes it very simple so you can tell the story. What I don't like is authors who basically write a whole book to explain the emotions, you know. And before you know, it's an 800 page book, you know, kind of thing describing the emotions or the set. I hate set.
The Crucial Role of Communication and Negotiation in Relationships and Storytelling
I hate when they just spend so much time on a set that it's just like. I don't need. It's a spaceship. that's all I need to know. It has light speed. Yeah, that's good. We're good. It's going that way.
>> Kandas Rodarte: All right, now we didn't. We do need to understand why the tree. You can live in the trees and yada, yada, yada. I really think this book is about communication because in the beginning no one is communicating with each other effectively. And it takes until the end when Miari and Raku can actually talk to each other and understand each other that things start to actually unfold correctly. Now is it perfect at the end? No, there's still a lot of communication, you know, M misfires M. But once they figure out that nothing. It doesn't have to be negotiation, you know, we can actually just be with each other. And that's the That was. I mean they were negotiating on everything. I'll have sex with you if you free my people. You know, I'll have sex with you if I. If I can see my best friend, you know.
>> Alesia Galati: What is this kiss?
>> Shane: Yeah, yeah. What is this kiss about?
Exploring Character Arcs and the Complexities of Fated Mates and Consent
Miara. Miari had. You know she had two friends, right?
>> Alesia Galati: So one, her sister and best friend. Yes.
>> Shane: Oh, it was a sister and best Friend. Which one was the sister?
>> Alesia Galati: The sister is Kiki. The next book.
>> Shane: That's it.
>> Shane: So Kiki was not much in this book. She just entered a little bit and she.
>> Kandas Rodarte: She was in a healing tank for most of the story.
>> Shane: Yeah.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah, because she got hurt when they ran away.
>> Shane: Yeah, because I saw. Yeah, because, Because how audible. Kind of goes over to the next book. Would you like this book too? And that was the Kiki story. It was. It was Kiki and what was her mate?
>> Alesia Galati: That one is Dun Dun Dun. Varak. Who?
>> Shane: Varak. So Kiki and Varak adventures.
>> Alesia Galati: So what is that one?
>> Kandas Rodarte: I don't understand about that is because Kiki was terrified of the hunt. She did not want to be hunted anymore. She had been brutalized in previous hunts because she's a very beautiful woman. But the guy who's watching her is her experience mate. So is he the one who brutalized her? I don't understand that part, remember?
>> Alesia Galati: But I don't think so.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Okay.
>> Shane: I thought he was assigned. Wasn't he assigned? He was assigned.
>> Kandas Rodarte: There's.
>> Alesia Galati: He was assigned to her. But then at the end you find out that there were other ones that had. And this is where I think it gets interesting because there were other aliens who had said, hey, I think I might have met my Xavier mate.
Establishing Boundaries and Regulations for Inter-Species Relationships and Standalone Novels
But because they couldn't even communicate, like from human to alien, alien to human, like, I wasn't able to even say anything. Would it be possible to go back? And then you have to understand, then Miari comes in as like, hey, there need to be regulations. There need to be boundaries. They're like, you cannot just let the alien dudes show up and be like, hey, you're my fated mate. The woman needs to make a decision. And if she wants to do this or not, because of the history, like, we reparations need to be made here. Like, you can't be like, we're good.
>> Kandas Rodarte: There is another. What's the word I'm looking for? The government was corrupt. There's another level of corruption there. There are actually very inexpensive translators. Everybody could have had a Translators to understand each other. They could have all understood each other. Everybody could have been implanted or whatever with this translator, but they didn't do it. And then that. That I put. I'm putting that on the moon. Colonies, government.
>> Alesia Galati: Oh yeah, 100%. There's. There's so much. The best friend ends up being kind of like the liaison. Since Miari has to be the queen of this planet. And so there's a lot especially as we get up to her book, which I think hers is the fourth in this series.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Wow.
>> Alesia Galati: Yes, hers is the fourth in the series. Book three is a standalone, so you can read that, if you want by yourself. Like it's not based on the people back and forth.
Introducing Severa and Chris: Exploring Prejudice and Reluctant Heroes in Sci-Fi
And I'm pretty sure that one is a alien who shifts into a dragon. Midsex.
>> Alesia Galati: Pretty sure. Okay. Midsex in all of them.
>> Shane: So the fourth one is with. What's her name?
>> Kandas Rodarte: The tri God follower.
>> Alesia Galati: yes. Sivera
>> Kandas Rodarte: Severa.
>> Alesia Galati: Severa and Chris Crick. Chris Cox. I can never remember how to say his name.
>> Shane: So Chris is, is the Moody. He's moody.
>> Alesia Galati: Prejudice any.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Yeah, he's very prejudiced and he's reluctant on everything.
>> Shane: So he's a really lovable character.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah, but he's exactly.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Honor and loyalty.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah.
>> Shane: I wonder who that sounds like.
Star Trek Callbacks and the Revelation of Human Cruelty in the Sci-Fi Narrative
Wharf.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Oh yeah, Worf.
>> Shane: It does sound like warf and death.
>> Kandas Rodarte: How many Star Trek callbacks can we make in one about a sci Fi smut book? But when you think about Jackson Wharf,
>> Shane: I mean we just had a 60 year old star Trek, anniversary, so there is tons of episodes to pull from.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Star Trek turned 60. Holy crap.
>> Shane: It's kind of like there's a tweet for everything.
>> Alesia Galati: Yep. So true.
>> Kandas Rodarte: So. So when you, when this book starts out, we just, we just think that the Veraxians are horrible, horrible people, horrible species. But really in the end it was the humans that were the horrible people.
>> Alesia Galati: And the one bad apple.
>> Kandas Rodarte: And the one bad apple.
>> Alesia Galati: like keeping things secret. But yeah, I think, but I also think that you realize that the world is the, the world, the universe is vast. That there are bad people throughout who would do anything. Which kind of I think makes you understand a little better in the beginning why it was the way it was on the moon colony and how, how much even like the pirate species.
Fascinating Alien Species Designs and Their Unique Physical Characteristics
Those ones are so interesting looking when you look at the character art. too. They are wild looking and how there is a story for them as well. So if you like.
>> Shane: There's the one. They're the one with the. They're the one with the stubby. Right.
>> Alesia Galati: They've got forearms. Yes, I want to say forearms. yeah, I think like all black with like hard scales and they have almost big praying mantis like eyes, which I think is very fascinating.
>> Shane: And they're very stubby. Should I say it? Penis.
>> Alesia Galati: Yes.
Recommending the Series and Exploring Pirate Desperation and Motivations
Yeah, yeah, it's. Oh, it's so interesting. Yeah. If you enjoy this one, I would recommend. And if you like smut? Recommend reading the rest of the series because there you get to travel to different planets, you get to see different species, and the storyline throughout does continue. Other than the two books that are more standalone, the one on Back on Earth and book three, you get to kind of see, like, an end to the whole storyline by book 10.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Oh, so there is an actual finale.
>> Alesia Galati: Yes.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Okay.
>> Alesia Galati: You see the characters throughout because there is.
>> Kandas Rodarte: There's one chapter of the book where the pirates are just. They kidnap Miari. You know, all this stuff happens, but. And then they all get killed because, you know, they were pirates. But you're. I, kind of felt sorry for them because just like all the other species, they have no babies. Their species is dying out because there's no babies. And so they're acting out of desperation. Did they do it the right way?
>> Alesia Galati: No, but they're pirates.
>> Kandas Rodarte: This is.
>> Alesia Galati: What do pirates do?
>> Shane: You know, I'm going to throw another reference here, another throwback. I'm going to grab something else from the pile here.
Hitchhiker's Guide References and Unique Alien Greeting Rituals
It's not going to be Star Trek, but it's going to be Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Is that, They reminded me of the Vorlon and Hitchhiker's guy. In the beginning, the Voronlan wanted to destroy the planet and how. What their attitude was and how they looked and everything else reminded me of the Vorlon. I can't even believe I remember that name. Tell you the truth, I thought the
>> Kandas Rodarte: Vorlon were from Babylon 5.
>> Shane: No. Weren't they? No. Anyway, I might be getting them mixed up.
>> Kandas Rodarte: I know what you're talking about, though.
>> Shane: yeah, I could have swear they were the born.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Anyway, we're doing Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in March, so.
>> Shane: Oh, God. Are we.
>> Alesia Galati: Yes.
>> Kandas Rodarte: I have the next six months all mapped out for this show.
>> Alesia Galati: For anyone who is interested, has read the first book and wants to see kind of the storyline of the pirates. That one is book five. So that one is taken to Core. That's where they're. That's their planet.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Excellent.
>> Shane: Thank you. So she kind of, like, took each book and kind of made basically, you know, like, the hands. This is the Hansel and Lisa section, and this is the, you know, that section. And that's this section. And so those are, like, little tidbits here and there, and it kind of pulls it all together at the end.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Yeah. Each species gets their own book. The taken parts of.
>> Alesia Galati: It's the usa. they don't get their own Book.
>> Kandas Rodarte: They're the, like, the, Gelatinous.
>> Alesia Galati: The Gelatinous. Who greet each other by literally just, infiltrating all of your oracles.
The Evolution of Titles and the Persistence of Coercion in Interstellar Relationships
Gross.
>> Shane: Oh, God.
>> Kandas Rodarte: But so the title of almost every single one of these books is taken to and then the name of the planet, but by the second or third book, it shouldn't be taken anymore. There should be some sort of agreement, like volunteerism.
>> Alesia Galati: It is, but it's not. Right. So, like you. If you think about where we're at at the end of book one, even then, we're not in agreement with women agreeing to go to these other places. And most of the time, it is that they are taken. In some cases, it is that there are humans that are on other places.
Unique Storylines and Diverse Female Protagonist Approaches Across the Series
There. Like, there's. So there's one, I think it's taken to Sky, I think is the one. And I think that's the finale. Yeah. Book nine. And then there's the one spinoff taken to Sky. In that case, sky is a gladiator ring planet, and it is not the planet of the male main character. Right. And so, like, that's why each one does have taken. Because it's not always just, oh, they're taken by the male main character. And just, you know, it's a repeat of what happened in book one. Each one is fairly unique in the storyline. And even I think Elizabeth does such a fantastic job of each female main character approaching things very differently. Like, when you think about how Miari acts versus how the female main character in the pirate one acts very different.
Human Diversity and the Unapologetic Nature of Explicit Romance Content
Behaviors, decisions, choices. Like, she's like, okay, let's go. Completely different, where they're like, I don't even know what to do with you now. Like, I thought I was, like, capturing this meek woman who was just like, the queen. No, not even a little bit.
>> Kandas Rodarte: But that's true for humanity. We are all so different from each other, you know, and there are. You know, there's people who like smut. They're people who don't like smut. You know what? There's. The world's big enough for both of us, Right?
>> Alesia Galati: Exactly.
>> Kandas Rodarte: And this is definitely an NSFW version of smut. You cannot. I would not be comfortable reading this book where other people could see that. I was reading it,
Humorous Anecdotes and Introduction to We Read Smut Podcast and Business
>> Alesia Galati: funny enough. I went to the zoo and I saw one of the zookeepers reading it, and I was like, we need to take a picture together. I know what you're reading.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Oh, that's funny. That's funny. All right, Alicia, tell us about your. Your. Tell us about your podcasts and your business.
Exploring Open Door Romance, Tropes, and Healing Purity Culture Through Community
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah, so my podcast is called We Read Smut. there's a subset community attached to it where we have roundups and posts and we get an ebook that we read every month for paid members and all that fun stuff. But really it's just about showing the diversity of open door romance. Everything from normal sex, normal whatever day people do all the way up through kink and things like that. So we do explore some of that stuff. so if that is your vibe or you like interviews with authors around surrounding that, then I talk a lot about that with people on my podcast. I also have people come on and we do roundups of like, hey, what's your favorite trope? Let's talk about it. And then we give book recommendations that way. And so, yeah, I've, I started doing this a couple years ago. Just really love the community. The, smutty community is fantastic and just, healing a lot of the purity culture that I grew up in. And so if you're interested in that, find me at all the podcast apps or We Read smut. Com. And then my business is around podcasting.
Launching Podcasts for Positive Impact and Cross-Promotional Appearances
So I've been podcasting since 20. Oh my goodness, 16 now. 10 years listening and guesting and then eventually launched my own. And at this point I think I'm on six podcasts that I've had, but the only one I produce right now is We Read Smut for myself. but I have, in 2020, after being let go due to Covid, decided to do this for other people. How can I create podcasts that hopefully change the world in a positive way? And so we help people launch and produce their shows over at Gilotti Media, and you can learn more about that@gilottimedia.com Excellent.
>> Kandas Rodarte: And you have been on Gratitude Geek, which is my other show, and I will link to that in the show notes because it's a fantastic episode. There's also for. I have a community for the Gratitude Geek podcast and there's actually a podcast guest training inside the community that you did for us. So thank you for that.
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah. And you were on my podcast, the podcast on podcasting. So I'll give you the link for that as well for people who want to hear you talk.
>> Kandas Rodarte: Oh, yeah.
The Value of Indie Sci-Fi and Exploring Diverse Narratives Beyond Traditional Publishing
Yes. I have things to say too. what you have done with the Reread Smut community is what I wish we could do with the sci Fi book pod community, but I don't have the bandwidth. So who should be reading or listening to this book?
>> Alesia Galati: I would say if you like sci fi but you maybe want to explore something a little different than what you might see in traditionally published books. Right. All of these books are indie published and I think that if you're want to see something a little different then you might be interested in checking out some of the more indie published sci fi books. They, the things that authors are doing in that space. It is one of my favorite genres. The things they're doing in these spaces is fascinating and quite frankly so highly recommend.
Sci-Fi Smut as a Genre and Defining Spice Levels in Romance Novels
Check out the indie books.
>> Kandas Rodarte: There are so many genres and when you add all the indie creators out there, I mean sci fi Smut is not something I even actually even realized was a thing. But oh yeah, I guess if heavy metal was a thing that would be sci fi Smut. Right? Heavy metal was sci fi smut.
>> Shane: Light, Very light.
>> Kandas Rodarte: But yeah, yeah, Smut has different levels. This is like level. What did you say? Three out of five?
>> Alesia Galati: Yeah. So I consider one to be closed door or kissing only fade to black. Etc. 2 is like maybe one spicy scene, very lightly descriptive. 3 is your typical open door scene. Doesn't matter how many scenes there are. If there's open door and they're descriptive in how things are happening, then that's a three. Four is your lighter kinks, a little bit of breath play, maybe some orgasm denial, that kind of thing. And then five is your heavier kinks where you're looking at degradation, bdsm, et cetera. So that's how I kind of range it and that helps me when I'm like telling people, hey, this is what you can expect in this book, that they can get an idea based on that scale. But that's a specific to we read Smut and Alicia scale. Everyone is going to have a different scale on what they're comfortable with.
>> Kandas Rodarte: So I would have put this at a 4 just because of the, the bondage.
>> Alesia Galati: Like bondage. Yeah, yeah, that is true.
>> Kandas Rodarte: So I, I guess it's just 3.3.5.
>> Alesia Galati: 3.5.
Acknowledging Personal Boundaries with Explicit Content and Final Episode Sign-offs
Okay.
>> Kandas Rodarte: So if you are into Smut, I'm
>> Shane: scared to go five. I'm scared to go five. I'll tell you right now. All right. I'm a 58 year old man, you know, I'm scared to go five.
>> Kandas Rodarte: All right, that is a wrap on our discussion of Taken to Phyrexia by Elizabeth Stevens. I'm space elder Kantis.
>> Shane: I'm Shane, second class cadet. That's why I'm second class.
>> Alesia Galati: And I'm Alicia of We Read Smut
>> Kandas Rodarte: and you have been listening to Sci Fi bookpod.