Hey there sparkly blue romance nerds, are you ready for an out-of-this-world discussion? No...literally. We're talking about sci-fi romance! Even better, we're talking in this episode about our favorite Kindle author (maybe one of our favorite authors out there?), Ruby Dixon and her alien romances series Ice Planet Barbarians and Ice Home! We're going to put on our spacesuits and jet out to the far side of an unknown galaxy to explore what a blue barbarian romance hero looks like, acts like, and whether or not this is worth the read. Spoiler alert, we say yes. We'll also discuss the issues that readers might have with the series, so please review the trigger warnings below!

TW: Discussions of rape and forced consent, dubious consent, abduction/kidnapping, and sex slaves and alien slave trade.

Terms

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• Ice Home
  
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  • Spin off series of Ice Planet Barbarians (IPB), but also refers to the settlement where the spin-off characters live
    
  
  
  
• D-Class
  
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  • Earth is a D-Class planet in this universe, meaning that it is strictly forbidden for alien races to contact humans/land on earth/ etc. However, due to the rampant human slave trade, certain races are known to kidnap human women (especially) for the trade
    
  
  
  
• Sa-khui/modified-sakh
  
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  • The inhabitants of Not-Hoth and the heroes in the whole of Ice Planet Barbarians series. They are an alien species identified by having sweeping horns on their heads (like rams), long twitchy tails, four fingers and four toes, skin in varying shades of blue, and the males have a spur above their penis. They are also plated with natural body armor. The females of the species do not have a spur, and have smaller breasts than the human women, unless they're pregnant. They are "modified" sakh, because they are descended from the messakah species who crash landed on Not-Hoth eons ago, and in order to survive they took on the khui (a symbiotic parasite).
    
  
  
  
• Messakah/Sakh
  
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  • The species that the sa-khui are descended from. Have all similar physical features to the sa-khui, but they do not have the symbiotic khui.
    
  • Other species of Sakh have evolved to live on Not-Hoth, as we learn in Ice Home. They are the:
    
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    • Tall Horn- identified by especially tall horns; can camouflage to match surroundings
      
    • Shadow Cat- identified by excess body hair and fangs and talons; can camouflage to match surroundings
      
    • Strong Arm- identified by having four arms and smaller horns; can camouflage to match surroundings
      
    
    
    
  
  
  
• Khui/cootie
  
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  • A symbiotic parasite native to Not-Hoth that all living creatures supposedly have. It lives in the chest and enables the being to survive the hypoxic atmosphere of Not-Hoth. It enables faster healing, maybe longer life, and allows you to stay warmer in the freezing atmosphere. It also enables resonance and makes it so that human women can bear alien babies.
    
  
  
  
• Resonance
  
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  • This is when two khuis in different creatures decide that their hosts are biological matches and best able to propagate their species. Resonance is identified by "purring" when the chests of the beings vibrate excessively, encouraging mating until offspring is conceived, ie. when "resonance is filled."
    
  • Resonance mates
    
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    • A mating pair whose khuis have decided that they're the best match and best able to get pregnant. They are lifelong mates and can resonate multiple times. They are only able to get pregnant while actively resonating.
      
    
    
    
  • Forcing resonance
    
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    • When resonance does not happen immediately, sometimes one character (usually the male) "takes" (kidnaps) the character they want to resonate with, in hopes that being in close proximity with no other competition around with force the khui to make a decision. Works about 90% of the time and there is usually a redemption arc in these cases
      
    
    
    
  
  
  
• Dubious Consent
  
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  • When consent for sexual actions is unknown or certain, and is not explicitly given. This is distinguished from forced consent/rape. Often, a character involved is uncertain about whether he or she wants to participate.
    
  
  
  
• Kit
  
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  • What the sa-khui/sakh/messakah call their offspring
    
  
  
  
• Not-Hoth
  
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  • The planet on which Ice Planet Barbarians/Ice Home takes place. Named by humans as it represents the planet Hoth in Star Wars' Empire Strikes Back
    
  
  
  
• Metlaks
  
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  • Creatures who inhabit Not-Hoth alongside the sa-khui and other native species. They look like yetis, according to the humans, and have dirty white fur and don't have a recognizable language. They may have some sign language, as learn in book IPB #7 Barbarian's Touch
    
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    • Jen and Jackie think that the metlaks are part of the evolutionary tree of the natives of the planet and related especially to the Shadow Cat Tribe
      
    
    
    
  
  
  
• Fated mates
  
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  • Can also be termed "soul mates," this is when two characters (usually in sci-fi or paranormal) are "destined" to be together and are each other's one true love. There can often be a lot of sexual tension between the two, as their bodies (or khuis, in this case) recognize that they need to get together, but the characters themselves can be reluctant to do so.
    
  
  
  

Ruby Dixon series

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• Ice Planet Barbarians
  
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  • 18 books + novellas
    
  • Takes place on Not-Hoth (frozen planet) and involves multiples romances between human women and sa-khui males (for the most part)
    
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    • Barbarian's Hope (IPB #10) is the story of a romance between two sa-khui
      
    • Barbarian's Choice (IPB #11) is the story of a romance between a sa-khui female and a messakah male
      
    
    
    
  
  
  
• Ice Home
  
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  • 14 books + novellas
    
  • Spin off from IPB, also takes place on Not-Hoth. We see some original characters, but each book is about a different romance between human females and alien males (not necessarily all sa-khui)
    
  • We learn more about the planet and its inhabitants and geography
    
  • You see characters/species from Corsairs, Risdaverse, and Fireblood Dragons
    
  
  
  
• Corsairs
  
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  • 4 books (for now)
    
  • Somewhat a spinoff of IPB; involves romances between messakah/sakh and human females and all set on space ships IN SPACE (if you like Firefly/Star Trek you'll love this, I promise)
    
  
  
  
• Risdaverse
  
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  • 5 books + novellas
    
  • Spin off from Corsairs; Takes place on a remote farm planet and involves the romances between human females who have escaped the sex slave trade and alien males. The more recent books in the series take place off-planet.
    
  
  
  
• FireBlood Dragons
  
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  • 8 books
    
  • Post-apocalyptic earth where dragons have broken through a portal and decimated earth's population and culture. Surprise though, the dragons are all shapeshifters and very sexy! Involves the romance between humans and the dragons as they try to help the dragons figure out why earth is making them so aggressive and crazy.
    
  
  
  
• Aspect and Anchor
  
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  • 2 books (very long books) + novella
    
  • Hyper-fantasy series that involves human women (so far) who have been anchored to gods during a godly battle for dominance. The women are anchors to these different gods so that the gods stay incarnate.
    
  
  
  
• Bear Bites
  
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  • 4 books
    
  • Set on earth, involves romances between men who shift into bears (were-bears) and human women
    
  
  
  
• Bedlam Butchers MC
  
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  • 7 books
    
  • Classic MC romance books
    
  
  
  

Books we mention

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• Ice Planet Barbarians (Georgie and vektal, IPB #1)
  
• Barbarian Alien (Liz and Raahoosh, IPB #2)
  
• Barbarian Mine (Harlowe and Rukh, IPB #4)
  
• Barbarian's Hope (Asha and Hemalo, IPB #10)
  
• Barbarian's Choice (Farli and Mardock, IPB #11)
  
• When She Purrs (Risdaverse #3)
  
• When She Dances (Risdaverse #5)
  

Helpful links

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• The IPB universe wiki
  

Podcasts listened to

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• There's a whole podcast devoted solely to IPB/Ice Home! Ice Planet Podcast
  
• "Bonus Episode 4- Ice Planet Barbarians" by The NXT Wrestling Fan
  
• "Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon, Episode 4" by Learning the Tropes
  
• Honestly though, there are a lot, just search "Ice Planet Barbarians!"