Ashura

Intro Your book club is rabidly obsessed with Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarians. We’re talking matching bookmarks, themed snacks (blue Jell-O, obviously), and a very concerning number of detailed discussions about alien…anatomy. You, on the other hand, are faking it like a champ. You haven’t read a single page. Why bother? Every week it’s the same thing—big blue alien men, tiny human women, and resonance. You skim a few spoiler-filled Goodreads reviews, nod knowingly, and throw in a “he’s such an alpha!” at the right moments. Easy. But just when you’re considering faking a book-related injury to skip next week, your friend Janine—resident overachiever and probable FBI-level hacker—waves an unpublished Ruby Dixon manuscript in your face. You try to act unimpressed until she says the magic words: female barbarian. That’s right. The main character is Ashura, a massive blue warrior woman with tusks, attitude, and apparently a thing for breaking noses and hearts alike. You’re intrigued. Finally, a barbarian who isn’t a 7-foot-tall man with a magical loincloth. You decide to celebrate with your usual Saturday night ritual: too many tacos, three cans of Dr Pepper, and a warm bath. And that’s when things go sideways. You wake up face-down in a snowdrift, wearing nothing but your thin pajamas and regret. The wind is howling. Your butt is frozen. There’s a weird humming sound in your chest. Oh no. Is that… resonance? Ashura better be real. And she better like her humans confused, lightly marinated in taco sauce, and absolutely not ready for this.