Lisanne Norman

Carrie is one of the first wave of colonists from Earth living on a distant planet. A few years after they had landed, aliens - Valtegans - arrived and took over the planet with superior fire-power, since when the Terrans have been living in subjugation. Their second colony ship is due imminently, with more advanced technology which they don't want to see fall into Valtegan hands.

Carrie had a telepathic bond with her mother, who died when she was small, and with her twin, Elise. One night, when Elise was caught by Valtegans and tortured to death, Carrie suffered with her and nearly died too; but in trying to re-establish her link with Elise, her questing mind found another. He was Kusac, from another alien species, the Shola, and their people had also been attacked by the Valtegans.

Together, could they encourage humans and Sholans to unite and fight the Valtegans?

I liked the story and the hint of romance. The book does suffer a bit from 'sci-fi / fantasy-books-published-last-century-must-not-exceed-300-pages' syndrome, which shows in a few less polished spots and details. Although it is integral to the story, the alien species are suspiciously similar to humans in physiognomy and psychology with only a few points of difference - much like early episodes of Star Trek where the aliens looked rather human.

I was a bit surprised when one of the characters pulled out a cigarette to smoke, but then I looked at the publication date, which was 1993. I was amused to see that tobacco was one of the first crops that the colonists planted.

All in all, it is an interesting plot, and I'd like to find out what happens next.

Three and a half stars.
… (mer)

I have a mixed review to give for Fire Margins. I have decided not to continue reading this series. But, I have enjoyed all three of the books I have read. I even mostly enjoyed this book number three. First the good things for me. This book has aliens, telepathy, time travel, mind control, and lots of sex.

I like the efforts to achieve peaceful cooperation between humans and Sholans. It is not just automatic that different groups of people will get along well, just because it is in their interest. There are also other alien species that play parts in the story, Touibans, Jalnians, Chemerians, Sumaans and Valtegans all are important to parts of the story. Valtegans are again the biggest villains. Most of their deprecations happen in the past though, 2,000 years in the past.

There is a slow reveal in the story of what happened in the Cataclysm on Shola. I wanted to keep reading the story to find the truth about the Cataclysm and the Valtegan connection to early Shola.

Time travel becomes more and more important as the story progresses. Some people are controlled by others, through persuasion, preaching or ancient artifacts. Again, as in the previous two books there are many characters which leads to shifting POVs. There are about 20 main characters with the most central ones being Kaid, Carrie, Kusac, Vanna and the leaders of the Sholan Guilds. So this story has a lot going for it. I was entertained by much of the book. Next I will try to describe my problems with the book.

It is not my intention to dissuade potential readers from taking up this book. As I say, I enjoyed it mostly and finished it and don't regret that I read it, I also know from the reviews of others that some people read these books over and over again. My intention is to explain why I am giving up on the series and perhaps this might be useful for people who have similar reading tastes to mine.

First the sex. I am not opposed to reading about furry sex. But there are some strange twists in the kinky sex in this story. Most of the central characters have sex with most of the other central characters. Which might be fine under certain circumstances, but they often don't want to. That's right, the sex scenes, often, do not result from two mature adults deciding on sharing a pleasurable experience. It seemed to me that most hookups occurred against the better judgment and wishes of one or both partners. What is that all about? I see a Masters thesis from this topic. These hookups are not exactly of the Rhett Butler with Scarlett in Gone with the Wind variety, which I consider rape. But more like the lie back and think of England variety. One or both characters is advised that it is best for the good of the society if they have sex with the person they don't want to have sex with. I hope I am not being a prude and making a bigger deal of this than I should. The sex part of the book seems like a major plot point in the story.

Another part of the story that experiences mission creep is telepathy. This has been a key aspect of the series. Carrie and Kusac are important to the story because of their telepathy and the special Leska bond they form which involves their telepathy. (which also requires them to have intense sex once every 5 days, whether they want to, or not. I'm just saying.) There used to be limited numbers of telepaths among the Sholan and Terrans. But in this book it is exploding like a sale on a holiday. Every central character in the book has telepathy, is developing telepathy or is somehow sensitive or reactive to telepathic powers. I enjoy the telepathy aspects of the plot, but it kind of reduces the specialness of the power if every single character in the story has it.

Now I will address the Mary Sue aspect of Carrie the lead character. I don't exactly mind that she has the classic Mary Sue characteristics. I think Mary Sue storylines are fine. What does bother me is the whiny complaining character of Carrie, And the trait has infected most of the other characters in the story, There is a page for just about every character where they are flying off the handle against some imagined slight by another character who is supposed to be their friend or ally. This bothered me during the whole book. I kept forgiving it, to a certain extent, by telling myself that adults are like this in the real world. Our world is full of adults who act like bratty children.

Ok, I have tried to convey what aspects of the book I liked, and those parts of it which have brought me to the decision to not read the additional 4 books in the series. I hope my review will be helpful to someone out there.… (mer)

Turning Point by Lisanne Norman is a rousing bit of space opera. This obviously first novel is rough in areas in the writing, characterizations and dialog. Hey, that is what first novels are for. But I liked it and am glad I can start the second in the series right away.

Let me get the negatives out of the way. Carrie is an spoiled irritating bratty kid. The first half of the novel seems different from the second half. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and keep straight.

Now the good points. Carrie is vulnerable yet strong and talented. The first half of the novel introduces us to Carrie and Kusac, our main characters, in ways that explain their motivations and behaviors. There are a lot of characters who have different motivations and points of view. I think this last factor is one of the features that make the series seem attractive to me. The book narrative shifts from POV to POV and I need to remember what is the motivation and goals of each different character. Good practice for me in my old age.

I almost got tired of Carrie's whining. At times she seems like a spoiled child. But I accept it, mostly, as she is part of a struggling colony of Earthlings enslaved by the evil Valtegans and can't even get her family to respect her. She is having a really bad day. So, she gets a pass for some of the whingin and crying.

My new favorite thing in SciFi stories is intercultural/interspecies relations. No, I don't just mean hook-ups. This story introduces three species, humans, Valtegans and Sholans. The Sholans are cute and adorable, like our pets here on Earth. Seems kind of kinky to me. The relation between Carrie and Kusac becomes deeper and more important from page to page. It reaches the point where the interstellar progress of war efforts against the alien enemy are dependent of the progress of the relationship between these two. What a lot of pressure to put on a young couple.

I even like that the relationship does not seem overtly sexual in this novel. Maybe it is heading in that direction, In this book there is tension as to which human is Carrie likely to bond with or will she be forced to live with.

The other big theme in this book, in addition to the interspecies hookup, is telepathy. Both Carrie and Kusac are telepaths, while most of the other humans and Sholans are not telepathic. Telepathy plays a major role in the conduct of hostilities against the enslaving soldiers and even is responsible for the first connection between the two main characters and the ongoing reason they need to stay together.

I even like the storyline that her fellow humans are not very supportive of Carrie, who almost singlehandly (with the help of Sholans and some human fighters in the hills) frees the entire colony planet from the evil enslaving aliens. She pretty much is forced to go off alone with the Sholans after the battle is over. Isn't that the way is always is? Your family doesn't appreciate your sacrifices and hard work, and just wants to impose their baggage on you!

I give 4 stars to this first in the series. It benefits from some grade inflation due to it being a first novel, and having 7 more to follow in the series. Certainly the audience for this book is somewhat specialized. One should be OK with science fiction which includes space exploration. The reader needs to put up with a fair amount of fighting between small units of ground troops. The reader should not be offended by cross-cultural hookups; although this book is rated G for zero sex, so it is safe. And the hardest part for most people will be the choppy writing style and abrupt ending. I don't worry about the abrupt ending because this was written in the 1990s and the followup novels have been published for years.
Enjoy it and tell your friends.… (mer)