Dear Ms Sinclair,

You really love Star Trek, don’t you? Not that I hold that against you. I love it too, including the original series (TOS) with Kirk where men were men and women were, well, sometimes they were clouds of energy that sucked the very life from you, but at some point they could always kiss back.

Your book really reminds me of TOS. No nice Klingons here. The villains are evil bastards without a hint of redeemable material. The monsters? Screw IDIC, kill them all. (IDIC, for the reader, is a Vulcan ideal, Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, actually mentioned in the book).

And the hero and heroine don’t spend all that much time on introspection. Sure, they’ve both had major problems, especially the heroine, but other than the occasional nightmare she seems to buzz right past them. But then that could be alien psychology, or military psychology, which is at times even more mysterious.

It’s fairly clear from the hint you dropped at the end of the book that the similarities were intentional. So it’s a fairly fun action adventure with the hero and heroine finding love a bit more quickly and inexplicably than one might expect but hey, they were slower than James Kirk and harem.

The thing is, halfway through the book, I started thinking about John M. Ford’s the Final Reflection. I’m sure you’ve read it, but if not: It’s a Star Trek novel, set in a time slightly before TOS, and whenever people speak of “good ST novels”, this one heads the list, not just because Ford is a brilliant writer, but because he wrote what no one else had contemplated. The book takes place in the Klingon Empire from the point of view of a human prisoner, one who comes to see the Klingons are as ‘human’ as the rest of us. The point Ford made, rather stunning the ST community at the time, was that villains are never just that.

And in this book I found I rather missed that other dimension. The Tresh are good old-school Klingons, pure evil. But it made them rather uninteresting to me, so I didn’t particularly enjoy that source of conflict much. I found myself hoping that you’d do another book using one of the Tresh for a hero or heroine, and reveal them to be more. Unfortunately, a future book wouldn’t help the one I was reading.

As for the zombies, I liked their Frankenstein’s monster aspect. It gave their creators depth, which in turn made me want to know more about them. The zombies did seem a little easy to beat though, if a cop with a Glock and decent aim could take them out. It made me wonder why a special Guardian Force was needed.

Still, those readers who have enjoyed your past adventures, and those who enjoy a good old episode of the original Star Trek will probably enjoy this. For me it was akin to a middle of the road episode of TOS, one where the story was conveniently set on an earth-like planet with human-like aliens and Kirk gets the girl. But if readers preferred Deep Space Nine and more character driven conflict, they might want to steer themselves toward your Gabriel’s Ghost.

Sincerely,

ジェーン
(Jān)

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Janine loved a book of yours she read a few months ago and that plus the posts asking us to try and review more RSF books is what got me to try “Down Home Zombie Blues.” Like Jane, I’m still not too sure of the title but as a relative newcomer to the genre, the book itself worked well for me.

Yes, you use lots of Star Trek references but it does give a good, quick visual reference for readers and with a book of this length, there’s not much extra room for long drawn out descriptions. Even though it does come off at times as cheating.

You tell us that Jorrie is a 8 year veteran Guardian who’s also got real life experience as an Interplanetary Marine fighting the major enemies of the state. I love that throughout the story, she remains a focused, battle tested warrior though I did get tired of Theo referring to her as his one woman army. She’s faced the worst that her world can throw at her and remains dedicated to her job. Though she’s willing to jettison some of the gen pro regulations when the need arises. She doesn’t do anything out and out stupid to advance the plot and the missteps she makes I think are adequately explained and understandable.

I like the fact that as a policeman, Theo watches, notes facts, waits to get the full picture and doesn’t go off the deep end when confronted with the incontrovertible fact of life from outer space. He stays calm, uses his intelligence and works the problem without making it worse. No silly tantrums, or “I don’t believe this is happening” or “we’re different from all the other Nil tech worlds you’ve encountered.” I like that you do have some dirtballers who want to question things and who act in ways that the Guardians warn Theo they will when confronted with off world advanced technology. I have noticed that in the RSF I’ve read that centers on aliens landing on Earth, there’s a tendency to try to portray us as somehow better than any other Nil tech world. Would we be?

But one major problem I had was how is Vekran so similar to spoken English? I could see that a la Battlestar Galactica we might be distant descendants of ancient space travelers but how can a language which is constantly evolving and which is so totally different from its origins and today is such a hodgepodge from different languages be similar? Okay, it’s your book and apart from some “universal translator” implant, this was an easy way for the inhabitants of the dirtball to understand the aliens but it makes no sense. I can also see why you’d want to avoid mention of any more implants since there are enough of those already and nasty things they are too.

I’m coming at the story from the vantage point of someone who doesn’t read a great deal of SF or RSF and for me in my blissful ignorance, the story worked fairly well (aside from the language). I thought the R was worked well into the SF story and speaking as someone who usually doesn’t like rushed romances, I had no problems with this one. I’m still puzzling that bit out. I thought you kept the suspense up and didn’t obviously manipulate the plot “just where it’s needed” to get what you want and where you wanted it to go. There were enough disadvantages for each side but they were laid out in the beginning and not suddenly mentioned.

Is this the end of this series or will we see more battles between the Guardians and the Tresh? Like Jan, I would have liked to have seen some nuances to the villains. The zombies are not sentient beings and are for the most part totally controlled by computer codes and the Tresh are very two dimensional. The word count for the book is long so maybe you felt the need to cut somewhere and this is what you chose? But as Diana Norman stated in a recent interview, this creates villains who don’t caste a shadow. Overall though, I was happy with my reading experience and do intend to try some more of your stories and other RSF. B-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market or ebook format.

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All that I loved about the first three Crazy books was back in On the Loose. There was a super sexy heroine who was smart, capable, fiercely loyal to her family, and one who knows how to get what she wants matched with a super sexy hero who wants to forget the best night of his life but can't once she's standing right in front of him with only a few threads of cloth separating her body from being kissed by the sun in total. The book has action, subplots, nuns, crazy guerillas with guns, and it somehow never loses sight that the reader wants to know about the two main characters. Recommended by Jane.

The cover does a really great job of conveying the story inside. Lady of Light and Shadow is the second part of CL Wilson’s cross between epic fantasy and genre romance. Ellysetta Baristani has been plagued by nightmares all her life and since the arrival of Rain Tairen Soul into her life those nightmares have increased. Being with Rain and coming into her own power is causing great havoc in Ellie’s life as lines are drawn in the sand with friends and family on one side and the Fey on the other. Ellie is forced to choose and her choices will impact the survival, and destruction, of more than one culture. I can only warn readers that at the end of this book, they’ll be left cursing the author that she doesn’t write fast enough so readers might want to read slowly. Recommended by Jane.

Readers might be put off by the title, Down Home Zombie Blues, but Linnea Sinclair makes Science Fiction accessible. I’m coming at the story from the vantage point of someone who doesn’t read a great deal of Science Fiction or Romantic Science Fiction. For me in my blissful ignorance, the story worked fairly well (aside from the language). The Star Trek references were plentiful but helped provide a good, quick visual reference for readers and with a book of this length, there’s not much extra room for long drawn out descriptions. The romance was worked well into the Science Fiction story and speaking as someone who usually doesn’t like rushed romances, I had no problems with this one. Recommended by Jayne

This new to us author provides a rich historical romance based in the World War II era told from the viewpoint of two different pilots, one male and one female. “On Wings of the Morning” took me back to a simpler time in American history but one in which people loved as much, still made mistakes but had a common purpose. The book has a great period feel and I can see the author has done her homework. From Morgan’s childhood on a farm in rural Oklahoma to Georgia’s uprooted existence moving from backwater Florida to big city Chicago, I could see them and the people around them. I could feel living through a summer with only an oscillating fan, driving to see Charles Lindbergh — to actually see the Lone Eagle, the man who changed aviation history! — wanting to learn to fly so badly and sensing that it was your destiny that you’d do anything and work any hours to pay for flight lessons. Georgia’s adult girlfriend’s bafflement that Georgia didn’t want to join her in getting married at age eighteen felt totally realistic though I would probably have sided with Georgia and wanted to work and be independent. The story was an interesting and fast read despite the fact that it’s lengthy. Recommended by Jayne

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Games of Command, your science fiction romance, begins shortly after an alliance is formed between the Triad and the United Coalition. Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian, formerly of the United Coalition, is surprised to learn that she has been assigned to the Vaxxar, a huntership under the command of the biocybernetic Admiral Branden Kel-Paten. When Tasha was working for the United Coalition, the “Tin Soldier” was her nemesis, and on the Vaxxar, Kel-Paten continues to dog her heels, so Sass believes he doesn't trust her.

Tasha and Kel-Paten each have a secret they are keeping from one another. In Tasha's case, the secret is that she is really the notorious “Lady Sass,” a rim runner who supposedly died in prison. In Kel-Paten's case, his secret is that he has been in love with Tasha for years, and his many run-ins with her in the past were orchestrated by Kel-Paten partly so that he could have a glimpse of her.

If Sass's secret is found out, the crucial alliance could be torn apart, and the United Coalition and the Triad could both fall prey to their mutual enemies. If the half-human Kel-Paten's secret is discovered, he could be dismantled, because as a biocybe, he is not supposed to feel emotions other than occasional justified anger. Kel-Paten has had to override his programming to nurture his passion for Sass, and to hide those feelings to ensure their survival as well as his own.

One person on board the Vaxxar does suspect Kel-Paten's feelings. Dr. Eden Fynn, one of the crewmembers that Sass brought with her to the Vaxxar, is an empath, and she senses that Kel-Paten feels strong emotions for her captain. But Eden is at first preoccupied by the mysterious deaths of the crew of another ship, apparently from terror, and later with Jace Serafino, a longtime enemy of Kel-Paten's, mercenary and spy the Alliance has ordered Kel-Paten and Sass to capture.

Just as the Vaxxar is chasing Serafino's ship, a vortex opens in space. Both ships make it, but Serafino's is damaged and he is left comatose. In his sleep he manages to communicate with Eden, and reveal that he is a telepath and that she must be as well. Serafino and Eden feel an almost irresistible romantic pull to one another, even though they've just met.

Serafino tells Eden that Psy-Serv, the same Triad agency that has programmed Kel-Paten to feel no emotions, forced Serafino to have his brain implanted with something that limits his telepathic abilities, and will do something similar to Eden if they realize that she too, has telepathic abilities.

From Serafino, Eden learns that within the Alliance is a faction of former Triadians who are plotting a coup. Serafino suspects that Kel-Paten, whom he has loathed for years, may be part of this faction and therefore a danger to Eden, Sass and other crewmembers. But with the implant controlling Serafino's powers, he can't scan Kel-Paten to be sure if this is the case, and Eden is not a strong enough telepath. Neither of them knows if the emotions they sense Kel-Paten feels for Sass are real or some kind of psychic cover for a plot to harm her.

Eden has no idea how to remove Serafino's implant, but she shares her concerns with Sass and together they come up with a plan that involves deceiving Kel-Paten. Another unknown for Eden is whether Serafino will be the same man she's falling in love with when his implant is removed. Meanwhile, Sass and Eden's pet furzels sense something dangerous aboard the Vaxxar–

If this is a lot of plot summary, it's because there is a lot of plot. But for a book that is well over 500 pages long, Games of Command flew by. I had a blast reading this book, and what I liked best about it was Branden Kel-Paten.

It's not an everyday occurrence in my reading life to find a romantic hero whose happiness I want so badly. There is a duality within Kel-Paten, who doesn't quite know how to reconcile his machine half with his human half. He believes that Sass would be repulsed by his mechanical arms and legs, the scars he carries from the operations that made him a biocybe, and he hates it when the woman he loves sees him electronically connect to the ship.

Kel-Paten's programming makes it difficult for him to come up with a suitable response when Sass cracks a joke, but though he doesn't know how to show it, he would do nearly anything for her. His shyness, vulnerability and inexperience with women endeared him to me so much that I felt every distrusting remark or warm look Sass gave him almost as acutely as he did.

Sass was perhaps a more conventional heroine of the kick-ass variety, wisecracking, quick-thinking, and good at improvising. I liked her warmth, her resourcefulness, and the fear she tried to cover up when she realized that she had feelings for Kel-Paten and that he might not return them if he learned the truth of her past. I especially liked the pairing that she and Kel-Paten made. Yes, it really warmed my heart for once to read a book in which the geeky (but ever-so-appealing) boy gets the girl of his dreams.

For me, Eden Fynn and Jace Serafino's romance was less interesting, because they fell in love so quickly, but as the plot kept moving forward in the sections that focused on them, I was never bored even during those parts. Eden was another likeable character, a compassionate doctor with a strong sense of responsibility to her patients. I was slower to warm to Serafino, since I was firmly in Kel-Paten's corner and the two were enemies, and since Serafino, with his tendency to call Eden “sweetling” seemed a little slick for my taste. But I did grow to like him better when he came to some important realizations.

As for Tank and Reilly, those furry furzels, though they skated close to the edge of too cute, they proved to be heartwarming in their loyalty. I felt that the prose could have been a bit more polished, but it made up for much of that in verve and energy. The pacing was fast, the world-building thorough. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to read a romance set in the future in which the science fiction aspect doesn't feel like it was thrown together in a slap-dash way. Instead, it reads as though you really gave it thought.

I was left with some questions about Kel-Paten's past. Specifically, how and why did he become a biocybe? Was it the result of an injury, or was he healthy and whole when the wires and computers were implanted in him? Did he volunteer for this dangerous operation, or was he given no choice?

I still really want to know the answer to these questions, but the fact that I'm still asking them is a mark of your success in creating an original character, one who feels real and (yes) human. One who is easy to root for and difficult to forget. So for all its effervescent charms and especially for Branden Kel-Paten, I give Games of Command a B+.

Sincerely,

Janine

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