| Lisane crash lands her spaceship on an unfamiliar planet when she is forced to flee for her life from the Enforcers on her home planet. She was the princess of her old world and destined to rule her people for the rest of her natural life, but all that is gone now. Lisane is not sure what to make of the new world and is slowly starving to death when Simon finds her.
Simon is a wizard and a teacher at a school where other wizards are trained. He is unaware that Lisane is a girl and takes her to the school, where all the other students are boys. Lisane doesn't exactly fit in on this new planet, but she refuses to let the others get her down, especially the sadistic Detter, who looks like an angel, but must surely be a demon in disguise. When her education is complete, she leaves the school with Simon and Detter to journey across the land to face the Beast and win her magebands. The lands through which they pass are varied and some like wizards and others hate them. Along the way, Lisane has the opportunity to grow up and realize that this world is no less complex than her old world. As she struggles to find a place for herself and to figure out her feelings for Kaihan, the acknowledged head of the wizarding world, she discovers that her unique way of looking at magic, or ller, may be all that can save her newly adopted planet from the Enforcers, who are heading down to destroy them all... I enjoyed the story and thought that Delia Marshall Turner was very creative in her treatment of magic and the different planets. This book is a unique blend of science fiction and fantasy that actually worked really well. I felt that the beginning of the book was a bit slow and then it was a huge rush at the end, but the storyline itself was good. This book is well written and Turner's descriptions are quite clear, although sometimes a little dry. However, the reason why I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that I really hated Lisane. I know that it is good to have a strong female character in a book, but I just couldn't relate with Lisane and found myself really disliking her at times. I hated Detter, of course, but Turner portrays him in a way that you have to hate him. I was also disappointed at the lack of interaction between Kaihan and Lisane. It was like Turner was building up to the moment when the romantic tension between them would come to a head and then it is over in one page! What is up with that? I would definitely have liked to read more about Kaihan and how he fits into the world there, but he was left a shadow figure in the background. Very disappointing. I think that the book is appropriate for mature teens and adults, but I would be careful about recommending it to all young adults (even though it is considered a young adult book) because the book deals with quite a bit of sex, including homosexuality, S & M, etc. and is not for all readers. Also, bear in mind that this book is rather hard to get into at first, it took me weeks to get through it, and that is very unusual for me. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book - very upbeat FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past Coming of age Yes Youngster becomes - a powerful magician Inner Struggle Yes Plotlet: - coping with mental/magical powers Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Cultural problems, alien culture Yes Culture clash- - one person from different culture of other persons Descript. of chases or violence - 20 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30 % Main Character Identity: - Female Profession/status: Age: - a teen If magical mental powers: - fire/lightning/weather cntrl - mind reading - mind control - can cast many different spells Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - long-lived adults Profession/status: Has magical powers? Yes Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - mind control How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Terrain A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a primitive/fantasy society - very controlled society Planet outside solar system? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references only - descript of kissing - descript of touching personal anatomy How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog |
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