This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Ties of Power
Series: Trade Pact #2
Author: Julie Czerneda
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 499
Format: Digital Edition
Synopsis: |
Sira and Jason Morgan are living safe from the Clan. Jason has been growing in power under Sira’s tutelage. Things start to go sideways though when Sira’s cousin, now also exiled, shows up on their doorstep. It would appear that there is another splinter group of the Clan opposed to the Council but who want Jason just as dead and Sira under their control. The Council itself hasn’t stopped playing games either.
This leads to Sira being abducted and her reproductive organs stolen. Morgan rescues her and then she compels him to go after those who did this to her. Meanwhile, she gets sidetracked into attending a ceremony on an alien world where the aliens apparently know about the M’hir, the energy space the Clan uses. Sira learns that the M’hir is a whole other ecosystem and not some creation of the Clan.
Kidnappings, murders and mystery abound. Everyone comes together and Sira deals with those who have crossed her. Her own father tries to murder Morgan in an attempt to kill her but thanks to Sira’s training Morgan not only survives but fights back. This allows Sira, as the most powerful of the Clan, to wipe her father from existence.
The Clan is invited into the Trade Pact and the Council has voted to join. Cooperation, good cheer and hope are everywhere. And Sira has her naughty bits back so she and Morgan can consummate their Joining.
My Thoughts: |
Yeah, not nearly so enthralling as the first book. Way, way, way further down the romance road.
Most of my problem stemmed from the fact that if Jason and Sira had taken a straight line from point A to point B, they could have solved their problems with power and force and violence. Instead, because of “feelingz”, they continually get hurt and so can’t fully use their power together. This leads to an elliptical storyline where they keep going in circles while edging extremely slowly to that mythical point B.
A bloody ship with some big guns and a fully healthy Sira with her powers could have wiped her father and co-conspirators from the face of the universe in about 1 month. But my goodness, where would the “feelingz” be then? There would have been at least half the collateral damage if Jason Morgan had been a bloody man and just killed the people who were threatening him and his wife. Running away and wishing that things will get better don’t solve problems.
This crossed the line from the kind of romance that I do like into the kind that I really don’t like.
Up until the very end, Sira just gets hammered and reacts, every single time. It frustrated me because I could see how easy it would have been for the Morgan’s to have planned differently and have everything turn out better. The story was interesting and everything we learn is cool but it came at the cost of Jason Morgan acting like a pussy and Sira a fainting maid instead of the extremely powerful and talented powerhouses they are.
Czerneda is now on probation and depending on how the next book turns out will decide if I continue with her or not.
★★★☆☆
It’s always disappointing when a fantasy/sci-fi series ends up becoming a romance series instead.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I thought Czerneda did a great job of walking that line in the first book so I had high hopes for this one. Now I’m expecting the 3rd book to be a crash and burn for me 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
Feelingz make everything worse.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Indeed they do!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok, so I’m putting the series a bit further down the TBR to wait for your verdict on the next volume 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good call. I’m rather disappointed after how riproaring book 1 got me going 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehe I see why this wasn’t for you. It’s so annoying when characters act out of character cos of the feelz. Hope it gets better with the next one!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly, I follow someone who really likes this author and she’s a pretty feely kind of blogger so I suspect I’m in for it…
LikeLiked by 1 person
*OUCH*
When a good story with potential goes down the Romance Road, I tend to run for the hills – in the opposite direction, of course… 😀
Thanks for the warning!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I felt very sucker punched with this book. Especially after the first book walked that line perfectly 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
I quite enjoyed the first volume too, and now I’m not so eager to mover forward with the series… (((sigh)))
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Taking the path of romance out of the blue is not something I wish to see in any sequel… 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
And this is why I’m becoming more and more picky about reading books by female authors. 9 times out of 10 they include enough romance to spoil the whole book for me and I’m getting tired of putting up with it.
LikeLiked by 1 person