AUTHOR: Kathleen Scott
PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 15k)
GENRE: Futuristic erotic romance
COST: $2.50
Psychic Visionary Kara Zaire has been assigned to accompany Runner Jonah Cash to scope out the planet Solarion to see if it’s hospitable for relocation. With the ability to hear the energy of lifeforms as music, she is confused when it seems like the planet is entirely dead, but more than that, she is startled by her strong response to the skeptic Cash. Figuring out the mystery of the planet is simple. Figuring out the mystery of their relationship is not.
The more I read by this author, the more I think that maybe romance isn’t her genre. This is the second of her works that I’ve read, and I have a lot of the same problems with this one as I did with the first story, Dragon Tamer. But on the other hand, the things I liked about Dragon Tamer are exactly what I liked about this one. It’s just a shame it’s not the romance.
Where this story excels – just as in her previous offering – is the author’s attention to building a believable, creative world to immerse her characters into. Clearly, she has an affinity for otherworlds, something many of the authors who choose to write there don’t. In this one, the political atmosphere of the society as well as the physical descriptions of Solarion provide a rich tapestry upon which she places her characters. It’s interesting to read then, because I find myself believing in it enough to suspend more of my disbelief.
Where this story doesn’t excel for me is in her romance. At the story’s start, Cash and Kara (and ohmigod, I just flashed on them being called Cash and Carry and am now giggling hysterically) harbor intense animosity toward each other. He resents her presence on his crew; she resents being treated like a fake. In romanceland, however, this means that they are secretly harboring deep, intense romantic feelings for each other, and lo and behold, after an interesting start with them sniping at each other, their relationship devolves into lust and caring that I never really bought. It feels forced, and I really wish the author had chosen to make this a straight futuristic suspense book instead of the romance. Or at the very least, turned this from a short story into a full-length novel in order to make the romance believable. At this length, it’s not. She’s created characters that start out more interesting and multi-faceted than the romantic leads they turn into. Frankly, I think she – and the characters – deserve better than that.
I'm not giving up on this author, however. She is one of the few authors I've discovered this year that has the ability to immerse me into fantastical worlds I utterly believe in. I'm convinced that one of these days, she's either going to figure out how to make the romance aspects work better, or write a non-romance title that takes advantage of her strengths. One of those two will happen. I'm sure of it.
| Readability | 8/10 – Strong, competent prose |
| Hero | 6/10 – Likable toward the end, but I didn’t get the flipflopping in the beginning. |
| Heroine | 6/10 – More flipflopping when the storyline needed it. |
| Entertainment value | 6/10 – Enjoyable, if not hugely memorable |
| World building | 8/10 – This author always excels in creating new, interesting worlds. |
| TOTAL: | 34/50 |
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