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Chronicles of Alsea #2
Without a Front: The Producer’s Challenge
When the Voloth invaded Alsea, Lancer Andira Tal thought the hard part would be fighting off a technologically advanced army.
It wasn’t. In the aftermath of war, Alsean society is deeply divided and Tal is facing issues no Lancer has ever dealt with before. How to rebuild, what to do with the Voloth prisoners, when and how to release the new technologies—the pressure is building and Tal is showing cracks, which her enemies are glad to exploit.
The most divisive of the new technologies are the matter printers, desired by some castes and feared by others, especially the producers. When a challenge gives Tal the opportunity to bring the producers to her side, she leaves the capital to work in the fields of Hol-Opah. There she finds an unexpected sanctuary—and the promise of something she has wished for all her life.
But sanctuary and dreams are distractions, and Tal’s inattention may cost her everything.
Length: 340 pages, approx. 140,000 words
Themes: Science fiction · Lesbian fiction · Romance
It wasn’t. In the aftermath of war, Alsean society is deeply divided and Tal is facing issues no Lancer has ever dealt with before. How to rebuild, what to do with the Voloth prisoners, when and how to release the new technologies—the pressure is building and Tal is showing cracks, which her enemies are glad to exploit.
The most divisive of the new technologies are the matter printers, desired by some castes and feared by others, especially the producers. When a challenge gives Tal the opportunity to bring the producers to her side, she leaves the capital to work in the fields of Hol-Opah. There she finds an unexpected sanctuary—and the promise of something she has wished for all her life.
But sanctuary and dreams are distractions, and Tal’s inattention may cost her everything.
Length: 340 pages, approx. 140,000 words
Themes: Science fiction · Lesbian fiction · Romance
340 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2015
46 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
About the author
Fletcher DeLancey
26 books314 followersFletcher DeLancey spent her early career as a science educator, which was the perfect combination of her two great loves: language and science. These days she combines them while writing science fiction.
She is an Oregon expatriate who left her beloved state when she met a Portuguese woman and had to choose between home and heart. She chose heart. Now she lives with her wife and son in the beautiful sunny Algarve, where she writes full-time, teaches Pilates, tries to learn the local birds and plants, and samples every regional Portuguese dish she can get her hands on. (There are many. It’s going to take a while.)
She is best known for her science fiction/fantasy series, Chronicles of Alsea, now comprised of four novels and a novella. Among them, the Alsea books have won an Independent Publisher's Award (2017 bronze medal), a Golden Crown Literary Society Award, a Rainbow Award, and been shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award.
Fletcher believes that women need far more representation in science fiction and fantasy, and takes great pleasure in writing complex stories with strong, believable women heading up the action. Her day is made every time another reader says, “I didn’t think I liked science fiction, but then I read yours.”
She is an Oregon expatriate who left her beloved state when she met a Portuguese woman and had to choose between home and heart. She chose heart. Now she lives with her wife and son in the beautiful sunny Algarve, where she writes full-time, teaches Pilates, tries to learn the local birds and plants, and samples every regional Portuguese dish she can get her hands on. (There are many. It’s going to take a while.)
She is best known for her science fiction/fantasy series, Chronicles of Alsea, now comprised of four novels and a novella. Among them, the Alsea books have won an Independent Publisher's Award (2017 bronze medal), a Golden Crown Literary Society Award, a Rainbow Award, and been shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award.
Fletcher believes that women need far more representation in science fiction and fantasy, and takes great pleasure in writing complex stories with strong, believable women heading up the action. Her day is made every time another reader says, “I didn’t think I liked science fiction, but then I read yours.”
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
February 27, 2017
When I heard that this book was not very different from the original fanfic version and I had read that already, I thought to myself I was going to skip this for now and at least wait for the last book to come out before starting on this one. But dang, a few pages in and I was hooked, lol. I couldn't stop reading, even knowing that the book won't have an ending.
Plotwise, this is very different from Caphenon. While the first book was predominantly action and thrills, this is more of political maneuvering and one-upmanship, development of an unlikely romance, and a much more detailed look at Alsean life and customs. The pace is more relaxed and sedate. But of course, this is just the calm before the storm. Much of the political fallout has to do with the alien technology gifted by the Gaians to Alsea, specifically the matter-printing technology (e.g. the Star Trek Replicator) This is a stroke of genius actually. I love how the author thought to use the economic ramifications of this technology on Alsea to drive the conflict in this book. The fear that this tech will displace whole castes of producers and craftmen from their livelihood is logical and well-founded.
In this book, we see the Lancer in her peacetime element. From the honorable and ruthless warrior of the first book, we now see the politician side of her in action--a master thinker and communicator. In an effort to diffuse a producer caste revolt, she daringly accepts a challenge to work at a remote farm for a month, throwing up a mountain of logistics nightmares for her bodyguards and advisors. The effort could either be a stroke of genius or political suicide. Out of the chaos blooms a very unlikely attraction. Being empaths, Alseans bondmates can share not just a physical but a mental connection. The latter is even more profound as it can involve a transference of emotions, physical pain and even injury. Theirs is a soulmate-for-life thing. The romantic progression may be all backwards, but I really enjoyed how the author developed the romance that is at once alien and at the same time so universal in its appeal.
In fact, much of the appeal of the book is how easily we relate to the challenges facing the Alseans. The threat of matter-printers displacing ordinary folks is as real as globalization, outsourcing and computerization is to ordinary workers. Political wranglings and noisy fringe groups seizing on their pet causes are as common as the daily news we read. The only difference is that very few (are there any?) of our politicians (anywhere, I might add) have the moral integrity of Lancer Tal to resist the various groups that seek to influence the government for their own selfish objectives. And if there were, they probably wouldn't win an election, lol. Lancer Tal probably wouldn't either, if Alsea were a true democracy. But I digress. :) We love reading about Alsea because they've got all the usual troubles we have, but they actually have someone good enough to solve it. Isn't that what we all aspire to?
4.5 stars
Why not 5 stars? This book does not have the epic sweep and scale, the pulse-pounding and page-turning suspense, or the emotional gravitas of the recurring honor-vs-duty themes from the first book. It's hard to stand next to perfection.
Plotwise, this is very different from Caphenon. While the first book was predominantly action and thrills, this is more of political maneuvering and one-upmanship, development of an unlikely romance, and a much more detailed look at Alsean life and customs. The pace is more relaxed and sedate. But of course, this is just the calm before the storm. Much of the political fallout has to do with the alien technology gifted by the Gaians to Alsea, specifically the matter-printing technology (e.g. the Star Trek Replicator) This is a stroke of genius actually. I love how the author thought to use the economic ramifications of this technology on Alsea to drive the conflict in this book. The fear that this tech will displace whole castes of producers and craftmen from their livelihood is logical and well-founded.
In this book, we see the Lancer in her peacetime element. From the honorable and ruthless warrior of the first book, we now see the politician side of her in action--a master thinker and communicator. In an effort to diffuse a producer caste revolt, she daringly accepts a challenge to work at a remote farm for a month, throwing up a mountain of logistics nightmares for her bodyguards and advisors. The effort could either be a stroke of genius or political suicide. Out of the chaos blooms a very unlikely attraction. Being empaths, Alseans bondmates can share not just a physical but a mental connection. The latter is even more profound as it can involve a transference of emotions, physical pain and even injury. Theirs is a soulmate-for-life thing. The romantic progression may be all backwards, but I really enjoyed how the author developed the romance that is at once alien and at the same time so universal in its appeal.
In fact, much of the appeal of the book is how easily we relate to the challenges facing the Alseans. The threat of matter-printers displacing ordinary folks is as real as globalization, outsourcing and computerization is to ordinary workers. Political wranglings and noisy fringe groups seizing on their pet causes are as common as the daily news we read. The only difference is that very few (are there any?) of our politicians (anywhere, I might add) have the moral integrity of Lancer Tal to resist the various groups that seek to influence the government for their own selfish objectives. And if there were, they probably wouldn't win an election, lol. Lancer Tal probably wouldn't either, if Alsea were a true democracy. But I digress. :) We love reading about Alsea because they've got all the usual troubles we have, but they actually have someone good enough to solve it. Isn't that what we all aspire to?
4.5 stars
Why not 5 stars? This book does not have the epic sweep and scale, the pulse-pounding and page-turning suspense, or the emotional gravitas of the recurring honor-vs-duty themes from the first book. It's hard to stand next to perfection.
February 5, 2017
A very promising start.
It has been about a year since the events of The Caphenon, but its legacy remains. Lancer Tal is emotionally pretty rough. The military decisions she took to save her world have caused her spiritual turmoil (echoed in the minds of those she conscripted). To boot, they have proven politically controversial as well. Alien technology is still restricted from everyday use, but the average person on the street is feeling fear and greed of it in equal measure. Tal (as leader) is holding broad-based meetings to discuss concerns, but progress is painfully slow.
On top of that is the driving loneliness of her position. With Captain Serrano back in Protectorate space, Tal has literally no one left who understands the balance between her and her position. A brief, disastrous fling brings no relief. The Lancer is looking vulnerable and the vultures, unseen, are beginning to gather.
The other half of this book is Salomen Opah. Salomen is a landholder and a respected member of the Producer’s Caste. The farmers don’t get much caste respect on a world like Alsea, and they’ve got the most to lose if the alien matter technology is released in an uncontrolled fashion. After several fiery meetings with the Lancer she issues a challenge; the Lancer will work on her farm for the month of the harvest, so she can understand what the Producers stand to lose. Tal, in a fit of pique, accepts and counter-challenges; Salomen will have to reciprocate by working with her the month after, so she can fully appreciate the “big picture” demands made by the whole of Alsea.
So let’s get this out of the way. You read The Caphenon and liked it? Cool; did you prefer the world-building or the kick-arse action? If you said the former, buy this book. It’s a cracker and you’re going to love it. If the latter then… hmmm. Might just want to read the first book again.
Other reviewers have said as much already; if you’re looking for another The Caphenon, this is not really the book. TC was a Space Opera, more akin to Miles Vorkosigan. It had a much broader sweep to its geography and the scale of its concerns. The whole goddamn planet was going to be enslaved, for goodness sake! The relationships as well – there simply isn’t the kind of stakes we saw the first go-around. The strain of watching Serrano torn between duty and honour, and the Lancer between love and her planet, is not replicated – and realistically how could it be? The foreign invasion, the interplanetary dilemmas caused by cultures, biology, and fundamentally competing interests – none of that is really present in this new book.
The Producer’s Challenge is focused on one world and its social web. It is about aliens on their alien planet, worrying in concert about alien things.
Do not mistake that as a criticism. It is different, but just as good. The world of Alsea is fully conceived, and the writing style encourages a dreamlike, peaceful quality - although this is at the expense of gritty insight into the underclasses found in real life. These books focus on the planet’s talented and elite, and it is unapologetic about that. There is no poverty shown, politics is by consensus, and the war is truly over.
This is a book about setting the scene – about building a world for us to understand, think well of, and move through.
Speaking of world-building, most interesting are the little ways where the Alseans are shown to be not human. After having her honour insulted (and Salomen’s as well), Tal punches Salomen’s bratty brother so hard in the stomach he’s winded and bruised. Everyone just nods. Some people wish he’d been damaged more. Perfectly acceptable. Another time Tal announces an alliance with the youngest of the brothers out of kindness, but then takes it seriously enough that she carts three of his tormentors to the worst supermax prison on the planet (temporarily, to be fair, but still). Both those moments (and the lack of personal reflection on them) made really interesting meta-commentary on honour – hopefully the author intended it that way*. Tal was more reflexive regarding the morality surrounding the solution to the prisoner-of-war dilemma – although the manipulative way she ensured what she considered the best course of action, again, made one sit back and think. Good stuff, but only if the reader is ready to give the boat a bit of a rock.
The book itself is structured as a political drama and romance. The political drama is more in the first half; the romance dominates the latter half. Like was hinted in the first book, Lancer Tal finally finds her Tyree.* The “soulmates” trope can be problematic in the wrong hands, and certainly here at times it feels a little full-tilt (the two main characters pretty much fall for each other inside a week, as well as their bond being some sort of legendary pairing, signed from the goddess), but frankly their personalities are enough that I would have believed they’d fall in love anyway given more time. The excuse why they couldn’t touch each other grew strained, but it was internally consistent and intersected with the plot in important ways, so fair call to the author.
Above all watching it was adorable. Really, genuinely adorable. It will be a real pleasure to see these two interact in the final book.
It is clear that this is just half of a single novel, by the way; the narrative really does feel like we stopped half-way through so the author could run off for a glass of water. I suspect the political and romantic elements will meld together far more smoothly in the Warrior’s Challenge – as well as allowing us to watch the “already established relationship” dynamic which the author truly excels at. So in some ways it is a difficult thing to review seeing as we can't really judge the story on its intended merits.
Regardless, it is crackerjack. I really liked the book.
*(alas, “Tyree” is also the name of an owl in a Lackey book I read as a young adult; by no fault of the author I struggled to take the title as seriously as it was presented - albeit the mental images were amusing. After a while I edited my eBook file to replace their instances with “intended” which worked quite well, barring a few awkward sentences. If anyone else is having this trouble, that would be my suggestion.)
*EDIT 15DEC15 after the release of the second book it can be conclusively stated no, the author did not intend it that way.
It has been about a year since the events of The Caphenon, but its legacy remains. Lancer Tal is emotionally pretty rough. The military decisions she took to save her world have caused her spiritual turmoil (echoed in the minds of those she conscripted). To boot, they have proven politically controversial as well. Alien technology is still restricted from everyday use, but the average person on the street is feeling fear and greed of it in equal measure. Tal (as leader) is holding broad-based meetings to discuss concerns, but progress is painfully slow.
On top of that is the driving loneliness of her position. With Captain Serrano back in Protectorate space, Tal has literally no one left who understands the balance between her and her position. A brief, disastrous fling brings no relief. The Lancer is looking vulnerable and the vultures, unseen, are beginning to gather.
The other half of this book is Salomen Opah. Salomen is a landholder and a respected member of the Producer’s Caste. The farmers don’t get much caste respect on a world like Alsea, and they’ve got the most to lose if the alien matter technology is released in an uncontrolled fashion. After several fiery meetings with the Lancer she issues a challenge; the Lancer will work on her farm for the month of the harvest, so she can understand what the Producers stand to lose. Tal, in a fit of pique, accepts and counter-challenges; Salomen will have to reciprocate by working with her the month after, so she can fully appreciate the “big picture” demands made by the whole of Alsea.
So let’s get this out of the way. You read The Caphenon and liked it? Cool; did you prefer the world-building or the kick-arse action? If you said the former, buy this book. It’s a cracker and you’re going to love it. If the latter then… hmmm. Might just want to read the first book again.
Other reviewers have said as much already; if you’re looking for another The Caphenon, this is not really the book. TC was a Space Opera, more akin to Miles Vorkosigan. It had a much broader sweep to its geography and the scale of its concerns. The whole goddamn planet was going to be enslaved, for goodness sake! The relationships as well – there simply isn’t the kind of stakes we saw the first go-around. The strain of watching Serrano torn between duty and honour, and the Lancer between love and her planet, is not replicated – and realistically how could it be? The foreign invasion, the interplanetary dilemmas caused by cultures, biology, and fundamentally competing interests – none of that is really present in this new book.
The Producer’s Challenge is focused on one world and its social web. It is about aliens on their alien planet, worrying in concert about alien things.
Do not mistake that as a criticism. It is different, but just as good. The world of Alsea is fully conceived, and the writing style encourages a dreamlike, peaceful quality - although this is at the expense of gritty insight into the underclasses found in real life. These books focus on the planet’s talented and elite, and it is unapologetic about that. There is no poverty shown, politics is by consensus, and the war is truly over.
This is a book about setting the scene – about building a world for us to understand, think well of, and move through.
Speaking of world-building, most interesting are the little ways where the Alseans are shown to be not human. After having her honour insulted (and Salomen’s as well), Tal punches Salomen’s bratty brother so hard in the stomach he’s winded and bruised. Everyone just nods. Some people wish he’d been damaged more. Perfectly acceptable. Another time Tal announces an alliance with the youngest of the brothers out of kindness, but then takes it seriously enough that she carts three of his tormentors to the worst supermax prison on the planet (temporarily, to be fair, but still). Both those moments (and the lack of personal reflection on them) made really interesting meta-commentary on honour – hopefully the author intended it that way*. Tal was more reflexive regarding the morality surrounding the solution to the prisoner-of-war dilemma – although the manipulative way she ensured what she considered the best course of action, again, made one sit back and think. Good stuff, but only if the reader is ready to give the boat a bit of a rock.
The book itself is structured as a political drama and romance. The political drama is more in the first half; the romance dominates the latter half. Like was hinted in the first book, Lancer Tal finally finds her Tyree.* The “soulmates” trope can be problematic in the wrong hands, and certainly here at times it feels a little full-tilt (the two main characters pretty much fall for each other inside a week, as well as their bond being some sort of legendary pairing, signed from the goddess), but frankly their personalities are enough that I would have believed they’d fall in love anyway given more time. The excuse why they couldn’t touch each other grew strained, but it was internally consistent and intersected with the plot in important ways, so fair call to the author.
Above all watching it was adorable. Really, genuinely adorable. It will be a real pleasure to see these two interact in the final book.
It is clear that this is just half of a single novel, by the way; the narrative really does feel like we stopped half-way through so the author could run off for a glass of water. I suspect the political and romantic elements will meld together far more smoothly in the Warrior’s Challenge – as well as allowing us to watch the “already established relationship” dynamic which the author truly excels at. So in some ways it is a difficult thing to review seeing as we can't really judge the story on its intended merits.
Regardless, it is crackerjack. I really liked the book.
*(alas, “Tyree” is also the name of an owl in a Lackey book I read as a young adult; by no fault of the author I struggled to take the title as seriously as it was presented - albeit the mental images were amusing. After a while I edited my eBook file to replace their instances with “intended” which worked quite well, barring a few awkward sentences. If anyone else is having this trouble, that would be my suggestion.)
*EDIT 15DEC15 after the release of the second book it can be conclusively stated no, the author did not intend it that way.
February 1, 2017
A great second book in the Chronicles of Alsea series. I enjoyed every minute of reading it, and now am waiting impatiently for the third one to come out.
January 30, 2017
When I first finished this book, I rated it at 3.5 stars. Then I finished Without A Front – The Warrior’s Challenge and rated that at 5 stars. The problem with that is that they are not two separate, 500-page, nine-dollar novels; this is a single, 1000-page, eighteen-dollar story that's been torn in half and sold in pieces, and that's exactly why I rated The Producer's Challenge so low. Normally in a series, there's a main plot and some subplots that continue from one book to the next, but there are also some subplots that get tied off in each separate story to provide a sense of resolution. Not so here. The Producer's Challenge on its own has no closure, no catharsis; it has only severed ends and cliffhangers which are resolved in its second half (the next book). And that's a problem, because it built up my emotions and expectations and provided absolutely nowhere for them to go, no release of any kind.
To circumvent that problem, I'm just going to review the story as a whole here, and that story, Without a Front, is fantastic. It's an epic story of love and danger set on an alien world that operates with its own rules and customs and yet grows increasingly familiar with every page . The way DeLancey takes the concept of soulmates and makes it her own, using alien biology, somewhat familiar science, and an unusual approach to religion, takes something that's usually overly-simplistic and unbelievable and turns it into something I actually found myself utterly willing to believe in. Somehow, in a genre that requires a much higher degree of suspension of disbelief, she made me believe something that usually makes me groan.
But that's just the love and mysticism. Let's talk about the characters. The characters of Without a Front, some of whom we were introduced to in The Caphenon and some of whom are new additions, are all fascinating and fully-formed. This is true of the two leads, Andira Tal and Salomen Opah, but also of Corozen Micah, Fianna Vellmar, and many others. Each has a unique perspective and voice that fills in and colors a wonderful tapestry.
The world-building that began in The Caphenon is expanded upon even more here, adding to the rich complexity of the political and cultural systems and disparate ideologies that compose Alsea without ever coming across as dry or boring. It's an incredible place to explore, and I'd really like to see the setting used again in future books. The world's been so well-defined and described that I find myself imagining any number of future adventures there.
Now, it is fair to say that this is not very heavy sci-fi. It's not as cutting as William Gibson's corporate dystopias or as detailed or grounded in science as anything by Asimov. This is a relatively mild read with science that isn't particularly hard, a love that's a little too perfect, an ending that's a bit too neat. And I don't care. I enjoyed this series; I enjoyed the world, the characters, the relationships, the mythology, and all of the little details that made each of those things more memorable to me.
If you're interested in soft science fiction, lesbian fiction, lesbian romances, or even travelogues, read The Caphenon, read this book, and absolutely read Without A Front – The Warrior’s Challenge. While The Caphenon can stand on its own, I don't think this book should be read without reading the prequel, and it certainly can't be read without its sequel.
5 stars for The Caphenon
5 stars for Without a Front
5 stars for the Chronicles of Alsea
(1 star for the idea of splitting Without a Front into two books)
To circumvent that problem, I'm just going to review the story as a whole here, and that story, Without a Front, is fantastic. It's an epic story of love and danger set on an alien world that operates with its own rules and customs and yet grows increasingly familiar with every page . The way DeLancey takes the concept of soulmates and makes it her own, using alien biology, somewhat familiar science, and an unusual approach to religion, takes something that's usually overly-simplistic and unbelievable and turns it into something I actually found myself utterly willing to believe in. Somehow, in a genre that requires a much higher degree of suspension of disbelief, she made me believe something that usually makes me groan.
But that's just the love and mysticism. Let's talk about the characters. The characters of Without a Front, some of whom we were introduced to in The Caphenon and some of whom are new additions, are all fascinating and fully-formed. This is true of the two leads, Andira Tal and Salomen Opah, but also of Corozen Micah, Fianna Vellmar, and many others. Each has a unique perspective and voice that fills in and colors a wonderful tapestry.
The world-building that began in The Caphenon is expanded upon even more here, adding to the rich complexity of the political and cultural systems and disparate ideologies that compose Alsea without ever coming across as dry or boring. It's an incredible place to explore, and I'd really like to see the setting used again in future books. The world's been so well-defined and described that I find myself imagining any number of future adventures there.
Now, it is fair to say that this is not very heavy sci-fi. It's not as cutting as William Gibson's corporate dystopias or as detailed or grounded in science as anything by Asimov. This is a relatively mild read with science that isn't particularly hard, a love that's a little too perfect, an ending that's a bit too neat. And I don't care. I enjoyed this series; I enjoyed the world, the characters, the relationships, the mythology, and all of the little details that made each of those things more memorable to me.
If you're interested in soft science fiction, lesbian fiction, lesbian romances, or even travelogues, read The Caphenon, read this book, and absolutely read Without A Front – The Warrior’s Challenge. While The Caphenon can stand on its own, I don't think this book should be read without reading the prequel, and it certainly can't be read without its sequel.
5 stars for The Caphenon
5 stars for Without a Front
5 stars for the Chronicles of Alsea
(1 star for the idea of splitting Without a Front into two books)
February 8, 2017
This novel is indeed the lull before the storm!
It's not even an entire book; it's just a half. 1176 pages of the free version are challenging, but still I'm quite tempted to download it to go on with the story immediately! How on earth am I supposed to survive six weeks leaving everything in such a trouble? This splitting is cruel!
I've read this novel immediately after the first one of the series, the Caphenon, and to give you an idea of how much I am involved in the world of Alsea, one morning last week I catched myself exclaiming: "Fahla! I'm late!"
(Fahla is Alsea's deity...)
After the happenings of the Caphenon the planet Alsea has a sudden mood swing. No longer facing an alien invasion, it's now going through moral and economic crises, the previously acquired unity of intent forgotten, and the castes on the verge of political war both internally and one against the other.
There is much Earth in this Alsea.
Standing between the downfalling alseans and the ruin we find one woman: the Lancer (world leader) Andira Tal, whose intelligence, empathy and morality are serving for what is good and right.
But even Andira Tal is exhausted by the previous fight for the planet and also personally tried by the loss of a love.
Until, after a while, her life is wonderfully upset by the most delightful, determined and headstrong young lady of the producer caste. After an initial conflict, Andira Tal is challanged to share her life and home for a while. And a great love begins to unfold, so powerful to be supernatural, and yet truly gradual, nice and delicate.
Meanwhile, a mysterious, powerful and dangerous enemy is plotting a deathly trap to destroy Andira Tal politically and personally.
I really shouldn't give five stars for a half of a book. I'm still giving them because I'm so involved by this story, by the most wonderful leading characters and by their powerful, intense (and difficult) love story.
But at the end of this book the lull is finished and the storm arrived, violent.
It's not even an entire book; it's just a half. 1176 pages of the free version are challenging, but still I'm quite tempted to download it to go on with the story immediately! How on earth am I supposed to survive six weeks leaving everything in such a trouble? This splitting is cruel!
I've read this novel immediately after the first one of the series, the Caphenon, and to give you an idea of how much I am involved in the world of Alsea, one morning last week I catched myself exclaiming: "Fahla! I'm late!"
(Fahla is Alsea's deity...)
After the happenings of the Caphenon the planet Alsea has a sudden mood swing. No longer facing an alien invasion, it's now going through moral and economic crises, the previously acquired unity of intent forgotten, and the castes on the verge of political war both internally and one against the other.
There is much Earth in this Alsea.
Standing between the downfalling alseans and the ruin we find one woman: the Lancer (world leader) Andira Tal, whose intelligence, empathy and morality are serving for what is good and right.
But even Andira Tal is exhausted by the previous fight for the planet and also personally tried by the loss of a love.
Until, after a while, her life is wonderfully upset by the most delightful, determined and headstrong young lady of the producer caste. After an initial conflict, Andira Tal is challanged to share her life and home for a while. And a great love begins to unfold, so powerful to be supernatural, and yet truly gradual, nice and delicate.
Meanwhile, a mysterious, powerful and dangerous enemy is plotting a deathly trap to destroy Andira Tal politically and personally.
I really shouldn't give five stars for a half of a book. I'm still giving them because I'm so involved by this story, by the most wonderful leading characters and by their powerful, intense (and difficult) love story.
But at the end of this book the lull is finished and the storm arrived, violent.
November 6, 2017
Incredible -- so much angst! And a very nicely done enemies-to-friends evolution. All the political intrigue and guard dynamics are wonderful. What a wonderful story. I put it on my Outdoor shelf because the Hol-Opah setting is so much a part of the story. I will be coming back to this book again.
Second Read: Even better - picked-up more of the details of the story. What a cliff-hanger ending. I am so glad I didn't read this before The Warrior's Challenge was released. I wouldn't have been able to bear it. I got to the end of The Producer's Challenge on my way home from the library today, and I couldn't even wait 10-minutes to get home and switch books. I pulled-over right then so I could get it playing.
Second Read: Even better - picked-up more of the details of the story. What a cliff-hanger ending. I am so glad I didn't read this before The Warrior's Challenge was released. I wouldn't have been able to bear it. I got to the end of The Producer's Challenge on my way home from the library today, and I couldn't even wait 10-minutes to get home and switch books. I pulled-over right then so I could get it playing.
September 7, 2018
Damn I would give it more that 5 stars if I could. This has been a great ride. I was totally moved by the depth of how the emotions between the 2 main characters have been described.
It made think of the depth of which us, humans, we feel such emotions, but rarely put into words in our ordinary daily lives. Only through music, we feel so intensely and give voice but this book seemed to have done that on a whole new level.
I would not want to give anything away, because it is honestly that good, so I only encourage you to read the series to feel, to think, to understand, to be, simply to be in the moment.
Tip: read it outdoors. The experience will be 10 times better.
It made think of the depth of which us, humans, we feel such emotions, but rarely put into words in our ordinary daily lives. Only through music, we feel so intensely and give voice but this book seemed to have done that on a whole new level.
I would not want to give anything away, because it is honestly that good, so I only encourage you to read the series to feel, to think, to understand, to be, simply to be in the moment.
Tip: read it outdoors. The experience will be 10 times better.
December 14, 2018
I'm always a little dubious when I know an online story I enjoyed has been revised for publication. Sometimes the changes aren't for the best or parts that I loved are changed or removed. Not so here. Everything I loved about Without a Front remains, and the additional content adds to the story.
I enjoyed Lanaril in the first story, she was one of the few intriguing aspects of Caphenon for me. Here she's even better, it's good to see Andira with a friend other than Micah. She was very isolated in the original versions, and here she feels more well rounded.
The rest of the story plays out pretty much as before, with some added content around the Voloth. I enjoyed the bonus Salomen and Tal scenes the most though. And I do note that the end would have been a horrible cliffhanger had the books not been released in quick succession, but as they're all released now, that shouldn't be an issue.
I enjoyed Lanaril in the first story, she was one of the few intriguing aspects of Caphenon for me. Here she's even better, it's good to see Andira with a friend other than Micah. She was very isolated in the original versions, and here she feels more well rounded.
The rest of the story plays out pretty much as before, with some added content around the Voloth. I enjoyed the bonus Salomen and Tal scenes the most though. And I do note that the end would have been a horrible cliffhanger had the books not been released in quick succession, but as they're all released now, that shouldn't be an issue.
May 7, 2017
A bit disappointed - compared to the Caphenon, I found this book slow-moving and the middle chapters a bit long-winded. It reads more like a romance that the sci-fi I was expecting. . I possibly set the bar too high after not being able to put the Caphenon down. The word-building and character development are still beautiful, but I was expecting to read a past-faced sci-fi book, but instead ended up with .
Edit: Have read all 5 books in the series. The pace picks up in WAF: The Warriors Challenge, and get back to intergalactic space and starship battles in Catalyst. You could even jump from The Caphenon to Catalyst, then catch up with WAF after.
Edit: Have read all 5 books in the series. The pace picks up in WAF: The Warriors Challenge, and get back to intergalactic space and starship battles in Catalyst. You could even jump from The Caphenon to Catalyst, then catch up with WAF after.
November 28, 2017
3.6 stars. After a really good first book I didn't expect to read about living on a farm and dealing with elementary school bullies. I mean... how? It went from an adventure on a if not galactic then planetary scale to a slice of life with a little bit of political subterfuge in the mix.
I didn't learn much more about Alseans in this book either, it covers mostly the same things the first book did. If it would've expanded on their culture I'd rate it higher but nothing much happened in that aspect either.
It's not a bad book by any means but I found the tone change to be too drastic and getting through this rather long book was tedious at multiple points. Nothing much happens for most of the book, it gets pretty repetitive too and when something finally is happening, it ends with a cliffhanger!
Was the point of the book to humanize the Lancer? I thought she's very deeply "human" just by what was written in the first book, no need to write about how she reads books and goes for a run for the 100th shekking time, I get it, she runs. Even with the brother's plotline mixed with the running theme, it's repeated too many times.
I expected something different and something better but it's still a solid read and I do want to know what the shek happens next. God, I hate cliffhangers.
I didn't learn much more about Alseans in this book either, it covers mostly the same things the first book did. If it would've expanded on their culture I'd rate it higher but nothing much happened in that aspect either.
It's not a bad book by any means but I found the tone change to be too drastic and getting through this rather long book was tedious at multiple points. Nothing much happens for most of the book, it gets pretty repetitive too and when something finally is happening, it ends with a cliffhanger!
Was the point of the book to humanize the Lancer? I thought she's very deeply "human" just by what was written in the first book, no need to write about how she reads books and goes for a run for the 100th shekking time, I get it, she runs. Even with the brother's plotline mixed with the running theme, it's repeated too many times.
I expected something different and something better but it's still a solid read and I do want to know what the shek happens next. God, I hate cliffhangers.
January 28, 2017
4.5 if I could but good enough to round up.
I loved this book. I was lucky enough to proofread it but don't feel any ownership in the story or production so I feel like I'm able to review it without bias.
This one has a much different feel than The Caphenon. Where that book's fight scenes and drama were pretty intense, this one is more romantic intrigue. The writing and storytelling is just as good as the first book in the series and I have no doubt that SciFi and romance fans will absolutely love this book. Just like I did. I would dock it a half-star because of the cliffhanger. But the good news is that I'm betting readers will immediately want to pick up the next in the series and it's being published about a month after this one so the wait won't be bad.
I'm getting ready to read it again now that I have the official version. I'm betting I'll love it even more.
I loved this book. I was lucky enough to proofread it but don't feel any ownership in the story or production so I feel like I'm able to review it without bias.
This one has a much different feel than The Caphenon. Where that book's fight scenes and drama were pretty intense, this one is more romantic intrigue. The writing and storytelling is just as good as the first book in the series and I have no doubt that SciFi and romance fans will absolutely love this book. Just like I did. I would dock it a half-star because of the cliffhanger. But the good news is that I'm betting readers will immediately want to pick up the next in the series and it's being published about a month after this one so the wait won't be bad.
I'm getting ready to read it again now that I have the official version. I'm betting I'll love it even more.
April 29, 2019
It was a harder sell, because I had so many expectations. And I don't like angst or misery and that what I felt at the beginning of the book.
Then a new character appears that stirred up the hornet's nest of Alsea politics and Tal life...
And it gets a lot better.
Taken as it is, that book wouldn't make 4 stars, because it ends with one hell of a cliffhanger.
But since I barely paused before beginning the next one, I don't take that into account.
It is the nice first half of a great book.
Then a new character appears that stirred up the hornet's nest of Alsea politics and Tal life...
And it gets a lot better.
Taken as it is, that book wouldn't make 4 stars, because it ends with one hell of a cliffhanger.
But since I barely paused before beginning the next one, I don't take that into account.
It is the nice first half of a great book.
June 19, 2016
Loved it, but I'm really glad that I knew about the cliffhanger.
Part of me had hoped that Tal might end up in a triad relationship with Lhyn and Ekatya in The Caphenon, but her relationship with Salomen is so satisfying that I was happy she didn't. I love the enemies to lovers angle of this book. It also has the same excellent worldbuilding that I loved in The Caphenon.
Full review here: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/witho...
Part of me had hoped that Tal might end up in a triad relationship with Lhyn and Ekatya in The Caphenon, but her relationship with Salomen is so satisfying that I was happy she didn't. I love the enemies to lovers angle of this book. It also has the same excellent worldbuilding that I loved in The Caphenon.
Full review here: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/witho...
June 12, 2022
The story stars after the battle of alsea.
Lancer andira tal is heartbroken after the departure of ekatya and Lynn because she share the tyree bond.
Andira has a crush on ekatya.
She takes a vacation and meet darzen fosta under disguise.
The affair did not last because of the lies.
The insane voloth soilders are given euthanasia.
Remaining voloth are given land to live in blacksun.
Someone is plotting against tal.(spinner and challenger)
New delegate salomen opah is introduced from producer's caste.
Matter printer is alien technology.
Opah faction is afraid it will destroy producer caste.
With no solution, tal challenged opah to accompany opah to her holding for a moon that's producer's challenge.
Tal goes to holding and spent time with opah. Their they discover that they are tyrees and opah is a high empath. They are special kind of tyrees, once bonded cannot be broken. They will feel each other all the time. They will be without the front.
After sharing they become one and if one is mortally wounded other can also suffer the same. Proxy assassination.
That's why they are delaying sharing
Darzen fosta is economist and creating obstacles for tal.
We did not find spinner and challenger real name in this one. Herot, salomen's brother does not like tal.
In the end, Herot's friend made assassination attempt on tal. Tal becomes badly injured and they shared the Sharing to find the culprit. Herot is missing.
Lancer andira tal is heartbroken after the departure of ekatya and Lynn because she share the tyree bond.
Andira has a crush on ekatya.
She takes a vacation and meet darzen fosta under disguise.
The affair did not last because of the lies.
The insane voloth soilders are given euthanasia.
Remaining voloth are given land to live in blacksun.
Someone is plotting against tal.(spinner and challenger)
New delegate salomen opah is introduced from producer's caste.
Matter printer is alien technology.
Opah faction is afraid it will destroy producer caste.
With no solution, tal challenged opah to accompany opah to her holding for a moon that's producer's challenge.
Tal goes to holding and spent time with opah. Their they discover that they are tyrees and opah is a high empath. They are special kind of tyrees, once bonded cannot be broken. They will feel each other all the time. They will be without the front.
After sharing they become one and if one is mortally wounded other can also suffer the same. Proxy assassination.
That's why they are delaying sharing
Darzen fosta is economist and creating obstacles for tal.
We did not find spinner and challenger real name in this one. Herot, salomen's brother does not like tal.
In the end, Herot's friend made assassination attempt on tal. Tal becomes badly injured and they shared the Sharing to find the culprit. Herot is missing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2021
OMG! What a cliffhanger!
No time for review writing; I need to get on with reading the next book.
No time for review writing; I need to get on with reading the next book.
June 28, 2017
WaF: Producer is only part 1 of the book. so it's hard to review only that part and note comments on later event. But I'll do my best. And trust me, you'll read them back to back.
Here it goes.
The writing is awesome, soon in the book the first seed of a wonderful political intrigue is plant in the reader's mind... to be somewhat pushed aside -but not really. WaF: Producer focus on Lancer Andira Tal personal life -personal love life- making the core of the plotline a romance. Or so you thought until you read part 2.
I guess what I am saying is : Fear not. DeLancy is awesome and won't disappoint you.
Here it goes.
The writing is awesome, soon in the book the first seed of a wonderful political intrigue is plant in the reader's mind... to be somewhat pushed aside -but not really. WaF: Producer focus on Lancer Andira Tal personal life -personal love life- making the core of the plotline a romance. Or so you thought until you read part 2.
I guess what I am saying is : Fear not. DeLancy is awesome and won't disappoint you.
Read
June 8, 2018I enjoy it more every time I read it.
January 29, 2017
"Without a Front" is every bit as good as "The Caphenon".
However, where the Caphenon is a classic SciFi with a spaceship and a foreign planet and FTL and Prime Directive dilemma and all, Front is more of a SciFi romance. It's not sappy, though, and the focus is still on Alsea and the Caphenon aftermath, but the romance plays a major part in the second half of the book.
(For the interested + potential male reader: yes, there's women kissing and women touching but alas, still no hot lesbian sex, sorry again mate.)
Fletcher DeLancey has truly outdone herself in terms of worldbuilding. The sheer richness of what she has created left me almost awestruck after reading the Caphenon, and as we dive into Alsea's structures in Front, I'm lacking the words to accurately say how impressed I am. She's thought of everything - more info on the Caste structures, Alsean society + religion, agricultural details, fashion, dining out, culinary details, family structures and hierarchies... She deals with unpleasant topics such as euthanasia vs. mass murder (referring to the Voloth POW) and the less sensitive yet still important question of how falling in love with a person of power will affect the life of a 'regular' citizen (i.e. one living an 'average' life away from the spotlight), and she tackles the question of how to handle school bullies and sullen young siblings. And while one might disagree with the decisions Lancer Tal takes regarding the Voloth and the school bullies, it's refreshing to read an author who lets her MC take drastic measures rather than talking the subjects to pieces with all politically correct viewpoints explained in eyewatering detail.
If there is one thing that I disliked at all - 'dislike' actually is too strong a word, it's more a case of 'didn't like as much as the rest' - then it's how the kyree bond develops. Of course one hopes for Lancer Tal to find her kyree and boy does she find a worthy partner! But does it really have to be such a massive exception to the rule, Fahla-touched, legend-laden and all? *sigh* I must admit my eyes glazed over after the nth want-but-can't-touch flash, and if I could, I'd substract half a star for that.
BUT - there's always a but - there's Jaros, too, youngest member of the Opah clan, and what a delight he is! I loved each and every scene with him, and the Lancer's interactions with him are a joy to read. He's quite a handful, but what a lovely little boy.
Speaking of siblings, there's also Herot and he does come across unpleasant, doesn't he. I will admit I felt like slapping him around for a while but the more is revealed about Salomen's family, the more sympathy I developed for him. He's at a touchy stage, no child anymore, not quite a man yet, and don't we remember the joys of puberty - but from what I can tell so far, he seems no villain but an insecure youngling struggling with himself. I hope he'll manage to stay away from trouble.
As for the cliffhanger, well. It's bad, yes, but it's a classical cliffhanger and while I dearly hope it'll be alright as we read on I had expected something entirely different.
So. "Without a Front" is a worthy sequel to "The Caphenon" with flawless writing, multi-faceted characters and a captivating storyline, and while I might substract half a star for the kyree overload, I would happily add a whole star for Jaros... and so it's five stars after all :-)
Can't wait to get my hands on Book 3!!!
However, where the Caphenon is a classic SciFi with a spaceship and a foreign planet and FTL and Prime Directive dilemma and all, Front is more of a SciFi romance. It's not sappy, though, and the focus is still on Alsea and the Caphenon aftermath, but the romance plays a major part in the second half of the book.
(For the interested + potential male reader: yes, there's women kissing and women touching but alas, still no hot lesbian sex, sorry again mate.)
Fletcher DeLancey has truly outdone herself in terms of worldbuilding. The sheer richness of what she has created left me almost awestruck after reading the Caphenon, and as we dive into Alsea's structures in Front, I'm lacking the words to accurately say how impressed I am. She's thought of everything - more info on the Caste structures, Alsean society + religion, agricultural details, fashion, dining out, culinary details, family structures and hierarchies... She deals with unpleasant topics such as euthanasia vs. mass murder (referring to the Voloth POW) and the less sensitive yet still important question of how falling in love with a person of power will affect the life of a 'regular' citizen (i.e. one living an 'average' life away from the spotlight), and she tackles the question of how to handle school bullies and sullen young siblings. And while one might disagree with the decisions Lancer Tal takes regarding the Voloth and the school bullies, it's refreshing to read an author who lets her MC take drastic measures rather than talking the subjects to pieces with all politically correct viewpoints explained in eyewatering detail.
If there is one thing that I disliked at all - 'dislike' actually is too strong a word, it's more a case of 'didn't like as much as the rest' - then it's how the kyree bond develops. Of course one hopes for Lancer Tal to find her kyree and boy does she find a worthy partner! But does it really have to be such a massive exception to the rule, Fahla-touched, legend-laden and all? *sigh* I must admit my eyes glazed over after the nth want-but-can't-touch flash, and if I could, I'd substract half a star for that.
BUT - there's always a but - there's Jaros, too, youngest member of the Opah clan, and what a delight he is! I loved each and every scene with him, and the Lancer's interactions with him are a joy to read. He's quite a handful, but what a lovely little boy.
Speaking of siblings, there's also Herot and he does come across unpleasant, doesn't he. I will admit I felt like slapping him around for a while but the more is revealed about Salomen's family, the more sympathy I developed for him. He's at a touchy stage, no child anymore, not quite a man yet, and don't we remember the joys of puberty - but from what I can tell so far, he seems no villain but an insecure youngling struggling with himself. I hope he'll manage to stay away from trouble.
As for the cliffhanger, well. It's bad, yes, but it's a classical cliffhanger and while I dearly hope it'll be alright as we read on I had expected something entirely different.
So. "Without a Front" is a worthy sequel to "The Caphenon" with flawless writing, multi-faceted characters and a captivating storyline, and while I might substract half a star for the kyree overload, I would happily add a whole star for Jaros... and so it's five stars after all :-)
Can't wait to get my hands on Book 3!!!
February 9, 2017
This second book in the ‘Chronicles of Alsea’ series is just as impressive as the first. It is set in the aftermath of Alsea, a pre-faster-than-light-flight society, fighting off an invasion from the technologically superior Voloth. The Alseans may have had help from the Gaians - humans of the future – but the final victory was won by using Alsean empathic abilities to destroy Voloth minds. The novel deals with the mental and emotional trauma suffered by the veterans of the Battle of Alsea, the difficulties everyone has adapting to the sudden influx of superior technology, and Lancer Tal’s very personal confrontation with her feelings in the context of a world trying to find its feet in a galactic context.
The world building continues to be excellent, and gave me an even deeper look into the priorities, issues, and morality of a society of empaths of varying levels whose laws and behaviors are determined by their mental abilities – abilities that are unique in this universe. In a society ruled by six castes, where everyone has a predefined position, any change causes all kinds of uproar. But even more than the world itself, what impressed me were the people. Lancer Tal is the main character, and I loved getting to know even more about her. Colonel Micah, her loyal friend and mentor, is as fierce and funny as ever. Lead Templar Satran gives more than spiritual advice; her comments and thoughts are among the key drivers for Lancer Tal’s personal journey. And there are a few new favorites as well, and I got very attached to them very quickly.
The first part of this book focuses on Lancer Tal dealing with the political implications of her planet discovering alien life populating the galaxy at large and the aftermath of an invasion that almost ended her civilization. The physical rebuilding is almost easier than the mental repairs that need to be made. Then there are the Voloth prisoners of war, most of whom are insane, and some of whom are applying for asylum. The biggest stumbling block, politically, is the introduction of matter transmitters into a society that has almost every one of the six castes worried about their survival under the new conditions. One of the groups most opposed are the producers (farmers), and Lancer Tal ends up accepting the challenge of finding out first-hand why the new technology will destroy their existence.
In the second part, Lancer Tal finds herself working on the agricultural holding of one of her most vocal opponents. Salomen may have been convinced it would be an easy win, but the two women are both equally stubborn, proud, and tough. This results in a more challenging battle for both of them than either would have predicted. And when Lancer Tal’s enemies step up their attacks, the effects are no longer limited to her or the warriors responsible for her security arrangements.
If you like science fiction with alien societies very different from ours, if you enjoy watching tough women fight and argue before they realize they have more in common than either would like to admit, and if you’re looking for a read that is as fascinating and suspenseful as it is amazing, then you will probably like this novel. There is one warning I need to issue – other than cautioning you about a possible addiction to this series – book two is not the whole story. The titles of books two and three being essentially the same pretty much make this clear, but the full impact of what that means did not hit me until the last page of book two. Talk about a cliff-hanger!
NOTE: This book was provided by Ylva Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
The world building continues to be excellent, and gave me an even deeper look into the priorities, issues, and morality of a society of empaths of varying levels whose laws and behaviors are determined by their mental abilities – abilities that are unique in this universe. In a society ruled by six castes, where everyone has a predefined position, any change causes all kinds of uproar. But even more than the world itself, what impressed me were the people. Lancer Tal is the main character, and I loved getting to know even more about her. Colonel Micah, her loyal friend and mentor, is as fierce and funny as ever. Lead Templar Satran gives more than spiritual advice; her comments and thoughts are among the key drivers for Lancer Tal’s personal journey. And there are a few new favorites as well, and I got very attached to them very quickly.
The first part of this book focuses on Lancer Tal dealing with the political implications of her planet discovering alien life populating the galaxy at large and the aftermath of an invasion that almost ended her civilization. The physical rebuilding is almost easier than the mental repairs that need to be made. Then there are the Voloth prisoners of war, most of whom are insane, and some of whom are applying for asylum. The biggest stumbling block, politically, is the introduction of matter transmitters into a society that has almost every one of the six castes worried about their survival under the new conditions. One of the groups most opposed are the producers (farmers), and Lancer Tal ends up accepting the challenge of finding out first-hand why the new technology will destroy their existence.
In the second part, Lancer Tal finds herself working on the agricultural holding of one of her most vocal opponents. Salomen may have been convinced it would be an easy win, but the two women are both equally stubborn, proud, and tough. This results in a more challenging battle for both of them than either would have predicted. And when Lancer Tal’s enemies step up their attacks, the effects are no longer limited to her or the warriors responsible for her security arrangements.
If you like science fiction with alien societies very different from ours, if you enjoy watching tough women fight and argue before they realize they have more in common than either would like to admit, and if you’re looking for a read that is as fascinating and suspenseful as it is amazing, then you will probably like this novel. There is one warning I need to issue – other than cautioning you about a possible addiction to this series – book two is not the whole story. The titles of books two and three being essentially the same pretty much make this clear, but the full impact of what that means did not hit me until the last page of book two. Talk about a cliff-hanger!
NOTE: This book was provided by Ylva Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
February 5, 2017
A really great book! Can't wait for the next part!
June 7, 2019
This is a complicated book to review, in the sense that it's only half of a story. It ends in a cliffhanger, and it doesn't close any of the threads within the narrative, as it really is the first half of a story chopped in two parts. Fortunately, I'm coming to this series now that there are 8 books out, so I can jump straight into the second part of "Without a Front" without waiting.
I get the choice of making two blocks out of this, I think. A 600 pages book might be a little daunting for some, but I would have preferred it, as judging only the first half is difficult.
Having said that, there were some bits in this part that I didn't enjoy after coming straight from the high of "The Caphenon".
I didn't mind the shift in tone. This isn't action-packed like the first part, and it reads more as a romance and slice-of-life narrative, but it still works in that sense. It does drag in parts, though, as the politics and the romance aren't as interwoven as I would have liked.
There was a bit too much hero-worship of the character of Lancer Tal here. I found it straying towards Mary-Sue-ism in parts, which I believe to be unnecessary for the character, as she is already fascinating without all of that. In particular, I didn't like some of the rationalized reads that we got after the fact in some instances.
For example Tal lies to a lover about who she really is, and once the lover finds out, she gets angry at the lie. Later in the novel, as Tal speaks to Salomen, Salomen rationalizes that the woman wasn't angry because of the lie, but because Tal is intellectually superior, as well as superior in status, and therefore the woman musn't have been up for the challenge, as she was jealous of Tal's station. The whole thing just reads like a rationalization of how great Tal is, how mean-spirited the other woman was, and how even though Tal lied, she didn't really do so where it mattered.
But the thing is that Tal did lie, that at the moment of the affair the woman is presented as someone Tal really likes, and that all we see is her being angry over the lie. The later rationalization is not something that we see in the text, and just feels like a way of excusing a mistake and turning the whole situation into a Tal-is-awesome moment.
And we don't need that. We're already rooting for Tal, and we get why she lied. So.
I did not enjoy the sub-plot with Salomen's brother and how it was handled. It seemed weird to me that any family would allow a stranger to discipline their son/brother with violence, no matter what. It's also a plot that doesn't make Tal look so good. It is explained with her feelings for Salomen and her family, but she's meant to be a weary world leader that spends her days dealing with rude politicians, and punching a kid with no training and anger issues over a mean-spirited comment and then have it reinforced that it was the right thing to do... I just wasn't a fan of that.
Having said all this, the world of the Chronicles of Alsea is still fascinating, and so are its characters.
Tal's actually fantastic as a character. I was also pleasantly surprised by Salomen and how great she is. Like Tal, I was a little stuck on Ekatya by the end of "The Caphenon", and not sure how the series would move on from the great Tal/Ekatya/Lhyn dynamics. Salomen is a wonderful, three-dimensional character, and her relationship with Tal works because they are both so interesting individually that seeing them come together is pure joy. Plus, I do love a good hate-to-love dynamic.
Secondary and tertiary characters work great, just as in the first novel. I especially loved getting more of Tal and Micah together.
I like the tone in which the tyree bond is explored, as well. I'm not a big fan of soulmate stories, because they tend to strip characters of agency and put fate/god/magic above developing an actual relationship. Here, however, it's great to see Salomen and Tal deal with the tyree bond and what it means both romantically and intelectually for each of them. It doesn't rob them of agency, and it makes their interactions richer.
The plot is a little too much moustache-twirling from unknown characters in the background without much movement, but I'm pretty sure that the next novel is going to delve deeper into this.
All in all, I'm not in a hurry to leave Alsea, and happy to jump into the third part.
I get the choice of making two blocks out of this, I think. A 600 pages book might be a little daunting for some, but I would have preferred it, as judging only the first half is difficult.
Having said that, there were some bits in this part that I didn't enjoy after coming straight from the high of "The Caphenon".
I didn't mind the shift in tone. This isn't action-packed like the first part, and it reads more as a romance and slice-of-life narrative, but it still works in that sense. It does drag in parts, though, as the politics and the romance aren't as interwoven as I would have liked.
There was a bit too much hero-worship of the character of Lancer Tal here. I found it straying towards Mary-Sue-ism in parts, which I believe to be unnecessary for the character, as she is already fascinating without all of that. In particular, I didn't like some of the rationalized reads that we got after the fact in some instances.
For example Tal lies to a lover about who she really is, and once the lover finds out, she gets angry at the lie. Later in the novel, as Tal speaks to Salomen, Salomen rationalizes that the woman wasn't angry because of the lie, but because Tal is intellectually superior, as well as superior in status, and therefore the woman musn't have been up for the challenge, as she was jealous of Tal's station. The whole thing just reads like a rationalization of how great Tal is, how mean-spirited the other woman was, and how even though Tal lied, she didn't really do so where it mattered.
But the thing is that Tal did lie, that at the moment of the affair the woman is presented as someone Tal really likes, and that all we see is her being angry over the lie. The later rationalization is not something that we see in the text, and just feels like a way of excusing a mistake and turning the whole situation into a Tal-is-awesome moment.
And we don't need that. We're already rooting for Tal, and we get why she lied. So.
I did not enjoy the sub-plot with Salomen's brother and how it was handled. It seemed weird to me that any family would allow a stranger to discipline their son/brother with violence, no matter what. It's also a plot that doesn't make Tal look so good. It is explained with her feelings for Salomen and her family, but she's meant to be a weary world leader that spends her days dealing with rude politicians, and punching a kid with no training and anger issues over a mean-spirited comment and then have it reinforced that it was the right thing to do... I just wasn't a fan of that.
Having said all this, the world of the Chronicles of Alsea is still fascinating, and so are its characters.
Tal's actually fantastic as a character. I was also pleasantly surprised by Salomen and how great she is. Like Tal, I was a little stuck on Ekatya by the end of "The Caphenon", and not sure how the series would move on from the great Tal/Ekatya/Lhyn dynamics. Salomen is a wonderful, three-dimensional character, and her relationship with Tal works because they are both so interesting individually that seeing them come together is pure joy. Plus, I do love a good hate-to-love dynamic.
Secondary and tertiary characters work great, just as in the first novel. I especially loved getting more of Tal and Micah together.
I like the tone in which the tyree bond is explored, as well. I'm not a big fan of soulmate stories, because they tend to strip characters of agency and put fate/god/magic above developing an actual relationship. Here, however, it's great to see Salomen and Tal deal with the tyree bond and what it means both romantically and intelectually for each of them. It doesn't rob them of agency, and it makes their interactions richer.
The plot is a little too much moustache-twirling from unknown characters in the background without much movement, but I'm pretty sure that the next novel is going to delve deeper into this.
All in all, I'm not in a hurry to leave Alsea, and happy to jump into the third part.
February 6, 2017
The seventh book that I’ve read by Fletcher DeLancey. Second one in the Chronicles of Alsea series. I’d actually read the first book in that series, ‘The Caphenon’, before I had read the five Star Trek Voyager books. Meaning that it’s been a month and roughly 20 days since I read the first book in this Alsea series.
I had initially planned to read the second book immediately after the first, but then I noticed that the Captain and her bonded mate weren’t in the second book. Which confused me since the first book seemed to have ended with them saying ‘bye for now, we’ll be back shortly.’ Well, however long shortly is, it’s not short enough to include them in this here book. Granted only sixth or so months have passed between books – I just thought more time was going to pass between books, for some reason. That time I just mentioned, the months, is internal chronological time. Not my time or publication time.
Right, so, this book here. It is six months later in story time and Lancer Andira Tal is suffering greatly. So much so that she ducks out on her own guards so that she can have some time by herself. It takes her friend and chief guard, Micah, to pull a blaster on her for Tal to realize that there are other options available to her. So, after a lot of work is done to make it possible, Tal goes on vacation for a short while.
Why is she suffering? She has a ton of people pounding her regarding that new technology that she had gotten from the Caphenon (well through the treaty with the Protectorate). And the various castes are not agreeing with each other or with Tal about the pace of change. In addition, Tal is suffering from an unexpected source – separation. She had made it about a month operating ‘relatively well’ regarding that separation, since the departure of the Caphenon, but then communication got reestablished and adversely impacted her. Adversely impacted because she had shared, intimately, with a tyree connection – and it’s almost like her own tyree mate was dead/gone/etc. Doesn’t help that she, in addition to that, actually did develop a love for one of the pair. Which was further not helped when she learned that the other would have been agreeable to seeing what might have developed if she hadn’t been a part of a tyree. And so, suffering.
Tal, Micah, and a bunch of guards visit the beach. Run around, kick the sand, etc. During one of her jaunts around, Tal runs into a woman and they strike up a nice little relationship. Is she the one? Has Tal found someone for herself? Well, things are complicated, because Tal hadn’t been running around as herself – she’d been in disguise. And failed to reveal who exactly she actually is before things went too far and the woman got pissed at her.
So. That happened. And Tal had not, in fact, ‘found her one’. She’s somewhat better, though, from having had a vacation. So, back into the political combat of her life.
The book is subtitled ‘The Producer’s Challenge’. Am I actually ever going to mention said challenge? Well, just like me taking a while to get to it, the book itself took a while to get to this challenge. As I’d mentioned, the various castes were fighting/bickering/arguing over the new technology, and the pace of interdiction. As part of this, Tal meets with various delegates. One such delegation involves the Producers caste. After returning from her vacation she has a meeting with the delegates. But immediately calls into question the appearance of one member of the delegation. Apparently that woman, Salmon Hol-Opah (there’s a good chance I’m misspelling her first name), was taking the place of another member ‘because he is ill’ (he isn’t ill). One thing leads to another and Salmon makes some comment or another, or some words occurred that lead to ‘the challenge’. The challenge consists of Hol-Opah hosting Tal for a month (or was it nine-days? I forget now; there was some argument over the length of the challenge, but I believe it ended up being a month). Thereafter, Hol-Opah would be hosted, in turn, by Tal. Hence the second part of Without a Front being subtitled ‘The Warrior’s Challenge’.
This was an interesting book. More interesting, actually, than I had expected. And the romance that occurs, and yes one does occur beyond that vacation fling one I mean, seemed quite good. Unique ‘relationship troubles’ occurred that was both innovative and not stupid.
I liked roughly 95 to 99% of the book. The part I didn’t like? Well, two parts actually. Somewhere near the end, but not specifically the end, the author suddenly switched from ‘showing’ to ‘telling’. It’s as if she knew that she would need to ‘wrap things up’ shortly and didn’t have room to ‘do it right’. Show she speed things up by ‘telling’ things. Then the ending returned to the more accepted ‘showing’ style of writing. And immediately ran into the second part I didn’t like. The abrupt ending to this specific book. Lives are literally hanging in the balance. Or however that’s worded. Right, but that’s okay-ish and didn’t detract from the rating.
An enjoyable book. My understanding is that this book here used to be combined with ‘The Warrior’s Challenge’ and be called Without a Front – and stand on its own without the Caphenon book. Since that is the case, I’ll note that there is a good enjoyable story in this specific book here, though it kind of ends in a cliff-hanger, and – while it can be read without the first book in the series, there are many issues that will be much easier to understand if the first book is read before this book here. And so, with all that, I say that this was a good almost solid second book to a series. Almost solid because of its cliff-hanger ending.
February 25 2016
I had initially planned to read the second book immediately after the first, but then I noticed that the Captain and her bonded mate weren’t in the second book. Which confused me since the first book seemed to have ended with them saying ‘bye for now, we’ll be back shortly.’ Well, however long shortly is, it’s not short enough to include them in this here book. Granted only sixth or so months have passed between books – I just thought more time was going to pass between books, for some reason. That time I just mentioned, the months, is internal chronological time. Not my time or publication time.
Right, so, this book here. It is six months later in story time and Lancer Andira Tal is suffering greatly. So much so that she ducks out on her own guards so that she can have some time by herself. It takes her friend and chief guard, Micah, to pull a blaster on her for Tal to realize that there are other options available to her. So, after a lot of work is done to make it possible, Tal goes on vacation for a short while.
Why is she suffering? She has a ton of people pounding her regarding that new technology that she had gotten from the Caphenon (well through the treaty with the Protectorate). And the various castes are not agreeing with each other or with Tal about the pace of change. In addition, Tal is suffering from an unexpected source – separation. She had made it about a month operating ‘relatively well’ regarding that separation, since the departure of the Caphenon, but then communication got reestablished and adversely impacted her. Adversely impacted because she had shared, intimately, with a tyree connection – and it’s almost like her own tyree mate was dead/gone/etc. Doesn’t help that she, in addition to that, actually did develop a love for one of the pair. Which was further not helped when she learned that the other would have been agreeable to seeing what might have developed if she hadn’t been a part of a tyree. And so, suffering.
Tal, Micah, and a bunch of guards visit the beach. Run around, kick the sand, etc. During one of her jaunts around, Tal runs into a woman and they strike up a nice little relationship. Is she the one? Has Tal found someone for herself? Well, things are complicated, because Tal hadn’t been running around as herself – she’d been in disguise. And failed to reveal who exactly she actually is before things went too far and the woman got pissed at her.
So. That happened. And Tal had not, in fact, ‘found her one’. She’s somewhat better, though, from having had a vacation. So, back into the political combat of her life.
The book is subtitled ‘The Producer’s Challenge’. Am I actually ever going to mention said challenge? Well, just like me taking a while to get to it, the book itself took a while to get to this challenge. As I’d mentioned, the various castes were fighting/bickering/arguing over the new technology, and the pace of interdiction. As part of this, Tal meets with various delegates. One such delegation involves the Producers caste. After returning from her vacation she has a meeting with the delegates. But immediately calls into question the appearance of one member of the delegation. Apparently that woman, Salmon Hol-Opah (there’s a good chance I’m misspelling her first name), was taking the place of another member ‘because he is ill’ (he isn’t ill). One thing leads to another and Salmon makes some comment or another, or some words occurred that lead to ‘the challenge’. The challenge consists of Hol-Opah hosting Tal for a month (or was it nine-days? I forget now; there was some argument over the length of the challenge, but I believe it ended up being a month). Thereafter, Hol-Opah would be hosted, in turn, by Tal. Hence the second part of Without a Front being subtitled ‘The Warrior’s Challenge’.
This was an interesting book. More interesting, actually, than I had expected. And the romance that occurs, and yes one does occur beyond that vacation fling one I mean, seemed quite good. Unique ‘relationship troubles’ occurred that was both innovative and not stupid.
I liked roughly 95 to 99% of the book. The part I didn’t like? Well, two parts actually. Somewhere near the end, but not specifically the end, the author suddenly switched from ‘showing’ to ‘telling’. It’s as if she knew that she would need to ‘wrap things up’ shortly and didn’t have room to ‘do it right’. Show she speed things up by ‘telling’ things. Then the ending returned to the more accepted ‘showing’ style of writing. And immediately ran into the second part I didn’t like. The abrupt ending to this specific book. Lives are literally hanging in the balance. Or however that’s worded. Right, but that’s okay-ish and didn’t detract from the rating.
An enjoyable book. My understanding is that this book here used to be combined with ‘The Warrior’s Challenge’ and be called Without a Front – and stand on its own without the Caphenon book. Since that is the case, I’ll note that there is a good enjoyable story in this specific book here, though it kind of ends in a cliff-hanger, and – while it can be read without the first book in the series, there are many issues that will be much easier to understand if the first book is read before this book here. And so, with all that, I say that this was a good almost solid second book to a series. Almost solid because of its cliff-hanger ending.
February 25 2016
March 19, 2025
⭐5
This book ends abruptly on a huge cliffhanger so I advise being prepared to read the following one immediately after. Thankfully I already have it locked and loaded because this was a real treat! There was definitely political intrigue but I'm actually really happy that the beautiful romance between the Lancer and Salomen took the central stage. I greatly enjoyed the setup for their relationship. When the initial love interest showed up in the beginning I thought to myself, "surely this can't be Serrado's replacement" and I was glad it didn't work out. Andira Tal deserved so much more than some lukewarm connection and I can't wait to see her relationship with Salomen grow.
This book ends abruptly on a huge cliffhanger so I advise being prepared to read the following one immediately after. Thankfully I already have it locked and loaded because this was a real treat! There was definitely political intrigue but I'm actually really happy that the beautiful romance between the Lancer and Salomen took the central stage. I greatly enjoyed the setup for their relationship. When the initial love interest showed up in the beginning I thought to myself, "surely this can't be Serrado's replacement" and I was glad it didn't work out. Andira Tal deserved so much more than some lukewarm connection and I can't wait to see her relationship with Salomen grow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2016
Book 2 of the Chronicles of Alsea follows on from Fletcher DeLancey’s excellent SciFi action novel, The Caphenon. Lancer Tal finds herself beset for the decisions she has made, decisions she knows were critical to the survival of her world and her people, but which, in retrospect, have laid her open to a wide range of criticism.
One of those criticisms is about her decision to introduce alien technology, and when. As part of her efforts to include and educate the population about the impact of that technology she forms working parties and one will change her personal life forever. She never believed she would bond, let alone find her tyree, but love comes from the most unexpected of places.
Ms DeLancey takes the characters and story of book 1 and moves into a delightful socio-political drama. It is still Science Fiction/Fantasy, simply because it is set on an alternate world, but the story is about people, politics and growth. Her characters are on a journey, some good, others not, but it is their journey which enthrals and makes this very hard to put down.
I loved the whole, rounded and extremely well crafted characters she has portrayed, I invested in their stories and the outcome. The world creation is top drawer, with a vision and clarity that make it seem completely real and natural. Even Ms DeLancey’s alternate names for objects, times and relationships are seamlessly woven into the story enabling us to learn without instruction.
The cliffhanger ending will drive you straight to book 3 – Without a Front: The Warrior’s Challenge – and again we have an excellent build of tension and expectation. Extremely well done.
One of those criticisms is about her decision to introduce alien technology, and when. As part of her efforts to include and educate the population about the impact of that technology she forms working parties and one will change her personal life forever. She never believed she would bond, let alone find her tyree, but love comes from the most unexpected of places.
Ms DeLancey takes the characters and story of book 1 and moves into a delightful socio-political drama. It is still Science Fiction/Fantasy, simply because it is set on an alternate world, but the story is about people, politics and growth. Her characters are on a journey, some good, others not, but it is their journey which enthrals and makes this very hard to put down.
I loved the whole, rounded and extremely well crafted characters she has portrayed, I invested in their stories and the outcome. The world creation is top drawer, with a vision and clarity that make it seem completely real and natural. Even Ms DeLancey’s alternate names for objects, times and relationships are seamlessly woven into the story enabling us to learn without instruction.
The cliffhanger ending will drive you straight to book 3 – Without a Front: The Warrior’s Challenge – and again we have an excellent build of tension and expectation. Extremely well done.
November 17, 2018
Book 2 in the Chronicles of Alsea is just as wonderful as the first. I’ve finished reading again and still love it. This is the first part of a two part book, where Lancer Tal deals with ramifications from the battle with the Voloth, how exactly to handle new technology from the Protectorate, and of course a beautiful headstrong producer’s challenge. Fletcher DeLancey has given us an epic series that I absolutely adore and recommend.
July 3, 2023
I loved this book. I would have read it faster but daily life interfered. I enjoyed the way the plot was a smooth transition from The Caphenon, I enjoyed the character development and growth, the world-building, the relationships, the characters themselves were so well-layered.
There wasn't a thing I didn't enjoy.
Oh wait...I wasn't thrilled when I got to the end. I didn't want my time in Alsea to end!
Good thing there are more books in the series!
There wasn't a thing I didn't enjoy.
Oh wait...I wasn't thrilled when I got to the end. I didn't want my time in Alsea to end!
Good thing there are more books in the series!
April 6, 2023
and here this series and i must part ways.
the second half of this book is so far up andira tal's ass it's frankly irritating - and i say this as someone who genuinely likes andira tal! but when every single character's (reasonable!) disagreements with her are framed as evil or insanity, it starts to get real tiresome real quick.
i enjoyed the political drama and angst of the first two hundred pages but it was really all downhill from there. maybe because i'm a certified hater of the soulmate trope and the latter half leans heavily into it. but honestly i just can't let go of the fact that this series had the potential for an incredible lead couple and devoted an entire book to building up a relationship between them - only to stick them both in bland relationships with women who don't understand them. and that's not even me reading into subtext! the characters explicitly make this comparison!
lhyn/ekatya and salomen/andira both have the exact same problem with their relationship dynamics - their spheres of concern are vastly different. ekatya is concerned with the entire protectorate, lhyn with one planet; andira is concerned with all of alsea, salomen with one town. all their conflicts revolve around this disparity. and this is also why ekatya and andira worked well - they had a mutual understanding of what it's like to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, how it alienates you from everyone else.
now you can make the argument that it's a good thing they're paired with women who have a more personal focus, that it balances out their global perspectives. and had the book gone this route, i would've been fine. but it doesn't. instead all that happens is:
>conflict because of the differences in their perspectives and responsibilities
>but they're Fated Soulmates Uwuwuwuwuwuwuwu
>making out problem solved (until it happens again 4 minutes later)
not to be a hater of the 'love solves all' but it feels like such a cop-out and a refusal to deal with actual conflict.
the other part of the soulmates shtick that made me want to crawl out of my skin (and i'm not even being dramatic) is the over-emphasis on the lack of choice involved. salomen and andira both make it clear at various points that they are uncomfortable with the 'divine bond' between them, sickened even by the pace at which their physical connection is progressing but they can't do anything about it because it's Fated by Lesbian Jesus or whatever. so two days later, they develop a kind of mutual Stockholm Syndrome and decide they're in love. on god. maybe because i come from a culture where arranged marriages are the norm, but that's the least romantic thing on earth, to have a relationship forced on you that you eventually maybe make peace with because you literally have no other choice. and it doesn't make it less fucked just because the relationship is divined by god instead of arranged by your family.
and not to keep banging on this drum, but the insanity of this is you can explicitly contrast the lack of choice in andira's relationship with salomen to the deliberate choice in her relationship with ekatya. when ekatya disobeys the protectorate to save alsea, she thinks she's lost her military position and makes a reluctant sort of peace with living on alsea forever. and even though andira's in love with her and would love nothing more than for her to stay, she gets ekatya her job back, and tells ekatya that staying on alsea is a choice she should make with all her options open. now that's romance baby!
anyway. no shade to author. props to her for a meticulously created universe that i find genuinely interesting. and for the fun banter with micah and the lead templar. but unfortunately we diverge here as i am apparently a hater with very particular notions of romance that will forever alienate me from the rest of lesbiankind. this is my burden part 2.
the second half of this book is so far up andira tal's ass it's frankly irritating - and i say this as someone who genuinely likes andira tal! but when every single character's (reasonable!) disagreements with her are framed as evil or insanity, it starts to get real tiresome real quick.
i enjoyed the political drama and angst of the first two hundred pages but it was really all downhill from there. maybe because i'm a certified hater of the soulmate trope and the latter half leans heavily into it. but honestly i just can't let go of the fact that this series had the potential for an incredible lead couple and devoted an entire book to building up a relationship between them - only to stick them both in bland relationships with women who don't understand them. and that's not even me reading into subtext! the characters explicitly make this comparison!
lhyn/ekatya and salomen/andira both have the exact same problem with their relationship dynamics - their spheres of concern are vastly different. ekatya is concerned with the entire protectorate, lhyn with one planet; andira is concerned with all of alsea, salomen with one town. all their conflicts revolve around this disparity. and this is also why ekatya and andira worked well - they had a mutual understanding of what it's like to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, how it alienates you from everyone else.
now you can make the argument that it's a good thing they're paired with women who have a more personal focus, that it balances out their global perspectives. and had the book gone this route, i would've been fine. but it doesn't. instead all that happens is:
>conflict because of the differences in their perspectives and responsibilities
>but they're Fated Soulmates Uwuwuwuwuwuwuwu
>making out problem solved (until it happens again 4 minutes later)
not to be a hater of the 'love solves all' but it feels like such a cop-out and a refusal to deal with actual conflict.
the other part of the soulmates shtick that made me want to crawl out of my skin (and i'm not even being dramatic) is the over-emphasis on the lack of choice involved. salomen and andira both make it clear at various points that they are uncomfortable with the 'divine bond' between them, sickened even by the pace at which their physical connection is progressing but they can't do anything about it because it's Fated by Lesbian Jesus or whatever. so two days later, they develop a kind of mutual Stockholm Syndrome and decide they're in love. on god. maybe because i come from a culture where arranged marriages are the norm, but that's the least romantic thing on earth, to have a relationship forced on you that you eventually maybe make peace with because you literally have no other choice. and it doesn't make it less fucked just because the relationship is divined by god instead of arranged by your family.
and not to keep banging on this drum, but the insanity of this is you can explicitly contrast the lack of choice in andira's relationship with salomen to the deliberate choice in her relationship with ekatya. when ekatya disobeys the protectorate to save alsea, she thinks she's lost her military position and makes a reluctant sort of peace with living on alsea forever. and even though andira's in love with her and would love nothing more than for her to stay, she gets ekatya her job back, and tells ekatya that staying on alsea is a choice she should make with all her options open. now that's romance baby!
anyway. no shade to author. props to her for a meticulously created universe that i find genuinely interesting. and for the fun banter with micah and the lead templar. but unfortunately we diverge here as i am apparently a hater with very particular notions of romance that will forever alienate me from the rest of lesbiankind. this is my burden part 2.
July 22, 2020
After discovering the Chronicles of Alsea Series by Fletcher DeLancey in ‘The Caphenon’ I started on Book 2 right away. It is in ‘Without A Front: The Producer’s Challenge’ that we get to see more of Alsean society and especially the life of Lancer Tal. In the aftermath of the battle with the Voloth, Alsea must heal, and it is up to Andira Tal to see that happens. But their society can never be the same again, and they must learn to live with the changes. When The Caphenon landed on Alsea it brought the realisation that life existed beyond Alsea. It also brought new technology, and it is this new tech that is causing ruptures within the castes. When a vocal young woman from the Producer caste challenges Lancer Tal to try out her way of life for a month, as a way of understanding the concerns, Andira rises to the challenge. Will her new experiences change her views? She ends up finding more than she bargained for, and life will never be quite the same again.
This story was a change of pace and more about the life of the Lancer. Many hard decisions had to be made and moral dilemmas faced. We find out more about the different castes and the love lives of the Alseans. It made for a powerfully emotional read. It was a warm story of family and love and responsibility. I enjoyed seeing a different side to Andira. Salomen was the perfect woman to challenge her and her views. Their interactions were thought-provoking. I loved it and as I turned the last page I felt compelled to go straight to Amazon and buy book 3 for my Kindle. Immediately. I couldn’t wait a single second to read the next part of this amazing series. Highly recommended.
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This story was a change of pace and more about the life of the Lancer. Many hard decisions had to be made and moral dilemmas faced. We find out more about the different castes and the love lives of the Alseans. It made for a powerfully emotional read. It was a warm story of family and love and responsibility. I enjoyed seeing a different side to Andira. Salomen was the perfect woman to challenge her and her views. Their interactions were thought-provoking. I loved it and as I turned the last page I felt compelled to go straight to Amazon and buy book 3 for my Kindle. Immediately. I couldn’t wait a single second to read the next part of this amazing series. Highly recommended.
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February 23, 2021
4.5 rounded up
I am continuing to really enjoy this series, and yay for more WLW action! A much slower book than the first, more focused on Alsea world-building and the political maneuvering in the aftermath of the battle from book 1, but I honestly didn't mind it. The characters continue to be compelling, and though I was worried I'd miss the Gaians from the 1st book, I found myself just as enamored with the new and old characters we got here. I did find some of the stuff around the Also, as evidenced by the titles, book 2 & 3 are essentially just one looong book split into two, so this one ends on a cliffhanger, which is not my favorite, but I already have book 3 on standby, so I'm not too mad at it. There is a lot that is set up in this book that we are left hanging on, so I'm very much looking forward to the next one and I am hoping it resolves several of the open threads!
I am continuing to really enjoy this series, and yay for more WLW action! A much slower book than the first, more focused on Alsea world-building and the political maneuvering in the aftermath of the battle from book 1, but I honestly didn't mind it. The characters continue to be compelling, and though I was worried I'd miss the Gaians from the 1st book, I found myself just as enamored with the new and old characters we got here. I did find some of the stuff around the Also, as evidenced by the titles, book 2 & 3 are essentially just one looong book split into two, so this one ends on a cliffhanger, which is not my favorite, but I already have book 3 on standby, so I'm not too mad at it. There is a lot that is set up in this book that we are left hanging on, so I'm very much looking forward to the next one and I am hoping it resolves several of the open threads!
January 26, 2019
I enjoyed this book. I read it almost immediately after finishing the first one. This is not as action packed, and is rather a character study of Andira Tal, who I found to be very fascinating from the first novel. If you don’t like her, then you may not enjoy it. The text also delves heavily into details about the alien society and I think the book did a reasonable job bringing up realistic concerns after an invasion, such as the POWs, questions about how new technology will affect economies etc.
Tal finally gets her romance, and while things sort of fall into place neatly, there’s plenty of mishaps and tension to make it more believable. Sal and Tal’s relationship was rich and prompted character development. Despite the soulmates trope coming in, it wasn’t taken lightly or accepted as an automatic positive, which mitigated the cheesiness.
Some readers had issue with the moral decisions depicted in the book. Unlike its successor, I think it does a fairly good job in just laying out the scenes and letting the reader decide how to look at them. They are alien, so I am not surprised that they have different social norms.
Ultimately, I just wish that the author had resolved the cliffhanger and made this a proper standalone book rather than making it essential to read the sequel, which is of poorer quality.
Tal finally gets her romance, and while things sort of fall into place neatly, there’s plenty of mishaps and tension to make it more believable. Sal and Tal’s relationship was rich and prompted character development. Despite the soulmates trope coming in, it wasn’t taken lightly or accepted as an automatic positive, which mitigated the cheesiness.
Some readers had issue with the moral decisions depicted in the book. Unlike its successor, I think it does a fairly good job in just laying out the scenes and letting the reader decide how to look at them. They are alien, so I am not surprised that they have different social norms.
Ultimately, I just wish that the author had resolved the cliffhanger and made this a proper standalone book rather than making it essential to read the sequel, which is of poorer quality.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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