Sally McBride

I received a copy of this book through Early Reviewers.

The basic setup of a medieval society with high-tech roots and people with extreme psychic powers calls to mind Darkover, but we don't see very much of it- the story is focused squarely on the characters and their somewhat ambiguous relationships and, in many cases, morals.

Unfortunately, the characters weren't enough to carry the story for me- I found them generally unlikeable except Nikkolue and sometimes Kael, and there were many times show more their motives or desires changed and I wasn't quite sure why. This was not helped by the fact that the story was heavily weighted towards introspection and interior monologue on the characters' part rather than actually showing their actions and interactions on screen up until the last few chapters, which were much more interesting and tense and had me wondering what was going to happen to the characters.

One SPOILER item ruined the goodwill the book had built for me, however- I didn't understand the point of the unwitting incest subplot. It was brought up and a big, horrifying deal for all of a few scenes, then other events distracted the characters, and the most affected character evidently came to not only accept it offscreen and also get over other problems in the relationship at the same time, leaving the relationship in tact for a bemusing happily ever after ending with the other person still unwittingly committing incest. What? show less

The story about Marrula Tamara, once Empress of Worlds, on a planet called Strand and her horse Raj'azul didn't keep me interested. The scheme of the revenge and the whole plot had plenty of uninteresting details and lacked the force that I was hoping for. At the same time there are other chapters were it actually gets better, but same as in the novel, time evolved and it all went tumbling down just like Marrula's world.
Nikki was an unidimensional character and sometimes I really wanted that show more the author had put a little bit more on that girl. The relation between Grae and Kael, besides the surprising element of husband-daugther relation, remained unexplored. Warrek, the Veterinarian, is the type of character that represents the soft morality and the grey line between good and bad.
I was hoping for more moral battle and a whole new planet, yet this remote world almost self destroyed between my hands. show less

I enjoyed Indigo time, many mysteries slowly unfolded to keep the reader interested. I agree with other reviewers about the parent's relationship was never attended to by the end of the story.

Disclaimer: I received this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Indigo Time by Sally McBride didn't do it for me. The characters never really came to life, and never made me care about them, to the point that it took three tries to finally finish. I can't recommend it.