Lisanne Norman

Carrie is one of the first wave of colonists from Earth living on a distant planet. A few years after they had landed, aliens - Valtegans - arrived and took over the planet with superior fire-power, since when the Terrans have been living in subjugation. Their second colony ship is due imminently, with more advanced technology which they don't want to see fall into Valtegan hands.

Carrie had a telepathic bond with her mother, who died when she was small, and with her twin, Elise. One night, show more when Elise was caught by Valtegans and tortured to death, Carrie suffered with her and nearly died too; but in trying to re-establish her link with Elise, her questing mind found another. He was Kusac, from another alien species, the Shola, and their people had also been attacked by the Valtegans.

Together, could they encourage humans and Sholans to unite and fight the Valtegans?

I liked the story and the hint of romance. The book does suffer a bit from 'sci-fi / fantasy-books-published-last-century-must-not-exceed-300-pages' syndrome, which shows in a few less polished spots and details. Although it is integral to the story, the alien species are suspiciously similar to humans in physiognomy and psychology with only a few points of difference - much like early episodes of Star Trek where the aliens looked rather human.

I was a bit surprised when one of the characters pulled out a cigarette to smoke, but then I looked at the publication date, which was 1993. I was amused to see that tobacco was one of the first crops that the colonists planted.

All in all, it is an interesting plot, and I'd like to find out what happens next.

Three and a half stars. show less

This is an extremely well written book of 8 short fantasy stories with storylines and characters that are captivating. While I liked them all, I particularly loved the 3 stories about Mouse the thief and Zaylar her demon servant. This was the first book I've ever read by Lisanne Norman and I now see she has written a science fiction series of 9 booka about the Sholan Alliance. Amazingly one of these short stories threads together a character from that world with an incredible re imagining of show more the Merlin saga. But I now very badly want to read books with the full story of Mouse and Zayler in the mage filled world of the Jalnians. I hope these are forthcoming! show less

First off, I need to remember that I don't like short story collections.
I enjoyed the first story in this book, maybe because it took place in my favorite historical time period with characters I know: 18th Dynasty Egypt. Queen Ankhesenamun becomes a cat to protect herself from those who want to steal her throne. The second story felt unfinished. The third story's mystery just didn't come off right. The fourth story is a sequel to the second, but it still feels unfinished. And that's as far show more as I got. Maybe I'll finish it later. Maybe. show less

I have a mixed review to give for Fire Margins. I have decided not to continue reading this series. But, I have enjoyed all three of the books I have read. I even mostly enjoyed this book number three. First the good things for me. This book has aliens, telepathy, time travel, mind control, and lots of sex.

I like the efforts to achieve peaceful cooperation between humans and Sholans. It is not just automatic that different groups of people will get along well, just because it is in their show more interest. There are also other alien species that play parts in the story, Touibans, Jalnians, Chemerians, Sumaans and Valtegans all are important to parts of the story. Valtegans are again the biggest villains. Most of their deprecations happen in the past though, 2,000 years in the past.

There is a slow reveal in the story of what happened in the Cataclysm on Shola. I wanted to keep reading the story to find the truth about the Cataclysm and the Valtegan connection to early Shola.

Time travel becomes more and more important as the story progresses. Some people are controlled by others, through persuasion, preaching or ancient artifacts. Again, as in the previous two books there are many characters which leads to shifting POVs. There are about 20 main characters with the most central ones being Kaid, Carrie, Kusac, Vanna and the leaders of the Sholan Guilds. So this story has a lot going for it. I was entertained by much of the book. Next I will try to describe my problems with the book.

It is not my intention to dissuade potential readers from taking up this book. As I say, I enjoyed it mostly and finished it and don't regret that I read it, I also know from the reviews of others that some people read these books over and over again. My intention is to explain why I am giving up on the series and perhaps this might be useful for people who have similar reading tastes to mine.

First the sex. I am not opposed to reading about furry sex. But there are some strange twists in the kinky sex in this story. Most of the central characters have sex with most of the other central characters. Which might be fine under certain circumstances, but they often don't want to. That's right, the sex scenes, often, do not result from two mature adults deciding on sharing a pleasurable experience. It seemed to me that most hookups occurred against the better judgment and wishes of one or both partners. What is that all about? I see a Masters thesis from this topic. These hookups are not exactly of the Rhett Butler with Scarlett in Gone with the Wind variety, which I consider rape. But more like the lie back and think of England variety. One or both characters is advised that it is best for the good of the society if they have sex with the person they don't want to have sex with. I hope I am not being a prude and making a bigger deal of this than I should. The sex part of the book seems like a major plot point in the story.

Another part of the story that experiences mission creep is telepathy. This has been a key aspect of the series. Carrie and Kusac are important to the story because of their telepathy and the special Leska bond they form which involves their telepathy. (which also requires them to have intense sex once every 5 days, whether they want to, or not. I'm just saying.) There used to be limited numbers of telepaths among the Sholan and Terrans. But in this book it is exploding like a sale on a holiday. Every central character in the book has telepathy, is developing telepathy or is somehow sensitive or reactive to telepathic powers. I enjoy the telepathy aspects of the plot, but it kind of reduces the specialness of the power if every single character in the story has it.

Now I will address the Mary Sue aspect of Carrie the lead character. I don't exactly mind that she has the classic Mary Sue characteristics. I think Mary Sue storylines are fine. What does bother me is the whiny complaining character of Carrie, And the trait has infected most of the other characters in the story, There is a page for just about every character where they are flying off the handle against some imagined slight by another character who is supposed to be their friend or ally. This bothered me during the whole book. I kept forgiving it, to a certain extent, by telling myself that adults are like this in the real world. Our world is full of adults who act like bratty children.

Ok, I have tried to convey what aspects of the book I liked, and those parts of it which have brought me to the decision to not read the additional 4 books in the series. I hope my review will be helpful to someone out there. show less