Heart Thief

Ruis Elder is a Null in a psi society, where everything is run by psi and his 'gift' negates psi wherever he is. As someone who lives as an outcast he steals when necessary. When he is caught he must face the Council. Ailim D'SilverFox, judge and new head of her family, must petition the Council for a $1.5 million gilt loan to save the Family Residence. They meet in the Council antechamber. Ruis' Null qualities blanks her psi telempathy, removing all her stress and makes her restful. He is pleased to find someone who appreciates his qualities. Though they are separated by their status and abilities they determine to help each other. This was a very satisfying futuristic romantic suspenseful adventure.

I almost couldn't finish this one. Let me say, I did not read the first book of this series, and it's possible that I would have enjoyed the second book more if I had. Honestly, though, I doubt it. The writing style didn't work well for me -- that combination of dramatic Celtic antiquity and futuristic scifi was very disjointed and jarring. I couldn't "fall" into the story, if you understand what I mean. Most problematic, though, is that I found Ruis completely unlikable. He was childish, irritating, tedious ... Ailim was easily too good for him. Now, she was a great character -- well-developed and believable. Too bad she had terrible taste in men.

I did find the excerpt for the third book, "Heart Duel", interesting, so maybe with Ruis show more out of the spotlight I might like this series after all. Someday I'll give that one a try, but I don't think I'll ever revisit "Heart Thief". show less

Funny. The Null is so firmly a villain in Heart Mate - it's nice to get behind that 'obvious' characterization and see why he behaves as he does. And both Ruis and Ailim are interesting people in themselves (quite aside from the romance). HeartMates without the 'magical' link. I keep expecting him to come up with a way to nullify or contain his Null field - particularly after Nuada's Sword could detect it, and he had a mechanical version to work with - but no, that particular deus ex machina doesn't come into play. In this book, anyway.

Re-read 10/27/11: This is another favorite of the series. Ruis's gloomy personality bothered me more this time around. I loved Samba just as much as always. The ship and residences played larger roles and were much appreciated secondary characters.

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I wasn't sure about this book when I first started it. Ruis Elder is a Null, which means he has no magical Flair. I wasn't sure how that would work in this world, but Owens pulled it off brilliantly.

I really loved both Ruis and Ailim. Their conflict - she is a Judge and he a Fugitive - was interesting and worked well. I really liked that the setting was something new.

Samaba was a great Fam, too. I literally laughed out loud at her antics.

Heart Thief is the second novel in a series set on the planet Celta. Although almost all inhabitants have strong psychic abilities, Heart Thief focuses on the flip side - nullness.

Robin Owens does a superb job of fleshing out the background of Celta, how it came to be settled and evolve. And the climax is a true affirmation that even a disability (nullness) can be an advantage in some situations.

Wonderful series, excellent example.

Robin Owens continues her Celta series, this time with the story of Ruis Elder. Ruis is a Null, has no psychic powers and can negate any psychic effects in his immediate vicinity. He thinks he's condemned to a life on the fringes of society. But then he meets Ailim D'Silverfur who believes he can live a full life, in the sunlight. Ailim risks all, her career, her livelihood, her family, in a bid to help him escape the terrors of his past.

Book 2 of the Series, this is a better story than the first one, the characters are more flashed out and are given histories. Our hero Ruis, appeared briefly in book one and this is his story. HE is a wonderfully rich character and his lady is too. We get involved in their lives as Ruis fights to survive in a world that treats him less than human. I look forwards to book 3 when I have time to fit it in. THe book can be stand alone, but it features characters from previous books and uses some assumed knowledge (But not too much)