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THE FIRST PSY/CHANGELING NOVEL from the New York Times bestselling author of Shards of Hope, Shield of Winter, and Heart of Obsidian...The book that Christine Feehan called "a must-read for all of my fans."
In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever show more was…Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…. show less
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It's New Zealand book month, and I thought I'd try a fantasy by a New Zealand author that's been lurking around our bookshelves for some time. But - ugh. This is everything that I find annoying in paranormal romance, chock full of all the cliches of the genre: an irritating, repetitive focus on the leads' physical assets,
sex/romance at the expense of characterisation (whereas the best romance writing should have the two in tandem), woobification of the male lead, unreconstructed and uncomfortable gender relations ("oh, they're animals, so it's *alright* for them to behave like that" - I loathe the alpha male trope with a fiery passion!) and racial (species?) relations… I could go on.
Still - it's a reasonably interesting universe in show more and of itself, and I quite like stories about psychic characters who haven't yet found their niche, so that aspect was enjoyable enough. (Sorry, book, I can't like you any more than that.) show less
sex/romance at the expense of characterisation (whereas the best romance writing should have the two in tandem), woobification of the male lead, unreconstructed and uncomfortable gender relations ("oh, they're animals, so it's *alright* for them to behave like that" - I loathe the alpha male trope with a fiery passion!) and racial (species?) relations… I could go on.
Still - it's a reasonably interesting universe in show more and of itself, and I quite like stories about psychic characters who haven't yet found their niche, so that aspect was enjoyable enough. (Sorry, book, I can't like you any more than that.) show less
Sascha Duncan is a member of a race known for their emotional detachment, cold precision and deadly sharp minds. Only Sascha isn't like other Psy. She feels powerful emotion and she grows worried she may soon not be able to repress the building surge. A business meeting with changeling Lucas Hunter, the alpha of the DarkRiver leopards, lures her even closer to the edge of certain discovery. As she is assigned as the Psy contact for the ensuing project Lucas's company takes on, she soon begins to fear grave repercussions from her people.
Lucas feels something different about Sascha--she's not like other Psy. It doesn't take long for the dominant male to begin asserting his blatant interest in her in traditionally pack ways. Could her show more mysterious differences be the key his and a rival pack's have been looking for? A serial killer has targeted changeling women, and the packs believe the killer to be Psy. As a Psy with connections amongst her race, Sascha will become the only saving grace in a race against time to stop two opposing groups on the brink of war. Her and Lucas's efforts will bring them to some shocking realizations as well as some heated and sensually stimulating encounters.
The first impression of this romance was that it combined an awesome feel of not only paranormal elements, but sci-fi as well. Lucas's pack dynamics will ring somewhat similar to other paranormal romances, while having their own unique qualities at the same time, most notably their love for one another and family dynamics. The chilling addition of the Psy brings to mind a more futuristic sense with their sparse and utilitarian lifestyles. There are some very interesting twists to the plot that makes good use of the pacing throughout the book, making for a very hard to put down read. Sascha is a heroine readers may sympathize with in her plight to become fully herself, while Lucas is so wonderfully sexy in his concern for her welfare. I am actually looking forward to reading more from this author and series show less
Lucas feels something different about Sascha--she's not like other Psy. It doesn't take long for the dominant male to begin asserting his blatant interest in her in traditionally pack ways. Could her show more mysterious differences be the key his and a rival pack's have been looking for? A serial killer has targeted changeling women, and the packs believe the killer to be Psy. As a Psy with connections amongst her race, Sascha will become the only saving grace in a race against time to stop two opposing groups on the brink of war. Her and Lucas's efforts will bring them to some shocking realizations as well as some heated and sensually stimulating encounters.
The first impression of this romance was that it combined an awesome feel of not only paranormal elements, but sci-fi as well. Lucas's pack dynamics will ring somewhat similar to other paranormal romances, while having their own unique qualities at the same time, most notably their love for one another and family dynamics. The chilling addition of the Psy brings to mind a more futuristic sense with their sparse and utilitarian lifestyles. There are some very interesting twists to the plot that makes good use of the pacing throughout the book, making for a very hard to put down read. Sascha is a heroine readers may sympathize with in her plight to become fully herself, while Lucas is so wonderfully sexy in his concern for her welfare. I am actually looking forward to reading more from this author and series show less
#2 in my chain-smoking. I don't know what's happened, truly I don't. I probably have QB™ again.
At any rate, now I understand why Singh is so popular and has approximately ninety books in this series. First, brilliant set up: a race of highly emotion-blocked psychic people finally getting in touch with their emotions and the physical sensations in their bodies (we'll set aside pain at the moment, but if Singh is any type of erotic scene writer, I fully expect it). Second, combine them with an adversarial people, a race of changeling people that are in tune with instincts and sensation. Third, she's an above-average writer who can actually sustain a plot, unlike Laurel Hamilton, who started phoning it in somewhere after book six. Sure, show more there are tropes--lots of damaged childhoods, animal natures, etc--but at least they are smoked over with competent writing.
This does have the feel of first book about it, relying a little more heavily on those tropes than I would like, particularly lots of focus on dominant structures of changeling society--it's basically boilerplate. Singh, get a clue: real wolf packs have lots of females and the great cats are almost universally solitary. But I assume it'll get better, because Val said it's her most favorite series ever.
I thought the growing attraction between the leads was well done, the danger to the psychic was palpable, and the sex scenes decent. What more can one ask for?
I mean, thank heaven these are books, and not cigarettes, because I'm definitely inhaling. show less
At any rate, now I understand why Singh is so popular and has approximately ninety books in this series. First, brilliant set up: a race of highly emotion-blocked psychic people finally getting in touch with their emotions and the physical sensations in their bodies (we'll set aside pain at the moment, but if Singh is any type of erotic scene writer, I fully expect it). Second, combine them with an adversarial people, a race of changeling people that are in tune with instincts and sensation. Third, she's an above-average writer who can actually sustain a plot, unlike Laurel Hamilton, who started phoning it in somewhere after book six. Sure, show more there are tropes--lots of damaged childhoods, animal natures, etc--but at least they are smoked over with competent writing.
This does have the feel of first book about it, relying a little more heavily on those tropes than I would like, particularly lots of focus on dominant structures of changeling society--it's basically boilerplate. Singh, get a clue: real wolf packs have lots of females and the great cats are almost universally solitary. But I assume it'll get better, because Val said it's her most favorite series ever.
I thought the growing attraction between the leads was well done, the danger to the psychic was palpable, and the sex scenes decent. What more can one ask for?
I mean, thank heaven these are books, and not cigarettes, because I'm definitely inhaling. show less
I felt like reading paranormal romance, and this is exactly that. I'm not that familiar with the genre, so I don't know how this compares, but it was light entertainment, and that's what I wanted. It's easy to read, and it doesn't require too much brain power. Although I realize it's a romance trope, I was a little annoyed with the male possessiveness. Fortunately the really annoying bit didn't last too long, and yes, the heroine does push back, and yes, the hero does back off a bit, but it was never really clear to me why he backed off. And he was never called out on his behaviour, it was all 'hey, I'm an animal, and that's just how I am'. It was never pointed out that it's disrespectful and definitely not a sign of love.
But hey. What show more can you expect? It's paranormal romance. I'll readily admit it could have been a lot worse. Most of it was acceptable enough, and I enjoyed reading it. show less
But hey. What show more can you expect? It's paranormal romance. I'll readily admit it could have been a lot worse. Most of it was acceptable enough, and I enjoyed reading it. show less
OK, shut up. I read this...in a day. In my defense, I was home sick from work and can't be held accountable for my actions. That's a rule.
Fine. I liked it. I dug the characters and the world, and the overwhelming emotionality fueling the story. If Nalini Singh had caught me on a cranky day, maybe my reaction would have been different.
As it is, I'm sure I'll continue with the series. I don't know if I will chain-smoke it the way I do sometimes when I find a series I like, but I probably won't wait that long to pick up another.
I imagine the author laughing at people like me who are squeamish about reading a book with a title like this, especially because "sensation" refers to more than just the obvious one everyone thinks of when they show more read the title. All the same, it's definitely hot stuff. But it's not only hot stuff, and I can see what the people who have recommended this author to me were raving about. show less
Fine. I liked it. I dug the characters and the world, and the overwhelming emotionality fueling the story. If Nalini Singh had caught me on a cranky day, maybe my reaction would have been different.
As it is, I'm sure I'll continue with the series. I don't know if I will chain-smoke it the way I do sometimes when I find a series I like, but I probably won't wait that long to pick up another.
I imagine the author laughing at people like me who are squeamish about reading a book with a title like this, especially because "sensation" refers to more than just the obvious one everyone thinks of when they show more read the title. All the same, it's definitely hot stuff. But it's not only hot stuff, and I can see what the people who have recommended this author to me were raving about. show less
I’ve been wanting to try the Psy-Changeling series for a while now, and I’m so glad I finally got around to picking up the first book. Slave to Sensation was an excellent start to this new-to-me series. The author has created a world that’s quite different from anything else I’ve read so far in the paranormal romance genre. It’s part sci-fi, because it takes place on a futuristic Earth with advanced technology. It’s also part fantasy, because the inhabitants of this future Earth fall into one of three races: human (although we don’t really see many of these in this story), changeling (the shape-shifters), and Psy (mentally advanced beings who have various psychic capabilities). To make things more complex, the Psy, who are show more mostly seen in the upper echelons of society in business and government, have shut down all their emotions, ruling strictly by cold logic. Also all Psy are connected to one another via the PsyNet, which is an Internet of sorts made up of all Psy minds. To some degree, they can all access each other’s minds and also feed off each other’s psychic energy, something they need in order to survive just like air and water. For Trekkies, the Psy are kind of like Vulcans meet the Borg. It’s all a very intriguing and satisfying new world that I can’t wait to read more of.
Sascha is a Psy who feels her mind deteriorating daily. She knows she’s not supposed to feel emotion, and yet she does, finding it increasingly difficult to hide this defect from her mother and the other Psy with whom she associates. Sascha believes herself to be broken, and at some point, knows she’s going to be caught and sent to the Center for “rehabilitation,” which basically amounts to lobotomizing the Psy mind, leaving them a zombie-like shell of their former selves. She lives in fear of this daily until her mother sends Sascha to represent their family business interests by cutting a lucrative deal with a local leopard changeling pack to build housing on changeling land. There she meets pack alpha, Lucas, who makes her feel things she’s never felt before. When she learns that changeling women are being kidnapped and murdered and that the changelings believe it’s a Psy committing the crimes, she doesn’t want to believe it at first. But before long, Sascha realizes the truth and decides to help the pack ferret out the perpetrator even though she knows she’ll likely be caught. Since she refuses to be “rehabilitated” and knows there’s no escaping from the PsyNet without dying in the process, it’s her way of going out is a blaze of glory while helping the changeling male she’s come to love and righting a wrong in the process. I have to give Sascha a lot of credit for being strong enough to stand up to Lucas’s alpha posturing. She’s every bit as a stubborn as he is and very brave, too, to go up against years of accepted Psy wisdom. I was also extremely intrigued by the things she discovers about herself and about Psy nature in general as she goes on this journey, and I look forward to seeing where it all leads in future books of the series.
Lucas earned his status as alpha of his pack at a very young age. He was still just a juvenile when he saw his parents murdered by rivals and barely survived their beating himself. He vowed revenge and took it at the tender age of eighteen, which led to him beginning to gain the respect of his fellow leopard changelings. While violence is part and parcel of changeling nature, Lucas tries to rule with his head and not always his heart. That’s why when one of their own females falls victim to the Psy serial killer, he knows they must investigate first. Going in “guns blazing” so to speak will only get them into a war with the Psy that will lead to the loss of thousands of lives, so his plan is to identify the killer and seek retribution on him alone. But when a female from a wolf pack with whom the leopards have a tenuous truce goes missing, they know they only have one week to find her or war will be imminent. That’s why Lucas decides to try to leverage his connection with Sascha to get information out of her. Of course, his inner cat quickly awakens to the mating dance which leads to him discovering that his little Psy is far more than he ever dreamed. I typically prefer my romance heroes to be more on the vulnerable side, so Lucas was perhaps just a teensy bit too alpha for me, but he did balance that dominance out with his touchy-feely nature. Touch is an innate part of changeling nature to express pack and familial bonds, and being a tactile person myself, I really like that. Also, when he faces the possibility of losing Sascha if she disconnects from the PsyNet, he does show more of the emotion that I like to see in a hero. I love that he wouldn’t give up on finding a way to help her survive and was willing to sacrifice himself to that end.
Slave to Sensation has a lot of secondary characters. First, all of Lucas’s pack sentinels, who are basically the soldier/protectors of the pack, go on to get their own books. Vaughn is the hero of the next book, Visions of Heat. Clay, the enigmatic loner, becomes the hero of book #4, Mine to Possess. Dorian, the brother of the murdered leopard female and a changeling who can’t shift, intrigues me. He’ll be the hero of book #5, Hostage to Pleasure. Then, Mercy, the only female sentinel, becomes the heroine of book #6, Branded by Fire. There’s also Nate, who’s already happily mated to Tamsyn, the gentle pack healer, but it looks like the author wrote a prequel novella about them (after the fact :-)) titled, Beat of Temptation (from the anthology Wild Invitation). Also from the wolf pack side, alpha Hawke, who seems even more closed off than Lucas, becomes the hero of book #10, Kiss of Snow, his lieutenant, Indigo, who was barely mentioned becomes the heroine of book #9, Passion Play, and Brenna, the kidnapped wolf girl, along with Judd, a Psy who I can’t really say anything about without giving away spoilers become the hero and heroine of book #3, Caressed by Ice. There might be other minor characters who show up in some of the novellas, but these are the carry-over characters I know about for sure.
Overall, Slave to Sensation was a really good read. There were a couple of plot points that were a little predictable for me, but it didn’t really detract from the fun of getting to the reveal. Perhaps there could have been a little better emotional connection, but at the same time, I recognize that Sascha was a Psy who’d been taught to suppress her emotions and Lucas, as pack alpha, doesn’t easily show a lot of emotion either, so it definitely wasn’t a deal-breaker for me. A few more love scenes wouldn’t have gone amiss either. There’s only one (unless you count the dream sex), but it is pretty hot, so I guess I can’t complain too much. All these were pretty minor things in an otherwise exciting story. Not to mention, the author gets some extra points from me for the racial/ethnic diversity of her characters, which I loved. I’m very enthralled by the intricacies of this new world and look forward to exploring more of the stories to see just how far the changeling/Psy integration goes. I’m also interested to see if the Psy hierarchy is dismantled. They definitely suffered a blow to their supremacy in this book, so I’m very much intrigued to continue on with the series soon, as well as check out the deleted scene and free short story on Nalini Singh’s website that show readers more of Lucas and Sascha’s relationship. show less
Sascha is a Psy who feels her mind deteriorating daily. She knows she’s not supposed to feel emotion, and yet she does, finding it increasingly difficult to hide this defect from her mother and the other Psy with whom she associates. Sascha believes herself to be broken, and at some point, knows she’s going to be caught and sent to the Center for “rehabilitation,” which basically amounts to lobotomizing the Psy mind, leaving them a zombie-like shell of their former selves. She lives in fear of this daily until her mother sends Sascha to represent their family business interests by cutting a lucrative deal with a local leopard changeling pack to build housing on changeling land. There she meets pack alpha, Lucas, who makes her feel things she’s never felt before. When she learns that changeling women are being kidnapped and murdered and that the changelings believe it’s a Psy committing the crimes, she doesn’t want to believe it at first. But before long, Sascha realizes the truth and decides to help the pack ferret out the perpetrator even though she knows she’ll likely be caught. Since she refuses to be “rehabilitated” and knows there’s no escaping from the PsyNet without dying in the process, it’s her way of going out is a blaze of glory while helping the changeling male she’s come to love and righting a wrong in the process. I have to give Sascha a lot of credit for being strong enough to stand up to Lucas’s alpha posturing. She’s every bit as a stubborn as he is and very brave, too, to go up against years of accepted Psy wisdom. I was also extremely intrigued by the things she discovers about herself and about Psy nature in general as she goes on this journey, and I look forward to seeing where it all leads in future books of the series.
Lucas earned his status as alpha of his pack at a very young age. He was still just a juvenile when he saw his parents murdered by rivals and barely survived their beating himself. He vowed revenge and took it at the tender age of eighteen, which led to him beginning to gain the respect of his fellow leopard changelings. While violence is part and parcel of changeling nature, Lucas tries to rule with his head and not always his heart. That’s why when one of their own females falls victim to the Psy serial killer, he knows they must investigate first. Going in “guns blazing” so to speak will only get them into a war with the Psy that will lead to the loss of thousands of lives, so his plan is to identify the killer and seek retribution on him alone. But when a female from a wolf pack with whom the leopards have a tenuous truce goes missing, they know they only have one week to find her or war will be imminent. That’s why Lucas decides to try to leverage his connection with Sascha to get information out of her. Of course, his inner cat quickly awakens to the mating dance which leads to him discovering that his little Psy is far more than he ever dreamed. I typically prefer my romance heroes to be more on the vulnerable side, so Lucas was perhaps just a teensy bit too alpha for me, but he did balance that dominance out with his touchy-feely nature. Touch is an innate part of changeling nature to express pack and familial bonds, and being a tactile person myself, I really like that. Also, when he faces the possibility of losing Sascha if she disconnects from the PsyNet, he does show more of the emotion that I like to see in a hero. I love that he wouldn’t give up on finding a way to help her survive and was willing to sacrifice himself to that end.
Slave to Sensation has a lot of secondary characters. First, all of Lucas’s pack sentinels, who are basically the soldier/protectors of the pack, go on to get their own books. Vaughn is the hero of the next book, Visions of Heat. Clay, the enigmatic loner, becomes the hero of book #4, Mine to Possess. Dorian, the brother of the murdered leopard female and a changeling who can’t shift, intrigues me. He’ll be the hero of book #5, Hostage to Pleasure. Then, Mercy, the only female sentinel, becomes the heroine of book #6, Branded by Fire. There’s also Nate, who’s already happily mated to Tamsyn, the gentle pack healer, but it looks like the author wrote a prequel novella about them (after the fact :-)) titled, Beat of Temptation (from the anthology Wild Invitation). Also from the wolf pack side, alpha Hawke, who seems even more closed off than Lucas, becomes the hero of book #10, Kiss of Snow, his lieutenant, Indigo, who was barely mentioned becomes the heroine of book #9, Passion Play, and Brenna, the kidnapped wolf girl, along with Judd, a Psy who I can’t really say anything about without giving away spoilers become the hero and heroine of book #3, Caressed by Ice. There might be other minor characters who show up in some of the novellas, but these are the carry-over characters I know about for sure.
Overall, Slave to Sensation was a really good read. There were a couple of plot points that were a little predictable for me, but it didn’t really detract from the fun of getting to the reveal. Perhaps there could have been a little better emotional connection, but at the same time, I recognize that Sascha was a Psy who’d been taught to suppress her emotions and Lucas, as pack alpha, doesn’t easily show a lot of emotion either, so it definitely wasn’t a deal-breaker for me. A few more love scenes wouldn’t have gone amiss either. There’s only one (unless you count the dream sex), but it is pretty hot, so I guess I can’t complain too much. All these were pretty minor things in an otherwise exciting story. Not to mention, the author gets some extra points from me for the racial/ethnic diversity of her characters, which I loved. I’m very enthralled by the intricacies of this new world and look forward to exploring more of the stories to see just how far the changeling/Psy integration goes. I’m also interested to see if the Psy hierarchy is dismantled. They definitely suffered a blow to their supremacy in this book, so I’m very much intrigued to continue on with the series soon, as well as check out the deleted scene and free short story on Nalini Singh’s website that show readers more of Lucas and Sascha’s relationship. show less
After this book, I think I can call myself a fan of Singh. I didn't think I'd be that into changeling romance, but her characters are so deep and worlds so well-built, this book flew by. I'm thrilled that there are so many books in this series. It'll be a long while until I run out of her books to enjoy, especially including the Guild Hunter series. There is something so very enjoyable about diving in after a particularly challenging read like The Terror. There is enough suspense and action that I didn't get bored, the romance was solid, but it wasn't as heavy with no cliffhanger. I loved Lucas and Sascha. The way he introduced her to a life she'd never known was both sweet and dominant, but in a good way. The representation of family show more through psychic connections was creative and precious. I was happy to be home reading because people probably would have noticed my huge smile. show less
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Author Information
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Nalini Singh was born in Fiji in 1977 and raised in New Zealand. She has worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher. Her first book, Desert Warrior, was published in 2003. She is the author of two popular novel series, Guild Hunter and Psy/Changelings. Her other works include Awaken the show more Senses, Awaken to Pleasure, Bound by Marriage, Craving Beauty, and Secrets in the Marriage Bed. She won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for best novella/novelette in 2008 and 2009. Her fiction novel, Archangel's Shadow, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2014. Rock Hard made the New York Times bestseller list in 2015. Archangel's Heart, a book in A Guild Hunter Novel Series, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2016. She won the 2017 Australian Romance Readers Award, Favourite Paranormal Romance, for her book, Silver Silence. And she won the 2017 Australian Romance Readers Awards, Favourite continuing romance series, for The `Psy-Changeling¿ Trinity. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Slave to Sensation
- Original title
- Slave to Sensation
- Original publication date
- 2006-09-05
- People/Characters
- Sascha Duncan; Lucas Hunter; Nikita Duncan; Santano Enrique; Dorian Christensen; Tamsyn (show all 23); Hawke Snow; Rina Monaghan; Kit Monaghan; Clay Bennett; Vaughn D'Angelo; Sienna Lauren; Walker Lauren; Judd Lauren; Mercy Smith; Brenna Shane Kincaid; Riley Kincaid; Andrew Kincaid; Tatiana Rika-Smythe; Marlee Lauren; Toby Lauren; Ria Wembley; Zara De Lêon
- Important places
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Dedication
- This one is for my wonderful editor, Cindy Hwang, and my awesome agent, Nephele Tempest, for being so enthusiastic about this book from the start, and as always for my family, for being there no matter what.
- First words
- In an effort to reduce the overwhelming incidence of insanity and serial killing in the Psy population, the Psy Council decided, in the year 1969, to instigate a rigorous program called Silence.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)It was small and barely aware, but at that moment, the Web was far, far stronger than the PsyNet could ever hope to be.
- Publisher's editor
- Hwang, Cindy
- Blurbers
- Showalter, Gena ; Feehan, Christine
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.92
- Canonical LCC
- PS3619.I5744
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- Reviews
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
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