Shifting Plains

Fun. In some ways, a rather simplistic coming-of-age story, complete with butterfly imagery; in others, a rather neat culture clash. And besides, very interesting characters, with depths that are revealed slowly throughout the story. Tava and Kodan are great, but Rahala provides some interesting moments as well. Tava dealing with her shifting, and with her belief about the customs of the Shifterai; Kodan discovering how much she's the one he's been waiting for; and Rahala's plans and how they founder on the other two - fun! It's nice to learn more about the Shifterai, too - their history and the way their customs work at home, after having seen Amara and Arora trying to move past their habits in The Cat and The Storm. Not as good as the show more Sons of Destiny books, but quite good. Less explicit, too - or at least, it spends less time being explicit. Three sex scenes, in one of which they only touch hands - which doesn't slow down the erotic aspects at all. Good story, good romance. show less

This book followed Tava from her close-minded village to the Clan Cat, Family Tiger of the Shiftari. I enjoyed Tava the main character. The reader could really identify with her and understand her thought pattern. I particularly liked her revelation of her shifting abilities and how many animals she could shift into. Her rivalry with another woman for the affections of a certain man was also an amusing addition to the text. A good read that expanded more on the Shiftari culture. I found myself looking at this book as the first in a series and was slightly disappointed when I realized it was a stand alone book. It works as a stand alone, I was just interested in learning more from this couple and the culture.

I have enjoyed reading Jean Johnson's novels for awhile now, she wrote 'The Sons of Destiny', a series of eight books, set in the same world as 'Shifting Plains'. 'Shifting Plains' is actually a prequel set a long time before 'The Sons of Destiny'. Anyway...I love Jean Johnson's other work so I was super excited when I went to the book store to pick this book up. It didn't take me long to read it at all, it was pretty compelling from page one, I read about 150 pages into it before I realized it was lunch time...and for those who read my interviews...know that food is one of favorite things, just after books. I enjoyed the characters in this book...Kodan is a very compelling male and lead character, he grabs your attention and hold it, show more as does Tava. I would have liked to see a longer courtship for them though, a month seems like a short time to pick your life mate. They are both strong willed and pretty perfect for each other though so, who knows. The story itself was good, but to me seemed like just a story, I didn't really get a sense of urgency, like oh, the climax of is coming up, you know were you do the chair wiggle to get more compfy in order to keep reading longer. It seemed more like a story you would tell your friend about what you saw at the mall today. I am not however complaining about the quality of the story told, it was good, and it was very compelling, I had a hard time actually putting the book down...so its a story your friend tells you about the mall that involved an awesome shoe sale. I really enjoyed this book...looks like by the ending and the fact that there are numerous questions left unanswered, there will be another book after this one, oh darn!

P.S. There is an ample amount of steam in those pages, enough to need potholders while reading. show less

Amazing. Another winner. Love the detail and the world building. The exploration of the civilization and government structure is facsinating for a Civ fan like me. The story definitely left you wanting more.

Once I started this book I could not put it down! I absolutely loved The Sons of Destiny books and this book met all my high expectations. This books gives you a good look into some of the history of the shiftari (Amara's homeland in book 6 the cat) and their culture before the time of the brothers.

Lots of world building. It was okay, but kind of felt more like a YA book.

It wasn't bad now that I know about the Sons of Destiny. I love her writing.