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Customer Reviews
Any hope Sira and Jason have of charting their own course seems likely to vanish forever when they are enexpectedly caught in a conflict between the Drapsk and a mysterious race that dwells in the M'hir. With all of their energies directed toward this crisis, will they become easy prey for those among the Clan and the Humans who are already mobilizing to take advantage of the coming conflict?
The conclusion to this trilogy was an exiting read. I enjoyed the combination of fantasy and science fiction that Czerneda manages to put into most of her books.
Again the tale, at least slightly tongue in cheek (Sira is captured by Morgan's enemy and everyone else is zipping along trying to find her), rollicks along in alternating "Chapters" (told in the first person by Sira) and "Interludes," which clue you in to what other characters are doing. Czerneda keeps things moving along to a satisfying, moving finale.
While the publisher is billing the book as the end of a trilogy the author does seem to have left the possibility of continuing on (I for one would like to know what's next for Ruti) and I for one hope that she does.
Warning: Don't even think about reading this unless you've read the first two books in the series.
In this novel, Sara is now part owner of the Silver Fox and the lover of Jason Morgan. Yet they cannot get any privacy for the interruptions, even in midflight. Other Clan Council members are not comfortable with technology, so they don't call before they drop in for a chat. Nor do the Rugherans. Then Sector Chief Lydis Bowman does call to invite the Morgans for a talk; the Conciliator just happens to be alongside the Silver Fox.
One of Bowman's Constables seems to have been brain-wiped, despite her implanted mind-shield. Also, Bowman has received reports that seven ships have landed on Acrannam and left shortly thereafter. Moreover, a human telepath, Naes Fodera, has been murdered on Plexis.
Jason is able to help the supposedly brain-wiped Constable. Sira learns that the seven ships have been used to transport fosterlings from Acranam to other planets. Then she travels to Plexis through the M'hir to check on Huido.
Huido is having problems at the Claws and Jaws on Plexis. Naes Fodera has shown up at the restaurant . . . in pieces. His only remaining Certified Multi-species Master Chef wants to serve the remains to the customers. Huido finally fires his Chef, but is left without anyone to cook for the restaurant.
However, a young member of the Clan and kitchen worker, Ruti, knows the recipes and is capable of doing the work. Huido decides to feed his customers and worry about Multi-species certification later, but Ruti has an unsavory friend: Ren Symon. And then another Carasian shows up.
When Sira arrives on Plexis, she sees Symon in the company of a Clan child. Unfortunately, he also notices her and overcomes her before she can react. Then he pops her into a stasis chamber.
In this story, Jason pursues Sira, but finds Symon instead. Sira is rescued by the Drapsk, but taken to the homeworld of the Rugherans. Barac rescues Ruti, but finds her to be a Chooser. The story also has a planetary romance. The plot is nicely muddled, but unraveled by the conclusion.
Highly recommended for Czerneda fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of mental powers, high adventure and romance.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Events conspire once again to separate the Morgans for most of the book. Sira spends several chapters locked inside her own head, suddenly reliving memories that had remained suppressed even after her previous mind block was removed. Though well written as usual, these passages do little to move the story along.
As before, Sira's first-person story alternates with third-person accounts of Morgan and several other key characters. Also as before, all of the characters and locales are well-drawn, the plots creative. There are murders, disappearances, chases, and assorted surprises. Maybe just a little too assorted. It isn't until the final third of To Trade the Stars that the narratives at last organize themselves around a "main" plot that gives some focus to the rest of the book.
If anything, the many story lines in Stars are even more sprawling than in Ties, which in turn was more disjointed than Strangers. Variety is the spice of life, but too much spice can overwhelm an otherwise fine dish. This trilogy has all the high-quality ingredients that make up a fine dish, but a little less variety in its story lines would have made it easier to savor their individual flavors and enjoy the blended whole. In the first two books, Czerneda set up several excellent story lines relating to Clan, Human telepaths, or both, all of which deserved better treatment in Stars. Instead, many story lines have been given pat wrap-ups-or have simply been dropped-without ever being fully developed. Czerneda's eventual choice of direction for the last part of the book is inexplicable in view of everything else she had to work with, and ultimately disappointing.
Czerneda's ability to create vivid and diverse characters, cultures, and places is by now well-established, as is her skill at braiding together a number of small but intriguing story lines within a single book. There are times, however, when the reader misses a strong, centralized plot to unify the wealth of information and viewpoints she provides so well. The Trade Pact Universe is a fascinating construct, well worth revisiting again and again, as Andre Norton has done in any number of otherwise-unrelated tales set within a common universe. Perhaps in future efforts, Czerneda will take her readers back to fill out those abandoned story lines, preferably with more depth and just a little less scope.
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