Virtual Warrier [Mass Market Paperback]

'Virtual Warrior' is the third in this series of books, which started with the seriously addictive 'Virtual Heaven' and continued with the not-so-good 'Virtual Desire'. Whilst this one, 'Virtual Warrior', is not quite as gripping or well written as the first in the series, thankfully it is better than the snorefest that was the second. In that second book, we met the insipid and annoying Ardra, and (briefly) the rather more interesting Neil. 'Virtual Warrior' is their story.

Fortunately, the character of Ardra has improved in this book. She has developed both a personality and a backbone. And Neil is just as intriguing as he ever was.

Disillusioned with his life and the world in general following the death of his mother, Neil decides to follow in the footsteps of his business partner Gwen and enter the amazing world of Tolemac, which he has glimpsed in the virtual reality game 'Tolemac Wars III'. He hopes to make a new life for himself there as a merchant, living the high life in a simpler society, with no personal commitments or incumberments to weigh him down. However, what he finds is not quite what he expected...

This book is a little slow to begin with, but picks up after a few chapters and gets more interesting. Ms Lawrence's writing is a little disjointed at times, and as an author, she doesn't always meet her burden of ensuring logic and plot continuity to my satisfaction, but then I'm a very picky critic. Overall, this is a satisfying read that will please fans of both this series and romance books in general.

By the way, if you've read any other of Ms Lawrence's books, you'd know that she has a thing for interesting character and place names. This one's no exception. I liked the fact that 'Ardra' is a palindrome, whilst the irony of Neil's name changing to 'Lien' (names in Tolemac are usually backward) was not lost on me. In French, lien means 'tie, bond, connection' which was, of course, the one thing Lien was trying to escape by going he Tolemac. He was trying to escape the personal ties that bound him. Of course, that was his plan, but the best made plans of mice and men...

Let me start by saying I have NEVER read any of the Fantasy books that seem to be so popular today. I bought this book based on the excellent reviews that it received and because the story intrigued me. How would a person transport him/herself into cyberspace? What would happen to him and could he ever get back? Wondering if I could deal with lavender skies and strange sounding names, after reading the first chapter I was hooked!

Ms. Lawrence is a spellbinding story teller. Rather than repeat the story line, I will say that the pages are filled with action, adventure, fascinating characters, and a compelling, believable attraction between the two main characters, Ardra and Lien, that blooms into a romance. As the story progresses, Lien grows from a dissatisfied person escaping into the virtual world of Tolemac to a brave and competent warrior capable of protecting and standing by the equally brave and competent Ardra.

As a side note, I was intrigued by the way that the author reversed the spelling of names to create new places and characters (e.g., Tolemac = Camelot; Nilrem = Merlin; Neil = Lien; Einalem = Melanie; and the wicked Samoht = Thomas whose name made more sense after I read "Virtual Heaven") and loved the fact that Ardra's name was a palindrome (spelled the same backwards or forwards). For some reason, I enjoyed the device and it made me comfortable with the odd sounding names.

The world of Tolemac is beautiful and intriguing as well with its medieval surroundings and lifestyle, lavender skies, four "orbs" (moons), and exotic creatures. There was just enough difference in the landscape of this new "cyber-world" to make it believable and there were enough common features to make it comfortable.

After reading "Virtual Warrior", I sought out and bought the rest of the author's books. I've read "Virtual Heaven" and enjoyed it thoroughly, and am looking forward to reading "Virtual Desire" as soon as it arrives. While linked as a series, the stories in each of the books can stand alone. I hope that Ms. Lawrence writes more books for this series and continues the adventures in "Tolemac" for a long time to come!

Highly recommended.

Neil Scott and Gwen Marlowe owned a video game shop called Virtual Heaven. The new game titled "Tolemac Wars III" was the hottest on the market. Most of the virtual game players chose to play the part of the male unknown warrior. Gwen had been sucked into a previous version of the game (see Virtual Desire) and had told Neil about it. Because of this, Neil timed everything in hope of doing the same. He never REALLY expected it to work though. But it did!

Ardra of the Fortress of Ravens guarded the ice for the Selaw. Her lifemate, Tol, was grievously ill. Tol's brother, Ralen, had been sent to find the Goddess of Darkness, leaving Ardra in a horrible lurch. When Tol died, the land, not to mention her son, would be threatened. When attacked, a man appeared out of nowhere and rescued her, but lost his riches in doing so. Lien (a.k.a. Neil) claimed to be a retired warrior, from beyond the ice, turned merchant and on a pilgrimage. He did not fight well enough to be a warrior, in her opinion, but the snake tatoo on his arm was an omen. She needed him if she had any hope of succeeding in her upcoming quest.

**** I had to leave A LOT out of the synopsis or it would have been three times as long! Much more is going on than I wrote, but I fear giving away something vital. Neil and Ardra are the main characters, as you can tell, and their budding romance is complicated to say the least. Author Ann Lawrence added several interesting co-characters also, both good and evil. Back stabbing people surround the couple and few can be trusted. This story mixes excitement, adventure, romance, and fantasy together and creates an awesome story that will definitely entertain its readers! BRAVA! ****