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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An entertaining read, 7 Mar 2002
At first glance the story may seem less than original - alien from another world (Jon) stuck on Earth and needs help from the local (Lenore) - but Gill has managed to make it unique in that the Earth is slightly in the future, and the alien is part of an Octaid - a group of 8 individuals that combine their talents to travel together through space without the need of a ship. They have become seperated by an unstable transfer, and Jon needs to reunite the Octaid and then find the dangerous renegade who they had travelled in search of. The renegade who was blackmailing Jon's birth-mate (twin) to assisting him in his nerfarious scheme!Actually, Gill has made this somewhat dramatic tale work well. Her future Earth is entirely beleviable, and Jon and the Octaid are not so different from human, except for their superior mental abilities. The development of the plot is well placed, although there are too many in the Octaid to really develop the synergy of the relationships between them, asside from two or three of the characters. However, the central relationship between Jon and Lenore is handled well and the attraction between them quickly develops into something life changing for the both of them. The story is told from the perspective of several characters, although the focus for the bulk of the text is Lenore. This assists with the pace and development of the story, and lets the reader get to know Jon's sister and the neice whose existence he is unaware of. The story builds to the eventual confrontation of the villian of the piece, and it is nice that the Octaid works together here, via their unique abilities, rather than Jon striding in and playing the muscle-flexing, sword welding, muscle bound hero. Instead he's the insightful leader, leading his team to victory. There are holes - particularly Lenore's abilities and their level of strength as the book develops compared with their description at the culmunation of the book - but this does not interfer with the story as a whole. Overall a well written, enjoyable read.
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