Lord of the Dark Sun

Rating:
Summary: Renewing old acquaintances.
Review: For those who have read THE MIDNIGHT MOON, THE DAWN STAR, and THE WHITE SUN, you will enjoy hearing about some of the characters years later. LORD OF THE DARK SUN involves their children. I love this genre--wish there was more of it. I gave this one 4 stars because the intensity present in the first part of the book fades along the way. Too bad Ms. Piel could not keep it going until the end (the beginning was very promising).
I still recommend this one.

Rating:
Summary: Everything is wrong with this book
Review: From the blurb on the back cover this book looked like it would be a fun weekend read. To bad that's not the case. This book combines all the worst of really bad series Sci Fi and really brainless Romance. On top of that I found something about the writing style choppy and hard to read. Even the characters internal thoughs seemed stilted and awkward. The plot had some promise, but there was no follow through.

Rating:
Summary: Everything is wrong with this book
Review: From the blurb on the back cover this book looked like it would be a fun weekend read. To bad that's not the case. This book combines all the worst of really bad series Sci Fi and really brainless Romance. On top of that I found something about the writing style choppy and hard to read. Even the characters internal thoughs seemed stilted and awkward. The plot had some promise, but there was no follow through.

Rating:
Summary: I loved the Valenwood series
Review: I've read the entire Valenwood series, twice. These books are wonderful. I enjoyed them completely. The series consists of: The Dawn Star #1; The Midnight Moon #2; The White Sun #3; Lord of the Dark Sun #4. If you have not read the previous books in the series, you will be a little lost and probably not enjoy this volume as much.


Rating:
Summary: Next in the series should be better
Review: The basis of this story is a good one. For a start, it carries the weight of a successful series behind it and the benefit of meeting again with old friends. Ariana is the daughter of Arnoth and Sierra from my own favourite of the series 'The White Sun'. The book opens with her capture by the Automon, a large group of machines, who have captured her ship and her shipmates. They are taken to a mining planet where they are to be companions to the men there - ultimately their only value being to breed replacement miners. Ariana hooks up with the leader of the tribe and eventually the two fall in love. After an escape that goes horribly wrong, Ariana believes her lover to be dead. Ten years later they meet again - the pirate calling himself Damen is in fact her long ago lover. Now the leader of a significant pirate force that works against the Automon, the two nevertheless are on opposing sides - Ariana as the daughter of the leader of the Intersystem worlds, and Damen as the pirate leader of a force that has obtained vast quantities of the most valuable fuel in the known systems by theft. Damen must get Ariana to trust him, but it's not a good start that he has kidnapped her and is holding her hostage....

The story is interesting, but it's a pity I can't say that about Ariana. Immature and oblivious is how I'd describe her, and quite seriously flawed as a leader. She talks of duty, but doesn't live that example by her own people as she rapidly forms an attachment to Damen at the beginning of the book instead of looking after her shipmates. The deaths of those she knows hardly appear to touch her, except for Damen's. She is vain, weak and silly, and essentially thinks she has qualities that are not borne out by her actions. I think the only redeeming feature is that even when she comes to agreement with Damen, she is quite clear of her intention to return home, sacrificing even her own happiness for what the reader knows is her daughter's sake.

There is much to enjoy about this book if the reader can overlook what I found to be a severely lacking leading lady. The secondary characters are great - Nob and his likeness to the lingbats, and Fia's story (clearly waiting for it's own book) should be a fantastic one - I wanted to know Fia far, FAR more than Ariana and look forward to reading more of her. The sensual aspects of the story are well described, as usual for Piel. The world building continues to be distinctive and believable and an integral part of the story, rather than simply providing a setting. That Damen and Ariana can laugh at their own vanity is endearing. If Ariana weren't so completely unaware of undercurrents in any given situation - to me unforgivable in any 'ruler', which Ariana is set up to be - I would like her a great deal more.

For me the writing is great, the story line is both funny and compelling. There is depth and complexity to this work that is perhaps less obvious in the previous stories. However, I found Ariana irritated me no end. I'm fiercely hoping that Piel will tell Fia's story, because you can bet I'll snap it up, but of all Piel's female leads, I like Ariana least.

Rating:
Summary: Next in the series should be better
Review: The basis of this story is a good one. For a start, it carries the weight of a successful series behind it and the benefit of meeting again with old friends. Ariana is the daughter of Arnoth and Sierra from my own favourite of the series 'The White Sun'. The book opens with her capture by the Automon, a large group of machines, who have captured her ship and her shipmates. They are taken to a mining planet where they are to be companions to the men there - ultimately their only value being to breed replacement miners. Ariana hooks up with the leader of the tribe and eventually the two fall in love. After an escape that goes horribly wrong, Ariana believes her lover to be dead. Ten years later they meet again - the pirate calling himself Damen is in fact her long ago lover. Now the leader of a significant pirate force that works against the Automon, the two nevertheless are on opposing sides - Ariana as the daughter of the leader of the Intersystem worlds, and Damen as the pirate leader of a force that has obtained vast quantities of the most valuable fuel in the known systems by theft. Damen must get Ariana to trust him, but it's not a good start that he has kidnapped her and is holding her hostage....

The story is interesting, but it's a pity I can't say that about Ariana. Immature and oblivious is how I'd describe her, and quite seriously flawed as a leader. She talks of duty, but doesn't live that example by her own people as she rapidly forms an attachment to Damen at the beginning of the book instead of looking after her shipmates. The deaths of those she knows hardly appear to touch her, except for Damen's. She is vain, weak and silly, and essentially thinks she has qualities that are not borne out by her actions. I think the only redeeming feature is that even when she comes to agreement with Damen, she is quite clear of her intention to return home, sacrificing even her own happiness for what the reader knows is her daughter's sake.

There is much to enjoy about this book if the reader can overlook what I found to be a severely lacking leading lady. The secondary characters are great - Nob and his likeness to the lingbats, and Fia's story (clearly waiting for it's own book) should be a fantastic one - I wanted to know Fia far, FAR more than Ariana and look forward to reading more of her. The sensual aspects of the story are well described, as usual for Piel. The world building continues to be distinctive and believable and an integral part of the story, rather than simply providing a setting. That Damen and Ariana can laugh at their own vanity is endearing. If Ariana weren't so completely unaware of undercurrents in any given situation - to me unforgivable in any 'ruler', which Ariana is set up to be - I would like her a great deal more.

For me the writing is great, the story line is both funny and compelling. There is depth and complexity to this work that is perhaps less obvious in the previous stories. However, I found Ariana irritated me no end. I'm fiercely hoping that Piel will tell Fia's story, because you can bet I'll snap it up, but of all Piel's female leads, I like Ariana least.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: The only thing I will say is get at least 100 pages in the book before you decide to give up. The first 100 pages are slow, but do set the reader up for the rest of the story. The rest of the story was good, but this isn't a must read book.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: The only thing I will say is get at least 100 pages in the book before you decide to give up. The first 100 pages are slow, but do set the reader up for the rest of the story. The rest of the story was good, but this isn't a must read book.

Rating:
Summary: Renewing old acquaintances.
Review: To celebrate graduation from the Intersystem Academy, Princess Ariana persuades her friends to journey to the outpost of the Border Territory. However, instead of fun at the infamous Lodder Vale, Automons, using a strange gas, capture Princess Ariana and her shipmates. Ariana knows her father will come after her with every force the Intersystem can muster even as she is transported to Mining Colony Fifteen. At the slave camp, the men seem identically beaten souls except for one colonist who displays dignity and honor. Ariana begins to fall in love with this slave and together they escape, but he is recaptured.

A decade later, Ariana knows she loves her former slave mate and returns to find him though she believes the colony was destroyed. The nameless slave now using the moniker Damen escaped and has become a pirate. He captures Ariana, but the passion they shared ten years explodes into a deep love. However, each keeps secrets that if revealed will probably end their relationship before it can flourish.

LORD OF THE DARK SUN is a terrific, action-packed romantic science fiction romance that fans of the author will enjoy while turning on new readers to the talent of Stobie Piel. The story line will appeal to both the romance and alien world audience because the non-earthly environs and species seem real and the star-crossed lovers strengthens that authenticity. Though the pirate spin seems unnecessary with all the outer space adventure already packed in the novel, Ms. Piel spins a solar heated tale that shows she is one of the top cross-genre authors under the WHITE SUN.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: action-packed romantic science fiction romance
Review: To celebrate graduation from the Intersystem Academy, Princess Ariana persuades her friends to journey to the outpost of the Border Territory. However, instead of fun at the infamous Lodder Vale, Automons, using a strange gas, capture Princess Ariana and her shipmates. Ariana knows her father will come after her with every force the Intersystem can muster even as she is transported to Mining Colony Fifteen. At the slave camp, the men seem identically beaten souls except for one colonist who displays dignity and honor. Ariana begins to fall in love with this slave and together they escape, but he is recaptured.

A decade later, Ariana knows she loves her former slave mate and returns to find him though she believes the colony was destroyed. The nameless slave now using the moniker Damen escaped and has become a pirate. He captures Ariana, but the passion they shared ten years explodes into a deep love. However, each keeps secrets that if revealed will probably end their relationship before it can flourish.

LORD OF THE DARK SUN is a terrific, action-packed romantic science fiction romance that fans of the author will enjoy while turning on new readers to the talent of Stobie Piel. The story line will appeal to both the romance and alien world audience because the non-earthly environs and species seem real and the star-crossed lovers strengthens that authenticity. Though the pirate spin seems unnecessary with all the outer space adventure already packed in the novel, Ms. Piel spins a solar heated tale that shows she is one of the top cross-genre authors under the WHITE SUN.

Harriet Klausner