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Tales of the Citadel #50
Liquid Compassion
Abitika grew up with a talent for changing the way people think. When she used that talent on behalf of her sister, it gained her five years of confinement.
The Citadel has been checking Jrinka colony for years, and Abitika was one of the most promising sightings. They pry her out of her confinement and send her to Morganti in the nick of time.
Recovering from her incarceration, Bits is shocked to find out that her talent for pheromonal manipulation also extends to her mind.
Turnari is the only one willing to take the risk of training the new specialist and teaching her what her mind was capable of. They have a true meeting of the minds but they both want more.
The Citadel has been checking Jrinka colony for years, and Abitika was one of the most promising sightings. They pry her out of her confinement and send her to Morganti in the nick of time.
Recovering from her incarceration, Bits is shocked to find out that her talent for pheromonal manipulation also extends to her mind.
Turnari is the only one willing to take the risk of training the new specialist and teaching her what her mind was capable of. They have a true meeting of the minds but they both want more.
66 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 28, 2017
3 stars.
The heroine's talent for this one is a bit gross, she can manipulate others by spraying them with her sweat.. ick...
The heroine's talent for this one is a bit gross, she can manipulate others by spraying them with her sweat.. ick...
January 16, 2016
The opening of this short story is aching and compelling and then it just get weird but the love story is nice and the heroine's interaction with other characters is fun.
October 14, 2015
Interesting premise, good writing, too abbreviated
Some things make good short stories. This one suffered because of it. There were places where it felt like chunks were missing--and not just because they moved forward hunks of time without any nod to the reader (literally, in one place between one para and the next, it moved days with nothing).
It was also VERY short on plot. At the beginning, she had issues because of a teen 'prank' gone wrong that nearly got her slowly starved to death. While she was rescued and her physical condition played a large part in the rest of the book, SHE actually played no part in what happened after and no mention of it came up after her rescue (other than aforementioned recovery). Her first assignment, she almost 'addicts' her partner and her lie to cover it up becomes the basis for the fastest switch to a romance I've ever read. It made it seem like the author wasn't sure whether to write a 'straight' scifi or a romance, so she tried to do both in too short a space (bad scifi pun, I know).
That said, it had pretty good writing, which includes the editing. I think I only found a couple of spots where it bothered me--a nice change of pace for me, as I'm picky about editing.
I did like the premise, too, which was an empath with the ability to 'program' her cellular matter (skin, blood, tears, sweat, etc.) to change a person's mood/personality toward a desired emotion. The few places it was showcased were pretty awesome. Not enough different moods were shown and no real sense of what happened after she left the scene were the only drawbacks on this subject.
To sum up, I may pick up some of her work in the future, but unless she starts bundling the FIFTY (yes, you read that right--a big five-oh) shorts in this series (which doesn't include the related precursor series) into something more manageable, I probably won't pick up the backlist.
Some things make good short stories. This one suffered because of it. There were places where it felt like chunks were missing--and not just because they moved forward hunks of time without any nod to the reader (literally, in one place between one para and the next, it moved days with nothing).
It was also VERY short on plot. At the beginning, she had issues because of a teen 'prank' gone wrong that nearly got her slowly starved to death. While she was rescued and her physical condition played a large part in the rest of the book, SHE actually played no part in what happened after and no mention of it came up after her rescue (other than aforementioned recovery). Her first assignment, she almost 'addicts' her partner and her lie to cover it up becomes the basis for the fastest switch to a romance I've ever read. It made it seem like the author wasn't sure whether to write a 'straight' scifi or a romance, so she tried to do both in too short a space (bad scifi pun, I know).
That said, it had pretty good writing, which includes the editing. I think I only found a couple of spots where it bothered me--a nice change of pace for me, as I'm picky about editing.
I did like the premise, too, which was an empath with the ability to 'program' her cellular matter (skin, blood, tears, sweat, etc.) to change a person's mood/personality toward a desired emotion. The few places it was showcased were pretty awesome. Not enough different moods were shown and no real sense of what happened after she left the scene were the only drawbacks on this subject.
To sum up, I may pick up some of her work in the future, but unless she starts bundling the FIFTY (yes, you read that right--a big five-oh) shorts in this series (which doesn't include the related precursor series) into something more manageable, I probably won't pick up the backlist.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews