Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling #12) by Nalini Singh--Start date June 9th?

[Lisarenee]

Sara asked, "Has Sahara been mentioned in the previous books? I really want to know what her exact "shadow ability" is."

Not that I remember.

[Darcy]

Sara wrote: "Thoughts/Comments on Chapters 20 - 33

Warning, Spoilers Ahead...

Has Sahara been mentioned in the previous books? I really want to know what her exact "shadow ability" is."

I don't remember her being mentioned, but if she has been missing for 7 years it would make sense that she hadn't been.

[Darcy]

I finished and while I liked this one, I'm not like most of my GR friends with thinking it was the best thing since sliced bread.


Spoilers Chapters 41 - End

I loved the scene where all the different factions came together to thwart things in SF. It feels like this is what the author was building towards the whole series. That only by working together do they have a chance at survival.

I feel sorry for both Sahara and Kaleb when the whole truth came out. I hated that the one good thing that Kaleb had in his life was used against him, hated that Sahara knew that, but even worse was that the good that Kaleb tried was kept hidden from him.

With the end the whole world in this series has been forced to change. It will be interesting to see how they all move forward.

[Lisarenee]

*************SPOILERS Beginning thru Chapter 16************

We finally have a name--Sahara Kyriakus (NightStar)

So Caleb is on a mission that surprisingly Sahara isn't on board with--revenge. I wonder if this is because most of what was done to her she doesn't remember or because she is just that type of person? I'd be afraid the people who held her would do the same to others.

Tatiana had a part in the kidnapping, but we still don't know why Sahara was kidnapped? It doesn't sound like it was to control Kaleb as it was mentioned that it was before he was totally under Enrique's wing?

So the other person talked about being present during the murders in book one is Kaleb. Could Nalini been planning this from the beginning or just left the door open just in case?

Interesting how Sahara subconsciously knew Kaleb wouldn't hurt her and she created a key to unlock her labyrith she'd created of her mind.

I wonder if any other council members were involved in this? Will Kaleb tell Anthony about his Niece? I have to look up the connection between them.

[Sara]

Thoughts/Comments on Chapters 34 - End

Warning, Spoilers Ahead...

I assume the mystery of the Ghost's identity has been a subplot of the past few books.

Kaleb has an interesting definition of what counts as torture.

I enjoyed the book. I haven't read any of the previous ones but I was still able to follow along with the plot without any difficulty. I think that if I had read the previous books first some of the plot - the revelation of Ghost's identity for example - would have had more of an impact on me.

[Darcy]

Sara wrote: "Thoughts/Comments on Chapters 34 - End

Warning, Spoilers Ahead...

I assume the mystery of the Ghost's identity has been a subplot of the past few books."

It has been a big thing in the last few books.

[Lisarenee]

Has anyone else heard the rumor that this is the last book of the series? I'm hoping it's not. This is one of those series that just keeps getting better and better and I'd hate for it to be over.

[Darcy]

Lisarenee wrote: "Has anyone else heard the rumor that this is the last book of the series? I'm hoping it's not. This is one of those series that just keeps getting better and better and I'd hate for it to be over."

I hadn't heard that. I do think this one is a game changer for many aspects.

[Lisarenee]

Darcy wrote: "Lisarenee wrote: "Has anyone else heard the rumor that this is the last book of the series? I'm hoping it's not. This is one of those series that just keeps getting better and better and I'd hate f..."

It has the potential to be the last in that most authors save the best for last or, perhaps I should say, the most wanted story for last. Examples would be the answer to who Sookie ended up with, Nix's love story in Kresley Cole's Immortals after Dark, ect, but there is hope in that Sherrilyn Kenyon kept going after Acheron. I hope the person who told me it was the last of the series was wrong. Don't they usually mark them as end of series with a lot of hype if it is?

[Darcy]

Lisarenee wrote: "Don't they usually mark them as end of series with a lot of hype if it is?"

They do and with as much as people have been going crazy about this one I would think it would be all that they could talk about.

[Alisa]

It is not the last book. I participated in a q & a w/ the author a few months ago & she goes not a have a set plan for this series (although she does w/Guild Hunter). She said there is not a specific end in sight yet. My opinion is she will see it thru the fall of silence & whatever the outcome of that will be.

[Lisarenee]

So I finished, but my last set of comments got deleted. I'll write my thoughts in the morning. Just feeling tired today.

[Darcy]

Lisarenee wrote: "So I finished, but my last set of comments got deleted. I'll write my thoughts in the morning. Just feeling tired today."

I hate it when that happens. It has happened so many times to me that I make a habit of copying any large things so that I can paste them if they are wiped out.

[Lisarenee]

I know Darcy, it happens far to frequently. :(
**************SPOILERS FOR THE END*********************
So what I liked about this book was a number of things. Yes, I had kind of decided Kaleb was probably the ghost by book 4, but I wasn't ruling out others. I kept going back and forth on people and actually forgot who I suspected most until I cut and paste my cheat sheet from the buddy read I did.

I think seeing the progression of the series from start to this point is kind of fun and I don't think I'd be as vested in the characters if I'd skipped the other books, or for that matter, have liked the story as much.

I liked how everyone feared Kaleb, including Kaleb himself, except for Sahara. It was interesting to see how Kaleb fit into Enrique's plans. What a horrible thing to be under such a mad man's control and be able to do nothing about it. After what Sahara revealed about her own kidnapping, I have to question if any of the horrible things Kaleb thought he did actually happened? Could it be another mind alteration of reality?

I liked how when he could, Kaleb did what he could to do the right thing. It kind of reminded me of Katsa from Graceling.

I have to say I did not like the repetition of the scene where Kaleb and Sahara met and became friends. I felt the author could have shaved a bit of that off. It was nice to get more than one side to the story, but it was a little much.

I like how we slowly got the back story of the items which were hidden in plain view in his library.

I thought for sure Nikita and Anthony's story would be exploited a little more in this story and was disappointed it wasn't. In the last book there was talk of the two being at each other's houses much later than they should. I want them to be the first PSY/PSY couple.

The whole pure Psy reminded me of Hitler and his wish to create the perfect race.

Sahara's ability was interesting, but I thought there'd be more to it.

[Lisarenee]

Sara said, "Kaleb's a bit psychotic - whenever you start feeling that the deaths of a significant portion of the population is collateral damage you need to check yourself into therapy. If I was Sahara, this is the point where I would be slowly backing away and looking for a place to hide."

True, but if you take a lethal person and give them no conscious it almost seems a recipe for disaster and that is how the Psy were programmed. The thought was Silence would help get rid them of emotions thereby giving them better control of their abilities by eliminating the urge to use their powers either purposefully or by accident. If you look at serial killers and the like, many have no conscious and those are by far the scariest of people.


The childhood flashbacks were nice - otherwise the 6 year age difference in their relationship as teens was creepy.

This is where knowing the way Psy are would eliminate the creepiness of the relationship. When I think of the Psy, I always picture Spock from Star Trek when the series began. Everything had to be logical and anything he considered not logical had to be explained. He displayed little to no emotion and really didn't understand relationships. Later we saw fractures in that icy exterior.

[Sara]

Lisarenee wrote: "This is where knowing the way Psy are would eliminate the creepiness of the relationship. When I think of the Psy, I always picture Spock from Star Trek when the series began. Everything had to be logical and anything he considered not logical had to be explained. He displayed little to no emotion and really didn't understand relationships. Later we saw fractures in that icy exterior"

That was my thought too when I read about the Silence: Psy = Vulcans.

[Alisa]

Lisarenee wrote: "Sara said, "Kaleb's a bit psychotic - whenever you start feeling that the deaths of a significant portion of the population is collateral damage you need to check yourself into therapy. If I was Sa..."


I never thought of the Spock thing but that's a really good comparison.

[Lauren]

Started reading and am on chapter 5. Looks like I was right about the heroine and wrong about the hero, which means I'm probably wrong about the Ghost - pity, (view spoiler)[Kaleb was my best guess (hide spoiler)].

[Alisa]

Lauren wrote: "Started reading and am on chapter 5. Looks like I was right about the heroine and wrong about the hero, which means I'm probably wrong about the Ghost - pity, [spoilers removed]."


Who did you think the hero was going to be?

[Lauren]

I thought it would be Vasic, the Arrow.

[Lauren]

***Spoilers up to Chapter 18***

Enjoying the slow build up of chemistry and tension between Sahara and Kaleb. Nevertheless, the pacing is quite slow and there are a lot of hints and innuendo without getting to the actual details of what happened to Kaleb when he was under Enrique's "tutelage" and how he and Sahara actually met.

I love the charm bracelet though and how each of the charms has significance to both Kaleb and Sahara even though she is having a hard time remembering.

Tatiana has taken a back seat in the previous books so it is interesting to have her as the villain in this one. Since Ming is usually the one with the nasty manipulation and torture of Psy with tremendous powers (Sienna), I thought he would be the one who had imprisoned Sahara.

Can't wait to find out who the Ghost is.

[Alisa]

@Laurent....I thought it was be one of the Arrows too.

[Lisarenee]

The only possible reason I wouldn't have thought it was an Arrow was in one of the books, possibly Kiss of Snow--I can't recall which book it was, The Ghost said something about needing to go to a party around the time he blew up the facility that was doing testing on The Lost. I didn't think an Arrow would need to make an appearance at such an event, but maybe I didn't remember that properly?

[Lauren]

Finished it last night and enjoyed it overall.

The Changelings have played such a significant role in the series up to this point, so the fact that they keep such a low profile in this book was disappointing.

The revelation of the Ghost's identity was somewhat anti-climactic. I always though and hoped it would be (view spoiler)[Kaleb (hide spoiler)] but somehow convinced myself after Nalini's Q&A and other people's comments, that it wouldn't be him and then it turned out that it was - so the tension kind of got lost in the mix.

@Lisarenee - I can't remember that scene. I have to go back and re-read Kiss of Snow. It's my favorite.

[Alisa]

Lisarenee wrote: "The only possible reason I wouldn't have thought it was an Arrow was in one of the books, possibly Kiss of Snow--I can't recall which book it was, The Ghost said something about needing to go to a ..."


I didn't mean I thought the arrow was a ghost, although I was open to that idea (great catch on the party thing). I thought the hero in this book was going to be one of the arrows.

[Alisa]

Now that you guys are all done I have a question. Where do you think she is going to take the story of Vasic & Aiden (is that the other arrow's name? I'm too lazy to get up to get my book and look)

[Lisarenee]

I think the next book is going to be about Nikita(Is that her name) and Anthony.

I think Vasic's and Aiden's stories will be later will be later. I predict the Psy will take the floor, er, pages for a while. The Changelings were front and center too long. Of course there's always the romance talked of in this book--who was it? Nina and Xaivier? Forgive me I've got a horrible cold and headache and names are all mixing and mashing together. Isn't that the couple who were torn apart but never got any final closure?

[Lauren]

I agree that the next few books will probably focus on the Psy. I'm not sure I like the idea of Nikita and Anthony getting a full length book - I don't really like her character.

Yes, it does look like Nina and Xavier are in the works as a couple. They are human, so it might be a secondary romance.

Vasic and Aden will probably get their own books (or maybe they will be an M/M couple). I also wonder if Alice (the woman in a coma) or Silver (Kaleb's assistant) might get their own books.

[Lisarenee]

Lauren wrote: "I agree that the next few books will probably focus on the Psy. I'm not sure I like the idea of Nikita and Anthony getting a full length book - I don't really like her character.

Yes, it does loo..."

Now there's a thought. It would be nice for Alice to get a HEA and an Arrow would be an interesting pairing.

I agree Nikita does seem unlikeable, BUT wouldn't that be fun seeing Singh twist things so we really like her. I've always felt there's more to her than meets the eye and she's not as ice cold as she'd let everyone believe.