Eden Burning

Rating:
Summary: Sweet but Silly
Review: I purchased the audio version of this book knowing it was one of the author's earlier books. I've always been a fan of Elizabeth Lowell's and when you compare her early works to her current books I can see the difference in character and plot development. Eden Burning lacks depth, though I do give the author points for trying to incorporate some of the technical aspects during a volcanic eruption. I thought the addition of drums as a sound effect on the cassette was a little silly and distracting as it made me think of cannibals rather than Hawaiian dancing. I felt the book ended too abruptly (at least it did on the audio version, I don't know how it is on the text version) and there was a brief message from the author noting she had revisited the characters and had beefed up the storyline. Some things are best left unvisited, and Eden Burning is one of them. Only the most die hard of Lowell's fans may want to read this and appreciate the literary growth of Lowell's skill in her more recent work.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth re-publishing
Review: I've enjoyed other books by Elizabeth Lowell but this one was decidedly below her usual quality. The characters were a little flat and she was not up to her usual research standards. While most of her information on volcanos rang true she made a lot of errors involving local Hawaiian culture and fact that I could recognize after living in Honolulu for only three years. Clearly she never had anyone from Hawaii read and critique the book. Skip this book and wait for a NEW book unless you are a die-hard Lowell fan.

Rating:
Summary: UNSYMPATHETIC CHARACTERS, WEAK PLOT INSULTS HAWAIIANS
Review: When is it going to dawn on writers/Mainlanders running from their mistakes that we in Hawaii don't want them to come here and bring their "baggage" with them? No matter how "at home" you feel, what kind of spiritual moments you think you have here, you will be an outsider until the day you die-preferably somewhere else. Lowell buys into every tourist cliche ever contrived when she misuses famous Hawaiian names and then names her heroine Pele:that alone should be enough to make Kilaeua erupt in indignation. Using the hula for sexual tension and having onstage clinches is another major no-no. Did she do ANY research with local Hawaiians? This is a formula book with the requisite cute meet, sexual tension, sloppy sex, the "bump" when there is a misunderstanding, and the reconciliation. Romance readers should skip it because it appears hurriedly written and poorly edited, not to mention the commodification of Hawaiian culture for a draw, and just plain bad research - I was a fan until read this one. Now it'll be a while before I buy Lowell again and I hope she rewrites this one with more sensitivity to the culture she pillages for material.