To Trade the Stars (Trade Pact Universe, 3)

Rating:
Summary: The Hounds of Love
Review: "To Trade the Stars," the third in Julie E. Czerneda's "Trade Pact Universe" series, is as much about love (and looking for it in the wrong and the right places) as it is about resolving all--err, well many--of the plot lines begun in "A Thousand Words for Stranger" and "Ties of Power." And there are all kinds of love here: love of family; love of friends; even love between species. All the characters from the earlier books return: Sira di Sarc, now Speaker for the Clan Council; her "Chosen" Captain Jason Morgan; her schemeing relatives; Huido, the restauranteur; the twisted schemer Ren Symon; and the maddening Drapsk, who still insist that Sira be their "Mystic One." An interesting new clan member, Ruti, is also introduced, and she plays a key role in the proceedings.

Again the tale, at least slightly tongue in cheek (Sira is captured by Morgan's enemy and everyone else is zipping along trying to find her), rollicks along in alternating "Chapters" (told in the first person by Sira) and "Interludes," which clue you in to what other characters are doing. Czerneda keeps things moving along to a satisfying, moving finale.

While the publisher is billing the book as the end of a trilogy the author does seem to have left the possibility of continuing on (I for one would like to know what's next for Ruti) and I for one hope that she does.

Warning: Don't even think about reading this unless you've read the first two books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: The Hounds of Love
Review: "To Trade the Stars," the third in Julie E. Czerneda's "Trade Pact Universe" series, is as much about love (and looking for it in the wrong and the right places) as it is about resolving all--err, well many--of the plot lines begun in "A Thousand Words for Stranger" and "Ties of Power." And there are all kinds of love here: love of family; love of friends; even love between species. All the characters from the earlier books return: Sira di Sarc, now Speaker for the Clan Council; her "Chosen" Captain Jason Morgan; her schemeing relatives; Huido, the restauranteur; the twisted schemer Ren Symon; and the maddening Drapsk, who still insist that Sira be their "Mystic One." An interesting new clan member, Ruti, is also introduced, and she plays a key role in the proceedings.

Again the tale, at least slightly tongue in cheek (Sira is captured by Morgan's enemy and everyone else is zipping along trying to find her), rollicks along in alternating "Chapters" (told in the first person by Sira) and "Interludes," which clue you in to what other characters are doing. Czerneda keeps things moving along to a satisfying, moving finale.

While the publisher is billing the book as the end of a trilogy the author does seem to have left the possibility of continuing on (I for one would like to know what's next for Ruti) and I for one hope that she does.

Warning: Don't even think about reading this unless you've read the first two books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: colorful action packed science fiction
Review: In the far distant future, mankind lives on many different worlds all across the known universe. Until recently, The Clan, a humanoid looking xenophobic race with incredible mental powers have hidden themselves in plain sight on the human worlds. Now that Sira is the speaker for the clan council, the clan is a member of the Trade Pact. They fervently hope that working with humanity will be able to save them from extinction.

Sira is mated to human Jason Morgan and their mental bond is unique in a universe full of wonders. Jason is a space trader and Sira is part of his crew but when their spaceship needs repairs, Morgan uses his powers as a telepath as payment for getting the ship fixed. Morgan's most deadly enemy captures Sira forcing Jason to hunt for her, a job made much more difficult by a race who has their own plans for his beloved.

Space opera fans will love TO TRADE THE STARS, a colorful action packed novel that brings to life many new worlds inhabited by various sentient and colorful species. The protagonists of this work are endearing characters whose love for each other means risking their lives to make sure the other one is safe. Julie E. Czernada ties up all the loose ends in her Trade Pact universe, making this one the top science fiction series of the new millennium.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Nice conclusion to the series
Review: The five stars here are more for the series as a whole than for just this novel, "To Trade the Stars." Yet, this novel is still better than average (I'd give it about 3.5 to 4 stars if it were a stand-alone work), mainly because of the romance between Barac sud Sarc and Ruti. Barac, who's been an important minor character in the first two books ("A Thousand Words for Stranger," "Ties of Power"), really comes into his own, here.

And it's because of the fact that he finds love, then is able to act on that love (when he'd believed he was incapable of finding anyone) that makes this book so good. His anguish at finding love, to believing he wouldn't be able to convert (due to the additional psionic complications of being a member of the Clan, and his beloved also being the same), to finding out that yes, indeed, he'd finally found his beloved and *was* going to be able to live the rest of his life with her, was well worth every bit of what I paid for this novel.

The rest? Well, the Morgans spend too much time apart, here. Considering Sira has the ability to teleport practically anywhere, Ms. Czerneda had to put her basically into a coma, locked inside her head -- that made sense. But making the Drapsk do it, and then not really explaining why they did it except with the sort of Gallic shrug (as in, "Who knows why they did it? They're aliens!") didn't really cut it with me.

I really liked Huido, though, and his colorful asides in the Interludes also helped liven up the book. Still, as I said, if this were a stand alone novel, I'd have given it a lesser rating. And because it _is_ a series novel, I'd definitely not even try to have someone start here; read the previous two books in the series, or you'll be hopelessly lost.

Rating:
Summary: Nice conclusion to the series
Review: The five stars here are more for the series as a whole than for just this novel, "To Trade the Stars." Yet, this novel is still better than average (I'd give it about 3.5 to 4 stars if it were a stand-alone work), mainly because of the romance between Barac sud Sarc and Ruti. Barac, who's been an important minor character in the first two books ("A Thousand Words for Stranger," "Ties of Power"), really comes into his own, here.

And it's because of the fact that he finds love, then is able to act on that love (when he'd believed he was incapable of finding anyone) that makes this book so good. His anguish at finding love, to believing he wouldn't be able to convert (due to the additional psionic complications of being a member of the Clan, and his beloved also being the same), to finding out that yes, indeed, he'd finally found his beloved and *was* going to be able to live the rest of his life with her, was well worth every bit of what I paid for this novel.

The rest? Well, the Morgans spend too much time apart, here. Considering Sira has the ability to teleport practically anywhere, Ms. Czerneda had to put her basically into a coma, locked inside her head -- that made sense. But making the Drapsk do it, and then not really explaining why they did it except with the sort of Gallic shrug (as in, "Who knows why they did it? They're aliens!") didn't really cut it with me.

I really liked Huido, though, and his colorful asides in the Interludes also helped liven up the book. Still, as I said, if this were a stand alone novel, I'd have given it a lesser rating. And because it _is_ a series novel, I'd definitely not even try to have someone start here; read the previous two books in the series, or you'll be hopelessly lost.

Rating:
Summary: Nice conclusion to the series
Review: The five stars here are more for the series as a whole than for just this novel, "To Trade the Stars." Yet, this novel is still better than average (I'd give it about 3.5 to 4 stars if it were a stand-alone work), mainly because of the romance between Barac sud Sarc and Ruti. Barac, who's been an important minor character in the first two books ("A Thousand Words for Stranger," "Ties of Power"), really comes into his own, here.

And it's because of the fact that he finds love, then is able to act on that love (when he'd believed he was incapable of finding anyone) that makes this book so good. His anguish at finding love, to believing he wouldn't be able to convert (due to the additional psionic complications of being a member of the Clan, and his beloved also being the same), to finding out that yes, indeed, he'd finally found his beloved and *was* going to be able to live the rest of his life with her, was well worth every bit of what I paid for this novel.

The rest? Well, the Morgans spend too much time apart, here. Considering Sira has the ability to teleport practically anywhere, Ms. Czerneda had to put her basically into a coma, locked inside her head -- that made sense. But making the Drapsk do it, and then not really explaining why they did it except with the sort of Gallic shrug (as in, "Who knows why they did it? They're aliens!") didn't really cut it with me.

I really liked Huido, though, and his colorful asides in the Interludes also helped liven up the book. Still, as I said, if this were a stand alone novel, I'd have given it a lesser rating. And because it _is_ a series novel, I'd definitely not even try to have someone start here; read the previous two books in the series, or you'll be hopelessly lost.

Rating:
Summary: But Why Did She End It THAT Way?
Review: This final book in the Trade Pact Universe trilogy picks up three months after Ties of Power. The Clan have signed on to the Trade Pact, but their assimilation is not without its rough spots, and the break-away Clan colony seems to be up to mischief again. The Human telepath, Symon, may also be building up to some sort of power play. On top of all that, a contingent of Drapsk shows up with warnings of a new alien menace. Each of these story lines involves a number of peripheral stories.

Events conspire once again to separate the Morgans for most of the book. Sira spends several chapters locked inside her own head, suddenly reliving memories that had remained suppressed even after her previous mind block was removed. Though well written as usual, these passages do little to move the story along.

As before, Sira's first-person story alternates with third-person accounts of Morgan and several other key characters. Also as before, all of the characters and locales are well-drawn, the plots creative. There are murders, disappearances, chases, and assorted surprises. Maybe just a little too assorted. It isn't until the final third of To Trade the Stars that the narratives at last organize themselves around a "main" plot that gives some focus to the rest of the book.

If anything, the many story lines in Stars are even more sprawling than in Ties, which in turn was more disjointed than Strangers. Variety is the spice of life, but too much spice can overwhelm an otherwise fine dish. This trilogy has all the high-quality ingredients that make up a fine dish, but a little less variety in its story lines would have made it easier to savor their individual flavors and enjoy the blended whole. In the first two books, Czerneda set up several excellent story lines relating to Clan, Human telepaths, or both, all of which deserved better treatment in Stars. Instead, many story lines have been given pat wrap-ups-or have simply been dropped-without ever being fully developed. Czerneda's eventual choice of direction for the last part of the book is inexplicable in view of everything else she had to work with, and ultimately disappointing.

Czerneda's ability to create vivid and diverse characters, cultures, and places is by now well-established, as is her skill at braiding together a number of small but intriguing story lines within a single book. There are times, however, when the reader misses a strong, centralized plot to unify the wealth of information and viewpoints she provides so well. The Trade Pact Universe is a fascinating construct, well worth revisiting again and again, as Andre Norton has done in any number of otherwise-unrelated tales set within a common universe. Perhaps in future efforts, Czerneda will take her readers back to fill out those abandoned story lines, preferably with more depth and just a little less scope.

Rating:
Summary: But Why Did She End It THAT Way?
Review: This final book in the Trade Pact Universe trilogy picks up three months after Ties of Power. The Clan have signed on to the Trade Pact, but their assimilation is not without its rough spots, and the break-away Clan colony seems to be up to mischief again. The Human telepath, Symon, may also be building up to some sort of power play. On top of all that, a contingent of Drapsk shows up with warnings of a new alien menace. Each of these story lines involves a number of peripheral stories.

Events conspire once again to separate the Morgans for most of the book. Sira spends several chapters locked inside her own head, suddenly reliving memories that had remained suppressed even after her previous mind block was removed. Though well written as usual, these passages do little to move the story along.

As before, Sira's first-person story alternates with third-person accounts of Morgan and several other key characters. Also as before, all of the characters and locales are well-drawn, the plots creative. There are murders, disappearances, chases, and assorted surprises. Maybe just a little too assorted. It isn't until the final third of To Trade the Stars that the narratives at last organize themselves around a "main" plot that gives some focus to the rest of the book.

If anything, the many story lines in Stars are even more sprawling than in Ties, which in turn was more disjointed than Strangers. Variety is the spice of life, but too much spice can overwhelm an otherwise fine dish. This trilogy has all the high-quality ingredients that make up a fine dish, but a little less variety in its story lines would have made it easier to savor their individual flavors and enjoy the blended whole. In the first two books, Czerneda set up several excellent story lines relating to Clan, Human telepaths, or both, all of which deserved better treatment in Stars. Instead, many story lines have been given pat wrap-ups-or have simply been dropped-without ever being fully developed. Czerneda's eventual choice of direction for the last part of the book is inexplicable in view of everything else she had to work with, and ultimately disappointing.

Czerneda's ability to create vivid and diverse characters, cultures, and places is by now well-established, as is her skill at braiding together a number of small but intriguing story lines within a single book. There are times, however, when the reader misses a strong, centralized plot to unify the wealth of information and viewpoints she provides so well. The Trade Pact Universe is a fascinating construct, well worth revisiting again and again, as Andre Norton has done in any number of otherwise-unrelated tales set within a common universe. Perhaps in future efforts, Czerneda will take her readers back to fill out those abandoned story lines, preferably with more depth and just a little less scope.