Promised Land (Ace Science Fiction)

Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: Really, I couldn't. I got the book based on the description, expecting a mildly diverting steamy Sci-Fi romp. I was pleasantly surprised to find this instead, a quietly engaging and very romantic story. Even without the science fiction scenery, this book could have worked just as well as a modern tale about the "Big City Girl" going back to the "Small Town" she was born in and learning that the local people aren't anything like the insufferable yokels she thought they were, finding love and her true calling along the way. Those expecting instant gratification from this story may be disappointed as the pacing of the book forces the main character (along with the reader) into a more gentle tempo than most science fiction, but if you're into romantic fish-out-of-water stories in exotic locales, you may just end up staying up all night reading it like I did :)

Rating:
Summary: The travel scenes drag on
Review: Two things bothered me about this book. The travel scenes were too long and the ending wasn't what I expected. The book was more travel than science fiction. Delanna only discovered her love for Sonny after they were stranded at the lanze because of a hail storm. Cleopatra, her scarab, was declared a Royal Maderin to keep Doc Lyle from disposing of her.

Rating:
Summary: Bad beginning, slightly entertaining in the end
Review: When I first picked up this book, I detested the main character and her bug as shallow, stupid, unadaptable and spoiled. I plowed through only because I love Connie Willis. Once Delanna, the main character, reaches her farm, things began to amuse me more - however, that might only be because I enjoy romance. The book was predictable, the characters infuriating and their emotions undecipherable - who moons after a five-year-old for fifteen years, anyway? And why does Delanna like Cadiz so much when all she ever does is complain? On second thoughts, maybe that is why - they're kindred spirits. Connie Willis can do so much better!