Rating: 
Summary: Firebird and Fusion Fire
Review: Kathy has our attention. My family (wife, sons [ages 12, 14, 30], daughter-in-law and I are waiting for more. Move over Asimov, Clarke, Perettie, Ringermanson and the man from Narnia, Kathy is here. Keep them coming, Kathy, we need this kind of great stuff for ourselves as well as our children. I've been a sci-fi buff ever since, in the first grade [1952] I read "Mrs. Piggly Wiggly goes to Mars". I've read them all. Let us know when you are coming out with more about Ellen and Netria. God bless you.
Rating: 
Summary: Good if not extraordinary
Review: The original Firebird was a good plot and interesting characters somewhat marred by a beginners writing style. The rewrite comes back and cleans up a lot of those faults. Unfortunately it adds several new ones, leaving us with a book essentially about the same quality as the old one.Ms. Tyers gives us more depth on Netaian culture and religion, which was welcome. She cleans up Phoena's character a bit, which is the original wavered between spoiled brat and true evil plotter. She moves the start of the romance between Firebird and Brennan closer to the end of the book, which is more feasible. She removes several improbably trusting moments from the book - I mean really, the Federates allowing the slaughter of most of their negotiating team? All of these are good things. On the down side, without the attraction to Brennan so visible, Firebird becomes rather insipid in the middle section of the book, the religious questing might have taken the place of the romance in providing drive, but somehow doesn't. Instead she's barely gotten started questioning when she has a huge epiphanal moment, and now she believes, even if she doesn't quite know what. Ummm - if God had given me a great epiphanal moment right at the start, I wouldn't have had any problem believing either. Things are usually more subtle than that. The Ehretan religion is a bit of a problem too. For a pre-Messianic religion they seem to know an awful lot about what this Messiah is going to be like, and it bears a suspicious resemblance to our Christ. After all, Jesus wasn't at all what the Jews of the day had in mind. There are some other minor quibbles. Ellet Kinsman is more ethical in her behavior in this version, but somehow less likeable. The old Ellet would do the virtually unforgiveable, but she was doing it out of great emotions and desires which we understood, and could understand even if we disagreed. The new Ellet does less horrible things, but we're given less reason for why she does them, so she seems very dry and remote. All in all, I call it a wash, it was a pretty good book before, it's a pretty good book now, just different in emphasis.
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