A Matter of Profit

Rating:
Summary: What price surrender?
Review: Ahvren's people, the Vivitare, are strangers in a bizarre land. Without one shot fired, they have become the rulers & although Ahvren welcomed the peace, he doesn't quite trust it. How could a people surrender so easily?

For all of Ahvren's young life, he's been a warrior & now he's in a battle of wits & not sure he's up to it!

I was impressed by this her first effort in science fiction - in some ways, & not bad ways, A Matter of Profit took me back to the days of pulp sci-fi & I once again was a young man off on an Adventure! The humor is keen & the intrigue murky. The bad characters are very bad & the protagonist, though a bit muddled at times, is clean of heart & sticks unerringly to his task.

Hilari Bell grabs you, puts you in the story, takes you away & keeps you there!

Rating:
Summary: A Matter of the Imagia Nation
Review: Hilari Bell's A Matter of Profit is one of the most original reads ever. Hilari has a unique ability to capture a reader from the outset of her books, and never free that reader until the tale is told. A Matter of Profit is no exception of this ability of hers. This book deals on a multi-themed scale. Its main themes are spellbinding. It deals with inequality of women roles, how to deal with an alien culture, and the age-old question of what is more important, money or knowledge. Hilari has the ability to create a new universe from scratch, discover new races, develop a dazzling don't-want-to-put-down book, and intertwine many morals all into one story. Hilari's A Matter of Profit is an amazing book as are her other books, Navahor and Songs of Power. These amazing stories come from an amazing source, Hilari Bell's Imagia Nation. Everyone should visit that wonderful country at least once, so pick up one of her books, and read it now.

Rating:
Summary: A parallel world to Star Wars
Review: Remember the space bar in Star Wars, with all manner of weird creatures, strange musical instruments, odd languages, and yet all of them able to communicate with each other? That is an easy way to visualize the setting of this book. The basic plot is that a brother tries to uncover a conspiracy against the Emperor in time to save his sister from being forced to marry the emperor's cruel son. Embellish that with a myriad of subplots, and embroider it with bizarre life forms, and you have an idea of Bell's story. The leaders of the Confederacy are human, but they are far outnumbered by a vast variety of other beings. With tensions between these various societies, values and cultures, the larger design of immigration and cultural assimilation is woven into the book. I found these issues to fit awkwardly, or heavy-handedly, into the tale, but otherwise found it a fun quick-paced story. Consider Bell's other book Goblin Wood, which I preferred to this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Matter of Profit
Review: Viv Ahvhren is a warrior who needs a break. He doesn't want to fight any more. When Ahvren's father is about to send him to a new war, Ahvren won't go. If Ahvren does not want to go to war, he will have to meet his father's conditions. If not then he will go back to fighting.