Gayle GreenoReseñas

Great cover illustration, disappointing book

Three stars, almost four. (Terrible title, though: ignore the title, read the synopsis & reviews.)

This was a pretty absorbing/engaging read, and the setting was very rich. There's the overall culture on earth, the splintering of the nations the amalgamation of the corporations the major & minor religions*; the technology, orbital mechanics, and social culture of the space stations; the culture of the acting troupes (mainly Stanislaus Troupe but others as well); the culture of the faith-healing compound.

((*Pro tip: if you're describing the state of global Christian religions, don't forget the Orthodox East!))

Then there's the personal relationship dynamics: within and around Stanislaus Troupe; within the faith-healing family; among the corp-religion handlers. And all the political and personal intrigue.

Then there are the deeply explored themes of embodiment, life, death, living, dying, and killing; with interlocking themes of love, loyalty, and betrayal. This is really what the book is about. Is living as a brain in a box really living? If you want to die, should you be forced to go on living? How do parents, children, spouses, siblings love each other? When does love turn to something else? How many forms of betrayal are there?

Really, this was a very good book. Only two things kept me from giving it four stars:
1) one of the main characters, Glynn, spends too much time being too whiny for me -- not that this was unrealistic for a 15yo boy in his situation, just that it got on my nerves.
2) one of the characters has an extremely idiosyncratic speech pattern that is as much or more about playing with sounds and repetition as it is about conveying meaning. (Greeno does something very similar with the speech of the ghatti in her other books (starting with [b:Finders-Seekers|591805|Finders-Seekers (Ghatti's Tale, #1)|Gayle Greeno|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348358486s/591805.jpg|578550]). It's a very recognizable quirk, and if the character had remained marginal with relatively infrequent dialogue, I would have appreciated it. But she became a sufficiently significant character that talks a lot, and again, it just got on my nerves.

I was especially intrigued by the Little Sisters of Mortality, a Nuevo Catholic religious order of assassins.

Some of the exposition in the beginning was a bit clunky, but it wasn't too bad, and sometimes was slightly clever.

I liked Greeno's ghatti books, but they have a fairly standard fantasy feel. This book was stronger. I think she writes better SF than fantasy, and I'd like to see her write more of it.

well written with a lot to like. I am struggling to connect with the main character, it feels like she has largely given up (I prefer fighting to the bitter end). For the series to work, she has to snap out of it at some point, but can I endure that long...
might return to finish the title as it is well written.½

I'm quite happy to have started this book. Stricly speaking, it is fantasy, but it reminded me quite a bit of the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey (which are fantasy). Finders seekers is about human beings on a different planet, where there is a telepathic cat-like race, the ghatts, that bonds with certain humans. These humans become Seekers, since their relationship with the ghatts makes them suitable for a career as judge: the ghatts can tell whether people speak the truth or not. Finders Seekers follows Doyce and her ghatta Khar. Doyce has had a hard life, and it is about to become more difficult when her lover is murdered in a highly suspicious way. The seekers believe something sinister is going on, and an investigation ensues...

What I like about Finder Seekers is that not all information is disclosed to the reader all at once. Slowly, you find out more about the secrets and intricacies of the world. I rather liked this writing style, although in the middle of the book, I wouldn't have minded if the pace would have picked up a bit. The world is very nice, in particular the ghatts and their relationship with their Seekers. Because of her past, Doyce has some trouble completely opening up to her ghatta, and the more you learn of her past, the more you feel for her, and hope she will find happiness.

I'm not completely satisfied about the ending. One of the revelations was sort of obvious(Doyce's stepson Vesey being alive and responsible for all the misery), and the way some of the issues were resolved (Vesey and Evelien dying) seemed a bit too easy for me. Still, the book was quite nice, and I'm definitely interested in the sequels. Part of the story had an open ending, so I would like to know what happens next. Plus, I always like fantasy books where women and men are treated equally, which is definitely the case here. Seekers are men and women both, eumedico's (doctors) are men and women both, and nobody makes an issue about it. Very well done.

It's an amusing (although hardly unique) concept and an entertaining plot line.
While I COULD put the book down, I had no problems finishing it.

It was fun and amusing. A fairly fast-paced read.
Saw one of the reviewers complaining about too much self-centered whining - well, most all books are self-centered and can be interpreted as whining so I ignore it for WHY they are whining and what they are doing about it (or what the people around them are doing about it)

This is one of those times when I look at the reviews on Amazon and have to double-check that we're talking about the same book. They were so universally positive that it almost made me want to go back and re-read the book to see if maybe I'd missed something. But it's a 500+ page book that I had to force myself to finish, so there's no way I'll be doing that.

On the world of Methuen, there's a sentient alien race called Ghatti, who look like oversized housecats. They can mind-speak among themselves, and bond and mind-speak with certain humans referred to as Seekers. A Seeker-Ghatt pair is able to discern truth, so they serve as something like circuit judges in the old west.

When a Seeker is killed and his Ghatt basically loses his mind, it's up to his friend and lover Doyce and her Ghatt Khar to solve the mystery.

There's really nothing new or exciting here. The Ghatts are just too precious, starting with the name. The concept was interesting--both the set-up with the bonded pairs and the mystery, and it did pick up once it was revealed whodunit, near the end, but it was just a chore to read.

I'm sure Finders, Seekers wouldn't have looked quite so dull if I hadn't read it right after Cursor's Fury, but it illustrates some of the comments I made--it's full of way too many characters with oddly-spelled names, and long passages of authorial intrusion--interminable descriptions of things the author wants the reader to know about the fantasy world.

Worse yet, too much of the narrative doesn't really have a point, and just bogs down the story. For example, we learn everything about Doyce's life history (in dreams, no less), and only a small portion of that has any bearing on what happens later.

This is the sort of book that made me stop reading fantasy in the first place. I just don't have the patience to sift through all the extraneous stuff to get to the story. Not my cuppa.

I thought the ending of the conflict wrapped up a little too neatly, but I still enjoyed the ride.½

I do not find these 'great' but definately readable. The main charactor, I find to be self-centered to a fault and drowning in selfpity. She usually has all the answers available to her if she would just stop and think about it, but she seems to always wait until its blindingly obvious.

I'm interested in the story line. Space explorers/settlers come to colonize a planet a bunch of stuff happens and a small party leaves to find help. The rest learn to deal with things. Later on they find that there are 2 sentient races already on the planet. These books are mostly about the politics between a couple bands/nations of humans and the other 2 races. One a large breed of 'cat' seems to have created a symbiotic relationship with special humans. The other race has a tribe structure and are humanoid in apperance and generally avoid contact with others.

It's funny, I think in general the Cats are the better charactors.

This book was Ok. Even though I've read both of these novels and will more than likely read the 3rd I do not find them 'great'. The main charactor in this book I find to be self-centered to a fault and drowning in selfpity. She usually has all the answers available to her if she would just stop and think about it but she seems to always wait until its blindingly obvious.

I'm interested in the story line. Space explorers/settlers come to colonize a planet a bunch of stuff happens and a small party leaves to find help. The rest learn to deal with things. Later on they find that there are 2 sentient races already on the planet. These books are mostly about the politics between a couple bands/nations of humans and the other 2 races. One a large breed of 'cat' seems to have created a symbiotic relationship with special humans. The other race has a tribe structure and are humanoid in apperance and generally avoid contact with others.

It's a cross-over, landed on an alien planet, but lost the tech. It's a good story and well rendered, but if you really hate cats avoid it.

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11868402

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11868407