Kristin Landon

When I originally picked up this book I thought it was a sci-fi romance. I didn't realize that really it was a science fiction novel, with some romance that had a cover (that while pretty) didn't accurately portray the contents at all.

Linnea is a feisty heroine with a plan that may or may not be the stupidest idea she's ever had. Really depends on your viewpoint. She wants to save her planet at all costs--even that of her family ties and respect. Iain is rather the opposite--he'd give up his family pretty quickly all told (some of them are...disturbing to say the least.).

When I first read the book I didn't have any problems with how it was written--its more or less a two part story in one novel. The first part is Linnea's daring plan, making an ally of Iain and uncovering a lot she really shouldn't have. The second part is the consequences (for them both) of uncovering that terrible secret. On a second (or third I forget which this is) read through it felt a little more disparate.

Then also Landon has homosexual relationship between men as the norm for Iain's society--its almost as expected of a man to take a male lover as a female lover. Women are more or less ornaments in his world, used for breeding purposes to create better pilots. Unfortunately the Pilot-Master society is ruthless and it leads to the disturbing person that is Iain's cousin, Rafael who uses sexual abuse against both Linnea and Iain.

I don't think this is necessarily a novel for people who don't like a whole lot of dark in their reading--the end is...less than hopeful for a variety of reasons. The 'evil' of the series in general (The Cold Minds) turned my stomach a bit. Even still I recommend this to fans of suspenseful science fiction books.… (más)

The premise: ganked from BN.com: After the Earth was destroyed by ruthless machine intelligences known as the Cold Minds, the remnants of the human race sought refuge among the Hidden Worlds. Now, renegade pilot Linnea Kiaho and her fellow pilot Iain sen Paolo embark on a dangerous journey to Earth's solar system, where humans may have survived. But what they find is a secret so powerful it may save the Hidden Worlds--or shatter them forever.

rel="nofollow" target="_top">My Rating

Worth the Cash: if you've followed and liked the series so far, you know you have to keep reading, right? There's some excellent revelations in this book regarding the Cold Minds, but not the kind of revelations you'd expect. I absolutely loved the opening chapter and thought it set an excellent tone for the book, and by the book's ending, I really hope there will be another installment, because there's so much yet to DO in this universe and I want to see how Landon ties it all together. It could be epic. :) That said, I still find that the first book in the series, The Hidden Worlds, is the strongest installment, though this is easily a better read that The Cold Minds (the second book), in my very humble opinion. There's a little more romance here in this third installment, a little more angst, than there was in the second, and it helped make the relationship between Linnea and Iain stronger. It's an enjoyable read with some lovely world-building, and again, I hope to see more installments in the future.

Review style: a short and sweet review to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the series so far and why I keep reading. Spoilers? Yes, so don't read the full review at my LJ unless you've already read the book or you really couldn't give a flying flip about spoilers. :) As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Kristin Landon's THE DARK REACHES

Happy Reading!… (más)

While traveling in otherspace, Linnea becomes convinced that another pilot is trying to contact her. She is sure that this pilot is not from the hidden worlds but rather is a refugee in the Earth system. If humans have managed to survive so near the cold minds, they must have discovered something to protect themselves. Linnea feels she must try the long journey to Earth. But will the journey be worth it?
This is the 3rd in the series and the plot is slowly unfolding, but I just couldn't really get into this one. It just meandered along. There was not much character development, and the plot was not strong enough to make up for that.… (más)

There was nothing really wrong with this book, but we've seen it before and better. There are elite pilots who breed for pilots, there are hidden worlds. Our occassionally fiesty heroine, who changes her personality a bit from time to time, comes from a backwater fishing world where everything is falling apart. She sells herself into contract for 7 years to a pilot, who doesn't want her, but takes her because the contract was valid. And then mysteries which are pretty obvious and not so mysterious continue to unfold. Not especially well written, but not a wall banger either. It has a sequel that I don't think I'll bother with. A library loan that will soon be forgotten.… (más)