Comment: Another book by author Linnea Sinclair and the last one I had in my pile by her to read. I've enjoyed her books in the past so i was quite excited to read this one as well and get back some of the feelings her writing evokes in me by allowing me to suspend belief in sci-fi romances.
In this book the main character is Gilliane Davré, a woman that has special traits, namely telepathy and healing among others, and she can overcome other mages and humans if necessary but she comes from a race that doesn't want to force others to to their biding. Of course they have enemies who wouldn't think twice about it.
The story begins when Gillie and her ship (along with the life form who can only exist as an AI in the ship) suddenly appear in a part of the galaxy they wouldn't expect. Gillie wakes up and after a while they realize they have time traveled to the future. Now, the world thinks of her race as special and godlike, including her.
Gillie's last mission had been to kill a bunch of evil mages but things backfired and it seems 340 years have gone by. However, when Gillie is only now getting used to the idea of being at a different timeline, of sort of accepting the station's admiral is a good guy she would like to know a lot better, she feels something is wrong.
It's not just she sees people now worship her a goddess which means it's important to hide her identity. It seems that there are some evil mages and a plot to overtake the station and eventually society in other planets is on going. Can Gillie be the heroine everyone would want her to be again?
I actually liked this story a lot, it was engaging and apart from real life issues that stopped me from dedicate more time than I could to this book I'd have finished sooner because it was addictive to read.
I just think I'd focus a little bit more on the social interactions and not as much on the evil plots. I guess I'd have preferred even more romance content and situations but despite this, I still consider the story to be very appealing.
The whole sci-fi scenario isn't difficult to grasp even if this is a reader's first take on the genre. "Rules" and events and technicalities are well presented, not too much that would confuse people but also not in a way that wouldn't let readers understand what everything is about. Of course, in the beginning, it seemed things would a certain way (I'd think the author would play more with the time travel concept) but it was quite satisfying how she decided to focus on Gillie being special enough to help save people and find a place for herself along a partner and eventually friends (my imagination for the after-HEA).
The evil guys' demise plot was well woven into things. Nothing seems certain for a long time but the author has chosen wisely in how to add information and how that would look like in a bigger picture. I won't go into details but I'm glad that things made sense together and that we didn't spend pages and pages in the evil guy's head, that is always a plus for me, it males it possible for us to focus on the heroes and their steps.
The romance was obviously a subject I was interested in seeing how would develop. I did like how Gillie saw beyond the serious face of Admiral Mack and how lonely he felt, how much he appreciated honesty... despite the secrets she was keeping from him. I get she wanted him to see Gillie and not the embodiment of the goddess he has worshiped since he was a boy but yes, if some things had come clean between them sooner, I think it would have suited their relationship better, The heavy feelings notion happened a bit too son I'd say and even a marriage proposal! For me, this means that when everything about who Gillie is came to the surface, their reactions weren't explored as well as they could and it felt like things were rushed, I wanted more emotional scenes and dealing with everything related to Gillie's identity.
As for Mack alone, he was a dependable guy, I liked him but he could have also been more developed.
As a couple, their personalities seemed to match, then there were some handy details to link them even more but generally speaking, who they are to the world and to one another, was a path taken very quickly and even their quick falling in love could have been even more romantic. (For me at least).
The sort of rushed HEA, lack of more society notions and interactions between more characters are things I'd have changed a bit. However, I liked how the main couple felt together, I liked the caring both had towards those who couldn't defend themselves, I liked the pace of the story for the most part and I really liked how things made sense in general. All in all, a good book by the author.
Grade: 8/10
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