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Sholan Alliance #3
Fire Margins
A new race is about to be born on the Sholan homeworld, and it may cause the current unstable political climate to explode. Only through exploring the Sholan's long-buried and purposely forgotten past can Carrie and Kusac hope to find the path to survival, not only for their own people, but for Sholans and humans as well.
758 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 24, 2008
Third book in the series. By now we're not only deep into the story of the first Sholan-Human Leska pairing, but we're deep into a story spanning the history of Shola. This story has definitely grown to an epic scope. Multiple alien species who've been at war for generations upon generations. And the importance of knowing the past to change the future.
I'm devouring this series fairly rapidly. I'm ready to pick up the next book immediately. The clear advantage of finding a closed ended series that has long since run it's course.
Definitely character centric, despite the epic scope. The "ordinary people in extraordinary situations" type thing.
Nice amount of romance/ non-explicit sexual content, despite the fact that the books are sf/fantasy. But Sholan sexual values and human sexual values are not the same thing, so there is no exclusive "happily ever after" soulmate thing, despite the fact that the Leska pairings are pretty exclusive, intimate, and all consuming. I like the novelty of their perspective.
X-posted to LJ.
I'm devouring this series fairly rapidly. I'm ready to pick up the next book immediately. The clear advantage of finding a closed ended series that has long since run it's course.
Definitely character centric, despite the epic scope. The "ordinary people in extraordinary situations" type thing.
Nice amount of romance/ non-explicit sexual content, despite the fact that the books are sf/fantasy. But Sholan sexual values and human sexual values are not the same thing, so there is no exclusive "happily ever after" soulmate thing, despite the fact that the Leska pairings are pretty exclusive, intimate, and all consuming. I like the novelty of their perspective.
X-posted to LJ.
April 21, 2009
The third book in Lisanne Norman's Sholan Alliance series concerning, among other things, relations between Humans and the catlike Sholan and bonds that form between telepaths of both species. This book delves more deeply into the religious side of Sholan life and we continue to learn more about society on the Sholan homeworld. If you've read the first two books in the series, this is an excellent and enlightening continuation.
May 20, 2010
Long book of average sci-fi quality.. not to mention third in a series. It is hard to enjoy when dozens of characters march on and off the stage. It was enjoyable on its own merits but it will not be staying in my permanent collection. If you like cat aliens you might enjoy this story more than me. It is better than the bug alien bug books I have read in the past several months.
June 6, 2019
I do think this is third book in the series built nicely upon the last two. Even though it was over 700 pages I flew through it and wasn't at all bored. I like how both Carrie and Kusac grew and matured and that the cast of characters continued to grow. I was thankfully able to keep track of them better this time. There is also plenty of conflict to keep all of them busy. The Sholan culture continues its revolution as well as new problems cropping up with mad prophets and internal betrayal. This book wrapped up some things but then introduced others. I will definitely be reading the next one, to see what happens next.
September 2, 2024
Another bold move by the author in that the main cast takes a back seat to the supporting characters and lore. While some of it felt a bit filler-ish (I didn't really care for Jo's group and found their adventures had little to no impact on the rest of the narrative), the added depth to Kaid's character and his family was a welcome addition. Not to mention the religious intrigue and time bending powerplays which tactfully brought the Sholan vs Valtegan conflict gradually back into focus.
Not quite as engaging as the previous two books but still a well rounded adventure novel with plenty of satisfying twists and turns.
Not quite as engaging as the previous two books but still a well rounded adventure novel with plenty of satisfying twists and turns.
March 14, 2024
Third book doesn’t disappoint!
Author used beginning of this book to illustrate the Sholan society and describe the individual relationships between main characters. Then she introduced why and how the mixed Leskas need to be independent of current society. At first Fyak’s story seems a gratuitous interruption; but suddenly the site in the dessert is shown to be a Valtegan institution. The dreams pile up, the alternate story lines appear and the mystery deepens…
Author used beginning of this book to illustrate the Sholan society and describe the individual relationships between main characters. Then she introduced why and how the mixed Leskas need to be independent of current society. At first Fyak’s story seems a gratuitous interruption; but suddenly the site in the dessert is shown to be a Valtegan institution. The dreams pile up, the alternate story lines appear and the mystery deepens…
May 12, 2017
This is a series I have read in the past. I very much enjoy going back there. The problem is that books 4 & 5 are not available in ebook. I have looked everywhere I can think of. So I guess I will continue with #6. I least I am not working at the moment so I can really enjoy reading!!
August 9, 2025
Even so many times later
I hesitate to say how long ago I read these the first time, and again and again. I gave up the paper but required them in digital. So good, so late, but worth it. 🥱
I hesitate to say how long ago I read these the first time, and again and again. I gave up the paper but required them in digital. So good, so late, but worth it. 🥱
February 22, 2018
Another great addition to the series.
October 28, 2021
Too religious for me
June 23, 2024
3.5*
May 25, 2013
I have a mixed review to give for Fire Margins. I have decided not to continue reading this series. But, I have enjoyed all three of the books I have read. I even mostly enjoyed this book number three. First the good things for me. This book has aliens, telepathy, time travel, mind control, and lots of sex.
I like the efforts to achieve peaceful cooperation between humans and Sholans. It is not just automatic that different groups of people will get along well, just because it is in their interest. There are also other alien species that play parts in the story, Touibans, Jalnians, Chemerians, Sumaans and Valtegans all are important to parts of the story. Valtegans are again the biggest villains. Most of their deprecations happen in the past though, 2,000 years in the past.
There is a slow reveal in the story of what happened in the Cataclysm on Shola. I wanted to keep reading the story to find the truth about the Cataclysm and the Valtegan connection to early Shola.
Time travel becomes more and more important as the story professes. Some people are controlled by others, through persuasion, preaching or ancient artifacts. Again, as in the previous two books there are many characters which leads to shifting POVs. There are about 20 main characters with the most central ones being Kaid, Carrie, Kusac, Vanna and the leaders of the Sholan Guilds. So this story has a lot going for it. I was entertained by much of the book. Next I will try to describe my problems with the book.
It is not my intention to dissuade potential readers from taking up this book. As I say, I enjoyed it mostly and finished it and don't regret that I read it, I also know from the reviews of others that some people read these books over and over again. My intention is to explain why I am giving up on the series and perhaps this might be useful for people who have similar reading tastes to mine.
First the sex. I am not opposed to reading about furry sex. But there are some strange twists in the kinky sex in this story. Most of the central characters have sex with most of the other central characters. Which might be fine under certain circumstances, but they often don't want to. That's right the sex scenes, often, do not result from two mature adults deciding on sharing a pleasurable experience. It seemed to me that most hookups occurred against the better judgment and wishes of one or both partners. What is that all about? I see a Masters thesis from this topic. These hookups are not exactly of the Rhett Butler with Scarlett in Gone with the Wind variety, which I consider rape. But more like the lie back and think of England variety. One or both character is advised that it is best for the good of the society if they have sex with the person they don't want to have sex with. I hope I am not being a prude and making a bigger deal of this than I should. The sex part of the book seems like a major plot point in the story.
Another part of the story that experiences mission creep is telepathy. This has been a key aspect of the series. Carrie and Kusac are important to the story because of their telepathy and the special Leska bond they form which involves their telepathy. (which also requires them to have intense sex once every 5 days, whether they want to, or not. I'm just saying.) There used to be limited numbers of telepaths among the Sholan and Terrans. But in this book it is exploding like a sale on a holiday. Every central character in the book has telepathy, is developing telepathy or is somehow sensitive or reactive to telepathic powers. I enjoy the telepathy aspects of the plot, but it kind of reduces the specialness of the power if every single character in the story has it.
Now I will address the Mary Sue aspect of Carrie the lead character. I don't exactly mind that she has the classic Mary Sue characteristics. I think Mary Sue storylines are fine. What does bother me is the whiny complaining character of Carrie, And the trait has infected most of the other characters in the story, There is a page for just about every character where they are flying off the handle against some imagined slight by another character who is supposed to be their friend or ally. This bothered me during the whole book. I kept forgiving it, to a certain extent, by telling myself that adults are like this in the real world. Our world is full of adults who act like bratty children.
Ok, I have tried to convey what aspects of the book I liked, and those parts of it which have brought me to the decision to not read the additional 4 books in the series. I hope my review will be helpful to someone out there.
I like the efforts to achieve peaceful cooperation between humans and Sholans. It is not just automatic that different groups of people will get along well, just because it is in their interest. There are also other alien species that play parts in the story, Touibans, Jalnians, Chemerians, Sumaans and Valtegans all are important to parts of the story. Valtegans are again the biggest villains. Most of their deprecations happen in the past though, 2,000 years in the past.
There is a slow reveal in the story of what happened in the Cataclysm on Shola. I wanted to keep reading the story to find the truth about the Cataclysm and the Valtegan connection to early Shola.
Time travel becomes more and more important as the story professes. Some people are controlled by others, through persuasion, preaching or ancient artifacts. Again, as in the previous two books there are many characters which leads to shifting POVs. There are about 20 main characters with the most central ones being Kaid, Carrie, Kusac, Vanna and the leaders of the Sholan Guilds. So this story has a lot going for it. I was entertained by much of the book. Next I will try to describe my problems with the book.
It is not my intention to dissuade potential readers from taking up this book. As I say, I enjoyed it mostly and finished it and don't regret that I read it, I also know from the reviews of others that some people read these books over and over again. My intention is to explain why I am giving up on the series and perhaps this might be useful for people who have similar reading tastes to mine.
First the sex. I am not opposed to reading about furry sex. But there are some strange twists in the kinky sex in this story. Most of the central characters have sex with most of the other central characters. Which might be fine under certain circumstances, but they often don't want to. That's right the sex scenes, often, do not result from two mature adults deciding on sharing a pleasurable experience. It seemed to me that most hookups occurred against the better judgment and wishes of one or both partners. What is that all about? I see a Masters thesis from this topic. These hookups are not exactly of the Rhett Butler with Scarlett in Gone with the Wind variety, which I consider rape. But more like the lie back and think of England variety. One or both character is advised that it is best for the good of the society if they have sex with the person they don't want to have sex with. I hope I am not being a prude and making a bigger deal of this than I should. The sex part of the book seems like a major plot point in the story.
Another part of the story that experiences mission creep is telepathy. This has been a key aspect of the series. Carrie and Kusac are important to the story because of their telepathy and the special Leska bond they form which involves their telepathy. (which also requires them to have intense sex once every 5 days, whether they want to, or not. I'm just saying.) There used to be limited numbers of telepaths among the Sholan and Terrans. But in this book it is exploding like a sale on a holiday. Every central character in the book has telepathy, is developing telepathy or is somehow sensitive or reactive to telepathic powers. I enjoy the telepathy aspects of the plot, but it kind of reduces the specialness of the power if every single character in the story has it.
Now I will address the Mary Sue aspect of Carrie the lead character. I don't exactly mind that she has the classic Mary Sue characteristics. I think Mary Sue storylines are fine. What does bother me is the whiny complaining character of Carrie, And the trait has infected most of the other characters in the story, There is a page for just about every character where they are flying off the handle against some imagined slight by another character who is supposed to be their friend or ally. This bothered me during the whole book. I kept forgiving it, to a certain extent, by telling myself that adults are like this in the real world. Our world is full of adults who act like bratty children.
Ok, I have tried to convey what aspects of the book I liked, and those parts of it which have brought me to the decision to not read the additional 4 books in the series. I hope my review will be helpful to someone out there.
June 17, 2010
In order to ensure the freedom of all mixed Leskas, including future hybrid children, Carrie and Kusac risk their lives in an ancient and deadly religious ritual.
This is where this series goes from just being a 'space opera' to being a full on, mystical epic fantasy of Biblical proportions with a cast of thousands. This is the book where you either just go with it and enjoy the ride or basically give up on the series. I really don't think there is a middle ground.
I found the religious aspects a bit ho hum, but when you start to realize the sheer ambition of this universe I just couldn't stop reading. There are some awesome aspects to the whole story and when you take into account when the story was actually written, you have to give kudos to Lisanne Norman for being really ballsy.
It's because of the ambitious nature of the universe that I could forgive the marysueness of Carrie. (That doesn't seem to go away in future books either, btw.) There is just so much going on and the cast is so big that when MarySue...errr, Carrie saves the day, it's easy to simply shrug it off and keep reading. Every supporting character has their own interesting subplot and this story definitely makes this series a serial soap opera of epic proportions.
If you can't sit through this book, just give up on the series because the pattern set by Fortune's Wheel is solidified here and maintained for the rest of the books.
This is where this series goes from just being a 'space opera' to being a full on, mystical epic fantasy of Biblical proportions with a cast of thousands. This is the book where you either just go with it and enjoy the ride or basically give up on the series. I really don't think there is a middle ground.
I found the religious aspects a bit ho hum, but when you start to realize the sheer ambition of this universe I just couldn't stop reading. There are some awesome aspects to the whole story and when you take into account when the story was actually written, you have to give kudos to Lisanne Norman for being really ballsy.
It's because of the ambitious nature of the universe that I could forgive the marysueness of Carrie. (That doesn't seem to go away in future books either, btw.) There is just so much going on and the cast is so big that when MarySue...errr, Carrie saves the day, it's easy to simply shrug it off and keep reading. Every supporting character has their own interesting subplot and this story definitely makes this series a serial soap opera of epic proportions.
If you can't sit through this book, just give up on the series because the pattern set by Fortune's Wheel is solidified here and maintained for the rest of the books.
August 29, 2012
There was a lot of world building in this book. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first ones in the series. It was more about the politics and religion that formed the world than the interpersonal relationships of the characters. It was hard to keep focus and there are sections that it took everything I had to keep reading. The story line is great but I could have done without all the unnecessary politics. It slowed down the story and really drew me away from the characters I've grown to love. Still a good story and I'm still going to read the next book but I hope it moves better than this one or I'll be skipping ahead from sheer annoyance.
January 15, 2017
A couple of things really annoyed me with this book. The author would leave out huge jumps in realization and conclusions that Carrie, Kusac, and Kaid had come to. The book is so long already so maybe they were edited out?? However, I think removing all the references to coffee and tea at every.single.interaction would have made more sense.
These random leaps of new facts/knowledge leaves the reader slightly confused. It felt as if I had accidentally skipped several pages of reading. Which I hadn't. I was able to hang with it but it was annoying and happens more than once.
These random leaps of new facts/knowledge leaves the reader slightly confused. It felt as if I had accidentally skipped several pages of reading. Which I hadn't. I was able to hang with it but it was annoying and happens more than once.
October 21, 2009
I love this series more and more with each book. Time travel, all the twists and turns... I am completely hooked. I read books so I can read about other worlds. This world of Kusac, Carrie, and Kaid's is one that I love to be in. Can't wait to start reading the next book.
September 7, 2010
Sigh. Another devolution into Mary-Sue-doom here. This one takes the turn of an quest adventure. More human feline shenanigans too.
For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_39367...
For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_39367...
January 12, 2017
Best of the Series. Continues the series path into a Darker Story than it seemed to be going. Best book of the batch. However the last book before Norman falls in love with some exceptionally darker tone.
December 30, 2025
Carrie and Kusac recover from Carrie's Challenge and the loss of their firstborn. Kaid is battling his own demons and his attraction to Carrie. There fellow mixed Leskas are facing difficulties with the Telepath Guild and the know their only option is to free themselves.
July 15, 2009
We start going into the history of the story here, and the story starts edging into more mature ratings. (Getting higher as the series goes.)
July 4, 2024
This is my fave book in the series. It’s very exciting and the time travel is the best. Can never put it down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews