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Celestial Dragon
When Zan Dane, ruler of Pelicosia, finds ninety-five woman for his men, he never dreams of finding his own mate. Exiled for daring to oppose the Burdven Empire, they have no women, no mates to regenerate their new kingdom and populate it with the sound of children until Zan Dane finds a way to travel across galaxies in search of prospective mates. Chelian Kar is Deliphit, an outcast with supernatural powers. Though she is the daughter of the High Chancellor of Kel, Satobik laws prohibit her from having physical contact with anyone. While other young women are mated to men chosen by their fathers, Chelian has no such hope until Zan Dane soars into her life. With an offer of zeel, a commodity most men would die for, Zan Dane convinces her father to allow the union. Will his journey lead him to a treasure richer than zeel?
235 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 3, 2013
Chelian is a woman who has lived her life as a recluse despite her high birth status. Her father is a leader among her people, but a rare affliction (of a magical nature) caused Chelian to be feared and reviled. She accepted her fate knowing the unusual powers she possessed could be used to harm others if she was not kept apart. Never could she touch another person and mating to a man was out of the question. That is until a stranger came to her land. Zan Dane is a man who will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals. As a prince among an outcast people, it is up to him to improve their circumstances. One of the problems being they have gone without women for far too long. He knows he must use his planet's most valuable resource to gain the women needed to multiply his people. This brought him to Chelian's planet in an effort to gain what he needed.
Though she and her people have no idea space travel is possible, the lure of the coveted resource Zan Dan offers is too good to pass up. Her own father sees the benefit of giving up some of their women in exchange. Yet the real shock comes when Zan Dan demands that Chelian be one of the females traded. She had resigned herself to a solitary life and does not know what to do with this new glimmer of hope for a better future. The choice is not up to her and in a short time she finds herself on a space ship headed for a far away planet. She and he other women don't realize they are just part of a much larger plan. One that may put them and their new mates in danger. It will be up to Chelian to discern the truth of their circumstances. Not only this, but she must also find a way to earn the heart of the man she has begun to love, Zan Dan. For he is determined to keep her at a distance and after having been shunned for so long among her own people, she cannot bear it from him as well.
Celestial Dragon is truly an enjoyable and riveting read. The world building provides readers with a full understanding of the place in which the characters live. In addition, the author includes unique words which contribute to a sci-fi feel for the novel. Not to worry, though, as the words are not difficult to discern. The imagery and details are excellent which help the reader to be transported into the story. As for the romance, those that prefer declarations of mutual love to be drawn out until nearly the end will appreciate this book. The two main character's personalities are forced to grow over time before they can truly admit to their feelings for each other. Even the limited romantic scenes do not begin to appear until around the halfway point. They are not overly detailed or long, but hold a certain sweetness to them.
The plot is well thought out, but not complicated. There is a bit of mystery that will keep one guessing until nearly the end. The flow of the book is somewhat of a roller coaster ride. Sometimes it is fast and other times slow. This is one of the author's earlier works and it can be seen she hadn't yet mastered the art of "showing and not telling". That would probably be the only major problem. There is no doubt that this is what helped to contribute to the occasional slow points. Despite this, do not discount the novel as not being a good read, because it truly is worth the time if you are interested in the genre. Celestial Dragon is truly engaging with a very original idea to keep readers captivated. Definitely worth consideration.
Though she and her people have no idea space travel is possible, the lure of the coveted resource Zan Dan offers is too good to pass up. Her own father sees the benefit of giving up some of their women in exchange. Yet the real shock comes when Zan Dan demands that Chelian be one of the females traded. She had resigned herself to a solitary life and does not know what to do with this new glimmer of hope for a better future. The choice is not up to her and in a short time she finds herself on a space ship headed for a far away planet. She and he other women don't realize they are just part of a much larger plan. One that may put them and their new mates in danger. It will be up to Chelian to discern the truth of their circumstances. Not only this, but she must also find a way to earn the heart of the man she has begun to love, Zan Dan. For he is determined to keep her at a distance and after having been shunned for so long among her own people, she cannot bear it from him as well.
Celestial Dragon is truly an enjoyable and riveting read. The world building provides readers with a full understanding of the place in which the characters live. In addition, the author includes unique words which contribute to a sci-fi feel for the novel. Not to worry, though, as the words are not difficult to discern. The imagery and details are excellent which help the reader to be transported into the story. As for the romance, those that prefer declarations of mutual love to be drawn out until nearly the end will appreciate this book. The two main character's personalities are forced to grow over time before they can truly admit to their feelings for each other. Even the limited romantic scenes do not begin to appear until around the halfway point. They are not overly detailed or long, but hold a certain sweetness to them.
The plot is well thought out, but not complicated. There is a bit of mystery that will keep one guessing until nearly the end. The flow of the book is somewhat of a roller coaster ride. Sometimes it is fast and other times slow. This is one of the author's earlier works and it can be seen she hadn't yet mastered the art of "showing and not telling". That would probably be the only major problem. There is no doubt that this is what helped to contribute to the occasional slow points. Despite this, do not discount the novel as not being a good read, because it truly is worth the time if you are interested in the genre. Celestial Dragon is truly engaging with a very original idea to keep readers captivated. Definitely worth consideration.
March 18, 2011
Great read! While it took me a while to get myself oriented with the world Ciara Gold created, I found that once I did, I couldn't put the book down. The two main character's were totally believable and their background's as well - which I had to keep remembering else I would've clobbered them both for being so...obtuse. A beautiful love story woven into a fantasy/SF-ish world. The first in the Dragon series...
December 30, 2008
I wrote it so I suppose it's hard to give myself a rating as a reader but I loved working on it. I learned a lot and would have done things a little differently today as opposed to when I wrote it, but for the most part, I was very pleased with the outcome.
May 3, 2009
I enjoyed the setting and the idea of the book but I also wasn't surprised by the plot or the struggle of the characters. All in all, not terrible but not the most exciting book I've ever read either. :)
March 3, 2009
Very talented writer. Loved the characters.
October 3, 2010
Romance really isn't my thing, but this book was a great read...lots of fun learning about the various worlds involved, and characters that jumped off the page. Excellent work!
February 20, 2012
I don't like a book where it take 50% or more of reading for the characters to get together, then once they are, the author finds thing to continually separate them
It is a waste of time to read.
It is a waste of time to read.
December 29, 2008
I loved this story. It was so different from your ordinary read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews