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Reunification #1
This Gulf of Time and Stars
The first book in the hard science fiction Reunification trilogy, the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning Clan Chronicles
To save their world, the most powerful of the Om’ray left their homes. They left behind all memory of their past. Calling themselves the Clan, they settled among Humanity, hiding in plain sight, using their ability to slip past normal space to travel where they wished, using their ability to control minds to ensure their place and security.
They are no longer hidden.
For the Clan face a crisis. Their reproduction is tied to individual power, and their latest generation of females, Choosers, are too strong to safely mate. Their attempt to force others to help failed until Sira di Sarc, their leader and the most powerful of their kind, successfully Joined with a human, Jason Morgan, starship captain and telepath. With Morgan, Sira forged the first peace between her kind and the Trade Pact.
But it is a peace about to shatter. Those the Clan have controlled all these years will rise against them. Her people dying around her, war about to consume the Trade Pact, Sira will be left with only one choice. She must find the way back. And take the Clan home.
To save their world, the most powerful of the Om’ray left their homes. They left behind all memory of their past. Calling themselves the Clan, they settled among Humanity, hiding in plain sight, using their ability to slip past normal space to travel where they wished, using their ability to control minds to ensure their place and security.
They are no longer hidden.
For the Clan face a crisis. Their reproduction is tied to individual power, and their latest generation of females, Choosers, are too strong to safely mate. Their attempt to force others to help failed until Sira di Sarc, their leader and the most powerful of their kind, successfully Joined with a human, Jason Morgan, starship captain and telepath. With Morgan, Sira forged the first peace between her kind and the Trade Pact.
But it is a peace about to shatter. Those the Clan have controlled all these years will rise against them. Her people dying around her, war about to consume the Trade Pact, Sira will be left with only one choice. She must find the way back. And take the Clan home.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 3, 2015
78 people are currently reading
1109 people want to read
About the author
Julie E. Czerneda
101 books754 followersHaving written 25 novels (and counting) published by DAW Books, as well as numerous short stories, and editing several anthologies, in 2022, Julie E. Czerneda was inducted in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Her science fiction and fantasy combines her training and love of biology with a boundless curiosity and optimism, winning multiple awards. Julie's recent releases include the standalone novel To Each This World, her first collection Imaginings, and A Shift of Time, part of her Night's Edge fantasy series. For more visit czerneda.com Julie is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency LLC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
January 6, 2017
Betareader's review of first draft - no spoilers.
At the end of Rift in the SkyJulie promised readers that this would top everything that's come so far and I'm so pleased to confirm that it has. This novel is like two books in one with twice the build up, twice the action and twice the revelations! And oh the revelations! You won't believe what everything so far is building up to! The end of this book left me so excited, so intrigued, so concerned! I don't know how she does it but Julie Czerneda has written a book that is properly & in the true sense of the word, AWESOME. I can't wait for more!
At the end of Rift in the SkyJulie promised readers that this would top everything that's come so far and I'm so pleased to confirm that it has. This novel is like two books in one with twice the build up, twice the action and twice the revelations! And oh the revelations! You won't believe what everything so far is building up to! The end of this book left me so excited, so intrigued, so concerned! I don't know how she does it but Julie Czerneda has written a book that is properly & in the true sense of the word, AWESOME. I can't wait for more!
September 12, 2015
Review forthcoming- I had the opportunity to read this early. I don't think I know another author who writes as lyrically as Julie does. This book is worth it just for the amazing prose alone...and the story is pretty fantastic too!
October 29, 2015
It is definitely an interesting book set in an intriguing world. The premise of controlled breeding to reinforce desired characteristics among sentient humanoids has social and cultural ramifications, and I wanted to see how this concept played out. Unfortunately, I didn't see sufficient reason for those in charge (the ubiquitous "Council") to breed for the Powers that they were reinforcing to justify the obvious (even to bureaucrats) lethal outcomes.
The characters are engaging, but there seem to be too many of them, especially in the opening chapters. And the POV shifts from third person to first person frequently. Plus, some of the flashbacks are not obvious to the reader, and I've had to jump back to try to make sense of what I'm reading. Having just read Butcher's newest book - where this shifting was very well done - I have to admit that I'm frustrated with the cognitive load of just figuring out whose POV I'm getting and WHEN is the action occurring.
Plus, I wouldn't recommend this as a first book to read in this universe. There are too many passages where the characters remember events from previous books .... but without enough fleshing out that a new reader understands WHY that remembrance is important to this book's action or character development. There's a ton of explanation missing, and I was often lost during most of the book.
The characters are engaging, but there seem to be too many of them, especially in the opening chapters. And the POV shifts from third person to first person frequently. Plus, some of the flashbacks are not obvious to the reader, and I've had to jump back to try to make sense of what I'm reading. Having just read Butcher's newest book - where this shifting was very well done - I have to admit that I'm frustrated with the cognitive load of just figuring out whose POV I'm getting and WHEN is the action occurring.
Plus, I wouldn't recommend this as a first book to read in this universe. There are too many passages where the characters remember events from previous books .... but without enough fleshing out that a new reader understands WHY that remembrance is important to this book's action or character development. There's a ton of explanation missing, and I was often lost during most of the book.
November 14, 2015
This Gulf of Time and Stars marks a return to Julie Czerneda’s Clan Chronicles. In two previous series, she told the story of the Clan, a group of aliens similar in appearance to humans but who have tremendous psi powers. The Stratification trilogy covers the origins of the Clan, while the Trade Pact trilogy describes the interactions between the Clan and other species, including humans. That series centers around two main characters, Sira, the most powerful Clan member ever born, and Jason, a human with psi talents who falls in love with her.
Sira and Jason return in this book, which picks up not long after the end of the Trade Pact trilogy. The way the Clan has treated other alien species, using their psi powers to manipulate, enslave, and even murder them, has created some deadly enemies. These enemies launch an attack that results in mass murder, while the few remaining members of the Clan desperately flee, looking for a place of safety. Led by Sira and Jason, they are able to return to the planet where their people originated—but it is no safe haven, either. However, the story of the Clan is even more mysterious than they themselves knew, and Sira, Jason, and a small group of survivors thus find themselves fleeing again, continuing the hunt for a place they can call home . . .
Since this book is tied so closely to the two previous series, readers who haven’t read those earlier books are likely to find themselves struggling with the story told here. I really enjoyed the Trade Pact trilogy. Since the last novel in that series came out in 2002, however, I had to work a bit to dredge up enough memories to follow the references to characters and situations that occurred in those books. Having never read the Stratification trilogy, I really felt like I was missing out on some of the nuances tied to those novels, although I did get caught up enough in the story that I was willing to work through the sections that were confusing. I think I would have benefited from reading all those books before tackling this one, though.
Even though the story was a bit difficult for me to follow in spots, I was happy to be reunited with the characters of Sira and Jason and to find out more about the Clan. Because most of the book involves the Clan fleeing for their lives, the story keeps up a fairly lively pace, which is slowed a little by fairly regular switches between character viewpoints (something that might annoy some readers). Since the author has a background in biology, her alien creatures and their worlds feel a bit more realistic than those of some other sci-fi authors, another big plus for me. The continuing mystery of the Clan has me hooked, too, so I’ll definitely be picking up the next book in this trilogy.
Highly recommended for readers who enjoyed the earlier Clan novels—but I'd suggest reading them again first!
An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sira and Jason return in this book, which picks up not long after the end of the Trade Pact trilogy. The way the Clan has treated other alien species, using their psi powers to manipulate, enslave, and even murder them, has created some deadly enemies. These enemies launch an attack that results in mass murder, while the few remaining members of the Clan desperately flee, looking for a place of safety. Led by Sira and Jason, they are able to return to the planet where their people originated—but it is no safe haven, either. However, the story of the Clan is even more mysterious than they themselves knew, and Sira, Jason, and a small group of survivors thus find themselves fleeing again, continuing the hunt for a place they can call home . . .
Since this book is tied so closely to the two previous series, readers who haven’t read those earlier books are likely to find themselves struggling with the story told here. I really enjoyed the Trade Pact trilogy. Since the last novel in that series came out in 2002, however, I had to work a bit to dredge up enough memories to follow the references to characters and situations that occurred in those books. Having never read the Stratification trilogy, I really felt like I was missing out on some of the nuances tied to those novels, although I did get caught up enough in the story that I was willing to work through the sections that were confusing. I think I would have benefited from reading all those books before tackling this one, though.
Even though the story was a bit difficult for me to follow in spots, I was happy to be reunited with the characters of Sira and Jason and to find out more about the Clan. Because most of the book involves the Clan fleeing for their lives, the story keeps up a fairly lively pace, which is slowed a little by fairly regular switches between character viewpoints (something that might annoy some readers). Since the author has a background in biology, her alien creatures and their worlds feel a bit more realistic than those of some other sci-fi authors, another big plus for me. The continuing mystery of the Clan has me hooked, too, so I’ll definitely be picking up the next book in this trilogy.
Highly recommended for readers who enjoyed the earlier Clan novels—but I'd suggest reading them again first!
An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 2, 2016
This is the first book of a trilogy, but that trilogy is the third trilogy in a larger series. Despite that, while it's a bit confusing at first, enough backstory is salted in along the way that even coming to it cold I was able to catch up and enjoy the story.
We begin with a very dark scene, with individuals of some power and status within the various races of the Trade Pact meeting in secret. They're there to plot the destruction of the Clan, a race newly invited to join the Trade Pact. The Clan are a mysterious race, who can pass for human and live in secret among humans--and can "port" themselves and objects from one place to another. They can also control the minds of others, and erase memories. Terrifying, right?
And then we switch, in the next scene, to the first person perspective of what turns out to be our protagonist--Sira Morgan, a woman of the Clan, married to Jason Morgan, trade ship captain and pilot. They're preparing for a "baby rainshower," Jason's plan to celebrate the coming birth of the child of Sira's cousin Barak and his Chosen, Rudy, at a restaurant run by a turtle-like alien called Guido, an old friend of Jason's.
This is, of course, where everything hits the fan.
The Clan has, due to some extremely bad political decisions and a desire to breed them selves to ever-increasing levels of power, in fact bred itself to the edge of extinction. Barak and Rudy's baby is very important--and the secret plot to destroy the Clan by some within the Trade Pact doesn't wait on family parties. It's not long before Sira is reeling from the deaths of hundreds of the already-endangered Clan, while scrambling to get the survivors, including Barak and Rudy, to someplace, anyplace, safe.
And this involves navigating some very stormy family and political waters, and being willing to try something very, very dangerous.
Along the way, they find more questions than answers, and more new problems than solutions.
This is a very fast-paced story, and Sira, Jason, and many (not all!) of their family and friends are likable as well as interesting. After nearly bouncing off that first chapter, I was really drawn in by the rest of it.
Structurally, the story alternates between chapters seen from Sira's first-person viewpoint, and "interludes" told in third person from other characters' viewpoints. It's nicely layered and very enjoyable.
Standard disclaimer when reviewing audiobooks: In many cases, I'm guessing at the spellings of names.
Recommended.
I received this book from Audible free in exchange for an honest review.
We begin with a very dark scene, with individuals of some power and status within the various races of the Trade Pact meeting in secret. They're there to plot the destruction of the Clan, a race newly invited to join the Trade Pact. The Clan are a mysterious race, who can pass for human and live in secret among humans--and can "port" themselves and objects from one place to another. They can also control the minds of others, and erase memories. Terrifying, right?
And then we switch, in the next scene, to the first person perspective of what turns out to be our protagonist--Sira Morgan, a woman of the Clan, married to Jason Morgan, trade ship captain and pilot. They're preparing for a "baby rainshower," Jason's plan to celebrate the coming birth of the child of Sira's cousin Barak and his Chosen, Rudy, at a restaurant run by a turtle-like alien called Guido, an old friend of Jason's.
This is, of course, where everything hits the fan.
The Clan has, due to some extremely bad political decisions and a desire to breed them selves to ever-increasing levels of power, in fact bred itself to the edge of extinction. Barak and Rudy's baby is very important--and the secret plot to destroy the Clan by some within the Trade Pact doesn't wait on family parties. It's not long before Sira is reeling from the deaths of hundreds of the already-endangered Clan, while scrambling to get the survivors, including Barak and Rudy, to someplace, anyplace, safe.
And this involves navigating some very stormy family and political waters, and being willing to try something very, very dangerous.
Along the way, they find more questions than answers, and more new problems than solutions.
This is a very fast-paced story, and Sira, Jason, and many (not all!) of their family and friends are likable as well as interesting. After nearly bouncing off that first chapter, I was really drawn in by the rest of it.
Structurally, the story alternates between chapters seen from Sira's first-person viewpoint, and "interludes" told in third person from other characters' viewpoints. It's nicely layered and very enjoyable.
Standard disclaimer when reviewing audiobooks: In many cases, I'm guessing at the spellings of names.
Recommended.
I received this book from Audible free in exchange for an honest review.
December 28, 2017
Although I attended all of Julie’s book launches, I waited for her to finish this entire series to start reading it. This one is Reunification #1 and it was launched in 2015. I got it with a nice autograph at the Bakka Phoenix Bookstore launch.
Now, I know I said this is the first in a series, but actually it’s the first book in the third trilogy inside a three trilogies series, called “The Clan Chronicles”. Julie is an expert in creating vast, sophisticated worlds with huge casts of characters, that needs at least a trilogy to explore the whole universe and the entire plot.
And I promise you, once you get inside one of her worlds you won’t want to leave.
Not only because of the nerve racking plots and beautifully done characters, but also because the surprising secrets her universes always hide. Oh, yes, there’s never only the interesting story that keeps you reading in Julie’s case. The secrets start being revealed in the second half of the book and their significance rises exponentially. When you’re done with a book you can’t wait to get your hands on the second and see what happens next.
I feel like despite the magnitude of her work, Julie Czerneda is not as known as she deserves. For the kind of galactic tapestries she weaves and the kind of major ideas she comes up with, she should be among the Grand Masters of Science Fiction, read by billions and translated in over a hundred languages.
Well, give her a couple more years and she’ll be just there.
Now, I know I said this is the first in a series, but actually it’s the first book in the third trilogy inside a three trilogies series, called “The Clan Chronicles”. Julie is an expert in creating vast, sophisticated worlds with huge casts of characters, that needs at least a trilogy to explore the whole universe and the entire plot.
And I promise you, once you get inside one of her worlds you won’t want to leave.
Not only because of the nerve racking plots and beautifully done characters, but also because the surprising secrets her universes always hide. Oh, yes, there’s never only the interesting story that keeps you reading in Julie’s case. The secrets start being revealed in the second half of the book and their significance rises exponentially. When you’re done with a book you can’t wait to get your hands on the second and see what happens next.
I feel like despite the magnitude of her work, Julie Czerneda is not as known as she deserves. For the kind of galactic tapestries she weaves and the kind of major ideas she comes up with, she should be among the Grand Masters of Science Fiction, read by billions and translated in over a hundred languages.
Well, give her a couple more years and she’ll be just there.
November 10, 2015
This Gulf of Time and Stars was my first Clan Chronicles book. It took a little bit of time for me to get into, mostly because a lot of the humorous scenes toward the beginning didn't mesh with my own sense of humor but also because I didn't understand a few things early on due to not having read previous books. However, it made more sense later and I did enjoy it--and now I do want to both read the earlier books and find out what happens next!
7/10 - Liked it
Full Review: http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2015/1...
7/10 - Liked it
Full Review: http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2015/1...
October 7, 2019
Rating: 1.7/5
Review: “zzzzzzzz…wha? gibmoodle?” Oh, right. I am awake. Don’t cha hate it when you step into a novel and suddenly find yourself one step short in understanding a universe that was built years ago in successive novels that have nothing to do with the current story line? Good writers know how to include the new reader and can make an acceptable and seamless transition to believability. Not so much here.
Smug by definition is ” having or showing an excessive pride in oneself or one’s achievements.”. So everyone initially bought into your world and you thought “Hey, I am great and creative so I mayswell expand this universe into every novel that I write, right?”. So now you have a finite readership, or generally force new readers to buy all 1,500 of your previous novels in order to “catch up”. Well I fucking refuse. Grant the new reader to your world the courtesy to join in happy escapism without a fooking alien dictionary and relentless jabbering non-sensical backstory.
“Oh, my hair writhes about when he’s near…ooh, I can teleport here and there because my clan escaped the rangled foo in outer dipshitshalon 3,000 yarntarns past…these droolcanbies are beneath my cunsfazeers as they went against the palasharsararars in the volucmn wars and forever cloistered the faks in hand to hand combat…” Welcome to my world.
Review: “zzzzzzzz…wha? gibmoodle?” Oh, right. I am awake. Don’t cha hate it when you step into a novel and suddenly find yourself one step short in understanding a universe that was built years ago in successive novels that have nothing to do with the current story line? Good writers know how to include the new reader and can make an acceptable and seamless transition to believability. Not so much here.
Smug by definition is ” having or showing an excessive pride in oneself or one’s achievements.”. So everyone initially bought into your world and you thought “Hey, I am great and creative so I mayswell expand this universe into every novel that I write, right?”. So now you have a finite readership, or generally force new readers to buy all 1,500 of your previous novels in order to “catch up”. Well I fucking refuse. Grant the new reader to your world the courtesy to join in happy escapism without a fooking alien dictionary and relentless jabbering non-sensical backstory.
“Oh, my hair writhes about when he’s near…ooh, I can teleport here and there because my clan escaped the rangled foo in outer dipshitshalon 3,000 yarntarns past…these droolcanbies are beneath my cunsfazeers as they went against the palasharsararars in the volucmn wars and forever cloistered the faks in hand to hand combat…” Welcome to my world.
November 21, 2015
There is blood on page one. We see the danger coming before we switch over to the main crew of characters from the Ties of Power trilogy, and see how happy and content they are. Yeah, that won't last. The first half of the book pushes The Clan into a corner that they can't use their power or alliances to get out of. They can only run. With Sira at the helm, the second half has The Clan journey to find a safe haven. But while that journey is fraught with perils of its own, The Clan also discover a great deal about who they are and where they came from.
OVERALL: Fans of the series will love how this book ties the two previous trilogies together. New readers will be thrown into the adventure and mystery, and will be clamoring for more.
July 27, 2016
Julie E. Czerneda's writing is always top-notch, so I had a lot of fun reading this. I hadn't read this particular setting before -- from other reviews, I glean this book starts the third trilogy in the setting -- but it's perfectly fine by itself. It involves a species of human-lookalike aliens ("the Clan") who have been involved in a breeding program for increasingly powerful psychic powers for generations while hidden within the Human population; unfortunately the breeding program has driven them dangerously close to extinction, as their psychic power means choosing a mate is all too often fatal.
The new Clan leader has secretly turned to the humans and the Trading Pact ( a coalition of more than 1000 species ) and negotiated a treaty. But past crimes and ambitions make for a perfect storm of unrest, as the Clan faces new calamities and is forced to desperate measures, to discover their distant past and their long forgotten history.
The one flaw in the writing is that some chapters are actually flashback, and they're weakly indicated, at best. The cast is large but interesting, and nobody feels particularly cardboard.
The new Clan leader has secretly turned to the humans and the Trading Pact ( a coalition of more than 1000 species ) and negotiated a treaty. But past crimes and ambitions make for a perfect storm of unrest, as the Clan faces new calamities and is forced to desperate measures, to discover their distant past and their long forgotten history.
The one flaw in the writing is that some chapters are actually flashback, and they're weakly indicated, at best. The cast is large but interesting, and nobody feels particularly cardboard.
June 30, 2018
I loved the first 15 or so of Czerneda's novels...and then they changed. The descriptions in the newer books are sparse, there are a lot of characters and subplots, and I simply have no idea what is going on anymore. This is the third book in a row I've abandoned around 15% because I just couldn't follow it.
July 30, 2022
I started to just JUMP into this one, but realized I had to go back and read 1-3.... then about 2/3 of the way through I realized I'd have to re-read the prequel trilogy, too...
March 15, 2020
This book, the first in a new series that picks up where another left off, is rife with fun, vivid images of different alien races, is helmed by a female protagonist with enormous power, and touches on a broad range of issues (authority, parenting, adult relationships, genocide, science, technology, politics, survival - both immediate and generational, greed, manipulation, sex, trust, negotiations, geography, the fog impeding perfect knowledge, etc.). I found my response to it very much driven by my preferences - I loved the politics and power bits, as well as the various aliens and descriptions of the worlds, but was constantly annoyed by the curling tendrils of affectionate hair and other more touchy-feely elements. Part of me appreciates that acknowledging the inner life, emotions, and interpersonal connections is an important counterbalance to the bigger, systemic story lines - it is what gives meaning, ultimately, to what the characters do, as is true in life, and it's extra interesting in a book where people can shield or reveal their feelings at will, without artifice. I nonetheless find myself impatient with the romantic interludes and other moments in which the characters interact emotionally. I listened to the book on tape and I do wonder if I'd have been more open to those had I read them, rather than heard them spoken. In any event, I regretted, as I listened to this book, not having read the prior series, since so much here is clearly related to things that happened there. And I think I may not pick up the next one, despite mostly enjoying this one, since I feel like I have the lay of the land and there's not much left to be gained by staying with the travelers. The most jarring event in the book [stop reading here, if you have not read it yet] is when the remaining Clan population suddenly moves on to a new life. The immediate disconnect from everything that came before - the political machinations, the friendships, the history - is both utterly disconcerting and also a tremendous reminder of precisely what refugees - especially when they move en masse - experience. I couldn't help but think of all the real world stories of people - like the Palestinians and the Rohingya, for example - who in a political moment had to pick up stakes and, with death and murder and violence at their heels, amidst terrible loss of their people and burdened by grief, settle somewhere that didn't want them, among people without enough to share, in an environment that was resistant and dangerous. The best sci-fi makes these connections visceral, and this part of this one did.
January 8, 2016
I’d like to start out by saying that Julie E Czerneda is my favorite science fiction writer and This Gulf of Time and Stars is just one of the more shining examples of why I enjoy her books so much. There’s a few reasons why I highly anticipated this book in particular, but one stands above the rest:
At the very back of A Rift in the Sky (the final book in her Stratification Trilogy), almost as an afterthought, Czerneda conveyed the following in her Author’s Note:
I hope you enjoy the first six books of the Clan Chronicles. Once you have, I hope you paid attention and have questions.
Because I promise…
You ain’t seen nothing yet.
I was excited before, but coming across a documented promise from the author that she will soon delve into one of the coolest mysteries I’ve come across made me practically dance with excitement!
This Gulf of Time and Stars was a compelling start to a new chapter in the Trade Pact Universe (and Sira & Morgan’s lives). It started with a ton of nostalgia that reiterated all the things I loved about the characters. Then it proceeded to rip out my heart and take me on an emotional roller coaster all the way to the end, where I sat there exhausted, elated, and eager for more. I can’t wait to have more questions answered and see what Czerneda has up her sleeve next!
If you’re a fan of the Trade Pact Universe, this continuation is ESSENTIAL to your reading repertoire. If you just enjoy a good old sci-fi/space opera love-story with great characters, loads of action, and badass aliens, I’d recommend starting with A Thousand Words for Stranger (or Reap the Wild Wind, if you want to go chronologically). Heck, you might as well pick up Migration (#1 in the Species Imperative Trilogy) and my personal favorite: The Beholder’s Eye (#1 in the Web Shifters trilogy) while you’re at it. ;-)
I’d like to thank Penguin Group Berkley, NAL / Signet Romance, DAW, Julie Czerneda, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of This Gulf of Time and Stars!
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.NikiHawkes.com
At the very back of A Rift in the Sky (the final book in her Stratification Trilogy), almost as an afterthought, Czerneda conveyed the following in her Author’s Note:
I hope you enjoy the first six books of the Clan Chronicles. Once you have, I hope you paid attention and have questions.
Because I promise…
You ain’t seen nothing yet.
I was excited before, but coming across a documented promise from the author that she will soon delve into one of the coolest mysteries I’ve come across made me practically dance with excitement!
This Gulf of Time and Stars was a compelling start to a new chapter in the Trade Pact Universe (and Sira & Morgan’s lives). It started with a ton of nostalgia that reiterated all the things I loved about the characters. Then it proceeded to rip out my heart and take me on an emotional roller coaster all the way to the end, where I sat there exhausted, elated, and eager for more. I can’t wait to have more questions answered and see what Czerneda has up her sleeve next!
If you’re a fan of the Trade Pact Universe, this continuation is ESSENTIAL to your reading repertoire. If you just enjoy a good old sci-fi/space opera love-story with great characters, loads of action, and badass aliens, I’d recommend starting with A Thousand Words for Stranger (or Reap the Wild Wind, if you want to go chronologically). Heck, you might as well pick up Migration (#1 in the Species Imperative Trilogy) and my personal favorite: The Beholder’s Eye (#1 in the Web Shifters trilogy) while you’re at it. ;-)
I’d like to thank Penguin Group Berkley, NAL / Signet Romance, DAW, Julie Czerneda, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of This Gulf of Time and Stars!
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.NikiHawkes.com
July 9, 2018
This one did not relieve the book hangover created by If Today Be Sweet. It took 70-80 pages just to get reoriented in the universe that Czerneda created - the problem with continuing a series after an 8-year layoff and not being willing to reread previous books. However, as I read, some scenes and images started to emerge from my memory and I will find time for the next two books.
September 19, 2016
Mea culpa: I've never read anything by Julie E. Czerneda before picking up This Gulf of Time and Stars. Considering the amount of Daw titles I've bought over the years, I have no excuse. None whatsoever. Especially since the author is Canadian. Better late than never, or so they say.
I was intrigued by the premise of this first installment in the Reunification trilogy when I read the blurb. All the more so when I was informed that one did not need to have read the previous two series in the Clan Chronicles to enjoy this new one. That's not entirely true, but we'll get to that in a few moments. In the end, although I would have benefited from exposure to Czerneda's The Trade Pact and Stratification trilogies, following a difficult start This Gulf of Time and Stars delivered on enough fronts to make me want to read what comes next.
Here's the blurb:
This Gulf of Time and Stars begins the hard sci-fi Reunification series, perfect for space opera readers looking for unique aliens and interstellar civilizations.
Sira di Sarc, the leader of an alien race hiding in plain sight among humans, must find a way to take her Clan home, in this trilogy within the award-winning Clan Chronicles series.
To save their world, the most powerful of the Om’ray left their homes. They left behind all memory of their past. Calling themselves the Clan, they settled among Humanity, hiding in plain sight, using their ability to slip past normal space to travel where they wished, using their ability to control minds to ensure their place and security.
They are no longer hidden.
For the Clan face a crisis. Their reproduction is tied to individual power, and their latest generation of females, Choosers, are too strong to safely mate. Their attempt to force others to help failed until Sira di Sarc, their leader and the most powerful of their kind, successfully Joined with a human, Jason Morgan, starship captain and telepath. With Morgan, Sira forged the first peace between her kind and the Trade Pact.
But it is a peace about to shatter. Those the Clan have controlled all these years will rise against them. Her people dying around her, war about to consume the Trade Pact, Sira will be left with only one choice. She must find the way back. And take the Clan home.
Julie E. Czerneda is renowned for her complex worldbuilding and for creating original alien species. It's not necessarily the case with This Gulf of Time and Stars, but we have to keep in mind that the author lay the groundwork for this new trilogy in two past series and most of the worldbuilding has already been established. Having said that, the Assemblers were quite cool. In my opinion, after a lackluster beginning, the story picks up as soon as it shifts to Cersi, the Clan's homeworld. Since the Clan members were stripped of their memories when they left Cersi and made Passage to the Trade Pact universe, the planet is as alien to them as it is to readers. The Balance between the Om'ray, name by which the Clan used to be known, the Oud, and the Tikitik is at the heart of this tale and shapes all three species' existence on the planet. But the truth behind this Balance is a revelation that will change this world forever. I also liked the references to the mysterious Hoveny Concentrix, the greatest alien civilization the universe has ever known, and how they might be tied to Cersi and its inhabitants.
Truth be told, claiming that this is a hard sci-fi series is a serious misnomer. Actually, This Gulf of Time and Stars turned out to be more of a character-driven space opera and fantasy blend. If anything, this could one of the most accessible science fiction novels I've read in a very long time. So please forget about this "hard sci-fi" label, as nothing could be further from the truth. This series can be enjoyed by any speculative fiction fans. As mentioned, those who have read Czerneda's The Trade Pact and Stratification series will probably get more out of the experience and find it easier to get into This Gulf of Time and Stars. Yet that doesn't mean that newbies, like me, cannot get into the book. It just means that it takes a while for things to finally make sense and you just need to bid your time and trust that the author knows what she's doing. There is a two-page "Previously, in the Clan Chronicles" section that provides a brief lowdown regarding the first two trilogies. I feel that the novel, and the series as a whole, would have benefited from something more substantial, especially if there was any true desire to bring in new readers. Hence, with very little background information, the reader is thrust into the story and things can be quite confusing at the beginning. It doesn't help that the first 60 pages or so have to do with a baby shower. At that point, things are more boring than confusing (for new readers at least), but stick with it. When the proverbial shit hits the fan, things will look up and the book becomes captivating. And though very little is done at the start to fill you in, Czerneda does provide information that allows us to fill in the blanks and make sense of the plotlines later on. I'm persuaded that I've missed out on some nuances here and there. Yet all in all, by the time I reached the end book, I had everything I needed to fully enjoy it.
The bulk of This Gulf of Time and Stars is told from the perspectives of two main protagonists: Sira di Sarc, leader of the Clan, and Jason Morgan, her human Chosen. Both are well-drawn and engaging characters and their different viewpoints make for an interesting narrative. However, Czerneda lays it a bit thick when it comes to the romantic side and what they mean to each other, and that can be annoying. She thinks he's tough, he's badass, and she loves him. And he thinks she's tough, she's badass, and he loves her. I get it. You don't have to remind me every chapter or so. There are occasional sections offering other points of view, but those are few and far between. And even though Sira and Morgan will always take center stage, I feel that more POVs from the rest of the cast would have added layers to the characterization. The cast is comprised of quite a few compelling men and women and aliens, chief among them Barac and Destin, who deserved a bit of limelight and I feel that more attention should have been devoted to them. In addition, it sometimes felt odd that Sira and Morgan are almost always smarter than everyone else and they're always the ones working out the puzzles and saving everyone's bacon.
The pace of the novel is decidedly crooked. The beginning is dull for the most part and new readers have to wait till about the halfway point before they have enough information to make sense of the storylines. Once the action shifts to Cersi, however, then the rhythm picks up and the story progresses at a good clip. The endgame and the final revelations elevate This Gulf of Time and Stars to another level and make you want to discover what happens next. Hence, you can expect a review of the sequel, The Gate to Futures Past, in the coming weeks.
Overall, This Gulf of Time and Stars probably wasn't the best jumping point for someone who had yet to read anything by Julie E. Czerneda. Still, I'm glad I stuck with it, for once the story truly takes off it makes for a satisfying reading experience. The ending packs a good punch and I'm looking forward to the second volume. Time will tell if the next two installments will live up to the potential generated by this one, but I'd recommend This Gulf of Time and Stars to anyone looking for an accessible science fiction novel featuring a strong female lead.
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
I was intrigued by the premise of this first installment in the Reunification trilogy when I read the blurb. All the more so when I was informed that one did not need to have read the previous two series in the Clan Chronicles to enjoy this new one. That's not entirely true, but we'll get to that in a few moments. In the end, although I would have benefited from exposure to Czerneda's The Trade Pact and Stratification trilogies, following a difficult start This Gulf of Time and Stars delivered on enough fronts to make me want to read what comes next.
Here's the blurb:
This Gulf of Time and Stars begins the hard sci-fi Reunification series, perfect for space opera readers looking for unique aliens and interstellar civilizations.
Sira di Sarc, the leader of an alien race hiding in plain sight among humans, must find a way to take her Clan home, in this trilogy within the award-winning Clan Chronicles series.
To save their world, the most powerful of the Om’ray left their homes. They left behind all memory of their past. Calling themselves the Clan, they settled among Humanity, hiding in plain sight, using their ability to slip past normal space to travel where they wished, using their ability to control minds to ensure their place and security.
They are no longer hidden.
For the Clan face a crisis. Their reproduction is tied to individual power, and their latest generation of females, Choosers, are too strong to safely mate. Their attempt to force others to help failed until Sira di Sarc, their leader and the most powerful of their kind, successfully Joined with a human, Jason Morgan, starship captain and telepath. With Morgan, Sira forged the first peace between her kind and the Trade Pact.
But it is a peace about to shatter. Those the Clan have controlled all these years will rise against them. Her people dying around her, war about to consume the Trade Pact, Sira will be left with only one choice. She must find the way back. And take the Clan home.
Julie E. Czerneda is renowned for her complex worldbuilding and for creating original alien species. It's not necessarily the case with This Gulf of Time and Stars, but we have to keep in mind that the author lay the groundwork for this new trilogy in two past series and most of the worldbuilding has already been established. Having said that, the Assemblers were quite cool. In my opinion, after a lackluster beginning, the story picks up as soon as it shifts to Cersi, the Clan's homeworld. Since the Clan members were stripped of their memories when they left Cersi and made Passage to the Trade Pact universe, the planet is as alien to them as it is to readers. The Balance between the Om'ray, name by which the Clan used to be known, the Oud, and the Tikitik is at the heart of this tale and shapes all three species' existence on the planet. But the truth behind this Balance is a revelation that will change this world forever. I also liked the references to the mysterious Hoveny Concentrix, the greatest alien civilization the universe has ever known, and how they might be tied to Cersi and its inhabitants.
Truth be told, claiming that this is a hard sci-fi series is a serious misnomer. Actually, This Gulf of Time and Stars turned out to be more of a character-driven space opera and fantasy blend. If anything, this could one of the most accessible science fiction novels I've read in a very long time. So please forget about this "hard sci-fi" label, as nothing could be further from the truth. This series can be enjoyed by any speculative fiction fans. As mentioned, those who have read Czerneda's The Trade Pact and Stratification series will probably get more out of the experience and find it easier to get into This Gulf of Time and Stars. Yet that doesn't mean that newbies, like me, cannot get into the book. It just means that it takes a while for things to finally make sense and you just need to bid your time and trust that the author knows what she's doing. There is a two-page "Previously, in the Clan Chronicles" section that provides a brief lowdown regarding the first two trilogies. I feel that the novel, and the series as a whole, would have benefited from something more substantial, especially if there was any true desire to bring in new readers. Hence, with very little background information, the reader is thrust into the story and things can be quite confusing at the beginning. It doesn't help that the first 60 pages or so have to do with a baby shower. At that point, things are more boring than confusing (for new readers at least), but stick with it. When the proverbial shit hits the fan, things will look up and the book becomes captivating. And though very little is done at the start to fill you in, Czerneda does provide information that allows us to fill in the blanks and make sense of the plotlines later on. I'm persuaded that I've missed out on some nuances here and there. Yet all in all, by the time I reached the end book, I had everything I needed to fully enjoy it.
The bulk of This Gulf of Time and Stars is told from the perspectives of two main protagonists: Sira di Sarc, leader of the Clan, and Jason Morgan, her human Chosen. Both are well-drawn and engaging characters and their different viewpoints make for an interesting narrative. However, Czerneda lays it a bit thick when it comes to the romantic side and what they mean to each other, and that can be annoying. She thinks he's tough, he's badass, and she loves him. And he thinks she's tough, she's badass, and he loves her. I get it. You don't have to remind me every chapter or so. There are occasional sections offering other points of view, but those are few and far between. And even though Sira and Morgan will always take center stage, I feel that more POVs from the rest of the cast would have added layers to the characterization. The cast is comprised of quite a few compelling men and women and aliens, chief among them Barac and Destin, who deserved a bit of limelight and I feel that more attention should have been devoted to them. In addition, it sometimes felt odd that Sira and Morgan are almost always smarter than everyone else and they're always the ones working out the puzzles and saving everyone's bacon.
The pace of the novel is decidedly crooked. The beginning is dull for the most part and new readers have to wait till about the halfway point before they have enough information to make sense of the storylines. Once the action shifts to Cersi, however, then the rhythm picks up and the story progresses at a good clip. The endgame and the final revelations elevate This Gulf of Time and Stars to another level and make you want to discover what happens next. Hence, you can expect a review of the sequel, The Gate to Futures Past, in the coming weeks.
Overall, This Gulf of Time and Stars probably wasn't the best jumping point for someone who had yet to read anything by Julie E. Czerneda. Still, I'm glad I stuck with it, for once the story truly takes off it makes for a satisfying reading experience. The ending packs a good punch and I'm looking forward to the second volume. Time will tell if the next two installments will live up to the potential generated by this one, but I'd recommend This Gulf of Time and Stars to anyone looking for an accessible science fiction novel featuring a strong female lead.
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
September 3, 2022
he Clan Chronicles is a series of books (This Gulf of Time and Stars is the first book of the third trilogy) set in a distant future of interstellar travel, alien races, and telepathic abilities. The Trade Pact, the first trilogy, introduced us to the alien Clan, a humanoid race that has doomed itself to extinction through selective breeding. The fact that Clan females kill their prospective mates, though, isn’t the scariest thing about them – it’s the way they exist in secret, disguised as Humans, using their telepathic powers to erase memories and control people without them knowing. Stratification, the second trilogy, is actually a prequel, introducing us to an earlier version of the Clan, long before they joined the Trade Pact, and before they bred themselves to the brink of extinction.
Reunification, the third trilogy, is a direct sequel to both stories. This Gulf of Time and Stars advances both the story and the Clan’s situation, introducing us to an era where they have been secretly invited into the Trade Pact, and then just as secretly exposed, adding the threat of extermination to that of extinction. While it could be read on its own, readers will get a lot more out of the story with knowledge of what’s come first. Julie E. Czerneda doesn’t waste a lot of time ushering readers into the world, instead throwing us right into a crucial negotiation between leaders of the races threatened by the Clan.
While The Trade Pact was about Sira, Reunification is very much about the Clan and Sira’s search for answers. For those who are new to the universe, Sira is an interesting character, a sympathetic heroine who is nothing like the terrifying monstrosity you’d expect of her race. When we first meet her here, she’s preparing for a “baby-rainshower-occasion” with her human partner, which is just as awkward and humorous as you might expect. In fact, Czerneda uses a lot of humor to establish the cultural differences between her races, which is a large part of what makes this such an accessible story.
At the same time, while some of the alien customs may be humorous, the aliens themselves can be creepy as hell (the Assemblers may be my favorite alien race ever), and the stakes in the story are about as high as they can get on an interstellar scale. This is often a very dark story, with a large cast of characters, and multiple shifts in POV (including shifts from first to third person). Even I found it a little bit dense at times, and I was coming into it with knowledge of the previous books. New readers may require a little more patience, but it’s worth the effort, especially since Czerneda has such a free-flowing lyrical style to her narrative. Once you get to know the Sira and Captain Jason Morgan, and begin to piece together the backstory from their discussions with others, you’ll find yourself caring about the central mystery a lot more, at which time that style will carry you along nicely.
This Gulf of Time and Stars is a blend of hard science fiction and interstellar space opera, with a solid basis in biology that makes for some fascinating reading. It’s a very different sort of story from her Night’s Edge fantasy series, but it shows the same love for her characters and the worlds she’s created.
Originally reviewed at The Speculative Herald
Reunification, the third trilogy, is a direct sequel to both stories. This Gulf of Time and Stars advances both the story and the Clan’s situation, introducing us to an era where they have been secretly invited into the Trade Pact, and then just as secretly exposed, adding the threat of extermination to that of extinction. While it could be read on its own, readers will get a lot more out of the story with knowledge of what’s come first. Julie E. Czerneda doesn’t waste a lot of time ushering readers into the world, instead throwing us right into a crucial negotiation between leaders of the races threatened by the Clan.
While The Trade Pact was about Sira, Reunification is very much about the Clan and Sira’s search for answers. For those who are new to the universe, Sira is an interesting character, a sympathetic heroine who is nothing like the terrifying monstrosity you’d expect of her race. When we first meet her here, she’s preparing for a “baby-rainshower-occasion” with her human partner, which is just as awkward and humorous as you might expect. In fact, Czerneda uses a lot of humor to establish the cultural differences between her races, which is a large part of what makes this such an accessible story.
At the same time, while some of the alien customs may be humorous, the aliens themselves can be creepy as hell (the Assemblers may be my favorite alien race ever), and the stakes in the story are about as high as they can get on an interstellar scale. This is often a very dark story, with a large cast of characters, and multiple shifts in POV (including shifts from first to third person). Even I found it a little bit dense at times, and I was coming into it with knowledge of the previous books. New readers may require a little more patience, but it’s worth the effort, especially since Czerneda has such a free-flowing lyrical style to her narrative. Once you get to know the Sira and Captain Jason Morgan, and begin to piece together the backstory from their discussions with others, you’ll find yourself caring about the central mystery a lot more, at which time that style will carry you along nicely.
This Gulf of Time and Stars is a blend of hard science fiction and interstellar space opera, with a solid basis in biology that makes for some fascinating reading. It’s a very different sort of story from her Night’s Edge fantasy series, but it shows the same love for her characters and the worlds she’s created.
Originally reviewed at The Speculative Herald
Disclaimer: Thanks DAW for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
January 12, 2018
This is the seventh book in the Clan Chronicles series, a series that started twenty years ago with the author's first published novel, A Thousand Words for Stranger. Czerneda is a biologist, and it shows; her aliens are complex and fascinating. The aliens in this series are the Clan, a species that looks Human, and can hide among the various aliens and Humans that make up the Trade Pact. The Clan have psi powers and can teleport through an extradimensional space they call the M'hir, even between planets and star systems. The ability to manipulate and travel through the M'hir is of great value to them, so much so they have deliberately bred for it, in the process breeding themselves into a extinction-causing corner. Their females, called Choosers, must mate with males with stronger psychic powers than the Choosers' own, or the Joining will kill the hapless males. This power increases with each generation, until the appearance of the strongest Chooser ever born, Sira di Sarc...a Clanswoman who will kill anyone who tries to mate with her.
This problem is solved in the first three books in the series, when Sira Joins with a Human man, Captain Jason Morgan. The second three books of the series, Reap the Wild Wind, Riders of the Storm and Rift in the Sky, are a prequel, going back several generations to the Clan's ancestors and their original (or at least it was thought to be then) planet of Cersi, and what led the Clan to split and part of them to migrate to Trade Pact space.
Now, generations later, with Sira di Sarc the leader of the Clan, the series comes full circle. Various shady elements in the Trade Pact try to assassinate the Clan (which even after all this time, due to their reproductive problems, number just under a thousand members total) and succeed in killing off a great many of them. (If you're asking how a species with telepathic powers can be taken by surprise and slaughtered, the answer is, again, due to the author's skill in creating believable alien species. In this case the assassins are one of the scariest, creepiest aliens I have ever seen in print--the Assemblers, beings composed of various sentient parts that blend into a mind-shared whole. There are several scenes of hands/feet/heads/torsos/et cetera scrabbling through landscapes or rolling across floors, and the mental picture that gave me was almost enough to make me run screaming from the room.) In Sira's desperation to find a refuge for her people, she returns to the place in Trade Pact space where they first emerged, and takes the survivors through the M'hir to Cersi, the planet from where they came.
That isn't the end of the story, of course. There is a deeper mystery here, as Sira, Jason Morgan, and the rest of the Clan discover. Perhaps the book started off a bit slow, but that was necessary to set the stage, and give a brief fleeting impression of normalcy and happiness before everything goes to hell. There are very nice relationships between the various characters, especially Sira and her Chosen, Jason Morgan. There are two books remaining in the series, both of which I'm anxious to get to. I'm quite invested in these characters and this series, and if you give it a chance, I think you will be too.
This problem is solved in the first three books in the series, when Sira Joins with a Human man, Captain Jason Morgan. The second three books of the series, Reap the Wild Wind, Riders of the Storm and Rift in the Sky, are a prequel, going back several generations to the Clan's ancestors and their original (or at least it was thought to be then) planet of Cersi, and what led the Clan to split and part of them to migrate to Trade Pact space.
Now, generations later, with Sira di Sarc the leader of the Clan, the series comes full circle. Various shady elements in the Trade Pact try to assassinate the Clan (which even after all this time, due to their reproductive problems, number just under a thousand members total) and succeed in killing off a great many of them. (If you're asking how a species with telepathic powers can be taken by surprise and slaughtered, the answer is, again, due to the author's skill in creating believable alien species. In this case the assassins are one of the scariest, creepiest aliens I have ever seen in print--the Assemblers, beings composed of various sentient parts that blend into a mind-shared whole. There are several scenes of hands/feet/heads/torsos/et cetera scrabbling through landscapes or rolling across floors, and the mental picture that gave me was almost enough to make me run screaming from the room.) In Sira's desperation to find a refuge for her people, she returns to the place in Trade Pact space where they first emerged, and takes the survivors through the M'hir to Cersi, the planet from where they came.
That isn't the end of the story, of course. There is a deeper mystery here, as Sira, Jason Morgan, and the rest of the Clan discover. Perhaps the book started off a bit slow, but that was necessary to set the stage, and give a brief fleeting impression of normalcy and happiness before everything goes to hell. There are very nice relationships between the various characters, especially Sira and her Chosen, Jason Morgan. There are two books remaining in the series, both of which I'm anxious to get to. I'm quite invested in these characters and this series, and if you give it a chance, I think you will be too.
February 24, 2024
A lot of the meh reviews of this book appear to be by people who did not read Czerneda's earlier works in this series first. This is book 7 in a trilogy of trilogies. If you haven't yet read the previous 6 books (Trade Pact trilogy and Stratification trilogy), put down this book immediately and go read those first. Please. Read them in the order of publication, not chronological order. I promise you the story in this book will be so much more engaging and satisfying if you come with all the knowledge of the rich world that Czerneda has built and the vast array of characters, species, and worldviews she has created and woven together. This book will thoroughly spoil the Stratification trilogy if you have not yet read that series. If you, like I did, left that series feeling deeply disappointed at all the seemingly loose ends left unanswered, then let me tell you how this book completely upended that temporary disappointment and left me shocked beyond belief, in a good way, and intensely interested in finishing out this story in the final two books.
My one minor complaint is the use of weird, awkward contractions throughout. I don't recall this in Czerneda's previous books, which I've been binge reading. Things like, as an example, "We've time enough" or "I'd a list." Do people casually talk like that? It's distracting.
My one minor complaint is the use of weird, awkward contractions throughout. I don't recall this in Czerneda's previous books, which I've been binge reading. Things like, as an example, "We've time enough" or "I'd a list." Do people casually talk like that? It's distracting.
June 30, 2017
Returning to the "Trade Pact Universe", some of her earliest work, Czerneda continues the story of the M'Hiray, formerly called the Clan. They are humanoid creatures, with the ability to travel, instantaneously, to anywhere they've been before, or have a "locate" for. They can also read minds, and communicate telepathically, with each other. Their numbers relatively few, they have been persecuted throughout their history, in some cases with cause, as they would use their powers to get what they wanted from other, less superior races, across the universe. Now, another plot to eliminate them, entirely, from the Trade Pact Universe, has begun, and those still alive have no idea where to go. Ms Czerneda is one of my favorite science-fiction authors, and after writing two very good fantasy novels(The "Night's Edge" series), she returns to science-fiction, with a terrific new trilogy.
October 16, 2020
Another science fiction tour de force by Julie E. Czerneda. I enjoyed this read for several reasons.
Firstly, because I knew it would be good. Now good means different things to different readers. Good for me means exciting, unusual characters in exciting, unusual predicaments, yet all hanging together within its created world. Czerneda always delivers.
Another aspect of Czerneda's writing is her underlying knowledge of biological processes of the highest importance to the survival of a species, and how that can play out in a science fiction universe.
Thirdly, Czerneda is a scientist, a biologist, and also publishes non-fiction. She achieves a difficult balance: neither the imperatives of the story nor the details of the science outweigh the other, allowing enjoyment of her books on several levels.
So grab this one and buckle up! You're in for a heck of a ride!
Firstly, because I knew it would be good. Now good means different things to different readers. Good for me means exciting, unusual characters in exciting, unusual predicaments, yet all hanging together within its created world. Czerneda always delivers.
Another aspect of Czerneda's writing is her underlying knowledge of biological processes of the highest importance to the survival of a species, and how that can play out in a science fiction universe.
Thirdly, Czerneda is a scientist, a biologist, and also publishes non-fiction. She achieves a difficult balance: neither the imperatives of the story nor the details of the science outweigh the other, allowing enjoyment of her books on several levels.
So grab this one and buckle up! You're in for a heck of a ride!
November 13, 2017
All my own fault, but this is the first Julie Czerneda novel I haven't thoroughly enjoyed. I really should have reread one or more of the previous books - it was quite a while ago, and I didn't realise how much I had forgotten.
I have to say too that while Julie's prose is normally a delight to read, I found this book more awkward. Quite apart from two glaring misuses of "whomever" (I hope those were misprints), at times I found it difficult to know who was speaking.
That said, she is still one of my favourite authors, returning here with some of my favourite characters. I am now will into the next book of the series, which I find much more readable.
I have to say too that while Julie's prose is normally a delight to read, I found this book more awkward. Quite apart from two glaring misuses of "whomever" (I hope those were misprints), at times I found it difficult to know who was speaking.
That said, she is still one of my favourite authors, returning here with some of my favourite characters. I am now will into the next book of the series, which I find much more readable.
April 26, 2021
This one started well but quickly became tedious and a chore to read. There were too many different characters / clans / species to be able to keep the story straight and the roles of the various players were not all that clear.
The plot was unnecessarily convoluted and Czernda missed a number of opportunities to explore the character's relationships.
There is a lot of bad / disappointing sci-fi / fantasy material out there and this one is definitely in that category. I regret reading this one all the way to the 'end'. In this case 'end' is something of a misnomer as it is the first in a trilogy (so the story does not really conclude).
The plot was unnecessarily convoluted and Czernda missed a number of opportunities to explore the character's relationships.
There is a lot of bad / disappointing sci-fi / fantasy material out there and this one is definitely in that category. I regret reading this one all the way to the 'end'. In this case 'end' is something of a misnomer as it is the first in a trilogy (so the story does not really conclude).
October 8, 2022
Amazing. Lots of answered questions and excitement for the next book. This one had a really good pacing and constant shit hitting the fan. I thoroughly enjoyed. Hope the next to go this well.
I think I need to relook at the middle trilogy, I thought they had a Hoveny species that didn't remember their past and such, but maybe they were just one of the united species of their time. The big eyed aliens. I may be misremembering that. Other than that, I'm amazed at the well developed world Czerneda created (as I always am). Still one of my fav authors.
I think I need to relook at the middle trilogy, I thought they had a Hoveny species that didn't remember their past and such, but maybe they were just one of the united species of their time. The big eyed aliens. I may be misremembering that. Other than that, I'm amazed at the well developed world Czerneda created (as I always am). Still one of my fav authors.
March 31, 2019
I love all the clan books. This one puts you on the path to origins. The M'hiray go back to Cersi with Jason and Sira leading them
Aling the way Aryl comes back onto the story. Makes me choke with emotion reading about Aryl again. Czerneda is bringing not just a world or people to life but a while universe. The thoughts and emotions seemed to jump out from the pages. This series has so much imagination it's a wonder if it's actually science fiction or a real future setting.
Aling the way Aryl comes back onto the story. Makes me choke with emotion reading about Aryl again. Czerneda is bringing not just a world or people to life but a while universe. The thoughts and emotions seemed to jump out from the pages. This series has so much imagination it's a wonder if it's actually science fiction or a real future setting.
June 6, 2017
I didn't realize this was actually book 4 of a longer series rather than book 1 of a trilogy. As such, I was pretty confused for the 1st third of the novel but once I got settled in the universe and had gleaned enough of the backstory, I enjoyed it very much. I think I'll go back to A Thousand Words for Stranger next!
June 8, 2017
I read this without realizing it was actually part seven of a nine-part series. That was probably a mistake; as a result, it took a long time for me to grok who the characters were and what was going on. That aside, Czerneda's prose is impeccable as always, and the concepts and conflicts facing the Clan are interesting enough.
August 20, 2021
I didn't realize this was part of a bigger series so there were a lot of facts dumped on me in the beginning of this book. I eventually picked up on most of it but it was a steep learning curve. Other than that, the book was pretty interesting. I preferred the first half of the book over the second half.
September 19, 2021
Reading this endless series has become a comforting habit, like that TV show you put on when you just need a break from the world, but don't want to try too hard (I'm looking at you, Star Trek: Voyager!). There are only two books left, and I'm anticipating that familiar sense of mild loss when I'm finished. But hey, maybe Czerneda has another Trade Pact trilogy in the works...
December 5, 2018
I didn't really enjoy this book that much. It got a good rating here though . If you want a book that doesn't explain concepts and has probably 40 or more characters to keep up with, then this book is for you!
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