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The Amazons Quartet #3
Appointed Limits Keep
The Sapphic "Left Behind" Grows More Intense! It is the very near future. Fundamentalist among all U.S. religions have combined to vote racists, homophobes, and women-haters into government. Soon women see abortions outlawed, themselves driven out of the office place and legislated back into kitchens. For queers, Blacks, and Latinos, the situation is even more perilous, with gay-bashings and lynching back in style. Those who can have trekked west to California, the lone liberal holdout. Among them, former Naval officer Kris Nordstrom, who has been forced to resign her commission by the new government, her lover Andrea, Kris's sister, Susanne, and her lesbian niece, Alix. In volume III of this epic quartet of novels, the foursome have sailed to San Francisco, where they become certain they are being shadowed by private detectives hired by Susanne's estranged husband and Alix 's father, who has joined the fundamentalists and wants "his women" back under "his control." As Kris and Andrea work to establish a network of helping agencies who will assist women and others on the run, in Dayton, Alix's friends Danielle and Carole find out that their parents have signed them up for matrimony camp to indoctrinate them with the idea of growing up to become obedient, nurturing wives and mothers and of being forcibly married within the year. The connections between these various groups of women and girls are strengthened as they begin to share their concerns and experiences via the internet. But as California is increasingly pressured to fall in line with the rest of the U.S., Kris and Andrea realize that their only hope of survival is to take their friends and family aboard their ship and seekhaven elsewhere. If they can escape before California succumbs to the fundamentalists and before Susanna's husband can swoop down to kidnap her and Alix back to life as virtual slaves in Ohio.
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First published January 1, 2004
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April 15, 2016
Well. Hmm.
This is the third novel of four which detail the life and loves of Kris Nordstom, along with the host of characters she has swept up in her wake.
The year is 2006/2007, and the conservatives are firmly in control. The last bastions of liberality are under siege - California, Oregon, Washington - all seem doomed within months if the battle doesn't turn. And it won't turn; although the author has made it clear in prior books that the onslaught of anti-female legislation won't slow down or stop, this is the novel where you can almost hear the deliberate quiet of a thousand soldiers before the thunder of the canons opens up in earnest.
Kris has arrived on the West Coast, bringing her lover Andy with her. Settling in on the docks of the city, ensconced in their private love boat, they begin the planning and activity which they hope will carry them and their loved-ones away to sea when the last bastion falls. Still complicating matters are the two nieces, trapped in Ohio. They can only be brought out criminally, and that is giving our heroine pause. ((To be frank, every time Kris made excuses for delay I grew less and less tolerant of her/the author's decision; no real officer would favor delay when the only thing time brings is more power to ones enemies)).
That same pressure felt in the previous novels bears down still; things are slowly slipping beyond repair and there is nothing the free can do about it. The appearance (finally) of women organizing and resisting on a wide scale makes its belated (and welcome!) appearance. The men and boys who have their attitudes examined grow less and less interesting and two-dimensional, but that's okay because even very clever women who we know and love get the same treatment when they dare criticise Kris' life decisions.
And I suppose that's my real problem with this book. Kris. She's just... I dunno. Kinda perfect. It made me want to throw her into the ocean and set everyone free from her thrall. This book went full stupid on how sexy and commanding and masterful she is; for some reason the author decided this should make every eligible woman who claps eyes on her want her something bad. For some reason they are also willing to share her in having all-American sex marathons. Kris is like catnip for lesbians, including how dopey they all get around her.
The really frustrating part is that instead of wending someone Nik's way to have them grow together in imperfection, instead Kris just gets her as well. Damnit, I really liked Nik as a character - vulnerable and brilliant in equal measure, sharp and soft and growing as a person. I think the author loved her character as well, so much she was all - fuck it, let's just give her first prize (Kris) as well. She's earned it. Threesomes for everybody! Goddamnit, no! Kris is stasis; she is the death of character. The people that get with her never grow again, never have that amazing range of emotions and experiences. How can you argue or grow with perfection?
The book that I am feeling this triad most strongly resembles is the Rymellan Stories; that also has a group formed around an Ego, a Superego, and an Id. Although Rymellan's characters were riddled with flaws, the uneven nature of the final power-sharing agreement left me cold and ill. Trust me, although Rymellan's author wants to believe in happy endings, from a readers' perspective that didn't work. I fear for both Nik and Andy in this new arrangement. Kris will always overshadow both of them.
So why don't I just give up, you ask? Aggravating, but a fair question. I want to know what happens in the plot and so I must wade through a very large number of pages of sex and justifications in order to find this out. The plot is very good. Long, drawn out, encrusted with sex. But very good.
The first book was excellent, and everything about it gripped me. I find myself flagging now, ground down by the two-dimensional caricatures previously excellent characters have faded into. I am ambivalent about recommending this book, but if you've made it this far then you (like I) will want to find out what happens. There is enough curiosity left to drive us forward, methinks.
Ps: It really doesn't help defeat that old chestnut about Americans being poor at geography when New Zealand is twice referred to in text as a part of Australia. There must be an equivalent American insult as encompassing as having your whole sovereign nation (which as a continuous polity is older than most of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East) casually lumped in with a country 1200 miles away. For scale, that's Vienna to St Petersburg with an ocean in the way. Perhaps an atlas might come in handy for the author next time, because her microscopic knowledge of the coast of the United States becomes merely microscopic beyond it.
This is the third novel of four which detail the life and loves of Kris Nordstom, along with the host of characters she has swept up in her wake.
The year is 2006/2007, and the conservatives are firmly in control. The last bastions of liberality are under siege - California, Oregon, Washington - all seem doomed within months if the battle doesn't turn. And it won't turn; although the author has made it clear in prior books that the onslaught of anti-female legislation won't slow down or stop, this is the novel where you can almost hear the deliberate quiet of a thousand soldiers before the thunder of the canons opens up in earnest.
Kris has arrived on the West Coast, bringing her lover Andy with her. Settling in on the docks of the city, ensconced in their private love boat, they begin the planning and activity which they hope will carry them and their loved-ones away to sea when the last bastion falls. Still complicating matters are the two nieces, trapped in Ohio. They can only be brought out criminally, and that is giving our heroine pause. ((To be frank, every time Kris made excuses for delay I grew less and less tolerant of her/the author's decision; no real officer would favor delay when the only thing time brings is more power to ones enemies)).
That same pressure felt in the previous novels bears down still; things are slowly slipping beyond repair and there is nothing the free can do about it. The appearance (finally) of women organizing and resisting on a wide scale makes its belated (and welcome!) appearance. The men and boys who have their attitudes examined grow less and less interesting and two-dimensional, but that's okay because even very clever women who we know and love get the same treatment when they dare criticise Kris' life decisions.
And I suppose that's my real problem with this book. Kris. She's just... I dunno. Kinda perfect. It made me want to throw her into the ocean and set everyone free from her thrall. This book went full stupid on how sexy and commanding and masterful she is; for some reason the author decided this should make every eligible woman who claps eyes on her want her something bad. For some reason they are also willing to share her in having all-American sex marathons. Kris is like catnip for lesbians, including how dopey they all get around her.
The really frustrating part is that instead of wending someone Nik's way to have them grow together in imperfection, instead Kris just gets her as well. Damnit, I really liked Nik as a character - vulnerable and brilliant in equal measure, sharp and soft and growing as a person. I think the author loved her character as well, so much she was all - fuck it, let's just give her first prize (Kris) as well. She's earned it. Threesomes for everybody! Goddamnit, no! Kris is stasis; she is the death of character. The people that get with her never grow again, never have that amazing range of emotions and experiences. How can you argue or grow with perfection?
The book that I am feeling this triad most strongly resembles is the Rymellan Stories; that also has a group formed around an Ego, a Superego, and an Id. Although Rymellan's characters were riddled with flaws, the uneven nature of the final power-sharing agreement left me cold and ill. Trust me, although Rymellan's author wants to believe in happy endings, from a readers' perspective that didn't work. I fear for both Nik and Andy in this new arrangement. Kris will always overshadow both of them.
So why don't I just give up, you ask? Aggravating, but a fair question. I want to know what happens in the plot and so I must wade through a very large number of pages of sex and justifications in order to find this out. The plot is very good. Long, drawn out, encrusted with sex. But very good.
The first book was excellent, and everything about it gripped me. I find myself flagging now, ground down by the two-dimensional caricatures previously excellent characters have faded into. I am ambivalent about recommending this book, but if you've made it this far then you (like I) will want to find out what happens. There is enough curiosity left to drive us forward, methinks.
Ps: It really doesn't help defeat that old chestnut about Americans being poor at geography when New Zealand is twice referred to in text as a part of Australia. There must be an equivalent American insult as encompassing as having your whole sovereign nation (which as a continuous polity is older than most of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East) casually lumped in with a country 1200 miles away. For scale, that's Vienna to St Petersburg with an ocean in the way. Perhaps an atlas might come in handy for the author next time, because her microscopic knowledge of the coast of the United States becomes merely microscopic beyond it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2024
3 stars. The plot is really the only reason I'm holding on this series. The romance keeps trying to take over and while I don't dislike Kris, Andy and Nik the sex scenes really take up so much of the story that I got bored. I liked the inclusion of Nik into the relationship though. I'm more interested in Kris's nieces plot line and how things are going with them. Not a bad read but I really hope the final book is better.
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