Czerneda, Julia E. Ties of Power. Trade Pact Universe No. 2. DAW, 1999.
I wanted to like this novel and this series more than I do. It has some original alien cultures and interstellar trade, things I usually applaud. But I had a hard time finishing this one. The story arc was never quite clear, and the nature and limits of psychic communication between species was equally vague. The story is strewn with confusingly similar terms. It seems everyone is some kind of chooser or chosen one, or wants to be chosen one, or used to be chosen one. After a while, I just didn’t care. Why are the Interludes? Is it just meanwhile back at the ranch, or is there something else going on? What do any of these aliens exactly look like? Do we really need unpronounceable names to make these all-too-humanish aliens seem alien? There are supposed to be several different kinds of romance and familial structures and genetic imperatives involved, but after a while, I would nod off and find myself several more pages in and would ask myself whether there was anything to be gained by backtracking. I guess I am not the chosen one for this novel. ( )

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Ties of Power
Series: Trade Pact #2
Author: Julie Czerneda
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 499
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Sira and Jason Morgan are living safe from the Clan. Jason has been growing in power under Sira's tutelage. Things start to go sideways though when Sira's cousin, now also exiled, shows up on their doorstep. It would appear that there is another splinter group of the Clan opposed to the Council but who want Jason just as dead and Sira under their control. The Council itself hasn't stopped playing games either.

This leads to Sira being abducted and her reproductive organs stolen. Morgan rescues her and then she compels him to go after those who did this to her. Meanwhile, she gets sidetracked into attending a ceremony on an alien world where the aliens apparently know about the M'hir, the energy space the Clan uses. Sira learns that the M'hir is a whole other ecosystem and not some creation of the Clan.

Kidnappings, murders and mystery abound. Everyone comes together and Sira deals with those who have crossed her. Her own father tries to murder Morgan in an attempt to kill her but thanks to Sira's training Morgan not only survives but fights back. This allows Sira, as the most powerful of the Clan, to wipe her father from existence.

The Clan is invited into the Trade Pact and the Council has voted to join. Cooperation, good cheer and hope are everywhere. And Sira has her naughty bits back so she and Morgan can consumate their Joining.

My Thoughts:

Yeah, not nearly so enthralling as the first book. Way, way, way further down the romance road.

Most of my problem stemmed from the fact that if Jason and Sira had taken a straight line from point A to point B, they could have solved their problems with power and force and violence. Instead, because of “feelingz”, they continually get hurt and so can't fully use their power together. This leads to an elliptical storyline where they keep going in circles while edging extremely slowly to that mythical point B.

A bloody ship with some big guns and a fully healthy Sira with her powers could have wiped her father and co-conspirators from the face of the universe in about 1 month. But my goodness, where would the “feelingz” be then? There would have been at least half the collateral damage if Jason Morgan had been a bloody man and just killed the people who were threatening him and his wife. Running away and wishing that things will get better don't solve problems.

This crossed the line from the kind of romance that I do like into the kind that I really don't like.

Up until the very end, Sira just gets hammered and reacts, every single time. It frustrated me because I could see how easy it would have been for the Morgan's to have planned differently and have everything turn out better. The story was interesting and everything we learn is cool but it came at the cost of Jason Morgan acting like a pussy and Sira a fainting maid instead of the extremely powerful and talented powerhouses they are.

Czerneda is now on probation and depending on how the next book turns out will decide if I continue with her or not.

★★★☆☆ ( )

I read the first volume of this set a year or so ago, and I found the sci-fi setting pretty interesting. This story reveals more about the world, which I enjoyed as well as the story itself. That being said, I have to say that I found it a little wearing to read. In fairness, reading it in one block on a train was a big ask, but I didn't realise it would clock in at over 500 pages! That's the downside of e-books (mine shows only progress and chapter page counts, not total page count).

The story switches constantly (every few pages) between the two viewpoint characters, which I found a little inelegant, making it feel a bit unstable. This also prompted me to realise that it's a bit repetitive: most of the story involves scenes of Sira (mostly) being attacked, pursued, imprisoned or escaping, as well as people constantly passing out. Actually, rather similar to the first book, as I remember it.

The sections with the alien races, however, were intriguing and compelling, though the secrecy of the Drapsk was a bit tiresome after a while. I think it just felt a bit too convenient for the author's desire for piecemeal reveals, and the justification seemed quite flimsy. Also, super-enigmatic *anythings* are sort of overplayed in speculative fiction, to be honest. I know, this was written in 1999, but I'm reading it in 2014, so hey. Once revealed, though, each of the races seemed interesting and worthy of more exploration.

Czernada is obviously quite invested in unveiling her psychic powers and their metaphysics, which is a bit of a shame as I find the rest of the setting much more interesting. I suspect future books will only increase the centrality of this element, and the psychic Clan, who feel like one of the least original and intriguing things in the story. On the whole, I'm only broadly positive about this book, and probably won't read the next about these characters. Now that the story of Sira is explained, I find the actual characters aren't particularly gripping. In truth, it seems like the minor characters get more chance to develop than the protagonists in this volume. However, I might look out the other books in the same setting. ( )

The story itself was a bit ho hum, but the worlds and beings were interesting. ( )

Our heroine discovers that her own Clan of psionics is far from unique in the universe, and finds unexpected allies while embroiled in the intrigues of her own people. ( )