Shifting Plains: Amazon.ca: Jean Johnson: Books

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Book Description

Release Date: Nov 3 2009

Centuries before the time of the Sons of Destiny, a female shapeshifter became the leader of the people of the Shifting Plains...

Tava Ell Var never really knew her mother, but she did know her tragic fate at the hands of a band of cruel shapeshifters-a history set down by Tava's father as a warning about life on the Shifting Plains. But after her father is murdered, Tava encounters a Shifterai warband fighting to rid the Plains of the terrorizing bandits

Shifterai leader Kodan Sin Siin is sympathetic to Tava's suffering, but he's determined to bring the wary young woman to the Plains. Because he knows her secret: She, like he and his men, is a shapeshifter. Once she joins them, he knows that she will see for herself the true fate that awaits her on the Plains, and most of all, lose her fear of his people. And, in time, he knows she will find her place is in their fight-and by his side.

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Product Details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (Nov 3 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425230864
ISBN-13: 978-0425230862
Product Dimensions: 14 x 2.3 x 21 cm
Shipping Weight: 295 g

Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #443,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

“Jean Johnson’s writing is fabulously fresh, thoroughly romantic, and wildly entertaining.”--New York Times Bestselling Author Jayne Ann Krentz

“Brings you into brand new fantasylands that are filled with wonderful characters.”--Night Owl Reviews

“Shifting Plains…luxuriates in a level of world-building few authors investigate.”--Errant Dreams Reviews

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

The best part about being a writer is the joy of entertaining others. Whether it’s sad or scary, silly or sexy, I love knowing that one of my stories has given someone a good time. I hope this is one of those stories for you, too. Currently I live in the Pacific Northwest. Feel free to drop by my website for a chat.

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Most helpful customer reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Lacking a story arc. May contain spoilers. Oct 27 2010

By A. Cousins

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

While this book might take place in the same world as the Sons of Destiny series, it's nowhere near as good. Jean Johnson isn't fine literature, I know, but even by her other novels' standards, the story development is poor.

You might call it more of a story trough, actually. The book started well enough, but the "rising action" bottomed out after about the first 70 or so pages, hitting its lowest point somewhere around the section in which no fewer than 12 pages were dedicated to felting and refreshing tents. Should you choose to slog through, you'll find that what you thought was the "villian" of the story all along has been generally forgotten, replaced by a lackluster substitute with the annoyance factor and threat level of a fly in your kitchen (and just as easily dispatched).

Overall, the book rates a bit of a ticked off "Meh." This might have been improved to a disinterested "Meh" should there have been any real hint that there might be a sequel which goes the direction that this book should have gone in the first place.

Also, how does her editor keep letting her get away with the frequent and annoying usage of the informal literary anathema "alright?"

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 3.8 out of 5 stars 21 reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Happy to read and re-read Nov 5 2009

By Wong Wife - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is my first time to review a book but I could not let the other review stand. Yes, this book is very different from the Sons of Destiny; however, I think it makes a strong standing on its own.

There is a skillful job of setting up the new world and shifterai culture. The heroine is mistrustful of her natural father's people because of the misuse of her mother. She has hidden her shapechanging skills her entire lifetime and has no use for the Shifterai men who rescued her from her neighbors who were trying to steal her land and home after her adopted father's death. The author uses this mistrust and the heroine's introduction to this culture to explain her new world. It is a little slow in parts but well worth the read and I love the hero and his patience with the heroine. I can't wait until the next book in this series.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars It was okay May 5 2010

By Neker - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Paperback

Johnson does a fairly good job creating a male hero that does everything perfect as far as females go. He's always madly wanted by all women, has an incredible body, is a perfect gentleman in public and private, and of course makes mad love. Of course it's great reading about it regardless how hard it would be to believe in real life. Unfortunately, she does not make a very endearing heroine. They are either annoying as all heck, stuck up, or simply too perfect. Perfect men are great for woman to read about, but women don't want to hear about a perfect woman. Tava was a bit too perfect.

My second problem was the descriptions of every little insignificant thing Johnson could think of drag out in overly detailed and boring descriptions. I really don't care how to make a grass logs. I don't need 8 pages front and back on exact step-by-step instructions. Is how to make grass logs significant to the story line? NO! This is just one example. She does this for everything (arrow heads, clothing, oh, and the really, really big one, the TENT!) I think she had to describe how it was made, built, redone, created, who did the creating, augh!) It drove me nuts and literally put me to sleep.

Johnson...think short summaries for unimportant information.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable romantic fantasy Nov 7 2009

By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Paperback

Tava Ell Var has known violence all her life as the offspring of a human female raped by seventeen were-tigers. Her adoptive father, a gentle scribe, showed her kindness while aising her, but marauding bandits murdered him; leaving her alone especially in light of people she has known for years rejecting her. Tava vows vengeance for the only person whoever cared about her.

However, before she can stalk her adversaries, a Shifterai warband led by Kodan Sin Siin kill the outlaws and offer Tava sanctuary with Clan Cat as she is a shapeshifter too. She hesitates well aware of the raping of her mom. She is given no choice as she can be a slave or a free member.

The prequel to the Sons of Destiny saga is an enjoyable romantic fantasy as fans of the series will enjoy the tale of love between shapeshifters. Although not as dramatic as the Sons of Destiny with sudden leaps in the story line, Jean Johnson provides an enjoyable tale in which the romance supersedes the fantasy elements even with a potential she-Tiger who may prove genuine or die as the first female royal shifter in ages.

Harriet Klausner

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 21 reviews 3.8 out of 5 stars

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Shifting Plains [Paperback]