Trade Pact Universe #3 To Trade The Stars (Paperback)

And it's because of the fact that he finds love, then is able to act on that love (when he'd believed he was incapable of finding anyone) that makes this book so good. His anguish at finding love, to believing he wouldn't be able to convert (due to the additional psionic complications of being a member of the Clan, and his beloved also being the same), to finding out that yes, indeed, he'd finally found his beloved and *was* going to be able to live the rest of his life with her, was well worth every bit of what I paid for this novel.

The rest? Well, the Morgans spend too much time apart, here. Considering Sira has the ability to teleport practically anywhere, Ms. Czerneda had to put her basically into a coma, locked inside her head -- that made sense. But making the Drapsk do it, and then not really explaining why they did it except with the sort of Gallic shrug (as in, "Who knows why they did it? They're aliens!") didn't really cut it with me.

I really liked Huido, though, and his colorful asides in the Interludes also helped liven up the book. Still, as I said, if this were a stand alone novel, I'd have given it a lesser rating. And because it _is_ a series novel, I'd definitely not even try to have someone start here; read the previous two books in the series, or you'll be hopelessly lost.

Events conspire once again to separate the Morgans for most of the book. Sira spends several chapters locked inside her own head, suddenly reliving memories that had remained suppressed even after her previous mind block was removed. Though well written as usual, these passages do little to move the story along.

As before, Sira's first-person story alternates with third-person accounts of Morgan and several other key characters. Also as before, all of the characters and locales are well-drawn, the plots creative. There are murders, disappearances, chases, and assorted surprises. Maybe just a little too assorted. It isn't until the final third of To Trade the Stars that the narratives at last organize themselves around a "main" plot that gives some focus to the rest of the book.

If anything, the many story lines in Stars are even more sprawling than in Ties, which in turn was more disjointed than Strangers. Variety is the spice of life, but too much spice can overwhelm an otherwise fine dish. This trilogy has all the high-quality ingredients that make up a fine dish, but a little less variety in its story lines would have made it easier to savor their individual flavors and enjoy the blended whole. In the first two books, Czerneda set up several excellent story lines relating to Clan, Human telepaths, or both, all of which deserved better treatment in Stars. Instead, many story lines have been given pat wrap-ups-or have simply been dropped-without ever being fully developed. Czerneda's eventual choice of direction for the last part of the book is inexplicable in view of everything else she had to work with, and ultimately disappointing.

Czerneda's ability to create vivid and diverse characters, cultures, and places is by now well-established, as is her skill at braiding together a number of small but intriguing story lines within a single book. There are times, however, when the reader misses a strong, centralized plot to unify the wealth of information and viewpoints she provides so well. The Trade Pact Universe is a fascinating construct, well worth revisiting again and again, as Andre Norton has done in any number of otherwise-unrelated tales set within a common universe. Perhaps in future efforts, Czerneda will take her readers back to fill out those abandoned story lines, preferably with more depth and just a little less scope.

Again the tale, at least slightly tongue in cheek (Sira is captured by Morgan's enemy and everyone else is zipping along trying to find her), rollicks along in alternating "Chapters" (told in the first person by Sira) and "Interludes," which clue you in to what other characters are doing. Czerneda keeps things moving along to a satisfying, moving finale.

While the publisher is billing the book as the end of a trilogy the author does seem to have left the possibility of continuing on (I for one would like to know what's next for Ruti) and I for one hope that she does.

Warning: Don't even think about reading this unless you've read the first two books in the series.