Hardcover, 464 pages
English language
Published Nov. 21, 2022 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.
Rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster Tennalhin Halkana can read minds. Tennal, like all neuromodified “readers,” is a security threat on his own. But when controlled, readers are a rare asset. Not only can they read minds, but they can navigate chaotic space, the maelstroms surrounding the gateway to the wider universe.
Conscripted into the military under dubious circumstances, Tennal is placed into the care of Lieutenant Surit Yeni, a duty-bound soldier, principled leader, and the son of a notorious traitor general. Whereas Tennal can read minds, Surit can influence them. Like all other neuromodified “architects,” he can impose his will onto others, and he’s under orders to control Tennal by merging their minds.
Surit accepted a suspicious promotion-track request out of desperation, but he refuses to go through with his illegal orders to sync and control an unconsenting Tennal. So they They fake a sync bond and plan …
Rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster Tennalhin Halkana can read minds. Tennal, like all neuromodified “readers,” is a security threat on his own. But when controlled, readers are a rare asset. Not only can they read minds, but they can navigate chaotic space, the maelstroms surrounding the gateway to the wider universe.
Conscripted into the military under dubious circumstances, Tennal is placed into the care of Lieutenant Surit Yeni, a duty-bound soldier, principled leader, and the son of a notorious traitor general. Whereas Tennal can read minds, Surit can influence them. Like all other neuromodified “architects,” he can impose his will onto others, and he’s under orders to control Tennal by merging their minds.
Surit accepted a suspicious promotion-track request out of desperation, but he refuses to go through with his illegal orders to sync and control an unconsenting Tennal. So they They fake a sync bond and plan Tennal's escape.
Their best chance arrives with a salvage-retrieval mission into chaotic space―to the very neuromodifcation lab that Surit's traitor mother destroyed twenty years ago. And among the rubble is a treasure both terrible and unimaginably powerful, one that upends a decades-old power struggle, and begins a war.
Tennal and Surit can no longer abandon their unit or their world. The only way to avoid life under full military control is to complete the very sync they've been faking.
Can two unwilling weapons of war bring about peace?
A queer romance set in a space-faring future where humans have developed telepathic abilities. Two telepaths are thrown together by political expediency, and despite initial incompatibility (they are both very different sorts of neurodiverse) they build a strong partnership, and eventually love. The two protagonists are well portrayed, and very likeable despite their foibles.
So, nearly a 5 star! This was delightful. The only reason I am not going with a five star is because the basic set up is nearly identical to the first book (young tearaway forced into a relationship with someone by their powerful aunt/mother) so it may lack a little originality.
That being said, what a book. This author has some serious chops and the journey through this book was as strong as the first. I was hooked from the out and as you can see the book was finished in the same day. TBF, I am currently ill so there was not much else to do (there were also two re-reads between the book I last reviewed and this one that I am not going to count on here) but this fair took my mind off that.
This is a strong recommend and this author is now on my …
So, nearly a 5 star! This was delightful. The only reason I am not going with a five star is because the basic set up is nearly identical to the first book (young tearaway forced into a relationship with someone by their powerful aunt/mother) so it may lack a little originality.
That being said, what a book. This author has some serious chops and the journey through this book was as strong as the first. I was hooked from the out and as you can see the book was finished in the same day. TBF, I am currently ill so there was not much else to do (there were also two re-reads between the book I last reviewed and this one that I am not going to count on here) but this fair took my mind off that.
This is a strong recommend and this author is now on my must read list.
This is an enjoyable, high-stakes science fiction novel. There is a romance element, but I feel it takes a backseat to the political intrigue and military-action-thriller-ishness of it. Interesting world building, and here we learn more about the alien Remnants which were first introduced in Winter's Orbit, and which provide much of the power and mystery of Maxwell's Resolution universe.
I would certainly recommend this to fans of tense science fiction with plenty of political intrigue and military action. (That's not my thing, so much, but I still enjoyed it.) Also recommended if you enjoy reading about societies where non-heterosexual and non-cisgendered identities are perfectly normal. (And that definitely is my thing.)
