Customer Reviews

Heart's Prey (Futuristic Romance)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have already read Heart's Prey twice and enjoyed it even more the second time around! The story involves a classic futuristic romance with captivating and creative threads of political intrigue, adventure, and pure science fiction from a highly imaginative author.

The story centers around the lives of a sympathetic warlord, Dax Vahnti, and an untamed young woman, Rayna Syn. Dax rules several worlds populated by scores of hostile and warring clans. Rayna's apparent destiny is to assassinate Dax to prevent him from displacing and subjecting her people to a mining colony for Dax's empire. Rayna is a gorgeous painted women (yes painted) who has an uncanny ability to transform herself into a vicious wolf-like creature. Dax and Rayna end up battling the elements, numerous enemies, and their own consciences in their mutual quest for love,understanding, and happiness in a life together on a world named Nirvana. They have to battle with political intrigue and sabotage from competing clans, volcanoes, and even vampire cats (yes cats) along the way. I am telling you this story has a little bit of everything that will entertain anybody who picks-up the book!

The book exudes a Star Wars quality. The story is extremely entertaining and it unfolds on a grand, if not, epic scale. Yet, the book retains a sly humor and is filled with lucious descriptions of characters and a mind boggling array of fanciful creatures a reader could only conjour-up in his or her wildest dreams. Finally, the book details some of the steamiest and creative intimate encounters I have seen in many years. A friend recommended it to me and I thanked her a hundered times over. I promise you that you cannot go wrong by following my advice. I strongly recommend that you also check out her first book Not Quite Paradise.

I usually stay away from books under 375 pages, but this book, and the reviews given for it, peaked my interest. I am a huge romance fan and enjoy a good sci fi as well. In Heart's Prey, you get a respectable combination of both. In the past, when I have read a sci fi romance, it usually ends up with good fighting the evil over a heroic battle to save/destroy the universe. Heart's Prey has nothing to do with that plotline.

In a future world, there are clans spread through the universe, originating from earth thousands of years before. Dax, our hero, is a warlord of one such clan and holds himself responsible for many planets. In the scheme of things, Dax is one powerful warlord amongst many, who all live together in the "Dominion". So sets our story, either in a Star Trek-like federation or a clan structure like historic Scotland. Rayna, our heroine, is a "lowly peasant" on one of Dax's planets (Nirvana) who is fighting Dax's encroachment onto "her" space (although Dax owns the planet and has let the Lakotians live there under his sufferance). There are a lot of allusions and outright using of different ideas (Nirvana, the perfect planet, the Lakotians a "primative" group living with nature like their Native American namesakes, etc) that at first I felt uncomfortable with: until I understood the whole plot.

Our two lead characters are very well developed and enjoyable to read about. Dax is a loner, courting death with his outrageous stunts. He lives his life for his clan and as the story progresses, he realizes this and tries to live life for himself as well. Not an easy thing for a leader to do. Rayna is untainted by court life, but is not naïve or stupid. She understands people and the undercurrents going on around her. The story starts with her hatred of Dax, and his "evil empire" which she perceives as destroying her people's way of life. Watching the growth of Rayna and Dax's feelings is what makes this story so enjoyable. Throw in some good secondary characters, some paranormal/fantasy elements, and a fairly simplistic "bad guy" plot and you have a nice read which is well written and worth picking up.

I don't often feel moved to give a review of a book, but I have to say this book caught me by surprise it was so good. It was well written, moving, emotional and adventurous. I actually read it twice and put it on my keeper shelf! If you like your romance spiced with wonderful adventure and lovable characters, this book is for you. It moves fast and takes you with it so you don't dare put it down. I highly recommend reading this author not once, but time and time again. She will hold you spellbound with her vision of new worlds and the mystical magic she weaves! Take a chance, you won't be sorry.

This book was an annoying reminder of why I don't read many romance novels - unlikeable characters, implausible plots, disappointing love scenes. I find myself imagining alternative endings, where the heroine succeeds in her assassination attempts and ends up with someone nicer than the total jerk of a "hero" in this book - or better yet, back home where she can finish growing up.

A simple question for the author - aside from the obvious necessity of getting the heroine in the clutches of the villain (who is only slightly more vile than the "hero"), why was it necessary to place her in the custody of a guardian, when she had a planetful of kinfolk wondering where the heck she was?? Why not just send her home? Lazy, lazy, lazy!!!

Plot Summary: Set far, far into the future, Earth's descendants have colonized the galaxy, and order is maintained by various warlords. When one of these warlords, Dax Vahnti decides to mine the planet of Nirvanna, the primitive Lakota people revolt. Rayna Syn attemps to assassinate Dax, but when she fails, Dax decides to keep her according to an ancient forfeiture law. He takes her back to his homeworld of Hellfire with the intention of using her as a sexual plaything, but Rayna is determined to carry out her mission. This battle of wills becomes an inter-galaxy issue when Dax's enemy formulates a plan to use Rayna against Dax.

If you're wondering what I'm doing reading an older futuristic romance, well, I read a recommendation from someone who recalled this one fondly. Sadly, I am not of the same opinion, but that's why I try all sorts of books. I never know what's going to appeal to me. This book came close to being decent, but it contains several fatal flaws.

First, I don't like it when the hero tries to talk himself into raping the heroine if the seduction doesn't pan out. Don't worry, he doesn't, but I'm not a fan of the overbearing beast-lover mentality. Ironically, once Rayna overcomes her loathing, there is only one love scene, and it's nothing to write home about.

Second, the transition between love and hate was too abrupt. For most of the book Rayna is steadfast in hating Dax's guts, and I would have liked to see a gradual get to know each other set up. Instead, she fights, fights, fights him for almost two-thirds of the story, and then does a fairly abrupt about-face. That kind of relationship dynamic stretches my incredulity, and cheapens the romance when it is finally delivered. It's like some cheap B-flick where the woman says no, no, no, and she really means yes, yes, yes. I hate that.

Finally, I wanted to stop reading and move onto another book about halfway through, which is pretty much the kiss of death around here. I managed to finish it, but I can't recommend it. I have another novel by Jan Zimlich in my stack, The Black Rose, and here's hoping that it's a much better story.

If you want to enter a world that will appeal across the genres of sci-fi purist to horror buffs with the added spice of sizzling romance and a twist of wry humor tossed in on top, then Ms. Zimlich is the suthor you should follow and Heart's Prey is the book you have to own. Once again she creates believable worlds, characters you remember and does it all with her fine tuned gift for absorbing story telling.

This book was a very good read. It was kind of hard to get into, and a little slow at first, but it got really good, and I never regreted buying it.

First of the author writes well. She writes very well. She writes as well as a real author. OK, I didn't say that - but you know so much of the romance stuff is just soooo badly written and this one is really nice to read. Now on to the plot. It is very involved and everthing fits together. Its not perfect, but it is is darn good even by fantasy standards. At first I thought it was going to be a bodice-ripper 'cause the hero gets the heroine tied up to the bedposts and she is horrified but then she is heaving towards him and I thought oh god not a 70's thowback, weren't they outlawed, but thank goodness it stopped and she didn't like him when he acted like that so he stopped acting like that. And the story got better from there. Still, I never did understand why she fell in love with him. Sure he saved her life, but that was about all he had going for him which was why it got four instead of five stars. Otherwise, as good as gets for this genre. Buy it. (p.s I don't know what one of the reviews meant by horror, it is not at all a horror book.)