Customer Reviews

Knight of a Trillion Stars (Futuristic Romance)

5 star:		(113)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Dara Joy is a master at creating fantasy worlds that are every woman's dream. No disease, self-cleaning houses, magic powers and lots of sexy men - these are just a few of the wonders you will find in "Knight of a Trillion Stars." The heroine is a very ordinary human who is shocked one day to find this incredible man in her home. He tells her he's from another world, but she thinks he's a flake. Turns out he was telling the truth, and the two go on a very exciting and surprising quest.

This book is a lot of fun, and all but the most rigid sci fi fans will enjoy Dara Joy's wonderful imagination. The plot is pretty good and the secondary characters are almost as much fun as the principals. My only complaint would be that Deana is one of those annoying heroines who spends way too much time insisting that she's not good enough for the hero. It's a minor complaint, however, and won't keep you from having a great time reading this book.

I read the great reviews for this book, rushed off to get it & wasted several hours reading it when I could have been doing something exciting like sorting gravel or ironing wrinkly gift wrap. What a sludgy mess! Firstly, the names alone are a joke. The author must have just randomly typed a few letters on the screen to name the characters. The time the two main characters spend on earth lasts almost two whole days, there is very little development of the man's adjustment to earth culture (funniest bit is when he attacks a microwave thinking it's trying to hurt the woman). The woman is pathetic--tries to be Ms. Independence but always caves as soon as Mr. Macho starts nibbling on various parts of her anatomy. The guy is basically like a slave-owner, granting her minimal rights, completely disregarding her wishes, and even "granting" her permission to make love to him instead of him calling all the shots & making love to her (she is like a doormat just lying there as he does what he wants, when he wants, and how he wants and totally ignores anything she says). After tricking her into marrying him (and neglecting to tell her that she just agreed to a life-bond with him)they leave earth & head off into the universe. There are some minor characters like his brother Rejar who is so oversexed he can barely go five minutes without jumping into some chick's pants and the lovable wizard who supposedly has all these powers and is a mighty leader of their Knights of Chal, but spends most of his time chuckling and making soup. Of course, women can't be a Knight of Chal--they're too busy cooking their men's suppers & shopping (and they have their own mystic magic, whatever that is). What really put the twist in my knickers is when they reveal this custom on Mr. Macho's planet in which the man weaves his woman's hair with his family's colors and then unweaves it when they have sex, re-weaves it changing the pattern so everyone will know that they had sex. What a sickening display of male testerone! Why would they waste time weaving hair to prove their possession of the woman when brands are so much more efficient? How about tatooing their faces? I can't believe I wasted my time on this book--the woman is a wimpy, passive doormat who lets the men around her control her completely, the hero is a controlling jerk who thinks his opinion is the only one that matters and the supporting characters are stereotypical sidekicks. I will NEVER waste my time with another of this series & now need to go floss my brain to remove the crumbs of plot that stayed stuck in my head.

Dara Joy knows how to create wonderfully memorable characters. I couldn't help falling in love with Lorgin, though he be stubborn and even sexist at times. I long to be Deanna, discovering her own beauty and sensuality, and experiencing what it is to know and love Lorgin.

Lorgin's naivete of our own world offers great amusement in the beginning of the book. When Deanna takes him to WorldCon, a real sci-fi convention if I'm not mistaken, it's hilarious! Then she gets to travel to his world, having her own awkwardness and uncertainty along the way.

We meet Rejar, among other characters, in this first Knights of the Charl series, and he and Lorgin have some fun at Deanna's expense. You'll laugh throughout.

Deanna is a fabulous woman. She cares so much for Lorgin, she's willing to give him up, sure she's not the woman he's meant to be with. Lorgin finds her belief frustrating, but tries to convince her otherwise. Their great love will remain in your heart and you'll be dying to start the next novel, REJAR. Don't miss the third in the series, MINE TO TAKE, either; I read that one first (I bought it before I realized it was part of a series), and I assure you Dara Joy never loses her touch of magic! I fall in love with all her men. They're what I want *my* man to be!

Here's the story, weak-willed, spineless modern heroine meets domineering, chauvanistic alien in a very feeble attempt at a sci-fi/romance blend. Aside from the brief flash of humor that has the heroine bringing an alien to Worldcon, there wasn't anything to recommend this book. He tricks her into marrying him by some ancient tradition of his people, and then holds her to it. And she buys it!

He drags her against her will to his world, and tells her that she can't leave. And she buys it!

He changes her name. And she tolerates it! He dominates her, supresses her, refuses to listen to her point of view, or her opinions, or her desires, or even her choice. And she puts up a token resistance, and then gives in! The whole thing is full of platitiudes that closely resemble the "A woman's place..." attitude, and this supposedly modern woman, Deana, placidly swallows the whole thing, hook, line, and sinker.

God, it was so revolting! I'm sure that if he told her to clean house in high heels and pearls (ala Donna Reed) she would do that too. All in all, this book is a definite no no for anyone who was born after 1930, unless, of course, they missed the femenist movement completely. Perhaps Ms. Joy slept through it?

I could go into the premise of the book but I think it's been pretty much covered in the other reviews. Instead I'll talk about what I liked and disliked about the book.

I had high hopes when I first purchased the book. The story about an alien ending up in this woman's apartment sounded pretty good. And I will admit it was rather funny the first few chapters but then it went downhill.

Not only was the female lead, Deanne, pathetic, indecisive and weak but the male lead was hopelessly arrogant and macho. Not that I don't like men that are secure in themselves but Lorgin, the male lead, totally frustrated me. Deanne had absolutely no back bone when it came to dealing with Lorgin and whenever she did try and assert herself, Lorgins response was to have sex with her until she changed her mind, and change it she did. Now I'm not a femanist but I do believe in compromise, however with Lorgin there was none. It was either his way or...his way. Period.

I'm going to try and read "Rejar" because I purchased that book at the same time and I'm hoping it will be a better read. Hopefully I will not have to struggle reading "Rejar" the same way I did "Knight of a Trillion Stars."

Ridiculous, kitsch, a complete waste of time. The heroine is stupid beyond belief, the book's storyline heavily underestimates the reader's intelligence, and the prose is close to illiterate, not to mention the novel's pathetic dialogue. An exercise in bad taste.

Anyone who dresses like Lorgin should be in jail.

All in all, extremely trashy. My first and last attempt to read a Dara Joy novel.

I loved this book! I had previously read Rejar and was at first a bit confused by the references that it made to this book. Now I understand it all. This book is a timetravel book that has our heroine, Deana, having a really rotten day. She's been fired, had a horrid experience on the subway, had to wait for an accident to clear before she could get to her car and was rejected by three editors! She finds a junk shop and while waiting for her car to be released she buys a old necklace. When she gets home and cleans it up she finds out its really a beautiful piece of jewelry. She then suddenly finds herself face to face with the hero, Lorgin. He is drop dead gorgeous! She realizes that he isn't from here but a real life alien! They go to San Fransico for a scifi convention and he fits right in. Then suddenly she is wisked away to another planet and becomes involved with his quest. We meet Yaniff, the old mystic, Rejar, the half man-half Familiar, and Traed a loner who has many demons to conquer. Lorgin teases her and makes her smile so much that she is falling in love with him. I liked the way Dara described the love scenes as being both hot and breathless but tender and gentle at the same time. I can't wait to read more in this series and until they come out will be reading several of her other books. This is a definate buy!

Now, I can believe almost anything in this book for the sake of fun. Alternate realities, shape changers, wizards, lots of FUN stuff, and wonderfully written as well. BUT. This heroine is supposed to be a science fiction writer. As such, doesn't she have SOME intelligence? She acts like she just stepped out of a bad sitcom. She uses just AWFUL, stupid language, and acts like a 3rd grader. So, every man that sees her is instantly crazy about her, including the "wise" wizard? This I just can't believe. Nobody acts like that in real life, and thank heavens!

But, otherwise, this book is simply wonderful, and I have immediately ordered all her others.

I had never read a book by Dara Joy, but I am really glad I found her books. I read the book entitled Rejar first and when I realized it was one of a series, I had to back up and read the first, Knight of a Trillion Stars. Both were funny, sexy and kept my attention all the way through, so of course I had to find and read the rest of her books, including those not tied to this series. I keep waiting for the next one and am on pins and needles waiting to see what happens next. I enjoy books with humor, strong characters that you can care about and perhaps a little magic. All of her books have these. If you read these reviews Ms. Joy, one of your fans is eagerly awaiting the next installment.

What a fun book! The paranormal romance KNIGHT OF A TRILLION STARS by Dara Joy was laugh-out-loud funny at times, as well as engrossing and entertaining.

To summarize, modern-day Deanna discovers a gorgeous, magical alien in her living room one miserable day, and he ends up marrying her without her realizing it and brings her to another time, in another dimension, on another planet, to complete a quest to save the universe.

Lorgin was different hero ... sweetly unbearable, hysterically self-assured and affectionate ... to Deanna's never-ending frustration. The different worlds that he takes Deanna to were rather creative; kudos to the author on her vivid imagination! I also liked the two secondary characters who go on the quest with Lorgin and Deanna, namely the shape-shifting Familiar Rejar (hot!) and the ice-cold Traed (in some ways, even hotter!). I couldn't help wonder if they stole the show....

On the negative side, the book was vague in some respects and anti-climactic in others. I'm still not sure why Deanna had to be married to Lorgin and why she was the chosen one (what, exactly, were her magic powers anyway?). I also thought the final confrontation wrapped-up a little too quickly, as if the author was rushing to meet a deadline. Oh, and something else ... I thought it incredibly silly that Lorgin expected Deanna to see how much he loved her because he had (drum roll, please) oral sex with her. Snicker, snicker.

Still, I enjoyed this book immensely, and am looking forward to reading its sequel, REJAR. This was definitely a "joy" to read.

***For a similar read, try VIRTUAL HEAVEN by Ann Lawrence or THE STONE PRINCE by Gena Showalter.***