Customer Reviews

Netherwood (SHOMI)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Talia Fortune lives in a world in which the lines between virtual reality and reality have become blurred. She is the heir to a vast fortune, a fortune accumulated by her grandmother who still lives in the guise of memory chips. Talia has a secret passion for the NETHERWOOD, however. The NETHERWOOD is on the dark side of this virtual reality and it is where she fights and loves her adversary, The Avenger. Talia has another job as heir, however. She is also a sheriff whose job it is to track down intergalactic troublemakers...and The Avenger definitely is one of those! But what message does The Avenger have for Talia? And what is the future of their world?

Michele Lang enters the Shomi line in a big way with NETHERWOOD. Her clever world building makes this world in which technology reigns supreme seem real. The descriptions are so vividly drawn that even the strongest technophobe will easily find themselves enthralled by this enchanting tale. Michele Lang explains each aspect of her world so well that the storyline is easy to follow despite its relative complexity.

Humanity lives on the grid, a virtual reality in which most forget the daily humdrums of their lives to live out their fantasies. Mankind has practically forgotten what life was like before technology took over. Michele Lang offers up some thought provoking questions about such a world. Talia is going to come face to face with some of those questions... and the answers she gets will be just as thought provoking as the questions! Nobody does a metaphysical romance like Michele Lang and this is showcased to full effect in NETHERWOOD.

NETHERWOOD is a fascinating look at technology through the guise of fiction. Michele Lang's ingenuity with this tale is refreshing as both the science fiction/futuristic and romantic elements blend together perfectly. If you love a good science fiction/futuristic romance, you're sure to love NETHERWOOD. Highly recommended!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

In the cyber world, plain Sheriff Talia Fortune can be Amazonia, a warrior woman capable of besting the Avenger in the arena. Between the two foes, there is respect and a definite heat that she never expects to encounter in the flesh and blood world. However, when assigned to check on affairs on the planet her uncle oversees for the family company, she will meet the Avenger face to face and find that his real world is far more dangerous and exciting than any fictional world created by circuits and bytes. In truth, Kovner, aka, the Avenger, is a futuristic sort of Robin Hood, bent on toppling those who want to enslave humanity into virtual existence. Though at first dedicated to her duty, as Talia learns more about what the world is, what her beloved grandmother has become, and perhaps most importantly, how much she loves the real Kovner, the Sherriff finds herself wanting to join the outlaws. Though she has never believed in souls or religion, as both are illegal, Talia just may have discovered hers and will have to fight to retain them.

**** It's difficult to sum up this book without spoiling it. Ms. Lang's writing has always been superb, yet the complexity of this plot and the relationships she has made integral to its furtherance shows that she is light years ahead of the game. Though there are elements of Robin Hood, the Matrix, Braveheart, and the Prisoner, just to name a few things implied in the text, they are freshly blended into something new that will challenge your mind and keep you hooked. Unrealized elements in all the implied archetypical stories are brought into a fuller, better focus than they have been before in other media. Particularly enjoyable is the realization and exploration of what it means to be human and possess a soul. ****

Amanda Killgore

Eh, another SHOMI title that had loads of possibilities but lacked plot cohesiveness. Other reviewers have given you their summary so I won't dwell on the mechanics. Just say that I was put off by the heroine of the story- she was suppose to be a sheriff and smart but she was clueless through most of the book about identifying who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. Also, I didn't think she really deserved the Avenger, aka Kovner. Besides the fact that she enjoyed having sex with him, why Kovner liked her so much was beyond me...

DRIVEN by Eve Kenin aka Eve Silver and COUNTDOWN by Michelle Maddox are SHOMI titles that I really enjoyed. Try them for a blend of great action and romance.

I've read my fair share of Shomi books. And this book is my least favorite. I can't think of anything remarkable or memorable of this story. The two main characters are okay, nothing electric.

It was actually a little confusing as well. I wouldn't recommend this one out of the other Shomi books. In terms of a Sci-Fi romance novel, this one you can do without.

As "Netherwood" opens, Talia Fortune's avatar Amazonia is fighting her long time nemesis Avenger in the immersive virtual war game world of Netherwood, which was created about twenty years ago by Geoff Provacateur. Talia has to hide her real identity as one of the characters that occupies this world is Violet, her infamous grandmother, who runs FortuneCorp, one of the powerful corporations who really runs, through proxy, the United States.

After she breaks contact with Netherwood, and reemerges into the Real, we find out that she is on the intergalactic ship "Titania" on her way to the planet Free Havens to track down an outlaw that has been causing some problems for FortuneCorp's corporate government there. Talia suspects that the Avenger in the game of Netherwood is the avatar of the outlaw that she is being sent to hunt down.

Unfortunately, when Talia gets to Fresh Havens she finds that her Uncle Stone, who is the mayor of the only settlement on the planet, and who has sent a message to FortuneCorp for help with the outlaw, has done some lieing. As soon as Talia lands she finds that Fresh Havens isn't the promised paradise, it's "more like a carnivorous plant, eager to devour its latest human sacrifice", she also quickly finds out that her beloved Uncle Stone has deteriorated due a drug habit.

The settlement is plagued with constant disruptive sabotages, which means trouble as the settlement is surrounded by the Gray Forest. The Gray Forest is a dangerous and wild place where she quickly finds out that electronics mysteriously don't work. Talia finds the outlaws, is captured, and escapes right into the arms of the outlaw who wants to go back to the base. When they get there they find that something has changed, although Talia can't quite place what it is.

Then Violet arrives, she's grown a vat body, downloaded her consciousness into it, and has traveled to Fresh Havens to implement some new policies, and these include the destruction of mankind in a way that would have made the Borg proud.

Lang has turned out an exciting "Planet Stories" type of science fiction novel. "Planet Stories" was a pulp magazine that lasted about fifteen (1947-1952 or so) years and its contents were trademarked by stories that were full of exotic science fiction adventures that were full of adventure and romance. "Netherwood" is a novel is just chock full of quickly moving adventures that happens on an exotic and dangerous planet, where these adventures usually end in skin-of-the-teeth escapes, rescues, plot-twists, and revelations. Just as you think that you can figure out where Lang is going, she pulls another rabbit out of her hat and the story goes off in another direction, and by the end you will wonder just how she is going to save humanity.

Lang has done a good job in creating Talia, a likable young woman on her first real mission, and who goes from naive newbie to seasoned professional on a mission that would have destroyed many other operatives. Talia initially doesn't come across as a world-saver, but by the end of the novel that's just what she is going to have to be as she has to save humanity by figuring out how to use the unusual properties of Fresh Havens and the Gray Forest. It's been way too long, and I can only hope that this is not going to be the only adventure of Talia, and that someday soon, Lang will write and publish another one.

I've read almost all of the books in the Shomi line and haven't really found a really bad one. A couple of them don't live up their promise, but that's me, and I hope that Leisure continues with them and puts them out more often. I also like their distinctive covers; I just wish that Leisure would give the cover artist their just due and give us their name.

Talia Fortune is the newly appointed sheriff of Netherwood. In the virtual world, she has been forming a relationship with a man who calls himself "Avenger." But Avenger is also a criminal. And Talia finds herself torn. Should she arrest him? Or could he be right about the danger facing their world?

Netherwood is a fascinating look at a futuristic society where the virtual world has almost completely replaced the real one. Lang has created an incredibly interesting idea, giving the story a dark intensity that makes for a fascinating read. Talia has a great depth, and is faced with ideas that contradict her beliefs and what she has always been told to be true. Laced with romance, this high-tech, futuristic, scifi adventure is full of suspense and danger. Netherwood is a surprisingly creative novel in the gradually-growing science fiction / romance category.

In addition of having a superbly written action novel, this book also has a message that unfolds as the plot developes. You'll be entertained as well as enriched by spending time with it.

Corporations own colonies in Michele Lang's fabulously futuristic NETHERWOOD.

Talia Fortune's uncle is in charge of running the off-world Fresh Havens, but he's no longer a competent manager. Thus Talia is sent to sheriff the place, and punish the outlaw who screwed up the interface. However, Robert Kovner is also Talia's cyber-lover, and he knows more about FortuneCorp than she does. As the revelations come to light, Talia has to figure out how to save the colony from a conglomerate owner gone mad.

The first 100 pages are outstanding, a true example of fabulous world-building. The strength is in the details, though I did have a little difficulty keeping track of life on the grid and in the Real. Even just the names of places - such as the Glass Desert - evoke such rich imagery, and there's other gorgeous descriptions demonstrating good writing.

As the story got more complicated, I had trouble keeping up, and so the novel seemed to lose some of its greatness. With enough focus and attention, however, other readers shouldn't have this problem. I didn't quite connect with the characters, but if you're looking for an ace setting with vivid detail, you've come to the right book.

Toward the end of the twenty-second century other planets have been colonized besides Earth and technology rules the lives of human beings. Life in the Real has become too dull for most people who lived most of their lives on the grid, the main virtual world. It is also through the grid that the government monitors every citizen. But even on the grid there are "bad neighborhoods," places where hackers and other criminals congregate to conduct business and indulge in vices. One such place is the Netherwood, a place where Talia Fortune, sheriff and nominal head of the mega-conglomerate FortuneCorp. goes to glean the information she needs to enforce the law but also to engage in battle in the Amphitheater as the Avatar, Amazonia, with her virtual adversary and lover, Avenger. Under the guise of these games, illegal activity was conducted on a regular basis.

Today Talia hunts a criminal by viewing a holo-vid of her last fight with the Avenger six months prior. She watches as her avatar scans the Amphitheatre and catches a glimpse of an avatar of a Senator she recognizes as the consciousness of her grandmother, Violet. Five years ago, upon the death of her physical body, Violet had been the first to "reduce down" to have her conscience loaded to a microchip. She was not only Talia's grandmother but also her employer. Had Violet recognized her, her life would have been forfeit. Her battle today is with Avenger, her quarry in the Real.

Segue to the moment Avenger had whispered "all of us are going to die...," fast forward to after the battle, after their hard won pleasure where he claims that "The Singularity" where human consciousness is merged with a smarter-than-human computer is imminent. The end of life as they know it is near. She had thought he lied; now she searched the code for clues and finds the message directing her to go to the Fresh Havens Planetary Control Center. There the outlaw awaited her arrival and her aid. There she would destroy him.

But in Fresh Havens reality as Talia knows it is about to come to an end. The Avenger and another tech have done the unthinkable; they've escaped the grid into the inhabitable carnivorous forest where magnetic storms canceled all technology. Avenger, known in the Real as Kovner, rescues her from the forest and brings her to his enclave. There she meets people who have never known anything other than this harsh environment, had never been exposed to the grid - whole families including the rarest commodity of all, children. Knowing who she is, most fear Talia but Kovner is convinced that she alone will be their salvation, all he has to do is convince her.

Naturally Talia's innate skepticism is nearly their undoing, but Kovner who loves and believes in her will go to any length to expose the truth, even go to his own death. It is through him that Talia discovers her soul, and it is he who stands by her side as she fights the reality that now faces them, as she battles her grandmother and the government whose laws she had sworn to uphold. The odds for success are slim to none. Will the human race as we know it become extinct, or will courage, determination and love save the day?

For those who love sci-fi classics like Brave New World, Tron, and The Matrix this book will thrill and chill. Netherwood is a riveting action adventure romance that will draw the reader in and make them a part of the battle to save our humanity. A truly excellent read. ~ for PNR Reviews

Sheriff Talia Fortune is the prime owner of FortuneCorp. Her current assignment combines her law enforcement duties with her role as the head of the mega-corporation. She seeks her Netherwood cyber lover Kovner known as Avenger for his wanton destruction of technological gizmos on the colony Fresh Havens.

Talia enters the Netherwood cyberspace where she meets Kovner in a forest. She tells him she must arrest him, but he insists the Singularity has begun; artificial intelligent computers have superseded humanity as the prime species. If something is not done soon, mankind will become extinct. To succeed he and his band of merry outlaws need Talia on their side, but she hesitates as all he says contradicts all she knows about the Grid and reality.

NETHERWOOD combines The Matrix with Charlton Heston's sci fi end of the world flicks like Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man in a fine thriller. The story line is action-packed from the moment the heroine goes after her "terrorist" former lover and never slows down until the final confrontation. Fans will appreciate this exciting futuristic science fiction in which Fresh Haven and Netherwood seem real and the extinction plausible, but the lead couple never comes across as more than just comic book heroes trying to save a way of life (just who's is the question).

Harriet Klausner