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3.0 out of 5 stars
Engrossing and Surreal, September 15, 2003
This review is from: A Prisoner's Desire: Song of the Bear II (CD-ROM)
Somewhere deep within the earth Takuri cries out as she is jerked from her dreams with Balthain and reminded she is a prisoner... waiting...waiting for Balthain to brave the tunnels down to where she is enslaved and free her. In the meantime her mental projections are all that save her from insanity.
Elsewhere another prisoner has tumbled into the realm of dementia. He has seen sights that are either real or imagined and he is feared for his knowledge. The guards shun him and his mental powers, leaving him filthy and chained, his food poisoned to put him out of his misery. But something keeps him alive, despite his longing to escape captivity even by death. His shrieks carry through the tunnels and interrupt exhausted worker's sleep.
Braunnan hears the madman and vows to silence him one way or the other. Following his cries leads her to the isolation cells where many an occupant has entered but few come out whole or sane. Here she finds the originator of the racket, behaving like an animal in a crazed frenzy. Seeing a lady in his pitiful cell, the lunatic begs for her to kill him. Moved by something about the stranger Braunnan ignores the danger and breaks his chains, accepting responsibility for both his and her welfare.
Under Braunnan's careful ministrations the man heals in body and mind. Known as Cullaelon he is an Empath with powers and knowledge that the guards and Dark Priestess' fear. He speaks of a land above ground where there is no captivity and where the Clan Bear once lived, and with the will, can live again. Braunnan desires Cullaelon for a mate but the old ways are forbidden. She vows to follow Cullaelon wherever he may go, even aboveground.
A Prisoner's Desire is the second in the Song of the Bear series. Its focus is Braunnan and Cullaelon with references to Takuri and Balthain from book one and whose story is still hanging in the balance for resolution. Although the story is engrossing, I thought book one was more imaginative, and while I do like the characters, I prefer my stories to be concluded by the books end, rather than continued in the next edition. That said, the plot of A Prisoner's Desire is interwoven with the series and if the reader is one who likes to submerge themselves in a culture, they will enjoy the series and wait with bated breath for each subsequent release.
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