Ties of Power (Trade Pact Universe) [Mass Market Paperback]

Julie E. Czerneda (Author)

Book Description

Series: Trade Pact Universe | Publication Date: October 2, 1999

In this magnificent sequel to her highly acclaimed debut, A Thousand Words For Stranger, Julie E. Czerneda takes us back to the fascinating future of a humanoid race....

Sira, the most powerful member of the alien Clan, has dared to challenge the will of her people--by allying herself with a human. But can she hope to carve a new life for herself when the Clan is determined to reclaim her genetic heritage...at any cost?

Praise for A Thousand Words For Stranger:

"Space adventure mixes with romance in this thoroughly entertaining first novel...a heck of a lot of fun."--Locus

"Czernada has resurrected the classic SF themes of Norton, Heinlein, and Moore...with a distinctly modern sensibility."--S.M. Stirling

"A wonderfully entertaining SF adventure...fascinating, well-developed characters. A must read."--Josepha Sherman

"A wonderful new voice."--Robert J. Sawyer*

* The author is a Campbell Award nominee (the Hugo for best new writer)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In her first two novels, Czerneda has quickly established herself as a master of characterization and of creating alien species. She continues this tradition of talent in her third book, with its vivid interactions and narrative. For anyone who enjoyed Czerneda's first book, TIES OF POWER is well worth reading." -The SF Site --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: DAW (October 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886778506
• ISBN-13: 978-0886778507
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #906,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A love of reading turned into a love of writing for Julie E. Czerneda. A former biologist, then writer and editor of non-fiction, in 1997 DAW Books published Julie's first sf novel, "A Thousand Words for Stranger" and she hasn't stopped since. Her work has received international acclaim, multiple awards,and best-selling status. You'll find her work in anthologies as well, as she enjoys working with other writers. Julie is a popular speaker, whether on writing, science, or the use of science fiction to promote scientific literacy. Her most recent adventures included being Guest of Honour for the national conventions of New Zealand and Australia, as well as Master of Ceremonies for Anticipation, the Montreal Worldcon (2009).
Julie is currently writing her first fantasy novel, A Turn of Light, to be published by DAW in 2011. (She started by building a scale landscape for Marrowdell, where the story takes place, so you can see she's having great fun with it already!)
For more on Julie's work and upcoming events, please visit www.czerneda.com
Oh, and when not writing or at conventions? Julie and her photographer husband grab their canoe and disappear into the glorious wilderness surrounding their central Ontario home.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, October 6, 1999

By 

Mallory Kane "Mallory" (Tennessee, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ties of Power (Trade Pact Universe) (Mass Market Paperback)

Sira is the most powerful Chooser ever to be born in the Clan. Her power is so great that no clansman can survive her testing. But there is one who can. He is Jason Morgan, a human telepath. The Clan is afraid of Sira's power and Sira's choice of the human, and so they seek to destroy her.

Sira exiles herself to a remote planet in an effort to have, even for a short while, control over her own life. But forces are at work to seek out Sira and take from her what only she has the right to give, and to destroy forever any hope that she and her human love can be together.

Julie Czerneda has a unique outlook on life. The understanding with which she writes of races and cultures unknown to humankind is stunning and brilliant. Her prose is sprinkled with word-pictures so real that the reader becomes caught up in her fantasy world without even realizing it. Sira's story is engrossing, captivating, suspenseful and utterly compelling. Ms. Czerneda's talent grows and grows.

Rickey R. Mallory

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Had Me At Hello - Well, "Memories" I Guess., January 18, 2000

By 

Jason Simcoe (Delta, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ties of Power (Trade Pact Universe) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read a lot of sci-fi. I rarely find myself able to read a series beyond the first book, however Ties Of Power changes that. Having read book #1, A Thousand Words For Stranger, I find that Ties actually does what few other sequels do...it expands on the characters.

This plot fits in perfectly and smoothly with that of Thousand, picking up where the last left off, and filling in some of the blanks that had me curious. The characters have a whole new role to play from last time, and they play it well. Best of all, we get to go into the characters' pasts, and unlike some authors methods of doing so, this is an engrossing trip, through flashbacks mostly, which goes into great depth in describing those characters' past lives, what it was that made them who thay are.

And who doesn't love the Drapsk! One of the more peculiar races I have ever read about, yet brought almost to life through their actions and many peculiarities which only Julie Czerneda seems to be able to bring out in a character.

Rarely have I seen a universe so well wrought, not to mention a race so vibrant in their realism.

Definitely a must read. And, though this novel can be read by itself without having done so, I do recommend reading A Thousand Words For Stranger first so as to get deeper understanding of what is going on.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Continuing the high-class SF writing from "1000 Words...", August 24, 2001

By 

Jonathan Burgoine "bookseller" (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ties of Power (Trade Pact Universe) (Mass Market Paperback)

Julie E. Czerneda is definitely on her way to being one of the greats of Canadian Science Fiction. Her sequel to "A Thousand Words for Stranger," "Ties of Power" brings us back into the world of Sira Di Sarc Morgan and Jason Morgan. Sira uncovered in the previous novel that previous to her amnesia and meeting Jason she was not a terribly nice person, planning on using Jason as a tool to reach maturity in her powers, Sira's amnesia was self-inflicted as part of one of the many plots of her people, the telepathic Clan. In this book, Sira navigates the integration of her previous life with her experiences with Jason, and the character development on this track is stunning! The plot moves forward even though there's quite a bit of flashback as we explore the pasts of some characters, and all of it is in the name of character development, which is a balance done well in this novel. More, as usual, even though she introduces many new technologies and alien races, Czerneda doesn't let them over power the real strength of the tale: the characters. Enter one of the cutest/most interesting alien races I've read to date into a series already deft and intruiging, and you're in for a great read. The Clan plotting and conniving picks up a pace, and the interplay between Sira and Jason is wonderful. I, for one, can't wait for book three. 'Nathan