Customer Reviews

Ties of Power (Trade Pact Universe)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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.

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

The second book in Julie Czerneda's Trade Pact Universe trilogy has all the color and realism of the first, if rather less direct action in its intertwined story lines. Ties of Power picks up a year after A Thousand Words for Stranger. The bond between Sira di Sarc and Justin Morgan remains strong and warm, but they are neither mated in the Human fashion nor fully Joined in the manner of Clan.

Anticipating retaliation from the Clan Council, Sira and Morgan have been keeping a low profile on a backwater planet. When the attack finally comes, however, it takes them both by surprise. Sira is left injured as the Council seizes the only thing it now wants from her. In a fury, she sends Morgan off to retrieve what was stolen.

Sira, who again narrates her story line in first person, spends over half of Ties sidelined with the alien Drapsk, on either their ship or their homeworld. Czerneda does an excellent job of bringing the Drapsk and their planet to life, and sets an absorbing puzzle for Sira as she tries to get a handle on the incomprehensible Drapsk culture and on the purpose of a mysterious competition they're determined to have her enter, but some readers may become impatient with the slow pace of this story line and its relative lack of plot development.

Some of Sira's rage has implanted itself in Morgan, leaving him hair-trigger-tempered and aggressive as he hunts the Clan who violated Sira. Having few leads to go on, he doesn't get anywhere very fast, but he does get to spend time with some interesting characters. As in Stranger, there are a number of different parties on either his or Sira's trail, for widely varied purposes, most of which have little or nothing to do with the pair's best interests; these story lines are interspersed with Morgan's search in brief, third-person "interludes," again as in Stranger.

Free at last, Sira goes after Morgan. Good guys and bad guys alike converge on a dismal little ball of swamp called Ret 7. Several ongoing or new plots are laid bare, including one that makes the Clan itself more pawn than player. In view of other events occurring as the tide finally turns in favor of the good guys, the long-deferred Joining between Sira and Morgan is disappointingly anticlimactic.

Sequels are always harder to pull off than originals, and newer authors often find it hard to match the impact of a successful debut novel. That said, Czerneda's turned in a solid performance with Ties of Power. Compared to Stranger, this book is more sprawling in its story lines and not quite as free of basic writing errors, but its aliens and worlds are fun and fully realized, the writing in general is leavened by an undercurrent of humor, and Czerneda shows a flair for taking her plots off in unexpected directions. It will be fun to see how she chooses to wrap up this trilogy.

Ties of Power (1999) is the second novel in the Trade Pact Universe, following A Thousand Words for Stranger. In the previous volume, Sira di Sarc chose Jason Morgan and passed the Power-of-Choice to him, thereby emptying herself of its urges. She informed her father of her awareness of his involvement in the establishment of Yihtor's colony on Acranam and the death of Kurr. Then she and Morgan passed through the M'hir to his hidden flyer and headed back to their home, the Silver Fox.

In this novel, Barac sud Sarc -- Sira's cousin, Third Level Adept and former First Scout of the Clan -- is leaving Camos. After three refusals of Choice, Barac knows that the Clan Council will never allow him to breed. He follows the Silver Fox to Pocular.

After three unsuccessful days of searching for Sira, Barac comes to the Spacer's Haven. Since the bar is warm and dry, he decides to rest a while. The Drapsk sitting next him at the bar convinces him to stay to see the Ram'ad Witch who owns the Haven. When the witch finally appears (out of thin air), Barac is surprised to recognize Sira.

It seems that Sas'qaat, the previous owner, was not as good at Stars and Comets as Sira and she had won the Spacer's Haven from him. Now she poses as a local witch to attract customers to the gambling tables and bar. It brings in a tidy income, but she is beginning to be bored with the pretension.

Jason Morgan, her Choice if not her Chosen, is out in the backwoods hunting for truffles. Premick, his native hunting partner, prefers to hunt for furs even if they bring in only a tenth as much by weight. They are stalking game when Morgan receives a summon from Sira and calls off the hunt.

Sira signs over the Spacer's Haven to Barac so that she can return to being Sira Morgan, the Hindermost of the Silver Fox. Leaving Barac in charge, she visits Premick's hamlet. The Poculans throw a festival, with eating and dancing. After a few drinks, Morgan and Premick settle a dispute with their fists over who will serve Sira; meanwhile, someone attacks the hamlet from fliers and takes Sira away. Morgan finds her hours later in the woods where she has been dropped and brings her back to the hamlet for treatment of her wounds.

Once Sira regains consciousness, she passes her anger on to Morgan and sends him off to regain what has been taken from her. As she is recuperating, her sister Rael visits her in the hamlet. Sira flees through the M'hir as far as she can to escape her presence.

Sira comes to her senses aboard the Drapsk ship Makmora far from Pocular. The Drapsk are small, eyeless humanoids with large upstanding plumes. They are known to believe in magic and have tried to entice Sira with elaborate gifts to come to Drapskii for a festival to select the most magical personage. Now they are overjoyed to find her on their ship. They will do anything for her except take her back to Pocular.

In this story, Sira discovers that the Drapsk know more about the M'hir than does the Clan. Despite her anger at the Clan Council, she learns that she just cannot abandon the individual Clan members. After she is adopted into the Makii tribe, she finds that she also has a moral obligation to the Drapsk.

Highly recommended for Czerneda fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of alien relations, unwanted responsibilities and romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This book is a sequel to "A Thousand Words for Stranger". As with that book, this follow-up benefits from some involved plotting and an avoidance of the "space epic" syndrome. On the other hand, I found that I had to push myself through the first third of the book, and I began to ask myself why I was having so much trouble getting into a book where the characters and the setting were already familiar. It did, as someone else has observed, supply some answers as to what happened in the first book. On the other hand, as I wrote of its predecessor, I am not a fan of stories employing the device of extra-sensory mental powers. Here, not only does the clan have access to the M'Hir (whatever that is -- we still don't really know), but a growing number of humans along with other alien species do, as well. The somewhat overly cutesy Drapsk, in fact, can build devices to block access to the M'Hir and to monitor it. Pretty impressive considering that noboby even seems able to define it. It all begins to feel a bit contrived. The M'Hir is there when it furthers the plot but blockable (or not available) when it becomes inconvenient.

As I got into the middle of the book, things picked up. Plot threads begin to come together and the story got more interesting. Unfortunately, as you get close to the end of the story, the pace again becomes somewhat uneven. There are some well-drawn confrontations, but other sections read more like Barbara Cartland doing scifi than like anything that Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, LeGuin or McCaffrey would write. At the risk of being branded as a sexist, much of this book came across to me as the print version of what is popularly known as a "chick flick".

My conclusion is that this was an OK book, but not a great one. The action mostly took place on an undefinable mental plane and it was very expressive emotionally, but physical action was sparse. The plotting, while complex, was sometimes murky and had an overly contrived (I realize that in the final analysis, all fiction is contrived -- it is a matter of degree) feel to it. I found parts of it rather tedious and had to push myself to finish it. A mediocre read, in my estimation.

"Ties of Power" is a good sequel to "A Thousand Words for Stranger." The addition of more humor from Huido and the interaction between humans and the Drapsk was well done. I also liked the very antagonistic attitude Sira had toward most of the other Clan members -- especially her father.

I don't think this book is quite up to the standard of her first book, though. It's longer, which is OK, I guess, and adds in lots of interesting things (the Drapsk, her cousin Barac's problems finding a woman get more airplay, her female cousin what's her name's relationship problems), but it doesn't focus as well as "A Thousand Words for Stranger," either.

Still, it's a very good book, and it was an interesting read. I'd recommend it to others, but only if they read it in sequence. Otherwise, this book would not make much sense.

In this, the second in Czerneda's rollicking "Trade Pact Universe" series, Sira Di Sarc Morgan, having conquered her amnesia in the first book in the series, "A Thousand Words for Stranger," just wants some peace and quiet, but her friends and relatives keep pulling her back in. Her species, the telepathic Clan, whose butts she kicked in the first book in the series _A Thousand Words for Stranger_ are still engaged in endless plotting within plotting, and Sira just can't stay out of it. For which readers can be grateful.

In addition to the characters from the prior book--Captain Jason Morgan, her Chosen; the arthropod-like restauranteur Huido; the trade-pact "enforcers"; her scheming relatives--Sira this time out meets up with some new critters, first amongst them the Drapsk, to whom she's the long sought for Mystic One.

Czerneda's abilities to create species, and worlds, is probably unsurpassed these days (you'll probably be able to smell the scummy Ret 7 if not reach out and touch it) and her multiple POV plotting, carried over from the first book in the series, has her juggling a lot of balls in the air (and she leaves her characters hanging on plenty of cliffs). But she never drops the balls (or pushes people over the cliffs).

More tales of Sira and Captain Morgan seem planned. And that's fine with me.

I loved this story. It's a little overly romantic, but the characters are a lot of fun. Very space opera, with twists and turns throughout.

I found it hard to put down. Stayed up too late. Love the Drapsk.

This is a great book. I had picked up the first book, A Thousand Words for Stranger and liked it, but the sequel, The Ties of Power was even better. I really loved the Drapski. The universe the author has created was fascinating. I read the book at least 5 times over the Christmas Holidays.

This book is definetly a keeper. I can't wait until the next one comes out.