Customer Reviews

Turning Point

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Turning Point is the first novel in the Sholan Alliance series. It is the story of two telepaths: the human Carrie Hamilton and the Sholan Kusac Alda.

Carrie is a colonist on the planet Keiss, which has been conquered by the alien Valtegans. Carrie is tightly linked to her sister, Eloise, so much so that she takes away Eloise's pain. When the Valtegans torture Eloise to death, Carrie not only feels the pain, but displays the wounds inflicted on Eloise. When Eloise dies, the mind link is transferred to Kusac, a fifth class telepath in the Sholan fleet. Kusac is a castaway on Keiss, his ship having been shot down by the Valtegans. When Kusac was wounded by Valtegans at the crash site, his shipmates left him behind to follow at his best pace. In his dazed state, Carrie's mind link has drawn him to her house, where she tends his wounds and nurses him to health. Carrie, with a little help from his talent, does not recognize that he is an alien, rather believing him to be a native forest cat. Neither does she associate the peculiar thoughts appearing in her mind with the wounded creature.

Carrie is being forced into an unwanted marriage by her father. Rather that submit, she runs away with her forest cat. When she is attacked by Valtegans in the forest, she discovers that the cat is definitely not native nor is he very tame. Once she recognizes him as a thinking person, Carrie join forces with Kusac to rejoin his crew and to alert his mothership of the presence of the Valtegans on Keiss.

This novel is very much like Andre Norton's SF in scope, plot and characterization. An alienated human with psionic talents bonds with an alien with psionic talents against just about everybody else. The sexual content, however, is much more explicit than Norton was allowed to explore. While this book was not as polished as the sequels, I did find it to be mostly enjoyable. Check her out.

Some reviewers have said that this novel is the worst that they have ever read. They must not have read some of the dogs that I have tried to read; this work may be somewhat rough, but it doesn't have glaring errors of fact, terrible syntax, and deadly dull dialogue. I enjoyed it despite its minor flaws and I have also enjoyed the sequels; what more could I ask for than good entertainment?

Recommended for Norton fans and anyone who enjoys a strong couple of telepaths fighting for their own place in the universe.

I think this was a really great book. Honestly. If you are mature enough to understand it, and you are patient with the story, it will come out good. I read the other reviews, and I was appalled to see that so many people didn't like the book. I was very surprised. The first book made me want to read the second, third, fourth, and last book. I'm currently reading Fortunes Wheel and so far it is great. I think that the first book went rather slow, I do admit that. But the places where there are dangerous situations or interesting parts, makes the book very unpredictable, and interesting. I've always loved to read books with intellegent cats, alien or not, that have some sort of special "Talent". For anybody who likes science fiction, plot twists, cats, and aliens, etc, this is a good book to read. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series! Even if one book is bad, that doesn't make the whole series bad. Not that I'm saying a bad book has been written. My advice with this book, is to read it, and if a slow book does come along, (I don't yet know if one will) don't stop in the middle of the series, bear with it and keep reading! I guarantee you, it'll be worth it. And for all of you who stopped after the first book, read the second book, and you'll love it. If you're thinking of skipping a book, the one after it won't fill you in. So take my advice, read them all.

A while back I was busy sorting through boxes of old books, and stumbled over a series that I had bought, but had never gotten around to reading. These were the books by Lisanne Norman, a science fiction series about the interactions between humanity and a race of space-faring felines. At first, I must have guessed that this would be a retread of C.J. Cherryh's excellent Chanur series, which is why these books had languished so long in my 'later' box.

Humanity is colonizing the stars by using sleeper ships, where the colonists are in cryo-storage until they make landfall on the new world. But the colonists on Keiss are having a bad time of it -- first they lost most of the colonists when systems failed, and a few years later, an alien species, the Valtegans, a violent, lizardlike, humanoid race that is bent on conquering whoever they've found. For the humans on Keiss it's rough, especially when the Valtegans enjoy having human women as their concubines and turn Keiss into an R'n'R planet for their troops.

For Carrie Hamilton, life hasn't been very good. She's lost her mother in the initial landing, and now her twin, Elise, has been killed while spying on the Valtegans. Carrie is the quiet one compared to Elise, and when an injury happens to Elise, it's Carrie who suffers. It's a mild telepathic bond, of the sort of freakishness that most twins have, and it is traumatic when Carrie literally feels Elise's death, a loss that is leaving her bereft and very alone.

Kusac is a Shola, a feline race of humanoids -- in fact, Carrie thinks he's one of the native forest cats when she finds him injured near her home. But somehow she feels a bond between them, and in any case, helping him helps to distract her from Elise's loss. Her family tolerates her new 'pet,' and the Valtegans are decidedly uneasy about him as well. And when Carrie is told by a would-be suitor that he's going to force the local council to have her marry him -- she decides that it might be better for her to take her chances with the rebels in the local woods.

What she didn't count on was that Kusac is a very intellegent, very sentient being, and that the bond between them is going to be changing their lives...

For a first time novel, it's not too bad. Author Lisanne Norman has taken a traditional style for her novel -- stories about stranded aliens, and the humans they encounter are a pretty standard plotline for science fiction. So too is having people with telepathic links fall rather dramatically for each other. And then there is the humans-fighting-nasty-aliens angle. Finally, we have a bit of romance, but it's a bit, well, very odd.

From this jumble emerges a fairly decent adventure story, and Norman, to her credit, keeps the pace up throughout the book, which comes in at just under three hundred pages. While it does have a slightly hurried feel in spots, and every now and then the action stops for sessions of 'explainitis,' it's not bad.

I especially liked how she works in Kusac's very different self into the story, and while he does get insufferably noble and good at times, he's a good counter to Carrie's impetuousness and youthfulness -- I had an impression of a young teenager in this one. Indeed, this book has the feel of a young adult novel rather than something aimed at teenagers, but given the adult themes and a hint of sexual content, I'd be a bit careful as to how young of a reader that I would let have this one.

As for reading any more of Lisanne Norman's books, I think I probably will. Her use of an alien species with cat-like abilities will be enjoyable for those of us who have cats in our homes, and it's decent escapist reading for a slow evening. Three and a half stars, rounded up to four.

Recommended.

This book gets a 2 because it is not re-readable, though I was able to finish it. A 3 is a solid book that's worth a re-read sometime before being traded for used book credit; a 1 is dreck I wasn't able to finish reading; 4 and 5 are books on which I am willing to spend precious shelf space.

I really wanted to like this book, but by the end I was left thinking, "That's it?" The story is a Romance with SF trappings, similar to the _Stardoc_ series by S.L. Veil. Another reviewer mentioned the _Rowan_ books by Anne McCaffrey, which I would also recommend, along with _Psion_ or the other Cat books from Joan D. Vinge (one of my favorite writers).

What bothered me most was the odd development of the relationship between the lovers. It develops from almost nothing into full bloom close to the end of the book. There is some kind of half-hearted attempt to "explain" this as an effect of their telepathic link, but it reads like she's trying to head off the reader's question of, "Where the heck did this come from?"

There are some interesting traits that never seem fully developed in the characters. The main character's codependency and hate/fear of the conquering aliens is never fully explored, being mentioned several times, but not shown and developed. Her furry lover's character was basically a cipher aside from showing protectiveness toward her and a reluctance to use violence except to protect her. Too much of the writing is surface, not enough character building or basis for motivation. I would love to see some development of these characters since they seem to have some potential.

I would also have liked some exploration of the culture of both the invading aliens and the catlike potential ally race. We are shown next to nothing of their cultures and so we have nothing to go on in explaining their actions. For instance, what would a reptilian species find attractive in a mammalian species? Why would they ever want to have sex with hairy, sweaty, stinky monkeys that have awkward fat deposits under their repulsively soft doughy skin? I also have some questions about the human culture, like: Why spend precious resources and time--as well as space on the colony ship--on tobacco? Even if it's been modified to do nothing harmful (the author does not mention such a modification) there are a ton of other plants that would be a lot more useful to bring with you. If you want dual-use pleasure/practical plants, coca, cannibis, and opium are less addictive, have far fewer debilitating side effects, and can be used for healing, unlike tobacco which is useful only for causing addiction and cancer.

In this book, it seems like "one damn thing after another" with the action, consequences, and development coming late or not at all. Most of the first half of the book needed to be either completely developed and integrated into the larger story, or just cut. I may try the second in the series sometime, but unless it was done better than this one, I may never finish it.

This book wasn't bad. It wasn't great either. And the ending felt extremely anticlimactic and abrupt. But really, this book isn't about plot, it's about two characters and their relationship. This is both good and frustrating at the same time. Sometimes their personalities and characteristics come of as predictable and trite (The rebelious girl! The reluctant warrior! Oh how original!), but you know what, I was still interested in turning each page.

It takes a while to get into it though. It really doesn't get that interesting untill about 100 pages in, but then almost every scene with Kusac and Carrie just draws you in. Although it gets really frustrating as their relationship grows. It keeps hitting all these roadblocks and obsticles, or at least it says it does. I really didn't see any problems, it was as if the characters were holding back for no reason and it got annoying. But it all worked out.

As for the plot... well, like I said, this story is about characters, not plot, which is good because not only is the plot boring and lame, it's also predictable and forgetable, not to mention pretty light weight. A lot of the dialogue is bogged down with characters spouting of exposition for no reason but to inform the reader of the plot. And the dialogue can get reeally inane and unintentionally hilarious at times. For some reason I just laughed out loud when Kusac comes out of nowhere and says "I want to brush your hair."

I had some other issues, like the whole "Telepathy is everywhere" thing. I was never a fan of telepathy or esp anyway, so I'm biased. Another complaint is the way characters deliver their dialogue. It seems that everyone talks FOREVER, stretching several paragraphs. Sometimes you lose who's saying what.

Sounds like I didn't like it at all, doesn't it? I'm only critical because this story does have some real interesting stuff in it and I'm willing to invest myself in the rest of the series to see where it goes. Others have said that the sequels get better and better, and I hope that's true.

Like I said, it was good, not great. If you want to read a really, really great work of furry fiction, try Forests of the Night by S. Andrew Swann, which also features a feline hero and a human girl falling in love.

First of all, I have to start off by saying two things: 1) I am one of the biggest sci-fi/fantasy buffs I know (hehe) and 2) I accidently started this series with Fire Margins. Not a smart idea. I finally read Turning Point, and loved it. Fire Margins is a good book, but I was confused because I missed the books that came before it. Starting with number one and going to number 5 (I believe its up to 5 now) is the best way to read this series. I'd rank Ms. Norman right up there with Brian Jacques, Andre Norton, Piers Anthony, etc. Turning Point is a fine book and I encourage everyone to read it!

Ryan Gustafson

I would have rated this book a 10, except that the rest of the series only gets better. In Turning Point Ms Norman has provided an intricate look at what could happen when two telepathic species meet and join forces. It explores all the classic sci-fi themes (xenophobia, diplomatic relations, war) and still did it so well that I had no idea what would happen next. I stayed up half the night to finish it! I would recommend this book to anyone who like sci-fi in the tradition of Anne McCaffrey. Ms. Norman has a very similar knack for combining adventure, romance, and aliens in engrossing situations. Beware! You won't want to wait to go back to the bookstore for the next books in the series!

Lisanne Norman's Sholan Alliance series is worthwhile. It is politically complex, intricately imagined in both physical and psychological detail, and full of compelling action. The catlike Sholans are not simply humans with fur, but neither are they so different that they require hugely different spheres of reference, which is a good thing in my opinion.

That having been said, beware! This series seems to be interminable, having already run to six more fairly thick novels (at least 600 pages), with more in the works. This is a saga of titanic political and religious forces and their impact on a small cast of characters who play a starring role in forming the history of billions.

Turning Point is by far the shortest entry, but consequently is a very quick and fun read. It introduces Carrie, a young Human woman on Keiss, an Earth colony planet newly overrun by Valtegans, lizardlike alien oppressors. She forms a telepathic bond with Kusac, a Sholan male who crashlands on the colony while seeking out the Valtegans, who have destroyed two of his species' planets. The delicate relationship between Carrie and Kusac is handled with imagination for the real species differences and miscommunications; the characters are not static figures. Because this short entry ends leaving you wanting more, I recommend having the next volume, "Fortune's Wheel," close to hand.

I have tremendously enjoyed these books. Enjoy!

I give this book 3 stars as a sci-fi novel, but 4 1/2 stars as a futuristic romance. For those unfamiliar with the futuristic romance genre, it consists primarily of romance plot lines set in the future with sci-fi elements.

I enjoy reading both sci-fi and romance novels, so I enjoyed this book as an entertaining, light read and am considering reading the next book in the series.

This is the first book in a series, still incomplete, which now stretches to about 7 volumes. "Turning Point" is a quick read, under 300 pages; the remaining installments are mostly considerably longer.

Carrie Hamilton is a resident of a colony world in its first stages which has recently been conquered by the alien Valtegans. She is also a psychic with a powerful link to her twin sister; but the psi skills make her seem bizarre in the conservative farming community she lives in.

After her sister dies, she forms a new link. She soon discovers that her new connection is also a first contact with a non-human, Kusac, a trained psychic of the feline Sholan species, which also has had colonies overrun by the Valtegans.

The resulting story is filled with familiar elements: dangerous treks, mutually suspicious allies, and a dramatic mission into the planet's main Valtegan base. The story does explore a theme which is relatively rare in written SF, the problems of interspecies sexuality.

The greatest weakness of the book is the villains, undeveloped and uninteresting. The Valtegans are mysterious nasties about which we learn almost nothing; presumably this is remedied in the sequels. The other villain, a xenophobic Sholan, is equally bland and not especially formidable.

THe weaknesses are significant, but the main test of a series starter like this is whether it draws me in enough to be interested in the subsequent volumes. I do want to read more about Carrie and the Sholans, so the book gets a good, if not exceptional, rating.