Publisher: Grand Central
Date published: September 2009
ISBN: 978-0446543316
Fantasy, Sci Fi, Futuristic
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Gina
Obtained by self-purchase
Earth is slowly dying out. Not the planet; its people. Humans, both male and female, have become sterile and no one seems able to figure out how to save our race. One man, Lucan Rourke, may know of the solution – an ancient legend that may heal Earth of her sterility. The problem is the needed artifact is far from planet Earth, on a moon called Pendragon. Lucan begins his solitary journey to Pendragon and several years later arrives, posing as a linguist, before a place called Avalon.
He also comes face to face with Pendragon's high priestess, Cael, a beautiful yet completely untouchable woman. It isn't that Cael holds herself above all others. She is merely a product, a victim if you will, of her culture. Because of her special skills she is not permitted to touch or be touch – she cannot know of the love with a man. She will never know marriage or having a family. She must live in solitary isolation except to heal her people. But there is one she cannot heal, no matter what. There is, perhaps, one avenue, one device that may save her beloved nephew. That object puts her on a course beside Lucan while they seek the object.
But others desire it as well and what they find in their pursuit of this ancient legend turns out to be much more than an object that may heal the ills of both their worlds.
Susan Kearney first came on my radar with her earlier books, The Dare and The Ultimatum. I enjoyed her view of the future and the men and women that populate those times and places. She truly captured my imagination. Over the past few years I lost sight of her with other books coming my way for review. When RION, the second book in this series ended up in my lap I had to pick up LUCAN, book 1 and start from the beginning. I'm glad I did. Ms. Kearney hasn't lost one bit of her magic but rather it has grown over the past few years. Just when you think she's turned her last surprising corner she takes you along another avenue, much better than the last.
I am not a fan of dragons and generally struggle with the whole fantasy genre. It's never really been my thing. Bits of LUCAN, primarily around the dragonshaping, were a bit too much for me to bite off and I had the urge to skim over most of those parts. It just doesn't do it for me.
What DOES do it for me is I'm a huge fan of Arthurian lore and I love the sensual way Ms. Kearney writes. Her love scenes are a unique combination of tender and hot. I found myself holding my breath each time Lucan and Cael made love because Ms. Kearney knows how to write a toe curling scene.
I liked Lucan, Cael and Rion as characters. They were easy to relate to and had true depth. Cael's sister Sonelle and a few of the military men were a smidge too much caricature. They were, however, from another culture and Ms. Kearney does a marvelous job with her world building. I'm ready to dig into RION, book 2 and anticipate an even better story.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.
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