A Touch of Magic
Cassandra KaneFantasy romance
Available from Samhain Publishing
ISBN: 1-59998-232-3
October 2006
| The planet Samhain is a small green Earth-like world orbiting near a potentially unstable black hole in a far-flung system. Four hundred years into the future, a colonization ship has disappeared and two more recent scouting expeditions found evidence of descendants of the original colonists. The first scouting vessel also went missing. Now the Universal Alliance is sending one final reconnaissance ship captained by Tirana Albaster under the oversight of UA Special Forces Colonel Orson. The anxiety occasioned by thoughts of the missing starship and two missing scouting expeditions is made worse by the trigger-happy Special Forces crew, most of whom are addicted to a performance-enhancing substance, including the Colonel, who is determined to make Tirana pay sexually for upbraiding him.
When the Colonel and his crew attack a justice ritual of the planet’s inhabitants, Tirana discovers that the truth about this expedition has been concealed from her. Narrowly missing death or ravishment, she is rescued by Loren, the colonist who had been on trial, and his familiar, the gargoyle-like creature deLoren. The two had been on trial by the priests for their status as magic users, and would have been sacrificed on the pyre if the ship’s crew had not appeared suddenly and the soldiers attacked. Now Loren must use all his magical abilities to protect himself, his familiar, and Tirana, whom he knows to be his destined mate, from the evil Colonel who is determined to rape and kill Tirana. Cassandra Kane spins a fast-paced tale of a future in which once again, science collides with magic, and civilizations at odds must learn tolerance, or face destruction. I recommend this as science fiction, and as romance with undertones of social issues. This promises to be the first installment in a series, and this reviewer is definitely anticipating further stories.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Annie |
