Singer Tess MacKenzie didn’t think her day
could get much worse. She finally finished
the gig, got paid and is getting ready to go home, but as she leaves the club and starts
walking down the dark alley, a mugger jumps out at her waving a gun. Tess really needs this money -- she has bills to
pay. As she is reaching into her purse her
hand hits a can of hair spray. She decides to
use it, hoping that she can incapacitate him long enough to get to the all-night diner
across the street. She sprays him in the face
and takes off running. It stops him for a
minute but he begins chasing her again, and as she turns the corner out of the alley she
runs into what feels like a brick wall. It
turns out to the most handsome man that she has ever seen.
The robot behind him fires something at the mugger, who goes down. Her savior tells her that he wants her to come
with him, then she sees a flash of light and is out.
When Tess finally comes to, Cohl Travers is there in her room. She has no idea where she is. Naturally, she wakes up fighting. Cohl finally admits that she is on a spaceship
headed for his home planet of Yre Gault. Tess
can’t believe this. Cohl proves it by
opening the port windows and all that Tess can see are stars. Eventually, Cohl tells Tess that he needs her
help. He needs her voice to help his father. The planet of Traka is at war, with two brothers
fighting over it. One half controls the
northern hemisphere, and they are called the Traka-Nor.
The other brother controls the southern hemisphere and they are called the
Traka-Sou. The Traka-Nor have kidnapped Cohl’s
father and are holding him for ransom. They
want Cohl to find the Amulet of Demisie in exchange for his father. One of the traps surrounding the Amulet is a song. It must be sung at the perfect pitch and Tess’s
voice matches exactly. Tess doesn’t want
to help. She wants to go home. Her singing career is finally beginning to take
off after putting her dreams on hold to help her parents.
Pitz, the robot, has contacted Cohl’s mother and informed her
that they were on the way home. When they get
to Yre Gault, Tess realizes that Cohl is a Prince, with his mother and father being the
King and Queen of Yre Gault. When the Queen
asks Tess for her help, Tess gives it willingly, preferring to make her own choices about
her life.
Now, they begin the quest to rescue Cohl’s father and find the
Amulet of Demisie.
Cohl did not have a wonderful childhood. His parents were so busy with affairs of state and
ruling Yre Gault, that they never had time for him. He
became very bitter about this and had no plans on taking over the responsibility. So he decided to leave Yre Gault and take up
adventuring, although deep in his heart, he loves Yre Gault and doesn’t want anything
to happen to his home. He also falls in love
with Tess. He intends on returning her to
Earth when the quest is done, because even though he loves her with every fiber of his
being, he won’t ask her to give up her dreams of a singing career.
Tess is used to sacrificing herself for others as well. Her older brother and sister went to college and
never came home, leaving Tess to help her parents
run their business. For eight long years she
had put her dreams on hold. Now she finally
has her chance to pursue her career and it is just starting to take off. She can’t even imagine giving up her life on
Earth. She absolutely hates the idea that
Cohl keeps on making her decisions for her because Tess
is a fighter, always has been, always will be. She
falls in love with Cohl as well, but she doesn’t know if she can give up on her
dreams for him.
This is a fantastic story! It’s
almost like Science Fictions meets Indiana Jones. I
loved Tess’s references to Stars Wars and other movies throughout the book. This is one of the most enjoyable books that I
have read in a long time. It had it all,
romance, spaceships, a quest and a magic Amulet. The
worlds are all totally believable and very beautiful.
The idea of our planet being monitored by others and found wanting is also
very believable. This is a great book that I
can’t recommend enough!
Reviewed by Chere Gruver for
The Road to Romance
April 18, 2003 |
