Review by MrUriah -- The Bonding by Imogen Keeper
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MrUriah
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- Latest Review: "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper
Review by MrUriah -- The Bonding by Imogen Keeper
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper.]
3 out of 4 stars
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When Nissa's planet is invaded by a brutal race of invaders and her people slaughtered, the difficult decision to abandon their home is made. With nothing but the hope of salvation Nissa, her parents, betrothed, and a select few of her people, ascend to the stars in ancient cryopods to seek the assistance they so desperately need.
Thanks to biological warfare, Tam's people are left devastated. With few females their population dwindles and most have given up hope of ever finding a mate. When he discovers Nissa floating alone and near death in space, however, he can't believe it. When he is then told the only way to save her life is to give her his lifelong mating bond, he's even more taken aback.
Will the two of them find a way to rescue the others floating in space? Can they save her planet from the brutal invaders? Will being from different worlds prove too difficult for even the sacred bonding to endure?
While The Bonding is definitely an erotic sci-fi novel, Imogen Keeper manages to masterfully walk the very fine line between erotic and pornographic. Every erotic scene in the book moves the story forward, teaches you about the characters, their peoples, their history, and the universe in which they live. Such skill is also seen in the author's ability to keep the reader guessing as to what will happen next, despite what the blurb may have said.
From the very opening of the book when we are first introduced to Nissa the plight of Triannon, to when we say goodbye to everyone we've met at the end, the author takes us on a journey that is never dull. Daily walks, choosing a wardrobe, having a drink at a bar, and cooking breakfast are all given to the reader in a way that begs for the next word to be read. At no point is there a dip where one may wish to stop reading out of boredom.
If this book is lacking anything, however, it would be length. While the character descriptions are left vague enough to allow the reader to discern their own vision, the world itself is not described in much detail at all. There's mention of holoscreens and ships controls, but there never any sense of what those look like. Nissa is not from a space faring people. Would she truly not spend time looking in wonder at the ship around her? The world building, from a character standpoint, is superb. If that same level of construction had been offered to the reader for the outside world, the novel would have been perfect. Owing to this lack of environmental concern, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
There is a definite feeling of professional editing in the first half of the book, then it seems to stop. While the errors within are few and simple (missing punctuation, duplicate or missing words), there are times where it seems the author simply used a thesaurus rather than repeat a word. A great example is describing an erection as “turgid” about 2/3 through the book, then using it twice more before the end.
There is a definite sense of in-determinism warring with fatalism throughout the entirety of the book. When Triannon is first attacked, Nissa's people simply accept what is happening. Then they move forward with a plan of action and find salvation thanks to their own needs. Later, when her relationship with Tam is called into question, we are given the same unwritten question: is what has always been what should always be? It's as if Imogen is asking the reader to accept that life is what we make of it, but once a choice is made, that's it, we must accept the consequences of our own actions. I would like to ask the author, however, if they've never made a U-Turn while driving. While some things cannot be changed, not all choices are permanent.
This book was a wonderful read and forced me to ask questions about my own life while I read about the lives of Tam and Nissa.
******
The Bonding
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3 out of 4 stars
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When Nissa's planet is invaded by a brutal race of invaders and her people slaughtered, the difficult decision to abandon their home is made. With nothing but the hope of salvation Nissa, her parents, betrothed, and a select few of her people, ascend to the stars in ancient cryopods to seek the assistance they so desperately need.
Thanks to biological warfare, Tam's people are left devastated. With few females their population dwindles and most have given up hope of ever finding a mate. When he discovers Nissa floating alone and near death in space, however, he can't believe it. When he is then told the only way to save her life is to give her his lifelong mating bond, he's even more taken aback.
Will the two of them find a way to rescue the others floating in space? Can they save her planet from the brutal invaders? Will being from different worlds prove too difficult for even the sacred bonding to endure?
While The Bonding is definitely an erotic sci-fi novel, Imogen Keeper manages to masterfully walk the very fine line between erotic and pornographic. Every erotic scene in the book moves the story forward, teaches you about the characters, their peoples, their history, and the universe in which they live. Such skill is also seen in the author's ability to keep the reader guessing as to what will happen next, despite what the blurb may have said.
From the very opening of the book when we are first introduced to Nissa the plight of Triannon, to when we say goodbye to everyone we've met at the end, the author takes us on a journey that is never dull. Daily walks, choosing a wardrobe, having a drink at a bar, and cooking breakfast are all given to the reader in a way that begs for the next word to be read. At no point is there a dip where one may wish to stop reading out of boredom.
If this book is lacking anything, however, it would be length. While the character descriptions are left vague enough to allow the reader to discern their own vision, the world itself is not described in much detail at all. There's mention of holoscreens and ships controls, but there never any sense of what those look like. Nissa is not from a space faring people. Would she truly not spend time looking in wonder at the ship around her? The world building, from a character standpoint, is superb. If that same level of construction had been offered to the reader for the outside world, the novel would have been perfect. Owing to this lack of environmental concern, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
There is a definite feeling of professional editing in the first half of the book, then it seems to stop. While the errors within are few and simple (missing punctuation, duplicate or missing words), there are times where it seems the author simply used a thesaurus rather than repeat a word. A great example is describing an erection as “turgid” about 2/3 through the book, then using it twice more before the end.
There is a definite sense of in-determinism warring with fatalism throughout the entirety of the book. When Triannon is first attacked, Nissa's people simply accept what is happening. Then they move forward with a plan of action and find salvation thanks to their own needs. Later, when her relationship with Tam is called into question, we are given the same unwritten question: is what has always been what should always be? It's as if Imogen is asking the reader to accept that life is what we make of it, but once a choice is made, that's it, we must accept the consequences of our own actions. I would like to ask the author, however, if they've never made a U-Turn while driving. While some things cannot be changed, not all choices are permanent.
This book was a wonderful read and forced me to ask questions about my own life while I read about the lives of Tam and Nissa.
******
The Bonding
View: on Bookshelves
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Latest Review: "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper
