Java Head

Author at Wolfpup's Den http://www.skeeter63.org/wolfpupsden/.

Forces of Light and Darkness (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 17th March 2002 (2)
Tags: Novelette
(90K)

I started this story with positive expectations; I have in the past liked stories which were parallel-universe with a bit more of the fantastic, in the mold of Susan Foster's universes (CiceroCat's stories spring to mind). It did start promisingly, with Blair thinking that he feels awful because he's got the flu, but the reader knows There's Something More Going On... Unfortunately, the good ideas didn't last. I found the rest of the story unoriginal, hard to believe, full of clichés and lacking subtlety.
    "Oh dear, there's this noise I'm hearing, it must be Blair's heartbeat."
    "Oh dear, I'm feeling a wave of anger pounding on me."
    "Oh dear, there are weird things happening to both of us, this must be connected."

I'm sorry, I just found all that completely unbelievable. It didn't help when Jim took it all too calmly. That didn't feel Jim-like to me.

Other people have done much better treatments of the psi power of Empathy, which made me feel that this was just clumsy. I did like the bonding scene, though again, other people have done it better.