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Book Review of Commencement (Starfire Saga, Bk 1)

Commencement (Starfire Saga, Bk 1)
althea avatar reviewed on + 774 more book reviews


This book was part of the Del Rey Discovery series, which I am making a point of reading ALL of! The feel of this book reminded me of another in that series: Delia Marshall-Turner's 'Of Swords and Spells'. I'm not surprised that the same editors would have selected both. It also reminded me a bit, at first, of "The Blue Sword" by Robin McKinley - although not as good. Ronica, a self-important young woman brought up in privilege, in a starfaring society, because of her mental powers, is shocked to find herself stranded on a primitive planet, with no memory of how she got there., and without her most valued mental strengths. But soon, she finds herself in the tent of a strong and seductive primitive tribal leader, and begins to make herself a place in this new society. At this point, the romance element in the story gets a bit heavy, and the end suffers from a case of too-many-radical-revelations, too quickly - but overall, this was a good first novel, and an enjoyable sci-fantasy tale.