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SHAMAN, FRIEND, ENEMY
(Olivia Lawson, Techno-Shaman Book Two
M. Terry Green
Kindle File Size: 500 KB
Paperback by Createspace: 334 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Released October, 2011
Released October, 2011
Blogger purchase
Patients with fractured souls, clients threatened by deadly ancestor spirits, and now the paparazzi–it’s all in a day’s work for techno-shaman Olivia Lawson. Livvy has rocketed to the top of the shaman world, bringing old friends with her but also attracting new enemies.
Even as her career soars, her personal life spirals downward. Broken bonds and lost love finally force her to confront the terrible secret of her beginning in shamanism. Despite being attacked by dark shamans and navigating a spiritual plane that seems out of control, Livvy’s single-minded quest steers her into dangerous territory and puts her on a collision course with those dearest to her.
No longer interested in walking a fine line, Livvy discovers that–when the one thing you need is the one thing you can’t have–you’ll risk everything. mterrygreen.com
I always worry about the second in book series by a new author when I really liked the first. This was okay but not as cohesive as the first.
I just didn't buy the love relationship and the external forces that would keep them apart. Livvy would have to be sitting or kneeling for any kiss with SK. In book one when people would bend down to speak with him he didn't like it. There is not enough thread to make this story line into a weaving. I didn't feel any real emotive content in the relationship; they weren't on fire for each other.
I didn't buy the concept of what was keeping them from each other or the potential conflict of interest. it didn't mesh all the way through and Livvy as well as SK would have been aware of the rule and the position that SK's stature gave him. All the other shamans are aware of the position dwarfs hold in the Shamans' world, so why wouldn't Livvy have known?
I do not believe that Livvy would have taken the actions she did regarding her mother. With her experience in the last book she was well aware of exactly what can happen when there is an unfriendly shaman in there with you. But the rules and issues seem to arise from the author's needs instead of organically, from the invented world. Things occur without necessary backstory. I am perplexed as to whether spirit guides are really corporeal and can be corporeally hurt or killed. Why would Livvy be unaware of way the lightning shamanism worked? She had a mentor. There are books.
Your invented world in Urban Fantasy has to hold water unless you design it not to. There's some leakage in this story that was not present in the first book.
The villain here, Dominique, and her sister Nicole are like a fractured soul of one person. Dominique is all evil and loud about it and Nicole with her problems is the innocent. And her understanding of magic would have made her aware that there is no such thing as a free lunch. While many people believe they will escape their bad karma, just being so evil doesn't cut it.
There are loose ends and unnecessary events throughout without resolution at the end.
The bottom line is that I felt the writer went in too many directions at once and was perhaps the romance was an attempt to insert it into the story but without any real verve it didn't feel real.
Livvy is a strong heroine who is imperfect and that's my favorite kind. She is also a kind person, and only hurts others in self defense. I also like that Green is exploring a largely untouched area of Urban Fantasy and which has a great deal of interesting features culturally and magically.
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