{Review} The Ophelia Prophecy by Sharon Lynn Fisher

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: April 1st, 2014
Finished Date: August 30th, 2014

Publishers: Tor Books 
Genre: Sci Fi, Romance
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback

Pages: 319

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

New sci-fi romance from the RITA Award nominated author of GHOST PLANET!
* * * 
Our world is no longer our own. We engineered a race of superior fighters -- the Manti, mutant humans with insect-like abilities. Twenty-five years ago they all but destroyed us. In Sanctuary, some of us survive. Eking out our existence. Clinging to the past. 

Some of us intend to do more than survive.
* * *
Asha and Pax -- strangers and enemies -- find themselves stranded together on the border of the last human city, neither with a memory of how they got there.

Asha is an archivist working to preserve humanity’s most valuable resource -- information -- viewed as the only means of resurrecting their society.

Pax is Manti, his Scarab ship a menacing presence in the skies over Sanctuary, keeping the last dregs of humanity in check.

Neither of them is really what they seem, and what humanity believes about the Manti is a lie. 

With their hearts and fates on a collision course, they must unlock each other's secrets and forge a bond of trust before a rekindled conflict pushes their two races into repeating the mistakes of the past.

The Review: I enjoyed ‘The Ophelia Prophecy’, I don’t read a lot of sci-fi romance and it did make a nice change.
The story was very imaginative as we read about a world where DNA manipulation has created various mutant humans that have become insect-like and are known as ‘the Manti’ who became stronger and more capable than humans. Humans were all but wiped out by an uprising 25yrs previous and now only pockets of humanity exist. One such place is Sanctuary and where our leading lady is from, Asha is an archivist who stores the information regarding the wars and how things were before the Manti took over, this is valuable information because ideally that is what the humans strive to get back to. When she wakes up on the beach one day with no memory of how she got there, her life is about to change in a big way as she wakes up alongside one of the enemy and he decides to take her prisoner. Pax is Manti, a very important one and he can’t afford to leave this human female where he found her, her missing memories are a problem and she needs to be questioned but what is also troubling is that he feels a connection to her, a mating instinct is evoked and he really doesn’t need that complication on his life – never the less, she must now go to his home.
Over the course of their journey they will face many situations that will force them to believe and trust in each other building a bond in spite of both of their secrets. How far will they go to keep each other safe? Is it possible that a prophecy from long ago could come to pass?
I liked both Asha & Pax’s characters; Asha seems to be fragile and docile in the beginning but we soon find out what she is capable of and Pax seems to be fighting a fate that he doesn’t want and is blindsided by this lady appearing in his life. The   relationship that developed between Asha & Pax was great, the connection was immediate but the relationship was not, it was a slow burning thing that took time to develop and I appreciated that especially considering Pax’s mating instinct had been set off from the start. I always like enemy to lovers stories and these two are so far apart that it’s hard to see how they could come together.
As I mentioned above, I enjoyed this book and thought it was very imaginative. The world building was good and created a realistic future that could be plausible where the tables have definitely turned on humanity. The Manti were described well enough that you could really imagine their features and behaviour which I find to be a plus if an author can do that for me. I liked the characters throughout the whole book, they are diverse and aren’t  just two species of Human & Manti because the Manti had varying mutant levels and some are more human than others so there are a lot of sub groups going on aswell. Obviously Asha and Pax’s relationship isn’t the only thing going on in the book and we find that not only do the humans have a small rebellion but the Manti do too and everyone has a different agenda. When we learn the secrets that everyone has been keeping, especially Asha, the action is brought into the plot and we find out where everyone stands leading to danger, life threatening situations, betrayal & misdirection that built to an exciting conclusion with two lovers from opposing sides that could just change everything. My only grumble is that the ending seemed a bit rushed but it did seem to be left open for a possible sequel. This was very different and original and I enjoyed it a lot. 

3.5 flowers! 

Thank you to Tor Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Blog Tour for The Ophelia Prophecy by Sharon Lynn Fisher; Excerpt + US/CAN giveaway

The Ophelia Prophecy
by Sharon Lynn Fisher
Release Date: April 1st, 2014

Publishers: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-fi, Romance

Pages: 320

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

New sci-fi romance from the RITA Award nominated author of GHOST PLANET!
* * * 
Our world is no longer our own. We engineered a race of superior fighters -- the Manti, mutant humans with insect-like abilities. Twenty-five years ago they all but destroyed us. In Sanctuary, some of us survive. Eking out our existence. Clinging to the past. 

Some of us intend to do more than survive.
* * *
Asha and Pax -- strangers and enemies -- find themselves stranded together on the border of the last human city, neither with a memory of how they got there.

Asha is an archivist working to preserve humanity’s most valuable resource -- information -- viewed as the only means of resurrecting their society.

Pax is Manti, his Scarab ship a menacing presence in the skies over Sanctuary, keeping the last dregs of humanity in check.

Neither of them is really what they seem, and what humanity believes about the Manti is a lie. 

With their hearts and fates on a collision course, they must unlock each other's secrets and forge a bond of trust before a rekindled conflict pushes their two races into repeating the mistakes of the past.

Excerpt from The Ophelia Prophecy

By Sharon Lynn Fisher

  

Water pooled around Asha’s hips, soaking her thin cotton dress. She studied the glimmering surface of the lake, and the rocky hillside looming on the opposite side.

The reservoir. How did I get here?

Closing her eyes, she pressed her fingers to her temples. The last thing she remembered was climbing to the roof of the Archive with her father. It was a beautiful spring evening, and they’d planned to picnic and watch the sunset. She’d stepped off the ladder onto the corrugated, white-washed metal, and then . . .

Sleep, Ophelia.

She grasped at the words as they breezed across her consciousness. They had the ring of command, yet she had no memory of who had spoken them, or why.

A masculine moan sounded, so close she rolled into a crouch and skittered into the shallow water. The lithe movement of her own body surprised her almost as much as the unexpected voice.

Just beyond the depression she’d left on the beach, a naked form stirred. A stranger. His gaze riveted on her. He sat up straight, fists digging into the sand. No, not sand. His body rested on a bed of some soft, fibrous material.

She remembered the flimsy dress—now wet and clinging to her body—and hugged her bent legs, concealing herself as best she could. Her heart pounded against her thighs.

“Who are you?” they both demanded.

So the confusion was mutual.

“You first,” he said. A command, not a courtesy.

She hesitated. The man now seemed familiar—something about the eyes. They curved down at the inside corners, making them appear to slant under his dark, arched eyebrows. But she couldn’t place him.  

He rose to a crouch, eyes moving over her like an extension of his arms, prying at the locked arms that concealed her body from him.

She reached up to release the clip that held her coiled hair to the back of her head, thinking she would cover herself with it. She gasped to discover her heavy tresses were gone.

Tears of confusion welled in her eyes. Fear knotted her stomach.

“What’s your name?” the stranger insisted.

“Asha,” she whispered, uncertain. There’d been another name a moment ago. A name that had seemed to mean something.

Her throat tightened, strangling her words, as she said, “I don’t understand…”

“What are you doing here?”

She raised her eyes to his face, shrinking from the heat of his gaze. “I don’t know.”

His eyes bored into hers, probing for the thoughts behind them. He frowned, brow furrowing with doubt. He doesn’t believe me.  

“Who are you?” she repeated, indignation nudging past the fear that gripped her.

He slid his hands up his shoulders to rub his neck, baring the hard lines of his stomach, revealing pale marks under either side of his ribcage. Scars.

“Paxton,” he said. One hand moved to the back of his head, and he winced. He probed the sore spot with his fingers.

“Why are you here?”

“I don’t know.”

She glanced again at the fibrous nest. “What’s that?”

“Carapace.”

She blinked at him, the meaning of the familiar word eluding her. Before she could question him further, he rose to his feet, scanning the horizon. Her eyes lingered on the marks below his ribs.

He stood so long—motionless and studying the edge of the sky—she began to think he’d forgotten her. His composure was troubling. There was a shared mystery here, clearly, but they were not equal participants.  

“How can you be so calm?” she asked, voice lifting with anxiety. “Do you know something I don’t? Has this kind of thing happened to you before?”

Paxton glanced down at the nest. “Yes.”

She gaped at him, but the low whine of an approaching ship changed the subject. Her heart jumped as the black beetle hummed into view, dragging its own reflection across the surface of the lake.

She sprang to her feet. “That’s an enemy ship!” she cried. “We have to go!”

Technically the war was over. Very little left for the Manti to fight. But they still ruled the air, keeping tabs on the last dregs of humanity. Citizens of Sanctuary were forbidden to wander away from the city, and the reservoir marked the border.

Again his eyes skewered her to the spot. “No, we wait here. That’s my ship.”

“Your ship? I don’t…”

She side-stepped a couple meters down the beach, eyeing him fearfully.

Overhead, the beetle whirred to rest, cupped wings lifting to allow a controlled vertical landing. With a series of loud clicks it nestled into the sand, hover gear lowering and locking back against the hull. The lusterless, black skin of the vessel looked like rubber, but she knew it was a secreted resin. As she stared, frozen to the spot, the hull lightened from jet to blond, until it was almost invisible against the sand.

“Pax, you okay?” a feminine voice sounded from the ship’s external com.

“I’m okay,” called Asha’s companion. “Drop the ramp.”

“Who’s that with you?” 

Paxton frowned at Asha. “I was hoping you could tell me.” 

About Sharon Lynn Fisher: 

A Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist and a three-time RWA Golden Heart Award finalist, SHARON LYNN FISHER lives in the Pacific Northwest. She writes books for the geeky at heart—sci-fi flavored stories full of adventure and romance—and battles writerly angst with baked goods, Irish tea, and champagne. Her works include Ghost Planet (2012), The Ophelia Prophecy (2014), and Echo 8 (2014). You can visit her online at SharonLynnFisher.com.

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A Review for Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher

Posted by Guest Reviewer Melanie
Release Date: October 23rd, 2012

Finished Date: January 8th, 2013

Publishers: Tor
Source: For Review 

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 342
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Psychologist Elizabeth Cole prepared for the worst when she accepted a job on a newly discovered world—a world where every colonist is tethered to an alien who manifests in the form of a dead loved one. But she never expected she'd struggle with the requirement to shun these "ghosts." She never expected to be so attracted to the charming Irishman assigned as her supervisor. And she certainly never expected to discover she died in a transport crash en route to the planet. 

As a ghost, Elizabeth is symbiotically linked to her supervisor, Murphy—creator of the Ghost Protocol, which forbids him to acknowledge or interact with her. Confused and alone—oppressed by her ghost status and tormented by forbidden love—Elizabeth works to unlock the secrets of her own existence. 

But her quest for answers lands her in a tug-of-war between powerful interests, and she soon finds herself a pawn in the struggle for control of the planet…a struggle that could separate her forever from the man that she loves.

The Review: I’m not going to lie, I struggled with this in the beginning – it was hard to wrap my head around what was happening but once I got the gist of it, it turned into a really great read. I don’t usually read sci-fi books, I’m more of a paranormal girl but I’d thought I’d give this a go because I liked the sound of it and it can also be classed as paranormal and even fantasy just  by dealing with the ghost/alien subject.

The story was a unique one for me and I believe the synopsis truly says it all. I gelled with the characters straight away and felt their chemistry so when we got the big reveal about Elizabeth being a ghost, I was really shocked and then the curiosity kicked in. Because of the attachment I had to Elizabeth & Murphy, it was just horrible that things changed between them as soon as that discovery was made and Murphy implemented the ghost protocol on her, I didn’t see her any differently and was a bit puzzled as to why they couldn’t see that she could still be an asset to them in any form. I sort of knew where it was going in respect to what she would do about her predicament and how she would go about it but I always wondered why they hadn’t tried something like that before. I loved what happened later on between them and how that opened up a whole new insight, if only things could really be that way. I also loved that the tables were turned on Murphy too so he got a taste of what it felt like to be the ‘alien’. Their love story was a welcome lift and added a bit of spice to the story, it was sweet in a way and quite desperate as they fight it but bond anyway & let’s face it …. Who doesn’t like a bit of forbidden love?

The story was actually well rounded with both sides ghost/colonist being addressed and I liked that a lot, it made me question a lot of things as well especially the negative reaction from both sides, sort of like a modern racism against species that seemed to carry a message of tolerance, understanding and willingness to see the bigger picture of how they could help each other and unite, instead of segregation & unrest. I really liked the environmental aspect as well, how it was all linked together and when the truth comes out, the key is one we can only hope for… so not only do we get mystery, we get oppression, discrimination, power struggles, insurgence, jealousy, rivalry and a nice dose of forbidden love - hidden under the façade of big money organisations with ulterior motives and what started out quite slow with a psychological feel became an action packed adventure on a new planet where it seems like battle has only just begun & I would definitely read a sequel. It gives a lot of food for thought too.