TEST
It’s never a good sign when a review book takes me a month to read. If only Susan Kearney’s Jordan had taken just a month! I’ve been reading it off and on for the past three months, barely able to tolerate more than ten pages at a time. It’s not that the book was horrible, it was just boring – really boring.
I should start by saying that I’m a big fan of all of the various Star Trek permutations, and also adore the legend of King Arthur. With its mix of space travel and Arthurian legend, this seemed a natural.
Jordan’s planet was destroyed when he was a young man, and his magical staff was stolen. During the ensuing 1500 years (yes, Jordan can’t die), he’s taken on many roles in his search for the staff. At one point, he was Merlin and lived in Camelot as King Arthur Pendragon’s advisor. With the staff finally in his possession, Jordan must use it to help save Earth.
Led by Jordan’s arch enemy who is in possession of the Holy Grail, the Tribes are threatening Earth. Jordan lied to wealthy businesswoman Vivianne Blackstone about his qualifications, and is supervising the construction of a spacecraft that will be used to search for the Holy Grail.
When Vivianne confronts Jordan about his lies (and this happens in the first few pages), Jordan launches the ship, sending Vivianne, himself, and the crew into space in search of the keys to the Holy Grail.
Jordan and Vivianne have sex twice before we know much about them. Now Jordan does some very inventive things when the gravity breaks down on the ship, but I really need to know more about the characters and for them to know more about each other, before sex – no matter how creative – works for me.
In their search for the keys, they land on various planets and meet up with all kinds of beings. Both Jordan and Vivianne shapeshift into dragons at various points along the way, and, at the most inopportune times, have sex.
The book is filled with too much action – albeit often boring action – and too little character development for my taste. Jordan and Vivianne start hearing each other’s memories in their minds after they have sex, and this is particularly frustrating. They both had real tragedies in their childhoods, and have overcome a great deal. But before we could really get to know them, or they to know each other, we’re in the middle of yet another crisis. Ultimately, I’ll think of this book as “the staff made them do it,” because I found no compelling evidence that they were really in love, merely that they had hot sex as a result of the staff’s magical powers.
The book seemed all out of proportion. Some of the visits to other worlds seemed to go on forever, and then the final battle – which should have been very moving – was wrapped up in a few paragraphs. I actually became more interested in the story during the last 100 pages, but found the ending extremely rushed. This should have been exciting; instead, it dragged, and was not a pleasure to read.
Grade: C-
Book Type: Futuristic Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 08/07/10
Publication Date: 2010/03
My first memory is sitting with my mother on a blanket in our backyard surrounded by books and she is reading one of them to me. My love of reading was encouraged by my parents and it continues to today. I’ve gone through a lot of different genres over the years, but I currently primarily read mysteries (historical mysteries are my favorites) and romances (focusing on contemporaries, categories, and steampunk). When I’m not reading or working, I love to travel, knit, and work on various community projects.
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.