"A wonderful adventure through space"
Fleeing a mugging, Tess MacKenzie runs into Cohl Travers
and ends up getting kidnapped from Earth instead. Cohl
father has been kidnapped by one of two warring brothers
that will exchange a human life for a magical amulet. In
order to free the amulet, Cohl needs Tess to sing a
complicated song from an extinct race of people; it will
mean her life if she so much as messes up one note. Tess,
sees this as another duty that stands in-between her and
her life long dream of a singing career. But as the pair
works together, she finds that duty isn't so bad when
performed with someone you care about. Now if only she can
convince Cohl of this. With most novels, we have our complicated hero who is
more than he seems. UNEARTHED is no different. Cohl is
running from his noble past and while he loves his people,
he doesn't want to be tied down to the planet. Because of
Tess, you can see him growing and developing as a
character, but I had a really hard time with the fact that
even though it was Tess who ultimately would put her life
in peril, he wouldn't talk to her about the dangers she
would face unless she nagged him; which justifiably annoyed
Tess. I guess I felt that even though it was a pretty grim
task he was putting before her, he should have been more
willing to help her prepare for it rather than try and
conceal the dangers she would face. Because of this, I
wasn't sucked into the book as much as I would have
expected. On the other hand, I really liked Tess as a
person. Throughout the ordeal she remains positive
expecting to be able to return home after acquiring the
amulet. Once back on Earth, she hopes she will be able to
put her life back together and become a famous singer. Ms Barry has written a wonderful space adventure that
was exciting to follow. The planets you will visit are
wondrous and because you are seeing them for the first time
through Tess' eyes, I felt they were described very well.
I was fascinated. But because Cohl never talks with Tess
about important issues (and almost looses her to boot) I
can't see how the relationship worked. Even though they
did fall in love, I have to go with 3 stars. This is a
great fantasy but the hero wasn't there for me. I am
however REALLY looking forward to the sequel!
Reviewed by Cynthia Eckert
Posted March 30, 2004
|
|
Life on Earth was just getting interesting for Tess
MacKenzie. She'd postponed her singing career to support
the family business and after eight long years, she
finally
earned her chance to shine. Her band was hot, her songs
were rocking and Tess was on her way to becoming a
star. Things were definitely looking up. That is until Cohl Travers, alien extraordinaire, swoops
out of the night sky and snatches her off her planet.
When
he says he desperately needs her voice for a dangerous
cosmic mission and the fate of two planets hangs on her
song, she figures one of them is in for some serious
therapy. Tess soon finds herself up to her neck in smelly
bad guys, a robot with a superiority complex, an ancient
Amulet that could end her singing career permanently and a
man who can burn her from the inside out. Cohl Travers thought he was free and clear of his destiny
to become the next ruler of his planet. But when the
warring Trakas abduct his father and hold him hostage for
the Amulet, Cohl is dragged back to a fate he does not
want
with a woman he cannot ignore. Together, they might defeat the Trakas -- but what is Cohl
supposed to do about the feelings that Tess has unearthed
in him?
|
