Michael Dunellen on Books

I really hate to hide reviews under spoiler tags but I don’t really want to give anything away.I really spent the whole novel wondering when Vennias was going to get Jilin successfully back in his bands on Rimilia. I was really excited when we get to the end and that didn’t happen.This was kind of a multi-part storyThe Assassination Attempt - it wasn’t too surprising to see Murdoch in charge based on what we last saw. But what concerned me was that he wasn’t more concerned about what was happening on Rimilia.The Valley - So it turned out the maybe reaching a Vulcan level of emotional control wasn’t really a good thing for an Empath to do. That actually made sense - and explained why Jilin seemed more about taking people over and less about simple emotional manipulation the way we had seen in the past. The whole thing reminded me of a cross behind The Giver and a BDSM Romance To Command and Collar - especially the part about where it came to making her cry uncontrollably to release all the bottled up emotion.I can’t blame Jilin, though, for being a bit upset over what happened.So then we find out more about the the Headband Conspiracy from Rimilia. Obviously there is going to be a lot more to this before we are done.I liked how we got to see the Commando Team and more of the worlds of the Amalgamation. It also felt like in the first series we were going getting to see a tiny slice of what was going on.And one thing about the moment where Hall accused Jilin of violating her honor back on Rimilia: Jilian agreed to be banded so she wouldn’t constantly have to kill every l’lenda who came her ways bands in hand. Vennias agreed to let her go when it was over. Linnad had no such deal with her and when he won her, the agreement was broken. But if she hadn’t interfered Linnad might still have won anyway. The honorable thing for Vennias to do would have been to keep his word to her and refuse the challenge. But he was never going to see that.And what is it about l'lendaa that makes guys like Ben, Len, and Hall squeal like little school girls?If Vennias really wants to win her back, he should learn to fight along side her and quit making demands. And it would be nice if guys like Hall wouldn't fall in love with Rimilian thinking so fast.