Review: Sci-Fi Awesomness
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 19, 2011
SILVER SHARK is an awesome short Sci-Fi story set in the Kinsmen World introduced to us in the novellaSilent Blade. In this story we meet Claire Shannon who is a survivor Kinsmen from war-torn Uley with amazing psycher abilities--the ability to attack the mind and navigate the biological computers. All Kinsmen and those with abilities are killed, so Claire must hide her abilities. As a refugee, she is deported to Rada where she must find work or risk being deported back to Uley, which means certain death. Immigration sends her to interview with Guardian, Inc where she meets Venturo Escana a very talented psycher. She manages to stay hidden until friends from her homeworld ask for her help and she must shed the mental shields she's hidden behind.I'm a huge Ilona Andrews fangirl and love everything they write. Their strengths are in world-building and believable characters. Despite the short length, we still get great characters and a (somewhat) full story. The only reason I gave the story 4 stars instead of 5 is that the ending seems to be missing. Ilona Andrews never gives endings wrapped up in bows and such, but still this story seems to abruptly end. Also, we never really get an explanation from Venturo about his reaction to the truth of everything.I loved reading about Claire and the huge contrast between her utilitarian upbringing with grey walls filled with war and the world she is deported to with vivid colors, smiling people, and vicious businessmen. Because of Claire's abilities, this story was much more technical than its predecessor.I really liked the development of Claire and Venturo's relationship. I especially enjoyed when they met in the bio-net (the biological computer), their fight, and Venturo's passion at finding this woman who could fight him. It kinda reminded me of the whole Lois Lane and Superman/Clark Kent dynamic.There is a small cameo by both Meli and Celino fromSilent Blade. I loved the small appearance by their son--spoke VOLUMES!Kinsmen WorldSilent BladeSilver Shark (Kinsmen Series)