Review: 4 Stars
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 30, 2013
Ahh Mindlink, where do I begin?Oh I know, with me. Because I'm narcissistic like that. Growing up I was a huge SciFi nerd. Like huge. Like embarrassingly huge. In recent years, I'd gotten away from that and more towards the fantasy/paranormal side of my nerdiness. Mindlink (and a well timed Next Gen book and marathon) are partially to blame from my return to my Science Fiction roots.(Which means Mindlink is good... because if it wasn't I'd still be reading a book a day about vampires riding dragons instead of starting my own Sci-Fi novel)Okay, back to the book.When I started it, I did not think I was going to like it. Vapid stereotype of a starlette gone off the tracks? No freaking thank you. Then I read more than three pages (which is the theme of the week it seems) and the story blew the effe up. All the characters that you hate right off the bat grow. They become likeable. They become kind of epic. Or they don't. Tragically. But Ashley and the rest of team awesome have such a high batting average you forget about all those people who were cut by the end of the game.I've mixed all kinds of my nerdy obsessions into this one, haven't I?Cut me some slack... it's opening day and I turned old.On the flip (meaning alien) side of the equation, you have Sam. Well, keyboard mash-One who becomes Sam when he too goes off the tracks. Though really, he'd always struggled with emotions (it's not a spoiler if it's in the first scene he's in) and he's just letting them off the chain, as it were. So with Sam you get to see a character who's locked up tight thanks to this system of rigid control evolve and develop and go through this kind of sweet and innocent naivety.And then there's the mindlink. Obviously. Which is neat in its own (meaning non-pervy) right when it's just sharing emotions and Sam seeing color for the first time. Then they start talking about suns and all bets are off.4 stars, easily. Mindlink is ranking right up there among the top books I've read this year.