Review: Very fine world-building and a promising start to a new series
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 5, 2011
Jodie B. Cooper's Beloved Life-Mate: Song of the Sidhi, starts with a lengthy glossary creating a fully-imagined world and background to the author's Sidhi series. This short story is complete in itself, taking place in a time long after the war that left strange creatures trapped in "second dimensional" valleys about the earth. Portals separate this mysterious world from our own, and elves and vampires, plus other assorted creatures, live almost-human lives under the rule of their own Chi'Kehra.The author has created an intriguing background to her mythical creatures, with synth crystal secreted in their veins, bestowing immortality. The protagonist is almost a regular teen, only just coming into her powers. And the fact that she's a half (or third)-breed--two-thirds vampire and one-third elf (an interesting concept to my mathematical mind)--doesn't help. Finding herself dangerously close to a pure-bred enemy, she tries to run but is swiftly abducted. Soon she's thinking that wonderfully penned first line that opens the story: "If my LifeMate--supposedly the perfect guy of my dreams--wasn't trying to kill me, I'd be much happier."The dialog's clever. The characters are intriguing. And the background is very well-designed. Occasional oddities (like heredity in thirds) are somewhat distracting, but this is an enjoyable lunch-time read with a pleasing mix of modern life and mythical sensibility. It should make a good introduction to the author's longer works set in the same world.Disclosure: I responded to a blog request offering a free copy of this book.