Stronghold Rising

Stronghold Rising is the sixth novel in the Sholan Alliance series, following Dark Nadir. In the previous volume, the U'Churian ship, Rryuk's Profit, has been captured by the Valtegan ship M,ijikk, commanded by the former Overlord of Keiss, M'ezozakk, and the M,ijikk has been captured in turn by the Prime ship Kz'adul.On the Kz'adul, the Profit group have awakened to find themselves confined in a suite of rooms guarded by Primes concealed in armored suits. Periodically, the telepaths in the group are taken while the others are asleep and subjected to medical examination and sampling. Both Carrie and Kusac have been taken aboard the Kz'adul, but hidden from their friends. Kusac has been awakened, implanted with a telepathic suppression device, and interrogated, even tortured, by J'koshuk, a Valtegan priest. Shortly thereafter, Carrie has been returned to the others, but Kusac has been retained for more testing and conditioning. Eventually Kaid has initiated an escape to Haven, a Brotherhood asteroid base, with the Kz'adul in pursuit. During the escape, they have discovered that the Primes are also Valtegans, although a different breed than those on Keiss, and have taken an important hostage, Prince Zsurtul, who they have interrogated while enroute to learn much new information about the Valtegan situation.On Shola, Brynne has been having vivid dreams and found an unexpected lifemate. Konis has survived a political crisis in the Clan Council regarding Kitra's betrothal. Ruth and the kids have been invited to the Touiban home for a meal. General Kezule has drugged Kirta with la'quo and tried to force her to send him to the past, but she used the power of the drug to overload his mind into unconsciousness; moreover, the drug has also induced a leska link between Kitra and Dzaka. The recaptured Kezule has been taken to Haven by Carrie and Kaid. There the Prince and General have been exchanged for Kusac, but not without violence.In this novel, Kusac returns home, but has only a small fraction of his telepathic skills remaining. The TeLaxaudins, Cabarrans and Touibans combine their skills to remove the implant and damaged tissues, to restore the nerves, and to provide feedback to allow control of the restored abilities. However, the la'quo present in his body has caused loss of memory which only gradually is being restored through vivid flashbacks and dreams. While his memories are incomplete, Kusac cannot use his abilities. He does not want to be near Carrie or Kaid, especially when they link, for fear they will share his pain and bad dreams.About six months later, the Sholans have learned more about the Primes, who have not lost their technology in the Cataclysm, and have had long standing contacts with the Free Traders through the spaceport on Jalna. The Primes have readily agreed to a treaty with the Sholan Alliance and have freely ceded ownership of the four asteroid bases used by the Brotherhood.On K'oiosh'ik, Kezule is extremely

Ok, Ok, I admit it...I am hooked on the story of Kusac, Carrie and Kaid. So when is the next book due out??? You left the reader in an anxious position with the end of this series, and no information at the end telling your readers when the next one is scheduled. (...) C'mon, folks, it's enough to make devoted readers not want to start a series of books unless the end has already been written! It's what I did with the Robert Jordan books...didn't start reading the whole series until the "Conclusion" novel had been done.

I have read the entire series from start to end of STRONGHOLD RISING. I am hooked by the characters and events. Such depth of detail and culture of the aliens involved is my cup of tea. Such complexity and sweeping panorama of settings and characters sucks the reader into that world in which one is reluctant to immerge! Unlike many readers who find this confusing, the cast of many characters and pov changes does not bother me. I find it involving. As a writer I appreciate the difficulty in keeping all this real, and consistant, and aaplaud this author for a job well done. One note to author. . if Kaid, Kusac and Carrie don't form a three way Leska link upon Kusac's return (if he returns), I will be severly disapponted!!!!! I eagerly await the next installment in this series. . . Ria

Yet again Lisanne Norman has captivated the reader with another masterpiece! I'd suggest reading the entire series to anyone. The only downside to this novel was that the author left us hanging at the end wanting more! Guess we have to wait for the next one.

This is the sixth book of the epic Sholan Alliance series, and takes the story in new directions to places unforseen. "Stronghold Rising" is not recommended as a place to jump in; the books of this series should be read in order. Where much of the three previous books revolved around the character Kaid, this book represents a return to Kusac as the central focus of the story. The fifth book, "Dark Nadir", had some unpleasant things happening to the main characters and left some readers uneasy about the direction the series was taking, but with this, the sixth book, we get some payoff. It provides the overall context that makes more sense out of some of the events in "Nadir" and the earlier books. Furthermore, it sets some remarkable events in motion, some of which are left to be resolved in the next installment of the series (read: cliffhanger ending).Fans of the series don't need to be convinced to buy this book, but some readers have been less impressed with the last two than they were with the earlier books. I believe many of them will find "Stronghold Rising" to be at least as good as anything so far in the series.