The Dawning

"There is no United Federation of Planets. There are no Vulcans." This is one of my favorite lines from this book. The aliens are coming, and some of them are Not Nice. Sharon, a visitor from a female-only species planet called Pallas, tries to tell Amanda this bitter truth. Sharon herself makes lots of mistakes, not the least of which is how she treats Amanda from their first meeting. Raised as a human on Pallas, Sharon can forge mental contact and doesn't know how to turn it off, even when Amanda begs her to.I have become a total fan of this author's work. The Dawning starts off looking like it's an alien meets human romance in a sci-fi package, but the depths plumbed in this novel go far beyond that. COnvincingly real is Amanda's grief and near-suicidal state after the Challenger explosion, and then her sheer terror when she learns exactly what Sharon is. Just when Amanda has successfully forgotten that Sharon is not quite human, she is reminded -- usually painfully -- of the truth. I got goosebumps when Amanda gets her chance to rewrite history, and I so wanted her to succeed! The novel ends with all possibilities left open and I hope that there are more in the series. I am reminded of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books, which don't have a set chronology or order. I would love if it this series (which began with Night Vision, another bravura novel from Karin Kallmaker's Laura Adams persona) ends up with as many books to savor, to puzzle over and to get fabulous goosebumps from.The aliens are coming, and some of them are Not Nice.

Amanda Martin has spent thirteen years reliving her role in a tragic explosion that cost the lives of seven people. Her self-imposed exile in the hills of New Mexico ends when Amanda stumbles upon someone bearing an exact resemblance of one of the people who died. Suppose she offers Amanda a means to travel through time and possibly change that tragic incident. Will she do it? What price is she willing to pay? "The Dawning" is a fast paced blending of romance, science fiction and action packed adventure. Writing as Laura Adams, Kallmaker has displayed her alter ego's talents again!

The Dawning is another winner for Adams, aka Kallmaker. WhileI have enjoyed almost every book she has written and would rate mostof them as peak experiences, I was especially impressed with theamount of accurate information contained (incidentally to the story) about the Navajo nation. Being a descendent of First Generation Americans, I am impressed by this attention to detail. Plus, the story was wonderful, with very real and very believable characters exploring for us the range of human emotions not usually covered in a 'romance' novel. I can hardly wait for the next novel which will carry on the general story line of the Daughters of Pallas. END

I've read all of Karen Kallmaker's books several times and after I finally accepted that this book was not a Kallmaker romance I started liking it. There is a romance going on (a hot one, too!), but I found the story to be about picking up the pieces after something horrible has happened and you blame yourself. I sympathized with the main characters before I liked them and now I want to know what happens next! I haven't read the first book, Night Vision, yet, but I will have to because this is an engrossing "what if" kind of world created. I want to know if Sharon decides to go back to the world that created her and becomes less human so she can breathe their air and feel that sun on her skin. I want to know if Amanda's second chance to do everything right helps J.T. and Tamar enough that they don't have to lose some of their humanity as they try to remake the world to something that cherishes life and hope.I will always expect something different from a Laura Adams book in the future and I intend to read them because this was just too well-written and too thought-provoking to pass up just because I wish Karin would write just romances to give me my fix more often! I did find much more of the Kallmaker I expected in Christabel and I really recommend that book too!