Heller's Reviews > Replicant

3.5 stars

While this story worked for me I had some issues with the gender bending alien which is usually a concept I love reading about. I know the focus of the story was more on Jarana and her issues but I just felt that due to that focus the relationship of Eric and Maska didn't have the depth I was hoping to read about.

Here we have a man and woman in a relationship and in the blink of an eye the woman becomes a man. Fascinating! I just felt that the dynamics of that relationship and Eric's response to it didn't get enough airplay. Eric out of all the characters was more a mystery to me and while he seemed to be the one easiest able to deal with the changes around him, I wished we could have had more drama on his part. Maybe drama isn't the best word but I really wanted to delve more into his feelings regarding Maska's change and how that influenced their relationship.

I think for me it's because the Eric and Maska/woman relationship takes place off page. I almost wish that the change hadn't happened so quickly, that we could have seen Maska as a woman interact with both Eric and Jarana. It would have given me more of a background to work with and given Eric's interactions with her/him more poignancy and depth.

There is still a lot of intensity here and the change is addressed while both men work to find a new balance in their relationship. Worth writes menages so well which is a treat.

This is a great addition to the Kithran series. Lots of angst here but wonderful interactions between the characters and some great cameos by the from the previous book.