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S.L. Viehl
SHOCKBALL

Book 4 of Stardoc
2001, November, Roc
Buy from Amazon.com (mass market paperback)


Who recommends: Linda, JW
Who discommends: Preeti, Robin

I highly recommend this and consider it as good as her others. And a much easier read than ENDURANCE.<g> That was a good book but such non-stop violence can be hard after a while. I enjoyed the romance more because the h/h are together and stay in love.<g> Lots of questions answered. What happens if the heroine becomes pregnant? What does her creator/father want to do with her?? How can she escape him? And more surprises you won't even have thought of. I was really afraid this might be the last one but there is still one or two mysteries to be solved. I know that not everyone here likes a series to continue too long but I really enjoy the difference of this one. The medical aspect and the chance to meet so many aliens (though not quite as many in this one.<g>) is fun.--Linda (29 Oct 01)

Oh, and I managed to read SHOCKBALL before the move. I enjoyed it, although I thought the coy "surprise" at the end pretty stupid. Besides the fact of keeping it secret from her true love didn't make any emotional sense whatsoever.--JW (7 May 02)

I wound up not finishing this because I had real problems with it. I would put me down as a discommend. I hated the way Cherijo kept getting jerked around by her father and by her husband too. It was back and forth, back and forth. It's a pity too as the series started out so promisingly.--Robin (04 Jun 02)

Having a "clever" surprise ending was not worthy recompense for the heroine's idiot emotional judgment. And, Robin, you've stoked my memory further about why I disliked SHOCKBALL so. I remember that I hated S.L. Viehl's handling of the plot. Viehl consistently had her protagonist (emphasis on the "agony") be jerked around--I mean, it didn't end. This heroine was powerless---stymied at every turn--through almost the entire story. It set up a resonant despair in me. I can't tell you how annoyed I was, how downright depressing I found Cherijo's adventures in this book. And then that ending on top of it all...--Preeti (04 Jun 02)



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