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Shades Of Dark by Linnea Sinclair
02/08/2008 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Bantam Books. 410 page paperback. Price: $ 6.99 (US), $ 8.99 (CAN). ISBN: 978-0-553-58965-8). Buy Shades Of Dark in the USA - or Buy Shades Of Dark in the UK  check out websites: www.bantamdell.com and www.linnearsinclair.com
'Shades Of Dark' is the sequel to Linnea Sinclair's novel 'Gabriel's Ghost'. Captain Chasidah Bergren and her lover, Gabriel Sullivan, and crew are still avoiding being taken by the corrupt empire although events don't go to plan. They discover they have a couple traitors on-board, willing to sell them out. Chaz' brother Thad has been imprisoned and her former husband and senior officer Admiral Philip Guthrie is on the run. At one of the space ports they take on a new passenger for crew in the form of Prince Regarth Cordell. Like Sully, Del's a Kyri-Ragkirik, possessing enormous psionic abilities and offering to coach Sully in improving his own. These abilities are also sensual and portray a dark side, especially when he attempts to coerce Chaz to his will. It was bad enough explaining to the crew what Sully was, especially with the stigma attached to it, let alone have two on-board. To add to this mix is Guthrie himself and later a plan to take out an important starship of the empire.
Although billed as a romance blended with Science Fiction, I think with this novel the emphasis is a lot more with SF. With most of the events bottled on a single starship, Sinclair writing in first person through Chaz isn't that limited as to what is going on around her and has an interesting knack for character writing even if the supporting crew seem somewhat relegated this time around. There is a little bit of a weakness towards the end in the action sequences with a reliance on dialogue rather than text action but that's a minor blemish. I suspect also that Sinclair is never that happy killing off any of her characters as well. You do come away from this story with a liking for the main characters which probably explains this. All motivations are more than being good and evil although we don't really see anything of the empire's actions to know just what they are up to. With more books in this series to come no doubt more of their motives will be shown.
The sensual approach to psionics has rarely been touched on before although I think Sinclair could have done more to emphasis this is probably why the Kyri-Ragkirik are so disliked. Then again, with a first person perspective we don't really see more than one point of view.
This book series looks like it might have some serious legs and developing a following. Sinclair uses the trappings of SF effectively and in a traditional way without jarring any expectations. In that respect it might be called safe SF but also likely to keep you reading until the end.
GF Willmetts
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