Also see her reviews on pages 15 and 16
  Rangers
at Roadsend by Jane Fletcher ISBN: 1-933110-28-7 Bold Strokes Books Boldstrokesbooks.com Paperback/ $15.95/2005/312 pages Genre: Lesbian Sci Fi/Fantasy Rangers at Roadsend is an absorbing tale of intrigue, murder and romance. We are drawn into this story by the secrets of Sgt. Chip Coppelli and Private Katryn Nagata. Katryn is transferred to Chip’s squadron under mysterious circumstances and together the two must track down rogue criminals. They learn that the crimes are part of a deeper conspiracy that involves the so-called good citizens of Landfall, Chip’s former home where there are unpleasant memories for her. To succeed in this mission as Rangers, they must trust each other, but both have too many secrets. In the course of unraveling the conspiracy plot, Chip develops an emotional attachment to Katryn, but knows that as her superior, it must remain as unrequited love. In Rangers at Roadsend, Fletcher skillfully cultivates a back story in the middle of their journey to expand on the past and secrets of Katryn. As Katryn’s history is told through this back story, we discover a hero rather than a dishonest loathsome Ranger. We learn of Katryn’s struggles and how valiantly she faced them against all odds and with no believers. When Fletcher seamlessly moves us back to the main plot, Chip becomes her champion, and a romantic subplot flows naturally from this. These two characters are expertly crafted into unlikely heroes that we, as the reader, must root for. In Rangers at Roadsend Fletcher not only gives us powerful characters, but she surprises us with an unexpected ending to the murder conspiracy plot, pushing the story in one direction only to have that direction reversed more than once. This is one thrill ride the reader will not want to get off. (While Rangers at Roadsend was published in the United States after The Walls of Westernfort, it is not a sequel. The Celaeno Series is not a chronological series but does share the same characters.) |
 The
Walls of Westernfort by Jane Fletcher ISBN: 1-933110-24-4 Bold Strokes Books Paperback/ $15.95/2005/304 pages Genre: Lesbian Sci Fi/Fantasy With Jane Fletcher’s mesmerizing stories, The Walls of Westernfort (winner of the 2005 Golden Crown Literary Awards- Sci-Fi/Fantasy) and Rangers at Roadsend, the first two books in her Celaeno Series, she has converted this reader into a sci fi lover. Each book takes us into a magical world fraught with danger and full of moral dilemmas. In The Walls of Westernfort young Guard Natasha Ionadis accepts a dangerous undercover mission, knowing that its success may depend upon her dying. Natasha aka Jess and her two “mothers”, Cal and Rohanna, must travel as spies to Westernfort to assassinate three leaders, Gina, Kimberly and Lynn, of a rebel heretic movement. Their movement must cease as it is evil and against all that Celaeno stands for. Along the journey to Westernfort and while living there, Natasha gets to know one of these “heretics”, her guide Dani, to whom she is attracted. She begins to question everything she has learned and is left with some very difficult choices because someone will die no matter what she decides to do. The ethical dilemma that Natasha must face is what makes The Walls of Westernfort so captivating. Every teaching she has learned until this journey is now in question. Natasha is discovering that when she gets to think for herself, there is not one right answer. These women are not evil because they do not possess the same beliefs as she does. By struggling with these questions, Natasha is even more confused because now her choices are not clear cut. On the one hand, she may be killing women that she does not believe are evil, and on the other hand she may be risking the lives of her comrades. Fletcher presents Natasha’s inner turmoil so convincingly through her thoughts and interactions with the other characters that as a reader, I found it difficult to choose the right answer for Natasha. This is a thought-provoking intelligent story that stays with the reader long after the last page is read. |