Reviewed by Elizabetta

TITLE: Mindscape

AUTHOR: Tal Valante

PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishinbg

LENGTH: 94 pages

BLURB: Mark Sayre joins the Interstellar Navy for the money—his only goal is to keep his little brother out of the colony mines that sent their father to an early grave. With concepts like duty and honor floating high over his head, he hardly expects to fall for the serious, idealistic Shane Cawley. Not to mention that Shane is his commanding officer . . . and his Resonance partner, a one-in-ten-thousand mental connection so profound that they can travel in each other’s mindscapes.

Shane Cawley is carrying on the family tradition by serving in the Interstellar Navy. He hardly expects to fall for the quirky, happy-go-lucky Mark Sayre. But as the Resonance between them grows, neither can deny what he feels for the other.

When war breaks out, Mark and Shane find their military training and their Resonance link tested to the edge of sanity. Shane is haunted by memories and flashbacks, and Mark becomes trapped in his own mindscape. But with help from an unlikely ally, they may be able to salvage their futures and the love they share.

REVIEW:

resonance…

“Two minds so perfectly attuned to each other that they can share thoughts and emotions.” 

Mark and Shane are enlisted in the Inter-Stellar Navy also known as Spavy. Mark is in training as a Space Fighter Pilot and Shane is his superior, his Technical Officer. Their job is to protect Earth from the Redorens, a mysterious telepathic race that’s been on the attack.

What sets Mark and Shane apart is that they also share a special bond called Resonance, meaning they are intimately attuned to each other. It’s a very rare bonding…

“… a one-in-ten-thousand mental connection so profound that they can travel in each other’s mindscapes.”

Mark is the easy-going, sensitive one, in it for the paycheck, to support and keep his younger brother out of the silica mines back home. Mark does his job well, hopes he never has to kill anyone, though. Shane, older, career officer with all the weight that carries, broods over the ramifications of their connection and a possible war at hand.

I was all in at the whole ‘bonding of minds’ thing, a trope I adore in sci-fi reads. Like these favorites, Lisa Henry’s Dark Space, J. Fally’s Bone Rider, and Jay Kirkpatrick’s Freedom, anything that smacks of two hot for each other characters getting their feelz on with mind games added, definitely ratchets up the fun.

Valante alternates the story between the present, told in present tense which lends a colder, almost clinical feel as Shane visits Mark in a psych hospital, and the past when they first meet and then train together. There is a lot of flashing back and forth, but it’s effective as it quickly draws us into Mark and Shane’s present dilemma with all its despair, as well as effectively contrasting with their sweet, loving relationship in the past. Their whole story, encompassing eight years, is neatly packaged from the beginning.

A cataclysmic event results in Mark’s capture and torture as a Redoren POW, leaving him a veritable shell of himself trapped in an ongoing nightmare

(Spoiler—> come to think of it, we’re never told how Mark is rescued). And Shane faces his own nightmare having lost his ship and crew in battle. Their Resonance bond is key to any kind of resolution for them as Shane fights to break Mark out of his mental cage. PTSD and the trauma of war take on a whole different meaning when it can be intimately shared with another.

I had some issues with the story… The only sci-fi element here was the mind-meld. Everything else could have been set in present time reality. And while I love the psychic connection I couldn’t help but feel that it was used just for its cool factor… I still want to know… How it fits into this world? Why are some people empathic? What is the precedent for it? Is it misused? Lots of questions aren’t answered. Also, we don’t learn much about the Redorens. Are they aliens? Finally, the writer makes use of some very tired similes. Interestingly, they crop up mostly in the first half of the story, during action scenes where they detract from the weight of the situation… they are distracting and cheesy.

Mindscape is really all about the Resonance. The rest of the world building falls to the wayside with the main focus on this lovely plot device, what it means to Mark and Shane, and how they use it to find their way back to each other. Their journey is very touching as their connection is tested beyond mutual attraction and love.  I enjoyed reading their story even if I did wish for more substance around it.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: Riptide Publishing