White Tiger
By Vijaya Schartz
Triskelion Publishing
Science Fiction/Romance
e-book
303 pages
New Earth
11-2004
ISBN: 1-932866-44-2
$5.99
CHARACTER LIST
Major Tora "The White Tiger" -- An unusual woman warrior with the ability to telepathically speak to animals.
Dragomir: The first mutant child between the "Godds" and human Valshas. Loyalty to the "Godds" is bred into the mutants, but after the death of Dragomir's mother, which he believes "The Godds" may have murdered, he doesn't have total faith in his fathers any more.
General Tomaso: The man Tora believes is her father.
Marshal Killian: The son of the former King of Kassouk. He is bent on reclaiming the throne.
The Godds: Advanced humanoid beings from Godda who come to New Earth not to help the humans as they believe, but to use them to breed mutants and mine for duranium.
Mutants: The children bred between "The Godds" and their human Valshas. They are used as in-betweens with the human world.
Valshas: Human virgins that "The Godds" bring to the Temple to breed children with to further their quest to rebuild the Goddain race. They also are servants to "The Godds."
The Reptoids -- Lizard-like humanoid beings that are "The Godds" greatest enemies. They reach New Earth and use the Zerkers and Marshal Killian in their quest to attack "The Godds."
The Kassouks: Peaceful humans that try to live by "The Godds" wishes.
The Zerkers: Humans addicted to a drug that makes them crazed killing machines.
The story opens with General Tomaso laying on his death bed after an attack by an assassin's trained cat. He confesses to Tora that he was struck down because he did not join a conspiracy against the Emperor of Kassouk and makes Tora promise not to attempt to locate the assassin. Tora promises even though she has every intention of locating and killing him. General Tomaso also tells Tora of the signs that he has seen of the coming of the Reptoids and warns her that the Godds have secrets. He tells Tora that her mother was pregnant when he married her. It was his way of protecting her and he wasn't aware of her father's identity. Tora reassures him that he is the only father she has loved. She sits with him as he passes on.
Then war starts and Tora volunteers to take her troops and face the Zerkers as they gather forces to attack the Kassouks. She is sent to Marshal Killian, not knowing that he is the man who assassinated her father. As the troops travel across land moving farmers to Kassouk and burning villages so that the Zerkers can't use them, Tora meets Dragomir in one of the villages. He has waited to tell her that there is a traitor in the army, though he does not know that it is Major Killian. Dragomir was instructed not to warn the humans or assist them, but he can not resist Tora. After meeting her, Dragomir realizes that she is part mutant and explains this to her. He also informs her that The Godds killed her real father for mating with a human because it is forbidden. As Tora and Dragomir spend time together, they end up giving into their desire for each other. Even though it is forbidden, their love is worth the risk of death. Afterwards, they must part so that Dragomir can infiltrate the Reptoid base and Tora can join her troops with the rest of the army to face the Zerkers.
Tora and Dragomir must face betrayal, threat of a manufactured plague and the outbreak of a war to be together.
There are a few typos, otherwise it is a well written, fast-paced story that draws the reader in and keeps him/her reading to find out how the hero and heroine are going to deal with every challenge. The characters' personalities are believable and well rounded. The only complaint I had is that the majority of the story is given away in the first couple of chapters and the rest of the book is just how the characters react to the occurrences. While this makes an enjoyable story, it leaves nothing to jump out at you later.
--3 1/2 tigers out of 5
Reviewed by Michelle Thomas
October 9, 2005
