Book 9 in the Psy-Changeling series
a review by Jade Hounsell
Play of Passion, the ninth book in the series, is focused on the SnowDancer pack of wolf changelings, which from what I can gather is a first for this series. Again I cannot say that with absolute conviction due to reading only from book seven. I know you must get sick of me saying that, but I really do not want to offend series fans by missing key factors that may have appeared in earlier books. Yes, I know I am a complete noob.
This book focuses on the characters Andrew Kincaid and Indigo Rivere, two of Hawke’s (the alpha, or leader, of SnowDancer) right hand people. Well, that’s not quite right, they are described best in the book as Reilly (think he was the main character in book six??) being Hawke’s right hand, Indigo as his left hand and Drew as his eyes and ears, if that’s any help.
Drew, as he is commonly called, is the pack’s tracker in charge of locating and dealing with rogue changeling’s who have lost control and given in to their animal half. That may mean coaxing and helping them find their human half again or it may mean killing them if they have shifted to the point of no return.
Indigo is one of SnowDancer’s top Lieutenants, very high up in the hierarchy of the pack, she is a strong dominate and has clear ideas of what she is looking for in a mate and Drew is definitely not it.
Drew on the other hand has other ideas and thinks that with time and some very grand gestures he will wear her down to accept him. It’s hard for Indigo to resist the handsome, charming wolf however, having seen first hand what a dominant partner can do to a less dominate mate she does not want them to end up hating each other.
Will Drew be able to coax his way into Indigo’s heart or is this the one book where things don’t end with them together? .
While all of this takes place there is also a threat to the pack. They have to put all the little pieces of Intel that they have received together to try and figure out whether the threat is from a group of Psy or one in particular. Whichever way it goes, its a race to save the SnowDancer territory and it’s pack of wild and changeling wolves.
There are a fair few snippets that give the reader a glimpse into other pack members lives and general life in the den as well. We also have a kind of side love story between Hawke and Sienna, a Psy member who lives with the SnowDancers, going on throughout as well.
There is also a glimpse into the turmoil that seems to be taking place within the Psy council members, they seem to be taking sides amongst themselves and splintering off into two or three distinctive groups, as to what this may mean down the track, who knows, but I doubt it will be a good thing.
For fans of the DarkRiver cats, do not despair, as there is plenty of interaction between the two packs to satisfy you, I think. All in all I have to say that I enjoyed this book much more than the other two, maybe because it was based around the Changelings and not as much the Psy side.
Previously published in Dark Matter issue 5, September 2011. This blog has been pre-dated to reflect the date of original publication.
