Reviews for Jaran

The average rating for Jaran based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-10-12 00:00:00 John Clarke An example of what I would label "anthropological science fiction" -- the author creates an imaginary culture and most of the book is devoted to describing that culture, generally from the point of view of an outsider who has been removed from his or her own environment and must become immersed in the ways of the new culture. In this case, Tess occupies an unusually advantaged position in her encounter. A member of a political an intellectual elite, she has already spent time on this planet (whose people are human but at a level roughly equivalent to the Middle Ages and are not aware of the interstellar empire) and speaks the most common language. She has a remarkable gift for learning languages and quickly becomes fluent in the local dialect. She is attractive and makes friends easily. Even though the natives have reason to be suspicious of her, they welcome her and almost immediately adopt her into a fairly prestigious family. There are strongly divided gender spheres but as an outsider she is allowed to transgress these limitations, enjoying the benefits of her sex without most of the disadvantages. She quickly becomes proficient at most of the essential female skills and is allowed to learn male ones when she requests. All the hot guys want to sleep with her. In short, she is a Mary Sue. She's even practically a princess -- her brother is the only human lord in the alien empire and she is his heir. That means the aliens, who have a strict hierarchy, obey her or at least treat her respectfully, which they do to no other humans. This other narrative, concerning the alien empire and Charles' (Yes, Tess and Charles. Apparently these dull names are still in use however many centuries in the future.) political maneuverings and planned rebellion and the efforts to figure out where the hell his sister disappeared to, this all was plotwise more interesting to me than the endless descriptions of jaran nomadic culture and horses and embroidery and how sexy the men were (unbathed horsemen with beards, I'll pass, thanks), but alas there was little of that and it was related in a rather dull fashion. The romantic pairing also did nothing for me. I thought the man in question was an overbearing arrogant jerk, not just to Tess but also to his own people and even family, and I did not find the way they ended up together forgivable. Tess was ok. There were some interesting bits of the book and it wasn't a pain to read, I just felt that at its considerable length it wasn't worth it. There was no payoff, nothing was resolved except the romantic tension, and I have the same feeling I often do with these sorts of books, which is that it isn't worth the hours learning about a made-up culture when I could spend that time learning about a real one.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-30 00:00:00 Alec Elias This review and other cool stuff can also be seen at Addicted2Heroines Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. If you are a fan of books with lovely descriptions and long journeys of self-discovery? Do you enjoy books that are set on planets that closely mirror our own? Do you love books filled with details that show what an alien culture might be like? Most importantly, ask yourself this...Do I like reallyreally long books? 'Cause this bad-boy is almost 600 pages long. Just sayin'. Evidently, a (mostly) benevolent race of aliens has taken over our solar system. Tess' brother fought back against them, and instead of punishing him, they gave him a bunch of planets to rule over. Weird, right? Her brother decided to make Tess his heir, which elevated her status among the aliens. Their whole caste system is kinda confusing, but after a few hundred pages you get a pretty good grip on it. It starts with Tess boarding a ship to another planet, and accidentally discovering something hinky going on that relates to a planet under her brother's rule. Sounds cool. I love me some evil alien stuff! And then the sci-fi stuff sort of stops, and you end up following Tess as she rides over the countryside with a group of nomads called the Jaran. Their society is different in the fact that women (sort of) rule the tribes. But in the same breath, they have no control over who they marry. See, the guy who wants to marry them sort of sneaks up and cuts them across the cheek. With a knife. Eh? There are lots of other odd and interesting tidbits of their society that Tess learns to navigate during her time with the Jaran. It's a learning experience for her, and for them. That's the theme of the book, I guess. Her growing respect for a culture that, at first glance, seems barbaric. There's a romance that brews between Tess and one of the Jaran, but it slowly builds over the course of the story. It's also a romance that comes from respect and friendship. Let me assure you...this is no bodice ripper. Look elsewhere if you want to read about kinky alien-lovin', ladies! This is not the type of book that I would seek out...ever. For me, there were too many descriptions of their surroundings, not enough hot sex with yummy guys, and the page count was too high. But. That doesn't mean this was a bad book. It was well-written, it had fully developed characters, and great world-building. It's wasn't my cuppa, but it might be yours.