Karra is caught in a web of deception that threatens everyone she loves. Will she be able to break free?
When the Nevians arrived on the Homeland, they not only demonstrated their military might, they brought with them nearly invisible entities that hungered to feed of the worst of human emotions. The entities particularly lusted after those with exceptional Talent in order to twist it under their control.
Nevian Talents knew how to fight off the Molochs, Talented humans did not. Karra was no more than a child when a Moloch approached her. It offered her the strength to settle the forces that had turned her world into chaos. Such beings usually ignored children, but once this child fully matured, the Moloch who approached her planned to feed off her emotions as she experienced life in all its darkest beauty.
The adult Karra, once she understood what had happened, realized she either needed to find a way to defeat the alien, or allow it to control her and take away all she loved.
Excerpt
The bodiless entity floated toward a row of human prisoners being
lined up for transportation out of the camp and into the newly built prison. The entity had spent much time in the camp feeding off the fear that permeated the air with sweet perfume.
Hoping to get more than aroma, it hung near several who might live through their incarceration and tried to entice them. They were a dispirited a lot, too powerless.
But there! That human blazed with an uncommon fury. The entity hovered closer, considering a number of ways to entice him, anticipating the feed, when a burst of rifle fire blasted through the camp. Prisoners fell, including the one it had chosen to inhabit.
Irritated, the entity searched the crowd hoping for a victim who would accept its “guidance.”
Most humans, however, did not appeal to the entity because too few of them owned even a flicker of true power. Humans were a boring species. Here an atrocity had just been committed, a line of twenty of their own had been murdered by rifle fire, and the crowd muttered helplessly or wept hopelessly. No spark of rage flamed with bright energy. No one dug deep inside and raised a lush fire of revenge. None of them despised their enemy enough to hate and hurt and kill.
Ah, now! What about that child at the front of the crowd swaying on unsteady legs? Her energy burned, but her spirit flagged. This child held promise. She possessed the essence of uncommon Talent, attractive to the entity. To own such power! To feed upon it and control it! The urge to taste the child’s misery through the blaze of her Talent drew it close enough to be touched. Although her grasp of Talent would have allowed her to see it floating right next to her, she did not.
It hovered around the devastated child in indecision. It wanted to taste her trauma in its fullness, not sniff at the wisps of fear and sorrow that emanated from her thoughts. It had not drunk full expressions of emotion in a very long time. It usually ignored children. They simply took too long to experience life in all its darkest beauty.
This girl would need to reach adolescence before she could become a true predator, and that remained several years away. The entity had never been known for its patience.
But the power! It ached to possess her power to twist it at will. Once she matured, this child could fulfill its darkest wishes.
Professional Reviews
Raw and Powerful
Author Patricia Renard Scholes tells a raw and powerful story of a young woman whose homeworld is enslaved. The invaders, the Nevians, dominate and exploit her people, but even worse are the Molochs, non-corporeal beings that control the minds and souls of those who have unusual Talents. Karra herself was so talented that a Moloch took an interest in her as a young child, and has drawn her deeper and deeper into a terrible and beautiful life, where it can feed on her suffering and hatred. Now Karra has a daughter, and Karra will do anything to protect her.
The world-building here is haunting and the characters will stay with you. I highly recommend this book.
“The year is 2011 and Samuel Elmsmore is adrift in the universe. After a series of breakdowns he awakens as a virtual prisoner in a hostel for the mentally ill. He’s estranged from his family and friends, and is jobless after an unfortunate incident
Pieces of Eight, Part III is a collection of eight novellas to complement the eight in Pieces of Eight, Pieces of Eight, Part II and Pieces of Eight, Part IV.
This chair is not your grandmother's rocking chair! In fact, you wouldn't want your grandmother or any loved one near it! So find a well lit room and enjoy an intense read of this Sci-Fi thriller.
