SOJALS rating:

Awful (1/5)

I first read this on the 15th June 2003.

Lewis is a Class 10 human. That means he is at the bottom of the hierarchy of human forms. He's in the class whose members are meant to be barely alive, barely human, their bodies deformed and dysfunctional through genetic or natural defects.

Jo-lac is the commander of the Raptor. Stuck for cash she has accepted a charter from the Military Authority to take prisoner Lewis to the port on the planet Heinlein.

However instead of a dumb mewling mass, Jo-lac finds that she's a got a drop-dead gorgeous guy. So what's going on here, smart Jo-lac thinks. As well as being drop-dead gorgeous, Lewis has the personality of an abused rabbit, a embarrassingly pathetic wimp. Astonishingly so. Worse than me at the dentist. He's been tortured and traumatized and this only makes him more appealing for Jo-lac. Jo-lac just loves his "eyes shining with fear", she can barely keep her hands off him.

But once she starts her voyage she finds herself caught up in a web of conspiracy and revolution.

I recently came across two books by Karen Ripley in my local bookshop. This is the first time I have encountered her work. I was dubious about buying "Prisoner Of Dreams" but in the end decided that the book had to be bought if only because of the author's name. Names are powerful and "Ripley" is right up there with Burroughs, Bond and Maximilian. I mean you can't ignore a woman named Ripley, it is a serious name which demands attention.

Mediocre, but sometimes amusing. I'll probably buy the sequel because the name Ripley still resonates with power. If I do read the sequel only a little of my attention will be on the book. The majority of my attention will be planning when I should next dedicate a night to watching all the Alien DVDs again.