Bond-Shattering

by William Maltese

When Roynoldo Lasi agreed to be bond-mated to Grenar Rajno, he imagined his future would be. . .if not indolent, at least idly wealthy. The head of Family Rajno, which controls the supply of essence... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974254940
• ISBN13: 9780974254944
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: nightwares Books
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Another fast-paced adventure!

The ever-prolific William Maltese returns to science fiction with this adventure about two men who will some become bond-mated. One of them, Roynoldo Lasi, will join a part of a wealthy family by bond-mating with the other man, Grenar Rajno. However, Family Rajno controls the essence Orchinid, which brings as much danger as money. The shape-shifter Zinder Avid brings much more danger. While the Orchinid reflects the spice in Frank Herbert's classic novel Dune, Bond-Mating is certainly gayer than Dune; it also turns increasingly erotic. Like the wealth, though, that eroticism often becomes perilous, mixing sexuality with fear. Maltese begins each chapter with scriptures from the followers of Meedek, a decidedly elitist and misogynistic God. The scriptures resemble the Bible, especially the Book of Genesis, but with twists that reflect Maltese's storyline. That isn't to say that Bond-Shattering is misogynistic, just the culture in which Roynoldo finds himself. And it often seems unlikely that he will survive in his environment. The jargon in this novel mostly relies on familiar terms that Maltese blurs together, seemingly capturing the dialects of the characters and/or the frequent usage of those terms. He avoids too much tech-speak while still creating a believable, futuristic world. He also provides a fast-paced adventure and will doubtlessly write many more.

A RETURN TO SCI-FI TOUR DE FORCE

Maltese isn't new to sci-fi. In fact, his first book published, back in the early seventies, was his sci-fi FIVE ROADS TO TLEN, first book of his TLEN series. In the eighties, he followed up with about ten sci-fi/fantasy books, under various pseudonyms, including the CRYSTAL OF POWER series which put a kink in a lot of men's tails by elevating a woman to deity status over her male counterparts. Many of his hugely popular contemporary novels provide so many genuinely prominent women characters (resulting in his wide female fan-base) that it's been suggested, more than once, that Maltese comes across more bisexual than gay. I mention his CRYSTAL OF POWER series, with its concentration on woman-power, and Maltese's woman-friendly contemporary fiction, because the author, in his BOND-SHATTERING, takes such a decidedly U-turn. In this book, he relegates women to a genuinely low rung on the male-dominated Warrior Universe's evolutionary ladder (they're literally a celestial experiment gone wrong). As a result, I can just see people, who haven't a clue, immediately dubbing him the misogynist he's obviously not. In fact, his fondness for females can't any better be illustrated than by just how needy the male-dominated universe of BOND-SHATTERING is for a bit of butch-tempering female touch. BOND-SHATTERING provides a fascinating world wherein testosterone reaches saturation levels, and Warrior Clan warriors run amuck in their determination to - if not rid the entire cosmos of - then at least segregate, in the name of their misogynist-God Meedek's doctrines - all "barbarians" (women and those who cohabit with them). The book's complicated plot-line is filled to the brim with just how far men will go, pumped up on testosterone AND on the much-in-demand aphrodisiac essence Orchinid (think "spice", albeit more kinky, from Frank Herbert's DUNE series), in their determination to fulfill not only the demanded tenets of their male-based religion, but in order to satisfy their other less high-minded and baser instincts, needs, wants, and desires. BOND-SHATTERING is a novel that proves Maltese has well-honed his craftsmanship during the long wait for his return to the sci-fi genre. You want murder, espionage, intrigue, war of the worlds, destruction of whole planets, machinations, betrayals, form-changers not whom they seem, exotic locales, exotic creatures ... you want hot-hot love along the lines of ancient Greek's city-state Sparta and/or forbidden love between a Warrior Clan warrior and a barbarian (who just might not be a barbarian)? Maltese serves all of that exotica-erotica up, and more, on a delectable platter that has this reader clamoring for more ... more ... please, more! BOND-SHATTERING is possibly a truly sci-fi classic in the making!