The Comfort of Stangers

by Peggy J. Herring

A bold tale of lesbian love set in a far-off galaxy. Follow the story of missing Amtec Princess Tavia, beautiful scientist Lela, and aloof Alaric, commander of the Amtec Army. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1931513090
• ISBN13: 9781931513098
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Bella Books
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Great romance, so-so sci-fi

Peggy Herring has consistently put out great works of fiction with characters that are likeable and unique. Fans of her work don't read for extensive plot, it's for the great character development. For me stories are character-driven and plot is secondary.In "The Comfort of Strangers" the character development is as intriguing as in the rest of her books. There is humor, passion, confusion, and all ranges of emotions. As a lesbian romance it is top notch.As science fiction... well, it leaves a lot to be desired. Anyone who enjoys watching science fiction movies will be a bit disappointed in this book. While some of the concepts are great (use of "Lidium" to power forcefields), what this book lacks is some punchy sci-fi vocabulary. Star Trek fans know what I mean... instead of unique phrases like "The Borg", "holodecks" and "photon torpedo banks" you have things in the book like "Star Fighters" (generic bad guys), "lasers" (generic space ship weapons) and "stun guns" (generic hand-held weapons). The unimaginative non-technical-sounding language detracts from the science of the fiction.However once you get past that, you'll see that Ms. Herring's gift lies in character creation. Despite the weakness in the sci-fi department, I thought the character names were rather unique, imaginative and appropriate for the book. The character interactions are realistic and enjoyable. All in all this book is a lousy piece of science fiction, but an absolutely wonderful romance!

A new direction for Herring

The Comfort of Strangers is a new direction for Peggy Herring. She's taken her style of writing love stories and gone into science fiction. The book centers around Lela, a scientist, who has been raised in a society of lesbians. Her settlement is united with several others in a trade/protective group that includes a settlement of lesbian warriors and the other societies are mixed. Someone is threatening the safety of these societies, but no one is sure who the threat is. The story develops at a quick pace, maybe a little too quick in some places, but it keeps you engaged as women establish relationships and try to save their people from disaster. There's a character named Alaric who turns out to be especially interesting. The book could use a little more development in some areas, but is an enjoyable read. The nice thing about Herring is that, if you read her books in order, you see that her style is constantly improving. She also knows how to write an enticing love scene without going too far over the edge.