Balance Point (eBook)
For other uses of the word Incubus, see Incubus (disambiguation).
| Balance Point | |
|---|---|
 Balance Point eBook Cover, written by Katherine Rhodes | |
| Author(s) | Katherine Rhodes |
| Series | The Complex |
| Publisher | Amazon Digital Services |
| Publication date | December 10, 2016 |
| Media type | eBook |
| Length | 93 Pages |
| ASIN | B01MXNF0F2 |
| Preceded by | Hungry Touch |
Balance Point is an eBook written by Katherine Rhodes. It is a work in the Complex series by this author. In this work the character Auralym is a Succubus and the character Eldeban is an Incubus.
Overview
- Title: Balance Point
- Author: Katherine Rhodes
- Published By: Amazon Digital Services
- Length: 93 Pages
- Format: eBook
- ASIN: B01MXNF0F2
- Publishing Date: December 10, 2016
Other Works in this Series on SuccuWiki
Plot Summary
The Complex. A massive building for a massive experiment. And a great place to hide in plain, untouchable sight.
John Smith--- lucky him, his real name and what a great name for a vampire--joined the experiment when his luck ran out. The donor he had been seeing was more than willing but less than legal, and her father the Senator wants him staked. He takes the alternative: a ticket to experiment on Lorn.
But the experiment was a microcosm of the worlds of Seldova and once again, he finds himself at the end of stake wielded by an angry mate. This time though, it's not his life being threatened--the sweet, down-on-her-luck succubus Auralym has made the bad choice this time.
And the choice was worse than he and Climantra security volunteer Marin thought. Short on time, they must find her if they hope to find their balance point…
Book Review
The following review was originally published by Tera on her Blog, A Succubi's Tale on May 2, 2017
Life on The Complex is a series of choices and the choices made can lead you towards the unexpected. A vampire needs to feed, but there’s none to be found. A telepath needs to release the ache within, but there’s no one to share. A succubus craves, but she never wants to be the slave to another. Sometimes needs and choices intersect and in that moment, sometimes anything is possible.
The work is a complex tale set in a future where supernatural beings exist throughout the galaxy along with humans, neither having the best of relationships or history. The Complex is a chance for things to change, for those willing to at least try.
Each of the characters in the story have complicated backgrounds, needs that aren’t the most simply of things to deal with as well. There’s a good deal of time spent in explaining themselves, their internal monologues tell a lot about them, what they think of others, and, at times, the terrible levels of despair that seems to flow about them all.
That said, as the story progresses, there’s little bits of light that get mixed up within each of their struggles and it takes a good bit of time before the connections are made. When that happens, whether by each, in couples, or the three main characters finally connecting, the work turns from the darkness that was within each to the connections made, and I liked that very much.
The main plot is how the three main characters, Auralym, John and Marin come into contact with each other, how their relationships grow and, in time, the conflict they all must overcome. There’s an appearance of an incubus in this work as well, but he’s a bit two dimensional and comparing him with the prior incubus in the work I reviewed is a bit impossible as one was the main character and this one is but a fleeting minor one. That said, there’s something to be said about that minor character appearing and the little bit of succubi and incubi society interactions that comes from that appearance before the story takes a turn.
The erotica is a series of very short hot flashes which run from M/F, M/M and M/M/F in tone, all of which have their appeals and I think the way the heat was used worked really well. It’s not that the erotica is the main core of the work, it’s something more like flavour to the overall story and that worked well I thought.
There’s an underlying mystery told, the path of which connects things together well, and at one point it turns towards something more action-adventure in tone. That part of the story I think went a little over the top at a few points however. Not that the scene didn’t make sense, it was more that it moved very quickly, sometimes skimming over points and at times didn’t feel grounded to the rest of the work.
There are a lot of things left unexplored and unanswered. Much of that is the past of the succubi and incubi, which was a bit skimmed over at times. While it wasn’t core to the work, I’d have liked more of Auralym’s memories of her past to have been shared. The future of Auralym, John and Marin is a delightful thing to ponder at the conclusion of the work, but how the story jumped from there here and now to a point some distance in the future I didn’t like for the storytelling lost along the way. It is a satisfying story for the most part, save for a little nitpick here and there, mostly in the missing history of succubi and not quite enough time told in why Auralym made the choices she did to be where she was.
Well written, I loved the characters, the storytelling, the work as a whole. Nothing took me out of the story, the plot and dialogue making sense and sounding right. Most of all, the main characters are true to themselves, not being written one way and then turning on themselves. Some of the action was too quick, a little over the top and confusing, but it wasn’t a real issue as to how much I enjoyed the storytelling. I just wish there’d been more story to tell.
Four out of five pitchforks.
I still find myself wanting to know more about the homeworlds of both succubi and incubi in this series. There’s a lot of hints and ideas, but it’s not nearly enough for me. Auralym’s past, as she reflects upon it, does give some aspects, but, again, that’s fleeting.
That said, I liked the work overall, the characters are well written and the story is very engrossing. I’d have liked more time spent to expand the conclusion of the story, to reveal just what happens from the crisis the characters faced to the choice finally revealed.
Perhaps, at some point, the various authors in this series will spend some time telling the story of “before” the Complex came to be than they do. I think there’s a lot of story to be told and limiting the scope of that story is a bit of a shame.