Esen is back! And the dear little blob is in trouble again.

She and her human friend Paul Ragem are getting ready to celebrate the one year anniversary of their greatest achievement, the Library of Languages ​​and Cultures of All Species, by welcoming his family back. He hopes. Mourning his presumed death years ago is, understandably, warped emotions.

Instead, they have unexpected guests, starting with an old acquaintance. Paul’s father went missing under dire circumstances.

Before he can convince Ye Xian to help him with his search, a friend shows up to use the library. The crisis in Dokeci Na is about to explode into violence. To stop it, Evan Gooseberry needs answers.

Unfortunately, the artifact he carries around to trade holds its own distracting secret. A little blue is very familiar. Web of flesh.

The race is on. Paul, to find his father. Esen, in search of a mysterious legacy while helping Evan prevent extinction. What none of them realize is that the cost of success will be the worst choice of all.

I like Czerneda’s writing, but it’s hard to go back to a series when it’s been so long since the last one. Trying to make it through all the alien races and changing stages of the Ye Xian is a trivial matter. Very good separation detective/investigation story, engaging characters…once you get a better understanding of who’s who. Bear the truth that some things in life are just complicated. It’s a good change to focus on interaction and serving multiple alien races… and adaptive families rather than military battles or universe-saving “Firefly” type merchants. Worth reading!

Esen and Paul are back!

Paul’s family now knows that, after being informed of his death 50 years ago, Paul is in fact alive and well and runs the All New Species Language and Culture Library with Esen . The purpose of the Library is to try to eliminate misunderstandings between different alien species, especially the species that inadvertently lead to genocide!

I really enjoy the adventures of Da Tien, the Web (aka blue tears). Yes, she is young but that means she is still eager to take on life’s challenges with a hopeful attitude. Paul’s main job is still trying to protect Esen from herself when she goes too far. As she usually does.

I also particularly enjoyed the re-enactment of a character from the previous adventure Evan Gooseberry. He is a main character in The Only Thing to Fear, the novel that bridges the original Web Shifters trilogy with the new Web Shifter’s Library series. Evan is brave as he tries to overcome his many crippling obsessions!

Highly recommended to all fans of interspecies tolerance and space opera in general!

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• By: Julie E. Czerneda