Lisanne Norman Books In Order

Publication Order of Sholan Alliance Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Lisanne Norman

Lisanne Norman is a Scottish author of fantasy and science fiction books best known for her Sholan Alliance, a science fiction series comprised of nine novels. The first book in the series, Turning Point, was published in 1993 and concluded in 2017 with Circle’s End. Turning Point was initially created as an independent short story about a cat walking through the snow. Lisanne has written several short stories set within Sholan Alliance series setting.

Turning Point

Turning Point is the first book in the Sholan Alliance series by Lisanne Norman. Cut from the rest of the world by alien invaders, the human colony of Keiss was slowly establishing an underground resistance movement to fight against the Valtegan invaders. But for the many colonists, it was too late.
After her sister was taken captive by Valtegan soldiers, Carrie empathically and telepathically connected with Elise, and through this she experiences all the pain and terror her beloved sister was going through. Only her sister’s death freed Carrie from the horrors, though it left her deeply wounded and completely alone for the first time in her life. But this empty mental space was immediately filled with Kusac, a crewman of a crashed ship. Drawn to the man by their shared Talent, Carrie hides the injured man from the Valtegan soldier in so doing found a best friend and invaluable ally. Even though the trust between Carrie and Kusac was unshakable, it would prove almost an impossible task to convince other races that their hope of ever defeating the Voltegans was uniting together against the common enemy. And even such an alliance didn’t offer them any guarantee of victory, for no one around the galaxy had found a way to defeat this formidable enemy ready to destroy any civilization they couldn’t conquer.

Lisanne Norman has done a fantastic job of creating a fast-paced series debut novel. Kusac, the alien Carrie saves is a Sholan, a cat person capable of walking on two or four legs. Kusac is a telepath, and after Carrie’s sister dies, he forms a telepathy link (Leska link) with Carrie. Leska link is a strong psychic bond where the two parties are firmly attached, share thoughts, feelings and so much more. And the two want to be physically intimate on more than one occasion. It’s through the Leska bonding that the author gets an opportunity to let the readers explore the two characters as they navigate through the morals and ethics of interspecies relationship. There is more focus on this dynamic, which beautifully balances the romance and science fiction aspect of the story.
The story follows both Carrie and Kusac’s points of view from a third-person perspective. Turning Point is an arousing sci-fi with bit of space opera. The heroine is vulnerable yet talented and strong. The first half of the book introduces us to Kusac and Carrie, the main characters in different ways that
explain their behaviors and motivations. The story includes three species, Valtegans, Sholan, and humans. The Sholans are adorable and cute just like our pets here on earth and probably the reason why Carrie and Kusac’s relationship becomes deeper from page to page. It reaches a point where the interstellar progress of war against the common enemy is dependent on the progress of their relationship. The other big element in this novel, in addition to the interspecies, is telepathy. The main characters are telepaths, while most of the other Sholans and humans are not telepathic. Telepathy plays an important role in the conduct of ruthlessness against the enslaving soldiers and is also responsible for the initial communication between the main characters and also the ongoing reason why they need each other.

As expected, the fellow humans aren’t supportive of Carrie, and that why she almost singlehandedly (with the help of a few human fighters and Sholans) frees an entire planet from enslaving aliens. She is forced to forge alliance with the Sholan even after the battle is over. But isn’t that the way it has always been? Your family never appreciates your hard work and sacrifices and wants to unleash their baggage on you?
Fortune’s Wheel

Human Carrie finds herself physically and emotionally bonded to her feline friend Kusac. But all is not well as personal jealousies, interstellar intrigue, and religious divisions endanger the lives of almost everyone on the planet.

As simple and easy to read, the first book in the series was Fortune’s Wheel follows the same path, and it’s rich and full of detail, and it’s a clear indication that the authors have improved her artistic writing. Fortune’s Wheel is an epic science fiction adventure with angst, ton of adventure and astonishing amount of furry smexing. So get ready for a whole lot of loving going on between the various species in the story. The story is broken down into halves: the first section takes place on the Sholan ship in orbit, and the last takes place in the place of Shola. The second section is fast-paced, fun, dangerous and full of twists and turns. Things take a twisted turn for our heroine as she gets attacked, injured, she gets sick, and at times she has to be rescued from her nightmares. Most of the rescuing is done by her feline friend Kusac. He loves protecting Carrie because a female of his species is capable of protecting herself, unlike Carrie who depends on him on almost everything.

The cast in this book explodes with a ton of new supporting characters that you will love meeting. Most of them are Sholan, who share similar names. The main characters continue to struggle in their newfound relationship, and they soon find themselves entangled in the midst of a political nightmare. Carrie faces condemnation from her fellow humans, and on the other hand Kusac is pushing back against his own family and the life they want to force him to have. Combining the interplanetary settings and aliens of Star Trek and the human/alien romance theme, Lisanne Norman’s second book in Sholan alliance is well-written science fiction book.