Psy/Changeling Read-Along: Blaze of Memory (+Contest)

NSingh-Blaze of Memory

Psy-Changeling Readalong.2013And here’s Blaze of Memory!  The first non-changeling pairing. And our first look into the Forgotten and their history (and a bit of the Psy’s history too). Exciting!

We hope you’ve been enjoying the Read-Along so far and that you’ll join us for the last few discussions.

-Casey and Courtney

NSingh-Blaze of MemoryA woman without a past becomes the pawn of the man who controls her future…

Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might prove to be the enemy’s most insidious weapon yet.

Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…

Here are the past discussions!

Slave to Sensation – the discussion Blaze of Memory – the discussion
Visions of Heat – the discussion Bonds of Justice – the discussion
Caressed by Ice – the discussion Play of Passion – the discussion
Wild Invitation – the discussion Kiss of Snow – the discussion
Mine to Possess – the discussion Tangle of Need – the discussion
Hostage to Pleasure – the discussion Heart of Obsidian – the discussion
Branded by Fire – the discussion

World/Society:

The Psy Council are finally waking up to the realization that the Forgotten might not be so harmless after all. And the Council’s plan for voluntary rehabilitation is working…the Psy are so scared of their abilities that they are willing to have their conditioning checked. The Council however is still split between and the battle lines are being drawn.

DarkRiver and SnowDancer are closer than ever (thanks to Mercy and Riley!) but they are starting to look at other packs and organizations that might want to ally with them. Including the Forgotten. And while they don’t trust the Human Alliance they are willing to work with them if necessary. They are building up their alliances in preparation for war.

The Forgotten are now facing the decision that forced their ancestors to flee from the PsyNet…to continue as they are, with powers that threaten their sanity, or to find another way. A way that might include a protocol much like the Silence.

Main Characters:

Devraj Santos – Director of the Shine Foundation and leader of the Forgotten. Dev will stop at nothing to save his people…even from themselves. Dev has never faltered in his mission before even though it has started to him a more and more emotionless the longer he is in charge.

“To fight back, to keep his people safe, Dev had had to make some brutal choices of his own.”

When he finds Katya, left for dead at his front door, he is determined to find out what threat she represents to his people and then get rid of that threat. But something about Katya makes him pause. The more he gets to know her the more he realizes that he will do anything for her. Even stand up to the Psy.

“Dev lay down on the bed alongside the woman who held his soul, his heart, his everything.”

Ekaterina ‘Katya’ Haas – Ekaterina was Ashaya Aleine’s assistant (Mine to Possess and Hostage to Pleasure) but was thought to be dead. Instead she was taken by Ming LeBon and tortured. Her mind was ripped to pieces.

“He did something inside me. He changed me. I don’t want to live if that’s who I am. His…creation.” – Katya to Dev

All she really knows is that Dev should frighten her but instead he intrigues her. And even though she has finally found happiness with Dev she is willing to give everything to save him. Even him.

“Will you hold my hand?” – Katya
“Always.” – Dev

Changeling Characters:

Dark River Sentinels SnowDancer Lieutenants
Nate – Senior Riley – Senior
Dorian Indigo
Vaughn Judd Lauren – Psy
Mercy  Jem
Clay

Psy Characters:

Ming LeBon – Lost the loyalty of the Arrow Squad.

Keenan Aleine – Ashaya’s son. When he uses his Psy power with Noor they can heal. While Keenan’s powers work alone, Noor needs Keenan for her powers to work.

Aden – An Arrow; possibly the leader of the Arrow Squad now that they are no longer loyal to Ming.

Psy Designations Psy Council
Tp-Psy – Telepathy Santano Enrique Anthony Kyriakus
Tk-Psy – Telekinesis Ming LeBon
M-Psy – Medical Henry Scott
F-Psy – Foresight Shoshanna Scott
E-Psy – Empathy Nikita Duncan
Ps-Psy – Psychometric Santano Enrique Kaleb Krychek
Tk-Cell – Influence physical bodies on a cellular level Tatiana Rika-Smythe
J-Psy – Justice Psy

Forgotten:

Tag – Works for the Shine Foundation and is an extremely strong telepath. One of the strongest in the ShadowNet. He is attracted to Tiara.

Tiara – Works for the Shine Foundation and is also one of the strongest telepaths in the ShadowNet. She is attracted to Tag.

Jack – Dev’s cousin and Father to Will. Jack is willing to do anything to save his son including trying to impose a form of Silence over the Forgotten whose powers are dangerous. He is standing on the opposite side of the issue against Dev.

Will – Jack’s son and Dev’s nephew. He has powers much like those of  Tk-Cell (Judd Lauren) and cannot control those powers. Will has withdrawn into himself so he cannot hurt anyone. Eventually he begins to work with Judd so he can control his powers.

Cruz –  An orphan boy who didn’t know he was part of the Forgotten. He’d been kept sedated because he was believed to be psychotic. He is actually a true telepath, rare for the Psy but almost unheard of for the Forgotten. Plus he is at Cardinal level in his abilities…but he doesn’t have the Cardinal eyes.

Noor – Adopted daughter of Talin and Clay, adoptive sister to Jon. Noor has no real capabilities on her own but when she works with Keenan she can heal minds.

Subplots:

Ming has lost control of the Arrow Squad.

More and more Psy are beginning to break Silence in a very violent way. But the PsyCouncil, instead of admitting Silence is beginning to fracture, is blaming it on those Psy who use drugs (Jax).

Anything you saw that I missed?

Hints for the Ghost:

We can assume from his conversation with Judd in chapter 44 that the Ghost is not an Arrow. However he is well connected enough to know that the Arrow Squad is no longer loyal to Ming.

Glossary of Terms

Vocabulary from the previous novels can be found on their discussion pages:

Discussion

Our first pairing with no changelings. What did you think about it?
And what about Katya and Dev? Love them/hate them/didn’t care either way?
What about the Forgotten? Do you like them?
We also got a bit more background into those that decided to follow Silence instead of leaving with the Forgotten…what do you think of their reasoning? Could you give up your emotions to save your sanity?

Giveaway

Thanks to Nalini Singh and the wonderful people at Penguin, I have a couple of every single novel in the Psy-Changeling series, and while some of them have been claimed, all of them haven’t. So this is what we’re going to do – we’ll be giving away all the books in one shot at the end of the Read-Along. That means you have 13 different chances to enter for any one of the Psy-Changeling novels. Join in on any of the discussions and you’ll automatically be entered to win.

To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: what do you think about our first Human/Psy pairing? Don’t be afraid to answer any of the discussion questions above either!

The contest will stay open until July 1st, at which time we’ll determine the winners with help from this snazzy plug-in that Jackie has.

About Courtney 33 Articles
I teach Special Education and have three demented dogs. Between my students all day and my dogs all night my stress relief is reading. It is the only thing that keeps me from going crazy. Or should I say from going crazier? I read anything but I prefer fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk. I also love urban fantasy and historical romances. If it has dragons and magic, vampires and werewolves, crazy machines and corsets or aliens and spaceships then I’m happy. Mix in a Scotland laird or two every once in a while and I’m ecstatic!

5 Comments

  1. I enjoyed the human/psy (?) pairing of Dev and Katya, but I’m not sure I would call it human/psy. To me Dev it is more council psy/forgotten psy, still an interesting pairing. I enjoyed the deeper insight into the forgotten and into the history of silence. It gives more depth to the world view, I think. While Dev and Katya aren’t one of my favorite couples, it was an interesting and enjoyable story. The possibility that new talents are evolving has the potential for interesting developments in the future.

    I think the logic behind silence is faulty, that by eliminating emotion you remove the possibility of misusing psy powers due to a sudden emotional moment. But, perhaps the ability to put limits and controls on the powers is easier to define now for someone like Judd because of the ability to analyze the limits imposed by silence. Implied in the details of Dev’s fathers case is the fact that, to some degree, the problems silence was meant to cure are still a problem for the Forgotten.

  2. What do you think about our first Human/Psy pairing?

    When I first read it, I sort of sped through so I could get back the leopards. It’s like I was feeling “homesick” for DarkRiver. But since reading the series more than once, I’ve come to like both Blaze of Memory and Bonds of Justice. The Forgotten are really interesting! This book opened up the psy-changeling world even more!

  3. I was a little unsure about this book at first. I had liked Dev’s character when he firste arrived on the page but wasn’t sure he could carry a whole book. Also I thought the book cover was silly.

    But I should have known better then to second guess Nalini. I love this book because it expands the understanding of the Psy world. The Forgotten are so interesting! Learning about the abilitys that they have developed outside the Net is amazing.

    Dev and Katya’s story is so intense. At the end when she was dying I was utterly broken hearted. But I did love leanring about the abilitys the kids posess.

    I think Dev and Katya compliment each other well. He has so much on his shoulders and needs someone to help make the burden lighter. I think it will be interesting to see what kinds of abilitys a child of theirs would manifest.

    So after reading the book I ended up loving it and think its a great addition to Nalini’s world. I still hate the cover though :)

  4. I’ve read all the books, several times in fact. Though Judd is my favorite character Katya’s phoenix transaction is the most heart-rending.
    The Forgotten are an intregal part of the coming rebellion and to have them faced with some of the same issues that drove the Psy to Silence and have them still choose freedom of the mind was inspiring.
    As to the question of whether I could give up my emotions, the answer is, decidedly, no. I’d keep looking for an alternative, just like the Forgotten.
    Onward.

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