Blaze of memory.

Hi, my name is Marnie and I'm new to the forum. I heard such good things about Nalini on the kresley Cole website and started to read her books a few months ago. I have since read five and have enjoyed them immensley. But just one question, why are the psy women so wimpy, it seems to me they let the men walk all over them without fighting back or if they do they give in so easily. At least the changeling women kick some ass occassionaly. What do others think?
Look forward to hearing your views on this and lots of other subjects.
Marnie.

They are by no means wimpy....they are intellectual, while the men are physical...and the changelings are protected against the psy mental attacks. Not to mention that they haven't experienced feelings since they were 1 yr olds! Imagine if you were exposed to something that is completely foreign to you and the only people to help were of another race entirely and you are left at the mercy of said race, and they can break you in two just by giving a bear hug...you might be a bit intimidated too!! The Psy women are strong in a very different way to the changelings, and to demonstrate that change...if the changelings weren't as protected mentally those girls could make their brains literally leak out of their eyes! But since they do have feelings and they are afraid to hurt someone they love they hold a lot back.

All good points but then what are their talents, they don't seem to be able to do anything to protect themselves. I'm just reading Blaze of memory and Katya is being attacked from all sides, by Dev, the other psy, the changelings, and can't seem to do anything to protect herself. But in my original point I actually meant they come across as too vulnerable to the "hero" all he has to do is touch her and her legs give way as does her reason. Even when she's furious at him he smiles or caresses her arm and she melts and forgets all the horrid things he's just said and done. Seems to me the men always seem to win too easily. I just wish the ladies would put up more of a fight. Too easy women are never sexy or worthy heroine's in my view.

for the most part we're seeing these women at the beginning of relationships, which means they are going to be much more malleable and vulnerable, as we all tend to be when a relationship is new. in addition, as has been pointed out, emotions are new to these women and they're still 'feeling' their way around what it is to be angry or happy, etc., and how other people would react to how they are expressing themselves.

i would like to point out that although Sascha is a bit more than a year into her relationship with Lucas she is doing what she needs to do, even when he isn't happy about it.

the psy women are in no way wimps, and i bet, in a few years they'll be able to scratch right back when the males get feisty.

D

Degdelta, Yes I see what you mean. But your arguements bring up another point. If the women are so malleable and vulnerable as you say it doesn't make the men come across in a very good light when they take advantage of that.
Just because it winds up all right in the end, with the woman being in love with her hero, that doesn't negate the fact that he took advantage of her uncretainty and confusion at the beginning. Most times he just wants a good lay with a beautiful, innocent woman and his feelings only become clear to him later after he's used her.

the changelings, when they find their mates are not after a quickie, and Nalini makes it clear that these guys are one-woman men from that point on. she also sets it up so that the guys recognize the the women are their mates before the women do.

i also don't see the guys as taking advantage. if anything they are extremely frustrated until they have succeeded in winning their partner-for- life, and then they try to do everything in their power to make their other 'half' as happy as possible. if that's being taking advantage of, i should be so lucky.

Nalini has set it up that, in changeling society, sex is a matter of consensual agreement on both sides, and when they find their mates then there is the courtship called the mating dance, which both partners have to agree to before the joining becomes permanent.

if you look at the stories again, you will see that most of the time the guys were waiting for the female to realize that this is a permanent situation, not a quick roll-and-out-the-door deal, and this was before the sex happened, not after.

my observation about the women being malleable and vulnerable was not to say they don't have the chutzpah if they need to stand up for themselves, but rather that they are, for the first time, releasing their emotions into the care of someone they trust, and, so far, Nalini's heroes are being worthy of that trust.

that's my opinion, anyway.

D

Degdelta, you put forward a very good arguement but I was not just referring to the psy women but all the women who are not changelings, they at least put up a fight and give the man as good as she gets sometimes better. But I'm just reading Mine to possess Clay and Tally's story and Clay is laying down the law and she just goes along with it.
Example of dialogue, "You, in there." "Bed." Eat." "Sit." "Talk." Like he's speaking to a dog, except the "Talk" part of course. And she just meekly obeys like a good little puppy. I know she lied to him twenty years before and he's feeling a little pissed but come on, this woman has suffered horribly and even when she tells him something really terrible all he can do is get angry (for the millionth time) and think of how he's feeling. I just wish most of the women in Nalini's stories would get a little back bone. I like a dominant, arrogant man myself but I draw the line at aggresive, condecsending and manipulative.

one of the things i like best about Nalini's males is that, no matter how autocratic they may start off as, they do, slowly but surely, soften and realize the errors of their ways.

if they were perfect to begin with they wouldn't be any fun to read about.

i must admit that Talin was not my favorite female, but having worked with people who are victims of childhood abuse i can say that her behavior was realistic, particularly since she was still in the self-hatred frame of mind when she and Clay came back together. she was also being passive because she expected to die and had, for the most part, given up.

as i recall, her passivity actually made Clay angrier, and he would try to goad her into being more feisty. his tactics were not pretty and i too wasn't thrilled with how he treated her, but again, he evolved as time went on, as did she.

that, to me, makes all of Nalini's relationship pairings interesting to read.

D

degdelta, I quite liked Talin as a character, she stood up for herself with Sacha and particularly Faith who should really have been more understanding as she had the same experiences with the pack at first. But I liked the way Clay stood up for Tally. I had no problem with Tally's behaviour except she should have been more assertive and stood up to Clay a bit more.
But sometimes the relationships between the two main characters detracts from the excellent story lines, for instance they're always touching or rubbing or caressing while discussing things with someone else, even while talking about something as horrible as the torture and murder of children, to touch someone's hand or hair as reassurance or to give strength is one thing but it's too much touching of an intimate kind and is really off putting while trying to follow the dialogue. I enjoy the interaction when all or most of the characters get together but the sexual overtones from the main pair is too much and too often and annoys me.

This book make me cry like crazy man.The last goodbye between Katya and Dev so subtle sad that crushing emotion couldn't resist.

I try to shed my tear and continue reading and it's all come again. I hope not only one to joy in like that though I really love Blaze of Memory .

Truelove69 wrote: This book make me cry like crazy man.The last goodbye between Katya and Dev so subtle sad that crushing emotion couldn't resist.

I try to shed my tear and continue reading and it's all come again. I hope not only one to joy in like that though I really love Blaze of Memory .

I'm with you, Truelove69, I cried for 20+ pages, from when Dev and Katya visited his father in the asylum until we saw Ming lying in bed with Vasic and Aden talking nearby. While they weren't my favorite couple, this book certainly made me cry more than the others, which I love to do when I read.