THE DARE

Author: Susan Kearney ISBN: 0765351927 7/2005 FUTURISTIC Publisher: TOR

DORA WANTS TO MAKE LOVE Specifically, Dora wants to make love with the handsome Rystani warrior-pilot Zical. But since Dora is a computer-albeit a sentient computer-she cannot experience touch, taste and true desire. Dora's logic functions refuse to accept this, so she uses the advanced technology of the 24th century to build herself a body specifically crafted to appeal to Zical, and downloads her computer brain into it. But Dora's sassy attitude makes her too different from the women of Zical's culture. He's attracted to Dora, but he won't make love to her. And while it would be easy for Dora to adapt to his desires, she likes being smart and funny; she's becoming good at being human. When Zical accidentally summons the ancient machines that protect the galaxy from invasion, Dora's mission is to intercept them and bring them back to the galaxy's rim. Fortunately for Dora, this puts her and Zical into very close quarters for a very long time. But much has changed, and as Dora learns more about human emotions and what they mean, she realizes that she doesn't just want to make love with Zical--she wants to love him. And be loved in return.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

In Kearney's companion to THE CHALLENGE, Dora the computer completes her quest to become human by growing a body and transferring her "brain" into the human one. Zical, a Rystani man who has captured the attention of Dora, leads a group of warriors and scientists on a cross-galaxy quest to stop the guardians from leaving their posts. Without these machines built by an ancient race, the galaxy would be vulnerable to attack from some aggressive aliens. Knowing that this journey will mean she most likely will never return home, Dora agrees to be one of the group. During this journey, Dora is slowly adjusting to her new body and learning to be more human, but she still has the talent of connecting mentally with the ship's computer. She and Zical fight their attraction to one another until they succumb when they believe they are about to be killed. Through the help of a group of diverse characters in the crew and one young stowaway, Zical and Dora fight their way through many obstacles in order to save their galaxy.

After finding THE CHALLENGE an exciting, steamy adventure, I looked forward to reading THE DARE. If you haven't read THE CHALLENGE yet, you may want to read it first. I'm not sure that the reader could fully appreciate the character of Dora without knowing her background. (Her life as a computer and her close friendship with Tessa.) Similar to the previous book, THE DARE contains lots of thrilling adventure and suspenseful moments, and those wanting to read a SF book that just happens to also be a romance will appreciate THE DARE. When the crew is captured by an alien planet and put on trial for treason, I found myself eagerly turning the page to find out how they would escape from that mess.

Dora happens to be one of my favorite characters from the first book and knowing that she was the main character in this one was one of the reasons to pick up THE DARE. Unfortunately, I became aggravated with her for what seemed to me as her over-the-top obsession with Zical. Okay, so you are attracted to and want to experience making love with him. That's fine, but to purposefully build a body to fit his fantasy woman? I found that a bit much. I so wanted Zical to love Dora's mind, rather than her body. That's what made her so original and unforgettable a character. Granted, he does eventually appreciate Dora as the whole person, inside and out, but I already had turned up my nose to him by then.

Personally, I didn't enjoy THE DARE as much as I enjoyed THE CHALLENGE and probably wouldn't recommend it except to those diehard fans of romantic SF. Sadly, I think many readers will come away disappointed.

Kendra Patterson