Some of my forum mates decided to read the Tristaine Series by Cate Culpepper. Now, I’ve heard about the Amazons of Tristaine many times before but have never really wanted to read the books. I had read Fireside but it didn’t move me, so I kept on ignoring Jesstin and Brenna and the rest. But this time, I couldn’t ignore them and move on. So I grabbed a copy of The Clinic and was immediately swept up in the story and the characters.

Our two protagonists, Jess and Brenna, meet on opposite sides of the, um, leather restraining chair and begin to develop a relationship built on mutual respect and then trust. Jesstin and two of her adanin, Sisters, have been taken prisoner by The City which is reminiscent of what America would be if the most extreme of the Neo-Cons take power. Maybe the most extreme Neo-Cons with a little bit of a steroidal kick. Anyway, Brenna is the medical adviser assigned to the project. The project in question is to figure out how to break the Amazons without having to slaughter them all and destroy their lush forest which would be awesome to have the timber rights to.

Like I said, I was involved in the story and characters right from the start. This book is short and ends pretty abruptly but as I got closer to the end, it became very apparent that nothing was really going to be resolved in the first volume of the series. I wasn’t shocked or upset since I knew from the outset that this is a series.

This is very obviously a Xena Uber, complete with the sky blue eyed warrior and spiky blonde haired, compassionate healer. If you’ve got issues with buying Xena Ubers, back away now. But, if you’re like me and want a good story and love some Ubers, go get it and dig on in. Be sure to pick up the second in the series because you’ll not want to stop with the first.

The Clinic (Tristaine Series) by Cate Culpepper