The Intergalactic Scientific Exploration spaceship Oracle was studying a comet that would soon destroy all life on planet 9746-D in Magyara’s solar system. Pilot Ami Starnes was piloting an exploratory probe ship to get one of the scientists closer to the comet for his observations, when the probe was swept off course and crash landed on the planet. Ami was the only survivor of the crash, but she was seriously injured. Luckily, Taren, a Keeper of the planet, found her and brought her back to his fortress. Taren’s job as a Keeper was to preserve knowledge through the coming devastation and then teach the survivors how to use that knowledge when it was over. Together, Ami and Taren made a pretty good team to preserve the civilization of the planet. But then Ami is found by the Oracle, and she and Taren discover they must trust each other even more to survive in her technological world.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. Though it is a romance, in that romance motivates much of the action in the story, it is also a good science fiction novel. From the first page to the last, the “castaway” plot keeps the reader enthralled, while a surprise subplot provides a little tension. Author Merlin is good at developing characters -- Ami and Taren are interesting, complex people, and even the secondary characters are fully fleshed out and amusing. The love scenes are not all that graphic, but they are filled with emotion, which I always find fulfilling. This is a perfect novel for lovers of science fiction romance.

Reviewed by: Jean