1. Promised Land

by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice (362 pgs)

Rating: 4

Delanna is the daughter of a planetary pioneer who was sent off world to get an education. However, when her mother dies she is forced to come back and settle her parent's estate. It should be simple, but it's not. Soon Delanna finds that she's trapped on a world that her mother taught her to hate with her childhood friend Sonny and a secret.

Promised Land is sort of a cross between Heinlein and Home on the prairie. I started off thinking I wasn't going to like this book. Delanna starts off a real pain and the characters came off as two dimensional. However, by the time I was 50 pages in, things started to get much more interesting and by the time I was 100 pages in I was finally riveted. I think my resistance had more to do with the pioneer element. I've never been a fan of pioneer fiction or westerns and there were elements of both in this book.

I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of pioneer fiction, westerns, or Science Fiction. Be warned though, it can take a bit to get into.