Sholan Alliance Books In Order

Publication Order of Sholan Alliance Books

Sholan Alliance Series by Lisanne Norman is a set of bestselling science fiction and fantasy novels written by one of the most talented science fiction authors of our times. Lisanne had always wanted to become an author and was writing by the time she was eight since she could not find enough of the books she loved reading. When she was sixteen, she was forced to abandon the writing of her science fiction novel about alien Martians visiting Earth when America put a man on the moon, which made space travel less of science fiction. By the time she was 21, she had written her first trilogy though she left to go to college at the Glasgow Art School of Art, where she intended to study jewelry design. She would quit less than two years later deciding to pursue teaching. She would go on to teach for six years in Glasgow before she moved to Norwich after breaking up with her husband.

The Sholan Alliance series came about by accident when she was inspired to write a short story about a black kitten after watching Tal her cat. The short story would soon morph into a full science fiction book as two of her best friends pressured her to finish the book. She finished the book titled “Turning Point” in 1993, which marked her breakthrough as a professional author. While it started out as a story of the relationship between an anthropomorphic cat and a young woman, it soon became an intricate science fiction series that is the Sholan Alliance series. Besides the series, she has also contributed short stories to anthologies such as “Merlin,” “Historical Hauntings” and “Jewel and the Demon.” Aside from her writing, she asserts that learning is a never-ending experience. She loves to research and read about the history of the ancient Egyptians. Minoans, paleontology, and Old Testament times. She also studies the evolution of religion, how memory works. The working of the human mind and genetics. She currently lives in with her son and two cats in Southern California.

The Sholan Alliance by Lisanne Norman are science fiction novels that can be categorized as science fiction though they also include romance and fantasy. The lead characters in the series are Carrie and Kusac that are both telepaths living on the planet Keiss. The planet has been enslaved by the Valtegans, a brutal reptilian species that has ruled it for several centuries. The Sholans are a felinoid species that are arch enemies of the Valtegans and frequently conduct reconnaissance of the planet Keiss. On one of these missions their spacecraft is shot down and Kusac one of the crew members bails out but lands awkwardly and is wounded. Separated from his colleagues, he stumbles to a human village where he had bonded with Carrie a human female. Carrie has suffered a lot of pain and is still traumatized by the death of her sister who had been killed by the Valtegans. As telepaths, they have reached out to each other and formed a Leska bond, which had brought him to her. She initially thinks he is a non-sentient jungle cat though she is powerfully drawn to him and wants to care for and protect him. The major setting of the novels soon moves to Shola, which is Kusac’s home planet. The series delves into the history and culture of the Sholans and also introduces Kaid a member of the Brotherhood of Vartra who becomes a major character from the second novel onwards. Each novel introduces more characters thus giving it more of an ensemble feel as compared to the focus on Kusac and Carrie in the first two novels.

“Turning Point” the first novel of the Sholan Alliance series of novels introduces a human colony on Keiss that that had been cut off from earth after an invasion by the Valtegans. But the colony has been building a resistance movement to take on the aliens though many of the colonists had already been killed. One of the victims had been Carrie’s sister Elise that had been taken by the Valtegans and been killed. Carrie had an empathetic and telepathic link to her twin sister Elise and had thus experienced all the terror and pain she had felt as she was tortured and killed. But even as her death had left her free of the emotional torment, Carrie had been left all alone for the first time ever. The mental void had suddenly been filled by a felinoid crewman of a crashed spaceship. Kusac the felinoid is a telepath just like Carrie and using his powers had connected to Carrie and found his way to her. Carrie had felt the connection too and hid him from the ruling Valtegans and with her actions found an priceless ally and friend. But even as they have an unshakeable understanding between them, convincing their respective races to work together will not be so easy. Moreover, taking on the Valtegans will only work if they band together against their common enemy. And even if they managed to do it, there was no guarantee of success as no one had ever defeated the Valtegans who had lain waste to every people they set their heart to conquer.

“Fortune’s Wheel” the second novel of the series is set following the events of the first novel. Kusac and Carrie had come together to face the Valtegans, the common enemy of their people. They had managed to eliminate the immediate threat of the Valtegans and now have the time to explore their fledgling relationship and their special connection. But they are soon dragged into local politics as Kusac is the heir and son to a powerful Shola Clan Lord while Carrie is the daughter of the ruler of the Terran colony on Keiss. Both the guild of the Brotherhood and the Telepaths are interested in controlling and studying them, even though all Kusac and Carrie want to do is explore their mind power and love. But as they are refining and experimenting with their intermingled and enhanced powers, they find themselves in the middle of an interstellar conflict. What they never knew was that while the Sholan and Terran representatives were working to come up with a mutual defense pact, both sides were seeking to use the two telepaths to further their own ends. Both sides are ready to destroy Carrie and Kusac if they cannot use them. If that happens all hope of a Sholan-Terran alliance would be lost.

In “Fire Margins” the third novel of the Sholan Alliance series Carrie and Kusac have managed to build love and a bond stronger than the feud between the Sholan and human races. But then they found themselves at the center of a struggle between two guilds of their peoples among several other clans and guilds on Shola too. And then they learn that other Sholans and humans are also bonding just like them which makes them believe that there is hope for a resolution of the conflict between the races. The political struggles between the different guilds in Shona is not good especially in the face of the birth of a hybrid race that has the power to suppress everyone on the planet. The Brotherhood and the Warriors the secret telepath organizations approach Carrie and Kusac asking them to choose a side. They decide to reject both sides and form their own outside the guilds and clans. Their loyalty lies with the ancient gods as they believe that it is only by going back to their roots and the purposefully and long-buried history can they find the difficult answers to save both humans and Sholans.