Rating: 2 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novella
Jinsu has just found out that he lives on a planet high in the sky as he looks down on Earth below. Somewhere down there is Tristan, his soulmate, the man that Jinsu has been dreaming about. Stepping through the secret portal that will take him to Earth, Jinsu leaves behind his home and his brother, Kelan, who is in love with him.
Tristan has been dreaming of Jinsu and drawing him. He thinks he is imagining him when Jinsu shows up at his office. The men fit together at once and Tristan cannot believe that Jinsu left his home just for him. Seven months later and the men are in love, but Jinsu is sick. His magic is dying and so is Jinsu himself. The only thing that can save him is returning home, but the portal was only supposed to work one way.
The two find a way back to Jinsu’s planet with help from Tristan’s ex. Tristan traveled with Jinsu, but the portal wasn’t meant for humans and Tristan has been in bad shape for the past ten months. The return trip also erased Jinsu’s memory of Earth and of Tristan. Tristan will stop at nothing to win Jinsu’s heart again, but Kelan has other plans and refuses to allow his relationship with his brother to slip through his fingers once again. But Tristan may just have a plan for all three of them.
The Sky People was originally published as three separate short stories and they are now all packaged as one, but the book is still short in length. That was the biggest issue here since for a science fiction book involving another planet and travel through portals, it was all much too condensed.
When the story opens we get caught up quickly that Jinsu and Tristan have been dreaming of each other, yet neither is aware that there are other planets out there. Jinsu then leaves everything behind he has ever known, including his relationship with his brother, to seek out Tristan. We are told that he knows a little of the language on Earth and where to find Tristan due to the intense quality of his dreams.
We are told so much throughout the book and that was one of the largest detractors. We are not shown anything. We are told that it is acceptable in Jinsu’s culture to “mate” with his brother, we are told of the intense bond that Jinsu and Tristan have, we are told about Tristan’s relationship with his ex who he has to seek out for assistance, we are told of another story, involving another off page character, of how they can locate the portal that will send Jinsu back to his home, we are told that Tristan had been near death when he finally arrived on Jinsu’s planet, and we are then told a story regarding Tristan’s estranged father that seemed entirely out of place.
There was no connection built to any of the characters, as even the stories we are told were so short and lacked detail. I could go with the fated mates aspect, but even when Jinsu arrived on Earth from another planet and seemingly walked right out of Tristan’s dreams, Tristan’s response was to take him to bed first and ask questions later.
There was just not enough here for me in any aspect, whether it was the complete lack of world building for another planet, the storyline, or the characters themselves. I certainly couldn’t get behind Tristan’s actions toward Kelan as he made up his mind in a snap and then declarations were made with zero foundation having been built.
There wasn’t much of this that I really enjoyed and for a science fiction book it was thoroughly lacking. My recommendation would be to look elsewhere.
