"Intriguing look at a future Earth!"

Sinopee is not happy with her life. It's exceedingly dull and dreary. The only thing she lives for are her yearly visits with Luster. Once a year, he calls her through the mirror, the only luxury item she still has, and she remains with him for one day. One day is all she has with the man she loves. Before her father and mother disappeared, they gave her a box filled with letters and the mirror and told her never to lose the box, or she would be lost somewhere in the void of the mirror. Since she doesn't want this to happen, Sinopee takes the box and letters with her whenever she travels through the mirror. Sinopee is a thinker in a world of science. The world on the other side of the mirror is one of magic. So, when the man she loves calls, Sinopee travels through the mirror once more.

All the people here are different, Luster has silver white hair and purple eyes. His second-in-command, Glow, is a giant of a man with ebony skin and white eyes. Luster loves Sinopee as well. The two of them are mates. They adjourn to Luster's tent, filled with big fluffy pillows. They know they have only this day to satisfy them for the entire next year. While they're making the best of things, Glow interrupts them. It turns out the Titans are coming! They must get out of here and go to the Citadel. The Titans use science to track them and when Sinopee offers to help, they turn her down. They will deal with things using magic, no science.

What is this place on the other side of the mirror? Will Sinopee ever be able to stay with her true love, for more than one day? Who are the Titans?

THE LUMINARIES 1: A MAN CALLED LUST is a very different look at the future of our planet. Stephanie Burke has done a wonderful job of portraying the bleakness and loneliness of our world in the future. Luster is a warrior bigger than life, with the arrogance to go with it. In our story, he's fighting the injustices he sees in his world and trying to gain the freedom his people need. Meanwhile, Sinopee is not happy in her world and just wants to live with Luster on his. And things progress in a manner totally unexpected. This is a highly intriguing story I highly recommend everyone reading!

Reviewed by Chere Gruver
Courtesy Sensual Romance Reviews
Posted October 27, 2004

Summary

Trapped.
I am trapped in a colorless world, One of many mindless drones, Living an existence filled with drudgery and loneliness.

Escape.
My only hope, the one thing that holds my sanity. Escape through the mirror.

Him.
My one true lover, Separated through time and space itself. Vibrant and joyful, beautiful to hold. Everything that I am not.

So when our shared world is threatened, I will do what I must to protect it! Now, only if we can do it in time, before I am trapped in a hell between worlds.

But I will risk it. I will do anything to protect the paradise a conformist thinker like me has found. I will protect him...

A Man Called Lust