I'm so glad that we're seeing some of the secondary characters (minor ones) from previous books now front and center - in this case Silver's cousin Ivan Mercant. A child of a drug addicted mother, he comes into the Mercant family at age 8 and becomes one of grandmother Ena's own. Because of the circumstances of his birth and early upbringing, including being fed the Psy drug 'Jax', Ivan's brain is damaged in a unique way, with the ability to feed on other psychic minds if he doesn't keep his ability carefully locked down. He never thought of having a romantic relationship with anyone, until he meets Ocelot shifter Soleil, with whom he forms a bond very quickly that survives a near death experience (Soleil's) and makes him want to find a way to survive and tame his abilities. It was great to see the DarkRiver leapards again (familiar to readers of the first series) and how Soleil becomes part of their pack. All the interactions between the different characters from earlier books in the series make for a familiar reading experience and the feeling of being with old friends. The worldbuilding continues as with every story in this spinoff, dealing with the Psynet's degradation and how to fix it. I'm really loving this spin off series!

Another great instalment in the Psy-Changeling series! Loved Ivan and Soleil in this one and also we get to finally find out more about the architect! So excited to see what happens next!

Psy-Changeling is one of my most re-read series of all time, so I'm always ready to dive right into each new release as Nalini Singh continues to build on the world and expand the new story arc. Ivan Mercant is the strong, silent type that is typical of Psy males, but he's so soft for the heroine. Soleil's character is airy and light. The perfect balance for Ivan. Still, I can't help but feel something was missing from this one. I understand expanding on the world, but the more we get away from DarkRiver and SnowDancer, the less invested I feel in the characters. There are just so many characters from the original series that still haven't gotten an HEA. I don't love how many of the newer books focus on characters that we haven't been introduced to before. I much prefer the way that Nalini has built anticipation for future couples in the background of her previous novels. I hope we can go back to the basics, and by that I mean our original packs with more organic tie-ins to expand the world. I don't want to harp on more negativity, but I also feel like the PsyNet-breaking needs to wrap up. There has to be other conflicts that can be introduced to this world. I just feel like this background storyline is tired after 20+ books.

4.25 Stars

First of all, I have to say this was absolutely fabulous. I can’t say enough about how much I absolutely adore this Psy-Changeling Trinity series. It is superlative in every way from the world building to the relationship-building to the diversity of characters to the raw, powerful emotion that has you swooning in every page. And this book brought all of that. It was fantastic! But compared with other books in the series, perhaps it was maybe a little less complex and the plot was a little more… simple? I still adored it. I still swooned at how hard Ivan adored Lei and how loyal and loving Lei was back. Their relationship was lovely given their histories of abandonment and isolation from loving but somewhat irresponsible parents. The relationship building was absolutely beautiful- aspirational in fact for any romance. I loved the theme of found/built family and those bonds being as strong or even stronger and more healing that blood or ethnic identity. The plot was interesting enough if a little slow-moving and I think this is perhaps what let the book down the most. The plot kind of seemed a little forgotten about for large chunks and the whole bit with the spider and the scarabs felt a little under-developed till the end which came out of nowhere and didn’t match the plodding slow tale that came before it with little details. The slower plot development didn’t bother me much because I loved how focused the story was on Lei and Ivan. That said, it would have been nice to have a few more characters brought in that he could discuss the plot issue with and that solutions could have been tried with. Nevertheless, I still loved this, it’s still one of my favourites in the entire series and I absolutely adore cold, detached Ivan and zany, colorful, friendly Lei.

Many thanks to Berkley for the advanced reading copy!

In this latest installment in the Psy-Changeling universe, a Psy with a dangerous, inborn ability meets an ocelot Changeling healer in the woods. Soleil (Lei) patches Ivan up, introduces him to her temper, and walks back out of his life. And for the first time ever, Ivan's head-over-heels. It's a bit instalove (semi-common in a universe with the fated mate trope in play, as it is here), but there's a cute dynamic between the couple: a forbidding but sweet-hearted and emotionally awkward Psy and a vibrant, fierce Changeling. The speed at which they approach and dispose of their issues is lightning fast, but the relative ease of communication and emotional processing isn't always a downside. They skip past the angsty, acrimonious stage of arguments by being thoughtful and listening to their partner *mind blown*. It was especially appreciated by this reader as it pertains to a masculine default towards unnecessary protectiveness that is challenged by Lei.

The story touches on some big issues. A common theme between the two characters is the importance of family, which extends into found family. There's a shared emphasis on loyalty and caring for loved ones with focus and determination. Another important issue in the story is drug abuse, so keep that in mind as a content warning. It shows up in Ivan's complicated relationship with his mother and the legacy he carries from her addiction.

One thing that bothered me was a throwaway comment about how Lei's never felt attraction before, but don't worry! Nothing's wrong with her. She was only waiting for the right guy, and now everything's fine. Just fyi: you could never experience attraction in your entire life and still have nothing wrong with you. The implied relief at not having to be an ace person is a major bummer. Aside from the casual acephobia, there's a light, pleasant bit of queer representation in another category that's more positive. I liked that a respected Psy elder uses they/them pronouns. They're not a main character, but their presence is a plus. More significant than my irritation at how easy it is for the romance genre to pity my identity, my problem with reading so much from the same author is that I learn their patterns, and the rhythm can be comforting or boring or some of both. For me, the long-lived Psy-Changeling series falls in the "both" bucket. The world-building gets ever more complex, evolving as history is made and politics shift. On the romance front, however, the preferred tropes are more stagnant, following a routine instead of reaching out with a poignant emotional arc all its own. So while I enjoyed seeing where the larger story is going, I was mostly just politely interested in the central love story rather than reacting with a swoon or that cozy, snuggly feeling.

For those new to the series or who find it a source of comfort, you'll enjoy the latest installment. We creep ever closer to uncovering the Architect. Thanks to Berkley for my copy to read and review!

This is one of my favorite series of all times I get extremely excited every time a new book comes out. This book met and exceeded my expectations. Nalini Singh hit it out of the ballpark again.

We finally get the latest installment in the Psy-Changeling series and I enjoyed it. I love how Nalini is able to weave in the darkness and the light into this series, because man, is this series dark. I went into the book blind and I didn't reread any of the books in this series, but I was able to catch on with no issues. It helps that we aren't really as connected to the main character here. Ivan Mercant was an interesting character though! I can't wait to read the next book in this series!

Storm Echo by Nalini Singh is the 6th book in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series. We delve into another Mercant's life. Ivan misses Silence. It kept the monster at bay. With Silence gone he is afraid how long he can keep the monster back until he meets a changeling named Lei. The problem is not long after they met, she disappears. Then he spots her but she does not remember him. Can the two rekindle the romance and save the Psy race?

You pick this book up and you know what you are getting. A stoic psy and a wild changeling. They balance each other. This book was really enjoyable and exactly what you expect. A little surprise to start with Lei's mission but still enjoyable.

Four stars for being enjoyable exactly what I wanted. Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley and Nalini Singh for the free copy. This was an honest review.

This was so good! I always forget how much I love the books in this series until I start the next one. Both the Ivan and Lei were interesting and I loved their back stories as well as how that made them work together as a couple.

Storm Echo is book six in the spinoff/continuation Psy-Changeling Trinity series. The protagonists are Ivan Mercant, a Psy and the scion of the powerful Mercant family, and Soleil “Lei” Bijoux, a healer and a feline shifter. Lei and Ivan meet when he is taking part in a wilderness training course and she is out collecting mushrooms. She stumbles on Ivan shortly after a rock has cut him and treats the injury. Ivan, though he has never been very drawn to a woman before, is instantly taken with Lei and realizes only after she leaves that he doesn’t know how to find her.

He does find some mushrooms like the ones she collected, though, and he waits by them, hoping she’ll turn up to collect them. She does. This time her interest is just as caught as his own, and they meet a few more times. Theirs is a sweet courtship; there’s an open happiness to Lei that attracts Ivan, and Lei is equally drawn in by his solemn, “still waters run deep” interest in her.

Jennie: I really thought their initial meeting and courtship was lovely. Also, the fact that it’s all shown from Ivan’s PoV gives Lei an air of mystery that kept me interested.

Janine: Yes, it was, and great point. I didn’t note that but you’re so right.

In earlier years, Ivan feared that mating or marrying would not be appropriate for him—in typical Psy protagonist fashion, he carries a dark power in his brain that could pose a serious threat to him and anyone attached to him. But by this point, the power hasn’t manifested and Ivan has relaxed some of his guard. He decides to let himself be happy, but first, he shares with Lei that he is something of an assassin, one who kills drug trade leaders to save the people they prey on from a destructive addiction to the drug Jax.

Jennie: I know that this has come up before, but I really don’t like the glorification of vigilantism in this series and specifically in this book. It’s in line with the championing of the “feeling” changelings over the “thinking” Psy that runs through the series, but in the real world deciding that people deserve to die is just not as simple as dividing them into victims and victimizers. There’s a lot of overlap in real life, and pretending that complexity doesn’t exist leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Janine: Yes, I am not a fan of vigilantism either, in this series and in most books. It bothered me too. Supposedly law enforcement is ineffective in this world, but still.

Lei is not put off, or doesn’t seem to be, at least until the next day, when she doesn’t show up to their meeting. Ivan concludes that he’s scared her off after all and realizes she also never told him where she’s from. He is devastated but realizes that he has to let her go.

A day later, though, as he’s driving away, he comes upon a scene of carnage. A cleanup crew is salvaging bodies in the aftermath of an outbreak of violence in a Psy settlement. Among the bodies are also a number of ocelot changelings, neighbors of the Psy. Ivan senses the mind of a living changeling among the bodies. The unconscious shifter he then digs out is Lei. Lei flatlines soon after that but Ivan manages to stimulate her mind telepathically and she starts breathing again. Then she’s taken to the hospital, still unconscious.

This massacre is too recent to have been the cause of her disappearance from his life, so it doesn’t change the status of their relationship. But Ivan wants to make sure that Lei is okay before saying goodbye. When he tries to find her, though, he can’t. She’s been transferred to another medical facility and because of an administrative error its location wasn’t recorded. Ivan tries to trace her for months, but even his cousin Canto, who runs a global intelligence network, can’t find her and eventually tells Ivan that they have to give up.

A year and a half after he last saw her, Ivan crosses paths with Lei again, this time on a San Francisco street. Just as he starts to follow her, a rupture in the PsyNet kills or injures many of the people in the vicinity. Both of them assist—Ivan telepathically, Lei medically—and he protects her throughout, too. But afterward, he realizes she doesn’t know who he is. The injury she sustained in the earlier attack wiped out her memories of the preceding month, which encompasses the time they were together.

A secret agenda has brought Lei to San Francisco. Her pack members were executed by Lucas Hunter, the alpha of DarkRiver, a leopard pack in the area. Lei lost loved ones, including children, and now she wants Lucas to pay. She intends to confront him and kill him, but she knows there’s a good chance that he’ll kill her instead.

Jennie: Can I just say that I don’t think the “Lei plans to kill Lucas Hunter” subplot added much? It was dropped so quickly that I didn’t see the point except to give Lei a reason to be in San Francisco.

Janine: Plot-wise, its outcome was more than a little predictable since Lucas is a longtime hero in the series. However, I can think of other purposes it served.

Spoiler: Show

Janine: The aftermath of the attack brings Lei to Lucas’s attention. After she passes out, she wakes in the care of DarkRiver healer Tamsyn Ryder. Tamsyn wants her to rest, then talk to Lucas, but as soon as she leaves, Lei escapes. Just as she’s leaving the building, Ivan shows up in his car and helps her to leave undetected.

There’s a weird psychic bond, not quite a mating bond but not entirely dissimilar, between Lei and Ivan that allows them to communicate when they dream. Lei’s cat is possessive of Ivan, and though at first Lei thinks it’s irrational, it doesn’t take her long to figure out that she must have known him in the missing weeks and that something must have happened between them. Ivan tells her that she decided she was better off moving on, and though Lei doesn’t remember it, she’s confident that it can’t be true.

But though this should clear the way for them to be together, it doesn’t. Because the dark power contained within Ivan has stretched awake in the intervening years, and it’s no longer safe for him to love anyone.

Jennie: Gosh, what a surprising plot twist. Didn’t see that coming.

Janine: Yeah….

This was an enjoyable book and I’m happy to see Nalini Singh come out with another good one. This series has been off and on for me in recent years—I’ve gotten frustrated with some repetitiveness and I know you have too, Jennie. I won’t say that there isn’t any here because that wouldn’t be true, but I nevertheless had a lot of fun reading this book, and I felt that the first half was especially fresh and bright.

The amnesia trope hasn’t been used that much in this series. Off the top of my head, I can only think of three other books that employed it. I’ve heard some romance readers groan about amnesia, but it’s a trope I’m very fond of because it lends itself to high-stakes relationship dynamics. I love seeing one of the main characters cope with being a stranger to the person they love and the other protagonist struggle to remember their relationship in what is a bewildering situation. That vulnerability and dramatic tension is romantic and absorbing. On that level this book was very satisfying.

Jennie: I didn’t mind the amnesia much because it seemed plausible given the trauma Lei had experienced. It gave a reason for the separation and it wasn’t drawn out; even when Lei didn’t quite remember Ivan she accepted their connection easily.

Janine: Yes. Additionally, Lei is a lovely heroine. She takes joy in small things like colorful, pretty dresses and planters shaped like pouncing cats (for once, I thought the clothing descriptions were relevant—they brought across her joie de vivre). Though she has moments of sadness and shadow, her baseline personality is sunny and she exudes her liking for other people. She and Ivan, who is much more self-contained and standoffish with many people, but not with her, complement each other well.

Jennie: I loved the detail about her colorful dresses, and I love that Ivan thought to buy her a dress that was more in line with her previous way of dressing when they met again, since in her traumatized state she had been wearing gray, baggy clothes.

Janine: That was charming.

I liked Ivan too. He had a depth of loyalty—to Lei and to his family, especially his grandmother Ena, the Mercants’ matriarch. Ivan’s mother, a drug addict, ran away from her family and hid baby Ivan from them. Ivan and Ena didn’t meet until his mother died when he was eight, and Ena immediately gave him her all. In return, Ivan would do anything for her. Because Ena is aware of that, she is careful never to ask too much of him. I love the tenderness there—that each is protective of the other—especially since both are outwardly tough people.

Jennie: Ena is one of my favorite characters, for some reason. She’s definitely a “type” – the icy Psy matriarch whose carapace of steel hides a loving heart. But she’s always just had a lot of charisma, and I like a story more when she’s a part of it.

Janine: Yes, she’s great.

Jennie: I liked Ivan, but not as much as Lei. He felt a little bit more “central casting” Psy. But I’ve come to accept lately that I really have a preference for heroines, most of the time. A hero has to be really special to stand out for me.

Janine: I agree that Lei was the better character of the two. And while I wouldn’t say I’m heroine-centric, at least not much, I do think that Nalini Singh’s heroines tend to appeal to me more than her heroes.

As far as the subplot having to do with Ivan’s power and his connection to the PsyNet, my feelings about it are nothing that I haven’t said before and I don’t want to beat a dead horse too long. This subplot took a direction that was all too familiar in focusing on impending personal doom. The last third of the book felt less fresh because of that.

Jennie: Yeah, for me it was a bummer because not only is it not fresh, but there is always a deus ex machina that occurs at the last minute (literally, I think it was at like the 97% point of the book). I have come to acknowledge that in these series the repetitive themes are a feature, not a bug, so even when I don’t like them I have to make peace with them. I would love to see something different from a Psy other than “we can’t be together because I’m doomed to die/kill everyone/kill everyone and die, etc.” ad nauseum.

Janine: Yes! One of my favorite Nalini Singh works is “Echo of Silence,” a novella in Wild Embrace. It’s the one that takes place in an underwater station and the hero is a Psy. The main conflict is that he has to hide his emotions, including his love for her because this story takes place long before Silence was rescinded. Kaleb and Sahara’s book, Heart of Obsidian, also didn’t have the impending death trope, and was another of the better books featuring Psy main characters.

Moving on—something I really enjoyed was the way Ivan learned to adapt to being part of a changeling’s life; what that meant, what Lei needed in general and what she needed from him in particular. This ties to the resolution of Lei’s conflict with Lucas, and much of that DarkRiver stuff was satisfying.

Jennie: I almost felt like Ivan unbent a bit too quickly, but that’s a minor quibble.

Janine: I have a few small nitpicks.

1) Ivan saw Lei as a cat in the PsyNet. This took a little adjusting to. In the original Psy/Changeling series, the visual description of the PsyNet was a field of stars in a dark background, almost like the night sky. Minds blink in and out of it as lights can blink in and out. More recently, there have been some insect shapes in there. That was a stretch for me to visualize in the middle of a field of stars, but I was able to go with it because the PsyNet is a net, after all, a web of stars, and I associate insects with webs. The cat visual stuck out to me and was jarring.

(I also wondered, if Lei was visible as a cat in the Net, why haven’t any of the other changelings been visually represented there as animals? Does Silver see Valentin as a bear in the net? I don’t remember that.)

2) The drug Jax was described as one that heightened its users’ sensations and emotions. But in Caressed by Ice we learned that Judd and his fellow Arrows were given Jax for the opposite purpose—to deaden their emotions and make them to unthinkingly follow orders to assassinate people, including some innocents. So if Jax deadened their emotions and sensitivities, how is it that it has the opposite effect on its other users? This may have been explained in one of the earlier books but if so, I’ve forgotten that explanation.

Jennie: Re 1), I really just have to roll with whatever description of the PsyNet I read. It gives me a headache to think about it too much. So I didn’t really even notice the issue there. As to 2) that’s a good point. I don’t have an explanation for that.

Janine: Nitpick 3) involves a spoiler.

Spoiler: Show

I liked the book a lot, though. It’s probably my favorite book in the Trinity series since Ocean Light. I was thinking I’d give it a B/B+, but in light of the fact that it’s gotten damn hard for me to find a satisfying romance (only one other 2022 romance is on my “best of” list so far—B+ is my cutoff grade), I’m giving Storm Echo a B+.

Jennie: I’ll give it a straight B, mostly on the strength of Lei and the Ena Mercant content.

Storm Echo by Nalini Singh (m/f, PNR, amnesia, healer/self-hating killer pairing) I feel like I forgot everything that happened in Payal & Canto’s book but I got very invested on Lei & Ivan’s love anyway. Cw: violence, murder, drug addiction, past trauma: parental neglect). 7/1/22

I read it, and then immediately forgot all about it. It probably would have made more sense if I had read more books in the two series it appears to be a part of.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Ivan was rescued by Ena Mercant when he was a small boy after his mother overdosed on Jax. His mom had told him he was a Mercant, so he believed it. And, Ena wasted no time welcoming him into her home after Norah’s death.

However, there was something lurking in Ivan’s brain, a monster that he has always deemed the spider, waiting for an opportunity to strike and feed off anyone that gets close enough. The spider is believed to be a by-product of being exposed to Jax in-utero. Ena helped Ivan construct shields to contain the spider, but what happens when someone gets past those shields?

While doing some training with the wolves, Ivan encounters a young woman, Lei. They form a bond and continue to meet each other and grow closer. He even tells her his darkest secret, the spider and the horrible things he’s done. Then, Lei disappears from his life. His secret was clearly more than she could bear.

Soleil is an ocelot changeling healer that lost everything when Lucas Hunter came in and killed her pack. It didn’t matter that most of what remained of her pack had been submissives and cubs, Hunter executed them anyway. And, now Soleil is on a mission to kill the very man that destroyed her life and made her a loner.

Shortly after arriving in DarkRiver territory, Soleil encounters a dark man that draws her attention, but she recognizes him for the danger that he is. Too bad her cat has claimed him as theirs. During a psy catastrophe she sees the man go into action to save people, and being a healer, she has no choice, but to help him in his efforts.

Ivan is shocked to finally have found Lei, but is devastated to see that she doesn’t remember him. When she exhausts herself during the psynet collapse, Lucas insists on taking her back to his pack for proper care. Care Ivan doesn’t know how to administer. Against all his protective urges, he has to let her go.

Soleil wakes up in enemy territory and tries to escape until she catches the scent of one of the cubs …. An ocelot cub. She’s ready to break all the changeling rules to follow that scent, when Ivan steps in to assist her. And, what she finds out changes everything she thought she knew.

Meanwhile, there is an enemy lurking. And, Ivan may be the only one that can stop them!

I loved the Psy-Changeling series, but sadly the Psy-Changeling Trinity just hasn’t lived up to my expectations so far. I’m not sure what is so different about it. I really struggled reading this book because it just didn’t keep my interest. And, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, which hasn’t helped.

I actually enjoyed both Ivan and Soleil as individual characters. Neither of them is willing to give an inch. However, I failed to truly connect with them as a couple. I enjoyed them much better when they first were getting to know each other, before the whole amnesia thing came along and wrecked the party.

I do love that we have a new breed of changelings to enjoy. I can’t wait to see what they will bring to the table.

However, the continued collapse of the psynet bores me to near tears. Hopefully this book is a step in the right direction to stabilize the net so we can focus on more enjoyable endeavors.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
Ivan Mercant believes himself to be a monster. The spider hiding deep within himself does nothing but want to take and take until there is nothing left. That's why he must keep the spider caged at all times. He must keep his shields strong at all times, ever vigilant against the evil that grows stronger within him day by day.

Ena Mercant saved him both from the streets and from himself. She believed in him when he didn't believe in himself. She gave him a family that is both a blessing and a hindrance – especially since the fall of Silence. His cousins are well-meaning and protective of him, as he is of them. If they only knew of the spider within him.

Lei Garcia is broken in similar ways. Losing her loving parents at a young age left her in the care of her paternal grandfather and his ocelot pack. Her grandfather was openly hostile towards her and made it known that she was less as her mother was human. She has never felt at home with the pack, leaving her feeling alone when being a member of pack should have meant being with family.

As the PsyNet seems to be imploding upon itself, an island has formed in which Psy minds are trapped. The physical bodies are comatose, and their vital signs are failing. Ivan somehow manages to bridge the divide and only Lei was able to bring him back, thanks to her cat's bond with him. Ivan can see the chaos on the island, there is no order, no net mind, and it seems that the Scarab queen is draining the psychic energy from the Psy who are trapped on the island's psychic plane.

Lei believes that her bond with Ivan will allow him to return to the Psy Island to rescue the Psy minds that are trapped there and to help cage the Scarab queen. Ivan is afraid to set loose the spider but knows that Lei's faith in him is stronger than his fears.

I'm amazed at everything we have learned in this book and where we will go next.


Erica – ☆☆☆☆
STORM ECHO is the sixth installment in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series, as well as the 21st installment in the Psy-Changeling series. I would strongly advise against reading as a standalone or out of series order.

From the get-go, I was apprehensive. Amnesia plot lines mixed with insta-love are not my cup of tea, nor is the depressive fall of PsyNet, but after 21 novels, I'm invested in the characters and the universe where they reside. Drug-use and drug-abuse are plot devices.

On the plus side, a handful of our past favorites have cameos, as they're connected to the new characters being showcased. Another plus for me is second-chance romance.

Ivan has a painful past, suffering several abuses as a child. This darkness told from the perspective of a child may be difficult for some readers. Nalini Singh has never shied away from the darker sides of human nature, and this book is no exception when it comes to Ivan's past.

Ivan and Lei come into contact, and the connection is instantaneous, only for it to be ripped apart by tragedy. With the absence of a year, the vibe of insta-love is lessened. In this time, the romance takes a backseat, allowing character growth, along with some complex world building to be spun, so complex that most of the time I just rolled with it, otherwise I'd be confused. Once they reconnect, Ivan's amnesia means he doesn't recognize Lei anymore.

A member of the Mercant family, as their security specialist, Ivan was a complex character, ruthless yet beneath an injured child who doesn't believe he deserved kindness, intimacy, or would ever find a mate. Lei is a healer, the perfect counterbalance to Ivan's struggles.

Lei has her own past struggles. Protective and fierce, Lei has gone so long without a pack, she'll never let go of anyone she deems hers.

The romance and connection between Ivan and Lei takes a backseat when they're drawn into the battle to keep PsyNet from falling.

While I enjoy this longstanding series, the romance and conflict are a bit wash-repeat from book to book, and I find the eruption of new world building to often times be confusing and convoluted, like rushing from A to Q without truly connecting, where I just roll with it to avoid frustration. At this point, all these new Psy types, all super rare and finally revealing itself. While I want current narrators to be unique and special, their rareness just feels similar to the last rare trait, and so on.

A good addition to the Psy-Changeling Trinity and Pay-Changeling series. Recommended to fans of the author, the series, and paranormal romance.

I loved Storm Echo so very much. Had the old-school feel of the book in the Psy-Changeling series. Ivan Mercant and Soleil "Lei" Bijoux Garcia had me happy sighing from the moment they met. I had all the love for these characters, even as some of their history absolutely broke my heart. This series has long been a favorite of mine, and I loved Storm Echo so very much! I honestly can't wait to see where Ms. Singh takes us next in the next book in this series.

Ivan Mercant was at a training when he met the most intriguing changeling. When a devastating attack rips them apart, Ivan is sure that he will never see her again. By chance Ivan and Soleil are reunited in an illegal foray into Dark River territory. But Soleil has a mission and is unsure about Ivan while he won't lose her again.

I was a bit uneasy about the synopsis of this book but I should have trusted Ms Singh more. It was excellent. I enjoyed going back to Dark River territory and seeing old friends. This book has lots of cameos and it answers some questions that I didn't even know I had from some different books. This book did reminded me a bit of Secrets at Midnight which was good. Ivan was my favorite and I was interested in his background and oh my. I am looking forward to where this series goes next!

Further to my confessions from last time, I have to be transparent that due to time constraints, I did not go back and read the entire Psy-Changeling series before writing this column. On the advice of counsel, I started with Silver Silence, which begins a new chapter in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling world. This sequel series, called the Psy-Changeling Trinity series, consists of six books so far, which made it much easier and more accessible for a newbie Singh reader. (It would have been god-tier to read all 21 novels across both series, though, wouldn’t it? Some real “all shall love me and despair” shit. If we weren’t facing two plagues and a global rise in fascism, I’d totally have done it.)

Trying to recap the series in full would be a fool’s errand, so I’ll do my best to sum it up briefly: Singh’s world includes humans, changelings, and Psy, the latter being people with supernatural mental powers like telekinesis and empathy. Based on what I have been able to deduce from the six books in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series, the Psy once controlled everyone else in an orgy (not the fun kind) of power-mad abuse and machinations. Now, thanks to—I suspect—the power of love and collective action and maybe some actual orgies!, the three sentient species have attained a fragile détente. But the Psy’s very existence is threatened, as the mental network that holds the Psy together and keeps them sane and alive, called PsyNet, has begun to fracture badly.

Ivan Mercant belongs to the powerful, tight-knit Mercant family, but his powers as a Psy are so maliciously evil that he must keep a tight lid on himself at all times to avoid shlurping up the life force of everyone around him. He’s chilly and isolated by necessity until he meets Lei, a changeling woman and a healer who teases him, challenges him, and makes his world a little brighter. That is, until her pack is brutally slaughtered and Lei disappears from Ivan’s life altogether. He has almost given up hope of finding her again when she resurfaces, determined to get revenge on the DarkRiver leopard pack for the deaths of her pack mates. Both of them feel bitterly alone, but their undeniable bond may hold the key to saving the PsyNet and the whole changeling race.

And look, I know what that sounds like. I know that book description made visions of Chosen Ones dance in your head, and I know that after all we went through with the Star Wars sequels, we have a very limited appetite for Chosen Ones and their destinies. But here’s where the romance genre is particularly well suited to tell stories of social reform. (I will try to get through this without using the word “affordances,” but please know that it is a challenge and a sacrifice.) YA novels and even epic fantasy series are limited in the number of characters the author can expect you to keep track of, which makes Chosen Ones an attractive option for toppling unjust systems of power. In aggregate, though, that leaves us with a body of literature that valorizes the individual at the expense of the collective—what Ada Palmer and Jo Walton termed “the Protagonist Problem.”

Romance works differently.

A quick explainer for those who are newer to the genre: romance novels are often written as a tiny cinematic universe, where each subsequent book in a series focuses on the relationship travails of a different central couple. If you’re ever reading a romance novel and you think “wow the main character’s brother seems hot and smart,” there is an excellent chance the main character’s smart, hot brother will later star in a book of his very own. In the context of a series like Singh’s, which has been running for twenty-one books (plus various novellas and short stories), this provides the author with a vast stable of characters who can work together to produce lasting, systemic change in a wide array of contexts. Ivan’s power—which (spoilers!) turns out to be his ability to form changeling-like pack bonds among the Psy—may prove necessary to saving the PsyNet, and thereby the world, but it will not be sufficient, because no single person’s work can be sufficient to saving the Psy-Changeling world. You know, like in real life.

I wrote in my last column about the shift from isolation to community that’s central to a romance novel’s Happily Ever After. Ivan and Lei follow the same trajectory, with Lei integrating into an existing pack of changelings and Ivan discovering that his superpower is forging communities. There’s an added layer, though, in a series as long-running and purposeful as Singh’s: Ivan and Lei find happiness in each other and in their community, certainly, but also and perhaps most keenly, in a sense of moral purpose. Like many a Singh protagonist (I am weak for it every time), Ivan realizes that he’s not doomed to turn to evil. Quite the contrary, he’s a desperately needed force for good, with a power that can bring traumatized Psy back from the brink of madness and death.

In his essay “The Red Angel,” GK Chesterton famously noted that the power of fantasy stories does not lie in their ability to invent dragons: “The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.” The answer Singh provides to defeating generational injustice isn’t a singular St. George, but a community of people—fighters and peacemakers, debaters and diplomats, blue-sky dreamers and hard-nosed policy wonks—working together in pursuit of a common goal.

The goal here is to preserve the Trinity Accord, a peace treaty signed by leaders of all three races; to strengthen relationships among Psy, Changeling, and humans after generations of violence and mistrust; and repair the tattered PsyNet that’s keeping a world of Psy from death. The last one’s a bit of a hard sell, given the ruthlessness of past Psy leaders. The Psy Silver Mercant (Silver Silence) runs a PsyNet–based emergency aid network that’s crucial for every race, so she can’t risk forming a mating bond with a changeling, as that might yeet her out of the PsyNet. Instead she finds, once the bond has been formed (whoops, they boned), that bonds across networks—the PsyNet and the network among changeling packs—actually make both networks stronger. Human Alliance leader Bowen Knight (Ocean Light) installed a chip in his brain to protect against Psy invasion, but it begins to malfunction and requires the cooperation of Psy, changeling, and human scientists to save his life and perhaps begin to find a way for all humans to receive similar protection. In exchange, he is willing to risk himself by becoming a part of the PsyNet, at a time when the PsyNet dearly needs human participants to help stabilize it.
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Any two steps forward into a survivable future are met with another step back. In the absence of the rigid control the Psy used to exercise, a new illness has arisen. Dubbed “Scarab Syndrome,” it afflicts a small minority of Psy with heightened powers and a megalomanical desire for control. But this, too, is met with a community effort. Memory Aven-Rose (Wolf Rain) and Ethan Night (Alpha Night) begin their respective book in the certainty that they’re dangerous and broken. In reality, they each possess a special type of empath power that gives them a unique affinity for Scarab Syndrome sufferers. Canto Mercant and Payal Rao (Last Guard) team up with fellow Anchors to form a stronger, more sustainable community of their particular Psy designation. And on and on, a multi-book fantasy world in which nobody is ever the group project slacker who refuses to format their footnotes and email their slides by deadline.

And the fantasy goes beyond that. In real life, it’s easy to feel paralyzed by the uncertainty of where best to allocate our time or money (community fridges? environmental advocacy? campaign finance reform?). Singh’s characters are blessedly free of that burden of uncertainty. Though the weight of the world does not rest on any one person’s shoulders (except maybe Kaleb Krychek ( Heart of Obsidian), because Kaleb has two different Psy powers, and I’m given to understand this is serious business), each individual has the opportunity to tackle one area for which they are uniquely suited by birth, inclination, and inherent talent. Ivan grew up first with a neglectful mother , then with a loving grandmother who taught him to repress a gift they both believed dangerous. Part of his HEA is the realization that, using his bond with Lei as an anchor, he can begin to employ his rare, unique talents to counter the destructive efforts of the series’s Big Bad. His lane has been chosen for him, and all he has to do is dedicate himself to pursuing it.

Gender studies scholar Catherine Roach notes that the real-world truth of a romance novel’s wish-fulfillment fantasy is not the point; rather, “the point of the story is the power of reparative reading and fantasy to offer a different type of truth and insight.” The Psy-Changeling-Trinity series offers a crucial insight about the pursuit of systemic change, giving readers the vision of a collective St. George to slay the dragon of injustice. No single person can be enough to save the crumbling world; every single person is necessary.

Jenny Hamilton reads the end before she reads the middle. She reviews for Strange Horizons and Lady Business and can be found at her website or on Twitter @readingtheend.
Footnotes

1: A term that here means “Romance Twitter pals who comfortingly assured me that Silver Silence was a perfectly cromulent jumping-on point and I shouldn’t feel like an imposter for starting the series at that point.”

2: The book is very judgmental about drug users, and there’s a few mentions of the fact that Ivan has long been in the habit of recreationally murdering drug dealers. He stops this because Lei doesn’t like it. It’s not a very big part of the book, which is lucky because I struggle to root for a vigilante white dude carrying out extrajudicial murders.

3: Roach, Catherine. Happily Ever After: The Romance Story in Popular Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016, p. 184.

Nalini Singh continues to enchant with her Psy-Changeling series.

The pandemic has been rough, and yet so much less horrible for me than for so many others. I think most of us would agree that the last two and a half years have been beyond *hard*.

For me it's manifested in many ways - one of which being lack of a desire to read. Reading has been something that has gotten me through the hardest times in my lives. It's been an escape, a reality check, a teacher, and a friend. But suddenly it couldn't help me. I couldn't force myself to fall into the worlds that I so desperately wanted to.

Except in a few rare instances - Nalini Singh being one of them. I have read and re-read this series a lot. More times than I can count honestly. Once a year since Slave to Sensation was released is a conservative estimate. And it was easier to fall back into the Psy-Changeling world when I couldn't fall into any other.

Luckily for me, this series continues to get better. The way that you can see the growth in the world, and the writing, from the beginning to this point is beautiful and so appreciated. I know that I'll always come back to Nalini Singh - every time she has a book coming out - and I know that I'll always love it.

Just like I loved this one.

The Psy-Changeling series has been one of my all-time favorites since I picked up the first book, and a new entry into the series is always a celebration. I actually ended up rereading the entire series (which is always a good life choice) before diving into this one, and I’m still in awe of how brilliant it is as a whole.

Storm Echo ties together quite a few plot threads, and picks up with various characters who we’ve seen (or heard of) in previous books. Ivan and Lei’s love story wasn’t my favorite of the series, but I’m generally not a huge fan of amnesia plot lines, so that wasn’t a surprise. But I will say that this was my favorite amnesia story that I’ve read.

However, the payoffs for the larger scope of the series in this book were seriously epic - think rereading the same page multiple times before the words really sink in. This book feels like it was a tipping point in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series, and I am so excited to see what happens next.

*Disclaimer: I received an advance digital copy of this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I don't know how Nalini Singh does it but each new book in this series is just as good or better than the last one! I loved it so much! Not only did we get to see another Mercant fall in love, we got to revisit the DarkRiver pack! I love the leopards so much!

One of the things I'm loving about this Trinity arc is that we get to see the rare and unique Psy gifts that will hopefully help mend the PsyNet! I am finding them fascinating! And I'm loving seeing more Psy-Changeling pairings! I absolutely adored Lei and Ivan's romance! Even though their back stories tugged at my heartstrings. They both deserve each other after everything they've been through!

I'm not usually a fan of the amnesia trope but it is so nicely done in this book! I'm worried about the PsyNet. It's getting better in small increments but we really geot to see how the Scarab's are tearing it apart in this book. I'm still not sure how it can be saved but we're getting closer to an answer and loose threads from previous books are starting to be tied into the bigger picture. I want it to be known that I totally called the identity of The Architect.

I can't wait to see what happens next in this series! It's going to be a long wait for the next book. I foresee a whole series reread in my near future to bridge the gap.