Product Description

Jame, an Emoran princess and assistant arbiter, takes on the most difficult case at the military compound at Ynit: arguing for the rehabilitation of former Elite Guard, Tigh the Terrible. Tigh and Jame discover that they are kindred spirits in their personal struggles against the expectations of their families in order to pursue the path they want their lives to take. The friendship that develops from this common bond transforms into a dream of breaking away from their pasts and facing the future together.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1431231 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Customer Reviews

Take a trip to Emoria
Tales of Emoria: Future Dreams is the first in the Tigh & Jame chronology, although not the first Emoria tale published, and the reader may benefit from reading the stories by the characters' timeline. C.A. Casey AKA Mindancer creates an interesting complex fantasy world in her Tales of Emoria series. This pre-industrial and non-gun powder world is a semi-feudal, loose confederation of city state cultures. Refreshingly non-homophobic societies where pairs seem to run as commonly same sex as not, with amusing little twists to gender roles. Future Dreams is the story of how a young arbiter and a former warrior meet, fall in love, save each other and themselves.

Tigh is the eldest daughter of a successful merchant family from Ingor. The Ingorian culture is based on commerce, thus getting the best deal is the important goal. A few years ago, when war threatened Ignor and the surrounding city states, a plea went out for volunteers to for a new special unit, the Elite Guard. Tigh's family negotiated a very good deal for the then 13 year old's service. Using a cross between "magic" and medical techniques the Elite Guard was a marginally controlled, extremely aggressive, ultra strong, "berzerker" type warrior group.

Tigh, who was known as "the Terrible" during the war, rose to a position of leadership and authority during her years in the Guard. After the war, the government is faced with rounding up and "cleansing" the soldiers of their violent tendencies. This rehabilitation process includes a legal evaluation of the soldier's potential danger to society. The question is who will provide legal counsel to Tigh the Terrible?

Emoria is a women-only city-state hidden in the mountains. This isolated culture of warrior women is ruled by a queen and council and known for producing the best knives and swords in the land. In the last several decades Emoria has been increasingly isolationist and the ruling council is not entirely pleased that their heir apparent, Jame, has sought an education, and even worse, is considering a career outside of Emoria. The petite Jame has never entirely fit into Emoria's warrior culture. Emoria's mores, education, attitudes and values have marked Jame. Yet, she is also struggling to define herself and it is increasingly clear that being an arbiter is part of that self definition.

Jame is the only student Arbiter who is not afraid of Tigh. From a warrior culture herself, she understands Tigh and begins a process to defend and befriend the young woman. Can these two women help one another find a new place in the world?

Casey is another writer whose work could technically be considered Xena Uber, with the symbolic (and symbiotic) characters as well as the theme of redemption. These similarities have more to do with their archetypal quality than any real connection to the TV show. Casey provides an engaging beginning for her Tales of Emoria. She also asks some interesting questions in regard to society's responsiblity toward the dangerous soldiers that it creates, then attempts to discard after their usefulness. If you enjoy fantasy quests, consider a trip to Emoria, and begin with this volume.

How Tigh and Jame meet
This is the wonderful prequel to Past Echoes. We get to find out how two of my favorite characters, Tigh and Jame, meet. As usual, Mindancer fills the story with magic, adventure and humor. She seems to love twisting and turning the story enough to keep us from predicting what will happen next. Like Past Echoes, Future Dreams is a good fun read.