A Distant Soil, Vol. 1: The Gathering

Written is a very classic sort of 80s space opera style, A Distant Soil tells the story about two psychically powered siblings who discover they have a role to play in the future of the alien civilization they didn't know they were a part of.

ADS tells a story epic in scope while at the same time deeply personal. The plot is clearly developed, the characters are well-established; as a result, this feels like you're already several chapters into the book, rather than starting at number 1. My only complaint about the book would be that it seems like a bit of a kitchen-sink type approach; Doran throws in everything she's interested in, from Medieval knights to aliens to psychic powers, and I'm not entirely sure if it all fits together nicely. We'll have to see how she fares with volume 2.