Skye Brown has disturbing dreams that are affecting her job, her love life, and worst of all...she is beginning to wonder if they are dreams at all. When she wakes up in a parallel world, Terra, she is quickly mistaken as Mariah Quinn, a resistance fighter who disappeared while "moongazing".
Dawn, Mariah's former lover, is torn over Skye's sudden appearance. Does he help the woman who betrayed him, or does he allow her to fend for herself? Skye is obviously confused and doesn't remember the past, or who she really is, but that doesn't excuse her from letting so many people down, including himself. All he knows is that moongazing needs to be revealed for what it is - not a passport to a better life, or a parallel world. It's a virtual reality death trap that fools people with visions of Earth's past.
Regardless of their explosive past, Dawn soon realizes if he wishes to expose the government conspiracy behind the use of Moongazing booths, he will need Skye - Mariah - to help him do it. But will she help him? Or has she already turned to the enemy, a man named Duske, and betrayed him yet again?
This is the first Dorchester Shomi book I've read. I've heard a lot about the series, and it lives up to it's reputation as a "different offering" for romance readers. I could easily imagine Moongazer being made into a manga series, or a feature movie shown on Adult Swim. The story itself is fresh, a bit longer than it had to be, but not overly complex like some speculative fiction - the ending is really not so hard to guess.
Even so, Moongazer something different in the way the characters are portrayed that truly appealed to me. Skye has flaws that make her a compelling, and endearing character. When you discover just who she is at the ending, you can also see her changes really aren't such a stretch of the imagination after all - which is very clever storytelling.
Dawn is an interesting character, too, but more for me in context of the rest of the story. He isn't the uber strong alpha; he isn't chasing Skye to try and keep her under wing and protect his beloved fragile female. Rather he is a man stuck in a world he hates, he wants to see change, and he wants to believe the love of his life is back - even though it is clear that Mariah is gone, and Skye's personality is all that is left.
I'm not a huge anime/manga fan, but that doesn't really matter. I like smart heroines, and smart writing. This is definitely an original book in an imaginative setting. If you like futuristics or apocalyptic romances, Moongazer is everything you're looking for in a satisfying read.
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