I just finished the Trade Pacts science fiction series by Julie Czerneda.   The premise is that there is an adjacent reality called the mirror. It’s kind of like subspace or hyperspace in that it can be used, nobody lives there and it has it’s own physical laws.  Beings that can access the mirror have abilities that we’d think of as paranormal.  The universe has humans, a small number of humans with the ability to access the mirror and various alien species which may or may not use the mirror.  The books focus on the Clan, a human-looking species with access to the mirror.

One weak point is that members of the Clan can have different abilities.  Most can read thoughts, while some can damage minds, others can heal minds, some can teleport and others have the ability to mentally move real-world objects.  That makes it more like super-powers or fantasy magic.  It would be more plausible if Clan members had the same abilities, but on a different scale.  That makes the books seem more like fantasy than science fiction.

The first book is centered on the heroine from the Clan choosing a human with telepathic abilities for a mate.  The second book is centered on the Clan girl challenging the Clan establishment while the Human man going to ground to not be killed by the Clan and meeting a bunch of really strange aliens.  The third book involves a rogue human who is kidnapping Clan members for nefarious purposes.

Overall, I liked, but didn’t love the books.  The alien species are fleshed out well, with distinct individuals.  Each alien species has a unique culture, attributes and abilities.  The characters are plausible, with their own backstories and personalities.  There are a lot of characters to track, but not too many to handle. 

This action takes place on a variety of planets and there are space ships, but it felt more like a fantasy series with humans, gifted humans, wizards and a bunch of mythical creatures.  Like many women who write science fiction or fantasy, Julie Czerneda has the heroine spending time longing for her mate, brooding about family members and doubting herself.  It isn’t at The Hunger Games level, but the story does drag in spots.  There is no women power, or Woke messaging.

I’d give it a 6/10.  That is high enough to try another Czerneda series, but not high enough to be eager about it.