A review by thestarman
Firebird by Kathy Tyers

3.0

[BOOK 1 in series; I read the original 1987 version].

IN SHORT: Romance between two "enemies," inside a Star Wars*-influenced space opera. Notable for some some quasi-religious elements which become more prevalent in Books 2+.

VERDICT: ~3 stars if you are not allergic to Star Wars -and- the Sci-Fi/Romance sub-genre (often recognizable by 2 floating heads in space on the cover, ha ha!). It's all slightly cheesy or odd by today's standards, but it holds up as a a decent, space-opera style escape from reality.

Or: 2 stars if you were expecting a rip-roaring adventure.
Maybe 4 stars if you only read these things for the characters, drama, and romance.

BEST CHARACTER: Bad girl Phoena.
RUNNER-UP: Firebird.

Note: The author has aso written some offical Star Wars universe novels. 'Firebird' seems to borrow heavily--perhaps way too heavily from SW, but you may dig that sort of thing.
Spoiler There are magical genetic Force-like powers, special swords that might as well be lightsabers, etc. (but little to no mention of robots, at least not in Books 1 &2).