Blaze of Memory (Psy/Changeling, #7)

by Nalini Singh

Nalini Singh returns to the Psy/Changeling world and its “breathtaking blend of passion, adventure, and the paranormal”* as a woman without a past becomes the pawn of a man who controls her future…

Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might yet prove the enemy’s most insidious weapon.

Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor, and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity itself. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…

• ISBN10: 0425231119
• ISBN13: 9780425231111
• Publish Date: 3 November 2009
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425231111

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

Blaze of Memory is the seventh novel to Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series. This was my first time reading this book, and I was a little taken aback that it involved two main characters that I didn’t really know much about yet. It didn’t stop me from reading the book, though, because I knew Nalini Singh would continue her remarkable world-building in this series. 

Storyline/My Thoughts: Blaze of Memory doesn’t involve your typical Fated Mates characters; Psy/Changeling and Changeling/Changeling. This time around, it’s a Forgotten/Psy couple that gets their story. I remember being introduced briefly to Devraj Santos in an earlier book in the series, but he didn’t grab my attention at that time. He’s the leader of the Shine Foundation, where he helps the Forgotten (Psy who dropped out of the PsyNet) live their lives with emotion. Unfortunately, the Psy Council wants the Forgotten gone and will do anything to make it happen. Katya Haas is a Psy that has been damaged by one of the Psy Council members. Her memory is not all there, but she knows she’s been programmed to do something awful. Dev comes across her and ends up keeping an eye on her. He wants to make sure she doesn’t harm one of the Forgotten. What he doesn’t realize is that she’s there to hurt him. 

What did I think about the main characters? I thought I would not like Dev because he wasn’t someone I knew, but he surprised me. He has all the qualities I enjoy in a male protagonist. He’s protective (not only of the Forgotten), but he becomes protective of Katya. He’s possessive at times but doesn’t even realize it until someone finally mentions it to him. He’s ruthless and will do anything to protect who harmed Katya and anyone in the Forgotten. There are several other qualities, but that are the main ones that won me over. He is reluctant to trust Katya at first until he learns what happened to her.
I liked Katya, but she drove me crazy at times, especially running away. Did she not realize she would be caught? Dev is not someone who will let her run away. She’s been through a. lot, and I felt for her character. She was tortured and damaged by one of the scariest Psy Council members, and I wanted to get revenge for her. She tried to protect everyone from herself, so I can understand at the end of her not wanting to be around anymore. She almost made me mad at a scene involving the Psy Council member who messed her up and Dev. I thought she had become a traitor.

The best parts of the book were the Petrokov Family archive letters and the shocking ending. The letters actually told readers how and why the Forgotten chose not to be a part of the PsyNet. It was great to learn more about them. The ending was the best. It was a tearjerker at first, but then it became a good kind of tearjerker. I was amazed at who saved the day in the end. (I’m not spoiling for anyone who hasn’t read this book). All I’m going to say is it involves Katya and saving her.
Yes, there are some steamy scenes in this book. Katya has never known love before, but Dev will show her and prove to her what it is several times in the book. I loved this!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and gave it 4.5 stars. I was expecting not to like it since I didn’t know the characters and didn’t involve any Changeling characters, but this book surprised me. I should know better by now that Nalini Singh will never disappoint with her storylines and characters. This is why I can’t get enough of her books.

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Psy/Changeling series, and I would recommend reading in order.

Steaminess: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫

Trope: Fated Mates

HEA: Yes.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you enjoy Paranormal Romance and/or Science Fiction Romance, then you’ll enjoy this book/series.

One of these days, I will be caught up with this series because I need to know where Nalini Singh has taken this series. I’m so far behind, but I’m getting there. My goal in 2022 is to be caught up with this series finally. I was able to catch up on her Guild Hunter series, and I’m more determined than ever to be caught up with this series.

[Berls]

I can fully understand why Nalini Singh and this series are so popular. Here we are, 7 books in, and I'm continuing to enjoy the books. I know this one isn't a favorite for a lot of readers because we don't get as much of the Changlings, but I personally really enjoyed it still. I buddy read it with Anne again and she is also giving it 4 stars.

I think what I liked about Blaze of Memory the most was the deeper understanding of the Psy and also the Forgotten. I've come to a few new predictions (and one not new but more entrenched one) thanks to this book. So for me, it was very exciting and has me eager to see what will be happening moving forward in the series.

The romance was okay. I think probably because we don't have a Changling in the couple it had a different kind of connection and intensity. Personally I don't read for the romance near as much as the plot progression, so that absence didn't bother me. And there were some things about this romance that were sweet/moving in their own, different way. I will say, this was the first book that I started to think we might not get our HEA... but of course we did. And, in typical Nalini Singh fashion, in a very fast, slightly-unexplained fashion with lots of questions left hanging. I've come to expect that a bit and will wait to see if the next book and/or short stories answer those questions. I think they will.

And, as always with this series, I listened to the book with the fantastic narration from Angela Dawe. She continues to deliver a performance that lets me get lost in the story and characters, even at 2x speed.

[thebookdisciple]

Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh is book 7 in the series and it took me a bit to remember who these characters were! Dev and Katya are both introduced in book 4 and book 5 but they are very minor, secondary characters and so I really had to think hard in order to place them. Plus, it was stated that Katya died in a lab explosion. However, once I placed them, I was able to jump back into the story. Neither of these characters were quite as dynamic as some of the previous couples. Dev is a forgotten, a descendent of the Psy who left the Psy-net at the onset of the Silence Protocol. He isn't a full Psy, but he does have some residual psy powers. He runs the Shine foundation to help find children of the forgotten and ensure they are screened for any latent abilities. Katya was a scientist working with Ashaya, doing experiments on the children of the forgotten. She and Ashaya were not willingly doing the experimentation and now Katya has been programed by Counselor Ming to kill Dev.

Dev has a strange 'power' to interact with metal. You don't really get a lot of info about it until pretty late in the story. It plays very little role in the story so it just seemed a little odd. Dev was a difficult character for me to like to be honest. I just never quite connected with him.

Katya is very un-Psy like. I believe its because she has had her mind altered by Ming, but she craves touch. I actually liked Katya because she was a new take on the Psy in the series. Not only is she different in obvious ways, but she isn't a cardinal either. The previous Psy characters in the story are all very powerful. Katya is a mid level medic and telepath. It was nice to see a 'normal' Psy character.

Blaze of Memory was not my favorite of the series. I just didn't feel that the characters were as dynamic as the previous books and overall the story felt kind of static. However, I am so in love with the world of the Psy-Changeling series, I enjoyed just getting back into that aspect of it! I will admit, the way the story worked out in the end was not at all what I expected and had me serious worried about Katya!

You get more of Sasha and Lucas, Dorian and Ashaya, Judd and more. You find out more about Keenan and Noor, and you are introduced to William, a child of the forgotten with some major power. The story is really building towards a major revolution. I think if the story was more about all the developments, with Dev and Katya's story being a side plot, I would have enjoyed this more.

Narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Angela Dawe, the story really is performed instead of just read. Dawe does an amazing job and makes listening to these books a must!

 

• POV: 3rd


• Tears: yes


• Trope: amnesia


• Triggers: none


• Series/Standalone: series


• Cliffhanger: not for Katya and Dev but the overall arch of the story does still have lots of unanswered questions


• HEA: yes

Books by Ilona Andrews, Danika Dark, Christine Feehan...then you will probably like Blaze of Memory!

 

Blaze of Memory

 See full review on The Book Disciple

[Chelsea]

Not my favourite of the series but good all the same. I still love the characters and the plot is always interesting. I also really love how we get to see lots of characters from the previous books. It makes me happy seeing them again! I'm looking forward to continuing on with this series.

[wyvernfriend]

The ending was a little deus-ex-machina but knowing Singh there will be consequences for this later. Nothing is ever straightforward and ignorable.

Katya is almost presented to Dev on a plate, she's amnesiac and troubled, her mind is a mess and her shielding is almost impenetrable, however they both have a feeling that there's something wrong. Dev feels a need to help her, even if it should hurt him.

Katya is hurting, unsure of her sanity she's trying hard to deal with everything that's happening to her, unsure of what's been done to her and what she's going to do. She has nightmares and compulsions and her life will never be the same again.

The two of them are psionic, she was one of the silenced, but they betrayed her and the psy-net is breaking into pieces, more and more psions are going psycotic and there will have to be something done.

This is proving to be an interesting series, I liked this look at the opposing sides of the psionic battle, there are some appearances by shapeshifters in this one but most of it is the psions, and you learn more about the history of the psions and the changes in their lives when silence was embraced historically through some period journal entries. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next

[Linda]

3.5 stars. I liked this book a lot less than the other psy-changeling books. I guess Dev and Katya weren't the kind of couple that I could identify with, like I could with the others. Also, it was more predictable than the other books, so it made things less exciting.

However, the writing style is as good as ever, and Ms. Singh's way with words excellent.

[Melanie]

This story is completely different from others in the series. We really start to get a good look at the "Forgotten", Psy who defected from the PsyNet in the1970's. Up until this book, we know that the Forgotten exist, but we know little about them. It is really interesting to see how the Psy come to the desicion to go into Silence and how others chose to defect.