Vampire Book Club discussion

This week, I want to talk about the PsyNet. What the Changelings perceive, incorrectly, as a hive mind controlling the behavior of all the Psy is really a monitoring station. It's a way to make sure everyone is doing what they're told, to share energy and knowledge and acts as a massive information repository.

Still, it creeps me out. In fairness, I always find the idea of sentient computer systems/robots creepy and I got the impression—though it wasn't directly stated—that PsyNet was an entity in addition to being a collective.

What did you make of the mental web connecting all the Psy?

Will you want to learn more about it in future books or were you really just ready for more with the shifters?

Agreed, definitely creepy! The idea of never being able to have your own thoughts for fear of everyone knowing them. I guess it wouldn't be so creepy if, until like Sasha, you were totally unfeeling and had nothing to hide.

The stand out in the book for me was the changeling. The pack dynamics were fascinating!

I found the whole PsyNet kind of creepy as welll. Wouldn't want to think someone could enter my mind or monitor my behavior without my knowledge or awareness even.

That being said, although the shifters for me are the main focus, I would like to see more of the Psy in future books to see how Nalini Singh keeps the interactions between the two groups, if more of them defect and possibly if they begin to change the way the whole Psy population function by more interaction with the changelings.

I don't want to say much because I read some of the series a while ago and can't remember what was revealed when, but I definitely think the way the PsyNet is set up (in the first book) is really creepy. I would hate even my thoughts being monitored.

I want to answer your questions! but I think i'll be spoiling future books for you so i'll keep my mouth shut (a miracle, I know =p) Just keep reading the series! It gets cool! You get more Psy and Changeling so everyone will be pleased =p

Heh. Ladies, I promise, we'll talk more about the changelings in-depth soon. I wanted to give everyone a chance to get a little more into the book before we started talking about those delicious pack animals. :)

I'm with Jill, I can't answer the questions without giving too much away! Slave to Sensation was actually not the first Psy-Changeling book I read (I read them out of order, started with Kiss of Snow)and it's really interesting to see how the PsyNet evolves over time. I love the way Singh describes it, you can almost imagine these sort of holographic images of the Council standing around in this star-strewn room, like they're in space or something. And then you compare it to the bond the alphas have with their sentinels, and, and, it just gets so damn cool!

As Jill and Amanda I read the next series books and my lips are sealed, no spoilers. Thank to sascha we can say the Psy can hide Big surprise and the changeling are very sensual creatures.
When I read the first time Slave to Sensation I thought about Psynet and I find it a little weird, I'M a very private person and that kind of sharing about yourself is beyond creepy. It remainds me the movie Matrix and and a little of George Orwell's 1984.

As the book progressed I thought that PsyNet got creepier and creepier. The fact that they can almost enslave you within your mind and even kill you with their mind without you really being able to do anything about it is disturbing.

While I liked the Changelings, at this point, they are very similar to a lot of other shifter dynamic that I'm used to reading in other books / series. I don't know if this will develop differently as the series goes on though. So while the whole PsyNet thing is creepy I thought that Singh did her own spin on the idea and I'm very interested to see how it develops. What more is there to learn? I mean obviously even Sascha didn't know everything going on within PsyNet.

Thats what I like about this book ^_^ Sasha is so easy to understand, despite her curiousity you can feel her fear of the Net, and not being able to escape it. I love when the changelings describe it as a 'hive' mind; it reminded me of the borg lol

I can't believe that even though i love the Guild Hunter series i had never read this series. Where have i been? I also found the PsyNet creepy when i started the book with all the talk about how it could kill you and you wouldn't even realize that you are being targeted. In the end though the Centre was what creeped me out the most.