Storyline

Well Robby I was right after all.
Sorry couldn't help myself, had to rub it in.

You mean Daragar right. As for your theory, if she were a Larentii she would be blue and huge.
Sorry man I think your theory is a bit far-fetched IMHO.
Of course with Connie anything is possible.

RKET. I wasn't saying she is a laurentii just suggesting it as an outside possibility and suggesting that Connie was dragging it as a red herring. Daragar obviously knows what/who she is, my personal favorite theory is she is some kind of pre power that be or some such or she is a reincarnation of the dead God Liron, however I won't rule out she could still be the child of Camryns and Elebeth's daughter but was altered by Liron for some reason and hence the apparent no connection DNA wise.

As a cell/molecular biologist, this book drove me even nuttier than Connie's books normally do (I do not even want to THINK about what will happen when she rolls out her R-D series), which, if asked before I read it, I would have said was impossible. That said, I'll start with some general thoughts with regards to the comments made by others that posted before me.

A.) I immediately thought of Roff and Toff (winged vampires) when the Avii were first described, which seemed to me to be the closest thing to the Avii that we have run across in Connie's books so far. Though, of course, so far there haven't been any female winged vamps described because there aren't any yet in Roff's line and we haven't run across any (male or female) from the only other known line yet.
B.) Given all of Finder's gifts, which I would say are equal to, if they do not surpass, Ashes' at the same age (even Breanne didn't develop most of hers until AFTER she was a vamp and much older, while Charles' took even longer), I would be more surprised to learn that she isn't a VERY high ranking god than not a god at all.
C.) One of my first thoughts once we learned that Finder's DNA didn't match that of anyone else on the planet (and after it was confirmed that this book takes place after the god wars) was that she was one of the children that was saved and relocated by one of the faithful gods during the destruction of one of those planets that were not worth saving. Then too, Breanne did a lot of shuffling of populations when she was recreating worlds after the god wars were over so that also seemed to be a possibility. A third possibility that occurred to me after I read the book a second time revolved around the "not meant to be sentient" description of the book. This theory is a bit further out there since it involved Finder being a byproduct of the saving who evolved beyond whatever had occurred in the past savings (the timing of her birth/creation seemed to fit with the last saving).
D.) I would find it difficult to believe that Liron died because of the organism infecting the planet given that he was a god and so far even on Fyris, the most infected continent, only the weakest (the very old and young) are dying of the disease. What I did wonder was if he was killed somehow in the god wars.
E.) As for the beatings, I do not enjoy the protags getting beaten; however, in Finder's case Connie seemed to be using the beatings to illustrate class distinctions rather than the more personal beatings that were handed out to Rhea, Lissa, and Breanne by their family members. The key difference is that both societies (Fyris and the Avii) condoned the beating of the lower castes and Finder had even less status than even they because of her supposed half blood status. I will also add that my western sensibilities were as offended as those of everyone else's and then I realized that there are societies even today that condone much the same, particularly where women are concerned. What I found more interesting was Finder's emerging sense of right and wrong that was evolving throughout the book.

Ohhh, I forgot to add the question of whether Finder is the one that Breanne was thinking of sending after the Sirenali, which she mentioned at the end of Blood Finale?
Ohhh, and for the poster thinking that Amlis was a possible mate I thought there were several obvious inferences that he is gay???

Phoenixtake2, thank you! Now some comments to your comments.
A) No, I did not think of Roff and Toff: Infilathi's wings are like those of bats (think of Nissa playing with Toff's wings), they are soft and leathery, no feathers. My only association remains Edward Pendley as the War Eagle for the Elemaiya. The war in the Demon's Dream: "…two creatures appeared… One unfurled golden wings - the other, feathered wings of solid black."
B ) agreed
C) I like the third theory the best, it is so deliciously wild!
D) I did not imply that Liron died because of (= poisoned by) the organism infecting the planet; my question was - is there any connection (like being killed by the evil force/god that imported/developed this organism, or even sacrificing himself to weaken/limit the influence of it, etc.)
E) agreed
Ohhh-1, wow! Why not?
Ohhh-2: OK, I must re-read the book for the third time… I never noticed these obvious inferences, sorry...

Leena

A.) See., this is why discussions are fun because I wasn't thinking of the wing textures at all but instead was only considering the fact that neither the winged vamps nor the Avii are shape shifters but are what they are all of the time.
D.) Gotcha. I never considered importation/development (always a possibility and an oversight on my part) because nasty organisms occur naturally enough without anyones helping hand.

Ohhh-2: I was considering such things as when Amlis' fiance was being a jealous heifer and Finder looked and thought that she should be far more concerned about his male page that he took everywhere with him than the girls cleaning his room.

Interesting thoughts …