"Winter is coming..."
For those A-Song-of-Ice-and-Fire enthusiasts (druggies) amongst us, George R.R. Martin updated his progress on his latest ASOIAF book, A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, and unveiled a *new* sample chapter. The Tyrion and Daenerys sample chapters appeared previously but now we receive a sample chapter from my favorite character, and probably the most cliche as well: Jon Snow.
The Dance goes on...
Sample chapter
I knew what happens in that first Jon-Snow chapter a while ago from spoilers on the asoiaf.westeros.org boards.
In case you have no idea what this series is about, it's intense, it's fantasy for adults, it's hard-hitting, it's adventurous, it's political, it's epic, it's extremely well written, it's character-driven and you won't read anything like it. The words "Winter is coming" never fail to give me the chills. Just skip A Feast for Crows which I'm hoping was a bad hiccup in the series.
A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin
1. A Game of Thrones (****)
2. A Clash of Kings (***)
3. A Storm of Swords (*****)
4. A Feast for Crows (*)
5. A Dance with Dragons ~ Fall 2008, at the earliest
My guess for ADWD? More like fall of 2009.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Reviews of some erotica
Since we're talking about erotica here, I'm going to do a quick and dirty lowdown. The ratings below mainly reflect degree of eroticism. Much erotica delves into a paranormal realm just like the following four.
Secret Thirst, by Evangeline Anderson (*****)
This one is extremely hot and more often than not, it's the words the characters say that make it so erotic, not necessarily the action. I hear Anderson primarily scripts stories of surrender in some fashion. This one is hot without avid descriptions of perfect (and huge) male anatomy, which is rare. Our heroine Lauren's immunity to vampire "mind tricks" and other vampire powers places her in grave danger. The tortured vampire Kris abducts Lauren for her protection and she must play his concubine at a pleasure house. I thought a love resonated from the intensity of the sex scenes and the way Kris loves and cherishes Lauren. The writing never meanders too far away from its erotic intent -- it's hot for gals and guys alike.
Oath of Seduction Seducing Sharon, by Marly Chance (*)
I started reading this one after SECRET THIRST, and it just didn't hold a candle to Anderson's SECRET THIRST. Too many things to dislike, especially from a guy's perspective. One, Earth guys have long since failed to satiate their women, and the women must turn to another planet where there's plenty of men but a shortage of women. When a woman turns to this other planet for pleasure (or a "mating" as the alien man would describe it to make it appear like love), she has one of three choices: seduction, challenge and a third oath which I'm forgetting. Sharon chooses seduction and her hunky 8-inch cock-man is Liken. Our heroine, in the throws of passion, pauses to accurately note the exact length of the cartoon pimp's engorged cock. Liken, Sharon and a future hero (Tair) share a sexual experience in the same room to conclude the story. Nothing like two cocks to double your pleasure! This one too attempts to mix in shades of a "love" between Sharon and Liken, but the entire read seemed too much like the pimp servicing the sexual appetites of our librarian heroine Sharon. The carnal scenes were pretty boring actually. This story is strictly for women, if for anyone at all. Other than the language and the ending featuring a semi- menage a trois, I found the story's love scenes fairly tame.
Slave to Sensation, by Nalini Singh (*)
This one has more to do with shape-shifting. I found Singh's attempt to build her world of telekinetic beings, shape shifters and regular humans a very anemic affair. I thought the story loses focus and aimlessly spurts in sundry directions. The characters are unique though. We have our honey-skinned heroine Sascha Duncan, a powerful Psy trained to feel no emotion. Our shapeshifter hero Lucas is on the other end of the emotional spectrum. He's the "alpha" leader of his pack of panther shapeshifters (they call pack leaders alphas). The plotting wants to go beyond the common, get-it-on erotica but I thought it failed miserably. For an erotica, the book abstains from explicit language (the only story that can make this claim from this lot). Sascha and Lucas must work together on a architectural building project which represents a cooperative effort between the DarkRiver (panther) Changelings and Psy. Meanwhile, many Changeling packs hold the Psy responsible for the disappearance and consequent murder of many Changeling females. There really aren't that many scenes of passion in this. Again, a weak effort overall.
Kiss of the Night, by Sylvia Day (***)
Like SECRET THIRST, the carnal scenes and explicit language pervade the reading experience. It's basically a bodyguard story with avid descriptions of both the monster-cock guy and hot, blond woman. Like Sylvia Day's ASK FOR IT (**), the carnal scenes are definitely hot here, but the chemistry and connection didn't live up to ASK FOR IT, much less Anderson's SECRET THIRST.
Secret Thirst, by Evangeline Anderson (*****)
This one is extremely hot and more often than not, it's the words the characters say that make it so erotic, not necessarily the action. I hear Anderson primarily scripts stories of surrender in some fashion. This one is hot without avid descriptions of perfect (and huge) male anatomy, which is rare. Our heroine Lauren's immunity to vampire "mind tricks" and other vampire powers places her in grave danger. The tortured vampire Kris abducts Lauren for her protection and she must play his concubine at a pleasure house. I thought a love resonated from the intensity of the sex scenes and the way Kris loves and cherishes Lauren. The writing never meanders too far away from its erotic intent -- it's hot for gals and guys alike.
Oath of Seduction Seducing Sharon, by Marly Chance (*)
I started reading this one after SECRET THIRST, and it just didn't hold a candle to Anderson's SECRET THIRST. Too many things to dislike, especially from a guy's perspective. One, Earth guys have long since failed to satiate their women, and the women must turn to another planet where there's plenty of men but a shortage of women. When a woman turns to this other planet for pleasure (or a "mating" as the alien man would describe it to make it appear like love), she has one of three choices: seduction, challenge and a third oath which I'm forgetting. Sharon chooses seduction and her hunky 8-inch cock-man is Liken. Our heroine, in the throws of passion, pauses to accurately note the exact length of the cartoon pimp's engorged cock. Liken, Sharon and a future hero (Tair) share a sexual experience in the same room to conclude the story. Nothing like two cocks to double your pleasure! This one too attempts to mix in shades of a "love" between Sharon and Liken, but the entire read seemed too much like the pimp servicing the sexual appetites of our librarian heroine Sharon. The carnal scenes were pretty boring actually. This story is strictly for women, if for anyone at all. Other than the language and the ending featuring a semi- menage a trois, I found the story's love scenes fairly tame.
Slave to Sensation, by Nalini Singh (*)
This one has more to do with shape-shifting. I found Singh's attempt to build her world of telekinetic beings, shape shifters and regular humans a very anemic affair. I thought the story loses focus and aimlessly spurts in sundry directions. The characters are unique though. We have our honey-skinned heroine Sascha Duncan, a powerful Psy trained to feel no emotion. Our shapeshifter hero Lucas is on the other end of the emotional spectrum. He's the "alpha" leader of his pack of panther shapeshifters (they call pack leaders alphas). The plotting wants to go beyond the common, get-it-on erotica but I thought it failed miserably. For an erotica, the book abstains from explicit language (the only story that can make this claim from this lot). Sascha and Lucas must work together on a architectural building project which represents a cooperative effort between the DarkRiver (panther) Changelings and Psy. Meanwhile, many Changeling packs hold the Psy responsible for the disappearance and consequent murder of many Changeling females. There really aren't that many scenes of passion in this. Again, a weak effort overall.
Kiss of the Night, by Sylvia Day (***)
Like SECRET THIRST, the carnal scenes and explicit language pervade the reading experience. It's basically a bodyguard story with avid descriptions of both the monster-cock guy and hot, blond woman. Like Sylvia Day's ASK FOR IT (**), the carnal scenes are definitely hot here, but the chemistry and connection didn't live up to ASK FOR IT, much less Anderson's SECRET THIRST.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
I Am Legend [3]
***/***** (3/5)
I caught Francis Lawrence's big-screen rendition of Richard Matheson's highly-acclaimed 1997 novel I AM LEGEND and I have to say I was entertained. If you're fan of zombie movies and Will Smith like I am, this is definitely one to check out. It contains the requisite slow-quiet-but-suddenly-loud-fast moments which prompt the jumpy jolts from girlfriends or wives clutching for your arm. Will Smith plays Col. Robert Neville, the highest-ranking doctor in the army, and his performance conveyed a palpable mix of insanity, desperation and genius. It seemed like Will Smith bulked up for this one, I haven't seen him so ripped before. There's a couple other actors, but the zombie action/horror and Will Smith's character Neville take center stage. As much as I liked the movie for its jumpy-jerky moments, I can't say the movie proved any more entertaining than some other zombie movies I've seen in the past, namely 28 DAYS LATER. I AM LEGEND definitely featured a hodge-podge of scenes from weird and slow-developing to tense and thrilling. From the time the movie spent portraying Neville's humanity in the face death and chaos, it also appeared to followed Matheson's book fairly well (though I haven't read the book). Watching I AM LEGEND, I thought: Charlie Huston's slick vampire/zombie book ALREADY DEAD (***) deserves a Hollywood version!
The Premise.
In 2009, a virus originally created by mankind to completely cure cancer has mutated, going airborne and wiping out 588 million people worldwide. In 2012, the virus has reached epidemic proportions with a very small percentage of people completely resistant to the virus. Most of those totally resistant to the virus fall prey to those infected by the virus. Those infected by the virus exhibit preternaturally aggressive behavior with all of their body functions tremendously accelerated including their respiratory systems. These "zombies" have lost all humanity and feel the simple need to feed, feed, feed. They're susceptible, however, to ultraviolet radiation and consequently cannot abide sunlight. For the first half the movie, we see our protagonist Robert Neville cope with catastrophic and horrific conditions in a desolate New York City interspersed by flashbacks chronicling how he got there and what happened to his family. Neville, as far as we can tell, is the last man on Earth completely resistant to the virus. Both a military colonel and a doctor, Neville possesses the conditioning, knowledge and wisdom to combat both the virus and its infected hosts.
Neville operates a laboratory in the basement of his NYC apartment for research, desperately trying to find a cure. His only companion is his beloved dog Sam and we can sense what being alone has done to Robert Neville. He's on the brink of insanity: talking to mannequins, his dog Sam and to himself. Real meat is scarce as Sam-the-dog and Neville subsist on a high-protein diet. At night, he shutters his apartment with reinforced steel and tries to forget the noises and horrors that lie outside when the zombies come out to play. When an infected test rat (subject #9 or was it #6?) shows signs towards curing, Neville is ready to test on an infected human, or zombie. Things go terribly awry when a trap he sets to catch one of the zombies sets the same trap for him the next day.
The movie is intense, slow-and-jumpy, horrifying and thrilling. I enjoyed it.
I caught Francis Lawrence's big-screen rendition of Richard Matheson's highly-acclaimed 1997 novel I AM LEGEND and I have to say I was entertained. If you're fan of zombie movies and Will Smith like I am, this is definitely one to check out. It contains the requisite slow-quiet-but-suddenly-loud-fast moments which prompt the jumpy jolts from girlfriends or wives clutching for your arm. Will Smith plays Col. Robert Neville, the highest-ranking doctor in the army, and his performance conveyed a palpable mix of insanity, desperation and genius. It seemed like Will Smith bulked up for this one, I haven't seen him so ripped before. There's a couple other actors, but the zombie action/horror and Will Smith's character Neville take center stage. As much as I liked the movie for its jumpy-jerky moments, I can't say the movie proved any more entertaining than some other zombie movies I've seen in the past, namely 28 DAYS LATER. I AM LEGEND definitely featured a hodge-podge of scenes from weird and slow-developing to tense and thrilling. From the time the movie spent portraying Neville's humanity in the face death and chaos, it also appeared to followed Matheson's book fairly well (though I haven't read the book). Watching I AM LEGEND, I thought: Charlie Huston's slick vampire/zombie book ALREADY DEAD (***) deserves a Hollywood version!
The Premise.
In 2009, a virus originally created by mankind to completely cure cancer has mutated, going airborne and wiping out 588 million people worldwide. In 2012, the virus has reached epidemic proportions with a very small percentage of people completely resistant to the virus. Most of those totally resistant to the virus fall prey to those infected by the virus. Those infected by the virus exhibit preternaturally aggressive behavior with all of their body functions tremendously accelerated including their respiratory systems. These "zombies" have lost all humanity and feel the simple need to feed, feed, feed. They're susceptible, however, to ultraviolet radiation and consequently cannot abide sunlight. For the first half the movie, we see our protagonist Robert Neville cope with catastrophic and horrific conditions in a desolate New York City interspersed by flashbacks chronicling how he got there and what happened to his family. Neville, as far as we can tell, is the last man on Earth completely resistant to the virus. Both a military colonel and a doctor, Neville possesses the conditioning, knowledge and wisdom to combat both the virus and its infected hosts.
Neville operates a laboratory in the basement of his NYC apartment for research, desperately trying to find a cure. His only companion is his beloved dog Sam and we can sense what being alone has done to Robert Neville. He's on the brink of insanity: talking to mannequins, his dog Sam and to himself. Real meat is scarce as Sam-the-dog and Neville subsist on a high-protein diet. At night, he shutters his apartment with reinforced steel and tries to forget the noises and horrors that lie outside when the zombies come out to play. When an infected test rat (subject #9 or was it #6?) shows signs towards curing, Neville is ready to test on an infected human, or zombie. Things go terribly awry when a trap he sets to catch one of the zombies sets the same trap for him the next day.
The movie is intense, slow-and-jumpy, horrifying and thrilling. I enjoyed it.
Monday, December 24, 2007
The Shadow and the Star, by Laura Kinsale [3]
***/***** (3/5)
Laura Kinsale sure doesn't believe in half measures. From what I've seen in three of her books so far, all of her characters are unique and her stories intense, every single one of them extreme cases of a trite plot in romance. I have to say that Kinsale breaths much needed life into trite romance plots. It's a wonder when a romance novel really tells a story beyond the sexually-experienced hero deflowering the innocent virgin. In THE SHADOW AND THE STAR, Laura Kinsale takes the tortured-soul-hero-with-demons routine to an emotional-angst extreme with her pretty-boy hero Samuel Gerard.. Kinsale's writing and prose enrich the reading experience tremendously and it's so nice to read her after so many poor romance novels. Kinsale skillfully sets the scene, builds the tension and concludes very satisfactorily. The oriental flavor and Hawaiian settings are nothing short of magnificent. I officially love all of Kinsale's endings from three of her books: SHADOWHEART (***), FLOWERS FROM THE STORM (****) and now, THE SHADOW AND THE STAR.
It's a tribute to Kinsale's characterizations and writing that even though all three of her heroines in the novels above are virgins, they still manage to stand out separately. Kinsale puts her heroes through a unique hell as well, and that too is delicious. I liked the way Kinsale flashed to Samuel's warrior training every other chapter for the first half of the novel and slowly but surely brought his perspective to the present. Our heroine Leda's subservience may rub some readers the wrong way, but if you can get past that, Leda's humor is something else. Leda's propriety and manners even during the most obscene circumstances proves absolutely hilarious. In Kinsale's note to her readers in this 449-page paperback, she reveals her inspiration for Leda's character: "[Leda] embodied the steadfast, kind and courageous ladies...the circle of grandmother and aunts and their friends in a small Texas town. Proper, generous, proud, sure of what was right and what was wrong..." And certainly, the circle of South Street ladies and their culture resonates in this book. I found Leda obstinately clinging to her propriety and morals in the most bizarre of circumstances and situations absolutely hilarious. Even after marriage, she continues to call her husband, "Dear Sir..." Leda is innocent, funny, proper, loyal to a fault and so caring and compassionate, any guy would give the world to her. And she would deserve it. Leda's humor is the highlight of the novel, and the book consequently belongs to Leda Etoile. That the novel belongs to Leda is even more astonishing given the inspiration for THE SHADOW AND THE STAR derives from Samuel's brief appearance in THE HIDDEN HEART which points the spotlight on Lady Tess and Gryphon Meridon.
"Really, I should like to have my own garden, with a fish pond in it, full of goldfish with tails like silk. Do you ever think of things such as that, Mr. Gerard? Whatever do gentlemen think about, I wonder?" She pondered the question, and answered herself. "Political difficulties, I suppose. It must be very trying and dull to be a man."
My problems with this novel stem from a pacing standpoint and the heavy reliance on the Ashland characters (characters from the prior book THE HIDDEN HEART). If you thought FLOWERS FROM THE STORM slow-developing, you'll find THE SHADOW AND THE STAR much more so. In fact, I thought this book never found its drive until the finale. This book also contains elements of the supernatural which fog the action sequences.
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
Our tortured hero Samuel Gerard is described as a handsomely perfect Gabriel and he harbors a lot of emotional angst over an abusive childhood. After Lady Tess takes in the young boy Samuel as part of her family, he grows up in a caring environment at Hawaii and under the tutelage of his martial arts master Dojun (originally the Ashlands' butler). Years later, at 27-28, the Ashlands and Samuel return to England. In a dressmaker's shop, Samuel's beauty awes Leda Etoile. In London, martial arts expert Samuel plants filched valuable items in shoddy establishments to uncover their underhanded practices. Practically invisible to Leda, Samuel utilizes Leda's cramped upper floor apartment as a haven during his heists. An injury to his leg prohibits Samuel from returning a stolen sword mount (the hilt).
Strained finances and unwanted advances compel Leda to accept Samuel's proposition of a position as his secretary. Things progress from there and despite the fact that Samuel has always envisioned marrying Lady Tess' daughter Kai (Lady Katherine), a publicized night of passion joins Samuel and Leda in marriage instead. Samuel and Leda's union represents a first in the romance genre for me: both are virgins. Kinsale handles it very delicately, very sweetly as both of their innocence wrenches your heart.
Events shift to Hawaii towards the second half of the novel as Leda outfits the beautiful home Samuel has built there. The stolen sword mount and Dojun's purpose takes center stage and the action finally starts to pick up. Japanese legends, martial arts and the Hawaiian backdrop lend this a refreshing romantic reading experience. Not to mention the very unique characters: Leda's hilarious propriety and Samuel's anguished emotional angst.
Another excellent offering from an adept author.
Laura Kinsale sure doesn't believe in half measures. From what I've seen in three of her books so far, all of her characters are unique and her stories intense, every single one of them extreme cases of a trite plot in romance. I have to say that Kinsale breaths much needed life into trite romance plots. It's a wonder when a romance novel really tells a story beyond the sexually-experienced hero deflowering the innocent virgin. In THE SHADOW AND THE STAR, Laura Kinsale takes the tortured-soul-hero-with-demons routine to an emotional-angst extreme with her pretty-boy hero Samuel Gerard.. Kinsale's writing and prose enrich the reading experience tremendously and it's so nice to read her after so many poor romance novels. Kinsale skillfully sets the scene, builds the tension and concludes very satisfactorily. The oriental flavor and Hawaiian settings are nothing short of magnificent. I officially love all of Kinsale's endings from three of her books: SHADOWHEART (***), FLOWERS FROM THE STORM (****) and now, THE SHADOW AND THE STAR.
It's a tribute to Kinsale's characterizations and writing that even though all three of her heroines in the novels above are virgins, they still manage to stand out separately. Kinsale puts her heroes through a unique hell as well, and that too is delicious. I liked the way Kinsale flashed to Samuel's warrior training every other chapter for the first half of the novel and slowly but surely brought his perspective to the present. Our heroine Leda's subservience may rub some readers the wrong way, but if you can get past that, Leda's humor is something else. Leda's propriety and manners even during the most obscene circumstances proves absolutely hilarious. In Kinsale's note to her readers in this 449-page paperback, she reveals her inspiration for Leda's character: "[Leda] embodied the steadfast, kind and courageous ladies...the circle of grandmother and aunts and their friends in a small Texas town. Proper, generous, proud, sure of what was right and what was wrong..." And certainly, the circle of South Street ladies and their culture resonates in this book. I found Leda obstinately clinging to her propriety and morals in the most bizarre of circumstances and situations absolutely hilarious. Even after marriage, she continues to call her husband, "Dear Sir..." Leda is innocent, funny, proper, loyal to a fault and so caring and compassionate, any guy would give the world to her. And she would deserve it. Leda's humor is the highlight of the novel, and the book consequently belongs to Leda Etoile. That the novel belongs to Leda is even more astonishing given the inspiration for THE SHADOW AND THE STAR derives from Samuel's brief appearance in THE HIDDEN HEART which points the spotlight on Lady Tess and Gryphon Meridon.
"Really, I should like to have my own garden, with a fish pond in it, full of goldfish with tails like silk. Do you ever think of things such as that, Mr. Gerard? Whatever do gentlemen think about, I wonder?" She pondered the question, and answered herself. "Political difficulties, I suppose. It must be very trying and dull to be a man."
My problems with this novel stem from a pacing standpoint and the heavy reliance on the Ashland characters (characters from the prior book THE HIDDEN HEART). If you thought FLOWERS FROM THE STORM slow-developing, you'll find THE SHADOW AND THE STAR much more so. In fact, I thought this book never found its drive until the finale. This book also contains elements of the supernatural which fog the action sequences.
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
Our tortured hero Samuel Gerard is described as a handsomely perfect Gabriel and he harbors a lot of emotional angst over an abusive childhood. After Lady Tess takes in the young boy Samuel as part of her family, he grows up in a caring environment at Hawaii and under the tutelage of his martial arts master Dojun (originally the Ashlands' butler). Years later, at 27-28, the Ashlands and Samuel return to England. In a dressmaker's shop, Samuel's beauty awes Leda Etoile. In London, martial arts expert Samuel plants filched valuable items in shoddy establishments to uncover their underhanded practices. Practically invisible to Leda, Samuel utilizes Leda's cramped upper floor apartment as a haven during his heists. An injury to his leg prohibits Samuel from returning a stolen sword mount (the hilt).
Strained finances and unwanted advances compel Leda to accept Samuel's proposition of a position as his secretary. Things progress from there and despite the fact that Samuel has always envisioned marrying Lady Tess' daughter Kai (Lady Katherine), a publicized night of passion joins Samuel and Leda in marriage instead. Samuel and Leda's union represents a first in the romance genre for me: both are virgins. Kinsale handles it very delicately, very sweetly as both of their innocence wrenches your heart.
Events shift to Hawaii towards the second half of the novel as Leda outfits the beautiful home Samuel has built there. The stolen sword mount and Dojun's purpose takes center stage and the action finally starts to pick up. Japanese legends, martial arts and the Hawaiian backdrop lend this a refreshing romantic reading experience. Not to mention the very unique characters: Leda's hilarious propriety and Samuel's anguished emotional angst.
Another excellent offering from an adept author.
Enslaved, by Hope Tarr [1]
*/***** (1/5)
Hope Tarr's ENSLAVED showcases its sexually-experienced showgirl heroine enslaving her honorable, handsome hero Gavin Carmichael. I'd characterize Gavin Carmichael as a regular doormat of a hero and the novel represents another case of grinding an honorable guy to dirt for a sexually accomplished heroine (apparently, in the romance genre being an honorable guy loving a sexually-experienced heroine means he has to debase himself for her). As much as the book likes to think the enslaving was mutual, all the evidence points elsewhere: Gavin's instant lust and shock at any number of Daisy's staged lascivious gestures and outfits, his lovesick thoughts (relatively early), his gentle tenderness, his monetary protection, his support of her acting career, his suffocating need of Daisy in the long-term, the book's detailed account of Gavin going down on Daisy every single time to persuade her to stay with him long-term, Gavin loving Daisy's daughter and taking her in as though she's his own daughter, Gavin returning to Daisy after one of her lies and rejections, etc., etc., etc. What exactly is Daisy bringing to the table here? Her sexual expertise? Please. Certainly isn't love, affection, caring, honesty, trust and loyalty. Daisy relishes controlling Gavin like the lovesick lapdog that he is and even when he's repeatedly going down on her, it's a form of manipulation (because he wants to give her pleasure to convince her to stay with him forever).
Another reviewer said guys could read this book. I strongly disagree, I wanted to tear my eyes out from the emotional melodrama mostly chronicling Gavin's lovesick angst (like a virginal heroine) and Daisy's (s)exploits/fear of commitment (like a libertine hero). This book's message: no matter how badly you treat a besotted, honorable guy and how many times, don't worry, he'll come back to you so feel free to keep running roughshod all over him. Tarr's previous book VANQUISHED (**) featured a gripping plot dealing with the women's suffrage movement and the villain contracting the hero to destroy the heroine's reputation. all of which paralleled a budding romance. ENSLAVED, however, offers little more than juvenile misconceptions, misunderstandings and cliched introspective thoughts we've seen from a myriad of other romance novel characters. The writing in this one, though above average, deteriorated from VANQUISHED significantly, the settings are nonexistent and the plotting is a big stinker (adolescent musings and predictably trite). Again, Hope Tarr doesn't shy away from brassy carnal scenes, though ENSLAVED's lead pair severely lacked the passion and chemistry portrayed between VANQUISHED's h/h. The positive? Well the book is a page-turner and definitely qualifies as a mindless, vacuous read which you might find enjoyable if you're not so annoyed by the plotting and disgusted by the lovesick puppy dog hero as I was.
Possible SPOILERS ahead.
No guy would put up with Daisy's shit and continue to pursue and protect her like Gavin does. If she wants a simple fuck partner, fine, screw her and be done with it already. But of course our honorable hero is a glutton for punishment and returns to be abused again and again. I grew tired of the constant references to Daisy's past lovers. I think one or two references is fine since there's a natural inclination, but not 100! Also consider Daisy's thoughts comparing how wet she is from Gavin's touch compared to her past lovers. The book is more interested in having Daisy contrast and compare Gavin with Daisy's past lovers than build any meaningful chemistry and romance between Gavin and Daisy. Daisy contrasts her eight prior liaisons ending with her current affair 252 pages into the novel.
When her other liaisons ended, it was usually with a minimum of bother and a suitably expensive parting gift. No lover from her past had managed to make her feel so wholly miserable, so utterly lost.
And here I am thinking: you know what, Daisy, I really don't give a shit about you. You've consistently failed to show Gavin the smallest fraction of the devoted loyalty, support, respect, tenderness and love he showers you with. I cannot relate to Gavin's gluttony for punishment time and time again and I simply can't abide Daisy's callous disregard for his feelings. I have no respect for a hero that clearly fails to have any self-respect and a little pride of his own.
"...stay with me, not only to see the week out but for always." --Gavin (p. 241)
After Daisy rejects Gavin's plea (again), Gavin resolves to just go down on her again and try to convince her to stay with him forever that way. I don't know about you, but sounds like a deft manipulation to me on Daisy's part to get him to pleasure her more. He's too lovesick to care.
When Gavin initially finds a letter in Daisy's room addressed to a "dearest darling Freddie," Gavin jumps to the wrong conclusions. Daisy perpetuates Gavin's misconceptions about Freddie and allows him to believe the worst while rubbing salt on his wounds.
"I see. You love this...Freddie. And yet you let me make love to you. No, not let me, seduced me, made me so mad for you I'm all but your slave. What was the point of it all?"
She had the effrontery to shrug. "A month is a long time to sleep alone. I wanted you. You wanted me. If we choose to barter our bodies, why shouldn't we? We're both adults. Where's the harm?"
She goes insofar to imply it doesn't mean anything (she did it before too). He storms out only to return for more of Daisy's shit. On p. 229 of this 376-page paperback, Gavin thinks, "He'd been making a great many assumptions lately, including that the passion and tenderness Daisy had shown him must mean she was as head-over-heels in love as he was." What tenderness has Daisy shown him? She's just manipulating his lovesick attentions to have him go down on her every time, what's she doing as a show of tenderness? All of the love scenes at this point has Gavin go down on her with Gavin constantly thinking (and I paraphrase): "he wanted to taste her, to lick her, to inhale her scent...", blah, blah, blah. Great for the female readership to get off, I'm sure. Immediately following the letter incident and his injury, Gavin reasons he needs to eat Daisy's pussy more to convince her to stay with him and not go back to this Freddie (p. 229). That "proximity and history" places him in the driver's seat to win Daisy's long-term commitment. After putting everything on the line for her prior and having her reject him, he comes back for more of Daisy's shit here and I just wanted to throw up. Enough already! I found myself begging for Gavin to be done with her and start fucking other women.
Ah but the torturous read gets worse. Following a lecture from Daisy's adoptive mother Flora regarding Daisy's fear of commitment on p. 256 (like so many libertine heroes), evidently Gavin needs a lecture of his own on his snobbish attitude (pp. 262 - 263). First, Gavin's friend Rourke reminds Gavin of Daisy's sexual experience (as if we could forget) and then admonishes Gavin on his lofty expectations so much like his evil grandfather. So after laying his heart on the line for Daisy, protecting her, supporting her, loving her, going down on her repeatedly for her pleasure alone, it's now unfair to expect a little honesty? Rourke advises Gavin to fight for Daisy (p. 263) as though he's been picking his nose this whole time. Gavin puts Daisy first in everything all the time. And after getting lied to and rejected (from a long-term commitment), it's Gavin who must beg and crawl on hands and knees to Daisy? How does that remotely compute? This is yet another case of grinding an honorable guy to dirt for a bitchy whore. In fact, Gavin's emotional angst and self-loathing over feeling bad about his "snobbishness" (pp. 264 - 266) far outweighs Daisy's self-reflection earlier. When Gavin comes calling to Daisy to beg her to take him back, it's as though she's doing him a favor to allow him to even talk (p. 272). After she takes him back for a week before her big show, she once again rejects (again again again) his marriage proposal and ring. No romantic victory is worth that kind of roughshod treatment, especially at the hands of someone like Daisy Lake.
The denouement depicts a heart-to-heart where again Gavin is begging and crawling for Daisy to have him after Daisy rejects his proposal for marriage. As an added bonus (as if he hasn't already given everything to her), he bestows her the deed to her very own theater. I was sickened by Gavin's incessant (and unwarranted) groveling for a woman who constantly lies to him and shuns him. It's a dumb and very trying pattern: they have some sex, she prevaricates and lies, misunderstandings exacerbate the situation because they never talk it out (until the very end), Gavin cannot stay away and comes begging and crawling back to her, they have more sex, rinse and repeat.
The plotting and introspection essentially reverses the common hero-and-heroine gender roles in the romance genre. Similar to Julia Ross's GAMES OF PLEASURE (*), the sexually accomplished and cynical heroine makes a mockery of the honorable, sex-crazed hero who is too witless to notice and too pathetic to care. Certainly, Gavin Carmichal is no self-respecting man and bereft of any semblance of pride. Gavin is always blushing, always shocked, and completely manipulated by Daisy. Daisy holds back any long-term commitment so he'll just go down on her every time and she'll enjoy his tongue and mouth on her pussy every single time.
She thought if they made love enough, sooner or later she'd be sated and ready to move on. Unfortunately, the very opposite was proving true. She couldn't seem to get enough of him...
A thought so reminiscent of libertine heroes, don't you think? Of course Daisy can't get enough of Gavin. Gavin wants nothing more than to eat Daisy's pussy 24/7, and as long as he's being manipulated to do it, hell, why not? Also consider, for example, Daisy sleeping the night away with Gavin following their first sex scene. No matter if sex with men (in general) lasted an hour or turned into an all-night fuck-fest, Daisy studiously sent her lovers away forbidding them to actually sleep with her (p. 187). Gavin, she allows to sleep with her. Just like notorious libertine heroes slumbering with their virginal heroines after their first night of sex and the libertine thinking how he's never cuddled and slept with any of his previous mistresses. Furthermore, there's some marks on Daisy's abdomen which Gavin starts to pet but Daisy pointedly censors. She eagerly wants him to touch and lick her everywhere except the abdomen. Just like a tortured hero forbidding his virginal heroine from touching some scars on his back, for example. All the plotting is the same, and I've seen it all countless times in other romance novels with the genders reversed. Which is why I cherish Madeline Hunter's unique depiction of her sexually experienced pair in STEALING HEAVEN (*****) so much.
I find romance novels concentrating on sexual experience and past lovers (like ENSLAVED) an empty, aggravating reading experience mostly. They tend to be repetitive because they have no real story to tell other than psychological introspection and trite plotting.
If, as Daisy says, lying and rejecting Gavin constantly hurts her more (p. 369), why then were all the moments when she's lying and rejecting him portrayed from Gavin's perspective highlighting his hurt? Just saying at the end that she hurt more doesn't make it so when all the evidence in the book points to the contrary. We're privy to Gavin's angst and hurt a lot more. And he didn't deserve it, she didn't deserve him!
Hope Tarr's ENSLAVED showcases its sexually-experienced showgirl heroine enslaving her honorable, handsome hero Gavin Carmichael. I'd characterize Gavin Carmichael as a regular doormat of a hero and the novel represents another case of grinding an honorable guy to dirt for a sexually accomplished heroine (apparently, in the romance genre being an honorable guy loving a sexually-experienced heroine means he has to debase himself for her). As much as the book likes to think the enslaving was mutual, all the evidence points elsewhere: Gavin's instant lust and shock at any number of Daisy's staged lascivious gestures and outfits, his lovesick thoughts (relatively early), his gentle tenderness, his monetary protection, his support of her acting career, his suffocating need of Daisy in the long-term, the book's detailed account of Gavin going down on Daisy every single time to persuade her to stay with him long-term, Gavin loving Daisy's daughter and taking her in as though she's his own daughter, Gavin returning to Daisy after one of her lies and rejections, etc., etc., etc. What exactly is Daisy bringing to the table here? Her sexual expertise? Please. Certainly isn't love, affection, caring, honesty, trust and loyalty. Daisy relishes controlling Gavin like the lovesick lapdog that he is and even when he's repeatedly going down on her, it's a form of manipulation (because he wants to give her pleasure to convince her to stay with him forever).
Another reviewer said guys could read this book. I strongly disagree, I wanted to tear my eyes out from the emotional melodrama mostly chronicling Gavin's lovesick angst (like a virginal heroine) and Daisy's (s)exploits/fear of commitment (like a libertine hero). This book's message: no matter how badly you treat a besotted, honorable guy and how many times, don't worry, he'll come back to you so feel free to keep running roughshod all over him. Tarr's previous book VANQUISHED (**) featured a gripping plot dealing with the women's suffrage movement and the villain contracting the hero to destroy the heroine's reputation. all of which paralleled a budding romance. ENSLAVED, however, offers little more than juvenile misconceptions, misunderstandings and cliched introspective thoughts we've seen from a myriad of other romance novel characters. The writing in this one, though above average, deteriorated from VANQUISHED significantly, the settings are nonexistent and the plotting is a big stinker (adolescent musings and predictably trite). Again, Hope Tarr doesn't shy away from brassy carnal scenes, though ENSLAVED's lead pair severely lacked the passion and chemistry portrayed between VANQUISHED's h/h. The positive? Well the book is a page-turner and definitely qualifies as a mindless, vacuous read which you might find enjoyable if you're not so annoyed by the plotting and disgusted by the lovesick puppy dog hero as I was.
Possible SPOILERS ahead.
No guy would put up with Daisy's shit and continue to pursue and protect her like Gavin does. If she wants a simple fuck partner, fine, screw her and be done with it already. But of course our honorable hero is a glutton for punishment and returns to be abused again and again. I grew tired of the constant references to Daisy's past lovers. I think one or two references is fine since there's a natural inclination, but not 100! Also consider Daisy's thoughts comparing how wet she is from Gavin's touch compared to her past lovers. The book is more interested in having Daisy contrast and compare Gavin with Daisy's past lovers than build any meaningful chemistry and romance between Gavin and Daisy. Daisy contrasts her eight prior liaisons ending with her current affair 252 pages into the novel.
When her other liaisons ended, it was usually with a minimum of bother and a suitably expensive parting gift. No lover from her past had managed to make her feel so wholly miserable, so utterly lost.
And here I am thinking: you know what, Daisy, I really don't give a shit about you. You've consistently failed to show Gavin the smallest fraction of the devoted loyalty, support, respect, tenderness and love he showers you with. I cannot relate to Gavin's gluttony for punishment time and time again and I simply can't abide Daisy's callous disregard for his feelings. I have no respect for a hero that clearly fails to have any self-respect and a little pride of his own.
"...stay with me, not only to see the week out but for always." --Gavin (p. 241)
After Daisy rejects Gavin's plea (again), Gavin resolves to just go down on her again and try to convince her to stay with him forever that way. I don't know about you, but sounds like a deft manipulation to me on Daisy's part to get him to pleasure her more. He's too lovesick to care.
When Gavin initially finds a letter in Daisy's room addressed to a "dearest darling Freddie," Gavin jumps to the wrong conclusions. Daisy perpetuates Gavin's misconceptions about Freddie and allows him to believe the worst while rubbing salt on his wounds.
"I see. You love this...Freddie. And yet you let me make love to you. No, not let me, seduced me, made me so mad for you I'm all but your slave. What was the point of it all?"
She had the effrontery to shrug. "A month is a long time to sleep alone. I wanted you. You wanted me. If we choose to barter our bodies, why shouldn't we? We're both adults. Where's the harm?"
She goes insofar to imply it doesn't mean anything (she did it before too). He storms out only to return for more of Daisy's shit. On p. 229 of this 376-page paperback, Gavin thinks, "He'd been making a great many assumptions lately, including that the passion and tenderness Daisy had shown him must mean she was as head-over-heels in love as he was." What tenderness has Daisy shown him? She's just manipulating his lovesick attentions to have him go down on her every time, what's she doing as a show of tenderness? All of the love scenes at this point has Gavin go down on her with Gavin constantly thinking (and I paraphrase): "he wanted to taste her, to lick her, to inhale her scent...", blah, blah, blah. Great for the female readership to get off, I'm sure. Immediately following the letter incident and his injury, Gavin reasons he needs to eat Daisy's pussy more to convince her to stay with him and not go back to this Freddie (p. 229). That "proximity and history" places him in the driver's seat to win Daisy's long-term commitment. After putting everything on the line for her prior and having her reject him, he comes back for more of Daisy's shit here and I just wanted to throw up. Enough already! I found myself begging for Gavin to be done with her and start fucking other women.
Ah but the torturous read gets worse. Following a lecture from Daisy's adoptive mother Flora regarding Daisy's fear of commitment on p. 256 (like so many libertine heroes), evidently Gavin needs a lecture of his own on his snobbish attitude (pp. 262 - 263). First, Gavin's friend Rourke reminds Gavin of Daisy's sexual experience (as if we could forget) and then admonishes Gavin on his lofty expectations so much like his evil grandfather. So after laying his heart on the line for Daisy, protecting her, supporting her, loving her, going down on her repeatedly for her pleasure alone, it's now unfair to expect a little honesty? Rourke advises Gavin to fight for Daisy (p. 263) as though he's been picking his nose this whole time. Gavin puts Daisy first in everything all the time. And after getting lied to and rejected (from a long-term commitment), it's Gavin who must beg and crawl on hands and knees to Daisy? How does that remotely compute? This is yet another case of grinding an honorable guy to dirt for a bitchy whore. In fact, Gavin's emotional angst and self-loathing over feeling bad about his "snobbishness" (pp. 264 - 266) far outweighs Daisy's self-reflection earlier. When Gavin comes calling to Daisy to beg her to take him back, it's as though she's doing him a favor to allow him to even talk (p. 272). After she takes him back for a week before her big show, she once again rejects (again again again) his marriage proposal and ring. No romantic victory is worth that kind of roughshod treatment, especially at the hands of someone like Daisy Lake.
The denouement depicts a heart-to-heart where again Gavin is begging and crawling for Daisy to have him after Daisy rejects his proposal for marriage. As an added bonus (as if he hasn't already given everything to her), he bestows her the deed to her very own theater. I was sickened by Gavin's incessant (and unwarranted) groveling for a woman who constantly lies to him and shuns him. It's a dumb and very trying pattern: they have some sex, she prevaricates and lies, misunderstandings exacerbate the situation because they never talk it out (until the very end), Gavin cannot stay away and comes begging and crawling back to her, they have more sex, rinse and repeat.
The plotting and introspection essentially reverses the common hero-and-heroine gender roles in the romance genre. Similar to Julia Ross's GAMES OF PLEASURE (*), the sexually accomplished and cynical heroine makes a mockery of the honorable, sex-crazed hero who is too witless to notice and too pathetic to care. Certainly, Gavin Carmichal is no self-respecting man and bereft of any semblance of pride. Gavin is always blushing, always shocked, and completely manipulated by Daisy. Daisy holds back any long-term commitment so he'll just go down on her every time and she'll enjoy his tongue and mouth on her pussy every single time.
She thought if they made love enough, sooner or later she'd be sated and ready to move on. Unfortunately, the very opposite was proving true. She couldn't seem to get enough of him...
A thought so reminiscent of libertine heroes, don't you think? Of course Daisy can't get enough of Gavin. Gavin wants nothing more than to eat Daisy's pussy 24/7, and as long as he's being manipulated to do it, hell, why not? Also consider, for example, Daisy sleeping the night away with Gavin following their first sex scene. No matter if sex with men (in general) lasted an hour or turned into an all-night fuck-fest, Daisy studiously sent her lovers away forbidding them to actually sleep with her (p. 187). Gavin, she allows to sleep with her. Just like notorious libertine heroes slumbering with their virginal heroines after their first night of sex and the libertine thinking how he's never cuddled and slept with any of his previous mistresses. Furthermore, there's some marks on Daisy's abdomen which Gavin starts to pet but Daisy pointedly censors. She eagerly wants him to touch and lick her everywhere except the abdomen. Just like a tortured hero forbidding his virginal heroine from touching some scars on his back, for example. All the plotting is the same, and I've seen it all countless times in other romance novels with the genders reversed. Which is why I cherish Madeline Hunter's unique depiction of her sexually experienced pair in STEALING HEAVEN (*****) so much.
I find romance novels concentrating on sexual experience and past lovers (like ENSLAVED) an empty, aggravating reading experience mostly. They tend to be repetitive because they have no real story to tell other than psychological introspection and trite plotting.
If, as Daisy says, lying and rejecting Gavin constantly hurts her more (p. 369), why then were all the moments when she's lying and rejecting him portrayed from Gavin's perspective highlighting his hurt? Just saying at the end that she hurt more doesn't make it so when all the evidence in the book points to the contrary. We're privy to Gavin's angst and hurt a lot more. And he didn't deserve it, she didn't deserve him!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Ransom, by Julie Garwood [1]
*/***** (1/5)
I found Julie Garwood's RANSOM listlessly mild, barely holding my interest, and too amateur in terms of writing, plotting and pacing. You can always count on Julie Garwood for mutually giving lead romance pairs and her characters blend together after you've read one of her books. There's really no difference in the lead characters of her books: sweet, loving, innocent virgins and fiendishly big, gruff, yet gentle warriors. Garwood loves her Highlanders, and I didn't appreciate this book's predominantly patronizing and superior attitude with respect to the English. Yes, we know Highlanders detest the English, but why are all the English warriors weak, fat and short and all the Highlanders statuesque giants? Are there no real warriors in England? Like every other romance novelist, Garwood is big on experience in many respects, and not only do Highlander lairds like Brodick Buchanan and Iain Maitland (from THE SECRET *) easily dispose English warriors, but they also patronize their own Highlander young men. For example, Brodick's warrior Dylan patronizing the young MacPherson warrior Proster. In combat, sometimes youth is better served over experience, but you'd never know it from this amateur novel. Not only are Garwood's towering giants preternaturally strong, but they all move as fast lightning! I call bullshit! Ordinarily, agility and stamina don't go hand-in-hand with strength and brute force! Big brutes like Garwood's Highlander lairds usually sacrifice quickness and stamina for brute strength. A smaller warrior will almost always win the endurance and stamina game against bigger, stronger warriors. The bigger they are, the harder they'll fall. Garwood makes her Highlander heroes seem like cartoons the way they discard weak English foes.
This 486-page hardcover contains too much interminable conversation, it dwells on many routinely disengaging plots, and its writing is the basest kind of amateur (I saw the word "bossiness" used). When I compare Garwood's plots and writing with a Laura Kinsale or Madeline Hunter, Garwood's books leave much to be desired. Again, the lead characters here are sweet but they're the same as every other Garwood novel, and you can only take so much of the same thing over and over.
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
RANSOM is actually a sequel to THE SECRET (*) which features Iain Maitland and Judith. RANSOM returns Iain's warriors Ramsey Sinclair and Brodick Buchanan, both lairds of their own clans now. Our hero is the fearsome heathen Brodick Buchanan while our heroine is the sweet, innocent virgin Gillian. In the prologue, our evil English villain, Baron Alford, assaults the English manor Dunhanshire. Gillian is a little child and Gillian's father entrusts a valuable jewelry box to Gillian's older sister Christen. Both Gillian and her older sister Christen flee the sieged castle via secret passageways but Alford's evil English warriors apprehend Gillian and her escort. Romantically, the jewelry box belonged to King John's true love, the deceased Arianna, and holds some secrets.
Years later, we find the young woman Gillian rescuing a young boy, Alec. Alec is none other than the Laird Iain Maitland's son, the hero of THE SECRET. Baron Alford releases Gillian to find and retrieve her sister Christen who he suspects resides amongst the Highlanders. Alford ruthlessly desires the jewelry box entrusted to Christen. If Gillian fails to retrieve her sister and the box, Alford will kill Gillian's beloved Uncle Morgan. Along the way, Gillian runs into Alec's protector Brodick Buchanan and the two share an instant attraction. After running around the highlands, gaining allies, and getting married, Gillian returns to Dunhanshire within Alford's allotted time. There's a secondary romantic pairing between Ramsey Sinclair and Bridgid KirkConnell as well. Everything concludes romantically as King John discovers the real culprit behind the death of his One-True-Love, Arianna.
I found Julie Garwood's RANSOM listlessly mild, barely holding my interest, and too amateur in terms of writing, plotting and pacing. You can always count on Julie Garwood for mutually giving lead romance pairs and her characters blend together after you've read one of her books. There's really no difference in the lead characters of her books: sweet, loving, innocent virgins and fiendishly big, gruff, yet gentle warriors. Garwood loves her Highlanders, and I didn't appreciate this book's predominantly patronizing and superior attitude with respect to the English. Yes, we know Highlanders detest the English, but why are all the English warriors weak, fat and short and all the Highlanders statuesque giants? Are there no real warriors in England? Like every other romance novelist, Garwood is big on experience in many respects, and not only do Highlander lairds like Brodick Buchanan and Iain Maitland (from THE SECRET *) easily dispose English warriors, but they also patronize their own Highlander young men. For example, Brodick's warrior Dylan patronizing the young MacPherson warrior Proster. In combat, sometimes youth is better served over experience, but you'd never know it from this amateur novel. Not only are Garwood's towering giants preternaturally strong, but they all move as fast lightning! I call bullshit! Ordinarily, agility and stamina don't go hand-in-hand with strength and brute force! Big brutes like Garwood's Highlander lairds usually sacrifice quickness and stamina for brute strength. A smaller warrior will almost always win the endurance and stamina game against bigger, stronger warriors. The bigger they are, the harder they'll fall. Garwood makes her Highlander heroes seem like cartoons the way they discard weak English foes.
This 486-page hardcover contains too much interminable conversation, it dwells on many routinely disengaging plots, and its writing is the basest kind of amateur (I saw the word "bossiness" used). When I compare Garwood's plots and writing with a Laura Kinsale or Madeline Hunter, Garwood's books leave much to be desired. Again, the lead characters here are sweet but they're the same as every other Garwood novel, and you can only take so much of the same thing over and over.
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
RANSOM is actually a sequel to THE SECRET (*) which features Iain Maitland and Judith. RANSOM returns Iain's warriors Ramsey Sinclair and Brodick Buchanan, both lairds of their own clans now. Our hero is the fearsome heathen Brodick Buchanan while our heroine is the sweet, innocent virgin Gillian. In the prologue, our evil English villain, Baron Alford, assaults the English manor Dunhanshire. Gillian is a little child and Gillian's father entrusts a valuable jewelry box to Gillian's older sister Christen. Both Gillian and her older sister Christen flee the sieged castle via secret passageways but Alford's evil English warriors apprehend Gillian and her escort. Romantically, the jewelry box belonged to King John's true love, the deceased Arianna, and holds some secrets.
Years later, we find the young woman Gillian rescuing a young boy, Alec. Alec is none other than the Laird Iain Maitland's son, the hero of THE SECRET. Baron Alford releases Gillian to find and retrieve her sister Christen who he suspects resides amongst the Highlanders. Alford ruthlessly desires the jewelry box entrusted to Christen. If Gillian fails to retrieve her sister and the box, Alford will kill Gillian's beloved Uncle Morgan. Along the way, Gillian runs into Alec's protector Brodick Buchanan and the two share an instant attraction. After running around the highlands, gaining allies, and getting married, Gillian returns to Dunhanshire within Alford's allotted time. There's a secondary romantic pairing between Ramsey Sinclair and Bridgid KirkConnell as well. Everything concludes romantically as King John discovers the real culprit behind the death of his One-True-Love, Arianna.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
