*/***** (1/5)
Malazan Book of the Fallen series
1. Gardens of the Moon (1999) *
2. Deadhouse Gates (2000)
3. Memories of Ice (2001)
4. House of Chains (2002)
5. Midnight Tides (2004)
6. The Bonehunters (2006)
7. Reaper's Gale (2007)
8. Toll the Hounds - forthcoming
9. Dust of Dreams - forthcoming
10. The Crippled God - forthcoming
Normally, a book/series where anything/everything goes would present some intriguing elements for readers. Normally, I enjoy a book where conflict and war reign throughout. Usually, I don't mind a generous display of magic. Unfortunately, I found Steven Erikson's GARDENS OF THE MOON way too convoluted for an opening installment to an epic SFF series. All of the following severely handicapped the reading experience: Erikson's liberal use of magic, nonsensical events, and intricate names of races, people, gods, creatures, magical houses/warrens, history and places, all of which develop Erikson's world. Oftentimes, I doubted even Erikson's capacity to keep everything straight. GARDENS OF THE MOON appears to emphasize world building above all else and I thought suffered from it as a result. The history, the races, ascendant hierarchy, etc. all detracted from the characterizations, prose, the pacing and even the plotting. I found the characterizations one-dimensional, the prose below-average to average, the settings sorely lacking, and the pacing dull. Unlike another book I'm reading (Jim Butcher's episodic page-turner ACADEM'S FURY), Erikson's GARDENS OF THE MOON never really grabs you. Two very different books obviously but unlike Butcher's series, I was never really interested to read more in GARDENS OF THE MOON, much less entertained. I just continued to read out of rote since I harbor an obstinate habit of trying to finish books I start.
I thought Erikson did a relatively decent job of crafting the same event from multiple perspectives. For example, when the book first introduces us to the central focus of the novel -- the city of Darujhistan -- Erikson crafts a night from multiple perspectives: from a common thief, from an assassin, from various killers, and then from other Phoenix Inn regulars in the city. Erikson pursues a similar style at Lady Sinital's Fete in the finale of the book as the plotting comes to a head from various points of view: the alchemist Baruk, the eccentric sorcerer Kruppe, the thief Crokus, the assassin Rallick Nom, Captain Paran, Whiskeyjack and our antagonist Adjunct Lorn, or the Empress's right arm. Unfortunately, many obtuse occurrences jarred the reading experience. For instance, Paran at Hood's gate (entrance to death) early in the novel and salvaged by the twin gods of luck and chance, Oponn. Tattersail's bizarre reincarnation in Kruppe's dream, and Paran randomly hijacked by the House of Shadow late in the novel. The Jaghut Tyrant and his source of power in an object (Finnest) develops as the primary threat late in the novel despite the Malazan Empire and its quest to conquer the city of Darujhistan. Meanwhile, the 7-foot tall Lord of Moon's Spawn Anomander Rake evolves as the most powerful entity in the story. Also towards the end, Rake seems to randomly appear, saves Paran from the House of Shadow's hounds, and then Rake compels House of Shadow's King Shadowthrone to recall his assassin partner the Rope from possession of the girl Sorry's body thereby rescuing the Coin Bearer Crokus in the process. Convenient? Yep. Convoluted? Yep. Entertaining? No so much.
The Story, such as it is.
In the prologue, Surly (later, she fashions herself as Emperor Laseen) wrests the Empire from Emperor Kellanved in a coup with her "Claw," or a specialized force of assassins able to blunt magic with an "Otataral" sword. Many years later, Empress Laseen pursues her quest to subdue the free world and we pick up her plight in the siege of the city Pale. Immortal players from High House of Shadow (Ammanas, Cotillion or the "Rope") and High House of Dark (Anomander Rake) confound Empress Laseen's efforts along with the twin gods Oponn. The Empire, High Mage Tayschrenn, and High Fist Dujek (military commander) successfully conquer Pale but at a high price ultimately obliging the Empire's adversary Lord of Moon's Spawn (Anomander Rake) to retreat. The Empire's advance military task force responsible for fomenting dissent and clearing obstacles in a target city are called the Bridgeburners. The Bridgeburners, headed by the wily old veteran Sergeant Whiskeyjack, play a significant role in GARDENS OF THE MOON when after Pale, the focus shifts to conquering the free city of Darujhistan. Meanwhile, High House of Shadow's assassin the "Rope" has possessed a young fisher-girl (initially called Sorry and later named Apsalar) to impede Empress Laseen's progress. High Fist Dujek and Whiskeyjack's popularity compels a ruthless Laseen to eliminate Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners. The Bridgeburners, it would seem, do their job too well. Laseen dispatches Adjunct Lorn for this special task.
As events shift to Darujhistan, we're introduced to a group of Phoenix Inn regulars that will eventually play critical roles: the assassin Rollick Nom, a petty young thief Crokus, the eccentric Kruppe, Murillio, T'orrud Cabal's leader alchemist Baruk, Crokus's Uncle Mammot and the Lady Sinital. Whiskeyjack and his squad arrive in the city to make contact with the city's assassin guild in order to eliminate the real power of Darujhistan: members of the T'orrud Cabal including Baruk thereby paving the way for conquest. The Lord of Moon's Spawn Anomander Rake allies himself with Baruk and Rake's band of Tiste Andu begin to eliminate Darujhistan's assassin guild hoping to ensure the security of Darujhistan's power. Most of the book centers on the Empire's efforts to conquer the free city of Darujhistan and all the various mortal and immortal players that obfuscate the endeavor. The Empress's "right arm" Adjunct Lorn, Anamonder Rake, Whiskeyjack, Captain Ganoes Paran, Baruk, Rallick Nom, and Crokus all play various roles. Darujhistan's Phoenix Inn regulars Kruppe and Coll also turn out to be more than they initially appear.
In the end, I found the characters stodgy, the events and magic jarring, the world building too involved for an opening installment, the settings entirely lacking and the prose pedestrian. I felt like I wasn't reading a story with interesting characters but rather a history text on a world of magic.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Academ's Fury, by Jim Butcher [1]
*/***** (1/5)
Codex Alera series
1. Furies of Calderon (1/5)
2. Academ's Fury (1/5)
3. Cursor's Fury
4. Captain's Fury
...
It's remarkable that Jim Butcher hooks readers (like me) enough to keep reading this very episodic Codex Alera series in his second installment titled ACADEM'S FURY (*). ACADEM'S FURY perpetuates much of the serial-like plotting and pacing found in the opening installment of this series FURIES OF CALDERON (*). Similar to the romance genre, the science fiction and fantasy genre contains books characterized by greasy burgers-and-fries and other books represented by delicious gourmet meals. You know Butcher's Codex Alera series isn't good for you, you know what you're going to get, and yet you return. Well, greasy burgers and fries aren't bad every once and while right? Right?
Similar to various parallel plots in FURIES OF CALDERON, we find three concurrent plots in ACADEM'S FURY: Amara & Bernard's struggle against a virulent "vord" queen out in the country and their serialized romantic plight (this time, surrounding marriage and children), Isana's journey to Alera's "capital" Alera Imperia to meet with the First Lord and ask for his aid on her brother's Count Bernard's behalf, and finally, seventeen year-old Tavi's continuing maturation as page to First Lord Gaius and his evolution as an Academ studying at the Citadel in Alera Imperia. Of these three disparate and disjoint plots, I found Isana's the most engaging (again) as enemies from the past realign their alliances for political gain. I found Amara's storyline the most taxing to read. Like tall, dark and handsome rogues in historical romance, Bernard and Tavi's friend Max symbolizes sexual eye candy for the female readership, and Amara renews her ardor for Bernard's strong physique. Like an exasperating serial, Amara at first confronts Isana regarding Isana's resentment towards Amara, then grapples with her inability to give Bernard children, struggling to part with Bernard when the Cursor Serai comments that Amara must inevitably leave Bernard. From a pure entertainment standpoint, I most enjoyed Tavi's capture of the mysterious thief "Black Cat" and their subsequent breach of the impregnable Grey Tower to liberate his friend Max. Also like FURIES OF CALDERON, the ending here in ACADEM'S FURY exaggerates the theatrics from different perspectives and two locales like a soap opera (Amara's perspective out near Aricholt in the country and Tavi's perspective in Alera Imperia). Like the previous installment, the seemingly innocuous Fade showcases his mastery with the sword at the end, this time against 9-foot tall Canim creatures (we learn more about Fade's history also). The book crosses its t's and dots its i's in order to accommodate a role for every character from Tavi's small friend Ehren to Captain Miles. ACADEM'S FURY throws 17 year-old Tavi a bone in the finale when he must battle an injured Canim all by himself while a bruised and battle-weary Amara dispenses of a vord queen by herself. Despite threats to both Tavi, Amara and Bernard, I never once felt like they were actually going to die. I thought Lady Aquitaine's impressive exhibition of power at the very end overshadowed everything else.
One of the big reasons to read SFF and historical fiction - world building - disappointed big time in ACADEM'S FURY. Although the prose and world building in FURIES OF CALDERON wasn't great, it deteriorates tremendously here in ACADEM'S FURY. The people, creatures, world, society and magic of Alera never felt real. A good SFF book portrays its fictional magic, world and people so it feels and seems real. ACADEM'S FURY failed in this respect. Maybe it was just me, but reading Tavi's story, I felt like I was back in high school fighting a bully or back in college cramming for final exams. Reading Amara's storyline, I felt like I was was reading a potboiler romance. Random and seemingly arbitrary rules for the vord creatures exacerbates the reading experience. For example, each vord queen multiplies exactly three times (something simply known from Marat folklore), and there exists a hierarchy of vord from the queen to Keepers, to Takers, to Warriors. The Marat barbarian Doroga relays most of the vorg mythology via conversation. I thought ACADEM'S FURY consistently violated the cardinal sin in storytelling by telling us instead of showing us. Fancy names and titles like Maestro didn't change my feeling that all of this is just too fake. Amara even uses the phrase, "We will agree to disagree..." in a conversation with Isana once. In various conversations, the book further explains how country furies are more powerful than city furies (the rural vs. urban aspect). We as readers know the SFF story isn't real, but the base quality of the world building and conversationalist prose in ACADEM'S FURY mar the entire reading experience.
As for the characters, again I found myself drawn to the Jim Butcher's "gray" characters: Lady Aquitaine and Fidelias. Lady Aquitaine thoroughly steals the show in ACADAM'S FURY, and I thought Butcher's efforts to inject caring introspection in Fidelias' characterization detracted from his cynical outlook. Tavi was better here (he didn't cry) but Butcher is very careful to develop him very slowly, just enough to keep reading the next book. The book persists in highlighting Tavi's impotence from his point-of-view. By the end of the book, Tavi still doesn't have a fury and must continue to rely on his own instinct. Kitai was just plain fun. I liked Isana's characterization and the book reveals more of her mysterious history, her connection to the First Lord Gaius and her nephew Tavi's hidden parentage, as formulaic as all of this seems. Amara inspires two things: aggravation and annoyance. If ever Amara and Bernard actually die, I'll be a happy camper.
The Story, possible spoilers.
ACADEM'S FURY picks up from the best part of FURIES OF CALDERON: Tavi and Kitai's race in the Valley of Silence. We learn that when Tavi ignited the 'croach' (glowing, web-like material) in the valley from FURIES OF CALDERON, the ensuing conflagration awakens a vorg queen. The vorg queen promptly spawns three more. The Marat barbarian chieftan Doroga battles one of the queens and her nest with two thousand warriors. The ensuing battle leaves Doroga with two hundred remaining but he manages to eliminate the nest and queen (we don't actually witness the battle, we see the results). Two vord queens remain: one headed for Tavi in Alera's capital Alera Imperia and another in the slopes of the mountains surrounding the country near Isanaholt. From various conversations, we learn more about the vorg, that takers assimilate other beings essentially killing the spirit inside, and keepers and warriors hunt and protect for the vorg queen. The queen herself is very quick.
Isana travels to Aleria Imperia to ensure her beloved nephew's safety and seek aid from the First Lord for her brother Bernard and Amara as the two travel to confront the queen in the slopes of the mountains. Tavi meanwhile fends off bullies at the Academy and we're introduced to Brencis, son of Lord Kalare, a new player in Aleran politics. The bastard son, rogue, and ladies' man Antillar Maximus (Max) rescues our protagonist Tavi more than once. The lords Kalare and Aquitaine are at odds with each other for succession to the First Lord Gaius (who lacks an heir) and the phrase "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" compels unlikely alliances. When a coma-like condition claims the overextended First Lord Gaius, Gaius's page Tavi must scramble to keep the realm functioning. Max poses as the First Lord at various events while the real First Lord lies unconscious (despite almost all Alerans possessing magical powers, apparently only Max is trustworthy and capable enough to pull it off). When failing to reach the First Lord frustrates Isana, love for her family compels Isana to turn to Lady Aquitaine for succor. The Canim Ambassador Varg also fails to reach First Lord and instead drops Tavi subtle hints as to critical developments in the Deeps underneath Alera Imperia.
Like the prior novel, ACADEM'S FURY features a long and protracted finale often shifting perspectives and locales under the threat of death to a major character at a critical juncture in time. However, not once did I feel anyone major would die. Events climax around protecting a comatose First Lord against "taken" Canim coincided by eliminating the vorg queen out in the country from Amara's perspective.
The book is episodic fluff, but continues to hook me enough to find out what happens next. Astonishing.
Codex Alera series
1. Furies of Calderon (1/5)
2. Academ's Fury (1/5)
3. Cursor's Fury
4. Captain's Fury
...
It's remarkable that Jim Butcher hooks readers (like me) enough to keep reading this very episodic Codex Alera series in his second installment titled ACADEM'S FURY (*). ACADEM'S FURY perpetuates much of the serial-like plotting and pacing found in the opening installment of this series FURIES OF CALDERON (*). Similar to the romance genre, the science fiction and fantasy genre contains books characterized by greasy burgers-and-fries and other books represented by delicious gourmet meals. You know Butcher's Codex Alera series isn't good for you, you know what you're going to get, and yet you return. Well, greasy burgers and fries aren't bad every once and while right? Right?
Similar to various parallel plots in FURIES OF CALDERON, we find three concurrent plots in ACADEM'S FURY: Amara & Bernard's struggle against a virulent "vord" queen out in the country and their serialized romantic plight (this time, surrounding marriage and children), Isana's journey to Alera's "capital" Alera Imperia to meet with the First Lord and ask for his aid on her brother's Count Bernard's behalf, and finally, seventeen year-old Tavi's continuing maturation as page to First Lord Gaius and his evolution as an Academ studying at the Citadel in Alera Imperia. Of these three disparate and disjoint plots, I found Isana's the most engaging (again) as enemies from the past realign their alliances for political gain. I found Amara's storyline the most taxing to read. Like tall, dark and handsome rogues in historical romance, Bernard and Tavi's friend Max symbolizes sexual eye candy for the female readership, and Amara renews her ardor for Bernard's strong physique. Like an exasperating serial, Amara at first confronts Isana regarding Isana's resentment towards Amara, then grapples with her inability to give Bernard children, struggling to part with Bernard when the Cursor Serai comments that Amara must inevitably leave Bernard. From a pure entertainment standpoint, I most enjoyed Tavi's capture of the mysterious thief "Black Cat" and their subsequent breach of the impregnable Grey Tower to liberate his friend Max. Also like FURIES OF CALDERON, the ending here in ACADEM'S FURY exaggerates the theatrics from different perspectives and two locales like a soap opera (Amara's perspective out near Aricholt in the country and Tavi's perspective in Alera Imperia). Like the previous installment, the seemingly innocuous Fade showcases his mastery with the sword at the end, this time against 9-foot tall Canim creatures (we learn more about Fade's history also). The book crosses its t's and dots its i's in order to accommodate a role for every character from Tavi's small friend Ehren to Captain Miles. ACADEM'S FURY throws 17 year-old Tavi a bone in the finale when he must battle an injured Canim all by himself
One of the big reasons to read SFF and historical fiction - world building - disappointed big time in ACADEM'S FURY. Although the prose and world building in FURIES OF CALDERON wasn't great, it deteriorates tremendously here in ACADEM'S FURY. The people, creatures, world, society and magic of Alera never felt real. A good SFF book portrays its fictional magic, world and people so it feels and seems real. ACADEM'S FURY failed in this respect. Maybe it was just me, but reading Tavi's story, I felt like I was back in high school fighting a bully or back in college cramming for final exams. Reading Amara's storyline, I felt like I was was reading a potboiler romance. Random and seemingly arbitrary rules for the vord creatures exacerbates the reading experience. For example, each vord queen multiplies exactly three times (something simply known from Marat folklore), and there exists a hierarchy of vord from the queen to Keepers, to Takers, to Warriors. The Marat barbarian Doroga relays most of the vorg mythology via conversation. I thought ACADEM'S FURY consistently violated the cardinal sin in storytelling by telling us instead of showing us. Fancy names and titles like Maestro didn't change my feeling that all of this is just too fake. Amara even uses the phrase, "We will agree to disagree..." in a conversation with Isana once. In various conversations, the book further explains how country furies are more powerful than city furies (the rural vs. urban aspect). We as readers know the SFF story isn't real, but the base quality of the world building and conversationalist prose in ACADEM'S FURY mar the entire reading experience.
As for the characters, again I found myself drawn to the Jim Butcher's "gray" characters: Lady Aquitaine and Fidelias. Lady Aquitaine thoroughly steals the show in ACADAM'S FURY, and I thought Butcher's efforts to inject caring introspection in Fidelias' characterization detracted from his cynical outlook. Tavi was better here (he didn't cry) but Butcher is very careful to develop him very slowly, just enough to keep reading the next book. The book persists in highlighting Tavi's impotence from his point-of-view. By the end of the book, Tavi still doesn't have a fury and must continue to rely on his own instinct. Kitai was just plain fun. I liked Isana's characterization and the book reveals more of her mysterious history, her connection to the First Lord Gaius and her nephew Tavi's hidden parentage, as formulaic as all of this seems. Amara inspires two things: aggravation and annoyance. If ever Amara and Bernard actually die, I'll be a happy camper.
The Story, possible spoilers.
ACADEM'S FURY picks up from the best part of FURIES OF CALDERON: Tavi and Kitai's race in the Valley of Silence. We learn that when Tavi ignited the 'croach' (glowing, web-like material) in the valley from FURIES OF CALDERON, the ensuing conflagration awakens a vorg queen. The vorg queen promptly spawns three more. The Marat barbarian chieftan Doroga battles one of the queens and her nest with two thousand warriors. The ensuing battle leaves Doroga with two hundred remaining but he manages to eliminate the nest and queen (we don't actually witness the battle, we see the results). Two vord queens remain: one headed for Tavi in Alera's capital Alera Imperia and another in the slopes of the mountains surrounding the country near Isanaholt. From various conversations, we learn more about the vorg, that takers assimilate other beings essentially killing the spirit inside, and keepers and warriors hunt and protect for the vorg queen. The queen herself is very quick.
Isana travels to Aleria Imperia to ensure her beloved nephew's safety and seek aid from the First Lord for her brother Bernard and Amara as the two travel to confront the queen in the slopes of the mountains. Tavi meanwhile fends off bullies at the Academy and we're introduced to Brencis, son of Lord Kalare, a new player in Aleran politics. The bastard son, rogue, and ladies' man Antillar Maximus (Max) rescues our protagonist Tavi more than once. The lords Kalare and Aquitaine are at odds with each other for succession to the First Lord Gaius (who lacks an heir) and the phrase "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" compels unlikely alliances. When a coma-like condition claims the overextended First Lord Gaius, Gaius's page Tavi must scramble to keep the realm functioning. Max poses as the First Lord at various events while the real First Lord lies unconscious (despite almost all Alerans possessing magical powers, apparently only Max is trustworthy and capable enough to pull it off). When failing to reach the First Lord frustrates Isana, love for her family compels Isana to turn to Lady Aquitaine for succor. The Canim Ambassador Varg also fails to reach First Lord and instead drops Tavi subtle hints as to critical developments in the Deeps underneath Alera Imperia.
Like the prior novel, ACADEM'S FURY features a long and protracted finale often shifting perspectives and locales under the threat of death to a major character at a critical juncture in time. However, not once did I feel anyone major would die. Events climax around protecting a comatose First Lord against "taken" Canim coincided by eliminating the vorg queen out in the country from Amara's perspective.
The book is episodic fluff, but continues to hook me enough to find out what happens next. Astonishing.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sinclair's Finders Keepers, Obama vs. Clinton, P90X
So I read the first 50 pages or so of Linnea Sinclair's FINDERS KEEPERS and I just couldn't continue any further. The book intrigued me because I thought romance in a scifi setting might be good, but alas, no. FINDERS KEEPERS contains way too many references to the hero's perfect beauty, good-looks, and muscled frame. It's actually worse than historical romances in detailing the hero's perfection from the heroine's eyes while chronicling the heroine's "spitfire" personality from the hero's side (because we all know all good-looking men have had enough of pretty, air-headed and devious women; all three qualities linked in women of course ). There's a lot of repetitive introspection and fancy names to make it seem like a legitimate science fiction universe. There's also an empire exhibiting the obligatory hierarchal society common to historical romances. Wouldn't want the heroine to marry anyone other than the gorgeous hunk born into his wealth and societal rank, right? Having read some good science fiction, the world-building in this one conveys a rather pedestrian, amateur feel. The repeated devotion to glorifying the hero's appearance as sexual eye candy for the female readership and yet notably avoiding the word beautiful or even attractive to describe the heroine from the lusty hero's eyes sealed the coffin on this one for me. Short-sighted of me? Maybe, but I contend the book itself warrants, at best, a short-sighted look.
As the Democratic primary winds down, I got a good chuckle from this well-crafted video featuring Hillary as Darth Vader, Bill Clinton as the Emperor, and Obama as Luke Skywalker: The Empire Strikes Barack. Granted you'll probably appreciate the video more if you're an Obama supporter, but the scenes pieced together hints at a clever author with too much time on his or her hands. I'm personally convinced that no matter who wins Democratic primary, the candidate will lose to McCain in November. No amount of time and "getting-to-know-Obama" will convince Hillary's embittered base to vote for Obama. As I mentioned before, history has shown that whenever the democratic party is this divided, the party loses the general election. McCain appeals to me while the incompetent Democratic party just plain annoys me. Their system of super delegates and proportionally awarding delegates hasn't made the process more democratic!
On a final note, I'm on Day 14 of Tony Horton's P90X fitness program. I really do like the variety of challenging routines and work-outs. You will get out what you put in, and with goals in mind, anything is possible. So far so good, although I'm a little bit disappointed at my lack of progress in the pull-ups department despite pushing myself hard (can still only do about 3-4 front pull-ups before I use the resistance bands). It's still early though so I should give it some time. I have noticed I'm able to do more push-ups and lift heavier weights for more reps (from 25lbs to 35,40lbs). The "mother of P90x," plyometrics, continues to pose the biggest challenge and the Yoga X exercise is no easy walk in the park either. Thankfully, my legs are getting stronger as a result. I've decided to try the program's recovery drink and vitamins which complements the work-outs. After trying the supplements for a week, I can't say I've noticed much improvement in my stamina however. Today is simply X-Stretch. Last week I followed up one hour of stretching with Ab Ripper but today I may just do the stretching alone. Then it's on to Week 3!
As the Democratic primary winds down, I got a good chuckle from this well-crafted video featuring Hillary as Darth Vader, Bill Clinton as the Emperor, and Obama as Luke Skywalker: The Empire Strikes Barack. Granted you'll probably appreciate the video more if you're an Obama supporter, but the scenes pieced together hints at a clever author with too much time on his or her hands. I'm personally convinced that no matter who wins Democratic primary, the candidate will lose to McCain in November. No amount of time and "getting-to-know-Obama" will convince Hillary's embittered base to vote for Obama. As I mentioned before, history has shown that whenever the democratic party is this divided, the party loses the general election. McCain appeals to me while the incompetent Democratic party just plain annoys me. Their system of super delegates and proportionally awarding delegates hasn't made the process more democratic!
On a final note, I'm on Day 14 of Tony Horton's P90X fitness program. I really do like the variety of challenging routines and work-outs. You will get out what you put in, and with goals in mind, anything is possible. So far so good, although I'm a little bit disappointed at my lack of progress in the pull-ups department despite pushing myself hard (can still only do about 3-4 front pull-ups before I use the resistance bands). It's still early though so I should give it some time. I have noticed I'm able to do more push-ups and lift heavier weights for more reps (from 25lbs to 35,40lbs). The "mother of P90x," plyometrics, continues to pose the biggest challenge and the Yoga X exercise is no easy walk in the park either. Thankfully, my legs are getting stronger as a result. I've decided to try the program's recovery drink and vitamins which complements the work-outs. After trying the supplements for a week, I can't say I've noticed much improvement in my stamina however. Today is simply X-Stretch. Last week I followed up one hour of stretching with Ab Ripper but today I may just do the stretching alone. Then it's on to Week 3!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Welcome to Temptation, by Jennifer Cruise [1]
*/***** (1/5)
Jennifer Cruise's WELCOME TO TEMPTATION contains way too much estrogen for my tastes. I thought the book defined what it means to write a lot of words without an inkling of substance: it's episodic, melodramatic, and it's bloated nonsense. A lot of contemporary romance novelists write about Small Town America where everybody knows everybody and this one is no different. Similar to the innocence of a girl losing her virginity in historical romance, I suspect the contemporary romance genre enjoys stretching "innocent", conservative principles in Small Town America. The inane frippery in this one really knows no bounds. There's way too many characters (presumably setting up other novels), the plotting dulls, the pacing sags, the settings are empty, and worst of all, the leads lacked substance and chemistry. Although I can't say I liked McCarthy's HEIRESS FOR HIRE (*), lord that was heaven compared to this estrogen-pumped frivolity. Now I have to say the ending saved this novel from being rated a zero and Sophie reciprocates a little bit, but just not enough. For book containing some language, Cruise ignores the love scenes with the exception of Phin servicing Sophie orally in the beginning. For the rest of the book: "And one hour later...," or "The morning after..." Again, I found the passion and chemistry in McCarthy's HEIRESS FOR HIRE superior. I also found WELCOME TO TEMPTATION mundane and predictable: a mayoral election is on the horizon with Phin's chief rival Stephen Garvey hounding his every move, Sophie, her sister Amy crash into town (literally) to shoot a rather raunchy film starring the beautiful Clea, more people show up out of the woodwork including: Clea's jerk husband Zane, Sophie's hot brother Davy (for a future novel), and the porn movie producer Leo. There's a death, Sophie and her sister's bawdy version of the film scandalizes Temptation, OH, and lest we forget, love triumphs in the end.
The book presents the interaction between our heroine Sophie and hero Phin mostly from Sophie's cloying perspective. Predictably (for the romance genre) and much to my ire, our hero Phin notices Sophie's ordinary brown eyes, brown hair and lips ("devil's candy") while Sophie constantly swoons over Phin's classic beauty, incomparable height (the book meticulously notes how he's taller than his friend the police chief), broad shoulders, supple behind, and gorgeous good-looks. Phin is attracted to our ordinary heroine Sophie's mouth, he wants to kiss the skin between her neck and shoulders, but the book eschews Phin thinking of Sophie as beautiful or pretty. I don't get it. Why are heroes from romance novels forbidden from viewing the source of their attraction as hot while the heroines flushed over their heroes' perfect handsomeness, muscles, butt and height? You'd think these greedy romance heroines haven't seen a cute guy before. The plotting and pacing meanwhile pursues meandering, frivolous directions strife with insipid melodrama and soapy events. For example, Phin and Wes visit the Whipple farm to help fix up the place, Sophie makes sandwiches, Rachel helps paint the house, Sophie befriends a dog, more of Sophie antagonizing Phin, Sophie and Phin bantering (romance translation = Sophie being a bitch to Phin), etc., etc., etc. Phin gives Sophie the best oral sex she's ever had, Sophie calls her boyfriend Brandon to confess, Amy and Sophie gossip about Sophie's orgasms, Clea's husband Zane visits, they discuss the cherry wallpaper at the Whipple farm.
The book paints Sophie's character as the daughter of two scam artists, the product of a tough, possibly loveless childhood, independent and someone who takes care of herself, whether that's sexually or otherwise. So of course the book is about Phin going down on her and Sophie turning herself over to him. I was more and more annoyed the more I read this completely senseless farce of a book detailing Sophie's evolution into someone selfish in bed and acrimonious otherwise. The perfect combination every gorgeous, successful guy prizes, right? Let's not forget Sophie's killer ordinary brown hair and brown eyes. The perfectly gorgeous guy tolerates the rather bland heroine's cold shoulder and insulting demeanor while she enjoys him wanting to give her oral sex endlessly without the least bit of a desire to reciprocate on her end. Like so many other romances, the ordinary heroine acting cold and insulting while the handsome hero services her carnal desires (he goes down on her) constitutes what passes for "witty" and "romantic" in this genre. Following the night where Phin orally services Sophie (and leaves Phin right after she's satiated), Sophie continues to act bitchy and resentful the next day. While Phin defends Sophie when Zane calls her sexless, Sophie continues to act like Bitch Numero Uno around Phin all the while enjoying him wanting to go down her.
Phin's "best friend" Wes starts scolding Phin not to casually sleep around with a nice girl like Sophie. Despite the fact Wes has known Sophie for only a couple days. When Sophie's brother Davy gives Phin a hard time for their relationship and offers to beat up Phin, Davy is lovable and cute because he's protecting Sophie. When Phin's mother Liz gives Sophie a hard time, Liz of course is the "ice queen." All to show how awesome Sophie is personality-wise, and how everyone close to Phin (except his mother) show instant loyalty towards Sophie including Phin's daughter Dillie. I had to suffer through Sophie's constant barrage of girly thoughts highlighting how gorgeous Phin is and how hot he looks all the time (he's immaculately pristine 24/7). If Sophie isn't thinking it, either Sophie or her sister are saying it; for instance, when Sophie defends her relationship with Phin to his mother by mentioning again and again how gorgeous he is and that she's not after his money. Phin, on the other hand, is easily attracted to a grubby, ordinary Sophie no matter her bland condition (she was painting once and yet the book goes out of its way to note that Phin is attracted to her in spite of her rather grimy, plain looks). The book exhibits a knack for dismissing any balance in the romance and skewing the relationship into a one-sided affair: the sex scenes were consistently a one-way street (Phin always services Sophie's pleasure -- and no after Sophie's greedy, selfish participation in the sex, it will inevitably bore the guy no matter her reaction), Sophie's cloying perspective inundating readers with estrogen, and Phin symbolized the female readership's sexual eye candy while noting Sophie's rather bland looks and emphasizing her hard-knock childhood and personality in the process. This book clearly demonstrates how to write chick-lit at its best (or worst, depending on how you look at it).
Jennifer Cruise's WELCOME TO TEMPTATION contains way too much estrogen for my tastes. I thought the book defined what it means to write a lot of words without an inkling of substance: it's episodic, melodramatic, and it's bloated nonsense. A lot of contemporary romance novelists write about Small Town America where everybody knows everybody and this one is no different. Similar to the innocence of a girl losing her virginity in historical romance, I suspect the contemporary romance genre enjoys stretching "innocent", conservative principles in Small Town America. The inane frippery in this one really knows no bounds. There's way too many characters (presumably setting up other novels), the plotting dulls, the pacing sags, the settings are empty, and worst of all, the leads lacked substance and chemistry. Although I can't say I liked McCarthy's HEIRESS FOR HIRE (*), lord that was heaven compared to this estrogen-pumped frivolity. Now I have to say the ending saved this novel from being rated a zero and Sophie reciprocates a little bit, but just not enough. For book containing some language, Cruise ignores the love scenes with the exception of Phin servicing Sophie orally in the beginning. For the rest of the book: "And one hour later...," or "The morning after..." Again, I found the passion and chemistry in McCarthy's HEIRESS FOR HIRE superior. I also found WELCOME TO TEMPTATION mundane and predictable: a mayoral election is on the horizon with Phin's chief rival Stephen Garvey hounding his every move, Sophie, her sister Amy crash into town (literally) to shoot a rather raunchy film starring the beautiful Clea, more people show up out of the woodwork including: Clea's jerk husband Zane, Sophie's hot brother Davy (for a future novel), and the porn movie producer Leo. There's a death, Sophie and her sister's bawdy version of the film scandalizes Temptation, OH, and lest we forget, love triumphs in the end.
The book presents the interaction between our heroine Sophie and hero Phin mostly from Sophie's cloying perspective. Predictably (for the romance genre) and much to my ire, our hero Phin notices Sophie's ordinary brown eyes, brown hair and lips ("devil's candy") while Sophie constantly swoons over Phin's classic beauty, incomparable height (the book meticulously notes how he's taller than his friend the police chief), broad shoulders, supple behind, and gorgeous good-looks. Phin is attracted to our ordinary heroine Sophie's mouth, he wants to kiss the skin between her neck and shoulders, but the book eschews Phin thinking of Sophie as beautiful or pretty. I don't get it. Why are heroes from romance novels forbidden from viewing the source of their attraction as hot while the heroines flushed over their heroes' perfect handsomeness, muscles, butt and height? You'd think these greedy romance heroines haven't seen a cute guy before. The plotting and pacing meanwhile pursues meandering, frivolous directions strife with insipid melodrama and soapy events. For example, Phin and Wes visit the Whipple farm to help fix up the place, Sophie makes sandwiches, Rachel helps paint the house, Sophie befriends a dog, more of Sophie antagonizing Phin, Sophie and Phin bantering (romance translation = Sophie being a bitch to Phin), etc., etc., etc. Phin gives Sophie the best oral sex she's ever had, Sophie calls her boyfriend Brandon to confess, Amy and Sophie gossip about Sophie's orgasms, Clea's husband Zane visits, they discuss the cherry wallpaper at the Whipple farm.
The book paints Sophie's character as the daughter of two scam artists, the product of a tough, possibly loveless childhood, independent and someone who takes care of herself, whether that's sexually or otherwise. So of course the book is about Phin going down on her and Sophie turning herself over to him. I was more and more annoyed the more I read this completely senseless farce of a book detailing Sophie's evolution into someone selfish in bed and acrimonious otherwise. The perfect combination every gorgeous, successful guy prizes, right? Let's not forget Sophie's killer ordinary brown hair and brown eyes. The perfectly gorgeous guy tolerates the rather bland heroine's cold shoulder and insulting demeanor while she enjoys him wanting to give her oral sex endlessly without the least bit of a desire to reciprocate on her end. Like so many other romances, the ordinary heroine acting cold and insulting while the handsome hero services her carnal desires (he goes down on her) constitutes what passes for "witty" and "romantic" in this genre. Following the night where Phin orally services Sophie (and leaves Phin right after she's satiated), Sophie continues to act bitchy and resentful the next day. While Phin defends Sophie when Zane calls her sexless, Sophie continues to act like Bitch Numero Uno around Phin all the while enjoying him wanting to go down her.
Phin's "best friend" Wes starts scolding Phin not to casually sleep around with a nice girl like Sophie. Despite the fact Wes has known Sophie for only a couple days. When Sophie's brother Davy gives Phin a hard time for their relationship and offers to beat up Phin, Davy is lovable and cute because he's protecting Sophie. When Phin's mother Liz gives Sophie a hard time, Liz of course is the "ice queen." All to show how awesome Sophie is personality-wise, and how everyone close to Phin (except his mother) show instant loyalty towards Sophie including Phin's daughter Dillie. I had to suffer through Sophie's constant barrage of girly thoughts highlighting how gorgeous Phin is and how hot he looks all the time (he's immaculately pristine
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Black Sun Rising, by C.S. Friedman [2]
**/***** (2/5)
Coldfire Trilogy
1. Black Sun Rising (1991) **
2. When True Night Falls (1993)
3. Crown of Shadows (1995)
Although I laud C.S. Friedman's efforts, I was mostly bored and annoyed by her first installment in the science fiction and fantasy (SFF) Coldfire trilogy published back in 1991, BLACK SUN RISING. Considered by many in the SFF community as a classic, I thought this book amounted to little more than repetitive emotional introspection in the improbable journey of "friendship" between the "Hunter" Gerald Tarrant and Reverend Damien Kilcannon Vryce. Basically, it's a thought experiment in the unlikely teamwork and camaraderie between Evil Incarnate and Wholesome Good symbolized by Tarrant and Vryce, respectively. With the possible exception of the rakh-woman Hasseth, I disliked all the characters here. I had no stake in any of the characters and the book's efforts to endear the evil Tarrant failed miserably. In many books, you hope certain characters will survive, but here, I found myself wishing all of the main characters would keel over and die (Tarrant, Vryce, Ciani). Characterizations here are fairly weak in general, I've read more compelling characterizations in children's fairy tales. But alas, the story isn't interested in characters or plots, it chronicles a journey partnering good with evil to defeat another evil. Despite a decided dearth of plots and characters, BLACK SUN RISING contains rather intriguing elements of mystery and horror, and crafts a very eerie and rich setting. When the book isn't indulging in rather repetitive introspection, the prose is actually good.
From the very first page to the last, BLACK SUN RISING belongs to its evil protagonist hero Gerald Tarrant. Tarrant represents the biggest mover and shaker in the story and Friedman credits his presence and powers in Reverend Damien Vryce's every waking (and dreaming) thought. Tarrant is involved in or responsible for every twist, turn and plot. Our narrator the Reverend Damien Vryce serves as the reader's eyes and ears into Tarrant and even during the climax, Vryce acts as a conduit to facilitate Tarrant. We're told many times that Vryce is accomplished with his sword, but he does little with it and the climactic denouement resorts to vague and ambiguous powers of the mind between Tarrant and the Master of Lema. Certainly, writing sword fights isn't one of Friedman's strengths. In many ways, BLACK SUN RISING (1991) reminded me of Kay's TIGANA (1990), much more so than another book I read recently: Rawn's DRAGON PRINCE. Both BLACK SUN RISING (through Tarrant) and TIGANA (via the sorcerer Brandin) wish to portray the good in evil rather than tell an engaging story with interesting characters. Certainly not the first book to repudiate black-and-white fantasy and examine dark characters, it was nonetheless fad to make evil cool in the early 90s. Matthew Woodring Stover's HEROES DIE (*****) depicted a much more compelling case if you're interested in the "coolness" of evil and ruthlessness with enthralling characterizations and plots.
My biggest gripe with the novel: Vryce muses and thinks about Tarrant endlessly and repetitively. Whether Vryce is jealous of Tarrant because of Ciani (more than once), or calls Tarrant a bastard in his thoughts for thinking or doing something he (Vryce) is ashamed of as a priest (again and again), clearly the book wants to interminably drum out Vryce's evolving view of the apparently evil Tarrant. It's funny, only female authors care about a character's thoughts as much as C.S. Friedman spends time on Vryce's rather aggravating and repetitive introspection over Tarrant. And although I had no idea C.S. Friedman was a woman before I read this, I knew from reading the prologue and first chapter that the author is, without a doubt, female. Many times, Vryce's paradoxical and evolving view of Tarrant seemed exactly like a romance heroine's love-hate relationship with the tall, aristocratic and handsome hero. Tarrant certainly qualifies as the stereotypical tall, dark and handsome hero possessing the the requisite trimmings of corruption, arrogance and high-handedness. So what if Tarrant murdered his wife and children and kills thousands of innocents for his sustenance, he's not all that bad! Consider also these all too convenient cop-outs: Tarrant abstaining from feeding on innocents for a period of time and then, in the epilogue, all of sudden the book mentions how his "feeding" precludes sexual congress. All to make him seem redeemed and good.
The plotting which compels our narrator Damien Vryce to travel to the rakhlands seemed totally unwarranted. We're told Vryce makes the journey to help Ciani regain her memories and abilities as an adept (basically a human born to magic) because he loves her. But since Ciani fails to return the overwhelming love and devotion Vryce shows for her, I was mostly disgusted by Vryce's reasons to make the perilous journey. Tell us he's making the journey because of adventure, or to eliminate great threat to the planet Erna, but please don't give me bull about love. Damien Vryce at least deserved getting laid for all his trouble, lord! Damien is constantly there to support Ciani with an arm-around-the-shoulder, or encourage her dispirited state with words, or travel to the imposing Forest and rescue her when Tarrant kidnaps her. Vryce is consistently jealous of any man close to Ciani (mostly Tarrant and Senzei), thinks he cares for her and loves her, blah, blah, blah. Since Ciani fails to reciprocate even a fraction of Damien Vryce's affection, I was rolling my eyes at Vryce's resolve to hunt down Ciani's attacker and travel to the rakhlands all in the name of love. Please, Ciani astutely manipulates all three men on the journey: Tarrant's honor-bound words not to harm her, Damien's love for her, and Senzei's hunger for greater power (Sight). It's not like she doesn't remember in general, she harbors no physical strain from the attack on her, so the impetus to travel to dangerous lands and restore something vague and ambiguous to her (her "adeptitude") was lost on me. If she really cared for Senzei or Damien in any way, she would tell them not to risk so much for something so selfish (power, ability to Work the Fae, Fae memories). Despite Ciani constantly whispering or meekly vocalizing words, she skillfully exploits all three men: their ambitions, desires and honor, all of her sake.
Premise and plot, possible SPOILERS.
The prologue and settings in the early chapters instantly capture the reader's interest. In a scene of horror, the prologue treats readers to the Neocount of Merentha, the Prophet, sacrificing his wife and children for greater power and immortality. On the fictional planet of Erna (presumably Earth's sister planet), there exists Fae, a powerful energy field incipient throughout the planet. The Fae are sensitive to the human psyche and manifest humans' fear in the form of demons and monsters, much to the humankind's dismay. Whereas the religious institution in this world (the Church, Holy Father) wishes to render the human psyche unable to impact Erna's Fae, the Church's Prophet on the other hand is an adept, and like all adepts, he's born with the ability to manipulate Fae. During his Sacrifice in the prologue, the Prophet will prove both the Church's salvation and damnation at the same time. Another paradoxical dichotomy in the vein of many SFF written to show the good in evil, the evil in good, and blur the lines of distinction between the two. Fusing science fiction and fantasy elements, human survivors of planet Earth colonized the fantastical planet Erna and struggled to live with its sensitive Fae.
In the city Jaggonath, when mysterious creatures strip the adept Ciani's ability to Work the Fae, the Reverend Damien Vryce, Ciani's friend Senzei Reese and Ciani embark on a journey to chase these creatures into the dangerous rakhlands and kill Ciani's attacker thereby returning Ciani's memories of her "adeptitude." The mysterious creatures strangely reminded me of the slake-moths in China Mieville's PERDIDO STREET STATION. There's nothing more horrifying than stripping a thinking, reasoning and experienced person of one's memories. Angst-ridden passages from Damien's perspective proclaiming his love for Ciani when she obviously fails to return even a fraction of his love and devotion grate the nerves. Along the way, more companions join Damien, Ciani and Senzei on their journey, most notable among them the adept Gerald Tarrant. Eventually the narrative shifts to the unlikely yet burgeoning camaraderie between Tarrant and Damien, Damien's conflicting view of Tarrant (Damien strangely finds comfort in Tarrant's powerful, dark presence, yet feels ashamed for it because he's supposed to be a priest). Just like some romance heroine sulking over a tall, dark and handsome hero. This emotional introspection from Damien highlighting his relationship with Tarrant comprises the bulk of the novel and the "point" of it all, such as it is. Damien reasons he needs evil to fight evil, and grows fond of Tarrant, even calling Tarrant a bastard obviously because Damien enjoys the reassurance of Tarrant's presence. Just like serving as our eyes and ears into Tarrant, Damien serves as a conduit for Tarrant to attack the main antagonist of this particular novel, the Master of Lema. The Master of Lema mysteriously harnesses power at the hub of Erna's frequent earthquake activity in the rakhlands. I failed to see a big difference between the Master of Lema and our supposedly redeemed Gerald Tarrant. Both use and kill innocents, so what really makes the Master of Lema the greater threat? The book says whereas Tarrant harbors some semblance of honor and sanity, the Master of Lema has gone insane in a lust for greater and greater power. I don't see it, both require innocent 'sacrifices' to sustain themselves, why is one morally wrong (the Master of Lema), the other forgivable (Tarrant)? By the way, I love how Tarrant's power keeps him tall and handsome, whereas the Master of Lema's appearance has withered. Does that mean: evil men = cool, evil women = bad?
In any case, improbable companions journey to a dangerous and forbidden land. The enemy (Master of Lema) wants the adepts to feed off their power (Ciani and Tarrant), and their journey into the rakhlands bring the enemy the very thing the enemy covets (Ciani and Tarrant). If that doesn't sound like another version of Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS, I don't know what does. The events are predictable, boring and annoying at the same time. I didn't care about any of the characters, I was annoyed by Damien's angst-ridden introspection of Tarrant, and in spite of my fondest hopes, nobody major died.
Coldfire Trilogy
1. Black Sun Rising (1991) **
2. When True Night Falls (1993)
3. Crown of Shadows (1995)
Although I laud C.S. Friedman's efforts, I was mostly bored and annoyed by her first installment in the science fiction and fantasy (SFF) Coldfire trilogy published back in 1991, BLACK SUN RISING. Considered by many in the SFF community as a classic, I thought this book amounted to little more than repetitive emotional introspection in the improbable journey of "friendship" between the "Hunter" Gerald Tarrant and Reverend Damien Kilcannon Vryce. Basically, it's a thought experiment in the unlikely teamwork and camaraderie between Evil Incarnate and Wholesome Good symbolized by Tarrant and Vryce, respectively. With the possible exception of the rakh-woman Hasseth, I disliked all the characters here. I had no stake in any of the characters and the book's efforts to endear the evil Tarrant failed miserably. In many books, you hope certain characters will survive, but here, I found myself wishing all of the main characters would keel over and die (Tarrant, Vryce, Ciani). Characterizations here are fairly weak in general, I've read more compelling characterizations in children's fairy tales. But alas, the story isn't interested in characters or plots, it chronicles a journey partnering good with evil to defeat another evil. Despite a decided dearth of plots and characters, BLACK SUN RISING contains rather intriguing elements of mystery and horror, and crafts a very eerie and rich setting. When the book isn't indulging in rather repetitive introspection, the prose is actually good.
From the very first page to the last, BLACK SUN RISING belongs to its evil protagonist hero Gerald Tarrant. Tarrant represents the biggest mover and shaker in the story and Friedman credits his presence and powers in Reverend Damien Vryce's every waking (and dreaming) thought. Tarrant is involved in or responsible for every twist, turn and plot. Our narrator the Reverend Damien Vryce serves as the reader's eyes and ears into Tarrant and even during the climax, Vryce acts as a conduit to facilitate Tarrant. We're told many times that Vryce is accomplished with his sword, but he does little with it and the climactic denouement resorts to vague and ambiguous powers of the mind between Tarrant and the Master of Lema. Certainly, writing sword fights isn't one of Friedman's strengths. In many ways, BLACK SUN RISING (1991) reminded me of Kay's TIGANA (1990), much more so than another book I read recently: Rawn's DRAGON PRINCE. Both BLACK SUN RISING (through Tarrant) and TIGANA (via the sorcerer Brandin) wish to portray the good in evil rather than tell an engaging story with interesting characters. Certainly not the first book to repudiate black-and-white fantasy and examine dark characters, it was nonetheless fad to make evil cool in the early 90s. Matthew Woodring Stover's HEROES DIE (*****) depicted a much more compelling case if you're interested in the "coolness" of evil and ruthlessness with enthralling characterizations and plots.
My biggest gripe with the novel: Vryce muses and thinks about Tarrant endlessly and repetitively. Whether Vryce is jealous of Tarrant because of Ciani (more than once), or calls Tarrant a bastard in his thoughts for thinking or doing something he (Vryce) is ashamed of as a priest (again and again), clearly the book wants to interminably drum out Vryce's evolving view of the apparently evil Tarrant. It's funny, only female authors care about a character's thoughts as much as C.S. Friedman spends time on Vryce's rather aggravating and repetitive introspection over Tarrant. And although I had no idea C.S. Friedman was a woman before I read this, I knew from reading the prologue and first chapter that the author is, without a doubt, female. Many times, Vryce's paradoxical and evolving view of Tarrant seemed exactly like a romance heroine's love-hate relationship with the tall, aristocratic and handsome hero. Tarrant certainly qualifies as the stereotypical tall, dark and handsome hero possessing the the requisite trimmings of corruption, arrogance and high-handedness. So what if Tarrant murdered his wife and children and kills thousands of innocents for his sustenance, he's not all that bad! Consider also these all too convenient cop-outs: Tarrant abstaining from feeding on innocents for a period of time and then, in the epilogue, all of sudden the book mentions how his "feeding" precludes sexual congress. All to make him seem redeemed and good.
The plotting which compels our narrator Damien Vryce to travel to the rakhlands seemed totally unwarranted. We're told Vryce makes the journey to help Ciani regain her memories and abilities as an adept (basically a human born to magic) because he loves her. But since Ciani fails to return the overwhelming love and devotion Vryce shows for her, I was mostly disgusted by Vryce's reasons to make the perilous journey. Tell us he's making the journey because of adventure, or to eliminate great threat to the planet Erna, but please don't give me bull about love. Damien Vryce at least deserved getting laid for all his trouble, lord! Damien is constantly there to support Ciani with an arm-around-the-shoulder, or encourage her dispirited state with words, or travel to the imposing Forest and rescue her when Tarrant kidnaps her. Vryce is consistently jealous of any man close to Ciani (mostly Tarrant and Senzei), thinks he cares for her and loves her, blah, blah, blah. Since Ciani fails to reciprocate even a fraction of Damien Vryce's affection, I was rolling my eyes at Vryce's resolve to hunt down Ciani's attacker and travel to the rakhlands all in the name of love. Please, Ciani astutely manipulates all three men on the journey: Tarrant's honor-bound words not to harm her, Damien's love for her, and Senzei's hunger for greater power (Sight). It's not like she doesn't remember in general, she harbors no physical strain from the attack on her, so the impetus to travel to dangerous lands and restore something vague and ambiguous to her (her "adeptitude") was lost on me. If she really cared for Senzei or Damien in any way, she would tell them not to risk so much for something so selfish (power, ability to Work the Fae, Fae memories). Despite Ciani constantly whispering or meekly vocalizing words, she skillfully exploits all three men: their ambitions, desires and honor, all of her sake.
Premise and plot, possible SPOILERS.
The prologue and settings in the early chapters instantly capture the reader's interest. In a scene of horror, the prologue treats readers to the Neocount of Merentha, the Prophet, sacrificing his wife and children for greater power and immortality. On the fictional planet of Erna (presumably Earth's sister planet), there exists Fae, a powerful energy field incipient throughout the planet. The Fae are sensitive to the human psyche and manifest humans' fear in the form of demons and monsters, much to the humankind's dismay. Whereas the religious institution in this world (the Church, Holy Father) wishes to render the human psyche unable to impact Erna's Fae, the Church's Prophet on the other hand is an adept, and like all adepts, he's born with the ability to manipulate Fae. During his Sacrifice in the prologue, the Prophet will prove both the Church's salvation and damnation at the same time. Another paradoxical dichotomy in the vein of many SFF written to show the good in evil, the evil in good, and blur the lines of distinction between the two. Fusing science fiction and fantasy elements, human survivors of planet Earth colonized the fantastical planet Erna and struggled to live with its sensitive Fae.
In the city Jaggonath, when mysterious creatures strip the adept Ciani's ability to Work the Fae, the Reverend Damien Vryce, Ciani's friend Senzei Reese and Ciani embark on a journey to chase these creatures into the dangerous rakhlands and kill Ciani's attacker thereby returning Ciani's memories of her "adeptitude." The mysterious creatures strangely reminded me of the slake-moths in China Mieville's PERDIDO STREET STATION. There's nothing more horrifying than stripping a thinking, reasoning and experienced person of one's memories. Angst-ridden passages from Damien's perspective proclaiming his love for Ciani when she obviously fails to return even a fraction of his love and devotion grate the nerves. Along the way, more companions join Damien, Ciani and Senzei on their journey, most notable among them the adept Gerald Tarrant. Eventually the narrative shifts to the unlikely yet burgeoning camaraderie between Tarrant and Damien, Damien's conflicting view of Tarrant (Damien strangely finds comfort in Tarrant's powerful, dark presence, yet feels ashamed for it because he's supposed to be a priest). Just like some romance heroine sulking over a tall, dark and handsome hero. This emotional introspection from Damien highlighting his relationship with Tarrant comprises the bulk of the novel and the "point" of it all, such as it is. Damien reasons he needs evil to fight evil, and grows fond of Tarrant, even calling Tarrant a bastard obviously because Damien enjoys the reassurance of Tarrant's presence. Just like serving as our eyes and ears into Tarrant, Damien serves as a conduit for Tarrant to attack the main antagonist of this particular novel, the Master of Lema. The Master of Lema mysteriously harnesses power at the hub of Erna's frequent earthquake activity in the rakhlands. I failed to see a big difference between the Master of Lema and our supposedly redeemed Gerald Tarrant. Both use and kill innocents, so what really makes the Master of Lema the greater threat? The book says whereas Tarrant harbors some semblance of honor and sanity, the Master of Lema has gone insane in a lust for greater and greater power. I don't see it, both require innocent 'sacrifices' to sustain themselves, why is one morally wrong (the Master of Lema), the other forgivable (Tarrant)? By the way, I love how Tarrant's power keeps him tall and handsome, whereas the Master of Lema's appearance has withered. Does that mean: evil men = cool, evil women = bad?
In any case, improbable companions journey to a dangerous and forbidden land. The enemy (Master of Lema) wants the adepts to feed off their power (Ciani and Tarrant), and their journey into the rakhlands bring the enemy the very thing the enemy covets (Ciani and Tarrant). If that doesn't sound like another version of Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS, I don't know what does. The events are predictable, boring and annoying at the same time. I didn't care about any of the characters, I was annoyed by Damien's angst-ridden introspection of Tarrant, and in spite of my fondest hopes, nobody major died.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Dragon Prince, by Melanie Rawn [1]
*/***** (1/5)
Dragon Prince series (Rohan)
1. Dragon Prince (1/5)
2. The Star Scroll
3. Sunrunner's Fire
Dragon Star series (Rohan's son Pol)
1. Stronghold
2. The Dragon Token
3. Skybowl
Don't let the title of this book fool you, this book belongs to its Sunrunner heroine Sioned as she facilitates every major aspiration and/or accomplishment for our golden boy Rohan. In a fantasy book with substantial romantic inclinations, I wouldn't mind the emphasis on the heroine if I didn't find our hero Rohan's character so dithering, so wishy-washy, and, for lack of a better word, so "wussified." Our milksop hero Rohan whines about everything, he often gives moral soliloquies and the story arc primarily describes Rohan's evolution from an erudite 21 year-old idealist intent on peace like a 1960s hippie to a 27 year-old realist who whines about doing some rather "barbarian" things to protect the future of his family and people. In Part 3 entitled "Vengeance," Rohan's "brother-by-marriage" Chaynal assuages this evolution in Rohan's character, noting Rohan embodies hope to everyone because he (Rohan) examines and re-examines his actions and motivations. Evidently, this examination makes Rohan the good guy and his actions justified. I say it makes Rohan an annoying milksop. Like an imbecile, more than once Rohan resolves to never do what he's doing now ("Never again."). After he kills a dragon, he resolves, "Never again!" After waging a war in Part 3 when he's supposed to be more mature and worldly, there's also a naive "Never again!" Please, times change and who knows what actions the future may compel. Choose a course of action and get on with it, live with the consequences and learn from them. Guy Gavriel Kay's TIGANA (*) demonstrated I usually don't go for thematic fantasy stories where emotional angst, lessons and morals lurk behind every plot device. Please don't try to teach me and advise me on the nature of life and society. Lamentably, such is the case here in Melanie Rawn's romantic DRAGON PRINCE.
In my endless quest for an entertaining fusion between many different genres, this book reminded me of a another (better) romantic fantasy, that is, Joanne Bertin's THE LAST DRAGONLORD (****). I thought the prose, romance and political intrigue in Bertin's THE LAST DRAGONLORD surpassed Rawn's book here. I also thought the worldbuilding and magic system in Bertin's book were better. Both books however featured fairly weak heroes, and Bertin's awful sequel DRAGON AND PHOENIX (*) exacerbated the male characterizations. Male fantasy authors rarely write engaging female characters and fun romance while female fantasy authors write heroes who often irritate me. Unlike the romance genre, I actually liked that our hero Rohan here in DRAGON PRINCE isn't an older, experienced libertine, I liked that he isn't a redoubtable warrior, but his incessant dithering introspection really sucked the life out of any enjoyment Parts 1 & 2 may have engendered. We're told our hero Rohan is clever, a political mastermind of sorts, but I'm not sure what he accomplishes from Part 2 in the Rialla really amounts to all that much when it all goes to hell in Part 3 anyway. The book glosses over the details of his political maneuvering in the Rialla from Part 2 anyway and we're basically told he deftly effected many favorable agreements for his princedom. If you want a substantively unconventional male hero, check out Tyrion's political maneuvering from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (especially in A CLASH OF KINGS), or Locke Lamora in Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series. Tyrion and Locke are both incredibly hilarious and politically brilliant. Regrettably, Rohan fails to even approach the Tyrion and Locke's realm of brilliance and humor.
Rawn's DRAGON PRINCE also reminded me of Terry Goodkind's fairly repetitive and sermonizing Sword of Truth series (which I've never reviewed and probably never will). I can't express enough how addicted I was to Goodkind's fantasy/romance/adventure Sword of Truth series. I will always maintain that his opening installment WIZARD'S FIRST RULE (1994) was quite good and I really liked the fourth installment TEMPLE OF THE WINDS (1997) as well. His never-ending, repetitive saga crumbles starting from his fifth installment SOUL OF FIRE however. Anyhow, Goodkind is always looking to impart real-life lessons behind his fantasy plots. Similar to Goodkind's series, Rawn's morals and lessons here in the introspection and narrative drain the energy and plotting.
The Story.
In Rawn's fantasy world, I found the magic system both ambiguous and common compared to other fantasy books. Essentially a society of 'Sunrunners' or foradh'im travel along light to communicate across vast distances, conjure images, and the most powerful among the Sunrunners may call fire to destroy and devastate (though they're forbidden to kill and conveniently all the Sunrunners obey the rule). Distinctive colors identify each person in Rawn's world and Sunrunners see the unique colors of the person they're communicating with over vast distances. The sunrunner talent is mostly hereditary although it surfaces randomly in genealogies bereft of the talent. In the beginning of the story, our heroine Sioned is a powerful Sunrunner having earned 5 rings (each ring representing another notch in talent or power). Only the Lady of Goddess Keep, the Lady Andrade and Rohan's aunt, possesses 10 rings. Sunrunners train at the Goddess Keep, earning rings, experience and furthering their talents. Hackneyed for the fantasy genre, everything is made up of Fire, Air, Earth, and Water. Since Sunrunners utilize light and manipulate fire, they can't withstand traveling on a boat in water, an indication of Sunrunner talent. The people in Rawn's world, regardless of whether they possess the Sunrunner talent or not, primarily worship the Goddess. There are no kings here, and instead there exists various princedoms ruled by Princes. Our main antagonist is the High Prince Roelstra who resides over all the other princes and princedoms including his own, the Princemarch.
As the story begins, we're introduced to one of the most powerful princedoms, Prince Zehava's the Desert. Old, grizzled, and a beast among men, Zehava enjoys hunting dragons throughout his princedom and he embarks on killing his tenth dragon. When the ensuing battle between dragon and Prince Zehava lands Zehava in his deathbed, his heir 21 year-old Rohan come into power. Described as learned, clever and political mastermind, Rohan isn't the warrior like his brother-by-marriage Chay nor the dragon hunter like his famed father. In fact, Rohan loves dragons. Outside and above the princes' hierarchy, Rohan's aunt the Lady Andrade of Goddess Keep wishes to arrange a marriage between her pupil Sioned and the new Prince Rohan. Sioned has foreseen Rohan in the flames as a prophecy and finds herself half in love with him without having even met him. When Andrade presents Sioned to Rohan in the flames as well, our golden handsome loverboy is also in love. Part One, Faces in Fire, concludes with the onset of the Rialla a congregation of princes and lords who ratify various trade treaties and compromise on borders. The event culminates with (appropriately enough) Lastday Ceremonies consisting of weddings. Occurring every three years, the High Prince Roelstra oversees all dealings amongst princes at the Rialla. Maligned by seventeen daughters but not one male heir, the High Prince Roelstra, his mistress Palila and his legitimate daughters lanthe and Pandsala scheme to ensnare the new Prince Rohan in a marriage alliance during Rialla.
Part two, the Rialla, concludes with the end of the Rialla as Sioned and Rohan publicly acknowledge one another as husband and wife despite Roelstra's various plots. If Parts One and Two were mildly entertaining viewed as a romance with a fantasy context, Part Three "Vengeance" decidedly switches gears. I don't mind that bad stuff happens in this last part, but I found Rohan's introspective dithering, wishy-washy introspection and emotional angst unbearable as each irritating facet of his characterization multiplies hundred fold. Sioned is clearly the man in the relationship when she goes to whatever extreme necessary -- killing, for example -- to save and succor her husband Rohan. First, I find it implausible that prior to Sioned, no Sunrunner used his or her powers to harm or kill or possibly tilt the balance in a war. Talk about an idealistic utopia. Second, the emotional wedge between Sioned and Rohan as a result of lanthe's scheming seemed to magically disappear at the very end. We're told after the fact that they harmed each other but they eventually found their way back to each other. I also found events describing the war and its strategy very amateurish. Clearly this isn't Rawn's strong suit. There's too many domestic issues miring the plot having to do with Rohan's sister Tobin and her husband (Chay) and children. At times, Part 3 read as a chick fest, the men not really having much to do. Consider: lanthe's plot to trap Rohan, Sioned's revenge against lanthe, Tobin's domestic issues with her husband and children, Chianna, Pandsala and Lady Andrade, and even Feylin of Skybowl antagonizing Walvis and finally Rohan's Commander of his guards Maeta at Stronghold (a woman, of course). Even the final duel between Rohan and Roelstra was one of the poorest sword fights I've ever read, Sioned was intimately involved in it of course from miles away. Victorious, Sioned and Rohan promote new princes and lords. I thought the rosy ending was very unsatisfying and out of place following the emotional angst driving Sioned and Rohan apart earlier.
Dragon Prince series (Rohan)
1. Dragon Prince (1/5)
2. The Star Scroll
3. Sunrunner's Fire
Dragon Star series (Rohan's son Pol)
1. Stronghold
2. The Dragon Token
3. Skybowl
Don't let the title of this book fool you, this book belongs to its Sunrunner heroine Sioned as she facilitates every major aspiration and/or accomplishment for our golden boy Rohan. In a fantasy book with substantial romantic inclinations, I wouldn't mind the emphasis on the heroine if I didn't find our hero Rohan's character so dithering, so wishy-washy, and, for lack of a better word, so "wussified." Our milksop hero Rohan whines about everything, he often gives moral soliloquies and the story arc primarily describes Rohan's evolution from an erudite 21 year-old idealist intent on peace like a 1960s hippie to a 27 year-old realist who whines about doing some rather "barbarian" things to protect the future of his family and people. In Part 3 entitled "Vengeance," Rohan's "brother-by-marriage" Chaynal assuages this evolution in Rohan's character, noting Rohan embodies hope to everyone because he (Rohan) examines and re-examines his actions and motivations. Evidently, this examination makes Rohan the good guy and his actions justified. I say it makes Rohan an annoying milksop. Like an imbecile, more than once Rohan resolves to never do what he's doing now ("Never again."). After he kills a dragon, he resolves, "Never again!" After waging a war in Part 3 when he's supposed to be more mature and worldly, there's also a naive "Never again!" Please, times change and who knows what actions the future may compel. Choose a course of action and get on with it, live with the consequences and learn from them. Guy Gavriel Kay's TIGANA (*) demonstrated I usually don't go for thematic fantasy stories where emotional angst, lessons and morals lurk behind every plot device. Please don't try to teach me and advise me on the nature of life and society. Lamentably, such is the case here in Melanie Rawn's romantic DRAGON PRINCE.
In my endless quest for an entertaining fusion between many different genres, this book reminded me of a another (better) romantic fantasy, that is, Joanne Bertin's THE LAST DRAGONLORD (****). I thought the prose, romance and political intrigue in Bertin's THE LAST DRAGONLORD surpassed Rawn's book here. I also thought the worldbuilding and magic system in Bertin's book were better. Both books however featured fairly weak heroes, and Bertin's awful sequel DRAGON AND PHOENIX (*) exacerbated the male characterizations. Male fantasy authors rarely write engaging female characters and fun romance while female fantasy authors write heroes who often irritate me. Unlike the romance genre, I actually liked that our hero Rohan here in DRAGON PRINCE isn't an older, experienced libertine, I liked that he isn't a redoubtable warrior, but his incessant dithering introspection really sucked the life out of any enjoyment Parts 1 & 2 may have engendered. We're told our hero Rohan is clever, a political mastermind of sorts, but I'm not sure what he accomplishes from Part 2 in the Rialla really amounts to all that much when it all goes to hell in Part 3 anyway. The book glosses over the details of his political maneuvering in the Rialla from Part 2 anyway and we're basically told he deftly effected many favorable agreements for his princedom. If you want a substantively unconventional male hero, check out Tyrion's political maneuvering from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (especially in A CLASH OF KINGS), or Locke Lamora in Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series. Tyrion and Locke are both incredibly hilarious and politically brilliant. Regrettably, Rohan fails to even approach the Tyrion and Locke's realm of brilliance and humor.
Rawn's DRAGON PRINCE also reminded me of Terry Goodkind's fairly repetitive and sermonizing Sword of Truth series (which I've never reviewed and probably never will). I can't express enough how addicted I was to Goodkind's fantasy/romance/adventure Sword of Truth series. I will always maintain that his opening installment WIZARD'S FIRST RULE (1994) was quite good and I really liked the fourth installment TEMPLE OF THE WINDS (1997) as well. His never-ending, repetitive saga crumbles starting from his fifth installment SOUL OF FIRE however. Anyhow, Goodkind is always looking to impart real-life lessons behind his fantasy plots. Similar to Goodkind's series, Rawn's morals and lessons here in the introspection and narrative drain the energy and plotting.
The Story.
In Rawn's fantasy world, I found the magic system both ambiguous and common compared to other fantasy books. Essentially a society of 'Sunrunners' or foradh'im travel along light to communicate across vast distances, conjure images, and the most powerful among the Sunrunners may call fire to destroy and devastate (though they're forbidden to kill and conveniently all the Sunrunners obey the rule). Distinctive colors identify each person in Rawn's world and Sunrunners see the unique colors of the person they're communicating with over vast distances. The sunrunner talent is mostly hereditary although it surfaces randomly in genealogies bereft of the talent. In the beginning of the story, our heroine Sioned is a powerful Sunrunner having earned 5 rings (each ring representing another notch in talent or power). Only the Lady of Goddess Keep, the Lady Andrade and Rohan's aunt, possesses 10 rings. Sunrunners train at the Goddess Keep, earning rings, experience and furthering their talents. Hackneyed for the fantasy genre, everything is made up of Fire, Air, Earth, and Water. Since Sunrunners utilize light and manipulate fire, they can't withstand traveling on a boat in water, an indication of Sunrunner talent. The people in Rawn's world, regardless of whether they possess the Sunrunner talent or not, primarily worship the Goddess. There are no kings here, and instead there exists various princedoms ruled by Princes. Our main antagonist is the High Prince Roelstra who resides over all the other princes and princedoms including his own, the Princemarch.
As the story begins, we're introduced to one of the most powerful princedoms, Prince Zehava's the Desert. Old, grizzled, and a beast among men, Zehava enjoys hunting dragons throughout his princedom and he embarks on killing his tenth dragon. When the ensuing battle between dragon and Prince Zehava lands Zehava in his deathbed, his heir 21 year-old Rohan come into power. Described as learned, clever and political mastermind, Rohan isn't the warrior like his brother-by-marriage Chay nor the dragon hunter like his famed father. In fact, Rohan loves dragons. Outside and above the princes' hierarchy, Rohan's aunt the Lady Andrade of Goddess Keep wishes to arrange a marriage between her pupil Sioned and the new Prince Rohan. Sioned has foreseen Rohan in the flames as a prophecy and finds herself half in love with him without having even met him. When Andrade presents Sioned to Rohan in the flames as well, our golden handsome loverboy is also in love. Part One, Faces in Fire, concludes with the onset of the Rialla a congregation of princes and lords who ratify various trade treaties and compromise on borders. The event culminates with (appropriately enough) Lastday Ceremonies consisting of weddings. Occurring every three years, the High Prince Roelstra oversees all dealings amongst princes at the Rialla. Maligned by seventeen daughters but not one male heir, the High Prince Roelstra, his mistress Palila and his legitimate daughters lanthe and Pandsala scheme to ensnare the new Prince Rohan in a marriage alliance during Rialla.
Part two, the Rialla, concludes with the end of the Rialla as Sioned and Rohan publicly acknowledge one another as husband and wife despite Roelstra's various plots. If Parts One and Two were mildly entertaining viewed as a romance with a fantasy context, Part Three "Vengeance" decidedly switches gears. I don't mind that bad stuff happens in this last part, but I found Rohan's introspective dithering, wishy-washy introspection and emotional angst unbearable as each irritating facet of his characterization multiplies hundred fold. Sioned is clearly the man in the relationship when she goes to whatever extreme necessary -- killing, for example -- to save and succor her husband Rohan. First, I find it implausible that prior to Sioned, no Sunrunner used his or her powers to harm or kill or possibly tilt the balance in a war. Talk about an idealistic utopia. Second, the emotional wedge between Sioned and Rohan as a result of lanthe's scheming seemed to magically disappear at the very end. We're told after the fact that they harmed each other but they eventually found their way back to each other. I also found events describing the war and its strategy very amateurish. Clearly this isn't Rawn's strong suit. There's too many domestic issues miring the plot having to do with Rohan's sister Tobin and her husband (Chay) and children. At times, Part 3 read as a chick fest, the men not really having much to do. Consider: lanthe's plot to trap Rohan, Sioned's revenge against lanthe, Tobin's domestic issues with her husband and children, Chianna, Pandsala and Lady Andrade, and even Feylin of Skybowl antagonizing Walvis and finally Rohan's Commander of his guards Maeta at Stronghold (a woman, of course). Even the final duel between Rohan and Roelstra was one of the poorest sword fights I've ever read, Sioned was intimately involved in it of course from miles away. Victorious, Sioned and Rohan promote new princes and lords. I thought the rosy ending was very unsatisfying and out of place following the emotional angst driving Sioned and Rohan apart earlier.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Beyond A Shadow (SG-5 08), by Alison Kent [4]
****/***** (4/5)
Thirty-five year-old school teacher Alexa Counsel knows trouble when she sees it. As the dark and mysterious Ezra Moore walks up to her with little Emmy Rose Maples, Alexa purposefully inserts herself as a barrier between the little girl Emmy Rose and the local inn's new handyman, the dark, dangerous and perceptive Ezra Moore. Divorced two years ago, Alexa discerns danger in Ezra Moore and her intuition screams at her to run and protect herself and friends from Ezra Moore. This constitutes my first book by Alison Kent, and I found BEYOND A SHADOW very refreshing in the romance/erotica genre. I thought the writing was above average, the settings in small-town Comfort Bay, Oregon, strong, the plotting and pacing grips while the romance steadily evolved and could appeal to both guys and gals, something very rare in the romance/erotica genre. The characterizations of our lead pair Alexa Counsel and Ezra Moore reminded me of Madeline Hunter's characters: mature, compelling, and the two together exhibit an electrically-charged chemistry. Alexa and Ezra's exchanges aren't childishly antagonistic, but rather exude wit and inflammatory passion. I understand Alison Kent writes a series of books on SG-5 (Smithson Group), or Hank Smithson's team of rogue undercover operatives. Ezra Moore has appeared in prior SG-5 novels and the group's involvement and role sometimes obfuscate the plotting for completely new readers to the series. I found the finale very anticlimactic and for an accomplished operative, Ezra seems to blunder and fails to anticipate problematic scenarios which arise at the end. Ezra's overwhelming feelings for Alexa could excuse his oversights though.
This book's romantic crux describes a spiritual cleansing of the battered and damaged goods that are Ezra Moore. Certainly not the first romance novel to depict a bad boy finding redemption in a strong woman's arms, I found BEYOND A SHADOW nonetheless gritty, engaging and substantive. Approaching Anne Stuart's bad boys, Ezra Moore surpassed the well-muscled, well-endowed and rakish heroes common to most romance and erotica. In fact this book simply doesn't dwell on appearances as so many other romance books and we don't find detailed accounts of a hero's "aquiline" nose, handsome face, chiseled frame nor the heroine's ample beauty. The passion wasn't nearly as one-sided (all the pleasure and giving from the hero to the heroine), and I can't tell you how much I appreciate heroines actually enjoying giving their heroes pleasure. It's so rare because most of erotica/romance is all about the rake igniting the heroine's passions (the hero's touch, lick, suckle, blow, steady and slow deliberations) that the reverse rarely happens or when it does, she does it out of rote, not necessarily out of her desire for him. Whereas the hero yearns to taste her and savor her everywhere, the woman simply receives it. Whereas the hero really treasures her response to his ministrations, the heroine oftentimes becomes greedy time after time. A woman's uninhibited reactions to a man's ministrations definitely signify to the man, but to me, any attractive and learned man can engender such a response. It's when a woman enthusiastically does something just for her man that really captures that man's heart. Alexa Counsel is so uninhibited in her response, so giving in kind, so genuine, I found Ezra's overwhelming love for her justified. Enthusiasm and genuine desire trumps skill in every guy's book. In fact he's very lucky to have found someone so understanding and giving like Alexa.
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
Ezra Moore accepts a handyman job for the Maples Inn in small town Comfort Boy, Oregon, as a cover in order to eliminate the virulent organization SpectraIT headed by Warren Aceveda and Cameron Gates. He's expected to rendezvous with a couple of SpectraIT representatives who will arrive at the Maples Inn in a week's time. Ezra arrives early to reconnoiter the small town and embed himself within the community to avoid any suspicion later when SpectraIT's representatives arrive. Respected schoolteacher Alexa Counsel provides the perfect excuse to insert himself within the community... or so he tells himself. The two explore their mutual attraction the very first night. While Ezra intends to use Alexa as his connection to the local community, Alexa has a police officer friend investigate Ezra's background because she still doesn't completely trust him. Some of the chapters from little Emmy Rose Maples' perspective (Alexa's close friend's daughter) are some of the most funny and interesting.
Ezra's plans goes terribly awry when someone from his ignominious past shows up for the arranged meeting with SpectraIT instead, all the while holding Alexa hostage in the process. One of the most touching scenes in the book was Alexa "cleaning" Ezra of his dirt after the dangerous fray, symbolically cleansing him of his crimes. The finale, though anticlimactic, still concluded the novel satisfactorily.
Overall I found BEYOND A SHADOW a very satisfying read and a slight detour from juvenile romance stories so common to this genre.
Thirty-five year-old school teacher Alexa Counsel knows trouble when she sees it. As the dark and mysterious Ezra Moore walks up to her with little Emmy Rose Maples, Alexa purposefully inserts herself as a barrier between the little girl Emmy Rose and the local inn's new handyman, the dark, dangerous and perceptive Ezra Moore. Divorced two years ago, Alexa discerns danger in Ezra Moore and her intuition screams at her to run and protect herself and friends from Ezra Moore. This constitutes my first book by Alison Kent, and I found BEYOND A SHADOW very refreshing in the romance/erotica genre. I thought the writing was above average, the settings in small-town Comfort Bay, Oregon, strong, the plotting and pacing grips while the romance steadily evolved and could appeal to both guys and gals, something very rare in the romance/erotica genre. The characterizations of our lead pair Alexa Counsel and Ezra Moore reminded me of Madeline Hunter's characters: mature, compelling, and the two together exhibit an electrically-charged chemistry. Alexa and Ezra's exchanges aren't childishly antagonistic, but rather exude wit and inflammatory passion. I understand Alison Kent writes a series of books on SG-5 (Smithson Group), or Hank Smithson's team of rogue undercover operatives. Ezra Moore has appeared in prior SG-5 novels and the group's involvement and role sometimes obfuscate the plotting for completely new readers to the series. I found the finale very anticlimactic and for an accomplished operative, Ezra seems to blunder and fails to anticipate problematic scenarios which arise at the end. Ezra's overwhelming feelings for Alexa could excuse his oversights though.
This book's romantic crux describes a spiritual cleansing of the battered and damaged goods that are Ezra Moore. Certainly not the first romance novel to depict a bad boy finding redemption in a strong woman's arms, I found BEYOND A SHADOW nonetheless gritty, engaging and substantive. Approaching Anne Stuart's bad boys, Ezra Moore surpassed the well-muscled, well-endowed and rakish heroes common to most romance and erotica. In fact this book simply doesn't dwell on appearances as so many other romance books and we don't find detailed accounts of a hero's "aquiline" nose, handsome face, chiseled frame nor the heroine's ample beauty. The passion wasn't nearly as one-sided (all the pleasure and giving from the hero to the heroine), and I can't tell you how much I appreciate heroines actually enjoying giving their heroes pleasure. It's so rare because most of erotica/romance is all about the rake igniting the heroine's passions (the hero's touch, lick, suckle, blow, steady and slow deliberations) that the reverse rarely happens or when it does, she does it out of rote, not necessarily out of her desire for him. Whereas the hero yearns to taste her and savor her everywhere, the woman simply receives it. Whereas the hero really treasures her response to his ministrations, the heroine oftentimes becomes greedy time after time. A woman's uninhibited reactions to a man's ministrations definitely signify to the man, but to me, any attractive and learned man can engender such a response. It's when a woman enthusiastically does something just for her man that really captures that man's heart. Alexa Counsel is so uninhibited in her response, so giving in kind, so genuine, I found Ezra's overwhelming love for her justified. Enthusiasm and genuine desire trumps skill in every guy's book. In fact he's very lucky to have found someone so understanding and giving like Alexa.
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
Ezra Moore accepts a handyman job for the Maples Inn in small town Comfort Boy, Oregon, as a cover in order to eliminate the virulent organization SpectraIT headed by Warren Aceveda and Cameron Gates. He's expected to rendezvous with a couple of SpectraIT representatives who will arrive at the Maples Inn in a week's time. Ezra arrives early to reconnoiter the small town and embed himself within the community to avoid any suspicion later when SpectraIT's representatives arrive. Respected schoolteacher Alexa Counsel provides the perfect excuse to insert himself within the community... or so he tells himself. The two explore their mutual attraction the very first night. While Ezra intends to use Alexa as his connection to the local community, Alexa has a police officer friend investigate Ezra's background because she still doesn't completely trust him. Some of the chapters from little Emmy Rose Maples' perspective (Alexa's close friend's daughter) are some of the most funny and interesting.
Ezra's plans goes terribly awry when someone from his ignominious past shows up for the arranged meeting with SpectraIT instead, all the while holding Alexa hostage in the process. One of the most touching scenes in the book was Alexa "cleaning" Ezra of his dirt after the dangerous fray, symbolically cleansing him of his crimes. The finale, though anticlimactic, still concluded the novel satisfactorily.
Overall I found BEYOND A SHADOW a very satisfying read and a slight detour from juvenile romance stories so common to this genre.
Friday, February 22, 2008
A Rose in Winter, by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss [1]
*/***** (1/5)
I had high hopes for A ROSE IN WINTER following the compelling American Civil War romance ASHES IN THE WIND (****). Unfortunately, the hero and heroine here, Erienne Fleming and Christopher Seton respectively, shattered my high hopes. Like ASHES IN THE WIND, Woodiwiss's prose and settings are strong but the characters, plotting and pacing here in A ROSE IN WINTER fell by the wayside in a predictable and disengaging manner. The novel takes place during 1792 England, a Georgian time period with all the social stratas and rogues/rakes from regency romances. I found this historical backdrop fairly routine and uninteresting. Lamentably, A ROSE IN WINTER took over a month to finish as my interest level waned the more I read. Inspired by the fairytale Beauty and the Beast, I disliked the predictable (and convenient) twist which made the Beast more than tolerable. I was frustrated by Erienne's air-headed naivete and bored by Christopher's rogue "charms" which offers nothing different from the myriad of other rakes in romance books.
I found Erienne childish, Christopher dull and the plotting dry and predictable. I thought the gist of the romance lacked merit and appeal; that is, the handsome Christopher struggling to convince Erienne to love him instead of her husband, the ugly and malformed Lord Saxton. Erienne's marriage vows appear a secondary concern to her pining attraction and response to the handsome Christopher. For example, after the Talbot ball, Christopher accosts her in the carriage ride back to Saxton Hall and Erienne responds very favorably to his kisses. Her review of the ordeal has more to do with her feelings for Christopher than potentially breaking marriage vows. Erienne is also very stupid. The identity of Lord Saxton is blatantly obvious from the moment we hear of him and yet Erienne doesn't learn of Saxton's true identity until Saxton himself reveals it. There exists a lot of evidence for her too. I found our rakish rogue, Christopher Seton, entirely ordinary for the romance genre, he doesn't possess a single distinctive quality. Many times he seemed like Superman: he's wealthy, titled, worldly, well-traveled, sexually experienced, tall, dark and handsome. Furthermore, he can deftly play cards, he's proficient at guns and deadly with swords. There's nothing to ground Christopher Seton, he seemed like a feminine concoction in beauty, power and brains (in that order through Erienne's eyes). The plotting was so insipid, I lost interest too many times. I'm trying to decipher the point of some of the vacuous plotting such as Christopher's protracted fight with Timmy Sears in a dockside bar and then traveling to London for parties, traveling back, going to a Talbot ball, etc. The romantic "tension" was anything but. I just didn't care for the "tension" which has Erienne struggling to maintain her marriage vows and easily falling prey to a handsome rake's advances side. Erienne never really accepts the malformed Lord Saxton, she's like a bimbo who pines for outward beauty above all else. The plot dealing with the Saxton family was too melodramatic while the ending stretched mercilessly. I thought KEW could have spiced up the second half by having Erienne discover the truth behind Saxton's identity herself and stage a circumstance which turns the tables on him. But alas, she's just a dumb bimbo throughout.
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
Affluent Yankee Christopher Seton owns many trading ships and he's the common flavor of tall, dark and very handsome. In a duel against Seton defending his insidious father's honor at a game of cards, Farrell Fleming loses feeling in his whole arm and consequently wallows in self-misery. Farrell's sister is none other than the beautiful Erienne Fleming, a girl who detests Seton for crippling her brother and forcing her father Avery Fleming to marry her to the highest bidder. After rejecting many potential husbands, all of them extreme cases of old, infirm and lewd, her father auctions her off. Seton offers but both Erienne and her father Avery reject Seton's proposal because they supposedly hate him. Erienne goes insofar to proclaim to the notorious rake Seton, "Were a twisted, scar-faced, hunchbacked cripple the only other man on earth, I would surely choose him over you!" I'm not so sure Avery's rejection is plausible, money always speaks louder than grudges for people like Avery Fleming. The mysterious and decrepit Lord Saxton purchases Erienne for his wife instead while also alleviating Avery Fleming of his vast debts. Despite respecting and honoring Erienne, Erienne cannot bear the awful and fearful sight of Lord Saxton. Even towards the end, Erienne cannot accept Lord Saxton because of his less-than-desirable appearance.
The story continues as the Saxton history comes to the forefront. Again, most of it is predictable and melodramatic nonsense. Seton flies around on black stallion with a black cape killing bandits and thieves as his legend grows. Even so, we have all these goons still pop up out of no where at the finale to wreak havoc. Nothing here at all.
I had high hopes for A ROSE IN WINTER following the compelling American Civil War romance ASHES IN THE WIND (****). Unfortunately, the hero and heroine here, Erienne Fleming and Christopher Seton respectively, shattered my high hopes. Like ASHES IN THE WIND, Woodiwiss's prose and settings are strong but the characters, plotting and pacing here in A ROSE IN WINTER fell by the wayside in a predictable and disengaging manner. The novel takes place during 1792 England, a Georgian time period with all the social stratas and rogues/rakes from regency romances. I found this historical backdrop fairly routine and uninteresting. Lamentably, A ROSE IN WINTER took over a month to finish as my interest level waned the more I read. Inspired by the fairytale Beauty and the Beast, I disliked the predictable (and convenient) twist which made the Beast more than tolerable. I was frustrated by Erienne's air-headed naivete and bored by Christopher's rogue "charms" which offers nothing different from the myriad of other rakes in romance books.
I found Erienne childish, Christopher dull and the plotting dry and predictable. I thought the gist of the romance lacked merit and appeal; that is, the handsome Christopher struggling to convince Erienne to love him instead of her husband, the ugly and malformed Lord Saxton. Erienne's marriage vows appear a secondary concern to her pining attraction and response to the handsome Christopher. For example, after the Talbot ball, Christopher accosts her in the carriage ride back to Saxton Hall and Erienne responds very favorably to his kisses. Her review of the ordeal has more to do with her feelings for Christopher than potentially breaking marriage vows. Erienne is also very stupid. The identity of Lord Saxton is blatantly obvious from the moment we hear of him and yet Erienne doesn't learn of Saxton's true identity until Saxton himself reveals it. There exists a lot of evidence for her too. I found our rakish rogue, Christopher Seton, entirely ordinary for the romance genre, he doesn't possess a single distinctive quality. Many times he seemed like Superman: he's wealthy, titled, worldly, well-traveled, sexually experienced, tall, dark and handsome. Furthermore, he can deftly play cards, he's proficient at guns and deadly with swords. There's nothing to ground Christopher Seton, he seemed like a feminine concoction in beauty, power and brains (in that order through Erienne's eyes). The plotting was so insipid, I lost interest too many times. I'm trying to decipher the point of some of the vacuous plotting such as Christopher's protracted fight with Timmy Sears in a dockside bar and then traveling to London for parties, traveling back, going to a Talbot ball, etc. The romantic "tension" was anything but. I just didn't care for the "tension" which has Erienne struggling to maintain her marriage vows and easily falling prey to a handsome rake's advances side. Erienne never really accepts the malformed Lord Saxton, she's like a bimbo who pines for outward beauty above all else. The plot dealing with the Saxton family was too melodramatic while the ending stretched mercilessly. I thought KEW could have spiced up the second half by having Erienne discover the truth behind Saxton's identity herself and stage a circumstance which turns the tables on him. But alas, she's just a dumb bimbo throughout.
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
Affluent Yankee Christopher Seton owns many trading ships and he's the common flavor of tall, dark and very handsome. In a duel against Seton defending his insidious father's honor at a game of cards, Farrell Fleming loses feeling in his whole arm and consequently wallows in self-misery. Farrell's sister is none other than the beautiful Erienne Fleming, a girl who detests Seton for crippling her brother and forcing her father Avery Fleming to marry her to the highest bidder. After rejecting many potential husbands, all of them extreme cases of old, infirm and lewd, her father auctions her off. Seton offers but both Erienne and her father Avery reject Seton's proposal because they supposedly hate him. Erienne goes insofar to proclaim to the notorious rake Seton, "Were a twisted, scar-faced, hunchbacked cripple the only other man on earth, I would surely choose him over you!" I'm not so sure Avery's rejection is plausible, money always speaks louder than grudges for people like Avery Fleming. The mysterious and decrepit Lord Saxton purchases Erienne for his wife instead while also alleviating Avery Fleming of his vast debts. Despite respecting and honoring Erienne, Erienne cannot bear the awful and fearful sight of Lord Saxton. Even towards the end, Erienne cannot accept Lord Saxton because of his less-than-desirable appearance.
The story continues as the Saxton history comes to the forefront. Again, most of it is predictable and melodramatic nonsense. Seton flies around on black stallion with a black cape killing bandits and thieves as his legend grows. Even so, we have all these goons still pop up out of no where at the finale to wreak havoc. Nothing here at all.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Prince of Swords, by Anne Stuart [2]
**/***** (2/5)
After Stuart's thoroughly entertaining contemporary romance/suspense INTO THE FIRE (****), I was a bit disappointed by PRINCE OF SWORDS which takes place during regency England. This novel's hero Alistair MacAlpin, the sixth Earl of Glenshiel, demonstrates Anne Stuart's unparalleled knack for bad boys with a very dark edge. These aren't just pining good guys masquerading as garden-variety rakes, these really are bad boys and some of the things they think, say and do will put most romance-hero rakes to shame. Although Alistair's tortured-soul, bad-boy rake routine seemed a lot more convincing than most rake characterizations from romance books, Alistair's overwhelming state of ennui percolated my reading experience and I was actually bored by his boredom. Although I liked Alistair's dearth of morals and soulless characterization, I found myself bored by his womanizing ways, common flavor of tall, dark and handsome, wealth, title and his insouciant attitude towards life like a dilettante. Alistair just seemed like a spoiled 32 year-old baby, mad at society for exploiting his older brother's predilection to drinking and gaming. Although both are bad boys, Alistair lacked the intensity we find in INTO THE FIRE's Dillon. The prose here is better than most historical romances, the settings are above average, while the plotting/pacing below average to average. The plotting and pacing suffered from an overabundance of introspection/banter, switching to a secondary pairing (Robert Brennan and Jessamine's sister Fleur), a decided absence of any engaging events, and an anticlimactic finale. Fueled by Alistair's ennui, the characterizations seemed mostly bland and formulaic. I grew tired of Jessamine's insecurity mocking her lack of beauty both in her words and thoughts. I actually liked Robert Brennan and Fleur better than the main characters (Alistair and Jessamine).
Fleur finally moved. "[Brennan] told you to keep your hands off me," she said firmly. "Yes, I spent the night in his room last night, yes, I'm a slut and a whore. But I'm Brennan's whore."
The book obviously belongs to its bad boy Alistair MacAlpin and how he makes everyone else dance to his tune. Most chick-lit postures goody boys who undeservedly suffer a lot to be with their "feisty" (translation, bitchy) heroines. Anne Stuart however really puts her heroine through hell to save her bad boy's soul or to be with her hero. Alistair mercilessly exploits, abuses and discards Jessamine, and yet Jessamine continues to love him returning to him time and time again. Alistair obviously doesn't deserve Jessamine and he'll be first to tell you that, but somehow Jessamine strives to rescue his soul anyway. Most chick-lit has their heroes taking the first step in love, taking the first chance, fighting for their heroines and continuing to sacrifice at every turn thereafter. Not Anne Stuart. Her heroines are gluttons for punishment and it seems both Jessamine and Fleur here take gargantuan leaps of faith driven by their love for Alistair and Robert, respectively. In spite of it all, it was refreshing to see heroines fighting to be with their heroes for a change in historical romance.
Many elements of the plotting failed to engage while the pacing sagged. I found it too convenient for Alistair to learn of all the relevant characters and connections involved in the story at the outset via the eccentric Nicodemus Bottom. Alistair knows of Jessamine's connection with the iniquitous Bow Street runner Josiah Clegg which places Jessamine at a disadvantage with Alistair throughout. Alistair accurately views the other Bow Street runner Robert Brennan a scrupulous man. Alistair knows of Brennan's attraction to Jessamine's sister Fleur and uses that later at the party to occupy Brennan. Even though the book characterizes Brennan as a clever, strong man, Brennan was always a step behind. Even at the very end, Brennan falls for the same trick twice (Alistair diverts his attention elsewhere) and he just appears impotent overall. The alternating passages between Fleur and Jessamine before the love scene crippled the pacing. Interminable musings without anything happening grates my soul and these passages specialized in such musings. The party at Blaine Manor was pointless and Alistair taking Jessamine on a pilfering "adventure" seemed less of an adventure than an excursion on repetitious introspection and banter.
The Story.
Impoverished Lady Jessamine Maitland, her sister Fleur and their mother have fallen on hard times after her father debauched the family inheritance. Twenty-three year-old virgin Jessamine, decked out in plain gray garb and not nearly as pretty as her younger eighteen year-old sister Fleur, single-handedly sustains her family through her Tarot card reading talents. A gypsy tutors Jessamine on the arcane arts of card reading and warns that should she ever lose her virginity, her card-reading talents will also disappear. Jessamine's unique card-reading talents aid the wicked Bow Street runner Josiah Clegg to apprehend criminals. Jessamine is saving to help finance her beautiful younger sister's coming-out thereby ensnaring a wealthy gentleman who will secure their family's future.
Notoriously dubbed the "Cat," the sixth Earl of Glenshiel (Alistair) finds a solution to his boredom by stealing from the sinfully rich and prosperous. Tall, dark and handsome, a lewd rake, and exhibiting the common "alpha" traits, Alistair espies Jessamine at a party (he's just stolen some jewels). Jessamine entertains the guests via her card-reading talents. Alistair is immediately attracted to Jessamine and doggedly pursues her for sex. He even makes it clear to her that he wishes to deflower her and then abandon her.
Things slowly progress at a party in Blaine Manor attended by all the characters: Jessamine, Alistair, Jessamine's sister Fleur, Robert Brennan and Josiah Clegg. Nothing much happens except Alistair's continued mission to deflower and ruin Jessamine. Alistair knows Jessamine is in collusion with Clegg and endeavors to give her reasons not divulge his secret identity as the notorious "Cat." Robert Brennan and Josiah Clegg both are after the "Cat" and Clegg pressures Jessamine to divine the Cat's identity from the cards. Jess waits and waits all the while subconsciously knowing the Cat's identity.
I found the ending with one final heist involving the crown jewels very rushed and anticlimactic. Despite Jessamine's love and devotion, it takes a lot for Alistair to finally come to grips with his love for her. But such are Anne Stuart's bad boys, they don't make it easy.
After Stuart's thoroughly entertaining contemporary romance/suspense INTO THE FIRE (****), I was a bit disappointed by PRINCE OF SWORDS which takes place during regency England. This novel's hero Alistair MacAlpin, the sixth Earl of Glenshiel, demonstrates Anne Stuart's unparalleled knack for bad boys with a very dark edge. These aren't just pining good guys masquerading as garden-variety rakes, these really are bad boys and some of the things they think, say and do will put most romance-hero rakes to shame. Although Alistair's tortured-soul, bad-boy rake routine seemed a lot more convincing than most rake characterizations from romance books, Alistair's overwhelming state of ennui percolated my reading experience and I was actually bored by his boredom. Although I liked Alistair's dearth of morals and soulless characterization, I found myself bored by his womanizing ways, common flavor of tall, dark and handsome, wealth, title and his insouciant attitude towards life like a dilettante. Alistair just seemed like a spoiled 32 year-old baby, mad at society for exploiting his older brother's predilection to drinking and gaming. Although both are bad boys, Alistair lacked the intensity we find in INTO THE FIRE's Dillon. The prose here is better than most historical romances, the settings are above average, while the plotting/pacing below average to average. The plotting and pacing suffered from an overabundance of introspection/banter, switching to a secondary pairing (Robert Brennan and Jessamine's sister Fleur), a decided absence of any engaging events, and an anticlimactic finale. Fueled by Alistair's ennui, the characterizations seemed mostly bland and formulaic. I grew tired of Jessamine's insecurity mocking her lack of beauty both in her words and thoughts. I actually liked Robert Brennan and Fleur better than the main characters (Alistair and Jessamine).
Fleur finally moved. "[Brennan] told you to keep your hands off me," she said firmly. "Yes, I spent the night in his room last night, yes, I'm a slut and a whore. But I'm Brennan's whore."
The book obviously belongs to its bad boy Alistair MacAlpin and how he makes everyone else dance to his tune. Most chick-lit postures goody boys who undeservedly suffer a lot to be with their "feisty" (translation, bitchy) heroines. Anne Stuart however really puts her heroine through hell to save her bad boy's soul or to be with her hero. Alistair mercilessly exploits, abuses and discards Jessamine, and yet Jessamine continues to love him returning to him time and time again. Alistair obviously doesn't deserve Jessamine and he'll be first to tell you that, but somehow Jessamine strives to rescue his soul anyway. Most chick-lit has their heroes taking the first step in love, taking the first chance, fighting for their heroines and continuing to sacrifice at every turn thereafter. Not Anne Stuart. Her heroines are gluttons for punishment and it seems both Jessamine and Fleur here take gargantuan leaps of faith driven by their love for Alistair and Robert, respectively. In spite of it all, it was refreshing to see heroines fighting to be with their heroes for a change in historical romance.
Many elements of the plotting failed to engage while the pacing sagged. I found it too convenient for Alistair to learn of all the relevant characters and connections involved in the story at the outset via the eccentric Nicodemus Bottom. Alistair knows of Jessamine's connection with the iniquitous Bow Street runner Josiah Clegg which places Jessamine at a disadvantage with Alistair throughout. Alistair accurately views the other Bow Street runner Robert Brennan a scrupulous man. Alistair knows of Brennan's attraction to Jessamine's sister Fleur and uses that later at the party to occupy Brennan. Even though the book characterizes Brennan as a clever, strong man, Brennan was always a step behind. Even at the very end, Brennan falls for the same trick twice (Alistair diverts his attention elsewhere) and he just appears impotent overall. The alternating passages between Fleur and Jessamine before the love scene crippled the pacing. Interminable musings without anything happening grates my soul and these passages specialized in such musings. The party at Blaine Manor was pointless and Alistair taking Jessamine on a pilfering "adventure" seemed less of an adventure than an excursion on repetitious introspection and banter.
The Story.
Impoverished Lady Jessamine Maitland, her sister Fleur and their mother have fallen on hard times after her father debauched the family inheritance. Twenty-three year-old virgin Jessamine, decked out in plain gray garb and not nearly as pretty as her younger eighteen year-old sister Fleur, single-handedly sustains her family through her Tarot card reading talents. A gypsy tutors Jessamine on the arcane arts of card reading and warns that should she ever lose her virginity, her card-reading talents will also disappear. Jessamine's unique card-reading talents aid the wicked Bow Street runner Josiah Clegg to apprehend criminals. Jessamine is saving to help finance her beautiful younger sister's coming-out thereby ensnaring a wealthy gentleman who will secure their family's future.
Notoriously dubbed the "Cat," the sixth Earl of Glenshiel (Alistair) finds a solution to his boredom by stealing from the sinfully rich and prosperous. Tall, dark and handsome, a lewd rake, and exhibiting the common "alpha" traits, Alistair espies Jessamine at a party (he's just stolen some jewels). Jessamine entertains the guests via her card-reading talents. Alistair is immediately attracted to Jessamine and doggedly pursues her for sex. He even makes it clear to her that he wishes to deflower her and then abandon her.
Things slowly progress at a party in Blaine Manor attended by all the characters: Jessamine, Alistair, Jessamine's sister Fleur, Robert Brennan and Josiah Clegg. Nothing much happens except Alistair's continued mission to deflower and ruin Jessamine. Alistair knows Jessamine is in collusion with Clegg and endeavors to give her reasons not divulge his secret identity as the notorious "Cat." Robert Brennan and Josiah Clegg both are after the "Cat" and Clegg pressures Jessamine to divine the Cat's identity from the cards. Jess waits and waits all the while subconsciously knowing the Cat's identity.
I found the ending with one final heist involving the crown jewels very rushed and anticlimactic. Despite Jessamine's love and devotion, it takes a lot for Alistair to finally come to grips with his love for her. But such are Anne Stuart's bad boys, they don't make it easy.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Lady of Sin, by Madeline Hunter [1]
*/***** (1/5)
Only those moments featuring the mystery plot with the orphaned boy Harry engaged my interest in LADY OF SIN. The rest of this book contained way too much repetitive introspection and inane thoughts mixed in with the "romantic" exchanges that quickly evaporated my attention span. More than ever, I noticed endless paragraphs of insipid, meandering introspection interspersed between the conversation. I often lost the thread of both the thoughts and the conversation and I didn't care to pick up either of them actually. The romance was lackluster, the pacing awfully slooooooow, the plotting (regarding an orphaned boy's parentage) too sparse, Charlotte too selfish and shallow, and Nathaniel too weak and forgettable. Charlotte really doesn't have a leg to stand on, her self-serving interests aim to preserve her social status and her family's social status in British aristocracy at the expense of an orphaned boy's potential birthright (who lived in poverty). As many times as the book would have us believe Nathaniel an "honorable" man, it's really too easy him to sever the orphaned boy from his birthright or to forget justice for murder (the boy's mother) all in exchange for sex with Charlotte. As much as the book would likes to describe the depths of the emotional connection between Charlotte and Nathaniel (same idea repeated using different words over and over), it still just seemed like meaningless sex (nothing wrong with that really). The sex scenes suffered from all the repetitive introspective musings that forced an emotional connection between the h/h. Extraneous events continued from prior books (THE SINNER, THE ROMANTIC) plague this one such as the birth of Dante's child and Pen's wedding. Seeing Pen and Julian finally wed was actually nice, though would have been much nicer to see it through Pen or Julian's eyes. I kept wanting to see Adrian Burchard from THE CHARMER, but alas, he isn't part of the Duclairc family. I disliked the resolution of this novel too: I found it too tidy while selfishly skewed towards Charlotte's interests. I don't feel Nathaniel did enough to prove (or disprove) the orphaned boy's possible legitimacy.
Who does this book belong to? Definitely Charlotte, because although Nathaniel begins the investigation, he bows out early and often because of the sex with Charlotte. It's Charlotte who compels Nathaniel to see it through. The Lady of Sin title seemed a misnomer though, she's pretty bland and the one night of scandalous sex she has occurs prior to this book. She's a lady that values her social status above truth, justice or honor. So in that way, I suppose she's sinful, but not in the promiscuous sense.
This book likes to keep telling its readers how things are instead of showing us. The book likes to keep telling us Charlotte and Nathaniel hate each other when every indication in this book seems contrary to these assertions. The book likes to tell us Charlotte and Nathaniel share a deep, emotional connection (again and again in many different words) but again I found no emotional link between the two. The book likes to tell us how clever Charlotte is but some of the things she deduces has less to do with brilliance and more to do with common sense. The book likes to tell us how honorable Nathaniel is and how he pursues truth and justice but I found all of his actions in this book contradictory to this characterization.
Why does Nathaniel wish to abandon his quest for the truth behind the boy Harry's parentage after sex with Charlotte? He's really a weak character, and no, it doesn't show that he somehow "loves" Charlotte because he's willing to abandon the truth after what the book tell us is an emotional and physical high with Charlotte. It shows he's fickle, he lets his groin guide him, and that he's completely whipped. It should be about right and wrong, but instead he's willing to accommodate Charlotte (he spent the night giving Charlotte pleasure) because uncovering a secret behind Harry's true parentage would uproot Charlotte's family. Doesn't he care about the truth or doing the right thing? After a village shows no sign of the woman Jenny (who knows more about the boy), he has a "spry" step and he's happy that there's no sign of the woman who could tell them more about the boy Harry! Oh my god, please, if he wasn't remotely whipped before, he is now. He's wants to accommodate Charlotte's wishes after she allows him to pleasure her all night, and he wants to retreat from the truth or flee from doing the right thing in exchange for sex with Charlotte (because any potential truth could create a chasm between Nathaniel and Charlotte). Later, when Charlotte discovers the full truth, Nathaniel offers Charlotte comfort and pleasure and resolves to never speak of it again (because it upset Charlotte so much). Was the sex good enough to deny a boy his true birthright or to dig deeper behind it? Nathaniel's consistent answer to all their roadblocks: oh yeah, let's just have more sex, push off the difficult choices for later! I don't view any of these cowering retreats from truth and justice in Nathaniel as noble, and they're bartered with sex from Charlotte. Look at STEALING HEAVEN's Marcus: he found a way to be with Nesta and avoid open rebellion from the Welsh. Marcus and Nesta's contradicting wishes and their mutual passion didn't effeminate Marcus like it does LADY OF SIN's Nathaniel.
Charlotte is one annoying, shallow, selfish, snide heroine. There isn't a single quality -- with the possible exception of appearance -- to recommend her. And not really appearance either because she's "ethereal" through Nathaniel's eyes while Nathaniel is "handsome" through her eyes (over and over). Don't you love how romance heroes are so deep while their heroine counterparts fairly single-minded over height, muscles and handsome appearance? LADY OF SIN reminded me again of this ploy in the romance genre; that is, making the heroes deep and above appearances while the heroines very superficial. Charlotte wishes to protect her family from what she perceives are "scandalous lies" despite the possible authenticity of the "lies." She spurns any truth that would denigrate her reputation and her family's reputation. In fact, she's proud that amongst her family (her two brothers, and her older sister Penelope from THE ROMANTIC), only she is invited to all of the esteemed social circles. Amongst her family, she notes only her name and reputation maintains high standards for self-righteousness and eludes social censure. She values social status over truth or doing the right thing. When evidence finally indicates a legitimate and as yet unknown heir (not Ambrose the child she loves), Charlotte grieves that her life will be ruined. Cry some more, Charlotte? What, will she have to live in poverty? Will the child she loves (Ambrose) not know a comfortable life? None of this, she's genuinely more concerned about her social status and her family's social status than the truth and bestowing another child his rightful inheritance. Another child (Harry / Jose / Joseph) that has only known strife, poverty and hardship. Another child that has no family or real home. And here is our heroine Charlotte only concerned about herself. She even considers whoring herself to Nathaniel to ensure his silence, which she essentially does anyway since Nathaniel is so whipped he's willing to deny a boy's birthright in exchange for sex with Charlotte. Charlotte's "ghosts from the past" after she (and we as the reader) discover the full truth are lame and the very fact that she struggles with them unwarranted.
The emotional melodrama Charlotte suffers over the potential loss of her happiness if another child earns his rightful title and inheritance was beyond absurd and very frustrating to read. Not like she's been living a joyful and fulfilling life all this time because if that were the case, she would not have ventured to an orgy party (off-screen and prior to LADY OF SIN). Nathaniel was too eager to abandon his quest for the truth after sex with Charlotte.
All in all, poor characterizations, subpar plotting and pacing and below average prose. The best part of this novel? The preview to THE RULES OF SEDUCTION (*****), which I'll have to read again at some point.
Only those moments featuring the mystery plot with the orphaned boy Harry engaged my interest in LADY OF SIN. The rest of this book contained way too much repetitive introspection and inane thoughts mixed in with the "romantic" exchanges that quickly evaporated my attention span. More than ever, I noticed endless paragraphs of insipid, meandering introspection interspersed between the conversation. I often lost the thread of both the thoughts and the conversation and I didn't care to pick up either of them actually. The romance was lackluster, the pacing awfully slooooooow, the plotting (regarding an orphaned boy's parentage) too sparse, Charlotte too selfish and shallow, and Nathaniel too weak and forgettable. Charlotte really doesn't have a leg to stand on, her self-serving interests aim to preserve her social status and her family's social status in British aristocracy at the expense of an orphaned boy's potential birthright (who lived in poverty). As many times as the book would have us believe Nathaniel an "honorable" man, it's really too easy him to sever the orphaned boy from his birthright or to forget justice for murder (the boy's mother) all in exchange for sex with Charlotte. As much as the book would likes to describe the depths of the emotional connection between Charlotte and Nathaniel (same idea repeated using different words over and over), it still just seemed like meaningless sex (nothing wrong with that really). The sex scenes suffered from all the repetitive introspective musings that forced an emotional connection between the h/h. Extraneous events continued from prior books (THE SINNER, THE ROMANTIC) plague this one such as the birth of Dante's child and Pen's wedding. Seeing Pen and Julian finally wed was actually nice, though would have been much nicer to see it through Pen or Julian's eyes. I kept wanting to see Adrian Burchard from THE CHARMER, but alas, he isn't part of the Duclairc family. I disliked the resolution of this novel too: I found it too tidy while selfishly skewed towards Charlotte's interests. I don't feel Nathaniel did enough to prove (or disprove) the orphaned boy's possible legitimacy.
Who does this book belong to? Definitely Charlotte, because although Nathaniel begins the investigation, he bows out early and often because of the sex with Charlotte. It's Charlotte who compels Nathaniel to see it through. The Lady of Sin title seemed a misnomer though, she's pretty bland and the one night of scandalous sex she has occurs prior to this book. She's a lady that values her social status above truth, justice or honor. So in that way, I suppose she's sinful, but not in the promiscuous sense.
This book likes to keep telling its readers how things are instead of showing us. The book likes to keep telling us Charlotte and Nathaniel hate each other when every indication in this book seems contrary to these assertions. The book likes to tell us Charlotte and Nathaniel share a deep, emotional connection (again and again in many different words) but again I found no emotional link between the two. The book likes to tell us how clever Charlotte is but some of the things she deduces has less to do with brilliance and more to do with common sense. The book likes to tell us how honorable Nathaniel is and how he pursues truth and justice but I found all of his actions in this book contradictory to this characterization.
Why does Nathaniel wish to abandon his quest for the truth behind the boy Harry's parentage after sex with Charlotte? He's really a weak character, and no, it doesn't show that he somehow "loves" Charlotte because he's willing to abandon the truth after what the book tell us is an emotional and physical high with Charlotte. It shows he's fickle, he lets his groin guide him, and that he's completely whipped. It should be about right and wrong, but instead he's willing to accommodate Charlotte (he spent the night giving Charlotte pleasure) because uncovering a secret behind Harry's true parentage would uproot Charlotte's family. Doesn't he care about the truth or doing the right thing? After a village shows no sign of the woman Jenny (who knows more about the boy), he has a "spry" step and he's happy that there's no sign of the woman who could tell them more about the boy Harry! Oh my god, please, if he wasn't remotely whipped before, he is now. He's wants to accommodate Charlotte's wishes after she allows him to pleasure her all night, and he wants to retreat from the truth or flee from doing the right thing in exchange for sex with Charlotte (because any potential truth could create a chasm between Nathaniel and Charlotte). Later, when Charlotte discovers the full truth, Nathaniel offers Charlotte comfort and pleasure and resolves to never speak of it again (because it upset Charlotte so much). Was the sex good enough to deny a boy his true birthright or to dig deeper behind it? Nathaniel's consistent answer to all their roadblocks: oh yeah, let's just have more sex, push off the difficult choices for later! I don't view any of these cowering retreats from truth and justice in Nathaniel as noble, and they're bartered with sex from Charlotte. Look at STEALING HEAVEN's Marcus: he found a way to be with Nesta and avoid open rebellion from the Welsh. Marcus and Nesta's contradicting wishes and their mutual passion didn't effeminate Marcus like it does LADY OF SIN's Nathaniel.
Charlotte is one annoying, shallow, selfish, snide heroine. There isn't a single quality -- with the possible exception of appearance -- to recommend her. And not really appearance either because she's "ethereal" through Nathaniel's eyes while Nathaniel is "handsome" through her eyes (over and over). Don't you love how romance heroes are so deep while their heroine counterparts fairly single-minded over height, muscles and handsome appearance? LADY OF SIN reminded me again of this ploy in the romance genre; that is, making the heroes deep and above appearances while the heroines very superficial. Charlotte wishes to protect her family from what she perceives are "scandalous lies" despite the possible authenticity of the "lies." She spurns any truth that would denigrate her reputation and her family's reputation. In fact, she's proud that amongst her family (her two brothers, and her older sister Penelope from THE ROMANTIC), only she is invited to all of the esteemed social circles. Amongst her family, she notes only her name and reputation maintains high standards for self-righteousness and eludes social censure. She values social status over truth or doing the right thing. When evidence finally indicates a legitimate and as yet unknown heir (not Ambrose the child she loves), Charlotte grieves that her life will be ruined. Cry some more, Charlotte? What, will she have to live in poverty? Will the child she loves (Ambrose) not know a comfortable life? None of this, she's genuinely more concerned about her social status and her family's social status than the truth and bestowing another child his rightful inheritance. Another child (Harry / Jose / Joseph) that has only known strife, poverty and hardship. Another child that has no family or real home. And here is our heroine Charlotte only concerned about herself. She even considers whoring herself to Nathaniel to ensure his silence, which she essentially does anyway since Nathaniel is so whipped he's willing to deny a boy's birthright in exchange for sex with Charlotte. Charlotte's "ghosts from the past" after she (and we as the reader) discover the full truth are lame and the very fact that she struggles with them unwarranted.
The emotional melodrama Charlotte suffers over the potential loss of her happiness if another child earns his rightful title and inheritance was beyond absurd and very frustrating to read. Not like she's been living a joyful and fulfilling life all this time because if that were the case, she would not have ventured to an orgy party (off-screen and prior to LADY OF SIN). Nathaniel was too eager to abandon his quest for the truth after sex with Charlotte.
All in all, poor characterizations, subpar plotting and pacing and below average prose. The best part of this novel? The preview to THE RULES OF SEDUCTION (*****), which I'll have to read again at some point.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Charmer, by Madeline Hunter [4]
****/***** (4/5)
The Dueling Society Series
1. The Seducer (**) - Daniel
2. The Saint (*) - Vergil
3. The Charmer (****) - Adrian
4. The Sinner (SKIP) - Dante
5. The Romantic - Julian
I was charmed by Hunter's 3rd installment in this Dueling Society series entitled THE CHARMER; finally a story in this series I can get behind! Although the inspiration for this novel lies with Adrian Burchard, THE CHARMER soundly belongs to his heroine Sophia Raughley, the new Duchess of Everdon. Remarkably, provisional laws granted by British royalty allows a daughter to inherit the Dukedom of Everdon after sons. Following the death of Sophia's cruel father, Sophia now comes into Everdon's title and vast estates. Only Sophia doesn't want any of it. THE CHARMER contains by far the strongest historical backdrop in this series and I always appreciate a story which offers more than the run-of-the-mill romance. Reform over aristocracy's power in the English Parliament entangles the new Duchess as each side of the Reform movement vies for Everdon's power over its 12 elected M.P.'s in the House of Commons. Everdon also holds a vital seat in the House of Lords and although the Duchess cannot sit in the House of Lords, the one she marries can.
Like most of Hunter's novels, the book is emotionally charged. Sophia's demons and tortured history take center stage and Adrian mitigates Sophia's journey from the frightened girl constantly running away to a woman who finally assumes responsibility and gives in love. Since THE CHARMER gradually reveals Sophia's demons, at first I found myself disliking Sophia who just seemed like a spoiled brat. But I found myself doing a 180 on her by the end of the novel as I grew to empathize her after learning of the treatment she receives from her father and her struggle with her tremendous guilt (over her brother and betraying reform activist Captain Brutus). It's a tribute to Hunter's writing and plotting that compels the evolution of the reader's opinion of a character along with the character. As for Adrian, I truly treasure Hunter's heroes like Adrian Burchard because even though he isn't the notorious rake of every other romance novel, he makes a substantial impact and the story wouldn't work if he didn't push Sophia at every step. He's dark, and unlike heroes who command a room when they walk in it, Adrian's power lies in the background since he's an accomplished spy. I always enjoy Hunter's heroes who aren't born into title and wealth. The prose is excellent, the characters poignant (especially Sophia), the h/h chemistry evident and I found the plotting and pacing equal parts political, witty, engaging, comical and suspenseful. THE CHARMER is the first book in this series from which the meticulous setup from the previous two novels finally hits home. I don't have too many complaints with this novel, and it's worth a re-read actually.
The Story.
After the Duke of Everdon passes away, the Iron Duke, the Duke of Wellington, dispatches his protege Adrian Burchard to fetch Everdon's errant daughter, the new Duchess of Everdon, Sophia Raughley, from Paris. Wellington and other members of the aristocracy along with the King of England require Everdon's vast influence to defeat a hotly-contested Reform bill currently in the House of Commons. Seven years ago, 29 year-old Sophia Raughley escaped her home, country and father following very traumatic events to while away in leisure and comfort in Paris. Adrian boldly a enters a staged harem scene in Sophia's home in Paris and whisks away a foxed and scantily-clad Sophia from further debauchery. Great, Adrian thinks, he has to deal with a debauched duchess and force her to accept a responsibility she renounces. Adrian perseveres however and after some fun games of wit and clashing of wills, Sophia finds herself back at Everdon's seat in Marleigh and suddenly visited by the King of England, the Duke of Wellington and other key members of the aristocracy. Wellington's political party - the Toreys - want Sophia to direct her subordinate boroughs to vote against the reform currently in the House of Commons while a prior amorous acquaintance, the radical Captain Brutus, threatens Sophia to support the reform. Wellington also wants Sophia to marry Gerard Stidolph according to her late father's wishes.
She's torn from both sides of the reform bill, she's haunted by demons from the past, and the King and Wellington want her to marry someone whom she despises. In the midst of it all, Adrian Burchard accompanies Sophia in her journey to overcome demons from the past and present as she travels to her boroughs and meets her M.P.s in the House of Commons. The tension between Sophia and Adrian slowly builds and their chemistry resonated. Whenever Sophia wants to run away from it all as she's done previously, Adrian lends a firm yet supporting gentle hand of reassurance. Adrian is fascinated by Sophia's layers and slowly but surely, he digs deeper to learn and love each layer.
There's truly some hilarious moments in the novel like Jacques' accusation that English men don't measure up to the lovemaking of Frenchmen and Adrian's funny rescue of Sophia and her menagerie from a burning house. There's really some witty banter between Sophia and Adrian that only Madeline Hunter can deliver on. There's always a danger in this type of novel focusing on a heroine's plight that the hero disappears and blends into the background but that's not the case here. Adrian Burchard makes a substantial impact from beginning to end.
Worth a re-read? No doubt.
The Dueling Society Series
1. The Seducer (**) - Daniel
2. The Saint (*) - Vergil
3. The Charmer (****) - Adrian
4. The Sinner (SKIP) - Dante
5. The Romantic - Julian
I was charmed by Hunter's 3rd installment in this Dueling Society series entitled THE CHARMER; finally a story in this series I can get behind! Although the inspiration for this novel lies with Adrian Burchard, THE CHARMER soundly belongs to his heroine Sophia Raughley, the new Duchess of Everdon. Remarkably, provisional laws granted by British royalty allows a daughter to inherit the Dukedom of Everdon after sons. Following the death of Sophia's cruel father, Sophia now comes into Everdon's title and vast estates. Only Sophia doesn't want any of it. THE CHARMER contains by far the strongest historical backdrop in this series and I always appreciate a story which offers more than the run-of-the-mill romance. Reform over aristocracy's power in the English Parliament entangles the new Duchess as each side of the Reform movement vies for Everdon's power over its 12 elected M.P.'s in the House of Commons. Everdon also holds a vital seat in the House of Lords and although the Duchess cannot sit in the House of Lords, the one she marries can.
Like most of Hunter's novels, the book is emotionally charged. Sophia's demons and tortured history take center stage and Adrian mitigates Sophia's journey from the frightened girl constantly running away to a woman who finally assumes responsibility and gives in love. Since THE CHARMER gradually reveals Sophia's demons, at first I found myself disliking Sophia who just seemed like a spoiled brat. But I found myself doing a 180 on her by the end of the novel as I grew to empathize her after learning of the treatment she receives from her father and her struggle with her tremendous guilt (over her brother and betraying reform activist Captain Brutus). It's a tribute to Hunter's writing and plotting that compels the evolution of the reader's opinion of a character along with the character. As for Adrian, I truly treasure Hunter's heroes like Adrian Burchard because even though he isn't the notorious rake of every other romance novel, he makes a substantial impact and the story wouldn't work if he didn't push Sophia at every step. He's dark, and unlike heroes who command a room when they walk in it, Adrian's power lies in the background since he's an accomplished spy. I always enjoy Hunter's heroes who aren't born into title and wealth. The prose is excellent, the characters poignant (especially Sophia), the h/h chemistry evident and I found the plotting and pacing equal parts political, witty, engaging, comical and suspenseful. THE CHARMER is the first book in this series from which the meticulous setup from the previous two novels finally hits home. I don't have too many complaints with this novel, and it's worth a re-read actually.
The Story.
After the Duke of Everdon passes away, the Iron Duke, the Duke of Wellington, dispatches his protege Adrian Burchard to fetch Everdon's errant daughter, the new Duchess of Everdon, Sophia Raughley, from Paris. Wellington and other members of the aristocracy along with the King of England require Everdon's vast influence to defeat a hotly-contested Reform bill currently in the House of Commons. Seven years ago, 29 year-old Sophia Raughley escaped her home, country and father following very traumatic events to while away in leisure and comfort in Paris. Adrian boldly a enters a staged harem scene in Sophia's home in Paris and whisks away a foxed and scantily-clad Sophia from further debauchery. Great, Adrian thinks, he has to deal with a debauched duchess and force her to accept a responsibility she renounces. Adrian perseveres however and after some fun games of wit and clashing of wills, Sophia finds herself back at Everdon's seat in Marleigh and suddenly visited by the King of England, the Duke of Wellington and other key members of the aristocracy. Wellington's political party - the Toreys - want Sophia to direct her subordinate boroughs to vote against the reform currently in the House of Commons while a prior amorous acquaintance, the radical Captain Brutus, threatens Sophia to support the reform. Wellington also wants Sophia to marry Gerard Stidolph according to her late father's wishes.
She's torn from both sides of the reform bill, she's haunted by demons from the past, and the King and Wellington want her to marry someone whom she despises. In the midst of it all, Adrian Burchard accompanies Sophia in her journey to overcome demons from the past and present as she travels to her boroughs and meets her M.P.s in the House of Commons. The tension between Sophia and Adrian slowly builds and their chemistry resonated. Whenever Sophia wants to run away from it all as she's done previously, Adrian lends a firm yet supporting gentle hand of reassurance. Adrian is fascinated by Sophia's layers and slowly but surely, he digs deeper to learn and love each layer.
There's truly some hilarious moments in the novel like Jacques' accusation that English men don't measure up to the lovemaking of Frenchmen and Adrian's funny rescue of Sophia and her menagerie from a burning house. There's really some witty banter between Sophia and Adrian that only Madeline Hunter can deliver on. There's always a danger in this type of novel focusing on a heroine's plight that the hero disappears and blends into the background but that's not the case here. Adrian Burchard makes a substantial impact from beginning to end.
Worth a re-read? No doubt.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara [4]
****/***** (4/5)
I enjoyed Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War novel dealing with the three-day Battle of Gettysburg widely acknowledged as the turning point of the American Civil War. The book derives its title from Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain memorizing a Shakespeare quote in his childhood regarding man in action and his father's subsequent remark: "Well, boy, if he's an angel, he's sure a murderin' angel." Chamberlain then coins the term, "Man, the Killer Angel." Shaara's enthralling novel affects the leaders of the Battle of Gettysburg as these Killer Angels: the difficult choices they make, their courage and heroism, and finally their grief and agony. Michael Shaara recreates the battle from old letters and correspondences and I found the resulting prose, characterizations, settings and pacing singularly bewitching. We know the plot, but it's Shaara's style and delivery which affects a worthwhile and enjoyable reading experience. Although the book demonstrates the brutality and inhumanity of war, it also balances that with a feeling of camaraderie, thrill and excitement that nothing except war could bring. Very unlike Jakes' unilateral depiction of a monstrous war in his NORTH AND SOUTH series. And that's a good thing.
And yet suddenly, terribly, [Longstreet] wanted it again, the way it used to be, arms linked together, all drunk and singing beautifully into the night, with visions of death from the afternoon, and dreams of death in the coming dawn, the night filled with monstrous and temporary glittering joy, fat moments, thick seconds dropping like warm rain, jewel after jewel.
THE KILLER ANGELS deftly contrasts the Battle of Gettysburg from the Southern and Northern points of view; for the south and its generals, missed opportunities plagued their loss while for the north, much-needed luck vaulted them to victory. We follow most of the brilliant generals from the South including Robert E. Lee, Pete Longstreet and Lewis Armistead while from the North, it's mostly Col. Joshua Chamberlain of the 20th Maine and his climactic stand on Little Round Top on Day 2 of the Battle of Gettysburg. The North's hodgepodge of religions and races worked against their superior numbers while the South possessed a more cohesive, more united group of soldiers. Unlike the North, the South also had the brilliant commander their soldiers believed in: General Robert E. Lee. As opposed to Lincoln's capricious line of army commanders (at least before he settled on Grant), General Robert E. Lee has never lost a battle prior to Gettysburg, thoroughly whipping Yankees left and right. Known for a making a tough decision and acting on it, Lee's men believed in him enough to execute his decisions with alacrity and success.
"By damn, man, if there is one human being in the world less devious than Robert Lee, I aint yet met him..." [Longstreet] leaned forward blackly across the pommel of the saddle. "Colonel, let me explain something. The secret of General Lee is that men love him and follow him with faith in him. That's one secret. The next secret is that General Lee makes a decision and he moves, with guts, and he's been up against a lot of sickly generals who don't know how to make decisions, although some of them have guts but whose men don't love them. That's why we win, mostly. Because we move with speed, and faith, and because we usually have the good ground. Tactics? God, man, we don't win because of tricks . . . " (p. 251, Gen. Longstreet refuting Fremantle's fabled and iconic view of Confederate victories prior to the Battle of Gettysburg)
Then it's a wonder the South lost the Battle of Gettysburg when they had every opportunity to win there as well. From Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's joyriding depriving Lee of his eyes and ears into Northern army movements, to Heth's decision to engage Buford's Union line on Day 1 when Lee specifically ordered no attacks until the entire Southern army congregated around Gettysburg, to a diffident Gen. Ewell's failure to pursue the Union army at the end of Day 1, to Lee's rejection of Hood's sensible plan to outflank the Union line on Cemetery Ridge outside of Gettysburg on Day 2, the loss at the Battle of Gettysburg represented one missed opportunity after another for the Southern army.
THE KILLER ANGELS intersperses a very engaging political and philosophical discussion over the each side's motivations to fight in the war. We know the South isn't fighting to keep slavery despite what the North (and the rest of the world) believe, they're fighting for the Cause: state rights. Like Lee's beloved state of Virginia, they view state laws superior to the nation's and therein lies the divide. Meanwhile, as Col. Chamberlain's brother remarks, no matter what the "Johnnies" (Southerners) say they're fighting for, at the end of the day if they win, slavery continues and if they lose, slavery begins to die. For Englishman Fremantle, the South symbolizes a transposed Europe, while for Chamberlain's Sergeant Kilrain, the South represents a time when the name of one's father means more than your name. Kilrain is adamantly against such traditions.
But the point is [the South does] it all exactly as we do in Europe. And the North does not. That's what the war is really about. The North has those huge bloody cities and a thousand religions, and the only aristocracy is the aristocracy of wealth. The Northerner doesn't give a damn for tradition, or breeding, or the Old Country. He hates the Old Country... of course, the South is the Old Country. They haven't left Europe. They've merely transplanted it. And that's what the war is about. -Englishman Fremantle traveling with the Southern army
"Equality? Christ in Heaven. What I'm fighting for is the right to prove I'm a better man than many...No two things on earth are equal or have an equal chance, not a leaf nor a tree. There's many a man worse than me, and some better, but I don't think race or country matters a damn. What matters is justice. 'Tis why I'm here. I'll be treated as a I deserve, not as my father deserved. I'm Kilrain, and I God damn all gentlemen. I don't know who me father was and I don't give a damn...The point is that we have a country here where the past cannot keep a good man in chains, and that's the nature of the war. It's the aristocracy I'm after. All that lovely, plumed, stinking chivalry. The people who look at you like a piece of filth, a coachroach, ah." --Union Sergeant Buster Kilrain talking to his Colonel, Chamberlain
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
The story begins one day prior to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg when Longstreet's spy alerts Longstreet of Buford's cavalry near Gettysburg. And where the Northern cavalry rides, their army isn't far behind. Union Gen. Buford has an eye for the high ground and on seeing the hills surrounding Gettysburg, Buford's meager cavalry regiment dismounts and digs in to defend the hills. Meanwhile, Lee's eyes and ears, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, hasn't reported to Lee in some time and Lee's entire army forays into Pennsylvania blind to Northern army movements. After hearing of Northern movements near Gettysburg from Longstreet's spy, Lee orders the army to move towards Gettysburg and not attack until the entire Southern army has congregated there. Gen. Heth's division arrives first and upon seeing the sparse regiment of Union soldiers on the hill, orders his division to take the hills west / northwest of Gettysburg. Buford holds out long enough against Heth for Union Major Gen. Reynolds's corps to arrive. Despite holding out all day, Ewell's corps attack the Union corps from the north while Heth and Pender batters them from the west and finally the Union soldiers retreat to the higher ground of Cemetery Ridge to the south of Gettysburg. Ewell fails to pursue the Union army towards the end of Day 1 despite orders from Lee to keep at it.
All the rest of that morning gray Rebel troops came pouring down that narrow road...The [Union] line continued to hold. There did not seem to be anyone in command, but the line held... (after the death of Union Major Gen. John Reynolds on Day 1 of the Battle of Gettysburg)
On the momentous second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Col. Chamberlain's 20th Maine digs in on Little Round Top and they form the absolute end of the Union line. If rebel forces overrun the 20th Maine, the Union line will be outflanked and Gettysburg lost. A learned man, tall and handsome, Col. Chamberlain and his men bravely defend Little Round Top against tide after tide of Confederate soldiers. In previous battles, Rebels screams and a slight tilt in their favor easily resulted in Yankees turning tail and running. Now however, the veteran and experienced group of soldiers in the 20th Maine persevere and they're unafraid of the Rebel screams after having witnessed them so many times before. After their ammunition runs out, Chamberlain orders the unthinkable: he orders his soldiers to fix bayonets on their guns and charge. Never before has the South seen Northern soldiers charging at them with such fervor as Chamberlain's 20th Maine on Little Round Top.
"Where'd you get the idea to charge?"
Chamberlain said, "We were out of ammunition."
Rice nodded. "So. You fixed bayonets."
Chamberlain nodded. It seemed logical enough. It was beginning to dawn on him that what he had done might be considered unusual. He said, "There didn't seem to be any alternative."
Rice shook his head, chuckled, grunted.
Against Longstreet's better judgment, Lee orders Picket and his division to charge the middle of the Union line on the third day. After getting routed for a second time, Lee finally orders a full retreat from Gettysburg, thereby ending his campaign in Pennsylvania. The Union commander during this battle, Gen. Meade, was inept and fails to pursue a hobbled Confederate army and the war lingers on for more years.
A very entertaining and engaging depiction of the Battle of Gettysburg.
I enjoyed Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War novel dealing with the three-day Battle of Gettysburg widely acknowledged as the turning point of the American Civil War. The book derives its title from Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain memorizing a Shakespeare quote in his childhood regarding man in action and his father's subsequent remark: "Well, boy, if he's an angel, he's sure a murderin' angel." Chamberlain then coins the term, "Man, the Killer Angel." Shaara's enthralling novel affects the leaders of the Battle of Gettysburg as these Killer Angels: the difficult choices they make, their courage and heroism, and finally their grief and agony. Michael Shaara recreates the battle from old letters and correspondences and I found the resulting prose, characterizations, settings and pacing singularly bewitching. We know the plot, but it's Shaara's style and delivery which affects a worthwhile and enjoyable reading experience. Although the book demonstrates the brutality and inhumanity of war, it also balances that with a feeling of camaraderie, thrill and excitement that nothing except war could bring. Very unlike Jakes' unilateral depiction of a monstrous war in his NORTH AND SOUTH series. And that's a good thing.
And yet suddenly, terribly, [Longstreet] wanted it again, the way it used to be, arms linked together, all drunk and singing beautifully into the night, with visions of death from the afternoon, and dreams of death in the coming dawn, the night filled with monstrous and temporary glittering joy, fat moments, thick seconds dropping like warm rain, jewel after jewel.
THE KILLER ANGELS deftly contrasts the Battle of Gettysburg from the Southern and Northern points of view; for the south and its generals, missed opportunities plagued their loss while for the north, much-needed luck vaulted them to victory. We follow most of the brilliant generals from the South including Robert E. Lee, Pete Longstreet and Lewis Armistead while from the North, it's mostly Col. Joshua Chamberlain of the 20th Maine and his climactic stand on Little Round Top on Day 2 of the Battle of Gettysburg. The North's hodgepodge of religions and races worked against their superior numbers while the South possessed a more cohesive, more united group of soldiers. Unlike the North, the South also had the brilliant commander their soldiers believed in: General Robert E. Lee. As opposed to Lincoln's capricious line of army commanders (at least before he settled on Grant), General Robert E. Lee has never lost a battle prior to Gettysburg, thoroughly whipping Yankees left and right. Known for a making a tough decision and acting on it, Lee's men believed in him enough to execute his decisions with alacrity and success.
"By damn, man, if there is one human being in the world less devious than Robert Lee, I aint yet met him..." [Longstreet] leaned forward blackly across the pommel of the saddle. "Colonel, let me explain something. The secret of General Lee is that men love him and follow him with faith in him. That's one secret. The next secret is that General Lee makes a decision and he moves, with guts, and he's been up against a lot of sickly generals who don't know how to make decisions, although some of them have guts but whose men don't love them. That's why we win, mostly. Because we move with speed, and faith, and because we usually have the good ground. Tactics? God, man, we don't win because of tricks . . . " (p. 251, Gen. Longstreet refuting Fremantle's fabled and iconic view of Confederate victories prior to the Battle of Gettysburg)
Then it's a wonder the South lost the Battle of Gettysburg when they had every opportunity to win there as well. From Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's joyriding depriving Lee of his eyes and ears into Northern army movements, to Heth's decision to engage Buford's Union line on Day 1 when Lee specifically ordered no attacks until the entire Southern army congregated around Gettysburg, to a diffident Gen. Ewell's failure to pursue the Union army at the end of Day 1, to Lee's rejection of Hood's sensible plan to outflank the Union line on Cemetery Ridge outside of Gettysburg on Day 2, the loss at the Battle of Gettysburg represented one missed opportunity after another for the Southern army.
THE KILLER ANGELS intersperses a very engaging political and philosophical discussion over the each side's motivations to fight in the war. We know the South isn't fighting to keep slavery despite what the North (and the rest of the world) believe, they're fighting for the Cause: state rights. Like Lee's beloved state of Virginia, they view state laws superior to the nation's and therein lies the divide. Meanwhile, as Col. Chamberlain's brother remarks, no matter what the "Johnnies" (Southerners) say they're fighting for, at the end of the day if they win, slavery continues and if they lose, slavery begins to die. For Englishman Fremantle, the South symbolizes a transposed Europe, while for Chamberlain's Sergeant Kilrain, the South represents a time when the name of one's father means more than your name. Kilrain is adamantly against such traditions.
But the point is [the South does] it all exactly as we do in Europe. And the North does not. That's what the war is really about. The North has those huge bloody cities and a thousand religions, and the only aristocracy is the aristocracy of wealth. The Northerner doesn't give a damn for tradition, or breeding, or the Old Country. He hates the Old Country... of course, the South is the Old Country. They haven't left Europe. They've merely transplanted it. And that's what the war is about. -Englishman Fremantle traveling with the Southern army
"Equality? Christ in Heaven. What I'm fighting for is the right to prove I'm a better man than many...No two things on earth are equal or have an equal chance, not a leaf nor a tree. There's many a man worse than me, and some better, but I don't think race or country matters a damn. What matters is justice. 'Tis why I'm here. I'll be treated as a I deserve, not as my father deserved. I'm Kilrain, and I God damn all gentlemen. I don't know who me father was and I don't give a damn...The point is that we have a country here where the past cannot keep a good man in chains, and that's the nature of the war. It's the aristocracy I'm after. All that lovely, plumed, stinking chivalry. The people who look at you like a piece of filth, a coachroach, ah." --Union Sergeant Buster Kilrain talking to his Colonel, Chamberlain
The Story, possible SPOILERS.
The story begins one day prior to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg when Longstreet's spy alerts Longstreet of Buford's cavalry near Gettysburg. And where the Northern cavalry rides, their army isn't far behind. Union Gen. Buford has an eye for the high ground and on seeing the hills surrounding Gettysburg, Buford's meager cavalry regiment dismounts and digs in to defend the hills. Meanwhile, Lee's eyes and ears, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, hasn't reported to Lee in some time and Lee's entire army forays into Pennsylvania blind to Northern army movements. After hearing of Northern movements near Gettysburg from Longstreet's spy, Lee orders the army to move towards Gettysburg and not attack until the entire Southern army has congregated there. Gen. Heth's division arrives first and upon seeing the sparse regiment of Union soldiers on the hill, orders his division to take the hills west / northwest of Gettysburg. Buford holds out long enough against Heth for Union Major Gen. Reynolds's corps to arrive. Despite holding out all day, Ewell's corps attack the Union corps from the north while Heth and Pender batters them from the west and finally the Union soldiers retreat to the higher ground of Cemetery Ridge to the south of Gettysburg. Ewell fails to pursue the Union army towards the end of Day 1 despite orders from Lee to keep at it.
All the rest of that morning gray Rebel troops came pouring down that narrow road...The [Union] line continued to hold. There did not seem to be anyone in command, but the line held... (after the death of Union Major Gen. John Reynolds on Day 1 of the Battle of Gettysburg)
On the momentous second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Col. Chamberlain's 20th Maine digs in on Little Round Top and they form the absolute end of the Union line. If rebel forces overrun the 20th Maine, the Union line will be outflanked and Gettysburg lost. A learned man, tall and handsome, Col. Chamberlain and his men bravely defend Little Round Top against tide after tide of Confederate soldiers. In previous battles, Rebels screams and a slight tilt in their favor easily resulted in Yankees turning tail and running. Now however, the veteran and experienced group of soldiers in the 20th Maine persevere and they're unafraid of the Rebel screams after having witnessed them so many times before. After their ammunition runs out, Chamberlain orders the unthinkable: he orders his soldiers to fix bayonets on their guns and charge. Never before has the South seen Northern soldiers charging at them with such fervor as Chamberlain's 20th Maine on Little Round Top.
"Where'd you get the idea to charge?"
Chamberlain said, "We were out of ammunition."
Rice nodded. "So. You fixed bayonets."
Chamberlain nodded. It seemed logical enough. It was beginning to dawn on him that what he had done might be considered unusual. He said, "There didn't seem to be any alternative."
Rice shook his head, chuckled, grunted.
Against Longstreet's better judgment, Lee orders Picket and his division to charge the middle of the Union line on the third day. After getting routed for a second time, Lee finally orders a full retreat from Gettysburg, thereby ending his campaign in Pennsylvania. The Union commander during this battle, Gen. Meade, was inept and fails to pursue a hobbled Confederate army and the war lingers on for more years.
A very entertaining and engaging depiction of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The Stranger I Married, by Sylvia Day [0]
/***** (0/5)
THE STRANGER I MARRIED depicts two taming-the-rake routines, and it's clear Sylvia Day enjoys her heroes giving chase and pining quite a bit. The routine dealing with our main hero and heroine is mostly imbalanced and unjustified. I hated both lead characters (Gerard/Gray and Isabel) and the soapy plotting was so bad it needed a secondary pairing (Rhys and Abby) to fill the pages. For an erotica, the love scenes here are just plain. ASK FOR IT (**) is much better in that department. There's no doubt appearance plays a role in attraction, but I found Day's infatuation with superficial appearances even towards the end exhausting. If I didn't know any better, one big cock is as good as any other for Isabel. I had a hard time understanding why Isabel loves Grayson other than his size. I guess that's enough for Isabel. Grayson pines so much throughout the second half and voices so much tender drivel for Isabel's delight, I believed him I suppose. But she really doesn't do anything to earn all that pining because she never trusts him.
A prior pregnancy ending in death makes Grayson very fearful of losing Isabel to childbirth. Instead of Isabel staying and talking him through it, Day has Isabel's brother Rhys coach Grayson like some idiot (Grayson also fails to recognize Isabel's misgivings for making their marriage legit when it's so plainly obvious). Rhys explains that Grayson should take the risk of pregnancy and childbirth to keep Isabel. Day's heroine Isabel here mistrusts, seethes and curses Grayson throughout the novel and even runs from him after both admit their love for each other in the end. The answer to every heroine's problems: when things aren't going exactly the way you want it, CUT and RUN! Make the hero give chase, test him repeatedly, say and do nothing to show your affections. The denouement showcases Isabel at the height of her bitchiness when endless words of love, caring and giving fail to convince Isabel ("I pledge my troth to you, my wife. Not for my needs, but for yours..." blah, blah, blah. Later: "Will you let me in?" Isabel: "Why?" Grayson: "I want to give you all that I am to you. Including children..." blah, blah, blah. Isabel's answer: "I agree to talk. Nothing more." My thoughts: B---, !$#@$! Then from Grayson: More blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc. pining to prove himself; Grayson, along with having perfect abs, perfect butt, biceps, a monster cock, a title, and abundant wealth, is also a poet).
The entire story has Grayson needing to prove himself for Isabel and win her affections as if Isabel has been some chaste virgin her whole life. I found it repetitive and strenuous to read. There's nothing there, Isabel does little more than seethe and lambaste Grayson the entire book because she believes Grayson is exactly like her first husband who cheated on her. Isabel holds it against Grayson that years ago he was "cheating" on the woman ("Em") he professed to love (who was married) with another woman. Despite the fact that both the women went into the affair with Grayson eyes wide open and knew of his libertine ways. Despite the fact that Isabel has had many paramours herself between her first husband and Grayson. Why is it that Grayson has to constantly prove himself? Because Day has some perverted notion to reform him? But he was already reformed by the time he returns to Isabel after his hiatus. Isabel believes Grayson wants to sire a child off her and so Grayson assiduously spills his seed elsewhere to allay those concerns (every time). Many times Isabel thinks Grayson with other people and so Grayson must assuage her concerns there. Isabel never surrenders all of herself to Grayson because she believes him exactly like her cheating first husband. If anything, It was Isabel's mistrust and commitment issues that needed reforming. When the issue with children drives our lovers apart, it's again Grayson who needs to prove himself and chase Isabel. I'd love to see Grayson finally discover bliss with someone else after she drives him away. Screw Isabel if she doesn't know she has a good thing when she has it.
More than once, the book talks about how true love is about accepting the other person with their faults. I don't see any faults with Grayson: he's physically perfect, amply-endowed, titled, and wealthy. Arrogance, high-handedness and lascivious debauchery in heroes are actually celebrated in historical romances like they are in THE STRANGER I MARRIED (Rhys is a celebrated rake too). Hence, I don't consider these qualities all that bad since sexual experience in heroes is a prerequisite more than anything else. It's why readers of romance gravitate towards alpha heroes so much. While threatening Isabel's last paramour Hargreaves in the second half, Grayson (Gerard) thinks to himself that Isabel was not a fickle woman to leave Hargreaves for him. Which is bullshit because a muscled body, big cock and a quick recovery time in bed are pretty much all it takes for Isabel to submit to Grayson and ditch Hargreaves. I'd say that's pretty fickle. Sex is great [with Grayson] and she gets multiple orgasms for every one of Grayson's. That's nice, Grayson is your regular cartoon pimp complete with trimmings of a tortured love story from his past.
The plotting is mostly immature and soapy. Everyone in the book seeks a good fuck and lusts for the forbidden affair which appeals so much to women (Isabel, Grayson, Grayson's brother, Isabel's parents outside marriage, etc.). You have a marriage bargain that invites both spouses to sleep with everyone but each other. Neither recognize potential problems that could arise from such an arrangement. Then once Grayson decides he wants his wife for himself, you have these episodic jealousies and outings introduced by other characters. Twice, Isabel chances on Grayson and his former mistress Lady Stanhope (Barbara) in a compromising situation from which Isabel draws all the wrong conclusions and mistrusts Grayson even more. There's even a scorned mistress and an evil mother posing road blocks as they try to confound Grayson and Isabel's lusty relationship with misunderstandings and misconceptions. After all of Isabel's misconceptions and misunderstandings are out of the way, there's the children issue which rears its ugly head. First, it's hard to believe that Isabel would remain childless with so many men considering the time period's inadequate contraceptive methods. Second, if she wants children so much, just pick a guy to screw like she has previously and get a child off him! The book is so inane, it turns its attentions to a second pairing: Isabel's rakehell brother Rhys (aren't they all rakes?) and the virgin spinster Abby. Just so we have at least one pairing where there's a handsome rake deflowering the ordinary-of-appearance virgin.
THE STRANGER I MARRIED depicts two taming-the-rake routines, and it's clear Sylvia Day enjoys her heroes giving chase and pining quite a bit. The routine dealing with our main hero and heroine is mostly imbalanced and unjustified. I hated both lead characters (Gerard/Gray and Isabel) and the soapy plotting was so bad it needed a secondary pairing (Rhys and Abby) to fill the pages. For an erotica, the love scenes here are just plain. ASK FOR IT (**) is much better in that department. There's no doubt appearance plays a role in attraction, but I found Day's infatuation with superficial appearances even towards the end exhausting. If I didn't know any better, one big cock is as good as any other for Isabel. I had a hard time understanding why Isabel loves Grayson other than his size. I guess that's enough for Isabel. Grayson pines so much throughout the second half and voices so much tender drivel for Isabel's delight, I believed him I suppose. But she really doesn't do anything to earn all that pining because she never trusts him.
A prior pregnancy ending in death makes Grayson very fearful of losing Isabel to childbirth. Instead of Isabel staying and talking him through it, Day has Isabel's brother Rhys coach Grayson like some idiot (Grayson also fails to recognize Isabel's misgivings for making their marriage legit when it's so plainly obvious). Rhys explains that Grayson should take the risk of pregnancy and childbirth to keep Isabel. Day's heroine Isabel here mistrusts, seethes and curses Grayson throughout the novel and even runs from him after both admit their love for each other in the end. The answer to every heroine's problems: when things aren't going exactly the way you want it, CUT and RUN! Make the hero give chase, test him repeatedly, say and do nothing to show your affections. The denouement showcases Isabel at the height of her bitchiness when endless words of love, caring and giving fail to convince Isabel ("I pledge my troth to you, my wife. Not for my needs, but for yours..." blah, blah, blah. Later: "Will you let me in?" Isabel: "Why?" Grayson: "I want to give you all that I am to you. Including children..." blah, blah, blah. Isabel's answer: "I agree to talk. Nothing more." My thoughts: B---, !$#@$! Then from Grayson: More blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc. pining to prove himself; Grayson, along with having perfect abs, perfect butt, biceps, a monster cock, a title, and abundant wealth, is also a poet).
The entire story has Grayson needing to prove himself for Isabel and win her affections as if Isabel has been some chaste virgin her whole life. I found it repetitive and strenuous to read. There's nothing there, Isabel does little more than seethe and lambaste Grayson the entire book because she believes Grayson is exactly like her first husband who cheated on her. Isabel holds it against Grayson that years ago he was "cheating" on the woman ("Em") he professed to love (who was married) with another woman. Despite the fact that both the women went into the affair with Grayson eyes wide open and knew of his libertine ways. Despite the fact that Isabel has had many paramours herself between her first husband and Grayson. Why is it that Grayson has to constantly prove himself? Because Day has some perverted notion to reform him? But he was already reformed by the time he returns to Isabel after his hiatus. Isabel believes Grayson wants to sire a child off her and so Grayson assiduously spills his seed elsewhere to allay those concerns (every time). Many times Isabel thinks Grayson with other people and so Grayson must assuage her concerns there. Isabel never surrenders all of herself to Grayson because she believes him exactly like her cheating first husband. If anything, It was Isabel's mistrust and commitment issues that needed reforming. When the issue with children drives our lovers apart, it's again Grayson who needs to prove himself and chase Isabel. I'd love to see Grayson finally discover bliss with someone else after she drives him away. Screw Isabel if she doesn't know she has a good thing when she has it.
More than once, the book talks about how true love is about accepting the other person with their faults. I don't see any faults with Grayson: he's physically perfect, amply-endowed, titled, and wealthy. Arrogance, high-handedness and lascivious debauchery in heroes are actually celebrated in historical romances like they are in THE STRANGER I MARRIED (Rhys is a celebrated rake too). Hence, I don't consider these qualities all that bad since sexual experience in heroes is a prerequisite more than anything else. It's why readers of romance gravitate towards alpha heroes so much. While threatening Isabel's last paramour Hargreaves in the second half, Grayson (Gerard) thinks to himself that Isabel was not a fickle woman to leave Hargreaves for him. Which is bullshit because a muscled body, big cock and a quick recovery time in bed are pretty much all it takes for Isabel to submit to Grayson and ditch Hargreaves. I'd say that's pretty fickle. Sex is great [with Grayson] and she gets multiple orgasms for every one of Grayson's. That's nice, Grayson is your regular cartoon pimp complete with trimmings of a tortured love story from his past.
The plotting is mostly immature and soapy. Everyone in the book seeks a good fuck and lusts for the forbidden affair which appeals so much to women (Isabel, Grayson, Grayson's brother, Isabel's parents outside marriage, etc.). You have a marriage bargain that invites both spouses to sleep with everyone but each other. Neither recognize potential problems that could arise from such an arrangement. Then once Grayson decides he wants his wife for himself, you have these episodic jealousies and outings introduced by other characters. Twice, Isabel chances on Grayson and his former mistress Lady Stanhope (Barbara) in a compromising situation from which Isabel draws all the wrong conclusions and mistrusts Grayson even more. There's even a scorned mistress and an evil mother posing road blocks as they try to confound Grayson and Isabel's lusty relationship with misunderstandings and misconceptions. After all of Isabel's misconceptions and misunderstandings are out of the way, there's the children issue which rears its ugly head. First, it's hard to believe that Isabel would remain childless with so many men considering the time period's inadequate contraceptive methods. Second, if she wants children so much, just pick a guy to screw like she has previously and get a child off him! The book is so inane, it turns its attentions to a second pairing: Isabel's rakehell brother Rhys (aren't they all rakes?) and the virgin spinster Abby. Just so we have at least one pairing where there's a handsome rake deflowering the ordinary-of-appearance virgin.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
ASOIAF Update
"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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
