tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52703325042516793362024-03-14T02:18:25.883-04:00James's Genre BooksThe one with the scantly clad semi-supernatural heroine... No this other one...Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.comBlogger588125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-53602504156310239922024-03-04T09:39:00.005-05:002024-03-04T09:39:46.112-05:00Filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing<p> So, it took me pretty much a month to slog through <i>The Atlas Complex</i> by Olivie Blake, which should be a warning sign. </p><p>I hesitate to post this picture, but this narrowed down a bit has been my experience with this trilogy. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTiU4BwRLmkr5Z0kOWEWwn1-nodXNItWRAl9TwZnfhd9UWVilVHk96QGvzMZMHigLgdRzg0TlSB__BEPOW0IaFDjRNjWIji183QIMhNnt0bMAkL_PGIpMH-JOi4UQr2rmXJTJqfT4NcceM8WHGd_E8gcoRE0X4iPJianqhN15fJNOtnxv6jGsZ9lefpw4/s843/horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="735" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTiU4BwRLmkr5Z0kOWEWwn1-nodXNItWRAl9TwZnfhd9UWVilVHk96QGvzMZMHigLgdRzg0TlSB__BEPOW0IaFDjRNjWIji183QIMhNnt0bMAkL_PGIpMH-JOi4UQr2rmXJTJqfT4NcceM8WHGd_E8gcoRE0X4iPJianqhN15fJNOtnxv6jGsZ9lefpw4/s320/horse.jpg" width="279" /></a></div><br /> Because frankly, after spending the last book getting Libby back to the future via a fusion explosion, we spend most of this book watching the Six.... do absolutely nothing. I mean, Reina is running around trying to fix modern politics with Callum; Tristan, Nico, and Libby are at the manor trying to open up a door into parallel realities (or at least discussing it quite a bit); and Parisa is basicially busy trying to take over rival societies...<p></p><p>That's it. That's the plot. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets. They spend 2/3 of the book talking about their goals, and realizing that none of them can accomplish them on their own, and facing down the reality that the archives still want a sacrifice. Eventually, they do open a door to alternate realities, but by that point, I'd long ago checked out of the narrative, mostly reading for the sake of completion. There are really out of place filler moments going on as well, including a chapter of Book Club discussion questions, and a later chapter when Tristan and Callum meet in person again, where we get 10 pages of different variations on how that could have worked out. </p><p>I mean, if the author's point is that everything is arbitrary, she succeeded in that theme, but lord, this really was like reading a tale filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing,. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-66489939914350783802024-02-01T21:48:00.003-05:002024-02-01T21:48:17.092-05:00Uncomfortable Territiory Part 2<p> So, part of my planned "Trilogy of Trauma" is <i>The Lookback Window </i>by Kyle Dillon Hertz. The title refers to a period when New York extended some sexual assault cases statute of limitations to allow for civil cases against people who molested children, even if they couldn't be prosecuted criminally. As such, our narrator, Dylan, is trying to figure out if he should go after his sort of ex, who more or less pimped Dylan out at 14 to older men in exchange for drugs and money. </p><p>Dylan is obviously older now, and narrating his life as he marries Moans, navigates therapy, deals with PTSD, and generally does a bunch of really bad stuff. (In the middle, he starts breaking vows to his husband. In the last third, he does Meth and GHB, winding up in the hospital.)</p><p>I felt a bit like I was reading a cross between <i>I Spit on Your Grave </i>and <i>Go Ask Alice</i> through this. I understand Dylan. Money proves nothing. Revenge doesn't bring back the years you were being relentlessly abused. Yeah, he goes to extremes I couldn't bear, but I understand his impulses here. I understand when he and Moans fight, because Moans wants to comfort Dylan, rather than let Dylan figure out his own wants. </p><p>The biggest problem in here has nothing to do with the plot or the writing, it's more to do with the narrative jumping all over the place, particularly when Dylan is smoking meth or other things. There are a couple of jumps in there towards the end where I lost track of the narrative, as we go from one paragraph of him fighting with Moans to the next being in bed with another man shotgunning meth to him. </p><p>The ending is satisfying, providing a sense of closure, while reminding us life goes on even through trauma. </p><p>While I enjoyed this, your mileage may vary.<br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-26803100874317478192024-01-16T17:42:00.003-05:002024-01-16T17:42:27.329-05:00Uncomfortable territory<p> So, based on an odd recommendation in a LGBTQ+ book group I follow, I picked up <i>Target </i>by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson. Really kind of regretting that decision now. Indeed, really tempted to go wipe the dust off LJ and blog about it rather than try to keep shit off this rather public blog. </p><p>So, we open on 16 year old Grady, who's walking home from a concert he attended with friends. A guy asks for directions, then he and a friend grab Grady by the hair and beat the shit out of him, followed by anal and oral rape. We cut to roughly a year later, the "After" as Grady thinks of it. Grady is starting at a new school, repeating 11th grade, having dropped out in November at his old school. Grady, frankly, has survivor trauma. He's got a definite eating disorder, eating very little, and puking up what does go down. He needs tactile stimulation to function. He can barely talk. </p><p>What follows is a tale of finding the courage to talk about what happened in the van, however long it takes. Grady is helped by new friends who more or less treat him like a personal mascot, not caring that he doesn't speak often, and almost never in complete sentences.</p><p>But we get a very good look at the guilt that comes with it. The whole "Why was I a target?" "Why did the cop assume it was a boyfriend of mine and I having a fight?" "I'm bigger than they are, so why couldn't I fight back?" along with (since Grady was a virgin who had touched boobs once) "Am I gay because they convinced me they'd quit if I climaxed?" Oh yes, and the fucking goddamn shame of it all. The whole "I can't fucking tell anyone because they'll ask the same fucking questions I keep asking myself!"</p><p>We also briefly get into him getting molested by a neighbor as a kid (admittedly not as intense as what happened in the van, but still...)</p><p>I'm also proud of our fictional character for going to the cops after it happened (not that he had a choice, some lady found him bleeding on the side of the road), and for getting help by the end. Two things that are sadly the hardest part. </p><p>It's ugly, but it's cathartic. </p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-56508781822007211142024-01-08T09:16:00.001-05:002024-01-08T09:16:03.021-05:00Radio Free Europe<p> <i>Signs and Wonders</i> by Morgan Brice has our heroes heading into the National Radio Quiet Zone to take down the next witch disciple, one who happens to also be both a cult leader and running a compter based business that's laundering money for the other disciples. </p><p>Along the way, we get Brent and Travis from one of her other series, plus a gay couple in WV who are looking to go to Pittsburgh for obvious reasons. That one of them is the current descendant complicates things. </p><p>At any rate, anyone reading this who has read the rest of the series has an idea of the basic structure, although now that there are only 5 disciples left, Evan and Seth are discussing what to do with retirement. Even if Evan is constantly becoming the Daphne of the series, constantly getting himself in unnecessary danger. </p><p>Fun read.<br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-476543577256081702024-01-03T17:00:00.003-05:002024-01-03T17:00:58.518-05:00The Moon is a Harsh Mistress<p> So, a while back, CT Phipps reached out and asked me if I'd be interested in reading his new book <i>Moon Cops on the Moon!</i> I told him I'd ordered a copy, but it was behind a library book in to TBR pile. Then employment got crazy, and finding time to read got a bit odd, but....I read it.</p><p>So, first thing to note, this is evidentially a shared setting with a few other series he's written, although this one is set further in the past than the other ones. Which is fine, since I'm kind of wanting to read other books in this setting now. Second, It helps if one has a mildly twisted sense of humor to read this particular volume, since it's very much what would happen if say, <span>Dashiell Hammett wrote Shadowrun novels. (For those of you not up on such esoterica and are too lazy to google, he wrote several hardboiled detective novels, including <i>The Maltese Falcon</i>.)</span></p><p><span>Anyway, we open on our narrator, Neal Gordon, as he's getting ready to land on the moon to start his new assignment with Ares Electronics as a police officer. (Like much cyberpunk, much of what is civil service here in the present is private in the future. Neal has a lifetime contract. But at least the Moon is somewhat better than Antarctica.) Problem being that as soon as he lands, everyone, from the cybermen to the 90 year old woman landing with him, want him dead or alive. He winds up getting rescued by his new partners, Miss Lucy Westerna and a Corgi AI named Barksley who doubles as a flamethrower. (There's a running joke in there about Barksley, who is a sentient AI police officer listening to NWA and Ice-T. I'm sure most of you can guess the songs.)</span></p><p><span>Anyway, along the way, we get wrapped in in an intergalactic slave trading ring, other corporate agents with coking fetishes, and a lot about the last partner Neal had on Mars, who literally burned him. </span></p><p><span>That's about as far as I want to go with this to avoid many many spoilers. </span></p><p><span>I will say it was worth the price I paid to get a copy, and the references thrown in had me laughing quite a bit alongside some of the deeper questions about human rights and sentient AI, as well as the author's postscript about how the world may end, but capitalism will continue. </span></p><p><span>Worth the read. <br /></span></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-73846522520208521082023-11-30T10:27:00.005-05:002023-11-30T10:27:56.022-05:00And again, Titania is an ass. <p> Finished Seanan McGuire's <i>The Innocent Sleep</i> yesterday, which is kind of <a href="https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2023/10/titania-is-ass.html">Sleep No More</a> extended out, starting when Titania changed Fairie and ending roughly 3 months after Halloween. However, it's written from Tybalt's point of view, so we get a better idea of what life was like during the revamp for folks who weren't locked up in Titania's illusions, like Undersea and the Cait Sidhe. </p><p>Which is to say, mostly ugly.</p><p>Undersea is cut off from the land, and Simon of course got shunted back to being Amandine's loving husband, which is mildly upsetting to Dianda and Patrick, not to mention both of their sons being trapped elsewhere. The Cait Sidhe are pretty much all trapped in the various Courts of Cats, as only those of Royal blood can get on the Shadow Roads. Which leads to a bunch of starving cats and kittens. Eventually, this leads to a very fun heist cleaning out a few of San Francisco's Costco's to feed the courts. </p><p>A Roane in Undersea makes a prophecy letting all parties know that around Moving Day is when any moves to break the illusion must happen. Given that Moving Day is roughly 4 months away from the first part of the narrative, one can imagine the amount of angst involved. We do eventually get to a point where the previous narrative of these events starts intermingling with this newer perspective, and we finally get a few answers to things not stated in the past volume. </p><p>After the narrative ends, we get a novella about one of the Octopi Fey native to the seas. Dianda's protector, actually. The book is downstairs, and I'm not attempting to spell her name or race without it sitting in front of me.) By far the biggest reveal in this is that Dianda is probably having a new girl baby pretty soon, fathered by both Simon and Patrick. Why the girl is so important we don't know, but I'm guessing it will eventually tie in to one of the last missing threads, what happened to the Other Queen (Maeve) after Janet broke the ride. </p><p>Fun story, worth reading. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-90964662452307142782023-11-25T18:11:00.003-05:002023-11-25T18:11:55.743-05:00And now for something fairly serious.<p> So, many years ago, when I was really starting to be more open about being gay, a lady I knew from Cub Scouts and church gave me a book about a Presbyterian minister and his quest to become an ordained minister within the Presbyterian Church (USA). (Bit of obscure history. The Denomination split during the Civil War ear into the Northern United Presbyterian Church and the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States. There are a few other shards running around, but they tend to be...different. The two branches reconciled in 1982ish, which I remember. So, when this starts, it would have been the United branch, but by the end, we're in PC(USA).)</p><p>Anyway, Rev. Glaser tells us of his growing up Baptist, and finally realizing he's gay in college during the Vietnam era. He speaks of his calling to ministry and how he found himself joining the Presbyterians in Los Angeles before attending Divinity School at Yale. </p><p>Eventually, we enter the fun of the 1970's Presbyterian Task Force on Homosexuality (I may have the name wrong, but basically, the General Assembly [the national governing board, which more or less makes decisions that the local Presbyteries approve or decline] appointed a task force to see about making recommendations on ordaining LGB people. (Trans folks weren't particularly included in the conversation at that point in time.) </p><p>There's also whole sections on his work ministering to gay folks in college, and the problems he runs in to with being open about his avowed homosexuality from both the gay and straight students. And the few openly gay ordained ministers in the era, one in the United Church of Christ and of course the Metropolitan Community Church. Anyway, the task force's majority report, suggesting guidelines for ordaining gay folks, got shot down and a watered down minority report instead got approved. </p><p>Now, in between this, is an exploration of Glaser's thoughts on God and his personal dramas. When I read this roughly 26 years ago, I spent a lot of those sections going "Oh Guuuurl" or "Oh, get her". Much further on, I better understand what he's talking about, and how odd attraction and love are. While a lot of his more intellectual thoughts on faith tend to be Boomer reformation stuff, particularly in the epilogue he gets into some more meaty thoughts on sexuality as an expression of God, which given that just about everyone likes to ignore Song of Solomon, is something one really doesn't hear about often. </p><p>And frankly, This was likely addressed more to a straight audience, helping heterosexuals better understand what it means to be gay and Christian, with a secondary focus on letting gay Christians know they are not alone. However, given it took PC(USA) until 2011 to finally reconcile on a national level with LGBTQ+ parishioners wanting recognition and acceptance, his happy ending really didn't happen until 30 years after where this book ends. (To be fair, individual churches and Presbyteries did make their own decisions prior to this, but mostly in the Out of Sight of the General Assembly, Out of Mind of the General Assembly sense.) This makes an interesting continuation of <a href="https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2023/10/i-feel-very-attacked.html">Congregations in Conflict</a> by Keith Hartman, showing some of the same arguments happening 10-20 years apart in different settings. Supposedly, Glaser has written more books since this one, so I may eventually check it out and see how his story continued during AIDS and ENDA/DOMA. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-18224638673620909902023-10-29T19:30:00.003-04:002023-10-29T19:30:50.178-04:00I feel very attacked<p> So, as part of my mild Keith Hartman obsession (Ok, so I love his writing, I'm not stalking him or writing fan letters), I picked up a copy of his first published work, <i>Congregations in Conflict: The Battle Over Homosexuality</i>, written, near as I can tell, when the author was at Duke. </p><p>I had read this previously, in maybe 2005ish, which meant even then, some of the conclusions herein are a bit outdated. (Copyright is 1996, even if most everything discussed tops out in 1995.) Nearly 30 years on, much of what's happened in the intervening years has shown that progress has happened, although at different rates among different factions. However, what I missed the first time I read this, was that all 9 situations explored are in the North Carolina Research Triangle Area. (While two of my brothers live there these days, I doubt either would have an interest in doing follow up for me.) </p><p>Anyway, we start with a Methodist congregation and two Southern Baptist congregations, and how they deal with ministers trying to minister to gay members, and the problems that happen with that. (The Methodist congregation has an older population, and a younger population, with no in-between membership to kind of help reconcile the differing generational views. And since the older folks have the purse strings... Both Baptist churches, which eventually work out to be accepting congregations get expelled from the Southern Baptist Convention.)</p><p>We then move into the Episcopals and a bunch of drama concerning a same sex union and the Duke Divinity School dramas of 1992. </p><p>Discussion gets into the Metropolitan Community Church of Raleigh (for those who don't know, they were founded as a church specifically for LGBTQ+ people), and the adventures in what to do with a growing congregation who've moved beyond being just celebrating Gays and God, and also dealing with a minister who's being pulled in several directions due to parishioners dying of AIDS. </p><p>Then we get two chapters of Non-programmed Friends gatherings and the fun of trying to find clarity on blessing unions in both meetings, before getting involved in Dignity, the organization for Black Catholics, and the friction between them and a Jesuit church founded as an all Black congregation, made more complex by edicts from John Paul II and the now Benedict XVI. </p><p>The Epilogue deals with congregations on a national level and the author's predictions on how the drama will play out over the next few years (as the book was written.) </p><p>Thankfully, not all of them came true. Of particular interest to me was discussion on the dueling sexuality reports in the Presbyterian General Assembly of 1991. (I seem to recall perusing both reports in High School for an argument paper on gay rights I was writing. Yeah, that whole, explore gay issues by posing as an outsider trying to understand. Worked out soooo well.) While he (like everyone else) predicted that the Minority report would get adopted, I seem to recall it didn't, and the denomination wound up compromising one way and another. It was ugly, since while Homosexuality was main event, there was a whole "fidelity in marriage, chastity in singleness" clause that had a few folks asking if the ministers were going to become bedroom police. Of course, I also recall an agreement between a few Protestant denominations in the Reformed tradition that would require each denomination to recognize the other's ordinations, and that a few of those in that agreement (like the United Church of Christ) whole heartedly ordained the gheyz. In terms of the Roman Catholics, while they're still not where a lot of us would like to see them, the Scandals of the past few decades and the Promotion of Francis I have moved the needle a bit with them. As for the Episcopals, this was written before V. Gene Robinson became a household name for a few months and nearly broke the Communion. </p><p>This remains a fascinating time capsule of church history and exactly how far things have come in 30 years. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-62808628594011641572023-10-27T21:26:00.001-04:002023-10-27T21:26:10.809-04:00So, pretty much everyone on Athas is an ass<p> Finally finished up Troy Denning's <i>The Prism Pentad</i> with <i>The Cerulean Storm</i>, in which we find out everyone left alive in this series is an ass. </p><p>So, when we left off Tithian had more or less killed off his rival Agis, had sent two dwarf banshees to encourage the Mul son on Neva and Caelum to kill the dragon, and had taken possession of the Dark Lens. Rajaat, who isn't dead so much as imprisoned in anextraplanar prison, is plotting to take revenge on his former champions (the current Dragon Boris and the Sorcerer-Kings) as well as escape from Shawshank. Sadira is still married to Agis and Rikus, although she's widowed on one front. The Sorcerer-Kings know the Lens is running loose and want to recover it before Tithian does something remarkably stupid.And the Half Giants are coming for Tyr, since the Lens lets them gain intelligence. </p><p>All of which turns into a very long extended chase to the Dragon's lair, where pretty much everyone gets what they deserve to a degree. </p><p>Again, it's epic sword and sandal and sorcery, with a bunch of characters you love to hate. I do love the ongoing visual of the silt skifs, riding the tides of dust in the dried up waterways of the desert. I like the idea that the villains in here were all Evil, but doing what they thought was best for the world. </p><p>All in all, the series holds up as a memorable D&D adventure series, although one probably not as high quality as the DragonLance Sagas. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-88695280262991033032023-10-20T20:45:00.002-04:002023-10-20T20:45:22.990-04:00Titania is an ass.<p> So, finished Seanan McGuire's <i>Sleep No More</i> yesterday, which finally sort of resolves the cliffhanger from the last book. Essentially, we pick up 4 months after Titania was found and essentially remade most of north and central California in her image of what a perfect Fairie would be. Which isn't exactly what anyone living in Fairie would particularly want, beyond certain elder pureblood <i>sidhe</i>.</p><p>As such, in this version of Fairie, October is living in Mom Amadine's tower with Dad Simon and Sister August, being a nice subservient changeling girl who knows her place among the purebloods. Quentin is now an utter asshole who likes tormenting her on the rare occasions she enters Shadowed Hills. However, it's a trip to the Hills that leads to October being taken to Tamed Lightning where the local Dryad April gets awakened and begins the long slow process of unraveling the Umbridge-esque pink of Titania's illusions. </p><p>Oh, but it's fun. With the few mixed breeds and a few free changelings living well outside of San Francisco, all of Maeve's descendants either exiled or missing, and much of the kingdom being returned to the state it was in at the outset of the series (including at least 3 dead/elfshot characters coming back for the fun), and everyone's favorite sea witch being trapped in a tree...</p><p>Quite a bit is going on here, and the fact that the Summer Queen is a master of illusions means we're not entirely sure of how much of what's returned is real. (Indeed, the finale has a character observe something is up, but what that something is never really gets quantified, so I wonder if that will be the plot hook in the next book.) </p><p>The author states it's fun writing stuff down finally that's been in her head since the outset. And it's fun to read. And I'm happy she didn't start here, since the series has given us characters whom we've come to know and love, and therefore are much more emotionally involved with as this apocalypse happens. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-32707336187539190232023-10-18T18:47:00.001-04:002023-10-18T18:47:37.917-04:00Tithian is an ass.<p> So, I'm a lot behind on a lot of things, due to issues of a personal nature. I actually finished <i>The Obsidian Oracle</i> a few weeks ago, but...</p><p>Anyway.</p><p>This is actually an ugly read. Tithian, King of Tyr, gets in trouble at the outset by sending slavers to the Dwarf city near Tyr, which in turn sets off Neeva, since the slavers nearly take her son. This gets Agis involved, since he gets tasked with tracking down Tithian to bring him back to Tyr to face justice. </p><p>Tithian, it would seem, was actually also after some Dwarven artifacts to get his hands on the eponymous Oracle, currently in the hands of giants. </p><p>The narrative swings back and forth between Agis and Tithian, as they are forced to work together to get the Lens and survive a battle between two factions of giants, one with normal heads, and ones with animal heads. </p><p>And a hell of a lot of betrayals.</p><p>For a D&D novel, this is really heavy material to deal with, as even the dering-do is overshadowed by some really ugly actions on pretty much everyone's part in the narrative. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-10961237213319195762023-09-18T20:20:00.004-04:002023-09-18T20:20:33.109-04:00Elves on the run<p> Book 3 of The Prism Pentad by Troy Denning concerns Sadira, <i>The Amber Enchantress</i>, who again proves there aren't any particularly nice characters in this series. At the end of the last book, we heard about The Levy owed to Borys AKA the Dragon, and in this one, Sadira heads off on her own to find the Pristine Tower, where the dragon was born, to find a way to stop or kill him. This is made complicated by several factors, among them, Nok, the halfling wizard whose staff she bears wants it back and is a bit annoyed by her holding on to it. We also have King Tithian riding the mind of her Kank (a horse sized ant) trying to get her killed. Oh yeah, and her long lost father, chief of the Sun Runners elf tribe and her half brothers and sisters. </p><p>Now, to say Sadira has Daddy Issues is an understatement. Daddy left her mom to rot in the slave pits of Tyr. When she eventually gets around to confronting him, he doesn't even remember her mother's name. Mind you, the worst comes in the City of Nibenay, where Sadira and her half sister get wrapped in a plot to incapacitate Daddy, but they also have to keep giving him the antidote due to various complications. </p><p>Mind you, the half centipede prince is out to get Sadira after being tipped off by Tithian, and half of her allies want her dead because she keeps abusing her magic. (This book delves deep into how magic works on Athas. Most magic users draw energy from plants. Problem being, you grab too much, you kill the plants, making you a defiler. Certain users can draw on the energy of animals, although again, it's possible to kill people by drawing too much. Thus the levy. Anyway, Sadira does manage to kill several plants along the way, instead of dying as her allies feel she should have.) On the other hand, when she does eventually reach the Pristine Tower, we find it has a strange metamorphic field that causes any wound to start transforming the bearer into....something else. </p><p>By the end of this, we know the Sorcerer Kings are keeping something imprisoned, and the shadow people aren't happy about it. We know the Kings are afraid of something. Oh yeah, and Tithian wants to be a true Dragon King. </p><p>Fun book. Not a single good person in it. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-14678155122248342062023-09-16T20:34:00.001-04:002023-09-16T20:34:27.336-04:00Legion of DOOM!<p> So, we're back in Athas for <i>The Crimson Legion</i> as Rikus and his partner Neeva lead the Tyr legions to defeat Hamanu of Urik, who's trying to take over Tyr. Added drama by the love quadrangle or Rikus sleeping with both Neeva and Sadira, and Sadira sleeping with Agis, leading to a bunch of relationship drama that would fit right in in Genoa City or Port Charles. (Or maybe Passions, since Rikus gets possessed by a racist wraith halfway through the novel.)</p><p>Anyway, plotwise, we're dealing with an "odds are against us" military story, as the free legions are far outnumbered by Urik forces, who also happen to be led by Rikus's first owner. Said owner, is also a master psionicist who is able to get magic from Hamanu, as well as having a shadow giant he can summon. </p><p>We play cat and mouse northeast through the desert as both belligerents try to outwit one another. We find a Dwarven city that happens to have a bit of metaplot within, as well as two maguffins for Rikus to survive combat. (One is the sword of Borys, which cuts through everything AND lets the bearer hear conversations from some distance; the other a belt that catches any missiles aimed at the wearer.) We find out Tithian isn't at all happy about the Senate not respecting his authority. (That King Tithian has two floating shrunken heads as advisors should have tipped us off.)</p><p>Anyway, by the end, we know that Borys was on a quest to exterminate the dwarves, and we also know he's since become The Dragon, and the Dragon will eventually demand tribute from Tyr. (We also find out gnomes don't exist in this setting.) We also get our first look at one of Kalak's old buddies and get a better look at how Dragon Magic works. (In this setting, sorcery mixed with psionics. Dark Sun was famous for giving everyone psionic stats. Which, to me, was basically more math is the math game that can be D&D.) </p><p>Overall, a good continuation, and we get to know Rikus better by the end, even as he loses almost everything. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-77488091113592235702023-09-15T20:02:00.002-04:002023-09-15T20:02:29.408-04:00Slavery is bad, ya'll<p> It's been several years since I last slogged through Troy Denning's <i>Prism Pentad</i> (which is pretty much the story of D&D's Dark Sun setting), and I'd forgotten how much I occasionally enjoy the desert soap opera. </p><p><i>The Verdant Passage</i> sets the stage for the next four books (which mostly focus on individual characters in here), as fate aligns the lives of Slave gladiators Rikus and Neeva with escaped slave and sorcerer Sadira, and again with Noble senator Agis and Templar Tithian in the city state of Tyr. </p><p>Basically, the King of Tyr (Kalak) is holding gladiator games to celebrate the building of his ziggurat. Well, except the edifice is actually part of his goal to become a dragon. </p><p>Rikus and Neevah as selected by the Veiled Alliance to kill Kalak during the games. Sadira, who works with the alliance and has been schtupping Rikus, starts schtupping Agis to get him on board after finding out he's all about taking down Kalak. Agis, in the meantime, thinks that because he doesn't abuse his slaves, he's an ok slave owner. His majordomo, on the other hand, would rather become a dwarven banshee than remain a slave. </p><p>Tithian agrees to not interfere, since he has his eyes on becoming king if Kalak buys the farm. (He's also terrified of what Kalak intends to do.)</p><p>We end book 1 with Kalak dead, the slaves of Tyr freed, and Tithian wearing the crown. </p><p>It's torrid and turgid, but it's engaging. Worth reading. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-72763060807518493662023-09-09T15:34:00.005-04:002023-09-09T15:34:46.201-04:00Captain Caveman!<p> Technically <i>Murder Beneath the Buried Sky</i> by Keith Hartman is a novella, but when it came out, it was the first writing from the author in quite a while. </p><p>We follow Calvin around, in the cave system his parents and several others followed into the cave to escape "The Burn", a nuclear holocaust. While indications remain that it started off as a cult of religious types, it comes clear that isolation had kind of ended the more religious mania of the area, as free love regardless of gender seems to be the norm among most of the folks in the caves. </p><p>The problem is, as we find out, Calvin's dad is found dead at the opening, and Calvin is the prime suspect. </p><p>What follows is a rather engaging mystery, as to who killed Dad and, more importantly why someone would kill the Quartermaster. </p><p>To go into too much detail on everything would spoil the plot, although I think I can get by with saying the author himself expresses its inspiration came from Plato.</p><p>Lots of fun, although darker than much of what else Hartman has published.<br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-51131108782995117582023-09-08T19:46:00.003-04:002023-09-08T19:46:50.969-04:00Merry Go Round the world<p> So, Morgan Brice wrote <i>Roustabout</i> in both her universe and in a shared universe involving the Carnival of Mysteries, which I'm taking to be basically like Thieves World back in the day, where different authors write with a shared setting. In this case, a unique carnival that's kind of secondary to the romance budding between Tennessee Supernatural Investigator Bart and RJ (aka Ghost Boy), a con man out to expose the sins of people who hurt his family. (Supposedly, older versions of these guys show up in the <i>Kings of the Mountain </i>series, but it's been a while since I read those.)</p><p>Anyway, Bart is called to take on the Ghost boy case in Memphis after the previous agent died of a heart attack. He and RJ actually meet in a hookup bar, although neither realizes who the other is at the time.</p><p>Anyway, while they both touch themselves thinking about their encounter in a stall, RJ is busy bringing down his former foster family and a warehouse owner who's disregard for OSHA regulations killed his brother. Bart in the meantime is using his Necromancy to try to figure out what RJ's game is. </p><p>Things go sideways when the RJ finds out the Warehouse owner has a witch on staff. Said witch curses RJ before he can have another date with Bart. Bart in the meantime has figured out what RJ is doing and arranges to have RJ join the Bureau as his partner, although when RJ gets cursed and ghosts him...</p><p>Anyway, RJ ends up at the Carnival of Mysteries, figuring dying of a curse among his people (he worked carnivals after running away) is better than dying alone. </p><p>Eventually, everything works out, we get some smut, and everyone is happy, except the bad guys. </p><p>Fun read, although I'm unsure if I feel like looking up other books with the Carnival just to find out more. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-29718968872134586762023-09-06T13:33:00.000-04:002023-09-06T13:33:00.073-04:00Secret identity issues<p> I was really happy to see that Keith Hartman released a new novel this year, since his other 3 novels have been entertaining and fun and rereadable. </p><p>So, <i>Confessions of a Former Teen Superhero</i> has what we want from a novelization of a four color comic, with cosmic powers, supervillains, and angst. Since it's Hartman, the hero we're getting as a POV character is queer, and his life without the cape is a shambles. </p><p>Poor Josh. He lives in his mom's basement, and due to his need to go save the world, he has issues getting and keeping employment. Yes, he moonlights as Kid Quasar, complete with a Superman-esque backstory of being an alien sent to earth as a baby, but who gained superpowers when his transport got too near a quasar on the way. He can fly and is invulnerable to bullets, plus he has super strength. Problem is, outside of his skin tight black and gold costume, he has the body of Clay Aiken back in American Idol season 2. </p><p>Josh's mom sets him up with Rick, who leads us in to the idea that Superheroes in this world get sponsorship deals. Rick is part of an agency that works for the current <i>wunderkin</i> Comet Boy, a super speedster who leaves flames in his wake, and seems to always rescue celebrities or save the world where people can film it. </p><p>Not that Quasar Boy doesn't have his fans, there's Tiffany, the obsessed stalker girl who puts herself in jeopardy to get Quasar Boy's attention, plus a few "Mean Girls" men who basically love screwing capes. (Due to my own censorship and the fact I like to keep this blog PG-13 at the outside, I'm sure adults can read between the phrasing on that one and get the idea.) He also has a super scientist Arch-Nemesis, Doctor Nightmare, who winds up providing a heck of a lot of humor through the book. (Really, it's a bit like if Batman and Joker went out for beers and started discussing their personal lives at one point.) </p><p>As the book progresses, we meet other minor superheroes, like Super Surfer (whom just about everyone refers to as Super Stoner) and La Tarantula, the female Mexican Wrestler. And of course, a finale when the masks more or less come off everyone out of camera range.</p><p>I found myself loving this book, less because it manages to humanize Superheroes in a way the DC Shared Universe movies have decidedly failed to do (Ok, that was uncalled for. But the DC animated universe has done a better job of making the characters more relatable to viewers than the Live Action one have ever done.) and more because I can better relate to Josh than I would like to admit. (I realize Marvel downplays queer characters for International sales, but with 4 phases, we deserve more than one guy mourning his husband at a support group at the end of Phase III.) I mean, yeah, Josh is fighting the fact he feels ugly because out of costume, he finds himself unattractive surrounded by underwear models and fitness trainers. While I'm surrounded by less...athletic...body tyoes, I feel his pain, as siomeone who's been a fatass most of my life. (Off topic. Even when I got down to 180, I still felt like a fatass.)</p><p>Two good things come out of this. One is that it seems to be the start of a series *fangirl squee*, and two, it gives me a chance to recommend another good read to people. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-11060208944533057422023-09-06T09:34:00.001-04:002023-09-06T09:34:11.837-04:00Vampires in fin de siecle St. Louis?<p> So, a recent Amazon search turned up another new series by Morgan Brice, this one set in 1896 Missouri. (That search turned up other happy things, as we'll see over the next few entries.)</p><p><i>Peacemaker</i> inaugurates another new series for Brice, this one centered on two (in modern terms) gay men working for the Paranormal Secret Service of the US. Neither knows the other one has an interest in men. Both are attracted to each other. However, in this era, when such things were illegal...</p><p>Anyway, Owen Sharps is a medium, who can see and occasionally speak with ghosts. His partner, whom he meets on the train from New Pittsburgh, is Calvin Springfield, a psychometrist, who can read objects. They are replacing tow missing agents in St Louis who were investigating some rather shady land deals around train rail spurs. As part of their compensation, they get a rather Steampunk pullman car and a witch butler named Winston. </p><p>Both have a female contact in St. Louis; a woman muckraking reporter and a pinkerton showgirl. </p><p>While the story follows the beats of a normal meet/cute, they do get involved in a plot by an ambitious vampire to open the gates of hell in a limestone mine, and do eventually realize the attraction is mutual.</p><p>While anyone who has read Brice before (or probably her Gail Z. Martin books as well) will recognize the plot devices and pacing,I am giving her credit for doing her research on homosexuality in the era, finding the least offensive slang for the men involved and presenting ways they could seek companionship in an era where such things were highly verboten. </p><p>While this book shares several bones with other series by the same author, the setting drew me in, and I really did wind up enjoying it. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-27289881856628147792023-09-02T20:27:00.000-04:002023-09-02T20:27:01.870-04:00It's a nice day for a white wedding<p> Finally getting around to <i>Point Blank</i> by Morgan Brice, the latest book in her BadLands series. (Much as I enjoy her writing, I kind of wish all of it was available in print, since tablets are inconvenient for me to try to read on when I'm travelling to and from work.)</p><p>Any rate, Simon, our psychic medium tour guide and shop owner is finally tying the knot with homicide Detective Vic. However, since nothing is ever that easy, we wind up with 3 powerful witch ghosts out to destroy each other and most of Myrtle Beach before the blessed event. </p><p>If you're reading this series, you have an idea of how the plot works, although this time there's a bunch of subplots about wedding jitters and exactly how just how many things can go wrong before you reach the altar. (Yes, I was nodding along quite a bit, although we didn't serve shrimp at our reception.)</p><p>Of the numerous Brice series, this is by far the most realistic, since both main characters are older, neither are particularly rich, and much like Agatha Christie, the mysteries come to them. That, and they have actual refraction times. (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my <strike>smut</strike> erotica, but the first Witchbane novel really made me wonder how either POV character had energy to do anything after screwing 5 times in 12 hours.)</p><p>And it is nice to see them get the wedding they deserved, and finding out how much their friends actually do care about them. </p><p>A fun addition to the series. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-65323906555265865682023-08-31T10:08:00.000-04:002023-08-31T10:08:00.179-04:00I'm Thor, show me where it hurts...<p> I know Neil Gaiman took some flack when <i>Norse Mythology </i>was first released mainly because he wasn't so much making new mythology for the Aesir and Vanir as much as he was retelling his favorite tales from the <i>Eddas</i>, but honestly it's kind of nice to have an introductory text to the myths, since there really aren't that many accessible texts introducing readers to the stories. And given this one is written in a PG tone, it would probably help children reading/watching Marvel's <i>Thor</i> get a better grip on the source material.</p><p>That being said, I'm not a huge fan of Norse mythology, so it's taken me some time to delve into Gaiman's book.</p><p>The first thing to note is that this isn't a complete retelling of the cycle. He glazes over Odin hanging on the world tree and Odin's eye in the Well of Mimir. Many of the Gods who get brief mention in the more complete sources aren't even mentioned in here.Which is fine, since Norse mythology doesn't lend itself well to Greek style retellings, where you can isolate a particular God for one story or two that illustrates who they are and how they function in the pantheon. </p><p>Was there information in here I wasn't overly familiar with? Yes, more than a few of the stories were one I had not heard, or had not heard quite as much of as what's in here. (Freya's marriage to the ice giant, for one; Thor drinking 2/3s of the ocean another. Was also nice to get a fuller story on how Tyr's hand wound up in Fenrir's stomach.)</p><p>Ultimately, I ended up enjoying it. As much as I loathe the Norse, Gaiman does a good job of making an engaging narrative out of the stories he decided to retell. And it would be a fabulous resource for folks looking for something that doesn't cure insomnia like the <i>Eddas</i>.<br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-73459530423134657212023-08-23T13:39:00.001-04:002023-08-23T13:39:21.645-04:00A gay old time!<p> Before we dig deep into reviewing Mabel Maney's <i>Nancy Clue and the Hardley Boys in A Ghost in the Closet</i>, I should preface this with some background. I first read this in 1995, having bought a copy at a now defunct bookstore across from Wright State University. I don't quite know what I was expecting (at 19, likely angsty erotica with the Boys realizing their long buried love of other boys... You know, <i>Brokeback Mountain</i>, with its 90 minutes of angst and 1 minute of pleasure, although that came out LONG after this one), but at any rate, I wasn't particularly thrilled with it at the time. Here, in 2023, I found myself laughing hysterically and appreciating it in its full 90's irony. </p><p>So, evidently two books precede this one, although I have never seen them, let alone read them, that set up the messy love triangle between Jackie, a San Francisco detective; Nancy Clue, a plucky girl detective of societal import in River Depths; and Nurse Cherry Aimless, who can't decide which girl she loves more. </p><p>Nancy and her friends and rivals start the book off at a dog show, where men in trench coats try to purloin purebred poodles! Nancy, concerned about losing Cherry's love, winds up dragging her chums Frank and Joe Hardly in to solve the mystery and win Cherry back from Jackie. With a lot of help from Uncles Willy and Nellie, the plot careens deep into 1959 High Society as everyone gets wrapped up in a mystery involving the kidnapping of not only dogs, but Frank and Joe's parents, Mr. and Mrs Fennel P. Hardy, with an emphasis on the Atomic Age!</p><p>That's the basic plot, and anyone who ever read the series being parodied here can probably guess some of the twists and turns contained within. Although, with the addition of Velma and her girlfriend Midge, we also get a few Scooby Doo traps late in the book. </p><p>Maney does an excellent job of capturing the revisions made in 1959 to both series, when the hardcovers were heavily edited and repackaged for the new age. (Evidently, the original versions from the 30s and 40s were really racist and overly wordy.) It's all here, from Nancy's glove box being a bag of endless holding and being able to disguise herself with a mere change of clothes to Frank and Joe's patented Detective kits and the random ability to have learned whatever skill was needed for the narrative by a sentence insertion describing how they got the merit badge in boy scouts. </p><p>Double entendres and innuendo fly like scared geese throughout, although some of the best funny bits point out to modern readers exactly how much language has shifted since the era this is set in, although there are some rather serious bits hidden in the humor, like the Sanitorium where troubled women wind up. Honestly, in many ways, it reminds me of <i>The Brady Bunch Movie</i> released the same year, except in the case, the characters aren't anachronisms in the setting. </p><p>While I can't say it's on my list of favorite reads, I will say it's a hell of a lot better than I judged it in 1995. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-74595199417628314372023-08-21T21:22:00.004-04:002023-08-21T21:22:29.706-04:00Catch a falling star<p> I'll be honest and say the first time I read Neil Gaiman's <i>Stardust</i>, I wasn't particularly impressed. However, this most recent rereading was a much more fun experience, and I can't help but wonder if the edition I have no isn't expanded from the original novel, or if I somehow just missed things the first time. </p><p>Anyway, the novel is set in the Victorian era, in the town of Wall, where the wall has a gap in it that leads to Fairie. Once every nine years, a great fair happens on the other side of the gap, which is also the only time the people of Wall let people pass through the gap. Young Duncan Thorn, in love with a barmaid, winds up enchanted by a slave girl held by an enchanted chain, and winds up...er...conceiving Tristran under her influence. As Tristran grows up, he's not allowed to go to the fair. However, one night a star falls in Fairie, and he promises the woman he longs for that he will go retrieve it for her in exchange for his fondest desire. </p><p>Said star, Yvaine, is not happy about falling after getting hit with a Topaz necklace thrown by the 81st lord of the Stormhold. (Neither are the 3 surving princes of Stormhold, who have to find the topaz to claim Lordship. The Lilim, are quite happy she fell, since they can use her heart to regain their youth.) </p><p>Anyway, Tristran does find the star, and the other 2 major plotlines resolve themselves with very little interference from Tristran. And in the end, everyone gets what they deserve.</p><p>The movie, while really well done, did change around a few plot elements, and greatly expands the role DeNiro did so well. (In the book, he has maybe 2-3 lines.) </p><p>While not my favorite book by Gaiman, it's still an exciting read that has improved with age. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-6670458751299767772023-08-19T20:11:00.002-04:002023-08-19T20:11:23.201-04:00Welcome to Manderley. I'm sure you'll be very happy here.<p> So, the novelist known as Riley Sager has released a new thriller/mystery in <i>The Only One Left</i>. Like previous volumes from Sager, it doesn't quite stick the landing, but the rest of the performance is strong enough to make up for that. </p><p>Now, as I mentioned on FB as I was reading, the book starts off strongly in Gothic tradition, and veers sharply into Hagsploitation (AKA Grand Dame Guignol) before synthesizing into a curious mix of both. We'll return to this in a sec.</p><p>We spend the book following Kittridge McDeere as she becomes a caregiver in 1987 for the local Lizzie Borden, along with typewritten pages from her patient, as her patient narrates past events. </p><p>So, Kit gets assigned (after a 6 month suspension) to caregive for Lenora Hope out at the Hope's End mansion on the Maine coast. Lenora, in 1929, was accused of slicing her father's throat in the Billiards room, stabbing her mother in the hall, and hanging her sister Virginia from the chandelier. However, there was no evidence to prove the accusations, so Lenora was never punished. However, Lenora did get polio and lose use of her legs, and a stroke took her speech and use of her right arm. </p><p>Kit, as it turns out, was suspected was suspected of killing her last patient, either through neglect or actual malice, as a bottle of opioids was left by the bed, and the patient somehow swallowed all of them before dying. </p><p>In the meantime, Hope's End is built on the side of a cliff that's slowly trying to become part of the Atlantic. The only servants in the house are Mrs. Baker, former governess to Lenora and Virginia; Archie, the chef who's been with the family since the late 20s; Jessica, the young maid; and Carter, the young and handsome groundskeeper. We find out Lenora's most recent nurse, Mary, packed up and left in the middle of the night. Or so everyone assumed until Kit finds her body in the sand at the base of the cliff. In the meantime, we find out through Lenora's slowly typed memoirs the horrors of growing up in the house, and becoming pregnant out of wedlock with a servant's baby. </p><p>The plot thickens quite a bit, as every secret about what happened the night of the murders and the aftermath get revealed. Most of it, yeah, makes sense and has support in the prose. However, the final twist really doesn't, and is a bit like having aliens show up in a western. (Well, that an a throwaway line of the last page, which feels a bit like a chef throwing an extra seasoning into the broth just to make sure nothing is wasted.) </p><p>While the Sager books are hit or miss for me, this is one of the better efforts, and I found myself quite enjoying the crumbling mansion on the cliff and its secrets. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-14078294834255974402023-08-18T19:27:00.001-04:002023-08-18T19:27:24.214-04:00Blast from the past<p> <i>Lightning</i> was the first Dean R. Koontz book I ever read, and for that reason alone, it has a place on my shelf. it lead me to bonding with my 8th Grade reading teacher, who I adored, and lead down the path to other authors in similar genres. I could have sworn I had reviewed it on here, but NaBrO. </p><p>Anyway, the book opens with a OB/GYN being held at gunpoint by a blond man with a gun. Said man keeps a doctor from delivering a baby. Said baby is Laura Shane, whom the Blond visits occasionally throughout her childhood, never aging. We also see a man pursuing the blond, named Kokoshka, who wants to kill Laura once he figures out why Stefan, the blond, is meddling with her life. We see Laura grow up and become orphaned at 11, move in to an orphanage, only to be nearly molested by a custodian. We meet her friends, the twins Ruthie and Thelma, and the occasional roommate Tammy, who tries to commit suicide a few times. </p><p>Ruthie ends up dying trying to save Tammy when Tammy lights herself and the orphanage on fire. </p><p>Laura goes to college, meets her husband Danny, becomes a successful novelist, has a kid named Christopher. </p><p>Then comes a fateful day when her Guardian appears again, this time saving her from a truck crash. Which is all great, until Kokoshka shows up and tries to kill everyone. Danny winds up dead, Stefan vanishes with his beacon. Laura gets a year to prepare, during which she becomes a marksman with a rather large arsenal of weaponry. (In the late 80's, Koontz was always obsessed with weapons and technology, and half the time speaking either for or against both.) Anyway, Stefan comes back after being shit, along with several pursuers. Which leads to Laura, Stefan, and Chris going on the lam. We finally find out where (or more precisely WHEN) Stefan is from, and the rest of the book concerns destroying The Institute in the era it exists in. </p><p>While it is a bit dated, and really silly in a few places, not to mention the slobbery kiss to Reaganomics at the very end, it's still a good yarn a few decades on, <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5270332504251679336.post-810996249876235212023-08-08T11:40:00.002-04:002023-08-08T11:40:24.768-04:00Gryphons of Love<p> In what I was hoping was the next Volume of her Founding of Valdemar series, Mercedes Lackey instead started a new "Modern" Valdemar series in <i>Gryphon in Light</i>, centering on k'Valdemar Vale gryphon Kelvren and longtime character Firesong. There are other new characters floating around in here, like First officer Hallock, who gets mortally wounded early on in combat during an uprising in the northwest of Veldemar; his wife Ginny, a healer's hand; Jefti, a poor boy who is enamored with Kelvren; Three Ghost Cat warriors; a wing of Iftel gryphons; an unpaired companion; and a Firecat, as well as a few tervardi, dhyeli, and hertasi. Much like the group in <i>Mage Storms</i>, this ensemble (with cameos and callbacks to previous series) are being called by the gods of the world to do something. </p><p>Mind you, it takes half the book for the expedition to get started, let alone off the ground. The first part focuses on Hallock, who gets a gut wound, is dying until Kelvren heals him. This inspires Kelvren to use up what magic he has to heal Hallock, which in turn leads to Kelvren nearly dying. This gets Treyvon involved, and he uses an old rite to recharge Kelvren. Given it hadn't been used since the original mage wars, no one was quite dure how it worked, or how it worked. It more or less supercharges Kelvren, who manages to set off a Diplomatic incident, get treated as a danger at k'Valdemar Vale, and eventually get diagnosed by Firesong as being in danger of spontaneously combusting. </p><p>Eventually, a portable Heartstone gets strapped to Kelvren, and Firesong proposes an expedition to Lake Evendim to see how the Mage Storms affected Ma'ar's old kingdom. Which is great, until just about everyone and their brother sends people to go. Including supernatural creatures with direct pipelines to the Gods of the world.Seems something is happening at the Lake, and those in the mortal realm need to go investigate. </p><p>By the end of the volume, we aren't there yet, but we do see a lot of the Pelegirs, and meet a new as of yet unnamed creature that appears as smoke and may or may not be attempting to possess people. </p><p>As a start, it takes some time to get going, but once it gets going, it gets more engaging, making us wonder what exactly awaits our heroes at the lake. <br /></p>Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11088094708958967595noreply@blogger.com0