Tag Archives: #Friendship

Rowland, Diana: Fury of the Demon (Kara Gillian VI) (2014)

2014-02-20 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

I’ve thought somewhat about a paragraph in Fury of the Demon:

It was a story as old as time, and Rasha had played the role of disapproving elder with fervor. And even though her intent had been noble – to protect her granddaughter from an untrustworthy man – she paid the price with crushing loneliness so deep that she’d risked death or injury to …

To what lengths will we go to avoid feeling lonely?

The first five novels in the Kara Gillian series shows how far she has been willing to go to avoid that feeling. Now she experiences a sense of belonging she had never thought possible.

Loneliness is a concept I have spent much time contemplating. I’m kind of a misfit with most people. We can talk a bit, but when it comes to wanting to spend more time with me or me wanting to adjust to their expectations of “proper female behavior” – well, it just ain’t happening. In the past I have done stupid things to stop feeling lonely. I genuinely like being in my own company and sometimes find the presence of others intrusive. Even my dog and my husband. But it has been lonely growing up being a person like me. Thankfully, loneliness is no longer a factor in my life.

The other side of the loneliness coin that some people choose is that they would rather be alone than risk facing their own inner demons. Mzatal used to be like that. Then Kara and Idris came along and opened up the cracks of his emotional armor. This I really understand.

Emotions are confusing and illogical. They follow no rhyme or reason and appear when most inconvenient. I used to hide mine in a large chest that only I held the key to. Then patience and acceptance came my way through my husband and tiny emotion-elves started picking that lock.

Sometimes we all have need of a person in our life that sets off our tiny emotion-elves. Kara found several of them in her posse, and Mzatal found his through his protegés. Now both of them just have to figure out how to want to keep those positive influences in their lives.

As a compliment to Ms. Rowland’s writing, I found myself stupidly reading, and reading and reading through the freaking night. Her writing becomes better with each production. I love it when I can follow an author in their progression as a writer.

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Reviews:

Series: Kara Gillian (Book 6)
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: DAW; 1 edition (January 7, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 075640830X
ISBN-13: 978-0756408305

My review of: Touch of the Demon

Quotes about loneliness

Adventure, Fantasy

Lynch, Scott: The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard III) (2014)

2014-02-20 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

the-republic-of-thieves-by-scott-lynch-new-uk — Cover art by Benjamin Carrè
By far my favorite “The Republic of Thieves” covers

The cover by Benjamin Carrè is amazing. It is definitely going onto my list of favorite covers and he is one of my favorite artists. Whew!

I have been a fan of the Gentleman Bastard ever since Lynch launched The Lies of Locke Lamora. My attraction to a piece of writing is never really about the tools of the trade or whether the author avoids falling into writer-traps. Instead my liking a piece of writing has more to do with whether my reader-bone is tickled and often about whether I identify with something in the writing.

Sabetha Belacoros is a fun character and she isn’t “good” the way society defines good. The gang of Chains definitely has a set of morals that they follow, but those morals follow the laws of The Crooked Warden. If I had to compare them to anyone in today’s society, the seeming morals of the filthy rich come to mind. In The Gentleman Bastard series there is not much difference between how the gangs of Chains and Lamora behave and the way the top tiers of their society behave (nobles, aristocrats, bonds-magi and so on). But then there isn’t much difference between the two tiers of society in real life society.

Maybe Jean is my favorite character. Where Locke and Sabetha are flashy figures, Jean is the guy that keeps the rest of them going. Flash has never really appealed to me in real life. People who sparkle and draw in the rest of us can be fun in tiny amounts, but the steady ones are the ones I am attracted to. I married a Jean although my Jean’s criminal activities are limited to sometimes driving too fast.

Our look into the past was my favorite part. Chains’ old gang is an insane delight. Those Sanzas! In the newer part, the bondsmagi were a chilling reminder of the sheepyness of society. You do not need magic to achieve the effect they had on Karthain. A crime free society where all are fed and taken care of is a dream come true. Perhaps not with the cost that affects the inhabitants of Karthain but there might be more reasonable paths to such a society.

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Reviews:

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Hardcover: 608 pages
Publisher: Gollancz; Hardback edition (10 Oct 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0575077018
ISBN-13: 978-0575077010

The Way Into Egalitarian Society

Fantasy, LGBTQ+/GRSM, Romance, Thriller

Cane, Laken: Strange Trouble (Rune Alexander III) (2014)

2014-02-06 humanitysdarkerside 4 Comments

Bloody hell. Give the poor girl a break. Laken Cane drives her main character, Rune Alexander, hard. And can she write! All of that exquisitely described pain and anguish. Holy horror of a cow! What a life our heroine leads.

Rune Alexander fills me with compassion. I want to crawl into Strange Trouble and somehow comfort her, to let her know that she is OK as she is. My own ghost pain is awakened, and I want to tell her that things will get better. But I would be lying by saying that because Ms. Cane is a cruel mistress for the Shiv Crew.

The Rune Alexander series is a bleak and dark series. There aren’t a great deal of happy moments. Well, there are plenty of happy moments, but that is what they are. Moments. Then Rune and the gang is ripped back into the terror and ache of having to be the “good guys” in spite of all of the persecution and loss. Yet Ms. Cane’s writing makes it all endurable.

The vampires, zombies and werewolves of the Rune Alexander series are not the fluffy ones that we sometimes see in literature today. These are the good, old-fashioned kind. The ones that were told stories about around the fires while night turned into darkest dark and became all the more frightening because we could no see the world.

As usual, I have a couple of favorite moments. Rune’s gift to Ellie – perfect. That put a huge smile on my face. Rune advising Raze about relationships – pot/kettle much? The two episodes with the obsidian sword. Shad and Fie at the hospital – incredibly cute. The monster’s comment: What will you do? … Hurt me? And finally Ms. Cane’s description of Damascus – whew that lady needs to work on her charm.

Laken Cane has kept the promise of Shiv Crew. Her writing has been riveting, tense and tight through all three novels.

File Size: 2202 KB
Print Length: 296 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Laken Cane (February 4, 2014)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00I8ZGNY6

My review of:

Shiv Crew
Blood and Bite

Strange Trouble was given to me as a reviewer’s copy.

Adventure, Fantasy

Cooper, Elspeth: The Raven’s Shadow (The Wild Hunt III) (2013)

2014-01-26 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

You know, Ailric is a douchebag. He is about as power-starved as you can possibly get and Tanith is his way to the throne. Talk about being willing to do and say anything to get his way. Humans are less than dirt to him and his jealousy knows no bounds. As if he has anything to be jealous about. Tanith tells him over and over and over again that she is not interested and could he please stop touching her. Being the third in line for the throne of the “elves”, Tanith feels pressured by many of the folks at home to bind herself to Ailric as the joining of their two families is seen as a good match.

According to Psychology Today a person with a narcissistic personality disorder is one who is arrogant, lacks empathy for other people, needs a lot of admiration. Narcissists are cocky, self-centered, manipulative and demanding. They are focused on unlikely outcomes (I don’t know – like becoming consort to Tanith) and feel they deserve special treatment. For some reason they have a high self-esteem – which goes along with their arrogance. If their self-esteem is threatened they may become aggressive (like Ailric’s threats and actions toward both Gair and Tanith) even though their self-esteem is rooted in the bedrock of who they are.

Holy cow, this is soooo Ailric. He manages to match all of the qualities. Like I said: a complete and total douchebag.

Gair is your basic good guy. He’s not perfect, not by a long shot. In fact he is feeling pretty murderous when it comes to Savin. I get this need for vengeance. Not that anyone has ever effected the killing of one of my loved ones, but there have been people I would have liked to, at the very least, beat up. People who hurt my children in any way come to mind – even if mine are adult now. In real life I prefer the good guys (and women). I happen to be married to one of the most decent men on earth. Like Gair they are all flawed in some manner, but something shines through. This strange quality is what Ms. Cooper manages to catch in her writing. Someone like Gair is often presented in a manner that makes me wriggle uncomfortably due to their unbelievability. But Ms. Cooper stays far, far, far away from that trap. Gair is a guy I would like to hug just because he is huggable. I guess he could be good-looking but that is not what I am remembering – and I finished The Raven’s Shadow at 6 am this morning.

I kid you not. I am 49 years old in a few days and I read through the night. What’s an old woman doing with an all-night-read? Shame on you Ms. Cooper for keeping me up all night. That seldom happens any longer, but I just had to finish. Now I have to wait another year or two for the next installment. What I have just done is a basic case of hurry up and wait. Oh, well. Old age is no guarantee for learning from experience. I choose to blame it all on Ms. Cooper. No personal responsibility at all – oh no!

Teia is the other extremely interesting main character. Poor girl. Once it was discovered she had the talent, she has had to be extremely careful about letting on how strong she was/is. Not only has she needed to watch out for the clan speaker, but she has also had a less than ideal relationship with the clan chief. Well, relationship is a bit strong. Before she was 16 he abused and raped Teia until he had impregnated her. Good thing she ran away even if it did lead to her becoming banfaith of the Lost Ones. A banfaith is a prophetess or oracle. Understandably, Teia feels awfully young for the kind of responsibility she holds. In a sense she is considered next to Baer (their chief) in authority. The Lost Ones ask for her guidance on where to travel which is kind of natural as Teia sees where they need to go. Where the Lost Ones need to go is to the enemy to warn them of the pending invasion.

Ytha is Teia’s old teacher. She is the one who should have made certain that Teia received proper training for a Speaker. But Ytha is afraid of what would happen if someone has more power than she. Anything (including murdering people perceived as obstacles) is acceptable to achieve her goals. Ytha’s goal is to lead all of the Nimrothi clans into the old home-land – together with her chief Drwyn as chief of chiefs. I would not like to get into her way.

Elspeth Cooper’s writing has appealed to me from the beginning. She is one of those rare people who has a gift. In all likelihood Ms. Cooper works hard to provide us with a novel of this quality. But, you know, there is that extra indefinable something that gifted people have.

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Reviews:

Paperback: 576 pages
Publisher: Gollancz (15 Aug 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0575134380
ISBN-13: 978-0575134386

My review of:

Songs of the Earth
Trinity Rising

Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery

Halpin, Chantal: The Brinded Cat (Witch Hunter) (2013)

2014-01-20 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

Cover art by Chantal Halpin's daughter — Cover art by Chantal Halpin’s daughter

I like Sam’s (Samhain) character. Upon beginning this review I looked for further literature about our magically-challenged witch. There is a novel (Death’s Daughter) in the inning, but I do not know when it is going to be published. The Brinded Cat (striped cat) is even more fun than Foul is Fair.

Witches and their cats! Or maybe it is witches and their familiars. In this case Mrs. McGinty’s cat is caught in a tree and Sam is asked by her boss, Fin, to climb up and rescue it. Fin is involved with Mrs. McGinty and therefore amenable to granting her small favors, but Fin is also afraid of heights. So Sam has to step into the fray and keep Fin in Mrs. McGinty’s favour, and she does. That is after all what good friends do. We support our friends in their affairs of the heart, but only to a certain point.

When Sam meets Mrs. McGinty’s cat, she realises that perhaps the cat needs rescuing but not rescuing from the tree. And off we go.

Sam is adorable. Ms. Halpin has made her strong, vulnerable, insightful, experienced and funny. I think perhaps I like people who protect under-dogs (well, in this case a cat). The vulnerable need protecting and once upon a time Sam herself found such protection when she most needed it.

How old would you have to be to read The Brinded Cat? Well, The Brinded Cat is safe enough for a five-year old to read the story, but I doubt they would get much out of it. There is extremely little violence and no sexual content. Beyond that I haven’t got a clue. There is plenty of action, some fighting, lots of magic, and a look at trust.

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Review:

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Published: Jan. 05, 2013

Words: 10,460

Language: English

ISBN: 9781301757695

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My review of Foul is Fair

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Samhain can mean “summer’s end,” or “season’s end.” Samhain is also known as the “Celtic New Year.”

Adventure, Fantasy, Young Adult

Canavan, Trudi: The Novice (The Black Magician II) (2004)

2013-11-14 humanitysdarkerside 3 Comments

The Novice - 6 different covers — Cover art by:
Top right: Les Petersen
Bottom right: Steve Stone
Bottom centre: Matt Stawicki

Once again Trudi Canavan has shown that she has the ability to reach audiences all over the world. The Novice has been published in three English dialects and 12 other languages. The Black Magician trilogy is a serial. You are going to have to begin with The Magician’s Guild to make sense of The Novice.

As with The Magician’s Guild, I was my son’s audiobook. This time the experience as an out-loud-reader was much smoother. Whereas The Magician’s Guild has awkward phrasing for an out-loud-reader, The Novice flowed as it ought. Being the one who was read to was an enjoyable experience for my son.

Story 1

Breaking out of an abusive relationships is a challenge. In some cases the victim never does while in others some kind of catalyst comes along that makes freedom possible. Before that time, though, pain, confusion, humiliation and helplessness are feelings the victim is dragged through time and again.

Sonea being bullied by Regin and his compatriots (fellow novices) is such an abusive relationship. Regin’s venture into physical and mental violence begins during the first year and follows Sonea into The Novice. One would have thought that Sonea gaining the guardianship of the High Lord would prevent him from being cruel, but no. Regin soon discovers that Sonea is afraid to tell the High Lord what is going on and takes that as encouragement to increase the intensity of his bullying.

Bully lust is a strange thing. I’ve often wondered what makes an abuser tick. Growing up I never understood why the other kids felt it appropriate to tease and harass me. As an adult I think I can see what the attraction is. Power seems to be orgasmic to some people. Being able to get others to go along with what you are doing probably increases that feeling. Regin certainly seems to be getting off on what he is doing to Sonea.

Like a lot of people being abused, Sonea is afraid to tell those in authority about the bullying. She is afraid that matters will get worse. Sonea sees that the episodes that happen in class do not bring about punishment for Regin and I imagine that would make her hesitation even more intense. Class-differences between the victim and the abuser probably made it even more difficult for Sonea to open up about what was going on. After all, what could she – a slum-dweller – hope to achieve with reporting the abuse when the rest of the magically inclined people at the university were of the upper classes.

In- and out-groups. We and them thinking. I think this is one of the most frightening thing I find about humans. When I read some of the comments that are written on some of the sites on the net, I am confused by how others bully writers in the most cruel manner by dehumanising the blog’s author. Regin’s treatment of Sonea is a prime example of how one person makes another person a “them” and thereby setting his behavior at – “not at fault”.

All it takes is one person. One person to make it all bearable. Sometimes one person to help you see the light. One person. You will meet him in The Novice. That one person with the ability to think outside the box. The one who dares think of “them” as human too.

Story 2

Dannyl’s experience with The Thieves has made him prime candidate as Guild Ambassador. I’ll bet he never saw that one coming. Dannyl is one of those people I just could not help but like. His behavior and attitude is clearly colored by the treatment Fergun put him through while they were both novices. Surviving abuse gives us a perspective on life that we would not have otherwise. If circumstances allow, that understanding can be put to good use. Both Dannyl’s behavior and his attitudes have been challenged and continue to be challenged during his adventures in Elyne. His friendship with Tayend shows his strength and the pain of the past he still carries around on his back.

The Novice was fun. Painful at times when old memories were triggered, but fun.

Reviews:

Paperback: 592 pages
Publisher: Orbit; A fmt edition (1 July 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1841493147
ISBN-13: 978-1841493145
Amazon

My review of The Magician’s Guild

Adventure, Fantasy, Young Adult

Canavan, Trudi: The Magician’s Guild (Black Magician I) (2001)

2013-11-04 humanitysdarkerside 6 Comments

Magician's Guild - 6 different covers — Various artists for the 6 different covers:
Les Petersen: bottom centre
Steve Stone: top centre
Matt Stawicki: top right

As far as I can tell, The Magician’s Guild has been published in 3 different English dialects and 15 other languages. That is impressive.

My son and I read the UK version of the The Magician’s Guild. As the reader I worked a bit harder with The Magician’s Guild than I have on my last few audio-jobs for my son. As the readee, my son seemed pleased with my job.

Sonea is somewhere around the age of 17 when we meet her. Her mom is dead and her dad has run off. Thankfully, she had her sister’s mother (Jonea) and Jonea’s husband who stepped in to take care of Sonea. They were part of the dwell society and at the point that Sonea’s mother died they lived in the slums. In the time since they managed to make their way into the Outer Circle of Imardin. There the three lived and worked out of a one room flat. Things were looking up for them. Then life did what life does and hit them in the face.

Before the threesome had moved behind the walls of the Outer City Sonea was running with one of the gangs (Harrin’s gang) and had learned to pick pockets and steal. Several of the kids in Harrin’s gang are homeless kids who look upon the gang as their home. One of Sonea’s best friends, Cery, is such a kid. His father was killed by the Thieves for breaking trust with them.

Harrin, Cery and Sonea are one half of the equation of The Magician’s Guild. They bring in people to help them, but in essence the story is about them – and especially about Sonea.

The other half, of course, is about the Magician’s Guild. They have the food, the wealth, the king’s approval and magic. Like most privileged people the magicians are comfortable with status quo and reluctant to share their goods with “less worthy people”.

Compared with the rest of the world I am probably somewhere in the top 20% when it comes to privileges (in spite of being a woman). Being a woman lowers me somewhat but this is what I have going for me: I am of Norse blood living in Norway. I have a college degree and am married to a man who has a university degree. He is well-paid. I am not – due to health issues. We live in a country that assures that all of its citizens have free health-care, free education and are assisted if they should fall on hard times. Our home isn’t stylish or up-to-date but it is largish and warm during the winter. We always have plenty to eat. In other words, we have lucked out in the lottery of life.

What this means for me, is that I have to make some kind of effort to keep the other 80% in mind. Then I have to make even more of an effort to try to be of constructive assistance. It would be much more comfortable to pretend that the other 80% did not exist and that I had no responsiblity for the lives of other people on this planet of ours. But I know life is all about luck, nothing more. So I don’t have a choice.

The Magicians are at the point where they are going to be made aware of the dwells as something more than cockroaches to be stepped on once a year during the Purge. Sonea is the tool to make it so. Discovering that there is one among the dwells whose powers are so strong that these powers have manifested all by themselves is going to change the opinion of some of the Magicians, frighten others and cement the prejudices of the rest.

Good luck, Sonea! You are going to need both it and loads of hard work to even begin to make an imprint in the sceptical attitudes of most of the magicians of the Guild.

Reviews:

Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Atom; Reprint edition (1 Sep 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 190423366X
ISBN-13: 978-1904233664
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Phantastik Award

Winner: Gilde der schwarzen Magier 1: Die Rebellin
Bester internationaler Roman 2007

Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller

Reine, S.M.: Dark Union (The Descent III) (2012)

2013-11-03 humanitysdarkerside 4 Comments

Dark Union sure is a fitting title, because the Union of kopis and apsis sure is dark and its motives are suspect. You don’t just round up kopis and apsis and witches by force unless you are a bit iffy. Where do they get their money from? There cannot be all that many Mr. Black type kopis – at least not if they are doing their jobs the way they are supposed to. But messing with friends of Elise might not be the smartest thing these guys have ever done. Especially not an Elise that is bursting with anger from all that happened in Darkest Gate.

Elise and Anthony are angry with each other, angry with the world and angry with the sense of helplessness that they feel. We are like that sometimes. Helplessness, grief and confusion are bummer feelings to have so anger can be a tempting feeling to replace them with. We get a lot of anger in Dark Union. A lot of it.

On top of that Elise has to struggle with this new strange bond that she and James have managed to impose on themselves. They actually know what the other person is feeling and can see what they are doing if they think too much about the other person. No wonder James is in San Fransisco with Stephanie. What an awful thing to experience for humans. Especially for some one as private as Elise is. They are both trying to control the bond, but when her pain is too great it becomes a bit difficult for Elise to control how much she shares.

Anthony is finally beginning to realise that he wants more out of their relationship than Elise is willing and able to give. Another thing to add to the simmering pot of feelings.

I’m trying to figure out if anything happy happens in Dark Union. Let’s see. There is one thing. At one point Elise is challenged about her “greatest kopis” status. That is a fight that is both satisfying and without deadly intent. Getting one over on the Union is also a satisfying (but worrying) episode for Elise. Those Union people – especially the leaders – are great big rear ends (don’t want to offend all the asses out there).

So, if you want cheer, Dark Union is not for you. But if you are like me and enjoy the darker side of humanity, jump right in.

Review:

File Size: 273 KB
Print Length: 115 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Red Iris Books; 1 edition (July 21, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English

My review of:

Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together, Young Adult

Lindskold, Jane: Wolf’s Blood (Firekeeper Sage VI) (2007)

2013-10-24 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

I really am an airhead. I managed to press publish before anything had been written. Sorry if that confused you all. Here is the “real” version of my review.

I hadn’t bought this last installment of the Firekeeper Saga until my son asked me to. We had read the previous five novels together and he really wanted to know how it was all going to end. Reading together is an experience more people should be able to enjoy. As I have said before, this is one of the major advantages to having a child with dyslexia.

Jane Lindskold made Wolf’s Blood as much fun to read out loud as she had made the other five. Her language is intelligent and her vocabulary varied. Again I found myself forgetting to follow the plot as I got so caught up in the intense experience of tasting Lindskold’s prose. That didn’t really matter because I had cheated and read through the novel on my own before reading it to my son.

One thing I have wondered is how the Firekeeper Saga can appeal to both an eighteen-year old and a 48-year-old at the same time. What is it about these characters that the two of us find so fascinating?

Firekeeper and Blindseer

Part of it most definitely has to do with Firekeeper and Blind Seer. The whole idea of our wolf-girl trying to find her place in human society and making sense of us all works for us. That Firekeeper often finds herself flummoxed by human society is understandable. All of our various religions and political views are confusing and usually you have to be an insider to understand all of the unwritten codes that rule us. She is an alien and will remain an alien for the rest of her life. But Firekeeper is an alien with a foot in human society and with people who love her and Blind Seer to bits.

I’ve been trying to figure out how Firekeeper was changed by querinalo. In Wolf Hunting we see that something did happen to her. My personal belief is that she became even more firmly a wolf in her heart and head because of her chant during her fever. Blind Seer probably did not change much as he beat the crap out of the source of the illness, but his view of himself changed drastically. Having come from a people who hated magic fiercely would make his adjustment to the “new” him a challenge.

Derian

Derian’s change was a bit more visible. This portrait of Derian with Eshinarvash by FortunesFavor shows how he has become a bit more horselike. His ears and forelock are especially telling. Derian struggles terribly to accept his new looks. His greatest fear is how his family will perceive him now that he “looks like a horse”. I would freak out myself if I woke up after an illness and discovered my face and outer extremities had metamorphosed into a blend of human and animal.

Derian also, quite understandably, worries about what women will think of him. Looking past our exteriors seems to be a challenge for a lot of us (myself included). It’s so easy to get hung up in insignificant details all the while forgetting about the significant ones (like personality and temperament). As the saying goes, where there is life there is hope. For Derian this is true (as you will see for yourself when you read Wolf’s Blood).

Perspective

Lindskold presents things from various points of view. Being on the spectrum makes this doubly important to me. I have learned much reading authors like Lindskold. She, too, has been part of a teaching staff who have all helped me understand people. Perspective changes good guys to bad and vice versa. If there is one thing I have learned in this life of mine, it is that perspective matters.

“Enemies”

War is a strange thing. King Bryessidan and his compatriots’ desire to take over the gates makes perfect sense. They had convinced themselves that they were being slighted and hindered in their “noble” purpose. Therefore they were justified in planning and executing an attack against the Nexus Islands. Seen from the Nexans’ side that is an erroneous argument, but to the winner goes the writing of history.

I also found myself understanding Virim. What he did was a terrible thing, but he never intended for querinalo to be so bad. But when it was he took advantage of it and found it difficult to let go of the apparent advantages to its system.

The ending was good. I knew this would be the result, but it needed saying and happening.

Jane Lindskold has been a pleasure to read with my son. The Firekeeper Saga kept him asking for more. Being the fantasy nut that I am, it is a pleasure whenever my sons enjoy the same literature I have enjoyed.

Reviews:

Series: Wolf (Book 6)
Mass Market Paperback: 736 pages
Publisher: Tor Fantasy (January 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765353741
ISBN-13: 978-0765353740

My review of:

Fantasy, Thriller

McGuire, Seanan: Chimes at Midnight (October Daye VII) (2013)

2013-10-14 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

I first discovered Seanan McGuire through her pseudonym Mira Grant. I enjoyed her Newsflesh characters so much that I wanted to give October (Toby) Daye a chance. Here I am seven novels later still reading about the adventures of changeling / knight / hero / granddaughter of Oberon: Toby Daye.

Why is it I like the October Daye series so much? My main reason has to do with the development of Toby’s character. Growth (whether for light or dark) in a character is what keeps me reading certain authors. If that development stops I move on. Thus far, I have had every reason to remain with October Daye and her faery world.

By now there have been so many losses and changes in Toby’s life that it is a wonder she is still up and about. McGuire has not given Toby the easiest life to live. Simple lives can be fun to read about but in the long run complexity is so much more fun. McGuire doesn’t slow down Toby’s challenges in Chimes at Midnight.

Once again, Toby discovers that just because something is bad for the changelings and for humans does not mean that the pure-bloods care. Some do, but faery who care about the lives of changelings and humans are definitely in the minority. So it has been throughout history. Many are the tales of faery interacting with people with devastating results for the person. Perhaps being immortal has something to do with that. At least that is an excuse we hear in Chimes at Midnight.

There is romance going on between Toby and Tybalt, but romance is not a major part of Chimes at Midnight. Action is. As with the other Daye novels, McGuire keeps her novels free from explicitness.

I liked Chimes at Midnight. When The Winter Long comes out I am going to buy it.

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Reviews:

Series: October Daye (Book 7)
Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: DAW (September 3, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0756408148
ISBN-13: 978-0756408145

Fantasy, Young Adult

Heppe, Matt: Eternal Knight (2011)

2013-09-18 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Matt Heppe has a couple of places you can reach him. One is his blog and the other is on facebook.

Hadde and the rest of her village, Long Meadow, live within the area of “The Wasting”. The Wasting is a mysterious condition that seems to afflict all life – plants and animals. For some reason the world is wasting away, leaving the land barren. While out hunting one day Hadde and her two companions discover an impending raid upon their village. They manage to send warning and thwart the invaders. One of the invaders has silver eyes that fade to black upon death.

Map Eternal Knight — Map by Steve Sanford

Hadde struggles with the village’s decision to slaughter their horses for food, and she goes hunting in hopes of finding food. A stag turns up that she follows. Hadde is led to a spot in the forest where the Wasting has somehow not taken hold. In this living space Hadde finds a gold pendant that bears the symbol of the goddess Helna.

All this sends Hedda to Salador for help for her village, whether it be temporal or magical. Along she brings Belor and their horses. Tragedy and adventure awaits.

Life is filled with difficult choices and tragedy. Pain seems to be part and parcel of life. Hedda is about to experience a lot of pain. Some of that pain is due to choices she makes while some of the pain is due to the choices of others. How she deals with death, violence, betrayal, friendship and love shows the kind of person she is. Like all of us Hedda is neither good nor bad but a combination of both. Finding her place in the world and discovering who and what she is creates dangers for her but also opportunities and growth.

I liked Hedda. She seemed so normal in an epic fantasy sort of way.

Eternal Knight seems to be targeted at anyone from young adult age and up.

Reviews:

Paperback: 306 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1461009839
ISBN-13: 978-1461009832
ISBN: 9781452428444
Product Dimensions: 0.7 x 5.8 x 9.2 inches

Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together, Young Adult

Lindskold, Jane: Wolf Hunting (Firekeeper Saga V) (2006)

2013-09-03 humanitysdarkerside 4 Comments

WolfHuntingJB — Cover artist Julie Bell
My favorite Firekeeper cover

When Jane Lindskold got Julie Bell to do the covers for the Firekeeper saga she made the best choice possible. Julie Bell’s wolves and people are incredible (see link above). If you have the chance, you should check out her artwork.

Once again my son and I read about Firekeeper together and once again we were richer for it. I believe this is the only advantage to having a child with a serious case of dyslexia. In spite of his age we get to sit side by side enjoying a story that takes us a to place out of time and away from our world. Both of us have Firekeeper and Blind Seer as our favorite characters. Part of that is due to the kind of fatalism on their part that comes from having to fight for survival since childhood. I believe it also comes from the love that Firekeeper and Blind Seer have for each other.

Another thing that makes the pair my favorite is that they follow their hearts no matter where that might take them. If they feel something is the right thing to do, then they will do it. As they become acquainted with the Meddler they find themselves struggling to discern between what is the influence of the Meddler and what they truly feel is right.

I guess I kind of understand the Meddler’s motives. He is a self-righteous git who takes no responsibility for the consequences of his actions but is convinced that his intentions were all that mattered. The Meddler himself considers Firekeeper a natural born meddler, but the main difference between him and Firekeeper is Firekeeper’s willingness to bear the responsibility for the consequences of whatever actions she might have taken (without putting on a self-righteous mien).

Poor Derian. He is back in Liglim as an ambassador’s assistant and still heart-sore from his short but intense relationship with Rahniseeta in Wolf Captured. My heart warms at the strength of his character. He has had Firekeeper’s back many times during the past five years and will need to rise to the occasion once again. Derian, Firekeeper and Blind Seer are naturals for the quest that is inspired by the Meddler. Along come Truth, the jaguar, and Harjeedian.

Harjeedian is the guy that kidnapped Derian, Firekeeper and Blind Seer in Wolf Captured. He is the human diplomat for the Liglim on the journey. Truth is a divining jaguar who has gone in an out of insanity. In spite of having a shaky hold on reality Truth needs to come along. So does Plik, Bitter, Lovable and Eshinarvash (the wise horse). A strange troupe for sure, but one that represents most of the groups that the gang know of.

Bitter_and_Lovable_by_Fortunes_Favor — Bitter and Lovable by Fortunes Favor

In the above portrait by FortunesFavor Bitter and Lovable are heartwarmingly portrayed. Lovable is as her name states Lovable and in love with shiny things. At first she might come across as your regular ditzy “blonde”, and she is that too. But she is most of all bright and loving. We get to see just how close she and Bitter are in Wolf Hunting when the couple meets up with an incredibly dangerous hunter. Firekeeper and Blindseer love the couple’s wit and courage and deviousness. The two end up being essential to saving Truth and also essential to the well-being of the group that ends up chasing after one of Meddler’s meddlings.

More_Plik_by_SecndLogic — Plik as drawn by Secnd Logic (JRY)

This portrayal of Plik, the maimalodalum that ends up going with the gang to find the twins, shows a version that I agree with. He looks so innocent, but like all innocent-looking raccoons, Plik has another more violent side. As he is maimalodalum that means that there is quite a bit of human in him and we get to see this fairly well. Derian’s first reaction upon seeing Plik is – well I’m sure you can guess. But as time passes Derian sees Plik more and more as the individual that he is rather than the oddity that maimalodali are.

Eshinarvash, the wise horse, first appeared in Wolf Captured. He has chosen to come along as a horse herder and also as a companion to the others. Derian and he develop a close relationship that will come in handy as the story follows the path of Lindskold’s imagination.

These are the main characters of Wolf Hunting. As you see some of them are more unusual than others. But that is the nature of Wise Beasts/Royal Beasts and nutty spirits. I hope you find as much enjoyment with this tale as my son and I did.

Reviews:

Mass Market Paperback: 613 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; Reprint edition
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765351439
ISBN-13: 978-0765351432

My reviews of :

Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together

Lindskold, Jane: Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart (Firekeeper Saga II) (2002)

2013-08-12 humanitysdarkerside 6 Comments

WolfsHeadWolfsHeart-hc — Hard cover for: Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart
Cover artist: Julie Bell

WolfsHeadWolfsHeart-pb — Cover artist: Julie Bell

As you can tell I had a difficult time choosing between hardcover and paperback cover art, so I added them both.

Having begun reading to my son about Firekeeper we kept on going. Believe it or not, but quite a bit of snuggle time goes into around 600 pages worth of story. 600 pages is a lot of words. Sometimes I think the two of us get so caught up in how words and sentences connect that we forget to pay as much attention as we ought to. In my world that is only possible when the writing is tight and attention is paid to how writing is similar to music. Sometimes we have to laugh when I have trouble figuring out how to pronounce a name or two. What we do then is have a discussion on pronunciation and come to an agreement.

On to content. The Firekeeper Saga is about politics and relationships and coming of age if it is about anything. Sure there is action and fighting, but this is not what the series is about. I love action fantasy and science fiction and I love stories like the Firekeeper saga.

Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart is still about Firekeeper and Blind Seer’s emerging role as ambassadors between humans and Royal kind. On that journey some of Firekeeper’s illusions about the superiority of the Royal kind are torn down. Blind Seer seems more of the adult than Firekeeper in this regard and is in fact one of the people who challenges Firekeeper’s previous beliefs.

Derian is another favorite of this tale. I imagine Lindskold has made certain that I be aware of him. Derian is Carter made Counselor, a role he had never imagined and feels overwhelmed by. He is easily Firekeeper’s favorite human friend and a very faithful one.

Waln Endbrook is a really good bad guy. He is the ultimate bully – afraid of letting go of power and ready to step on anyone who gets in his way – especially if they are weaker than he is. One of the more fascinating parts of Waln’s character was the mental acrobatics he was willing employ in order to avoid blaming himself for anything. It was always something the other person had done or said that brought about trouble. I hate meeting these people in real life because they scare the shit out of me. But I have also learned, the hard way, the necessity of seeming strong around them.

Elise and Doc are the “hopeless romance” carriers of the series. Poor guys. So in love and yet bound by the strictures of society from having any kind of romantic attachment. Politics sure do stink at times.

We are also introduced to Firekeeper’s adorable adopted brother Edlin Norwood. Hugh Laurie in Bertie Wooster exemplifies just how I imagine Edlin speaks.

Reviews:

Published: August 24, 2002
File Size: 1100 KB
Print Length: 620 pages
Language: English
ASIN: B003G93YE6
ISBN-10: 031287426X
ISBN-13: 978-0312874261

My review of Through Wolf’s Eyes

Thriller

Marquitz, Tim: Requiem (Blood War III) (2012)

2013-08-11 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Requiem is by far the best of the Blood War trilogy. It seems as if Marquitz is finding his fantasy feet (although I doubt he ever lost them since feet are usually stuck on).

What I like about Tim is that we have little romance and lots of action. Tons of it in fact. The Blood War trilogy is after all about a war fought on all possible sides against overwhelming odds. Which is why I add my warning: Beware of blood and gore. War is ugly and so is this. There is no attempt at sugar-coating the brutality of warring parties in Requiem nor is there a glorification of the violence.

I retain my favorites from before: Arrin / Uthul and Zaree and this time I am adding Ellara (this is one resilient girl). Ellara is an orphan from Lathah who ends up helping orphan friends and the royal family in their escape attempts. She showed the kind of grit she had in Embers of an Age and has the same kind of gumption in Requiem. A girl to admire.

While Blood War is considered dark fantasy it is still full of hope. Maybe it is this hope that makes intelligent beings fight for their lives. My brain finds it mysterious to see the lengths of suffering people are willing to endure just so they will not die. But in Requiem we also see that for some people there comes a point when dying is an expression of hope.

Reviews:

Published: Oct. 21, 2012
File Size: 424 KB
Print Length: 226 pages
Words: 61,210 (approximate)
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B009UDZRW4
ISBN: 9781301454877

My review of Dawn of War and Embers of an Age.

Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult

James, Hadena: Dark Illumination (Dark Legacies) (2012)

2013-08-11 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

I’m glad the editing issues in Dark Cotillion have been resolved in Dark Illumination.

Dark Illumination comes with one warning. There is quite a bit of zombieish-like goryness – without the zombies (those were in Dark Cotillion).

My fascination with this strange world James has presented us with has not left me. Lucifer is catholic and married to a human. All of their children have been baptised into the Catholic church. Lucifer is not the only mythological character that gets treated this way. In fact, Lucifer and the angel Gabriel are best-friends along with Baal, Anubis and Fenrir. Mammon is Brenna’s god-father and uncle and was present at her baptism.

Who is good and bad is no longer clear-cut, but the least clear-cut is the baddie of Dark Illumination. He/She seems set on destroying Brenna after her maturing. Because of the nature of the attacks the person might be someone close to her or one of her relatives.

Add to the mystery of the baddie all of the action and I guess we have an action-mystery novel. All of the action is the reason for the above-mentioned gore. There is plenty of fighting, both magical and demonic. Poor regular humans who get in the way.

Add to this cabal dead uncle Sonnellion and we have in fact a ghost-mystery-action story for young adults.

I believe it is safe to say that Brenna Strachan has a strange family and some strange friends. Add in her own unpredictability and we have a story that is bound to interest both young and old.

Reviews:

Janey’s review