Monthly Archives: July 2012

Enter to win or grab it free

There is roughly a week left to slide on over to Smashwords and grab a digital copy of The Weeping Empress for FREE. You don’t even need an ereader as you an read it on your computer.

Because I wanted to highlight this fabulous freeness I am running a Goodreads giveaway to win a signed  hardback edition. So like I keep asking, ‘Why not go grab yourself a digital copy and hope it gets upgraded to a hardback at the end of the month.” Who doesn’t like an upgrade?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Weeping Empress by Sadie S. Forsythe

The Weeping Empress

by Sadie S. Forsythe

Giveaway ends August 01, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Book Review of Rae Gee’s Mars on the Rise

Author, Rae Gee, sent me an ecopy of her M/M stumpunk novel Mars on the Rise.

A storyteller steps off a pier and into a world of steampunk oddities, fearsome weapons, and a dangerous man. Promised fame and fortune by the country’s largest weapons manufacturer, Cedo gratefully falls into the arms of Erus Veetu. Dark, dangerous and with nothing to lose, Erus shows him that Svenfur isn’t all Cedo thought it was. For beneath the streets is a dark, gas lit world of slavery, human sacrifice, and deadly machines. With the machines waging war in the East, can Cedo stop the country’s deadliest man from bringing it to the shores of England? Or is he too late to penetrate the cold exterior of his Master and halt the cogs and gears of progress?

Warning, some spoilerish stuff going on below.

I love what Mars on the Rise is trying to do. Pairing the pure Cedo with the evil warlord (Erus) who is actually trapped in his role and longing to be a better person is pretty classic stuff. Gee’s description of the environment is such that the reader is easily able to imagine it. The characters of Cedo and Billy are fairly well rounded, though Cedo does seem so innocent that you wonder how he even survived at all. Erus’ character isn’t as clear, but since the story is predominantly from Cedo’s point of view and he is confused by Erus’ personality too, this isn’t really problematic. The writing is crisp and clear. It seems to have a storyteller feel to it. Which matches the main character really well.

The problem is that the reader never sees why Cedo follows and falls in love with Erus. Erus just shows up, says follow me and Cedo does; no questions, no getting to know each-other, or good times before things go to shite. But Cedo dedicates himself to Erus all the same and you wonder why. If you’ve ever read any Yaoi manga you see the same thing. In a 25 page short you have to accept that there isn’t time to establish everything, but in a 300ish page book it is fair to expect more. The reader also always wonders why Cedo stays. There is a fairly predictable pattern, every-time the two of them have a loving or enjoyable time, something horrible happens to disrupt and ruin it. So you don’t really see the good times Cedo refers to.

This is the first in a series and I see real potential for the continuation of the series. The last few chapters really redeemed the book in my mind. With Cedo and Erus’ love finally declared (even with Billy still confusingly still in the middle) I think a lot of the story’s maudlin nature will fall away, leaving a strong adventure plot behind. Certainly Gee has the writing skills to pull it off and I look forward to reading it.

the ghost hunters club

Book Review: The Ghost Hunters’ Club, by L.K. Jay

This is a replacement post since the original seems to have been lost. I believe I was sent a copy of The Ghost Hunters’ Club (by LK Jay) by the author.

the ghost hunters club cover

Three single women in their thirties spend a summer ghost hunting whilst also trying to sort out their chaotic personal lives.

Linda, Karen and Anna have been friends for years. Linda is the teacher who has put her love life on hold for the sake of her career, Karen is the martial artist who now runs a successful business and Anna is the newly made single mum whose husband has left her for a younger model. After a frustrating evening at a speed-dating event, the three friends decide to do something different with their summer as they plan a weekend away to Whitby to search for the supernatural and have a few drinks and laughs on the way. Thus starts a summer of ghostly-themed mini breaks where they hunt for spooks, meet a whole bunch of weirdoes and encounter spirits, mostly from a bottle!

As each of the women must deal with their own disastrous private lives and with all of the fun and frustrations that offers, will they ever see a dead real, dead as a doornail, dead and buried ghost?

My Review:
What a fun excursion into the adventures of three intrepid ghost hunters! Anna, Karen, and Linda are early middle-agers who take up ghost hunting in order to stave off boredom, disappointment, and the tortures of the dating scene. They are each witty, resilient, and strong in their own unique (and quite different) ways. Linda was my personal favorite. She came out with some cracking one-liners that kept me laughing. Plus, I could completely relate to her smart-aleck skepticism. The ladies visit some fabulous historical landmarks that are vividly described, encounter a host of smarmy characters (as well as a few wonderful ones), and generally take the reader on an emotional joy ride. I’ve never wanted to spend an evening skulking around a graveyard or traipsing through crypts, but I sure do now.

Jay’s writing style is light and humorous. The book flows pleasantly along until you find yourself suddenly and disappointingly at the end. I definitely recommend reading it and think it would make a great beach read.