Review of P.L. Parker’s The Chalice

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Some time ago I won a copy of P.L. Parker‘s The Chalice from Laurie’s Thought and Reviews.

Description from Goodreads:
Decimated by the savage Deg’Nara and teetering on the brink of extinction, the last surviving males of the once great Chiagan-Se embark on a quest to salvage what is left of their civilization. They send their remaining seeker ships into the void, searching for genetically compatible females. Time is running out, but in the far reaches of the universe, on an obscure and primitive planet, a match is discovered.

One thousand panic-stricken women awaken two hundred years in the future, captives aboard an unmanned alien spacecraft bound for parts unknown! How had they gotten there and why? 

The males thought they came willingly. The females believed they’d been kidnapped. Full of hopeful expectation, the Chiagan-Se prepare for the arrival of their new mates. Terrified and furious at the inexplicable abduction, the women prepare for combat! And when the two sides meet, the battle commences.

Even though I won a copy of The Chalice way back in June, I put off reading it because I honestly hate the cover. It makes me think of bad Swedish porn. (No offense against the Scandinavian porn industry. I’m sure they have some good porn too.) And come on, lets face it, the plot-line of a ship full of females bound for a the arms of a wholly male populace is rife with the possibility of cheap bow-chica-bow-wow moments. It could easily go bad very quickly. But I wanted to support the author and appreciate the winnings so I gave it a chance.

I made it 45% into the book before there was even a hint of a kiss and a good 250 pages before there was a sex scene. (It was only the first of two and fairly mild to boot.) Relief, not porn then. What it was instead was funny. Now, I don’t mean the trying to take itself too seriously, forcing you to laugh derisively at it funny. No, I mean the genuinely and intentionally humorous type of funny. Danesha, or ‘Dread’ was a whole ball of fun all by herself. Never have I encountered such a bitter and pessimistic character that makes you love her so much. No matter how dire the circumstances you could count on her to think of something worse and lighten the mood. Then there was a little bit of slapstick and all of the basic misunderstandings that one would expect to encounter when two sentient species are forced to interact. I laughed out loud a lot.

Some of the characters were a little stereotypical. Dread was after all a foul mouthed African American from the Detroit ghetto who was always ready for a fight. Then there was the stiff lipped Englishwoman who always kept her cool, the whinging Irish woman who kept wailing ‘I dinnae nooo,’ the busty blond Swede, and the placid Japanese ninja-type. They were a lot of fun though. A little more thought seems to have gone into the male cast. Parker painted them as contradictorily strong, hot-blooded warriors who also happened to feel like lost little boys. I really enjoyed seeing the women take charge. I also enjoyed that there was a plot outside of the romances. In fact I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the smoldering bits. I especially wanted to see how Shagal won his mate over…or was won over. Hard to tell on that one.

On the downside, to say the book head hops would be an understatement. It not only leaps unexpectedly from one person to the next, but from one scene to the next. One moment you are in Kara’s head on a transport shuttle, then the next you are with Tegan on the bridge of the ship, with nothing to indicate you have moved. I often had to reread passages or just keep going until I found a clue to reorient myself by. It was a challenge. Despite this I was pleasantly surprised by the book and look forward to reading more of Parker’s writing.

Book Review: Darkness Falls & Darkness Breaks, by Jessica Sorensen

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Way back in June, I won an e-copy of Jessica Sorensen’s Darkness Falls from Mostly Reviews. I finally got around to reading it.

Description from Goodreads:
When the disease spread through the world, people had no choice but to go into hiding. The Colony is hidden deep underground, far away from the vampires—humans that were transformed by the disease. The vampires are hideous, starving, and they will kill any human they come across.

Seventeen-year-old Kayla is a Bellator, a warrior that protects The Colony. In order to survive, there are three rules she must follow:

Rule #1—Never go out after dark.
Rule #2—Always carry a weapon.
Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bitten.

But what happens when the rules Kayla has always lived by can no longer apply? The Highers run The Colony and accept nothing less than perfection. One slip up can mean death. Kayla has always worked hard to follow the rules and strive for perfection. But during a moment of weakness, she lets her imperfections show. Her punishment is worse than death. She is chosen for The Gathering and is thrown out into a world full of starving vampires.

No one has ever survived The Gathering, at least that’s what Kayla’s been told. But when she runs into a group who insist they were once part of The Gathering, Kayla discovers the Highers have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could lead to a cure

Review:

Ok, so that was a long description but there is a lot going on from page one of this book, maybe too much. Honestly, I spent at least the first third of it confused. But when you are reading a first-person, present tense account of something from a narrator who is suffering gaps in her memory, I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising. She’s confused too. It took me a long time to get used to the narration style. I just generally dislike both first person and present tense. Once I acclimated, however, it was fine. I didn’t hate it too much. I did enjoy Sorensen’s writing style though. The use of frequent short sentences often gave the narration a curt feel that fit the main character, Kayla, really well.

Kayla is thrown into a world where everyone seems to know more than her, and everyone seems intent on keeping it that way. She is one tough cookie, though. She keeps right on trucking no matter what fate throws at her, even when it is an unusual number of amorous men. Tristan, Aiden, Sylas…it kind of felt like she must have been the only available woman in the Colony or something. Of the three I have to admit to leaning toward Sylas. I’m a sucker for a broken bad boy. What can I say?

On a completely unrelated note, was anyone else bothered by the fact that she carries a katana on the cover, but doesn’t use a sword in the book? I’m just saying. All-in-all I enjoyed it and quickly grabbed book two (Darkness Breaks) to see what happened next.

Description from Goodreads:
Kayla made her choice and now she has to live with it. She stays with the Day Takers, hiding in the city, staking vampires. But fighting vampires as a human is difficult.

Sylas constantly pressures Kayla to choose the life of a Day Taker. But until Kayla knows what Monarch is planning, she can’t make her choice. Plus there’s Aiden. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t stop thinking about him. 

As Kayla’s memories resurface, the pieces of her history unfold. She learns of Cell 7, a place that Kayla believes holds the answers to the creation of the virus. But getting to Cell 7 is a dangerous mission. And with Kayla’s strength weakening, it’s one mission she might not make it through alive. 

Review:

Darkness Breaks picks up just after Darkness Falls ends and is worth reading for Sylas alone. I adored him and am keeping my fingers crossed for his speedy return in book three (Darkness Fades). I found the juxtaposition of him and Aiden interesting. While one openly declares himself evil and the other tries ardently to do the right thing, you are still left wondering which one is really working for the forces of good in the world. Sometimes the ‘right’ thing isn’t always the RIGHT thing to do. It’s all yet to be seen though. I think I had as many questions at the end of the book as I did at the beginning.

I did start to think that maybe Kayla was a little too perfect. I realize, of course, that she was designed to be that way, but surely she needs a weakness somewhere. Her perfection started to strain the confines of credibility a little. I also started to wonder about the rest of the world. Kayla is on about saving it, but there is no indication beyond the assumption that the virus has spread worldwide or that this is the last enclave of humanity. It’s just a niggle, but it is there in the back of my mind.

I eagerly await the next book in the series. I enjoyed the characters and the hint of a romance that is so much more than a rushed lust-based affair. A worthy continuation of the series.

Selling Mars

Book Review of Rae Gee’s Selling Mars

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Author, Rae Gee, sent me a copy of Selling Mars. It is the continuation of the Veetu Industries series, which I started in July. You can see the review of book one, Mars on the Rise, here.

Description from Goodreads:
Though executed for crimes against his own people, his body was never recovered, and a strange, coded note leads Cedo and Billy to believe he may still be alive. Following the clues, they head into untold dangers as they cross Europe and enter the secretive Dynasty. Captured by the country’s brutal president, they find themselves trapped in an underground prison with no possibility of escape. Pitched against a world they could never have imagined, Cedo and Billy find themselves battling not only with a world which wishes them dead, but also against one another. Faced with a world on the brink of war and a barrage of deadly machines, they learn about the true meaning of love, life and freedom. Yet what else will they discover? Will they find Erus? More importantly, will they escape with their lives? 

**slightly spoilerish review**

What to say about Selling Mars? Once again Rae Gee has proven that she can produce poetic prose and string them together into a book. Her writing is beautiful and it strikes just the right tone for a steampunk tome. The phrases are just far enough off of the norm to sound right, if you know what I mean. Despite all of that I wasn’t happy with the book. This is not a actual indictment of it, just a personal response to the story. I couldn’t understand Cedo at all. If he loved Billy, but was contractually abliged to Erus I would get it. Or if he loved Erus and was just using Billy, I would get it. But he was supposed to truly love them both. Uh-uh, not feeling that. I wanted to cry for both of them (Erus & Billy). Both deserved better. This isn’t to suggest that I didn’t like Cedo. I did, just not the situation all of them seemed to pretend was doable. The sex is a lot more explicit than in Mars on the Rise, which is fine as long as you know what you’re in for. This is an M/M romance (or almost more of an M/M/M romance). It is steamy. Don’t let it surprise you.

The book did addresses Cedo’s delicate manner, which I felt was needed after the end of the first one. It helped to understand how someone as guileless as him had survived in the big bad world. It also explained a lot about him and his personality. I appreciated this. I also appreciated Billy. I’m not saying I appreciated his personality, or his looks, or his actions. I just appreciated Billy. He was wonderful in every way possible. If the world had more Billies in it we would all live longer, happier, healthier lives. I’m not completely sure Cedo deserves him. I did get a little tired of all the affirmations though. I lost count of how many times they thanked each other. That just leaves Erus, the errant Master. I’ve always liked Erus, despite his cruelties and that didn’t change here. But I found it really hard to see his proud demeanour tarnished. It grated on me, as I’m sure it was meant to. I look forward to his redemption.

The book seemed to leap from emotional upheaval to emotional upheaval and then ended on a serious cliffhanger. Never pleasant when the next isn’t available yet. But it is a worthy continuation of the Veetu Industries saga.