Tag Archives: Dragons

Touched By Venom

Book Review of Dragon Temple Saga (#1-2), by Janine Cross

Leave a reply

Touched by VenomI picked up all three of Janine Cross‘ Dragon Temple Saga books from my local library.

Description of Touched by Venom:
Like her half-breed mother, young Zarq Darquel can’t always hold her tongue. A peasant on a large dragon estate, she goes unnoticed by the Dragon Temple-until she captures the attention of a dragonmaster. Her clan is plunged into destitution, her sister Waivia sold into slavery, and her mother lost to madness. Desperate to find Waivia, Zarq and her delirious mother flee. Zarq then develops a taste for the highly addictive venom of the dragons she has been taught to revere-and with it, she imbibes their memories and a glimpse of a plot for social revolution. But to achieve it, she must defy not just sexual taboos and patriarchal society, but the Emperor who rules her nation.

Review:
Good lord, this one keeps you wanting. It’s beautifully written, seriously intense, harrowing, with amazing world-building and an admirable, strong heroine. But it moves at the speed of molasses. I mean, it’s slooooow.

Seriously, the first 50% of the book covers Zarq’s life as a 9-year-old. The next 40% is age 10-17 and a whole heck of a lot of hard living and sacrifice. The next 8% shows her coming to grips with her situation and in the last 2% something finally happens. Yep, all that social revolution stuff hinted at in the book blurb happens in the last pages…THE LAST PAGES…and then, and THEN holy hotcakes, Batman, it’s a big ol’, rage-inducing cliffhanger. Grrrr!!

I have all three books in this series and spent most of this book thinking I wouldn’t bother with the second and third. I mean, even though it really is an astonishing piece of writing, it’s also a major downer. As an example, at one point, the fallout of the actions of one 9-year-old boy destroys the lives and livelihoods of an entire village, with devastating, irreversible, long-lasting effects. Honestly, what do you do with that? This is not a book to pick up for the feel-good factor. There isn’t any.

But that last 10% gives me hope that the plot might FINALLY be picking up, and I’ll see where book two goes. Ms. Cross can string a tale, she can weave atmosphere, she can bring you to tears—laughter maybe not so much, but heart-rending agony, sure—and she can create a believable fantasy world. Worth reading.

shadowed by wings

Description of Shadowed by Wings:

The Dragon Temple Saga continues as Zarq Darquel embarks on a trial by fire, defying Dragon Temple scripture by undergoing the rigorous training of an apprentice dragonmaster, while desperately searching for the doctrine that allows women permission to participate in the battles at Arena.

Yet Zarq’s difficulties pale in comparison to her craving for the hallucinogenic dragon venom, and her desire to understand the dragons themselves-both of which make her a vessel to receive the ancestral memories of the great beasts. And now, eager for the knowledge only Zarq can uncover, Temple has her imprisoned and subjected to starvation and torture-all to make her reveal the dragons’ deepest secrets…

Review:

I wasn’t sure I was going to bother reviewing the second and third books in this series. I just wasn’t sure what I’d say. I liked the book? I hated the book? These books left me reeling, cringing, demoralised, and strangely vitalised at the same time? How does one express that?

In reading others’ reviews, I sense I’m not the only person struggling to find the appropriate balance. I see a lot of middling reviews, indicative of a lot of emotionally confused readers. I can completely relate. That’s where this book shoves its reader, right into the middle on ‘how should I feel about that?’ The problem is that while it’s occasionally obvious, a lot of time it isn’t. Not because the things that happen aren’t horrid and denounceable in the extreme, but because so many really, really bad things happen that some bad things just don’t seem to rise to the level of atrocity anymore (even though in isolation, that would definitely be). It’s rare for a book to transport a reader there.

A major theme of this book (these books) is the abuse of the powerless by the powerful and its amazing ability to remain socially invisible to otherwise good people. As an outsider, it’s hard to imagine how it’s rationalised, but it is… every day. Here, it’s just made a little more obvious. We deal with a strict caste system, a violent patriarchy that allows women NO influence in their own lives, slavery, the marginalization of a native populace by a conquering people and the resulting institutionalised racism, economic entrapment, social stigmatisation, a dangerous and far-reaching religious organisation, and a ruling class that can no longer understand their duty, blinded as they are by their perceived superiority. This leaves a lot of powerless people, many powerless on numerous fronts, and a myriad of ways for victims to be victimised…traumatised.

In the middle of all this is Zarq, a young, powerless woman who trips along and, by dint of simply surviving the MANY horrors of her own life and being the right person in the right place at the right time, manages to almost accidentally start a revolution. (Ah, the transformative power of even one person willing to sacrifice their all for the greater good!) And she does survive and witness horrors. Thus, the reader deals with them too. Beyond just the basic hardships of poverty and austerity (she spent ten years in a remote convent as a child), there are kidnappings, rapes, battles, betrayal, attempted assassinations, loss, and pitifully few moments of relief. It’s all hard on the readers’ psyche.

The book also treats sex as amazingly mutable. I actually really liked this about it, but we all know sex can tie people in knots faster than just about anything. We deal with consensual and non-consensual (a lot of the latter, though blessedly vague on details) sex of both the hetero- and homosexual (both M & F) variety (In fact, this is the clearest case of institutionalised rape I’ve ever seen in a book), incest, pedophilia, and even bestiality (though there’s no interspecies penis/vagina contact). I can readily imagine a whole host of readers being put off by any one of those, let alone all of them in one text.

So, in the end, I’m left wondering what I thought of Shadowed by Wings. I certainly didn’t enjoy reading it, but having finished it, I’m really glad to have read it. I recommend others do the same.

 

 

Book Review of Dragon Bound and Storm’s Heart (Elder Races #1 & 2), by Thea Harrison

Leave a reply

I borrowed Dragon Bound and Storm’s Heart, by Thea Harrison, from my local library.

Dragon BoundDescription from Goodreads:
Half-human and half-Wyr, Pia Giovanni spent her life keeping a low profile among the Wyrkind and avoiding the continuing conflict between them and their Dark Fae enemies. But after being blackmailed into stealing a coin from the hoard of a dragon, Pia finds herself targeted by one of the most powerful—and passionate—of the Elder Races.

As the most feared and respected of the Wyrkind, Dragos Cuelebre cannot believe someone had the audacity to steal from him, much less succeed. And when he catches the thief, Dragos spares her life, claiming her as his own to further explore the desire they’ve ignited in each other.

Pia knows she must repay Dragos for her trespass, but refuses to become his slave—although she cannot deny wanting him, body and soul.

Review:
I enjoyed this well enough. I liked Pia’s backbone and thought Dragos was fun. I especially liked the way some of his behaviours came across as dragon-like without it ever being directly described as so. However, there was a lot of head hopping that irritated me, the plot was really only a thin scaffold to hang the romance on and I thought that the writing was really repetitive. Things like the fact that on the first page, which is only really a half page because of the chapter heading, the word ‘so’ is used 7 times (it sucked so bad…, fifteen minutes or so…, she was so freaking dead…, he screwed her over so royally…, etc). Also Dragos is described as ‘aggressive’ about a thousand times and his eyes are raptor-like on every third page. I don’t really understand how or why the book has won so many awards. I wouldn’t call it great, but I did enjoy it in a light, fluffy kind of way.

Storm's HeartDescription from Goodreads:
During the rule of her murderous Dark Fae uncle, Thistle “Tricks” Periwinkle found sanctuary among the Wyr in New York. Her ethereal beauty and sparkling personality won the hearts of the public, but after her uncle’s death, there are those who don’t want to see her ascend to the throne.

Able to wield thunder and lightning, Wyr sentinel Tiago Black Eagle has ruled the skies for centuries. His massive build and thunderous power make him one of the Wyr’s best weapons. And he’s sent to protect Tricks when she’s almost assassinated in Chicago.

Soon, both Tiago and Tricks will fall prey to the stormy hunger that engulfs them—a passion that will shake the very foundation of all the worlds.

Review:
We’ve all read this book a couple dozen (hundred?) times before, regardless of the character names, environments, species, etc. The big, bad, beastly alpha male is blindsided by his sudden passion for some surprising little slip of a thing, who he worships for her sexy body and what he sees as her amazing inner strength. He shows this beguilement by trying to control every aspect of her life. Meanwhile, she squawks a bit at his overbearing manner, but secretly loves letting him overpower her and spends a third of the book fantasising about how else the barely human man might dominate her. Sound familiar? Yeah, I know.

I’m afraid this was a serious case of ‘meh’ for me. I didn’t hate it, but it did little for me either. The issue is that it’s a bon-bon. I can’t even call it cotton candy, which a person will read for the simple ephemeral wisp of momentary enjoyment. No, this is something you go specifically to the store to buy, curl up on the couch with the box and purposefully indulge in. Indulge in what? Vicariously experiencing what it’s like to have some über-male make you the absolute centre of his universe. That’s what Tiago does to Tricks. He worships her with every ounce of his beastly self and it touches on some primal female desire apparently, because I realise a lot of people love this kind of thing. More power to you, but I need a little more. Yes, I think seeing the “holocaust of a male” go weak at the knees for his mate is sexy, but it’s pretty much all he (or anyone else) did in this book. It’s just page after page after page of him growling how sexy she is, or that she’s his, or what he’s going to do to her when they get to a bed, or how he’d do anything to protect her, or how he’d never leave her, etc. Redundant much? In return, Tricks drools over his muscled, dangerous body and scary, antisocial personality again and again and again. Yep, still redundant. None of this is helped by the tendency to use the same descriptives repeatedly. Tiago’s face is described as some version of hatchet hewn or knife bladed about a million times.

There is a thin thread of plot-line tying everything together, but it’s not much one. The world was essentially set out in book one and the characters were introduced (though by no means gotten to know) in the previous book. So apparently forgoing the character development was seen as acceptable. (There really isn’t any.) So, without much in the line of plot, world-building or character development what do you fill 300 pages with? Yep, you guessed it, internal emotions, declaration off love and sex. That’s about all you’ll get here. As fantasy fodder, it fits the bill, but if you’re looking for ANYTHING more substantial it’s a fail. There’s no substance to it and there isn’t meant to be. And while I can kind of see what people see it in, if it’s all there is to a book it just feels cheap.

Book Review of Naomi Novik’s In His Majesty’s Service (Temeraire, 1-3)

Leave a reply

In his majesty's serviceI do occasionally read traditionally published books and Naomi Novik‘s His Majesty’s Dragon has been on my wish-list for a while now. When it came up as a group-read in one of my Goodread groups I jumped at the incentive to finally break down and buy myself a copy. I opted for the compilation, In His Majesty’s Service, containing His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War.

Description from Goodreads:
Capt. Will Laurence is serving with honor in the British Navy when his ship captures a French frigate harboring most a unusual cargo–an incalculably valuable dragon egg. When the egg hatches, Laurence unexpectedly becomes the master of the young dragon Temeraire and finds himself on an extraordinary journey that will shatter his orderly, respectable life and alter the course of his nation’s history. 

Thrust into England’s Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire undergo rigorous training while staving off French forces intent on breaching British soil. But the pair has more than France to contend with when China learns that an imperial dragon intended for Napoleon–Temeraire himself– has fallen into British hands. The emperor summons the new pilot and his dragon to the Far East, a long voyage fraught with peril and intrigue. From England’s shores to China’s palaces, from the Silk Road’s outer limits to the embattled borders of Prussia and Poland, Laurence and Temeraire must defend their partnership and their country from powerful adversaries around the globe. But can they succeed against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?

Reviews (and I’ve opted to use stars here, which I usually don’t):

His Majesty’s Dragon – 5★

Oh, I quite enjoyed this one. I found the contrast between Laurence’s prim Navy ways and life with an unpredictable dragon endearing. I enjoyed watching his growing affection for Temeraire and Temeraire’s honest open love. I did find some of it predictable and it didn’t really have much of an ending, since this is the first of a much longer series. But I’m looking forward to book two.

Throne of Jade – 3.5★

I still loved the characters and the writing and the world-building (dragon species, etc) was still astounding, but honestly I found this book a bit dull. The vast majority was comprised of traveling. While there were a few battles with [insert opponent here], most were just random encounters in the course of oceanic transport. There were very few events of actual importance to the plot. What little there was, was crowded in the last 1/4 or so of the book. Even then, Laurence’s reticence to push people/dragons for further information left the reader wanting information. Still a good book, but I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as the first. 

Black Powder War – 3.5★

My review of this Black Powder War is very much the same as Throne of Jade. I adored His Majesty’s Dragon, but though I still enjoyed the writing, characters and world building of these latter books, the continued shift toward the war and politics as the primary focus of the story bored me. Plus, the fact that the books all seem to end without conclusion is annoying. I’m just not willing to dedicate myself to 5 more books in the hope of an ending. And that’s if the 8th book, published just this year, is an actual conclusion, as opposed to just the most recent book with more to come. So having reached the last page of my third 300+ book in the series I am calling it quits. 

Again, the voice of these characters is wonderful. Novik has really created very detailed draconic strata based largely on dragon size and ability. There is a lot of subtle humour and history is deftly merged with fantasy. So for the right reader this is probably a full-on five star book, as book one was for me. I, however, can’t drag my rating up that high for something I wasn’t less disappointed in.