Tag Archives: fantasy

light of lights

Review of Light of Lights (Rules of Vengeance#.5), Giacomo Giammatteo

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Giacomo Giammatteo is an inst-buy author for me. So, when I saw Light of Lights as a freebie, a few months back, I snagged it.

Description from Goodreads:

The seven worlds of Neltsar are in turmoil. War has devastated the largest cities, and the most powerful of the demigods are locked in a fierce battle. As casualties mount, Antar, the strongest of the Lights, makes a decision to use weapons that have been banned for millennia. The results are devastating.
See what happens when the Light of Lights breaks all the rules.

Review:

Meh, it was OK. I love Giammatteo’s mafia novels, so I thought I’d give his sci-fi a chance (though it turns out to be more fantasy). It was fine, but I felt too much like I’d been dropped into the middle of something; never quite grasping the breadth of the plot or feeling attached to any of the characters. And since it’s also a prequel, like I never quite reached an end either. The writing and editing, however, are as good as ever.

The Rules of Enchantment

Book Review of The Rules of Enchantment, by Wendy Tardieu

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I accepted a copy of The Rules of Enchantment, by Wendy Tardieu, for review.

Description from Goodreads:

When a Sorcerer and a Scribe Team Up to Fulfill an Ancient Prophecy, The Fate of The World Lies in Their Hands

In the mythical kingdom of Salyndria, an exiled sorcerer named Leith plots to overthrow the restrictions placed on the use of magic by the Academy. Suspecting the worst, the Academy sends a beautiful young scribe, Kyler, to be his apprentice and act as an unwitting spy.

Leith tries to drive her away by proving his reputation as a vicious and unforgiving master, but he soon discovers his new pupil is far more useful than she appears. As her charms and magical abilities become all too tempting for him to resist, the two join forces to fulfill a hidden prophecy that will grant them incredible power.

Together, the sorcerer and the scribe will change Salyndria’s history forever.

Review:

I am utterly confounded by this book. Not because it’s bad, but because it goes to such lengths to declare itself something it’s not. At its core, it’s a student/teacher romance. So, if that’s your thing you’ll probably love it. But for me, my confusion started before even page one, with the cover.

For a book with “erotic fantasy adventure” on its cover, there is remarkably little eroticism in it. There isn’t even so much as a kiss until 60 pages into a 142-page book. And when it shows up, it’s totally abrupt and feels out of nowhere since there hadn’t even been any sexual tension up until that point. Nada-none. What’s more, it felt like he creepily lept on her the moment she showed weakness.

Then, there’s no more until 20 pages later. And though she’s the instigator, it’s again in a moment of weakness and felt like him taking advantage. Annnd the next time she’s asleep when he starts. She wakes up to him panting and “prying” under her robe. (There’s only one more sex scene after that, but I’m pleased to say it’s not creepy.) None of these scenes are explicit or frequent enough for me to consider the book erotic. It’s not even as titillating as a standard romance novel.

I don’t usually chronicle every episode. But I’m trying to make two points, that almost every single sexual encounter seems to be icky and problematic in a way that compromises its appeal for me, and that the book does not earn it’s “erotic” stripes.

And honestly, there isn’t really much adventure in this supposed “erotic fantasy adventure” either. And what very little there is, the heroine doesn’t much participate in. (The book is definitely a prime example of a book with a female main character that is overshadowed by the male characters.) So, considering the book doesn’t live up to either claim of erotica or adventure, I can’t begin to imagine why someone would put it on the cover. It leads the reader to false expectations and then disappointment. The book stands fine as what it is. So, why claim it’s something it’s not?

The book also is guilty of one of my biggest pet peeves, something I seriously consider DNFing books over. The heroine is 21-years-old. She’s basically whored out, though she isn’t told she’s being sent as a honeypot. And she is repeatedly referred to as a young girl. (Her personality is even described as child-like.) A woman being sent into a sexual situation in a (supposedly) erotic novel should never be referred to as a young girl. She isn’t 6-years-old. She especially shouldn’t be referred to as a girl in the sex scenes. She’s an adult.

What’s more and making it worse, it’s not like the hero is sooo old. He’s 30; not that much older than her. But he is presented as fully mature and adult. I don’t know what twist of modern toxic culture makes authors equate female childhood and sexy, but I hate it more than I can express. It’s not even that I’m particularly prudish. I just super hate seeing women infantilized, especially during sex. Let women BE women for god’s sake!

Outside of the cover giving me a false expectation and my one BIG pet peeve, the book is pretty good. The writing is sharp and well-edited. There’s an interesting world and it concludes nicely. I’d give Tardieu another shot.

Book Review of The Wounded Ones, by G. D. Penman

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I received an e-copy of The Wounded Ones (Witch of Empire #2) by G.D. Penman through Netgalley. You can find my review of The Year of the Knife, book one of this series, here.

Description from Goodreads:

Demons and serial killers are Iona “Sully” Sullivan’s bread and butter, but nothing could have prepared her to face off against the full weight of the British Empire at the height of its power. With the War for American Independence in full swing, she finds even her prodigious talents pushed beyond their limits when citizens of the American Colonies begin vanishing amidst rumours of crop circles, hydra sightings and worse.

Through a wild and lethal adventure that will see her clashing with the Empire around the world and beyond, the only constants in Sully’s life are an undead girlfriend, a giant demon crow that seems to be trying to court her, regular assassination attempts by enemies on all sides and the cold certainty that nothing and nobody is going to make it out of this war in one piece.

Review:

It took me a while to get into this book, which worried me a little. It’s been a while since I read book one, but I remembered liking it. So, I worried I was going to be disappointed when I didn’t immediately love this one. But I stuck with it and it paid off.

Once the action starts rollicking along it doesn’t stop. Mostly though, I love Sully. She’s just the sort of sarcastic, kick-ass broad I like to read about. I did think all the fighting got a little tedious and she does have a pretty serious case of unkillable. It reduces the tension of a book somewhat, knowing she’ll suicidally throw herself into danger but miraculously survive every time (often without any apparent emotional scarring). I also thought Marie was reduced to a mere plot device here, which was a shame.

Overall, however, I enjoyed this and look forward to more. And there must be more because this one ended with a pretty big loose end.