Tag Archives: lgbtq

The Glamour Thieves

Book Review of The Glamour Thieves (Blue Unicorn Book 1), by Don Allmon

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I received a copy of Don Allmon’s Glamour Thieves from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
JT is an orc on the way up. He’s got his own boutique robotics shop, high-end clientele, and deep-pocketed investors. He’s even mentoring an orc teen who reminds him a bit too much of himself back in the day. 

Then Austin shows up, and the elf’s got the same hard body and silver tongue as he did two years ago when they used to be friends and might have been more. He’s also got a stolen car to bribe JT to saying yes to one last scheme: stealing the virtual intelligence called Blue Unicorn. 

Soon JT’s up to his tusks in trouble, and it ain’t just zombies and Chinese triads threatening to tear his new life apart. Austin wants a second chance with JT — this time as more than just a friend—and even the Blue Unicorn is trying to play matchmaker.

Review:
This I truly enjoyed. My only complaint was that there is a lot of history and I felt like I was reading a second book, instead of a first. It left some important information too vague. Like, why have there only been orcs for a generation and a half? What, exactly, was the Awakening? But beyond that, which admittedly is a big complaint, I loved the characters and the world. I liked the writing style and the author’s voice. And the epilogue tempted me into wanting book 2 right now. So, it’s an all around winner for me.

The New Man

Book Review of The New Man, by Jeffrey Welker

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I received a copy of The New Man from the author, Jeffrey Welker.

Description from Goodreads:
Found documents in a medieval Polish ruin reveal strange secrets from a past best forgotten. The eternal struggle to transcend the limitations of the human body and the human consciousness is no modern invention. Travel the ancient world with the deeply flawed and deeply curious Duke of Masovia as he perfects his art – the art of science, the art of alchemy, the art of necromancy – whatever it takes to achieve the ultimate goal: The New Man

Review:
Slow but enjoyable. It has a definite gothic horror feel. Imagine Victor Frankenstein had never found his moral compass and never saw the arrogance in playing god with the creation of life. Now give him the funds and resources to follow his experiments to their full, bloody conclusions. You will have Duke Siemowit II of Masivia. He is one scary son of gun.

But the diaries on which the book is based are his. So the gruesome tale is told entirely from his calm, collected, dispassionate point of view. He never flinches from his own depravities, in fact doesn’t even see them as problematic. Hundreds died at his hands, but it’s all in the name of ‘science,’ as far as he’s concerned. It’s chilling, his disregard for human life.

The writing is clean and easily readable, for the most part. I got REALLY tired of footnotes, though. They were interesting and definitely gave this work of fiction a more believable mien, but they became disruptive after a while.

All in all, a good read. It was slow, so I wouldn’t call it a page turner. But it’s thought provoking and for those who enjoy the gothic, this is worth picking up.

The Druid Next Door

Book Review of The Druid Next Door (Fae Out of Water #2), by E.J. Russell

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I received a copy of E. J. Russell‘s The Druid Next Door through Netgalley. I read and reviewed the first book in the series, Cutie and the Beast, last month.

Description from Goodreads:
Professor Bryce MacLeod has devoted his entire life to environmentalism. But how effective can he be in saving the planet when he can’t even get his surly neighbor to separate his recycling? 

Former Queen’s Enforcer Mal Kendrick doesn’t think his life could get any worse: he’s been exiled from Faerie with a cursed and useless right hand. When he’s not dodging random fae assassins in the Outer World, he’s going toe-to-toe with his tree-hugging neighbor. And when he discovers that the tree hugger is really a druid, he’s certain the gods have it in for him—after all, there’s always a catch with druids. Then he’s magically shackled to the man and expected to instruct him in Supernatural 101. 

All right, now things couldn’t possibly get worse. 

Until a mysterious stranger offers a drunken Mal the chance to gain back all he’s lost—for a price. After Mal accepts, he discovers the real catch: an ancient secret that will change his and Bryce’s life forever. 

Ah, what the hells. Odds are they won’t survive the week anyway. 

Review:
This was cute in much the same way as book one of the series, but this one I had a hard time liking. In fact, I didn’t. There is a real dominance and submission theme in it that I never got comfortable with. I considered it coerced. Period. Russell tried to dress it up as something else, but I couldn’t get comfortable with the power dynamic. I considered it essentially slavery and was basically disgusted with it. I totally see that Russell was going for something else, but I never got there. Plus, it required about a 180 degree shift in one character’s personality that I didn’t at all feel believable and the second character I didn’t feel I got to know well enough to judge, but it didn’t feel right for him either. So, fail for me.

Outside of that issue, there is no romance (just coerced lust, IMO). The quest/mystery was amusing and I enjoyed that aspect of the book. But it was the smaller portion, to be sure. The writing and editing were fine, as far as I was concerned. I’m sure others will like it. I just couldn’t.