Welcome to another Guest Dare – the October edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts here.

This month’s victim is Kati – from Katidom whose taste for Romance novels is similar to Ana’s (but not too much. Ahem, The Windflower). We sent a list of possible picks for Kati’s dare and she chose the Steampunk Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassoti. Here is what she has to say:

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Title: Clockwork Heart

Author: Dru Pagliassoti

Genre: Steampunk

Publisher: Juno Books
Publishing Date: April 2008
Paperback: 304 pages

Stand Alone or series: Stand alone

Why did we recommend the book: This was one of Thea’s top 2008 reads

Summary: A steampunkish romantic fantasy set in Ondinium, a city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart. Taya, a metal-winged courier, can travel freely across the city’s sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. A daring mid-air rescue leads to involvement with two scions of an upperclass family and entanglement in a web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and secrets.

Kati’s Review:

I’ll be honest, I’m a romance reader through and through. Solidly 98% of what I read falls into the genre of romance, and the other 2% is usually Young Adult with strong romantic overtones. So when I emailed Ana and volunteered to be a victim of the Guest Dare, I was hoping they’d push me far outside my boundaries. Ana and Thea sent the list to me, and I decided that I needed to step outside my comfort zone, but still wanted at least a minute dose of romance to go with my Guest Dare. I ended up choosing Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti. I remember Thea’s review of it, and that she’d truly loved it. And I also remember reading a conversational review about it on Dear Author, although I didn’t really remember anything about the story.

I was nervous when I got the book. It has this beautiful cover featuring a woman who is wearing a contraption with wings on it, and what looks like the workings of a clock behind her. I knew the book was supposed to be steampunk, and I’d read and been interested in Katiebabs’ primer on this unknown to me genre, but honestly just didn’t know where to start. I figured Clockwork Heart was as good a place as any.

Honestly, I was lost from almost the beginning. The world which Pagliassotti has created is obviously a complicated one, with multiple castes, a complex technological world, and a character whose role in that world was not readily apparent to me. Taya, the main character, is an icarus, one without caste, who is a messenger of sort, delivering missives throughout Odinium (the world)’s sectors, and able to mingle within any of the castes. She finds herself drawn into the public eye when she makes a daring rescue of an upperclass woman and her son. She is honored for her heroism, and because of that, finds herself entangled with the Folare brothers, Alister, who is a leader in this upperclass world, and Cristof, who abandoned his honored roots, and works as a master clock repairman. Alister romances and intrigues Taya, while Cristof raises her hackles and suspicions about a terror plot that seems to be undermining the power of the ruling council and something called the Great Engine, which is a sort of machine that is revered in Odinium for its power.

I ended up having to email Thea to have her talk me through the world construct and the role of the Great Engine throughout the book. I was literally midway through the book and felt I couldn’t go any further with the story because I didn’t understand the world’s rules. Thea graciously talked me through and I kept reading.

I think that my problem with the book was that it was trying to be many, many things all at the same time. There was a mild romantic thread throughout the story, a love triangle of sorts between Cristof, Alister and Taya. It is Taya’s attraction to Alister that leads to her involvement with Cristof. There is a mystery/suspense thread concerning the identity and motivations of the terrorists and whether Cristof or Alister had any involvement in the plot to overthrow the ruling party. There is a fantasy bent in the world’s construct with the apparatuses and machines utilized by the characters, which are unusual and I suppose in keeping with the steampunk feel of the story.

For me, it was all too much. I lost threads of the story by becoming too bogged down in the technology and my confusion about the construct of the world. I felt frustration with Taya, who I felt became involved in the lives of the Folare brothers without sufficiently represented motivation and who took a number of what I thought were ill advised chances. But more, I just always felt a step behind. As if I’d missed some critical description of the world that would have helped me better understand, not just the technology, but the culture that Pagliassotti was trying to convey.

Honestly, it’s hard for me to evaluate the book, because I truly believe that those who have read and enjoyed the steampunk genre probably would really love the story. But for me, it was a case of the book attempting to do too much all at the same time, which resulted in a lot of confusion and frustration for me as a reader. This is a book that I honestly slogged through, and would have DNF’d if it weren’t for the guest dare. All of this being said, I am pleased with myself for stepping outside my comfort zone. This exercise just illustrated to me that my comfort zone exists for a reason.

Thank you so much Ana and Thea for pushing me to read this book. Even though it wasn’t a winner for me, I am proud of myself for picking up something that I would never have read otherwise.

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Kati, we are sorry that you didn’t enjoy the book – but thanks for playing anyways!

Next on the Guest Dare: Rhiannon Hart reads The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Until next month!

Welcome to another Guest Dare – the September edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts here.

This month’s daree (yes, we believe just totally made this word up) is Lusty Reader. Her book lusting (a trait we share) and the fact that she is totally a Very Cool blogger (who is funny, entertaining and writes very insightful reviews) has put her under our radar. (She also introduced us to “The Shiz My Boyfriend Says”. Seriously, you need to read these. But do not read whilst drinking and/or eating – you might spill and/or choke. You have been warned) . One day Ana was unsuspectingly doing her Twitter rounds when she read that LR had never read a Graphic Novel in her life and that was cause for an instant-dare and ergo, here we are.

Lusty reader, ladies and gentlemen:
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Title: Fables Vol.1 – Legends in Exile

Author: Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha, Craig Hamilton

Genre: Graphic Novel (Fantasy)

Publisher: Vertigo
Publishing Date: September 2002
Paperback: 128 pages

Stand alone or series: First volume in the Fables comics; collects issues 1-5.

Summary: (from Vertigo)
Who Killed Rose Red?
In Fabletown, where fairy tale legends live alongside regular New Yorkers, the question is all anyone can talk about. But only the Big Bad Wolf can actually solve the case–and, along with Rose’s sister Snow White, keep the Fabletown community from coming apart at the seams.

Why did we recommend this book: it started when we both read this first volume and loved it. . Thea went on to read every single one of them (there are 12 so far) and continues to follow all the monthlies as well. Ana (aka The Lazy Smuggler) has only read up to volume 4 so far. But what matters is this: we luuurves it.

Lusty Reader’s Review:

Since we may not know each other too well, dear Book Smuggler readers, I thought I would start off my guest dare post by sharing a secret. Secret sharing is a great way to make new bff’s, I have a picture in my mind of us all in a giggling gaggle at a slumber party – I have dibs on the My Little Pony sleeping bag! So, gather round, it’s confession time…Even Thea and Ana don’t know this, which might have made the dare even better.

I always thought a “graphic novel” was a sex book. Like erotica. Or illustrated Kama Sutra books. Because like in movies and stuff they are rated R for graphic scenes, right? This equaled sex to me. I have had a lusty mind for a long time I guess.

I was so sure of this my whole life I always made a wide berth around the “graphic” section of any bookstore so I wouldn’t be seen near “those sex books.” I couldn’t believe that they had a sex section! Out in the open! With a big sign! Shocking. My heart already beats faster in embarrassment and anxiety when I am in the romance novel section, heaven forbid I get too close to those graphic sex books!

When I started poking around book blogland earlier this year I finally realized what graphic novels really were.

Phew, it felt good to get that off my chest!

This confession illustrates *snicker, pun intended* that I know absolutely nothing about graphic novels. I mean, can I even call them comic books? Or is that a negative connotation thing, like bodice rippers vs romance novels? The last comic book I ever read was Archie when I was a kid in the 90s. I say this all so you can take it as an official disclaimer since my hosts here are winners of Best Graphic Novel Review blog – whereas I have no clue what I’m talking about.

Hence the guest dare! Chatting on twitter Ana discovered I had never read a graphic novel and quickly made sure she would change that, so since I always listen to what the Book Smugglers tell me to do, here I am!

Reading Fables Vol. 1 Legends in Exile was a totally new experience for me. Starting off, I was a bit distracted – I read all the words, but skipped the pictures, or studied all the details in the pictures, but glossed over the dialogue. My eyes were darting in every direction, trying to take it all in at once, afraid I was missing something, like Where’s Waldo’s hat, or scroll, or glasses. But the longer I read the more adjusted I became and began to really appreciate the artistry in the illustrations as well as the skill the writers need to have to only be able to write dialogue, but still communicate enough to the reader. The pairing is such a unique way to follow a story and I found myself really enjoying it!

One reason why is because I love retellings or new twists on fairytales. The Fables series follows a number of well known fairytale characters and legends from folklore as they live in exile in New York City. They were driven from their respective kingdoms, magical woods, and all their lands by The Adversary (whose drawings were so frightening I physically shuddered when we finally got to see what they looked like) and so are now all living in a clandestine community known as Fabletown in the Big Apple.

Those who cannot blend in with the mundanes (aka humans) live at The Farm in upstate New York. This is an example of the depths of the world building, there is so much back-story to their escape from the Adversary, how their relationships have evolved over time, and we learn so much in just the first few pages. More about how Fabletown’s community and government is set up, how some were able to escape with their riches and some weren’t, and what rituals, rules about old grudges, and traditions they have developed to keep everyone together.

One upcoming tradition is the annual Remembrance Day ball in memory of their Homelands. This year it’s not just a ball, it’s a deadline to find a murderer. Hard partying Rose Red’s apartment was found trashed, covered in blood, and she was no where to be found. Suspecting the worst, her sister, Snow White (Director of Operations) and Bigby Wolf (of Fabletown’s Security Office) team up to find the killer.

These were the two characters we followed the most and I loved both of them, especially rugged Bigby. He is the perfect tortured, rough-around-the-edges hero just begging for the right woman to come along and fix him with her love. There is the slightest, teensiest, tinyest, vaguest suggestion of a romantic undercurrent between him and Snow White, which tickled my fancy, but was certainly not enough to fulfill my usual romance preferences!

The pacing, plot twists, and the big reveal are awesome, it doesn’t feel drawn out at all. And while I guessed a little bit about what happened, the way the clues are shown and later explained is super fun and keeps you on your toes.

The best part for me was all the characters we met along the way: a pissed off Pinocchio trapped in a little boy’s body, but after 300 years is horny as hell, a troubled marriage between Beauty and the Beast, several divorced Prince Charmings, a fencing Cinderella, and a Little Pig who escapes from The Farm upstate. How they evolved in Fabletown was my absolute favorite, was such a cool “what happened after they lived happily ever after” way of imagining their stories.

I did enjoy having the visual side of the story as well, but I will say that all the female characters were drawn in bit too much of a “va-va voom” way for me, like a Jessica Rabbit or something. I know so many of these fairy tale women were SUPPOSED to be gorgeous and what not, but they were uber sexy in the comic book.

Overall I am so glad I made my first foray into the graphic novel world and would recommend Fables Vol. 1 to anyone who likes a good whodunit and retellings of classic fairytales.

And it helped me make a new friend on the DC metro. The colors and pages are so splashy they drew a lot of attention on my commute to work. The nerdy, 20-something guy with glasses I was sitting next to kept sneaking peeks and he finally asked me what I was reading. When I flipped the cover, his eyes lit up as he proclaimed his love for the series. He thought we had a lot in common and recommended the book he had open on his lap – H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, definitely not my usual cup of tea either!

But I will absolutely be reading more graphic novels in the future. Even though they are not sex books I’ve already added The Surrogates to my TBR so I can read it before the movie comes out!

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Needless to say, we are delighted that LR liked Fables and will try other Graphic Novels. And hey Lusty, if you liked the romantic dynamics between Snow and Bigby you might want to keep reading this series. It only gets better. Like, REALLY, really good. *ninja*

Next on the Guest Dare: Kati of Katidom reads her first Steampunk Novel: Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassoti!

Until next month!

Title: The Drawing of the Three

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Fantasy/Horror

Publisher: New English Library
Publishing Date: New Edition – 2003
Paperback: 496 pages

Stand alone or series: book 2 in the Dark Tower series

Summary:Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger, encounters three doors which open to 1980s America, where he joins forces with the defiant Eddie Dean and courageous, volatile Odetta Holmes. And confronts deadly serial killer Jack Mort.

As the titanic forces gather, a savage struggle between underworld evil and otherworldly enemies conspire to bring an end to Roland’s quest for the Dark Tower.

Why did I read the book: Thea dared me. Gaah.

Review:

Stephen King and I have a…complicated history. I have watched plently of movies based on his books but I had never actually read any of his novels. Then Thea made me read The Gunslinger, for our Western Appreciation Week last year, the opening of The Dark Tower, a seven-book series and I really did like it. I finished The Gunslinger and bought book 2, The Drawing of Three straight away but for a myriad of reasons I never actually got around to reading it.

Then, Thea asked me to read another Stephen King book for our Halloween celebration in 2008– It – which I had huge problems with (you can read about the It debacle here) and vowed, yes, I truly did vow never to read Stephen King again. But because I am a weak soul, and Thea is totally a miss bossypants, she actually dared me to read yet another one for our Smugglivus’ Feats of Strength. I then read The Talisman and well. It was a good book but it didn’t wow me. To that point, I could still not see the Stephen King allure.

The intro above is a disclaimer for you to understand my reaction when it was time for another dare and Thea asked me to read The Drawing of the Three. I actually groaned, then rolled my eyes, attempted to postpone the dare at least 4 times, but ultimately couldn’t get away with it (please refer to the miss bossypants part above). Now, here I am. And you know what? I take it back. Curse my feeble mind, I actually really liked The Drawing of the Three.

At the end of book one, our hero Roland of Gilead finally catches up with the Man in Black, the person he had been chasing forever in his search for the elusive, mysterious, Dark Tower. They have a parley and he learns that his Quest effectively starts now. The Man in Black, using a deck of Tarot cards, tells Roland that he will meet three people to join him in his journey and each of then is represented by a card: The Prisoner, The Lady of the Shadows and Death. This is what lies ahead of him and what The Drawing of the Three is all about.

Book 2 starts with a bang, only a few hours after the events at the end of The Gunslinger. The book opens with Roland being alone in a deserted beach and waking up to find that he is having his hands being chewed off by a Lobster Creature – a lobstrosity. He loses his index and middle fingers before he kills the thing. This is really, REALLY bad news because, as his title says he is a Gunslinger. The last one. He needs these fingers to shoot his gun! This means that he kicks-off the last leg of his life-time journey to find the Dark Tower with a deficiency. That my friends, is kick-ass right there.

But never mind, because like any and all good heroes, he carries on. NOTHING will keep him from finding the Dark Tower. The reason behind his journey is still very much a mystery. We still don’t know what drives him, why he wants to reach the Dark Tower so freaking much. It is clear that he will stop at nothing. In book 1, he let a kid, Jake, die. He sacrificed someone he cared for, for his feverish, obsessive pursuit. It was an agonising choice he made, but he made it nonetheless. He is still being haunted by this in The Drawing of the Three which is good – that gives Roland a more human side. That is not to say that he wouldn’t do it again. He would and I think he will. In any case, the sacrifice of Jake was necessary to open the doors from which he draws his three.

These doors, in a very surreal way, appear in the middle of the beach – the first one opens to a different dimension – to a new New York in the mid-eighties. As soon as he opens the door, Roland realises he is inside someone’s mind: that of young guy Eddie Dean, who is a Prisoner of his heroin addiction. After a series of events in dealing with Eddie’s problems with a Mafia boss, Roland draws his first comrade and brings him to his side of the door. Door two opens inside the mind of one Odetta Holmes , the Lady of Shadows, thus named for her dissociative identity disorder. She shares her mind, without knowing it, with a violent, alternate persona called Detta Walker. The third door opens to the mind of the serial killed The Pusher and this third door is what brings all the doors together.

Both Eddie and Odetta/Detta are great characters and Stephen King’s knack for characterisation is present in this series as well. This talent of his is probably what made me dislike It so much – because I adored the characters in that book and hated to see what was made of them. From Eddie’ struggles with his two additions, heroin and taking care of people. To Odetta cool demeanour and Detta’s craziness, each of these people are essential to Roland’s journey for many reasons. They are his companions and will probably help him out but at the heart of it, is the necessary humanisation of a hard-boiled character. His connection with the two characters shows that he is still very much able to love – even if he is willing to sacrifice them all for a greater purpose. He is The anti-hero. Plus, he spends the book, crippled, starving, nearly dying of infection and yet, he manages to capture your attention, to command and demand respect from his companions and from the reader. I am at Roland’s feet in the end, even if I am unable to understand what exactly, drives him.

My main gripe with the book, which is my main gripe with most of Stephen King’s works (expect for The Gunslinger which was short and to the point hence being my favourite so far), is that everything above, this whole story could have been condensed in a much shorter book – I believe that would make all the difference. Stephen King, I said that before and I repeat it here, is a word-waster. There were many, many parts completely irrelevant to the story, shifting point of views to en passant characters that appeared out of nowhere whom I did.not.care one iota. That dragged the book for me quite a lot in the middle (and I admit I skimmed!).

From the very trippy manner in which not only the doors appear and function to the surprising revelation of the final door (one word for you: Susannah), this book was a hell of a journey. There were highs and lows but when the third door opens, it opened up a whole new world to me. It was, for lack of a better word: fantastic. The third, final part of the book was completely, utterly remarkable and it was right then that I saw it. I saw how The Dark Tower is not only Thea’s favourite series of all time but also what is considered to be Stephen King’s Magnum Opus. I put the book down and immediately went online and bought book 3.

Notable Quotes/ parts: Roland’s endurance:

Very well. I am now a man with no food, with two less fingers and one less toe than I was born with; I am a gunslinger with shells which may not fire; I am sickening from a monster’s bite and have no medicine; I have a day’s water if I’m lucky; I may be able to walk perhaps, a dozen miles if I press myself to the last extremity. I am, in short, a man on the edge of everything.
Which was should he walk? He had come from the east; he could not walk west without the powers of a saint or a saviour. That left north and south.
North.
That was the answer his heart told. There was no question in it.
North.
The gunslinger began to walk.

Verdict: With these great characters, Stephen King has a solid band of brothers and sisters to tell his story. A bit uneven but still very good. I will definitely read the next one.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading next: Tempt Me At Twilight by Lisa Kleypas

Title: Perfume (Das Parfum)

Author: Patrick Suskind, Translated by John E. Woods

Genre: Fiction, Historical, Thriller

Publisher: Diogenes-Verlag (Germany) / Alfred A. Knopf (US)
Publication Date: 1985 (Germany) / February 2001 (US)
Paperback: 272 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel.

Why did I read this book: Ana and I decided that we had gone too long without a Dare, so we cracked down. Ana picked Perfume: The Story of a Murderer for me, a literary fiction novel about a man born with a superhuman sense of smell. I read the blurb, and though I was a little scared (“realistic” literary fiction can do that to me!), I was also very excited to give Mr. Suskind’s international bestseller a try…

Summary: (from amazon.com)
An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind’s classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man’s indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder.

In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift-an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille’s genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and frest-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the “ultimate perfume”—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brillance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.

Review:

July 17, 1738. Paris.

It is the dawning of the Age of Enlightenment in France, of coffeehouses and of reason struggling triumphant over religion. It also is a time when the streets ran rank with the odors of sewage, unwashed people, spoiling food and decaying corpses. In the most odiferous of Paris’s slums, in the heat and stench of the poorest fish market, a woman gives birth and tries to leave her child for dead beneath her spoiling wares. But, determined to live even as a babe, the newborn emits a shriek that alerts others to his existence. His mother is killed for her attempted infanticide, and the young boy is passed from wet nurse to priest to orphanage, and he discovers his true purpose and calling – scent.

Perfume is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a proclaimed monster, a savant of the olfactory, and a murderer. It is not so much a story about his murders (as the full title, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, suggests), but about Grenouille’s life. From Grenouille’s hasty birth to his ultimate demise, this is the story of a growing monster, who knows the unparalleled power of scent. From orphan to tanning apprentice to perfumer, Grenouille realizes that scent can influence and change perceptions, and that every odor has its purpose. And, when he realizes that he himself has absolutely no smell at all, he begins his careful work to craft the ultimate scent – the scent of love.

I didn’t know what really to expect with Perfume – though I suppose I thought I was in store for more of a grisly murder tale. In actuality, Perfume is a character’s journey, and a scathing commentary on human nature. Yes, Grenouille’s murderous acts are portrayed in the book, but they are not gratuitous or gory – rather, this is an atmospheric, macabre tale. Far more terrifying than the corpses Grenouille leaves behind are his perceptions, his desires and ambitions. As a character, we know from the first sentence that Grenouille is a monster:

In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages. His name was Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and if his name — in contrast to the names of other gifted abominations, de Sade’s, for instance, or Saint-Just’s, Fouche’s, Bonaparte’s, etc — has been forgotten today, it is certainly not because Grenouille fell short of those more famous blackguards when it came to arrogance, misanthropy, immorality, or, more succinctly, to wickedness…

Just as from his birth, as a child without any scent at all, Grenouille never really had a chance for redemption with readers either. He’s a magician, an outcast, a recluse. But even more terrifying than Grenouille, in my opinion, were the malleable, ignorant humans around him, reacting to the scents he ultimately concocts. Mr. Suskind’s debut novel carefully constructs self-absorbed characters, all flawed monsters in their own way. And perhaps that’s the most terrifying thing of all – for as driven as Grenouille is to concoct his masterpiece, each other character he interacts with from the Orphange mam Madame Gaillard to the bereaved father Monsieur Richis are revealed for the selfish creatures they truly are.

Beyond the characters and insight to the selfish cruelty of the human disposition, however, Perfume simply is a beautiful book. The detailed background of French history that Mr. Suskind paints his novel against is incredible. The plotting, though slow at times and ultimately not a grand or sweeping epic, is strong in its own right. And the prose…ah, the prose! It is simple, sparing, and luscious. Mr. Woods, the translator, did a phenomenal job of interpreting the German to English, as this is one of the finest translations I can remember reading (comparable to Lucia Graves’ The Shadow of the Wind). I would never have picked up this novel had I not been dared by Ana – but I absolutely loved it. Perfume is an unforgettable bouquet indeed.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the second chapter:

“Ah, I understand,” said Terrier, almost relieved. “I catch your drift. Once again, it’s a matter of money.”

“No!” said the wet nurse.

“Of course it is! It’s always a matter of money. When there’s a knock at this gate, it’s a matter of money. Just once I’d like to open it and find someone standing there for whom it was a matter of something else. Someone, for instance, with some little show of thoughtfulness. Fruit, perhaps, or a few nuts. After all, in autumn there are lots of things someone could come by with. Flowers maybe. Or if only someone would simply come and say a friendly word. ‘God bless you, Father Terrier, I wish you a good day!’ But I’ll probably never live to see it happen. If it isn’t a beggar, it’s a merchant, and if it isn’t a merchant, it’s a tradesman, and if it isn’t alms he wants, then he presents me with a bill. I can’t even go out into the street anymore. When I go out on the street, I can’t take three steps before I’m hedged in by folks wanting money!”

“Not me,” said the wet nurse.

“But I’ll tell you this: you aren’t the only wet nurse in the parish. There are hundreds of excellent foster mothers who would scramble for the chance of putting this charming babe to their breast for three francs a week, or to supply him with pap or juices or whatever nourishment . . .”

“Then give him to one of them!”

“. . . On the other hand, it’s not good to pass a child around like that. Who knows if he would flourish as well on someone else’s milk as on yours. He’s used to the smell of your breast, as you surely know, and to the beat of your heart.”

And once again he inhaled deeply of the warm vapors streaming from the wet nurse.

But then, noticing that his words had made no impression on her, he said, “Now take the child home with you! I’ll speak to the prior about all this. I shall suggest to him that in the future you be given four francs a week.”

“No,” said the wet nurse.

“All right-five!”

“No.”

“How much more do you want, then?” Terrier shouted at her. “Five francs is a pile of money for the menial task of feeding a baby.”

I don’t want any money, period,” said the wet nurse. “I want this bastard out of my house.”

“But why, my good woman?” said Terrier, poking his finger in the basket again. “He really is an adorable child. He’s rosy pink, he doesn’t cry, and he’s been baptized.”

“He’s possessed by the devil.”

You can read the full excerpt of the first two chapters HERE.

Additional Thoughts: This book, which went on to become an international bestseller, was recently made into a motion picture:

Starring Ben Whishaw as Grenouille, Dustin Hoffman as Baldini, Rachel Hurd-Wood as Laure (changed to “Laura” for the film), and Alan Rickman as her father Richis. I haven’t yet seen the film, though I will certainly be renting it very soon! I am kind of wary though – the book’s strengths are in the internal descriptions and interpretations of Grenouille and his scents, and I’m not sure how well that will translate to the big screen…

Also in random, very creative and somewhat disturbing news, in conjunction with the film, perfumer Thierry Mugler has interpreted the scents from the book and movie Perfume. The collection, which costs $700 total, contains scents such as Jasmine and Sea, but also contains “Virgin No. 1,” “Baby,” and “Human Existence” among others with explanations. For example:

Paris 1738

INSPIRATION
“It was a mixture of human and animal smells, of water and stone and ashes and leather, of soap and fresh-baked bread (…). Thousands upon thousands of odors formed as invisible gruel that filled the street ravines, only seldom evaporating above the rooftops and never from the ground below. ”
~ From Part I, Chapter 7

INTERPRETATION
“So real!  As if you were there! With ‘Human Existence’, it corresponds to the horror movie of perfumery.  It requires as many skills and special effects. Controversial ingredients were specifically used to come up with this one-of-a-kind olfactory conglomerate. The ambivalence of the cassis note, cleverly used, for example, makes a definite impression. Blackcurrants in fruity compositions have a slight odor of urine, however, when they are added to a dark scent, their fruity accord clearly dominates. The challenge was to hide the fruity aspect and to place the emphasis on the sordid effect.”

I’m simultaneously curious and repulsed.

Verdict: Almost against my will, I loved Perfume. This is a delectable novel, beautifully written and devastatingly dark. Absolutely recommended to anyone that loves a well-written novel.

Rating: 8 Excellent

Reading Next: Ark by Stephen Baxter

Welcome to another Guest Dare – the August edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone.

This month we invited Angie (from Angieville),  one of our favorite bloggers and book pimps. When we asked what sort of genre was outside her comfort zone she answered “Romance” and Ana jumped at the opportunity to introduce someone else to one of her own favourites: Loretta Chase. What we did not know was that Angie had never EVER read a romance before. Here is what she has to say about her experience.

Title: Mr Impossible

Author: Loretta Chase

Genre: Romance (Historical)

Publisher: Berkley
Publishing Date: March 1 2005
Paperback: 320 pages

Stand Alone or series: Part of the Carsington Brothers series but can be read as a stand alone.

Summary: Blame it on the Egyptian sun or the desert heat, but as tensions flare between a reckless rogue and beautiful scholar en route to foil a kidnapping, so does love, in the most uninhibited and impossibly delightful ways.

Angie’s Review:

Thanks for accepting the dare Angie. I hope you will try other romance novels – maybe give Julia Quinn’s What Happens in London a go next?

Next month on the Guest Dare: Lusty Reader accepts our dare to read the Graphic Novel Fables, Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham.

Until next month!

Welcome to yet another Guest Dare – the July edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone.

This month’s guest is Liz (A.K.A The Liz) from the wonderful UK-based blog My Favourite Books which she runs with hubby Mark. Liz revealed that her most dreaded genre was Sci-fi and we promptly suggested that she should read Hyperion by Dan Simmons, one of Thea’s all time favorites. Liz agreed at first, but could not carry on (I will let her tell you all about it) and offered to read Principles of Angels by Jaine Fenn instead and since Thea recently reviewed Consorts of Heavens (a book in the same series), we said yes.

So, ladies and gentlemen , The Liz and her review of Principle of Heavens (and a giveaway).

Title: Principles of Angels

Author: Jaine Fenn

Genre: Sci-fi

Publisher: Gollancz
Publishing date: 12 Feb 2009
Paperback: 320 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Summary:Khesh City floats above the surface of the uninhabitable planet of Vellern. Topside, it’s extravagant, opulent, luxurious; the Undertow is dark, twisted and dangerous. Khesh City is a place where nothing is forbidden – but it’s also a democracy, of sorts, a democracy by assassination, policed by the Angels, the élite, state-sponsored killers who answer only to the Minister, their enigmatic master.

Taro lived with Malia, his Angel aunt, one of the privileged few, until a strange man bought his body for the night, then followed him home and murdered Malia in cold blood. Taro wants to find the killer who ruined his future, but he’s struggling just to survive in the brutal world of the Undertow. Then an encounter with the Minister sets him on a new course, spying for the City; his target is a reclusive Angel called Nual.

Elarn Reen is a famous musician, sent to Khesh City as the unwilling agent of mankind’s oldest enemy, the Sidhe. To save her own life, she must find and kill her ex-lover, a renegade Sidhe.

Though they come from different worlds, Taro and Elarn’s fates are linked, their lives apparently forfeit to other people’s schemes. As their paths converge, it becomes clear that the lives of everyone in Khesh City, from the majestic, deadly Angels to the barely-human denizens of the Undertow, are at risk. And Taro and Elarn, a common prostitute and an uncommon singer, are Khesh City’s only chance . . .

Review:

Hi Ana and Thea – thanks very much for having me! Here’s my review of Principles of Angels, after I chickened out of reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons. My poor non-sci-fi-loving brain could not take it!

I picked up Principles of Angels as it’s been sitting on my bookshelf for ages now. Receiving the DARE from Ana and Thea clinched it. Not only did I have to read it for my own blog’s Summer Reads List, I get to come and play outside of my own sandpit for a change!

I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of science fiction writing, hence the dare, but I have been told to amend my ways because I am losing out on some very good books out there.

I acquiesced to this and fell into Principles of Angels with great abandon. I can highly commend Ms. Fenn’s writing style. You couldn’t fault her creating two very engaging characters, Elarn and Taro. I was probably more interested in Elarn than Taro as I felt her character had been better developed and held more intrigue than Taro, the boy-whore.

The contrast between the two characters works well – Elarn is a renowned singer; she is graceful, competent, a lady, people like being around her. Taro on the other hand is rough, coming from the Undertow, whilst his speech patterns reflect this, as does his approach to life, where he is prepared to do anything to survive, even joining a gang and becoming addicted to drugs. Something else that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around was the language used when spoken, especially some slang bits. Instead of giving me a feel of the city, it’s social standing and the more dodgy characters and places in the novel, I felt alienated and I couldn’t bother figuring out what they meant as I had no frame of reference to work form.

I found myself hugely confused about Khesh, the City – it is almost a third mysterious character in the novel. Just enough information is given about why it is suspended above the arid world of Vellern. The City reminded me of every single stereotype you ever heard of when it comes to boomtown America or thirties Bangkok – anything could be had, several times over, even perversely, for a price. Tourists leave their staid homes to revel in Kesh’s apparently lawlessness where assassinations are the rule and Angels are highly respected for their skill and status within society. I found that the Topside was less well described compared to the Undertow but then realised after the fact that this is evident in Elarn and Taro’s characterisation.

The plot felt a bit slow at times and I found myself skipping certain sections as I was in danger of putting the book to the side as it just wasn’t holding my attention. I thought it was maybe because there was too much exposition when it came to the two characters, you get really up close and personal with especially Taro’s life and although it’s not a problem in most cases, he just doesn’t do that many exciting things! I came away thinking that the novel could entirely have been written from Elarn’s perspective and it would have been a completely different piece of work.

I am very much aware that I am very torn about Principles of Angels. I did enjoy reading it, but I didn’t love it enough to want to immediately pick up the second novel, Consorts of Heaven which, by all counts, is not a follow-up of Principles, but a complete standalone novel.

I would therefore like to offer the following: a copy of both Principles of Angels and Consorts of Heaven to the first person in the UK to email me at: myfavouritebooksatblogspot@googlemail.com . These books are not for me, I will freely admit that and they need a new home. This offer is open for one day only. If there are no takers, I’ll give the books away to a charity shop.

I’d give Principles of Angels 4.5 out of 10 stars.

___________

Thank you Liz for being brave and trying a book outside your comfort zone – and we are sorry that it didn’t work for you!

Next month in the Guest Dare: We dared Angie from Angieville to read Mr Impossible by Loretta Chase.

Welcome to yet another Guest Dare – the June edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone.

This month’s victim – er, guest – is the fabulous Tia from Fantasy Debut. Tia revealed that her most dreaded genres were Horror and Paranormal Romance, and we gave her a tough selection of books to pick from. Finally, she settled on one of Thea’s personal favorites, the classic horror novel Ghost Story by Peter Straub.

Without further ado, we give the floor up to Tia!

—————

Title: Ghost Story

Author: Peter Straub

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan
Publication Date: 1979
Paperback: 560 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

Why did we RECOMMEND this book: It’s one of Thea’s nostalgic favorites (both the book and the film, starring Fred Astaire) – one of those books she read as a young teen that got her into the horror genre in the first place!

Summary: (from amazon.com)
In life, not every sin goes unpunished.

Peter Straub’s classic bestseller is a work of “superb horror” (The Washington Post Book World) that, like any good ghost story, stands the test of time — and conjures our darkest fears and nightmares.

TIA’S REVIEW:

Ana, Thea–forgive me. I have failed.

When Ana and Thea challenged me to this Dare, choosing a horror novel was an obvious choice. In all the time I’ve run Fantasy Debut, the only horror novel I covered was Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts by the awesome and incredibly sweet Laura Benedict. She’s so sweet, you wonder how she can write such about such awful things.

Anyway, Ana and Thea gave me a selection of titles to choose from.

Ghost Story by Peter Straub
The Damnation Game by Clive Barker
At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh

I probably should have selected the Lovecraft novel for its sheer brevity, but I’ve tried to read Lovecraft before. I much prefer the Cliff Note’s versions of his novels! The Barker and Singh novels put me off too much for various reasons. I selected Ghost Story because it seemed to be the most readable and–to be frank–the least repugnant (sorry!).

It starts with a twenty-plus page prologue. In the prologue, a guy named Wanderley has apparently kidnapped a little girl and is headed south. As they head south, you find that there is something strange about the little girl. Toward the end of the prologue, I wondered if she was even a little girl at all. My interest was piqued.

Then, I started chapter one. The narrative jumped back an unspecified period of time. Four old men, Ricky, Sears, Lewis and John meet on a regular basis, apparently to exchange ghost stories. This started after a fifth member of their society–Wanderley’s uncle–died last year. Turns out there’s a deeper reason they’re exchanging ghost stories. Turns out they were all involved in the death of a young woman years before.

They decide to bring Wanderley in under the dubious–or desperate–credentials that he’s a novelist. He might understand what they’re experiencing.

Part of the reason I don’t read horror is because very often, the protagonists are such unpleasant people that I feel no attachment to them. I didn’t care about any of the old men, and I figured that they probably all deserved their fates. It is a plot-driven story when I’m attracted to character-driven ones. I found the writing too opaque, with long descriptions of such things like what one of the old men experiences as he takes his daily run (he’s a fit old guy, and the youngest of them). And the ghost stories that they men were exchanging weren’t especially scary. At least, they had not gotten scary at the point where I stopped, about 120 pages in.

There was a bit of interest when a mysterious young woman appears on the scene. She is related to the murdered girl of years before, but ultimately it didn’t interest me enough to carry me through.

So, I took up the dare, but I failed. I can’t blame other books, because while the other books I’m reading are interesting, none of them are can’t-put-it-down kinds of books. Do I get points for trying? Will Ana and Thea even want to post this? I do feel bad about not finishing, but at this point, I would have been forcing myself to go on. I hate that. Since Ana and Thea have posted Did Not Finish reviews in the past, I decided to write one for them.

Straub is unquestionably a master writer. But unfortunately, I don’t have any interest in the types of novels he writes. The book is due back to the library tomorrow. My daughter spilled water on it, so they might make me buy it. If they do, I may finish it eventually, but it would probably be too eventual to be any use to Ana or Thea.

Rating: Did Not Finish
—————

Well, shucks. We feel awful that Tia didn’t end up finishing this novel, but we can of course understand where she’s coming from, and we thank her for the heroic effort!

Speaking of Dares, Tia had the gall to counter-Dare us to read one of her favorite novels, The Once and Future King by T.H. White! We’ll be over at her blog with our review of the first book in the series, “The Sword in the Stone,” so make sure to stop by.

Next Month on The Guest Dare: Liz from My Favourite Books is our next guest up on the Dare. Liz revealed that she would be interested in reading something in the SciFi category – and has selected Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

Until next time!

Welcome to our May Guest Dare. The Guest Dare is a Monthly feature in which we “dare” guest reviewers to read & review books outside of their comfort zones.

This month’s victim guest is our good friend Harry from Temple Library Reviews. who doesn’t like mysteries and usually doesn’t do “funny” – with these two bits of information, our single track brains immediately zeroed on the Amelia Peabody series.

We give the floor to Harry who will be reviewing Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters.

Harry:

The Dare: I feel very lucky to be invited over another blog, which has never happened before, and I felt overjoyed when Ana, the cheeky little devil she is, propositioned me to participate in the Dare. This strikes as a sort of reviewer blog barter system, in which I give the girls their three days of royal party time on my blog and they would have me post a review for a book which is outside of my comfort zone. In what turned out to be a rapid succession of e-mails, I said ‘sure why not’ without thinking much, and soon a book was decided upon: “Crocodile on the Sandbank” by Elizabeth Peters.

The Author: It turns out that Elizabeth Peters is one of three alter egos of author Barbara Mertz. Mertz publishes nonfiction, whereas her pen names Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels write mystery suspense and thrillers with a supernatural vibe, respectively. With 68 titles in total under her belt, you kinda start to think that there is a reason that MPM [as the author likes to refers to her multiple aliases] has managed to stay so long in the industry, and I am glad to confirm it as well.

The Plot: Set in 1884, this is the first installment in what has become a beloved bestselling series. At thirty-two, strong-willed Amelia Peabody, a self-proclaimed spinster, decides to use her ample inheritance to indulge her passion, Egyptology. On her way to Egypt, Amelia encounters a young woman named Evelyn Barton-Forbes. The two become fast friends and travel on together, encountering mysteries, missing mummies, and Radcliffe Emerson, a dashing and opinionated archaeologist who doesn’t need a woman’s help — or so he thinks.

The Review: Despite this being a novel written early in Peters writing career and a first in a series that stretches to 18 volumes, “Crocodile on the Sandbank” is a very enjoyable mystery novel with a humorous undertone. Considering that the author is born and bred in Illinois, I was delighted to find the distinctive Victorian manner of speech incorporated both in the narrative and conversations. This, packed along with the easily accessible, but not overly simplistic writing style, contributed to the believability of the story being told. You could imagine yourself sitting alongside Miss Peabody and enjoying a cup of tea.

And speaking of Amelia Peabody, it’s a good time to start off with the characters. The story is told through Peabody’s first person point of view exclusively, so the reader will see a whole lot of her character. I think that with the ever growing popularity of sarcasm, smartass punch lines and witty repartee wars in modern culture, many of the readers will be able to identify themselves with Amelia or at the very least like her. She represents the independent woman, which in Victorian society pretty much strikes horror in the hearts of British gentlemen and ladies alike. However she remains strong, stoic under strains and quite perceptive without crossing the line of what is believable, or what is just wacky fiction.

Her entourage also consists of likable characters, who are essentially more or less different from Amelia, but Peters achieves to create a fine balance, wherein weaknesses and strengths complement each other. Evelyn Barton-Forbes is a disgraced young noble with a flair for the dramatic and unmatched beauty. Her role, more or less, is to act as a contrast to Peabody among other things such as proving that love can overlook one or two mistakes in a very complicated social landscape. The brothers Emerson to me strike as the male equivalent of the Amelia–Evelyn duo, with the older one Radcliffe being the wild, commanding one with a shocking reputation as an agitator, whereas Walter is the calm artistic dreamer.

“Crocodile on the Sandbank” is a well written book, but I struggled with it through the middle up until the beginning of the buildup for the ending. The start was fun and promised dynamic travelogue encounters, but as the story progressed and there was no hint of a mystery I got a bit less interested a bit more bored. I realized that the author was planting clues and red herrings as in every good mystery books before the actual mindboggling puzzle comes along. Since I am no mystery fan, these subtle hints went unnoticed and for me the story was just some socializing and Egyptology themed scenes knitted together. This went on until an actual mummy walked and scared people.

From then on I was in heaven, since I had the slight hope that things will go either zombie related or at the very least Hitchcock-esque. Nevertheless, I wracked my brain who stood behind the walking bandaged villain and his motifs for wanting to kidnap young Evelyn. To avoid spoilers I skipped mentioning some of the back story and additional characters, lest a smarter reader figures it out. From my Scooby Doo fandom days I learned a valuable lesson: the culprit is always the most innocent and harmless looking character and I was I pretty much right at the very end, but without proper deduction. The mystery itself was awesomely crafted and nothing is left to chance here, which I always love to see in a novel, even if it has a slow buildup and the reader a much depleted pool of patience.

Nevertheless, the process of unmasking the villain offers quite the action and adrenaline rush with shooting scenes, casualties, kidnappings and the ominous mummy, which quite frankly remind me of the good old days, when Indiana Jones ruled. I had my skeptical moments and my bored moments, but overall this was an interesting diversion from what I normally read and quite frankly I have read far less well thought out and plotted books, so it’s a win-win.

_________

Thank you Harry, for a most entertaining review of one of our favorite books! *Ana and Thea highfive over another one brought to the Dark Side*

Next Month: Our guest is Tia from Fantasy Debut who shall be reading a horror novel: Peter Straub’s Ghost Story.

And Tia dared us back (the nerve) to read Fantasy classic The Once and Future King by T.H. White.

Till next month!

Another month, another dare.

Every month we dare a book blogger to read a book that is outside their comfort zone and invite them to post their reviews or thoughts here. This time, the victim guest is Jessica who writes the excellent Racy Romance Reviews. As soon as we asked her which genre she does not read and she said YA, we thought of Melissa Marr and decided to dare her to read Wicked Lovely.

So, we warmly welcome Jessica and here is what she has to say:
________

Jessica’s review of Wicked Lovely

Ana and Thea challenged me to read a YA, and suggested Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. Like most avid romance readers, I have occasionally ventured outside the genre to try other books with strong romantic elements, such as urban fantasy, sci fi, suspense, and mystery. But I have resisted the call of the YA. I believed either that a romance between teens would not interest me, or that it would interest me, and I would feel like a dirty old woman (I’m in my late thirties.). I’m happy to report that I failed to consider a third alternative: a chaste, age appropriate YA romance that has all the elements of adult romance that I find compelling, with a strong enough characterization of the teen protagonists that I was never in any danger of wanting to be one of them.

This book was published in 2007, and two others in the series have since come out. I’m going to keep my plot summary brief, since this book is now quite well known. Aislinn, a Catholic high school student, lives in Huntsville, PA with her grandmother. She has the Sight, meaning she can see faeries all around her, even under the glamours they use when they want to be viewed as normal by humans. She follows a set of rules handed down by her grandmother designed to keep her ability hidden from the fey, and spends time with Seth, her tattooed and pierced friend who lives in a series of train car (which is handy, since the fey can’t abide steel).

Unfortunately, Aislinn’s ability to stay out of faery business ends when Keenan, King of Summer, identifies her as his Queen and sets about courting her. Keenan has his own troubles, including his evil mother, the Queen of Winter, who knows her chilling reign will end should Aislinn ascend to the throne, and Donia, the girl he once thought was his queen, who is now just a winter girl, a frosty shadow of her former self, under the thumb of the Winter Queen.

It’s a very scary thing to be aware that there are nonhuman beings in our midst, and even scarier to have the burden of keeping your knowledge a secret. As the book opens, we are thrust into Aislinn’s terrifying world. She has to school herself not reveal her awareness of the faeries by looking at them, starting or maneuvering to avoid them. Imagine walking home, knowing they are following you, but not knowing why, not being able to run for fear of alerting them to your knowledge, but being desperate to run. Even worse, imaging that you can see under their glamour, when they are flirting, or talking with your friends, or enrolling in your school. This is a kind of horror – the horror the totally isolating, dangerous unknown — and I thought it was perfectly realized, engaging me right away in this book.

I was also engaged by Aislinn, who is scared but strong, and doesn’t lose her wry sense of humor. Here’s one characteristic observation:

“The Church might caution against the dangers of the occult, but finding a modern priest who believed in anything supernatural—other than God himself—was about as likely as finding one who’d suggest women should be able to be priests too.”

Maybe it’s also a kind of metaphor in some way for teenage relations. My children have no anxiety at all about social relations: if someone doesn’t want to play, they move on. But I know this innocence won’t last, and in a few years they will experience the precariousness of peer groups and all the rest. They’ll learn the hard way that not everyone can be trusted, that not everyone is who they seem. As Aislinn says, “even if she could somehow stop seeing the fey, a person can’t un-know the truth.”

I thought the portrayal of teen life was dead on. There were the little things, like this line,

“Her lips were blue—not lipstick blue, but corpse blue.”

I never would have thought of blue lipstick! But also the savviness about partying and sex that so many older teens have. The teens in the book did all of those adult things (and most of this behavior was merely alluded to), but often not with good judgment. Sound familiar? I have seen other reviewers criticize Marr for putting these “experienced” teens in a Catholic school and I had to laugh: I started high school in a Catholic girls school, and you know what? After one year I switched to a 1500 student coed public h.s. to get away from the aggressive, oversexed party girls at St. Mary’s Academy so I could study! Obviously, not every Catholic high school is populated with this type, but when people criticize Marr on this point they are tacitly assuming the opposite, and they are wrong.

I also thought Marr’s realization of the faery world was terrific. We don’t spend much time in fey dwellings, and most of the faery encounters are on human turf, so it’s all the more impressive to me that Marr was able to convey so much about the history, alliances, customs, and traditions of the fey. Some have criticized her use of simplistic names and relations, and it is true that there is a very heavy use of the “seasonal model” (summer against winter), as personified by their king and queen, and their appearance and abilities. But if you are going to write a faery story, even an urban faery story, you have to stick to nature. The Winter Queen (not to mention Aislinn’s name) evoked the C.S. Lewis’s White Witch, in both her demeanor and her plans – already underway — to winterfy the world. And, like Lewis, or Grimm, or anyone who utilizes this set of themes, they serve as a mutually recognizable backdrop onto which you can put whatever you want.

Once Aislinn’s Sight becomes known, that element of suspense is lost, but a new one takes its place: can she resist the Summer King? As Marr describes him, he is everything that looks, and smells, and feels, and evokes all the good things the average human can imagine. Here’s one description:

“As she watched Keenan walk toward her, Aislinn saw a fleeting image of sunlight rippling over water, bouncing off buildings, strange flickers of warmth and beauty that made her want to run toward him.”

You begin by wondering how anybody at all is enticed to becomes a faery, and by the point in the book when Aislinn attends a carnival with the King, dancing with him until the wee hours of the morning, an amazing scene, a beautiful and pivotal and heartbreaking one, you wonder how she or anybody can possibly resist.

This again, I read as a metaphor for the temptations teenagers face to determine the difference between changing into your adult version and changing into someone else entirely. Once the King identifies Aislinn, she has to choose whether to refuse the test and become a Summer Girl, basically a member of Keenan’s harem, a point to which I shall return, or take the test. (I note here that one annoyance I had with the book was that I was well over halfway through Wicked Lovely before Donia explained these basic facts to Aislinn, and the reader. I appreciated my ignorant suspense for about half that time, but eventually it felt forced to me.) Just as we cannot refuse to grow up, Aislinn cannot refuse this choice. Even a nonchoice is a choice, with its own consequences, a painful fact of adult life that Marr captures very well.

I’ve read some comparisons to Twilight, namely regarding the passivity of the heroine. I think there’s a difference between being out of control and being passive. Being a teen is being out of control, both in our own feelings and emotions, and in the world around you, and that’s what Aislinn was. But, if anything, the message of the book is that young women have to regain that control by thinking for themselves and solve their own problems. As Donia puts it,

“Your modernity is your best weapon. Use it. Show him that you are entitled to some sort of choice. You know what he is now, so demand that he talk to you. Negotiate for what control you can wrest from him.”

Although the Summer King has some powers, they are “bound” by his mother for most of the book, a metaphor I think I don’t need to explain. And although Aislinn relies on her mortal boyfriend Seth, the strong characters, the ones who ultimately have the power and make the decisions in Wicked Lovely are the women. Aislinn and Donia are contrasted sharply with the Summer Girls, those who decided to exist for the pleasure of Aislann and his men, a theme I thought was a bit of a harsh and unexplored actually, who

“believe they’ve won. … The girls were happy: they didn’t see their dependence as a burden.”

I wonder who the Summer Girls are in our world?

Not everything worked for me in this book. Seth, while wonderful, was a bit too perfect himself. Never a wrong move, always just waiting for Aislinn to show up so he could help her. I also felt that the secondary characters like the Winter Queen and Aislinn’s grandmother were quite one dimensional. There was a twist near the end which I did not see coming, that was truly grotesque, the implications of which were not explored. And I thought Aislinn’s transition from being terrified of the faery world to embracing her role as Queen occurred abruptly, without a corresponding change in character. Finally, the ending wraps things up in a bow that seemed a little too neat: there was a tension all along between the really horrific elements of the story and the romantic ones that I felt was not resolved perfectly.

But I really enjoyed this book. More importantly, it’s the first book in a while that I could not put down. I thank the Book Smugglers for inviting me to read and review it!

______________

You are very welcome Jessica! Glad you liked the book – hopefully you will pick up the others and enjoy them too!

Next Month: We dared Tia from the Fantasy Debut Blog and she will be reading a Horror book which we have yet to pick. We do know this though: she also pulled a Graeme and dared us back to read The Once and Future King by T.H. White!

Every month we dare another book blogger to read a book that is outside their comfort zone and invite them to post their reviews or thoughts here. This month our guest is AnimeJune from the great blog Gossamer Obsessions. She writes reviews that are very detailed, very critical and with a keen sense of humour, all of which combined, makes AnimeJune in our opinion, one of the best reviewers of romance out there. When we approached her and asked which genres she was less comfortable with and she mentioned Sci-fi, we had only one name in our minds: Linnea Sinclair! We suggested she read Games of Command and here is what she thought.

Title: Games of Command

Author: Linnea Sinclair

Genre: SciFi Romance

Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: February 27, 2007
Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand Alone

Why did we RECOMMEND this book: We love Linnea Sinclair and Games of Command is one of Ana’s favorites.

Summary: Can she trust a man who is half-machine?

Wanted rebel Jace Serafino has information that could expose all of Sass’ secrets, tear the fragile Alliance apart—and end Sass’s career if Kel-Paten discovers them. But the bio-cybe has something to hide as well, something once thought impossible for his kind to possess: feelings…for Sass. Soon it’s clear that their prisoner could bring down everything they once believed was worth dying for—and everything they now have to live for…

Ladies and gentlemen, we give the floor to AnimeJune!

AnimeJune:

“Games of Command,” by Linnea Sinclair

Alternate Title: Shy, Robot

The Chick: Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian, a.k.a. “Lady Sass.” She (a United Coalition soldier, or U-Cee) and Kel-Paten (a Triad Admiral) used to fight on opposite sides of an interstellar war. Now that the UC and the Triad have formed the Alliance, Sass finds herself assigned to her former enemy’s ship, the Vaxxar.
The Rub: Sass has a secret past – she used to be “Lady Sass,” a renowned (and thought dead) mercenary who hijacked, bombed, and terrorized Triad ships way back when. The U-Cee eventually recruited her for undercover work and rewarded her with a new identity, but if anyone in the Triad finds out about her old past, it could jeopardize the Alliance, and land her a death sentence. And her Triad commanding officer Kel-Paten is paying strangely close attention to her….
Dream Casting: Katee Sackhoff.

The Dude: Admiral Branden Kel-Paten, a.k.a. “The Tin Soldier.” He’s renowned in the Triad for two things: the fact that he’s a kick-ass efficient soldier, and that he’s one of the few still-functioning biocybes around – human born, but at sixteen taken apart and rebuilt with handy computer and robotic upgrades that gave him super-strength, unreal endurance, the ability to plug into computers, and none of those pesky human emotions…
The Rub: Uh, about that last part: Kel-Paten is in desperate, crazy love with Sass, and has been even before the Alliance. However, he has to keep it a secret – emotions in biocybes are illegal, and any law-abiding individual who found out he can love would be obligated to turn him in. Luckily, Sass doesn’t seem that law abiding. Unfortunately, she doesn’t really seem to share his feelings.
Dream Casting: Michael Muhney.

The Plot:

Sass: Hi, I’m a merc!

Kel-Paten: And I’m a PC. *POP CULTURE REFERENCE: DEPLOYED*

Sass: Just kidding, I’m totally not a famous Triad enemy, that would be crazy!

Kel-Paten: And I’m totally not in love with you. That would be nuts! *TRUTHINESS LEVEL: LOW*

Sass: Wait, what?

Kel-Paten: Oh, hi Sass, uh… *BRAIN ACTIVITY: MINIMAL*

Sass: Keep it together, dude, we have a space pirate to transport. *slaps him on back*

Kel-Paten: …. *JUNK STATUS: ACTIVE!*

Various Enemies: *Pyew! Pyew! Stars Wars Sounds!*

Ship: *crashes*

Sass: Hey, while we’re alone…

Kel-Paten: Really? *INITIALIZING LOSS OF VIRGINITY MANOEUVRES*

Kel-Paten: You – you aren’t weirded out by my metal parts? *LOSS OF VIRGINITY IMMINENT*

Sass: Do they vibrate?

Kel-Paten: Uh, sure… *LOSS OF VIRGINITY: ACHIEVED!*

Sass: Hooray!

Romance Convention Checklist:

1 VIRGIN (!!) HERO (!!!!!)

1 Former Mercenary Gone Straight

1 Secretly Telepathic Half-Breed Space Pirate with Multiple Personalities

1 Doctor with Mild Body Issues (yeah, not that impressive compared to the Space Pirate)

1 Secondary Romance (between Doctor and Space Pirate)

2 Teleporting, Psychic Space Cats

1 Evil Villainous Faction

1 Bizarro Dimension

Several Alien Parasites

The Word: First of all, a thank you to the Book Smugglers, who asked me to do this Guest Dare. They suggested Games of Command because I’m mostly unfamiliar with the recent emergence of science-fiction romance. The one title I did try (Michelle Maddox’s Countdown) was a huge letdown, primarily because it was obvious that the science fictional setting was just wallpaper. It was exactly like real-life, only with a few convenient plot devices sprinkled here and there for easy climaxes and solutions. This wouldn’t have been so bad, if the characters hadn’t been cardboard to begin with.

Thankfully, that’s not Games of Command. From page one, you’re dropped into a vast, intricate world of blurry lines, tense politics, and established societies. At the novel’s start, United Coalition Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian is nearing the end of her six-month assignment onboard the Triad warship Vaxxar, run by Admiral Kel-Paten. Before their respective governments teamed up to become the Alliance, Sass and Kel-Paten were on opposing sides and encountered each other several times during the decades-spanning war. While surprised to find herself assigned to his ship now that a tentative peace has emerged, she serves five months without a hitch, and has even starts to enjoy yanking on the straight-arrow Admiral’s wires just for the hell of it.

Sass’s cakewalk assignment loses some of its flavour when the Vaxxar is charged with tracking down Jace Serafino, a space pirate who was supposed to be working undercover for the Triad but instead ran off with a whack of cash. Kel-Paten, who is Loyal to the Triad with a capital L, is gung-ho for the assignment, but Sass is less eager: Serafino is one of the few people in the galaxy who can identify her as Lady Sass, a famed anti-Triad mercenary who “died” several years ago. While she has no particular beef with Serafino, and vice versa, he didn’t earn his rakish reputation by being the most trustworthy guy around.

The plot thickens when Serafino is captured. While outwardly, Serafino is the same roguish pirate everyone expects him to be, Eden, the ship’s doctor (who possesses empathic abilities) discovers there’s another personality in Serafino’s head, artificially restrained by a brain implant, who hoards some Nasty Secrets much bigger than Sass’s – secrets that could possibly destroy the fragile Alliance. Secrets that other, nastier, people want to get their hands on. Secrets that implicate the nastiest people very high up on the Triad’s food chain.

Eden and Sass want to get the implant out of Serafino’s head so he can spill the beans on what looks to be a frighteningly wide-spread conspiracy, but they can’t allow Kel-Paten to get involved. Not only is Kel-Paten part of the Triad (and fiercely loyal to it), but he’s a biocybe – a cyborg who communicates with Triad higher-ups every time he physically jacks into a computer. On top of that, the empathic Eden senses bizarre flares of emotion coming from the man who’s supposed to have had every emotion programmed out of him – which means he’s either broken, or could be employing an artificial emotion “scrambler” expressly designed to block his mind from empathic readings. This secrecy makes him suspect, so Sass breaks into his office and downloads his computer files.

…And discovers another secret entirely: Kel-Paten is in love with her. Really, really, really, oh-God-he’s-worshiped-her-for-twelve-years, in love with her. Basically, Sass finds secret computer logs that go back years, in which the lonely Admiral’s spilled all of the feelings he’s had to keep to himself. Biocybes aren’t supposed to have any emotions other than anger (which is useful in combat), and anyone who suspects a ‘cybe of otherwise is supposed to turn them in. But Kel-Paten, efficient, logical, legendary-in-battle, emotionless computer Kel-Paten, can’t go near Sass without encountering the Blue Screen of Death, forgetting what he’s about to say, and ending up sounding more like a robot than he usually does. However, he’s convinced that Sass thinks of him as little more than an articulate toaster-oven (which, at the novel’s start, is mostly true).

So now Sass knows Kel-Paten adores her (although he doesn’t know she knows), but has to somehow extract the conspiracy from Serafino’s head without Kel-Paten knowing. Awkward.

As much as I dither on about the integrity of a science-fiction novel’s world-building and politics and consistency, while Games of Command has all that, the main, overwhelming reason I love this book is six feet tall, blue-eyed, and whose name rhymes with “Schmell-Paten.” Ooooh, Kel-Paten. He’s like a Hersey’s chocolate kiss wrapped in an iPod. I loved him. Reading him develop over the course of the novel was a huge treat, and there was never enough time spent in his head.

When I read the back cover blurb, I was expecting Kel-Paten to discover his love for Sass gradually, and was nonplussed when I opened the book and discovered, huh, he’s already in love with her and has been for years and is fully cognizant of that fact. But that’s just another delicious element of his character – this is a guy who’s half machine, who’s used to being in control, and who makes several (make that a lot of) stupid decisions because he can’t see past the empirical facts his cyber-enhanced senses relay back to him. But his illogical, unreasonable, immeasurable love for Sass – instead of repressing or denying it, over the years he’s nurtured it and held on to it, biocybe regulations be damned, because he recognizes that his feelings for Sass are the best part of himself, even if she isn’t aware of them.

That being said, his adoration for Sass, that part that keeps him human, also causes him to reject the robot half of himself as ugly and wrong. Whenever he’s around Sass, he edits what he says to avoid reminding her of his computer half (he’ll say “I learned this,” rather than “I was programmed this,” for example), and is ashamed when he has to jack into the ship’s controls in her presence, because he hates thinking she sees him only as a machine, a particularly good-looking BlackBerry. Physically, he’s near indestructible, but he’s so emotionally vulnerable it’s heartbreaking. There were about half a dozen scenes of his in this book that I just had to read again and again.

While I got more emotionally involved with Kel-Paten’s character than with Sass’s, Sass was still well-drawn, funny and sympathetic, not to mention sensitive. A lot of things could have gone wrong with the plot development of Sass discovering Kel-Paten’s private journals, especially since at that point she had never considered him in a romantic light before. Seeing those intensely personal entries gave her a huge advantage over him at a point in the story where he was still considered a threat, but she never abused it. Instead, his logs only made her re-evaluate all of his decisions, actions, and behaviour in a new light. In Games of Command, it is Sass who has to make the emotional journey to get to where Kel-Paten already is.

As for the world-building – it’s good. Very good. Almost too good. There were one or two spots in the novel where I had no idea what was going on and had to chug on through (the Void had me scratching my head nearly bald at points), hoping a better explanation for events would come later. A couple of scenes also dragged, particularly the ship-piloting ones. They were incredibly detailed and consistent, to be sure, but I read them as:

Sass: Jargon jargon jargon jargon! Lingo, Jargon!

Kel-Paten: Physics physics physics! Science, technology, physics!

Eden: Buttons, levers, shields, codes!

When the entire scene pretty much amounts to:

Sass: The ship’s not working!

Everyone: CRAP.

As for the secondary romance, it rates a “m’eh.” Eden and Serafino label themselves as a couple fairly early, their only obstacle being “I hope we stay alive long enough to consummate!” Also, while I’m sure the space pirate thing is supposed to be sexy, Serafino spends much of the book using his psychic powers to taunt Kel-Paten with his shortcomings, and since I’ve already ordered my “Team Kel-Paten” T-Shirt, Serafino’s behaviour makes him about as attractive as a small Dutch cheese. Okay, okay, a medium-sized Dutch cheese, but one that takes screen time away from Kel-Paten.

I also could have done with some more information about the characters’ pasts. We learn some more about Sass’s past as mercenary Lady Sass, but not why she became a mercenary and starting running with the rough crowd. Similarly, we learn that Kel-Paten’s change into a biocybe was a “bad memory,” but we never learn why he did it, how it happened, how his family felt, or if he had any family (other than one family member who came in well out of left field and with no explanation). Considering how much his computer enhancements affected his self-image, I found it odd the novel never dwelt on this.

Before I conclude my review, I decided to take a page from one of the Book Smugglers’ reviews and describe a Notable Part – easily one of my favourite scenes in the book. Here be spoilers, folks: I’m talking about the sex scene between Kel-Paten and Sass. Sass knows what she wants, she knows (by now) she’s in love with Kel-Paten, and she’s ready to rip his clothes off and see how his flashdrive fits into her USB port (wink wink nudge nudge).

Kel-Paten’s thought processes are as follows (I’m paraphrasing): “Oh shit, there’s a bed in the room. Crap – gotta keep my pants on – hey, dim lighting, that’s good – yeah, let’s keep kissing, I’m good at kissing – we can just kiss for two hours, can’t we? That’s what people do, right? We don’t need to take my pants off – oh, boobies – well, okay, you can take your pants off, but not me…” It’s a scene that’s tender and sad and even a little funny: Kel-Paten’s a virgin hero, who’s ashamed both of his physical surgery scars and his sexual inexperience, and he spends this whole scene horny as hell while trying to stay in control and keep his ugliest parts (inside and out) hidden. But Sass, who’s spent four-hundred-some pages discovering this Tin Soldier has a heart of gold, isn’t going to let him off that easy.

Games of Command is a prime example of a science-fiction romance. Part of its success lies in the balance – the science fictional half demands a galaxy-spanning story with universe-wide repercussions, while at the same time the romance half requires an intimate adventure that occurs between only two people. Linnea Sinclair’s novel manages both, because both conflicts are essentially the same, just on a different scale. Without giving anything away, the villains’ desire is to control people by shutting away and repressing the unique elements of the population. Similarly, Kel-Paten compartmentalises – he keeps up his functional, efficient, logical front, while his fear of rejection and reprisal makes him hide his emotions away. It takes Sass’s diligence and smarts to get Kel-Paten to lower his walls, just as his raw, honest emotion chips away at her own barriers. And that, my friends, is what makes Games of Command a good romance, period. A-.

Thank you AnimeJune, this was great!

Next month our guest is Jessica from Racy Romance Reviews who will be reading one of our favourite YA books: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr.