loki_niflheim

( Back Cover blurb )

( spoilers )

Related links:
Terry Pratchett's Website
A Hat Full of Sky in Wikipedia

( Back Cover blurb )

( spoilers )

Terry is probably one of few authors you can depend on to weave a good yarn on pretty much anything, this book has a similar tone to Wintersmith, the urgency to save herself and his brother from the Fairy Queen and her enchanting land, all rolled together with the antics from our Wee Free Men.

Related links:
Terry Pratchett's Website

( Back Cover Blurb )

I worship this writer, she writes tomes of volumes worth every dollar I spent on it. If you want pirate smex... well, you probably won't get it from this book, the book explores less about gay sex than love crossing gender and more into finding that other soul that forms a feedback loop with you.

( spoiler )

Great second book :)

( Back Cover Blurb )

This was my first Terry Pratchett book and I didn't realize at that time—since I was buying by the back cover blurb—that it was the third in Tiffany Aching series, started from The Wee Free Men.

I've heard Terry Pratchett's name, watched Hogfather and The Colour of Magic (I like this one between the two), but that was the extent of it. This book made me realize just how one-of-a-kind author he is.

( spoilers )

Related links:
Terry Pratchett's website

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #16 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

heavenly_rain told me that she preferred the darker style CSI:NY in season 1 than the seasons after that, and I have to agree with her for this book. The next CSI:NY novel by Kaminsky after this one was Deluge that I reviewed earlier. This book was much better and I think I know why.

Most of it can be contributed to the backgrounds that Kaminsky wrote for our beloved characters. In this book we see Danny's pain and frustration with the horrors he sees everyday, Mac's reflection to his past and the burden that came with the job that he could see affecting Danny, and the many ironies in life Hawkes would come face to face in his line of work. Then there's the stalker who's trying to kill Stella and how Stella managed to outthink him (she's just amazing).

Then there's the crime cases themselves, one of them is pretty cool while the other one was sad, but predictable. This book doesn't have the elaborate weave of lives that Deluge has, but it certainly has drama and the few worrying seconds when the serial (professional) killer managed to take Flack down. Tension, tension, tension! Read all about it!

Related links:
Stuart Kaminsky's website

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #13 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

This is what they call a harlequin romance where they replaced the female lead with a male lead. This book has a pretty simple plot, one that is a common staple among romance plotlines. The story telling is around 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Why have I recommended this book if it's not at all special, you may ask. Well, this book does not shine above other gay romance books out there, but it's a fun read nonetheless. This book won't leave a major impression on me but I was happy that I have read it and wouldn't mind reading a sequel should one became available. If books are food, some books are haute cuisine and some, like this one, is Kit Kat.

This book was the finalist for the 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Best Romance.

Related links:
Alien Perspective (publisher) website with excerpts in PDF

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #12 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

I put off reading this book because despite the glowing recommendations, the plot just sounded... Victorian romance to me, and I received this book not long after Pirates of The Caribbean: World's End was released in the cinemas so I didn't want to feel like I was guzzling everything remotely pirate-y. The first few chapters was alright, I would even say typical. Another review I read on this book recommended that I set aside a few days to finish this book because I would not be able to put it down. I smugly thought that it was over-rated. That is, until I got to the part mentioned on the third paragraph written on the back of the book: when our main character met Gaston. I honest to God, carried this 3 cm thick, slightly bigger than A5-sized book, everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. I lost sleep reading this book.

In his comments on my review of his book, The Syndicate 1 & 2, julesjones mentioned about gay romance classification for his book. I am so totally getting it now. This is a totally different genre from gay fiction, and it makes me wonder about the reader of this genre. julesjones mentioned in his comment that:

"The intended audience is slash fans, and romance fans who would like slashy romance if they were introduced to it."

Well, I don't think the audience will primarily be gay males. The same fact that yaoi fans are primarily female with a smattering of male (who aren't necessarily gay—or so they claim). I sort of can't imagine gay guys reading this book except for the fact that I know a gay friend of mine who's crazy about yaoi. So I think this is a definitely different generally with an entirely new (or at least, not traditional) group of audience.

This book is not at all hardcore. There's no graphic description of sexual act, even in the end of the book, Marsdale (the main character) and Gaston has not yet gone 'all the way' because of Gaston's traumatized psyche. The book told me a lot about British colonization, the reason behind it, and the mundane and precarious life at sea. Marsdale theory about the sheeps and the wolves is also quite interesting that sometimes I can just see his concept working in everyday life.

This book is a gem and a damn good read. I am still amazed that someone can write a 541-page book and it's only the first part of a trilogy. I really recommend people to buy it. Love it, love it, love it! I can't wait to buy the second book, but I have to decrease my current book pile first.

Brethren is currently nominated for 19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards.

Related links:
Alien Perspective (publisher) website with excerpts in PDF

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #10 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

I am starting to think that when it comes to SGA books, it's not quite the authors I love, but the characters. However, I suppose good authors would write the characters in character as the characters that we knew and loved, so credits has to be given where it's due.

I'm pleasantly surprised that there's an Australian author who's writing for a UK publisher (Fandemonium) and surprised yet again to know that Sonny Whitelaw is a woman (I should have known). Both the authors of this book are well-learnt in science, one being a civilian engineer with the U.S. Air Force and the other educated in Geography and Anthropology.

( Minor plot spoilers )

Other the slashy satisfaction I get from this book, I really enjoyed all the science presented in the book. I love life sciences (eg. biology, geography, etc.) so the whole idea of terraforming a planet to create inhabitants that are stronger because of the conditions on that planet is a very exciting idea. It may not be possible, but this is science-fiction where you can find ideas and concepts that just blows your mind. I really love the science aspect in this book, makes me want to go back studying science again.

Related links:
Sonny Whitelaw's HP | Sonny Whitelaw on Wiki | Elizabeth Christensen's HP | Elizabeth Christensen on Wiki

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #9 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

When uqui lent me this book, I never expected to be in trouble. I liked the TV series Dexter and I liked Michael C. Hall ever since Six Feet Under. So I recommended Dexter to all of my friends who enjoys unusual and quirky, but good stories. I liked Dexter, but not as much as I like CSI or Psych, so I didn't bother buying the book. Uqui mentioned that the book ends differently from the series, and since I was dissappointed that they killed Rudy, I was curious.

I think in general I like the series better than the book albeit I was really dissappointed that they killed Rudy which I thought to be one of the coolest possible nemesis for Dexter. Their mutual appreciation society is also giving me slash vibes, which endeared Rudy as a character. 'Endeared' is a really strange word to use for Rudy now that I've used it.

Lindsay's Dexter is more firmly anchored in his sociopath personality while Dexter in the series is more laid back. Lindsay's seems to be full of supressed rage, somehow.

There are aspects in the book that I like, such as the psychic connection that Dexter has with the Ice Truck killer. In the series, Dexter was fascinated by the killer but other than that, he was able to stay from being too involved with the case. Unlike Lindsay's Dexter where circumstances forces him to actually be more involved in the case. Dexter also made a discovery that those who can 'sense' him for who he really is, also has a 'Dark Rider' within themselves too.

I can see why parts of the book has to be modified for the series to achieve greater impact. Were they to introduce the psychic connection, a lot of people would've guessed sooner how the killer is related to Dexter. The consummation of the relationship between Rita and Dexter is also slower, which further emphasized Rita's difficulty dealing with her trauma.

A pretty good book, I was hooked (so much that I almost lost sleep) for the first half of the book because Dexter was presented differently. In the last half I got familiar with Lindsay's Dexter and hence I only have the plot (that I'm familiar to already) to attract my attention.

Related links:
Jeff Lindsay on Wiki | BookPage Interview 2005 (My fav. because it shows the kind of author he is).

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #7 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

( Minor spoiler, I'm afraid. )

This is the book where Dairine learns about consequences of good intentions and at the same time pose some questions to the readers about free will and the nature of creation. What if God was an eleven-year-old girl?

A very enjoyable book that took the reader to the outer space, encounters with aliens and alien cultures. The climax, where she revealed who Picchu actually is, is tempting me to write slash :P.

Just a little.

Related links:
Diane Duane website | Diane Duane on LJ | Diane Duane on Wiki | Young Wizards Series website | The Big Meow Project

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #6 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

Diane Duane reminds me of a friend I once knew in high school. She was one of those people who could tell the simplest tale and everyone would be listening to her attentively and in rapt to know what happened and what happened next. He stories are simple, but she draws you into her tales that it was hard to put down the book until you reached the very last bit of text in the book.

I read this book with a dash of scepticism. I mean, how could you top the first book? How would you put your protagonists on the stage after they've done such remarkably death-defying feat? She did just that, she put the characters in even greater death-defying feat, in which Rita has to freely give her life in order to maintain the continuity of life.

I really like the song that she created for the 'Song of Twelve', as Rita mentioned in the book, it really described the personalities of the characters singing it.

This is a beautiful book, the underwater tale of magic she weave here is so mesmerising, it was like watching the snowfall.

Related links:
Diane Duane website | Diane Duane on LJ | Diane Duane on Wiki | Young Wizards Series website | The Big Meow Project

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #5 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

The first time I heard of Diane Duane was when someone ranted at me about J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and that Duane's The Young Wizards Series is much better. A couple other people who ranted about HP to me also agreed to that statement, but I didn't read HP (I refuse to read it until she finished writing it) so I shelved that information in the back of my mind until heavenly_rain's post about Children's books brought it out. So when Christmas came, I browsed through shops trying to decide between giving her The Young Wizards Series boxset (with the first three books) or A Bit of Fry and Laurie DVDs. Her icons settled that option :P and the books went to me. I looked around for her other books and found The Tale of Five which I thought sounded interesting, and bought it as well.

The background concepts introduced of this book is alot like The Tale of Five, the concept of power, magic, dimensions, the forces of good and the forces of evil, etc. The plot and storyline is, however, adjusted to general young audience.

The story is very simple and there are very few twists in the plot, but nonetheless I find myself glued to the pages, wanting to know what happens next. I credit Diane Duane's incredible storytelling skills in this. I find myself laughing and smiling at the naive questions presented in the book through the eyes of Nita, Kit and Fred. Some of the ideas are fancy and unbelievable (like the idea of 'buying time') but didn't detract from the experience.

It's a good book. Not my usual fare, not the kind I'd be hunting to read, but if there are some sold around, I won't mind buying the rest. I still have two more to read.

Related links:
Diane Duane website | Diane Duane on LJ | Diane Duane on Wiki | Young Wizards Series website | The Big Meow Project

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #4 (2007). The title of this book is actually The Tale of Five: The Sword and Dragon, which is an omnibus reprint of Diane Duane's first two titles in the series, The Door into Fire and The Door into Shadow. I will be counting this as two books. Review on The Door into Shadow will come later.

( Back cover blurb )

Out of all the characters in the book, I loved Sunspark most of all. He's just so cool! He also reminded me of a fantasy character that my best friend and I created while we were kids, who was a fire elemental called Fyra. I liked how Herewiss is so compassionate about magic, that even though he's been dissappointed over and over, he didn't turn his back on it. I'm also happy that Freelorn is not quite the usual bratty princeling (although he's a bit childish) and truly cares about Herewiss. Herewiss, Freelorn and Sunspark gave me this whole slash fuzzy feelings.

The plot is not very complicated. This is a very character-driven book and in each page you go through Herewiss' adventure to rescue Freelorn and dealing with Sunspark's child-like confusion over the concept of 'death' while not quite despairing over the potential he has that he would never see before death takes him. Duane spun the myths governing the land through the various minor characters in the book and the places in the story.

There's slash in the book and I'm rooting for Sunspark :P because he's just so sincere with his love for Herewiss, untouched by jealousy and other negative emotions often associated with love. He's confused by his feelings but also unafraid to act on it. Gaah! Socute!

Read this book! If not only for Diane Duane's storytelling skills (I'm pretty sure she can even talk about math and draw you into it), then to read about one of the most adorable character (Sunspark) ever! (And he's not a child).

Related links:
Diane Duane website | Diane Duane on LJ (go and check it! She post cool 'n funny stuff!) | Diane Duane on Wiki (lots of info) | Young Wizards Series website | The Big Meow Project

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #3 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

With all the Jensens I've been writing this month (Jensen Ackles, Famke Janssen—not same, but close enough), I'm taking it as an omen and shall name the next nameable thing I get to name, Jensen (better pray it's not a baby).

When I bought Firelands, I was expecting family drama and hoped that I won't sleep through it because for me family drama has always been a good bedtime story. What really compelled me to buy it is because out of the hundred odd titles nominated for Lammy Awards 2005*, it's the few I found interesting and off-the-beaten track enough to buy (I never read any pioneer story).

What I found was unexpectedly a very good book, mainstream or alternative. It's exactly the type of books I like: A fast-paced thriller. After the initial read on the public transport, I made a mistake of reading it before I went to bed and almost stayed up the whole night trying to read faster and finish it. It took me two days to finish this 270+ page book. In the end of which I skipped around ten pages just so that I could sleep peacefully.

The plot is fairly predictable, you can guess the mystery behind the horror painted in the book, but it doesn't stop you from feeling the sense of urgency felt by the characters and the whole 'WTF?' creepiness. The isolation and the pioneers' dreams of reaping the profits as the first to touch the ground while at the same time only having their own resources to rely on is the perfect background to lay this story on.

If you enjoyed Dean Koontz's Seize The Night, you'll enjoy this book. Although Seize The Night gave me shivers behind my neck that I didn't get in this book.

Related links:
Michael Jensen website | Michael Jensen on LJ | List of books for Lambda Awards 2005

*Lammy Awards, or Lambda Awards is the literary award for books published for the GLBT audience.

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #2 (2007).

( Back Cover Blurb )

When I look for a book, all I read is the back cover blurb, which is why I always include it in my reviews. I skip the various commentaries by other readers because I have no clue who they are or the kind of books they read and I look at the spine for title and author (usually at the middle and bottom of spine), I look at the cover, then I look at the price tag. If they're all agreeable, then down the basket it goes.

So I guess it serves me right that I totally missed the bit on top of the spine under the publisher name that says, "Erotic Romance". I didnt' figure it out until one day while carrying the book on a tram, my eyes fell on the bottom part of the back cover where a reviewer wrote, "Never have I enjoyed an erotic novel so much." I did a double take, reread the back cover blurb again in case I misread it or bought the wrong book, and while flipping and rotating around the book, I finally read every text on the spine.

I didn't regret reading it though, this book is probably the funniest sci-fi book I've read (I've yet to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy). If you like funny sci-fi and you can read or dismiss the gay sex part with a dash of salt, you'll enjoy it too. The gay sex part also doesn't read like a cheap porn flick, which helps a lot in making it an enjoyable reading. The relationship between the two (Allard and Vaughan) is actually pretty sweet.

The book started with the usual snarky IT admin guy (snarky scientists seems to be the trend these days—and with good reason, they're sarcastically funny) who was exasperated by the fools and flat characters he's surrounded with (I think a couple of my friends can identify with this guy). So he applied for a job in a space ship that makes money by cargo shipping or contracting out the skills of its occupant. The spaceship itself is managed by a shy onboard AI that unfortunately doesn't appear all that much after the initial introductions, and the food synthesizer is rather temperamental, but for me what takes the cake is when they introduced Allard's 'son' into the picture.

( Facts about Allard's 'son' (contains spoilers) )

In short, it's not a book for everyone but if you read slash, you'll certainly like this. It doesn't contain hardcore gay sex and the couple actually cares a lot about one another, which is the kind that I like to read. The sci-fi stuffs are funny, the characters are unique and quirky, lots of great lines that can be appreciated by the geeks in the workforce.

I posted excerpts to the three volumes of The Syndicate, unfortunately they're more about the funny sex than the funny sci-fi bits, but I think if you can handle the funny sex bits, then you're over the only boundary to enjoying this book to bits.

Related links:
Excerpt of Volume 1 | Excerpt of Volume 2 | Excerpt of Volume 3 | Jules Jones website | Jules Jones on LJ | Jules Jones on Amazon.com

Part of 50bookchallenge, book #1 (2007).

( Back cover blurb )

I chose this particular book over the other titles available in Stargate Atlantis novels because the plot of the book is not a reminiscent of an already-done SG:A episode. This is the first book from Martha Wells that I've read, and I am already waiting impatiently for her next SG:A novel, Entanglement. She's obviously aware of the slash fanbase in this fandom and her writing has more than enough Rodney/Sheppard interaction to leave a slash fan happy while keeping them in-character.

Wells explored and expanded the concepts behind the ATA gene, especially its mind-reading and psychological component and how various Ancient technologies interact with it. Her wonderful concept underlines the great potential that the ATA gene have. Definitely worth a read for slash fan and non-slash fan alike.

( Some memorable lines (please do remember that I'm slash-biased)—contains spoilers )

Related links:
Martha Wells' Reliquary page with Excerpt to chapter 1 | Martha Wells website | Martha Wells on LJ