Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells

4 Stars

Hob Book 1

Thank you SO much, KJ Charles for bringing this book to my attention.  I loved it!  :)  I have to say, I don't read everything that KJ recs, but I have found that the ones she recommends that catch my interest with the genre and blurb are never a disappointment.

The first half and a bit of the book was admittedly a bit slow.  Interesting but slow, I found.  We were getting to know the characters of importance, Hob, Mag, Nick, the Bone Collector etc... and learning some of the way Tanegawa's World works.  It's a mining world with some farm communities and one big city - I think.  In charge of the planet is Transrifts Inc., a mining company that holds most of the planet under its heavy heel.  The company also controls the mysterious people, the Weathermen.  These are also the people who have talents/abilities to facilitate rift space travel.

So, Hob, one of the main characters, is a young woman who is a member of a mercenary biker gang that lives apart from 'normal' society.  Exiles for the most part.  Hob is not native to the planet, she came by spaceship as a child, a stowaway type thing, I think I gathered, and was adopted by the leader of the bikers, Nick.  Nick also has a brother, who is a miner, a team leader if I'm not mistaken.  There's a wife and a daughter, Mag.  Mag is the other main character in the book and is as different as night and day from Hob, her adopted cousin.

Anyway, there are strange things afoot on Tanegawa's World and everything points to some sort of huge change for its inhabitants.  Rebellion?  Natural disaster? Further enslavery by the company?  God knows.  But when you get into the second half of the book, the action picks up and things get really, really good.  The characters come really alive now.  And rebellion/resistance is a trope that gets me every time.  There's some magic involved.  There are spies.  There are raids and assassinations and plots and mysteries afoot.  Hardly anything gets settled by the end of the book, but I didn't find that a problem.  It's a jumping off point, like the first, establishing season of a good TV series.  And this would make a great series, I think. The characters are rich with depth, and diverse, and they feel real, which is very important to me.

I can't wait to read the next one!  Which is out in February.

Jaran by Kate Elliott

3.5 Stars

The Novels of the Jaran - Book 1

I have been meaning to read these books for the longest time.  I'd picked up books 2 & 3 from the second hand bookstore a few years ago, but of course, held off until I could find book 1.  Well, finally, they came out in Ebook omnibus for a really great price - $2.99 - and who could resist that!

So... worth the wait?  Well yes and no.  The book is basically a fantasy set in a science fiction universe - maybe sort of like the Pern novels?  The thing is, you'd better like the heroine, Tess, because you're going to see a helluva lot of her supposedly growing.  To be honest, I found her really a bit too good to be true.  She really has no discernible flaws other than a stubborn unwillingness to actually talk to the hero, Ilya, about what's happening between them.  I wanted to smack both of them at different times during my read.  *LOL*

That being said, I really enjoyed the world-building - or shall I say universe building in this one.  Yeah, we've seen before the primitive society side-by-side with the space-faring society but the primitive world is being protected from the advanced bunch by interdictions - can you say Prime Directive anyone?  *LOL*  Yeah, it made me think, in a very loose way, of The Omega Glory from the original Star Trek.  E plebnista y'all!

What saved the book for me was the cast of secondary characters and the society of the Jaran.  Fascinating!  While I did lose a couple of my faves, I'm hopeful that further books in the series (there are 4 volumes) will continue their stories as well as that of Tess and Ilya.  And maybe Tess will stop being so perfect at everything.  A girl can hope!

Under the Rushes by Amy Lane

5 STARS

The Grande Dame of Angst delivers something unexpected in this out of the ordinary novel. Most folks know Amy as the talented author of contemporary angsty wonderful gay romances, peopled with characters that you fall in love with and suffer right along with them when they get put through the wringer, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. Well we have that here, but it's the setting that's so different - if I were categorise this book, I would call it a romantic steampunky superhero sci-fi novel. The cover sort of screams traditional steampunk, but it's more than that. It's like steampunk set on Victorian Aldebaron with superheroes.

One of the many things that Amy writes well is the creation of a family - sometimes it's a family of outcasts, sometimes a family of necessity, sometimes a family of circumstance but always a family of love, protection, acceptance and always of hope. Even in the darkest of hours - and believe me, Amy delivers on those - even in the darkest hours, there is always a tiny glimmer of hope.

The two main characters, Dorjan and Taern have their fair share of tragedy and then some in their pasts and indeed in their present as well, but they find each other. Despite everything, including themselves, they find each other. They are lovely and I wept of both happiness and sadness for them and their love story unfolded. Then there is Areau, Dori's best friend and close to the most damaged character that I think Amy has ever written. (At least that I have read). I ended up loving him the best, I think. And then Krissa and Mrs. Wrinkles and Madame M... such WONDERFUL secondary characters. And the baddies... so bad and nasty and weak, driven by greed and a lust for power.

Amy has given us a tale frought with sadness and danger, but also imbued it with love and hope and trust. The world-building is not intense but it works as the foundation for the story it serves. The creations of Nyx and then Cricket were so much the Batman and Robin growing into Nightwing, of my mind and since I have been an UBER fan of Robin/Nightwing/Dick Grayson from the age of 8 or 9 (that's back in 1964 kids!) it delighted me no end.

I love this book with all the love I feel for the Promise series and Clear Water and while it may have small imperfections to the genre purists out there, it's a 5-star read for me. :)

Santuario by G. B. Gordon

3.5 STARS

Santuario - Book 1

3.5 Stars!! Well, I want another half star so I can give this 3.5 stars. 

Santuario was a good read. I enjoyed it. Well-written with clearly defined and different characters, a juicy mystery, some interesting world-building and a plot that kept me wondering all through the book. 

The relationship between the two main characters, Alex and Bengt unfolds very slowly until a ramp-up into intimacy near the end of the book. It was working for me and even the rush was okay, given the plot line that I don't want to give away. But for me, there was a problem with the cliff-hanger ending. I think maybe I didn't need the epilogue dangled in my face to make me go for Santuario #2. 

I think I would have liked a little more insight into the differences between the two cultures of this world because I'm still not sure about some of the more important differences and how they'll affect our heroes. There are also a few spots in the book where the author uses clippings from a newspaper to explain things/further the plot and on my ereader, I could not get the darned things big enough to read the printing of them. The font of the paragraph before and the paragraph following could be HUGE, but the clipping stayed really, really small. That was unfortunate. 

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to those that enjoy mysteries and alternate universe type science fiction. Maybe there'll be more heat in the following volumes, but you know what? I didn't really miss the heat in this one - I suspect it's coming. :)

EDT: I contacted Riptide Publishing and they've informed me that the problem with the 'clippings' has been resolved and updated versions have been uploaded to the site so I can download and replace the one on my Kobo. Have I mentioned that I love Riptide Publishing? They rock!

Song of Oestend by Marie Sexton

4 STARS

Oestend - Book 1

Niiiice! I have to say that after reading the awful, incorrectly portrayed BDSM of 50 Shades, I've been lucky enough to cleanse my BDSM palate with a couple of excellent kinky tales, including this one. And again, this was a surprise, because I had no idea that it would play such a huge role in Song of Oestend.There was really so much to enjoy here. 

Two great main characters, Aren and Deacon, who are definitely not anywhere near cookie-cutter stereotypes, even role reversal stereotypes (ie: little guy being the sub, big guy the dom). I really liked that time was taken for the two of them to fall in love and come to know each other as co-workers and friends before the heat of their physical relationship overpowered them. :) In the very best of ways, of course. And a huge shout-out to Marie for detailing how both men discover and grow into their healthy BDSM roles. (Hint: NOBODY needs to be fixed here!)

The supporting characters were great too. Varied and diverse, some likeable, some pitiful, some hateful, they fleshed out the story quite nicely. The fantasy world aspect of the novel was rather background, sort of like the herbs and spices in a great stew - giving it flavour and body but not being the meat and potatoes of the story. I found myself wondering a time or two about why the populace of Oestend could have generators and not much else in the way of machinery, but it was really a fleeting thought.

To wrap up, Song of Oestend was a terrific read and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes some Lifestyle in their romance. :)

Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey

5 STARS

Dragonriders of Pern - Book 2

My favorite Pern book. It's all about F'nor. *grin*

Dragonsblood by Todd McCaffrey

2 STARS

The son playing in his revered mother's world of dragons.

Well, I was somewhat disappointed, I must say. For my taste there was too much focus on the actual science of genetics. I don't think I needed to know all the nitty-gritty of gene-tracking, splicing... and everything else geneticists find so fascinating. I wanted more about the dragons, their riders, the Weyrfolk - everything that makes Pern, well... Pern!

The characters were rather flat and I honestly didn't come across one that grabbed me with the need to hear his or her story. This is why I'd fallen away from Anne McCaffrey's own books. Less and less attention being paid to the dragonriders and their special bonds with their dragons or the intricacies of Guild Hall and Hold life. Less attention paid to the characters, period, as a matter of fact.

Gone indeed are the days of Lessa, F'lar, F'nor, Robinton, Menolly, Piemur et al; and no one to take their places. Sadly.