Where have I been?

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Holjo

Hello Phooka Pals,

I wanted to give an explanation for my absence this last month.  I took my dream vacation to Scotland toward the end of May (I will post a few pictures this week.)

Shortly after returning home, I found out that my ex-husband (my Son’s father), who has been fighting brain cancer for the last couple years, had taken a drastic turn for the worst while I was gone.  Everything seemed to happen very quickly after that, and I’m very sorry to say that he has since passed away.

It has been a tough month, especially for my son, and my attention has been needed elsewhere.

I will get back in the swing of things in the near future, and I hope to start posting reviews again later this week.  Thank you for your patience!

Sincerely,

Holjo

Posted in News and Press Releases | 2 Comments

Review: The Host, by Stephenie Meyer

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Holjo
  • Title:  The Host
  • Author:  Stephenie Meyer
  • Series:  TBD
  • Genre:  Adult, Scifi
  • Category:  Alien, Futuristic
  • Length:  619 Pages
  • Website:  www.stepheniemeyer.com

Note:  I used to stop by Stephenie Meyer’s website about once a month for announcements about her next writing project.  But then months and years went by without any news, so I stopped visiting.  Someone told me over the weekend that she was officially turning The Host into a trilogy, so that is what prompted me to visit her website again.  No official news, and no mention of writing projects at all that I could find, which is a huge disappointment to me.  Her last full length novel was published in August of 2008.  But after a full year with no updates on her website at all, she did finally start putting up new posts in February this year.  She talks mostly about the movie version of The Host which will be released March 29, 2013 (click link for official teaser trailer), but also shares some info about the newest projects of her production company, FickleFish.  I don’t really know what to make of her writing career at the moment – she seems more focused on movies than books.  I keep hoping that she is just being secretive about her future books because of her experience with the Midnight Sun internet leak back in 2008.  But who knows?  I certainly hope she has another best-selling book series left in her.

As long as I was in the Meyer mindset already, I thought it would be a good time to review her one lonely adult novel.

Summary:  This is the story of Wanderer (aka Wanda) who is a parasitic alien soul who has been implanted into a human being during an alien invasion of Earth. After a soul is implanted, the human being is supposed to cease to exist. Unfortunately for her, Wanda’s host is mentally strong and determined to stick around, leaving two beings living in one body.

Through visions and powerful emotions, Wanda’s host (Melanie Stryder) leads her to the two people she loves most in the world who are hiding in a secret mountain community in the desert.  Her brother Jamie is in residence along with her boyfriend Jared.  She is immediately identified as an infected person by the reflective silver ring around her pupils, which is how the humans separate friend from foe.

When Wanda tries to explain that Melanie is still alive within her, nobody wants to believe her.  She is eventually able to convince a few people of the truth – most importantly, her younger brother.  But this doesn’t mean that anyone is going to trust her not to reveal their hiding place.  Heated debates ensue to determine if she should live or die. Eventually, she is allowed to live because she shows no signs of violence or deception and she may prove useful.  Determined to make a contribution, she works hard and helps where she is needed.  But what these survivors really need from her is knowledge about her species.  They are desperate to know how to remove the aliens without killing the human hosts.

When Wanda first arrives at the compound, Mel’s deep love for Jared is consuming her.  She knows that this love doesn’t belong to her, but experiencing this emotion makes her crave it for herself.  Jared wants nothing to do with her because she is not the Mel he knows and loves.  But when Wanda’s goodness becomes evident, he can no longer hate her.  Still – seeing Mel’s body every day stirs a confusing mix of sorrow and hope within hin.

Eventually, Wanda grows to love these people as family and proves herself as a member of the community. She even falls in love with one of the men – and this time, it is her own love she is experiencing, not Mel’s emotion.  But the more she loves and admires the people around her, the more she is forced to face the fact that this planet should never have been invaded in the first place.  She doesn’t want to be a parasite anymore, and she knows that she needs to give this body back to Melanie.  Can she make the ultimate sacrifice?

Review:  This is my favorite of Stephenie Meyer’s books. I loved the Twilight series as well, so don’t think this is a knock against that mega-hit.  But The Host was written after Meyer had more writing experience, and in my opinion, her growth as a writer was evident in this book.  Besides that, I also preferred that this was an adult novel.  I was well past high school when Twilight was first released, so first loves and homework were distant memories for me.  The Host featured adult situations, challenges and responsibilities.  I really enjoyed seeing Meyer’s growth showcased in this platform.

I’ll admit, I cried during several parts of this book.  I was almost sobbing when Wanda finally faces what it will mean for her if she leaves Mel’s body.  By that point, it didn’t matter to me anymore that she was an alien.  Like the rest of the characters, I “knew” Wanda more than I knew Mel.  As a reader, it makes you think about what you would do if you had to choose between two friends – life for one and death for the other.   And what if one of them volunteers for death?  Could you stand back and watch her die?  Would you look for a way to keep them both alive, even if they could never be separated?

I believe that Meyer’s biggest strength as a writer is the raw emotion she is able to put into words for her readers.  Meyer is able to capture emotion in a way that makes her readers feel what the characters are feeling –  side by side with them, not as an outsider looking in.  Very few authors are able to accomplish this level of emotional connection between fictional characters and an audience.  Personally, I think this is why she was such an instant success.  I don’t care what critics say about the technical part of her writing.  I’ll read anything she writes just for the experience of it.  This is why I’m giving the book such a high rating.

I recommend this book to fans of Paranormal/fantasy romance in addition to SciFi romance. Stephenie has described this book as SciFi for people who don’t like SciFi and I think that is an accurate description. I got so caught up in the intensity of the relationships that I often forgot that I was reading about aliens.  After a while, it didn’t even feel odd to me that there were two people in one body.

If you have kids who want to read this book because they are fans of the Twilight books, keep in mind that this is not a YA novel.  There are sexual relationships (referred to but not written graphically) and there is more violence and adult content in general. I’d probably rate it PG-13.

Posted in Alien, Space Travel, Futuristic, Top Rated Books - 5 Cups | 2 Comments

Review: Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Holjo
  • Title:  Kushiel’s Dart
  • Author:  Jacqueline Carey
  • Series:  Kushiel: Phèdre’s Trilogy #1
  • Genre:  Adult Fantasy
  • Category:  Fantasy
  • Length:  1015 pages
  • Website:  http://www.jacquelinecarey.com/

Summary:  Phèdre’s parents gave her away to the service of Naamah when she was just a child.  Along with a home full of other children, she will be taught the arts of sexual pleasure until she reaches maturity at the age of 16 yrs old.  At that time, her virginity will be sold to the highest bidder and she will be an indentured sexual servant until she has earned enough money to pay off her marque and be a free woman.  In the land of Terre d’Ange, this is a common practice.  They live by the precept “Love as thou wilt.”  It is considered a great honor to serve Naamah, and Phèdre is looking forward to her future.

Her path changes when a mysterious man named Anafiel Delaunay purchases her indenture to take her on as a student and foster child.  From this point forward, she is known as Phèdre nó Delaunay.  Anafiel recognizes the blood red spot in her eye as Kushiel’s Dart, a legendary physical brand that no living person has seen in their lifetimes.  Kushiel is one of the original fallen angels to wander the Earth, and his mark on Phèdre indicates that her sexual appetites and talents will be extraordinarily unique.  Phèdre’s greatest pleasure will be achieved with physical pain and mental torture.

Delauney’s intentions are not to use his two apprentices for something has mundane as profit. Phèdre and her foster brother Alcuin are being trained to spy on the nobility they will be servicing.  Their skills in strategy, observation, and analysis are being honed to perfection.  Their education and linguistics rivals that of scholars.

When the two apprentices finally begin their service, neither is quite clear about what Delauney is looking for in the information they are bringing back to him.  But they do discover quickly that there are many secret meetings and alliances going on behind closed doors.  It seems that the failing health of the current King is drawing the attention of those who would like to take the throne.  When people begin to take sides, violence comes to their beautiful city.  Delauney will take no risks with Phèdre’s safety, so he makes arrangements for a Cassiline Guard named Joscelin to be her constant companion.

When Delauney is betrayed,  Phèdre and Joscelin are kidnapped and sold to a warlord from another country.  Their situation is dire, but their focus is as much on the future of their beloved country as it is on their own situation.  They have finally unraveled the plot against the throne, as well as the identity of the traitors.  They must find a way back to Terre d’Ange to save their country from an imminent demise.  This begins the journey of a lifetime.

Review:  I had moments when I both loved and hated the predominant element of this story: Phèdre’s destiny to be a sadomasochistic servant of Naamah.  In layman’s terms, she is a prostitute.  On one hand, I thought it was really interesting and unique to feature such a person as the protagonist in a fantasy novel.  This kind of originality is one of the first things that die-hard fantasy fans look for in their favorite series.  Phèdre’s profession is the reason she has access to the people who create the story’s conflicts.  And, because she is the only person in this service who has been marked by Kushiels’s Dart, she is revered in a way that allows her to both influence people, and be in a position to manipulate those whom she would bend to her wishes.

On the other hand, it’s risky to use this profession as the thread that ties all of the characters and plotlines together because there are so many cliches and stereotypes revolving around this role in any society.  Yes, the author goes out of her way to make Phèdre something different: the passion she can only experience with pain, the vast amount of education, culture, strategy and cunning she learns from Delaunay, her acceptance among the nobility, and her unabashed love of and craving for her job.  But when you are using “the world’s oldest profession” as the story’s catalyst, it is not enough to make Phèdre a unique character – her actions need to be just as unique. After all, to stand out in the land of Terre d’Ange, where prostitution is considered a sacred service, she can’t just stand out against the general public, she has to be unique compared every other prostitute as well. This is where the author made a few blunders.

Although it was predictable, I didn’t mind that Phèdre’s life was spared on occasion for the sole reason that her enemies were simply too curious to pass by an opportunity to experience her talents.  She was considered a treasure of sorts, and even the most evil villains will want to acquire a few treasures.  The story fell short in a few scenes where Phèdre’s behavior was vapid and unimaginative.  Why give this woman the education and training of a world class espionage agent if she is going to choose to solve her problems with a roll in the sack?  Sometimes it was just too easy. I was very disappointed when these scenes occurred because it was so contrary to how her character was developed.  Her power didn’t come from giving her body away, it come from the lascivious anticipation and greed she elicited in people.  It is human nature to want what we don’t have more than we want what we have.

Aside from these few disappointing scenes, I enjoyed the rest of the book.  The supporting cast of characters was phenomenal.  Delaunay had a fascinating history that probably could have been a book by itself.  And from the moment that Joscelin Verreuil was introduced to the story as Phèdre’s Cassiline bodyguard and companion, I couldn’t get enough of him.  He had to make some of the most difficult and life-changing choices throughout the book, and I loved that he followed his own mind and heart rather than following the rules.  There were other characters who were introduced so mildly that I was caught by surprise later on when their roles became pivotal to the plot.

In spite of the fact that sexuality was such an important part of this culture, the number of graphic sexual scenes are minimal and relatively short.  I would recommend this series to fans of medieval fantasy with strong female leads.  I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

 

 

Posted in Fantasy, Top Rated Books - 4 Cups | 1 Comment

Review: Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Holjo
  • Title:  Dragonfly in Amber
  • Author:  Diana Gabaldon
  • Series:  Outlander Series #2
  • Genre:  Historical Fiction/Romance
  • Category:  Celtic/Highlander, Time-travel, Magic
  • Length:  752 Pages
  • Website:  http://www.dianagabaldon.com/
  • Challenges:  Outlander
Note:  This is the second book in the Outlander series.  If you would like to read my review of the first book in the series, please click the following link: Outlander

Summary:  It is the 1960s in New York, and Dr. Claire Randall has been keeping a secret from her daughter for 20 years.  The man who raised her as his own, Frank Randall, was not her biological father.  Now that Frank is dead and Brianna is an adult, Claire decides it is finally time to tell her about her father.  In addition to revealing the truth to her daughter, Claire also accepts that it is time to find out the details of her beloved Jamie’s death at the battle of Culloden.  She had never had the strength to research his fate before, but there was always a part of her that thought be may have survived.

The two women embark on an extended vacation in Scotland.  Brianna doesn’t quite understand the significance (yet) of her Mother’s new obsession with the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the subsequent battle, but she doesn’t protest much because of the handsome man who is helping Claire with her research.  Eventually, Claire has to come clean and she tells Brianna everything – that she travelled through a stone circle in Scotland 22 years earlier and wound up 200 years in the past.  She fell in love with Jamie Fraser and married him, eventually conceiving Brianna.  But having come from the future, she knew that none of the Scots survived the Battle of Culloden.  So when Jamie is forced into the battle, he makes her return to the future to raise their child and escape the dangers of 1745.

Needless to say, Brianna thinks that Claire has gone mad.  But at this point, Claire doesn’t care.  All she cares about is finding out about Jamie.  If she discovers that he survived the battle by some twist of fate, can she make it back to him?  And if she can, should she?  Could she leave her daughter behind forever in order to live the rest of her life with her one true love?  As her research continues, all is revealed.

Review:   I’m actually very grateful that I didn’t start reading this series until there were already seven books published.  This is one of those series where there can be 3-5 years between releases.  Waiting that long for a book is torture for me, especially in a series that is as emotional as this one is.

I finished this book several weeks ago, but I wasn’t ready to write a review on it until I also read the 3rd book in the series, Voyager.  Due to the fact that we know from the very first chapter of Dragonfly in Amber that Claire has been living in the twentieth century for the last twenty years after believing that Jamie was killed at Culloden (the first book ended with Claire and Jamie together in 1744), I had this strange sensation throughout the entire book that I had read the last page and spoiled the ending for myself.

Most of this book was actually Claire’s flashbacks to the years she spent with Jamie before she returned to the future.  It was a challenge for me to  feel a strong emotional connection to the story lines because I already knew what the outcome was going to be- she returned to the future and left him behind.  After reading the first chapter, all I wanted to do was find out how they were separated.  After they were separated,  I didn’t find it believable that Claire took twenty years to find out what happened to Jamie, and I also didn’t find it believable that Jamie didn’t find a way to leave a message in the past (for Claire to find in the future) to tell her that he had survived.  They were both too smart and too much in love for either of those choices to make sense.

If I had written my review immediately after reading this book, I would have rated it lower.  I decided to wait until I knew how they found their way back to each other before I passed judgement.  I’m glad I did that, because when they had to explain the twenty years apart to each other in Voyager, I had a much greater appreciation for knowing why they made the choices they did in Dragonfly in Amber.  As part of the bigger picture of the series, this book is crucial and makes sense.  Alone, it seemed more like an intermission within the real story.

My favorite part of this book was the historical portrayal of the Battle of Culloden and the repercussions of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 during the years following that battle.  It was a dark time in Scotland’s history, particularly in the Highlands, and I was completely satisfied with the author’s depiction of the land and the lives of those who managed to survive.

I recommend this series to fans of historical or time-travel romances.  This isn’t my favorite book in the series, but it is definitely necessary if you are committed to reading the great love story of Claire and Jamie.

 

Posted in Celtic, Highlander, Druid, Historical, Time-Travel, Top Rated Books - 4 Cups | 1 Comment

Review: Pandora’s Box, by Natalie Stenzel

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Holjo
  • Title:  Pandora’s Box
  • Author:  Natalie Stenzel
  • Series:  Pandora #1
  • Genre:  Adult, Paranormal Romance
  • Category:  Phooka (or Puca), Druid
  • Length:  308 Pages
  • Website:  http://www.natalestenzel.com/

Summary:  Pandemina Dorothy Avery (Mina) was an average woman with an average life and an average relationship.  That all changed when she found her live-in boyfriend in bed with the vindictive mother of one of her students.  Not only did her boyfriend leave her for the other woman, but his new mistress-turned-girlfriend is spiteful enough to get Mina fired from her teaching job for having lived with the school superintendent out of wedlock.  Who would have guessed that her average relationship would have resulted in an ethics scandal?

Jobless and alone, Mina doesn’t hesitate to meet with an attorney who calls her about an inheritance she has received from a long-lost Aunt she never knew.  What an enormous disappointment to discover that all she inherited was a rock!  But the rock turns out to be a prison in which a devious Puca has been held captive for two thousand years.  Because she had never known her father, Mina didn’t have a clue that she was a descendent from a magical Druid bloodline.  Prophecies had foretold of a woman from this bloodline who would eventually open the stone prison and release the Puca, and sure enough, Mina does exactly that by accident while examining the rock.

It was definitely unsettling to discover that the strange voice she was hearing in her head was actually some sort of shape-shifting horseman named Riordan.  But on the positive side, Teague, the gorgeous carpenter who was working on Mina’s house to get it ready to sell, comes running to Mina’s aid after the rock opens with an explosion that blows a hole in her house.  Much to her surprise, the perfect and supportive Teague is interested in being more than just her contractor.

Unfortunately, Mina’s plans for a hot romance with Teague are moving in slow motion because she has a Puca to deal with.  When Mina accepted her inheritance, she became the Guardian of the imprisoned Puca.  This means that unless she finds a way to break the curse, Riordan is both physically and mentally connected to her.  Riordan can not only read her every thought, but he can also speak to her through their mental telepathy, and he cannot be physically further away from her than a couple of rooms.  The last thing Mina wants is to have Riordan’s commentary or audience while she is getting intimate with her new boyfriend.

So Mina and Riordan strike up a deal – she will help him find a way to break free from his curse, and in exchange, Riordan will take the shape of a dog when Teague is around so that Mina doesn’t have to stay away from her dream man.  Researching the curse proves to be very difficult.  Unfortunately, Druids have never believed in writing anything down.  Can she find a way to free him before the curse puts him back in the rock for eternity?  She has to, because if Riordan goes back in the rock, Mina’s mental connection to him (as his Guardian), will exist for the rest of her life.

Review:  I selected this book for one simple reason:  there was a Phooka (Puca) as a main character.  I have been looking for a book featuring a Phooka for a long time, and this is the first I’ve found.  I dove into the story really wanting to love it, but it didn’t quite get there for me.  It was cute and enjoyable, but more of an average read overall.

I liked that this author spent a lot of time developing the relationship(s).  This was not the typical “passionate-love-at-first-site” romance novel.  Mina feels instant attraction in this story, but she doesn’t jump into love or into bed with anyone.  Instead, she developed friendships, and over time, one relationships gained strength and grew into love.  This was a refreshing change compared to the normal approach in this genre, and the romance felt authentic as a result.

I also liked being completely surprised by a couple of twists in the story.  I’m not going to include any spoilers in this review, so I can’t go into much detail here.  I’ll just say that there was one twist that I thought was creatively genius, although slightly awkward/uncomfortable from a romantic perspective.  A second major twist was linked to the story’s resolution, and while surprising, it felt a little too easy.  The twists in this book definitely added to the story’s originality, but I’m not sure they were successfully executed.

While I appreciated that the romance developed slowly, I wasn’t crazy about the fact that the rest of the story moved so slowly also.  I wanted to see more progress in the primary storyline about releasing Riordan from his cursed captivity.  I wish there had been more discovery throughout the book.  Instead, all of the action occurred at the end in a giant whirl of activity – including the introduction of important supporting characters who joined the cast just as the book was ending.  I wish this had been balanced better.  It made the book feel like a long leisurely walk with an all-out sprint at the end.  That sprint went by so quickly that I didn’t have time to focus on some of the more interesting elements of the book.

One other note:  I listened to the audio version of this book, and I strongly recommend that you do NOT do this.  The narrator, Cynthia Wallace, is now one of two narrators that you could not pay me to listen to again.  Her character voices sounded like a little girl playing make-believe with high-pitched sing-songy soprano voices for the women, and effeminate overly dramatic voices for the men.  It was laughable.  Definitely choose the book or ebook versions for this one.

The next book in this series may not be at the top of my priority list, but I’d like to read it eventually.  There is good stuff here, and I’m hopeful that the execution will improve as the series progresses.

Posted in Celtic, Highlander, Druid, Phooka (or Puca) | 2 Comments