sparkindarkness | Entries tagged with books

We’ve spoken before about reviewers charging for book reviews - as well as guaranteeing positive reviews - and the many reasons why we consider this to be both unacceptable and damaging to online reviewing.

And I don’t think we can discount just how very important reviewing has become, especially as ebooks become more and more dominant in the market. Increasingly, we’re no longer going into a book shop and buying books, speaking to book clerks about what would be the best choice (assuming we ever did) or being able to physically pick up the book and skim through it to see if it suits us.

There are many things that have tried to replace this - but a synopsis, blurb and even an excerpt are often carefully chosen to show the book in the best possible light - quite possibly a rather inflated light. With the huge and wonderful proliferation of authors out there - with mainstream presses, indie presses, small presses and self-pubs, I don’t think we’ve ever seen this many choices when picking a book to read. So how do we make that choice?

Well, other than the word of mouth of people we trust, a lot of that choice is based on reviewers (which is, in effect, more of the word of mouth from people we trust). I cannot count how many books I’ve started reading now - especially new authors or ebooks - based on an online review from a person I trust. But trust is the key here - and reviewers selling positive reviews undermine that trust not just for themselves, but for all reviewers.

From our point of view, being a Social Justice blog as much as a review blogs, we also believe it is vital to review the genre we love to ensure the problematic portrayals and erasures are called out - and the gems we see where they author gets it right are duly praised. Again, we feel this requires trust and it requires honesty - we already have a culture that habitually excuses even the most extreme forms of prejudice and the most awful portrayals - to be dishonest about the problematic or prejudiced portrayals in a book is to contribute to that dismissal.

So when we read in the New York Times of a reviewer who was selling reviews and making a considerably amount of money doing so, we were less than pleased and condemn him unreservedly. Reviewers will be tainted by his deception and both readers and reviewers are harmed by it

There is an ongoing conversation in various venues about the identity of writers - specifically, marginalised writers and whether or not it truly matters whether a writer is a POC, GBLT, disabled or holds another marginalisation. We know a whole lot of people are quick to ask who cares whether an author is POC, GBLT et al? Why is this relevant?

Well, we do, and it is relevant. It’s usually one of the first things we try to find out when coming across a new author.

We’ve spoken before about the gatekeepers that marginalised authors face. We’ve seen the drama in YA trying to exclude gay characters, we’ve seen the white washing that covers face if they presume to show a POC. This is one of the reasons we’re supportive of webisodes and self-publishing, because there are a lot of gatekeepers out there that make it hard for maginalised people to be traditionally published. With these gatekeepers, it is reasonable for marginalised people and their allies to try and turn the tide by deliberately going out of their way to support marginalised authors.

Even when marginalised authors do write about their own marginalisation and are published, it greatly increases the chance the book will be shelved as niche and considered undesirable for mainstream consumption. It becomes all the more important to buy the book, support the author and to say this book belongs on the shelves.

There’s also a matter of authenticity. And this doesn’t mean that privileged people can’t write marginalised characters. In fact, we don’t even think it’s hard for privileged people to write marginalised characters - but it’s a very common excuse not to do so. Which is a reason why we seek marginalised authors because so many privileged authors keep writing trope laden stereotypes that it has frequently reached a point where we wish these authors would erase us; erasure would be preferably to the offensive portrayals they create.

It seems a new site has been started called Stop the GR Bullies, aimed at book reviewers at Goodreads. It seems to be author driven in response to the many many trainwrecks we have see all too often; you know the kind, an author sees a less-than-shining review and unwisely decides to responds - frequently leading to cringeworthy temper tantrums and shocking behaviour.

There is a lesson these authors seem to be sorely missing. They are producing a product and they are producing a work of art. The first means that people will review and critique the product they bought (as is their right), the second means that, given the subjective nature of artwork, some people will not like it - in fact some will loathe it and they will say so. They will never please everyone all of the time and it is no-one’s duty to lavish praise when it is not deserves. The book is not their baby, it is not something precious and special that needs to be treated gently - it is a product that is being sold and, like any other product we buy, if it’s awful - be that new furniture or a takeaway pizza - then we will say so, quite possibly in intemperate and scathing terms. Books are not a special category that makes them somehow untouchable.

That is not bullying. This is critiquing. This is reviewing. This has been going on not just with artwork, but with every and all products since the beginning of time. It is actually insulting and offensive to call this bullying, especially at a time when we are seeing so much more attention to the growing bullying rates among schools and the horrendous rate of teen suicide it causes. To try and invoke this imagery because people are criticising your book? No, really, that’s not on.

On to the drama reports - which is one of the things they’ve accused Cuddlebuggery of. Now, I actually read Cuddlebuggery, partly because it’s amusing, partly to keep my eye out for decent books and, yes, partly because I want to have a heads up if an author is going to explode into chunks of messy outrage should I review one of their books and find it less than utterly perfect. And, yes, I will be avoiding that author, why would I seek them out? And I will say that, yes, they’re snarky, yes they can be (justly) harsh but they are never anything but honest - and every single one of those drama posts they’ve written have been a direct, honest report of actual poor author behaviour (which is considerably more honest than the highly skewed and dubious accounts Stop the GR Bullies has written, to be honest) and they include links back for you to see the authors in all their failing glory.

You are not being bullied if someone honestly reports your actions. If you show your arse to the world and people point out that your butt cheeks are on display, it’s not their fault that everyone is commenting on it, criticising it and disapprove of your arse bare to the winds. You are facing the consequences of your actions and your utter lack of professionalism; not being bullied.

Also, let us add that you’re not being “driven off goodreads” by these mean critics. If someone criticises your book, even harshly, that is not driving you off. If you respond to a negative review (which is already foolish) and people continue to criticise and, yes, even mock, that is not driving you off. If your dubious, unprofessional and unacceptable behaviour is reported and people mock you for it, that is not driving you off. If you leave in these conditions you are not being driven off - you are flouncing.

But, you know what? Even if these reviewers were tearing up your precious, even if they said some truly hurtful, mean and even personal things. Even then this site would still be beyond the pale. At Stop the Goodread Bulllies, they go to extreme lengths to attack their critics. I actually would run out of space trying to list their terrible behaviour - and I am in two minds of linking to their site because of what they’ve written there:

They post the real name (and if they don’t have it, they keep looking), home city and, if they can find one, photograph (again, if they can’t find one, they keep looking) of the people they’re attacking. This is already frightening and, frankly, dangerous; but they then compound that by listing their place of work, they even go so far as to list the bars and cafes they visit, the walks they take - and their schedule.

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Some catch up of the stuff we've been doing over at Fangs

As ever our archives are here: Book Reviews, TV/Film Reviews, Discussions Archive and Podcast Archive.
Please feel free to join us on our weekly podcast to discuss the shows we’re watching, our book of the week – and mock Tami for reading the dreadful 50 Shades of Grey.

Our Friday Discussions and Other Genre Musings

In our discussions we look at:
The
Evolution of Snow White
How Television Portrayals often fall below even the poor standards set in books
Using the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia as a Marketing Tool
The Disabled can Play The Game of Thrones

In cover snarks we continue to look at the dubious books covers Urban Fantasy authors are often stuck with, including: Facial Expressions, Broken Spines and Exposed Bellies

In Face Offs we’ve set Twilight vs The Hunter Games, a variety of protagonists against each other to see which has had the Worst Idea Ever, and a number of marginalised side characters to see who is the Most Blatant Token

TV

These reviews link to our latest recaps, but all previous episodes can be found through the tags or through the archive.

In older series, we’re looking back on, recapping and discussing Being Human (UK), the Dresden Files, Charmed and Blood Ties

We have a few series that are gearing up towards their season finales that we’re eagerly following - Once Upon a Time, Grimm, The Vampire Diaries and Secret
Circle (ok, not that eager with Secret Circle, but there’s snark). We also covered the season finales of Being Human (US), Alcatraz and Lost Girl

Season 2 of Game of Thrones has started and joined the programmes we’re reviewing,
discussing and recapping.

Books

With all our book reviews – if we’re reviewing a later book in a series that means we’ve already reviewed previous books in the series and it’s in our archive or you can follow with the author’s tag.

By a Thread by Jennifer Estep, book 6 of the Elemental Assassin’s Series (4.5 Fangs)
Green Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells, book 3 of the Sabina Kane Series (3 Fangs)
Tricked by Kevin Hearne, Book 4 of the Iron Druid Chronicles (5 Fangs)
Torment by Lauren Kate, Book 2 of the Fallen Series (1 Fang)
Game of Thrones by George R R Martin, Book 1 in the Song of Ice and Fire Series (5 Fangs)
A Kiss Before the Apocalypse by Thomas E Sniegoski, Book 1 of the Remy Chandler Series (4 Fangs)
Enthralled by K Drollinger (1.5 Fangs)
Fade Out by Rachel Caine, Book 7 of the Morganville Vampires Series (2.5 Fangs)
Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez (2 Fangs)
One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire, Book 5 of the October Daye Series (4.5 Fangs)
Tainted by Julie Kenner, Book 1 of the Blood Lily Chronicles (4.5 Fangs)
Lover Reborn by JR Ward, Book 10 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood (1.5 Fangs)
Bad Blood by Kristin Painter, Book 3 of the House of Comarré Series (2 Fangs)
The Watcher by Jeanne C Stein, Book 3 of the Anna Strong Series (2 Fangs)
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris, Book 2 of the Sookie Stackhouse Series (3.5 Fangs)
Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Book 8 of the Dark Hunter Series (3.5 Fangs)
Eye of the Tempest by Nicole Peeler, Book 4 of the Jane True Series (4 Fangs)
Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin, Book 1 of the Jaz Parks Series (1.5 Fangs)
Married with Zombies (5 Fangs) and Flip This Zombie (4.5 Fangs) by Jesse Petersen,
Books 1 and 2 of the Living with the Dead Series
Circus of the Damned (4.5 Fangs) and Lunatic Café (4 Fangs) by Laurell K Hamilton, Books 3 and 4 of the Anita Blake Series
Love Hurts by Catherine Green (2 Fangs)

Often in the writing blogosphere we see various forms of Blog Hops and blog tours and similar promotions to draw attention to authors, their books and let readers connect with authors who may interest them.

One upcoming blog hop is Hop against Homophobia

This is a blog hop of authors of the M/M genre. It allows writers in the m/m genre to gain attention to their M/M books and offer M/M prizes. The site itself explains its purpose:

the purpose is to get readers to a) see your name b) see your books and c) have the option to follow your blog to get to know you as an author and to be kept up to date about your future work.

And to start it off they’re going to set things rolling on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

So, what is The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia? Well, it’s pretty much exactly what it says. It is a day where we fight against the damage these bigotries do. It is a day when we look at the damage these bigotries do.

And let us never underestimate the power of this bigotry. There are still a horrendous number of countries out there where being GBLT is a crime. In some of them you will be tortured or executed. Others will imprison you for years and, of course, should you serve your sentence you face being returned to prison since, of course, people don’t stop being GBLT.

People are killed for being GBLT. People lose their jobs for being GBLT (often without any recourse in law). People lose their homes for being GBLT. People are denied any legal partnership rights for being GBLT, people are denied medical care for being GBLT, people are vilified and attacked and destroyed for being GBLT. People turn to drugs and alcohol because of anti-GBLT bigotry and countless GBLT people are driven to suicide every year by anti-GBLT bigotry.

In short, homophobia and transphobia are devastating forces out there and any campaign to battle them (Including this day) is vital and precious and very very important (though we can have debates about the effectiveness of individual days, that is a different discussion).

And these authors have decided to use this day to shill their books. They’re using this day about bigotry against GBLT people for marketing. Worse, not only are they appropriating this day for marketing, the actual purpose of the day they are using does not even remotely have to be involved

From the site itself:
- Talk about the International Day Against Homophobia in your May 17th blog entry (as little as just a mention – your choice).
--- Add the colorful Hop Against Homophobia image to your blog/website with a link to the official hop site:

There, you don’t have to actually do anything about homophobia or transphobia or talk about the day or what it actually aims for – don’t let silly things like that put you off. Don’t let the actual purpose of the day get in the way of your marketing. No, so long as you mention the name (all the better to appropriate it properly) and then you’ll get a giant anti-homophobia rainbow banner as well! Sure you don’t actually have to do anything about homophobia or transphobia, but you get the banner. I wonder if it comes with cookies?

Let me repeat this so we can be abundantly clear – no part of this blog hop requires acting or speaking against homophobia or transphobia, nor does it require being a GBLT member or ally (and no, being part of the M/M genre is not synonymous with allydom. Using us does not make you an ally, writing these books does not grant automatic status as a supporter - far from it). It is not about GBLT rights –it is about advertising, marketing and giving away free M/M stuff to attract more readers and followers

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So Janet W. Hardy is writing a book that she has a kickstarter page to announce. And the book is called Girlf@g. (I am not linking to it, the last thing I won’t is for even one link from me to add so much as a penny into having this homophobic book put on the shelves)

Yes Girlf@g. Though Hardy, of course, doesn’t remotely have the respect to disemvowel the slur –if she did she wouldn’t have used the slur in the first place. And this book is about? Women who are sexually attracted to gay men. No, let's not even be that respectful. A book for women who fetishise f@gs, since that's the term this woman uses. Oh yay there’s a book about the fetishists now.

How to count the many things wrong with this?

Let’s begin with the slur shall we? Even if you wanted to write a book about women who were creepily obsessed in gay men, the very least you could so is not slap a gay slur on the freaking cover. I suppose I should be happy for honesty in advertising since it very clearly says "this woman doesn't give a fuck about you as people." A slur is utterly disrespectful and dehumanising. Using this slur already shows the extreme contempt Ms Hardy has for gay men. There are no doubt a dozen ways she could have titled this book

Her excuses so far are that she didn’t coin the phrase – what, so a slur is only offensive now if you invent it? Most slurs out there are older than I am, the fact I didn’t invent them doesn’t make them not offensive if I use them. That it isn’t meant to be hurtful (yay magical intent, that many gay fetishists absolutely love that word (got that, it may offend us, but the people doing the offending love it, so what’s the problem? Ye gods what is with that logic?!) and that it’s a reclaimed word.

Do we have to revisit reclaiming again? This is getting tiresome. You cannot reclaim a word that cannot be used against you. F@g is a word used against gay men. Ms. Hardy is not a gay man, she cannot reclaim this word. Ye gods can we stop having this conversation already?!

It is not ok to use a slur. Slurs are violence in spoken form. Slurs dehumanise, reduce us to things, reviled things at that. A slur carries the full history of violence and oppression and persecution. Slurs carry the full weight of societal prejudice and loathing. Slurs are so often trigger words that cause so much harm to so many trauma victims. Slurs are not acceptable and not excusable.

Now let's tackle the idea of women being sexually attracted to gay men. Note only gay men. Not men. Because we’re different from other men, apparently. We’re weird, odd non-men and a totally different being from straight men. That’s right, we’re so different from straight men that there’s a whole new attraction just to us that in no way encompasses the straight men. Let me reiterate – it’s not attraction to men or men of a certain body type, hobbies, interest or whatever – not, it’s gay men who are so very different from straight men. As is further revealed when I tried to email her to explain how offensive she was being (it didn’t work, she doesn’t care) she described her partner as “gay-seeming”. Yes, gay seeming. Whatever the hell that means. Born with a rainbow tattoo on his forehead?

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Some catch up of the stuff we've been doing over at Fangs

As every our archives are here: Book Reviews, TV/Film Reviews, Discussions Archive and Podcast Archive.

Our Friday Discussions and Other Genre Musings

Existence is not Entitlement, Erasure is not Acceptable
Hollow Characters of Colour on Lost Girl
The Friday Discussion: The Mary Sue
Self-Publishing: Sometimes the only Gate that's Open
Spunky Agency: Fake Empowerment and not-so-strong Female Protagonists

Books

Dayhunter by Jocelynn Drake Book 2 of The Dark Days Series
Unholy Embrace by Neil Benson
An Artifical Night by Seanan Mcguire, Book 3 of the October Daye Series
A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuirew, Book 2 of the October Daye series
Autumn by David Moody: Book 1 of the Autumn Series
Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland, Book 1 of the Kara Gillian Series
Watcher by Roh Morgon Book 1 of The Chosen
Dark Side of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Book 7 of the Dark Hunter Series
Sins of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Book 6 of the Dark Hunter Series
Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Book 2 of the Were-Hunter Series
Seize the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Book 5 of the Dark Hunters Series
Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler: Book 1 of the Jane True Series
One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost, Book 6 of the Night Huntress Series
Skinwalker by Faith Hunter, Book 1 of the Jane Yellowrock series
Betrayed by Morgan Rice, Book 3 of the Vampire Journals series
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand, by Carrie Vaughn, Book 5 of the Kitty Norville Series
Kitty and the Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn. Book 4 of the Kitty Norville Series
Double Cross by Carolyn Crane, Book 2 of the Disillusionist Triology
Cold Fire by Kate Elliot Book Two of the Spiritwalker Trilogy
Vicious Grace by M.L.N. Hanover
Monster Hunter Alpha by Larry Correia, Book 3 of the Monster Hunter Nation series

TV

Grimm, Season 1, Episode 10: Organ Grinder
Eternal Law, Season 1, Episode 5
Lost Girl Season 2, Episode 15: Table for Fae
The Secret Circle, Season 1, Episode 13: Medallion
Once Upon a Time, Season 1, Episode 11: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
The Vampire Diaries Season 3: Episode 13: Bringing Out the Dead
Being Human, Season Two, Episode Three: All Out of Blood

Vampires Suck
Blood and Chocolate
Underworld Rise of the Lycans
Underworld Awakening
Underworld Evolution

Interviews

SYFY LOST GIRL Q&A with Anna Silk & Ksenia Solo
Syfy Lost Girl Q&A With Anna Silk, Zoie Palmer and Kris Holden-Ried
Q&A with Anna Fricke and Jeremy Carver, Executive Producers/Writers of Being Human (US)

So John Scalzi, a man I normally find myself agreeing with most of the time, has posted something I feel obliged to comment on. Not that he shouldn’t delete comments however the whime takes him, but his reasoning is something I object to.

I take issue with the idea that criticising price of a product I’m buying is “entitlement.” Quite the opposite in fact, I think it’s quite reasonable. When reviewing any product out there, price is usually considered a factor. Whether I’m buying new plates, new cushions, new furniture, food, a painting, clothes, a holiday – you name it, price is normally considered an acceptable element to criticise. I don’t see why books are such a hallowed product that we should not stoop to commenting on the crassness of price.

And yes, I do think there is often a problem with ebook pricing. I do find it dubious that some ebooks are priced at the same level as paperback – or even hardback books. I’m quite sure there are people rushing forward to tell me why this is so and it isn’t just inflated profit margins – and by all means do – but to say the very criticism of price is a sense of entitlement is grossly dismissive. Yes, as a producer, the publishers can set any price they want on their product – most certainly. And as a consumer, I can complain about said pricing and even comment on whether something is worth the money it costs. Because that is what consumers – and most certainly reviewers – do.

Nor do I support the idea that we shouldn’t criticise a book for things the author doesn’t have complete control over. Yes we should mention that it’s not the author’s fault – but the complete product in my hands is what I am critiquing – and if that includes things like a grossly offensive or ridiculous cover, or the fact it is ridiculously over-priced then that is worthy of comment. After all, as we found in the recent YA drama, many publishers are actively pushing to have GBLT protagonists replaced with straight folks. So do we stop criticising erasure as well? For that matter, I’m sure publishers, editors and “market forces” force a lot of fuckery on an author – but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to criticise them when they end up in the book And no, I don’t think it makes you a dick because you criticise the product you have bought rather than some ephemeral dream product the author imagined but wasn’t actually the finished book.

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Our give away: Blood Work by Kim Harrison – one of our favourite authors – . Follow the instructions and remember to leave your contact details! Keep an eye on our Give away section to keep abreast of our latest give aways

Our weekly podcast is here. Our full archives can be found here.

Our Friday Discussion: The Race Problem on The Walking Dead
It is hardly surprising that the AMC series The Walking Dead is so incredibly popular given that comic series itself is popular. Going into this series the one thing this show had going for it was an absolutely solid fan base. Part of the problem with developing a television show from an already popular text is that you are given two choices, stick to the script with limited changes a la Harry Potter style, or slightly alter the script adding new elements, while enlarging, or eliminating characters altogether, which is the path chosen by Alan Ball on his work on True Blood. The Walking Dead has chosen to go with the latter which raises the question about whether or not the changes have been positive or negative.

One of the most glaring issues with race we see is the contrast between the original comics and the show. In the comics there were several characters of colour who were active members of the group and in fact, at times, were put into leadership positions. The same cannot be said of the television show, however, and this is evidenced by the absence of Tyreese.

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Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga
The Fangs for the Fantasy crew are all large fans of the graphic novels and AMC show The Walking Dead. We were thrilled when we learned about The Rise of the Governor and raced to read it. I must say from the very beginning that the novel did not disappoint though the fact that it was written in the first person did at times grate on the nerves.

We all know that when Rick, Michonne and Glenn arrive at Woodbury, after following the trail of a crashed helicopter and its survivors, the governor is very much in charge of the town. The governor is easily the most evil character in the series today. He tortures and rapes Michonne as well as takes the prison away from Rick's crew of survivors in vengeance. The question The Rise of the Governor seeks to answer is what could make a man lose touch with his humanity this way.

Read More 5 Fangs

Loved, by Morgan Rice, book 2 of the Vampire Journals
Caitlin and Caleb are on a quest to find a sword. The greatest sword in the vampire's arsenal, a sword that could end the war between the vampire races, a war that could ensure victory.

And victory is essential. The evil Dark Tide Coven is pursuing its war against the good vampires – and against humanity. They are ready to march and have already placed vast containers of modified plague underneath New York to wipe out humanity.

Of course, Cailtin an Caleb are not the only ones after the sword – another vampire, Samantha, has manipulated Caitlin's brother Sam to get her own claws on the blade – and Kyle, one of the oldest and most evil of the acktide Coven, also hunts the sword to get back into his masters good graces.

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Review of Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis Book 2 of Quincey Morris, Supernatural Investigation
Okay, I messed up and read the second book in this series which is Evil Ways first. That being said, I didn't find the story hard to follow at all. I loved every single minute I spent reading this book, and I cannot wait to go back and read the first book in this series.

The characters are rich and varied. I must report that we do have absolute erasure of GLBT, and disabled characters though. While the erasure is frustrating, it really has become par for the course as far as urban fantasy is involved. Gustainis did include a man of colour and I am happy to report that he is no side character and plays meaningful role in the plot. This is a rarity, because in most urban fantasy, people of colour are often reduced to side kicks whose sole role is to service the White protagonists.

Walpurgis Night is fast approaching and with it, the very high possibility that Satan will be unleashed upon the world at the behest of a very rich man who seeks to have his life extended. In preparation, someone is killing all of the white witches. Though the witches have all taken a vow to do no harm, that does not that they are completely defenceless. As you may have guessed, all the witches are women.

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Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn, book 1 of the Kitty Norville series
Kitty is a werewolf. Though she has worked hard to keep it hidden from her friends and family – and certainly from her work colleagues at the radio station she late night DJs for.

At least she did, until one show got out of hand and suddenly she is talking the supernatural all the time. Her ratings spike and she grows ever more popular reaching out to people who want to talk about the supernatural – as well as a huge number of vampires and werewolves who want someone to talk to, to advise them and who understands them

Now as an ever growing and ever more famous personality who is openly supernatural she faces a world that is rapidly changing as the supernatural is revealed and acknowledged. Further she faces her pack – and the local Vampire Family – who are less than pleased with her independence and her public revelations.

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Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia, book 1 of Monster Hunter Nation
Owen had an odd childhood. His father, convinced of various end of the world scenarios, brought him up to be a solver, a warrior and a fighter through and through. Owen had other plans. He wanted to be normal, to distance himself from all that – so he became an accountant. As normal as it was possible to be

And the plan worked. Until his boss turned into a werewolf and tried to eat him.

In the aftermath he was recruited by Monster Hunters Inc. A private company of dedicated hunters who go into the dark and blow it up. Then shoot it until it stops moving. Then shoot it some more. Then cut up the remains and burn them to ash. And they get to play with the best toys.

Read More 3.5 Fangs

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher, book 13 of the Dresden Files
This was a heavy book with a plot that tied itself in knots - and my mind with it

Harry is dead. Shot with a high powered rifle, his body falling into Lake Michigan. Dead and gone – and his friends have had to spend the last 6 months without him, grieving and dealing with the world.

And the world is not a happy place. The Red Court is dead, one of the most powerful forces in the supernatural world. The power vacuum begs to be filled and dark powers from across the world are rushing in to fill the void, to raise themselves up to be the next great power. In particular, the fomori are staging a massive come back, hitting talents across the US. And for Chicago, dark times are darker by the lack of Harry Dresden. As a Warden of the White Council, and as a wizard who had faced down some of the greatest and darkest powers of the world, his mere presence made sure Chicago was safe. Now he's dead – and the dark things are coming out to play.

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The Vampire Diaries: Season 3, Episode 8: Ordinary People
This episode was all about the original vampires, and may I say that it's about time that they started building this plot and letting us know who the big bad is on this show. It all begins when Alaric and Damon show Elena some carvings on the old Lockwood property carved by Rebekah. Apparently, the carvings have been there longer than Mystic Falls has been a town. Apparently, the original family are Vikings who settled in North America for a better life. Can we all agree that a Viking settlement in the middle of Georgia in the 980's, which btw is when the Vikings travelled to North America is ridiculous? I guess we are supposed to ignore the ridiculousness of this, the same way that we were expected to ignore the way that Katherine supposedly travelled across Eastern Europe to end up in the U.K. last season. The fact that they were all speaking English as well, I suppose is just another one of those happy occurrences.

Read More 3.5 Fangs

Lost Girl Season Two, Episode Seven: Fae Gone Wild
This is the first episode in quite some time that Bo has not needed to be saved by Kenzie or Dyson. I wish I could say that this made her less irritating this episode but alas that was not the case. Bo is hired by to find a stripper named Sherri. What she does not know is that Hale and Dyson are also looking for her because they believe her to be responsible for murder.

When they walk into a murder scene they run into Bo and she lies to them about her true intentions before slipping out saying that she does not want to ruin their crime scene. Hale and Dyson are both aware that she is lying but let her get away with it anyway. Aren't they the nicest cops evah? When they both show up at the strip bar looking for Sherri, they find Bo working there as a bartender

Read More 3.5 Fangs

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 4: Cherokee Rose
Carl wakes up and asks if Sophia is okay, and the crew arrive from the highway. During Otis' funeral they ask Shane to speak for Otis and he says, "I'm not good at that," but his widow begs him to speak saying, "please I need to know that his death had meaning." He lies and says that Otis volunteered to take the rear and cover him. Clearly, the guilt is getting to him and really it should. What he did was despicable no matter how he tries to justify it to himself.

The crew gathers around the vehicle with Herschel to set up a plan to search for Sophia but Hershel tells them that Rick has given too much blood and that Shane's ankle isn't ready for that kind of pressure yet. Hershel tells them that he does not want them to carry guns on his property and Rick promises to respect his wishes, which does not make Shane happy. Shane asks what happens if we find her if she is bit and Rick responds, "you do what has to be done". Then Shane goes ahead and announces that Dale is going to keep watch, of course ignoring what Herschel just said he does not want guns on the property. Rick turns and smoothes it over by saying that "people would feel more comfortable with this situation". Where does Shane even have the gall to attempt to take a leadership position after what he just did?

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Grimm, Season 1, Episode 2: Bears will be Bears
A blonde and her boyfriend go and break into the Bear's house. Sadly, she doesn't get chewed on. A couple looking for kicks bite off more than they can chew – or have more bitten off.

I actually really like this new twist on urban fantasy. We're not looking at werewolves and vampires, we're looking at the old stories – the Big Bad Wolf and the 3 bears. And there's always the keys to these stories in them – the red coat for the Big Bad Wolf, the blonde hair for the 3 bears. It makes me want to hunt for more parallels

The break in is reported – but the boyfriend is still missing and, of course, Nick's Grim Vision sees the fuzziness of the couple's son.

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The Secret Circle, Season 1, Episode 8: Beneath
Full Scooby meeting! Well no. full Scooby meeting except... Melissa. Uh-huh, apparently her mother has been worried about her so took her out of town for a while. Ye gods, they're not even giving her screen time any more! But we do have Jake – who will now be known as Evil Scooby.

Mean Girl Faye decides to blame the kidnapping, demons et al on Cassie for... well, no apparent reason. Because she's Mean Girl What, we need reasons now? This becomes a recurring theme in the episode with Faye blaming Cassie because Jake likes her. Anyway, after lots of constant snapping and yipping, the Scoobies decide to go looking for Cassie's grandmother (who is missing after going to check on Faye's grandfather who was killed by Evil!Parent 1, Dawn, Faye's mother waaay back in episode 2)

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American Horror Story, Season one, Episode Five: Halloween Part 2
For the majority of this episode, it felt like the writers were channeling, the 1987 flick, Fatal Attraction. This episode was largely about Ben's chickens coming home to roost. When he gets home from the hospital with Vivien, Hayden shows up and he promptly slams the door in her face. I suppose one cannot have the little woman finding out about all the ways in which he has been naughty. When he runs into Terry later on the property while searching for Hayden, he accuses him of being a conspirator to Hayden's plans to which Terry laughs and responds with, "you don't even know what question to ask." Even though the Harmons have been haunted since their first day in the house they are not really aware of this fact. All they know is that their lives are falling apart and feel powerless to bring about and end to all of the pain.

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Bedlam
Our weekly catch up this week has been Bedlam – as usual we've reviewed several past episodes

Season 1, Episode 6: Burning Man 3.5 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 5: Committed 2.5 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 4: Hide and Seek 2.5 Fangs

There has been a drama in the m/m genre with a popular author using a male pseudonym and fake gay bio (quite an elaborate one at that) – and it turns out that (SHOCK HORROR) she is actually a woman. Several people have rightfully condemned said fraud. And others are shocked, SHOCKED that such deceptions have been practised.

I sometimes wonder if these people practice their shocked face in front of the mirror to maintain its authenticity – or whether they have problems with their memory because, really, at what point does a thing have to be repeated for you not to be shocked by this?

I was going to write a long long post about it, but, again, I remind myself that this is a shark tank I don't want to jump into and those who get it already do, those who don't will defend just about anything (though I will say I am vaguely amused by the people commenting in threads saying how terribad such behaviour is when they have done/defended such in the past) and, frankly, I don't want another migraine causing inbox full of privilege, entitlement and gross homophobia which I always get whenever the subject is touched on.

My general posts on m/m genre are still in my tags and I won't repeat them

I will say that using an identity like this is out of line. When you pretend to be a marginalised body you are claiming an experience you haven't had. At the most basic, this is like putting “Dr.” before your name when you don't have the qualifications to back it. But it's worse than that – because you're not only claiming an experience you don't have – but you're claiming a marginalisation you haven't experienced – your claiming an insight into a persecuted body that you do not have. You are exploiting our persecution for your own gain.

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Our weekly podcast is here. Our full archives can be found here.

Our Next podcast will be on Tuesday 1st November at the usual time

Interview with Clay & Susan Griffith, authors of the Vampire Empire Series

This week, we're lucky to have a written interview with Clay and Susan Griffith, authors of the Vampire Empire series, The Greyfriar and The Rift Walker. Both books we enjoyed immensely and we're happy to fanpoodle shamelessly.

While we wait eagerly for the third instalment in this series we have these 10 questions and their detailed answers to whet our appetites

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Mixed Raced Characters in Urban Fantasy don't Necessarily Constitute Inclusion

One of the recurring tropes we’ve found in Urban Fantasy is the use of token inclusion for people of colour. Unfortunately for many authors, the addition of one person of color in an all White cast, even in cities in which the population demographics would suggest a larger representation is necessary, qualifies for a claim of equal representation. This is beyond irritating in and of itself. But there’s a related trope that doesn’t even go so far as that to use the oft normalized tokens - mixed race protagonists. One of the major issues is that even though these people are technically bi-racial, they are often so light skinned that they exist with passing privilege, thereby never having to negotiate the racism faced by everyday people of colour. Urban fantasy gives new meaning to the phrase light bright and damn near White.

In and of themselves, mixed race protagonists are by any means a bad thing - not by any stretch. We’d welcome, hail and do happy dances about more mixed-race protagonists, or more protagonists of colour in general, if it constituted good equal representation but alas that is not the case. It would be good to see if these mixed raced people read like mixed raced people, instead of White people with a touch of exotic thrown in for extra flavour.

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Traumatised Youth in Urban Fantasy

What shocked us most about this trope, as we went through our Book Review Master list, was how common this trope was. Literally, we went down our master list and struggled to find series where this trope didn’t apply. No, seriously - nearly every last series we’ve read included this trope. It has become less of a trope and more of a requirement in the genre.

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The Vampire Diaries Season Three, Episode Seven: Ghost World

Once again, Mystic Falls had another founders celebration. This week they were celebrating Illumination Night. Apparently, they lit lanterns to tell the town that it was safe to come out at night again, after they had entombed all of the vampires. I am really sick and tired of the weekly celebrations of the former slave owners. Of course, The Vampire Diaries creators don't see it that way, but this is the truth of the matter.

It seems that when Bonnie sent Vicky back to the other side she opened up a door that allowed all of the ghosts that had unfinished business to walk the town. Because Elena was thinking of Lexy, Stefan's friend he came back and because the tomb vampires had unfinished business with the founders they came back with the aim of killing the descendants. Mason came back to find a weapon to kill Klaus in order to save Tyler.

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Secret Circle: Season 1, Episode 6: Wake

And within 5 minutes of the Secret Circle starting we learn that Nick had an older brother called Jake. See, see? I totally called it. No way were we going to go down to 5 witches. Someone call the advertising people and replace Nick with Jake (or, y'know, we could give Melissa some space... nahhhhh) and yes, the Circle is bound by bloodline! So Jake is a member of it as Nick's brother – replacement Nick!

And Jake is troubled... very troubled – and a thief and selfish and and and he jaywalks! EVIL, evil I say! And he used to date Faye (Mean Girl) and treat her terribly and he stole from Adam and Adam now haaaates him. And he's baaaaad. And they don't want him in the circle, no no no! Bad Jake! No cookie.

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The Walking Dead: Season 2, Episode 2: Bloodletting
The episode begins with Lori talking about her marital problems with Rick. Right after that she admits that she loves him Shane -- who is not dead -- pulls up and tells her that Rick has been shot. Even then you can see Shane looking at them with a weird sort of desire.

The seen flashes back to Rick running with Carl after he has been shot. We learn that Otis shot a buck and it went straight through to Carl. Lori stops to look behind her when she hears the gunshot. It worries her that Rick and Shane have not caught up. Darryl keeps them moving by telling them to stop worrying about Sophia and that she will be just fine, and that Shane and Lori are probably on the way. What I don't like about this is that they have set Darryl up to lead in the absence of Rick and Shane. Why couldn't Andrea take the lead considering that she is such a strong character in the comics. Oh I get, Darryl a character made up for the show is a nature guy and therefore the natural leader.

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American Horror Story
While it may stretch the definition of Urban Fantasy a tad, we've had many requests to review this series – and we were curious anyway – so we have decided to do so :)

American Horror Story: Season 1, Episode 4: Hallowe'en Part 1 4 Fangs
American Horror Story: Season 1, Episode 3: Murder House 4 Fangs
American Horror Story: Season 1, Episode 2: Home Invasion 4 Fangs
American Horror Story: Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot 4 Fangs

Bedlam
So we return again to ghost central! And within 5 minutes of the episode starting I am given my reason for watching this programme – Theo James in a towel. What? I need something to encourage me to keep watching. Alas, Kate wants him to put some clothes on to do some handyman work... hmm... maybe a toolbelt.

Anyway, I digress. Molly's friend Zoe is still missing and Molly is going on blind dates, Kate is still sleep walking and hallucinating and being a not-very-pleasant person and Ryan's upset about his brother's killer coming up for parole. I dunno, not doing much but this episode follows the much distracted Leah (I don't blame it the 4 main characters of this programme don't exactly lead fascinating lives), another resident of Bedlam heights and Molly's new friend – who keeps seeing spooky tire tracks, ghosts in her car and spectral car trouble. Her car keeps breaking down but she daren't take it to a garage because it belongs to an abusive ex who has probably reported it stolen – if it goes into a garage, he can probably find Leah.

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Once Upon a Time
Okay, I know that this is a bit of a stretch but fairy tales are fantasy after all. Sunday night was the ABC premier of Once Upon A Time staring, Ginnifer Godwin, Jennifer Morrison, and Robert Carlyle. The story is based on the idea that fairy tale creatures are now living in the modern world but are unaware that they are fairy tale characters thanks to a spell by the wicked witch.

The story begins with Snow White and the handsome Prince Charming. As we all know, Snow White was presumed dead and the seven dwarfs were mourning her when Prince Charming rode in and saved the say by giving her a true love's kiss. At their wedding, the evil queen shows up to make them a promise, "everything you love will be taken from you forever. Out of your suffering will rise my victory. I shall destroy you happiness if it's the last thing that I do".

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Lover Enshrined, by JR Ward, Book 6 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood
The plot for this book is actually surprisingly involved for the Black Dagger Brotherhood. While we do have a relationship between His Whineyness Phury and Cormia front and centre but it's relatively easy to ignore and you can see the true action beneath.

The Omega has decided to combat the Dhestroyer prophecy with both a new fore-lesser and to tap his son – the son of a powerful vampire aristocrat. Bringing him back into the fold not only brings a powerful warrior with terrifying abilities but also bringing with him powerful intelligence that allows the lessers to hit a lot of extremely high profile targets which in turn leads to the looming shadow of politics in the glymeria

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Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews, Book 5 of the Kate Daniels Series
Kate Daniels is back in action in post shift Atlanta. After killing her aunt in Magic Bleeds her secret is rapidly becoming unfrayed as more and more people notice her powerful magic and powerful blood – and more and more people know exactly who she is and who her father is.

Kate now runs her own agency, joined by Andrea whose attempts to make the Order accept her humanity failed in the face of their prejudice. And the Red Guard has come to her with a job – they were guarding a weapon. A weapon of incredible power. And it has gone missing, along with its inventor. Under the cloak of necessary secrecy and discretion, the Guard need Kate to find the weapon and the inventor, preferably before its power is unleashed

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Spider's Revenge by Jennifer Estep, Book 5 of the Elemental Assassin's Series
The plot was simple yet epic. It wasn't complicated with nuances and twists and there's not a lot to summarise of it without going outright into spoilers. Gin has reached the final showdown. Her or Mab. Mab has been targetting her sister too often and while Gin can hide her identity and be the ghost biting at Mab's flanks, Bria cannot. And the longer this fight continues, the longer Gin keeps to the shadows and plays the long game against Mab, the more and more danger Bria is in.

Especially now. Mab has put her vast resources on the table and sent out a call to every bounty hunter in the country. The Spider – dead or alive. Or Bria, Gin's baby sister, alive only. Except, with some of these bounty hunters, “alive” covers a great deal – and Mab herself certainly never hesitates at torture.

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Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine, Book 4 of the Morganville Vampire Series
In the last book we were left with a cliffhanger. The Bishop, Amelie's father has come to town – and so has Claire's parents. The Bishop is dangerous, threatening and powerful...

And we open the book basically in the same situation. Big threatening bad guy and Claire's parents hanging round. And then we enter a holding pattern. I said the same thing about Midnight Alley and, sadly, I have to say it again, there's very little plot to review.

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Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep, Book 4 of the Elemental Assassin's Series

Gin's war against Mab is now declared and Mab is feeling the Spider's bite. First killing her lieutenant, Elliot Slater in Venom she has now started hitting Mab's operations around the cities. Her minions and dealers are all under threat, smoothly assassinated and the Spider rune left by their corpses.

Mab can't tolerate this any more and calls in LaFleur, her own assassin. An expert assassin of the Spider's calibre and an Electricity Elemental. She's in town to run Mab's operations – and take out the Spider. As a bonus prize, she's also to take out Bria, Gin's sister, to finally remove that thorn out of Mab's side as well. To complicate things, Mab has not missed Gin's friendship with Roslyn and is looking to spy on her and undermine her as much as possible

Read More 3.5 Fangs

John Carpenter's Vampires
This movie could easily go down as one of the worst films, I have ever had the misfortune to see. For the purposes of full disclosure, I am going to admit right off the hop that James Woods is one of my least favorite actors of all time. From the beginning, I could see why he was attracted to this role. He got to play an ass kicking vampire slayer with a gun and a cross bow.

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Our give away – Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, volume 1. Follow the instructions and remember to leave your contact details! Keep an eye on our Give away section to keep abreast of our latest give aways

Our weekly podcast is here. Our full archives can be found here.

Vampires and Impossible, Timeless Beauty standards
When vampires first entered folklore they were physically described to look like bloated leeches. When you think about this, it makes perfect sense because their entire diet is based on drinking the blood of others and the creature most associated with that in nature is of course a leech. Overtime, vampire folklore began to change. The modern vampire looks nothing like its predecessor. Today, vampires all have hard lean bodies, twinkling eyes (that is when they are not glowering and trying to look dangerous) ridiculous hair (think R. Pratz in Twilight) and are disarmingly gorgeous. This is true of both male and female vampires. With few exceptions, like vampire Eddie in True Blood and Tony, in Karen Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series, no matter how long they have been alive they are gorgeous. And those vampires that aren’t thin are clearly not intended to be beautiful.

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Vampire Diaries: Season 3, Episode 5: The Reckoning
The writers really should have titled this episode, "It's All About Elena Again." It galls me that this irritating character is the centre of this show. At any rate, for the first time this season, the kids all show up at school. Nope, they didn't actually attend a class -- school after all is only about having a centre for some sort of event. The kids are there to prank the school as part of a high school senior tradition. This involved gluing toilet seat lids and leaving mouse traps all over the school gym. Matt is the only one not into this, and all he think about is his dear departed sister. I think that this just smacks of attempting to make Matt's character relevant.

After much ridiculous high school pranks, Klaus shows up and sure enough silly Elena tries to run away. Hello, if you cannot outrun a vampire, you cannot possibly outrun a hybrid. Klaus is absolutely determined to find out why he does not have the ability to make more hybrids.

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Secret Circle: Season 1, Episode 5: Slither
Cassie's grandmother starts asking suspicious questions of Cassie, suggesting she's finally got a clue But Chief Scooby Diana tells Cassie that Parent Circle had its powers stripped by Grandparent Circle as punishment for the whole burning people to death thing, so it's best to keep it all a secret (yeah I know there's some logic missing there)

Speaking of the Parent Circle, Dawn and Charles (Diana, and Faye's parents), the Bad Guys, are calling on the Blood Moon to find 5 other crystals linked to the one they have, with the help of the bound circle, to get their powers back, it fails though, the crystal is out of batteries.

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The Walking Dead
With the return of the Walking Dead season 2 we are doing a recap of every episode of the first season:

Season 2, Episode 1: What Lies Ahead 5 Fangs

Season 1, Episode 6: TS 19 4 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 5: Wildfire 3.5 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 4: Vatos 3.5 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 3: Tell it to the Frogs 4 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 2: Guts 4 Fangs

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews, Book 4 of the Kate Daniels Series
We have another new epic here. Oh yes we do. There's a new evil in town, a powerful ancient evil that spreads plague and destruction and death – that can make warriors run in terror, that can fight the greatest fighters in the city with ease and leaves a trail of magically sentient plague behind. Not even the best experts in the city knows who this threat is, not Saiman, not the People, not the Order – and it's already moved through several cities leaving a swath of destruction and death. And if that weren't enough – for Kate, this may be a family matter.

With a new epic bad guy in town Kate has to literally save Atlanta – and the pack. But she's also coming to more and more attention of the servants of Roland – the ancient and enormously powerful leader of the People of the Dead seeking to re-establish a new empire. He's looking for her and with every battle it becomes harder for her to hide.

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One Foot in the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost. Book 2 of the Night Huntress Series
Cat is back. Now at the head of her own government established force to police and hunt down vampires. 4 years have passed since the last book and she's grown to a powerful, confident leader and a lethal warrior.

But 4 years have also passed without Bones who she can't stop thinking about. As is almost inevitable, he finds her. But he's not the only blast from the past that shows up on her doorstep – her old boyfriend is leaking information about her too assassins and her father, the vampire who raped her mother, has finally raised his head on the scene and it doesn't look like a happy reunion

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‘Soulless’ by Gail Carriger, Book one of the Parasol Protectorate series.
Miss Tarabotti is a proper Victorian lady. The daughter of upper class, proper British society with all the refinement, expectations and proprieties that entails.

She’s also a spinster at the grand old age of 25, cursed by her Italian father to be too dark, have too bold a nose and far too bold a tongue to ever fit in proper, elegant, high society. Miss Tarabotti is also Soulless. Soullessness is a trait that she inherited from her Italian father and like everything derived from him is considered without doubt to be a negative.

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Jabril by D. B Reynolds
Having read Raphael, I went into Jabril with extremely low expectations. I must admit that I was mildly surprised with Jabril; however, Cyn, the protagonist, once again found herself mixed up in vampire intrigue, but this time it was at the behest of the master vampire Jabril. Cyn was initially hired to search for a missing girl, not because Jabril believed in her prowess as an investigator, but to irritate his rival Raphael.

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Venom by Jennifer Estep, Book 3 of the Elemental Assassin's series
Gin's retirement doesn't seem to be sticking. This time Roslyn comes to her with nowhere else to turn, the vampire is being stalked by one of Mab's minions. The giant Elliot Slater. Her chief enforcer, he is a dangerous opponent with all the power of Mab behind him, the most powerful figure in the Ashland crime world. The authorities can't help her, justice and safety can only come from the Spider's knives.

And there's a new cop in town – honest, true, trying to do as much good as she can in a system that is corrupt and compromised to the hilt. Detective Bria Coolridge – Gin's long lost sister. Gin has to decide what to tell her sister, how to help her, how to protect her from Mab and her minions – while at the same time risking her profession as an assassin driving her away just as it drove away Caine.

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Lover Revealed, by JR Ward, Book 4 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood
Our latest adventure with the Black Dagger Dudebros follows Butch, the human ex-policeman who lives with the Brotherhood and his long distant love affair with Marissa, King Wrath's ex-shellan who he first met in Dark Lover

After months with no contact during which they mistakenly think they both hated each other, Butch is forced to share a long quarantine with Marissa after a painful encounter with the lessers and the Omega himself. They rekindle their old love, but Butch is permanently infected by the darkness of the Omega and fears endangering her and the Brotherhood.

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Side Jobs by Jim Butcher, Short Story collection from the Dresden Files
I approached Side Jobs with a degree of caution and a firm determination not to let my own biases sway me. See, I don't like short stories. I don't. I don't even like stand alone novels all that much. I like great big epic series with huge great meta plots and development and drama and on the edge of your seat excitement.

And while all those are possible within the confines of a short story, they're usually not there. I was especially leery of reading a Harry Dresden short story simply because the best thing about these books is the epic within. I don't think I've read an author that can match Butcher for the epic – but nor do I think you can build up to good epic in a short story.

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Touch the Dark by Karen Chance of the Cassandra Palmer series
Though Karen Chance is quite prolific, I had not heard about her until I came across a post on Tumblr raving about her Cassandra Palmer series. I can't say what exactly spurred me to read one of her books, but I didn't go into it with great expectations, and so I suppose that there was nothing to let down by.

Touch the Dark, is the first book in the Cassandra Palmer series. Cassandra is a time travelling, clairvoyant, and as you might imagine, time travel lends itself to various timelines. When a writer chooses to go down this road, the plot must be clear and easy to follow. At times I had to go back and re read because I lost the thread of the story entirely. To give you an idea of the potential to be confused, take a look at the time line created by Chance, to help the reader follow her story.

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Our give away –Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the Walking Dead Graphic Novels!. Follow the instructions and remember to leave your contact details! Keep an eye on our Give away section to keep abreast of our latest give aways

Our weekly podcast is here. Our full archives can be found here.

Abuse as True Love in Paranormal Romance

We discuss the various common and destructive tropes in Paranormal Romance

There are a lot of tropes in paranormal romance that consistently raise their ugly heads - many of which we explain in our Lexicon

Many of these destructive tropes are often “justified” by being “explained by the woo-woo”. In other words, the fact that it is magic or some kind of preternatural creature doing these things makes it okay, not problematic or otherwise acceptable. So a possessive or stalking boyfriend is explained by being a werewolf or a vampire - therefore territorial. This has the additional problematic element of justifying or excusing the problematic behaviour - very reminiscent of the old excuse of “he can’t help it” and “it’s just his way.” or it’s the nature of whatever supernatural being that the author is discussing. Just as “I could smell your desire” sounds very much like “you want it really.”

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Vampire Diaries: Season 3, Episode 4: Disturbing Behaviour

I really liked this episode, faults and all. It's been awhile since I could honestly say that about an episode of The Vampire Diaries. After spending an entire summer chasing Stefan, Elena finally decided that it was time to move on with her life. Of course she didn't make the decision because she realized that is a cold blooded killer but because she finally believed him when he said that their relationship was over. Her next project it seems is to remake Damon in Stefan's image. It was clear as they were making chili for the founders day gathering that the chemistry between them was strong. I think it's worth pointing out that none of these so-called kids have attended school yet; however, they all found time to show up and once again worship the founders.

Liz took Damon to see Caroline's father Bill Forbes. Damon wants to kill him but Liz tells him that he cannot, because Bill is Caroline's father. After testing to ensure that Bill is indeed vervain free, Damon compels him to believe that he came to Mystic Falls, to take Caroline back to school shopping, which btw cracked me up cause they don't attend school, and then to leave town.

Read More 3.5 Fangs

Lost Girl: Season Two, Episode Five: Brotherfae of the Wolves

Dyson has been visited by an old friend and packmate – Kaden. Y'know, I saw this and instantly thought “evil evil! he's so evil”. Because when you get an old blast from the past they're always dodgy and evil. It is known.

In the past Dyson and Kaden were mercenary warriors for the king Aelic – and were feared and lethal warriors. Dyson severed his ties with the king long ago, but now the king is dead after centuries of being involved in warfare and running his own extremely wealthy mercenary company.

We see a lot of flashbacks in this episode to Dyson's time as a warrior, including the last time he dealt with a norn and refused to give his wolf to save a friend's life. His friend ends up being betrayed by the king so the king could make his wife, Kiara, his queen which is why Dyson left the band.

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Secret Circle: Season 1, Episode 4: Heather

Well we open to see that Melissa (Doormat) and Nick (Hot Guy) seem to be having a much healthier relationship. I bet it can't last – more angst is needed. Meanwhile, Cassie is looking up Heather Barnes (her mother's old school friend) after Zachary mentioned she wasn't dead and that Cassie's mother did far worse than that to her. Cassie is looking her up because... because... actually I don't have a clue, maybe she's chronically bored or needs to top up her angst levels or something. Anyway she's googling. She does her best to find her, but her cyberstalking skills are sadly lacking as she tries to trace where she lives, what family she has and their contact details (she turns up a brother). Not perturbed, she goes to school and enlists the aid of Diana (Chief Scooby) to go on a happy stalking field trip! Yay!

Read More 2.5 Fangs

The Walking Dead: Days Gone By

With the return of the Walking Dead season 2 we are doing a recap of every episode of the first season:

The opening scene of this pilot is one of the best I've seen. We see the protag in an obvious disaster zone, surrounded by wreckage and scraps of people's lives – including children's toys. He is carrying a petrol can, looking for a resource most of us today take for granted. It is eerily silent except for the buzzing of insects clinging to the corpses of the dead. And then we see the Walker – a child, a little girl (evocative of all what we're supposed to protect) even carrying a teddy bear. And he shoots her.

A perfect introduction to the world of the Walking Dead..

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The Dead Girl's Dance by Rachel Caine, Book 2 of the Morganville Vampire Series

At the end of the last book, Glass House, Shane called in his father in a desperate attempt to save them from the wrath of Morganville's vampires. Of course, they managed to escape that wrath by earning the support and protection of Analee, the Founder of Morganville who had enough clout to keep them safe.

The problem is, Shane's father and his vampire slaying biker gang still arrived. And they're still looking for blood and they don't intend to leave without slaughtering as many vampires as possible, preferably all of them. In fact, it seems this was Shane's reason to return to Morganville anyway – to gather as much intelligence as possible in the eventual attack.

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Lover Awakened, by JR Ward, Book 3 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood

And we have another adventure of the Black Dagger Dudebros in their continued quest to have lots of bar fights, have lots of sex and occasionally killing a lesser if one waves at them. Oh wait, I mean nobly and valourously defending the vampire species from the depredations of the soulless Lessers of the Lessening Society

This time it's Zsadist's turn to find his one true love. After escaping the clutch of the Lessers, Bella seeks refuge with the Brotherhood, especially with Zsadist who she feels safe with and feels compelled to seek his presence.

Zsadist must face these entirely new feelings he has. After years of abuse as a blood and sex slave, he must learn that a woman's touch does not bring pain – and find something within him that isn't hard and cruel and tortured. Bella restores his hope, hope that both he and his twin Phury had forgotten long ago.

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Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge, Book 1 of the Black London series

When Pete Caldecot was 16 she saw something magical. With her sister's boyfriend, Jack Winter, they conjured something, a man of shadows and smoke, a creature Jack couldn't stop or hold within his circle. And Pete saw it kill him.

She's 28 now and a police inspector with the MET – and investigating a string of child abductions. The children go missing and the return, damaged and blinded, their energies drained. And there to help her is Jack, back from the dead, but driven to the edge by drug addiction and the pressures of his magic.

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Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey: Book 2 of the Sandman Slim Novels

Kill the Dead is the second book in the Sandman Slim novels. You can find the review for the first book, Sandman Slim here. As with the first book, Kill the Dead involves Angels and Demons but this time the threat the walking dead, otherwise known as various types of zombies. The problem however is that the reader is not really made aware the the zombies are indeed the "big bad" in this book until Stark suddenly had to deal with them.

Unlike Sandman Slim, Kill the dead, is really quite disorganized. The plot just seems to float around while Stark has interactions with various supernatural beings. Elements are introduced that really go nowhere and at times the story is really hard to follow. The cast of characters is actually very large, making it difficult to remember the significance of each person.

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Fallen by Lauren Kate. Book 1 of the Fallen series

Lucinda Price is a troubled teenager. In her last boarding school there was a fire and the boy she liked died – in very mysterious circumstances. Circumstances for which she was blamed, the shadow of which has hung over her since. Almost as literally as the shadows that follow her wherever she goes, shapes only she can see and hear.

Her past has lead her to Swords and reformatory school where she has to navigate a new place, a new system and friends who aren't what they seem. Right until the moment she finds herself ground zero in a heavenly war and at the heart of a tragic love story that has been repeated every 17 years for centuries on end

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Our weekly podcast is here. Our full archives can be found here.

Vampire Diaries. Season 3, Episode 2: The Hybrid

I should have known that bad ass Stefan wouldn't last long. He is supposedly blood drunk and has become Stefan the ripper, but somehow he cannot stop mooning over Elena. The girl has some long lasting musty effect on men.

When we last left Klaus and Stefan, they were torturing a werewolf to force him to hand over the location of his pack. They return with him to the Tennessee mountains and see his camp backpacking so that they can enjoy the freedom of letting their wolves run wild. One by one, Klaus attempts to turn them into vampires.

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Lost Girl
We're continuing to catch up on season 1 now that season 2 has started. After which we will be having weekly updates

Season 2, Episode 1: Something Wicked this Fae Comes 3.5 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 13: Bloodlines 4 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 12: (Dis)Members Only 3.5 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 11: The Mourning After 3 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 10: Fae Day 4.5 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 9: Faetal Justice 3 Fangs
Season 1, Episode 8: Vexed 3.5 Fangs

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

Toronto has become a ruin, a dystopian city of extreme poverty. After the riots it was largely abandoned by the government - wealthy Torontonians fled to the outer ring, leaving the inner city core to descend into poverty and lawlessness

Ti-Jeane lives in Toronto with her baby and her grandmother, who makes a living from her herb-lore and healing. Trying to get by in the torn city, her life is complicated as the father of her child gets in over his head with the criminal boss, who all but rules downtown Toronto. Unsurprisingly not only is he addicted to drugs, he sells them for a living - that is when he can stop skimming off the top. Ti-Jean comes face to face with illegal organ harvesters (note we aren’t even certain why the organs are an issue), her grandmother’s magical legacy, menacing dark magic, a neurological atypical mother, and through it all she must somehow save herself and protect the family she has left.

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Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews, Book 2 of the Kate Daniels Series

Kate Daniels, Magical Mercenary and liaison for the Order is faced with a new, confusing challenge in the dystopian world of magic ravaged Atlanta. Old gods are being invoked by witches who seem incapable of understanding what they're calling and monstrous creatures from the depth of mythology are roaming free hunting – hunting a little girl who has lost the last shreds of her family and has been deeply betrayed.

Kate steps forward to protect the child, find her mother and find out exactly what these monsters are – monsters that can always find her and keep coming back. Only to find that the entire city of Atlanta stands at risk of destruction unless she stops it.

And there's a flare coming. Magic waves are coming more and more often – and more and more intensely, causing friends to become ever more unstable and everything more unpredictable. When magic flares, gods walk and no-one is safe.

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Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass, Book 1 of the Shadow Chasers series

Kira was born with a power – she knows things and people by touch. One touch and she senses thought, emotion and experience. And she drains their power, their life force and sometimes leaves them injured or dead.

An orphan, her powers quickly confused and frightened her foster families – until she was taken in and raised by the Gilead Commission, a secret organisation that polices the magical beings of the world – and leads the forces of Light against the chaotic destruction of the Shadow. Kira was brought up as a member, a warrior, a Shadowchaser, one of the elite of the Commission to hunt down the most powerful agents of the Shadow.

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Our latest giveaway

Full details of which can be found here!

Our latest Podcast

Episode 33: Vampire Diaries - Season 3 Episode 1, "Happy Birthday Elena" Lost Girl

Lost Girl Season 1

Having discovered this series, we have episode by episode reviews for the whole of season 1

Season 1, Episode 7: Arachnofaebia 2 Fangs

Season 1, Episode 6: Food For Thought 3.5 Fangs

Season 1, Episode 5: Dead Lucky 3 Fangs

Season 1, Episode 4: Faetal Attraction

Season 1, Episode 3: Oh Kappa My Kappa 4 Fangs

Season 1, Episode 2: Where There's a Will, There's a Fae 3 Fangs

Season 1, Episode 1: It's a Fae Fae Fae Fae World

Vampire Diaries Season 3: Happy Birthday Elena

Now that True Blood is done for the season, vampire fans are forced to resort to the teen angsty CW's The Vampire Diaries to get a fix. Last Thursday was the season premier and we would be remiss if we didn't cover the show. Do you see how much we sacrifice for you readers?

Two months have passed since Stefan took off with Klaus in exchange for curing Damon of a werewolf bite inflicted by Tyler Lockwood. Elena, Damon and Alaric have spent the time looking for him. Each new tip that Elena gets, she passes it on to Damon but what she does not know, is that Damon has been following Stefan the ripper through the news articles detailing his murders. He didn't want to share the news with Elena because of the extreme violence with which Steffan feeds. Apparently, he feeds so hard that his victims end up decapitated and then he feels remorse, so he puts their bodies back together.

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Changes by Jim Butcher, Book 12 of the Dresden Files

Susan, Harry's old lover who was half changed by the Red Court vampires, is back in town. And she has a revelation for Harry – they have a daughter together. She's been brought up in secret, hidden even from Harry. But the Red Court have found her – her foster family have been slaughtered and the girl has been kidnapped.

Harry, who for so long has lived without family, now has to find and save his daughter from some of the most evil monsters he's ever faced. And he must do it with very little help, just his truest friends – the White Council has been mired in schemes and politics and a virtual coup – certainly none are free to help Harry. To make things worse, the Red Courts' greatest and most powerful leaders have gathered – including beings that were once worshipped as gods and have the power far beyond his own.

Harry is faced with a desperate choice – as more and more of his life is torn apart and to save his daughter, he looks to embrace power he has rejected for so long – and cross lines he refused to cross.

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Turn Coat by Jim Butcher, Book 11 of the Dresden Files

Morgan, the Warden who has made Harry's life a misery, the Warden who has assumed Harry was a Warlock, persecuted him, attacked him, constantly looked for an excuse to drive Harry over the edge and give Morgan an excuse to execute him – arrives at Harry's door. He's injured, he's been framed for a crime he didn't commit and he's being chased by the other Wardens. And he wants Harry's help – to shelter him, to hide him and to help clear his name.

The Black Council is upping the ante – the White Council is buzzing with news of treachery and it's manipulations not only dragging in the White Council, but setting them up for a confrontation with the White Court as well as involving some of the greatest powers in the US. The White Council itself seethes with politics where truth and justice are rapidly pushed aside in the name of power, appearance and strength.

And Harry dives into all this feet first, as he ever does.

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Single White Vampire by Lynsay Sands

Once again Marguerite Argeneau is determined to play matchmaker for her children. This time Lucern the family author becomes the focus of her attentions in when Kate his publisher shows up quite unexpectedly at his home. Lucern is a sour man of few words despite the fact that he has made a living chronicling the family's romances. His books have become a great success with his fans and Kate wants him to do a book tour and a few interviews to help continue to promote them. Lucern is of course very resistant to the idea of this and tells her no immediately, unfortunately for Lucern, Kate is unwilling to take no for an answer.

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A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands

A Quick Bite is the first book in the Argeneau series. I accidentally read Love Bites, the first book in the series first. A Quick Bite is yet another paranormal romance, and so this means the usual boy meets girl and zmog they're in love forever and ever routine. As I have stated many times, I am not a fan of paranormal romance, but I was willing to give this book a try after enjoying Love Bites for its humour.

The plot really is quite basic. Lissianna, a 202 year old vampire meets Greg after her mother kidnaps him for her birthday. Greg assumes that he is to be a human sex toy, when in fact he was kidnapped to cure Lissianna of her phobia. Yes, she's a vampire who passes out at the sight of blood. At first she assumes that he is a special dinner, as vampires consider it a treat to come across an undiagnosed diabetic for the sugar in their blood. Greg is resistant to being tied up and served for dinner, but when he sees Lissianna, surprise surprise, it's instant boner time cause she's just that special

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Dark Lover by JR Ward, Book 1 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood

Vampires are trying to live quiet lives as best they can. Their society is secretive and often separated from humanity – who they have little to do with. But there numbers are dwindling. An ancient group of human hunters has tried to annihilate them throughout the ages. To fight the vampires these Lessers sacrifice their souls, continually recruit more members and hunt the vampires with a sadistic glee. In response, the Vampires have the Black Dagger Brotherhood – a small group of veteran fighters to defend them against the predation of the Lessers. Each with their own darkness, they are the few warriors that try to save their species from extinction.

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Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep, Book 2 of the Elemental Assassins Series

Gin has entered her retirement as an assassin - she's now a college student and BBQ restaurant owner, hanging up her knives after her mentor died. Or so she thought.

An old friend of her foster-father shows up in her restaurant looking for help – and someone tries to kill her. Pulled in by the need to help her foster-father's friend (and because she's not tolerating any hits in her own restaurant) she finds them being intimidated into selling their land to a mining developer. Dragged in, she has to find out why their home is being threatened – who is doing it and how to solve it. And as an assassin, she only has one solution.

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So, in a repeated fail that we've seen before in the publishing industry, authors who have written YA stories with a gay protagonist have been told by publishers that they need to make their protagonist straight

Yes, they will publish the story so long as the authors de-gay it.

I haven't read the authors in question so I'm not going to recommend or encourage their works, but the very idea of demanding a protagonist be made straight is something that never fails to infuriate me. It's a pet hate of mine and a major issue close to my heart that we rarely get a decent portrayal in any form of media. If anything this is even more important when it comes to YA fiction.

I want a lot when it comes to fiction. Not because I'm demanding – but because we're currently so lacking. Because there are so few portrayals and so few good portrayals. And because there's so much damage caused by our erasure and the deeply flawed portrayals we so often see.

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Small Favor by Jim Butcher, Book 10 of the Harry Dresden Files

Harry's life is all exciting again and the plotting in the supernatural world is reaching greater, and more confusing, levels.

An entire building was destroyed by immense power and in the aftermath it was clear that Marcone, Chicago's mob boss, has been kidnapped. Harry is on the job working with Murphy – and only has more incentive when Mab, Unseelie Queen of the Winter Court, calls in one of the favours he owes her to get him involved – and threatens him with her not-inconsiderable wrath should he refuse. Of course, this is complicated because Summer objects most strongly – strongly enough to send champions to seek and kill Harry to end his involvement.

To make things far worse, the Knights of the Blackened Denarius – Fallen Angels bound to human hosts – are involved. Not just some as he had previously faced – but all of them in their infernal power and plotting, and he only has 2 Knights of the Cross to back him up.

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Neon Graveyard by Vicki Pettersson, Book 6 of the Sign of the Zodiac Series

The Neon Graveyard is the last book in the Pettersson's Zodiac series. I didn't feel any sense of sadness when I finished reading and perhaps because by the time this book ended, I was more than ready for this series to come to an end. What started off as an amazing idea with a unique and a large world ended up being tired and overly drawn out. Having read all six books, I think that this series could easily have been reduced to four books. A book for each sign just dragged out the inevitable end of the series. Honestly, from book one, was there ever any doubt that this series would end with the death of the Tulpa?

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Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

Sandman Slim is about a young man who is tossed into Hell alive by his fellow magicians. Early on he exhibited far more talent than the rest of his circle and he assumed that jealousy caused them to want to be rid of him. Once in hell he was put into an arena reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum to fight various creatures. Stark was expected to die immediately, but much to the shock of the fallen angels that populate hell he survived. Eventually, he became a sort of hit man or "the monster that killed monsters," because being human, no one expected it of him.

Stark is given a key to the room with thirteen doors, that allows him to travel anywhere and when his girlfriend Alice is killed on earth by the very same circle that imprisoned him in hell, he murders his handler Azazel. He escapes hell with The Veritas, a coin which always tells the truth and the black blade. Due to his time in hell, Stark is very hard to kill though being stabbed or shot will still hurt. After one attack with a weapon his body become impenetrable to a similar attack, which is good because this book is absolutely filled with action.

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Halfway to the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost, Book 1 of the Night Huntress Series

Cat's father was a vampire – a vampire who raped her mother and was never seen again. She has been raised to hate all of the undead – and even a part of herself, constantly checking herself – and being checked by her mother – to ensure that she never becomes everything she fears. As part of this – she hunts. She hunts the vampires who troll the bars and clubs, cheered on by her mother.

Until she meets Bones. A vampire who isn't so simple, and a vampire who shakes Cat's oh-so-simple world view. Increasingly she realises that not all vampires are as she always imagined – nor are all humans so clean as she'd like to think. It grows further confusing for her as her relationship with Bones deepens into something more.

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True Blood: When I die

Okay WHAT THE FLYING FUCK WAS THAT? This is the first episode all season that I pretty much sat on the edge of my couch afraid to blink, while I continually cursed. This episode started off with Jesus making Lafayette breakfast and promising that they could both avoid magic from then on in. Slowly Jesus realizes that he is not talking to Lafayette but to Marnie. She ties him to a chair and demands that he give up all his power or she will hurt Lafayette. Finally, Jesus agrees and Marnie stabs him in the stomach leaving him for dead. I know that all season Tami and Sparky having been saying that Jesus is on borrowed time but I was really upset with this. I firmly believe that Jesus was considered disposable because he is a gay man of color. I do however think that it is worth noting, that in the director's cut, they talk about where the relationship will go from there, so perhaps there is some hope for growth in their relationship yet.

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First of all a reminder of our giveaway – True Blood comics are up for grabs and the closing date is the 12th September. Click for more information

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True Blood: Soul on Fire

I thought last night's episode wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Just when we thought that all of the ties were wrapped up, Marnie invaded Layette's body. I guess with two more episodes still to go, it wouldn't do to have her so easily conquered. So let's start at the beginning shall we?

When we last left off, Bill, Eric, Pam and Jessica had gathered in front of goddess emporium all dressed in black ready to finally kick some witch ass. As they gear up to fire on the emporium, Jason jumps in front of them and tells them not to fire, which is met with a round of fucking Sookie from the vampires. I found myself saying, finally and giggling out loud. The writers have to know that Sookie's version of spunky agency is irritating at best; however, I didn't like the fact that Pam reduced her to a slit in a sun dress. Just having the characters say fucking Sookie was enough, there was certainly no need to reduce her in this manner.

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Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead

It's always a bittersweet thing when you come to the end of a series that you love. I stayed up the better part of the night finishing this book and though I am tired, it's a happy kind of tired. I have to say that this is the first paranormal romance story that I have loved from beginning to end. It was filled with erasure that took the form of no GLBT characters whatsoever and extremely limited roles for people of colour, but in spite of all of that I could not help be embrace the characters.

Succubus Revealed basically involved the big showdown between heaven and hell, the importance of true love and the value of a single soul.

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Cheat the Grave by Vicki Pettersson, the 5th Sign of the Zodiac

To be honest, I have been struggling with this series. It started off wonderfully engaging, with a world that was absolutely unique in urban fantasy, and then somewhere along the way, it seemed to lose focus, that is until Cheat the Grave. This book reminded me of why I fell in love with the Zodiac books to begin with.

Now that Joanna/Olivia is mortal, the forces of light see her as useless, and to make matters worse, Solange has sent Mackie the piano player from Midheaven to kill her. If the Tulpa and the shadow hunters figure out who she really is, they will kill her. Everywhere she turns, someone wants her dead except for the rogue agents (the greys). Somehow she must protect the mortals she loves, and chief among her concerns is stopping Suzanne from marrying someone she suspects has nefarious intent.

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Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews, Book 1 of the Kate Daniels series

Kate Daniels is a mercenary. A sword for hire ready to kill, find or save whatever people pay her to in a world that has gone mad.

And it well and truly has. After centuries of technological domination, magic swept in on a wave of destruction. Technology failed, skyscrapers collapsed and now the world lies in flux between them – when magic fails the tech works and spells fade – then the magic rolls in spells surge – and technology ceases to work. In among that, lycanthropes, vampire-piloting necromancers and so much more vie for power in a world that is still finding its feet.

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White Knight by Jim Butcher, Book 9 of the Harry Dresden Files

Magical practitioners are dying. Not Wizards, not members of the White Council, but lesser talents are dying not just in Chicago but across the US – their deaths a series of tragic suicides. Harry's looking to find out who and why – and whether his brother is involved or not.

Caught up by White Court machinations he also finds himself further enmeshed in the vampire politics behind the war. To complicate matters, he also has to balance teaching his new apprentice, the machinations of Lasciel, the Fallen Angel that has taken up residence in his mind and the ever-worrying presence of the mob boss, Marcone who always plays his own very dangerous game. Oh, and his ex shows up. Never simple, is it?

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Fright Night

For the purposes of disclosure, I must admit that I have not seen the original Fright Night starring, Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdame and Amanda Bearse. I went into this movie not really knowing what to expect and I have to say that while I enjoyed it, Fright Night will not go down as one of my favourite urban fantasy books.

The story is set in Las Vegas and surprise, surprise, there isn't a single GLBT person. Sandra Vergara who played Ginger Peter, Vincent's (David Tennant) girlfriend is the only person of colour. How is it that a story can be set in an area like Vegas and have so much erasure? It is not only ridiculous, it is irresponsible. Vergara did not play a major character, and much of the time she spent on screen, she was scantily clad and coarse. Unsurprisingly, she quickly became the victim of the vampire.

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Turned by Morgan Rice, Book 1 of the Vampire Journals

Caitlin is a high school teenager trying desperately to lead a normal life with her absent father and abusive mother. Moved yet again to a new school she tries to find a new balance before having to move yet again – but things are even more complicated now than before. Overcome with powers she doesn't understand and never had before, and a hunger that is all consuming she desperately tries to keep her life working.

Facing a confused boyfriend, a new school, and an uncaring parent would be complicated enough – but instead she finds herself over the body of her first victim, hunted by the police and caught between 2 vampire covens, one of whom determined to capture and possibly kill her – to say nothing of Caleb, and ancient and handsome vampire who seems to care for her – and thinks she may be the Chosen One for all of them

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We have some discussions going on over at Fangs as well :)

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True Blood: Burning Down the House

Last night was a bit of relief after last week. I was actually beginning to wonder why I continued to watch this show. It was a relief that this episode had less obvious fail.

Sookie was irritating as usual this week. She stops Eric from killing Bill my a magical burst of fairy power but later tells him that she still loves Bill and never promised to his. Okay, here we go again with the ongoing triangle. I know I should be caught up in this, but the truth is I am just plain tired of it. Perhaps, it's because Sookie gets on my last nerve.

Bill gets into it with Nan because she is only concerned about she is going to spin what happened at the hotel rather than actively proactively to fight Antonia. Finally, he decides to blow up the emporium. I have mentioned previously that it makes absolutely no sense that the vampires have been so passive. Antonia has the potential to be deadly but she is no king Russel and the vamps acted far more proactively when he was a threat. I have to say that I am with Bill on this one.

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Succubus Shadows by Richelle Mead

I cannot believe that I have to wait until August 30th to read the last book in this series. I know that it's only a few days, but I cannot wait to find out how Seth and Georgina end up together. Yes, I am actually excited about a romance in an urban fantasy book - somewhere pigs are flying.

In this book, Mead explored the complexity of life. Though Georgina is technically a lesser immortal and a succubus, as she went through the centuries she experienced relationships that ended in tragedies, each time she tried to be good. She gave up her soul to end her husbands pain after she was unfaithful. She took the dying power of a man that she tried to avoid, because she didn't want to corrupt his soul. In the present she struggles not to sleep with Seth, for fear that she will shorten his life. Georgina's intention are always good, but they always seem to end in disaster. In fact, she makes a point of saying several times that her life is circular.

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Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher, Book 8 of the Harry Dresden Files

There are monsters appearing in Chicago. Literal Horror film monsters bursting from the screen, killing people and feeding on their fear (I'm actually kind of curious as to who did this first, since I've seen that plot line in about a dozen places). Harry must find out who is doing this and how – before more people are killed – or left living only to have their psyches mauled in the wake of the attack. It hits even closer to home when he sees that Michael's child Molly is directly involved in the horror and she and her friends are at risk.

The war between the vampires and the White Council continues, further confused because the expected support from the Summer and Winter courts has not arisen – much to everyone's surprise. Harry, as the Wizard most closely linked to the courts, must try to unravel why and secure their help

Harry is settling into his role as a Warden, though clashing with the Merlin over the severity of having to execute young wizards whose main mistake in life has been to grow up with power but no education or training. This only becomes more poignant as he is faced with the task of saving a friend's life – in defiance of this brutal policy

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Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Jascinda is a draki – the descendants of dragons. She can shift her form into a humanoid dragon, scales, claws, wings and all. It's not easy though, for their kind are hunted to sell their body parts – indeed Jascinda barely escapes when one handsome young hunter spares her life.

Also, like all draki, she has a talent – she can breathe fire and makes her highly in demand. So in demand that her mother (who is effectively human) and her twin sister take her away from her pride in the dead of night.

Taking her to Nevada, to a city in the desert. In the hot, dry air without fertile land, Jascinda's draki will die and she can be a normal person just like her mother and her sister – but she doesn't want that and her draki withering feels like part of her soul is dying.

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Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead

Though I have so many other books on my to read list, I cannot stop reading the Georgina Kincaid series. This is really out of character for me because the novel is essentially a love story between Georgina and Seth. It's not quite paranormal romance but it's not far from it either.

In this book, Jerome, the archdemon of Seattle is summoned, causing all the lesser immortals in the area to lose their power. For Georgina this translates to not being able to shift and not being dependent on stealing bits of people's soul to survive. For the first time she can actually have sex with Seth and not worry about shortening his life. Suddenly, the prophecy that she would have a child and be with someone that she loves, looks possible for the first time.

Unfortunately, no good thing comes without a cost in Georgina's life. She realizes that she must rescue Jerome or risk her whole life being torn apart. It's a case of the devil you know really. The problem of course is that if she does rescue Jerome, she will go back to being a succubus thus ending her relationship with Seth. It's a no win situation for her because even if she does not immediately find Jerome hell being the organized institution that is, will simply appoint a new archdemon.

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City of Souls by Vicki Pettersson, Book 4 of the Zodiac Series

I am happy to report that this is the first book in this series where I did not come across any GLBT failure. I think Pettersson just decided to go all out with her erasure. As a straight person, I am not in a position to say that the complete erasure was a relief, because it also represents a form of failure that is reoccurring in this genre. Once again, the book takes places in Las Vegas, and there are no people of colour. As a woman of colour, I can say that after watching her treatment of the GLBT community, that I am kind of happy to be erased.

If I had to say that this particular book had any message at all, it would be that absolutism is dangerous. Throughout the series, Joanna/Olivia's nemesis is her biological father tulpa. His mission is to either destroy her before she can bring about his destruction, or to force her into becoming his ally. When we examine this from a womanist perspective, it is clear that in this case that the tulpa constructs her as a possession to be claimed or punished/destroyed for a failure to submit. When we consider that historically daughters have always been understood to be the possession of their fathers until they were lawfully wed, the tulpa's quest to claim to Joanna/Olivia fits into the framework of women as objects.

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Spark In Darkness

The Problem With Paid Reviews and Self Pubs

Why Author Identity Matters

Stop the GR Bullies: Stalking, Tantrums and Bullying

Reviews at Fangs for the Fantasy

The International Day Againt Homophobia and Transphobia isn't a Marketing Tool

On Girlf@g by Janet W Hardy

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I am "entitled" to criticise a product I've bought

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On using a marginalised psuedonym

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