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Club Fantasci

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Tag Archives: Shannon Million

December Book of the Month “Kushiel’s Dart” by Jacqueline Carey

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Previous Books of the Month

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Dart, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

dart_med

The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good…and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission…and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair…and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.

Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel’s Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.

Praise for “Kushiel’s Dart” – “This brilliant and daring debut… catapults Carey immediately into the top rank of fantasy novelists…. an assured and magnificent book that will appeal to both male and female readers.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

http://www.jacquelinecarey.com

 

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice Reviewed by Ciara Ballintyne

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Book Reviews

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Ciara Ballyntine

The book is described as retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. ‘Retelling’ is a loose description, since the events of the story in fact take place after Sleeping Beauty has been awoken.

My use of the word ‘story’ is also necessarily loose. Does the book have a story? I can’t say I actually noticed one in amongst the gratuitous sex, violence and depravity, and I was, in fact, looking very hard! The main character has no goal I could discern, unless it is to please her new masters, and that is not an especially hard goal to achieve. A goal of escaping would be readily understood and easy to relate, but the thought does not even cross the idiotic girl’s mind. There is no real conflict.

The story, such as it is, is that Sleeping Beauty is awakened not by a kiss, but by rape. I’ll say it, although the book avoids use of the word until page 84 or something like, but I call a spade a spade, and it’s rape. The Prince who awakens her comes from a kingdom that appears to be feared, for the newly awakened parents of Sleeping Beauty readily accede to the Prince taking away their only daughter – after he parades her naked and gropes her in front of them. I have difficulty conceiving the father who would have tolerated this in front of his very eyes, no matter how much he felt he owed the man who’d broken his enchantment.

Taken from her home, Beauty is introduced to a society where many Princes and Princesses are sent as ‘tribute’. These Princes and Princesses are kept naked, abused, humiliated, and mistreated in the grossest way imaginable.

The book is touted as BDSM, but I call foul – this is a grossly misleading statement. BDSM is a consensual sexual activity between adults, at least one of whom is usually submissive and takes pleasure in being so, and at least one who is usually dominant and takes pleasure in being so. True BDSm relationships are characterised by a surprising amount of power resting in the hands of the submissive, who possesses the power to stop proceedings by use of the ‘safety’ word.

What occurs in the Court of the Prince is not consensual, and we have another word for activities that would have been BDSM if only they were consensual, and that word is torture. The activities are imposed by the will of the captors on the helpless captives, and comprise torture of the most humiliating and debilitating kind, designed to break the spirit and turn a human being into some kind of malleable dough that can be reshaped as the torturer desires, into a willing slave, desperate to please, with no thought or concern for themselves. If you were to transpose any member of the Court of this Kingdom into the TV show, Criminal Minds, they would be the most despicable kind of psychopath, kidnapping women and torturing them into compliance – most definitely the unsub!

I’ve read Kushiel’s Dart, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty only infuriated and sickened me. I distinguish the two books on this basis – Phedre, the protagonist of Kushiel’s Dart, is touched by the gods, and derives genuine pleasure from her own pain, and enters into liaisons consensually of her own free will and possesses the ability to cease proceedings by use of her signalle. The activities embodied in Kushiel’s Dart are in fact BDSM. On the odd occasion that Phedre endured actual torture, rather than consensual BDSM, and despised her body’s own response, it was a sacrifice she voluntarily made for the lives of others.

By contrast, the slaves of the Court do not consent to proceedings, have no power to stop the abuse by use of a safety word, and do not naturally derive pleasure from their pain – rather, they are conditioned to never feel pleasure without pain, thus forcing the brain to form associations between the two (much the same way Valerian House in Kushiel’s Dart trains its initiatives, except Valerian does not humiliate and break its adepts). Eventually the pain-pleasure sensations become so closely entwined, the captives experience a sexual response to the infliction of pain.

It is difficult for me to say where the story goes after Beauty is brought to Court – it doesn’t really go anywhere. The book becomes nothing but a long progression of physical and sexual abuse, rape, and deliberately degrading and humiliating activities. Beauty is kept naked, raped, forced to unclothe her master and perform other tasks with her teeth, to perform sexual acts on her master and other people, kept on hands and knees, spanked and physically abused in other ways, tied up as an adornment, and driven like a horse. Although a multitude of ways are invented to punish her, they vary little in substance, and most consisted of some kind of spanking. I am now heartily bored of spanking, to the point where the production of another paddle produced an eye roll and a stifled yawn.

I didn’t relate to, or like, any of the characters in the book. So far as Beauty goes, I have no idea what her character was before her enslavement by the Prince, and she breaks to his will so quickly I almost despise her weakness. She scurries to obey after only being paraded naked and spanked a few times, and never once does the thought of escape cross her mind. I concede escape may not have been feasible, nor an attempt wise, but she doesn’t even think about the matter enough to draw any such conclusions! She says only nothing can save her, even though she’s not tried to save herself.

Other characters describe Beauty as rebellious, or graceful and dignified under pressure, yet all I see is a frightened girl desperate for approval, scurrying to escape a spanking with tears down her face. There is nothing of dignity about the character that I can discern, and certainly nothing rebellious! Whatever it is these other characters see, it has not been adequately communicated to us, as indeed the case with many of Beauty’s emotions – she says she feels certain things, but I am not feeling them with her. This may be due to significant use of passive language and ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’.

The Prince, his mother the Queen, and the Court are cruel and cold-hearted. They describe the slavery as ‘providing perspective’ and ‘understanding’ to the slaves, and yet none of them are subjected to such treatment, or would even consider it necessary, and the hypocrisy revolts me. This is not an improvement process, but a justification for deriving their own pleasure.

Twice the book put me in mind of Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, and not in a good way. The Court’s philosophies on slaves remind me of Jagang’s theories within the Old Kingdom – people should have no personal pride, and should serve the good of the people with no sense of self, a principle which of course did not apply to Jagang and similarly does not apply to the people of the Court. This was a revolting philosophy in that book, but no one pretended otherwise – the quest was to destroy Jagang and his way of life. Here it is accepted, lauded, embraced by all members of the kingdom, right down to the common people. Everyone seems to be depraved, and I have yet to meet a character who had much in the way of common decency, because even the slaves are recruited into degrading and  mistreating each other.

The second instance is that the members of the Court remind me of the Mord-Sith, pushing, and poking, and prodding, humiliating, and degrading, and hurting their slaves until they break, and once broken, become malleable and compliant. The Mord-Sith at least have the excuse of having been taken and tortured and trained as girls in exactly the same way they now train their pets. The members of the Court have no excuse, and commit the same gross injustices in nothing but the name of their own pleasure and amusement.

My main issue with the book is that it appears to be nothing but a recounting of the grossest forms of abuse against humanity for gratuitous purposes, and the book attempts to pass this off as legitimate BDSM when it is anything but, and an exploration of the human psychology of seduction and desire, when I’m not seeing a lot of seduction, only a lot of cruelty. I support the consensual ideology of BDSM, but when you take away a person’s free will, subjugate them, abuse them, and rape them, it’s nothing but torture.

Other nitpicks with the book included:

  • Excessive use of telling and passive language;
  • Cliches – the spilling of blood on the taking of virginity is such a cliché. It in fact only happens in less than half of all cases. What I wouldn’t give for a book where having sex with a virgin produces no blood!
  • Inaccuracies – early in the book the Prince causes Beauty to ejaculate. I have difficulty accepting this. Female ejaculation is little understood even in this modern age, but it’s generally accepted it requires a comfortable, relaxed woman for the process to take place. Rape and abuse are hardly conducive to creating that outcome. I also struggle to believe so many tasks can be performed with only the teeth. Ever tried to carry a boot any distance in your teeth?
  • Internal thoughts are written identically to dialogue, sometimes creating confusion as to whether something is spoken aloud or only thought;
  •  Infodumping – one character, Prince Alexi, tells his tale of abuse and humiliation over what seemed liked three long chapters. Yawn. Also, I suspect any man who was forcibly sodomised so many times by so many men and so many improvised implements in such a short period of time would almost certainly have sustained internal injuries resulting in death!In short, the book sickened me, made me furiously angry, and otherwise largely bored me. The erotic scenes were repetitive and lacking in imagination, and the books lacks relateable characters, conflict, tension, or basically anything interesting beyond the abuse of fellow humans.

It ended with Beauty about to be shipped off to some even worse torture than had already been inflicted upon her (this time at her own instigation) and I honestly can’t say I’m inclined to read the sequel.

No, wait – there is one scenario in which I would read the sequel. If every member of the Court (and possibly the castle) was stripped naked, covered in honey, and staked out over an anthill! Failing that, maybe if Richard Rahl came along and lopped off all their heads.

November Book of the Month “The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty” by Anne Rice

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Previous Books of the Month

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A. N. RoqueLaure, Anne Rice, Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, The Lowry Agency, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

In the traditional folktale of “Sleeping Beauty,” the spell cast upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. It is an ancient story, one that originally emerged from and still deeply disturbs the mind’s unconscious. In the first book of the trilogy, Anne Rice, writing as A.N. Roquelaure, retells the Beauty story and probes the unspoken implications of this lush, suggestive tale by exploring its undeniable connection to sexual desire. Here the Prince awakens Beauty, not with a kiss, but with sexual initiation. His reward for ending the hundred years of enchantment is Beauty’s complete and total enslavement to him . . . as Anne Rice explores the world of erotic yearning and fantasy in a classic that becomes, with her skillful pen, a compelling experience. Readers of Fifty Shades of Grey will indulge in Rice’s deft storytelling and imaginative eroticism, a sure-to-be classic for years to come.

Praise for The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty:

“Articulate, baroque, and fashionably pornographic.” —Playboy

“Something very special . . . at once so light and yet so haunting.” —The Advocate

The Anubis Gates Review by Tim Powers by Dionne Lister

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Book Reviews

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Anubis Gates, The Lowry Agency, Tim Powers, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Powers has weaved an intricate tale that primarily deals with metaphysical questions, time travel and the relatively quiet subplot of a love story. His descriptions are mature and original. I could picture myself in all his settings. The characters were well done—I hated the baddies and like the goodies. The underlying plot is basically good vs evil and man has an issue to deal with, goes on an adventure, finds peace, and the end: although the ‘the end’ part of it has been left open for the reader to imagine what might happen next. The story includes elements of horror and urban/steampunk fantasy, and is fast-paced with many changes in direction. A small criticism has to do with the editing/formatting. There was some weird thing going on with my e-book copy that turned a lot of ‘the’ into ‘me’. Occasionally I had to re-read a sentence for clarity but that could be a criticism of my brain rather than the author’s talent. If you like the fantastic or steampunk and appreciate good writing, I would highly recommend this book.

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers Review by Ciara Ballintyne

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Book Reviews

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Anubis Gates, The Lowry Agency, Tim Powers, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Ciara Ballyntine

1802 – the Egyptian gods are a diminished force, and the power of magic fades. Sorcerers, wielding magic only at great expense to their own bodies, attempt to restore the potency of their power by bringing the gods, in all their glory, forward in time. Instead, they succeed only in tearing rents in the fabric of time – the Anubis Gates.

Brendan Doyle, a minor American scholar specialising in a little known poet, William Ashbless, is carried from London, 1983, through the gates of time to 1810, ostensibly to serve as a Coleridge expert. The journey is organised by J Cochran Darrow, a wealthy recluse specialising in odd-ball projects, and funded by the ten guests, each of whom has paid a premium for the privilege of witnessing a lecture by Samuel Coleridge in the flesh.

The plan consists of a straightforward there and back again journey of only a few hours, but it goes awry when Doyle is kidnapped by an Egyptian sorcerer, intent on learning who is using the gates in time, and how. Having missed his ‘return flight’, as it were, Doyle finds himself stranded in 1810 London, penniless and alone.

While not unlikeable, Doyle is stranded, destitute, and terribly desperate – a desperation which drives him to take ill-considered risks and make less-than-intelligent decisions. But it is his very aloneness, his very desperation, that draws me to him – can the reader conceive of many worse situations than to be stranded out of time, in a strange culture, with absolutely no means of support?

I have very little concept of what London was like in 1810, but Powers paints a compelling picture with few words, creating less an image of the physical place, than a sense of the people who populate it; the desperation of its denizens, the danger they exude, and the grinding poverty that drives many of them. That sense, that feeling, creates a more visceral setting than any mere description of buildings could do.

This is not to imply the book lacks description, for Powers describes events, and many settings, with phrases evocative enough to turn me green with envy.

London is peopled with a host of characters – who can Doyle trust? Who might he rely on in his time of need? Knowing exactly where the poet, William Ashbless, should be, he hopes to appeal to that man’s generosity, but the poet is mysteriously missing. Has Doyle upset the events of history by returning from the future?

What of the clown, Horrabin, who offers Doyle a job amongst his beggars? His very name hints at horrible unknowns. Is young Jacky more trustworthy? He warns Doyle away from Horrabin, and suggests a place amongst the rival beggar crew. Can Doyle use the Egyptian sorcerers to return to 1983? What does he have to bargain with, except his own life? What of Dog-Face Joe, a rumoured werewolf-type serial killer, to whom Doyle comes perilously close?

And who, on the streets of 1810 London, is whistling Yesterday by The Beatles?

Events come dangerously to a head when the poet, Ashbless, reappears in a startling and unexpected way, setting Doyle’s feet on a path that takes him even further into the past, and then eventually to Cairo. Events now follow the course of history Doyle is familiar with, and he begins to anticipate what comes, thinking he knows how events will unfold – or does he?

The book careens from one disaster, to another ill-conceived decision, to bizarre and yet wildly appropriate plot twist after plot twist. The foreshadowing is impeccable – the clues are there if you know to look for them, but you won’t, until events come to pass. Instead, each new revelation, each new horror, each new clever outcome, will keep you turning page after page to find the answers until, before you know it, you’ve finished the book.

If I were to tell you any more, I’d ruin all the surprises, and they are well worth the wait. They are many, and they are varied, and each new discovery delighted me at its appropriateness, at its suitability, at the way in which each of the puzzle pieces fit neatly together – until the picture, of which Doyle only has a vague outline from 20th century history books, becomes a complete illustration rendered in loving detail.

I read this book in about two days – it was literally unputdownable. The story is exceptional, and the book well-written. The odd waver in the writing barely caused a hitch in my stride, so desperate was I to resolve each conflict, only to find I had dove headfirst into the next.

If you didn’t read this book for Club Fantasci, then you must. 5 stars – I give this book 5 stars. Do you know how often I say that?

Not very often at all.

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks Review by David Lowry

29 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Book Reviews

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Brent Weeks, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, The Way of Shadows, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

David Lowry

Growing up in the nastiest alleys and streets of Cenaria dreaming every minute of better life is how Azoth lives. Day by day wishing for the “wetboy” Durzo Blint to apprentice him so Azoth can escape this dreadful life of fear of being beat up everyday if you don’t pay your share of the dues and also to take care of his best friends Jarl and Doll Girl.

It’s a dark journey for this young boy to have the weight of so much on his shoulders, watching after Doll Girl whom he feels responsible for and leading a group of rag tag homeless kids against people in his own guild let alone all the others trying to take over their territory. Azoth must destroy his enemy, provide a better life for Doll Girl and somehow get the lands deadliest assassin Durzo Blint to notice him and be willing to apprentice him. And that’s all before he reaches his teen years.

“The Way of Shadows” is a rich full book of the life of Azoth later to be named Kylar and his journey to becoming a “wetboy” so he can escape reality. The plot twists are many and the character development is really strong. The relationship between Azoth and Durzo is a special one fraught with love, appreciation, jealousy and master/apprentice dynamics. Durzo becomes like a father to Azoth and trains him to become the best “wetboy” around. Azoth struggles with the solitary life of an assassin and his love for Doll Girl whom he must abandon to keep her from danger but also provides for her in secret. Sacrificing his life to make sure she has one. It’s a love story.

The characters in Azoth/Kylar’s life are very well defined and you develop feelings for them.  From his best friend Jarl from the life he left behind to Logan the Prince and soon to be King whom Kylar at this point befriends out of necessity.  The double life Kylar must live between lower noble to assassin provides plenty of intrigue and a cast of characters that add a lot of flavor to the book especially Momma K.

You have all the great things that go in a good fantasy book in “The Way of Shadows” and very little of anything negative. I don’t want to give anything away in this review but suffice it to say it’s a must read fantasy book. For Brent Weeks first novel this is a very strong effort and I can’t wait to get to the other two books in the series.

Find out more about Brent Weeks at www.brentweeks.com

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks Review by Dionne Lister

29 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Book Reviews

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Brent Weeks, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, The Way of Shadows, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

I really enjoyed this book. With fleshed out characters, lots of action and a smooth writing style, Weeks has done a great job. I liked everything about this book except the end. The pacing was consistent and the plot was very detailed with a lot of twists—something I haven’t seen to that degree in other fantasy novels, although I haven’t read all the novels out there. The characters were varied and the depth to his main characters was believable and sufficiently dark.

With many sub-plots—love stories, exploration of friendships, looking at right and wrong, political intrigue—there was always something happening. I could easily imagine the world, although some of the fight scenes were not clear in my head, but that could just be me.

The ending finished neatly, but for me it was too neat, or maybe it was too sudden—I think I would have liked more of a cliffhanger. I also wonder if the convenience of Kylar coming back from the dead renders all future deaths null. This was the point the book lost some tension, although I still wanted him to catch the Godking. I’m not super inspired to buy the next book in the series to find out what happens, although I will because I love his writing style. Having said that, his writing is exceptional and I doubt you’d find much better in the fantasy genre. I’m giving it 4.5 stars.

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks Review by Ciara Ballintyne

29 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Book Reviews

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Book Review, Books, Brent Weeks, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, The Way of Shadows, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Ciara Ballyntine

Cenaria is not a place you’d like to grow up – but the backstreets, of the worst district, of the most corrupt city in the world, is the place Azoth does. Ruled by a weak, arbitrary king, and effectively run by the Sa’kage, the underworld criminals, Cenaria is rotten to the core, the very epitome of a dog-eat-dog world, and it leaves its mark on many of the characters.

Azoth, orphaned, surviving on the streets in a gang run by a boy who uses rape and cruelty as a means to control other children, is both moulded by his early experiences, and yet defies them. It is the fear and terror of his childhood, the raping of one friend, the deliberate maiming and scarring of another, that drives him to apprentice to Durzo Blint, the best wetboy in the city. The sheer misery and terror of these children’s existence is enough to make a reader want to cry, and this is important, because it’s this background that makes us forgive Azoth’s future as a trained killer.

Blint refuses to train Azoth unless he can kill the boy who tormented him; the nasty piece of work, or ‘twist’ as is the slang in the book, deserves everything he gets and more, but it isn’t an easy task for Azoth. When he completes his task, if too late to save his friends Jarl and ‘Doll Girl’ from their own torments, Blint takes Azoth in, gives him the name Kylar, and teaches him the black trade of death and all the lessons that go with it. Assassins have targets; wetboys have deaders. A wetboy cannot love. Life has no value. Despite the lessons Blint teaches him, Kylar cannot move past the basic decency that led him to share his meagre food with his street-friends. Though he learns to kill, surely, he cannot always take the actions Blint would take, or urges him to take.

Durzo Blint is, at first blush, irredeemable, corrupt, cold-hearted. But the author gives us enough clues to know the man is not as cold and callous as he’d like us to believe, but rather only desperate to ensure everyone does believe he is cold and callous. Bitter experience has taught him love is weakness; if you love someone, they can be used against you, hurt to make you comply. It’s not that Blint doesn’t care; it’s that he dare not let anyone know he cares, and most especially not his enemies.

These two are supported by a host of other characters; Momma K, the retired whore pulling the strings of the city; Count Drake, an example to Kylar that one can turn away from the darkness; Elene, Kylar’s childhood friend ‘Doll Girl’; Logan, the impeccably ethical heir to Duke Gyre; the duke himself; the king, and his family; the prophet, Dorian Ursuul, and his friends, desperate to divert an horrific future; and the God-King Garoth Ursuul, architect of that future.

Of them, Elene and Logan are two least affected by the corruption in Cenaria, but while I admire and like Logan, Elene annoys me. Logan always tries to do the right thing, but doesn’t necessarily expect others to live by his code. Elene, who knows she has been saved from a life of prostitution, poverty and cruelty only by Kylar’s sacrifices, presumes to judge him for the deeds he has committed in making those sacrifices. Where Logan comes across as a pillar of morality, Elene appears only self-righteous and judgemental, and expecting all to live according to the word of her One God. It is hypocrisy to be simultaneously grateful for the life one has, and judge another for the acts committed to give one that life.

The events of the book centre around six magical artefacts called ka’kari, made to fix people who would otherwise be brilliant mages, but who are ‘broken’ and have no way to access their power. As a side effect, the ka’kari also grant immortality. The God-King wants one to extend his rule into eternity; Durzo, blackmailed by the God-King who takes his lover, and later his daughter, hunts one to try and save their lives; Kylar inadvertently calls one to himself because he is broken, but would give it to Durzo if he could. Everyone seems to want it, and no one can get their hands on it, and the price is paid in blood by many.

And so, Durzo and Kylar, loving each other like father and son, are driven against each other. Durzo must take the ka’kari to save his daughter, but doing so means the death of Kylar. Kylar would give it to him if he could, but he can’t, and he must stop Durzo’s end-game or watch his best friend, Logan, die.

Which is the better wetboy? Can either bring themselves to kill the other? What are the secrets Durzo hides, about himself, about Kylar? What is the secret of the ka’kari? What is the conflict between Momma K and Durzo? Plots within plots weave about plots, intrigue within intrigue. Keeping up with all the schemes, who is on whose side, who is betrayer or betrayed, will keep you on your toes and turning the pages.

Though the book is not perfectly written (it is a debut novel), the story is compelling enough, the characters likeable enough, despite all their flaws, and undeniably real enough, to immerse you in the story and have you hanging on to know what happens next.

The emotional importance of Kylar’s and Blint’s relationship and affection for each other could have been cranked up a notch to add to the conflict, but admittedly that’s difficult to do when both are trained killers who conceal their emotions. Nevertheless, a must-read fantasy book, especially if you like assassins!

October 2012 Wine of the Month

29 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Wine of the Month

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Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Books, Chardonnay, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Modeling, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Pin Up, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Anubis Gate, The Lowry Agency, Tim Powers, urban fantasy, Vampires, Vino, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

Life’s full of tough guys sitting on two pair.  Only a true ace knows to sit quiet when you’re holding a straight “SUITED”.  Don’t get bluffed by a bad white wine!

2011 Suited Chardonnay is your typical Santa Barbara County release: Fruit forward, stainless steel aged, bright and crisp.  A perfect wine to have with your favorite summer salad or fresh fish right off the grill.  Pop a bottle and splash the pot, you’re straight “SUITED”!

Pinup Model Shannon Million and Photographer Melony Farrar of SweetWinkphotography.com teamed up to bring this spicy hot label to fruition.

September Hangout – “The Way of Shadows” by Brent Weeks

29 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by David Lowry in Uncategorized

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Tags

Australia, Authors, Book Club, Book Publishers, Book Publishing, Books, Brent Weeks, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ciara Ballintyne, Club Fantasci, Dark Fantasy, David Lowry, Dionne Lister, dystopian, Epic, Epic Fantasy, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Indie authors, Lycans, Militaristic Science Fiction, Model, Monsters, Nashville, Paranormal, Reading, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Shannon Million, Sort This Out Cellars, Space Opera, Steampunk, Supernatural, Supernatural Romance, The Lowry Agency, The Way of Shadows, urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Wine, Writers

This months Google+ hangout featuring Dionne Lister, Ciara Ballintyne and David Lowry.

Book of the Month: The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

Wine of the Month: Million $ Eyeful Cabernet Sauvignon by http://www.sortthisoutcellars.com

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Club Fantasci
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Welcome to Club Fantasci, the book club taking the stigma out of speculative fiction. We want to ...

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The Night Circus The Night Circus
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The Way of Shadows The Way of Shadows
by Brent Weeks
Start date: September 1, 2012



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