Genre: science fiction (space opera/military)

Pairings: female/female

Queer Representation: bisexual, pansexual, lesbian

Warnings: none

Rating: 3.5 stars

REVIEWED BY ANON.

Review

Emé wakes up on a space station with no memory of who she is, but a complete memory of her job as a security chief. With every part of what makes her her missing, Emé must learn to trust those around her while she pieces her life back together. It turns out, however, that the person she was before was a liar–a good one–and Emé must unravel not only her personal identity, but determine why she lead a second life on Dragonfire station…with a wife who was originally her ‘mark.’

General

Heeeey it’s space lesbians! My favorite trope! The book started off strong, with a great hook chapter with Em waking up without her self-memory but a great technical memory… and then having to go home with a wife she does not remember. Em also discovers she has some uncanny fighting skills that she’s been hiding from the entire station. There’s great tension, the pacing is reasonable, and the interaction between Em and her wife is fantastic. The only time the pacing drops is in the final third of the book, when Em leaves Dragonfire station to find her missing Black Ops friends. Even then it doesn’t drop so much as it changes. The book goes from a sweet space opera directly into military sci fi, which was a little jarring. It was almost like two books smashed into one without much transition, leaving me to wonder if the rest of the books in this (extensive) series skew to the space opera side, or the military sci fi side.
 
Writing

This is one of those times were the narrative carried the book despite its flaws. The writing could have been much cleaner and direct, and there were numerous instances of timeline conflicts (pg 89, for instance, when Wren tells Em that a friend will be visiting for dinner that night, only to have Wren and Em watch a movie and go to bed because the friend actually isn’t coming over until the next night). The editorial work on this book was not tight, but it was easy to forgive amongst the intrigue of Em’s identity and the richness of the station.
 
Characters

I was instantly involved with Em. Her lost memory and the issues surrounding her wife and living situation created strong conflict from the first page and drove the book the entire time Em was on the station. Wren, her wife, was three-dimensional despite having very little page time. There was a menagerie of secondary station characters, all of whom were fleshed out and had distinct personalities. A number of cultures were very well described as well, giving a 270 page book surprising depth.

The members of the Black Ops team were less compelling, likely because they were introduced late in the book and had little screen time. It was hard to make the transition between Em’s daily station life and her Black Ops life, especially after she left the station. I think I needed more investment in the three other ops characters before I could get on board with the story line moving in their direction. One of the main factors keeping me from picking up the next book, in fact, is the uncertainty of whether it would continue the military side with Em’s operative friends, or whether it would drive Em back to the station and her interpersonal relationships there.
In the end, TRANSLUCID is a strong addition to the lesbians in space genre. Those interested in space opera and its intersection with military science fiction will enjoy this book. Those looking for straight space opera may want to look elsewhere.
​
You can buy TRANSLUCID in ebook here and paperback here.

RATING: 3 Stars

QUEER REP:  Pansexual (all of the Asgard), Bisexual (maybe?)

PAIRINGS: F/F, M/F

REVIEWED BY: Rebecca

WARNINGS: A lot of fighting/violence

The Valkyrie Kara stood alone against the Ragnarok horde on Earth to ensure that the Asgard race and Valhalla could escape. For five thousand years she has fought and evaded the Ragnarok race on Earth, just waiting for her people to return.








REVIEW

This was difficult to rate. During some parts, I wanted to give it four stars, during others, I wanted to give it 1 or 2. Sometimes, a rating is fairly arbitrary, and that may be the case here. In the end, I think this book is a film in disguise. It's a movie, trying to be a novel, full of action, lightning spears, cheesy flirtations, tight-fitting armour, and repetitive dialogue. That said, I can still understand why it's so popular.

The concept of using Norse mythology as the basis of a female-led action sci-fi sounds wonderful, and it almost works. Kara had me quite interested for the first few chapters, and the creativity behind some of her weaponry was quite interesting. I can definitely say I've never read another story with the nano-lattice concept and it was definitely cool.

The issues with the book, however, started to compound the further I read. Kate and Kara experience the epitome of insta-love. It's hard to understand any movement of time in the story, but the two women seem to know each other for less than a day before they've all but decided to spend the rest of their lives together. Kate also seems to have no real friends or family, no qualms at all about the thought of leaving her entire life behind in order to be the new "Daughter of Odin" as Kara's mate (a word that I was really tired of by the end). 

The main thing that had me gritting my teeth by the end of the novel was the repetition. The phrase "Well met, Valkyrie" is used so many times that I couldn't stand it anymore. The constant use of full titles when the Asgard spoke to each other also become cumbersome, such as "Kate the Raging Storm, Daughter of Odin and mate to Kara the Wild One" or even the shorter versions such as "Areena the Whispering Breeze, Second to Kate the Raging Storm". I appreciate the need for cultural differences between humans and Asgard, but it became frustrating overkill within two chapters of Valhalla's return.

The book is heavy on action, and I couldn't help but picture Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld series for a huge portion of the story. The writer clearly has a talent for fast-paced fight scenes and, to be fair, those who read my reviews know that this probably makes me the wrong reader for the book.

I felt somewhat disconnected from the characters during these fight scenes though, as their wounds and manoeuvres were always just listed, never really described, never explored in a way as to show how they felt, even though it's written in first person. Someone is stabbed in the chest from behind, and barely reacts, and doesn't seem to feel a thing. The constant mention of "fighting with valour" became a distraction from Kara and Kate themselves, like they only did what they did because, as they say over and over (and over and over) again "we are Valkyrie", as though that's an explanation on its own.

It's an interesting novel. And if you're like me and just adore any connection to the ancient world and/or mythology, then it's worth having a look at. If you enjoy action from nearly start-to-finish, then this is certainly a book for you! Just be prepared for certain plot points to be re-hashed several times, along with a fair amount of repetitive language use. I don't regret reading this one, it was entertaining overall, but I don't think I'll be picking up any others in the series, as much as I desperately love the overall concept.

*NOTE: Apparently there's a comic book adaption, and this could be something worth exploring!

REVIEWED BY ANON.

Genre: high urban fantasy

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: trans lesbian, cis lesbian, bisexuality

Warnings: none

Rating: three stars

Review

Kai is called to the city of Agdel Lex, built on the ruins of Alikand, to visit her estranged sister, Ley. Once there, she finds Ley tangled up in an intricate plot to free the city from its oppressors. The sisters must find each other, however, before they can stop the multi-faceted threat.

General

Generally, this is a heist story in a high fantasy setting (urban fantasy, in that it is more modern, but high fantasy nonetheless). Like a lot of high fantasy it employs many POV characters and rich, deep worldbuilding. It is also an amazing tale of sisterhood, as well as a solid romance book. It's everything, really, which is amazing. There is no one feeling, nor one trope, that consumes this book. Instead, it is a fully fleshed out story in a world so real you can smell it.

Characters

The characters were generally very well rounded and dynamic, but there were just so many of them. I had a hard time keeping the secondary characters straight, especially the ones where we only got to be in their heads for a partial chapter or two. The main characters were generally much more interesting, although my interest in the sisters waned as the story progressed and their friends became more dynamic. By the end of the book I was actually more interested in the tertiary characters than anyone else, and had a hard time staying invested in the plot.

Plot

While this is book six in a series, each book can function as a stand alone. This book had been recommended to me many times, and I finally just said to hell with the earlier ones, and read it. I'm not sure if the lack of backstory contributed to my confusion, but I'm going to assume it was at least somewhat to blame.

The first two hundred pages or so were very compelling, and despite not having read the previous five books, I didn't mind being confused. The language was rich enough and the characters round enough that it was a delightful discovery. The middle of the book started to drag, however, with one mini arc after another, and with the continuing introduction of characters, I found myself lost. The end melded together a bit better, but by page 450 I had lost much of my investment.

The ending was solid, and it was worth getting there, but much like when I read any GAME OF THRONES books, I found myself skipping over POVs I just didn't care about. So while I enjoyed this book, and it had just about every element I look for in a story, I found it generally to be too long. It would have been an amazing 400 page book, but it ran a bit long in the tooth.

This isn't to say that lovers of high fantasy wouldn't enjoy it! I often think high fantasy is just a bit too long, and that the stories should be tighter, but I know many high fantasy fans really want an extended ride. Any lovers of Sanderson's work would feel at home in RUIN OF ANGELS, as would anyone who doesn't mind juggling more than five POVs.

Additional Bonus

In terms of queer rep, one of the sisters is a trans woman. The nod to this is subtle, and no one in-world cares at all, which is amazing. This type of accepted, unquestioned queerness was so wonderful. In addition, there are two strong f/f romance lines through the book, and book were sweet and relatable. This book stands very well on queer rep and queer romance, especially for those who like a sturdy fantasy plot along with their 'I love yous.'
 
You can buy RUIN OF ANGELS in ebook here and paperback here