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!

Genre: science fiction – military / space opera (somewhere in-between)


Pairings: lesbian, pansexual


Queer Representation: cis lesbian, pansexuality, nonbinary (nonspecific variety)


Warnings: touch of gore, nothing too unusual though


Rating: 5 stars

REVIEWED BY J.S. FIELDS

Recent college graduates Adda and Iridian are wracked with debt and a deep desire for adventure. An engineering degree won’t pay the bills but piracy might–assuming they survive several killer AIs and a dilapidated station threatening to crumble at a moment’s notice.

Plot

Solid plot on this book, despite a somewhat rocky start. I was never really sold on Adda and Iridian’s reason for choosing piracy over a job (aside from the stock rationale of not wanting to be in crippling debt–like, I don’t want to be in debt either but piracy never really crossed my mind), but it does make for a good book starter. The commandeering of the first ship to get to Barbary Station, the home of the pirates, went on a bit long but once the couple was on the station proper, the book really found its pacing.

There was a constant tension from their arrival at the station through to the end, good plot twists, and enough real science to make the twists really land. In fact, the book would have been fine with a bit more science in it, especially on the microbial side with the biological weapons. Tell me more about the Pseudomonas-like bacteria!

I also really enjoyed the depth of the story. There are multiple ‘threats’ to the station at any given time, and actions of various political bodies and a group of refugees living amongst the pirates further muddies the waters. A lot of good interaction comes from the various factions of people living on the station. Some are the original crew of Barbary, some are the pirates, some the refugees, and still others parts of rescue and extraction crews. Each group of people has their own set of motivations, although all are working towards a common goal of getting off the station and away from the killer AIs. Adda and Iridian, of course, are the only two with skills to really get control (see, those engineering degrees are useful!), which pushes them into the center of almost every conflict.
 
Characters

Although we are given a huge array of characters (which did bother me at first), it does help to give names to the bodies when the AI really goes off the rails. Most of the secondary characters were very three-dimensional, and Adda and Iridian were compelling protagonists. We spent enough time with each of the secondary and tertiary characters that their deaths really helped drive the narrative. Even the AIs were compelling characters, and once we got into the meat of the story, my empathy for their sentience had me rooting for both ‘sides’.

Nonbinary Rep

I’m assuming this book was in my TBR pile because, hello, lesbian space pirates! I was surprised, therefore, to find that the pirate captain was nonbinary, and a well developed character at that! The attention the author paid to nonbinary genders in this book was excellent, and passages such as the one below had me squealing in joy.

​Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Nope, zefriend!

If ‘lesbians in space’ is your thing, this book is a must buy. Bonus, the next book in the series is up for preorder on Amazon (and yes, I’ve already preordered).
​
You can buy BARBARY STATION in ebook here, paperback here, and hardback here. It’s available in audiobook from Audible.

Category: Romance
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Word Count: 65000
Pages: 175
Sex Content: N/A
Pairing: FF
Orientation: Pansexual
Identity: Cisgender

REVIEWED BY REBECCA
​RATING: FIVE STARS

I thoroughly enjoyed this very palatable fantasy story from Effie Calvin. Written in third person through two different perspectives, the story follows two women who have found themselves engaged to be married for the sake of political stability and magical protection against dragon invasions. What's not to love about that kind of plot? Esofi has always known she would marry the heir of Ieflaria and the thought has never really bothered her, but when her betrothed, Albion, dies unexpectedly, Esofi's vision of the future needs to shift as she becomes engaged to his younger and less responsible sister, Adale.

The world-building is quite rich, particularly the spiritual aspects of Calvin's imaginative world. It took me a little while to understand the different deities, but it wasn't a chore, and I had a decent grasp of the mythology by the end. I did wonder at Esofi's attitude towards science, in that I expected part of her character growth to include her becoming more open to alternative perspectives about healing, but that plot point didn't seem to go anywhere - but this is a series and you can't address every little idea in the first book.

The political, social, and religious situations are fascinating and there's plenty to explore throughout subsequent books. But at the same time, I felt quite satisfied with the self-contained story in Book 1. There was a good balance between descriptions of settings, character interactions, and action sequences. I usually take quite a while to finish books because of my children and my work commitments, but I finished this one quite fast because I kept putting off other things in life to read, having been pulled right in.

Personally, I would have liked to see a little more of the resolution between Esofi and Adale towards the end - as it seemed there would have been some "off page/screen" interactions after the climax and I felt slightly left out having not seen at least the discussion where they resolved (or didn't? Won't ruin it all for you) their conflicts. I'm guessing the unicorn played a part, but I'm not sure. This is a minor point of personal preference though, and everything is wrapped up very effectively.

Overall, The Queen of Ieflaria is an engaging, turbulent story set within a rich and imaginative fantasy world that I easily fell in love with. I'm keen to see what other books this author will write in future.