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REVIEW: PALADINS OF THE STORM lord BY BARBARA ANN WRIGHT

29/11/2018

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Genre: science fantasy

Pairings: f/f, m/m

Queer Representation: cis lesbian, cis gay, cis bisexual

Warnings: wonky feelings on skin tone and aliens

Rating: 2.5 stars


Review
Over two hundred years ago, a colony ship from Earth was knocked off course and forced to settle an undeveloped new world. Those that were asleep when the disaster struck became colonists. Those that were awake and shepherding the ship became gods with superhuman abilities. But the native life of the planet has had enough, and supernatural abilities or not, humanity’s dominion over the planet is about to be called into question.
In general
This had the bones of a good story. Supernatural humans ruling over normal humans, some in-betweens, a hint of space lesbian romance, what’s not to like? The worldbuilding was strong without being overbearing, and the interpersonal interactions generally resonated. The dynamics of the ‘gods’ on the ship, especially, were very engaging. Some great one and two-liners cropped up, too, such as this gem:
As she watched them, Cordelia thought of how humans would have called the scene love at first sight or soul mates or some other crap. Leave it to the less technologically advanced species to reduce it to chemistry.
Unfortunately, it was very had to really sink into the novel. There were innumerable POV characters that swapped out mid-chapter and sub plots that always seemed to hint but never deliver. Relationships, both friend and otherwise, settled in at a lukewarm pace and never had time to become fully realized. A number of very exciting conflicts were set up, but then the characters seemed at times to be paraded through them instead of being allowed to move organically. Much of the dialogue came across as stilted approximations of witty banter, lacking emotional depth.
Relationships
The best relationship was between Cordelia (a main POV character) and her solider/drinking buddy/general screwup Liam (a minor POV character…I think? I think he had a few paragraphs?). The damsel-in-distress pick up scene on pages 12-13 (paperback), in particular, was fantastically well done and one of the main reasons I kept giving this book a chance. The banter throughout those pages was exceedingly well done and it was very easy to empathize with all parties. That it lead to a stock bar scene on a secondary Earth didn’t matter. It was relevant, and it spoke to experience, and it was everything I was hoping for from PALADINS OF THE STORM LORD.
Dillon (god, main POV character) and Lazlo’s (god, minor POV character) relationship was the most complex of the book, skating around toxic relationship issues with solid POV moments from both characters. There were plenty of times, however, where I wanted to really stay and explore their dynamic, just to be pulled from them after only a few paragraphs. As the book progressed this became more and more problematic, until these otherwise three dimensional characters felt as flat as cardboard.
Skin tones on aliens
There was a lot of description of the aliens and their brown skin, and much less of the humans. Human characters were routinely introduced with hair or eye color, not skin tone (although that was occasionally dropped in later) but the aliens were almost uniformly presented as ‘skin tone.’ It was… othering, although it’s possible the author was trying to add social commentary via this channel (the publisher’s website does have the book tagged under POC) but personally, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t know if it would for everyone.


Overall
The action scenes were decent and tension sustained at a moderate level throughout the book. Fans of military sci fi that has the bones of fantasy, as well as those looking for more queer inclusion outside of straight romance, will likely enjoy PALADINS OF THE STORM LORD. You can purchase the book here in ebook and here in paperback.


​
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review: euphoria by jayne lockwood

30/8/2018

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IN A WORLD OUT OF TIME, LOVE IS AN ALIEN CONCEPT

It might take the arrival of an alien being to remind an isolated man what it means to be human.

With a stressful job, his boss breathing down his neck for profitable results, and an estranged wife and daughter, scientist Kurt Lomax doesn’t think life can get much harder. Until a nonbinary extraterrestrial with an otherworldly beauty, captivating elegance, and a wicked sense of humor inconveniently shows up at his apartment.

Vardam watched the destruction of their own world, and they don’t want to see the same thing happen on Earth. They are lonely, and feelings soon develop between them and the supposedly straight scientist—feelings Kurt reciprocates, much to his confusion.

The arrival of cheery interpreter Tom Soames—whose Goth appearance belies a gentle heart—is like a ray of sunshine in the somber lab. He acts as matchmaker for man and tentacled extraterrestrial, unwittingly instigating a national crisis when the news breaks out.

But will a misunderstanding ruin Kurt and Vardam’s chances for happiness together—along with the hope for peace between humanity and the Var?


Reviewed by Rebecca

GENRE:
Sci-Fi

MAIN PAIRING: M/Enby

RATING: 3.75 stars

REVIEW

Gosh this was a tricky one to try and rate! Books like this make me wish I'd foregone the concept of stars and ratings altogether here on ceLEStial books, because sometimes you can't really reduce your impressions of a story to a simple number. I went with a 'safe' rating at just under 4 stars, because to me, 4 stars means "I loved it!" and 3 means "This is pretty good." And Euphoria lies somewhere in between.

The classical sci-fi lover in me really appreciated several aspects of Lockwood's story. The concept of time travel to prevent a horrific future for humanity is a trope I've loved since I was a child and first watched the film Twelve Monkeys. I felt somewhat lost in the opening chapter set a hundred years ahead of the bulk of the novel's events, though I could follow enough of what was happening to be hooked into seeing how the time travelling alien's story would progress.

The chapters that followed did an excellent job of exploring the life of a man who has achieved much (but not all) of what he has set out to achieve but, as a result, lost many of the things he'd failed to realise were right in front of him. He's so obsessed with his work that he's lost touch with his family and, whether he intended it or not, become something of a recluse who struggles to connect with others. I personally thought some of these passages were the best in the entire book. The characterisation was at its strongest here! That said, I'm one of those few readers who prefers prose over action and inner-monologue over explosions.

The arrival of Vardam was expertly written. Lockwood's descriptions of Kurt's first impressions of this strange, tentacled (ie. truly alien) creature were believable and fascinating. Given Kurt is a man of science, his mixture of awe, curiosity, and even a degree of stoicism during some moments, seemed completely plausible. The communication issues between them added a culturally intriguing layer to these interactions that I quite enjoyed. It reminded me a little of when the main character in Octavia Butler's Dawn first meets her captors. And given how much I love that book, it's promising that such a comparison struck me as I read Euphoria.

Kurt is one of those characters who carries a lot of emotional baggage because of traumatic events in his past. It's a perfectly good plot device, but I must admit that after a very, very long string of books where the main characters personalities are heavily influenced by sad or traumatic events, I'm ready to read something different. That may well have held me back from 4 stars or higher, which isn't necessarily fair on this novel, but that's why stars/ratings are sometimes a fairly crude instrument in a review. I didn't entirely love his romance with Vardam, something about it felt forced, but I don't read very many books with male protagonists so, again, maybe I need to say: it's not you, Euphoria, it's me.

As the novel continued, I moved back and forth between being completely engrossed, somewhat disconnected, and a little perturbed. I know that MPREG is a popular trope, or perhaps you could even consider it a sort of sub-genre, I honestly don't know, but it's not something I was expecting when I started the book and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I've heard some writers and readers discuss MPREG as a potentially offensive narrative device that fetishises minorities, whilst other articles I've read suggest it's quite a liberating concept that many readers, trans, enby, and cis alike, can engage with and enjoy. The science and reasoning behind this aspect of the novel felt fitting within the book's universe but I don't know enough about this kind of plot development to feel I can make a judgement of any kind. So I'll just point out that it happens, and let others who know what they're talking about delve into the merits of such developments.

The writing itself is pretty darn good. Some descriptions and conversations had me nodding at my Kindle, like, Yep -- nice writtin' there, Jayne. As a fan of sci-fi stories built upon the back of corrupt corporations and explorations of gender, Euphoria had lots to offer me, and I'm glad I read it.

As one final note, I have to say that I adore the cover! The tagline is also so perfect I want to cry with jealousy that I can't come up with something that cool for my own books.

​You can buy Euphoria here (publisher) and here (Amazon).
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review: the luxorian fugitive by j. alan veerkamp

12/6/2018

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A big welcome to our new reviewer, L. A. Ashton! You can read more about them by clicking 'The Review Team' using the list of links to the right.

Genre: Sci-Fi

Pairings: M/M

Queer Rep: so many gay men

Warnings: BDSM, violence, torture, allusions to non-consensual sex. Note: all on-page sex is entirely consensual. There’s a lot of it.
​

[Note: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.] ​


Synopsis

Sergeant Liam Jacks has been traveling aboard the transport vessel “The Santa Claus” in an effort to escape his past and etch out a peaceful existence in a tangled universe. During a pit stop on Luxoria, a mysterious—and frighteningly beautiful—man boards as a passenger. Liam is immediately taken by the man, and he is desperate to unravel the mystery surrounding him. Unfortunately, that mystery is steeped in danger, and threatens to undo the peace Liam has worked to create.

General

I have trouble rating this book. I feel that this piece falls in the category of “maybe really good, but not for me.” If I were to rate it according to my tastes, I think it’d fall somewhere around a 2. But in the same moment, a part of me feels that does the book a bit of a disservice.

The genre is quite up my alley, which can be broadly defined as “gays in space”. Any book that can use that tagline already has my attention. It was the smaller details that derailed my experience just a bit.

Plot

The Luxorian fugitive takes hold of your attention right away. I was immediately interested in Liam Jacks’ character and story, even more so when his knee jerk response to his PTSD induced night terrors was to call on his best-friend-turned-captain to whip him to orgasm.

I want to be less blunt, but that’s the thing with the Luxorian Fugitive: it is unabashedly gay, unabashedly horny, and it wants you to be too.

However, this run-in with his BFF/Captain is not just a desperate grab at sex appeal. It blooms into a mostly interesting subplot that helps propel the narrative forward through some of the slower portions of the crew’s journey.

When Liam meets his “mysterious stranger”, I immediately got a sense for what was coming. There is a definite “we are somehow linked or destined to be with one another” tone sewn throughout, and I have to admit I quite dislike those tropes. “Soulmates” in fiction tend to feel abrasive to me, but it is obviously a very popular genre subset. I wanted more interaction between the two men, and more than just Liam’s overexcited cock leading him toward Hadrian.

Now now, don’t get me wrong—I adore “one night stand becomes something more” tropes, and I love when fiction addresses the reality of human nature (read: we’re often sex-driven). But that’s not what this was. Liam and Hadrian didn’t bang it out right away, or even take much advantage of their forced proximity. It was just a strange sort of... pining broodiness, with Liam feeling overwhelming fond for this enigmatic man. This isn’t my jam, but I know it is someone’s.

The pacing dragged a bit during this portion, with Captain Danverse and his issues forcing the book forward. I didn’t care about Captain Danverse, and I cared less about him the more time I spent with the man. I wanted more character interactions and intrigue, and less overwrought inner monologuing.

There was also an... animalistic feeling to much of the book, from the character’s actions to the chosen vocabulary. Lots of  “claiming”, tons of asserting dominance and alpha male mindsets, and a very particular penchant for large hairy men. This is also not my thing.
The book delivered plenty of on-page orgasms, but not a ton of growth or movement. The pacing started to rev up again about halfway through, but by that point I was already having issues convincing myself to keep reading. Fortunately, once the shit hits the fan, it does it in a way that keeps you interested. In general I still wished for more—more character work, more world-building, more meat (of the narrative variety).

I was also a little disoriented by the severe lack of anything that wasn’t a burly gay man. This book is definitely a book for bears, and I have no problem with that. But the ship’s house rules of “no women, no heteros”, and the fact that only TWO women make an appearance in the whole novel (with about two lines of dialogue each) had me feeling a bit suffocated by the end. I desperately grabbed a F/F and enthusiastically devoured it upon completion of this piece.

Characters

Honestly, I believe this book could have reached me a little better had it not been for Captain Danverse. Liam’s best friend and captain is a bit of a shithead, and he never did properly atone for that shittiness in my eyes. At one point during the novel I slammed my finger against my iPad and shouted “THAT’S WHAT YOU GET, JERKWAD.”

At least I was properly engaged.

The rest of the characters were more relatable, but I found myself only truly interested in Mac. Hadrian remained too otherworldly and enigmatic, and while I liked Liam, I couldn’t see through his rose-colored goo-goo eyes to feel really at home in his brainscape.
 
The book is very gay and utilizes a lot of tropes readers love. They weren’t ones that meshed with my tastes, but perhaps they could mesh with yours. Veerkamp just released another novel set in the same universe (and on the same ship), so be sure to check it out if The Luxorian Fugitive does it for you.
 
My Rating: 2 stars

Alan Veerkamp’s official site can be found here, and his twitter is over yonder.
​

Note: I am an Amazon Associate and I am using affiliate links. These do not affect you or my reviews.
 
From Ninestar Press:
The Luxorian Fugitive (ebook) — $6.49
From Amazon.com:
The Luxorian Fugitive (print) — $13.99    |    The Luxorian Fugitive (ebook) — $6.49
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    ABOUT C.B.

    CURRENTLY ON HIATUS FOR UNIVERSITY STUDY AND WORK. 

    Book reviews, Author Q&As and more as shared by an Australian lesbian. My core interests lie in genre fiction: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror etc.
    ​
    My aim is to help provide more exposure to those books that  may not fit neatly into the usual "lesfic" boxes (EG: pansexual women who engage with different aspects of their sexuality, non-binary characters, books with very little romance etc.) or books that don't conform to the most popular tropes that tend to dominate the LGBTIQ+ publishing world.

    That said, I'll put up pretty much any review that I'd like to share. Most will have some sort of rainbow content, but not all. I am a reader who likes to talk about books -- that's really what this little corner of the web is for, to talk about books.

    ​Email: celestialbooks [AT] rebeccalangham.com.au


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