Daisy’s Back In Town
Category: C+
bulk04
Tangled Up In You
bulk03
Sex, Lies and Online Dating
bulk01
Nothing But Trouble
scorpion?
Angelfall
Angels have come to Earth with death and destruction in their wake. No one knows why they’re here but the survivors group into gangs/militia or try to scrape by under the radar.
Penryn has survived despite having to protect a wheelchair bound sister and an insane mother.
After an attack that sees her sister carried off she interferes to save an angel who has his wings cut off in order to secure his help in rescuing her sister.
This messy novel mashes up Biblical stories and dystopian fiction. It has quite a few horrific moments and some creepy sexual undertones which I found rather unpleasant.
One thing I can say for certain is that I never knew where the plot was going which is a relief after so many predictable reads recently but I’m not sure that the author knew where it was going either.
carpark?
Clean Sweep
This is an insubstantial and cheesy bit of urban fantasy. Innkeepers run neutral waystations for travellers of a more unusual type. Dina Demille is from a line of innkeepers and is bringing a previously dormant inn gradually back to strength when a series of dog killings get her involved with the local werewolf and eventually a vampire warrior.
Yes this book has a vampire/werewolf/human female love triangle.
To be honest the only interesting thing about this was the magic as scifi tech motif, otherwise a bit crap.
hinges?
Flat Out Love
I’m pretty much unable to resist a good bargain and when this book cropped up in the 99p daily Kindle deal with the promise of a good romantic comedy I jumped at the chance.
Imagine my disappointment when this turned out to be full of cliche characters and crashingly obvious plot twists.
The author has a pleasant, readable voice but the book is utterly forgettable.
dirigible?
Changeless
The sequel to Soulless finds Alexia busy with her new roles in life and caught up in a mystery when Werewolves can no longer transform, Vampires become human and Ghosts are exorcised with no apparent cause.
Chasing the cause finds her taking a zeppelin ride north to Scotland.
This is a perfectly well constructed book and I still like the lead character – I just found myself getting tired of the ‘witty’ faux Victorian banter and I had to force myself to read it to the conclusion.
Only recommended to those who enjoy the Victorian aspect of the books.
roan?
The Elenium
I had an urge for a quick generic fantasy hit and this fits the bill.
I’ve reviewed this fantasy series before and pretty much everything I said then still holds true.
pouch?
Friday
Oh dear, Oh dear. Going by the reviews blurbed on the cover of the book, this was considered at one point to be Heinlein’s last great book.
For the record this book is a big old pile of manure that I couldn’t wait to be done with.
Friday is a ‘combat courier’, the kind you turn to when your delivery must absolutely get through. She’s also an artificial artefact, a genetically manipulated superhuman in a world where prejudice is rife and her kind have no rights.
The book follows her on a couple of missions and through an incident called ‘Red Thursday’. It also follows her obsessive need for family and love through several groups of people.
Friday is a typical late Heinlein character – practically flawless and her main flaw is in her total humility.
Unfortunately she’s just not a very sympathetic character and Heinlein’s quirks have gotten real old by this point in his career.
If I hadn’t already read ‘I Will Fear No Evil’ and ‘To Sail Beyond The Sunset’ I would have classed this as his worst book.
It’s such a pity that so many of the genuinely great science fiction authors started produced self-indulgent crap the second they’re successful enough to overrule their editor.
The only reason to read this is for Heinlein completism or for an idea of the influences behind Charles Stross’ upcoming Saturn’s Children..