Showing posts with label Clay Griffith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clay Griffith. Show all posts

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Steampunk Minis: Meljean Brook, Clay & Susan Griffith

This last week I caught up with some steampunk romance novels and novellas. I went on a reading binge to catch up with Meljean Brook's Iron Seas steampunk series, and then hit the Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith steampunk trilogy Vampire Empire. Here are three minis for books by these authors.

Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City (Iron Seas, #1.5)


I liked this epilogue/novella about Rhys and Mina. I particularly enjoyed the fact that as they adjust to marriage and work through fears, they have taken the time to form their own little family with Anne the Tinker. Still, Scarsdale is the most memorable character in this short story with his unbearable situation. It is heartbreaking, and I'm hoping that Brook finds a great resolution for him. I also wonder if the storyline used as part of the mystery in this short about children working as laborers and automatons taking over factories will be fully realized in a future story. Grade: B-


Heart of Steel (Iron Seas #2) by Meljean Brook

Heart of Steel turned out to be a pirate adventure romance, steampunk style. I like that Yasmeen never loses the ruthlessness that makes her such a unique character, and that Archimedes Fox admires her for her hard-won heart of steel and cold as ice personality. His charm is deceptive in that it hides a relentless man with a tough and fearless core. A great pair whose romance is well developed, but is somewhat lacking in emotion. The adventure is less than I expected with a disappointing outcome, and although the couple and the romance kept me reading and the steampunk details are again excellent, this second installment does not quite live up to my high expectations of this series. Grade: B-


The Rift Walker (Vampire Empire #2) by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Greyfriar, because of the adventure, romance, and wonderful portrayals of the nosferatu-like vampires as villains. The Rift Walker begins quite slowly as Princess Adele dreams of Greyfriar and prepares her wedding to senator Clark. Political games abound in Equatoria at this point just as Adele's teacher Mamoru and his cabal of geomancers make plans for her training. Meanwhile Cesare and the northern vampire clans make their own plans to strike at Equatoria. Action begins when Greyfriar abducts Adele during her wedding and they make a run for Africa just before Cesare's forces attack Alexandria.

I again enjoyed the vampires in this book and their ruthless performances. Adele begins the story as a romantic young girl dreaming of her days with Greyfriar and ends it closer to a woman ready to lead her people. She also seems to be either willingly blind or just totally unaware (clueless) when she should not be, so that her character becomes really frustrating after a while. Greyfriar plays the brooding hero willing to sacrifice for his lady, but he is less than I expected. As Adele grows and is willing to lead, Greyfriar's character seems diminished. We are told that he is strong and smart, but is he? Where is his strength and willingness to lead, to confront, to save his people? Why isn't he willing to do so? By the end of the book I found his situation to be heartbreaking, but also pathetic. I do like his sense of humor, those moments when he's reading the penny dreadful novels are wonderful, and his impossible love for Adele romantic.

Overall, the book has a slow beginning with action picking up in the middle that doesn't really lead anywhere but helps with Adele's personal growth and that goes on to the end, some two-dimensional characterization for secondary characters, i.e., senator Clark, and a good ending that prepares the reader for the conclusion of this trilogy. I already have the last installment and am hoping for a good ending.  Grade: C


Monday, October 3, 2011

September 2011 Reads & Minis

September is over! I am so glad... lol! September was a long burn-out month for me with lots of work and running around. I was behind the eight-ball for most of the month, and in need of rest and relaxation. My blogging and reviewing suffered and yes... I ended up slow blogging for the month. However, although much of my time was spent away from the computer, I took the opportunity to read whenever possible. Thank goodness because I definitely need those books to relax. :)

Overall September turned out to be a pretty solid reading month. It was pretty well-balanced when it comes to diverse genre reading, although I do wish I'd included a straight science-fiction romance read in there (not steampumk), but in the end decided to go with literary fiction instead. I'm including two minis in this post, as well as an impromptu review I first posted at Goodreads for Captain Harding's Six Day War by Elliott Mackle.

Here are my reads for September:

Total Books Read: 14
  Contemporary: 3 (Romance: 1 Erotica: 2)
  Historical Romance: 2
  Historical Fiction: 1
  Paranormal Romance: 3
  Fantasy/Steampunk: 2
  Literary Fiction: 2
  LGBT Gay Fiction: 1
  • The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa (Re-read): A
  • Captain Harding's Six Day War: A Novel by Elliott Mackle: B+
Hah! I really enjoyed this book. The writer pulled me in to the story from page one. I meant to skim it to read later and ended up reading it in one sitting. It's all about Captain Joe Harding's escapades at the Wheelus Military Air Base in Tripoli, Libya. Set in the 1960's right before the Six Day War in the Middle East. That Joe is something else! "He's got balls." He's in the military, gay, and deep in the closet -- he has to be in order to keep his career intact and himself out of the brig. Remember these are the 1960's so it's worse than let's say.... last year! He transferred in as a crazy Colonel's right hand man and administrator with the idea of being discreet and maintaining a low personal profile. But that's just not Joe!

In a short period of time Joe's having under cover affairs with two different men, making goo goo eyes at the American Ambassador's young son, and getting himself and a friend in trouble at an all-men party turned orgy. Joe's not very subtle, even though he really tries. In the meantime he's making friends and enemies. As both he and his friends become embroiled and get caught in the middle of military politics, often due to deep-set prejudices (related to race, sexual orientation and gender), Joe becomes bolder in his attempts to save himself and his friends from disaster, and wages his own Six Day War at Wheelus. Of course as in all wars, expect victory, defeat, some wounded and casualties.

This is a fast paced story, full of excellent military details. I loved Joe's story, from the sexual escapades and attempts at self-deception that affected his personal life, to the manipulative machinations that he and friends used to achieve their ends (complete their mission) at the military base. The secondary characters are wonderful in this story too (both friends and foes). Disbelief must be suspended a couple of times before the end, and those pesky military acronyms get to be a bit much at times, however, this was a great read with a surprisingly sweet ending. This is my first read by Elliott Mackle and I really enjoyed the writing style. I’ll follow up by reading It Takes Two. (LGBT Gay Fiction)
  • The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire #1) by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith: B
I featured this book in my recommendations for Halloween/October reads because I really did love the fact that the vampires in this steampunk/fantasy book are portrayed as such vile creatures. They are scary, violent and not a one sparkles in the bunch. It has been a while since I read vampires that were this nasty. The humans are quite intriguing themselves, not quite a black and white portrayal there either. Besides the way vampires and humans are characterized, there's quite a bit to recommend this first book, the adventure is fast paced, the world building is engrossing and the characters that populate the book are quite intriguing. Toward the beginning of the book there seem to be a bit too much of the passive third person point of view going on and it slowed down the action, but later on I either became accustomed to the writing style(s) or the plot reeled me in enough that this stopped being a problem for me. I enjoyed it enough that I'm reading the second book.
  • Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl: B
  • Archangel's Blade (Guild Hunters, #4) by Nalini Singh: B
I'm not following this series, yet I picked up this book mainly because it's all about Dmitri the vampire. This is one of the most violent romances I've read in a while. I liked the fact that Singh didn't change Dmitri's character to fit the romance and that he remained a "killer" even as he exhibited a softer side. I admired his loyalty and tenderness throughout the whole story when all I expected was passion. Honor was also a good protagonist who turns out to be quite strong while working on her recent traumatic experiences. Unfortunately, neither the numerous flashbacks, nor the foreshadowed reasons given at the end for Honor and Dmitri's romantic union really worked for me. Despite that, overall this was an enjoyable UF/Romance book that in many ways felt more like a paranormal read. 
  • The Book of Want by Daniel A. Olivas: B (Upcoming Review)
  • Supernatural by Larissa Ione, Alexandra Ivy, Jacquelyn Frank, G.A. Aiken: B
  • Kissing Comfort by Jo Goodman: B (Upcoming Review)
  • The Blushing Bounder (Wild & Steamy Anthology) by Meljean Brook: B
  • Los cachorros by Mario Vargas Llosa: C
  • Tempting the Highlander by Michele Sinclair: C
  • Raw Desire by Kate Pearce: C
  • Rough Play by Christina Crooks: C-
That closes my September reads. My top three picks of the month were The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa (Historical Fiction); Captain Harding's Six Day War: A Novel by Elliott Mackle (Gay Fiction), and Demon Marked by Meljean Brook (Paranormal Romance). How about you, any great reads in September?

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Halloween Reads: Steampunk/PNR/LGBT Spec-Fic

October is here and that means Halloween! From the books I've read lately and some read a while back, I have accumulated a few recommendations of books you might want to read: Paranormal Romance, LGBT Speculative Fiction, Horror, and well... things with fangs, claws or some that go bump in the night.


The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire #1) & The Rift Walker (Vampire #2) by Susan Griffith and Clay Griffith: (Steampunk Adventure/ Romance) See Leslie's review here.
The first book in the Vampire Empire trilogy has some of the scariest vampires I've seen around in a while. I really enjoyed the fact that they are Nosferatu-like vampires, parasitic, violent and portrayed as animalistic and clannish in nature. The humans are also portrayed quite differently in this world, and for the two main characters it's a learning experience as they venture into the world of vampires in the northern lands where they rule. There's a princess, a masked and caped hero, horrifying vampires and violent, often fast-paced battles, plus the beginning of a sweet romance that develops between two very different people. Along with the first book, I will recommend The Rift Walker (Vampire Empire #2), a book that I'm reading at the moment, and where the fun, chilling adventures continue. 
Demon Marked (Guardian Series #7) by Meljean Brook (Paranormal Romance): See review here.
Weather you begin this series from scratch or decide to pick up where you left off doesn't matter. This is a series that I highly recommend and that is appropriate for this month with it's angel-like Guardians and demons, hell hounds, heaven-like Caelum, and vampires. There's a lot to be said about Meljean Brook's world and it's all good... it's complex, tight, and fascinating. The romance and heat are off the charts and I can't recommend it enough. 
Supernatural with Larissa Ione, Alexandra Ivy, Jacquelyn Frank, G.A. Aiken (Paranormal Romance): See review here
And if you want something lighter, Supernatural is a paranormal romance collection of novellas where the writers feature characters set in worlds created for already popular series. A couple of the stories are a bit darker than the others, but all four are on the erotic side of the scale with lots of sexin' going on along with the fangs, claws, darkness, fire and brimstone. 
LGBT Speculative Fiction and Horror:


Wilde Stories 2011: The Years Best Gay Speculative Fiction edited by Steve Berman (Speculative Fiction): See review here
I just reviewed this collection of stories and highly recommend it. All the stories included are excellent: there are vampires, flesh eating zombies, stories about the occult, mermen, a mesmerizing psychic, a clown!, surfer dudes and dudettes, and well... romance and love along with all the hmm... weird fantasy.
Pumpkin Teeth by Tom Cardamone (LGBT Speculative Fiction): See mini here
Oh boy! Did I enjoy this collection by Cardamone or what? This is one fantastic collection of spec-fic stories where Cardamone includes both horror and fantasy. His stories are shocking and nightmarish, and if you love those ambiguous endings that leave you holding your breath at the end you'll love these. I read it last year and will be re-reading some of the stories again this October. :)
The StarCrossed Series by co-authors Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine (Speculative Fiction): See reviews here and here
Demon Tailz (Book 1), Opposite Ends of the Spectrum (Book 2), Sangria and Seraphim (Book 2.5), Objects in the Mirror (Book 3), Angel Tears (Book 3.5), In the Blink of an Eye (Book 4)
This is spec-fic of the horror, homo-erotic kind. The best kind. It's exciting and disturbing with demons, vampires, angels and witches equally doing their thing among humans and with each other. MacLeod and Valentine's series escalates and gets better and better as it goes along. But you don't have to believe me (I only wrote an ini-Mini), I've linked you above to Indigene's reviews of this series. She reviewed all four books when the series was first released a few years back and in my opinion, these are still the best reviews about this series out there. This series has had a resurgence in popularity recently after it was re-released by OmniLit.

There are many excellent Speculative Fiction books out there to read! I've slowly become an addict of this sub-genre, horror and fantasy in particular. For LGBT fans, Lethe Press' quarterly magazine, Icarus: The Magazine of Gay Speculative Fiction, is a great way to check out short stories by new or favorite writers, interviews, reviews, news about upcoming releases and of course networking information. So, I usually end up browsing through their book catalogue which has great choices. The upcoming fall issue has an interview with Ginn Hale who has the popular serial The Rifter out now. I've only read and reviewed the first episode from that series and am holding off on the rest. :)

So where do you look for new speculative fiction, horror, fantasy, new writers and upcoming books, LGBT or otherwise? What about books in general? What have you read lately that you would recommend as a great Halloween, October read?