[REVIEW] Glass Houses – Rachel Caine

Rachel Caine
Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, Book 1)
Penguin Signet (US & CA: 3rd October 2006); Allison & Busby (UK: 26th May 2008)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Claire Danvers is young and smart, entering tertiary education aged sixteen. And a half. When you measure ages in halves, you really do sound like a kid, especially when you intend to prove that you’re not But here she is at uni, living in a dorm, and being bullied – only it’s not just bullying, as Claire is convinced that Monica Morrell is trying to kill her. If the Morganville vampires don’t first.

The Glass House has a room to spare. Each of the three residents has their own tragic past, but the most fascinating one is Michael Glass’s. I’m not often shocked or surprised in fiction, but Michael managed it – my favourite character by far. For readers fed up with vampires as love interests, you’ll be pleased that Morganville’s vampires are wonderfully creepy. Claire is too smart for me to relate to, but what she does in the library’s fourth floor room is chemically awesome. Science for the win! Eve is witty, but her Goth look pisses me off – like she’s putting on a show instead of revealing her true self. That usually shites me in fiction, so this probably isn’t a big deal. Shane is your typical teenage love interest – hot, affable, and with a mysterious past.

All in all, it’ll be interesting to follow the dynamics between the vampires and the humans, and to uncover the full secrets of Morganville.

[COVER ART] Starfire Angels – Melanie Nilles

From here:

They’ve been coming here for thousands of years, using Earth as a sanctuary to escape threats from their own kind. Mankind knows them as angels, and one of them left a child upon her death to be raised as a human. Now a high school senior, Raea’s life as a human is about to end. The crystal shard she bears is not a pretty pendant; it’s a collective of powerful entities who chose her as their Keeper, a protector of one of the four shards that power a machine capable of destroying whole worlds. Those who desire the Starfire’s power have sent an agent to find her, but she’s too busy evading a nosy reporter ready to exploit her secret and dating a hot new foreign student to notice. Nevermind learning what she really is. Only one person on Earth can help her, the last person she ever expected. But he’s not from Earth. Life as a human would be so much easier.

Purchase information to be released soon.

The Cat Is Human

So it turns out Manny is the feline version of the Parents. By turns over-the-top drama queen, then a little too quiet. Goes a bit manic, then tires himself out. On the cusp of becoming a “senior”. Needs to lose weight, or else he’ll have a greater risk of becoming diabetic. Going on a “diet” really means just portion control.

He’s almost 6 kg, and has flab around his tummy. Other than that, he’s healthy. Just need to make sure he’s not binge-drinking wine cheating on his diet

But I swear, when he’s in EmoCat mode, he so seems human. He even sighs. He didn’t get that from me; I suffer in silence

Remember the Name: Melanie Nilles

I found Melanie Nilles (and many other authors) via Fangs, Fur & Fey a handful of years ago. I began following her LiveJournal, and we’ve kept in contact since. Her fantasy stories didn’t seem like my thing, but when she spoke of a young adult sci-fi romance, I was intrigued. This was when I was discovering futuristics, so it was very much a case of the right tale at the right time.

But before I read the novel, Mel shared her world-building, to test its readability. Not only did I understand it, but it was FREAKING AWESOME, and that’s not a compliment I hand out willy-nilly. Basically Mel had taken something paranormal/mythological…and made it sound somewhat realistic. This is a trait I very much admire, but can be hard to find. For example, I don’t connect with immortal vampires, but I do connect with those who must replenish their blood intake or die.

The Starfireverse is fascinating, but it can’t all be revealed in the first novel – we learn along with our protag. But Starfire Angels is a great introduction to the history and characters. Set in North Dakota, teen Raea learns about who she is, who she can and can’t trust, and faces danger – but doesn’t escape unscathed. There’s some romance, but it’s not too angst-ridden or over-the-top. And Raea doesn’t abandon her friends for a love interest, so she has a decent head on her shoulders.

The world-building is inspired by manga and anime, rather than the usual suspects, and it’s a ‘verse I definitely want to re-visit. Melanie’s currently working on Book 3, but in the meantime we can start off with Book 1. I beta-read/critiqued it some months ago and it’ll be fun to see how it’s been enhanced since.

Starfire Angels will shortly be published, but in the meantime you can try out free eBooks (and an ongoing serial) on Mel’s website, and/or purchase a paperback edition of A Turn of Curses. I haven’t read any of these, so be sure to tell me what you think of them. Also, I believe Starfire Angels might be up the alley of Galaxy Express mastermind Heather, so if you’re good acquaintances with her please pass on the news that the novel’s launch isn’t far away. And by all means start blogging about it – this is a story that grabbed me, and hopefully you’ll love it too.

Stay tuned, and I’ll share specific information as it comes to hand.

You can learn more about, and contact, Melanie Nilles here:
Website
LiveJournal
WordPress
Twitter
Facebook
MySpace

Good News for A. J. Menden Fans

Good news for fans of A. J. Menden and her Elite Hands of Justice series From here:

A. J Menden’s second book in the Elite Hands of Justice series, Tekgrrl, just came out in stores and is getting terrific reviews…And Dorchester just picked up the next two books in the series, both scheduled to come out in 2010.

No word yet on titles, but I think they’ll be Fantazia’s and Kate’s stories. Will keep you posted on release dates.

In the meantime, catch up with the first two EHJ novels:

Phenomenal Girl 5: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Tekgrrl: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[COVER ART] Scorched – Sharon Ashwood

Cover art for Sharon Ashwood’s Scorched, due for release in the US and Canada on December 1st. Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[REVIEW] Eclipse – Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse (Twilight Saga, Book 3)
Hachette Little, Brown (UK: 3rd July 2008; US: 4th August 2009; AU: August 2009)
Buy (Worldwide)

The Plot: A vampire is creating an army of newborns who are going on killing sprees. In order to protect human Bella Swan and destroy the army and its leader, the Forks vampires and werewolves realise their best chance to succeed is to work together.

The Relationships: Bella wants to shag vampire Edward Cullen ASAP, particularly before he changes her into a bloodsucker. But Marble Man refuses to shag her until they’re married. B wants to go vamp, but doing so may mean cutting off her ties with werewolf best mate Jacob Black. Also, she realises she’s in love with the Quileute hottie, but unless E agrees to an open marriage, Bella can’t have both lads. Actually, open marriage wasn’t discussed, but it should’ve been.

Genuinely Interesting Content: Jasper Hale’s history. The army of newborns plot.

RANDOM STUFF
-“For a teenager, you’re amazingly non-whiney.” Oh, Charlie, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at your naïveté/stupidity.
-“Besides, there’s lots of financial aid out there. It’s easy to get loans.” Bella, when you say things like this, you’re really dim.
-If only Bella followed the “bros before hos” rule. Friends before lovers. Jacob before Edward. Bros before hos.
-So frustrating! Bella won’t do what Charlie says, yet always does what Edward says. Fecking abusive relationship… Pussywhipped!
-I’m with Charlie – I wouldn’t want my daughter shagging a vampire. Made of stone/granite/marble. What if part of him…breaks off?
-Edward stole part of Bella’s truck’s engine. Next he’ll be cutting her brakes. Eek! Fecking abusive relationship…
-“her oddly feline face” – So not only is Victoria a possibly-Canadian vampire, but also…a werecat? I’m calling her Thundercat.
-Bella: “Alice, don’t you think this is just a little bit controlling? Just a tiny bit psychotic, maybe?” Alice: “Not really.” Bella should dump Edward’s psychotic arse. Alice is NOT COOL for thinking there’s nothing controlling or psychotic about him.
-Jacob: “You know, I saw this story on the news last week about controlling, abusive teenage relationships and –” Jacob is awesome.
-I’ve never read Wuthering Heights, but judging by the page Edward marked, he thinks Heathcliff is a vampire. Dude, what the eff?
-B: “People don’t just get married at eighteen! Not smart people, not responsible mature people!” [edit] “That’s not who I am…” Yes it is.
-Victoria & Irina want revenge for James’s & Laurent’s deaths respectively. If they weren’t undead, I’d swear they were PMSing.
-“…I wanted HIS venom to poison my system.” That’s totally a double-entendre. And/or a euphemism.
-Chapter 20 is hilarious. E gives B a gift: “It’s hard and cold…And it throws rainbows in the sunlight.” It’s not his wang.
-E shagging B may break her. So what if she gets a shattered pelvis? She’ll have had snu-snu. Amazon Eddie!
-E born in 1901. Book published 2007. E still has his “virtue”. And he’s Marble Man. Reckon he’d be a dud root.

Claim to Fame, New Book Deal & Cover Art

Claim to fame: Dorchester Publishing has included part of my review on their page for A. J. Menden’s Tekgrrl. Only a few words, but I’m credited for them

New book deal: From here: Erica Hayes’s Shadowsong, in which a knife-wielding banshee gangster’s quest for revenge on the assassin who ruined her life is interrupted when a deluded fairy sorceress steals her magical song, again to Rose Hilliard at St. Martin’s, in a two-book deal, by Marlene Stringer of the Stringer Literary Agency (World). And I’m happy to announced I received an ARC of Erica’s first novel, Shadowfae, during the week. I’m looking forward to reading and reviewing it soon

Cover art: I’ve fallen drastically behind on posting covers. For now, I’m only posting the ones I HAVEN’T seen plastered everywhere, but I don’t follow as many other book blogs as I used to. Sorry in advance if you’ve already seen these, and I’m clogging up your blog feed.

Most Wanted UK Update

Here

Most Wanted US Update

The US links on my Most Wanted page have been updated. Now to move onto the UK links…