Richelle Mead’s Australian Tour – Victorian Leg

Information for Richelle Mead’s events in VIC have been released. I was expecting one in the city, but this added one out near my neck of the woods? Surprising, but so welcome. Will take me less time to get there, though it’ll mean taking the bus instead of the train. Not keen on night buses, but nevertheless…

This morning I phoned in my booking for the event at Knox Civic Centre. I’m not sure if I’ll go to the City one the following evening. But hey – if you plan on attending either one, let me know. We can be the designated photographers for each other

P.S. Yes, there are events interstate, but I’m not advertising them because I won’t be attending them Do your own research!

From here:

Monday 14 September – 5pm
Eastern Regional Libraries Event
At: Knox Civic Centre
511 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South
Booking Tel: (03) 9801 1422
Free event, bookings essential to be assured place

Tuesday 15 September – 5.30pm
Dymocks Melbourne Talk – Signing
At: Dymocks Melbourne CBD
Lower Ground 234 – Collins St, Melbourne
Booking Tel: (03) 9660 8500
Free event, bookings essential to be assured place

[REVIEW] Red Is for Remembrance – Laurie Faria Stolarz

Laurie Faria Stolarz
Red Is for Remembrance (Blue Is for Nightmares, Book 4)
Llewellyn (US: 1st August 2005)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Five months after her boyfriend was pushed overboard and never seen again, Stacey Brown is now at university with a full scholarship. Even though she doesn’t actually attend lectures, and when she does she fails tests. And forget sororities, sports and shagging – all she does is down tranquilisers, and perform spells that used to help her but don’t anymore.

The uni’s president brought Stacey here to help his troubled teen daughter, who’s having nightmares of a death not yet committed. At first Stacey tries to help Porsha for selfish reasons, but the pair makes a breakthrough to become friends, and Stacey no longer puts herself first.

It’s so hard to discuss this book without major spoilers, but Red Is for Remembrance is lovable. The entire series is fabulous, but this outing steps up with an added dimension. Some plot points may be predictable, but they’re still great rides. Even though some characters are annoying, that doesn’t matter.

This is a series to glom. I love how the spells have ingredients, instead of just “magic”. I love Stacey’s awkward social graces. I love the spookiness, and the suspense. But here’s the tricky part: Published in 2005, this book and its predecessors may be hard to find, though there’s a boxed set you may be able to purchase. I’m now ultra-eagerly awaiting the upcoming graphic novel Black Is for Beginnings. Laurie Faria Stolarz’s work is so underrated, and well deserving of new fans.

Do You See What I See?

There was something I forgot/neglected to mention in my Strange Angels review that, upon second thoughts, shouldn’t just be put aside. I didn’t initially include it because I was afraid I’d misunderstood what I’d read.

Graves is part-Asian, and that was never a problem for me. Dru’s descriptions of him, however, made me a bit uncomfortable. I remember counting three different occasions, but this is one actually made me dog-ear the page (p183, Oz edition) for future reference: For an ethnic boy, he certainly got pretty white.

This morning I hit Google to see if anyone else noticed in the book what I’d noticed.

Adele of Persnickety Snark did here: The focus on Graves race also was concerning with the term half-breed (and other variations) being used.

Jia of Dear Author did here: And speaking of reader biases, what was up with all the descriptions of Graves’s Asian features? I’d be lying if I said the reference to Graves being lucky that he hadn’t drawn the “really slit-eyed card a lot of half-breeds have to play” didn’t make me frown.

Jenn H. of Oops…Wrong Cookie did here: However, Dru’s constant references to his “half-blood” status and features are obnoxious and borderline racist. Do we really need to be constantly reminded of his half-Asian features and mathematical abilities? It is a horribly overdone cliché for an otherwise great character.

For the record, I’m a white Celtic-Australian, and have no issue with the author – she seems like a lovely lass. Dru, however…yeah, not my favourite person right now.

[REVIEW] Strange Angels – Lili St. Crow

Lili St. Crow
Strange Angels (Strange Angels, Book 1)
Penguin Razorbill (US: 14th May 2009; CA: 19th May 2009; AU: 4th June 2009); Quercus (UK: September 2009)
Cover art by Michael Frost
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Dru Anderson and her dad travel the US, mostly in the South, hunting supernatural beings. Now in Dakota, Dru alone fights off a zombie in her own home, but this is just the beginning: Dru and her newfound accomplice Graves have to deal with werwulfen, and other spooky things that probably shouldn’t be mentioned.

The marketing isn’t quite accurate, though Dru is a night hunter. She shoots guns, but I don’t remember her throwing knives. As for “heart breaker”…this was barely hinted at. And while I fully agree with Richelle Mead’s blurb on the “dark” and “dangerous” front, “sexy” doesn’t seem to suit the story – or maybe it takes something really shocking to alert me

I’m not quite sure what the “strange angels” are, to which the title refers. Christophe? The winged snakes (who are bloody scary, I might add)? Also, I could’ve used a glossary or pronunciation guide in some places. (I’m fine with French and German words. But Poland and the Balkans are quite difficult for my eejit brain.)

Quite a confronting read, this novel brings teen fears to life – and not just the paranormal creatures. When you’ve got nowhere to live and no one to trust, independence takes on a stronger meaning. Dark, disturbing, and bleak as all buggery, Strange Angels‘s originality and fascinating plot twists make for an intriguing, though grim, addiction of a series.

[COVER ART] Thorn Queen (UK, AU) – Richelle Mead

UK and Australia cover art for Richelle Mead’s Thorn Queen.

Buy (UK) Buy (CA)

[COVER ART] Coming Undone – Lauren Dane; & Carrie Ryan’s THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES

Cover art for Lauren Dane’s Coming Undone. Also, the summary for Carrie Ryan’s The Dead-Tossed Waves:

Gabry lives a quiet life, secure in her town next to the sea and behind the Barrier. She’s content to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. Home is all she’s ever known and, and all she needs for happiness. But life after the Return is never safe and there are threats even the Barrier can’t hold back. Gabry’s mother thought she left her secrets behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, but, like the dead in their world, secrets don’t stay buried. And now, Gabry’s world is crumbling. One night beyond the Barrier…One boy Gabry’s known forever and one veiled in mystery…One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry knows only one thing: if she has any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother’s past.

Coming Undone: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)
The Dead-Tossed Waves: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[COVER ART] Kim Harrison’s WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE (US) & BLACK MAGIC SANCTION (US)

US mass market paperback cover for Kim Harrison’s White Witch, Black Curse (24th November 2009), and US hardcover cover for Kim Harrison’s Black Magic Sanction (23rd February 2010). I rather love the WW,BC one

White Witch, Black Curse: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)
Black Magic Sanction: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)

August 2009 Releases

Done buying July Releases? Now onto August – here are my choice picks from the US, UK, Canada and Australia. As always, I don’t list EVERYTHING in the UF or futuristic genres – I’ll leave that to other bloggers. Instead, I just choose the ones I think are worthy. And yes, I play favourites Keep an eye on Reading Wishlist for release dates further into the future.

No purchase links as yet for Melanie Nilles’s Starfire Angels or Lexxie Couper’s Death, the Vamp and His Brother, but keep an eye on the authors’ websites and blogs.

NOTE: I own Kat Richardson’s Underground, and Rachel Vincent’s Pride, but haven’t read them yet.

NOTE: I have reviewed Rachel Vincent’s My Soul to Take, and Tracey O’hara’s Night’s Cold Kiss.

All other books listed here I’d be happy to read and review. If you’re willing to post a hard copy out to me in Australia, send me an email.

[REVIEW] White Is for Magic – Laurie Faria Stolarz

Laurie Faria Stolarz
White Is for Magic (Blue Is for Nightmares, Book 2)
Llewellyn (US: 1st May 2004)
Buy (US: Kindle) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Stacey Brown awakens vomiting from nightmares. Remnants of her past, and perhaps future danger, appear in her sleep. But in real life she’s also receiving threatening messages.

I really like this series, particularly how Stacey’s spells are more about the ingredients and how they work together, rather than “magic”. The suspense is psychological as well as the norm, and the characters feel like real people. (Okay, except for Amber and PJ. Having one of them would be fine, but both of them together is just over-the-top.) And there are some seriously screwed-up teens, like the “ghost groupies”. These books are like comfort reads to me, and combine for one of the most underrated series in YA fiction.

[REVIEW] Shadowfae – Erica Hayes

Erica Hayes
Shadowfae (Shadowfae Chronicles, Book 1)
Macmillan St. Martin’s Griffin (US: 13th October 2009)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

The goals of breaking shackles and finding freedom drive this colourful and disgusting vision of Melbourne, where fae and vampires live among humans.

Soul-sucking succubus Jade goes to steal a soul – only someone else has beat her to it. Incubus Rajah is also seeking emancipation, and the two need four particular souls each to score their freedom. But chasing the same soul, they can’t both win, and when it comes to love, is it right to save yourself by damning your loved one?

I love my Melbourne as Shadowfae‘s setting! I don’t often go into the city, but I’ve been to the Arts Centre, the gaslight bursts outside Crown Casino, and Swanston Walk’s Starbucks, which all appear in the book. And even for the places I haven’t been, I can extrapolate what I’ve seen to easily imagine those I haven’t.

Erica Hayes has a psychedelic imagination that gives the Shadowfae world a vibrant splash, scenes and locations for which I’d love to see fan-art (I’m thinking oil paintings and digital works). The descriptions are inspired, and Chapter 4 in particular is beautifully written. Though it’s sad, even icky and slimy death is richly colourful.

There’s dark humour, but it fades as the characters fall in love and the stakes get higher. It’s an intriguing enough plot, but for reasons unknown I couldn’t quite connect with it and the characters. My distracting brain is probably to blame: Jade is predominantly, uh, wet, making me wonder if bacteria is blossoming, maybe some kind of fungus. Thoughts like that tend to spoil the mood, but the threesome scene is seriously sizzling and memorable. M/m and m/m/f action is hot!

And if you were wondering about the “disgusting” mention at the start of this review…Souls can come out in jizz, vomit and other bodily fluids. Jade has to drink those, then vomit them into soultraps. Yucky, but at least it’s better than “beautiful souls” or other such purple prose