Monday, June 20, 2005
Weekend Getaway
Living as I do, mostly at the end of my computer, it's nice every so often to prove I'm not addicted by stepping away and abandoning all ties to the electronic community. That's what I did this weekend.
I received my Amazon order on Friday, and the weekend was filled with reading (which I don't do enough of), and elevating my nose just enough so I could peer over the edge and check that the spawn hadn't drowned yet. Apart from the bugs which are still in smallish clusters and not ravening swarms it was truly a lovely weekend.
So what did I read, you might be wondering. Well it was a Christine Feehan overdose. "Oceans of Fire", "Wild Rain", "Shadow Game", and "Mind Game": in that order.
Oceans of Fire: The third story of the Drake sisters and the first full length novel devoted to the saga. Excellent beginning. Wonderful conflict for both protagonists. In fact it's exactly the kind of conflict I love to sink my teeth into. The kind where their love and attraction isn't in doubt so much as the appalling betrayal that tore them apart. In this case it is the hero that did the betraying and it's a doozy. Sadly the resolution is not as satisfying as the conflict itself. It's all very fast and very pat and not nearly enough grovelling and soul searching on the part of the Hero.
Wild Rain: The second story of this (the leopard) series. I haven't read the first one which appeared in an anthology. The flashback/deja vu part of the leopard people mythology isn't well explained. I gather it's part of their animal instinct, their recognition of their mate, but I'm guessing here. Over all, not a bad story. Rachael is the heroine and her badly chewed leg seriously hampers the Feehan sexfest for most of the book. Lots of manly nakedness and female appreciation for said nakedness raises the sensuality somewhat, but it do get tiresome after a time. There are killers, bandits, and drug lords running all over the jungle (supposedly a remote region of Borneo), making for an awful lot of neighbours. Conflicts, mostly external. Lots of hunting down killers and pity parties about their wronged lives.
Shadow Game: Liked this book. Liked the premise. Soldiers with a high propensity for telepathy are altered to open their minds to all degrees of psi-ability. Down side is they can't turn it off. They're open all the time and they're suffering. The military wants to terminate the experiment and the subjects. Enter the mad scientist's daughter. Unbeknownst to the military daddy practised on her first. Ms Lily saves the soldiers and begins teaching them how to protect their minds. At the same time helps them uncover the plot within the military and her daddy's company regarding the project. It's dangerous, it's tense, and some how, she and the hero always choose the most inappropriate times to leap on each other.
Mind Game: Much better than Shadow Game. Dahlia and Nicolas actually have some serious hurdles to overcome in order to be together. Not the least of which is her inability to diffuse or control the energy; sexual, violent or otherwise in circumstances involving other people. The characterisation is much stronger and even in this story. The intrigue of finding out who is trying to kill her is secondary to the protagonists finding a way to cope with Dahlia's unique ability.
Of all the reads this weekend, this was my favourite.
X
I received my Amazon order on Friday, and the weekend was filled with reading (which I don't do enough of), and elevating my nose just enough so I could peer over the edge and check that the spawn hadn't drowned yet. Apart from the bugs which are still in smallish clusters and not ravening swarms it was truly a lovely weekend.
So what did I read, you might be wondering. Well it was a Christine Feehan overdose. "Oceans of Fire", "Wild Rain", "Shadow Game", and "Mind Game": in that order.
Oceans of Fire: The third story of the Drake sisters and the first full length novel devoted to the saga. Excellent beginning. Wonderful conflict for both protagonists. In fact it's exactly the kind of conflict I love to sink my teeth into. The kind where their love and attraction isn't in doubt so much as the appalling betrayal that tore them apart. In this case it is the hero that did the betraying and it's a doozy. Sadly the resolution is not as satisfying as the conflict itself. It's all very fast and very pat and not nearly enough grovelling and soul searching on the part of the Hero.
Wild Rain: The second story of this (the leopard) series. I haven't read the first one which appeared in an anthology. The flashback/deja vu part of the leopard people mythology isn't well explained. I gather it's part of their animal instinct, their recognition of their mate, but I'm guessing here. Over all, not a bad story. Rachael is the heroine and her badly chewed leg seriously hampers the Feehan sexfest for most of the book. Lots of manly nakedness and female appreciation for said nakedness raises the sensuality somewhat, but it do get tiresome after a time. There are killers, bandits, and drug lords running all over the jungle (supposedly a remote region of Borneo), making for an awful lot of neighbours. Conflicts, mostly external. Lots of hunting down killers and pity parties about their wronged lives.
Shadow Game: Liked this book. Liked the premise. Soldiers with a high propensity for telepathy are altered to open their minds to all degrees of psi-ability. Down side is they can't turn it off. They're open all the time and they're suffering. The military wants to terminate the experiment and the subjects. Enter the mad scientist's daughter. Unbeknownst to the military daddy practised on her first. Ms Lily saves the soldiers and begins teaching them how to protect their minds. At the same time helps them uncover the plot within the military and her daddy's company regarding the project. It's dangerous, it's tense, and some how, she and the hero always choose the most inappropriate times to leap on each other.
Mind Game: Much better than Shadow Game. Dahlia and Nicolas actually have some serious hurdles to overcome in order to be together. Not the least of which is her inability to diffuse or control the energy; sexual, violent or otherwise in circumstances involving other people. The characterisation is much stronger and even in this story. The intrigue of finding out who is trying to kill her is secondary to the protagonists finding a way to cope with Dahlia's unique ability.
Of all the reads this weekend, this was my favourite.
X
