Review: An Artifical Night by Seanan Mcguire, book 3 of the October Daye Series

The Hunt is riding again. His hunt rides forth every 100 years and before it does it gathers new riders and steeds into the fold. But the source for these new recruits are children – fae children to ride, mortal children for horses and the nights before Samhain Michael recruits new steeds and riders from their homes.

And in comes October Daye. Her best friends have lost their children, the Court of Cats have lost children and her friend Quentin has lost his girlfriend to the Hunt and October, as a hero, isn’t going to let that happen. Even if her Fetch has arrived, predicting her imminent demise.

With the help of Luna, the Duchess of the Shadowed Halls and the ancient fae, the Luidaeg, she has to enter the lands of the hunt and retrieve the children. But she is entering a new world with this quest, playing by the rules of children’s games and songs, fighting with rhymes and half remembered rules of fairness in a world that isn’t bound to reality. 

And, of course, even if you manage to save people from the Huntsman, how do you stop him turning his eyes upon you?

I think in this book we had the most powerful feeling of what it means to be fae –not just in the series but perhaps in Urban Fantasy in general. The surreal, malleable world, the shifting reality and the low grade3, unnerving terror was powerful. But more so was the simple use of children’s stories, of fairness and of arcane rules to the games. It added to the surreality and the alienness of the world, even told through the familiarity of children’s rhymes. In a way it adds to the terror of it – because these aren’t creatures that follow the rules and mores of adult society – not even of adult thinking – they are literally creatures of nightmares and as alien and incomprehensible as those nightmares.

This links with the huge richness of the world here to make something which is both epic and wondrous with lots of shinies and lots of surreal terrors.

The plot has an interesting element in that you think it’s solved and then realise – wait, I’m only half way through. And then we’d have a new chapter, a new start, a new twist. And then you think it’s resolved a second time, but again there’s a new chapter, a new twist to the tale. In other books I’ve found that irritating – but largely because there hasn’t been enough coherence between the stages. In this book each section of the tale naturally leads into the next. I also like it because we’re very much reading things through an almost fairy tale lens – and fairy tales end far too neatly with their “happy ever after”. Each “ending” would have been a great fairy tale ending – and then they all lived happily ever after, but what about the consequences? Does the story really end there? Are there no loose ends? So I quite liked it, I felt it was  rejection of the simple, pat ending.

American Horror Story, Season One, Episode Four: Halloween: Part 1

 

This episode opens with Chad carving pumpkins in an attempt to make the house pretty to sell it.  Patrick and Chad  immediately get into an argument, when Chad tells him to wear a condom when he goes to the gym, because he suspects that he is screwing his twink trainer. Patrick admits that he is having an affair and says, "I don't give a shit about carving pumpkins, I want love, I want a relationship with a man not Martha Stewart." Chad responds with, "Then leave. Oh you can't, I forgot all of your money and mine is tied up in this house, which we agreed to flip and make a mint on, but now we can't because the economy is in the shitter". Patrick reminds Chad that they were going to have a baby and a great life.  It's seems just like Ben and Vivien, the house plays a major part in ruining their relationship.  While Chad is carving pumpkins, a man appears dressed in Black leather from head to toe and then proceeds to throw Chad across the room and drown him in his bobbing for apples station.  When Patrick walks in, he finds the man and a very dead Chad.  

For the record, this is the second death of a gay man that we have seen in a scant four episodes on this show.  I think it is highly problematic that the only people who seem to die on a regular basis are women and gay men. The portrayal of Chad and Patrick's relationship falling apart was very real and true; however, why do we need a dichotomy between a BUTCH man and a camp man in a relationship? Why does there always have to be one of each? Ah yes, gender roles. Being camp in and of itself isn't problematic, it's that gay men are always constructed as camp in the media.  There is also the issue that despite the fact that we are dealing with people of the same sex, the media often tries to model gay couples after heterosexual couples.

In the present day, Vivian and Ben are still trying to sell the house to no avail.  They accuse Marcy of not trying hard enough, and she suggests a fluffer.  That was a quaint use of the word, considering that a fluffers function is to give male porn stars erections. She recommends a woman and a gay man.Yes, a gay guy who just happens to bean interior designer, and note that gay is part of his qualification. She's not saying "oh I have these two people who can do it" no, no - he's a gay. Because it's an interior designer that they are discussing, the GAY is important. Can you imagine saying "oh hey, I have a straight mechanic to fix your car?" or "hey you're ill? I know a bisexual doctor!"The other point worth mentioning is that Marcy suggested gay men, which leads me to believe she knows more about the house than she has previously indicated.  Is she even alive?

The other issue with Chad and Patrick's appearance on the show was the vicious snipping - remember they are supposed to be working for Ben and Constance. If that were not enough, when Ben goes upstairs with Patrick to take care of a cut, Patrick comes onto him by grabbing his crotch and says, "Come on Ben, we're the same I can tell. You play the role of the dutiful house husband, but you like having that cock sucked often and well. I can do that four minutes, no one will know." When Ben tells him that he's not gay, Patrick responds by saying, "yeah, neither was I until I got head from a guy."  Yeah, that screams of predatory gay man trope. Ugh, gay men creeping on straight men and being predatory and sexually assaulting straight men is an awful vile trope. It is used to justifying beating them, killing them and as a legal defence over and over again. I'm sick of the trope and, frankly -- it hardly ever happens because gay men have to be extremely careful propositioning anyone.

American Horror Story, Season One, Episode Two: Home Invasion

 

Once again, this episode begins with a flashback. The year is 1968, and a few young girls are getting ready to go out.  A young girl named Maria is asked if she would like to go and see The Doors, but she turns down the opportunity in order to study for a test.  A young nurse walks in and tells the group to leave Maria alone, and then sneers that she hopes they get the clap. This comment is met with, "Right, I guess you lessies don't have to worry about that."  I wonder if it is going to be a tradition to start each episode with a touch of homophobia?  I suppose not having any gay characters thus far, this is their version of GLBT inclusion.   After they leave, a young man knocks on the door asking for help because he is hurt.  Maria lets him in and after treating him and discovering no wound, he knocks her unconscious and chases after the nurse.  When Maria awakens, the man tells her to strip and put on a nurses uniform.  He then hog ties her on the couch and then stabs her in the back.

In the present day, Ben is once again counseling Tate. In the middle of the session his phone goes off, and Ben excuses himself to turn his phone off.  This week, Tate wants to talk about fucking Violet and this does not agree with Ben at all.  When Tate tells him that Violet is a virgin, and virgins get wet so easily, Ben tries to redirect the conversation by asking if Tate turns to these thoughts to get rid of the stress.  When Tate tells Ben that Violet told him about the affair with the girl in Boston, and that she was not much older then Violet -- Ben ends the session. As Tate walks out, Ben's phone rings again. He answers threatening to change his phone number, but the voice answers back, "I'm pregnant".

Violet and Leah sit by an abandoned pool, and Leah tells Violet that she cannot sleep.  Leah believes that she was attacked by something that wasn't human, but Violet tries to assure her that Tate was wearing a mask.  Leah is wearing big dark glasses and a huge floppy hat to cover her new grey hair. Leah believes that the grey hair is her body's response to being terrified.  What I don't get, is why these two are suddenly buddy buddy. It makes as much sense as their earlier animosity.  Whoever is responsible for writing this section of the story is dropping the ball big time. 

That night, Tate stands at the foot of Violet's bed watching her sleep.  I wonder if he was taking tips from Twilight's Edward?  Yeah, I couldn't help it sorry. The house alarm goes off, and Ben hops out of bed to see what the issue is.  When he gets downstairs, the front door is wide open. When Ben goes to the basement,  he finds Adelaide playing with a ball, but what he does not realize is that she is playing with some entity that he cannot see.  He quickly escorts Adelaide to the door, and goes upstairs to tell Vivien that it was only Addy -- and that they need to call someone in to check all of the windows and the doors, because "if that little freak can get in, anyone can."  Vivien tells him that he should not call her that, which was a bit of a relief but honestly, I am starting to believe that where addy is concerned, we are going to see nothing but disableism.

Ben then asks Vivien if she is okay, because he notices that she is shaking him. Vivien tells him that she has not been sick with this pregnancy, and that when she was pregnant with Violet, that she was sick for two months straight.  Vivien tells Ben that she is worried that something is wrong with the baby, but Ben tells her that this baby is why they moved there, and that the baby is their salvation.

The next day, Ben is in a session with a young woman named Bianca, who complains of having a dream where her body is sliced in half by an elevator. (This involves some truly gruesome imagery.) Ben tries to counsel her, but she asks him if it is "weird living in a murder house?".  Ben then asks if she was aware of this when she came to see him, and she tells him that he is on the "murder house tour" Ben tries to bring the conversation back to the counseling session. At the end of the series, Ben calls Tate's mother to say that Tate has cross the line with his daughter, and that he wants to recommend a new psychiatrist. Ben says he understands Mrs. Langdon's concern, but he is just not comfortable continuing treatment in his home. Okay, does this mean that Tate is not a ghost after all?

In the next scene, Adelaide is looking through a fashion magazine and she asks Constance, who is baking, why she does not look like the other girls.  Constance replies, "Cause you don't; it's just the way you were born. Accept it, you were born with other gifts."  Constance asks Adelaide to hand her the ipecac syrup from the cupboard.  Ipecac is used to treat an overdose because it induces vomiting. Constance puts a healthy dose into what she is making.  Constance then encourages Adelaide to spit in the mixing bowl.

Ben is out for a jog, but when he runs through a tunnel he stops to cry.  Larry Harvey comes out of the shadows saying, "people will say we're in love." When Ben asks him what he wants, Larry tells him about a desire he has to act, and that he wanted to pursue it before, but was worried about what it would do to his family.  When Larry asks Ben what is wrong with him, Ben answers nothing. Larry tells him that the house is tearing him apart. Ben tells Larry that Hayden, the woman that he cheated with is insisting that he go and see her. Larry tells Ben that he is trying very hard not to judge him.  Ben is shocked and points out that Larry murdered his entire family but Ben responds, "yes, but I was never unfaithful."  Larry tells Ben that he is going to have to do the honorable thing to save his family, he is going to have to lie. This by far was the best scene this episode. How can anyone not love Denis O'Hare?  The description that I wrote, most certainly does not give it justice.

Thoughts on Season Five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 

This season was the first season of Buffy that I would say was somewhat enjoyable. It felt for the first time that the characters had evolved into who they were meant to be.  Buffy was still as annoying as ever, and seemed to be the only one who could not live without angst. All of the other characters matured and only Buffy remained stagnant. Her death at the end of the season did nothing to change my opinion of her. I have to say, I hate the whole kill of the protagonist routine for a season ender, because we all know that they are just going to have to bring her back.  I don't understand why writers believe that this is shocking or suspense inducing,

To add to my irritation, this season gave us the addition of Dawn.  I don't understand what the writers were thinking with this character, because there certainly was not a shortage of angst before her arrival. I understand that she is a 14 year old girl, but the played out drama of bickering siblings is simply boring. Centering the plot around making Dawn the key, just felt like a justification for throwing more angst at the viewer.  If I were Buffy, I would have just handed Dawn over to Glory and been done with it, to be perfectly honest.

For the first four seasons, I felt as though Spike and Buffy had a lot of unresolved sexual tension, which stopped him from being the vampire he was meant to be.  Spike is at his best when he is not making Buffy the sun and moon of his existence, but alas, this season he was reduced to creepy stalker guy.  There were several things wrong with Spike's love of Buffy.  I didn't like the fact that no one validated his feelings, because he didn't have a soul. No matter what creature or person we can talk about, no one should ever have their own emotions denied.  It was so obvious that he cared about Buffy, even if it was not directed in the most healthy way.  The Buffy robot was absolutely horrendous. 

In Fool For Love, Spike told Buffy how he had killed two slayers of colour.  He sought them out specifically to kill them.  I know that we are meant to see this as an example of how much Spike has changed, but all I saw was that once again two women of colour were callously killed to prove a ridiculous point.  When he killed the Black slayer, he stole the iconic Black leather trench coat that he now wears, thus treating her like rubbish.  When he killed the Chinese slayer, she begged him to give a message to her mother and he outright refused.  These women that he killed had the exact same skill set as Buffy, and yet it is Buffy that drew his devotion.  How many times is Whedon going to kill off slayers of colour?  Even though Faith was cast as evil, she was allowed to escape with her life, however the slayers of colour are given no such accord.  Not only are they highly disposable, apparently, they are also unlovable. 

Thoughts on Season Four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

As I have previously mentioned, for a project that I am working on, I have to watch all seven seasons of Buffy.  I have written a review for each season that I have watched thus far:  one, two and three respectively. In previous seasons, the teen angst has certainly been an issue for me.  I know that it is to be expected with a teenage protagonist; however, that does not mean that I have any real tolerance for it.  With Buffy and the Scooby gang in college, and Angel across the country, the angst level finally began to tone down, and I began enjoying it somewhat. 

From a social justice perspective, by far the most troubling episode that I have viewed to date was episode 8 of season four entitled Pangs.  It begins with Willow quite matter of factly stating why she and her mother have a problem with celebrating Thanksgiving.  All of the guilt however, is quickly overshadowed when the Chumash warrior Hus runs amok in Sunnydale -- after their grave site is disturbed, because of an attempt to build a Cultural Center at UC Sunnydale.  The Chumash warrior Hus rightfully want revenge for what was done to their people, but all Buffy can do is respond with White guilt and angst.  When she finally gets her slayer on, they sit down at a table to have Thanksgiving dinner, thus proving that they didn't learn a damn thing.  Whedon made a point of having Willow explain why Thanksgiving is a problematic holiday at the beginning, but dismissing that, after once again letting the White people defeat the supposedly bad Native people, and then eat a meal in celebration, was disgusting to say the least.

After being unable to control himself around a female werewolf, Oz leaves Sunnydale.  During his absence, we begin to see a budding romance between Willow and Tara.  Of course, it is all rather chaste and other than some hand holding, the audience is left to assume there is more going on.  If Whedon can film Buffy making out and having sex with both Angel and Riley, why is a kiss between Tara and Willow forbidden?  It hardly feels progressive when straight characters are highly visible and LGBT characters are not.  I know this was made in the 90's, but I am not going to give it a pass on that basis.  Whedon had a chance to be progressive and he blew it big time.

Teen Wolf's Dylan O'Brien "In real life, I'm the werewolf."

Dylan O'Brien in "Teen Wolf."

MTV

Dylan O'Brien recently sat down to do interview at Teen Television so I thought I would get you started and then you can read the rest of the interview over there.  What I did find interesting about the interview is that comedic element is a tribute to the original 1985 Teen Wolf movie starring Michael. J. Fox.  It is nice to know a little bit behind the decisions that have gone into producing this show.

On “Teen Wolf”, Cute Dylan O’Brien, yet another star who got his start on YouTube, plays Stiles, the smart buddy who tries to keep werewolf Scott (Tyler Posey) from chewing up his friends and enemies.  When we were in L.A. dishing with the rest of the cast, Dylan was off shooting his first film, a funny teen romance called (for now) The First Time.
Dylan defends the comedy/drama mix in the show that some fans are loving and others, not so much.

TeenTelevision: What is your comeback to the fan critics who are saying they don’t know what the show is yet.  Is it funny or scary? I say, why can’t it be both?
Dylan: Yeah. We get criticized for being too “Twilight-looking” when we’re advertising the show then the show is on and now they are criticizing our comedic element. We put a little bit in the show for everybody. We have that forbidden love and that “Twilight-esque” romance. We’ve got that dark factor; that action-packed thrill and we also pay homage to the original movie by adding that comedic factor, that fun, quirky element.


It’s cool to add that to this supernatural genre that’s been a craze over the last five to ten years. A lot of it has been done without that comedy element; like “Vampire Diaries”, Twilight and “True Blood”. Those are very drama-oriented shows. It’s cool to implement that comedic factor. It gives the show a sense of humor about itself and makes it more relatable and more real. A character like Stiles grounds the show, I think.

TeenTelevision: What is your favorite werewolf film or just general horror film?
Dylan: American Werewolf in London. It was funny and scary and you were totally relating to these guys every second of the way.

TeenTelevision: I love that movie! Ever snuck into a buddy’s room at night only to be caught by their parents (like in episode 3)?
Dylan: (laughs) No, never.

TeenTelevision: Sneaking into a girlfriend’s room?
Dylan: Uh (pause)…no comment.

TeenTelevision: Uh huh. ‘Nuf said.  How did you get into show biz and how did you get the part as Stiles?

Finish reading here

True Blood Season Premier: She's Not There

Spoilers Ahead.


Last night was the long awaited season four premier of True Blood.  From the moment I woke up, it was all that I could think about.   Perhaps it was all of the expectation of what was to come that left me so completely disappointed in the first episode.


When Sookie is with the fae, she quickly learns that their goal is to gather up all the humans with fairy blood. She escapes with her grandfather, who promptly dies because he ate the magic fruit.  Upon returning to her home, she learns that Jason sold her home because she had disappeared for over a year. I have to say that this new look that Jason has taken on really works for me. Maybe it's the man in a uniform thing, but he could give me a pat down anytime.   The responsibility of taking care of the people of Hot Shot, seems to have had a really good effect on Jason's character.  He seems to have given up chasing tail, and has become authoritative to the point of reeling Andy in.  I must admit that I was quite shocked to see that Alan Ball has made Andy a V addict. I suppose it is a matter of escalating his drug usage, because in the previous seasons, Andy clearly had a problem with alcohol.

When Andy assaults Lafayette looking for drugs, it is Jason who stops the confrontation.  Andy dismisses it as saying he got his "drag queens mixed up".  Given Layette's previous responses to homophobia, it kind of disturbed me that he was silent.  The fact that his silence was followed by Jason saying that he didn't see anything and that nothing happened, very neatly coincides with the treatment of marginalized bodies by the police. Even in the fictional town of Bon Temps, the blue wall must descend. 

It Is Impossible to Finish Robin McKinley's Sunshine

I am going to do something I never ever do. I am submitting a DNF review. Yes, a Did Not Finish.

I normally refuse to review a book I haven’t finished. I think it’s wrong and unfair to write a review unless you have read it. I’ve always held on this – but this book broke me.

In my defence, this is me here. Seriously, I read 3 LA Banks Vampire Huntress novels and intend to read the rest. I even read LJ Smith’s Vampire Diaries. I got through Cassadra Clare’s over written mess and Yasmine Galenorn’s florid florid prose, I even read through Anya Bast’s interminable sex scenes. I read Vampire Academy that gets a special award for slow start (the story starts at 80% in). I read Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series – ALL of it, every last minute of the drek and that should have been banned by international law. I’m even STILL reading Anita Blake when everyone else has declared themselves done with the fuckery 10 books ago

In short, I have a high high high tolerance for crap books. But this broke me. The very idea of reading another word makes me cringe.

The Iron Druid Chronicles - Hexed by Kevin Hearne

 

Hexed is the second book in the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne.  If you are interested, you can check out my thoughts on Hounded, the first book here. Let me start by saying that just like Hounded, you should probably buy two copies of Hexed, one for you and another to give to your friends.  Hearne has proven that he is an excellent storyteller and someone to most definitely keep your eye on. 

As with Hounded, Hexed is extremely heterosexist and able body centric. The erasure is absolutely complete; however, unlike other books in this genre, there is no homophobic or disableist language.  The characters are again largely White, though the Native American trickster Coyote and an Indian witch do make a very interesting appearance. I must admit that I was worried when Coyote made his appearance, because he is known to be a trickster, and few writers have the talent to pull off a decent portrayal, but Hearne hits it out of the ballpark, as well as making great reference to the near genocide of First Nations people, thus making the book political as well. This was not simply inclusion for the sake of cookies, but inclusion meant specifically to challenge racial privilege. As we have discussed many times on the podcast, quite often characters of colour are included in the urban fantasy genre, they are devoid of cultural markers, or are written based in stereotypes, thus making them cardboard cutouts when juxtaposed to either the protagonists, or other characters in the story.

Thoughts On Season Three of Buffy The Vampire Slayer

 

As I mentioned earlier, for the purposes of a project that I am working on, I have been compelled to watch all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I didn’t watch Buffy when it was on the air, so my impressions are completely fresh.

I had hoped by season three that Whedon would have given up on the teen angst however, he intensified it.  I don’t understand how people could find the whole Buffy and Angel love each other, but can never be together theme in the least bit compelling. When Angel finally walked away at the end of the season, I was filled with a huge sense of relief. Even Spike the so-called bad calculating vampire returned to whine because Drusilla left him. For a show that seems highly dependent on relationships, there is little growth and a triple helping of angst.

The good girl/bad girl binary that was a theme for much of the season and it was highly anti-woman.  Though both Buffy and Faith are both White women, Buffy the blonde (the typical manifestation of the girl next door) was cast as good to Faith’s darker bad. We also had two different Willows.  The Willow from the second dimension was a power hungry, sadistic vampire, who was brimming with self confidence. It would seem that to be respected, liked or even loved, a woman dare not step out of the sickeningly sweet good girl paradigm. When Oz and Cassandra found Xander and Willow kissing, Willow’s solution was to offer Oz her virginity. This of course was to prove her true love for him for daring to sexually experiment. 

Witchling (Otherworld Series #1) by Yasmine Galenorn

Our reading list is long and legendary, and one series that has been on our to read list for a long time is the “Sisters of the Moon “ series by Yasmine Galenorn. So I have finally got round to reading “Witchling”

Witchling introduces us to 3 sisters, Camille a faerie witch, Delilah, a werecat and Menolly, a vampire. Agents for the OIC (a kind of faerie combo police/diplomat/secret agent corps) they are on Earth (Seattle to be exact) doing their job to the best of their slightly clumsy, half-human abilities. They work closely with the local police to help solve supernatural crime and navigate the world as alien, magical beings.

There job becomes several times harder when the Demons of the Subterranean world are stirred up, a threat to both the Otherworld (from where the fae come from) and Earth. And worse, the forces of Otherworld seem to be descending into chaos, just when they need to be at their strongest – leaving the sisters very much alone to face the threat.

Let’s start with some good points. And yes, you know this review is going to end up trashing it by the fact I’m making myself start with good points, sorry guys it’s not going to be a lovey review.

Cassandra Clare Owes Me Money For Clockwork Angel

Having read all of the Mortal Instruments series, I decided to pick up Clockwork Angel.  Though some feel that Clare writes like a drunken monkey, with the exception of the last book City of Angels, I thought that she had an interesting world and story.  Yes, yes, I know that Clary is irritating, but is she really any worse than Bella Swan, Rose Hathaway, Elena Gilbert, Sookie Stackhouse or Merit?  I have come to expect the desire to see a house fall on female protagonists in this genre.

From the very beginning I did not like Tessa Grey.  How is it that you can know someone for five minutes and then decide that they should tell you why they are an orphan and their personal painful life history?

In this book for the first time, Clare decided to introduce a disabled character.  The disableism throughout the story was disgusting.  Jem was actively told that no one blamed him for his disability.  Really?  No, I mean Really? Basically, he was forced into the role of super crip and still was not accepted by his community. Outside of Will, the paternalism with which he is treated is ignored, and the reader is expected to pity him as a tragic hero.This of course proves my theory that unless you have an ism, or are intimately connected with someone who does, research is vital.  I think that Clare was so committed to printing quotes from Dickens and the like that she could not be bothered to read anything else.

Nalini Singh - Psy/Changeling series review

Nalini Singh has created a fascinating world here. Set in the future, with technology that exceeds our own (albeit, not to a sci-fi extent), 3 types of human occupy the planet.

The humans are much like humans on our world – and rarely play a part in the story.

The psy are physically weaker than humans, but have incredible psychic gifts

The changelings are physically much stronger and faster – and can change into animals.

100 years ago the Psy made a terrible choice. In desperation and fearing the massive toll their abilities takes on their psyche and on the damage it causes to those around them, the Psy decided the only way they could be safe was to suppress all emotion in a policy they called the Silence. Through the Silence, all emotion would be stilled, Psy would become creatures of cold, practical logic without their emotions making them vulnerable to their psychic gifts or causing them to – by accident or design – harm others with their powers. For a group that could kill people with their minds – and frequently had often by accident – it was a blessed relief.

Thoughts On Season Two of Buffy The Vampire Slayer

 

As I mentioned last week, I am watching all seven seasons of Buffy for a project that I am currently engaged in.  Yesterday afternoon I finished season two.  First, let me say that this season they gave Whedon a budget to work with and the special effects are much better than the first season, though I seriously doubt that Buffy hit anyone with a single punch or her over used roundhouse kick. I seriously do not buy Sarah Michelle Gellar as the ass kicking type, though she is supposed to inspire shivers of girl power.

This season I learned that going to a frat house with older boys will lead to trouble.  See that girls, if you are attacked, it is all your fault for putting yourself in that position in the first place.  Good girls never date or are attracted to older men.  This is once again played out in Buffy’s relationship with the ever so musty Angel.  It is no accident that the moment that she decides to sleep with him, that he lost his soul.  Are you paying attention kids, there is a cost to teenage sex, no matter how much you lurve him. The very fact that Angel’s first act as a non feeling vampire is to slut shame the hell out of Buffy is telling.

Angel would then go on to stalk Buffy for the rest of the season.  The fact that he had lost his soul was enough for Buffy to empathize with him for much of the season, though he was clearly violent and a threat to her friends. This screamed of the old, he just can’t help himself mode that we often see attached to violent male behaviour in this genre. Excusing it in no way makes it healthy. I know that some believe that Buffy was redeemed because she finally got the guts to knife him at the end of the season, but from what I have heard, her pinning for him continues into the next season.  Stalking is illegal for a reason, and to justify this with the claim that he is just not himself, belies the fact that in many of these cases, real harm and even death occurs.  A more pro woman attitude would have been for Buffy to reject him outright, than to continue to express feelings of love for an entire season.

Chicagoland Vampires - Chloe Neill

I am saddened by these books.

They started out really well as seen in Renee’s review of the first book. When the characters and the stories were introduced to us in the first book I was intrigued, interested and eager to read more. As we said, they’re cheesy, they’re fun, they’re cheesy, they’re interesting and they’re cheesy? Did I mention they’re cheesy? Because it’s really good cheese. The world is huge, it’s diverse and it has vast potential – in short, it has so many of the things guaranteed to keep me hooked on a book, despite being as diverse as a neo-nazi rally (which, frankly, is nothing new, sadly).

Unfortunately the series has derailed. It was racing along the tracks nicely, it was fun, interesting and compelling then CRUNCH derail. So you haul it back on the tracks, get immersed again and CRUNCH you’re jerked out of it again. It’s happening so often now that it’s really ruining my enjoyment of these books. As the series progresses I’m getting less and less interested as the characters annoy me more and more

And, for me, it is the characters that are the main problem. In particular, the maturity level that was a problem in the first book just keeps on being a problem. Merit, a 28 year old woman, frequently makes me think of a 17 year old (it’s like reverse Vampire Diaries – there everyone is 17 but acts 30). She refers to the guys around her as “boys” regardless of their age, she plays passive aggressive games and is inclined to be sulky and a trifle childish.

The Chigaco Land Vampires: Some Girls Bite

Over the last week, our beloved Sparky subjected me to the Connor Grey series, by Mark Del Franco.  After reading the first book, Unshapely Things, I determined that series read like Law and Order meets X-Files.  He was so enthused by the series, I assumed that there must be something I was missing, instead of trusting the adage that Sparky is always wrong.  Yes, wrong, wrong, wrong. Even after his most grievous recommendation of Mark del Franco, I decided to give him another chance.  This week he selected The Chicago Land Vampires series by Chloe Neil.

Spoilers Ahead 

I am gazing in my crystal ball and I predict the next Anita Blake novel

It occurs to me that I’m rapidly approaching the point where I should be looking to buy the next Anita Blake book. Gods why I do this to myself I will never know, I think the only defence is that they’ve now become so utterly bad that they’re almost comic

To extract every ounce of amusement and hopefully set myself up for a pleasant surprise, I have gazed into my crystal ball to predict the plot of this next worthy novel

The scene opens with Anita having sex. I’ll say on the kitchen table, not done that yet and gods forbid we miss a cliche. The sex will probably be portrayed as kinky but be more vanilla than an ice-cream van. For more detail I predict: