Book of the Week

It's another Monday which means it's time for our next podcast - episode 10 of 2014 where we will talk about all of the shows we've been following this week (or as many as we can get to), our book of the week and whether Renee manages to carve through the permafrost to her home or not - all through our social justice lens. Feel free to join us, listen, ask questions or make suggestions

Like all  the Fangs for the Fantasy podcasts (archives here) we read a book and discuss it on the show. 

To give people a chance to read along with us we include a list of our planned books of the week for the next few shows, so people can get the books, read them and join in the conversation.

24th March - 31st March: Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice

31st March - 7th April:  The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

7th April - 14th April:  Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

14th April - 21st April: The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

21st April - 28th April: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

28th April - 5th May: Night Season by Eileen Wilks

5th May - 12th May: The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 2, Episode 2: Blood of Brothers

Lorenzo, in what seems to be a new Florentine habit, is half way to stabbing Leonardo after he saved his life – and this is when he wants to know what happened to Guiliano. Oops. Vanessa is the lucky one who gets to tell his brother is dead. Then he gets told that Florence is falling apart and falling to the mob and Lorenzo, looking at the scenes of violence, loses all hope (he was a reluctant ruler to begin with). Vanessa inspires him and his lack of heir (apparently ignoring his 3 daughters – because womenfolk!) by revealing she is pregnant with Guiliano’s child.

Learning that there’s a possible male child in the offing, Lorenzo is ready to get his city back! For Freedom! For the Future! For a possible male out-of-wedlock-nephew!

It will also surprise no-one that Zoroaster and Lucrezia are not dead. I know, I’m shocked by this revelation as well. Zoroaster manages to cut/pick/magic open their ropes with one of Lucrezia’s hair pins (possibly the reason behind the kiss or not since he still bothers her with unnecessary sex talk).

Riario is trying to convince Nico to join team!bad guy by pointing out how Leonardo is busy recognising the ruler of a city that’s falling apart rather than his apprentice who he doesn’t even know is in trouble. Because that’s definitely cause for resentment, y’know. He also thinks Nico is undervalued – which is untrue – he’s valued less than Lorenzo. Prince of the city vs apprentice boy. That’s not undervaluing, that’s having one’s priorities in order. Nico doesn’t buy it and refuses to help. So Riario points out that torture seemed to be a rather convincing motivator for him in the past: confirming for him that, yes, it’s better to be feared than loved.

Riario translates the map with the key and the help of Zita, his “servant” who can read the language it is written in. She then strips off to seduce him while reciting a very rapey story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba – they have a Gratuitous Heterosexuality moment.

Anyway, back to Florence and the Pazzis have still got the town all enraged against the Medicis. In the Palace, Clarice and the captain of the guard discuss family and wives waiting at home worrying for their men (it also kind of reveals that this guy has been Captain of the Guard, Dragonetti, quite literally the head of what military and police the city has and relies on for all its protection and Clarice didn’t know he had a family – which is really shoddy HR!). She also has to fend off bankers who want to take over the Medici bank while Lorenzo is presumed dead.

Leo takes Lorenzo up to a high place and arranges for a small army of servants (who were, presumably, in Verrocchio’s studio) arranging plates of convenient brass because of Leonardo’s new GENIUS! plan. This allows Lorenzo to make a stirring speech that is heard by everyone in the city – of course they all support Lorenzo not the Pazzi’s because a) they thought he was dead and b) he’s way way louder. With the crowd hailing Lorenzo, Clarice opens the palace gates and tells Dragonetti it’s time to track down the Pazzi traitors. Lorenzo is taking to the palace by adoring crowds while the guards and mobs hunt down conspirators and slaughter them – Dragonetti defeating and capturing Pazzi.

New Releases 31st March - 6th April

Once again, we are showing you without comment the new books in sci-fi, paranormal romance and urban fantasy that are due out this week.  Let us know which new release that you are interested in, in the comments, or even which cover you find the most appealing.  This list is limited to the first book in a series, as with other posts in this new release series. If there are ongoing series that you would like us to track, please let us know in the comments.

Stolen Songbird: Malediction Trilogy Book One (The Malediction Trilogy) by Danielle L. Jensen

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.

But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.

As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.

See our review here

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) by Danielle Paige

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?

Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission:

Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.

Steal the Scarecrow's brain.

Take the Lion's courage.

Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

Ghost Seer (Ghost Seer #1) by Robin D. Owens

There’s just something about Clare. Apart from the ghosts…

When her eccentric aunt passes away, no-nonsense accountant Clare Cermac inherits more than just a small fortune. She receives the gift of communicating with ghosts. While Clare may not believe in spirits, it’s hard to overlook the shadowy talking dog appearing on her bed or spectral cowboys tipping their hats to her in the streets of Denver. And when she locks eyes with sexy—and living—Zach Slade, there’s certainly no ignoring him either.

A former deputy sheriff, Zach is leaving a painful past behind in Montana for a new life in Denver as a private investigator, a job that has him crossing paths with beautiful Clare. Not that she minds. After the restless ghost of a Wild West gunman demands her assistance, Clare finds herself needing Zach more and more—and not just for help.

The Walking Dead, Season Four, Episode Sixteen: A

The gates at the prison open up and a car drives in containing Maggie, Glenn and Rick.  Maggie greets Hershel.  Rick heads off to the fence to kill the walkers who have gathered there.  In the present, a dirty, blood covered Rick is spaced out leaning against a car.

Rick, Michonne and Carl are sitting around a campfire talking about how hungry they are.  They decide to go and check the snares that Rick has set up.  Rick says that they will stay a day or to get some rest and talk about how close they are to Terminus.  Carl wonders what they are going to tell the residents about the stuff they have done.  Rick says that they are going to tell them who they are and Carl wonders who they are.  A zombie comes of the woods and Michonne takes the lead.  They find a rabbit in a snare and Rick shows Carl and Michonne how he set the snare.  Suddenly, someone calls out  help and Carl takes of running, forcing Rick and Michonne to follow.  Rick grabs Carl and pulls him back before he can fire his weapon and the man gets devoured by zombies.  Rick, Michonne and Carl take off running and meet a group of zombies on the tracks.

Back at the prison, Hershel wakes Rick saying that he wants a hand with something.  Beth enters the cell and takes Judith.  Rick ties on his gun but Hershel tells him that he is not going to need it and that it will just get in the way.

Rick manages to kill the zombies in front of them but there are zombies behind them.  They keep hurrying down the tracks and find a 4x4.  Carl sleeps in the 4x4 and Michonne and Rick sit by the fire.  Rick says that all they talk about anymore is food. Rick says that they are close and they only need to make it through another day.  Michonne wonders if Terminus is legit.  They pause when they hear a noise.  Rick points out that they let people into the prison and Michonne points out that the governor let people into Woodbury.  Joe puts a gun to Rick's head and Rick and Michonne find themselves surrounded.  Joe tells Rick that today is the day of reckoning.  Carl wakes and finds himself surrounded.  Darryl steps out of the bushes and stops Joe's countdown.  Darryl is told that Rick killed Luke and that they have nothing to talk about. Darryl says that Rick and Michonne are good people and offers up his blood instead. Joe again says that Rick killed their friend and that means he is not good people.  Darryl is attacked and Harley orders him beaten.  Carl tries to get out of the car to help and one of the men puts a knife to his throat.  Joe says that they are going to beat Darryl to death, then have their way with Michonne and Carl before shooting Rick.  Rick again says let him go. Rick head butts Joe in the stomach, while in the distance it looks like someone is trying to rape Carl.  Rick tries to get up and fight and bites through Joe's carotid artery. Michonne grabs the gun from the man holding her and shoots him.  Darryl manages to beat off his attackers.  Rick grabs a knife and stabs the man who was trying to rape Carl, after he starts to beg. Michonne holds Carl, as Rick stabs continuously.

At the prison, Hershel and Rick are talking about the pigs and horses they have seen.  Hershel wants to start growing their own food and tells Rick that he cannot do it himself.  Rick says that he has to go on runs but Hershel wants to teach Rick, so that he can teach Carl.  Hershel adds that the war is over and that Carl needs his father to show him the way because now it's a question of what Carl's life is going to be. Hershel tells Rick that he owes him and that they can make things better now.  Rick leaves for a run.

A dazed Rick now sits with his back to a car.  We are back to the opening sequence.  Carl is asleep in the car and Michonne watches over him.  Darryl wets a rag and gives it to Rick, who suggests they save the water to drink.  Rick starts cleaning up and Darryl says that he didn't know what they were.  Darryl explains that he was with Beth and that now Beth is gone.  Darryl admits that he new Joe was bad but he had a code, which was simple but it was something.  Darryl adds that he was going to leave but he stayed and that is when he saw who the group was attacking.  Rick tells Darryl that this is not on him and that him being back with them is everything.  Rick calls Darryl his brother and Darryl tells Rick that anyone would have done what he did last night.  Rick says that it was all him that is why he is here now and that all that matter is keeping Carl safe

Rick, Carl, Michonne and Darryl make their way down the tracks. Rick assures Michonne that he is okay and Michonne affirms the same.  They decide to head through the woods the rest of the way because they don't know who the Terminus people are.  From the woods, they see Terminus and Rick orders them to all spread out and watch for awhile.   Carl chooses to go with Michonne and she brings up her son Andre.  Michonne says that they went to a refugee camp, which got worse and worse but she refused to leave and was coming back from a run and saw that the fences were done and heard the moans.  That's when she found Mike and Terry, who were high when it happened.  Michonne says that she could have stopped it but she let them turn and then made it so they couldn't bite or scratch and that it wasn't sane. The walkers didn't see her when she had her zombie slaves and Michonne says that she was gone for a long time but then Andrea, and Rick brought her back.  Michonne adds that Carl does not have to be afraid of Rick or Michonne.  Carl says that Rick told him that he was proud of him because he was a good man.  Carl adds that he has these thoughts and that he is not what his father thinks he is and is just another monster to.  Carl and Michonne hug, as Rick watches from a distance.

Helix, Season 1, Episode 13: Dans L'Ombre

Day 235

Wait… what? That was a bit of a jump!

Alan has a silver eyed bloke tied to a chair and is beating him with a pipe to find “her” (I’m guessing Julia) – apparently he’s had chance to contact the authorities but no-one believes him because a) Ilaria is that powerful and b) his story is “immortals are creating a plague of zombies” which lacks creditability, somewhat

Having had our little time machine moment, I assume to try and keep things compelling since the show has been renewed for a second season, it’s back to the normal time line:

Day 13

Cut to the present where the ominous but rather disappointing Scythe (seriously, Alan smacked him and that was it, he was captured. This is Ilaria’s most lethal assassin? A manchild with mummy issues? Not impressed) has been captured and Julia wants to know where her mother is; she hits him and Alan objects

Is this supposed to be a “look how much Alan changes!” moment? Because it doesn’t work – he’s a control freak and a bully, this is established – I see it more as him inserting his own control. Or maybe because it’s Julia missing the finger and the relative rather than him missing someone he cares about.

She goes to Hiroshi who is grieving hard for Miksa. She comforts him and Hiroshi admits he would have chosen Julia because flesh and blood > adoption (a message that I’m starting to see a little too often) – and he didn’t tell Julia that her mother was alive because Ilaria would just have used the knowledge against her in the same way Hiroshi was forced to create Narvik. The same reason he never told her about being her father. His motivation at last!

More questioning of Scythe and this time Alan stops Peter going all intensive-interrogation on him. Scythe has all the power, isn’t impressed by their threats or deals and tells them to check out some news he downloaded before he got to the base: There’s been a viral outbreak in Puerto Rico. Hundreds infected – one of the symptoms is black blood. It looks like Narvik is out. Alan assumes Sergio got it off the base

Out on the ice, Anana and Toluk look for Sergio who left after Toluk did the “I’m guarding my sister” thing. Toluk is sure that special forces Sergio will be fine. Anana thinks Brazilian Sergio is hardly experienced in arctic conditions.

And Segrio, far from delivering evil viruses, collapses on the ice where he’s tramping around on foot. Which isn’t a good idea. Toluk and Anana, in between some nice little cultural references, seem to accept how hopeless it is to find one man on the ice. But Sergio isn’t dead – he wakes up inside and being smacked by Blake (Scythe minion #2) who apparently has history with Sergio and wants some backup with the Scythe a prisoner. She shows off the cure and virus that she has and suggests that Sycthe wanted to be captured.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Season 1, Episode 12: To Catch a Thief

Anastasia seems to be actually dead. They killed Anastasia… Jafar put her body in a glass coffin and uses it to torment the newly feeling Knave who rages and grieves. Jafar offers some hope – to bring Anastasia back (while his father tries to talk sense and comfort to the Knave)

Anyway, this calls for a flashback – when the Knave was working for the Queen of Hearts with a squad of her soldiers to hunt down and kill a terrible, brutal murderer. Or so she says – it turns out to be Alice who the Knave stumbles upon on his own. They banter for a little while – the Knave is good at that, before she escapes (well, before she stops pointing a sword at him anyway).

Back to the present Cyrus and Alice argue over what to do with the staff. Cyrus wants to take it to the well, extract the water, free his brothers and make good with the Guardian while Alice wants to free Amara so she and Cyrus can have some quality time before doing the above. Cyrus gets his way – and the Knave shows up, apparently having “escaped”.  He has a message – they can bring Anastasia back to life. But they have to let Jafar win

Rules of magic – you can’t bring back the dead. Unless you change the laws of magic – which involves the genie ritual.

Flashback time again – and the Knave again trying and failing to capture/kill Alice (he’s trapped in a net. He has a dagger – cut the net?). He realises that Alice is probably telling the truth but doesn’t really have any choice in the matter because his donated heart means he is compelled to obey. Alice plans to get his heart back because she’s such a good person.

To the present and for Jafar to win he needs his stick back. He begs them, but they won’t give up the staff to help Jafar. They can’t give Jafar that kind of power. He agrees with them – says they’re talking sense – and agrees to go with them to the well, clearly looking at the staff and planning to steal it.

Back to Jafar and the Jabberwock is still hanging around waiting for him to give her the vorpal blade and she uses his fears to dump a load of exposition on us about the need for 2 sorcerers, the staff, Amara, etc. He threatens and intimidates her in return (why does she fall for this? We’ve seen her bring him to collapse before…)

And when they’re all in bed, Will steals the staff. When Cyrus tries to stop him, Will punches him.

We have a flashback of Alice stealing the Knave’s heart from the Red Queen’s ridiculously rigid guards, before we’re back to the present and Alice wakes up to find the Knave and the staff gone. They use the Lost and Found to follow. This proves surprisingly easy because the Knave gets lost. They think they catch him – but they split up and Will ambushes Alice, disarms her – but then his guilt makes him explain – because he loves Anastasia. He has an excellent line “your problem is you think your love story is the only one worth fighting for.” Yes. Yes. Yes.

Then Alice falls off a cliff into a river. So of course Knave follows her, jumping off while wearing naked blades. Because that makes sense.

Vampire Diaries, Season 5, Episode 17: Rescue Me

Stefan’s doppleganger – who you remember they’re going to murder for the Travellers for REASONS, is an EMT in at Atlanta called Tom –that’s what Stefan tells the Travellers. She passes the info onto Enzo and Caroline who are their happy death squad and Caroline is not amused at her continuing to fry Stefan’s brain and threatens vengeance in return.

Elena’s having morning after angst about sleeping with Damon and has to attend Jeremy’s parent teacher conference – won’t that be… kind of weird and awkward given the complete lack of age difference and the fact these teachers taught Elena a couple of years ago? Well if Elena or Jeremy actually ever went to school, that is. She tells Damon it was all a mistake while her eyes keep wandering below the waist.

Damon goes to the bar and unloads on Matt and Tyler (are they his friends now?) with lots of snark – and Jeremy and Liv have a drink together in the background. And Elena, at parent teacher night, calls and unloads on Bonnie and they both realise Jeremy was at parts unknown the night before (Jeremy spending more time with Liv?). Luke enters the room where Bonnie is so we have another reference to him being gay.

Parent teacher night gets more awkward because Damon is logged as Jeremy’s primary contact, not Elena. Damon snarks about Jeremy being with Liv (with a truly excellent reference to Jeremy’s love life to date – “all it needs is a sappy love song and a pottery wheel” that’s worth a Fang all on it’s own). Damon takes the snark and runs with it when the teacher reports on Jeremy’s less than stellar behaviour (this is meant to convince us he has actually been to school). The counsellor gets all judgy about Elena not being stable and Damon is nicely snarky about it.

Meanwhile the murder buddies are looking for Tom and Enzo is flirting with Caroline. And they find that Tom has disappeared for the last 4 months. So since the link is old it’s time for some more brain fried Stefan (much to Caroline’s distress) and they find the memory of a woman Tom met called Hazel – and her address. These visions manage to be both damn convenient and long winded – they could show completely useless information OR they could show where he ACTUALLY is but instead we get convenient bread crumbs.

They find the address, open the door and see that Hazel is a witch and she’s mid ritual. They can’t get in because she owns the house and is in a trance so can’t invite them in – so Enzo kills her by throwing a doorknob at her head (see, this is how you deal with the Travellers). Caroline is shocked and appalled, Enzo “I’m a murderous vampire. Surprise.” Heh, I like him.

At college Bonnie wonders why Luke keeps looking at her right when dead Hazel appears with a message for the anchor to pass on to Luke – she failed to hide the doppleganger with magic and “they” found us.

Speaking of Traveller plotting, Liv talks to Jeremy (using magic to block Tyler’s super hearing) because she can trust him because Hunters are immune to Traveller mind control. We get a brief exposition – Travellers are not quite witches, apparently, and they have a huge grudge against witches who draw their magic from nature (something about a curse). They’re up to something and they’re heading to Mystic Falls because of Elena (yes the world does revolve around her – oooh thank you lampshade!) Then she gets a message from Luke about Hazel being dead and plan has to change – she leaves. Tyler tries to stop her, she throws him across the room – pretending to be a newbie witch is over.

Flesh and Blood by Daniel Dersch, Gerald Chapple (Translation)

Claire and Amanda are sisters who both live in New York City.  They vow to have a close relationship but Claire's career starts to take off and she finds herself seeing Amanda less and less.  One day, Claire gets a call that Amanda has been institutionalized because she believes that she is being bitten and stalked by a vampire.  Determined to find out what happened to her little sister, Claire begins to investigation.  Let does she know that this will put her up against the Catholic Church who has fought vampire for centuries and make her the alley of a vampire who is the result of Nazi experimentation.

As a protagonist, Claire is very strong.  She absolutely refuses to take no for an answer and always tries to be as proactive as possible.  Even when faced with overwhelming force, Claire is always actively searching for a way to defend or protect herself.  It would have been easy for Claire to place her safety in George's because he is after all a vampire but Claire constantly questions him and even develops plans to ditch him if necessary.  I like that for Dersch, strong doesn't mean turning his female characters into a weapon.

Though Claire is the protagonist of Flesh and Blood, male characters far outnumber female characters. The male characters are not well developed at all and read like card board cut out random bad guys working for a shady organization. The relationship between Bishop and Whitman is particularly confusing. Whitman has been with the organization for many years and this is the first time he has been assigned a partner. I don't understand the level of animosity that he feels for Bishop. Whitman spends most of the book contemplating how he is going to kill Bishop and other than the fact that he has the misfortune of being assigned to work alongside Whitman we are given no justification for his rage.  This took up a large percentage of the story and at the end of the book turned out to be largely irrelevant.

Dersh did give us an interesting take on vampire lore by suggesting Nazi experimentation.  Given the research that they ( read: Nazis) were known to participate in, it gave the story a sense of reality and added reality. Normally, I take issue with people invoking the holocaust but Dersch seemed to make this work.