Blade Song (Colbana Files #1) by J.C. Daniels

Kit Colbana is a member of the Aneria - a race descended from the Amazons. Because she is half human, her people don't fully recognize her, leaving Kit essentially alone in the world. As a trained assassin and killer, Kit is more than able to make a living.  When Kit is contacted by the werecats to help find a missing kid, Kit cannot resist taking the case.  As someone with a history of being abused, Kit cannot help but get emotionally invested in the case, even if it means she has to deal with the Cats main enforcer Damon.

Blade Song is a PNR/UF which means that while this story could very will exist without the romance angle, it is weaved into the plot.  Unfortunately, at times the romance feels quite forced.  From the very first meeting between Damon and Kit, it's clear that they are going to move from hating to each other to loving each other.  It makes Blade Song extremely predictable as far as that storyline is concerned. It's one thing to portray the dislike between two characters and another to make the love interest actively abusive.

No fear, damn it. I could still breathe…barely…and he wasn’t trying to kill me. He just wanted me afraid while he yelled at me.My blood is noble. My heart is strong. My aim is true. I am aneira…my heart is strong—No fear, damn it. I could be drowning in it, and he damn well could smell it on me, but I sure as hell wouldn’t show it.

This above passage is very heavily framed as saving Kit from her own stupidity but it sets the tone of things to come. There are several times in the story where Kit asks Damon to back away and give her space. At one point she becomes so desperate, she hides in the bathroom and sleeps in the bathtub. Then there's the fact that Damon simply refuses to respect her wishes when she asks him not to touch her.

His hand spread open over my neck and despite my intention to ignore it, I almost groaned at how good that felt. I was tempted to lean into—And then I realized I was—“Damn it,” I snapped. “Would you stop? I thought I made it clear, I’m a little freaked out by the fact that you keep touching me even though just an hour or so ago, your Alpha was telling you that you might be killing me soon.” (pg 46-47)

Damon spends much of the time in the book trying to convince Kit that he is not going to hurt her and with good reason. Because Damon bruised Kit's neck so badly, she could barely swallow.  He claims he didn't know how fragile she was and that is why he didn't hold back his strength but the fact still remains that he hurt her so badly that he bruised her.

One of the things that irks me about the relationship between Kit and Damon is that she spends so much time saying that she doesn't want a relationship and that he wouldn't be good for her. Since Daniels was determined to force these two together, we never get to see Kit follow through on this. Given the fact that Damon physically hurt her, violated her trust and didn't respect her enough to stop touching her, this all should have been reason enough for Kit to refuse a relationship, particularly given her history of abuse.

Much of Blade Song is filled with Kit being triggered by different events. The descriptions of her abuse are quite graphic but it makes sense given that she is remembering what happened to her and trying to find a way to put it behind her. The years of abuse not only place Kit into a position to be triggered, they effect her daily life. Kudos for Daniels for actually portraying PTSD rather than having her character live through horrific events and remain untouched by them.  After being told repeatedly how dirty she was as a child, Kit showers almost compulsively.  Not only does she want to wash the past away but any suggestion that she might be less than.  Often in this genre we see that a protagonist has a troubled past but rarely do we see the follow through with how said protagonist deals lives with the pain. As much as this was difficult to read, it made the story feel real to me and made Kit relatable.

iZombie, Season 2, Episode 14: Eternal Sunshine of the Caffeinated Mind

Last week they found the tainted Utopian needed to make the cure!

Yay!

And it turns cured rats into rotting rage filled hungry zombies. This is not good and certainly not the cure they have been looking for.

The case this week involves a dead coffee shop owner who was positively buzzing with super happy dappy hippy dippyness. She is the nicest person in the world to a point that is almost painfully naïve but, yes she is awesomely nice in a way I kind of appreciate and have to at least partially admire even if I’m sure I’d love to strangle her if I actually met her in person.

I’m not a positive and happy-dappy person, I admit

This means Liv is buzzing around this week being the ultimate flower child. Again, like the past few weeks I think Liv’s brain personality has been a tiny side point in the overall plot that I don’t think they want to distract from. Rather than be a major plot element that it used to be, it’s now just a quirk lurking in the background of every episode.

The murder mysteries continue to be interesting – and I’m not usually a fan of random-event-of-the-week but it tends to work on crime dramas and I do like how Izombie does it with both the brain and how some of the crimes are odd: like not always catching the bad guy. It’s a surprising slice of realism

This goes give more space for the meta – and some surprises

Firstly we have Drake - turns out he’s actually an undercover cop, hasn’t killed anyone but has managed to get informers to safe houses and is feeding information to the police. The one blip in his cover is his repeated going to the police station to see Liv – that’s bad for his cover, but he will not give her up.

Misery Happens (Miss Misery #5) by Tracey Martin

Jessica is now facing the final chapter of her story – an ominous red sky signals the opening of the Demon prison – the first demons, the progenitors of the Furies and a terrifying force that could literally destroy the world.

Prophecy points to one small group of people who can close the prison and save the world – and chief among them is Jess. She has a lot to learn in very little time as well as a powerful magical artefact to find.

And just when she was getting her life together and finally deciding what she wanted from life: just as her life comes under unprecedented scrutiny – and hostility.

I generally really liked this book and the conclusion of Jess’s story – which came to an excellent conclusion. There are only two issues that pulled it back

Firstly, around the middle of the book it all kind of wobbles; the book kind of pauses. I can see why it wobbles and it makes sense for it to wobble but that doesn’t necessarily make the wobble. Basically there’s a tense moment in the middle of the book where everything is on hold. Everyone is researching, everyone is waiting for the bad guys to make the next move, everyone is tense, everyone is fearful, everyone is worrying about what will happen next, everyone is worrying about whether they’re ready or how their lives will change. Everyone is in holding as preparations happen. But everyone – specifically Jess – isn’t actually doing a whole lot. Even though I completely understand why they’re not doing an awful lot, it still feels frustrating – it feels like we’re gearing up to a major ending without actually heading for it, more like we’re waiting for a major ending to land on us. In some ways it’s the same issue I had with the last book – we have lots of preparation for stuff to happen without it actually doing so.

The Magicians, Season 1, Episode 6: Impractical Applications

So last week we discovered to (no-one’s shock) that Fillory is real! And has big monsters and kidnapped women and… maybe isn’t just that great. Quinn has realised, after much belated growing up, that actually wanting to live in your fantasy world (with monsters being real) is actually not all that fun. Which is actually pretty devastating to someone who has spent his life basically escaping reality by running to Fillory. Which is now not a shiny, happy safe space. It’s like retreating to your safe space and finding a bear in it. An angry bear. I actually like it, it’s a nice way of examining this character that I find interesting despite still wanting that aforementioned bear to eat him. Nomnomnom

Anyway, the main plot is the trials – which is a combination of exam, character life lesson and hazing. And is actually really well done – seriously, Elliot and Margo should take high tea and handle all exams. Elements I liked – the ruthless, outside-the-box practical lesson where you beat trial 1 by actually cheating. Trial 2 then teaching co-operation in a kind of fun way – and Trial 3 causing the characters to reveal some deep dark secret about themselves and, in the process, basically have them admit something to themselves. We also have an unnecessary method of threatening Penny with gay porn (because hey, they have a gay not-character doing his stereotypical best, why not throw in gay jokes?)

Back to Quinn (who is super duper awkward in his naked reveal ritual with Alice – and they don’t even get naked) who is finally dealing with his constant, avoidant habit of running and hiding all the time. Even when he’s moved to a magical school, literally his dream life, he is still running and hiding.

May this lead to character growth and my not wanting to feed Quinn to a bear. Much

Two Tales of the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne

  

I really like these two short stories together, they’re both snippets into the lives of Atticus and Granuaile, certainly not necessary for the overall metaplot, they do add some nice insight

Yes, that’s exactly what I look for in short stories.

Their contrasting voices are absolutely excellent – and both unexpected but really work. Despite Atticus being two thousand years old, in many ways his voice is much less formal than Granuaile’s. But it doesn’t feel wrong – rather Atticus’s confidence and even his cockiness are part his apparent youth but also the confidence that comes with being that old, that knowledgeable, powerful within his parameters and very sure in what he does. He isn’t as overawed and bowled over as Granuaile is because he’s had millennia of doing this – and I think that shows in his voice. A young man with a lot of experience of being young

While Granuaile is a poet. And a poet who is still reeling from the amazing experience and sensation of being a new druid. He language is elaborate, awe inspired, completely overwhelmed by what is happening to her. I think her voice has been really well chosen to respect that.

Both stories also work really well in showing what a druid does and what a druid is. Atticus is doing his thing enjoying life when he, the experience druid, is summoned in to help an elemental in trouble. This is what a druid does and what their purposes. While Granuaile is facing on of the tests on her path to druidy – a test that points to what a druid should be, what values a druid should hold and what is important to a druid. Between them we get a lot of the essence of what a druid is.

I also liked that the second story was about Granuaile with the female goddesses – because the first story is about, again, evil witches. I’m glad that Atticus recognises that his animus towards witches is not entirely reasonable. Except, every single time we’ve seen a witch she has been evil. Even witches who are on Atticus’s side have definitely not been good people. And they’ve all been women. Evil female witches who need vanquishing have been a recurring theme of this series and some positive female power is definitely needed.

The story continues to be the same fun I’ve come to expect and love with this series – and lots of Oberon who is always an utter gem.

Diversitywise, as a short story it doesn’t have much focus beyond the two main characters – but I’m disinclined to let that be an excuse, as much as I love this series, because it really hasn’t had a good record when it comes to inclusion of minorities

While I feel I always have to reiterate my dislike of short stories in general, this is one of thosat actually gets it right and is a really nice addition to the Iron Druid Series in general – definitely worth adding to the whole saga.

Lucifer, Season One, Episode Five: Sweet Kicks

Lucifer and Mazikeen are at a fashion show for one of the many people Lucifer has done favors for. When Benny, the designer, takes his turn on the catwalk, shots go off.  Mazikeen quickly rounds up  Lucifer, who is back stage flirting with one of the models, explaining that if the humans are running then Lucifer needs to run as well because it seems that he is becoming mortal. On their way out, they discover a young woman who appears to have been trampled.

Chloe is given the case and Lucifer manages to worm his way onto the investigation by making a deal with Chloe's boss the lieutenant. Lucifer arranges to become an official civilian police consultant and in exchange, the Lieutenant is promised that she will gain favour with minorities whose support she needs for her political agenda.  Chloe is not impressed to have Lucifer foisted upon her and even remarks that he is going to get her killed.

We have to pause for a moment of real talk.  The real problem with minority populations and the cops are things like racial profiling, harassment,  driving while black incidents, and excessive violence to the point of murder. The idea that the so-called minority community would be mollified but the cops solving the murder of one girl is ludicrous to say the least.  I also reject the idea that there is one cohesive minority community. In this episode alone, Latino's and Asians were part of the larger picture. Even if we simply reduce people of colour to the two groups mentioned in this episode there's such diversity of thinking and behaviour that the idea of a cohesive community is ridiculous. If the Lieutenant wants forward movement what she really needs to be doing is focusing on the dirty cops who work for her.  This is the LAPD who have long history of abusing the very people they are supposedly in existence to protect.

When Lucifer and Chloe return to the Lux, Benny, the designer whose show was ruined by gun shots is waiting for them and surprise surprise, he owes his career to Lucifer.  Chloe begins to question Benny but he is not forthcoming until Lucifer informs him that he is calling in his favour for information. Benny claims that there were gang members upset about not getting into his show, and suggests that this is what inspired the shooting.  With a lead on the case, Lucifer then talks Chloe into going to a cop bar to celebrate, playing heavily upon the fact that Chloe shot him.  At the bar, Lucifer learns that Chloe informed on a cops and snarks that "snitches end up in ditches".  Apparently however, while Lucifer can snark at Chloe, no one else can and so he punches a cop in the face for daring to insult her.

Later, back at the Lux, Dan (who is probably dead man walking) makes an appearance and Lucifer is at his most annoying and gets right into Dan's face. Dan explains that spent a good deal of time convincing the cop that Lucifer punched not to press charges. Dan explains that he did this because now Lucifer and Chloe are going to work together and he is making it Lucifer's responsibility to take care of Chloe.  

At a coffee shop, Mazikeen meets with  Amenadiel  regarding the ongoing situation with Lucifer. It seems that Mazikeen has rethought working with the angel given that Lucifer is now in peril because of his mortality.  Mazikeen suggests that Amenadiel get close to Lucifer's doctor since Linda is the only one who Lucifer confides in anymore.  Later, Amenadiel meets with Linda claiming to be a doctor opening up a practice in her building.  Linda is clearly attracted to the angel (not that I blame her because D.B. Woodside is damn fine).  In his interactions with Linda, Amenadiel manages to arrange for them to consult with each other on their patients.  It's really all rather smooth but leaves me to wonder who exactly it is that Amenadiel is justifying this because this is really a tactic that Lucifer would pull.

Chloe and Lucifer head to the home of the suspects which Benny identified and miffed with Lucifer's disrespect for the danger a possible gang war poses, Chloe locks him in the car.  When Chloe arrives at the door, she hears a scream, causing her to kick the door in.  Once inside, Chloe finds Lucifer comfortably sitting in a chair next to the two gang members.  Although the gang members call Lucifer a pervert for sneaking up them while they were starting to have sex, they suggest that who the cops really want is Benny's former best friend Viper, after revealing that the young woman killed in the stampede was actually a family member of theirs.

Chloe and Lucifer meet up with Viper, who is actually teaching kids art as he talks to them about tagging.  Viper is not impressed to see the cops and says that if he isn't being arrested, he will not be speaking to them.  This is when the gang members show up and they are determined to kill Viper to get justice for their former family members.  Lucifer decides to distract the gang members to give Viper the opportunity to sneak out with the kids.  When the gangs turn their attention to Lucifer, Mazikeen shows up to kick ass and take names, as Lucifer gleefully gives Chloe a play by play of the action.

Beowulf Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Eight

I very much believe that some of these characters are actually too stupid to be in positions of power; however, I think that this is the best episode of Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands to date. That being said, someone needs to put Grendel on a milk carton because he is still missing.  It seems that Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands has decided to fixate on political intrigue rather than even loosely following the poem.

It's time for Slean and Kela to marry and since this is the marriage which will assure the alliance that Rheda needs to cemenet her role as Jarl, Abrican sends Saray and Hane to represent him.  Not long after their arrival, Hane hands Saray a bottle of poison and informs her that Abrican is counting on her. Saray dutifully gives the bottle of poison to Kela, telling her that it's perfume and since Kela isn't supposed to accept wedding gifts, Saray suggests that it should be their little secret.  Given that Kela poisoned her own sister to get to Herot, she is not one to simple dabble with liquid she doesn't trust. Kela pours the poison on a rodent and watches as it quickly dies. Later, when the women are gathered, Kela picks up the bottle of poison and asks Saray to apply it for her.  Saray then picks up a cloth to apply it but Kela says that the cloth will dilute the scent and suggests that Saray uses her own hands. Knowing that she will die if she touches the poison Saray drops the bottle claiming that she made a mistake and Kela is quick to agree with her. It's a chilling scene because both women are murderers and now both women have a measure of understanding about each other.

 As part of the nuptials, Beowulf and Elvina agree to act as seconds for Slean and Kela, bringing the two together. It's Beowulf and Elvina's job to discuss whether or not they are aware of any reasons why Slean and Kela cannot marry.  It would make sense for these two to have this discussion privately but proving that these characters are not as smart as they are supposed to be and the writers are extremely lazy, Elvina and Beowulf talk about Slean being in love with Elvina, while Kela is in the next room.  They've already made Kela ruthless and intelligent, so why create such a lazy situation to confirm her suspicions regarding Slean and Elvina?

The final step in the nuptials involves Slean and Kela standing in front of stones and telling each other truths in private.  Saray decides to use this moment to kill Kela, and is stopped by none other than Slean, who has switched sides once again.  Slean it seems has a moment of conscience because he doesn't believe that Kela deserves to die because she is caught up in events beyond her understanding.  Kela uses this time to tell Slean who he is really taking as a wife, admitting that she killed to be  there.  Slean is shocked because he thought that Kela's sister had died of fever but Kela explains that when her sister started to get better, she poisoned her. Kela explains that she was tired of always living in her sister's shadow.  Slean doesn't even blink an eye at this. She reveals that she knows about his feelings about Elvina but counters by claiming that Elvina is in love with Beowulf and that the two slept together the night before.  Kela claims that together they can ensure that he becomes Thane adding, "we don't get to choose who we love or who loves us but we can choose who we make our way in the world with." That's all it takes for Slean to become convinced to follow through with his marriage to Kela.

When Saray returns to Bregan, unsurprisingly Abrican is upset by her failure.  When his leadership as Thane is challenged, Abrican is quick to blame his people's lack of failure in him on Saray, adding that he brought an assassin among his people.   Saray is quick to ask when it became their business to kill young girls and suggests that a true leader would come out and declare their intent towards Rheda.  Abrican tries to do that when a council is called but finds himself accused of treason and is removed from his position as Thane.  Luckily for Abrican this is when fish decide to spawn down river and he leads the charge, restoring his people's faith in him.    It was a quick wrap up and now that Abrican has publicly declared his intention to overthrow his sister, perhaps this plot can move along.

The Walking Dead, Season Six, Episode Ten: The Next World

After watching The Walking Dead, my mind is absolutely blown. HOLY SHIT!!!.  Okay, we will have to start at the very beginning, but I warn you, I'm full of major squee. Because of the events this episode I am going to put a major spoiler alert on this recap and review for the simple fact that if you are even remotely a fan, you should watch this yourself first.

It's been two months since the events of the last episode and the residents of Alexandria have settled into a new normalcy. Michonne, Carl and Rick have created their own little family talking about things like running out of toothpaste and playing classic rock.  Michonne has always lived in the house with Rick and Carl but it seems that a new level of intimacy has been created.  After getting dressed for the day, they head their separate ways.

Michonne heads to watch on the wall but leaves when she notices someone walking through the woods.  Michonne meets up with Spencer, who says that he likes to walk after his shift is over but doesn't really want to go into details.  Michonne tries to encourage Spencer to return home, but Alexandria no longer feels like that to him now that he is the last survivor of his family. In this moment, Spencer is a representative of the Alexandrians. Before Rick et al arrived, they had been sheltered behind the walls and now they finally know real loss and devastation.Spencer is now forced to finally really confront the fact that he is living in a zombie apocalypse and that means no one you love is ever safe.  Spencer is insistent that there's something that he has to do and Michonne decides to tag along with the hopes of figuring out what is going on after she notices that Spencer is walking around through woods with a shovel strapped to his back. At this point, I really didn't want to Michonne babysitting yet another white person, or slip into the role of wise Negro. We could all do without that especially given that The Walking Dead loves to put her in the mammy role far too often.

Rick decides to go on a run for supplies with Darryl.  Rick is clearly in the best of spirits whereas; Darryl seems grouchy, even for Darryl. They head out to find sorghum, a grain which Eugene feels just might be helpful with their food situation. Rick starts to puts on some music though Darryl begs him not to.  In many ways it seems that Rick and Darryl have switched roles since dealing with the big swarm of zombies.  Rick is optimistic and Darryl has become the pessimist, seeing bad in everything. They come across a factory and manage to find a truck full of supplies. It seems fortuitous, until Jesus crashes into Rick and the process steals the keys, unbeknownst to Rick and Darryl.  Rick is immediately interested in finding out more about Jesus to consider whether he belongs in Alexandria but Darryl simply wants Jesus to go. Jesus backs away from the two men claiming that he was running from walkers.  Rick starts to ask Jesus questions but Jesus quickly makes his exit.  Darryl and Rick prepare to leave when they hear what they think are gun shots but it turns out to be firecrackers being set off in a barrel. By the time they get back to the truck, Jesus is driving. And thus begins the buddy section of this episode.

I cannot say that I remember actively laughing so hard at an episode of The Walking Dead ever. Rick played good cop to Darryl's bad cop as the two chased down Jesus.  I loved that they both shot and killed a walker when Jesus accused them of not having bullets in their guns. In this moment, you can see how well these Rick and Darryl know each other. The Keystone Cops moment happens when Rick and Darryl realise that though they had tied Jesus up and left him on the side of the road, he has somehow managed to get on the roof of their truck.  Darryl decides that he is not going to take it anymore and hops out of the truck, even as Rick tries to stop him.  Darryl ends up chasing Jesus around the field, as Rick awkwardly maneuvers the truck. Rick is finally forced to get out when walkers get loose, leaving Darryl to try and capture Jesus.  Jesus manages to grab Darryl's gun and orders him to duck and then promptly kills the walker sneaking up on Darryl. Darryl is still angry and demands his gun back. The two men struggle and fall out of the truck.  Jesus hits his head and the truck sinks into the lake.  Darryl wants to leave Jesus behind because of the trouble he caused but Rick decides the right thing to do is to bring him back and have Denise check him out.

Carl spends a part of his day in the woods with Enid. Enid is not at all comfortable being in the woods but Carl tries to blow it off as kids stuff.  This is another case of role reversal. It used to be Enid who would take walks in the woods and Carl who would suggest that she shouldn't be outside of the walls.  Clearly, Enid didn't emerge unscathed from the events of two months ago. When a walker comes out of the woods to attack, Enid is adamant that they should kill it but Carl simply pushes it out of the way.  Enid is convinced that something is wrong with Carl and storms off.