The Vampire Diaries Season 3 Premier, "Happy Birthday Elena"

 

Now that True Blood is done for the season, vampire fans are forced to resort to the teen angsty CW's The Vampire Diaries to get a fix.  Last Thursday was the season premier and we would be remiss if we didn't cover the show.  Do you see how much we sacrifice for you readers?

Two months have passed since Stefan took off with klaus in exchange for curing Damon of a werewolf bite inflicted by Tyler Lockwood. Elena, Damon and Alaric have spent the time looking for him. Each new tip that Elena gets, she passes it on to Damon but what she does not know, is that Damon has been following Stefan the ripper through the news articles detailing his murders.  He didn't want to share the news with Elena because of the extreme violence with which Steffan feeds.  Apparently, he feeds so hard that his victims end up decapitated and then he feels remorse, so he puts their bodies back together. 

Much of this show was spent angsting over Steffan's involvement with Klaus. I know that we are not supposed to like murdering, blood drunk Steffan; however, I think it is a far sight better than mopey musty Stefan on animal blood.  At least he is interesting and a touch bad ass, when he is not moping about how he is going to get Damon and Elena to stop tracking him.

Caroline planned a huge eighteenth birthday party of Elena. How old does this make Jeremy? I had to laugh at this because the idea that Elena is only 18, yet never attends school except to be front in center in some founders day celebration, and goes to bars and drinks, though the legal age for that is 21. At seventeen she went where she wanted when she wanted, up to and including romantic getaways with her boyfriend. I don't understand for the life of me why the writers didn't just make the cast 21-25.  They would still be young enough to be considered in the YA genre, and it would make more sense in terms of what they have the characters doing. 

Dark Lover by JR Ward, Book 1 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood

Vampires are trying to live quiet lives as best they can. Their society is secretive and often separated from humanity – who they have little to do with. But there numbers are dwindling. An ancient group of human hunters has tried to annihilate them throughout the ages. To fight the vampires these Lessers sacrifice their souls, continually recruit more members and hunt the vampires with a sadistic glee. In response, the Vampires have the Black Dagger Brotherhood – a small group of veteran fighters to defend them against the predation of the Lessers. Each with their own darkness, they are the few warriors that try to save their species from extinction.

Wrath is their leader – and heir apparent to the empty throne that he refuses to fill. Cold and aloof, he dedicates himself to nothing but the fight – until his Brother, Darius is killed by the Lessers and his dying wish is for Wrath to take care of his daughter, Beth. Raised as a human Beth is soon approaching her transition to becoming a vampire – a transition that may kill her without Wrath's help.

Together they deal with their overwhelming attraction, transitioning into vampiredom, avenging Darius' death, saving themselves from the continued attacks by the Lessers – and to complicate it all, Beth's friend Butch, a police man, knows something is up and are watching all too closely. All the while the shadows of Wrath's past continue to haunt him

Lost Girl Season One Episode Four: Faetal Attraction

Episode four of Lost Girl was not nearly as entertaining as episode three, in large part due to the disability fails.

Bo tells Kenzie that Dyson is not interested in a relationship and so like a proper bff, Kenzie offers to help Bo get over it.  They begin by taking sledgehammers to an abandoned car to help them get in touch with their rage.  Kenzie then tries to talk Bo into going drinking. Bo is resistant at first, because she fears that if she gets drunk, that she will not be able to control her succubus powers. They compromise by going to the fae bar.

Bo and Kenzie do several shots and get rip roaring drunk. Lauren approaches them and tells Bo that it is not a good idea for her to get drunk, because they don't know what effect it will have on her abilities.  Bo gets snarky and tells her that because she is not a man, she is not worried about her ability to perform.  It is clear that there is some kind of chemistry between Lauren and Bo, but when Kenzie brings it up, Bo tells her that it does not matter because Lauren is human and sex with her would mean death for Lauren.  From this I suppose we are to surmise that Bo is indeed bisexual, but this does not explain why each time she becomes intimate with a woman, it is to manipulate her in some way.

At the station, Dyson flips out and dislocates the arm of a suspect that he is questioning. His direct supervisor tells him that he needs to go and see the psychologist, because this is the fourth complaint that they have had about his actions in a week. I can understand someone being resistant to being told that they should seek help, but Dyson tells Hale that "therapy is bullshit, human bullshit".   This statement in and of itself would not be so problematic, if it did not feature in an episode that was full of disableism.  In a world in which people are shamed for seeking help, I really didn't appreciate what Dyson had to say about therapy.

At the bar, Bo is approached by Samir to join him and his wife Olivia for a threesome.  When she asks whether or not he has Olivia's permission, he says, "most certainly, my wife is a fury".  This is yet another new kind of fae that the audience is being introduced to.  Bo initially turns him down, but when Hale and Dyson walk in, she changes her mind and takes the two of them home for the night.

In the morning, Bo wakes in her own bed feeling great and Samir and Olivia are gone. Bo says that she is excited to have no strings attached sex.  I once again believe that this is a good thing.  With a succubus it would be easy to take the opportunity to slut shame, and I am ecstatic that the writers refuse to go down that road. As Kenzie complains that she is the only one with a hangover, Olivia knocks on her front door.  She rudely asks Kenzie to speak to her owner, and Kenzie is forced to tell her that she is her own person.

Fangs For the Fantasy Give Away: Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel

We have written several reviews of Cassandra Clare's work on this blog (here, and here).  On a recent post we discussed the ongoing homophobia in her work.  We know that it is quite possible to enjoy a piece of literature, even when it is problematic, and that is why this month we are giving away one hardcover copy of:

 

Clockwork Angel is the first novel in the Infernal Devices series and is a prequel to her Immortal Instruments series.  The second novel in Clare's Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Prince is due out in December, so if you are interested in reading this series, winning a chance to own Clockwork Angel is a good place to start. 

This contest is open to Americans and Canadians.  All you have to do is follow us (not like) on Facebook (underneath the word networked blogs, there's a big blue button marked "follow"), Goodreads  or Blogger.  If  you already follow us, on one of the aforementioned sites, simply send us a short to note to let us know that you would like to enter and where you already follow us.  When you are done, leave your email address in the comment section of this post, along with where you have chosen to follow us, or send us an email at fangsforthefantasy (at) gmail (dot) com. Without contact information, your entry will be deemed invalid.  This contest closes September 30, 2011 and we allow only one entry per person. The winner will have 48 hours after being selected to contact us, or a new winner will be selected.  Good luck everyone and stay tuned for our next exciting give away. 

Contest is now closed.

Review of 'A Quick Bite' by Lynsay Sands

 

A Quick Bite is the first book in the Argeneau series.  I accidentally read Love Bites, the first book in the series first.  A Quick Bite is yet another paranormal romance, and so this means the usual boy meets girl and zmog they're in love forever and ever routine.  As I have stated many times, I am not a fan of paranormal romance, but I was willing to give this book a try after enjoying Love Bites for its humor.

The plot really is quite basic.  Lissianna, a 202 year old vampire meets Greg after her mother kidnaps him for her birthday. Greg assumes that he is to be a human sex toy, when in fact he was kidnapped to cure Lissianna of her phobia.  Yes, she's a vampire who passes out at the sight of blood.  At first she assumes that he is a special dinner, as vampires consider it a treat to come across an undiagnosed diabetic for the sugar in their blood.  Greg is resistant to being tied up and served for dinner, but when he sees Lissianna, surprise surprise, it's instant boner time cause she's just that special. 

Vampires are normally able to read minds, wipe memories and plant suggestions in the mind of humans, but Lissianna is unable to do so with Greg.  Apparently, this is an indicator that she has met her true life mate.  Everyone say awwww.  Worry ensues because if Greg's memory cannot be erased, he certainly cannot be allowed to wander the earth with knowledge of who and what they are.  Instead of being scared witless, he goes grocery shopping with them and out for breakfast -- 'cause that makes the most sense.  Eventually Lissianna decides that Greg is really at risk when Uncle Lucien one of the oldest vampires in existence  shows up and the two of them make a getaway on a bicycle.  They end up roaming around downtown Toronto together. 

I could tell you more, however that would spoil what was left of this very, very thin plot.  Once again we have an all White cast and this is exceedingly ludicrous, because the book takes place in Toronto.  As with many books in this genre and particularly so with paranormal romance, the characters are all straight.  I have come to expect this erasure however, I was particularly disgusted with Greg revealing his disgust at the very idea of feeding off of man, because of the closeness involved.  It read like very thinly veiled homophobia to me.

Lost Girl Season One Episode Three: Oh Kappa My Kappa

I am really starting to get into this show.  This episode of Lost Girl begins with Bo and Dyson waking up in bed together.  She unsurprisingly is thrilled to wake up after a night of sex, with a live partner.  When Kenzie walks into the bathroom and finds Dyson brushing his teeth she is excited.  Bo tries to calm her by saying, "we had sex, it doesn't have to mean anything more."  Kenzie's excitement however cannot be calmed that easily because she answers back, "sex doesn't but sleeping over does."  I loved that Bo is more than capable of just having a one stand and not feeling shamed by it in the least.  Too often when it comes to female characters unless sex happens in a well defined relationship there is tons and tons of slut shaming.

Because Bo wants to earn her money honestly, instead of glamoring people out of things that she needs, Kenzie hands her fliers that she created advertising her as a private investigator. I am not in the least bit surprised by the chosen occupation but I am pleased because it would be nice to see a woman saving the day on a regular basis rather than waiting for her knight in shining armor to rescue her.

Their first assignment is to find a missing college girl. At first, I was not pleased when Esther approached them to find her missing daughter Gina but as she pleaded saying that a mother would know if there is something wrong with her daughter, I started to warm up to the idea.  Granted, a woman of color going to a White woman to be saved is filled with a history of racial problems but watching as Esther used her motherhood to bolster her case really rang a bell with me, simply because the motherhood of woman of color is historically not respected or even in many cases acknowledged in the same way that the motherhood of a White woman is.

Dysan gets Bo a job on campus security and Kenzie becomes a co-ed to pledge at the sorority that Gina was pledging to. She makes it clear that she is not pleased with her roll in this investigation and says that Gina owes her one.  She says to Bo, "I can handle scary monsters but privilege freaks me out."  I thought that this was a great commentary on class.  It is clear that Kenzie has had a lot of struggles in her life and going into a situation like this has to be unnerving.  When she meets the fellow sorority girls they are all perky with large smiles and almost like living barbie dolls.

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher, Book 11 of the Dresden Files

Morgan, the Warden who has made Harry's life a misery, the Warden who has assumed Harry was a Warlock, persecuted him, attacked him, constantly looked for an excuse to drive Harry over the edge and give Morgan an excuse to execute him – arrives at Harry's door. He's injured, he's been framed for a crime he didn't commit and he's being chased by the other Wardens. And he wants Harry's help – to shelter him, to hide him and to help clear his name.

The Black Council is upping the ante – the White Council is buzzing with news of treachery and it's manipulations not only dragging in the White Council, but setting them up for a confrontation with the White Court as well as involving some of the greatest powers in the US. The White Council itself seethes with politics where truth and justice are rapidly pushed aside in the name of power, appearance and strength.

And Harry dives into all this feet first, as he ever does.

The Walking Dead Season 2 Trailer

I don't know about you but I am getting really anxious for the start of The Walking Dead.  The following is a trailer that I found.  It really does feel like a tease.  Is the group really going to split up?  How many characters are we going to lose this season and who will be added?