BOOK REVIEW: Angel and the Flying Warhorses - Jacki Bentley

ANGEL AND THE FLYING WARHORSES
Jacki Bentley
New Concepts Publishing
ebook 2006

Ms. Bentley’s first published book is a mildly sensual (meaning satisfyingly romantic rather than naughty and nasty!) far-future science fiction romance with plenty of plot surprises to entertain.

Mastering space travel and terraforming inhospitable planets for colonization, Earth’s descendents have spread far and wide through the galaxy and have developed genetically dissimilar races with unique cultures and bio changes. The Alliance, a militarized governing body, helps shepherd these different populations toward civilized coexistence.

Angeni, a healer working aboard a medical ship orbiting the moon of her home planet Olandia, finds an unlikely soul mate when she supplements her medical training with some unorthodox techniques to save the life of Garek, a wounded Alliance Guard officer brought in after a skirmish with Aldorian warriors.

Aldorians, a primitive warlike faction, overrun other communities and steal their women, treating them as property suitable only for mating and producing warriors. The stories of fierce winged warhorses and the mystical healing powers of Aldorian women are more myth than legend. But Angeni – or Angel as Garek prefers to call her after his bout with semiconscious delirium aboard the hospital ship – soon discovers there’s more truth to the myth than any would believe. Angeni hides a secret about herself and her past she can’t let anyone discover. This secret puts her in danger from an old Aldorian warlord scheming to capture her, and a coworker planning to boost his political leverage by making her his second wife in a polygamous arrangement.

With economical description and crisp dialog, Ms. Bentley crafts a fast-paced read with believable world-building and characterization. Cultural differences and secret conspiracies combine to complicate and ensure this story is not just a simple love tale but a suspenseful struggle making the reader wonder whether Angeni and Garek can survive the dangers surrounding them – and each other – as they come closer to a level of intimacy neither admits they want until it happens.

I liked the story concept, and the romance was satisfying although fraught with doubts, conflicts, and interference from meddling characters. The economical yet lyrical writing style makes it a fast read. While I stumbled over a few instances of confusion involving punctuation and character points of view, I didn't feel this detracted from my enjoyment of the story as a whole. Readers who are used to multiple character viewpoints per scene (also known as "head-hopping," a writing convention often employed by romance writers) probably won't have a problem with it.

I’d recommend this book to anyone seeking a suspenseful and enjoyable romance in the sci-fi subgenre. I'd like to see this come out in print version too, and hope Ms. Bentley plans more stories in this setting. I’ll be eager to read them.

NEW BOOK under contract

THE PROTECTORATE: VAMPIRE DADDY has just been contracted with New Concepts Publishing. See my web site for an excerpt.

Here's a little one-line blurb...

When a protector hunting a rogue vampire finds an orphaned human infant and falls for a beautiful but bullheaded rookie sheriff's deputy, he changes their lives forever - but will they survive the consequences?

Stay tuned for a release date...

BOOK REVIEW: The Midnight Work - Kassandra Sims

THE MIDNIGHT WORK
Kassandra Sims
TOR Paranormal Romance

Ms. Sims' first published work, per the cover, is marketed as "paranormal romance." This ambitiously complicated tale deals with a grad student in religious studies getting more than she bargained for when she finds her seeming soul mate - who promptly turns her into a vampire.

Ms. Sims includes almost everything PLUS the kitchen sink - with a sanguine vampire twist. The story brings to mind the earlier work of Umberto Eco, "Foucault's Pendulum." Like Mr. Eco, Ms. Sims attempts to elevate the obscure and arcane issues of historical religious sects (Templars and Cathars) to a level of doomsday importance - but in a way that is personally and painfully relevant to her characters. Ms. Sims also makes nodding references to "The Wizard of Oz," "The Lord of the Rings," AND "Alice in Wonderland." Indeed, I felt as if I'd fallen down the rabbit hole after wading through the tumultous and violent antics of the main characters and their quest to save the world from a disarmingly charming epitome of evil, a psychotic death fairy bent on global ruin.

Like Mr. Eco in "FP," Ms. Sims refers to the Templars and the Cathars, but doesn't use them as a springboard for a cross-European murder-mystery-chase to beat the clock and save the world from a secret society bent on global domination. Instead she hints that her characters actually lived through the bloody conflict of the Templars and the Cathars. Also like Mr. Eco, she accurately pegs the bohemian academia while giving all her characters an air of mundane despondence. Aside from the complications of the story line, the similarities between the two books stop there.

Although the characters were well drawn, none of them was very likeable, and none of them made a significant change from that state by the end of the book. Sophie, the main protagonist, was at the same time ineffective, confused, and capricious to a fault. With her two roommates and best friends being described as a bitch and a psychopath, that didn't say much for her character. As the story progressed, they all went from bad to worse.

Without spoiling the surprises in store for those of you who plan to read this book, let me say that Sophie did not take well to her new life as a vampire. Things got dicey in a hurry when her lack of conscience (stemming from a religious view similar to the Cathar belief that God is evil because he crafted such a hellish world to torture humans) combined with her wild 'newby' bloodlust. She went on repeated killing sprees that raised a distasteful ICK factor for me. And she did absolutely nothing to redeem herself - which, I guess, is par for the course for someone who espouses the Cathar belief system.

I found the story imaginative and involved, but was put off by the violence and lack of romance and absence of redeeming qualities of any of the characters. It was not what I consider romance, but something quite different. Admittedly, the submission guidelines for this line of romance is supposed to be "cross-genre," meaning there should be romantic elements, but not necessarily the typical "happily-ever-after" or "happy-for-now" ending that most romance publishers routinely offer. Still, I expected something of a love story and was sorely disappointed. This book did not focus on a romantic relationship, but more on the cruelty of fate in regard to starcrossed lovers. It just wasn't a romance, folks, and if that's what you're looking for, don't go there - unless you enjoy quirky horror, because that's how I'd categorize it. Horror, pure and unadulterated by any hint of romantic love.

The ending was a letdown. To paraphrase Tom Hanks in "Big" ... "I don't get it." What I think happened was that the RESTART BUTTON got pushed, and everything went back to ground zero. Yikes. Not a fun or satisfying situation at all - kind of like the old TV show "Dallas" rewind ("it was all a dream"). Again, if you want a nice romantic read with a little vampire mojo thrown in for charisma, shop elsewhere, 'cause these vamps are a bloodthirsty, sniping, self-absorbed, unfun bunch! No love involved. Just longing and lust. However, Ms. Sims is not a hack - she can turn a poetic phrase. That alone may make some readers believe the story journey was worth it, even with the occasional OOPS typo. Go ahead and read if you're curious. Who knows? You might like it. But if you're expecting a romance, steer clear.

A FUNNY: Four Religious Truths

FOUR RELIGIOUS TRUTHS

It is important for those of all faiths to recognize these Four Religious Truths:

1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.
2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian World.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.

INTRO: Everyone's Doing It

Blogging, that is. Well, maybe blogging is old hat now that MySpace is moving in and taking over. Or are they the same thing? I'm not embarrassed to admit I don't know. I'm just here for the buffet - and to promote my recently published ebook, The Devil's Due.

Now let me warn you up front this book isn't for everyone. I've received some positive reader comments and great reviews from FallenAngelsReviews.com and CoffeeTimeRomance.com, but this story is, after all, about the Devil as a romantic hero. Before you get all bent about that idea, just remember, it's a story. Fiction, folks. Just for fun. And to make you think a bit. I mean, WHAT IF the Devil was real? WHAT IF the Devil wasn't all bad? WHAT IF the Devil thought he was the only one who still knew the REAL truth about mankind's cruel and mystical, ritual-enshrouded past? These questions form the launch point for the story that unfolds.

Read the book, or at least think about Good and Evil and what those huge concepts mean to you. If you can make sense of why all the religions in the world claim they're the only one true religion, and why people continually kill each other over the issue (or at least pretend it's the issue while they're killing others), you're way ahead of me. This book is just my little drop in the big bucket of religiosity.

Speak up, have fun, and share your thoughts. Keep it clean.