12 posts tagged “linnea sinclair”
OK, should have posted this earlier but I'm never sure where the time goes some days. The winner of the two paranormal ARCs is
Congratulations! I'm sending you an email to let you know you won too, and the books will be going out next week. :)
In other news I've been updating my Wishlists (2009 and 2010), and I was happy to find that Linnea Sinclair's Rebels and Lovers, which has a March 2010 release date has a cover. (Yayyyyy!!!). This is another book in the Dock Five universe, and it focuses on another Guthrie brother who hasn't really been in the picture until now. Here's the blurb from Sinclair's website:
"OUT OF OPTIONS…Devin Guthrie can’t forget Captain Makaiden Griggs even though it’s been two years since she was in his family’s employ. A Guthrie does not fall in love with a mere shuttle pilot. Going against his wealthy family’s wishes isn’t an option—not with the Empire in political upheaval, much of it caused by Devin’s renegade older brother, Admiral Philip Guthrie. The Guthries must solidify their standing—financially, politically and socially—or risk losing it all. But when the Guthrie heir—Devin’s nineteen-year old nephew— goes missing, Devin’s loyalty to his family’s values is put to the test. And suddenly the unthinkable becomes the only option available: Devin must break the rules and risk allying himself with the one woman he could never forget—and was forbidden to love."
YES. More space opera romance please. *claps gleefully*
And this one has been floating about all week, but I'm still going to post it - Carolyn Crane's Mind Games, which is coming out March 2010 as well. She has a great blog called The Thrillionth Page
where she writes about some of the things she loves in books shes
reading. I'm looking forward to her book just based on how much I like
her blog. This is a first book of a planned trilogy, and we won't have
to wait long for the second book, which will come out in September 2010.
- Gabriel's Ghost (my review pt 1, pt 2)
- Shades of Dark (my review)
A lot of people are posting a year end post for 2008. It's nice to see people looking back at the books they read for the year and picking out their favorite reads, and it's interesting to see what they picked. I thought it would be a good thing to try myself because with it recorded, I can look back in later years and see what my tastes were like.
Out of a total of 77 books read this year, very few got into my best list, but book ratings are highly subjective. I just went with my gut and rated them according to how I felt about the book as soon as I finished reading them. These lists are compiled from ratings I put down in my private notes.
All the links to my reviews here are to my Livejournal.
The Books that Blew Me Away - These books are those I gave top marks to when I first read them. It's a very hard list to get onto because I have to feel like I'm falling in love and cannot be parted from the book for it to get on this list. Only three got on it this year.
- Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews (my review)
- Pride, Prejudice, and Jasmine Fields by Melissa Nathan (my review)
- Keeping it Real by Justina Robson (my review pt 1, pt 2)
Books that Came Close to Blowing Me Away - These came very close to getting top marks from me. This is a personal thing, but the books above I would put down and then obssessively think about when I could pick them up again. The books below, I didn't feel as consumed by the book, but still felt really impressed by them.
- Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair (my review)
- Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready (my review)
- Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (I need to review this when I have the book in my hands)
- The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald (review coming soon)
Books I Really Liked/ Keepers. These each had several moments where I loved the book and overall I think these are books that deserve to be loved and read by others, but for some reason or other these didn't get into the top 7. I still consider these keepers, and all these authors are pretty much autobuys/ must read backlist authors. There are 19 of these books this year (Linnea Sinclair's name comes up a lot here, I was reading her backlist in 2008):
- The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair (my review)
- Exit Strategy (Nadia Stafford, Bk 1) by Kelley Armstrong (my review)
- Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas (my review)
- Grimspace by Ann Aguirre (my review)
- An Accidental Goddess by Linnea Sinclair (my review)
- Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy (my review)
- Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre (my review)
- Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Bk 1) by Patricia Briggs (my review)
- Easy Freedom by Liz Berry (my review)
- Jinx by Jennifer Estep (my review)
- Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair (my review)
- Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair (my review pt 1, pt 2)
- The Good Neighbors by Holly Black (my review)
- The Nanny by Melissa Nathan (my review)
- Grave Sight (Harper Connelly, Bk 1) by Charlaine Harris (my review)
- Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (my review)
- Burndive by Karin Lowachee (my review)
- An Ice Cold Grave (Harper Connelly, Bk 3) by Charlaine Harris (my review)
- The Decoy Princess and Princess at Sea by Dawn Cook (my review)
And for my New Year's Resolution - it's the same resolution as last year , to read 100 books.
- 2006 - 103 books
- 2007 - 99 books
- 2008 - 77 books
- 2009 - let's get it back up to 100!!
EVERYONE seems to be giving away things this week! If you surf around, most of the group blogs seem to have something for the holiday season. Here are some of the ones I thought were interesting:
1) Books on Board is giving away a red Sony eReader.. Man, I would love to have an eReader but the price seems way too much for me right now to justify it or even ask for it as a gift. Especially since I don't read many ebooks right now. If I won one, that wouldn't be too bad. To enter you have to write a short essay about why you like reading ebooks and books on board, or you can link about the contest. Details here.
2) AustenBlog has a signed copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. I've reviewed this book here (LJ) and here (vox) and I do recommend it for Austen fans. Info on that contest is here.
3) Ann Aguirre (one of my favorite authors right now) is giving away a few books on her blog. They all run until this Sunday at midnight. I've entered a couple:
- Carrie Vaugh's "Kitty" books
- Colby Hodge/ Cindy Holby book sampler
- A Gwyneth Bolton trilogy
- Four Meljean Brook books
4) Linnea Sinclair (another fav) has Hope's Folly swag over at The Book Smuggler's blog. I am looking forward to Hope's Folly coming out soon. Information on the book and the contests are over on the blog - link is here.
5) Jeri Smith Ready is over at Harlequin's Paranormal Romance blog and giving away the winner's choice of an Aspect of Crow book. This is a good series I'm in the middle of right now. My review of Eyes of Crow is here (LJ) and here (vox)
6) Finally Paperback writer is still giving away prizes every day on her blog. Prizes vary. She put up a free ebook on there for everyone today.
OK I'm tired now. :)
This cover continues the "couple in the middle of space" theme that all Sinclair's books have now. I noticed that there is nothing on the cover to let the reader know that this is the continuation of the story that started in Gabriel's Ghost. That information is inside in the acknowledgements, and not everyone reads those. I know this isn't the author's fault, so why is this, publishers? I don't see how this can help but antagonize people who don't know and buy a book to find that it's book 2.
This review may have spoilers for Gabriel's Ghost.
My review of that is here - livejournal | vox.
Shades of Dark does pick up right after Gabriel's Ghost leaves off - Chasidah Bergren, ex-Fleet officer and her lover Gabriel Ross Sullivan are fugitives trying to clear their name and fight a corrupt Empire. There is some backstory explained at the beginning, but I hadn't read Gabriel's Ghost in a while so even I had problems remembering who was who just from the names. It took me a little bit to get back into the world, but throughout the book I still couldn't remember all the enemy factions - Darius Tage and Hayden Burke, Sheldon Blaine and the Farosians.. so it's worth making a little chart:
Enemies:
1. Darius Tage - bigwig in the Empire, xenophobe who is willing to breed jukors (mindless killing beasts) to have a weapon against the Ragkiril (usually Stolorths with telepathic powers, but Gabriel is a human one). In cahoots with Burke, has Emperor Prew's ear, and has been manipulating him to his own ends and destabilize the Admiral's Council (which controls the Fleet).
2. Hayden Burke - Sully's cousin. Playboy, in cahoots with Tage. Interested in discounting anything Sully does for their family's sizeable inheritances, wants power, also involved in breeding jukors.
3. Sheldon Blaine - claims he is the rightful heir to the emperor's throne (currently held by Emperor Prew). Is imprisoned in the planet Moabar, where Chaz was sent to at the beginning of Gabriel's Ghost. He is supported by a small group of Farosians.
4. The Farosians - Terrorists. A small faction on the side of Blaine, who want to free him from capitivity and take over the Empire. Call themselves Sheldon Blaine's Justice Wardens.
5. The Emperor/The Fleet - Because of the mechanisms of Tage and Burke, Sully and Chaz are considered terrorists and are on the run. Anyone on their side is on the wrong side of the law, dispite the powers being corrupt.
6. Purity Englarians - fanactical faction of Englarians who follow Abbot Eng's teachings and believe Takas are to be "guided" by humans and Stoloroths hated - and all Ragkiril's should be killed. A big problem for Sully and Chaz in the first book.
7. Mutunious crewmembers - Certain members of Sully's crew are not happy that there is a Stoloroth on board (Ren), who they think is a Ragkiril. A possible enemy within.
Do you see? How this is complicated? There's a lot of things going on despite much of the story taking place on Sully's spacecruiser, the Boru Karn. The book isn't short - 410 pages because of all the things going on. And besides all the intruige and incidents that happen in space because of their enemies and because they are wanted people, Sully and Chaz are also dealing with Sully's gifts as a Ragkiril. This is a darker story due to this. Sully has so much power, a power he feels is growing and which could corrupt him. Actually, it made the love story more complicated and interesting because of what Sully is going through. Now he and Chaz are ky'sara and ky'sal, they have to learn about it as they go along. Pushing matters further along, they meet Del, an exiled Stoloroth prince who wants to teach Sully, but who makes Chaz uncomfortable (I found him really creepy and sexual harassment sprang to mind).
Anyway, overall, I think this is a darker toned book that Sinclair's previous ones. I prefer the lighter stories, but this was more realistic because of the dark parts. There are a couple of shockers in here regarding some decisions Chaz makes in order to do the right thing. No spoilers, but things got really interesting in the last 30 or so pages. I didn't find the book as uncomfortable a read as some reviewers did, but I was disturbed by some things. The more I think about that, the more I liked this being part of the story.
It also felt like there were two distinct parts of the book that both focus on problems that are related to Sully's gift, like there were two big plots revolving around certain enemies, and because of them Sully is forced to deal with his Ragkiril nature. Once one major plotline was done with, the other one started, but both involved the darkness that comes with Sully's power. The only problem I had was that this book was pretty long, and there were lulls in the action. It that had to happen, but those parts felt slow to me. From the other reviews I see, I'm the only one who noticed though.
ETA: ALSO I noticed a lot more sex scenes in this book than any prior Sinclair novel. FYI.
This story continues in Hope's Folly, which is out in February 2009. It will focus on Chaz's ex-husband Admiral Philip Guthrie as he heads ex-Fleet, now-rebel forces in combat against the current Fleet. There's a teaser for this at the end of Shades of Dark, and it looks good.
Other reviews:
It's eight days to my wedding - which is on 08/08/08. To make everyone participate in the mix of anticipation and dread (haha), I've decided to have a giveaway. If things go well with this, I'm probably going to continue. I've given books to people before, just not in any kind of contest, but I enjoy entering other people's giveaways, so let's spread the fun.
Prize
1. $20 dollar e-certificate to Barnes and Noble (I figure this makes things a bit easier for non-US participants)
2. Your choice of a paperback book from one of the authors in the list below. It has to be currently in print (you can ask for Wanderlust too, just expect to wait a bit until it comes out in order to get it).
Some authors in urban fantasy/futuristic/space opera that tickle me
Linnea Sinclair
Wen Spencer
Ann Aguirre
Ilona Andrews
Patricia Briggs
Eve Kenin
Michelle Sagara
Jocelynn Drake
What you have to do
Just comment with your name here on vox or on my LJ (janicu.livejournal.com) by midnight EST on 08/08/08. Anyone on the planet who amazon/bn ships to can enter. If you spread the word and post a link of where you spread the word, you get two entries in this contest (cause - this blog has um... about 5 readers).
I'll probably be recovering from the wedding so likely won't pick winners till 8/11/08. I'll try to be earlier. We'll see how it goes.
Quick review cause I'm feeling quite lazy:
I had a giftcard burning in my pocket so even though I have a 129 book TBR pile, I went out and bought yet another Linnea Sinclair book.
This is my 5th Linnea Sinclar book and I think I'm beginning to see trends besides the spaceships and action. Not sure how I missed it, but often the couple has to prevent an intergalactic war, and one person is hiding some secret about their true nature or identity from the other. Hmm. Doesn't seem to get old though.
In this case Gillaine Davré is hiding the fact that she's a Raheiran from her love interest Admiral Rynan Makarian, a Khalaran. The Raheiran's are a more technologically advanced race with psychic abilities try not to interfere much with the development of other races. About 342 years ago Gilliane fought against her ancient enemies the Melandans, and was thrown into a time-warp which made her appear in the present where she learns the Khalarans have turned her into a goddess. She is horrified to learn that she is worshipped and that even Ryan is a follower. Things get even more complicated when she learns that not all the Melandans were vanquished and she may have to fight against them again.
There were a few amusing moments throughout the book which kept it pretty light, and a lot of other characters in the space station where the book takes place, which kept things interesting. I'm beginning to see these books as a guaranteed good time. Totally fun to get into. I think I'm a space opera addict. Seriously. I also like how most of them are readable as stand alones, because I seem to be going through a lot of series books.
Out of the rest of the Linnea Sinclair books I've read so far, this was in the top 3, I liked Gillie's spunkiness and irreverance compared to Rynan's seriousness. Their interaction was good. noticed that Rynan has the same problem that Theo from The Down Home Zombie Blues had - trying to protect his woman when she can probably handle things better herself, and this caused some problems.
According to a review in Amazon, this is the far future sequel to Wintertide, a fantasy novel which I haven't read yet.
Yes I AM reading all the books Linnea Sinclair has ever written. This is the newest one - came out end of last year. And it's about zombies. Unintentional - but I've read three books with zombies in them this year! This is one, then there's Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry, and finally - Dead Sexy by Tate Hallaway (which I have to review on here). Are zombies becoming a trend? I thoughtfully stroke my chin.
So basically - what I usually think about Sinclair's books - lasers, spaceships, sci-fi, action fun stuff which I seem to love right now. Space opera, yay! This is totally that. Oh and kissing, as you see on the cover.
In this book the zombies are this alien hybrid created in a lab - half machine, half tenticle-y animal, they move in a pack, guided by the zombie leader (C-Prime), they jump out of portals and suck out people's lifeforces by clamping onto their heads with a big tentacle (braiiinnn). I was a bit confused about the mechanics of the lifeforce-sucking until I figured out they used the tentacles. Liked the alien-zombie angle. Anyway, Jorie Mikkalah is a Guardian Force commander trying to kill all the zombies on the "nil" planet Earth, while Theo Petrakos is a divorced cop who gets caught up in the crossfire, eventually joining up with the Guardians to help save the planet.
I had a good time reading this. There were some interesting dynamics in here (a love triangle and some bad exes), and there wasn't a silly misunderstanding between the two characters - no silly drama, just a real worry about how they are literally from different worlds. I liked the romance (but my favorite is still Games of Command), and it was balanced well with the plot of the zombie invasion problem. I liked how the language differences were overcome (Jorie realizes that English is like the alien language of Vekran) and they do kind of get to know each other as they improve their communications. Still, I was a bit disappointed to find out that some Vekrans were stranded near Earth at some point, because *I* wanted a tongue in cheek reference to the movie "Galaxy Quest". Theo jokingly mentions warp speed and Jorie asks him how he knows what that is and I totally thought of "Galaxy Quest"! But it was not meant to be.
I also liked how Jorie is independent and can take care of herself - she's better what she does than any other guy in the story, so thing that nagged at me was how often Theo would try to save her. He'd throw himself at her while they were shooting in order to get her away from some tentacle. But he's the zombie-killing novice, not her. Yes, he loves her and wants to protect her, but I thought it would be cooler if he didn't feel the need to be all "I am man and shall save you my woman!!". He should be all: "Oh look at her killing things, I'm so proud" and just watch her back, no throwing himself at her to shove her from harm's way. At least she saves him too, but she sensibly shoots things instead of shoving him. Other nit - Jorie thinks to herself about other women who haven't snapped up Theo and wonders if they are "blind and unsexed" like three times at least throughout the book. Nothing against the phrase, but it's unique enough that I noticed when it was reused.
I need to buy more Sinclair books but I must hold myself back because of the TBR. I also want Ann Agguire's Grimspace because it's supposed to be in this genre. I went to B&N and it wasn't there!! WHY.
Have I mentioned I think these books are addictive? Yes? I read one and 2 weeks later you get three reviews about books by this author. I think I'm going to go through her whole backlist soon, but I'm actually holding myself back at the moment. I'm trying to make the TBR go down first (131).
Side note - amazon is only showing the newer covers, at least to upload to vox. I think the line probably looks more cohesive with the new covers - an amorous couple plus spaceship. It also looks like its romance and science fiction now. I have the older cover though. I think they both have pros and cons but I think they're both equally nice looking.
This book is about Captain Tasha Sebastian (Sass), a member of the United Coalition forces and Admiral Branden Kel-Paten of the Triad. Sass has just been assigned to Kel-Paten's ship as part of the new Alliance between their governments, but she has a hidden past she doesn't want him to know about. Meanwhile he has something he doesn't want her to know about. He's a biocybe - half man, half machine, supposedly unable to feel emotion, but he's been secretly pining for her for years. Enter mercenary Jace Serafino. He's just been rescued by the Alliance and he has some major secrets of his own that could bring down parts of the Alliance. Sass and Dr. Eden Fynn (Sass's best friend) get suspicious when Jace reveals some of what he knows. They don't know who to trust.
As with the rest of the books, there's a lot of action, space fights, and cool technology bandied about. I always enjoy the world building. I also have noted that each of the books so far seem to be in their own universe (or part of the universe) - I haven't seen overlapping names of governments, religions, or races yet. Unless I missed one. There are common things in terms of characters using coding skill to hack into computers or ship mainframes, or being brilliant at fixing a dying spaceship on the fly. I love reading those bits.
In this book we also see more than one romance - it's two parallel romances. The center one was Sass and Kel-paten's, and I prefered that one out of the two. Probably because of the comparison of Kel-paten's experience in his worklife compared to the utter lack of experience he has with personal matters. It made his personality strangely vunerable and endeering to read. At times I felt like *wincing* because he was so out of his element trying to deal with Sass and his feelings.
Another interesting element was that there were pets in this - the furzels, which I imagined to look exactly like cats, except these were psychic, translocating, fighter cats. They talked to each other in a childlike way that provided comic/cuteness relief (once or twice it was a little too much for me but overall, they were amusing). I could imagine my cat talking this way sometimes.
This book is the most recent book published of the ones I've read so far. The author's website says Games of Command starts of in a similar way to her book Command Performance (part one of a series, but the rest was never published), but most of it is new. And out of all the three books read so far (this, Gabriel's Ghost and Finder's Keepers), this is my favorite. It's a keeper, and Linnea Sinclair is on my autobuy list. I'm having a lot of fun reading these. Crack I tell you.
So after feeling alll unfulfilled and going on and on about how Gabriel's Ghost feels like it needs another book, I looked at the author's website to find - THERE IS A SEQUEL! Yes! The book is called Shades of Dark (apparently it was renamed from "Chasidah's Choice") and is coming out in July 2008. I feel all better now and take back what I said about book 1 being unfinished. Maybe I should look this stuff up huh. But seriously the book did not say there is a sequel! What would I do without the internet?
P.S. I was on Linnea Sinclair's website because.. I think her writing is like crack. Fun space opera crack.
