A little bit of this and a little bit of that

I'm starting to do much better now.  I'm on a different medication and it's finally starting to kick in.  I'm back to car dancing again when a song I like comes on the radio.  That's where the upper half of me moves to the beat of the music when stuck at a traffic light.  I think people in cars around me wonder at the crazed woman next to them, but I have fun.  My coworkers are starting to notice a change.  I'm back to being the 'fun' one again.  I really missed being me.
 I did do myself no favours though when I started running real low on the new medication and rather than going back and getting my prescription renewed, I started taking less, missing a day here or there and/or taking the medication I was taking.  But they say we learn more from our mistakes and I learned a LOT from that STUPID mistake.  If I didn't know how much better I was doing before that I certainly found out then.  So a very strong word of advice from those who suffer from depression.  Medication really does work and DO NOT be afraid to take it.  I know part of our brain will tell us it's all in our head - and while technically it is, the right medication can really make a difference is us being the people we are supposed to be rather than the person that depression makes us.

I would say I'm at least 80% back and the difference between where I am now and where I was even a month ago is like night and day.

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One of the things I'm working on is slowly getting all my most favourite books downloaded to either Kindle or Kobo or IBooks - I do a lot of comparison shopping and whichever deal is best.  Many of them are older books and good luck in finding some at reasonable prices or even at all.  Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas for example is $9.17 for the Kindle book, $8.99 for the Kobo and $8.99 on IBooks.  Hell will freeze over before I EVER pay that much more for an ebook then a print copy.  At this point I will state categorically that I HATE what Random House is doing.  They may have lowered their prices in the US, but it hasn't made it's way north of the border.

I will go looking for my favourite books only to be disappointed again and again thought I have managed to get quite a few.  But every once in a while it's like I get the best gift in the whole world when I find an ebook I've been wanting ever since I joined the world of ereading.

Such is the case with Justine Davis.  I've enjoyed many, many of her books but two stand out a bit more that the others, Lord of the Storm and Skypirate.  I've  blogged about them before and they are two of the best SciFi/Futuristic books I've read and I have read a GREAT number of them.  And in particular, the hero of Skypirate has THE best name of a hero I've every come across - Dax Silverbrake.   I mean is that a cook name or what????   I thought it was the best name ever when I first read the book in 1995 and I still haven't come across a hero's name that beats it. 

I check every few months, hoping either or have been reissued as ebooks and I did so again a week or so ago.  I was ecstatic, ecstatic I tell you to discover that yes indeed, they have been reissued as ebooks.  And not only that - I'm almost giddy with this news - Ms. Davis is planning on bringing out a whole new book in the Coalition series.  I remember reading years ago that she had plans on writing more in this series but the publishers weren't interested.  I've already bought and read Lord of the Storm and Skypirate just came out Oct 16 and you can bet the bank that it will be loaded up onto my tablet very shortly.  The only hitch at the moment is I have Lord of the Storm on my Kobo but Skypirate is only on Amazon at the moment and I kind of want to keep them on the same reading device instead of one on Kobo, the other on Kindle.  Thank the stars that the wonderful *happy dance* world of self-publishing and ebooks has changed the game.  And in many cases the author and the readers are the winners

Recent Read

The Last Warrior by Susan Grant

Why this one: I love most of Ms. Grant’s books. Love. Them. They are futuristics, a genre I adore and can’t read enough of. But I had real issues with the last book of hers I tried to read; it was a departure from her usual style. So I was a bit leery when The Last Warrior came out as to what kind of book it would be, the style I’ve loved in the past or the style I couldn’t read. But since I’ve loved her in the past, I decided to dive into the Susan Grant book pool

Steam Level: Warm, not hot, but warm. But then it’s hot enough outside anyway these days. So warm is good!

Blurb: As a decorated soldier, the young General Tao knows only one kind of honor—to his people. But when his own king betrays him, he discovers that his sacrifices, his successes, may not have been for the good of the country at all.

Fate—and his enemies—throw him together with Elsabeth, a red-haired beauty who has served as the royal tutor. Her loyalties, though, remain with her father's people, the rebellious Kurel, who worship the old ways, even harboring the forbidden arks that brought the Kurel to this planet ages ago. When a threat greater than their peoples' war looms, intent on destroying the world they both know, the fierce warrior and the sensitive scholar must unite. Together, they must fight for their planet, for their world and for their love.

My Thoughts: Well!! I am SO glad I dove back into the pool as this is the kind of Susan Grant book I adore and adore this one I did!

It has everything going for it. Let me count the ways:

1. A very intriguing world that is very well built - check
2. A great cast of secondary characters that makes me want to read more about them – check
3. An evil villain that you want to do away with yourself - check
4. A heroine that I really like and admire – check
5. A hero to die for – check

The setting for this Futuristic Sci/Fi romance is the planet (look it up). I gather the planet was colonized by the people from Earth hundreds of years ago and somehow all communication was cut off so they slowly drifted into various segments of society. There are the superstitious warrior class, known as the Tassagonians, who are exemplified by our hero General Tao. Then there are the scientific class known as the Kurel. There isn’t much mingling of these two classes as the Warrior class are very wary of the Kurel and consider all their advanced knowledge is evil magic.

The story starts out with the return of General Tao, a hero to his people for the glorious defeat of the Gorr, an animalistic group whose sole purpose is the elimination of the human inhabitants. Our heroine, Elsabeth is less than impressed though as she has a deep dislike of the Tassagoian people and in particular a hatred for their king ever since he was responsible for the senseless death of her parents. She is part of a rebellion against King Xim along with the chief of the palace guards and Tao’s best friend.

When Tao makes his triumphant return, King Xim is threatened by Tao’s popularity with the people and has him falsely arrested. Markham, his friend and chief of palace guards rescues him and hides him with Elsabeth and the ghetto town of the Kurels

That’s the basics of the story but that’s just bare bones. What I would like to say is what great characters both Elsabeth and Tao are. I wasn’t sure I would like either one at first but I LOVED them. Elsabeth has reason to be bitter but rather than wallow in it, she works to make things different and better. She could have let her hatred for the Tassagoian people take over, but she is very well able to separate her feeling for the king from the rest of the people. In fact she calls the king’s wife and sister to Tao a friend and is very fond of her. Elsbeth is smart, brave, does what she can to help but not in a stupid way and Wendy would really like her. Hint, hint. She has preconceived notions about what the Tassagoians are all about, but is willing to readjust her thinking when she sees that the role they play is valuable.

And Tao. Oh, yum, yum, yum!! What an incredible Ms. Grant has written in him. He is a hero to his people and despite this he remains remarkably humble about it all. He just wants to find a wife, using careful, well thought out methods and retire to his family vineyard. He has fought against the Gorr for many years despite still being a young man. When he is put into hiding in the district of the Korel, he is at first quite reluctant what with them practicing magic and all. But he slowly realizes what value they can be. And at first rather disgusted with their passive ways, he is impressed when they rise to the occasion when threatened. And the chemistry between Tao and Elsabeth is absolutely delicious. I just love how they slowly begin to love each other as they get to know each other and put aside their prejudices. Tao admires Elsbeth and treats her with a great deal of respect, even though he is totally hot for her.

This is a riveting story with very real and believable characters. There are a few places where I chuckled over Tao and his ‘duck out of water’ stay with the Korel. I’ve tried tightening up on my 5 out of 5 grades as at times going back I barely remember a book I gave a five too, but not so in this case. This is one I will remember and most certainly read again.

Grade: 5 out of 5

Revisiting an old post - The Futuristic - My Genre du Jour

Having just enjoyed Susan Grant's latest book, Moonstruck and looking forward to Linnea Sinclair's latest book coming out soon, and also with so many new bloggers in blogland, I went back into the vault for this post. This is one I did way back when in 2005. Hopefully I can get it to post now in 2008. It's funny how a few years can change things. I don't know if it's me being optimistic, but Futuristics seem to be making a bit of a comeback lately with a new name for the genre SciFi Romance. I still love them just as much today as I did back in 2005. And one other thing has changed since I first posted this - I know how to add pictures now!

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I read a good one recently and I can feel a futuristic reading marathon coming on. I know this genre isn’t for everyone but it’s one of my favourites. I’ve read them for years but I seemed to have gotten away from them for a while. After thoroughly enjoying the book I read, the fire is back again. Before I start blogging about the futuristic books I’ve read recently and/or are planning to read, I thought I’d explain why I like them so much and what I find appealing about them.
To do a well written futuristic, I find the author has to have a limitless imagination. There’s a specialty channel here in Canada with the catchy phrase – Space – the Imagination Station. I think that applies to futuristic books too. With a historical the boundaries are already set. There’s the ton with all the rules and regulations, the seasons, the country homes and parties; the dukes, the earls, the marquis etc. etc. etc.. What the author does is follow the parameters already set up. She/he adds their interpretation, storyline and characters within the outline already done in history. The same goes for medievals and westerns. Since it’s already happened, there is no need to create something different or unique. With romantic suspense and contemporaries, the same holds true. But with futuristics, the sky is the limit (so to speak).
The author can have a setting on earth in the not too distant future with still recognizable events or places such as the In Death books or Susan Grant’s The Star King, The Star Prince and The Star Princess. Or they can take place in a world completely unrecognizable such as Robin Owen’s world.
If we are far into the future the ruling empire can be evil such as the Coalition in Justine Davis Lord of the Storm and Skypirate or looking out for the greater good such as futuristic world in Angela Knight’s Jane’s Warlord (I wish we had seen more of it than we did. Hopefully for the futuristic lovers she will revisit it someday)

**** And she does have another one coming out in this series!! I just noticed this the other day and I was one happy camper! In fact I ordered it and since it's out in July, 2008 I don't have to long a wait.****

The author can create regular type heroes and heroines or the unusual such as Kathleen Morgan’s Heart’s Lair or Christine Spangler’s Shadow Fires (*note: this is one I haven’t read – just the reviews). The hero’s can be a ruler, an escaped convict, a bounty hunter or a pirate or any other creation of the author’s imagination. There’s also a wide variation for the heroine too; princess, convict, healer or empath (although if the heroine is either of the last two, the author may face the wrath of Mrs. Giggles – she’s tough on them healers (grin).
Another issue that doesn’t necessarily have to be dealt with in futuristics is unwanted pregnancies or STD’s. Since they take place in the future is seems almost a given that this is no longer a problem. Science and advanced medical treatment will have taken care of this. While I applaud authors who deal with this issue in contemporaries, wouldn’t it be nice to know that in the future it’s something we won’t have to worry about? And honestly, in RL instead of RW, there would be a whole lot of heroes in historicals running around with syphilis and a whole lot of heroines who were inconveniently pregnant
It seemed for a while like futuristics were on their way out. I’ve read that Justine Davis had a third book in mind for her journey into the futuristic but was told not to bother, that it wouldn’t sell. I’m sure there were other authors who were told the same thing. And at the time they probably wouldn’t have. But one of the things I most admire about Love Spell which I believe is a division of Leisure Publishing is they never gave up. They published them in 1995 and they are still publishing them today. I hope they and other publishers continue and that readers who are loving paranormals discover that futuristics can be just as good and different a read. Berkley is also publishing some good ones these days.
So if you’ve never tried one before, try that final frontier, explore strange new worlds, seek out new adventures, go where you the reader has ne're gone before.
There are some crappy ones out there I know – same as crappy historicals, medievals and every other genre, but there is also some very very good ones.

For anyone interested here are a just a few of my favourite favourites.

Banner’s Bonus by Carole Ann Lee (1995): I loved this book. One of my all time favourite furturistics, it was the only one I’ve ever been able to find by this author. This will be the first in line for a reread. There were some secondary characters who would have been great with their own books but alas – whatever happened to the author and/or sequels is a mystery





Lord of the Storm and Skypirate by Justine Davis: I wish more had been written. She did a wonderful job with these. And yes, I know. *sigh* They are Very Bad Covers.









Knighthawk by Kristen Kyle: After reading a few other books by this author and loving them and seeing she had a futuristic I knew this was one I had to have. It took me a while to track one down and I finally ordered it from Amazon but it was well worth the effort.








Heart’s Lair by Kathleen Morgan: This one was thinking on it now, was ahead of it’s time. The hero is part man, part lion. I found it a very interesting book.
There was a prequel to this one, but I didn't like it nearly as much.







Kinsman's Oath: Sadly, very sadly, she quit writing Futuristics after this one. I hope some day she goes back to them

I’m really looking forward to finding some new ones.

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And luckily, over the years I have found new books and new authors. I've discovered Linnea Sinclair. Susan Grant still continues to impress. Patricia Waddell wrote a nice book that I quite enjoyed. And of course I'm still as deeply in love with the In Death books as I was in 2005.