Shadow Of The Lion: A Historical Soap Opera Told Against the Backdrop of Venice’s Magic, Religious Intolerance and a Upcoming War.

The Shadow Of The Lion smoothie review

I had a friend in high school who loved Mercedes Lackey. She always had a book in her hand reading her latest fantasy adventures. Oddly enough as I was just discovery Crichton and Ludlum, she was always pushing this author onto me. “Read them! They are so good!” she said. Now five years after high school I finally got a hold of one of her fantasies and took my friend’s advice. The book is The Shadow of The Lion By Mercedes Lackey which is also co written with Eric Flunt and Dave Freer.

So what is it about? Well that’s a bit complicated but let’s start. It starts with the crumbled version of the Holy Roman Empire, where the emperor has little control over the divided regions that can still be called the empire to some extent, as the church, or the holy trinity knights hold the most power spreading the word of god and burning anyone in relation to the northern Germanic pagan clans as witches. (As someone who took two years of European history, that info really helps with understanding the setting) Magic is seen as evil. This ideology also leads holy trinity to killing pagan gods, in the name of the Christian god. Meanwhile, a man from the north Japellion who made a deal with a demon and wants to take over Venice, sends a shaman, using the power of the demon Churnobog to spy on Venice. The demon is up to something very dark in the north. Also a Icelander Erik is hired to take care of the emperor’s nephew. The two soon go under cover as the holy knights discover odd things are brewing in Venice. There are magical murders that Venice is tying to solve. Then there are the Casa Veches, the of the noble families of Venice that play a big role here. Marco and Benito are the Voldosta brother, long lost members of one of the noble families. Benito is a skilled thief as Marco is honest hiding in the marshes. They hide who they are as there is another Casa Veche trying to kill them. After a assassination attempt the two hide under the over of the great assassin named Ceasure Aldonta. Katerina is a girl who works the canal and is a part of a financially dying Casa Veche family. She smuggles shipments with Benito, but builds a stronger relationship between a prostitute name Francesca and Marco over the story. The third noble family is Dorma. Marco is welcomed into the family as he fell for the daughter through leaving her poems, as he ignores him to be with Ceasure which causes a bad relationship between his girlfriend Maria. There is also a amnesia struck assassin named Bespi put under a spell by a friend of Marco’s in the swamp to protect him. Francesca holds a strong piece of the puzzle finding that she has noble blood as well. And through the story, war, and religious intolerance dances in the background. This also takes place over a number of years. And yes, this is the simplest way I could have explained it all.

So let’s start with bad? The story is very convoluted from the setting to the characters and there is not a flow chart detailed enough to make sense of everything. The only reason I could understand the politics and world, is I took the years of European history. I can’t think of what it would be like for someone who didn’t. As for the characters? Who’s in the council? Who’s part what family? Who’s partnered with who? It is a lot. Even at a point on the story, Marco tries to figure all out, and gives up because it’s too confusing. Also there is too much talk of politics too. They spend so much time talking about politics, that it is ridiculous. I mean there are a couple who talk about politics during a sex scene for crying out loud. They couldn’t stop for those five pages without inserting that politics. Also the last complaint would be very little does happen. The reviews that said “Fast pace and intense” on the back cover are lies. The book also has very little fantasy to it. It is overall historical fiction more than anything else. Magic shows up rarely.

The good? Well it’s original. The setting is great. What makes this book strong are the characters. The are developed fleshed out and grow as the story goes on. They are done with great detail. The idea in this book of merging Christian and pagan beliefs were amazingly original. It brought about something I never seen in a book before and is one of the few fantasies that made me stop and think. Detail is fantastic. The world is fully explained, and the ending gives an appropriate fate to a surprising villain in the story.

Overall, the book is a historical fiction drama sat in the back drop of world where magical paganism and Christians must come together to save Venice from the darkness that growing in the north. There are not so many monsters. It had very little action that doesn’t show up until toward the end of 905 pages. Relationships and drama between the characters in the course of roughly three years and watching them become stronger people is the heart of the book. It’s not bad. It was not just my kind of book. I felt it was drug out of bit. But I’ll be generous with my ratings. Personal opinions aside, it wasn’t a bad book.

3 smoothie out of four.

Overall Rating: A Historical Soap Opera told against the backdrop of Venice’s magic, religious intolerance and a upcoming war.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Carrie : A Tale of a Lonely High school Student In a Bland World

Carrie By Stephen King Smoothie review

Okay. Where did the book came from? I’m not sure. I just kind of found it. It had yellow pages and a battered paper back cover that made me wonder about it’s origins, but the mystery does not spark any interest enough to pursue why and how it ended up in my house. I just read the darn thing. The book is a very old copy of Carrie with a photo of Sissy Spacek on the cover covered with blood. The title had big drippy front and another bold message saying “Soon to be a motion picture.”

So in case you know absolutely nothing about the literacy world, Carrie is suppose to be a literacy horror “classic” by Stephen King. The film is also considered to be a sort of a cult classic too. I never saw it. So the book held all the surprises for me. The story of the book focuses on a teenager named Carrie. A girl who has been tormented and picked on by those around her, class mates usually and is obedient to her abusive psychotic overly religious mother. Carrie takes torment from everyone, that is until one day she discovers that she had telekinetic abilities. Meanwhile after treating Carrie badly, a girl named Sue, wants to make it up to her. But it was not like Carrie will take a apology. She had be abused and pranked too long. So she lines her boyfriend up to take Carrie to prom. She wanted to at least give the girl one night where she is not the butt of some joke but someone special.

Also during this Christine, a girl who hates Carrie because she lost her prom tickets for torturing the girl, wants to get revenge. She and her boyfriend intend to ruin her night unaware of the new power Carrie can now fight back with.

So the good? It is a interesting promise. The general story contain concepts and imagination that is wonderful. The potential is great. Also the layout of the story it self is that of third person and news reporters, scientific essays, and interviews with survivors after the fact. This is something I found a bit intriguing.

The bad? Well there wasn’t anything real bad. It was just overall bland. Given that Carrie is a neglected, abused teenager and the world hates, I was so surprised at how shallow of character she was. Most authors would try to make the reader understand the character. Show the humanity of her so you can feel pity. But it was so hard to feel sorry for a girl when the only emotion king decides to reveal for Carrie is rage. I wanted to know more about Carrie. I wanted to see a human being not a cardboard cut out, King created. The other characters were just as shallow with the exception for Carrie’s mother. Which brings another issue. Why is it that King’s novels there is always a psychotic evil Christian at work? I’m not religious, so I’m taking offence, but it is cliché that is very old. Also I felt the climax is a bit over the top. At the midway point of the book Carrie can barely levitate a hair brush, but just a couple days later at the Prom, she has powers that are godlike. Though this is ridiculous story not based on facts, it still stands the author put a little effort into logical reasoning behind this evolution so the reader will not be pulled out of the tale. The power is described as a muscle, but you can’t work a muscle up to do that much in two or three days. I felt it was too much to be taken seriously. Also interviews and news reports scattered through out the story foreshadowed things to come. They sometimes foreshadowed way too much. Such as who will live and who will die. It took away the shock value of any deaths. Also in her rampage, Carrie is evil, which was out place as she was portrayed as victim until that point.

Overall, the story wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good. It was just meh. Maybe with stronger and more developed characters I might have enjoyed it more. It’s something to pass up and skip reading. I only suggest this your one of those Stephen King fans.

Overall Ratting: A Tale of a Lonely High School Student In a Bland World.

2 smoothies out of four.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

The 13th Tale : A Failed Replication of Jane Eyre With The Element Of Twiness Thrown in

The 13th Tale By Diane Setterfield Smoothie Review

Call me crazy, but I like to be proved wrong. I was so sure I hated memoirs and memoir like dramas. Everyone of them I read was downright horrible and I told myself they are all the same. That is until I came across a few I thoroughly enjoyed. “To Kill A Mocking Bird,” “The Glass Castle” and “October Sky” made me feel like a fool because I did see all memoirs as the same, when indeed they were not. I then came across one that looked interesting. It was a hardback called the Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It is not a actual memoir but is meant to play out like one. The concept behind it was that if a girl writing a biography of author. An author with an over active imagination who has told absolutely no one the truth and for some reason, I saw hope in this idea.

So the story starts with Margaret who is a girl who works in a book shop with her father and as a hobby on the side writes various essays about what she reads. In some cases she won awards for her work. The essays grabbed the attention of the famous but aging and ill Vida Winter. And given the offer to be paid to listen to her story and write it down, Margaret accepts it and goes to the woman’s large richy house to do the job. Before leaving though, Margaret also finds that she had a twin sister who died at birth which becomes more important as Vida’s tale is about a odd child hood growing up with her own twin. Her mother was put away. Her uncle was just as mentally ill. Her father was nowhere to be seen or heard of. The aging blind house keeper and lonely gardener was left to raise them, but neither of them could support themselves, must less the children who grew wild throughout the house, bearly speaking English having no education, and being a true annoyance to whole village.

The story starts out exploring the idea of twiness. The thought that one could not live without the other. One will get half the personality traits, as the other has the opposite, so together they become a full person. But separated they are nothing. But also through out her story, there are hints of ghosts, that leave questions about what Vida is leaving out.

So, I’ll start with the good, because its short. The good of it is this story is written in beautiful fashion. In all seriousness the words flow like poetry or the lyrics of song. I haven’t seen anything written in this fashion in a long time.

Okay. The bad? Well basically, the story is aimless. It starts off interesting and then loses all direction making you wonder what exactly you are reading. Not to mention the breaks from the story to itself where Margaret spends time thinking about the twin she never known. Margaret starts seeing ghosts of her twin and making ludicrous connections between her life and Vida‘s because of the twiness. It is far too melodramatic and even ridiculous as in one scene when she breaks down and cries in front of everyone because Margaret feels her twin was so much like Vida even though they never met and there was no similarity at all. Lastly was about two thirds through when I was wondering where this book was heading. It revealed itself to be a cheap modern day version of Jane Eyre, which was sad and uninteresting. But the more I thought about it, I found the author went so far below that level it was astonishing. It has the setting, dialogue, and ghost stories, but all fell flat.

Overall it took me forever to read it because it bored me so much. It’ll fool you when you start but will making major missteps once you’re in the heart of it. Skip this drama. Go read Jane Eyre if this sounds remotely entertaining. You will get much more for the time put into it there.

Overall Rating: A Failed Replication of Jane Eyre With The Element Of Twiness Thrown in

1 smoothie out of four.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Under The Dome : A Look Into The Breakdown Of Society In The Land Of Assholes

Stephen Kings Under The Dome Smoothie Review

As always when I grab a book, it is often a compulsive buy rather than smart one. And it usually comes from the most random of places. This time the book was found at a yard sale at the end of my block. An old lady was moving and was selling most of her stuff. And as I browsed, I came across this hard back, and the cover had this image of this entire town trapped underneath this bubble. The title says, “Under The Dome.” And the image alone allowed my over active imagination soar, because I have a love for inventive science fiction I had to find out more. Not a single synopsis was in the book. But did find some words on the inside cover. They said, “Written By Stephen King.” And those words hurt, as I am far from being a Stephen King lover. But on that moment of heart break, I must have had a psychotic snap. I made the crazy choice to buy and read the 1172 page book. And for me, reading a King novel that long is like climbing Mount Everest.

So now you ask, what is the book about? It’s about a town called Chester Mills. A small Maine town like always in King’s books. And randomly one day, a wall come out of nowhere cutting the town off from the rest of the world. A dome covers the whole town. A lot of casualties happen in these first few pages. Following this first town selectman and the second in charge of the town is greatly under the influence of the third who is Big Jim Rennie, the villain of this story. And Big Jim takes control of the town and town police department. He’s a con man who likes power, who has been even in controlling meth labs, black market drugs, laundering money and selling used cars. I’m not sure which is the worst crime. He practically brainwashed the people of the town by causing chaos indirectly and appearing set things right after the fact playing the hero. To avoid argument from the police department, he fires all those with a IQ and hire the dumbest jocks, and hicks to be on the police department. It was done in a way that people couldn’t possibly see what he was trying to do. This police department also includes his homicidal son Junior.

Then there are rebels in this plan. There’s a army man named Barbie (its his nickname.) And as the man was leaving Chester Mills because of bad blood between Rennie and himself, the dome appeared. So not only is he trapped in the dome with a powerful man who wants to hurt him, a old friend from Washington DC sends him a message to control the town, which goes against Rennie’s wishes. Along with him is Julia a reporter, a trio of smart kids side with Barbie. And first selectman’s wife, who want to expose the truth about Rennie and gain control of the town back before things get worse. Later on, they are joined by the new town doctor. And overtime with Rennie’s dictatorship and his basic abusive police squad within the dome, there is break down of society boiling down to fact that everything is being ran by self serving assholes who often times in the book even murder to get things Rennie’s way.

So what is the good? Well I have to say, if King wanted us to hate the bad guys, he done it well. There is no measure to how much I hated Rennie and all those on the police department. There is rape scene involving Junior and his cop buddies attacking a woman for no apparent reason, in here that just made me want to reach into pages and strangle them. There is lot of bad things that happen in this book by Rennie and his police with not logic or reason behind it. It’s just that evil. I also believed that the breakdown of society was done very well. I was impressed with King on that level.

Now what is the bad? One thing that always did bug me with horror writers in general, is that the random person pops out of no where to just to die. Drives me crazy. There’s one or two of those in here. Another is for the first three hundred pages, a segment of each chapter was introducing someone. It seemed scattered brained and was difficult to keep rack of them all, until page 290, it is finally revealed the Barbie and Julia are ones we should be caring bout. And did I mention a lot of those characters in the beginning don’t have any importance or show up again? Time to time it gets off track. One example is Rennie going down memory lane of how always goes to girls basket ball games, which has nothing to do with the story. But those bits are minor.

Then there’s the bit between the good and bad. It’s the ending. The book starts with the idea this might have a religious reason behind the dome. Then it leans toward science fiction reasoning. There is a constant conflict between the two. And in the end it’s open ended. Julia and Barbie have a very sci-fi like theory. But with what happens to Big Jim Rennie at the end leaves room to differ. It is never said who or what these things are that is doing this to him. Alien? Ghosts? Interdemensional Monsters? Demons? Or maybe it’s god? The end feels rushed or at least to me slapped together at the end. Like King wrote himself between a rock and hard place and he didn’t know what to. So he left it open ended. And in some ways, I like that he did that but in other ways (as with the length of the book) I thought there should have been a pay off.

Overall, it’s a scifi book about the collapse of society in the land of assholes. And to be completely honest there is so much evil assholism that me just go “Grrrrrrr!” It made me so mad. What these guys got in the end did not justify for all that they did. Also the pacing was very slow as well that makes reading it painstaking. So if you love King, this might be for you. If you hate jerks, don’t read this, it’ll just make you mad. If you love science fiction like me, then avoid this. Nothing is really explained. That’s my recommendations for others out there. I personally didn’t like it so the rating is very low.

1 smoothie out of four

Overall Rating : A Journey Into The Land Of Assholes.

P.S. If you like books, please check out my ebook and book website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

All That You Love Will Be Carried: Stephen King’s Theory To Who Is Writing Dirty Messages In Public Restrooms.

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away by Stephen King Smoothie Review

Since I’m reading a monster of a book, I created a way to balance my reading. (Basically because the thousand page book I”m reading right now is not all that exciting) By reading the novel Monday through Friday and short stories on the weekend I found a useful method. And the short story this time around is “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away,” by Stephen King

Given pretty and poetic nature of the title, one would thing it was a love story. But it’s not. What is it? Well to be perfectly honest, it is hard to explain, but I’ll try. A man named Aldire Zimmerman is sales man who checks into a motel in the middle of the snowstorm. Inside, he sits on the bed and pulls out a gun to kill himself, but stops to pull out his notebook to look over it one last time. The notebook is full of scribbled down puns, slings, and dirty messages that one would find written on bathroom walls. It is seven years worth of graffiti, that he is proud of and doesn’t want to let go of it, or let anyone find it after he died. So before he kills himself he goes down memory lane of all his favorite lines he wrote over the last seven years and manages to convince himself that it is a art and not insanity.

So the good? I can’t say much, other than that I kind of found it intriguing that the author was willing to share his theory on who is writing the stupid scribbles in public restrooms.

The bad? Well it basically boils down to this. It’s pointless. I’m playing the story over and over in my head, trying to find a deeper meaning and I just can’t. And the sad thing is, I think he was trying to say something deeper because the last line is just so strange. It asks us to say a prayer for all those with a life like Zimmerman. It was something that would have worked if there was something emotional in the story. But it wasn’t. The character is as shallow as possible. I wonder if Stephen King personally knew someone like this. I don’t’ know don’t know what his goal was here.

Overall, skip this. This is pointless. Unless you are someone who professionally writes profanity on bathroom walls for living, you can not relate to this character in the least. There is just nothing here.

½ smoothie out of four.

Overall: Stephen King’s Theory to Who Is writing dirty Messages In Public Restrooms.

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website, Lelues Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Flowers For Algernon : A Classic Odyssey That Pulls So Many Heart Strings

Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes

Overall Rating : A Man’s Odyssey that pulls so many heart strings

Okay if you have been reading my other smoothie reviews then you know I’m a sucker for science fiction, or importantly classic science fiction. If you haven’t notice this by now, go back and read my Subterranean review. I couldn’t keep from praising it. So it’s not surprising I decided to read another classic scifi piece. This one is called Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I read it long ago when I was thirteen and decided to read it again.

So what is it about? The tale focuses on Charlie Gordon. He is a man who is retarded and has a unusually low IQ. He is chosen out of many other people with a similar condition to have a operation to become smarter. The scientist had tried this with a lab rat named Algernon. Algernon like Charlie had a low IQ but after the operation he not only became smarter, but became the smartest mouse alive with an unusual high IQ. And the same happens to Charlie. The story is a collection of diary entries by Charlie through this experience. You see his thinking in his writing. You see how he’s naïve as at the beginning and how he’s arrogant at the peak. But there’s a catch to all of this. After Charlie has the operation and is on the top of the world, Algernon dies. He has a relapse and his brain does a total reversal causing his brain to function less and less. The IQ rapidly drops and then the brain shuts down. And this happens to Charlie. No I am not spoiling things here. In fact, the story is not about that. The story is about Charlie and everything he’s going through. I mean this is very much like the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. We all know the ending but the read it because it is such a engaging odyssey to not turn away.

So the good? Emotion. We see Charlie grow up mentally, so quickly. We see all the emotions and memories rush back to him. We see the naïve boy turn to a sweet man and then into a arrogant drunk. We see that his so called friends were jerks who picked on him as he gets smarter. We see him fall in love, lose it again and never truly find it until his life is spiraling downward. I mean this is amazing. It’s so heavy and so believably sad. I cried at the end of this book. The last entry pulled so many heartstrings that I just wanted to reach into the book and help Charlie so badly. It’s pure drama, but done so well that reveals so much about the human condition. It really is amazing.

So the bad? Not much to say. I can only praise the book. But I do have this to say. It’s sad. It is very very sad. So if you don’t like books that make you cry, this is not for you.

Overall the book is a classic. It is a classic I believe everyone should read at least once. I mean, this book is really worth the read.

4 smoothies out of four.

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website at Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

We’re Alive : Zombies Have Now Invaded A New Form Of Entertainment

We’re Alive – Season 1 – From The Zombie Podcast

Overall Rating: Zombies have now invaded a new form of entertainment

Okay, I won’t deny it any more. Zombies have over taken our media and you know what? People love it. People just can’t get enough of them. They invaded our video games with Resident Evil. It has just invaded TV with the premier of The Walking Dead. It’s been in horror comics for quite a while. And then they won’t get out of our movies. And I’m not just talking about American flicks. It has spread to other countries. It’s Le Horde in France. 28 Days Later in Great Britain. And Undead in Australia. And they don’t die. I mean there’s even a Undead Nightmare cowboy game. It will never go away. So now you’re probably asking why am I talking about zombies? Well because zombies have entered a new genre, which is a audio drama called We’re Alive.

You know I review books. But a audio drama or radio show isn’t that much different than a audio book. And I have to say it’s much more entertaining than a audio book in some ways. And I actually accidentally found out about, when I was listening to another podcast about a author who began by self publishing. And they wouldn’t stop talking about We’re Alive. So I looked it up.

So We’re Alive is a podcast audio drama made up of twelve or so serial episodes that make up season one. (That’s all I’m reviewing now) It starts off with three military commandos Michael, Angel and Sol who are called to help the military with riots. But it turns out that these are not people and are actually zombies. So they actually go on a run and try to survive. They meet other survivors’ and decide to live and reinforce a apartment building. They lock themselves inside as the world falls apart around them.

But as the story goes on, it goes a bit beyond the Dawn of the Dead setup. As the story goes on, the zombies are changing, hinting that they might not be zombies at all, but something else entirely. I’ll stop there, because I might spoil something. That and people who are survivors, but are not part of Angel’s Michael’s and Sol’s community are not exactly friendly and are willing to kill them for supplies. It’s a nice post apocalyptic piece.

So the good? Well it’s a zombie podcast that is a long layered story with enjoyable characters. I mean they might seem stereotypical at first, but evolve and grow on you. I mean there’s Sol who talks like “Ah man, I ain’t play’n dog.” Don’t they call that Gansta now? I don’t know. But he was the flattest character at the beginning, but became my favorite at the end. The voice acting has emotion. (This is how it’s better than a dull monotone reading of a audio book) It had a music score and sound effects. And it is told through different point of views through out the story too, making it more interesting. And it’s an episodic format. So it’s not one giant long pod cast. And it’s not just about zombies. It’s about people. Common people who are trying to survive. The think what I like the most is, the show is creating its own mythology around zombies and not just copying everyone else.

The bad? Well some voice actors did better than others. Which isn’t too bad. Except for when a certain two characters share the same scene. Angel and Michael sound the same, so I kept on getting them mixed up when they were holding a conversation.

Overall, if you like good Resident Evil (I’m talking about the games. The older ones to be more specific) or Dawn of the Dead, this is worth looking into. I know I would just listen to it as I was working on projects, and got to hear a good story as I did it. So if you like this sort of thing , it’s on itunes and just on line to listen for free.

Listen To It Here @ http://www.zombiepodcast.com/The_Zombie_Podcast/WereAliveEpisodes.html

3 ¼ smoothies out of four

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website at Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.lelue.webs.com/

Overall Rating: Zombies have now invaded a new form of entertainment

A Scarcity Of Sea Monsters: Sweet Gentle Tale From The Deep

A Scarcity Of Lake Monsters by Laurell K Hamilton

Overall Rating : Sweet Gentle Tale From The Deep

Okay after reading two really bad books in a row, I’m not sure whether I can gamble on another five hundred novel just yet. I need a breather after that god awful Clive Cussler torture contraption called Atlantis Found. So I’m taking a break and am heading back to world of short stories. And I’m going to one of favorite authors Laurell K Hamilton. This one is called “A Scarcity Of Lake Monsters” and can be found in the Strange Candy collection.

So what is it about? Well it’s a day in the life of Forest Ranger at the Enchanted Forest National Park, of which the forest title itself gives away the fact that the park has creatures such as satyr’s and leprechauns‘ live in it. But this story is involved deeply in the couple’s relationship with the Lake Monster named Irving, that they seem end to love as part of their family like a pet. But as the day goes on, something terrible happens, because people don’t understand the creature. Drama circles the incident. I’m not saying any more than that or I would be spoiling things if I hadn’t done so already.

So the good? Well even though this is ridicules everyone I it seems so real. Mike, Jordan, Susan and even Irving seem like real characters. And the relationships between all of them made the readers feel like they were right there. Plus this is one of the most innocent pieces I seen by Laurell in a long time. I wish she would turn this into a book giving us all something new rather than her never ending Gentry and Blake series. Also as usual, detail is fantastic as well.

So the bad? I can’t say much. Maybe more action would be nice. But that already stated was not the goal of the story here. I wish it could continue but it is only a short story after all.

Overall this is something entirely new and written that shows a kind light hearted world. It is worth looking into.

Four smoothies out of 4

Overall Rating : Sweet gentle Tale From Deep Water

The Edge Of The Sea: A Place Where the Mermen are psychotic

The Edge of the Sea by Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton is a good writer and I’m convinced of that. Even now she is good. She’s just in a rut of writing stuff that’s X- rated at the moment rather than actually writing a story. Edge of The Sea is a short story she recently wrote that hits much closer to home for anyone who read her earlier stuff. It can be found in the Strange Candy Collection.
The story starts with Adria, who find that her room mate Rachel is missing in middle of the night. It is a beach front house so when she can’t find her, she decides to search the beach. Then she finds that her friend is raped and killed by odd pale man, who in discovery dashes into the sea. His feet turned to fish tale as he ran or I should say swim away. Even though Adria denies it at first, she realizes he’s merman. And he is the one that the news is calling the “Beach rapist” committing killings of young women. And as the killings continues, Adria is determined not be his victim. And if possible, she will get revenge if she can.
This is a short story that appears to take place in an Anita Blake world. Because they briefly mention other monsters such as vampires and monsters to this in one, as in one of Anita’s books they did mention there were mer people. But of course in those books they just never went to the coast to encounter these mer folk. But still, this is the same e world taken to a character that lives there.
So the good? It is an expansion of the Anita Blake world we never seen. Plus I like the mermaid idea. I find that it’s a great concept a lot of authors don’t touch. It’s fairly original. And detail is so well done. From the sound of ocean, to smell of the air, to Adria’s fear and lastly how gorgeous this merman is. She is so full of detail. It’s some thing I loved about Laurell’s work in the past. She can describe everything perfectly. (Especially the men, but I’m not going there in this review) And one last thing. There is a rape scene and I have to say this to Hamilton. Thank you for not some how morphing it into a descriptive sex scene like you do in all our newer books. Those are getting old.
The bad? Well it kind of feels like an Anita story without Anita. Adria didn’t have much character to her at all, but done what Anita would have in the end. So I guess if you read Hamilton’s other works, it’s predictable.
So overall. It’s a tragic loss of a friend and crime spree of a rapist who is a merman. Weird, but still fine. I mean it’s not memorable or anything. But it’s fun.

Overall Rating: I Nice Step Into Fantasy Where the Mermen are psychotic

3 smoothies out of four