The Darkside by Anthony O'Neill

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Welcome to Purgatory

On the Dark Side of the Moon, the far side that never sees Earth is a world less inhibited than our own. Less inhibited, less super ego, and less lawful. A bastion for those hunted on Earth, a thriving Mecca of corruption and unbridled excess--unless it interferes with someone important, like Brass.

It looks a lot like a Las Vegas version of ancient Mesopotamia. 

The exposition has a tour guide quality to it, one can almost hear the tinny voice over the speakers as relevant facts are detailed to the reader summarily. It works well at creating that disembodied sense and distrust of the mechanical delivery, which plays brilliantly into the story itself. 

Fletcher Brass is the iron fist ruling Purgatory. He is a self-made man living by a code, the Brass Code. It is very Hegelian Superman and not Ayn Rand, that blurb comment seemed to be a lure; it's more Milken than Rand.

Purgatory is a restless place with the denizens adopting a laissez-faire attitude. The city itself is a mishmash of pre-Christian architecture; Ancient Near East fans will get a kick out of all the references in Sin, the main city. 

There's a new guy in town: Damien Justus.

Damien Justus, great name, the one who tames and is just. Perfect for a cop. The characters names are hysterical: Nat U. Reilly, Dash Chin, Dr. Janus. In context, they are both punny and a critique. Let's just say that it's been awhile since residents have seen a cop like him. 

Hard science fiction fans: Enough legit science to make people happy. Seriously, I feel much more well versed in lunar procedures. And might I add that it was a delight to not see the same 10,000 words used; in fact, I collected a few of my favorites: sintered, hummocky, internecine, lugubrious, caroms, ablative.

So for a book with a body count that exceeded my fingers and toes it was pretty funny. Really. The humor is dry, even campy at times, but psychotic. Probably says all kinds of things about me that I enjoyed this immensely. The violence is rendered with such an amoral compass that it's hard to be upset, rather I just watched as it blithely happened. 

Needless to say, with all the deaths someone has to be in charge of investigating and that's Justus. There is a good bit of strategizing and gamesmanship employed--Win. And it is a wild ride as we traverse Purgatory dashing from murder to murder. All things must come to an end though, and I took a perverse pleasure at the inevitable. My biggest fear is that the end would be disappointing after all the theatrics--Nope.  *Big smile*

Overall, a nonstop, murder-filled lunar romp with chess masters.

Ravenhearth by Lotus Oakes

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An homage to Beauty and the Beast.

Ash, a young man who willing sacrifices himself to the mage that protects the city of Ravenhearth from the plague of miasma. On the castle that overlooks the town, Ash meets the Keeper and his servants. 

As a companion to the Keeper, Ash is given luxurious accommodations, clothing, and all the food he can eat. The Keeper is solicitous, but distant and busy. Ash uses his free time to pursue his dream of learning magic. The steward, Giles, sets him down a path when Ash asks. Still, Ash waits for the Keeper to call for him.

There's a naiveté and sweetness to Ash that comes through. The whole household of people are interesting and diverse, but seemed underutilized in the story. The real focus revolves around Ash, Giles, and the Keeper. 

Overall, a sweet fairy tale.

Homesick at Space Camp by Francis Gideon

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Okay. Wow. This was cool. Not exactly what I expected from the title, which skews a bit YA in my mind. It makes sense in the context of the story, but just threw me off balance. 

Eastyn Ptolemy patrols Zaffre's space dock all night. Only occasionally passing the others on his crew, he finds the isolation overwhelming at times. Until he finds out about the Blue Station Zero, the radio station and then everything changes for him.

Whelp. Never made the connection between AI and the disembodied gaining form again with online interactions. Becoming friends or falling in love with people whom you've never met except through technology. Slow uptake for me, but a really AHA! moment as it crystallized. 



Here Eastyn befriends Milo and it goes from there. Really sweet and lovely development, and covered a lot of ground for a novella. Where does machine end and entity begin?

Overall, sweet John Hugheseques romance on a remote space station.

Favorite quote:

"You know you can start over again too, right?" said Milo.

Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr

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Placed in a position to deal with his father's debts or else, Rath ponies up. Except he needs money fast. Hence his participation in the Tournament. Common folk enter with the chance to join the nobles. 

Love the commoner to royalty trope. All the challenges set out to prove the contestants worth, to demonstrate that they deserve the shift in social status. Rath's in it for the money, so he just wants to play long enough to win some.

Rath takes a licking and keeps on ticking. He's got too much spirit and fortitude to be anything but a contender. Can't help but like him, he's a lovable guy. 

Derr's fantasy novels have become the getaway books for me. There's adventure and romance in interesting worlds. This one was actually more romantic than the last one I read, THE HIGH KING'S GOLDEN TONGUE. Love manages to find Rath stumbling along and dodging trouble until the very end. 

Overall, a triumph of good and the just desserts of true love.

The Dolphin by Craig Bennett Hallenstein

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The story opens with a bang as we meet young Sean Jordan. All is well until tragedy occurs. 

Fast forward, Sean and his best friend Doug are out having a few beers celebrating. Sometimes being festive has consequences as Doug's fallout from his Mardi Gras reveling shows. 



New Orleans, America's original sin city. Cashing in on the decadence makes Mardi Gras a cash cow. When events threaten the safety of tourists just before the Big Easy gets easier, ranks close. They need a scapegoat and they need one, now.

The story has an underlying discussion of the controversial topic of sex offenders. In many ways overusing the term bullying makes it ineffectual so does the blanket use of the term sex offender combined with the sex offender registry sets up problems. Some of the instances highlighted in this book would make a person want to eat their gun. 

Doug is a sex offender for public indecency charges during Mardi Gras. 
Sean is a sex offender at eighteen for.... you'll have to read to find out for yourself.

There's new kid in town, and he's started a new game. 

Talk radio, the abyss of humanity stirring the sh*t pot. I'm not a fan of entertainment journalism, frankly it's hard to find anything that approaches real journalism today in the media circus world of "We shovel until you push back from the table and still keep shoveling". In the more must be better mindset, LaGrange takes veteran talk radio Breneaux's conservative rhetoric one notch higher--Let's say the consequences are lethal.

Needless to say, when one tries to wag the dog and it bites, zero sympathy.

The city's ablaze with a rising body count and explosions. Mardi Gras around the corner and the city brass needs the situation dealt with, yesterday. Pressure. So many people under it, and cracks appear. 

The pace steadily grows. Tension tightening with each chapter. Relentless and hunted. The last hundred pages had me glued to the book. I could easily see this as a movie, though the frank discussion and approach to sexuality defies mainstream studios and main street readers. This book highlights the importance of having a discussion about sex rather than relegating it to spectacle, and separating natural from psychopathy.

Overall, a nightmare thriller with a political agenda.

"Entertainment ends where vigilantism begins."

A Few of My Favorite Things

My favorite finds this holiday season that were fresh and new and made me rethink concepts. I had three and each was an epiphany.

First, Dean Koontz's SANTA'S TWIN was a great picture book for middle ages and up. Not new, but new to me. It featured two female protagonists and a gritty, visceral rhyming that was both gross and funny. Definitely a win.
Second, the Finnish film RARE EXPORTS was an awesome twist on some well known tropes that just made it an edgy and heroic tale of a young boy. This is a new holiday classic in my house. Gonna watch it every year! Frankly, I haven't been so excited by a foreign film since I watched KUNG FU HUSTLE. I got this two years ago and finally stuck it in to watch it, and my only regret is not doing it sooner.
Third, and probably going to make me people's heads spin when compared to the first two--SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT. This translation by Armitage is beautiful. I found myself reading it aloud or mouthing it to feel the words; they were so enticing. I had forgotten how much poetry can lure me and beguile. Just gorgeous and a nice Yuletide addition to my seasonal readings.
So, I loved it enough to recommend to interested parties. 

The Water Thief by Jane Kindred

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Imposter's game afoot. 

Sebastian was senteneced to All Fates Asylum for the crime of killing his sister, August. His twin. Except, he's innocent.The stakes are high as Sebastian struggles to find a way to regain his legacy; danger lurks at Cantre'r Gwaelod.

Lord Emyrs Pryce is power hungry and has plans; he just needs something Sebastian has. Emyrs wields people like tools and no one is safe. Envy, at times unbearable is nearly insatiable. For rarely what we think will assuage it, is what will. To suffer it is truly a torment. 

Macsen is Lord of Cantre'r Gwaelod. After years, suddenly everything he wanted is being challenged and unsettled. Disturbing, but more problematic are the secrets coming to light. Macsen is forced to choose, either will mean loss.

Water, dangerous at times, but necessary. To steal water is to steal life. 

Absolutely engaging read. Once I started it, it was hard to put down-- Who really needs to eat three times a day? While I had ideas of how things would play out, I was tricked a time or two during this tale of magic and malice. There was a twist in the story I wasn't expecting that opened so many more doors, while not closing any which made the resolution near impossible to guess. 

Overall, a tale of greed and family infighting with a surprising romance.