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book review

“Bone Rider” by J. Fally

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Genre: MM Urban Science Fiction Length: Novel   WHEN THE main characters in a novel are a cowboy, a Russian, and an alien, you know it’s going to be awesome. McClane is a highly sophisticated piece of alien bionic technology, called “bone riders”, and is self aware. In order to save himself from what he feels will be his destruction, he crash lands his spaceship on Earth, and invades a truck driver’s body to stay safe. Riley Cooper is on the run from his mob boyfriend–ex boyfriend–and he really didn’t need another complication in his life. But McClane shows up … Read more

Book Review: Saturn in Retrograde, by Jamie Fessenden

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Saturn in Retrograde

Okay, so I’m slowly working my way through my reading list of LGBT themed speculative fiction. I have read hundreds and hundreds of mainstream fantasy and sci fi books, but I’m now giving myself a crash course (well, more of a slow motion crash, given the limited amount of reading time I have these days) in gay sci fi and fantasy. So I asked Jamie Fessenden which book of his I should read, and he turned me on to Saturn in Retrograde. I really liked this book, although I wasn’t sure going in if it fell more on the sci … Read more

“Hell & High Water” by Charlie Cochet

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Genre: MM Urban Paranormal Romance Length: Novel   “Hell & High Water” by Charlie Cochet is about a law enforcement agent, Dex, who gets transferred to a specialized unit that deals with Human/Therian affairs, T.H.I.R.D.S. Therians are a subspecies of human that were created accidentally through a vaccine, and because of general prejudice, a task force was developed to ensure their rights. In the beginning of the novel, Dex’s boyfriend, who wasn’t good for him, broke up with him; and his boss, who didn’t really support him, forced him to leave his current job. Dex gets transferred on a team … Read more

“Ash and Echoes” by August Li

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Ash and Echoes is a Romantic Fantasy Epic. I don’t have the opportunity to read many of those, and I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like this work, but if I had to pick something similar, the closest I can think to compare it to is Deckard’s Baal’s Heart trilogy or The Devil’s Fire by Sara Bell. Baal’s Heart is probably the most similar since it was also a trilogy and menage. The power of three! Our main character, Yarroway L’Estrella, is a bit of an odd ball (my favorite). Not only is he a magic user–something I interpreted … Read more

“Greenwode” by J. Tullos Hennig

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To all you historical fantasy fans–check this out. The flavor of Greenwode hit me as a historical, but there’s a bit of magic, and it’s loosely based off of the legend of Robin Hood.  Loosely.  Otherwise, the language, the setting, and the voice was all very Old English.  Hennig did a lot of research, and has a section in the back of the book devoted to how much she did. I don’t read a lot of historicals, but I enjoyed this one.  The magic kept things interesting for me, and the language was not something I was used to, therefore … Read more

“Candle, Cup, and Casket” by Desiderii

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Note: This was recommended to me by Carole Cummings.  I’d heard that this novel (about 800 pages) was some sort of fan fiction, based off of the TV show “Merlin”.  I’ve seen some of that show, and that series isn’t based in space, and the characters are…different.  I suppose the only reason I’m quibbling over details, is because I think the author could take full ownership of this brilliant piece of literature.   King Arthur in space!  The story is told mainly from Merlin and Arthur’s point of view.  There’s magic and technology, and it’s interesting to see how they … Read more

“There Will be Phlogiston” by Alexis Hall

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Note: Someone in QSF Discussions told me about this book – I forget who – but I wanted to thank them.  I had no idea what I was getting into before I stepped into it, except I think we were discussing bisexual characters, and so everything was a pleasant surprise. This is a MMF Steampunk Novella, and I should note that this is #5 in a series.  I didn’t know that before I started it, but I didn’t find that to be a problem either, because it’s an origin story of sorts, our of bad assed trio. The backdrop is … Read more

New YA Sci Fi Novel Features Gay Character

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IN THE SEA of female-centric young adult novels filling bookstores around the world, Proxy definitely stands out. Written by American author Alex London, Proxy is a sci-fi novel featuring two lead male characters — and one of them happens to be gay. The book narrates the friendship that is formed between Knox, a “patron” who gets everything he wants and his “proxy,” Syd, who takes all the consequences and punishments of his actions. “I did not want to write a ‘gay’ book, or even a book about that relationship. It was just a fact of life. I wanted to write … Read more