Author: FyreHaar

Possession – Cannonball Read 6 Review #2

Possession (Fallen Angels #5) by J.R. Ward – Paranormal Romance – Spoilers ahead!

The conceit of the Fallen Angels series is that seven souls are at crossroads, heaven and hell are vying for each soul and whoever gets best of seven gets to take over the world.

Jim Heron, the hero of the series, has just traded a win in the aforementioned divine contest to get Sissy Barton out of hell. Cait Douglass, the heroine of the book, is trying to get out there and live life, energized by the death of her art student, Sissy Barton. So now Jim has Sissy and is desperately trying to tell himself and his boner that he’s all altruism. Cait rather suddenly has her choice of two hot but slightly off putting men.

Jim’s story is now far more compelling than the intra-book plot. Cait’s story is interesting and relatable. I think most of us have had to choose between two unknown but seemingly desirable options. The identity of her partner in Happily Ever After is obscured for quite a while. Obscured for even longer is who the soul in play in this round is. Which is a reflection of the fact that Jim has completely lost the plot and is so focused on “caring” for Sissy (e.g. convincing his boner to chill the fuck out) that he completely forgets to be the savior of the universe. Jerk. There is quite a shocking event at the end of the book that I didn’t think made much sense, but I’ll trust Ward to know where she is going with it.

Ward is a reliable writer. Her men are forceful and her women are too.  But she is getting a little too reliable these days. I’m a little pissed off that out of the five books and four souls so far, not one has been a woman. She has been giving us conflicted, glorious damaged male protagonists for a while and now I want a woman who could tip in the wrong direction, rather than women being what brings men back to the light side. That being said, the main antagonist of the series is a woman and she’s awfully evil.

I am hoping that the effort of keeping two series going at once (Black Dagger Brotherhood and Fallen Angels) does not cause either to be diluted.

-fh

 

Adventures in Joblessness – Part the First

I quit my job!

Today was a day of freedom. A day of rest and realizing that having a job was not nearly as important as I thought it was.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to work very hard to get a new job but I’m not going to tie up my identity with my occupation like I did for the last seven years.

Also gonna try to blog more.

-fh

Dragons & Warrior Daughters – Cannonball Read 6 – Review #1

Dragons and Warrior Daughters – Ed. Jessica Yates , a collection of short stories all featuring prominent female characters or protagonists, some of which have dragons.

I picked this book up for two reasons. It has a story from Robin McKinley, one of my most beloved authors, and I am trying to populate my daughter’s bookshelf with positive stories about women and girls.

I got exactly what I was hoping to find. The stories were varied in tone and the role that each woman played. What did not vary was that each protagonist was faced with difficult choices that had no pat answers. Even more than their being women, I enjoyed that each heroine had to choose from imperfect solutions to their problems. Some of the stories had slightly improbable, happily ever after conclusions, others were ambiguous, and others downright depressing.

Some stories had more of a moral than others. The last story, a very dark revenge tale, is a caution to be careful, let we get what we wish for. A story set just after the fall of the Roman Empire illustrates that glory follows those who seek it and true heroes act out of righteous purpose, not a desire for fame. McKinley’s story, which led me to the book in the  first place, is about the power of love but also shows how our greatest proponent and and also our greatest critic lies within and that your life will follow on which you choose to listen to.

I’m happy I picked this up and I will be setting it on the shelf for my daughter to investigate in another 10-12 years. Heck, I might even read it again!

-fh

Chat Box

FyreHaar: http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Green-paint-splattered-on-the-Lincoln-Memorial-4688315.php
FyreHaar: fucking heathens
SonicRob: in re: lincoln, paint is a valid and largely non-destructive form of protest when applied to stone
SonicRob: better than chisels or bullets
FyreHaar: yes
FyreHaar: but still
SonicRob: presuming any intended speech act, and not mere vandalism
SonicRob: mere vandalism is always deplorable

Chat Box

SonicRob: we are going to hire another dude named Rob :/
FyreHaar: then you are Original Rob!
SonicRob: R1
SonicRob: Rob’
SonicRob: This is a bad environment to go by Sonic – people will think hedgehog
FyreHaar: hmmmmm
FyreHaar: I like RobPrime
SonicRob: makes me sound like I lead the AutoRobs
FyreHaar: hell yes
SonicRob: Just a bunch of Robs that try to turn into cars
SonicRob: but we end up breaking our legs and organs
FyreHaar: awwww
SonicRob: could be worse – the Rob-Bots are unspeakable

Chat Box

FyreHaar: pronunciation question
FyreHaar: if you saw this name
FyreHaar: Lirael
FyreHaar: would you say it
FyreHaar: Leer-ayl
FyreHaar: or
FyreHaar: Leer Ay  El
SonicRob: LEER-e-ul
FyreHaar: cool
SonicRob: ?
FyreHaar: that’s what I have defaulted to
FyreHaar: it’s the book I’m reading her right now
FyreHaar: it’s about a necromancer
FyreHaar: but the good kind!
SonicRob: You mean Jesus?
FyreHaar: LOLOLOLOL
SonicRob: oh God, is that ok for a chat?
FyreHaar: I don’t know
SonicRob: hahaha
FyreHaar: it’s got religion
SonicRob: it has
FyreHaar: LOL