Eschewed Obfuscation

The Dark Reaches
by Kristin Landon
292 pages (paperback)
Genre: Fiction/SF/Romance

I picked this up from the library on pure whim. It's pulpish soft SF--fluffy to the max, but more to my taste than equivalently pulpish hard SF. Landon skims over space battles but doesn't shy away from gore (Exhibit A, the captured Cold Minds pilot). I'm vaguely interested in the worldbuilding, though not enough to seek out Landon's other books. The romantic relationship was interesting, not compelling.

Sorry I don't remember anything else... it's been a few months, and it was quite a forgettable tale. Warning for some serious backlog spam up ahead.

Diamond Star
by Catherine Asaro
495 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/SF/Romance

I didn't realize how starved I was for good fluff; I sped through this newest Asaro in a single night despite its flaws. I'm not a rock fan, so the premise didn't excite me, but I do adore the Skolian Empire world. Diamond Star involves an all-too-predictable addiction arc. I have little sympathy for Del being broke when he can splurge whenever he wants. Del himself treads a thin line between amusing and annoying. I love Asaro for both politics and relationships, but in this particular book, I wanted more space opera and less obstinate romantic misunderstandings. As buymeaclue would say (I hope I get this right): less boyfriend, more roller derby.

Still want more books like The Moon's Shadow, about Aristos politics. Especially Jai/Tarquine. Or even about Kelric, who is more interesting when he's not perceived from the POV of a rebellious teenage rock star. Dehya is really interesting too; I'm not so fond of Roca, but her story seems to have come to an end with Eldrinson's (natural) death.

The Duchess, Her Maid, the Groom & Their Lover
by Victoria Janssen (oracne)
379 pages (trade paperback)
Genre: Fiction/Romance/Historical

The Duchess Camille married for duty; now she endures continual abuse from the duke who controls her and her land. Having yet to produce an heir, instead of hanging around waiting for her husband to kill her, Camille flees with her loyal servants--eunuchs Kaspar and Arno, maid Sylvie, and stableboy/lover Henri--to find refuge with her childhood flame Lord Maxime.

Although I bought this book because I'm acquainted with the author and observed the writing process, the premise is interesting on its own--I adore power-dynamic imbalances. Camille's coldness and Henri's naivete were annoying at first, but they both grew on me. My favorite character, though, was Kaspar--he is so fiercely protective and easy to love. The title is a little misleading: "Their Lover" is I assume Maxime, but he's really only the Duchess's lover, and why didn't the eunuchs deserve title-notoriety? I did enjoy the diversity (of many different kinds, though much of it was thump-on-the-head obvious) and the French-historical-esque setting. The final verdict is mixed--I find it compelling and worth rereading--yet, it doesn't feel truly memorable.

The Mango Season
by Amulya Malladi
229 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Literary/Romance

Like My Name Is Sei Shōnagon, Malladi's novel tells a story that I identify with personally. Priya Rao left India at age 20 to study in the U.S., and now she's returning after seven years--to announce her engagement to Nick Collins, an American man. India, her homeland, is overwhelmingly foreign, even the mangoes that she loved so much as a child. And as Priya's parents plot an arranged marriage to a "nice Indian boy" (preferably rich and Telugu Brahmin), Priya's fear of her family's reaction leads inevitably to disaster.

Malladi isn't afraid to deal with conflict--with interracial romance, racism, culture clash, duty, and tradition. Priya is shocked by her family's blatant racism and expectation that despite her rebellious attitude, she will ultimately conform. And she loves them, all of them--her inability to truly stand up to her mother drove me nuts, in fact--but she also loves Nick. The plot revolves fundamentally around Priya's reconciliation of her roles as lover and family, West and East.

In reading, I was constantly struck by the parallels that I drew between traditional Indian and Chinese cultures. Although China has much less emphasis on religion and is, in the modern day, more free regarding arranged marriages, there is definitely pressure to marry a nice Chinese boy and stay home to raise children. The extended family is very important in both cultures--at one point, Priya asks her mother to treat her with respect and receives this answer: "You are too young to gain my respect and you have done nothing so far to gain it....Children respect their parents [and] that is all there is to it" (89). And the scary part is that my parents have told me essentially the same thing. Another moment that echoed strongly:

"Most first-generation Indians in the United States only had friends who were Indians. I had never thought I would be any different. I had started out with only Indian friends but my circle grew as I grew. Now I was in a place where I didn't think in terms of Indian friends and American friends, just friends. I had somewhere down the line stopped looking at skin color. (213)

Ironically, for me it was almost the opposite experience. I grew up in a sheltered and overwhelmingly white environment, so I had no choice but to befriend white kids. And when I moved to a place that did have a critical mass of Asians, I still distinguish mentally between "Chinese friends" and "school friends" (some of the latter are fully assimilated Asian-American, which makes a difference). While Priya and I are different, she is of any novel I have ever read the character most similar to me. I empathize easily with protagonists no matter their heritage, but I was engrossed in Priya's internal conflict with almost painful understanding.

And the end of The Mango Season, which I accidentally spoiled myself for, also lobs a last surprise revelation at the reader that forces a reconsideration of everything preceding. I do so love twist endings. Mulladi has a knack for realism, too--this novel sounds and feels like a memoir, the characters' voices are so real.

Blood Noir
by Laurell K. Hamilton
340 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Romance/Fantasy

Anita goes to Asheville, North Carolina, with Jason to see his dying father. Complications (i.e. political manuveurings) ensue, both mortal and supernatural. The Mother of All Darkness a.k.a. Mommie Dearest is mightily interested in Anita. Hamilton's books have come to pretty much pure erotica--there is less unnecessary sex here, but it definitely makes itself known. And thankfully, there's also substantive plot development. SPOILERS--Richard gains a version of the ardeur, Anita manages to reclaim her anger from Richard (but not having read the earlier books, I have a hard time believing that she really is this raging), Jason nearly dies...oh yes, Jason's father is magically cured of cancer (Authorial Device, anyone?) and Anita gains another hanger-on, Crispin the young white weretiger.

Essentially, typical LKH. I still prefer her faerie series, but this one's not bad. A quick read, at least.

Private Arrangements
by Sherry Thomas
351 pages (paperback)
Genre: Fiction/Romance/Historical

I don't normally read category romance--contemporaries are too light compared to my usual fare of secondary-world F/SF, and historicals are extremely hit-and-miss. Private Arrangements is a historical romance that, from cover copy, looks like your typical cliche formula story. In one fundamental way, this is true, but otherwise I have to agree with trusted review sources. This is a good book on its own merits, and for historical romance readers it will likely be exceptional.

Gigi Rowland is the daughter of "new money" and has known her share of shunning by high society. Armed with her beauty, wits, and fortune, she--pushed in no small part by her conniving mother Victoria--is determined to marry a duke. When her first arranged marriage falls through by freak coincidence (the duke in question dies two weeks before the wedding), Gigi falls in love at first sight with her late fiance's heir, Camden. He, however, is courting a sweet, spineless girl named Theodora von Schweppenberg. Various events occur; Gigi and Camden marry, but the day after their wedding, Camden leaves. Cut to the beginning of this novel: Gigi and Camden now live civilly on separate continents, she in high English society, he as an entrepreneur in America. The couple have what society deems a perfect marriage--polite and passionless. However, Gigi files for divorce in order to marry again and Camden returns to Europe to win her back (or at first, to torment her by invoking his long-abandoned conjugal rights).

The plot sounds trite and unoriginal. On the surface, it is. Misunderstandings abound, perhaps a touch too many though they are pulled off well. Gigi and Camden are what made this book work for me; their history of enmity is not without basis, through a series of misunderstandings and decisions made in the heat of the moment. Private Arrangements is a study of consequences, though it is a romance story first and foremost. Thomas writes with quick and comfortable prose, and her timing skills are excellent--the lengthy flashbacks worked unexpectedly well. I ached for Gigi and Camden both.

So what's not to like? Well, several things, some of which aren't entirely the book's fault, but rather the genre's. Gigi and Camden are not the only couple in this novel; I found the side characters either boring and underdeveloped (Freddie) or interesting but distracting from the main story (Victoria and the Duke of Perrin). The latter, in particular, could easily and more realistically have made up an entirely separate novel. The skimmed development required to keep it a subplot also kept me from making any emotional investment in the pairing. Even when the story focuses on Gigi and Camden, certain scenes were unrealistically confessional and subconflicts too easily resolved (the Freddie-arc, for example).

Then there is the ending. Oh, what an ending. If I had not been so emotionally invested in Gigi and Camden, the ending would have made me throw the book across the room (something I've actually yet to do). As it is, I was just irritated. I suppose I misunderstood the author-reader contract in this case, which may stipulate such a saccharine ending. But after all the fresh interpretations of romance cliches, I thought that Thomas would have at least some bittersweetness after such an intense conflict. An HEA is required; however, if all category romance HEAs read like this one, I may never pick up another book in the genre. It is, in a word, disappointing.

I do not regret reading Private Arrangements for the pleasure of indulging in Gigi and Camden's story, right up until the ending. But due to that major flaw, I would not recommend the novel to someone who wasn't already a fan (and familiar with the rules) of romance novels. An unfortunate final verdict, because I truly enjoyed the rest of the book; Thomas is a promising writer, and I'm sad to write such a review on the book's publishing date.

The Mark of the Vampire Queen
by Joey W. Hill
370 pages (trade paperback)
Genre: Fiction/Romance/Fantasy

The second volume of Hill's Vampire Queen series, from the Heat imprint; Jacob is now full servant to Lady Lyssa and thus subject to the dangers of her dehabilitating illness, the Delilah virus. When Lyssa dies, so will Jacob (although, of course, he is working hard to prevent that from happening). The emotional development was very good and the plot was beautifully suspenseful--I couldn't stop reading. Things really pick up once Lyssa and Jacob get to the Council meeting. Debra/Brian continues to be a really cute innocent lab assistant/scientist pairing, and Devin/Daniella are just adorable. The ending was a little neat for my taste; Lyssa's transformation made sense in context but still irked me, and Jacob's was slightly implausible. I would have liked a few permanent consequences, certainly. Also, I'm curious to see how Hill generates conflict in the next book, which comes out Spring 2009, after such a clear-cut HEA. Overall though, this was a satisfactory sequel and I look forward to reading more of Hill's work.

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
by Xiaolu Guo
283 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Literary/Romance

This novel was my version of an impulse buy; I was browsing the new releases shelf in the library and the word "Chinese" caught my eye. I've been trying not to overload with library books, since I have a backlog of borrowed and bought books to work through, but the title was tempting and the author was most definitely a PoC, so I decided to give it a go. And oh, I am so glad that I did.

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers is classified, at least by my library, as romance on the spine. But it breaks so many romance tropes, and touches on so much more than the usual of that genre, that I think it is foremost a "literary" novel. It is the story of Zhuang Xiao Qiao, nicknamed 'Z', who travels to England to study English for a year. She meets an older English man who couldn't be more different--living always in the present as opposed to the Chinese obsession with the future, flagrantly liberal (an ex-anarchist) where Z comes from a hardworking peasant family in a conservative society. Her lover--never directly named in the novel, instead being addressed as "you"--is also bisexual, and I loved the openness of the novel overall. At one point, some friends discuss transsexual surgery; there is also a scene where Z reads the instructions on a condom package that is simply hilarious.

The prose is unique, employing several conceits that take skill to pull off. I don't have an aversion to the diary style, though I do object to using it as a conceit for no apparent reason; but here it works extremely well. The words live at a meta level, evolving unnoticeably. The point-of-view is unmistakably first person, and yet Z addresses her lover as "you" so often that I think this novel could be used as an example of how to write second person effectively. The POV trick gives the reader a sense of intimacy that couldn't otherwise be achieved, and Z's voice is absolutely authentic. I love how all her verbs are gerunds at first, unconjugated like in Mandarin: "Chinese, we not having grammar. We saying things simple way. No verb-change usage, no tense differences, no gender changes. We bosses of our language. But, English language is boss of English user." [20] Actual Chinese characters are also used in a non-culturally-appropriating way (admittedly perhaps because Guo herself is from China and this is her first novel written directly in English). For instance, on page 142 is a paragraph of coherent, actual Mandarin because Z is so frustrated with English--with England, with life--that she switches to her native langauge. (The English translation, on the facing page in italics, is excellent. I had to get my mother to read the Chinese to me aloud because my character recognition is just that terrible. Interesting fact: they didn't translate the "curse" at the beginning of the Mandarin section. But I digress.) In the first half especially, there were lovely cultural snippets like cheng2 yu3 (e.g. ben4 niao3 xian1 fei1, "the stupid bird flies first"), four letter phrases like mini-poetry with several layers of meaning.

Finally, before I go briefly under spoiler cut: the ending is quiet, resonant, and realistic.


I did have one complaint, and that is about Z's lover. He's never named and we never see him except through Z's broken, emotional English. By the end of the novel, I cared much more about Z than I did about him. Just another way that A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers is not a romance story; the focus here is clearly on Z, and the major themes of culture clash and freedom.

I would recommend this novel to many, many people; anyone interested in modern Chinese culture, anyone actively seeking literature written by POC (oyceter and others?), and anyone to whom it appeals from reading this review. (Not formula-romance readers, though.) Go forth and seek it out; I promise, whatever you may think ultimately of the book, it will be worth your time.

ETA: Spoiler cut added.

The Ruby Dice
by Catherine Asaro
392 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/SF/Romance

I started reading this on the way back from the library. When I got home, I really really needed to study for midterms. Guess what I did instead? Finished reading The Ruby Dice, of course.

Asaro's Skolian Empire series is huge by now, but she always thoughtfully includes a glossary reference and in-text catchups for new readers. The catchups read as basically infodumps, but I remember how much they helped me the first time and they weren't too hard to skip over. This novel deals with Kelric and Jaibriol III after they become Imperator and Emperor of Eube respectively, nine years after an initial peace attempt--the Paris Accord--fell through. I love F/SF politics, and Asaro is one of the best at mixing complex SF politics with equally complex characters and families (the Valdoria/Skolia/Ruby Dynasty family tree is quite intimidating). Jai and Tarquine have a lovely, laugh-out-loud relationship; I wish Asaro would do another book on just Eube, and I absolutely can't wait for her next one to continue the overall plot arc. This book ends on essentially the climax, which is rare these days; but it leaves you trying to catch your breath, coming down from immersion high, and that feeling is totally worth the lost studying time.

The two trademarks of Asaro's stories are strong characters and excellent worldbuilding--here, she doesn't disappoint on either account. I enjoyed the examples of realistic, slowly growing love (Jai/Tarquine, Kelric/Jeejon) rather than romance's usual love-at-first-sight trope. Most of the characters weren't new to me, other than a gap of several months, but I connected with all of them (oh, Hidaka, I love you so). And I absolutely adore the dynamic and convoluted web of relations (familial, political, etc.). I think The Ruby Dice is Asaro's most dramatic work to date--the plot rushes along, smooth as a a river's torrents (i.e. not very but in a good way). At the very end especially, I almost couldn't handle the suspense. I knew what I logically could expect to happen, but I also knew that the author was daring enough to flip that expectation.

Now for the negatives: Asaro isn't going to win any awards for poetic prose. At times the style is downright pedestrian, though always useful and concise--much like ISC, the Skolian military. I'm not sure how much a new reader will get out of this, simply because I'm coming with knowledge of so much backstory--I've read all of her Skolia novels except one (The Radiant Seas, unavailable at the library and I've never gotten around to purchasing it). As I said before, though, her early exposition passages help greatly with comprehension. Also, don't be put off by the cover, which is ugly as hell--the huge hand looks like radioactive putty and the Quis dice like plastic toys. I guess the publisher is trying to appeal to the romance side of her audience, though the background is also very techy.

This is a wholehearted rec to all SF and romance fans; Asaro writes hard SF romances, and she mixes the genres with quite a lot of experience. The character arc continued by this novel begins with The Last Hawk, then Ascendant Sun and The Moon's Shadow (the last of which is about Jai's ascension to the Carnelian Throne and his marriage to Tarquine). My reviews of most of Asaro's novels are also accessible through tags; be warned that her fantasy romance series for the Luna line is very, very different.