The Kraken King, Part II:
The Kraken King and the Abominable Worm

GENRE:  Steampunk; Romance

LENGTH:  @ 70pgs (PDF converted to Kindle)

HEAT LEVEL (content):  n/a for Part II

PUBLISHER (pub date):  InterMix/Penguin (Apr 22, 2014)

SERIES INFO:  Iron Seas 4.20

BLURB:

*** ARC provided by the author/publisher via NetGalley ***

The Kraken King, Part II: The Kraken King and the Abominable Worm consists of Chapters 4-8 of book #4 in the Iron Seas series. I enjoyed this installment even more, simply because the earlier chapters worked mainly as introduction and set-up. But with Part II, the adventure really begins as our pair sets off across the harsh Australian inlands to reach the smugglers’ dens further south.

Zenobia, hiding her hurt and even more protective of her true identity, is determined to resume travel to the Red City and thereby reunite her friend with her husband as quickly as possible. Ariq, disappointed by Zenobia’s abrupt change and cool rebuff, focuses on finding clues to who or what is behind the repeated attacks by marauders before the Nipponese Empire is roused to action. Fortunately, their seemingly separate goals point in the same direction.

Part II of The Kraken King continues to build the UST between Zenobia and Ariq via innuendos, teasing banter, and growing mutual admiration. (Oh yeah, verbal foreplay is seriously going on. *grins*) But Part II also serves to better connect the reader to other characters as well. More of the personal histories of Ariq and his brother, Taka, are revealed—and in turn, that of their mother who had been executed five years earlier for spying on the Nipponese. (Should be interesting to see how/if Ariq’s parentage plays out at some point.) In addition, the glimpses here and there of Zenobia’s married mercenary guards make them highly sympathetic and highlight Zenobia’s secret longing for what they share.

Another excellent mix of humour, action and romance by Meljean Brook and another solid recommend. This hit all of my good buttons and I gobbled it up so fast that I re-read it later that day.

But dammit, the ending!! IDK whether to thank or shake my fists at the InterMix folks for unexpectedly including Part II in the ARC to Part I. I could’ve handled waiting after Part I but after the ending to Part II? No. So wrong.

*sigh* Excuse me as I go off into a corner for a bout of self-castigation whilst figuring out if that’s the Orloj on this cover. :/

(FYI, The Kraken King, Part III: The Kraken King and the Fox’s Den is scheduled for release on April 29, 2014.)

The Kraken King, Part I:
The Kraken King and the Scribbling Spinster

GENRE:  Steampunk; Romance

LENGTH:  @ 76pgs (PDF converted to Kindle)

HEAT LEVEL (content):  n/a for Part I

PUBLISHER (pub date):  InterMix/Penguin (Apr 15, 2014)

SERIES INFO:  Iron Seas 4.10

BLURB:

Meljean Brook feeds my creative & literary soul

*** ARC provided by the author/publisher via NetGalley ***

With the latest addition to the Iron Seas series, Meljean Brook proves once again why she is an auto-buy for me, as well as a go-to author when I hit a book slump. If The Kraken King, Part I: The Kraken King and the Scribbling Spinster (‘The Scribbling Spinster’) is any indication, then the whole of The Kraken King promises to be another 5-star delicious romp. Based on my read of Part I (and II), I most definitely recommend The Kraken King to fans of steampunk and/or those who enjoy a well-written storyline with equal parts adventure and romance.

I briefly thought to title this review as ‘Meljean Brook once again delivers the complete package’. But then I realised that it might be an overstretch (and somewhat premature) given that The Scribbling Spinster is only the first installment of eight. *grins* I admit that my heart sank when I learned that the next Iron Seas book would be a serial but consoled myself with the notion that Ms. Brook decided on this format as a nod to the heroine, who is a writer of serial adventures. (Inkslinger... *snicker*)

As with past Iron Seas books, The Scribbling Spinster easily met all of my expectations. Meljean Brook’s vivid and imaginative world-building and interesting characters (both primary and secondary) captivated my creative soul whilst her witty dialogue and teasing innuendos tickled my funny bone. And then, her narrative writing and imagery satisfied my literary soul with lines such as this:

The heated air wavered around them. As the miles passed, they veered west, until the sea shimmered on the right. … In the east, green hills lay against the horizon like an exhausted woman.

The Scribbling Spinster consists of Chapters 1-3 (converted to roughly @ 76pgs on my Kindle) but I already love the main characters. Zenobia Fox, Archimedes’s sister who is oft-mentioned in earlier Iron Seas books, reveals her stalwart nature from the get-go as the airship on which she is traveling is attacked. She is a bundle of contradictions—adventurous in spirit if not necessarily in body, fanciful yet pragmatic, shadowed by her childhood and private fears yet seemingly a strong presence to others. Whilst not as dashing or (in)famous as her sister-in-law, Yasmeen (aka Captain Corsair), Zenobia possesses intelligence and a quiet strength which, I imagine, will be tested in future installments.

Ariq (aka the Kraken King) promises to be a swoon-worthy hero, early impressions aside. I mean, I get insta-lust and directness but “On the flyer, I liked the feel of you against me. Now I’d like to feel you beneath me” within hours of meeting under frightening circumstances? Dude! Really?! LOL… Good thing that Ariq has got more than a few positive attributes to offset that one. *wink*

Alas, the mutual attraction and Ariq’s very tempting offer are derailed by sharp ears and a misconstrued conversation. Thus, the UST between Zenobia and Ariq must simmer a bit longer as they leave the relative safety of Krakentown for the unknown in The Kraken King, Part II: The Kraken King and the Abominable Worm, scheduled for release on April 22, 2014.

Until the next installment, I’m gonna resume my self-inflicted grumbling and gnashing of teeth. Yeah, colour me masochist. :)

P.S… In anticipation of possible ‘Wha—? You, reading an incomplete serial, Karma?’, I pre-emptively assert a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. And if that doesn’t sway, then I have only this: It’s Meljean Brook; how could I not? ;-)

NB:  Review originally posted on GR @ Fall 2012.  Minor edits/clean-up after import to BL.

NB: This is a dark epic fantasy + paranormal.  220,735 words @ 300/pg = nearly 736 pages.

Simply put, BLOODRAVEN is one of the most riveting books I've read in a long, long time (1st read @ Jan 2009), and it came to me out of the blue. Having second thoughts after buying it, my friend asked me to "test" it first. At the time, P.L. Nunn was completely unknown to me but my friend described the book as a LOTR-type epic fantasy involving ogres and fey. (Yeah, he forgot to mention the graphic aspects of the book, as well as the M/M relationship.) After multiple re-reads, my only major complaint remains the same: the ending begs for a sequel. Hell, I'm begging for a sequel, even after all these years.

Reviews already discussed the plot, characters, and the graphic nature of this book so I'll just lay out my reading experience. I didn't look up the book so I blindly stepped into the unfamiliar realm of M/M, graphic violence and torture (including rape), and other firsts... and immediately fell into the abyss of Nunn's incredible world. Within a few pages, I'm mumbling holy sh*t and reaching for my drink and then a non-existent cigarette, as I proceeded to literally devour the pages until I fell asleep. Woke up the next morning, made coffee, and promptly hid until I finished the book.

BLOODRAVEN is a throwback to the old days of books; at 600+ ebook pages, it's hefty and meaty. But Nunn's vivid narrative, a potpourri of multi-layered characters, and near effortless storytelling combined to achieve that rare occurrence—transporting a reader into the story. I was too busy journeying with Yhalen and Bloodraven (and squirming a bit uneasily at times) to notice the rapidly passing pages and hours until I finally reached the end and sat back exhausted.

Did I have a few "whaaa?" and "nooooo" moments? Yeah. So my advice to future readers: If you're squeamish and/or have an inviolable comfort zone, this book may not be for you (yet). If you've never read M/M before, this book may not be the one to pop your cherry. (But then again, if you're familiar with present-day erotica... although I have a hard time considering this book as erotica per se, even though the sex scenes are erotic, helping to make BLOODRAVEN one of my personal best enemies-to-lovers stories). Also, BLOODRAVEN could seriously spoil you vis à vis other dark/erotic fantasy books, even Nunn's other works.

If you do decide to try this book, plan accordingly. Don't start it on a weeknight; you may not get much sleep. Don't think you can do your laundry while you read, and above all, don't try to cook up a meal somewhere in-between. Be safe and order take-out. Oh, and don't read it when children may be about; choice words may well fly out of your mouth at certain points. :)

NB:  Review originally posted on GR @ Fall 2012.  Minor edits/clean-up after import to BL.

NB: This is a dark epic fantasy + paranormal.  220,735 words @ 300/pg = nearly 736 pages.

Simply put, BLOODRAVEN is one of the most riveting books I've read in a long, long time (1st read @ Jan 2009), and it came to me out of the blue. Having second thoughts after buying it, my friend asked me to "test" it first. At the time, P.L. Nunn was completely unknown to me but my friend described the book as a LOTR-type epic fantasy involving ogres and fey. (Yeah, he forgot to mention the graphic aspects of the book, as well as the M/M relationship.) After multiple re-reads, my only major complaint remains the same: the ending begs for a sequel. Hell, I'm begging for a sequel, even after all these years.

Reviews already discussed the plot, characters, and the graphic nature of this book so I'll just lay out my reading experience. I didn't look up the book so I blindly stepped into the unfamiliar realm of M/M, graphic violence and torture (including rape), and other firsts... and immediately fell into the abyss of Nunn's incredible world. Within a few pages, I'm mumbling holy sh*t and reaching for my drink and then a non-existent cigarette, as I proceeded to literally devour the pages until I fell asleep. Woke up the next morning, made coffee, and promptly hid until I finished the book.

BLOODRAVEN is a throwback to the old days of books; at 600+ ebook pages, it's hefty and meaty. But Nunn's vivid narrative, a potpourri of multi-layered characters, and near effortless storytelling combined to achieve that rare occurrence—transporting a reader into the story. I was too busy journeying with Yhalen and Bloodraven (and squirming a bit uneasily at times) to notice the rapidly passing pages and hours until I finally reached the end and sat back exhausted.

Did I have a few "whaaa?" and "nooooo" moments? Yeah. So my advice to future readers: If you're squeamish and/or have an inviolable comfort zone, this book may not be for you (yet). If you've never read M/M before, this book may not be the one to pop your cherry. (But then again, if you're familiar with present-day erotica... although I have a hard time considering this book as erotica per se, even though the sex scenes are erotic, helping to make BLOODRAVEN one of my personal best enemies-to-lovers stories). Also, BLOODRAVEN could seriously spoil you vis à vis other dark/erotic fantasy books, even Nunn's other works.

If you do decide to try this book, plan accordingly. Don't start it on a weeknight; you may not get much sleep. Don't think you can do your laundry while you read, and above all, don't try to cook up a meal somewhere in-between. Be safe and order take-out. Oh, and don't read it when children may be about; choice words may well fly out of your mouth at certain points. :)