After the dramatic ending to 'The Summer Tree' the series was in need of some breathing space and Kay wisely takes his time in the beginning of 'The Wandering Fire'. Kim using her Seer powers and somehow tapping into the power of the Baelrath, brought the Five home from Fionavar with the help of High Priestess Jaelle.

 

They will never be the same again, however, and know they will have to return. Paul and Kim have powers they don't yet fully understand, Dave's experiences on the plain have opened him up to the world, and Jennifer, tortured and raped by Rakoth Maugrim, has a decision to make. Only Kevin, though touched by his time in Fionavar, remains essentially unchanged.

 

Kay's writing remains beautiful, but the prose has taken a step back from the formal story-telling sensibility that made the first book so distinctive. This is a pity, but I can understand why he would want to write in a more direct style.

 

Apart from the below commentary, the book suffers from mid-trilogy-slump in that there was a lot of set-up for the conclusion, but not enough substantial action. Diarmuid's sea voyage and the Loren's confrontation with Metran didn't do much for me. Kevin Laine's destiny is sad and perplexing. but was the great centerpiece to the story.

 

'The Wandering Fire' begins to pull in more myth archetypes - primarily the King Arthur cycle and the Adonis myth. In my last review I said I would try to address the place of women in this universe. Again, I'll say I don't think this was anything concious on Kay's part, but a limitation based on the Romano-celtic myths he sourced his story from.

 

Kim, as Seer of Brennan, has the power of revelatory dreams and was given the Baelrath - an item of wild magic and mostly out of her control. She is strong in her role though has doubts similar to the male players about her abilities. Kim is great, actually. I don't have any issue except some thoughts about the passivity of oracular dreams which aren't sharp enough to expand on.

 

Jennifer, has a place in the mythic destiny that becomes clear in this book -

she is Guinevere reborn

(spoiler show)

- and therefore has the most clearly defined and tragic histories of all the characters in the series. Her character before her kidnapping and abuse by Maugrim was defined mostly by being emotionally reserved, strong-willed and proud, and being beautiful. These traits remain, and are even magnified by her ordeal, but after making her decision about Darien she is passive. She accepts her destiny and she waits.

 

Of the Fionavar natives chiefly there is Sharra, the clever and beautiful princess. She spends her time out-maneuvering her father's attempts to have her be married and in being seduced. Next is Jaelle, the cold and beautiful high priestess of the Earth Mother, being cold is her defense after being raised to such power at a young age. There are others, a few wives and daughters, objects of affection and sacrifice, grieving mothers, literal ice queens and bad mother Swans below the understandably obfuscated behaviors of deities.

 

I don't really have a problem with these archetypes, they're used well here and the story is entertaining. I just couldn't help dwelling on it while I was reading. I'm hoping that in 'The Darkest Road' there are some surprises in that area that I've forgotten since high school.

 

The Fionavar Tapestry

 

Next: 'The Darkest Road'

 

Previous: 'The Summer Tree'

Wandering Island - Kenji Tsuruta 3.75 stars

Loved the art and found the story compelling, but not thrilled how the volume left me hanging. With no V2 in sight, I'm not sure I would recommend this...

full review to follow

I watched a really interesting anime a few months back called Wandering Son which focuses on two main characters who are transgendered. It was such an intriguing storyline but I felt there was potential for so much more. Luckily, anime are generally based off of manga so I did a little search and Wandering Son, Vol.1 by Takako Shimura (translated by Matt Thorn) fell magically into my hands. As you can guess, there are a number of volumes in this series which consist of multiple issues. The story focuses on two fifth graders who share a secret: They both want to be the opposite gender. This is the second book that I've read which discusses gender identity but it's the first I've read with characters this young. There are the normal trials and tribulations of adolescence (puberty being one of them) as well as the added anxiety of gender identity and secrecy. It's an interesting storyline but unfortunately not a lot is covered in this volume (even less than in the anime) so I think I'm going to have to read several more before I get the more that I was craving. (I'm not sure if I'm interested enough to continue honestly.) The majority of the artwork is average but there are a few pages which really shine. If you're looking for an anime/manga combination that explores a topic which you may or may not be overly familiar with then you might want to give this one a chance...as long as you understand you'll have to be committed for the long haul. 5/10 since this volume fell short of my expectations.

It’s not explicitly displayed in the blurb nor by the labels in the publishing house, so I will tell it myself: this is a POLYAMOROUS book. For some reason I can’t consider this M/M/F. I don’t consider it a spoiler, just a fair warning, or at least, the fair warning I would have liked to read before getting into this adventure.



Because it’s action-packed, that’s undeniable. It’s fun, and well-written, and easy to read, and very very cool.

Sixia and Zane are Jacks. They accept any job that can make money, mostly outer-space deliveries, but this time their assignment is different: they are requested to bring a slave to the King of a faraway planet. And they are ordered not to treat him as a person.

Zane fails spectacularly.

The sense of humor is great.



So why am I so deflated? Well, for starters, this is my first asexual book and maybe this sounds absurd but I wanted my first time to be special. I expected a love story in which the MC would accept his partner with no conditions and with no “alternative” resolutions.

This means: I wanted the MC to be with the other MC and be utterly happy with that. Just like any other love story.



But what happened with Zane was this instead: I love that blue-haired guy but he doesn’t want sex, but that doesn’t matter because I can happily fuck the girl. WTF? Don’t get me wrong, he never says that and I honestly believe he truly falls in love with Isais and loves Sixia, too, and he’s obviously content with both of them.

The problem is, I wasn’t.



I know I’m making this sound worse than it should but I felt Isais was the consolation prize, the second choice, the not-enough-for-me kind of person.

I didn’t like that. At all. I wanted Isais to be his everything. But he wasn’t, he was just a part of his everything. Because the other part is Sixia and the sex.

I felt the book was trying to sell me the story that the solution for people falling in love with asexual people is to fuck another person instead. And no worries about that, because the HEA for the three of them is guaranteed.

Just no.



I mean, I have no experience in these asexual stories but it felt all WRONG to me! Asexual people don’t want sex but I have a feeling their hearts are intact. I’ve always assumed they longed for their other half as any other human being does, and that doesn’t include accepting your partner to have fun with another. Maybe I’m too naïve in this but those are my feelings and I can’t change them. For me, asexual people and people who are in a polyamorous relationship are two different concepts, not the same one. They may coincide sometimes but not because it’s inherent in their natures but because they feel complete with said situation.



You should know I’m not a fan of M/M/M and much less of polyamorous, so I try to avoid them. That’s why I would have appreciated to have had some kind of warning. Unfortunately, for some reason, the out-of-the-ordinary romances are quite vague in their descriptions, so I’m never sure when I’m reading a blurb whether or not they are telling me what I need to know, and I unavoidably feel cheated afterwards.

Still, I’ve read some threesomes love stories that were precious to me. I just have to be REALLY motivated to read them and for the author to be REALLY good at it. So they are not an absolute contraindication, but a relative one.



*****

Second part of the review.

Adding to this big romantic fail we have to consider the scientific one.



There was a scene in which there is a heart arrest. And they save the person with an injection in the heart. I admit Tarantino is the best, I admire him, I love him and I think he’s the best American you can find, he’s my role model in so many ways (well, ok, I try control myself. Mostly). Whatever, I would vote him for President and all. But I would never, never, NEVER, ask him to save my life.



Why?

Well, because that scene is… a myth. To give you a hint, cardiac surgeons think about it VERY seriously before deciding to make a pericardiocentesis, and only the most trained ones manage to do it without complications. Translation: if you are not careful, you can perforate the heart, and everybody with more than two neurons knows that’s bad news.

So, do you honestly believe a non-experienced person should do it?



I’m not an expert, and that’s why I know I would NEVER do it. I mean, if I was in the middle of nowhere (outer-space) and I had to stick a big needle in someone’s chest to save his life… I would reject that foolhardy idea immediately. I mean, a hole in your heart, no less! How can this possibly result in a happily-ever-after?



It’s a bit too dangerous. Firstly, the chances to reach the part of the heart you want to reach are small, and even less if you have no knowledge of anatomy. Secondly, the person would bleed himself dry in a matter of minutes. Thirdly, if he doesn’t bleed himself to death (I doubt it), it would easily get complicated into an hemopericardium that could lead to cardiac tamponade that could lead to cardiogenic shock. And if that doesn’t happen, there are also endless chances of complications: infection (pneumonia, miocarditis, pleurits, etc), hemo/pneumothorax, the rupture of an important vessel with the consequent internal bleeding… and maybe some may not lethal by themselves at first but one possible/probable/unavoidable common road to them all is… yes! You are right! Death! Sooner or later, but death nonetheless. Above all with no medical support, in the middle of the space. With the injection he may (shockingly) live, but that doesn’t mean he will have a long life, if you know what I’m trying to say. And of course, when you finally get to reanimate someone, there is no guarantee that there are no sequels. The more time it takes to reanimate someone, the more chances for that person to suffer some degree of brain damage, above all when you have waste precious seconds in preparing and using the injection (neurons don’t take ischemia very well). So when the character wakes up and begins walking and causing trouble again as if nothing has happened, with barely no symptoms at all (maybe a little of weakness) I was not entirely convinced. But hey, everything for the sake of fiction, I guess.



If I was there, I’d use the injection in whatever vein I can find and proceed with CPR in a heartbeat (pun intended). If I find none, I would inject it anyway and pray my brains out while doing the CPR. That way the drug would circulate really quickly and hopefully do its work. You know what? Forget the injection, I’d do the CPR right-the-fuck-now! CPR is the trick, break the ribs if you have to but DO IT WELL AND DON’T STOP.



But hey, that’s me. You can do whatever you think suitable.



But do you know what’s the worst thing? None of this is necessary. Things are much more obscure. The crux of the matter is: how come we are in the future in the middle of nowhere and the spaceship doesn’t have defibrillators? (Or any other cool technology you could expect) More and more businesses have one. Nowadays there are very dumb defibrillators, you put the paddles on the chest, order everybody to stay clear, push a button and voilà. Even kids learn to use them.



We are in the future and we have fancy sodas, but no defibrillators. Think about it a minute or two. Lots of spaceships. With artificial gravity. And fancy sodas. But no defibrillators.



It’s kind of mind-blowing and not because we are in the space.



This future sucks, IMO.



So I honestly believe this is a good book, but for the reasons I have told above I couldn’t fully enjoy it. I still recommend it, though, because I’m pretty sure other readers would appreciate it better than I did.



*****



***Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***

Book – Wandering Star
Author – K.M. Penemue
Star rating - ★★★★☆
No. of Pages – 105

Cover – Very nice!
POV – 1st person, one character POV
Would I read it again – Yes

Genre – LGBT, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Space, Asexual, Bisexual, Trans, Poly?


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


I really enjoyed this science fiction story. There was some great action scenes and a whole lot of adventure, for so few pages. However, I do think it should have been extended into a novel, with just a few more chapters.

I really liked having Zane Loveless as the main character; he was easy to like, understand and appreciate. He had a slightly skewered moral compass, but all of his decisions and thoughts were relateable and understandable.

I enjoyed the two minor characters, too. Sixia was feisty and a nice change from the typical Trans characters in books. She's fiery, opinionated, calm and collected, while still being intriguing enough that she was always interesting to read about. Being a Male-To-Female but choosing not to have 'bottom surgery' is a much needed veer from the norm. Similarly, Isais was the Ace character, who really fell for Zane and made it clear where the boundaries of their 'relationship' would lie. Yet, with Zane being such a sexual character, the fact that he and Sixia often indulged in bed meant that all three would have their needs met, without anyone feeling left out.

I do, however, have one issue. There is a whole lot missing from the end of the story. It ends on a major cliffhanger, with no sign or warning that it will continue with another short or a longer novel. The story feels incomplete, for that reason, leaving me wondering about their future, even though the emotional/relationship side of the story was completed. But the major “what now” left me feeling disappointed.

~

Favourite Quote

““Maybe you just haven't been with the right person, you know?”
He sighed at me, and I couldn't help laughing. I'd never heard him get impatient before. “You love Deimos, right?”
“Of course I do. He's my buddy,” I said. Sixia's cans were taking up most of the fridge. Some of them were going into the cargo hold.
“Are you sexually attracted to him?”
My head shot up. “What? No! Don't be weird!”
“Are you sure? Perhaps you just haven't met the right cat yet.”
“Yeah, but I–” My brain caught up before I could finish the sentence.”

“Isais clutched at me, cheek pressed to mine, and I could feel warm tears against my face. I wasn't sure which one of us was crying.”