So, this is currently my favorite series. These are the first two books in the 'Disillusionists Trilogy'. I cannot recommend them enough. The books are base in Mid City which is a dark Gothem like city that seems to be based on Chicago or some other Midwest metropolitan city. They have a comic book vibe and an interesting and original premise.
The main character in the story, Justine, is a complete neurotic and I love it! She's got an extreme case of hypochondria about dying from 'Vein Star Syndrome'. A condition that cannot be detected because by the time you've reached the doctor after the onset of symptoms the 'star' formed by the bulging blood vessel in the brain has receded and is not visible to scans and xrays. Her hypochondria is what attracts Packard to her. Packard is a 'high cap' or someone whose brain functions at a higher capacity than the average human. Although high caps exist, many people believe they don't.
Anywhoo, Packard leads this raving band of neurotics that are able to push their neuroses into other people. Not just anyone. They can only 'zing' people they are compatible with and Packard is the only one what can tell them who they are compatible with. There is a point to 'zinging' them. They only zing bad people in an effort to break them down to base level so they can 'reboot' and hopefully choose to be better people.
So, there's the basis for the series. I'm not saying anything else because you now have to read it and find out what happens. I must warn you that the cliff hanger at the end of the second book still has me saying 'Holy Crap!' and foaming at the mouth for the next book. Unless the author totally cheeses the ending I will be incredibly disappointed to see these characters go. Since it is the 'Disillusionists Trilogy' I'm assuming there is only one more book in the series.... sooo sad....
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Knock, knock...
It's me again. It appears that I have taken the whole month of September off. Oh how time flies. But, since I only have one follower, love you Connie, I don't think I've been missed. So what did I do that kept me so busy? I did some reading, saw a show or two, drank a beer or three and I sold some soap!
Back at the end of August was the trip to Detroit to see the Black Keys! Love them! I finally got to see where Michele has been living for the past decade! She returned the favor by flying in to visit two weeks later and we spent the weekend at the First Annual Loufest. Hopefully to become a larger scale music festival I have to give big kudos to the founders and promoters. A very impressive freshman effort.
September was the Green Homes Festival and Denny, Glenda and I were some soap making and selling fools. We added some new products to the line and got our products added to a couple more stores. We rock.
Keeping with my cheap is good philosophy of life I've been laying low and doing a lot of reading. I am currently reading the third book in the 'Elemental Assassin' series. Kind of a Becky Badass crotch novel series. Total guilty pleasure. The Protagonist in the series is Gin Blanco, aka The Spider. An assassin who in the second and third books is trying to 'retire' but things just keep dragging her back to her previous life. Gin is an Earth and Ice Elemental. She has the power to manipulate and control both.
Since I have read these three books back to back to back I am easily annoyed by the authors repetitive use of back history as a space filler. It's fine to mention it two or three times, I get the hint and a little reminder here and there isn't a bad thing, but she repeats the same thing ALOT! I'm not a fan of the original love interest. It went nowhere in the second book and now he's out of the picture and there is a new love interest, but I'm sure the first will come back and form some oddly obtuse triangle where we'll be slapping out heads wondering 'Why?'. We'll see. I'm only a few chapters into the third book.
Another series I started and am looking forward to reading the second of it Carolyn Crane's 'Disillusionists Trilogy'. This book has an interesting premise because the 'super power' the character has is the ability to pass her fear on to someone else. She belongs to a group of people that each specialize in a 'fear'. The main character, Justine, is a hypochondriac. Her love life is bizarre as well. At the end of the second book she was with someone I was not a fan of and I'm hoping she sways toward the other interest in the next book. Something about berets I'm not a fan of. I'll have an update on this series shortly. Thanks to the CrackKindle I'll be reading this book immediately following the third in the Gin Blanco series.
I also got myself caught up on the Connor Grey (Mark Del Franco) and Joanna Archer (Vikki Pettersson) series'. How I love Connor, Stinkwort and Murdock. This last book really left you craving more. There is a big political shift coming amongst the fey and Connor's brain mass appears to be going darkside. Rubbing my hands in anticipation of book 5 but I do not see a release date anywhere.... urgh, what's a girl to do? I guess I'll have to get caught up on my other series.
Vikki Pettersson finally released the fifth book for the Signs of the Zodiac series. Holy Soap Opera Batman! Some of the stuff that goes on in the books is a little whack. The whole midheaven thing has me scratching my head but I really love Joanna's relationship with Hunter. Plus I like how Joanna has had to step back and look at her 'mentor' in a new light. I can honestly say 'I didn't see that coming' on some things, but unfortunately I did have an idea of what the big 'surprise' was going to be. But! There was a 'Holy Shit!' surprise at the end of the book that I was not expecting. I did miss the comic book store in this last book.
Following up on my love of the Jane Yellowrock books I read Faith Hunter's Rogue Mage series. Apparently, Post Apocalyptic fantasy is not my cup o' tea. I scratched my head through all three books and often wondered 'whatthefuck?'. I debated whether or not I should continue to consume alcohol while reading but then later decided that I just couldn't wrap my noggin around whatever the hell was going on in those books. I then loaned the first book to Michele who though it was great and when I asked her to explain it to me she said she didn't fully understand it either and gave me some line about skimming the confusing parts.... alrighty then, who's tipping the bottle while they are reading? I'm going to send her the other two in that series and see what she thinks after that!
I did also try to read the second book in Lisa Shearin's, Raine Benares series. I read the first one a while back and questioned whether or not I wanted to read the second. After 50 pages of the second I decided to return it to the library. Either I'm not in the mood for that kind of book or the forced snarkiness of the main character is just not to my liking. I'm going with the latter.
I also started reading 'Spiral Hunt' by Margaret Ronald. I put this book down as well because I wasn't 'feelin it' at the time. I do own it so I'm sure I'll get back to it and give you my full insight upon completion.
September was a slow month for shows. I did a follow up on my cougar crush and I did see Dead Confederate when they were at the Firebird. The show did not have nearly the people and I decided that when sober the lead singer was too skinny. I did however find it ironic that he was wearing a Dinosaur Jr shirt. The only two concerts I've ever wanted ear plugs at was Dinosaur Jr at the Pageant and Dead Confederate at Off Broadway. I'm not as impressed with the 'Sugar' as I am with 'Wrecking Ball'. The new album lacks the dirty, grungy feel that reminded me of college. Still and excellent show. Alberta Cross did an excellent job opening for them as well.
Well I guess that's it... October looks to be jam packed with good stuff so I'll do my best to keep this thing updated. Hopefully someone is paying attention.
Back at the end of August was the trip to Detroit to see the Black Keys! Love them! I finally got to see where Michele has been living for the past decade! She returned the favor by flying in to visit two weeks later and we spent the weekend at the First Annual Loufest. Hopefully to become a larger scale music festival I have to give big kudos to the founders and promoters. A very impressive freshman effort.
September was the Green Homes Festival and Denny, Glenda and I were some soap making and selling fools. We added some new products to the line and got our products added to a couple more stores. We rock.
Keeping with my cheap is good philosophy of life I've been laying low and doing a lot of reading. I am currently reading the third book in the 'Elemental Assassin' series. Kind of a Becky Badass crotch novel series. Total guilty pleasure. The Protagonist in the series is Gin Blanco, aka The Spider. An assassin who in the second and third books is trying to 'retire' but things just keep dragging her back to her previous life. Gin is an Earth and Ice Elemental. She has the power to manipulate and control both.
Since I have read these three books back to back to back I am easily annoyed by the authors repetitive use of back history as a space filler. It's fine to mention it two or three times, I get the hint and a little reminder here and there isn't a bad thing, but she repeats the same thing ALOT! I'm not a fan of the original love interest. It went nowhere in the second book and now he's out of the picture and there is a new love interest, but I'm sure the first will come back and form some oddly obtuse triangle where we'll be slapping out heads wondering 'Why?'. We'll see. I'm only a few chapters into the third book.
Another series I started and am looking forward to reading the second of it Carolyn Crane's 'Disillusionists Trilogy'. This book has an interesting premise because the 'super power' the character has is the ability to pass her fear on to someone else. She belongs to a group of people that each specialize in a 'fear'. The main character, Justine, is a hypochondriac. Her love life is bizarre as well. At the end of the second book she was with someone I was not a fan of and I'm hoping she sways toward the other interest in the next book. Something about berets I'm not a fan of. I'll have an update on this series shortly. Thanks to the CrackKindle I'll be reading this book immediately following the third in the Gin Blanco series.
I also got myself caught up on the Connor Grey (Mark Del Franco) and Joanna Archer (Vikki Pettersson) series'. How I love Connor, Stinkwort and Murdock. This last book really left you craving more. There is a big political shift coming amongst the fey and Connor's brain mass appears to be going darkside. Rubbing my hands in anticipation of book 5 but I do not see a release date anywhere.... urgh, what's a girl to do? I guess I'll have to get caught up on my other series.
Vikki Pettersson finally released the fifth book for the Signs of the Zodiac series. Holy Soap Opera Batman! Some of the stuff that goes on in the books is a little whack. The whole midheaven thing has me scratching my head but I really love Joanna's relationship with Hunter. Plus I like how Joanna has had to step back and look at her 'mentor' in a new light. I can honestly say 'I didn't see that coming' on some things, but unfortunately I did have an idea of what the big 'surprise' was going to be. But! There was a 'Holy Shit!' surprise at the end of the book that I was not expecting. I did miss the comic book store in this last book.
Following up on my love of the Jane Yellowrock books I read Faith Hunter's Rogue Mage series. Apparently, Post Apocalyptic fantasy is not my cup o' tea. I scratched my head through all three books and often wondered 'whatthefuck?'. I debated whether or not I should continue to consume alcohol while reading but then later decided that I just couldn't wrap my noggin around whatever the hell was going on in those books. I then loaned the first book to Michele who though it was great and when I asked her to explain it to me she said she didn't fully understand it either and gave me some line about skimming the confusing parts.... alrighty then, who's tipping the bottle while they are reading? I'm going to send her the other two in that series and see what she thinks after that!
I did also try to read the second book in Lisa Shearin's, Raine Benares series. I read the first one a while back and questioned whether or not I wanted to read the second. After 50 pages of the second I decided to return it to the library. Either I'm not in the mood for that kind of book or the forced snarkiness of the main character is just not to my liking. I'm going with the latter.
I also started reading 'Spiral Hunt' by Margaret Ronald. I put this book down as well because I wasn't 'feelin it' at the time. I do own it so I'm sure I'll get back to it and give you my full insight upon completion.
September was a slow month for shows. I did a follow up on my cougar crush and I did see Dead Confederate when they were at the Firebird. The show did not have nearly the people and I decided that when sober the lead singer was too skinny. I did however find it ironic that he was wearing a Dinosaur Jr shirt. The only two concerts I've ever wanted ear plugs at was Dinosaur Jr at the Pageant and Dead Confederate at Off Broadway. I'm not as impressed with the 'Sugar' as I am with 'Wrecking Ball'. The new album lacks the dirty, grungy feel that reminded me of college. Still and excellent show. Alberta Cross did an excellent job opening for them as well.
Well I guess that's it... October looks to be jam packed with good stuff so I'll do my best to keep this thing updated. Hopefully someone is paying attention.
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