The first and last books were great, but the ones in between, meh.

I really didn't want to do this, but due to new job commitments and my ever-increasing commitment as a stay-at-home mom, I have to say farewell to book blogging. I recently accepted a paid position at Kombo.com, a gaming news website that I have copy edited for, for free, for several years. When they offered me a paid position, I couldn't turn it down, despite the fact that it means yet another job for me to try to wrangle into my already dwindling free time.

So the free writing, aka the book blog, has to be cut. I was struggling keeping up with it anyway, especially while my husband was gone, so I haven't been fair to it or to any of the few readers I have left.

For everyone that I am following, I will continue to follow you and learn about all the great books out there. I will also start hunting you down on Twitter, as that as been a great place to remind me to check out other blogs, especially when reviews come out.

I am so glad that I have met each and every one of you, and I will do my best to stay in touch either via your blogs or via Twitter. (The key word here is Twitter!)

Thanks again, everyone! Please keep blogging! I have so many books to learn about!

A savage war rages between the patriarchal Drakknians and Yashor, a society of Amazons where male-children are second-class citizens. Eldin, one of the fiercest Amazon warriors in the land, is attempting to lead her troops to victory, while protecting her male sibling and advocating for his equality on--and off--the battlefield.

Against the backdrop of this conflict, a treacherous coup brings an unforeseen catastrophe and threatens to rip apart the very fabric of Yashor society. In order to save all that she loves, Eldin must journey directly into the heart of an evil empire, encountering a cast of meaningful--and magical--companions along the way, including the beautiful healer, Kiya.

When Eldin meets the enchanting Kiya, she feels a powerful and extraordinary love, somewhere between destiny and darkness...as if she has found her soul mate. But she is haunted by her past and the loss of a former true love to an unspeakable tragedy. Does this make it impossible for her to love again? Does the battlefield conquer love or does love conquer all?

Review:

I first have to comment that it was quite the experience to go from a fantasy allegory to this book, which focuses primarily on the love and sex between two women. When I realized this on page 2, I burst out laughing. Once I regained some maturity, I continued reading.

In so many ways, the book is a collection of love stories between various women, but the central theme was really about the dangers of extremism when it comes to prejudice. In Yashor, women are held supreme because they are generally stronger than the men, and as a result, they do not allow the men to be educated or become useful in any manner aside from being a grunt on the front lines or a baby maker. And really, the latter is all these women see as their use in life. Potential baby makers are penned up in the capital city and have to fight to prove they are worthy to provide the seed for a future daughter. Daughter. Not son. Any woman who is sexually attracted to a man is considered a freak of nature and against the natural progression of things, and the punishment is death by stoning.

On the other side of the coin, the Drakknians are brutish men who basically keep their wives as personal slaves and sex objects and beat them if they do not obey. Yashor is pretty much only in battle with Drakknians because of these extreme points of view about women and men.

Eldin, the star of the story, strongly advocates equality on both sides. And she wants true equality, not the supremacy masked as equality that feminists and chauvinists fight for. As Yashor and Drakknia both push for the extremes, she finds herself less and less able to tolerate either side, which is not uncommon in what we all see in the real world.

This interesting take on extreme prejudice got me to rapidly finish the book, but it still had a few problems. The ending was so abrupt that I e-mailed the PR agent that contacted me about the book to make sure that I wasn't missing any pages. Yes, that is how abrupt it was. I wasn't missing any pages, but it wasn't the end of the story either. Apparently this is the first of a planned series of 13 books, which makes me happy because I was not happy with the way the book ended. I'm glad to know that that is definitely not how the story ends. Otherwise, you'd be reading a huge rant from me.

The amount of sex in the book was also a little overkill for me. I felt like I was reading a Harlequin novel at times, or that I was re-reading Knight of the Sacred Lake. I somewhat see C. Tyler Storm's point in including all of the sex scenes, especially since the book was strangely enough advocating abstinence until marriage, but it was still a little much for me.

Eldin of Yashor is due out in January 2010, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a completely different type of fantasy novel. None of the book's shortcomings take away from its powerful message and very unusual adventure. Thanks so much, Langdon Press, for the review copy and the opportunity to read and review such a rare book.

I give Eldin of Yashor a 3.5/5.

Going out of her ever-livin' mind.

No, really. I think I mentioned that my husband is MIA yet again, this time for six weeks. I'm nearing the half-way mark, but my stamina has already greatly weakened. And then I decided I could handle writing another column for the Examiner. I know! Silly me! As I explained to my husband via IM this morning, I feel like I'm constantly working four different jobs from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep.

And as a result, I've had no energy for this blog. I write so much for others during the day and night that when I do get time for myself, the last thing I want to do is write some more, even if it's for something as laid back as a book blog.

The good thing is that the reading has not stopped. Yay me! I finished Wicked Lovely over the weekend and I started the first book of the Ranger's Apprentice series. Oh and I went to the bookstore today to just pick up Ink Exchange and I ended up buying two more young adult fantasy novels. What has happened to me? I was never into young adult outside of Harry Potter before I started blogging. I blame all of you people. *tries to look fierce*

So what about the reviews? I'll get to them. Eventually. And I'll announce them on Twitter when I finally do. I hate that it's come to this, but when I have to choose between blogging and sleep, sleep always wins. It has since grad school.

In the meantime, what do you all think about renaming this blog to the Book Blogging Slacker? Or the Intermittent Blogger?

My husband is out of town again, this time for six weeks, so I didn't know if I was going to be able to find time to eat or work, let alone read. After a first of week of hell, I finally got my routine down and lo and behold, reading made the cut. And thank God it did, because video games are now officially work for me so I need one of my hobbies to be relaxing.

Ah reading, how much I have missed you.

Yet, I decided to be a slacker and push off Ship of Destiny yet again. Some day I will finish this story. I don't know when, but I will finish it. So I picked up a new book that a kind publisher sent to me and read it in less than 2 days. I haven't done that in a long, long time. It isn't to say that the book is short, because it really isn't. I got into a groove one night and read for a few hours, and then the next day, I decided to read through Gabe's nap instead of clean house. I think finishing the book was far more rewarding than a clean house that my son and two dogs will just mess up again. Hee.

I'm still formulating a review in my head and on paper, because this book was really unlike any other book I've read. And it probably had one of the most original plots I've found in awhile, and it had so many good messages laced throughout.

So now I'm reading Wicked Lovely, since it has gotten so many rave reviews in the book blogosphere. So far, it has a lot of the same tone as City of Bones, but I think that's just because they're both YA and deal with the supernatural. So far, I really like it, and I really hope it continues the pace it has set.

So Shellie, that's two for two in terms of blogging. Proud of me?

Holy crap, I'm book blogging??!! Yes, not only was I able to find time to read last week, but now I've found time to actually write about it. Wonders never cease.

About a month ago, the last time Borders had one of their evil "Buy-4-Get-One-Free" manga sales, I picked up this little ditty. I am a huge X-Men geek/fan/zealot, and my only regret in loving the franchise so much is that I haven't been able to collect the comics since high school. Someday I will rectify that, but until then, I will have to make do with the cartoons on Nicktoons and Disney XD and pick up fun little graphic novels like this.

It's not a retelling of the X-Men story. Dear God, that would be so boring. It's a whole new spin on the story told through manga-style (not true manga, as it is written and drawn by Americans) with Marvel's seal of approval. From the first volume, all of the characters within are bonafide X-Men characters and as an extra plus for me, there is no Wolverine so far.

The series is a bit like a mix X-men Evolution and X-Men the movie in that it takes place when all of the future X-Men are attending Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and the official team of X-Men has not been formed yet. The teachers are Professor Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, Ororo Monroe, and Jean Grey. For Jean and Scott fans, I'm sorry, but I doubt that will be happening since Jean is a teacher and Scott is a young student. Although, you should be happy to know that Scott is still his angry, emo self.

Most of the story revolves around Kitty Pryde's perception of the school and her learning about mutants, their powers, and making new friends with the somewhat bad influences of the Hellfire Club. Like the original Hellfire Club, it's for rich, powerful mutants only. Kitty was only invited to join because she's the only female student at the school.

I found Kitty's personality a bit annoying and contradictory. She says one minute how everyone in the Hellfire Club, especially Pyro, scares her because of how possessive they are of her. And then the next minute, she's all mugging down with Pyro. Either she has no idea what she really wants or she has no back bone. Or both. Either is annoying.

My only other complaint is how ridiculous they made Beast--a giant badger--and Colossus--he looks like what Super Mario would if he was a robot--appear. Huge let down for me.

Now none of that stopped me from eating up the story. It's the team's first volume, so surely they can get the story a little more cohesive by then and maybe the artist will redesign Colossus and Beast. Well, I doubt the latter will happen, but I'll keep wishing.

Bottom line is that X-Men fans and manga fans will most likely enjoy this series. I don't think non-X-men fans will as much, but I could be wrong. Now fans that make the Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons look easy-going should stay far, far away from this series. It's simply for fun, and that's all it is.

Synopsis:

King Eloth's former steward, Lucius, is hell-bent on overthrowing Eloth and killing his entire family in his quest for power over Ellioth. His initial attempt does not go as planned, but years later, he finds a new venue to obtain what he seeks. But this final battle is not between Lucius and Eloth, but between Lucius and Eloth's son, Joshua, as he fights to free his people and save the woman he loves.

Review:

The Victor is Marlayne Giron's first novel, and it employs a fairly standard storyline for a fantasy: hero saves damsel and distress and enslaved people from a raving madman. However, it doesn't make the book any less enjoyable. The storyline is a backdrop for the novel, but plenty of other sub-plots carry on, such as Joshua's knight training, Lucius' sly infiltration of Shiloh, and the romance between Joshua and Llyonesse.

What sets it apart from other typical fantasy books is the allegorical writing. The book has a bit of an influence from Lord of the Rings, but it's not nearly as subtle of an allegory. It's closer to C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in that respect, except that it doesn't slap you in the face as hard, screaming that it's an allegory. Yet, Giron definitely wants everyone to know that it is a Christian novel, because she added footnotes to cite her Biblical quotations. I see some pros and cons with adding the footnotes. On the pro side, they really tie her story down as an allegory and strengthen it in that respect. On the con side, the footnotes could possibly turn away potential fantasy fans who do not care for allegory.

Giron does a fairly good job with her first publication effort, but it is a bit obvious that it is her first time to write a book. Luckily, she tells a good story. Even though I've read the Bible and enough fantasy novels to know how the book would end, I still sat on the edge of my seat, turning the pages during a few scenes.

My only real complaint of the book lies with the illustrations. All I can say is that I did not care for them at all. I think the book would have been far better without them. And wrapping up...

Personally, I'm happy to see a Christian fantasy novel for several reasons that I won't list here to avoid a flame war. However, the fact that it is a Christian novel makes it a little difficult for me to recommend to others unless I'm already familiar with their religious affiliation. As for a final rating, I'd have to give The Victor a 3.5/5. I hope Giron writes other novels in the future.

Thank you, Ms. Giron and Tate Publishing, for allowing me to review this book!