Book Review: “Kushiel’s Avatar” by Jacqueline Carey

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book reviews, books, Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel Trilogy, Kushiel's Avatar, novels, reading, reading a book, reviews, trilogies, Trilogy

While I was reading “On Writing” by Stephen King, I was also reading the final book of Jacqueline Carey’s trilogy about Phèdre nó Delaunay, the famed courtesan of Terre d’Ange, an alternative look at the history of France and the rest of the world. You may remember that I didn’t particularly enjoy the second book in this trilogy, but I just had to find out what happened to certain characters in the third book, “Kushiel’s Avatar”.

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Like its predecessors, “Avatar” is long, and slow moving in some parts. There’s a lot going on, a lot of history, and a lot of traveling. There’s a lot of characters, but only some are hard to remember. It’s a wild journey here, that includes some moments that are tender, fascinating or intense. Even more so, there are moments that are difficult to read because of the brutal abuse done to Phèdre and other characters. Remember, Phèdre has been chosen by the angel-diety, Kushiel, to experience pain and pleasure as one. And she has a mission to fulfill as the deities of Terre d’Ange guide her to stop an evil presence, so her tendency to experience pain and pleasure come in handy – for better or for worse. For this reader, it was for worse.

At the same time, Phèdre is on her own quest to free her childhood friend from a curse. This quest leads her to find the true name of God from a forgotten tribe and to risk her own safety by revealing that name at the appropriate time. While we never know what the true name of God is, we are hinted it through translations from various people who overheard.

The book then ends with a festival in Phèdre’s honor, who is at peace after nearly 15 years of defending her country, freeing her friend, seeing the world, and enduring pain that she sadly found pleasurable at times.

I found this book to be more entertaining than “Chosen”, mainly because Phèdre is more tolerable here. She is not the arrogant, foolish character she was in the previous book. Here, she is more humble, though probably because she endures suffering beyond many people’s comprehension. I still found her to be boring, however. I don’t know, Phèdre is just not an interesting character to me. She seems flat at times, with no real personality. I found many of the other characters, particularly Joscelin, Queen Ysandre, Hyacinthe, Kaneka, and the villianness Melisande Shahrizai, to be more fun to read about. I guess it had something to do with the narrative. Maybe Phèdre just isn’t a good narrator for her story, but she is for others.

The philosophy of this trilogy, love as thou wilt, also doesn’t seem to be fully shaped. Maybe I didn’t get it or something, but I also think because Phèdre is not an interesting character, it is hard to see what love as thou wilt means. I do like how the author, Jacqueline Carey, is trying to create a world where love is the law, and love rules. Or at least I think she is. I don’t know, I just felt confused at times.

What I did love about this book was the numerous countries explored here. Places that are obviously Egypt, Iraq, Ethiopia and the Congo, are lavishly described and one can imagine these places as being very beautiful – or in the place we know as Iraq, very ugly and horrifying.  I found it interesting while reading this book that the place we call Iraq, but known as Darsanga here, has a great evil coming from it that could destroy the world, and yet in our world, ISIS is the great evil hurting the world, and its coming from Iraq. Not that I think Jacqueline Carey foresaw the future, but what irony!

Anyway, the book ends happily and peacefully. The best part of this trilogy, for me at least, were the many countries and cultures explored and reimagined. I also liked Phèdre and Joscelin’s enduring love. In the previous book, those two were strained, and Joscelin did a lot of pouting, it seemed. Here, he is more vibrant and stronger, and you could feel the love between those two from the pages. It’s real, with its ups and downs and trials.

There are more books about Terre d’Ange from Jacqueline Carey, but I am not sure if I would read them. I feel as if I’ve explored the world she created enough, and its time for me to read about other worlds. It’s been a great journey, really, even though I wished Phèdre was better guide. I still recommend this series, though I do warn the reader about its shortcomings. What I believe is as soon as a reader finds what they like about the adventures of Phèdre no Delaunay, they’ll be able to read past what they don’t like about her story. One thing for sure, they’ll be in for a wild ride!

 

 

Reviewing Authors’ Works While Being an Author

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authors, book reviews, books, reading, writers

Before I begin, I’d just like to say that I am really sick and tired of this cold weather! This whole month has seen NYC turn into a total ice box, and I cannot take it anymore! I know the Farmer’s Almanac predicted a very cold winter, but I didn’t realize how painfully cold it would be. It makes me long for those sticky hot summer days. Oh wait…

OK, onto today’s topic. I am an author. I wrote a book and I published it, albeit all on my own. I know firsthand how hard it is to develop characters and a storyline, convey emotion, a vivid setting while using the loveliest prose I can. It is not easy, and it is hard work and deep concentration.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

So, does that mean I should change my approach to reviewing other authors’ books?

Before I published my book, I read and reviewed books like any other reader. But since becoming an author myself, I’ve been questioning how I should review books. I know how hard it is to write a story, so shouldn’t I be more lenient on flaws? And also, if I’m a writer too, then I am on the same level as any other writer, which means I am a peer.

I feel nervous when I review books, which is why I’ve only reviewed two books since publishing The Dark Proposal. Part of me fears that I would be a hypocrite to point out flaws in books that may also exist in mine. I mean, should I really say something about a flaw in the plot, writing or development when someone might think my book was equally flawed? Who would I be to complain then?

And how critical should I be? If I am gentle, am I sugarcoating? Or if I give a thorough review, am I being too harsh? What if my review sounds like I think the author wrote their book wrong, and I’m hinting at how I would’ve wrote it?

I have just always felt that as an author, my approach to reviewing cannot be the same as any other reader. I also feel that my reviews may be seen with a more critical eye given that I wrote a book myself. Plus, I have no author clout now, so I definitely don’t have any authority on what is a great book and what isn’t.

So how should I review books for now on? I get the impression that they should be like a peer to peer review. But how do I do that? Do I do it like one of my writer critique groups, where we point out the positives and negatives of each others’ work? Do I use a tone used in college papers for English lit courses?

I’m going to find out what is the best way to approach reviewing now. I’ve seen some authors reviewing other authors’ books as if they are ordinary readers, and I can’t help but think that is not the right angle. I’ve also noticed some hypocrisy like pointing out poor editing when these authors have the same problem in their books. Things like that that makes me think authors of any level should be aware that once they release a book, they can’t take off their writer hats so easily.

How about you? Has being an author changed how you review books? Or do you feel you can still review like any other reader?

Trying to Read While Being an Author

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authors, book reviews, books, critiquing, readers

I’ve been reading since early elementary school. I got my first library card in first grade and I took books out every month by the handful. I was an avid reader then, and I still am now.

Image via Flickr

However, things are little different. I am an author now, with an eBook on the market. While writing my book, I learned how to be mindful of every word I chose, every information I put down pertaining to the plot, characters, and background story, and even the pacing. Writing a novel can certainly make you more aware of how a story comes about.

Yet, when I read for my own pleasure, I feel the need to critique as I go along rather than just enjoy the book. I don’t know if it is because I’m an author myself, but I can’t help but wonder what should’ve or could’ve happened, what is the meaning behind a character’s name, and so on.

Sometimes, I manage to turn off that critic and just read, like an ordinary reader. But then I wonder if I am forgetting that I am an author, and I should be aware of plot holes or unlikable characters. I normally don’t demand much from my books. I like to escape into a different world and if the ride is good, that is all that matters. This may be because I have a lot on my mind in my life already, so reading is definitely escapism for me.

So what happens when you want to sit and read for leisure? Do you find yourself more alert to the words and information? Or do you revert back to being just a reader and save being an author for another time?

BLOG NOTE: I’ll be out of town this weekend, so you’ll hear from me again next week 🙂

Should We Always Relate to the Protagonists?

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A Clockwork Orange, book reviews, characterization, Gone Girl, literary fiction, literature, main characters, opinion, protagonists, The Kite Runner, thoughts

A few weeks ago, I came across this essay on the Huffington Post’s books section. Written by Evan Gottlieb, an English professor at Oregon State University, it asks the question whether it is imperative for readers to identify with the main character in the books they read.

Gottlieb says that this is something new with readers, most likely because of the advent of psychologically complex characters in the 19th century. Before, the thoughts and actions of protagonists weren’t as deep and were mostly symbolic. Now, they are more realistic.

So does that mean all protagonists have to be relatable to any potential reader?

If, as Gottlieb points out, relatable means “likable”. In that case, I would say that is not always necessary. I’ve read books where I didn’t like the main character but enjoyed the book anyway. The Kite Runner didn’t have Amir as a likable protagonist, but the story was amazing. Louis in Interview With The Vampire was whiny, but it was a very entertaining book. From what I’ve been hearing, the popular novel, Gone Girl, has unlikable characters but is a very good story.

However, you might recall my review of Kushiel’s Chosen, where I made it clear that I couldn’t stand the main character, Phedré, and almost put the book down for good because of her. On Amazon and Goodreads, there are many reviews where people say they couldn’t enjoy or even finish a book because the protagonist was so unlikable.

So there is a need for likable characters. However, is it plausible? Meaning, do all main characters have likable or even interesting for a story to be told?

Not necessarily, and here’s an example: perhaps many of us read or saw the movie A Clockwork Orange in college. Now, Alex is wholly an unlikable character! But Anthony Burgess’ book continues to receive good reviews not because Alex is such a lovable, caring, sweet protagonist whom we root for from beginning to end (Ha! I can’t believe I used those words, even mockingly).

That is because Burgess has a point to make about forcing people to be good, and torturing them to stop being bad. The book makes the reader ponder what is the right or wrong way to stop antisocial behavior, plus show that even the justice system can be worse than the criminal.

See, who Alex is isn’t the point of the story – it is what happens to him that is the point.

I think some books require the protagonist to be liked and others don’t. I can’t see a romance novel being successful if the main character is widely disliked, but a thriller can call for a less than likable one.

Evan Gottlieb’s essay ends off with these lines which ring true:

There are, of course, many other good reasons to read literature: for entertainment, for instruction, for inspiration. But from the 18th century onward, novels have shown themselves to be remarkably effective, durable technologies for encouraging us to extend our understanding to others, no matter how different or unlikable they might initially appear.  And if that isn’t a good reason to pick up a good book, then I don’t know what is.

The Dos and Donts of Running a Writer’s Group

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authors, book reviews, learning how to write, the writing process, writers

As some of you might recall, I once gave advice on how to behave in a writer’s group in The Dos and Donts of Being in a Writer’s Group. That post is aimed at those looking to be members of a writing group, and to tell them how to stay being a member, lest they get removed if they don’t follow my advice.

Well, this post is aimed at those who are run or are thinking about starting their own writer’s group. I was once an organizer for one on meetup.com which I ran for about a year and half. I was also briefly part of another before that, which I’ll get to shortly. So here is my advice on how to make your group run smoothly, make it an enjoyable experience for everyone, and not lose members or see your group be blacklisted because of your lousy leadership.

DO Remember the Group is for Everyone – Not Just You!
While your reasons for creating a writer’s group will naturally be self-centered – ie, meeting other writers, getting others to critique your work – once the ball gets rolling, it can’t be all about you. You would have to give what you want your members to give to you. If you want a thorough critique, give the same to anyone who submits their work. Don’t make your meetings all about you. If it goes to way, you’re going to find it difficult to keep your members coming to your meetings.

Don’t Be Wholly Unlikable:
Don’t be rude and unpleasant to your members over anything. For the first writer’s group I joined, I submitted a synopsis of a high fantasy story. During the first meeting, it was pointed out as heavily flawed by a few members, including the organizer who was aloof and kind of cranky. I was a little shaken by the critiques because I felt foolish for having submitted something that was so flawed. But since the other members encouraged me to work on it, I did and I submitted the revised synopsis a few months later. Unfortunately, those encouraging members were not there that time, but that cranky organizer was – and boy was he ready to go after me. He not only ripped apart my work, he mocked and even made a few crude comments about the female main character. He also did it with this smug smile on his face as though he loved knifing me in front of everyone. And because of his rules of no response until everyone was done, I had to sit quietly as he went on and on with the damn smile on his face. Needless to say, I never came back to that group and it eventually it shut down. Gee, I wonder why?

So the bottom line is, don’t be a lousy person – even to those who submit poor writing. I once had someone who submitted something that had terrible grammar and paragraph structure, empty characters, and too many plot holes in only 10 pages. But instead of being rude, I pointed out what needed to be done to make the piece a lot of better. There was no need for me to be nasty, and there’s no need for you either.

DO Anticipate Wacky People:
I’m sure we’re all aware that there are a lot of wackos out there – and guess what? They’ll find their way to join your group and come to your meetings. Maybe you’ll have an inkling that’s there’s something a bit off about them once you get their email request or meet them when they arrive for the meeting. If so, get ready. I mean, don’t get ready for combat. But keep an eye on them. In my experience, I had some grouch come to my meeting…only to criticize it. He complained that there were too few members and how that wasn’t helpful for the writers, and he basically said I wasn’t a good organizer. This guy was not another author or aspiring author, he didn’t work for Meetup.com or anything related to what I was doing. To this day, I still can’t figure out what made him show up for that meeting, other than he was some miserable a-hole who wanted to make others miserable. People are weird.

Better Yet…DO Anticipate Drama!
There will come a time when you‘ll have to deal with pain in the ass members. Either they don’t follow your rules or they aren’t good for the group in general, it will be best to remove them to avoid any problems. And if you know for it is best to remove them, don’t hesitate. I made the mistake of hesitating because for some reason, I was worried of even more drama. Sigh! But I did get around the removing someone who refused to follow my rules. Too bad now and then I see him when I travel home from work. Let’s just say, if looks could kill!

DON’T Lose Your Cool if Things Don’t Work Out:
A common problem I had was the lack of attendance or frequent no-shows. I found it rude and annoying that it happened, and at one point I got peeved. I had spent a few months trying to make my group as inviting and interesting as possible, with little results. I followed advice from other meetup organizers, but no luck. After almost no one attended a simple social, non-critique meeting, I was so upset that I sent an email to the group saying how I was disappointed by the lack of attendance. That wasn’t cool of me at all. It was downright foolish and bitchy of me. So, learn from me and don’t lose it – even when things don’t work out the way you want them to.

Eventually, I closed my group because I was tired of the drama and poor attendance. I probably should’ve done a lot better in running my group. So learn from me so yours will work out better than my group did!

Book Review: Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey

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book reviews, Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel Trilogy, Kushiel's Chosen

I finally finished Kushiel’s Chosen, the second installment of Jacqueline Carey’s series of novels about an alternative look at medieval Europe. I started reading in late September and was finally able to get through its nearly 700 pages. I would’ve been able to have finished this book sooner if there weren’t some problems I had with it, but I’ll get to that later.

For those who do not know, about 10 years ago, Jacqueline Carey released Kushiel’s Dart, which is about a courtesan named Phedrè nó Delaunay who lives in Terre d’Ange, which is actually France if you look at the map the book has at the beginning. Phedrè is an anguisette, someone who experiences pain for pleasure. She has a red mark in her left eye, which indicates Kushiel – a sort of deity in Terre d’Ange – has chosen her to be his instrument.

Anyway, Phedrè has been trained to be a courtesan by her foster father, Anafiel Delaunay. Because Terre d’Ange is a place where anything goes when it comes to love and sex, it is no big deal that she becomes a courtesan and goes around to aristocrats to be their play thing – in the BDSM sense. Kushiel’s Dart has a lot of BDSM scenes, featuring both men and women, but the follow-up doesn’t have as much.

But Phedrè is not only a courtesan – she is a trained spy. She soon uncovers a plot to overthrow the Queen by one of her patrons, the seductive Melisande Shahrizai, whom Phedrè has a love/hate relationship with. But before she could do anything to stop the plot, she is sold into slavery to the tribes of Skaldia – alias Germany – with her bodyguard, Joscelin, who eventually becomes her true love. Thus begins the journey into a totally different Europe with some supernatural moments, swashbuckling fights, the ups and downs of love, and plenty of political intrigue.

Find out more at Amazon.com

I read Kushiel’s Dart in 2008, and I took my sweet time getting around to its sequel. I enjoy Dart mainly because of the political intrigue and the many different cultures depicted in this world. The sex scenes were OK, but then again BDSM just isn’t my taste – especially since the BDSM here is hardcore. Phedrè gets hung upside down while chained up, cut up by use of a flechette – you know, all the good stuff. Basically, if Phedrè was simply handcuffed and/or spanked, that would’ve been tame compared by what she goes through.

I finally bought Kushiel’s Chosen during Borders’ liquidation sales in 2011, but got around to reading it in late September. Like it’s predecessor, this book was slow to start. It takes about 300 pages before the storyline actually gets anywhere. I was OK with that because there is a lot to digest. This is not a simple story. I like to say Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel books are Game of Thrones meets 50 Shades of Grey (minus the poorly written fan fiction). Heads up: the term “game of thrones” is actually mentioned twice in Chosen! Ha!

By the time Phedrè, Joscelin and her three chevaliers head to La Serenissima – alias Venice – I was starting to get really annoyed. Not with the storyline, not with the writing which is unique, but with Phedrè herself. Maybe I didn’t notice it so much in the first book, but here she has very little likable traits. Altogether, I found Phedrè to be haughty, overconfident in her spying abilities, rude, and selfish. Whenever she came across as remorseful, I didn’t buy it too much. I think this was because she was also flat. I just didn’t feel her remorse or whatever humility she claimed she had. Flat is really the word that comes to mind when I think about Phedrè in this book.

Also flat are a lot of the other characters. Joscelin is just there for most of the book. The three chevaliers don’t seem to have distinct personalities and I couldn’t tell them apart. I would say the pirate Kazan Atrabiades was the most likable because he had a distinct personality, indicated by the way he spoke, which didn’t bother me so much. The villainess Melisande Shahrizai is someone to love to hate, but I also have to give her credit for being so cunning, sneaky and a literal slithering snake. She’s so good at playing the game of thrones (literally!), I found myself thinking, “well played, Melisande. Well played” toward the end. Not that I really wanted to think that, but I had to.

But Phedrè was a disappointment. Because of her, I seriously thought about putting down this book for good, hence why I took so long to finish Kushiel’s Chosen. But because I really wanted to find out where was Melisande, I carried on.

Eventually it was worth it. The story picked up, more cultures were explored and the big battle was exciting. The ending obviously leaves room for the third book, Kushiel’s Avatar, which I also have on my bookshelf. I will get to that later this year.

Overall, I did enjoy this book but the main character was unlikable. From what I heard, author Jacqueline Carey wasn’t given enough time to perfect this follow-up to her praised Kushiel’s Dart, so that might explain the flaws in this book. I hope she was given more time for the third one, or has found a way to work out Phedrè’s poor traits to make an interesting story.

So, I give this book 3/5. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible – it was simply good.

Learn more about Jacqueline Carey at her website.

2012 – What I’ve Learned This Year

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authors, book reviews, learning and growing, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, novels, NYD, NYE, self-published, self-publishing, selling books, what I've learned, writing

Well here it is – the very last day of 2012. Nearly 6 hours from now, I will be watching the ball drop and ring in 2013. It’s very exciting that a new year is about to begin, especially since that Mayan apocalypse turned out to be a joke, right? LOL!

Seriously though, I am looking forward to start a new year, and start things off fresh. There’s something so relieving and refreshing to start things off clean because it really is a chance to dust yourself off and begin again. In my case, 2012 is my dust.

Not that the year wasn’t lousy for me – of course not! I saw the publishing of my first book! I literally completed a novel and published it all on my own! How many people can say they did that?

The Dark Proposal has done well. As I mentioned in my previous post, it has either sold or downloaded for free an estimated 700 times, which is great. Some loved it, some thought it was OK, some wished they hadn’t read it. And that’s fine with me! This is my first novel, my first ever attempt at releasing a story to the world for total strangers to judge. When you put it into perspective, it takes a lot of guts to do that.

Some would say confidence and fearlessness is really the trick, but for me, it really was a now or never attitude to getting my first book out. I wasn’t completely confident in my story, though that might have been new-author jitters. But I really felt I had to get started with my writing career. I was unemployed at the time, and I felt I had to do something meaningful while I was doing whatever I can to get a job somewhere. So why not fulfill my lifelong dream?

I am glad that I published my first book and I am pleased that I could finally call myself an author. But I think I still have a lot to learn despite having learned plenty this year about writing and publishing.

First off, writing a novel is a tough thing to do – harder than it seems. It really takes all of your mental, emotional, spiritual and even physical energy to tell a well rounded story. It is so true that you have to give your work your very being. After all, you are creating a world and creating the lives in that world, so why shouldn’t you pour yourself into your novel?

I think there is a lot of opportunity for me to grow as an author – as long as I am up for it. You really have to keep an open mind and pay attention to critiques of your work and even others. Maybe you’ll be reading a review on Amazon or Goodreads of someone else’s book, and something will click in your head on what your story or character needs. Being open minded is the only way to grow.

Now, paying attention to critiques can be tricky. On one hand, you should definitely consider the words of beta readers or critique group participants. Notice the key word is consider, not take to heart. While you must think over what point anyone is trying to make, understand it is your story and you have the final say on how you want it to be written. So, its a delicate balance on what you want and what your potential audience wants for your book.

Now on the other hand, there are the reviews to your already published novel. There are many who say an author should never read the reviews to their books on Amazon or Goodreads. All they should do is make sure the rating is good enough to maintain sales, and keep working on their next novel. But honestly, who can’t resist reading reviews?

I was guilty of this and it took a while for me to realize that it is best to not read reviews. I thought I was strong enough to handle criticism and I knew damn well I wasn’t going to harass anyone who gave me a bad review. But I admit it hurt to see the negative reviews. I’m sure every author feels that way when someone says their book wasn’t good, especially one that is brand new in the world of book publishing. Thick skin is important in this field, and it is best that you develop one if you want to continue publishing novels.

I confess there were times where I doubted my abilities as a writer and wished I had received more critiques before publishing. I also wished I had taken my time perfecting The Dark Proposal as much as possible. I even thought about unpublishing my book, fix it up and re-release it again. But that wasn’t quite logical with the first version already being out there, so I had to let my novel be.

You live, you learn and you grow. That is all you can do. There is no other choice. So, I’m learning from what I’ve read in those negative reviews to make the sequel to The Dark Proposal hopefully better than its predecessor. I’m going to work harder on the follow-up because now I know what I am getting myself into. While I tend to wish I knew before, but how could I if I hadn’t experienced what I had this year?

So, as 2012 comes to an end, I am pleased to say that this is the year that I became a published author. A year from now, as 2013 comes to a close, I would like to say, this is the year I became a better author!

Happy New Year everyone! 🙂

EDIT: Here’s a meme I found that sums up what I’ve learned in 2012:

Blog Tour Stop: Read-A-holicZ

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book reviews, Book tours, eBooks, indie authors, Indie books, paranormal, urban fantasy

The final stop on my blog tour was at Read-A-holicZ where my novel, The Dark Proposal, was reviewed by Lisseth. She gave it 4 out of 5 golden feathers, which was great to see.

Please, stop by and show your support!

So, I have come to the end of my blog tour, courtesy of Dark Mind Book Tours. I thank Franny and Silvia from the bottom of my heart for putting together. They were easy to work with and none of this could’ve been possible without them. I highly recommend them!

I also would like to thank all the bloggers who hosted my blog tour and got the word out about my book. Thank you everyone!

 

 

Blog Tour Stop: Picked by Poison

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book reviews, Book tours, indie authors, Indie books, paranormal, urban fantasy, vampires

Another stop on my blog tour, this it is Picked by Poison. At this blog, I gave an interview, had an excerpt of Chapter One of my book displayed , and best of all, received a four star review!

Check out the post here and show some support!

Special thanks to Dark Mind Book Tours – they are awesome!