Sara King (1)

Started slow, got better in the middle, got less good at the end. But I'm curious enough to possibly pick up the next one.

It does have some pretty graphic and sadistic violence and surgical scenes. I actually skipped the worst of it, skimmed over the rest. It didn't seem gratuitous, exactly, because it does depict exactly how either evil or amoral the characters are; but less would have been enough. I would not recommend this book for people who have no tolerance for that.

The sociopathic show more genius little kid is interesting, but almost completely unbelievable to me *as* a little kid. In the first scene, where Mag and her little sister Anna are introduced and Anna says she's 8 years old, I assumed from the context that this was 8 colonial years, on some planet that took 2-3 terran years to circle its sun. I was shocked when it became clear that, no, really, this is supposed to be a little kid.

I also found some of the characters' decisions to be rather unbelievably abrupt. And there are a couple other things that twang at my suspension of disbelief.

But it's hard to find real, actual SF these days, and this does qualify. (Although there had better be a believable mechanism for the vegetable-carving idiot savant seer, and Magala's unbelievable ability with weapons. I suppose it's the Yolk that's ultimately responsible, but hopefully with enough explanation to be more than the SF equivalent of magic deus ex machina. show less

Fred recommended this to me, after going around explaining to me why furglings are worse than furgs - which told me he was really into it. I finally got around it to it - and now I'm going around calling things jenfurglings. The scary bit is that it sounds perfectly normal.

I'll be the first to admit - I love to champion character writers (finally! another author who admits that their characters hijack the book!) and small publishers. It was a pleasure to read a well written and well edited show more book with a highly unique perspective on what an alien invasion of Earth could really mean.

Forging Zero will challenge your view of the world and the possibilities you consider for the future. It may very well challenge your view of right and wrong. It will certainly hurt your ethics. And it will make you call people furglings. show less

Noisy, roaring, brilliant fun! - another fabulous read from Sara King, peeps, which reminded me of The Taming of The Shrew, the characters were fighting each other and their attraction to each other so hard. The main heroine is big and bulky and very-self-conscious girl and the main hero is a social suicide. Everything that comes out of his mouth is foul, embarrassing and incredibly funny, considering how awkwardly in love and lust he is with his Amazon. Do read it, I beg you!

It's been a long time since I've read a book with such a sparkling witty dialogue, such interesting characters and deliciously mad world-building.

Alaskan Fury is an underdog. You look at the cover and think "No effing way!" Yes, way. It's so cool, peeps, I can't even start describing it properly.

Let's see. The beginning is pretty typical. Here is this Fury, who 3 thousand years ago was sent to kill a djinni who got out of line. In the act of desperation he called for a duel and then show more soul-bonded himself to her. Now she can't kill anyone because her Fury powers are gone, and she also acquired a curse of two-natured and turns into a wolf from time to time. She is bone tired, always afraid of her captive and dependent on him to get her out of danger.

For the last few years they have been holed up in Alaska, the last bastion of supernatural in the world that slowly has been conquered by the mighty Inquisition, but now the Inquisitors are here. In the Inquisition attempt to capture, torture and drain of blood the paranormal creatures who live in the enclave with Kaashifah and 'Aqrab, those two escape and try to make their way to the dragons where Kaashifah will attempt to bargain djinni in exchange for her captured friends.

Of course, 'Aqrab is not ecstatic about it. Like his captor he is bone tired of her hatred, her lashing out at him with magic every time he says something wrong, they both want to die. The miscommunication between them is so vast that right in the beginning the reader is on Fury's side distrusting the djinni, but slowly through their journey, their saving each others lives, their countless arguments, we realise that 'Aqrab is completely opposite to what Fury thinks of him.

The dialogues, the banter are top notch. The story is very complex and full of fleshed out characters. There is this Inquisitor Imelda, who narrates a lot of the book. She is young and talented, and dissatisfied with Inquisition's methods. Her hunt for the fury and the djinni is a sort of revelation for her, and changes everything she believed in before. There is her team, and scary intrigues within the organisation, there is a sweet unicorn, a stupid young and cocky dragon and unbelievably cool and sleek Thunderbird.

At last, there is an epic battle in the end, and I'm very much looking forward to reading more of Sara King. She definitely made a wonderful impression on me *grinning* show less