Janine Cross
Author of Touched By Venom: Book One of the Dragon Temple Saga
Series
Works by Janine Cross
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Cross, Paulette
- Birthdate
- 20th Century
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Canada
- Places of residence
- North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Organizations
- SF Canada
- Short biography
- Janine Cross backpacked through the Middle East when she was 18; she milked cows in Israel, sailed down the Nile with a couple of Dutch girls in Egypt, and skinny-dipped around various isles in Greece.
She then bicycled through Asia and the South Pacific, taking one year just to cycle through Australia. Several years and 24,000 kms later, she returned to her hometown of North Vancouver, Canada. Since then, she has competed in martial arts and dabbled in bellydance, rockclimbing, and real estate investments.
She's worked in a chocolate factory and a veterinary hospital, was the president of a writers' association for three years, and helped start a private school. She has two children.
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Reviews
OK, enough of the Djimbi ex machina. I was hoping she could do a little something more for the dragons, but at least there was a nifty creature at the end. Poor Zarq, she never does get away from the crazy mom. I had a hard time keeping track of the creepy men, but at least the storyline was never very predictable (though improbable, but then - it's a fantasy about dragons!)
Zarq's saga continues, even a little more violent and crazy and venom-addled than before. I got a little confused on who was who at times, but they were all running for that big dragon ...
I was worried that this one would be overly grim - and it was in its way, but also adventurous and overwrought (without the glamour of the Kushiel series, this world is a bit more grotty) - and I *do* want to know the further adventures of Zarq the venom junkie. I hope she sets the dragons free!
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Statistics
- Works
- 3
- Members
- 467
- Popularity
- #52,672
- Rating
- 3.1
- Reviews
- 17
- ISBNs
- 15
- Languages
- 1
Touched By Venom is about a young girl, Zarq, in her quest to save her sister and deal with the lingering effects of her mother's obsession, in a male-dominated, vaguely Africanized feudal culture with dragons as a major resource.
I need to state that the setting of the book is flavorful and rich. It is different enough to be interesting but close enough to real cultures to be understandable and relatable. I do feel that the made-up word quotient is way higher than is needed in a non-Tolkien tome, and it does get confusing and annoying.
The relationships between characters, particularly the dynamic between Zarq, her sister, and her mother, struck a chord with me. The mother obviously plays favorites as the sister takes after the mother, both sharing the same mottled green skin indicating a bottom-caste woman with the ability to use powerful blood magic. Zarq, despite the same parentage, did not inherit this. You see the results of this dynamic in many of Zarq's reactions and decisions, its believable.
The novel tracks Zarq from the ages of 9 to 17. As such, she makes childish decisions, which is nice and believeavble and shows growth. On the other hand, since she is a child, Zarq is limited in action and is relatively passive compared to an educated, adult heroine.
Plot-wise, I enjoyed the smaller elements thoroughly. There's a humanity to finding her sister, to living in the temple, to working in the jungle, etc. The larger plot, I don't know how I feel. It is very much a "Lone Heroine Starting a Revolution and Changing the World!" I certainly like this well enough---its a trope in fantasy, after all---but in this novel it seems to clash the flavor and tone, which seems to be a bit darker and more family-oriented in scale. The leaders Zarq is getting in place to depose are almost laughably evil. It is a very clear Evil Patriarchy. Its a gross oversimplification that doesn't promote a thoughtful feminist theme.
I feel like I can't complete this review without talking about the
TL;DR: A solid story in a rich setting marred by a few very poor artistic decisions.… (more)