Across the Sands of Time

Serpent's Kiss by Thea Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did. It blew me away. I had that feeling I have missed about reading a great book that sucked me in. I actually savored the words and the writing. It was great as an audiobook narrated by Sophie Eastlake. She brought the characters to life for me. I mean they are vivid and wonderfully written, but hearing the dialogue was another level of experience.

This one of those books where you love the hero and heroine equally. I loved how Rune is so low key for a Wyr. His sanguine nature is well matched with Carling's melancholic personality. He's playful and he brings that out in a woman who has been so serious and is really ancient (although she looks like she's 30, she has the demeanor of an older woman). They are magic together. I felt that fate had continued to bring them together and in unique ways and cemented their bonds. I wasn't expecting the time traveling angle (and I'm kind weird about time travel romance tbh), but it really works for this book. I think Rune is very cool and I love him, but I'm really girl crushing over Carling. I love a heroine who is mature and has a thoughtful way about herself.

Compared to the first two books (honestly each one, as I'm currently doing a re-read of Storm's Heart) feels so different from each other. They are clearly related but the mood, pacing and thematic elements of each book are beautifully suited and unique to the stories being told. I really loved Dragon Bound, and I think this one might have edged it out. I feel that there was so much mutuality in their relationship, which I really love. In Dragon Bound, I do feel that Dragos had more power in their relationship (although arguably Pia has a lot of power that you might believe she would). In this book, I feel that Rune and Carling are on a more level playing field. There are moments where this might seem different in the story that I can't go into because of spoilers, but overall I think I'm right in my feelings. The steam was a perfect level, and I really felt like sighing as I read this book.

Now, for the storyline. This works just as well as fantasy as romance to me. Again, excellent world-building. I enjoyed how the world keeps expanding and we meet more of the Elder Races. I'm pretty intrigued with the characters I meet in this book who are in subsequent books, and I told me sister I will probably be binging these books all summer. It makes me glad that I didn't get a chance to read them until now, because I really need the distraction and something to take my mind off of real life.

I admit I kind of over vampires, but then I read a really well-written vampire book and I get drawn in again. I liked that this was a vampire romance in a way, but then it wasn't. It was about a really old vampire that might be facing the end, but maybe life and love has a different say. The descriptions of the past and just in general were heartbreakingly beautiful. Thea Harrison can really write. She inspired me in a way I needed right now. I've been focusing on growing as a visual artist, but words are another kind of magic that an artist can use, and wonderful writing like this makes me want to write more. Also, it's just a joy to read.

I'm sort of running out of words. Writing a review for an elegant beautiful novel deserves good words from me. Maybe I'll think of other things I want to take about and I'll add them later. If not, I'll end by saying check out this series if you haven't read it yet. Or maybe just do a reread. I doubt you'll be disappointed.


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The Breach by Patrick Lee

The Breach by Patrick Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After several false starts, I got into this book. I read most of it on the way to Illinois for Thanksgiving. This is one of those books that takes a while to get started, but once you're in, you're in. The concept is so crazy, it takes a while to figure out what's going on. I think the closest comparison I could make is the TV show "Fringe". It's that kind of crazy. Also it's the kind of thing that people who have tons of conspiracy theories and deep distrust for the establishment, corporations and the government will read and say, "I told you so." The ending is a bit of a mindblower. I am still trying to decide how I felt about it.

I am no physics genius, but I love the concept of time travel. I like the ethics and philosophical aspects. You know, the whole grandfather complex thing and the "if you could go forward or back, would you?" kind of thing. Also, there's the whole what happens when we open doors to places we don't know anything about. Should some doors stay closed?

As a scientist, I have asked myself that many times. I tend to be a big fan of scientific ethics and I think that you can't throw that out just in the search of knowledge. Seek it, but seek it carefully and cautiously. Some of the inventions in this book, I can't even. I mean, they should be buried in a very deep hole somewhere. I pray some of this will never exist in real life.

So anyway, my opinions of science and time travel aside, this trippy book really grabbed me and didn't let me go. There is a high body count and I asked myself what the hell is wrong with some people. They abandon right and wrong for power and ugly stuff happens. That's a big part of this book. Also, on the good side, there are people who will put their lives on the line to do the right thing. That takes a lot of moral courage and I feel that even from fiction, we can draw courage to face those tough ethical decisions in our own lives.

This one has some blood and guts, but nothing gratuitous. I would advise readers to plan to pick up the next book. I have it, and I will try to get to it in the nearish future.

This is my second book by Patrick Lee. I read Runner first, and I like his style. He's not afraid to go there and put the reader through their paces. He doesn't give them a cut and dried book. He makes them think about what they are reading. I like that in an author.

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The Flash, Vol. 2: The Road to Flashpoint by Geoff Johns, Francis Manapul (Illustrator), Scott Kolins (Illustrator)

The Flash, Vol. 2: The Road to Flashpoint by Geoff Johns

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


I actually read this almost two weeks ago.  I have been following the Flashpoint storyline since I watched the DC Animation movie, "The Flashpoint Paradox."  It's very intense and even disturbing.  This book is sort of like a prelude to that situation, related to the extreme hatred that Eobard Thawne has for the Flash (Bary Allen), who lived about a thousand years prior to the time in which Thawne lives, the 32nd century.  Thawne's hero worship turns into hatred because he cannot live up to the standard that Allen has set. Frankly, Thawne is a bully, a creep, and an uneasy mix of sociopath and psychopath.  It made this book unpalatable reading in that he manipulates the timeline in terrible ways just to get what he wants.  When this doesn't achieve the result he desires, he decides to go back in time and wreck if not destroy Barry Allen's life, when he realizes he cannot eradicate Allen from the timeline. 

This wasn't bad reading. I just didn't think that it compares to the powerful impact of the following Flashpoint volumes.  I like the Flash, but I realize that I wasn't as drawn into a story where it's just about him, and other Justice League members don't feature.  I don't know how fair a statement that is just yet, so I will have to read more Flash volumes to decide if this is true or not.

It think this deserves 3.5 stars. It's diverting and Thawne truly is a piece of work. I feel that his characterization was stronger than Barry and other members of the Flash family, so that's part of why my rating wasn't higher.  But I think it's still pretty good.  I get increasingly fascinated with time travel, and the Flash presents such a distinctive look at time travel and the concept of faster-than-light travel.



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Time Bomb by Justin Gray (Goodreads Author), Jimmy Palmiotti, Paul Gulacy (Illustrator)

Time Bomb by Justin Gray

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Picked this up from my library, and I was pleasantly surprised.  This quartet of special operatives were tasked to go back one day in the past to avert a disaster caused by the activation of an underground Nazi missile carrying deadly biotoxin that could easily end the human race.  They end up in 1940s Germany just months prior to the end of the war.


Excellent action, with artwork that gives this a cinematic feel. The characters feel unique, and it's an interesting view to have one of the team members as a black man in Nazi Germany, although they didn't delve into it as much as one would expect.  However, this is a really quick time period (24 hours), and it's practically nonstop. It gets very interesting.  I didn't really understand the technology, but that's not a deal breaker.  I liked the various gadgets that the team took with them, and they were all extremely capable and lethal. 

I'm a bit of a WW2 geek, so I'm glad I was able to read this. I'd like to read more about this team.




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