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sumeriaIn recent months, I have been spending all my free reading time reading fanfiction. Not that there's anything wrong with that! And it has allowed me to collect links to a really impressive variety of pr0n, and really, who doesn't like pr0n? (Next project: organize links into categories, so the next time I think, "I want a fic where Rose and the Doctor curl up in bed totally platonically and wake up with hands in naughty places" I will have them all sorted into one convenient list.) Though I promise, I do also read plenty of fic which it would be perfectly acceptable to show to children and which is not pr0ny at all. Though the Torchwood kick I've been on for the last week or two has crimped my non-pr0n style; there's not really a ton of Jack/Ianto fic where they hold hands and then fade to black.
But anyway, I got to thinking. "Self," I said, "You need to read more actual novels. For one, it would make talking to your family way less complex when they ask, 'So, what have you been reading lately?' because it is really hard to say to your mother, in re: that question, 'Oh, you know. Fanfiction where my favorite tv characters stop being total morons and actually get together and/or do not die horribly or get 'lost'.' That just doesn't work. Also, it would give your RL friends some relief from the way you constantly chatter on about whatever fandom is currently obsessing you, in that it would at least diversify the chatter." And I realized I had a really good point. Even the best of friends surely must get sick of hearing me talk constantly about Ten, or Jack, or why it totally makes sense for Rose to hook up with both of Ten and the many and myriad reasons why that would not be at all awkward. Surely, I thought, it would almost be a relief to have that interrupted by the occasional exclamation, "Oh don't date the FBI agent! You want the demon god-king!"*
So I reminded myself that the Kindle is not just for reading fanfic (totally worth it for that purpose, mind) and downloaded a book.
*actual exclamation I was actually heard to exclaim earlier tonight whilst my less crazy housemates were trying to play Borderlands
But anyway, I got to thinking. "Self," I said, "You need to read more actual novels. For one, it would make talking to your family way less complex when they ask, 'So, what have you been reading lately?' because it is really hard to say to your mother, in re: that question, 'Oh, you know. Fanfiction where my favorite tv characters stop being total morons and actually get together and/or do not die horribly or get 'lost'.' That just doesn't work. Also, it would give your RL friends some relief from the way you constantly chatter on about whatever fandom is currently obsessing you, in that it would at least diversify the chatter." And I realized I had a really good point. Even the best of friends surely must get sick of hearing me talk constantly about Ten, or Jack, or why it totally makes sense for Rose to hook up with both of Ten and the many and myriad reasons why that would not be at all awkward. Surely, I thought, it would almost be a relief to have that interrupted by the occasional exclamation, "Oh don't date the FBI agent! You want the demon god-king!"*
So I reminded myself that the Kindle is not just for reading fanfic (totally worth it for that purpose, mind) and downloaded a book.
Specifically, I read a book called Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland. It's one of those combination police-procedural/supernatural urban fantasy types that's become so common recently. Though in a unique twist, our detective heroine is not a vampire! In fact, no one is a vampire! I know, I was shocked too. Instead, our heroine summons demons. She doesn't tell people she does this, because then they might look at her funny. And/or think that she refers to Satan as her lord and master, which, from their perspective, would not be a completely untoward thing to think, what with the demon-summoning and all. (In fairness, they would also think she was crazy, because of that thing where everyone knows there's no such thing as demons.)
Basic plot: there's a serial killer engaging in a series of torture-murders, which our heroine, newly-minted to the homicide desk, swiftly begins to suspect are being done as some sort of aid to really nasty demon-summoning. (as opposed to the fluffy bunny kind of demon summoning in which she is wont to engage) Then she gets put in charge of the investigation, which kind of startles her because of the aforementioned 'newly-minted' thing. The FBI dude sent down to help doesn't really think she's competent, and then she accidentally summons a demon god-king when she's trying to do research, and so, all in all, her investigation gets weird.
The police-procedural bit of the book was a bit 'meh' for me, which is a shame, because the author spent ten years of her life *as a police officer*, so I imagine it's a fairly good representation. I think --don't laugh-- that I've been spoiled by the In Death mystery/procedurals/romance novels. What with being set in the future and all, the police force is way more competent and tech-savy in ways that I suspect have more to do with authorial hand waving than with looking anything like the way actual police conduct their investigations. Hrm. Perhaps I shall also blame CSI and their dna-matching montages. To give Ms. Rowland her due, though, I was completely irritated with our heroine about halfway through for not figuring out who the killer was when it was damned obvious, only to have my assumption be totally wrong. It was, as it turns out, not that obvious.
But I'm not really crazy about mysteries, so the fact that that didn't really work perfectly for me bothered me very little. I like the magic system in this world, and I hope the author writes more, because I'd like to read more. I liked our heroine as well; she had a very good mix of snark, competence, and *lack* of that oh-so-annoying, and yet, in modern fantasy women, oh-so-ever-present, "I can do anything better than everyone else, kiss my boots" River Song-esque air. I really hate characters like that.
Really, though, I was mostly in this for the above referenced demon god-king. It is, I realize, pretty much a rule of this genre that all female protagonists will be given two options of a.)attractive, slightly badass, relatively normal dude who really likes them and b.)incredibly attractive, ridiculously powerful supernatural guy who does a really good job of acting like he likes them but may have nefarious plans and probably can't be trusted. The fact that I was completely rooting for option 'b' should not be taken as indicating that I think that was a good idea; it's a terrible idea, and he was totally using our heroine for his own nefarious purposes. But I am occasionally really shallow and the demon god-king was way more interesting than the FBI agent. (I feel no compulsion to advocate that fictional characters make responsible life choices; rather, I advocate that they dance for my amusement.)
In conclusion: I would totally recommend this one to anyone who wanted to kill an evening in a pleasant fashion.
Basic plot: there's a serial killer engaging in a series of torture-murders, which our heroine, newly-minted to the homicide desk, swiftly begins to suspect are being done as some sort of aid to really nasty demon-summoning. (as opposed to the fluffy bunny kind of demon summoning in which she is wont to engage) Then she gets put in charge of the investigation, which kind of startles her because of the aforementioned 'newly-minted' thing. The FBI dude sent down to help doesn't really think she's competent, and then she accidentally summons a demon god-king when she's trying to do research, and so, all in all, her investigation gets weird.
The police-procedural bit of the book was a bit 'meh' for me, which is a shame, because the author spent ten years of her life *as a police officer*, so I imagine it's a fairly good representation. I think --don't laugh-- that I've been spoiled by the In Death mystery/procedurals/romance novels. What with being set in the future and all, the police force is way more competent and tech-savy in ways that I suspect have more to do with authorial hand waving than with looking anything like the way actual police conduct their investigations. Hrm. Perhaps I shall also blame CSI and their dna-matching montages. To give Ms. Rowland her due, though, I was completely irritated with our heroine about halfway through for not figuring out who the killer was when it was damned obvious, only to have my assumption be totally wrong. It was, as it turns out, not that obvious.
But I'm not really crazy about mysteries, so the fact that that didn't really work perfectly for me bothered me very little. I like the magic system in this world, and I hope the author writes more, because I'd like to read more. I liked our heroine as well; she had a very good mix of snark, competence, and *lack* of that oh-so-annoying, and yet, in modern fantasy women, oh-so-ever-present, "I can do anything better than everyone else, kiss my boots" River Song-esque air. I really hate characters like that.
Really, though, I was mostly in this for the above referenced demon god-king. It is, I realize, pretty much a rule of this genre that all female protagonists will be given two options of a.)attractive, slightly badass, relatively normal dude who really likes them and b.)incredibly attractive, ridiculously powerful supernatural guy who does a really good job of acting like he likes them but may have nefarious plans and probably can't be trusted. The fact that I was completely rooting for option 'b' should not be taken as indicating that I think that was a good idea; it's a terrible idea, and he was totally using our heroine for his own nefarious purposes. But I am occasionally really shallow and the demon god-king was way more interesting than the FBI agent. (I feel no compulsion to advocate that fictional characters make responsible life choices; rather, I advocate that they dance for my amusement.)
In conclusion: I would totally recommend this one to anyone who wanted to kill an evening in a pleasant fashion.
*actual exclamation I was actually heard to exclaim earlier tonight whilst my less crazy housemates were trying to play Borderlands
