Blog Tour: Paradise 21 review and guest blog by Aubrie Dionne

First up is a guest blog by the author of Paradise 21, Aubrie Dionne.

Bad Guys in Sci fi and Why We Love Them

#1. Darth Vader

There are so many reasons to love and hate Darth Vader. At first we think he’s purely evil, but when we learn of the backstory in Episode three, we pity him. He has so much power, but nothing he can do can change Padme’s destiny. In the end, he does a complete one eighty and turns back to the good side. We don’t see this in every villain, and it’s hard to write in a character, but when Luke Skywalker is calling for his father’s help, and Darth Vader decides to turn good, we believe it. He is an excellent, three dimensional bad guy with reasons for his evilness.

#2. The Borg

The Borg in Star Trek the Next Generation really creeped me out. They were relentless, and the idea of losing your identity to join a collective mind is chilling. Not only do you buy into their hive mind philosophy, but you become one physically as well. Jean Luc Picard is taken by the Borg and assimilated. He still has nightmares of his time with them. They aren’t evil, they’re just another species trying to survive. They can’t make their own offspring, so they must assimilate those around them. Very scary, cool bad guys.

#3. Ra in Stargate

The coolest thing about this bad guy is that he’s actually an alien who has taken the form of a young boy. When he’s angry, his true colors shine through and you can see the alien eyes beaming out of his head. He isn’t evil, he’s just greedy and lazy. The last one of his kind, he’s found a way to live forever by mining a particular mineral. Only, he doesn’t want to do it himself, he want to enslave the people on Earth and make them mine the mineral for him.

#4. The Body Snatchers

The scariest thing about the body snatchers is that they look just like the people you love. They come from space and grow into giant pods. When you fall asleep next to one, they steal your body by creating another you, then go about living your life as an emotionless zombie. Pretty scary, and very cool if you ask me.

Who is your favorite sci fi bad guy? Have I left any great ones out? 

 

About the Author:

Aubrie is an author and flutist in New England. Her stories have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, A Fly in Amber, and several print anthologies including Skulls and Crossbones by Minddancer Press, Rise of the Necromancers, by Pill Hill Press, Nightbird Singing in the Dead of Night by Nightbird Publishing, Dragontales and Mertales by Wyvern Publications, A Yuletide Wish by Nightwolf Publications, and Aurora Rising by Aurora Wolf Publications.  Her epic fantasy is published with Wyvern Publications, and several of her ebooks are published with Lyrical Press and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. When she’s not writing, she plays in orchestras and teaches flute at Plymouth State University and a community music school. 

http://www.authoraubrie.com
http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com

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Title: Paradise 21
Author: Aubrie Dionne
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: August 2011
ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-02-2
Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-03-9
http://www.entangledpublishing.com/paradise-21/

Book Trailer:

Ebook review copies available at NetGalley.com 

Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew—a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.

But Aries has other plans. When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates—humans who escaped Earth before its demise—are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price. The life of the man she loves.

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Review by Lis:

Don’t you just love Sci-Fi? It’s a genre where everything and anything is possible. Romans in space, killer mice which can travel the speed of light, alien invasions and so on. While not quite so drastic, Paradise 21 is interesting in that: ‘what-have-they-gone-and-done-now’ kinda way, cause let me tell you, if you think humans are stupid now, just wait what they are going to do in the nearby future.

With Paradise 21 Aubrey Dionne has created a setting where humans are big on genetic purity. So much so in fact that when they’ve offed earth they gathered the best and brightest – the best genetically predisposed humans (gah, writing this makes me ashamed of being human ;-)) – and put them on Noah’s ark – erh – space ship and set off for a habitable planet. They go a little further.  Aries, and no we’re not talking god of war here, is one of the lovely colonists aboard the ship. She is forced to marry whoever is best genetically compatible to her. Poor girl, especially because her best match is an overbearing, dictatorial and manipulative bastard to put it mildly. However, she doesn’t lie down and thinks of England or Earth or whatever and escapes and that is where the real story starts. 

She crash-lands on Sahara 354 a planet that rivals its contemporary counterpart where she encounters Strikers and oh so genetically impure but very very yummy human who is everything she shouldn’t want but likes very much. Did I mention he is a pirate? No? Well, he is! From there on out it’s all adventure, challenges and romance.

The above makes this book sounds a bit gloom and doom, but all is not as dire as I make it seem. The story is well written, but has a few of the romance traps. If you think Aries intended let’s her escape just slide, you got that wrong. So be aware the vengeful scorned partner to be. 

Aubrie Dionne created quite the story with Paradise 21. It’s a bit of Star Wars meets Pirates of the Caribbean if you look past the genetic holocaust. The characters are round and interesting, definitely not your stock romance characters. Aries is every bit the stubborn, independent, yet vulnerable woman. Striker is every bit the macho pirate who’s afraid to let a woman get close to him. Add to that some pretty interesting aliens and you got yourself a crew. Well sort of!

Despite me not really connecting to this story it was in no way a bad one. Objectively it’s good and it has everything you need for a fast-paced space romance.  All in all not a bad book to review. 

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PS from Blodeuedd. My flash fic for the week ;)

Review: Double Cross - Carolyn Crane

Series: The Disillusionists Trilogy #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 326
Date Published: 2010
Source: Bought

Justine Jones lived her life as a fearful hypochondriac until she was lured into the web of a mysterious mastermind named Packard, who gifts her with extraordinary mental powers—dooming her to fight Midcity’s shadowy war on paranormal crime in order to find the peace she so desperately craves.

But now serial killers with unheard-of skills are terrorizing the most powerful beings in Midcity, including mastermind Packard and his oldest friend and worst enemy, Midcity’s new mayor, who has the ability to bend matter itself to his will. 

As the body count grows, Justine faces a crisis of conscience as she tests the limits of her new powers and faces an impossible choice between two flawed but brilliant men—one on a journey of redemption, the other descending into a pit of moral depravity.

My thoughts:

Crane does have quite the imagination. Justine the hypochondriac is fighting crime by putting fear into people. She is not alone in this but have others like her around her. And then there are the high caps who have real powers, not like Justine who got them from someone else. The high caps have all sorts of powers like telepathy to forming stone. The world is fascinating and the general populace does not know the high caps exist, some believe, some don't.

I would love to go on and talk about the end now but I will hold it in. Justin is, I do not know how to describe her really because she is not your ordinary heroine. The power of zinging out her fear keeps her from going under. And she still battles her fear of dying by the disease that killed her mother, and just worrying about everything. She is not a kick-ass heroine in that sense, she is more the  shadow behind the corner that might be out to get you.

The men then. Justine is dating Otto, a hypochondriac like her but he is also a high cap and mayor of the town. He is, I do not know, I was pretty much all over him in book 2 but in this book I slowly switched team. To Packard, oh yes the former crime boss who was imprisoned in his deli and then helped his merry band of Disillusionists to fight crime. Here was just so nice and just let her be her. Team kebab it is.

But now I really need to address the end, omg omg omg omg omg omg! I knew what people were saying, that there was some huge cliffie and therefore I waited a bit with reading the book. Now I have finally read it and yes the end just hit me over the head, and then it kept hitting me until I went into shock. It was..epic, what a genius ending.

Still I do not want to scare you, it was not one of those cliffhangers that make you pull your hair out and hate the world for not having the next book. It was a different sort of cliffhanger that left me in shock, but I can wait since the end was just that, an ending you could live with (while screaming inside of course).

I do realise that I have said nothing about the story. Ok, there are doubts of what they are doing is right. There are people killing high caps. Justine getting into her relationship with Otto and all that jazz.

Conclusion.
I am still pretty much dazed from reading the book. It was truly one of the better endings out there. This is such a different sort of UF so give it a go.

Rating:

It went from good to mind-blowing those last few pages. You better just read it

Cover:

Good

Review: Blood Bound - Rachel Vincent

Series: Unbound #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 400
Publisher: Mira
Date published: August 23rd 2011
Source: I got an ARC from the author, yay

By blood, by word, by magic…
Most can't touch the power. But Liv Warren is special— a paranormal tracker who follows the scent of blood. Liv makes her own rules, and the most important one is trust no one. But when her friend's daughter goes missing, Liv has no choice but to find the girl. Thanks to a childhood oath, Liv can't rest until the child is home safe. But that means trusting Cam Caballero, the former lover forbidden to her.

Bound by oath and lost in desire for a man she cannot have, Liv is racing to save the child from a dark criminal underworld where secrets, lies, trauma and danger lurk around every corner…every touch…every kiss. And more blood will be spilled before it's over…

My thoughts:

This is the start to a new series from Rachel Vincent and after having her Shifter series I knew I wanted this book, and what more can I say then I am sure glad I got it.

The paranormal elements in this series are that some skilled individuals have the power to find someone by a name, by blood, some have binding powers and make contracts you can't break, and some can move from shadow to shadow. There are also more and everyone knows about them, but no countries have done anything about this and pretend they are not there. Then there are those who profit from these skills others have and that bring us to the novel. There are two crime bosses in the city and you do not want to cross them. They hold on to their empires and skills are a trade to them.

Liv has the skill of tracking and these days she tries to stay on one side of the town since she works now and again for one of the crime bosses, Cavazo. She is strong, kickass (we all know I love that), and she has this love for freedom because in this world it's not easy being free. I did like her at once.

Cam is her exlover who shows up asking her to take a case. I can't go into details why they broke up but just say he wants her back and she is running. One thing he did I did not like, but again there were reasons back then. But damn this man loves her and wants her back. He would go to the end of the world for her and that is enough for me to melt into that little puddle. What else can I say then I promise you some romance and passion on the side.

It's not easy trying to move through this mafia world but they try their best. And I do love the world she created, it might just be this tiny obsession I used to have for mafia related things. There is action, danger and a whole lot of questions. Which is also a great part because there is always something there, just over that hill and I am reading like crazy to find the answers to everything that is happening. You just can't put it down, you will want more, you need to know more.

And that brings us to Cavazo, the awesome baddie. He is so evil, and not in that delicious way where you want to have your way with him. But no in the evil evil way. He will not think twice of putting a bullet in your brain, he rules with an iron fist, he is cruel, he hits women, but I like him. Yes I do have problems it seems. The thing is that even though he is totally bad, there is still this glimmer of something decent buried way way way back inside of him and he does have one redeeming quality, which the other boss Tower does not seem to have. What can I say, I love a good baddie, and fine I pictured him as hot. But would not go anywhere near him. He is crazy after all.

Conclusion:

This was a great start to this series and it made me want the next book. Sadly I have to wait almost a year for that one. It also did not end in a cliffhanger,  ok sort of not ended. There was an end, there was a maybe, but I could live with it. To wrap this up, great book.

Rating:

Recommended

Cover:

I just do not like it at all. Are they in a forest? Why would they be in a  forest? I also think the cover might have been why I first thought it was a YA book when I saw it. And trust me, it is not.

Review: The Bride of Casa Dracula - Marta Acosta

Series: Casa Dracula #3
Genre: Humour/Paranormal romance with a twist
Pages: 268
Published: 2008
Publisher: Gallery Simon & Schuster
Source: Bought

Milagro De Los Santos is having serious problems planning her wedding to fabulous Oswald Grant, M.D. Her future in-laws loathe her, her dog just died, and Oswald's family has a genetic anomaly that makes them crave blood. Then her extravagant best friend hijacks the role of wedding coordinator, and the secretive Vampire Council assigns conniving Cornelia Ducharme to guide the couple through the ancient vampire marriage rituals.

To top it all off, Milagro's career is on the skids. She's reduced to ghost-writing the memoirs of a loony little man who claims to be a shapeshifter. And why does Cornelia's decadent, way too attractive brother, Ian, always show up whenever Milagro is away from Oswald? When a series of accidents interferes with wedding plans, Oswald worries that Milagro is cracking under the pressure. Is she just paranoid, or is a hidden enemy trying to make sure Milagro doesn't wed the undead?

My thoughts:

First I have to post what Acosta herself called her books: comedies-of-manners, or romantic comedies with lots of chaos, confusion, charming villains, eccentrics, and flirting. Which really fits since this is not the normal kind of paranormal romance. Far from it. I just want to called it a witty romantic comedy involving humans who like blood and as Acosta said lots of flirting. 

Read her books! Lol, honestly they are so funny. I just love Milagros, she is witty, she has curves, she flirts, she has opinions and I think I really would enjoy having her as a friend.

Her men, oh I do like Oswald but, yes there is that but, he is just so nice and normal. Can he truly keep up with this crazy Latina when he is just so waspy. But she does love him and is marrying him and he does do a great job keeping up with her. But then there is goddamn Ian Ducharme as Oswald calls him. He is like fine wine, ok forget since I hate wine. He is like a yummy chocolate that melts in your mouth and makes you crave more and more. He makes you blood pump in your veins and he is just delicious. And he wants her *faints*.

Right the story, well as I said they are getting married and making preparations. She has to deal with the council who does not approve of her since she is the only human who was turned (a little mistake) and lived. And someone is after her. She is also ghost-writing for a freaky guy. All as is should be in Milagros universe.

All in all a highly enjoyable book that makes you want more. The way it ends, well it does end with an ending and you could be happy there. But there is one more after it so yay.

Conclusion:

Just read it, come one you know you want to! Start with book 1, you will not be sorry. You will smile, laugh and hopefully think Ian is as delicious as I find him. The book is witty and so just impossible to put down. I do wonder what happens in book 4, I mean..ohhhhhhhhh.

Rating:
I do think I made it clear. Read it :) I could not put it down.

Cover:
Fun :D