Helpful Score: 6
Just AWFUL! So bad you can't even summon up the energy to keep reading beyond the first fifty pages because there is no way what minimal curiosity you might have regarding the resolution of the story is worth being tortured by the horrible plot, weird and flat characterization, and wooden sex. Seriously, how do these people get published????
I found this book in the Borders' bargain bin and bought it because I liked the idea of a fanfic writer's favorite character coming to life. But there is absolutely zilch anticipation involved in this book. The very worst fanfic I've ever read doesn't even compare to how terrible this book started. You realize quickly that this book sacrifices believability, characterization, and plot in order to have Danae and Alekhsiy jump into bed literally after meeting and exchanging only a few sentences 30 pages into the book. Hello? Where is the justifiable disbelief that he is actually Alekhsiy from the Torhtremer's saga (a kind of Lord of the Rings type story with a rabid fanbase and more ridiculous names)? Where is the the fun friction of him trying to convince her that he is who he says he is? No. All the interesting possibilities for this plot to be good are bull-dozed over so the two characters can start in with the sex.
So you'd think the sex would be good and varied? It isn't. You think that at least the depictions of the the convention goers would be amusing and witty? They aren't. Really, you are left with a flat world, with flat characterization, robotic bizarre sex with the worse kind of flowering prose ridiculously strewn throughout. It's like a geeky 13 year old tried to write her version of Dungeons & Dragons meets a romance novel. This is a very unsuccessful novel in my opinion and I'll be happy to swap it to someone who won't want to throw up in her mouth a little bit from trying to read it. Good riddance!
I found this book in the Borders' bargain bin and bought it because I liked the idea of a fanfic writer's favorite character coming to life. But there is absolutely zilch anticipation involved in this book. The very worst fanfic I've ever read doesn't even compare to how terrible this book started. You realize quickly that this book sacrifices believability, characterization, and plot in order to have Danae and Alekhsiy jump into bed literally after meeting and exchanging only a few sentences 30 pages into the book. Hello? Where is the justifiable disbelief that he is actually Alekhsiy from the Torhtremer's saga (a kind of Lord of the Rings type story with a rabid fanbase and more ridiculous names)? Where is the the fun friction of him trying to convince her that he is who he says he is? No. All the interesting possibilities for this plot to be good are bull-dozed over so the two characters can start in with the sex.
So you'd think the sex would be good and varied? It isn't. You think that at least the depictions of the the convention goers would be amusing and witty? They aren't. Really, you are left with a flat world, with flat characterization, robotic bizarre sex with the worse kind of flowering prose ridiculously strewn throughout. It's like a geeky 13 year old tried to write her version of Dungeons & Dragons meets a romance novel. This is a very unsuccessful novel in my opinion and I'll be happy to swap it to someone who won't want to throw up in her mouth a little bit from trying to read it. Good riddance!
Fun read - it's a sequel to Whiteside's half of Captive Dreams which she wrote with Angela Knight. [Having read Dreams is not necessary, it stands well on it's own.] Like Dreams it has an action based plot but most of this one takes place on our earth at a very large Atlanta science fiction/fantasy/combat convention. [I'm assuming this is a thinly veiled reference to the real DragonCon.]
The hero, the king's brother and general of his armies, has been sent to eliminate the threat caused by Azerbhai's [the big, bad Imperial Beast introduced in Dreams] efforts to bring a new catalyst into their world from ours. Alekhsiy is sworn to prevent this at any cost.
The heroine, Danae who is a famous dancer, is a writer of fan fiction for Torhtremer. Her stories all have one hero, Alekhsiy, so it doesn't take her long to figure out who the hunky guy in the outstanding armor is. He is equally taken aback to recognize the dancer from his dreams.
Lots of page turning suspense, charming characters, and the setting of a quirky SF/F convention? Who could ask for more?
The hero, the king's brother and general of his armies, has been sent to eliminate the threat caused by Azerbhai's [the big, bad Imperial Beast introduced in Dreams] efforts to bring a new catalyst into their world from ours. Alekhsiy is sworn to prevent this at any cost.
The heroine, Danae who is a famous dancer, is a writer of fan fiction for Torhtremer. Her stories all have one hero, Alekhsiy, so it doesn't take her long to figure out who the hunky guy in the outstanding armor is. He is equally taken aback to recognize the dancer from his dreams.
Lots of page turning suspense, charming characters, and the setting of a quirky SF/F convention? Who could ask for more?
