Review: Song of Scarabaeus, by Sara Creasy

Loved this book and can't wait for the next installment, Children of Scarabaeus, scheduled for release in March (you can read the first chapter here). While Song has created a buzz among SFR readers, it isn't really a romance, though there are certainly romantic elements. Creasy sets up readers in this first book for what promises to be a multi-book adventure in which the H/H's relationship develops gradually.

Finn, the hero, is the strong silent type--enigmatic and intriguing (he cover artist for the book did a great job with him). Finn and Edie, the heroine, are tied together by a "leash" that will cause Finn's head to explode if he gets too far from Edie. Amazing plot device--wish I'd thought of it.

This book will totally do it for you if you like SF with biotech elements and evolutionary biology. There are a couple of amazing chapters in which Finn and Edie try to survive on a planet gone adaptively haywire. I was totally glued to the pages and actually tried to read while getting dressed for work.

SFR readers should be sure to get in on what promises to be an amazing series. Though Edie isn't as kick-ass as Jax from Ann Aguirre's Grimspace, I suspect that Creasy is going to go places with her character and I definitely want to be along for the ride.

Books to Watch for

It's 4:30 PM, completely dark and we have several inches of snow. And I'm thinking about some of the incredible books coming out in the next few months that will help me get through the Alaska winter:

Children of Scarabaeus, by Sara Creasy (March 2011)
This is SFR and I'm hoping it's as good as her first book was, Song of Scarabaeus. If you're into SFR and haven't started this series yet, get going!

The Sentinel Mage, by Emily Gee (25 January 2011)
I'm a fan of Emily Gee's fantasy books. She's got a great imagination and creates sympathetic, believable characters. She's also an underappreciated author, IMHO.

Dangerous in Diamonds, by Madeline Hunter (26 April 2011)
Regency-set historical romance by an author who consistently writes great romance. This is Castleford's story, if you've been following the Blooms series. I can't wait to see Daphne bring him around to love. And sobriety, of course.

And a quick sample of my TBR pile:

Countess by Christmas, by Annie Burrows (new-to-me author)

First Lord's Fury, by Jim Butcher (superb fantasy)

Killbox, by Ann Aguirre (the continuing SFR saga of my favorite alien-ass-kicking heroine)

The Heir, by Grace Burrowes (another new-to-me historical romance author)

October Reading List

October is looking like a great month for books, so I thought I'd share my TBR list:

Scoundrel, by Zoe Archer (Victorian-set HR with magic and adventure)
(I reviewed the first book, Warrior, last month; Scoundrel has a great $5.59 ebook price)

Emily and the Dark Angel, by Jo Beverley (Regency trad rerelease)
The publisher has priced this ebook ridiculously high at $9.99 [snort of annoyance]

The Iron Duke, by Meljean Brook (steampunk romance)
This book has garnered a ton of ebuzz; I haven't read any steampunk, but this may be where I start.

Twice the Novice, by Debra Glass (historical erotic romance set in Bavaria)

Gambit, by Kim Knox (space opera romance--what's not to like? Plus, Carina Press is offering a big discount)

Trial by Desire, by Courtney Milan (Regency-set HR)
Incidentally, Courtney makes very clever comments at Dear Author, especially on legal issues

Dark Road to Darjeeling, by Deanna Raybourn (Victorian-set historical mystery with a dash of romance)

And coming later this year:

Marry Me, by Jo Goodman (coming in December; I'll read anything Jo Goodman writes, even Westerns)

The Admiral's Penniless Bride, by Carla Kelly (coming in January 2011, which is so far away!)

The Unmasking of a Lady, by Emily May (Regency coming in November; I've loved all of Emily May's Regencies, as well as her fantasies, written as Emily Gee)

Historicals Set in Germany

A couple of days ago I discussed Irene Goodman's contention that a 28K historical romance set in Germany won't sell. No matter what. Although I believe Goodman was referring to print pubs, I'd like to mention that Debra Glass, who writes historical ER, will be releasing Twice the Novice, which features a Bavarian count on October 15th.

Bavaria is in Germany.

Not sure of word count, but I suspect it's a novella, which means it runs less than 30K. Just saying' . . .

Since I'm on the subject of historical ER, I'll mention that I just read Debra's Alabama-set Civil War romance, Rebel Rose. I adore the cover. And the book's great, too, with a MeOW-worthy hero and a great sense of place. [Just FYI, Debra's an Ellora's Cave author. So am I, though I don't know her personally.]

I'm so glad that some of the best writers in the ER genre--Glass and Samantha Kane--write historicals.

New Release!

Hooray! Today is the day my SF short novel The Antaren Affair is released. I'm really excited about it and am looking forward to hearing what readers think.

As I've written in other posts, I think that SF is entering a new era with the advent of ebooks. Romance has led the digital way, but I expect that SF niche publishers will emerge within the next ten years. I hope those niches include SFR and SFER (Science Fiction Erotic Romance). There's definitely a market for it, and I suspect that market is 1) largely untapped and 2) likely to grow as readers become ever more comfortable with technology and the concepts behind SF.

Since today is release day, I'm going to indulge myself and talk a little bit about The Antaren Affair. I've always been interested in how cultures construct gender and sex--i.e., how they understand and perpetuate "appropriate" roles for males, females, and those who are in-between.

So what if a highly intelligent woman from a sexist world meets a man from a world that has achieved equality? That's the fundamental conflict I deal with in the book. I make language the common ground between the hero and heroine. Language also enables the heroine to escape oppression to a certain degree.

Language structures how we think. Language establishes the conceptual limits for what is possible. To a certain extent, if we don't have a word for something, it's really hard to get our heads around it. As a writer, I think about language all the time and I had great fun devising grammatical principles for the Antaren language. I hope you enjoy the book!

P.S. If you do like it, let me know whether you'd be interested in reading Jhōltan's story.

Release date for The Antaren Affair

Yay! Just heard from my editor that the release date for The Antaren Affair will be July 7th. Very exciting! I still don't have a cover to post, but I'll slap it up on the blog as soon as it comes in. For now, I can offer a blurb. Excerpt coming soon.

Colonel Rákōsy Avar is an officer in the Imperial Forces sent to the planet Antares to negotiate an alliance. He’s learned the hard way to trust no one and has only one passion: duty. But when an Antaren kebara is sent to serve him in any way that he desires, she proves too great a temptation for the battle-scarred warrior. Although he suspects a trap, he still wants her in his bed. On her back.

Meraya is a woman trained to provide sexual pleasure. A woman whose duty is to serve. She has never known freedom. Or desire. But discovers both in the arms of the barbarian colonel. But Meraya is a pawn in a deadly game of interstellar politics that could cost her everything…including her heart.

When Avar discovers he wants more than what’s between Meraya’s lovely thighs, he must play for the highest stakes ever, gambling with the life of a woman he can’t resist. A woman whose betrayal would destroy him.

Medieval Romance

I'm waiting to hear about the release date for my science fiction romance The Antaren Affair so, as is my habit, I'm working on something about as far removed from my last project as possible. It's a medieval (erotic) romance set in 13th-century England tentatively titled The Captured Bride. I've already blogged about the, er, scene involving transparent clothing and a horse trough, which was great fun to write. I'm inordinately proud of it, so thought I would post the excerpt here.

Without warning, a shadow fell across the entrance to the passage, an arm’s length from where she stood against the wall. Her eyes widened. It was the knight. Langlois. He strode to the wooden trough used to water the horses. Grasping it by the sides, he leaned forward and dunked his head.

Alais swallowed. The linen pulled against lean, tight buttocks as he bent over the trough. Her eyes followed the line of his thigh, the smooth curve of his waist, then up, along the burnished arc of his back. Straightening, he shook his wet hair out of his face.

He had lost the leather tie that held his hair back. It was more than a way to secure his hair, she thought. It civilized him. Now, nearly naked, his hair spread over his neck and shoulders like the mane of some wild animal, the power in him that she had sensed earlier was magnified ten-fold. And it had a dangerous, untamed edge.

He rolled his shoulders and the muscles rippled as he flexed. Alais’s fingers scrabbled against the wall of the stable for support.

Langlois reached for a bucket, filled it and emptied it over his head. The water streamed in rivulets down his body—down the hard, corded muscle of his chest. Down the sensuous curve of his spine. He gave a sigh of pleasure and Alais caught her breath.

He ran his hands through his dark hair. Droplets of water flew in all directions.

“Like what you see, my lady?”

Alais froze. She darted a glance at the courtyard. No one was close enough to hear him.

Except her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and flattened herself against the wall of the stable. Perhaps if she didn’t acknowledge him, he would go away. Either that or she would miraculously become invisible.

She heard him laugh, as though he knew what she was thinking. “I know you’re there. The queen’s ladies don’t venture down to the stables often. Don’t you have somewhere to be? Perhaps some mending to do?”

Annoyed, Alais opened her eyes and drew herself up. “I detest mending.”

Langlois gave a deep laugh that caused an odd thrumming sensation low in her belly.

“Fair enough.”

He still hadn’t turned around. He stood, hands on hips and head bent as water dripped from his body. The sun, now rising over the castle walls, gilded his skin. Alais wondered whether he knew what a glorious sight he was. Probably.

Langlois turned and Alais’s eyes dropped instantly to his hips. He had managed to soak his braies at the trough. The linen was plastered to his body, outlining muscular thighs and the thick ridge of his c**k.

Her lips parted and she sucked in a breath. Her eyes, in defiance of her will, remained fixed upon the impressive bulge.

“You’re a bold one,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall of the adjacent outbuilding.

His words broke her strange paralysis. She lifted indignant eyes to his face.

“I most certainly am not.”

“Do you always stare like that?”

Alais felt her cheeks burn. Holy Mother, but the prioress would be horrified if she knew what Alais was thinking.

“I am merely curious,” she said, keeping her voice steady and trying for just a touch of insolence.

“Oh?” He had that amused look on his face again.

Alais’s trepidation disappeared and her irritation returned. She hadn’t spent all of her life in the convent, for heaven’s sake. She knew that men prized…size. Just last week she had ignored two whispering chambermaids who were comparing the attributes of a young squire.

“I was wondering about the reach of your…” Alais paused, as though searching for the right word. “Sword.” She hadn’t realized how dark and expressive his eyes were.

Langlois’s face went blank for a split second before he grinned. “And how do you find my…sword?”

Alais’s temper flared. He was mocking her.

One side of his mouth curved in a wicked smile. His nose had been broken, she realized. It should have lessened his attractiveness. It didn’t. Nor did she find the stubble darkening his jaw objectionable.

What was wrong with her?

“Your reach may be fine,” she replied sharply. “I cannot judge. But your sword is…lacking.”