that shall be queen hereafter

Same-sex marriage has been legalized. I...wow. It's a good fucking day to be an American, I have to say.

(I SOUND CALM. I AM NOT CALM. I HAVE BEEN CRYING ON AND OFF ALL DAY I THINK WE NEED A GROUP HUG ;~~;)

(Two years later...)



Let me talk to you about one of my favorite books: Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett.

First thing's first: Steampunk dragons. I mean...it's right there on the cover. Steampunk dragons. If that's not enough to entice you, how about magicians? How about a massive range of fascinating characters? How about canon same-sex relationships between characters whose sexuality is just one of a long list of their traits? Is this starting to sound like fun yet?

Havemercy takes place in the country of Volstov, which has been at war with the neighboring Ke-Han nation for a century. Volstov's ace in the hole is their elite Dragon Corps, who ride sentient mechanical/magical dragons into battle. Ringleader of the corps is Rook who, while undeniably good at his job, is incredibly insensitive, foul-mouthed, and offensive to just about everyone. His behavior gets the entire corps wrangled into "sensitivity training" run by Thom, a stubborn and intelligent 'Versity student who is terrified of the task but determined to hide it.

On the other side of the country, skilled magician Royston has been exiled for causing an international incident. While staying with his estranged family he becomes enamored of Hal, bookish tutor to his nieces and nephews, but being thrown under the bus by his last lover means romance is the last thing on his mind. Hal subsequently struggles to drag Royston out of his shell while trying to sort out his own feelings for him. The two story threads collide when those in the city begin to suspect that something is going wrong with their magic--and the dragons.

The worldbuilding in this book is fantastic, thorough and believable, and the plot is a lot of fun, but Havemercy's real strength is in its characters. The narration switches POV's between Royston, Hal, Thom and Rook, and each of them has a distinct voice and personality. For example, Royston's brand of intellectually phrased snark is very different from Rook's crude, expletive-filled one (and Thom's blend of the two--this book has a lot of sass in it, can you tell?). The relationships between them are equally fun to watch. Royston and Hal complement each other well but their age difference--and Royston's worldliness compared to Hal's relative naiveté--causes problems. Rook and Thom snipe at each other from day one, but they're undeniably drawn to one another as well. There's also a wealth of secondary characters (the Dragon Corps alone consists of fifteen members) with personalities and traits of their own.

I have a deep and abiding adoration for this book. It's the first of a really fun four-book series, but Havemercy stands on its own just fine. I will say that I wish it had more women in it (something more or less remedied in later installments), but other than that, it's a genuine delight. I highly recommend this one.

SASUKE

THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS CHAPTER

SASUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

ALSO TEAM SEVEN

My babies are back together again. And Sakura's actually going to fight and be a badass (?). And Sasuke wants to be Hokage, not for any sort of acknowledgment, but to keep anything like the Uchiha Massacre from happening ever again. I just want to cry. He wants to fix things properly, not just tear everything down. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

TEAM SEVENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN~

(I mean, we're still waiting on Kakashi to complete the team [also, anybody know where Sai went?], but still.)

Thoughts?

Yet again I feel obligated to put this behind a spoiler tag, so.

( Ancient Egyptian Spoiler Tags )

DAMMIT NARUTO I WISH I KNEW HOW TO QUIT YOU.

Um. Thoughts?

Well.

That's that, then.

LET THE SPAZZING BEGIN PEOPLE OMFG IT WAS OBITO THIS IS FANTASTIC THIS COULD BE REALLY FANTASTIC JNEFJNEJNRFNJRNJRFJNRFJNRFJNFRJNRDFJNMRFMJRFTMJRGFTM,RM,JRFM,RDFM,RFMK,R

Seriously though. This could be a brilliant story about how this sweet, helpful, ultimately selfless kid who dreamed only of appreciation became a freakin' warlord with enough power to subdue four nations. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN. It could be absolutely fantastic if Kishimoto doesn't screw it up.

SO ARE WE ALL EXCITED NOW?

I EXPECT FIC

I EXPECT THEORIES OUT THE WAZOO

COMMENT PEOPLE THINGS ARE GETTING EXCITING AGAIN~!

I'll get out of the Teen section for the next review, shaddup:



The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill.

One-Sentence Review If You're Pressed For Time (Or Just Lazy): Fascinating worldbuilding and terrific characters, including a kickass female lead, make for a brilliant opening to a brilliant trilogy (don't panic--it's standalone if you prefer).

Why It's Awesome: First, meet our warrior princess protagonist Thirrin. She punches a werewolf in the nose in the first chapter and is ruling a country at war not long after. Did I mention she's thirteen? Yeah. You want a badass female main character, you've come to the right place. She needs to learn to be a ruler, a general and a diplomat at a very young age and within a very short timespan, and manages without falling into Mary-Sue territory.

Actually, you'll end up falling in love with pretty much every character. Thirrin's father is every inch the booming warrior king and keeps his kitten, Primplepuss, nearby. Oskan is a young warlock who's lived in a cave most of his life--think a less socially clueless Castiel. The Vampire King and Queen are an ancient married couple as skilled with verbal barbs as with drinking the blood of their enemies (don't let the mention of vampires scare you off; these guys are awesome, trust me). And then there are Snow Leopards and werewolves and of course other humans, all with their own motives and equally fun personalities.

The worldbuilding sucks you in as well. Thirrin's country, the titular Icemark, is a mashup of Viking-era Norway, Scotland and wherever the hell winter is coming to in Game of Thrones. Their enemy is the Polypontian Empire, an ancient Rome-esque country of soldiers and technological progress which sneaks some steampunk in there if you squint. The vampires live in their grim castles, the Snow Leopards in their palaces across the icy tundra, and the werewolves live a nomadic but primarily cave-dwelling lifestyle.

The plot moves and does so at a good pace, humor and action are both written really well, and you can really lose yourself in the world the author has created. And along with being a perfectly good novel in and of itself, COTI is the first in a pretty damn awesome trilogy (which doesn't hesitate to kill characters off, so avoid later books if you're especially attached to anyone).

Okay, Fine, Here's The Downside: Scipio Bellorum isn't really anything special as a villain. He's ice-cold and emotionless unless someone really pisses him off, killing officers who fail him without blinking. He's a military genius and prefers the finer things in life, with no apparent motive other than conquering as many places as possible. I feel like I've seen this character before, but he plays his role just fine and definitely succeeds in making you fear for the heroes, so it works out alright.

And Now For Something Completely Different:
Patience (Low Roar)
get out of my mind...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p94iVjZyYnM (live version); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu_0NBgq5CA (studio version)

THEY'RE RE-RELEASING ALL THE STAR WARS MOVIES

IN THEATERS

IN NUMERICAL ORDER

IN 3D

LET ME DIE



Also (completely unrelated), Ten Inch Hero is a surprisingly awesome movie. Being a very shallow person, I got it solely for Jensen Ackles. And I did love Priestly with every fiber of my being (the tampon scene, dear god in heaven the tampon scene, I died laughing), and I did want to steal every single one of his T-shirts, and yeah.
But I ended up loving everyone else just as well. Piper, Trucker, Jen (oh, you sweet baby, you are friggin' beautiful), Tish...and the message was pretty fantastic. I laughed myself stupid. And I cried, because I am a baby. Mostly I just smiled this huge, doofy smile. It's a really fantastic feel-good movie; Netflix has it on instant if y'all want to check it out.

Mini movie review over. This is what I am doing instead of watching the Superbowl. *fistpump* Anyone else not watching the game? xD

Well, it's better than complaining about work or doing coursework like I'm supposed to be doing, so there you go.
( spoilers thru 5x17 )

let this work, let this work, let this work...

First off, major thanks to everyone who suggested using mangastream; I am, and it doesn't seem to be screwing with anything yet. :D

SO. From what I've gathered, this chapter has messed with almost all of us emotionally, because we are just ~that loyal~ in our collective geekiness.

Apparently Nagato can still actually fight. Pretty well. Despite, yanno, needing piggyback rides from Itachi the last ten chapters. And no, I never thought I'd be typing that sentence either.

On that note: ITACHIIIIIII. ♥times a million

I love how he and Naruto are having this great catch-me-up conversation whilst battling each other. Just don't destroy him until we've had our brotherly reunion, 'kay Naruto? (YOU OWE US THAT MUCH, KISHI.) And for some strange reason I loved Itachi's "Goddamn you, Madara..." Maybe it's because someone finally said what we've all been saying since the aftermath of Sasuke and Itachi's fight, maybe it's just the sheer "Whoa" of the ever-stoic Itachi actually cursing someone, or maybe I just get too excited over the tiniest things. But there you go.

And, and--THE CROW. THE CROW. THE CROW THAT I'VE BEEN BABBLING ABOUT FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS HAS FINALLY MADE A REAPPEARANCE!!!! FINALLY WE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH!!!! *is shot*

*cough* So. Um. I loved it. What'd you all think?