Leslie Fish (1)Reseñas

See my review on the omnibus edition.

Women kicking mal a** and not bothering to take names. Fun reads.

Not very good. I don't plan on reading sequels.

Absolutely breathtaking book! Amazing imagery. A truly enticing storyline. So totally engrossing that reading it took me quite out of reality.

I recommend this book to mature readers who enjoys fantasy in a modern world.

*I received a copy of this book for free. The review is my own, honest and unsolicited.

LOL, that's good. BfA is a filk song (science fiction folk song) that is stuffed full of double entendres (and a few single ones). This story, by the author of the song, tells what happened to produce the song... The Enterprise crew are definitely not behaving themselves, but neither are they misbehaving the way the song presents. And Argo and its government can take quite a bit of the blame for events. It's a very good Star Trek:TOS story, and a lot of fun if you know the song - which you will when you finish reading this if you didn't before, each chapter starts with a verse. Very enjoyable. Also - I read a book recently that I complained the "bard's version" of the story and the real one weren't even closer to similar. Leslie managed it perfectly here - what Janice, running the transporter, saw is what's in the song. How things got that way - that's the rest of the story. I found this on An Archive of Our Own.

I liked the stories very much. They are about tough women.
I particularly liked the story Sidestreets, with its twists and turns I didn't see coming. But the alternative Old Testament, where the story is seen through the eyes of the 'other people' near Eden, the Paradise, I liked a lot too. The first story, The Ninth Tenant, is a nice proof of what will be coming next.
On the other hand, I did not like the story before the last one, Revocare, very much. I thought the woman in that story was too suspicious (in which she was right, by the way) and too harsh.

I am a big fan of short stories and am in love with the form which I am convinced is the way forward for fiction in today's environment. This collection from Leslie Fish is in some sense motivated by a wish to re-examine the masculine hegemony without an aggressive feminism and again to some extent it succeeds. It is however a very odd collection with no other really connective tissue other than the original motivation and that, in my book, is a fault. There are a couple of really well thought our stories, particularly the retelling of the biblical creation story but there are some very slight stories that are lacking the work needed to make them work on the page. Think of these as sketches rather than finished works - I did. As with the quality of the ideas so with the quality of the writing which is patchy. I might read some more Leslie Fish but will not rush so to do.½

The Ninth Tenant - neat turnaround, but now she's the bully. And why did it need that many trappings to find the problem? Not bad, lots of questions. Script Change - weird angle on things. And what solves everything in a dream is going to be serious trouble in the real world, especially if all he does is bellow (though it's implied, not stated, that he goes much further - and what can she prove?). Crone's Gambit - yeah. It was pretty clear what the end was, early on, but very rich. And the poison-visions were unexpected - an odd kindness. Might be trouble down the line, if the Southland kings know about them...or not, as long as they're useful. Sidestreets - a very Leslie Fish story, the Magic of Guns. Postulate cops are useless and on the take, postulate Our Heroes have guns, yay for freedom and a new world! Never mind about the people who don't have guns, they can just crawl to the new warlords. Also never mind hitting a target (a person shooting at them) a block away, with a pistol, from a moving car, on her first use of the gun...And the guns are apparently black-powder revolvers - they don't have to reload in the middle of a running gunfight. Really, Leslie. The Hounding - heh. Sort of the other side of the story - cop's-eye view. But it's still cops on the take vs civilians with guns and the latter are the heroes (and the former the villains). In this story, with these characters, it's true - but Leslie apparently sees it that way always (a cop/government agent/authority is automatically the bad guy). The Testament of Elitu - uhuh. New creation myth, the gods are aliens who meddle and the Christian god is a mad-scientist renegade among them. The story itself is OK, interesting - but it carries too much baggage. Revocare - _weird_. Big questions like why did the trucker react that way; smaller but important questions - why did the hero hang on to the mace all the way up? Overall very nasty - "a mean place" and the protagonist fits right in. The best ungendered protagonist I think I've ever read - has a female spouse, has long hair, and behaves like a person (not one I'd like to know, but a person) rather than like "a man" or "a woman". Cancel/Balance - I like this one - everyone gets their due (though I'm not sure what the protagonist owes for). Mild stimulant indeed. So apparently there's a whole book named Revocare - the rest of the story, after the protagonist makes it out? Don't know, don't much care - not going to read it. I'm curious, but not curious enough to subject myself to any more of that worldview. Overall, it seems I have the same problem with Leslie's books as with her songs; she's a great writer, amazing use of language, evocative descriptions, etc - but she uses them to tell stories with An Agenda that I think is seriously warped. Oh well. Some of her songs, and now I see some of her stories, are enjoyable to me. The rest are worth reading once, but unless you share her libertarian/anarchist viewpoint are unlikely to be favorites.½

Stories of people who overcome whether it be the System, nosy neighbors, invading armies, or prehistoric beings in a deep cave. Each, as is apparent, is quite original in character, setting, and consistently ironic conclusion. I particularly enjoyed "Script Change", in which a teenaged girl travels a different road to her future.

Short stories collection work well for me when there is a visible link throughout the stories. I couldn't see it in this one. Yes, they all have an empowered female character in them, but that is like saying all stories with such a character are linked. I liked the first story, because it left me thinking about the tenants of that place for quite some days afterward. The other stories were mostly boring to me, especially the second that was really, really hard to read. The third one was, weird, in the sense that it lead nowhere, no punch, just a small story about bartering. The world around the 2 main protagonists seemed interesting, but their day wasn't. The rest were a mix of so-so, but mostly the strength of the first story was never found in the later ones.½

Nobody’s Victims by Leslie Fish is a collection of eight stories of varying length. Quite an intriguing read, the timeline spans from the Biblical past to the middle age, from present days to an imaginary future. Equally diverse are the premises of the stories. However, there is one unifying theme that links these stories together. Throughout the ages, women have been looked down upon as weak and easy targets to dominate. However, in this book, none of the women comply with the image of a 'damsel in distress.' In fact, each of them rises up to face the challenges put in their path. Their opponents range from a group of opportunistic neighbors to a power-hungry conqueror, from a bossy father to a dominating husband, from unscrupulous cops to a bullying thug, or even a cruel and arrogant god. No matter how formidable the enemy is, the strong female protagonists simply refuse to be marked as victims. They fight against all odds only to emerge as winners. Kudos to the author for giving us such ordinary yet powerful characters.

Our Heroine witnesses a mob hit of her boss a union leader in Chicago, and provides vital evidence, and so is enrolled in witness protection, and is moved to the country. She sees this as a chance for a new start, and looks for a new job, hopefully to work with horses, and applies for a job on an up market secluded ranch. Much to her surprise she gets the job and a new home with it.
But there is more to this than meets the eye. It seems our Heroine is of Elven Blood, and the ranch is a safe haven for such creatures.
This is an entertaining engaging well written book, with an interesting array of characters, there is action humour love intrigue a book i enjoyed, yet would not describe as an unputdownable page turner, once i started reading i enjoyed it, but when duty called i put down the book without major regret, or desperation to get back to it.
P.S. The constant mouthwatering delicious menu descriptions can get a bit annoying

Okay....so heads up this is a book heavy on the psychological sex with bondage, gags and the main female character facing the source of her inner rage aka why she cut her self off from wanting to feel intimacy and vulnerability. If you are squeaked out by OMG BONDAGE! OMG! ANGER MANAGEMENT! TRUST ISSUES! OMG! The male characters NOT coercing or raping the main female character in order to get her to submit to their affections and 'love' then this is not the book for you.

But I mean, seriously this is like a staple trope of Romance/ Trash Romance conflicts. Angry, frigid Ice Queen Bitch must find the ONE, the TRUE LOVE and only with the power of his incredibly condescending manipulative and sexist DICK is she able to heal and become the weak, sappy female all we women are longing to be deep deep down. Lets toss in some poorly thought out and totally unrealistic spread eagle bondage so the readers can feel like they are better than the people who just read those plain old boring 'vanilla sex' books. Sooooo....not sure what the freak out is about. All the warning labels on what kind of book you are getting into are there.

Seriously. Are we still fixating on the bondage parts of the book?

Call me whatever, but in my opinion the bondage parts are actually very, very tame in my opinion. Most of the sex in this book is gonna be in your head. Which is not for everyone- I get that, but 50 Shades of Gray this book is not.
This book is actually more focused on the psychological and physical care and one could even go so far to say healing and education of the subject rather than the sex and control of the subject. I personally would not call this book hard core. To me, the elements are rather light and are a lot more focused on the before care and after care bits rather than hot and hard sexy times. The actual sex in the book is very little (and hello, ROMANCE BOOK. That is kinda a red flag that sex of some kind is gonna happen). Which can throw a reader off and confuse them. I didn't expect to actually enjoy it as much as I did and it was all sensation-head space driven rather than visual graphic sex driven. It was...different, a change of pace and freaking awesome! Seriously, author was able to get me zoned out in a good sexy head space with just by talking about how a soft bristle brush felt on oiled skin and how warm and safe the character felt after a particularly emotionally draining restraint/meditation session. About how the characters actually cared about about Roxanne's well being and their concern for her rapid progress through the sessions.

Still need assurance? Fine.

The guy, Brian, who is the one that does this stuff to the female main, Roxanne Defarge (who ends up getting renamed) has methods that all the other characters admit are strange and border line extreme. But they work. Brian does not get a free pass to do what ever he wants with Roxanne. He gets called out on his shit, by Roxanne herself, by the other characters. Brian gets shut down when he starts coming up with a plan that nobody wants to see done, Roxanne even goes toe to with him constantly to ensure her boundaries- while pushed- are still respected and he respects her boundaries. The only time Brian messes with Roxxane's boundaries is when he feels she is at risk of self harm. He made it very clear that he will not stand by or enable Roxanne to inflict any kind of physical or mental self-harm. Which honestly, while there are plenty of times Roxxane is not happy with how he goes about doing what he does, she grudgingly respects and agrees that he was not wrong in doing what he did.
In fact one of the biggest things Roxanne faces is her whole "not breaking down to give him what he wants" out of spite (at the time, she was seeing what Brian wants as being him wanting the guy she ends having sex with) only to realize that no- Brian never wanted to be the one Roxanne ends up being intimate with. Brian even admits that because of the emotional buttons he pushed, he more or less lost any and all chance of Roxanne ever wanting him as anything more than a teacher or adviser. He's sad that he, through his own actions,fucked up what could have been a good thing, but he's more happy that Roxanne came into her own and is stronger for it because that's what he wanted more than being her lover anyway. He is a healer and a teacher first. Lover would have been a nice addition but it was not his goal.

How many romance books have you read that managed to pull something like that off? Cuz let me tell you, it made this book an even more enjoyable read for me.

Consent- actual informed consent- happens in this book. Brian explains everything he does. Roxanne can and does say no, she can and does make her own choices. Roxanne gets into some very ugly head spaces where she lashes out to the point of self harm- hence the gag- but she is cared for. Actual fucking after care happens in this book. Eventually, the restraints and the gag are no longer needed and instead of getting tied up for two hours to get into a meditative head space she gets back into painting to achieve the save effect.

So there. There's your "warning there be kinky shit bondage in this book" warning and assessment. I get it, not everyone is okay with bondage or head space focused stuff. Even the light and tame stuff. There's nothing wrong with that not being your thing.

It is very clear that this book is a set up for another book or two. It is very obvious Roxanne is being trained and groomed for some kind of role in a position of power. Be that as a fighter or ruler and the story is not over. Brian Treemark is a man with a cause and it is clear that while his plans have their good points, not everyone is a fan of his methods. His methods work, yes, but there are things that he is willing to do and how he insists on doing them that raises much concern with the others that have been around him and brings him and Roxanne into conflict.

Yes, there is a strong High Lander Immortal vibe to the Elvin/mutant immortal race that is scattered about the globe.
To some people, that could be a turn off. Others, a turn on. Honestly, those elements concerned me more than the bondage bits. You could write this book off as some kind of kinky High Lander fan fiction. But again, it didn't take away from the story for me so to each their own.

When Roxanne gets initiated into being “one of them” she isn’t automatically endowed with the gifts and the knowledge she needs to survive in the world.

There is actually quite a bit of physical and mental training she has to go through to develop the basic skills she needs in order to survive (I admit, kind of nice to see a character coming into power and going through a helpless baby needs learning phase. She's a gifted student and fast learner, but she's not at the level to take on an experienced elder without getting the appropriate damage from it).

Not to mention the reasons why Treemark more or less demands and forces her to participate in his brand of psychological healing becomes fairly obvious real quick. Treemark and the others are concerned- to flat out terrified- about Roxanne becoming a corrupted power junkie threat- something they've all seen far too often, have all suffered at the hands of and are still being actively hunted by. They are concerned about Roxanne becoming a threat to them and their endangered race if she doesn’t face and deal with the damage her mundane life has done to her. So as much as they want to protect and nurture Roxanne they are also fearful of her becoming a threat if she chooses the path of a power junkie killer rather than the path of someone who dedicates their life to resisting and fighting off power junkie killers.

So in summary-
This is a romance book. It is a romance book with the frigid untrusting bitter angry Ice Queen Bitch leaving the big bad dangerous city and getting back in touch with nature by way of working on a horse ranch and finding that she is a rare immortal mutation. Thrusting her into a new strange world where she has to learn not only to survive but also how to open herself up to trust and love. Self-discovery, danger, and incompetent law enforcement. The Ice Queen melts and she learns to trust not only herself, but others and she finds love only to also find that with love also comes the pain of having to let that love go.

Also- heads up warning (cuz there are still people who are more squeaked out by this than bondage)- there is very clear indication to a brief scene involving a male on male sex and a whole thought assessment of same sex/not reproductive sex being okay and why and reflection on monogamist relationships and having multiple partners and why those things could be not wrong and getting use to the idea of being around people who have different ideas and comfort levels of how they define intimate relationships.

Also again, this being a book with an endangered race with low numbers, the topic of the 'need to breed'/'need to spread the seed' and child care/babies and who gets to raise them and stuff also comes up.

None of this bother me, aside from raising an eye brow at some of the thought processes Roxanne talked herself through, and it hits at parts of the build up for more world building and more books.

But...it's there and now you know.

For as 'disturbingly into kinky-bondage' and 'free love' and 'spread the seed! Breed! Breed Breed!' this book and characters can be in some respects, this book and its characters can also be down right prudish in other aspects.

I have only three good things to say about this book. 1 it started out good, 2 the proof reading was good, 3 I got it free with early reviewer. Lorraine works at a Union promoting newspaper in Chicago but the whole office is targeted over a story they published a few months before and the boss is shot while she is hiding the the store. She ends up in Witness Protection because it's a Mob hit. In Tucson Arizona she applies for a job on a horse ranch. She has had a very rough life prior to this happening. She goes to the horse ranch and the owner Brian is actually an Elf as are most of the other people there. He recognizes her as an unawakened Elf. He hires her and the second night he shoots her to awaken her immortality. He is concerned because she is not trusting and holds her emotions in. So then he proceeds to tell her why he shot her and that he needs to train her. He puts restraints on her wrists and ankles then ties her up spread eagle between two columns for 2 hours and gets upset when she gets hysterical and bites her own shoulder! the next night he adds a gag. Which is what this story made me want to do. Not recommended

Great album, all around.

This is a terrific filk (science fiction/fantasy folk songs) CD by one of the great composers and performers of filk. There isn't a bad track, but my favorites are Avalon Is Risen, Rise Up Bright Sun, The Earth's Fire-Breathing Daughter, Wanderer, Jack the Slob and the Goddess of Love (very easy to sing along with), and The Arizona Sword.

If you enjoy filk, I think you will enjoy this CD. I think if you are a pagan, that you will also enjoy it.

Pseudo-medieval setting (rather the kind of thing that Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork is a parody of), with magic playing a slightly second-fiddle role to antique technology in a tale about the effort to develop a cannon while fleeing/hiding from the invading barbarians. Some nice scenes and characters here and there, but on the whole I found it a bit humdrum: I couldn't always remember who was who, and the good guys have such a fortuitous combination of skills, and trounce the bad guys repetitively.
MB 27-x-2011½

**SPOILER ALERT** for these books, published in 1989.

In this shared world trilogy C.J. Cherryh fully exercises her history fetish by exploring the what-if inherent in the rise, fall and adaptation of cultures.
The main characters, over a timeline of nearly a thousand years, are the descendents original citizens of the Sabirn Empire, and the cultures and empires which conquer and oppose them.
In Book 1, A Dirge for Sabis, Ancaran hordes from the north (pushed by barbarians from even further north, of course – this is Cherryh) conquer the Sabirn Empire and overrun the capital, Sabis. This despite the efforts of a group of patriots including a “natural philosopher”, a smith, an army officer, and a resourceful magician to construct a weapon that could hold them off. The group of patriots are forced to flee, finding a new patron behind the Ancar lines and using their knowledge to scare off a cult fleecing the locals.
“If at first you don’t succeed, get the hell out of the way.”
Followed by Wizard Spawn
Book II of the Sword of Knowledge series
C.J. Cherryh and Nancy Asire

500 years later, (See A Dirge for Sabis) Book II concentrates on the remnants of the Sabirn people, and the scorn and persecution they suffer under the rule of the descendants of the Ancar in Sabis. This is our “one person makes a difference book”. Chemist (and alchemist) Duran rescues a Sabirn boy injured in an attack behind his shop, and is stunned to discover that his neighbors disapprove – strongly. Worse, the presence of the boy in Duran’s home leads to rumors of witchcraft and alchemical deeds that reach the ears of the court. Eventually, he flees with the boy, the boy’s grandfather, and other Sabirn who know secrets of which he could only have dreamed.

Reap the Whirlwind
Book III of the Sword of Knowledge series
C.J. Cherryh and Mercedes Lackey
(See Also, A Dirge for Sabis and Wizard Spawn) Book III brings the descendents of the protagonists of Book I and II together to resist the depredations of the Wind Clan (fleeing, in a nice bit of symmetry, the pursuit of another clan and *their* overlords). Having joined forces as a scholarly quasi-magical organization, they’re able to use the secret magics of the Sabirn, the strengths of the Ancar, the tenets of Duran, and the tenacity of the scholar’s leader to bring the Clan into alliance.

Book one shows the Cherryh touch the most clearly – the multi-layered plotting, characters who turn out to be much different than first perceived. The early chapters were clearly her work, and Leslie Fish does a great job keeping up and fleshing out the characters and story.
The next two volumes are much simpler in plot and characterization, though not without the occasional surprise. If not up to Cherryh’s, Asire’s and Lackey’s best work, still worth a read.½

I found this to be a compelling start to the series by Leslie Fish but ultimately let down by weaker later instalments by the other authors.
Incidentally Cherryh (who I love) has little to do with this book. Apparently she originally wrote some introductions which were subsequently deleted by the publishers.