Magic beans aren’t just for kids.

Publisher: Carina Press
Pages: 56
Type: Fiction
Age: Adult
ISBN: 978-1-426-89123-6
First Published: 21st February 2011
Date Reviewed: 3rd March 2011
Rating: 3.5/5

Jaq’s sister is dying of a disease that only those who live and work in the sky can cure. Knowing that, as an agent of a covert corporation, she can secret herself up to the floating islands courtesy of her colleague’s beanstalk, Jaq prepares to find the antidote. She may also discover her ex-fiancée in the process.

The set-up for Jaq’s Harp is very good, a blend of science fiction and fairytale, and as before for Silver Bound, Drake successfully creates a world that is fascinating to read about. You are given all the details necessary at any given time to imagine the scene.

The characters are interesting and because of the short page count you get to see how they handle a number of different emotions one after another. Jaq is your kick-ass chick and although you know how Jaq’s mind reels at the sight of her boyfriend, it doesn’t stop her later saving the day. The background story of the characters is given enough time so that you understand their love. I think I would’ve liked to see Jaq take more of a role in the retrieval of the antidote but it didn’t hinder the story.

The inclusion of the fairytale works very well, it’s changed enough to be almost Drake’s own work in its entirety. Having the islanders called Giant Corps is surprisingly original because at times it’s easy to forget the children’s story and so the term nudges your memory.

Once again I find myself saying that I would love to read a story that explores Drake’s world further. The book is apt for the time Jaq’s mission would have taken, it’s only a short mission after all, but it would be great to know that you have more space to really enjoy being in the world created.

The only issue I had was with the romance, not because it’s included, but because its initial placement puts a damper on the pacing. The story begins by throwing you into the situation, racing along as Jaq makes her way towards the enemy and then stops suddenly. It stops so that the heroine can meet her hero, which is fine, but when they start considering whether or not to have sex when they should actually be getting the hell out of there it becomes unrealistic, obvious fantasy genre aside. Romance was to be expected with this book but as Drake shows with a well-timed sex scene at the end, there are better places for it.

To the sex scenes themselves, they are hot. The characters are in love, the details are bold and obvious, the latter more so perhaps than in Silver Bound. The last sex scene ends on a written triumph.

If there’s one single thing I’d like to point out amongst everything else, it’s the inability of the sky-dwellers to look down and the rarity of an earth-dweller looking up. The whole social issue is summed up in that one factor.

If the beanstalk was exciting when conquered once, Jaq’s Harp illustrates that it can be just as exciting when conquered twice.

I received this book for review from Carina Press.

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Sometimes you might get what you always wanted, but you’ll have to fight for it first.

Publisher: Carina Press (Harlequin)
Pages: 191
Type: Fiction
Age: Adult
ISBN: 978-1-426890-79-6 (only avaliable as an ebook)
First Published: 22nd November 2010
Date Reviewed: 20th February 2011
Rating: 3.5/5

When Jewel attempts to run away from her evil husband, taking their son with her, she’s caught and her memories are wiped. Prepared to become a sexual slave, no one thought that it would be her much-loved ex-boyfriend who would come to claim her as his, the motive being to save her.

This was pushing the boat for me. Even though I didn’t think my venture into Mills & Boon too shabby an experience, it hadn’t been what I thought it would be. I was therefore still lacking in what I’d set out to gain – experience in a genre far removed from what I usually read. The summary of Drake’s Silver Bound found it’s way to me through one of the statuses of the author’s Twitter account, and I knew without a doubt that this was it.

Silver Bound deals with a deprived subject but although Drake uses it for erotic purposes she doesn’t let the storyline sink to such levels as you may imagine. Indeed the space, western, and escape elements are just as important, and it’s obvious that time has been spent just as much on them as the romance.

What Drake does is present the situation but makes it so that the man, Guy, who claims the slave, Jewel, is a lover from her past who regrets their parting and is thus wanting to save her from her predicament. There is actually less sex than you might think because the love Guy has for Jewel does not permit him to use her to his advantage. Guy makes for a very worthy hero.

All that said I can’t really shy away from describing the sex. It’s hot, it’s in a variety of flavours, and it goes back and forth in control depending on Jewel’s recovery of memories at any given time.

Another point of interest is the growth of Jewel, the enslaved woman. Before her enslavement, upon which her memories are wiped, she is a sassy and confident woman despite her horrible situation. After her enslavement, especially when she meets Guy, she begins to regain them so that the story doesn’t remain as much about Guy’s feelings and it becomes a story of two equals. That’s not to say that Jewel’s thoughts are given no time, indeed they are included in all sections of the story.

I couldn’t write about this book and not talk about the mix of living in space and the realm of the cowboy. Silver Bound isn’t so much futuristic as it is fantasy, the people inhabit and use space stations, journey through the universe in “hoppers” and have futuristic technology – but they appear to have lived on their different planets for ever. The western aspect blends into this flawlessly, as Drake explains how the ranchers use the older ways of living – the cowboy ways – to keep their patch of land fresh. Guy can use a technologically advanced weapon, but he’ll just as often bring out the lasso.

The writing is good but there is a sense of the short story in that many times the scene switches suddenly, sometimes it’s very confusing what is happening. The book could have done with a little more development to keep the transitions between sections of the plot smooth.

I can’t say that my comfort zone in romance overall has changed, even if after the third time my boyfriend asked me what I was reading on my phone and the answer came back, sensationalised for maximum effect, “a dirty erotic novel”, he no longer blinked an eye lid, quashed further by my reminder that men have had access to porn for centuries – but having read Silver Bound I feel less daunted by the genre and see that if you choose wisely you don’t have to land yourself with something that is stereotypical or badly written.

Drake drops an original mix into the pot and shows that a combination of genres at opposite ends of the scale can be blended to good effect, even when the least of details in the blend is examined. The universe created could support a vast number of interesting stories of many types – and as a small slice from this massive universe, Silver Bound does not disappoint.

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There’s a reason they didn’t keep this poem.

This poem tells you to fight.

Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin)
Pages: 364
Type: Fiction
Age: Young Adult
ISBN: 978-0-141-33305-2
First Published: 30th November 2010
Date Reviewed: 2nd January 2011
Rating: 5/5

It’s not every day I begin a review with a quote; in fact this is a first for me. But I can find no other way to introduce this novel.

Like all other members of her society, at 17 years of age Cassia goes to the city hall to find out who the Officials have paired her with for life. She finds herself matched to her best friend Xander and all her hopes in The Society are fulfilled, thinking those at the top really do know best. But a mistake in the information she is given about Xander leads to another person being matched to her. The Society don’t make mistakes, but is it possible they may have this time? And just how perfect is Cassia’s life, really?

Even with the summary on the back – which is nice and vague – you can’t really guess what the content will be like. What I find so brilliant about the world Condie has created is that it’s unlikely two readers will see it the same way (incidentally, as The Society like probabilities they would probably like this… and there goes another probability). In fact I’m sure I saw it as more visually stunning as Condie planned, but for me that was what worked in my head. Condie’s descriptions – as in the way she uses words – didn’t register at the time of reading but on looking back I realised just how skilled she is.

And yet there is nothing lustrous at all in the world Condie has created, if we are to speak literally. The world is the horrifying product of domination, a world in which a select group of individuals rule almost every aspect of every life – one that could possibly evolve in our own future if we aren’t careful. Condie has made technology very advanced but she hasn’t resorted to all of the usual futuristic elements – there are the odd heralds of our world today and history in the way that humans still run the show. In truth it’s partly this that makes it scary, the implementation of things we tend to agree with, such as recycling, as everything is so planned out. There are no chances, no random occurrences. To me Condie’s creation comes across much like The Sims, the game in which the player controls virtual life. The visuals in that are very cute, colourful, and represent perfection, which is what The Society of Matched are determined to exploit.

Of course with a book of this nature you cannot assume that the characters will be strong, nor can you really expect it, but Condie may surprise you here. Cassia takes a while to start realising how corrupt her world is and thus to a reader she can come across as annoying. It definitely makes you sit back and think because while you can plead her to take chances and run away, you have to remember that to her nothing is unusual. The way in which Cassia comes into her own while still believing certain things may seem difficult to understand, but it’s logical. Although Condie shows how weak The Society really is, she also shows how difficult it can be for a group of people to stand up for themselves when they know that to stay silent will result in an easy life. In this way her book is as much a commentary on our present time than a fly-on-the-wall look at a dystopian world.

I’m rather reluctant to talk about the other characters because a lot of my own enjoyment came from discovering their personalities and desires. I will simply say that both male leads are heroes and that there is little to make you prefer one to the other.

You may be wondering, as I did, how much similarity there is between Matched and the other young adult novels that have been released of late. The answer: a love triangle, and the general idea of a dystopian world. To be honest I’m not sure if I liked the fact that it is the love aspect of life is what’s focused on, I’d have preferred to have seen Cassia struggle for something a little more general, like complete freedom, but love triangles are what sells at the moment, it seems to be the key between a hit and a flop.

Towards the beginning I may have said that you don’t notice how good Condie’s descriptions of locations are while reading, but that’s not the same for the other elements of storytelling. Some lines jump from the page, such as the one I have quoted already. In that particular case it is as much the cause of the structure as the words.

Condie has exceeded my expectations. I could never have imagined such a story, such vivid description, would fill the pages.

Break the rules. Follow Cassia. Trust in Condie. Read this book.

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