Books 77-78
Zero Sum by Barry Eisler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'll be honest if I had known this was #9 in a series and about a mercenary/assassin I'd not have picked this up. As it was, I needed a Z for an alphabet challenge and I was on vacation when I got it from a library sale thinking it was suspense, which okay it was. I don't know the character but I'm not sure I needed to since it was easy enough to follow. It wasn't badly written even if it was so not my subject matter.
Rain is back in Tokyo and in contact with one of his former mentors (Rain is ex military and a merc fresh from the Philippines. He's also half Japanese). This mentor gets him embroiled in an assassination plot being run by a half Japanese half Russian psychopath gang leader. Kill the government minister Sugimoto or they'll kill him and his friend.
Rain has other plans especially after meeting the man's wife, the Italian art director, Maria and falling for her. With help from his police detective friend, Rain wants to do an end run around Victor, keep people alive and find out who is really behind this hit.
Well Rain does kill less people than John Wick so I guess that's something. The beginning chapter put me in mind of the eye rolling kill each other for a job interview thing from Batman: Dark Knight (because how many times have we seen this now?) and I almost bailed then. But overall, it's not a bad story if you like that kind of action adventure. It's not really for me but I didn't think it was bad.
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The Wild Ways by Tanya Huff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I had the same feelings about this one as I did the first book in the series (btw you need to read that one otherwise you'll be lost) : the plot is interesting, the world building is squicky AF. Charlie Gale is a Wild Power which means she has more freedom than the other women such as her cousin Allie (the lead last book) who is now anchored forever to one city unable to leave. Charlie is also all about the music, making her living jumping from band to band.
She's invited into a Celtic music fest in Cape Breton (this whole book made me nostalgic for my Maritimes vacation) It just so happens to coincide with what the Aunties (the power in the family) want of her. Also one of her band members happens to be involved with a selkie. Charlie finds herself trying to help the selkies as their seal skins have been stolen by an oil company who want to sink a well in their breeding grounds (and is being helped by the less than good Aunt Catherine).
Charlie is also trying to help her cousin, Jack, a fourteen year old Gale boy, sorcerer and dragon prince. And here is where we getting into the iffy stuff. The whole selkie plot thing was good, interesting, engaging etc etc and had it been only that I would have rated it higher but then we have Jack.
Now I like Jack and Charlie but it's the whole Gale power thing I do not like. I'm all for feminist power. I can even handle a little anti-male stuff since it's been stacked the other way for so long but it's how this book approaches it that bothers me. It's established last book (which is why I'm not putting this under a spoiler cut as it's all in book one too) that all male sorcerers in the Gale family go bad so they are killed. Jack being only fourteen and a minor until next year (different ideas of what makes an adult but to me 15 ain't it) Charlie and Allie are trying to protect him from the aunties but he's chafing under their control. He does however like Charlie more so he goes with her.
He's used to his dragon uncles trying to kill him so he's not that perturbed the aunties want to as well. I, on the other hand, am bothered by the Gale world building. The women are very powerful. The men can be and they have this Herne the hunter thing going on (right down to getting antlers and hooves when they're horny/using their power). But their power is limited by the Gale women. Too powerful and the Aunties kill them. Too weak and the aunties kill them. And no one bats an eye at this (including our protagonists)
Add into this the Gale breeding program and I'm sorry that's the only way I can think of it. They all have kids with their cousins to keep the power in the family. I can't remember if Graham, Allie's partner was tangentially a Gale or not (I thought I had just read the book but it's been six years so even I was a little lost at first) but at least they're a love match. Aunties care not for love. They are hard core pressuring Charlie to find a cousin to at least breed with if she doesn't want to marry. People who know me know I'm good with sex in stories, kink too, but this is pushing it even for me.
Charlie is bi and attracted to one of the selkie but they can only do heteronormative (magically prohibited) and there is a whole other layer of dubious consent going on with the selkies that is really rather icky (though we can blame that on folklore not Huff) My concern for the final book it looks like Charlie and Jack might be the subject as she gets him (she's also old enough to be his mother, okay a teenaged mother but still. She's nearly 30 and he's 14) I can almost see that coming.
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