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38. The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
Very good historical fiction. Set in 866, when the Danes are conquering everything in sight. Uhtred, the main character, is captured by the Danes as a young boy, in the battle where his father dies. He tries to kill Ragnar, the warrior who slew his father, armed with just a flimsy sword--this impresses Ragnar, who raises the captive boy with his own sons. So Uhtred grows up as a Dane and fights with the Danes. Most of the rest of the characters are real historical figures, though Ragnar and his family are also fictitious. Uhtred eventually meets King Alfred, who he's not fond of but ends up in service to.
39. Speak of the Devil by Jenna Black
The latest in the Morgan Kingsley series. The protagonist, an exorcist who's possessed by Lugh, the demon king, starts off the novel getting sued for an exorcism that ended with the host in a permanent catatonic state. This is actually caused by demons who abuse their hosts, but no one on the Mortal Plane knows this, so exorcists are sometimes blamed. And things just go downhill from there, as someone out to destroy her life sabotages her relationship with her boyfriend, vandalizes her car, and generally scares the hell out of her.
I thought it was neat that Morgan actually made a female friend in this book--learned to trust someone else a little bit. Speaking of trust issues, I really wanted to smack her boyfriend, multiple times. He was upset with her for not trusting him, not confiding in him, but he showed the same lack of trust and that was portrayed as just fine and dandy.
Much as I like smut, I wasn't really a fan of the sex scenes either. The whole S&M thing doesn't do it for me, and it's kind of awkward to watch Morgan be alternately turned on and repelled by it. It's as if the writer is trying to beat both the character and the reader over the head with the point that she's actually into this and wants to do the whole "submissive" thing. And how the issues with the boyfriend are worked out...well, they don't endear him to me any. More make me think he's a big of a vindictive ass.
Very good historical fiction. Set in 866, when the Danes are conquering everything in sight. Uhtred, the main character, is captured by the Danes as a young boy, in the battle where his father dies. He tries to kill Ragnar, the warrior who slew his father, armed with just a flimsy sword--this impresses Ragnar, who raises the captive boy with his own sons. So Uhtred grows up as a Dane and fights with the Danes. Most of the rest of the characters are real historical figures, though Ragnar and his family are also fictitious. Uhtred eventually meets King Alfred, who he's not fond of but ends up in service to.
39. Speak of the Devil by Jenna Black
The latest in the Morgan Kingsley series. The protagonist, an exorcist who's possessed by Lugh, the demon king, starts off the novel getting sued for an exorcism that ended with the host in a permanent catatonic state. This is actually caused by demons who abuse their hosts, but no one on the Mortal Plane knows this, so exorcists are sometimes blamed. And things just go downhill from there, as someone out to destroy her life sabotages her relationship with her boyfriend, vandalizes her car, and generally scares the hell out of her.
I thought it was neat that Morgan actually made a female friend in this book--learned to trust someone else a little bit. Speaking of trust issues, I really wanted to smack her boyfriend, multiple times. He was upset with her for not trusting him, not confiding in him, but he showed the same lack of trust and that was portrayed as just fine and dandy.
Much as I like smut, I wasn't really a fan of the sex scenes either. The whole S&M thing doesn't do it for me, and it's kind of awkward to watch Morgan be alternately turned on and repelled by it. It's as if the writer is trying to beat both the character and the reader over the head with the point that she's actually into this and wants to do the whole "submissive" thing. And how the issues with the boyfriend are worked out...well, they don't endear him to me any. More make me think he's a big of a vindictive ass.