Hostage to Pleasureby Nalini Singh - Review

First, before you read this, if you haven’t read the first four books, go get your wallet, head to the nearest bookstore, buy them, and read them. This review will still be here when you get back and have them finished.

This review contains a plot spoiler for the first book.

.
.
.

Ready now? OK. So I’m assuming here that if you are continuing to read, there’s about a 99% probability that you’re already a Nalini Singh fan and are dying to know more about Dorian’s story. And well you should, because it’s the best one yet.

If you plug in “two kinds of people” to Google, you get 1,330,000 hits (today, anyway). There are two kinds of people: those who like to divide people into categories, and those who don’t.

Or, something like that. I know some people who are devoted followers of the Myer-Brigg personality inventory thingy, and can frame any interpersonal differences in MB terms. Then there’s the right-brain/left-brain theory; introvert/extrovert; hi-tech/hi-touch… it’s a very popular thing to define a dichotomous spectrum and attempt to solve all the world’s problems by understanding where you fit on the scale relative to everyone else. (Unless you’re like me and end up in the very middle of the scale on every quiz you take, but that’s a whole ‘nother post, if not a different blog…)

The reason I bring this up is because Singh’s universe, to me, seems predicated on extremes – the Psy are cerebral to the extreme, classifying emotional and bodily functions (ie, eating, sex, etc) as more primitive and therefore undesireable. The changelings represent the other extreme, relying on their inner animal for all their species’ advantages. It’s a little unbalanced though, because the changelings don’t sacrifice their intellect in the process. Which of course is why we readers are all swoony for the cats & wolves. Dorian and Ashaya are even further out on these extremes than their predecessors.

The first books were a case of opposites attracting – of the changelings helping the emotionally frozen Psy main characters, and the pack benefiting from the Psy talents. ** SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN’T READ ANY OF THE BOOKS:** Most of the Psy mistakenly believe that they cannot survive outside the main Psy network, the Net, but as it turns out, the changelings have a sort of pack-oriented net too that can support the Psy members’ needs.

What’s different and interesting about HtP is that Dorian and Ashaya are more alike than different. They both know what they are supposed to be but have been alienated from that self, for different reasons. Dorian’s leopard is latent – he cannot change physical form. Singh’s imagination in sharing with the reader what kind of pain this causes her character awes me; I mean, making us imagine the joy and freedom that a changeling feels in his alternate form is one thing, but making us feel the agony of the lack of a fictional trait? I think that’s pretty amazing. Dorian controls and hides this pain with a will of iron. His sniper abilities are a direct compensation for not having the strength and speed of his cat at his disposal. His pain over his sister's death puts him in an emotional turmoil at the far range of the rest of the pack.

Meanwhile, Ashaya is very different from the Psy we know. Unlike Sascha and Faith, whose journeys were about overcoming their conditioning to live within the Silence of the PsyNet, Ashaya already knows that the Net is flawed, and that she doesn’t belong there. Ironically, in order to live within its strictures, she becomes, on the surface, everything that she knows she really isn’t. (Hope that makes sense— if not, it will when you read the book-- Ms. Singh does it way better than I do, trust me!). Ashaya outwardly becomes the Psy ideal, using her formidable intellect to live a dual life. Also different from Sascha, Faith, and Judd, she has compelling reasons to remain in the Net even when she knows – and longs for—the alternative.

My point is that Ashaya and Dorian both have inner selves that they are aware of but cannot access. Blocking that self off causes each of them incredible pain, and molds their characters into another kind of extreme. As in all romance, the story of how they overcome those obstacles, both internal and external, drives the plot. When it’s badly done, the character bumps into a door, drops through a time gate, or gets slapped by a secondary character and they snap out of it.

But when it’s done right—as in this case—the external problems are solved by believable action scenes and plotting, and the internal problems are unfolded inch by painful inch. When Dorian and Ashaya finally take that last step, make that last connection, you know they’ve earned it and fought for it and I promise, it will make you sigh happily.

A lot of series start getting a little stale after three or four books. The world-building gets outlandish or starts building up to an Ultimate Final Confrontation that no author could possibly deliver on. Singh however, brings it in #5 with no letup in sight. Her characters get better and better, and the world is evolving in layers that feel realistic, if ominous (all too familiar, in fact, although that too is a post for a different blog). While we sense that there an eminent shift in global power, one that will have repercussions for all of the societies, it isn’t some looming monolithic Evil that Must Be Stopped.

One last point – I love the way this book is an inter-racial romance without being an Inter-Racial Romance, if you know what I mean. By polarizing three different societies in her universe, Singh can treat traditional racial lines in a lot of different ways. The only real hints as to Ashaya’s ethnicity are her name, the description of her hair texture and her skin color. Given that her eye color is blue, and her son is half Chinese, we are given the sense that race as we understand it is irrelevant in this universe. But the stories are fundamentally about overcoming assumptions about the Other, and finding commonality.

And if that isn't the perfect theme for a romance, I don't know what is.

.

On the Suspension of Disbelief

Let’s face it, the notion of immortal undead bloodsuckers living among us has some flaws.

First of all, if they are immortal, and we are not…. Shouldn’t they eventually outnumber us?

Secondly, if they are immortal, and they turn humans into immortal vampires… Shouldn’t they eventually outnumber us?

Thirdly, if they have superhuman strength, can fly or teleport, etc – basically, if they’re nearly inescapable deadly predators—plus immortal, plus turning…. Shouldn’t they eventually outnumber us?

It’s your basic lion-and-gazelle sort of question.

And beyond just the population balance question, don’t you think if they’d been around for THOUSANDS of years, they’d’ve made it beyond fairy-tale status? I mean, if they were real? Wouldn’t they eventually be sort of… noticeable?

I have to admit, Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood universe is one of the most immersive, plausible fantasy worlds I’ve come across in a really long time. And I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes that true. How can some authors take the same premise and turn it into a world that seems so real, that resonates so hard in my head that I have difficulty believing that it only exist between the pages of a book? While others might provide a good read, but when I close the cover, my brain is right back to grocery lists and emails for work and the stuff I need to pick up for my daughter’s science project and the film I need to drop off at Target to get my mother-in-law off my back… And then there’s the other end of the spectrum that just induce eye-rolling. So, as I'm prone to do, I started thinking about this way too much. Which led me to…

To: O’Donovan
From: Nicola
Subject: I am such a dork.

See spreadsheet.

<<Vampire Credibility Index.xls >>

To: Nicola
From: O’Donovan
Subject: Re: I am such a dork.

I fucking adore your brain.

We should add Laurell K. Hamilton (whose total would be 0) and there are a couple of others. If one wanted to add a "quality of writing" category, I think the numbers would change dramatically.

To: O’Donovan
From: Nicola
Subject: Re: Re: I am such a dork.


<g>

Thought you might like that.

Totally agree on the quality of writing, but I thought it might be too subjective.

I’m also trying to figure out how to capture the mind control/thrall aspect; that seems to be a common element in most of the vamp books. Not binary, though.

What other questions belong on the grid?


To: Nicola
From: O’Donovan
Subject: Re: Re: Re: I am such a dork.

Maybe whether vampires are portrayed as dangerous predators, disinterested observers, or benevolent protectors? We should add Kelley Armstong, too. I can't abide Feehan or Kenyon, but I can fill in the Hamilton gaps.


To: O’Donovan
From: Nicola
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: I am such a dork.


Check. The other thing I was thinking was the origin of the species, but that will come down the eye of the beholder. I just finished the first Lara Adrian and apparently the entire vamp population came from 8 aliens who were responsible for several of the earth's mysterious population wipes -- Egypt, Maya, etc. I liked the book, but totally don’t buy that.

Apparently aliens trip my "Oh please, you must be kidding" trigger while incandescent demigods do not.

------------<<end of email string >> ---------------

OK, we resolved the origin of the species question, and here is the sublimely dorky result:




Is that not a thing of beauty? The normalized line accounts for the fact that some authors had been read by both of us and some had not (I have taken masters' level courses in statistics, thank you very much).

The funny thing is, these scores are not at ALL about how much I (or we, if I may speak for O'Donovan) enjoyed the books. But it does a fair job of ranking how believable the universe is.

Strangely enough, sometimes vagueness is your friend in world building. I have no idea how Susan Sizemore's vampire race came into being. And it doesn't seem to matter. Lara Adrian, on the other hand, writes a far more nuanced world, with better characters and more complex plot, but when she starts talking about crash-landing aliens, it's a total bucket of cold water. For me, anyway.

And I adored the Kresley Cole series (totally recommend, review on its way) BUT I don't believe in her Lore universe for a second--it's just fun. Ward on the other hand... catches me looking for Caldwell, NY on a map and speculating, speculating, speculating...

_______________
Final note: I'd be happy to justify any and all of the rankings if you have any disputes, but rest assured that EACH AND EVERY ONE represents an explicit thought process and far more brain cells than could possibly be justified.

Meljean Brook – “Demon” (or Guardian) Series

Here’s what I have to say about book one (Demon Angel): eight hundred years of foreplay.

Eight. Hundred. Years.

Get out the ice buckets, readers.

The way Brook sets up this first book particularly appeals to me because 1) I like longer books and 2) I like character-driven stories. The way these two main characters develop over the centuries is like nothing I’ve ever read before. It’s complicated – as you might expect an affair between a guardian angel and a millennia-old demon to be – and (I think I say this without spoilering anything) Hugh’s fall from angel to human was as thrilling as Lilith’s redemption from evil. God, I love Hugh’s dark side.

A unique premise is golden in the ever-more-crowded world of paranormal romances, and I looooove the premise for these books. Brook builds a world that effortlessly blends biblical mythology, Good vs. Evil, urban fantasy, and erotic romantic story arcs.

Entertainingly, this format allows Brook to cover all the bases in terms of archetypical heroes – knight in shining armour? Hugh. Gorgeous GQ model type? Colin. Got a little thang for cowboys? Meet Ethan. Next up this fall is wisecracking Vietnam vet and Fledgling Guardian Jake. Very hip.

O'Donovan adds: I agree about the archetypes, although the latter two - Colin and Ethan- were imperfectly rendered. What we get in the human/supernatural romances is a snapshot - nearly a caricature - of the archetypes after however many years of modern life.

Nicola responds: True. But they still have that flavor.

Nicola continues: The heroines of this series stack up nicely, too. I mean, how often do you come across a heroine who is a consummate liar, with red scaly skin, black horns, and razor-sharp nipples, who's sold her soul to the devil? Not every day, that's for sure. To watch Hugh unhesitantly love Lilith in all her darkness and light, is to feel at least a *little* reassured that the average reader's soft underbelly might survive exposure.

Her follow-up heroines, human women who are turned to vampires in Demon Moon and Demon Night, are completely different -- one a brainy hacker video-game creator/player, the other a shell-shocked ex-con just getting back on her feet. I like that Brook doesn't try to pack every virtue and every virtue-disguised-as-flaw into every main character. Lots more room for individuality.

O'Donovan adds: I think the Hugh/Lilith romance is more perfectly rendered because we see them across the swath of history. Eight hundred year of foreplay really, uh, worked for me.

Nicola continues: Brook constructs unusual, layered characters whose strengths and weaknesses compliment each other perfectly – but only after they solve a rubik’s cube of discovery — of themselves, of each other, of their relationship, and coming to terms with the loss (or recovery) of their humanity.

There's no lack for wit or humor, either. A favorite snip:

bearing in mind that Lillith is particularly talented at lying, and Hugh is particularly talented at discerning truth:

"Making a bargain with Lucifer is completely different than working covertly for the government," Lilith said.

Silence fell for a moment, then Hugh lowered his face into his hands and his shoulders began shaking. Unable to contain her own laughter, Savi sat down and bent forward, holding her sides.

"Lilith," he said finally, wiping his eyes. "That's a lie."

Now, I have to say that these books aren’t perfect… I’m rarely one to complain about a long book, but I did feel like there were places that any one of these three sagged a little. As a nitpick, her fight/action scenes could be a little more clearly rendered—the romance genre has always been a little more forgiving of this sort of fuzziness, but with all the urban fantasy out there right now, I think the bar for a tight action scene is floating up higher.

After finishing the third book, it’s clear to me that Brook has a very definite vision of how the various categories of non-human beings interlock together (“follow the blood”) but there were times when she sort of lost me. I also have to wonder why she needs vampires in the mix – seems like demons (including the devil himself), angels, humans, & halflings ought to be adequate for any series, and with the biblical roots, the vampires seem like sort of a mis-fit. I’m not really up on my Old Testament, but there weren’t any vampires in there, were there?

O'Donovan adds: The only other flaw that struck me was a weird teasing about some characters' back stories. In a book where Colin is the hero, one expects to learn his story. Instead, we get bits and pieces strewn across three books. If we don't get the skinny soon, I may start to lose patience.

Nicola responds: Totally agree. I think though, that Colin's story is complete -- what we were supposed to glean from the bits of his letters in book 2 is that his non-reflective curse was self-inflicted and irreversible. I don't think we're going to see much more. The one that bugged me was about Charlie's scarring. She starts off telling a tall tale about it, but we don't know her well enough to know it's a tall tale. Its cause is alluded to but I thought it was too ambiguous.

Nicola continues: Generally though, these are thoroughly readable books with a lot of what I want in a romance of any subgenre.

O'Donovan adds: I wholeheartedly appreciate a new concept in paranormals, especially one that's executed with nuance and a fearless approach to complicated plotting.

We agree: well worth the read, and will be purchasing Demon Bound when it comes out later this year.

postscript from Nicola: I’d like to give credit to someone in particular for recommending this series to me, but I think I just sort of picked up the name by osmosis, after reading it on various favorites lists in the blogosphere. I clicked over to Brook’s website and read an excerpt from Demon Night and there was just no going back from there.