Welcome Our Newest Reviewer to Blood of the Muse

Things have been quiet the last couple of weeks here. Really quiet. No reviews, no giveaways, no nothing.

So I thought it was time for some new blood, someone that could bring a fresh and exciting perspective to Blood of the Muse. With that in mind, we welcomed our latest addition to the Blood of the Muse family on July 23, Liam Stotts.


What can we expect from Liam? Well, mostly naps. But he does like his dark fantasy. The type of fantasy that's like bodysurfing in a sewer. Really disgusting stuff. He's already hit my Joe Abercrombie collection, stating that "Joe is the [expletive] [expletive], but if he knew anything about good suckle his latest novel would have been called 'Best Served Warm.' "

Clearly, there's a critic born everyday.

"The Way Home" by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)

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The Way Home
George Pelecanos
336 pp. Little, Brown. $24.99
Pub. Date: 5/12/2009
ISBN-13: 978-0316156493

Reviewed by Paul Stotts

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Fathers and sons. The relationship can often be difficult and frustrating, like a pissing contest between arguing men, their egos clashing, grating against each other. Each one frustrated and conflicted, because they don’t know how to express their love for the other. They don’t know how to say I love you. They don’t know how to let go, to find common ground.

So instead they become adversaries locked in a perpetual battle, both seemingly fighting for what the other one has. Like a superhero confronting his nemesis, right versus wrong, my way or the highway. The spot where old school meets new school, where the past stares into the face of the future, and the present glimpses its future in the past. Where the replaced meets their replacement, the son proclaiming It’s my time, old man, the father holding off the march of time as best he can, knowing defeat is inevitable, his time will soon pass. Knowing one day all his power will belong to his son. All of his legacy will belong to his son, his conqueror.

And the only thing the father can ask is to be conquered by a better man, by a son who’ll protect his legacy, who will appreciate and respect it. He expects it. Expects his son to be twice the man he is. He raises him to be better, riding him every day not to make his mistakes. Because being a successful father means leaving your legacy in the hands of someone better than yourself.

So fathers have expectations of their sons; expectations that can be grating and a point of contention, something to be rebelled against during bouts of youthful spite. When expectations aren’t met, the father disapproves, disappointed with his failures. He pushes harder, demanding more, eventually creating unrealistic expectations. Making it harder for his son to get the one thing he deeply desires: his father’s approval. But at some point, if one can’t get approval, one settles for disapproval.

Because sometimes that’s the only way to get your father’s attention.

Take Christopher Flynn and his father Thomas. Despite being raised in an upper-middle class home, Chris decides he doesn’t want his life to be anything like his dad envisions for him. He doesn’t need college; that’s just not his thing. He was made for something else. Unfortunately something else eventually lands Chris in a juvenile facility.

Now, after serving his time, he must find his way back into society. Find his place in the world. Find his way back home out of the darkness that consumed his previous life. But something tempting steps in Chris’s way, something hard to refuse and ignore. Something that could put him back on the dark path he’s trying to leave behind.

A father’s expectations and a son’s perilous journey to meet those expectations serves as the emotional center of George Pelecanos’s breathtaking new novel The Way Home. This is Pelecanos at his absolute finest: a mixture of classic crime drama, both realistic and utterly gripping, smart and insightful social commentary, and an overwhelming amount of heart. In this respect, it’s similar to the amazing work Pelecanos did as a writer and producer of HBO’s brilliant series The Wire. The Way Home is about real people struggling with real situations, always trying to do their best. It’s about searching for redemption, searching for a chance to turn their life around after a past filled with failures. Searching to find their way home, searching to find themselves. It’s a journey of self-discovery encased in a crime drama. And it’s spectacular.

But even though you try to do your best, try to do the right thing and turn your life around, life sometimes still goes bad. It’s how you respond to these setbacks that measures you as a person. It’s about the choices you make even in the face of adversity. Do you give up, or persevere? Do you spit in its eye, or cower in a corner, fearfully wetting yourself?

The characters shine in the novel; it’s hard not to root for them to succeed. I wanted Chris to figure things out, to get his life back on track, to achieve some sort of redemption. To really connect with his father, finding that common ground where the two could be happy with their relationship. No one should be defined by youthful indiscretions forever; they deserve the room to grow, to become better people. And Pelecanos makes it hard for the reader to not want this for Chris.

Though The Way Home may seem like an incredibly engaging crime drama on the surface, first and foremost it is a character drama. This is what raises the novel above other crime thrillers, pushing it securely into the realm of literary fiction. This is what made me want to call my Dad, just to tell him I love him.

Final Grade: 88 out of 100

Collector's Corner - Brent Weeks

Here's a signature I expect a few people to be interested in. Last week I had a chance to attend an informal signing with Brent Weeks. Having attended a fair share of author events, I have to say that Brent put on a great show, coming off as humorous, witty, and thoughtful. If you ever get a chance to visit with Brent, I recommend it wholeheartedly. Until then, here's a peek at Brent's authorial scrawl.

Collector's Corner - S.J. Day

While the book Eve of Darkness wasn't for me, I know there are people out there who love the series. So for all you urban fantasy lovers out there, here's the signature of S.J. Day herself.

"Eve of Darkness" by S.J. Day (Tor)

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Eve of Darkness
S.J. Day
368 pp. Tor. $6.99
Pub. Date: 4/28/2009
ISBN-13: 978-0765360410

Reviewed by Paul Stotts

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There must be an unwritten law that all urban fantasy heroines must be attractive. And not just the everyday kind of attractive, but the causing-men-to-lose-all-self-control-and-self-respect-set-your-phasers-on-stunner type of attractive. The better-than-Viagra type of woman. Forget the other non-genetically blessed ladies who already struggle with a negative body image, and don’t even mention women who fell out of the ugly tree, hitting every branch on the way down—they could never be heroines in the genre. Because they’re not hot. And chicks kicking butt have to be hot.

Do you find that offensive? Because it is.

Super-attractive urban fantasy heroines isn’t just a bad cliché, it’s a damaging one, a terrible message, a knife in the heart to the female empowerment vibe underlying these books. So much of the protagonist’s worth is related to her looks, to her ability to attract that dark, brooding—and very sexy—guy. That’s not empowering, that’s limiting, objectifying. Because what happens if you can’t attract the sexy guy? And why is attracting him such a crucial objective? Is saving the world not as important without the nookie on the side?

Which brings us to the latest in hot little fantasy packages, Eve, the perky protagonist in S.J. Day’s Eve of Darkness. She’s smart, sexy and personable; spunky like a hyperactive barista with a triple espresso IV. Entirely normal. Until some illicit sex changes her life. No, it’s not the kind of life change that requires going to a clinic for some ointment to treat a bothersome itch. Her happy carnal congress has left a different mark on her: the mark of Cain, turning her into a supernatural Dog the Bounty Hunter. Got a gargoyle urinating on you outside your local church? Better call Eve.

Suddenly, she transforms from the Kryptonian Kal-El into Superman, manifesting a slew of handy-dandy super-abilities. Like super-hearing. Super-sight. Super-agility. And—oh yeah—being super-horny. (I exaggerate often; this is not one of those times, though. Who knew superpowers could be so encouraging to one’s love life.) Talk about your teenage boy wish fulfillment; Day just became their favorite writer. With such an overactive libido, it is amazing Eve has time to fight the baddies and unravel mysteries. But she does; she’s a trooper like that, a team player. Luckily, she has some help, an ex-boyfriend serving as her Obi-Wan, teaching her about her new super-abilities, even helping with that being super-horny problem. What a guy!

The sex is gratuitous in Eve of Darkness, entirely unnecessary in furthering the plot. Like an urban fantasy got mated with a late night Cinemax flick, killing creatures of the night fills the time between bedroom excursions. Even worse, it’s boring. The narrative is consistently interrupted by incongruous and dull soft porn moments, distracting the reader from an otherwise well-executed storyline. If Day had removed all the sex scenes from the book, she would have been left with a pretty good yarn. It’s a shame, and a missed opportunity.

Maybe the sex scenes wouldn’t have been so frivolous if there was emotion and love behind them. But the chemistry between Eve and her ex-boyfriend is also lacking. Day tries to convince us of this great connection, this deep bond, a romantic intensity between the two, but I never saw it, never believed it. Both act as if the other is the love of their life, but I couldn’t figure out why that was the case aside from pure animal lust. I didn’t believe they had respect for each other. Even worse, I didn’t think they had any self-respect. There is no connection, no emotion. Like watching animals mate on the Discovery Channel, or two self-absorbed twenty-something attempt a relationship. Uninteresting and depressing.

Eve of Darkness isn’t a bad book. With more focus on the fantasy narrative and less on the romance aspects, it might’ve even been a good book. It’s just not the book for me. Those who love their urban fantasy with truckloads of sex should love it, though.

Final Grade: 60 out of 100

Author Appearances - Brent Weeks

This is a special treat for Southern California fans. Just found out that Brent Weeks will be visiting informally with fans at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego on Friday, July 3. Should be a fun time.

Friday, July 3 2009
5:00pm
Mysterious Galaxy
7051 Claremont Mesa Blvd. Suite 302
San Diego, CA 92111
Map it on Google