Torchwood...

[erastes]

Three days to go....

From Firefox - a review of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang -

Finally, in James Marsters, the series has found a truly spectacular guest star. Swaggering out of the rift like an escapee from a glam-rock convention, his Captain John is Jack with no moral compunctions, an utterly charming, utterly ruthless sociopath who is more concerned with keeping himself amused than doing the right thing. He sparks off every team member fantastically well (The confrontation between him and Ianto is a particular standout) and his cocky, swaggering delivery really helps with the episode's breakneck pace. Chibnall has said that John is something of a statement of intent for the series and based on this appearance, that bodes very well for the future.

Hubba hubba....

Swordspoint!

 

I loved it loved it loved it! Questions under the cut if you have read it. 

 

It was probably far too clever for me, and far too clever for the way I read it (rushing through it like a maniac) - and it proves how much I liked it because I am going to start reading it again tonight, nice and slowly, now that the secret of Alec is revealed and I can see the inferences here and there and work out what the bloody hell everyone else is up to.

 

I love a good political twisty twisty tale!  I appreciated the non-magic of the book, too. I understand that one or both of the sequels have more magic in them, so I may not bother with them.  If I have any quibbles it was that there were certain aspects that we didn't see enough of - I would have liked even more of the power struggle that was going on, would liked to have seen more of how the structure of the world was arranged and seen more of Diana particularly.

 

I also found Michael's persona a bit wasted - was he just Ferris's replacement?  Kushner seemed to spend a lot of time building up his part, only to shuffle him off to the Wool place and have him seemingly happy in commerce. I thought that he and Richard were going to meet up or something - the story seemed to be very much heading in that direction but it sort of fizzled out.

 

Perfect ending (if a LITTLE bit "Sam Gamgee-ish" sort of "Well, I'm back.")  I guess 20 years ago means "no sex" :)

 

And of course, like all good books leaves me crying for more. I read Red-Cloak and The Swordsman whose name was not Death and enjoyed again the rapport that Richard and Alec had, and the way they have of almost non-communication and the way they tease each other. I loved particularly the "I'm only loved for my sword" joke - it gave a real feeling of affection between them both.  I'd LOVE to have read the story of how they met but I guess that's what fanfic is for.

 

So, what about the other books? Should I try them? Will I be dissapointed for the lack of the boys?

 

In other news, I've been buying books!  Namely: The Loom of Youth, Hindoo Holiday, The Mask of Apollo and A Single Man (by Waugh, Ackerley, Renault and Isherwood respectively)  also something which could be amusing called erotic tales of Templar Knights of which I don't hold out much hopes of literary merit, but I might be pleasantly surprised.  I'm just happy to keep finding new gay historicals.

 

Comments

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

I would recommend The Privilege of the Sword, which takes place 15 years after Swordspoint. Very interesting and enjoyable, although less of Alec and Richard than one might like. I wouldn't bother with The Fall of Kings, though - that's the one with magic and even plotwise, it's just not that well written. Characters are a lot less interesting (and it takes place 60 years after Swordspoint, so Alec and Richard are long dead).

[schmoo999.livejournal.com]

I cannot wait for new Torchwood. I have adored James Marsters so much on Buffy and now he gets to trot out the accent for this? Heaven. Oh and seeing the clips of him have just wet my appetite and I want more!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you! I'm glad there is SOME Richard and Alec and yay - 15 years later, hope they've been together all that time. I will certainly get it. I will miss the other one. What a shame there's so little of this world.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think that he's got a yank accent from what I can tell by the clips, but hell I care not.

Did you ever see him on Andromeda?

[liriaen.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, "The Mask of Apollo" is gorgeous. I read it in German, alas, but the translation felt decent.

[alankria.livejournal.com]

I second the recommendation of The Privilege of the Sword. Absolutely lovely book: funny and clever and feminist, but never overbearing about it. It did for me as a woman what Tamora Pierce's books did for me as a girl: made me cheer for girls/women who followed their heads and hearts, and made me feel really good.

And, you know, that sounds really corny, but it worked in this book. (IMO, of course.)

[schmoo999.livejournal.com]

I could not tell! It sounded somewhat like his Spike accent to me! lol. No I don't watch Andromeda so I never caught him on it. He was yummy on that then too?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I agree with most of your comments about Swordspoint - especially in finding Michael's story oddly unfinished. I feel he needs or deserves a novel of his own.

I totally loved The Privilege of the Sword, at least as much as Swordspoint. To say too much would be to give away plot but it has both m/m and f/f relationships (one way or another). And another view of characters from Swordspoint.

Highly recommended.

The Fall of the Kings, however, bored me.

I tried to order Erotic Tales of the Templars from amazon but it never came. I might try again. Do let me know how good or awful it is!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

In her ancient series,I've only read "the persian boy" but I really enjoyed that, so I'm looking forward to this!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Oh good, I shall definitely get that one then!

[liriaen.livejournal.com]

I can wholeheartedly recommend "The Bull from the Sea" as well. :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

*drools*

he was... sometimes in ox-blood leather and other times...

http://www.lisacaps.com/charlemagne/charl1.html

shirtless!!

http://www.lisacaps.com/charlemagne/charl4.html

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes, - perhaps she was asked to cut it down? I shall certainly get Privilege, but will skip Fall of the Kings.

And yes, I shall let you know about the Templars!

:)

[haydenthorne.livejournal.com]

I'm about to finish The Loom of Youth. I'll be posting a review in a couple of days or so, but, uh, don't hold your breath. ^^; Or at least I hope you'll enjoy it more than I did.

[eledhwenlin]

Read Priviledge of the Sword as it is awesome. Fall of the Kings was good, but not as good as either Swords. PotS is also nicely political without being too confusing. It has no boylove, but raises some very interesting gender issues (there's also some Alec/Richard! It makes my heart full of glee!).

I need to reread those this summer, if I find the time.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Oh dear...

I should have checked with people before buying books!!!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Alec Richard - even just talking, makes me happy-dancing.

:)

[haydenthorne.livejournal.com]

*paws, whimpering*

Sorry, dear. Trust me, I was thrilled as heck when I got my copy a few weeks ago, and I couldn't wait to finish reading what was on my to-read list first before diving into this one. Alas, alack.

It's got some good things going for it, but it still falls way short of the hype.

Hey, at least we can commiserate over tea!

[andsaca369.livejournal.com]

Bweeeheee! James Marsters is oh, so tasty...

You know I write for Firefox, don't you? *g*

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Really? I much preferred The King Must Die to its sequel The Bull From the Sea. Not that I disliked Bull; I love everything Renault wrote.

But for my absolute favorite historical Renault novel, it's a tie between The Persian Boy and The Last of the Wine.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Oh, read Privilege of the Sword. Like some of the others, I loved it almost -- though not quite as much -- as Swordspoint. The Fall of the Kings had more magic than I necessarily cared for and I only read it once (unlike the other two, which I've read several times each), but I mean to reread it sometime to see if it improves on reread.

And so looking forward to new Torchwood. Mmm, delicious.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I should point out that The Fall of the Kings, while the least appealing of the three, has ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY THE MOST GAY SEX in it.

You have to read TPotS though. it explains SO much about Alec's family and why he's so CRAZY.

There is an utterly heart-wrenching reprise of the line "I've brought us some fish." When I saw it, I had to put the book DOWN, it hit me so strongly. It's not tragic, just bittersweet.

READ READ READ!

(In two weeks I'll most likely be bringing Ellen some Little Iced Cakes.)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

NO BOYLOVE? Alec and Richard have a HAWT SEX SCENE! All scent-based!

[eledhwenlin]

But it's not the main focus of the novel - which, at least to me, was something of a disappointment. ;)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Oh yum.

HUBBA! I can't wait to get the book now!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes - that's how I found that article, actually!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Privilege: Ordered!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

What I loved about Richard and Alec was that Richard was so ... sang froid - the way he sat completely still when Alec returned after the abduction, the way that he said "where did you get this" in a casual manner when he saw the stolen ring - the way he kept everything inside and yet you couldn't help but KNOW that he was seething with emotion for Alec all of the time. And Alec knew Richard so well, it really is a case of two halves finding each other, and that's pretty rare in fiction - rare for it to work well without being sappy. I sat back and applauded the "maleness" of their relationship - not scratching balls, or testosterone behaviour - but inability to communicate on important matters, and yet delicious hints of "under the sheets they talked for hours" but you just know it wasn't anything personal.

I've sent Ms Kushner a message thanking her, it's my last year's new resolution to thank authors.

[andsaca369.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm glad the rest of the site is getting exposure via me. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I have a suspicion that "Fall of Kings" isn't a bad book per se, it just suffers in comparison to "Swordspoint" and "The Privilege of the Sword". I would recommend reading "Fall of Kings" from the library, just to see what it's like.

I eagerly await news of wayward and lustful Templar knights.