Forty-Two

It was cold. So damn cold. So damn freaking cold! Barrett kicked the broken radiator. A rusted knob fell to the floor and the serpentine shaped metal let out a dying groan as the last bit of luke-warm water burbled onto the floor. Dammit, Barrett swore to himself. He wrapped the blanket tighter around his shoulders. He could barely keep his grip on its edges with his numb fingers, despite the thick ski gloves he was wearing. The front door to the apartment slammed. The sheet of ice that ha

Stuck in a freezing apartment on Christmas Eve, a young artist and a young writer must huddle together and try to heat each other up.

He slapped me. I couldn’t believe it! What the hell? Who does that? “You slapped me!” I yelled, unable to get past the shock. “You’re a goddamn liar!” he accused, his face getting red from the rage. “I never once lied to you!” I stated firmly, truthfully. I rubbed my stinging cheek. “A lie by omission is still a lie.” “Bullshit. You assumed. You saw what you wanted to see.” “Get out,” he growled. “Don’t be an ass! I’m sorry. Please, just let me explain.” “Get out!” he scr

There’s something Killian has been hiding from Joseph and all his friends. When the secret finally comes out, Killian has to fight to hold onto his treasured friendships.

If Only One Could Be So Lucky “… total to two hundred and eighty-nine dead and forty-six injured. The cause of the malfunction–” “–news stories today. A landing gear malfunction caused a small international–” “–hospitals overwhelmed with demand, so if you need to visit an emergency room officials are asking–” “Fucking AM news stations, shut up!” I scream and smash my fist against the face of the car’s radio. I only look up from the display when I hear the long frantic honk of a

A young doctor struggles to deal with death.

Hmm, I think Mike just had a crush on David, I don' t think anything actually happened, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had... Yeah, Ryan was hilarious. He'd be a fun character to follow around for a while because he has no idea how to act in "our" world and wouldn't care to adapt. I wasn't into the Aunties so much... but I think it's hilarious and awesome that they get their powers from menopause

Lol, I watched this at an anime convention years ago

Heh, funny how I read all the books, saw her name so many times, and then started spelling it wrong :wacko: I dunno... smug isn't really a term I would give Vicki... until she fries the vamp in her territory and goes on about how much her pre-vamp life experience makes her better than older vamps who were turned young... so okay, maybe I see what you're saying. I liked Tony better too, I think mostly because he is a lighter character. I liked the humour in the Smoke books better and I found Tony to be a more lovable character. Although there is something to be said for Vicki's straightforwardness. Her frankness is great and I love that she never falls prey to emotional moments - she always swears or whatever to Mike or Henry and just moves on. I think they captured that aspect of her personality perfectly in the show Blood Ties. The third Smoke book is awesome! You have to read it!

Lol, so true! I had a lot of trouble adapting to Vikki as a vampire. I actually didn't like it a whole lot. So much of what made Vikki Vikki was her human challenges, and reading her as a vampire was too much like just reading Henry. She seemed less whole without her eyesight problems and having made the choice between Henry and Mike.

So I finished The Enchantment Emporium. It was good but not as good as the Blood or Smoke series. Any thoughts? I love the dragons. If I were a dragon I'd totally be trying to eat my family (literally - no gross innuendos intended).

Woo, me too! I definitely get that not-too-young, not-too-old feeling! All my close friends are older than me so it helps to keep me from feeling that "Oh my God I've been out of Uni for how long and still haven't done blah blah blah..." Forget that, 24 was my pivotal quarter-life crisis time. Well, it started when I was 23 and branched into 24 but you get the idea. I'm still kinda in a quarter-life crisis but have kinda accepted the feeling...

It's so refreshing to see such love and acceptance from parents, to hear a good story instead of a bad one for once.

Oh, so sad, I love this movie!

Congrats!

It's really cool how they find these planets. They can't see them, they can only see the sun, so they find the planets by watching for the sun to blink when the planet crosses in front of it or from measuring how the sun wobbles due to a planet's gravitational forces pulling it around as it orbits. Space exploration is so fascinating!

Congrats!

Thank you all!

As long it's not TOO complicated it will be interesting to see the different style. I can't stand the epic fantasies that need a dictionary, history book, and character tree all laid out for reference just to get through each page. Sex with Death eh? Sounds interesting... I haven't read any of Charles DeLint or Mercedes Lackey, but I will definitely look them up. Thanks for the recommendations!

You know who would hunt both their butts... I'm actually glad I've forgotten a lot of what's in the books. That way the movie will be more exciting and surprising and I won't get all frustrated when they don't stick to the source material. A good re-read may be warranted after the last-last movie though...

Really? How interesting. From what I've read, I've liked her newer things a little better, as it seems her writing and style simply improve over time. But those books are straight fantasy, not urban fantasy right? And I've heard they are a lot more straight forward drama. So maybe the change in genre and tone makes a difference? What do you think is the best thing about them that makes them stand out over her other work? Awesome I'm only three chapters into it so far. I'm finding it a little hard to get into... there's too much that is unexplained and a little confusing. But, I have friends who swear by this book and say it gets way better once you get into it, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes....

I'm thinking of you Nephy. I offer you my strength, but you are so strong already that I doubt you need it. But just in case, I am here for you. Maybe there are fewer rituals and rites nowadays because instead of waiting for society to tell you that you've passed the test and now belong people can decide when they have come of age or how to mourn for themselves... and declare when they want to that they are secure in who they are or what they are doing...

I really wish there'd be a fourth Smoke too... There's so much that COULD be done with problems with Lee's closetedness or becoming more aware of/getting tangled in the supernatural stuff. And Tony has been my favourite protagonist so far. The Smoke series is perfect mix between the lighthearted ridiculousness of the Keeper Chronicles and the detecting mystery of the Blood books.That's the frustrating thing, is that she ties off an emotional story arc which is satisfying but she still leaves room for a lot more plot, ('cause hey, until the character is dead you can always write one more), which is how the Blood series ended up with so many short stories after the didn't-plan-to-write-it fifth book. And it really was great to see Tony come into his own... my heart just broke for him every time it was brought up that Henry didn't feel the same way about Tony as he did for Vikki because he never chose Tony to be in his life. When Henry wakes up in the last book and Tony isn't there and Henry just feels that it's nice to be alone... How is the Quarters series? Worth buying? And how is Blood Ties? I'm waiting for it to finish downloading and haven't read any reviews for it. Does it do justice to the books? Which would you recommend reading first, Quarters or Valor series? Yes, do read! You won't be able to put them down! Lucky there's five because you'll be so sad when it ends! Confederation series, that's the Valor books, right? I don't think I've read military sci-fi before... although I suppose Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series would count and I Loved those. What in particular made this series stand out for you over others?

I found it really interesting that the first three Blood books had fantasy villains where the last two had human villains with a fantasy element. Huff says that she truly wanted to write a horror story for Blood Pact, where her mom is a zombie, and although I didn't find it actually scary, I really appreciated how she delved into each character's personal horror. It's was hard but good to see Henry have such a breakdown when he's captured. I know it's not relevant, but I wish she would give us a bit more of the relationship stuff with Tony and Henry and Tony and Lee in the Smoke series. I really loved the dynamic between Tony and Henry in the first book, the pulling away yet still all flustered inside, Tony's defiance and determination to be his own man. I wish there had been more of that kind of tension between them in the second and third books. And c'mon, a threesome to save the world? How awesome is that? (That it didn't happen in a porn book and was actually relevant to plot, lol).

Tanya Huff is a Canadian fiction author who is often praised for having great, three-dimensional characters who are always free to love anyone they wish. There's a lot more to her writing than just sexuality, fun stories, good humour, lots of urban fantasy characters, settings in Canada (woo!), and more. I would highly recommend any of her books to people who love modern fantasy and adventure. I have just recently read the Blood Books, (Blood Price, Blood Trail, Blood Lines, Blood Pact, Blood Debt) and am half way through the short stories (called Blood Bank in the omnibus edition) about private investigator Vikki Nelson who in the first book stumbles upon a demon committing murders and meets Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of Henry VIII, vampire, romance writer, and enlists his help to solve the murders. I don't usually love detective stories/murder mysteries a whole lot, but due to the fantasy element and great characters I love this series to absolute bits and am dying to discuss it with someone. Previously I have read the Smoke series, (Smoke and Shadows, Smoke and Mirrors, Smoke and Ashes) which is a actually a sequel to the Blood books and follows Tony Foster after he has moved out of Henry's apartment and is trying to live life on his own, but still remain "friends" with Henry. Some spooky stuff starts happening on the TV set he works as a production assistant at. I absolutely love Tony and find that my whole reading of the Blood books and Tony's relationship with Henry was coloured by reading the Smoke series first. And of course Tony has a crush on one of the TV show's main actors, Lee, who is straight as a board... The books that got me into Tanya Huff was the Chronicles of the Keeper Series (Summon the Keeper, The Second Summoning, Long Hot Summoning) about Claire who is a Keeper, someone with magical type abilities who exists to keep the balance between good and evil, well, balanced. In the first book she has lusty feelings for Dean, who is too young, and Jaques, who is too dead, and tries to figure out how to get rid of the sleeping body of an evil witch without accidentally giving power to the sentient hole to hell in the basement of an old hotel in Kingston with the help of her 17 year old cat. It is as ridiculous and as wonderful as it sounds. I haven't yet read anything else, but The Enchantment Emporium is next on my bookshelf.