J.S. Fields

Author & Scientist

Review: Branded Ann by Merry Shannon

Genre: fantasy – historical (lesbians on boats!)

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis lesbian

Warnings: Scary Black Man trope, discussion of child rape, some off-page adult rape (not voyeuristic), ethnic slur (Gy*sy)

Review

Violet, former prostitute now merchant-wife, is setting off on the vacation / move of a lifetime with her new husband. They’re headed to Jamaica, where her husband’s land holdings and wealth will make her a queen among the natives (don’t worry, it’s not a colonial narrative) and allow her to leave her past behind.

Barely into their voyage, Violet’s ship is taken by pirates, who are lead by Branded Ann, a “woman with eyes like ice and a face marred by a mysterious cross-shaped scar.” But Ann isn’t after Violet and her husbands possessions, nor is the ship carrying any worthwhile cargo. Ann is after a portion of a map that will help her translate the portion she carries, and allow her to find her father’s hidden treasure.

None of this is of much interest to Violet of course, who gets to watch her crew and husband murdered. Violet makes some key missteps and Ann, who will kill anyone who looks at her but who can’t stand rape, has to take Violet under her protection to save her from the crew (this is all very well done, I have no objections to this scene). Violet has no intention of serving Ann or the crew, except as a scullery maid. Hence she’s left to scrub decks and make friends with the cabin boy–and slowly earns the respect of part of the crew.

As Ann’s scheming takes the crew farther afield, into dangerous waters that could spell disaster for the ship and its crew, Violet and Ann must learn to trust each other as a mole on the ship, other treasure seekers, and Ann’s own crew plot to kill them both. Trust isn’t something that comes easily for the merchant’s wife or the pirate, and the reader gets treated to the very best of the enemies-to-lovers trope, while on the high seas, and surrounded by murderous pirates.

Much like SWORD OF THE GUARDIAN, BRANDED ANN combines the very best fantasy tropes (herein, pirates) with my favorite romance tropes in a skillful, suspenseful, and hot stand-alone book. There’s a real plot that I actually care about. Both Violet and Ann are three-dimensional and have their own motivations. They have unique voices. The crew of the pirate ship are complex and distinct, and act with the moral grayness of, well, real pirates. There’s a reasonable, on-page sex scene and plenty of sexual tension before it, swashbuckling, fun outfits, a misfit kid, and a pirate with a heart of gold. Seriously, what isn’t to love in this book??

Unfortunately, like SWORD OF THE GUARDIAN, this book does have some tired racist tropes, primarly in the form of Black descriptions:

Then there was Mason, a giant of a man with skin so black it shone like polished ebony when he sweat in the sun. Rumor had it that Mason had originally been captured from Africa by pirate slave ships, and the captain had been so impressed–or perhaps intimidated–by the enormous man that he’d recruited him.

For those playing their TV Tropes bingo card at home, Mason hits the Scary Black Man trope, specifically Token Minority, Proud Warrior Race, and Gentle Giant.

The book is surprisingly realistic in how it portrays the brutality of pirate lives, though it does so without glorifying violence or giving us voyeuristic rape scenes. It’s a fine line not many authors can walk, and Shannon does it with grace. Be warned, however, that there is rape of Violet, though it is off page and no actual portion of the rape is discussed other than Violet’s frustration over the encounter.

Somewhat more concerning is one of the pirate crew propositioning the ten-ish-year old girl who ends up stowing away on the pirate ship, who Violet takes under her wing. Again, it’s just a proposition and nothing happens, but it does serve to really enforce the real brutality pirate life, and the very complex morals of Branded Ann’s crew:

Saunders reached out and took hold of Charlie’s arm. “Aw now, Sister, that bunk of yours is awful tiny, ain’t it? Maybe this little one ought to share berth with me.” The lecherous gleam in his eyes made Violet sick to her stomach. “What do you say, moppet, you want to come sleep next to your Uncle Saunders?”

There’s also a concerning passage from Violet’s past about a Gy*sy woman who is paid to give her an abortion, and the effects of said potion. So, racial slur and problematic context, in a one-page backstory.

Racial and rape issues aside, BRANDED ANN is decidedly well-written and walks the perfect balance between romance and adventure. With a publication date of 2008, some of the issues are more forgivable (rape, in particular, seemed to be almost required in fantasy books from the 1980s-about 2010) than others (at no point has the slur Gy*py been okay unless you’re Roma). Readers will need to decide if they can put the racism aside for an otherwise delectable adventure.

Grab a cutlass and join Branded Ann’s pirate crew here.

Review: Heathen, Volume 3, by Alterici, Woods, and Martinez

This is a review for the third and final volume in a series. Read the review for volume one here and volume two here.

Genre: fantasy – sword and sorcery

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis lesbian

Warnings: none

Review

In the final installment of HEATHEN, Aydis takes on Odin in the Land of the Gods while her friends battle Odin’s army. It’s valkyrie against valkyrie, Aydis against the gods, in this rushed and disappointing end to the HEATHEN storyline.

I don’t have too much to say about this volume, as I found it a general disappointment all around. I know Alterici had a ton of issues with publication and rights being tied up with various companies, and I’m guessing by the time she wrote this, her head wasn’t in the game anymore. Still, the first two installments were just so good that to have it wrap with a mediocre ending left me grumpy. Even the cover art lacks the sheer joy we could see in the other two volumes. This reads more as a ‘I have to finish’ more than ‘look at my amazing world!’

We begin with a lackluster chase scene in which Aydis is captured by giants and taken to see Odin. During their journey we get a story about an old tree that the gods used to consult with the Norns about governing the human world. Aydis befriends the giants just as they leave her at the door to Odin’s castle, and she promises to free their mother.

She enters and is immediately captured by Odin and thrown into the dungeon.

Meanwhile, the valkyrie Aydis saved and did not marry whyyyyy finds the girl Aydis once (almost?) kissed. They begin traveling together. Various side character break Aydis out of her cell and she is lead to the mystic tree discussed earlier (that did not appear in earlier volumes that I recall, making it very Plot Convenient).

Not-wife and Almost-Kissed team up with the all-lady pirate crew and take on Odin’s army, which includes the valkyries. They…talk it out.

Aydis sees a naked woman in the tree, then a baby, which apparently represents her mother and her, and gives her the will to live?? She leaves the tree and goes to again confront Odin. Not-wife and the very scantily clad Aphrodite-like valkyrie go with her. Aphrodite takes pity on Odin who is cowering in a corner for a reason I’m not too sure of, and convinces Odin to undo his wrongs and free Brynhild (not-wife). Aydis tells him the story of her mother and he relents. Aphrodite gives Byrnhild the leader-helmet of the valkyries and everyone lives on.

With a degraded art style, what felt like a forced and often too-convenient plot (and plot devices), and no resolution on the ‘loves the ladies’ thing which started the whole series, this volume was definitely a letdown. I hold out hope that Alterici will revisit the series later and give it the ending it deserves.

You can check out volume three here.

Review: Skywhisperers by Natasja Hellenthal

Genre: fantasy – sword and sorcery

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis lesbian

Warnings: ableism, ‘almond eye’ and other food-based descriptions, consent issues

Review

Nemsa is born into a world with stagnating landscapes and dried husks of people – a land without wind (don’t think about pollination and other critical life elements too hard or the premise unravels). Her arrival at a small village and the death of the wind seem a coincidence, and Nemsa grows up in a small village surrounded by anger and suspicion.

Of course Nemsa is not to blame. How could she be, having only one eye and one good leg? Still, the weight of blame from the villagers is crushing, so she goes on a quest restore the winds once she comes of age. While wandering from her village, Nemsa meets Xenthia–a Sky Whisperer–who may be able to help her restore the wind. Their target – the old, vengeful Sun Whispered. Along the way Nemsa discovers her Chosen One heritage, enjoys some celestial sex, and interacts with a fairly generic fantasy world.

The cover of this book was gorgeous, which gave me higher expectations than I think I should have had going in. And I’m not sure if the writing is a problem because of translation issues or just authorial skill. Regardless, SKYWHISPERERS  reads more like a belabored fantasy coffeeshop AU than a book, with extended emotions that rehash scenes from multiple character POVs, dialogue that doesn’t advance the plot, and a plot that only occasionally shows it head. The book is much more romance than fantasy, more of a romance set in a fantasy setting where the plot is occasionally brought around to remind the reader there is a purpose other than having sex with a Sky Whisperer. There’s an engaging story buried within, which could have been told in half the number of pages, and without the tortured ableism.

Nemsa is introduced to the reader as having a bad leg that causes a limp, and only one functional eye. This is yet another avenue of scorn from the villagers, and early on in the book we see a lot of the expected bemoaning around these disabilities.

But, even with her true heritage revealed, how can crippled and one-eyed Nemsa’s destiny be linked with that of the much older, immortal Sky Whisperer she grows fonder of by the day?

 

I’d hoped Nemsa might come to acceptance or find creative workarounds, or found she had great power in some other aspect of herself. Alas, she is slowly healed throughout the book (healing sex! take a drink!), and by the end she is ‘whole’ (she was never not whole to begin with).

Then, I experienced the most enlightened moment I had ever felt in my life. Suddenly, I could see with both eyes it seemed.

 

The cloud grew in size almost straight away and became yellow and red for a moment. I experienced a bright jolt of pain in my bad leg. But then, as I looked down on my left leg, which had always been crooked with the knee slightly swollen, I immediately noticed the difference. It looked the same as my other leg now and…as straight.

 

I swallowed hard at her sudden poetic outburst. ‘Yet, I haven’t lost hope and I know you haven’t. So, we are going to save the world, together,’ she looked away at my abandoned stick, then at my leg and nodded.

‘At least you can walk properly now and I don’t have to carry you.’

 

I walked away, glad to finally be able to properly without seeming feeble.

 

I felt whole.

 

There’s some really pretty (if not sometimes confusing) imagery in this book

All of my life, there had been no wind until she came. I had known only stale and fetid air–the dust only moved by the shuffling of my feet–so that when it started to swirl, I grew frightened.

 

That’s when I see her. She comes down the path towards me; the stark blue of her robe standing out among the red rocks like a picture I had once seen. My mother called it a forget-me-not.

Which is unfortunately paired with the very problematic food-based racial descriptors and various ‘exotic beauty’ references:

Still, to me, she appeared very much like a frightened, fragile bird. A bird with her wings clipped even. How could this girl possess any powers? Pretty though, mind you, in an innocent and sweet way, even if she had no idea how attractive she actually was. Or could become with her skin like dark honey, her almond-shaped tawny eye, and the strange hairstyle of the village people; giving her a certain appeal.

And then to top it all off, there’s some problematic consent issues:

I tried to stop her several times, but she thought it was for her sake. That too. Of course. How could I let her do this after all? She would die before her time. Suffer, catch the Sickness like so many others…How could I be so selfish? But I wasn’t. Xenthia ensured me that I wasn’t. She did this to save Lorian.

I started to cry, but she kissed my eyes. She felt my guilt, my inner torment.

‘It’s the only way, Nemsa, and you know it. We need you. I need you. I want to help and gladly. Please, open yourself up to me and let me love you,’ Xenthia said, her voice husky with desire.

With the right editing, this book has a lot of potential. Unfortunately there are too many problematic elements and tropes to make it an engaging read, even if you are into coffeeshop AUs.

Seek your destiny with the wind by buying the book here.

Review: Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan

Genre: science fiction – urban (also lesbians plus dinosaurs!)

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis lesbian

Warnings: none

 

Review

Pearl, who is probably not an angel, works for the Resistance–an organization that does small acts of kindness to improve the overall world. Stealthily. She’s unnaturally strong. She has wings that exist in a sort of extra dimensional space pocket and is missing part of herself–a part that appears to be stored in a killer’s briefcase that may also contain an extra dimensional space pocket and dinosaurs. Having no memory of who or what she, Pearl knows she must get back the briefcase at all costs, putting her job, her lovers, and her connection to humanity on the line. But the man with the stolen briefcase has a secret of his own, and Pearl’s truth, if found, may be more than the universe can take.

Shortlisted for the 2017 Arthur C. Clarke Award, OCCUPY ME is urban science fiction at its best. It’s weird. It’s twisty. It’s got killers and altered states and dimensional pockets and dinosaurs. What isn’t to love?

Pearl, the main protagonist, wakes up in a refrigerator with no memories, a lot of energy that needs to be spent, and wings that may or may not actually exist in reality. Dr. Sole, the other main character, has two people living in his head and driving his meat sack body, and only one of those people is him. He’s also accidentally killed some relatives of his not-quite-dead-but-very-definitely-evil geriatric employer, which is why he has the guy’s soul in his inter dimensional briefcase.

The briefcase, of course, is the missing part of Pearl (her launcher), and she cannot regain her memories and purpose without getting it back. Dr. Sole has plans of his own–mainly to screw his boss for destroying Dr. Sole’s village, ecosystem, culture, and basic will to live.

Everyone wants the briefcase. Every time Pearl and Dr. Sole tangle, dinosaurs come out of the briefcase and fuck people up. Pearl’s girlfriend breaks up with her for crashing a plane, she meets a hot veterinarian, Dr. Sole kills a bunch more people, and everyone ends up in dinosaur land for a while, and eventually, space.

It’s fucking fantastic, if not a little confusing. BUT ALSO FANTASTIC.

This book is gilled with social commentary:

It is so tiring and ironic, their fear. No matter how many African people the white people robbed of their lives, still they will be afraid of you.

realistic yet sexy running commentary:

Marquita was sleeping, sprawled on her back with her mouth open, a slug trail of saliva tracing gravity’s vector from the corner of her mouth. Her brightly-beaded braids were splayed around her in a semi-circle like the head of a paintbrush that’s been jammed against the paper. Or a halo. The hotel’s Egyptian cotton sheets were tangled with her legs, but one foot had managed to escape and its painted toes twitched in her dreaming. She wore a shell necklace that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a mermaid and, even though the fine wrinkles on her neck and around her eyes showed the drag of years, she had fucked like a storm all night.

and dinosaurs:

Number 47: because you never know when your obliging vet friend will ask you to hold an unconscious pterosaur’s leg out of the way while she roots around with her forceps, looking for the place where the bullet chatters agains the bone.

The chapter headers in particular are gold (see example: Fucks like a gerbil) and there is no small amount of third wall breaking:

This is for everyone who thinks ships are made of metal and petrochemicals and that they travel through space like sailboats travelled the high seas, propelled by mysterious engines that grant them impossible speed. That space sailors have space battles with space pirates and electrical cables and explosions and space bars with space booze.

And, like all moderately confusing books, it offers fantastic summary paragraphs every so often to catch the reader up:

‘Indeed,’ you say. ‘I shall tell her that until further notice I will be living in an airplane hangar and fraternizing with the Loch Ness monster while you engage in a little dubious financial hacking to try to recover some of the funds that were lost when Bethany Collins ruined the future of humanity because her boyfriend doesn’t satisfy her sexually. My wife will then file for divorce and report my location to the police.’

OCCUPY ME is wild and weird and perfect for 2021 (though it was written back in 2016, the vibe still works). Even if you never grasp the plot, the writing is sharp, witty, and engaging. It’s original sci fi, surreal at times, honest all the time, and breathtakingly innocent.

You can escape the pterosaur by jumping into the magic inter dimensional briefcase by buying the book here.

Review: Heathen, vol 2, by Natasha Alterici and Rachel Deering

This review is for the second volume in a comic series. To read the review for volume 1, click here. To read the review for volume three, click here.

Genre: fantasy – alternate history

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis lesbian, cis bisexual, cis pansexual, gender fluid

Warnings: none

Review

Aydis is back! Having freed Brynhild and spent some time in Freyja’s love nest, she now searches for Heimdall, the entrance to the land of the gods, in an effort to end Brynhild’s curse (and take out Odin if the opportunity permits). Adventures abound, including a brush with killer mermaids and a ship full of buxom lady pirates.

Now separated from Aydis, Brynhild and Freyja get their own adventures, too, with Freyja falling from Odin’s grace for aiding Brynhild and Aydis. There’s a great scene where Freyja, trying to re-entice Odin, turns into a male version of herself which was perfectly drawn and very Loki-esque.

Although this volume doesn’t push the story particularly far, the art remains enchanting and the promise of an eventual Aydis/Brynhild arc continues to tease. Like the previous volume there are plenty of bikini-tops, cleavage shots (hell, Freyja doesn’t even wear a top), and women who just don’t give a fuck. Odin is still a jerk, but he’s down an eye so hey! Things are looking up!

Volume 2 is on Amazon, and should be there for a while, though I know there is still a rights issue going on.

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