J.S. Fields

Author & Scientist

Review: Saints Astray by Jacqueline Carey

This is a review for the second book in the duology. To read the review for SANTA OLIVIA, click here.

Genre: science fiction: urban

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis bisexual, cis lesbian

Warnings: none

Review

Freshly escaped from Santa Olivia, Loup and Pilar are two hot young women on the run from the US government. One is part genetically-engineered wolf, the other quite buxom. That’s… basically the plot.

The sequel to SANTA OLIVIA sends the duo first south to Mexico, where they meet a group of other wolf-hybrid escapees. They’re all men, of course, which further isolates Loup. After a both exciting and depressing vacation with people who finally get her, but will never really know her, Loup and Pilar decide to take a job offer as Super Secret Agent Bodyguards.

The agency that hires them wants them to go through rigorous training first, which Loup aces but Pilar struggles through. Pilar works through her inferiority complex (and finds out she’s got killer aim with firearms) and the two then proceed through a number of celebrity bodyguard jobs. There’s more cute language, ear blowing, licking, and adorable endearments. I like mush with my action. So too, apparently, does Carey.

While Pilar and Loup are out being Super Agent Bodyguards, an investigation into Outpost 12 (Santa Olivia) rages through the US government. Pilar and Loup eventually use their newfound fame as bouncers for a rock band (no, seriously) to drum up public support to free the outpost, and run into some old friends along the way. There’s yet more kidnapping, a deeper look into the science of Loup, and a lot of Pilar reading fashion magazines.

SAINTS ASTRAY is a more than worthy sequel to SANTA OLIVIA, and once again strikes a great balance between mushy love and ‘shoot em in the face’ action. Again, if you can get the audio version, do it, as the reader is amazing and those mushy scenes are about a billion times hotter when they’re being read to you.

You can become a Super Secret Agent Bodyguard by buying the paperback here, ebook here, or audiobook here.

Review: Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey

Genre: science fiction: urban

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis bisexual, cis lesbian

Warnings: none

Review

A border town between the USA and Mexico is cut off by the US government as a base to run genetic experimentation trials. The goal: a wolf-human hybrid trained for military operations.

Unfortunately the residents of Santa Olivia were not given a choice about being trapped inside their small town and tensions run high. The only way out is to win a boxing match against a military-ranked boxer in monthly competitions–something none of the residents have ever done.

Things go awry, as they must, when one of the wolf-men escapes the military compound and is sheltered by one of the townspeople. His legacy of their short time together is a daughter with extraordinary strength and speed, and a deep desire to avenge her older brother, who died in a rigged boxing fight that should have won him his freedom.

SANTA OLIVIA is, hands down, my favorite lesbian science fiction book. Though billed as nothing of the sort, the book follows the life of Loupe Garron from her early childhood idolizing her brother, his death, and her eventual superhero style vigilanteism with a ragtag group of orphans as they fight back against the military occupation.

Embedded in the story is a sweet and powerful romance between Loup and Pilar–a busty, slightly older orphan girl. The two come of age as Loup comes fully into her supernatural powers and it is their love for one another that eventually sets Loup free, both from her past and for her future.

The book is written in the same acute pacing that Carey uses in most of her books (another favorite of mine is STARLESS). The romance line is thrilling and sensuous, and numerous lines comparing sex to good quality tequila are just downright hot. There’s a lot of whispering and ear blowing and voluminous bouncing and it’s just really good, okay?

“I bet Coach Roberts would pay you decent money to train a few of his best guys in secret,” she said. “That could be a real job for you, baby. One you’d like.” She licked Loup’s earlobe. “We could get an apartment.”

Loup squirmed. “It’s still living in slow motion.”

“Living with me?”

“Not you.” She shook her head. “Sparring with normal people.”

“Oh.” Pilar blew in her ear, smiled when Loup wriggled again. “It’d be nice, though. Nice big bed. No more getting carpet burn from fooling around on the floor of the choir room.”

There’s plenty of sappy mushy talk and also solid action and a disturbing plot that, even though it came out in 2009, could very well be today. The Santitos gang of orphans are the best ragtag crew the town of Santa Olivia could ask for, and there’s just enough science to bring about wonder, without getting bogged down into the weeks of genetic tinkering.

You can infiltrate Santa Olivia and meet a wolf-woman in ebook here, paperback here, and audio here.

If you have the opportunity to get the audiobook version, I would recommend that in addition to the print, as they are uniquely different experiences.

To read the review for the second book in the duology, SAINTS ASTRAY, click here.

Review: The Dreaming Stars by Tim Pratt

This is a review for the second book in a series. To read the review for THE WRONG STARS, click here

Genre: science fiction: space opera

Pairings: f/f, m/nonbinary

Queer Representation: cis pansexual/bisexual (unclear), nonbinary

Warnings: space lesbian delight!

Review

The crew of the White Raven returns! Still coming down from the high of taking out an Axiom facility, there’s some emotional cleanup to do.  Elena’s onetime friend and definite megalomaniac Sebastian has to be de-brain spidered, Callie has a funeral to attend (her own), and they all need a job. Of course said job takes them into Axiom territory where they discover the hilarious truth of the galactic overlords and what they’re doing in their stasis capsules of death and destruction.

THE DREAMING STARS is the second book in the Axiom series, and, predictably, has a slower start than the first as emotional cleanup needs to happen after the shattering revelations in THE WRONG STARS. The action doesn’t take off until the back quarter of the book when the crew finds an actually inhabited Axiom station and a swarm of murderbots that are attempting to eat the galaxy. There’s some intrigue in the ship as well, with a funny shimmer that keeps stalking Callie that no one else can see.

Although the action part of the book is at the very end, the first three quarters of the book are not wasted on filler and fluff. THE DREAMING STARS is a true middle bridge book, and spends much needed time expanding Callie’s character in particular, as well as ‘I’m-going-to-kill-you-in-seventy-ways’ Sebastian, and cyborg Ashok.

Elena doesn’t get as much screen time as I would have liked, but there are numerous scenes between her and Callie that are beyond adorable, and it is the build up of that relationship, in particular, that kept me engaged with the narrative. It’s rare in a space opera (outside of THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET) that we actually get to remain in romance spaces after the pair has gotten together. The pacing of THE DREAMING STARS gave the relationship between Elena and Callie time to breath and develop, and the sidebar adventure where Callie goes to her own funeral and Elena chats with Callie’s ex-husband is priceless.

As with THE WRONG STARS, there is plenty witty space opera banter that gives that television feel to the book (really, Witty Banter should be a full on space opera trope if it isn’t already). In fact, the best banter is usually between Callie and Elena, and serves to give us glimpses into their relationship. Some favorites:

(Remember: Elena is the one who was in cryosleep for 500 years)

Callie frowned. She’d heard of New York–it was a common setting in historical fiction, like Rome and Constantinople and Paris–but… “What’s New Jersey?”

“New Jersey! Just across the river from New York, but a million kilometers away culturally? Butt of endless jokes? Their state bird is an inferiority complex?”

“Huh?” Callie said. “Before my time. It’s probably part of the Eastern Innundated Area now. They do scuba tours to look at the submerged ruins.”

“Ugh. The future is the worst. Nobody gets my jokes.”

“Truly you bring us the wisdom of the ancients.”

“Ancients, huh? I am young and vigorous. You’re the one who tapped out last night.”

(and another. Remember again, Elena went into cryosleep before humanity really colonized anything outside of Earth)

“We may be eaten by space monsters.”

“Yes, but before that happens, I will get to stand on another planet.” Elena snuggled in closer. “We should have sex on Ganymede. And then we should have sex on Owain. We should collect various celestial bodies. I like collecting things.”

You can get your own access to the Axiom’s war games here in paperback and here in ebook here.

Review: Protector of the Realm by Gun Brooke

Genre: science fiction (space opera)

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis lesbian

Warnings: shower sex that involves too much soap–trigger warning for anyone who knows how poorly that should go (this is clearly not a real trigger)

Review

Commodore Rae Jacelon commands the Gamma VI Space Station. A very by-the-book officer, she bends the rules to save Kellen O’Dal, a hot woman in a catsuit who is caring for a teenaged boy. There’s more to Kellen than just the catsuit, however, and Rae must battle internal politics and a host of unscrupulous aliens to ensure the boy lives to see his next birthday, and that she and Kellen get to bang.

Okay soooooo here’s the thing. I picked this book up because 1) someone recommended it on Twitter, 2) it had space lesbians.

I kept reading because 1) it was campy AF and 2) it blended my two favorite tropes, marriage of convenience and SPACE

I’m embarrassed to admit how long it took me to realize it was Star Trek Voyager fan fiction with the serial numbers filed off. I am not embarrassed to admit that I ship Janeway/Seven harder than just about every other slash pairing in Star Trek, and fuck me sideways with a spoon I never in my life thought I would randomly stumble upon a published J/7 AU.

So let’s talk about Rae/Janeway and Kellen/Seven (OMG THEY RHYME).

The book starts with Rae being very stoic Janeway (“There’s coffee in that nebula!”) and then BOOM! some sort of space conflict that lands with her taking some decommissioned borg onto her station. Seven in this incarnation is a sworn protector of Icheb (look I don’t even remember what his AU name is… let’s stop pretending), who is some kind of Mega Prince.

In order to circumvent a mandatory ‘capture and release’ order, Janeway offers what is CLEARLY THE ONLY REASONABLE OPTION–they should get married because citizens of the Federation (called something different in this AU, obviously) can’t be extradited.

Seven is of course MUCH RAGE MUST DESTROY AND PROTECT but is also in an actual catsuit, so really, what can Janeway do? They get married and have to kiss each other at some reception or other, and then there is steamy sex and flimsy nighties and Janeway getting a bit of an anal probe. I’m not making this up.

And then Plot happens and honestly I don’t remember a lot of it because I was so damn disappointed that the sex scene(s) never involved the catsuit. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A CATSUIT IN LESBIAN FICTION IF YOU DON’T USE IT IN A SEX SCENE!?

Ahem.

So they save the day, yada yada. There are some nice fight scenes, and ships explode, and dudes get angry. Janeway has unresolved daddy issues and Icheb gets more fleshed out in this AU than he ever did in Voyager the Series. The end.

I will never not be angry about the catsuit.

Overall, it was an amusing read, with plenty of my favorite tropes (blue-skinned aliens, marriage of convenience, pew pew, etc.). The writing did a lot of showing and then telling and then TELLING, which became tedious after a while, but that pales in the delight of getting to hold an AU in paperback form.

You can get your own catsuit (but you won’t get lucky in it) in paperback here and ebook here.

 

~~MY FAVORITE QUOTES~~

On blue-skinned aliens:

Gantharians were blue-bodied in the truest sense of the word. (because other blue skinned aliens are not truly blue?)

“Of course, we’ll have to prove the marriage is for real, not just a means to an end.” It’s the future, but apparently marriage still has to involve romance and/or sex. I blame Lwaxana Troy.

“You once saw the blueprints of this vessel?”

“Yes, my father managed to obtain the blueprints for the prototype before he died, and I hid them and all of his other possessions in a secret vault on our estate. He showed me the ship’s weak spot–the node that, if hit by a torpedo, would relay the impact to wipe out their weapons and communications array.” This book also contains a death star, so it’s important to note that Seven used to bullseye womprats in her T-16 back home.

Review: Yule Planet by Angel Martinez

Genre: science fiction (novella)

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis lesbian, nonbinary, cis male

Warnings: none

Review

Sofia can’t wait for her exciting vacation to Yule Planet – a Christmas wonderland of snow and ancient traditions. During transport to the planet, however, a malfunction in her pod maroons her in an isolated snow drift. The ‘natives’–convicts on work release–rescue her but they’ve got to finish their run before they can take her back to the resort and her long awaited vacation. Much hilarity and mayhem ensues, as well as a sweet romance.

YULE PLANET is another holiday novella by Angela Martinez, who got on my radar after I read SAFETY PROTOCOLS FOR HUMAN HOLIDAYS. YULE PLANET lacks some of the humor of SAFETY, but has much more adventure and fun, feathery dinosaur pets. The romance, as always, is well paced, and the sex scene satisfying without bogging down the short narrative.

There’s an added dimension to this book that comes from Sofia’s background as a logistics accountant and the management of the Yule Planet corporation, lends excellent tension to what could have been a simple romance plotline (not that I don’t enjoy a simple romance, mind). Helping reform a problematic organization, getting to ride a tame and pet-like chionisaurs, a hot make-out scene in a small shower–all blends together into another delightful and fluffy holiday short.

You can book your own vacation package on Yule planet in ebook here and paperback here. Chionisaur rides extra.

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