J.S. Fields

Author & Scientist

Review: The Solstice Pudding by Angel Martinez

Genre: science fiction: space opera, novella

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: lesbian

Warnings: none

 

 

Review

Space stations. They’re all fun and adventure in concept, but the reality is that someone has to work customs. Intergalactic flora and fauna aren’t going to police themselves, after all.

But like, what if you just wanted to really make an impression on the cute quarantine officer? Maybe give her a little something for solstice? You could bend the import rules just one, right? Especially for something as cute and clearly harmless as ussi that is definitely not going to grow a hundred times its size and try to eat the station.

Nope. Definitely not.

Shandi Leavenworth is the chief engineer for Onwa Station and definitely has a thing for the ladies. Well, one lady in particular. Major Sur has seen a bit too much battle and just wants a quiet secondary career as an inspection agent for station imports of the living variety. They keep meeting up and having broken conversation in the mess, with all the awkward lesbian flirting one would expect. In an effort to get things moving, Shandi wants to give Tyra a gift, but not just any gift. A cute pet would be great. A cute exotic pet, even better. And Shandi knows just the (probably not super legal) person to ask.

This book is the third in Martinez’s f/f holiday shorts, and delivers as much sweet romance and fun spec fiction action as her previous two installments SAFETY PROTOCOLS FOR HUMAN HOLIDAYS and YULE PLANET. As always, Martinez provides solid worldbuilding in a tight package, and manages to build a solid, relatable courtship without sacrificing pacing or plot. The holiday theme is, as always, a delightful addition.

Alas, there weren’t any dinosaurs in this one, but there was a giant, trainable poot (see: MY TEACHER FRIED MY BRAINS– a favorite book of mine in grade school). Another +5 for mention of a lathe (“No, it’s okay. Accident when I was little. The whole don’t go near the auto-lathe while it’s running translating into three-year-old me definitely needing to see it up close.”). +10 for the station having pronoun confirmation protocols.

You can buy THE SOLSTICE PUDDING in ebook here and paperback here.

Contest!

Bill Tracy and I have conspired up a fun new contest to celebrate the release of both of our books. If you’re a fan of lesbians and also giveaways, read on (copied from Bill’s newsletter post for consistency)!

 

Contest for Ardulum and Fruits of the Gods!

J.S.Fields and I are in the same critique group, which means we help provide feedback to each other when we’re writing books. But this also means we get the chance to have some fun when we write. And in this case, we have a scavenger hunt for you several years in the making!

J.S.Fields released the last of their Ardulum series on June 10th; a collection of short stories set in the same universe as their three-book series. You can find the whole series here (and you’ll need a copy of book 2 for the contest, at least!)

The Contest:

We’ve each hidden a cameo character in our respective books. J.S.Fields has hidden one of the inhabitants of Fruits of the Gods in Ardulum: Second Don, and I’ve hidden an Ardulan in Fruits of the Gods. The first people to email methe section of text with the cameo gets a prize!

The Prizes:
The first person to find the cameo in Ardulum: Second Don gets a soft enamel pin and an audio book code, courtesy of J.S.Fields.

The first person to find the cameo in Fruits of the Gods gets one of the few remaining Dissolutionverse buttons, a postcard with the map of the Nether, and an eBook of Tales of the Dissolutionverse.

The first person to send in both cameos at the same time (a different person than above winners) will get a mailed copy of Tales From Ardulum  AND a copy of Fruits of the Gods, each signed by the authors (plus maybe some swag thrown in…)

Where do you get these fine books? As it happens, NineStar Press is running a deal for June and Pride month. All these books are available on their website, and you can get 40% off your purchase by entering PRIDE as a coupon code, until June 30th! That means you can buy all of these books at once for only $21.50 instead of $36!

The Books:
Fruits of the Gods (Contains the Cameo)
Ardulum: First Don
Ardulum: Second Don (Contains the Cameo)
Ardulum: Third Don
Tales From Ardulum

Remember to put in PRIDE as a coupon code to get 40% off!

Review: Rescue Her Heart by KC Luck

Genre: science fiction: space opera romance

Pairings: f/f

Queer Representation: cis lesbian. cis pansexual

Warnings: homophobia (by a character), attempted sexual assault

Review

Captain Nat Reynolds is a workaholic space ranger. Catherine Porter is an eighteen year old down-on-her-luck waif with a dilapidated ship and not a penny to her name. Asteroids happen and Catherine gets stuck on the ice planet Hoth (not really its name but same idea) and needs some serious saving. Catherine thinks she’s straight. Nat definitely isn’t. They end up in a hotel room together. You can guess how it goes from there.

Also space pirates.

RESCUE HER HEART is romance with a light sci fi flavor, but definitely can be classified as ‘lesbians in space’ due to several space scenes. The plot follows well-established romance lines and employs a number of lesbian tropes such as soapy sex scene, age gap, and coming of age sexual awakening.

The book begins by establishing Nat as a battle-worn space ranger whose only love is her job. She’s never taken a vacation, which is critical information for her spending spree a bit later in the book.

An asteroid field strands Catherine on an ice planet and space ranger Nat comes to her rescue–a rescue that of course involves getting naked for warmth.

Nat learns Catherine has no money due to her father disappearing (and being quite the drunk) and so offers to fly Catherine to a nice planet where she can get some clothes with Nat’s money. They end up in a hotel room (cue important ‘where will we sleep’ tension) and go clothes shopping (cue ‘do you want to see the cute panties you bought me?’). Catherine thinks she’s straight and so flirts like only an eighteen year old can with a safe target. Nat’s big on consent and so things get really damn hot. Catherine eventually realizes she wants to bang and things proceed.

The second half of the book has more of the sci fi plot. Deciding to go on a pleasure cruise in a fancy rented spaceship, Catherine and Nat become prisoners of space pirates when their ship gets jacked. Then there’s lesbian space pirate drama (the best kind) and some decent action scenes.

Nitpicks

Erasing homophobia in future settings is a growing trend in queer fiction, especially spec fic. Parts of RESCUE read more like a 1980s bar encounter in terms of homophobia and sexual advances but it’s definitely important for authors to be able to see their worlds in the books they write. Many lesfic writers in particular came of age in the 1980s and 1990s, when homophobia and sexual harassment were still very commonplace. Being in this age group I can deeply relate to the events in the book, although they may ring abstract and unnecessary for younger readers.

The biggest stumbling block in the story is the tech. The book is one hundred years in the future but one law enforcement person still uses a paper printer (it’s noted as an antique). Heaters still have dials. The ‘old’ spaceship has a windshield (that gets cracked from a meteor but no one gets sucked into space) and a steering wheel that Catherine actually has to fight to keep the ship on course through the asteroid field.

(It should be noted that my partner defended the steering wheel and suggested that the old ship was made for human comfort and the inertial dampeners had been routed through the steering wheel to give it a more ‘historic’ feel.)

You don’t really read books like this for the science, however, and the problems are easy to overlook in the very well done sexual tension. The scenes and placements are sometimes silly and over the top but keep you well in the narrative and rooting for the main characters to just boink already. Example:

…Nat realized the woman was braless. Nat forced her eyes away, and with shaking hands, pulled off the girl’s boots and socks before focusing on removing her pants. It was difficult to cut through the thick fabric and knowing precious time was slipping away, Nat tossed the scissors aside and gripping the cloth, yanked with all her strength to tear the pants apart and off the girl’s body.

I mean, we laugh but really, we’ve all had this fantasy.

You can join the space pirates in ebook here, or the space rangers in paperback here. Either way, you get to bang in the shower.

 

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.

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