Hey how's everyone doing today? Good I hope. As for I'm i must admit I've been a little on the bored side since graduating college a few months ago, but hey it is what it is. I'm not going to lie and say I don't miss school because I do. When the new semester started this fall it felt surreal to me to not be getting ready for classes like some of my other friends. But life goes on and so must I. With that being said let me move on to the updates (This is going to be a long entry). First off I want to talk about the season finale of True Blood. This season in general was one of the best seasons, for me mainly because Sookie and Eric finally got together. Though I was happy that these two finally got together I felt a little cheated because of the fact that Eric lost his memory and wasn't truly acting like his bad-ass self. Also because by the end of the season she didn't remain with Eric after he regained his memory and admittedly fallen in love with her. She instead broke it off with him because she couldn't choose between him and Bill. Though that is not my real issue with the situation. My real issue is that the moment Eric gained his memory back again Sookie began to act as if she was scared of him and she distanced herself from him, she shut him out before truly giving him a chance. But I must admit that I respect the fact that she didn't choose Bill either. Instead she left them both alone because she couldn't choose between them. In that moment she gained some of my respect back...but not all. As far as the rest of the characters their lives have changed in drastic and plot changing ways. First off Hoyt and Jessica break up and Jessica starts sleeping with Jason (who if I am not mistaken has began to fall in love with her by the end of the season. Needless to say that when Hoyt finds out his friendship with Jason is on the. Thought Hoyt's reaction to Jason's betrayal is justified cannot find it in myself to feel pity for him after watching his progress through the season. It is my opinion that Hoyt's issues run deeper than the fact that his girlfriend is a vampire who cannot control herself. His issues truly stem from his mother and abandonment issues that become clear when him a Jessica do break up. Jason's actions however are not excused and I see his growth as a character when he tells Hoyt to his face instead of hiding it. As per True Blood style all the characters have drama and chaos in their lives, such as Sam and Alcide who through a random twist of fate develop a respect for each other. This all starts with the woman that Sam is seeing who is the ex wife of Alcide's pack leader. The pack leader is a dark character that doesn't understand that he is no longer apart of his ex wife's life or his daughters life because he is abusive and his temper. The conflict comes when the pack leader finds Sam (by randomly showing up at his ex's house against restraining orders) in the house. Tempers flare and threats are issued. However the boiling point is when Sam's brother Tommy (who gains the skinwalker ability) takes on Sam's appearance and confronts the pack leader in protection of Sam. Needless to say the leader thinks it is Sam and proceeds to have his pack violently attack Tommy. At the end of all this Alcide intervenes and takes Tommy away thus breaking his loyalty to the pack but protecting his moral beliefs. Alcide brings Tommy to a concerned Sam where he dies. The character of Sam is a flawed character as most of these characters are in True Blood, but his temper is quick and he often loses control of himself. But for all his flaws he still loved Tommy and is able to admit his mistakes that led up to Tommy's death by the end of the season. The character of Alcide is a lone wolf whose loyalties often cause tension in his home. Especially with his mate Debbie who he neglects in order to not only help Sam but also Sookie. His obession (just like the other male characters within the show) with Sookie leads to insecurities within his relationship with Debbie. It seems that by the time of the seasons finale Alcide's character is not as loyal as it appears and his moral judgments are not as clear cut as they appear with. He saves Sookie's life not only because she is a friend but also because of his feelings for her that is obvious within the show, mainly when he catches her and Eric in the woods having sex. However it can also be said that having to constantly reassure Debbie of his feelings for her and not Sookie cause Alcide to actually question himself and his feelings more seriously. While Alcide is portrayed as a strong male character Debbie is more unsure and inscure and a little immature when it comes to handling herself and the situation with Sookie and her addiction to vampire blood. Through she suffers and tries to change she fails and it untimely leads to her death by the hands of the very woman she hates. She is also another character that I find myself having no pity for though i understand her frustration and anger with Alcide and Sookie. As I have mention before Sookie is forced to choose between Eric and Bill but she decides to be alone instead. I find Sookie to be a relatively weak female character and quite a annoyance to the other characters within the series, she is constantly putting herself in harms way and making the situation worse than what it originally was. She is often afraid of herself and her feelings for Eric. However there are points where she asserts herself. I would say that her confusion and weakness comes from the lack of structure in her life or guidance. With her grandmother being dead, as well as her parents, she is left to fend for herself and take care of home and her brother. Overnight she is forced to become a women from the youth that she used to be. Through the show has been on for over four years it is important to remember that the gap in time lapse in the show is not as long and all these events happening one after another puts a strain on Sookie. Her only one confident was her best friend Tara who thought the plot of True Blood has has a more traumatic life than Sookie. They find comfort in each other but much to my surprise Tara is killed by Debbie and the last structured (somewhat anyway) thing in Sookie's life is taken from her. Where does this leave Sookie now I wonder as the next season looms ahead and the return of one of the strongest vampires in the world returns, Russel Edgeinton? Last but not least there is Lala and Jesus (well for my talk of True Blood that is, there are many more characters that I have not spoken about) their relationship is put to the test and it untimely doesn't survive. Lala because he is a medium is taken over by a vengeful sprit and the spirit in Lala's body kill Jesus for his magic. Once Lala realizes what he has done he is more shaken (even more than his fear of Eric) and blames himself for Jesus death....the question remains what is next for Lala now that the love of his life is gone and so is Tara, his cousin, how will he handle all of this and the danger coming now? Needless to say I look forward to the 5th season of True Blood.
Now that the talk about True Blood is over on to more important things such as my writing. The synopsis of Eternal Light is still in process with no significant improvements to state. The same can be said for Eternal Earth and Adien's book (thought I have written a scene for the book). Since I am stuck on the second book of the series the other books for the series haven't relieved too much attention, thought Eternal Power does have a couple of scenes written out. They also haven't received much attention because I have been focused on writing The Faye series. As of right now I am up to chpt 14/15 of the first book. While I'm writing this like I said in a pervious post it is turning out to be longer than I thought. However like any of my other wirting I have writers block and this one is take longer than usual to get past. I assumsed it was because I wasn't reading like i used to so I figured that I needed to get back to my reading. Which is what I've done. I have written a list of all the books in my libaray that I have yet to read and I am randoly picking the books i read off the list. I've started a few days ago and the first book the I drew to read was Seduce Me in Dreams by Jacquelyn Frank. Since I decied to ream all these books I plan on giving a review on each of the books that I read, from plot to character devlopment, and my general feelings of the book and author.
Review: Seduce Me in Dreams:
This is one of the first book I've read by Ms. Frank since reading Pleasure and I must say that I am not disappointed in this new series. I had lost some interest in Mr.s Franks writing after the disappointment of that last installment of her Nightwalkers series Noah. However with this novel she had redeemed herself in my eyes (somewhat).
Seduce Me in Dreams is what the tittle says. The main character named Bronse Chapel is essentially seduced in his dreams by a beautiful woman named Ravenna. This tale at is minimal is the damsel in distress story, where she is rescued by her knight. However Bronse and Rave's story is much more than that. Bronse is a strong and able militant man whose strength, valor, loyalty, and ability as a captain is shown in the very opening of the story. In a killer dessert where death is almost certain Brose carries his injured team mate miles on his back until they reach the ship. In this very first scene Frank solidifies the character of the captain. He has his crew respect, love, and loyalty. However he is a man scared by love, (per usual with these male characters). He doesn't believe that he can, nor deserves a woman who can deal with him always being on mission. He takes failure to the heart and even if circumstances are out of his control he blames himself. Frank makes sure that his presence is felt in every part of the book (which makes sense since the book is about him). He is a strong character though I didn't find myself drawn to him as I was to the character of his second in command Lasher. However that is irrelevant for this review. Bronse crew is an extension of himself, with all their varied personalities they add humor and unity within the book, and make it more lively.
The heroine Rave is a very strong female character that has strong abilities since she is the leader of the Chosen Ones and has to play mother to them all. Betrayed by her town she is offered into slavery and though she can escape (but at a high price) she wait for Bronse to rescue her. Her connection to Bronse comes from their interactions in dreams. They have this instant attraction and are drawn to each other by fate. I found Rave's character to be a good balance of strong willed but also knowing when to stay quite. She proves herself wise and protective but also powerful and capable of handling herself. She matches Bronse in will power and the need to protect what she loves no mater the cost to herself. She has the ability to see into a person future, present, and past and another stronger power that she refuses to use. She is a character that knows her limits and how powerful she is but she does not abuse her power or her position like some of her other Chosen. She doesn't back down from Bronse temper or anything about him which makes her an even stronger female lead. The development of the characters and their relationship for the most part kept the book appealing to me.
Though I generally enjoyed the book it is not on my top list of books. This one is also lacking the pull (for me) of her Shadowdweller series or Nightwalker series. One issue that I have is that we don't see the villain of the book until the moment he is caught. It would have been nice to see an actual interaction between the Bronse and the villain instad of Frank just saying he is the villain and nothing more. Meaning that a scene where you could see him plotting and his reasoning for attacking Bronse in the first place would have made the book clearer. Being that the reader nor Bronse ever know why he did what he did leaves something incomplete and lacking within the story. One would hope that with the next installment in the series that she makes an attempt to resolve this issue. Also though I admit that the character development of the story was strong it also was lacking in some aspects. For Rave to be a virgin Frank failed to make it actually seem that way within the book itself. There seemed to be no pain for Rave, or blood or anything else. Second I found the sex scenes to close together making it seem as if there were many of them within the book rather than just the three or four that there actually was.
With that being said i give this book 3/5 stars. I hope the next one will prove to be an improvement over this one and I look forward to Lasher's story, which to be honest is the only reason I am willing to read the second book, so that I could get a hint of who will be the hero in the third and supposedly last book.
Now I am off to do my own writing for the day (maybe) so.....
UNTIL NEXT TIME.....Smuchez
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