Mind Fuck by Manna Francis

Mind Fuck is the first book in the Administration Series by Manna Francis. Set in the future dystopia of New London it concerns the investigation into a series of suspicious deaths that might be corporate sabotage. It's also follows the developing 'relationship' between Val Toreth, interrogator for the Administration and sadist, and Keir Warrick, corporate executive and masochist.

As the tagline says - "There are no bad guys or good guys. There are only better guys and worse guys." Warrick being one of the better guys and Toreth being one of the worse guys. It's a world where dissent is dealt with through 're-education' and those lucky enough to have corporate status can live a relatively nice life as long as they keep the party line.

Told mainly from the point of view of Toreth, this allows us an incredible insight into his perspective. What you don't appreciate here (until you've read the later stories and then come back and re-read this one) is how multilayered the characters are. As readers we really only scratch the surface here, each book, each story takes you deeper into the world.

Manna Francis is a brilliant writer (excuse the bias) she makes you side with Toreth, appreciate how compelling he is as a character, yet at the same time she doesn't hide what he is. He's a sociopath (this is explored in more detail in later books), he interrogates people for a living (including torture), he'll virtually screw anything with a pulse, he uses people unapologetically but there is something about him that fascinates. Toreth is perhaps not as clever as Warrick on an intellectual level (Warrick is a genius after all) but he has a survival instinct that rivals a cornered wolf.

Keir Warrick is less well defined. We learn he is calm, self-controlled and precise and perhaps prefers to play the game with the deck stacked in his favour. One of the things that maybe pulls Toreth towards Warrick is that occasionally the other man surprises him. That he is unpredictable.

Mind Fuck might at first seem quite a provocative title. But it actually has multiple meanings. As well as being slang for the psychoprogramming department (the department responsible for reeducation), it sums up the initial relationship between Warrick and Toreth. And Toreth says to Warrick in their first conversation together.

"I fuck minds."

Warrick however is not easily intimidated - perhaps part of what attracts Toreth - and his corporation is developing a form of virtual reality known as the Sim, so he later responds:-

"Come and experience the future of mind fucking..."

This continues...

"...you told me you rape minds."
"I said, 'I fuck minds,' I think you'll find."
Warrick shrugged. "It's all in the inflection, really."

This is quite a good example of how their relationship is one of shifting power dynamics and oneupmanship. Toreth himself doesn't see, or doesn't want to see how attached (not the right word but I can't think of a better one) he is to Warrick. As readers we see this more through the eyes of other characters - Marian

Toreth was manipulative and dangerous, and Warrick understood him perfectly.

and Toreth's admin Sara.

This is not a romance. It is erotic. It is the story of the beginnings of a relationship between two people. By relationship I mean an interaction which has the potential to become something more. It's probably the best book I've read this year and I fear my review has not done it justice. I love the Administration Series and hope there will be many more books to come.

* I think this has to be the most times I've used the word fuck in a review.

Borders UK Closing

So I made my usual Sunday trip to the shopping centre to get the weeks groceries, intending to nip into Borders for a little browse - as I like to do. To find out that Borders UK is in administration and the store is closing down. :( I'm pretty sure I heard rumours about this a while ago, but as it all seemed to come to nothing I kind of thought it had gone away.

Sadly today they are selling off the stock, everything seems to have at least 20% off, some stuff had 50%. I shall miss the place.

I tried to buy books that I definitely knew I hadn't got on my TBR pile, though since I've got back and added them to Goodreads it looks like I may have slipped on the Carrie Vaughn.

So I picked up:-

The Thorn Queen - Richelle Mead
Succubus Dreams - Richelle Mead
Succubus Heat - Richelle Mead (I'll add here that I haven't yet bought book 2 of the Georgina Kincaid series but they didn't have that on the shelves)
Demon Bound - Meljean Brook
The Darkest Pleasure - Gena Showalter
Kitty & the Silver Bullet - Carrie Vaughn (I was sure I hadn't got this one but apparently I have, lol so look for a free book giveaway when I get round to reviewing it.)
Quilting, Needlework and Embroidery - Not fiction but it had a great section on knitting and crochet so that went into the basket as well


Also if anyone knows how to break a pair of 8-hole Dr. Marten's in I'd be grateful for suggestions. I've had these for a few months now and the leather doesn't seem to be giving at all. I virtually rubbed my left calf raw whilst shopping.

Mind F*ck by Manna Francis - So Far

.

There are no bad guys or good guys.
There are only better guys and worse guys

This will be the second time I've read this book, but the first where I'm reading it with an eye to writing a review.

This was just one of those books that I never thought I'd be able to write a review that would justify what a great book I think it is. (Did that make sense?) Anyway I'm going to give it a go.

Manna Francis has written an amazingly detailed story set in a future dystopia. With one of the most fascinating characters I've read about - Val Toreth, he being one of the 'worse guys' from the tagline.

I picked this book up again after it was mentioned on Wave's blog, so expect the review at some point this week. Anyone have any objections to me not asterisking out the 'u'? Only I think I'll probably slip up at some point anyway.

Bitten to Death by Jennifer Rardin

The fourth book in the Jaz Parks series follows our heroine to Greece. Where she, Vayl and her brother Dave, infiltrate a vampire Trust. Edward Samos (The Raptor) is trying to take over the Trust that Vayl used to belong to. Jaz is going to do her best to stop that and at the same time she's going to have to save Vayl from the new leader of The Trust who has her own plans for Vayl's future.

This is not my favourite of the series. I think the first two books set such a high standard and books three and four (for me) haven't quite measured up. However, that's not to say that they aren't great reads and I'd still read a Jaz Parks book over a lot of the other urban fantasy and vampire books out there.

Partly I don't think this book (plotwise) hangs together quite a well as previous books. It's quite possible that I haven't been able to concentrate as well as with previous books and I struggled somewhat picking up on the plot after putting the book down.

The other niggle I had with this book is that we have a lot more internal dialogue from Jaz - not a problem in itself as I love Jaz's snark. The problem I have is that different facets of her personality are now appearing as different characters inside her own head, arguing with each other. I think this works well if not overused, unfortunately I think it was. I wanted to get away from her overly analysed introspection and back to the action and character devlopment in the 'real' world.

Okay, niggles aside.

Quite a lot happens in this book. Despite saying he'd deal with it in the previous book, Vayl still hasn't come to terms with the loss of his sons. And it remains a weak point that his enemies are able to manipulate.

Jaz and Vayl still don't get together - how much longer can they stay apart?!!!

There are some genuinely creepy and disgusting scenes. The attack of the grall made me feel like I'd got lice crawling over my body.

"Check my back! My back!"

Possibly one of the most bizarre recommendations for a book you're ever going to read. :)

Despite my problems with the book. Jaz remains one of my favourite UF heroines. There aren't too many protagonists out there who could get away with this line.

"...I can't think with my underwear stuck up my crack. I know it's a weakness, but it's just one of those things."

She has such a lovely turn of phrase.

This book wraps up some plot points - Edward Samos is finally dealt with. But it also raises more questions. My biggest one being - Who was the Evie lookalike fighting in the Daemon Wars? And are Jaz and Vayl ever going to get together? It has to happen soon, right? I have the next book on order so will hopefully find out the answer to that one. This is one series I'm not ready to give up on.

19th Century Novels

So after taking the literature course this year (and enjoying it - almost surprisingly). I'm thinking of taking another lit. course next year. It's looking like a choice between the 19th Century novel and 20th Century lit. I'm kind of pulled towards the 19th century for a couple of reasons. 1) It's before the 20th (lol) so there may be some kind of progression reason for doing 20th century lit. second. 2) If I don't do it first I may decide to skip it and just do Shakespeare.

So in the spirit of getting ahead and knowing what doorsteps some of the 19th Century novels are, I'm trying to decide which texts to read first.

So if anyone has any opinions on the following novels - which to read first, which to get out of the way, which to put off as long as possible, let me know in the comments.

Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Madame Bovary - G. Flaubert
Germinal - E. Zola
Dombey & Son - Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre - Bronte
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
Middlemarch - George Eliot
The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
Heart of Darkness - J. Conrad
Dracula - Bram Stoker

The Nines

I recorded The Nines last week and finally got round to watching it Sunday night. This is where I admit that I did chop off the first ten minutes so I hope there wasn't anything crucial mentioned there. Hopefully some of that time was the ad break.

Anyway, it was just one line (in the whole film) that really caught my interest, in a conversation between Margaret and Gary:-

Margaret: If God is a ten, a theoretical ultimate, that-which-no-greater-can-be-imagined, you're more of a nine.
Gary: So what are you?
Margaret: Humans are sevens. Monkeys are sixes.
Gary: What are the eights?
Margaret: Koalas. They're telepathic. Plus, they control the weather.

I just LOVE that. lol

From now on, everytime I see a koala on the tv, I just know that that line is going to pop into my head. (Plus you have to admit they look like they could be telepathic) :)

(Koala image from - http://www.australian-wildlife.com/Koalas-information.html )

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

Whilst I would really like to start this review by once again stating how much I hate the UK cover, I'll try and restrain myself...whoops.

I found this one slightly worrying whilst I was reading it. Mainly because it seemed to be going off in two different directions at once. Worrying is not exactly the right word but I wasn't sure how Patricia Briggs was going to resolve the two stories and have it feel like a coherent whole. I think that was the point though. In the end everything came together but maybe more than usual seemed to rely on coincidence and certain characters behaving to type.

Bone Crossed picks up virtually where Iron Kissed left off. And also puts to rest some plot threads from Blood Bound as well. The vampire queen, Marsilia has found out what Mercy did at the end of the book and is not happy. And whilst Mercy has some protection from the vampires because of Adam and the werewolf pack, this doesn't mean that she is safe. Leaving for a little while seems the smart thing to do, but somehow even doing the smart thing gets Mercy into trouble.

There are two things I really liked about this book. Firstly, it really did tie up some loose ends from previous books in a way that didn't feel rushed or just put there for the sake of it. It was a necessary part of the plot and gave a greater insight into the actions of the characters - especially Stefan and Marsilia.

Secondly, I loved how Adam and Mercy's relationship is developing - and it takes a big leap forward during this story. Though despite appearances at the end of the last book, they aren't rushing into a physical relationship. Apart from anything else, it's patently obvious that Mercy isn't ready- she's now suffering from debilitating panic attacks. Mercy is still 'managing' Adam. After the events of Iron Kissed this is a little concerning. But I guess there isn't exactly another way to handle an alpha werewolf. And at least Adam should be more aware of her tactics now.

One of the things I love most about Patricia Briggs is how she can say so much about a character in such a short space of text. When Mercy stops one of the pack (who doesn't like her) from making a mistake, there isn't an outpouring of effusive thanks. Instead...

He looked at my feet. "You shouldn't be out here barefoot," he told the ground. Then he shut the car door, turned the key as he turned on the lights, and left.
"He meant thank you," said Adam.

Bone Crossed has left me yearning for a couple of standalone stories. Specifically I'd love to know if anything's going to happen between Ben and Mary Jo, and it really feels like Sam could hold a novel/novella of his own. And while I'm having a wishlist Stefan as well. The relationships between the vampires are explored much more throroughly in Bone Crossed and their politics and machinations are fascinating, if a little (a lot) cut-throat and ruthless.

The ending when all the plot threads are brought together is intense and I particularly loved Stefan and Mercy's Last of the Mohican's moment.

For me Iron Kissed was always going to be a hard act to follow. That book was so well written and had such a strong central theme - it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. However, at the end of Bone Crossed I can safely say that Patricia Briggs has done it again and I'm counting down the days til I get my hands on Silver Borne.