Book Reviews

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Forbidden Future: A Time Travel Anthology

Title: Forbidden Future
Author: James Wymore, Jon Bradbury, Michael Trimmer, James Lauren, Kade Anderson, Terra Harmony, Matt Mitrovich
Publisher: The Masquerade Crew
Genre: sci-fi, time travel, anthology

Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon.

Blurb: “What becomes of mankind in the future? Is life better or worse?”

SOCIETY – Terra Harmony Website, Facebook, Twitter
“Take a ride on the Energy of the Future where society gets a fresh, clean start—no matter who they have to leave behind.” A man from the past enters a hellish future at a time when the Earth is on the brink of destruction.

EXCERPT: I choke on the thick, acrid atmosphere, resisting the urge to gag. Before I even open my eyes, I hear shouting. The voices grow louder as a group of people nears.

“How did he get over the fence?”

“Doesn’t matter — he’s here now. Scan him.”

My eyelids are heavy and crusted over.

“Pigmentation is right, check his blood.”

A sharp prick in my arm, then a machine beeps. “White cell count is low, but meets the threshold.”

BETWEEN UTOPIAS – Michael Trimmer
“After being saved from a fatal heart attack by being transported to the future, David must choose from two opposite utopias.” A modern man gets snatched up to a future that’s supposed to be utopian.

EXCERPT: It wasn’t just the bombs now. The ground shook. The sky brightened. The near-transparent dome of the shield flexed and rippled. It was the bombers themselves, the ones the anti-air sites only clipped. Civilians ran. Debris fell. Soldiers and vehicles waited for orders. With damaged planes, bombs might not drop, but the bombers sure did. Fuselage, fuel tank and all. Smack-bang into the base’s energy shield, complete with payload inside.

FORBIDDEN FUTURE – James Wymore Website, Facebook, Twitter… Read the rest “RE BOOK: Forbidden Future [time travel anthology]”

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"The Missing Butterfly, by Megan Derr"

Title: The Missing Butterfly
Author: Megan Derr
Genre: mm rockstar
Notes: 143 ebook pages
Website: Less Than Three Press.

Summary: Cassidy Monarch had dreams—to sing, to be famous, to tour the world at the head of his own rock band. Then his parents were killed in a tragic accident, leaving him to raise his two siblings. Determined to hold on to what remained of his family, Cassidy settled into an ordinary life, his dreams of fame reduced to occasional nights of singing at karaoke dives. But his careful, ordinary life began to fray with his new job, and the beautiful, charming boss who reminds him of all the things he tried to stop wanting.

Malcolm Osborne is a classic rags to riches story, a foster child who wound up with the perfect family and more money than he knows what to do with. He’s wealthy, beautiful, successful, and completely miserable. Then he hires a new worker for his office, a young, hard-working man with a sadness in his eyes that Malcolm aches to banish, hoping that in doing so he will be rid of his own loneliness as well.

aStore: Print, Kindle

Cassidy had to give up his rock and roll dreams with the death of his parents, and his determination to keep his siblings together is really touching. At eighteen years old, he discovers that his parents have left debts he has to pay off and he has to change his life plans to keep his brother and sister with him. He doesn’t hesitate to make the sacrifice.

Nine years later, he’s working as an office drone with the hots for his boss. He goes out on occasion to sing karaoke or play pool, but basically he lives his life as though it’s already over. He’s “a … Read the rest “RE BOOK: The Missing Butterfly, by Megan Derr”

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Title: White Dragon
Author: Wada Shinji
Artist: Kinutani Yu

Summary borrowed from OurManga: Pursued by the mob, a young child seeks the protection of White Dragon, an assassin with the ability to morph into male or female, and kills by using… water…

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The sad thing is that I never got to finish this, but I did read some of the books, enough to know that it was good. If the makers of “White Dragon” would like me to review the rest, please send me English translated copies and I would be happy to oblige  (^_^)/

The artwork in White Dragon is all clean lines and straight story, there’s very little messing around, which gives it a serious air. The main character is an assassin that kills with a mysterious method and has never failed in a mission. The girl is the daughter of someone he once knew, come to seek his help. But all she really brings him is trouble, yet he keeps on bending backward to help her out and faces a rivalry of his own.

The MC doesn’t seem too interested in relationships with anyone, and there is some cross-dressing involved that kind of points to something deeper going on in his head. And he really seems to go out of his way to help the girl, and there does seem to be a kind of “maternal” vibe going on between them that is cute, but also kind of creepy.
Straight up assassin fare, with him going into various undercover situations to get his mark.

The White Dragon is an unstoppable killer, able to get around any kinds of security someone thinks to come up with, and always leaves his target DEAD.

Very awesome. Appeals mightily to the 12 year old boy in me.

Rating: 3 … Read the rest “RE BOOK: White Dragon, by Wada Shinji [manga]”

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"Alone In My King's Harem"
Alone In My King’s Harem
Author: Lily Hoshino
Released by: Digital Manga

Summary borrowed from Wikipedia: Alone in My King’s Harem (ハレムでひとり Haremu de Hitori) is a 2004 manga by Hoshino Lily. One of the first titles released by Digital Manga Publishing. Alone in My King’s Harem is composed of six stories, with only the last two stories containing the same characters. The stories are largely romantic in nature with some erotic tones. The stories focus predominantly around the “ultra-femme” uke character, with the seme character taking more of a supporting role.

aStore: print

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This book here has had a profound effect on my life. The artwork is oddly endearing and almost hauntingly cute, if such a thing can happen. It’s as though someone took the art styles of 80’s anime — the Q-tip hair, general androgynousness, and the open expressions — but ran them through a filter of sexiness, cuteness, and just basic moe! kawaii!

Lots of male/male romance, not too much graphic depictions, more sweet than anything. Everything is kind of dreamy and her stories are set in fantasy worlds that are very familiar, yet are also very different. It honestly feels as though you’re stepping into a brand new culture, and that very much appeals to me.

The titular story, “Alone In My King’s Harem,” is about an adorable male concubine that catches his king’s eye. So to please his little love, the king decides to take over his corner of the world so that he can lavish all of his love and everything else on the concubine. Unfortunately, at some point his dreams surpass reality and he forgets about the concubine, ends up with dozens of others, and just basically becomes a titanic jerk. Reality reasserts itself, he loses a big battle, … Read the rest “RE BOOK: Alone In My King’s Harem, by Lily Hoshino [manga]”

Hanging out, down the street, same old thing we did last week...

Not a thing to do, but hang with you...

This song's so catchy I don't know what to do.