Michael Gouker's Blog, page 10

The Obsidian Heart Brings Echoes of Empire into Focus!

The Obsidian Heart by Mark T. Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mark Barnes does incredible world building. It's extraordinary and many-layered, which can almost stun the reader with its complexity, at least that is how I feel reading the stories. On the other hand, there is no denying how many details he keeps in the air at once, and how they matter, which is a huge payback for the reader's investment.
I didn't connect with his characters in the first novel of the series but in Obsidian Heart, there is so much loss and suffering. Barnes kills several of my favorite characters in the story, and the others aren't in very good situations at the end either.
In fact, now I'm really looking forward to finishing the series because I'm worried about who will make it out alive. I'm also worried about the ambitions of characters I like. I'm stunned by the stupidity and greed of some characters, but more than that, it is the sacrifice of Indris's friends that mesmerized me. Also, I'm finally seeing an endgame that does not involve who rules Shrian (which only seemed of artificial importance to Indris, who has one foot on the exit pad.)
The other cool thing, which I expect to see in volume 3, is the real role of humans in the disaster.
Anyway, this was a fun romp. Warning: It's in media res, so there is a lot in the air.


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Two Appetites in Communion

FADE ININT. CLUB - NIGHTIt's a rave Halloween party at a club. In the pit, peopledance in a dazzling light show. Lithe DESTINY, dressed as apsychedelic vampire, has captured the band's attention.They play to her as she to them, thrusting her hips,gyrating, flailing, all in perfect rhythm. She mesmerizes. Apentacle hanging from her beaded bra top catches the light.JON HARKER, 50ish, and his sidekick RENFIELD, a bit younger,squeezed against the rail in a box above the dancers, flinchas the reflected beam traces across their faces.                    RENFIELD          Thank heaven for little girls.                    HARKER          She's Felicity. Quincey dumped her.          Said she was too slutty.                    RENFIELD          So I'm drooling over your son's          reject. What does that make me?                    HARKER          Mortal and a man with great taste.          Can you imagine riding her? Those          legs clutching your back?                    RENFIELD          Dude, you can't be serious.                    HARKER          I can too be. 'Too slutty' sounds          like a cure right now. I've been in          fap rotation for months since our          marriage hit the rocks.                    RENFIELD          Lucy will come to her senses.                    HARKER          Ren, Lucy lives with a broker in a          Park Avenue penthouse. Mina says          Holmwood licks champagne from her          navel. I'm not holding my breath.                    RENFIELD          My wife told you Lucy's lover licks          champagne from her navel?Destiny hits a vape pen and becomes a dervish. The men sigh.Renfield sees MADAME WESTERNA and squawks.                    RENFIELD          I'm out of here. That's the wild          dominatrix who loves Of Montreal.                    HARKER          Didn't you say you enjoyed her--                    RENFIELD          Don't die regretting, Jon. Do it.Renfield flees leaving Harker alone to watch Destiny's show.MONTAGE - INT. CLUB - NIGHTDestiny consumes prodigious quantities of joints, powders,pills, drops, as well as one beer. Mostly she drinks water,discarding plastic bottles helter skelter around her.She takes many dance partners, men and women. Harker'sanxiety becomes ever more apparent. Finally, he races to thestairs, pushing past a crowd descending.INT. CLUB FLOOR - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSAnd the show is over. Drained people search for the exit.House lights come on. Harker sees Destiny near the stage.She danced a lot, but didn't sweat. Her hair is wild andpupils wide wells. Harker confidently angles towards her.                    HARKER          Hi, Felicity. You probably don't          remember me but I'm--                    DESTINY          I'm Destiny. Felicity is my older          sister. How do you know her?                    HARKER          My son Quincey... He, well...               (stops, looks guilty)          Hey, look, I'm sorry. I wondered if          you wanted me to call you a cab.                    DESTINY          How sweet. I am actually here with          some friends. So, don't worry.She straightens the straps of her beaded bra top, twists thepentacle above her pierced belly button, and frowns.                    HARKER          Quincey wouldn't forgive me, if I          saw you so wasted and didn't--                    DESTINY          So wasted?                    HARKER          I watched you from upstairs.                    DESTINY          The whole show? You do care.Her eyes draw together. She looks unexpectedly sober.                    DESTINY (CONT'D)          Even with Felicity around, Quincey          used to say his Nebuchadnezzar would          love a tumble in my lawn.                    HARKER          Oh, I wasn't--Harker shuffles his feet, licks his lips, and swallows.                    DESTINY          Even I'm getting older.                    HARKER          You're really pretty.                    DESTINY          Uh-huh. You want to spear my shaved          clam, pestle me to powder... You can          say the word. I'm no lady.                    HARKER          Will you?                    DESTINY          No. Look, I'm sympathetic, but it's          just disgusting. I'll tell you what,          though. I am broke! For two hundred          dollars I'll make your knob shinier          than Croesus's.                    HARKER          Two hundred dollars.                    DESTINY          For your bodily fluids here.She points to her pierced tongue.                    DESTINY (CONT'D)          What do you say, Romeo?                    HARKER          I'll just visit an ATM.                    DESTINY          Visit one in the bar. Bring me back          something with vodka.INT. BAR - NIGHTHe holds her drink in line for the ATM. When it's his turn,he drops his card, kicking it into some fluid. He retrievesit, dries it on a sleeve, and slides it in the ATM.INSERT - TEXT OF ATM MACHINEThe screen shows an $881 opening balance, a $200 withdrawal,and a $15 service charge. Ending balance is $666. He changesthe amount to $300 instead.BACK TO INT. BAR - NIGHTHis happiness grows as each bill emerges. Destiny appearsand takes the drink.                    DESTINY          I assumed you changed your mind.                    HARKER          I should just drive you home.                    DESTINY          This is the beginning of my night,          not the end. If you still want your          scooby snack, meet me out front.          I'll wait five minutes.INT. WASHROOM - NIGHTIt's nasty. People gave up pissing in toilets hours ago.Paper towels, used condoms, and toilet paper litter thefloor. Half the sinks are clogged. Harker faces the mirror.                    HARKER          You can do this. She's just a girl.He performs quick ablutions and rushes out the door.INT. HARKER'S CAR - NIGHT - LATERThey sit in the back of his wide sedan. Destiny stretchesout, relaxed, and rakes Harker's wrists with her nails.                    HARKER          Will you get naked too?                    DESTINY          So you can perv? I'm almost naked.          Use your imagination, Mr. Harker.                    HARKER          Call me Jon.                    DESTINY          Strip for me, Jon.Harker is so fast his clothes fly off. She traces her nailsacross his hairy belly, letting her palm touch his abdomenbefore drifting farther down.                    HARKER          Brrr. That's icy. It numbs me.Her head disappears below. Harker's face transforms. Heshivers, tenses up, and then his breath comes hard.                    HARKER          You're sucking so hard.                    DESTINY          I drink from your core. I hope my          teeth didn't hurt too much.                    HARKER               (dreamy)          I am insubstantial, but my orgasm          thrives. This is how I wish to die.She giggles and looks up from her efforts, licking herfangs, a lazy motion. Then she collects his spurting bloodwith her darting tongue and smacks her lips together.          DESTINYYou taste so hot and delicious.          HARKERCan we do it again? Maybe tomorrow?          DESTINYI'm sorry. Sometimes I can't stopeither. We're a little alike, Jon.FADE TO BLACK

Short 5-Page Screenplay

FADE IN
INT. CLUB - NIGHT

It's a rave Halloween party at a club. In the pit, people
dance in a dazzling light show. Lithe DESTINY, dressed as a
psychedelic vampire, has captured the band's attention.
They play to her as she to them, thrusting her hips,
gyrating, flailing, all in perfect rhythm. She mesmerizes. A
pentacle hanging from her beaded bra top catches the light.
JON HARKER, 50ish, and his sidekick RENFIELD, a bit younger,
squeezed against the rail in a box above the dancers, flinch
as the reflected beam traces across their faces.
RENFIELD
Thank heaven for little girls.
HARKER
She's Felicity. Quincey dumped her.
Said she was too slutty.
RENFIELD
So I'm drooling over your son's
reject. What does that make me?
HARKER
Mortal and a man with great taste.
Can you imagine riding her? Those
legs clutching your back?
RENFIELD
Dude, you can't be serious.
HARKER
I can too be. 'Too slutty' sounds
like a cure right now. I've been in
fap rotation for months since our
marriage hit the rocks.
RENFIELD
Lucy will come to her senses.
HARKER
Ren, Lucy lives with a broker in a
Park Avenue penthouse. Mina says
Holmwood licks champagne from her
navel. I'm not holding my breath.
RENFIELD
My wife told you Lucy's lover licks
champagne from her navel?
Destiny hits a vape pen and becomes a dervish. The men sigh.
Renfield sees MADAME WESTERNA and squawks.
RENFIELD
I'm out of here. That's the wild
dominatrix who loves Of Montreal.
HARKER
Didn't you say you enjoyed her--
RENFIELD
Don't die regretting, Jon. Do it.
Renfield flees leaving Harker alone to watch Destiny's show.
MONTAGE - INT. CLUB - NIGHT
Destiny consumes prodigious quantities of joints, powders,
pills, drops, as well as one beer. Mostly she drinks water,
discarding plastic bottles helter skelter around her.
She takes many dance partners, men and women. Harker's
anxiety becomes ever more apparent. Finally, he races to the
stairs, pushing past a crowd descending.
INT. CLUB FLOOR - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS
And the show is over. Drained people search for the exit.
House lights come on. Harker sees Destiny near the stage.
She danced a lot, but didn't sweat. Her hair is wild and
pupils wide wells. Harker confidently angles towards her.
HARKER
Hi there, Felicity. You probably
don't remember me, but--
DESTINY
I'm Destiny. Felicity is my older
sister. How do you know her?
HARKER
My son Quincey... He, well...
(stops, looks guilty)
Hey, look, I'm sorry. I wondered if
you wanted me to call you a cab.
DESTINY
How sweet. I am actually here with
some friends. So, don't worry.
She straightens the straps of her beaded bra top, twists the
pentacle above her pierced belly button, and frowns.
HARKER
Quincey wouldn't forgive me, if I
saw you so wasted and didn't--
DESTINY
So wasted?
HARKER
I watched you from upstairs.
DESTINY
The whole show? You do care.
Her eyes draw together. She looks unexpectedly sober.
DESTINY (CONT'D)
Even with Felicity around, Quincey
used to say his Nebuchadnezzar would
love a tumble in my lawn.
HARKER
Oh, I wasn't--
Harker shuffles his feet, licks his lips, and swallows.
DESTINY (CONT'D)
Even I'm getting older.
HARKER
You're really pretty.
DESTINY
Uh-huh. You want to spear my shaved
clam, pestle me to powder... You can
say the word. I'm no lady.
HARKER
Will you?
DESTINY
No. Look, I'm sympathetic, but it's
just disgusting. I'll tell you what,
though. I am broke! For two hundred
dollars I'll make your knob shinier
than Croesus's.
HARKER
Two hundred dollars.
DESTINY
For your bodily fluids here.
She points to her pierced tongue.
DESTINY (CONT'D)
What do you say, Romeo?
HARKER
I'll just visit an ATM.
DESTINY
Visit one in the bar. Bring me back
something with vodka.
INT. BAR - NIGHT
He holds her drink in line for the ATM. When it's his turn,
he drops his card, kicking it into some fluid. He retrieves
it, dries it on a sleeve, and slides it in the ATM.
INSERT - TEXT OF ATM MACHINE
The screen shows an $881 opening balance, a $200 withdrawal,
and a $15 service charge. Ending balance is $666. He changes
the amount to $300 instead.
BACK TO INT. BAR - NIGHT
His happiness grows as each bill emerges. Destiny appears
and takes the drink.
DESTINY
I assumed you changed your mind.
HARKER
I should just drive you home.
DESTINY
This is the beginning of my night,
not the end. If you still want your
scooby snack, meet me out front.
I'll wait five minutes.
INT. WASHROOM - NIGHT
It's nasty. People gave up pissing in toilets hours ago.
Paper towels, used condoms, and toilet paper litter the
floor. Half the sinks are clogged. Harker faces the mirror.
HARKER
You can do this. She's just a girl.
He performs quick ablutions and rushes out the door.
INT. HARKER'S CAR - NIGHT - LATER
They sit in the back of his wide sedan. Destiny stretches

out, relaxed, and rakes Harker's wrists with her nails.
HARKER
Will you get naked too?
DESTINY
So you can perv? I'm almost naked.
Use your imagination, Mr. Harker.
HARKER
Call me Jon.
DESTINY
Strip for me, Jon.
Harker is so fast his clothes fly off. She traces her nails
across his hairy belly, letting her palm touch his abdomen
before drifting farther down.
HARKER
Brrr. That's icy. It numbs me.
Her head disappears below. Harker's face transforms. He
shivers, tenses up, and then his breath comes hard.
HARKER
You're sucking so hard.
DESTINY
Deep from your core. I hope my teeth
didn't hurt too much.
HARKER
I feel so insubstantial, but my
orgasm's power only grows. I want to
stay like this forever.
She looks up from her efforts, lips bloody, and licks her
sharp teeth, a feline motion. She gathers up his spurting
blood with a quick tongue and smacks her lips together.
DESTINY
You taste so nice. Close your eyes.
HARKER
Can we do it again? Maybe tomorrow?
DESTINY
I'm sorry. Sometimes I can't stop
either. We're a little alike, Jon.

FADE TO BLACK 

Always Check First.

A Contrast in Appetites

Out in front of the band, art in motion, she dances, her rhythmic whirling mesmerizing me. The light plays off her serpentine curves, and I realize I’m no longer watching the Halloween show I paid $40 to see, but her, Felicity, once my son’s girlfriend, dumped for being too slutty.

I’ve been in fap rotation for months since my marriage with Jen hit the rocks. I begged her not to leave, swearing we could work out our troubles, but she moved in with a stockbroker a month ago. Since then, it’s been virtual dates with sympathetic social media friends, trying my luck (it is bad) with online dating apps, and that old standard: paying strippers for lap dances and pleading for more.

Seeing Felicity, though, my skin tingles and my mouth goes dry. 'Too slutty' sounds like a cure for everything ailing me.

From my vantage point, I perceive she is getting monumentally wasted. She dabs, hits g-pens, gobbles edibles, imbibes liquids, takes pills, smokes joints, and even has a beer. Conservatively, she has consumed more drugs in the last two hours than I have in the last two years. It’s impressive, tragic, and a little sad, but it serves my purposes well because, at the end of the show, I head to the pit to find her searching the dance floor littered with plastic bottles and miscellaneous trash. A used condom lies on the floor between us.

“Hi, Felicity,” I say.

Her laser gaze penetrates me.

“I’m Destiny,” she says. “Felicity is my older sister. How do you know her?”

“My son, Ali…” 

Just his name wilts my endeavor. What am I doing? She’s twenty-five years younger than me. I decide to redeem myself.

“I was wondering if you needed me to call you a cab.”

“No. I’m here with friends.” I must look skeptical, for she adds, “Don’t worry. I do this a lot.”

“Fine. I wanted to make sure you were safe. My son wouldn’t forgive me if I saw you so wasted and didn’t make the offer, especially if something tragic occurred.”

“Odd, the Ali I know is different. He has a hard time seeing past his needs, and he really wanted me. He used to hit on me even when Felicity was around. That’s one reason they broke up.”

I am ashamed. The apple apparently didn’t fall far from the tree. She reads my heart and says, “Was there anything else?”

Mute, I swallow, hoping in vain for a thimbleful of inspiration from my empty well. I lick my lips, and her bright eyes hold me in their sway. Then she voices my thoughts.

“You want to fuck?”

I nod, feeling a mix of mortification and relief.

“That’s gross. Tell you what, though, if you have two hundred dollars cash, I’ll polish your knob.”

That seems a lot, but I know we aren’t negotiating.

“I can visit an ATM.”

“There’s one at the bar. I’ll tell my friends you’re driving me back. Then I’ll text my mom and tell her something has come up.” She gives a mischievous wink, her first overt demonstration of sexuality outside my fantasy. “Hopefully, something will.”

The ATM has a ten dollar service charge, which normally would disqualify it, but I have never been so happy to see those crisp bills sliding out. We make small talk as we cross town, both deciding we want to avoid a long uncomfortable drive after she pleasures me. We stop in an empty park about five blocks from her house.

It is quiet with the motor off. She’s no conversationalist and neither am I.

“I want to look first to make sure you haven’t got anything disgusting going on down there,” she says. “Let me inspect your goods.”

At once, I strip. She pulls latex gloves from her purse and slides them on with all the sensuality of a proctologist. Then her phone’s flashlight is shining. Her nimble fingers, cool through the gloves, explore my genitalia with expertise and purpose.

“It’ll do,” she says. “Show me my money.”

‘It’ll do’ isn’t exactly the pinnacle of eroticism, but blood rushes to my groin anyhow. My penis rises from its slumber, an encouraging sign. It twitches a few times which worries me. I want to last, not just for my fulfillment. No, I want to impress her.

I hand her twelve twenties and a ten-dollar bill, a $50 tip, which by itself is probably enough for a blowjob from half the women at the club where we met. She pockets it without counting, so now she doesn't know I have paid more.

“Can I see your tits?”

“Why? So you can perv on them?”

Her cool palm clutches my testicles, firm, but gentle.

“Oh, yeah, that’s what I want.”

My brain empties of blood, while she plays my rod like a piano. I stiffen with feverish desire when her lips settle upon my glans.

“You want this, right? You know there’s no going back?”

I understand or at least think I do, and when, ecstatic, I flail one arm and my hand finds her thigh unnaturally cold, I both know and cannot know. As I say, it isn't natural, but I am a man with nothing to lose.

Her mouth descends upon me like a frozen cavern, her breath ice, and my blood surges forth like air towards a vacuum. I only barely feel that tease of her pointed teeth before they penetrate my flesh. Then we are in communion, two minds as one, and I know. Oh, how I know, and knowing, I surrender, both to her ecstasy and her hunger, more rapacious than even mine.

I peek once before surrendering to my unconscious. She is swallowing me whole, and her eyes roll in their sockets as she drinks deep from my core. My orgasm is ongoing, both distant and yet very immediate. I yearn for release, but I also never want the moment to end. It never does.

My last thought before my mind flees is that I've never seen so much blood.

Tonight and every night, I’m seeing her again.

Definitions.

Ah, success so sour!Can you recognize me now?When people praise moments of our infamyas much as our deeds that stoke their needy flames, to softly tickle those andirons caressing their bleeding hearts.

Well, who defines you anyhow?Paint me as a failure. Why should I care? I’m nothing but all I’ve given, gumdrops of blood and suffering.Never did I toss any card for you.
No. I played every hand for that spray of delightful Chantilly,sweating in that close embrace of bucking finality.
Go ahead and settle. Close your deals. Take your credit, your success, all of it.I’ll gladly choose every waking moment of struggle instead.It’s more. And it’s sweet.

Irma, you didn't have to take me so seriously.

Irma, please don't destroy Florida. Instead, take the Holy Land Experience.

Here is Irma, a Category-Five hurricane barreling towards the Lesser Antilles, projected to arrive off the coast of Florida in three days:

 

 Irma is a horrible storm. It will no doubt cause horrible damage, and, for now, it's coming first to us.
 

 America and Florida, in particular, has a lot of reasons to deserve to be pummeled by a storm, but maybe one of our crassest places is this abomination, as seen in Religiosity.















I'm not even religious, and even I am offended by a cardboard Jesus in a lake. It just doesn't speak to my soul.

 

Every day Jesus is crucified.




And, this is a real-life theme park. Here's the map.



Please, Irma, be kind. Take your anger out on the Holy Land Experience and leave the poor people of Florida alone.

Dunk and Egg

The Hedge Knight by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A delicious short tale set in a brief hiatus of peace, a time when a knight like Ser Duncan (Dunk) could walk, ride, joust, and sell his sword to a worthy (or not) lord. This tale describes how he and his squire Egg attend a tournament, make some enemies and even a friend or two, and court danger and excitement. It's filled with the sounds, flavors, and smells of Westeros for good and bad. Martin's humor and narrative gaze are at their full strength. Great story too.


The Sworn Sword by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3 stars just for the world building. There isn't much plot here. Dunk is hired by a Useless lord who fights with a widower facing an unwanted marriage over water during a drought. There is unnecessary fighting and treachery. Dunk is gallant as ever. Egg is a boy with lore and a signet ring in a boot.

The Mystery Knight by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was pleasantly surprised about the depth of this story and the plot's many twists. D&E #3 succeeds in its own right but also pays off on some of the earlier plots of D&E #1 & #2. I had doubted that GRRM could make a series of this, but it's clear that you could mine quite a good tale, if not from D&E, then from the events around the Black & Red Dragon tale that precedes D&E.

The world building as you might expect is excellent. The dialogue is so delicious. The humor, though, is the best, especially the wedding scenes. A must read for any Westerosi connoisseur.


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MRW I have too many projects and I see another one I like