From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Dark Space (Dark Space, #1)

Lisa Henry

Start date: August 1, 2018

Finish date: August 31, 2018

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Discussion leader: Jordan Lombard

Why we're reading this: This will be our August 2018 read by popular vote!
[close] This will be our August 2018 read by popular vote!

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What Members Thought

Aug 22, 2013 Natasha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, oh-my-god, boys-who-like-boys, loveable-characters, cray-zay-ending, tormented-main-character, haunting, i-wept-like-a-child, serious-sexual-tension, trying-not-to-cry

Fuck the universe.
Fuck eternity and creation and a million colors boiling together in the black. What the hell use was that to me?
My heart broke either way.

The Writing:
I thought the writing in this book was absolutely gorgeous and it painted the most vivid picture in my mind, that I literally felt like I dropped some acid and started reading. If I was even half as beautiful looking as Lisa Henry's writing, I'd be a supermodel, it's that good. When something creepy or scary is happening i ...more

40 likes · Like · see review

Nov 18, 2013 Otila rated it really liked it

”You’re like starlight. I could lose myself in you.”

Brady hates space. Unfortunately, he’s been conscripted into the military and is stuck on a space station for 10 years and still has 7 left to go. He lives in fear of the Faceless-the alien race that nearly destroyed Earth- and misses his father and little sister back home. His life wasn't much better back there, growing up dirt poor with a crappy childhood, but he needs to get back to take care of his sister.

Lt. Cameron Rushton was a pilo ...more

28 likes · Like · see review

Jul 11, 2013 Steelwhisper rated it really liked it

Shelves: quiltbag, science-fiction, erotic-lit-erotica, horror

This is 3.75* actually... And now to the review itself.

First off, I adored the premise! It so reminded me of excellent, vintage scifi, and I was hopping with frustration until I could dive into the book and check how it all played out. And yes, I loved it, every bit of that dependancy between Cam and Brady! The idea itself is classy enough to support a whole bloody scifi movie.

I loved the story and plot, along for a ride which had me nibbling my nails and on the edge of the seat. Well, until ro This is 3.75* actually... And now to the review itself.

First off, I adored the premise! It so reminded me of excellent, vintage scifi, and I was hopping with frustration until I could dive into the book and check how it all played out. And yes, I loved it, every bit of that dependancy between Cam and Brady! The idea itself is classy enough to support a whole bloody scifi movie.

I loved the story and plot, along for a ride which had me nibbling my nails and on the edge of the seat. Well, until roughly 75-80%. Like the others I wasn't really taken with the ending, but more about that later.

I loved Brady, who to me was a partly selfish, partly far too quickly grown up teenager of 19, and unlike a few other readers I was quite willing to forgive him a lot. He reminded me quite of some of the WWI soldiers, barely wearing long trousers and sent to die in the meatgrinder in France. Brady harbours similar thoughts and he comes over being very authentic.

Cam was a different thing altogether. Right from the beginning I kept wondering why he was just a tiny nuance "off" and I must say, kudos, that was well-written. Enough to notice, not enough to completely doubt him.

I had a few niggles with language, though I must say they are small. But as they also play a role regarding my rating: I find myself unable to tolerate typical m/m-speak anymore. "Ghosting" fingers elicit humoristic thoughts like "will they say BOO! when they arrive at their goal?" rather than erotic feelings. The pronoun-less love-speak is another peeve. There weren't many instances, so there. But still, so easy to edit out?

Now to the main problem of this story.

Like many I wished for an entirely different ending. I would have wanted Brady and Cam with Kai-Ren, and yes ma'am, I really would have loved some fabulously pervy alien sex and D/s. I rooted for Kai-Ren, and would have loved to see him developed.

But the plot lost it for me at what I consider a plot-hole. Brady was so desperate about (view spoiler)? As a result the ending that then ensued felt wrong, and far too sweet.

I'm all the way with L. and Kyn--I would have preferred them all going with Kai-ren.

Still, a wonderful book with a very fresh feel! Recommended.

...more

15 likes · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2014 Irina rated it really liked it

Shelves: suspense, adult, romance, series-to-finish, gay, ya, fantasy, sci-fi, mel-rec, br-stas

Sci-Fi is a genre that has to be really convincing for me to enjoy. It has to be well thought out and have no loose ends.

Dark Space has a plot with a great potential, but it might take another sequel to fully work up to it.

There were things that bothered me here. Brady's immature behaviour, for one, was more than I could handle. I know he is only nineteen, but you would think, after three years of service, he would toughen up a bit. He would have made a much more likeable character to me had he ...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Jan 27, 2013 Lila rated it it was amazing

Shelves: chilling, great-mc, angst, dark, mm, sci-fi

5 stars
Lisa Henry took my heart with The Island; with Dark Space she went to my auto-buy list. Both novels are dealing with some heavy stuff like PTSD, trust issues, and cruelty toward another human being, 'cause Lisa puts her characters through hell before she gives them any hope. Her characters doesn't have diva tantrums, they are not all sunshine and smiles, but that just work for me. If you like dark but emotional, beautifully written m/m, Lisa is your author.
This novel is SciFi romance. I 5 stars
Lisa Henry took my heart with The Island; with Dark Space she went to my auto-buy list. Both novels are dealing with some heavy stuff like PTSD, trust issues, and cruelty toward another human being, 'cause Lisa puts her characters through hell before she gives them any hope. Her characters doesn't have diva tantrums, they are not all sunshine and smiles, but that just work for me. If you like dark but emotional, beautifully written m/m, Lisa is your author.
This novel is SciFi romance. I love to read both genres, so it was my first choice from Lisa's backlist. It's focused more on relationship, but SciFi parts are just as amazing.(view spoiler). Faceless are aliens who came, conquered and destroyed. And you know what? They are scary. They are just plain terrifying. Nobody knows anything about them, nobody knows what are they're planing to do, nobody knows what they even look like. I was constantly on edge of my seat waiting for their appearing in novel. Unlike The Island, this novel is told from first POV. We see distant future, Faceless, and more importantly Cameron, through Brady's eyes. And I think it was great move, it was fun being in his head.(view spoiler). Without Brady's humor this book would be too dark. And you gotta love Brady- he is only 19, but he is having problems that someone of his age shouldn't have ever. And yet, he is light of this novel.:) Cameron Rushton's face is well known to Brady, but just like Faceless he is a mystery. He is a very tortured character,he doesn't belong anywhere and you can tell he is someone who lost hope(view spoiler). Reading about those two falling in love was emotional and engrossing. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
It's not of big importance for me usually,but I have to say that I adore this cover. Model is very beautiful, and his eyes and lips catch your eye among other covers. ::wishing a wallpaper size:: ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2013 Mich rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, intrigued, hot, m-m, gr-friend-recommended, need-a-break-from-some-insane-serie, space-eh, loe-recommended-and-loe-approved

3.5 stars- nearly a 4 star book for me.
This is the first book I read by Lisa Henry, and I really enjoyed it. Really. My hormones were all aflutter, my pulse was racing and I was completely creeped out by the freaky, slimy alien pods. (thank you)

My quick Synopsis: The world is fucked up by evil aliens. Young boys get drafted into the space military,and need to stay in the service for 10 years. Brady, a poor kid from some war ravaged town, is stuck on a space ship a gazillion miles from home, and ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2013 Brin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, science-fiction, kindle-books, romance, read-in-2013, lgbt, war, bought-2013, read-in-2020

I loved this. So creepy and tense. I love science fiction done right and Dark Space is a perfect example of a really, really good science fiction tale. I literally couldn't put it down.

Full review to follow once I have organised my thoughts into a bit better order... ...more

2 likes · Like · see review