Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
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I thought I had bought the first book but I can't find it on my kindle...
Tharayn wrote: "Because you mentioned it, I have the same impression when I think about it.In Star Trek one of the progressive SF series there is no homosexual character in the whole galaxy. Just in the books the..."
This is hilarious, considering the Kirk/Spock is the mother of slash fanfiction. :D
Susinok wrote: "I have two Robert E. Heinlein titles I have not read yet. Of course some of the others I read SO LONG ago that I've totally forgotten them and it would be like the first time."The same here.
But it is a general problem: we are now quite different persons than 10 or 20 years ago (not to mention 30 or 40 years ago ;-). Even if we wouldn't have forgotten the books, to re-read them now would be a different experience.
We have a different background, more knowledge now. Back to Heinlein for ex. I've found out that ''stranger in a strange land" is a sentence from the Bible (Exodus).
Calathea wrote: "Tharayn wrote: "Because you mentioned it, I have the same impression when I think about it.In Star Trek one of the progressive SF series there is no homosexual character in the whole galaxy. Just ..."
I know! I READ that Kirk/Spock slash! It was in 1980 (don't age me don't age me...) and came with a plain brown wrapper cover and the mag was named GRUP and I had NO IDEA what slash fic was or m/m or anything. I was a naive (not for long) 16 year old.
Needless to say I was a bit surprised.
Can never keep up with this thread so if I'm jumping in the middle of a conversation - sorry!Anyone got anything to recommend?
I'm currently reeading 'Gives Light' by Rose Christo and really liking it. Y.A. though that's not too obvious by the tone.
Tharayn wrote: "Because you mentioned it, I have the same impression when I think about it.In Star Trek one of the progressive SF series there is no homosexual character in the whole galaxy. Just in the books the..."
The fandom and series that's been the most accommodating to homosexual and bi characters and has a lot of gay fans is Doctor Who. The main character, the Doctor, was quite asexual in his first 7 incarnations - being more of a father figure than the sexual icon he's become since David Tennant took the role in 2006. Though we didn't get an out and out bi/gay character on screen until 2005 (and if you've not yet encountered Captain Jack Harkness's awesomeness ...), there are a number scattered throughout the books, including Damaged Goods by former show runner Russell T. Davies.
Didn't Jadzia Dax on Star Trek DS9, the symbiot, have a fling with another woman she knew from a former incarnation? I vaguely remember something like that.
Meep wrote: "Can never keep up with this thread so if I'm jumping in the middle of a conversation - sorry!Anyone got anything to recommend?
I'm currently reeading 'Gives Light' by Rose Christo and really lik..."
I recently finished Second Chances and gave it 5 stars (well, probably 4.5 really). The story is very sad in places, but in the end an uplifting tale.
I see you liked Tigers and Devils and Tigerland, as did I. Dash and Dingo: In Search of the Tasmanian Tiger was written by Catt Ford and Sean Kennedy and was a fun book. Good relationship between the MCs, with a mystery and an adventure included.
Being a Dr. Who fan, I had to get Taxes and TARDIS as soon as I saw it. A good story about opposites attracting, with enough Dr. Who to make me happy, but I don't think too much if you're not a fan.
Hopefully, at least one of these will appeal. Happy reading!
Tharayn wrote: "For that please read this articel sexuality in Star TrekSadly it's not so easy as you said. There are a few "homosexual" encounters but with a different backround. ..."
Buy why is Star Trek being singled out? I can't name any other science fiction/fantasy show other than Torchwood and possibly Xena that have LGBT characters.
The show goes back to 1964 after all and broke all kinds of other barrier, especially racial and ethnic. It was also a show on the big 3 networks, not cable television, where the only nod to LGBT was Will and Grace.
Na wrote: "Don't forget Buffy."Yes I remembered Buffy later. I was glued to that show every Tuesday. But I agree, American TV and even movies, are mainly homophobic.
The Amercian television machine is driven by advertisers. If they think the viewership will be affected in any way, they pull advertising and pretty much control what gets scheduled.
I pretty much despise television and no longer watch it and haven't for about four years now. I rarely watch movies anymore, either. I prefer my books - ebook or audio - where the choice of content is 100% mine.
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On the other hand, there was that one episode where they were solving a murder having to do with a rock star. Greg and Nick were parting ways and Greg used sign language to say "rock on". Nick signed back "I love you". Hmmmm... does make a viewer wonder. Never mind the episode about the gay bulls, when Greg was holding the big giant vibrating bull dildo, trying to figure out what it was with Nick standing beside him. ... And a few looks, comments, and jokes shared between the two. They haven't come out yet, but I'm still holding out hope. lol. Subtext is everything between the two of them on the show. One must read between the lines.
Susinok wrote: "Na wrote: "Don't forget Buffy."Yes I remembered Buffy later. I was glued to that show every Tuesday. But I agree, American TV and even movies, are mainly homophobic.
The Amercian television mach..."
Happily, right at the moment there are a number of shows which feature prominent gay characters including Modern Family (which I never got into) and The New Normal in which David and Brian hire a surrogate, Goldie, to have their baby. It's a funny show (though it definitely has a number of cringe-worthy moments).
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On a positive note, science fiction and fantasy games are becoming LGBT-friendly. According to roommie, Mass Effect 3 has several homosexual romance storylines that players can choose. I think there is at least one other role-playing game that does this. So it seems the sci-fi gamer geek audience wants this sort of thing. I think maybe we'll see the younger members of the science fiction/fantasy/geek fandom asking for and expecting LGBT characters and stories? I would consider games much more on the cutting edge and reflective of the current subculture than TV shows even a few years old.
Jordan - Dude's Omar. And I didn't read the thing as a hate crime; if the guy who was murdered had just been hanging with a straight buddy who HAPPENED to ob drug dealers, he might have been beaten to death, too. So, oddly, I saw that as an equal-opportunity-type crime (tho my memory might be hazy).
Tharayn wrote: "Christine wrote: "On a positive note, science fiction and fantasy games are becoming LGBT-friendly. According to roommie, Mass Effect 3 has several homosexual romance storylines that players can ch..."Ha! Well, everyone I know who plays it was SUPER excited about the gay romance options. Boo to the fans who reacted negatively. Maybe they were just more outspoken than the fans who did want them. But then, BioWare included the options, so someone must have asked loudly enough for them...right?
Tharayn wrote: "It's really sad, but female homosexuality gets more positive respond than the male one... "It is as you say. I often ask myself if this happens because male homosexuality is seen as a more direct threat to the patriarchal society & macho men...
Tharayn wrote: "The main problem is the normal standard of a gamer is straight and male."And this, I think, is a sad misperception and misrepresentation of the gamer demographic. (To clarify: I don't mean that it's your misperception!) Most of the gamers I know are either a) female, b) gay or bi, or c) female and bi or transgendered. Those who are male and straight honestly wouldn't blink twice about gay content.
Maybe I just happen to be attracted to a certain kind of people (I certainly don't walk up to people and say "Hey, are you a gamer? Great. Are you bi, gay, or transgendered? Awesome! Let's be friends!"), but still. These peeps were the REGULARS at the local gaming store. Not like there was a meetup of female and LGBT gamers. They were the NORMAL.
Heck, if you walk into our area's big comic store (AWESOME place http://www.tatescomics.com/) or its gaming satellite, you'll mostly see women.
There's all of this hullabaloo in the gaming/geek world while people adjust to the idea that, yeah, droves of geeks are women. Some of the straight male geek elitists are a little ruffled over it, but screw 'em.
Anyway. SORRY. Totally off the topic of this discussion board, so I'll be quiet now.
Just to connect this all back to the talk about LGBT in SF fandom: I think there's considerable overlap between gamer fans and SF fans (just visit a gaming or SF convention to see that...), and there are a lot of good changes happening in gaming subculture (toward openness) that I think will have effects on the larger SF community. Optimistic, me. (Even if some people are still flame-balling authors for gay content. :P )
Anyway could somebody recommend SF books with gay characters in it (SF m/m would be the best)? I just can't decid if it should be without aliens.I highly recommend Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold. The idea she presents for this book is interesting. We could have a whole discussion about patriarchies (a planet with only men), child rearing, marriage ...
Lori wrote: "Anyway could somebody recommend SF books with gay characters in it (SF m/m would be the best)? I just can't decid if it should be without aliens.I highly recommend Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster..."
I want to get this, but my book pile is too high right now. ;p
http://www.betterworldbooks.com/Ethan...
But I will one of these days!!
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So bad it's inspired me for my first post back at Jessewave's. I was going to talk about exclusivity, but now I'm going to talk about the mainstreaming of male male romance. And why it's not always going to be a good thing.
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Ouch. Thanks for the warning. Luckily I don't seem to have that one in my to-read list. ;)
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Ouch. Thanks for the warning. Luckily I don't seem to have that one in my to-read list. ;)"
I'm genuinely disappointed. I hate it when my hopes are dashed.
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Ouch. Thanks for the warning. Luckily I don't seem to have that one in my to-read list. ;)"
I'm genuin..."
Of course I'm judging her much more harshly than I would Suzie Q Justpublishedmyfirstbook! Foster is competent she's just...wow. I don't know what that was. Did someone talk her into it against her will? She so clearly did not have a story or want to tell a story about these characters.
Tharayn wrote: "Lori wrote: "Anyway could somebody recommend SF books with gay characters in it (SF m/m would be the best)? I just can't decid if it should be without aliens.I highly recommend Ethan of Athos by ..."
Thank you! I see it's part of a series, is it necessary to read the previous books to understand the whole story?"
It's a stand-alone. You don't have to read the rest of the series. I do recommend the rest of the series, however, just because it's fun to read.
Johanna wrote: "I'm currently reading Ricochet and I'm having some mixed feelings about it. At times it's entertaining, even gripping, but at times boring too. And I hate it when I have to MAKE myself to read a bo..."I read that not so long ago but can't remember a thing about it. I know I liked it (must have because my rating says so) but it's like it has been wiped from my hard drive...
Lori wrote: "Anyway could somebody recommend SF books with gay characters in it (SF m/m would be the best)? I just can't decid if it should be without aliens.I highly recommend Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster..."
I think Nick Seafort, main character in David Feintuch's Midshipman's Hope was gay. The topic wasn't emphasized, just mentioned in passing. I liked the book though (at least back when I was sixteen I liked it a lot). It's a candidate for rereading, to see what I think about it now. :)
Josh wrote: "So bad it's inspired me for my first post back at Jessewave's. I was going to talk about exclusivity, but now I'm going to talk about the mainstreaming of mal..."
Just read your review on that. Wow. Sounds really unfortunate. Foster's m/f books are at least competent if not anything exciting sometimes. I've enjoyed a few of them.
Sounds like she met some fan demand but was way outside her comfort zone.
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I've read already 73% of it and damn it, I'm not giving up (although I'd love to). When I'm finished, I'll tell you what it was all about. ;)
I've been reading it several days now and every night I had to finish my reading session with Josh's Holmes & Moriarity books — to comfort myself and to easy my mind of Ricochet with the help of Kit and J.X... so that I could fall asleep with happy thoughts — and not feeling annoyed.
Johanna wrote: " to comfort myself and to easy my mind of Ricochet with the help of Kit and J.X... so that I could fall asleep with happy thoughts — and not feeling annoyed. "Kit and J.X. *dreamysigh* Have listend to the audio?
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Kit and J.X. *dreamysigh* Have listend to the audio? "
The audio is great — maybe the best one yet! Have you listened to it already? The narrator performs even a perfect Satan Krass. LOL.
Yes, almost the day it came out (okay, it was one tiny day later, but hey, who's counting?). 
The only one I imagined completely different was Rachel. Satan Krass was perfect. And Mindy? *lol*
Just finished Fair Game on audio. Great experience! I had three hours of Parking lot/freeway driving to get thru. Listening to this made it a non-issue. So great for my blood pressure. =D
"You want to cut in front of me? Sure, no problem, more time to listen to my book." ;p
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"Oh my, it's STILL snowing for five days in a row... no problem, I haven't finished listening to SKHE yet." :)
Johanna wrote: "I'm currently reading Ricochet and I'm having some mixed feelings about it. At times it's entertaining, even gripping, but at times boring too. And I hate it when I have to MAKE myself to read a bo..."I tried to read this book 3 separate times, because of the blurb and a couple of the reviews, but had to finally give up. I could not get interested in the MC's.
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It's actually a relief to hear that others have had similar kind of feelings about it. So that it isn't just me. ;) Ricochet's average rating here on Goodreads is 4.29 stars (139 ratings), so I kind of had my hopes up before starting it, I guess.
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Josh wrote: "Did someone talk her into it against her will? She so clearly did not have a story or want to tell a story about these characters."
I sincerely hope that this won't be the case with J.R. Ward's next book (m/m)... I'm waiting for it feeling both hope and dread at the same time. Mostly dread, I'm afraid.
Josh wrote: "So bad it's inspired me for my first post back at Jessewave's. I was going to talk about exclusivity, but now I'm going to talk about the mainstreaming of mal..."
I was never in any danger of buying this, 'cause I had no clue Lori Foster wrote m/m. But I can't help wondering how it ended up on a Best Books of January list and garnered so many high ratings. (In fact, I'm always mystified when people praise a dreadful read, and I always ask myself, "What the hell are they thinking? Is there a revised version of this book I'm not aware of?")
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Yep. Like Na wrote,
is going to be released in March.
K.Z. wrote: "Josh wrote: "I can't help wondering how it ended up on a Best Books of January list and garnered so many high ratings. (In fact, I'm always mystified when people praise a dreadful read, and I always ask myself, "What the hell are they thinking? Is there a revised version of this book I'm not aware of?")"I have the same reaction. It leaves me head scratchingly puzzled.
Juthi wrote: "I just went to check out the blurb for Ricochet and realised it's a BDSM. Unfortunately I'm very squeamish about that. Somehow the couples never seem truly equal to me and I have trouble understanding the psychology behind it. I've tried very hard to like it, since it means I'm missing out on a large number of m/m books. I've never read any m/f romance. Is it just as popular there? ..."Yes it is just as popular in m/f erotica, and seems just as unequal. I don't care for a lot of BDSM either.
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But now I'm waiting for Johanna's final verdict, because it looks like this is long story and likely the kind of writing that gets me impatient for the MCs to see the obvious light. I mean there are stories where that process is the point and an enjoyable one, and there are others... So which is it, Johanna?
Ricochet is very "free online fic" type writing. It has pacing issues and is very loosely written, which tends to be irritating in a paid-for book. I read it when I was burnt out, so it was amusing in my sluggish mental state. Yes, there is a "Get over it already!!" moment...or two.;p
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I see what you mean. I don't mind reading BDSM, but I probably don't completely, truly understand the psychology behind it either, because the stories where the subs have to wander around the house naked and kneel beside their masters for hours mainly make me feel awkward. And that's when the story starts to seem ridiculous to me. I get bored very easily reading a story like that and I also feel sorry for the sub... in other words there are things I don't quite get about the whole thing, I think. I'm not judging BDSM, don't get me wrong, but stories with naked subs 24/7 just aren't my cup of tea. :)
Not that there is a lot of that in Ricochet, there really isn't. The issues I have with this book are different.
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LOL. :)
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Oh yes, I agree with this. The writing is ok and the story has its moments, but I do have some issues about the pacing and with the fact that the problems the characters are struggling with seem a bit artificial and the solutions to them seem so obvious and easy. "Free online fic" type writing is a very good description of the Ricochet.
ETA: Note that I'm still at 73%.
I’ve finished listening to Fatal shadows although it possibly wasn’t a good idea to do this during the drive to work the other morning. Not only do I have no idea what might have happened on the road for the last quarter of a mile (multiple pile-ups behind me for all I know) but also as I drove into the car park Adrien was about to get into bed with the person who was almost certainly the killer… I do not have the sort of will power which would have been required to turn it off at that point.My other read has been Kevin Power’s The Yellow Birds. Conversely I’ve been trying not to get to the end of this one. Sometimes I do get so transfixed by a book that I want to stay with it although this is not a happy story. Powers served in Iraq so as you would expect it’s heart-breaking but authentic in every detail. He’s a poet I discovered from an interview published on the Poetry Foundation website this week which explains why every word counts. You don’t just move through the desert with these soldiers you smell it, taste it and feel it. As I haven’t quite got to the end I couldn’t yet say if The Yellow Birds will exert the same pull as The Charioteer but at the moment it’s close.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Hmm. It probably just requires being in the right mood?