Action Heroine Fans discussion
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Currently reading a book with an action heroine?
I have Overland Flux, but it's just been languishing in cloud-land. Thanks for the rec. I'll move it up my TBR.
I just finished Overload Flux. While I haven't written my review yet, I suspect I'll end up with a solid 4 (GR) stars and the desire to read the next book in the series.
Remember when Hunger Games first came out and there was nothing like it? Well, the following book strikes me the same way: nothing like it. The problem group members may have is the erotic content.I'm talking about The Girl in 6E
.The young woman, Deena, has voluntarily become a recuse. She absolutely, positively, does not leave her studio apartment. Food (and anything else she needs) gets delivered, usually by a UPS person. What does she do? Mostly, she is an internet porn star, performing virtual sex, audio and video. Very, very lucrative. Why is she an action heroine? She has used a weapon and will again, to make things happen that need to happen. At least IMHO.
Here is the blurb:
I haven't touched a human in three years. That seems like it would be a difficult task, but it's not. Not anymore, thanks to the internet.
I am, quite possibly, the most popular recluse ever. Not many shut-ins have a 200-member fan club, a bank account in the seven-figure range, and hundreds of men lining up to pay for undivided attention.
They get satisfaction, I get a distraction. Their secret desires are nothing compared to why I hide... my lust for blood, my love of death.
Taking their money is easy. Keeping all these secrets... one is bound to escape.
What if you hid yourself away because all you could think of was killing? And what if one girl's life depending on you venturing into society?
Yes, there are some explicit descriptions of what the men pay her to do - to perform - for them. However, again in my opinion, the author's intent is not to titillate the reader but to tell a story that could not be told without a high level of realism.
Jon wrote: "Remember when Hunger Games first came out and there was nothing like it? Well, the following book strikes me the same way: nothing like it. The problem group members may have is the erotic content...."This book was heavily discussed in some of my other groups when it was first released. It sounds a little dark for me, but the consensus was that it is well written and nice change from the formulaic in both erotica and suspense/thriller.
E.G., "dark" isn't a word I would use to describe The Girl in 6E. Erotic and suspense yes. Several people are killed by one person (no longer alive when the story starts) before the book starts, but not by the heroine. I won't say more, not wanting to spoil it, but should it ever be on sale or come to your library, I'd urge you to take a look. Book two in the series, Do Not Disturb, is not unique and not worth what is current be asked for it, in my opinion.
Jon wrote: "E.G., "dark" isn't a word I would use to describe The Girl in 6E. Erotic and suspense yes. Several people are killed by one person (no longer alive when the story starts) before the book starts, bu..."Thanks Jon. My definition of 'dark' was pretty broad in the last year. Basically not anything 'light'. I'll take another look.
I finished the book Find Her. By Lisa Gardner. D D Warren is the fast thinking and moving detective. I thought though that the woman Flora who had been a victim really turned into the strong woman character who not only saved herself three times but others as well this book was seriously disturbing. Flora still managed to kill and fight and use her skills, and against enormous odds.
Pamela find can be found here: Find Her. Thanks Pamela. I'll add it to our bookshelf with pleasure. Would you please look and see if I've categorized it properly; if not, please add or amend.
I'm reading
as part of a group read in another group. I wouldn't have picked Dina for an action heroine, but since she killed a demon with a spear, I'm going for it.
At the moment, I'm currently reading Coyote, by our own Bran Gustafson. This will be book number 2 towards my goal in our action heroines challenge!
Werner wrote: "At the moment, I'm currently reading Coyote, by our own Bran Gustafson. This will be book number 2 towards my goal in our action heroines challenge!"It looks really good, but I can only find it in e-book form on amazon. My ancient iPad operating system only supports Nook in addition to i-books. :(
E. G., I'm reading it as a print book, and I found the listing for the paperback format on Amazon with a simple author/title search. Try this link: http://www.amazon.com/Coyote-Novel-Un... .
Nook version should be available on Smashwords.
Werner wrote: "E. G., I'm reading it as a print book, and I found the listing for the paperback format on Amazon with a simple author/title search. Try this link: http://www.amazon.com/Coyote-Novel-Un...-..."I checked Bran's thread. He's now got a Smashwords coupon that includes an epub download. So all is good.
Also , if you visit my website you'll find links to Barnes & Noble, Itunes, Scribd and more. But it sounds like you've already found what you're looking for :)http://brangustafson.com/coyote/
E.G. (message 511) mentions reading Clean Sweep
, which I, too, am reading. It features a woman who is the proprietor of a Bed & Breakfast for paranormals, from this planet and elsewhere, in a flyspeck town in Texas. She is supposed to mind the safety of the guests which leads her to action. She isn't adverse to telling would-be good guys of the male variety to go pump some iron, either, and let her take point.
Jon wrote: "E.G. (message 511) mentions reading Clean Sweep , which I, too, am reading. It features a woman who is the proprietor of a Bed & Breakfast for parano..."This reminds me of Tanya Huff's excellent novel, Summon the Keeper. The heroine of that series is more of a nomad, but in the book she is tricked into taking over a B&B with a hole to Hell in the basement, and she has to deal with the supernatural clientele while trying to figure out how to close it.
I've now started on the third (and there are only three so far) Sarah Tolerance novel, The Sleeping Partner.
I'm reading Michelle Diener's Dark Horse
. I'm not far enough along to opine.A reminder: If you find a good book with an AH, please add it to the group's bookshelves. Just, use some care in putting it into appropriate categories.
Just finished the Veronica Mars novel The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line. This follows up with my watching all three seasons of the show, the movie, and the Play It Again Dick comedy web series. All within less than two weeks. The book is a direct sequel to the 2014 film, and it's a good story. Best part? Kristen Bell reads the audiobook.
To anyone who knows Patricia Briggs' Mercedes Thompson series (coyote-shifter / VW mechanic / hangs out with werewolves and vampires action heroine): her latest in the series is excellent at about the half-way point. Fire Touched
Continuing our progression through Suzanne Arruda's Jade del Cameron series, my wife and I started on the third volume,
, today as our new "car book." I've mentioned this series on several of our threads before.
Werner wrote: "Continuing our progression through Suzanne Arruda's Jade del Cameron series, my wife and I started on the third volume, , today as our new "car book." I've..."These look great. Also pricey. Not a bad thing - it's been almost 18 months since I changed cities and I haven't hit the library, yet. Now I have incentive.
Yes, E. G., if you want to explore the series, definitely check out your public library (any of the books they don't have, you should easily be able to get through interlibrary loan). The series is best read in order, IMO. I hope you like it as much as my wife and I do!I was fortunate enough to get the first book used in a secondhand store some years ago. Like many of my books, it sat in my huge TBR piles for a long time until I got to it; but when I did, I decided to try it as a book for reading to Barb (my wife). She totally got into it and wanted to pursue the series, which I was glad to do, too. For us, reading a book over a long time in snippets as we generally do, library check-outs don't work as well; so I bought the second and third volumes as gifts for Barb. Since I'd get her gifts anyway for birthday, Christmas, etc., that makes the price issue less of a factor. (And I like to support our local bookstore once in awhile!)
Werner wrote: "Yes, E. G., if you want to explore the series, definitely check out your public library (any of the books they don't have, you should easily be able to get through interlibrary loan). The series is..."That's so cool. My DH and I often exchange books at holidays. We're also big supporters of local bookstores and we've found those. But the library remains a great way to explore unknown authors and enjoy pricey ones that don't make the gift exchange.
E. G. wrote: "...the library remains a great way to explore unknown authors and enjoy pricey ones that don't make the gift exchange."Absolutely, E. G. --being a librarian, it's music to my ears to hear from someone who uses the library! Ever since I was six, I've had a public library card wherever I've lived (actually, I have two now; here in the Bluefields, VA and WV, residents on either side of the state line can have borrowing privileges in the local public library on the other side as well as their own). Since I work in the library at Bluefield College, I actually use that one much more than either of the public libraries (it's just handier); but I make use of the public libraries, too, if I want a book they have and the BC library doesn't.
Speaking of libraries: I think I figured out how to request ILL online for ours. There's a place where you can request stuff, and I thought I was submitting some suggestions to add to the catalog. But then the request status later changed to "ILL Submitted".
Not as cool as permanently adding to the library collection, but it's still good.
Werner wrote: " have two now; here in the Bluefields, VA and WV,.."We're totally off topic - but Bluefield? Really? My DH was born and raised in WV and we lived in VA until late 2014 when we relocated to Maine.
On libraries - I love them. Safe and adventurous at the same time.
E. G., if the moderators don't catch us, it won't hurt if we're off topic. :-) (Seriously, I don't always enforce the idea of staying on topic rigidly, unless there's a good reason for doing so --I figure discussions sometimes will spark tangents, and I'd rather have comments on tangents than no discussion at all!) Yes, I came to BC in 1992, so we've been here well over 20 years. And Barb was born and raised up in the Harrisonburg area (though in the mountains, not in the city) and we lived there for a few years in the early 80s. Where in VA did you guys live?I've never been fortunate enough to visit New England; but from the pictures I've seen, it's a beautiful region! Hope you're enjoying your (relatively) new home in Maine.
It can stymie conversation a bit...
@Werner - I'll PM you.@Mike - busted. ;o
Currently reading
Sorry, Mike; we'll behave and get back on topic now! :-)
I meant worrying about it too much could stymie conversation. I'm cool with people "talking" about whatever the thread leads to.:)
Thanks, Mike! (That's actually my sentiment, too.)
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I meant worrying about it too much could stymie conversation. I'm cool with people "talking" about whatever the thread leads to.:)"
Gracious Mike, but you're right. Werner and I had definitely veered into 'personal chat'.
@Werner - the group is growing and some of my other groups have a 'chat' thread for general personal chat among members. It there is more of this 'off topic' stuff, it might be time for something like that here.
E.G. wrote: "Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I meant worrying about it too much could stymie conversation. I'm cool with people "talking" about whatever the thread leads to.:)"
Gracious Mike, but you're right. We..."
Yeah, a General Chat thread wouldn't hurt.
E. G. and N. H., that's actually a very good idea; and I started one here back in 2010: www.goodreads.com/topic/show/383245-g... . (Of course, it also helps if everybody knows that it's there!)
Hey, Werner ... don't attempt to shovel the "not here, off topic" duties on your co-moderators. :-]Actually, a benefit of being a smallish group is the ability to be flexible.
Other than reading a not too old Kris Longknife book [[book:Unrelenting|24611913]
, most of my current reads are classics, Villette
; men being men, The Colors of Space
; men and women having adventures (such as a great book I'm listening to: The Girl Who Wrote in Silk
about the Chinese Exclusion Act); or, erotic heroines who, shall we say, are better at using their natural assets as weapons than something with a blade: Oh Claire!
(may be awful, downloaded but not read - great cover, though.)
I am about 50 pages into Kelley Armstrong's Bitten. So far so good, though it took me a minute to get into the flow. I have never been huge on werewolves, but I like the Pack world Armstrong is creating. I have never seen the show, except for a clip of Elena's first transformation on youtube - one of the best werewolf transforms I have seen, especially from a tv show.
Noetic_Hatter wrote: "I have never seen the show, except for a clip of Elena's first transformation on youtube - one of the best werewolf transforms I have seen, especially from a tv show. "Did you ever see the movie version of Blood & Chocolate? The werewolves in that one transform in flashes of light into a wolf form, very pretty. It's a different take on werewolves where the change is completely voluntary. I've never read the book, though.
Marc wrote: "Did you ever see the movie version of Blood & Chocolate? The werewolves in that one transform in flashes of light into a wolf form, very pretty. It's a different take on werewolves where the change is completely voluntary. I've never read the book, though. "Have not seen it. Sounds interesting, though.
I am about 40% through BITTEN, and it's quite entertaining. Basically as serial killer mystery with werewolves. Very bloody.
Bit of sex and all -- she is the only female werewolf ever, and she's surrounded by males who all want to mate with her. But it's not exactly later Anita Blake levels. Only concern is that the one graphic sex scene appears to be somewhat involuntary - she's tied up without her consent. The narration rationalizes it, but still. . .
Finished Bitten. Good stuff. Interesting observation (at least to me): Armstrong's heroine Elena is an orphan who had a rough childhood before being bitten by a werewolf.
In the back is the first chapter of her next book, which is also urban fantasy but not about wolves. That book's narrator heroine is also an orphan who had a rough childhood.
Hmmm. . .
Noetic_Hatter wrote: " That book's narrator heroine is also an orphan who had a rough childhood. Hmmm. . . ."
Sounds to me like she's in a bit of a rut.
Marc wrote: ."Sounds to me like she's in a bit of a rut."
Maybe a bit lazy, too? It's harder to write an action heroine with a family. There's always the question of where are they when she's out risking her life/getting arrested/etc.
Very astute observation, E.G. Other than your own series, I can't think of many such heroines, unless you count boyfriends in all their many permutations, for which there are many novels.I wonder if there would be enough interest to create a list, or thread, about such books. Action Heroines with Family? Another sub-category is heroines with chronic medical conditions.
E.G. wrote: "Maybe a bit lazy, too? It's harder to write an action heroine with a family. There's always the question of where are they when she's ou..."Buffy had that problem, as did Jaye from Wonderfalls.
Of course, you could just bring the whole family into it, as Buffy eventually did. Many of Tanya Huff's novels feature extended families, all in the business.
If the family plays no part in the story then making her an orphan is an easy (perhaps too easy) way to leave them out, or the reason why she's an orphan could be important to the plot. This is character serving plot, though, when I much prefer that plot serve character. It is harder but it makes for a better book.
Karen Chance's Dorinda Basarab
has family - but they're all vampires and she keeps getting work from her dad!* I really enjoy that aspect of those books.
Action Heroine Fans
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Thanks Jon - added to my TBR.