Singh, Nalini - Psy/Changeling series, vols. 7-9
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2011 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterI skipped Branded by Fire because I am still annoyed that a dominant female changeling still wants to be dominated, while the male ones are fine with submissive wives. Also, it was over-the-top ubermasculinity, which is one of my least favorite things about Singh's books. Also, I started it twice and kept not liking it.
Blaze of Memory
Dev Santos, head of the Shine Foundation that helps gifted human children, finds Katya Haas. She's hurt and doesn't remember anything, and although Dev wants to trust her, she might also be sent to kill him. As with so many of these write ups, I read this a year or so ago, and I don't remember much, save that Dev is constantly described as "ineluctably male" or "essentially masculine" or that he smells like metal. I was hoping something with an amnesiac possible assassin would have more female kickassness, but sadly, no. This has all the hypermasculinity that I dislike about Singh, with a lot of exotification and Starbucks description (of Dev) to boot, and it's the main reason why I didn't catch up on the Psy/Changeling series until the past week or so.
Bonds of Justice
I finally picked this up because I was in the mood for paranormals. Max Shannon is a human cop who has been assigned to protect Councilor Nikita Duncan. To help him out is J-Psy Sophia Russo. The J-Psy, whom we haven't seen much of before, can basically go into a person's memory and project that memory out for others. The "J" is for "justice," as they are frequently used as witnesses in court. Unfortunately, because of their job, like F-Psy, J-Psy tend to have mental breakdowns early on, and Sophia is on the verge of hers.
Thankfully, this reminds me why I like some of the series in the first place. Although there is some Starbucks description, the main relationship between Max and Sophia isn't blazing sexual tension, but rather, love and trust. This is what I missed from the past two books in the series or so, especially because Singh's way of writing sexual tension is to just throw in a lot of bad adjectives. Instead, because the sex is turned down, there's more focus on Sophia's possible mental breakdown and the plot against Nikita Duncan. It's not that these elements weren't there in the past few books, just that I felt I couldn't concentrate on them because of all the ineluctable maleness in the air. Anyway, interesting, and thank goodness without the marking and super possessiveness some of Singh's heroes have.
Play of Passion
Probably my favorite Singh to date. Indigo is a lieutenant of the Snow Dancer wolf pack, and as a dominant female, she, like Mercy in Branded by Fire, despairs of finding a mate. Drew is the pack's tracker: not in the offical pack hierarchy, he charms his way instead of taking control like Indigo. And he's wanted Indigo for a while, but she's not sure she can pair up with a wolf who can't dominate her.
Speaking of which, still annoyed by the differences between dominant women and dominant men in the Changeling packs! On the other hand, this was a much more interesting take on it than Mercy's book. Drew actually seems like the complete opposite of all Singh's heroes. Instead of being possessive and demanding, he apologizes and tries to charm Indigo in ways that are mostly charming and not stalkery. And when he is possessive and demanding, he realizes he is wrong, that Indigo likes being in control, and tells her he won't undercut her authority in front of other people! This is very refreshing, particularly in a Psy/Changeling book. I also love that Indigo is clearly competent and very controlled, and it helps that the combination of controlled woman and the fun but nice guy trying to please her is one of my favorite romance combinations. (This, by the way, only works for me if the guy is actually nice and not a stalker or a seducer. The seducer thing used to work when I was in high school, but I read too many of them, and now I roll my eyes at them.) The prose still isn't awesome, but mostly I just wanted to flail and go "OMG! A heroine who is canonically more powerful in the pack hierarchy than the hero! A hero who doesn't feel like he has to dominate her!" Minus points for Singh sticking in a line or so about Drew not being at his full power yet. In my head, he is. Also, there is more plot about Councilor Krychek and all the other stuff and Silence breaking, along with a fair amount of set-up for what Singh says will be the last book in this arc, featuring Hawke and Sienna.
I have to admit, I'm kind of curious, because I like Sienna, but Hawke is basically the antithesis of my type of hero. Also, the age difference still bugs me a bit. I'll probably end up reading it anyway just to find out what happens to the Council.
Blaze of Memory
Dev Santos, head of the Shine Foundation that helps gifted human children, finds Katya Haas. She's hurt and doesn't remember anything, and although Dev wants to trust her, she might also be sent to kill him. As with so many of these write ups, I read this a year or so ago, and I don't remember much, save that Dev is constantly described as "ineluctably male" or "essentially masculine" or that he smells like metal. I was hoping something with an amnesiac possible assassin would have more female kickassness, but sadly, no. This has all the hypermasculinity that I dislike about Singh, with a lot of exotification and Starbucks description (of Dev) to boot, and it's the main reason why I didn't catch up on the Psy/Changeling series until the past week or so.
Bonds of Justice
I finally picked this up because I was in the mood for paranormals. Max Shannon is a human cop who has been assigned to protect Councilor Nikita Duncan. To help him out is J-Psy Sophia Russo. The J-Psy, whom we haven't seen much of before, can basically go into a person's memory and project that memory out for others. The "J" is for "justice," as they are frequently used as witnesses in court. Unfortunately, because of their job, like F-Psy, J-Psy tend to have mental breakdowns early on, and Sophia is on the verge of hers.
Thankfully, this reminds me why I like some of the series in the first place. Although there is some Starbucks description, the main relationship between Max and Sophia isn't blazing sexual tension, but rather, love and trust. This is what I missed from the past two books in the series or so, especially because Singh's way of writing sexual tension is to just throw in a lot of bad adjectives. Instead, because the sex is turned down, there's more focus on Sophia's possible mental breakdown and the plot against Nikita Duncan. It's not that these elements weren't there in the past few books, just that I felt I couldn't concentrate on them because of all the ineluctable maleness in the air. Anyway, interesting, and thank goodness without the marking and super possessiveness some of Singh's heroes have.
Play of Passion
Probably my favorite Singh to date. Indigo is a lieutenant of the Snow Dancer wolf pack, and as a dominant female, she, like Mercy in Branded by Fire, despairs of finding a mate. Drew is the pack's tracker: not in the offical pack hierarchy, he charms his way instead of taking control like Indigo. And he's wanted Indigo for a while, but she's not sure she can pair up with a wolf who can't dominate her.
Speaking of which, still annoyed by the differences between dominant women and dominant men in the Changeling packs! On the other hand, this was a much more interesting take on it than Mercy's book. Drew actually seems like the complete opposite of all Singh's heroes. Instead of being possessive and demanding, he apologizes and tries to charm Indigo in ways that are mostly charming and not stalkery. And when he is possessive and demanding, he realizes he is wrong, that Indigo likes being in control, and tells her he won't undercut her authority in front of other people! This is very refreshing, particularly in a Psy/Changeling book. I also love that Indigo is clearly competent and very controlled, and it helps that the combination of controlled woman and the fun but nice guy trying to please her is one of my favorite romance combinations. (This, by the way, only works for me if the guy is actually nice and not a stalker or a seducer. The seducer thing used to work when I was in high school, but I read too many of them, and now I roll my eyes at them.) The prose still isn't awesome, but mostly I just wanted to flail and go "OMG! A heroine who is canonically more powerful in the pack hierarchy than the hero! A hero who doesn't feel like he has to dominate her!" Minus points for Singh sticking in a line or so about Drew not being at his full power yet. In my head, he is. Also, there is more plot about Councilor Krychek and all the other stuff and Silence breaking, along with a fair amount of set-up for what Singh says will be the last book in this arc, featuring Hawke and Sienna.
I have to admit, I'm kind of curious, because I like Sienna, but Hawke is basically the antithesis of my type of hero. Also, the age difference still bugs me a bit. I'll probably end up reading it anyway just to find out what happens to the Council.
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