Lilith Saintcrow’s Selene releases in ebook today–for the next several weeks, it’s exclusive to her online bookstore. This contains the prequel, Brother’s Keeper, and the sequel short, Just Ask, as well as the previously serialized novel.
I often write up quickie reviews of things I work on but not full reviews because, well, conflict of interest and all that, even if I worked primarily as a graphic designer, but the truth is that I end up working on fabulous books and I want to tell people about them. Selene is no exception, so here are a few quick words on something I loved about it.
It’s set in the same world as Lili’s Dante Valentine books, though it takes place prior to them and stands alone just fine. This is a post-war world, a dark future version of ours; the worldbuilding is detailed while still being easy to follow, and glimpses of it will be familiar to Danny Valentine readers. Selene is a sexwitch, a slave to her body’s requirement to use sex to recharge her magical batteries, so to speak. She’s tied to Nikolai, a bloodsucking Nichtvren, who is the city’s Prime Power; using him to recharge said batteries keeps her off the streets, true, but she’s essentially indentured.
The Dante Valentine books give a very realistic portrayal of what it would be like to actually be in a relationship with a demon–a creature so foreign, so alien, that it simply doesn’t think like we do, and even when well-meaning it functions on a logic entirely different from a human’s (a contrast to most PNR). A similar attention is given to Nikolai; Saintcrow is one of the few paranormal authors I’ve ever read who actually seems to have considered what an ancient vampire would be like. There’s never a doubt that he cares for Selene, but it’s love from his point of view. And that’s not entirely compatible with what you, I, or Selene would see as “love”. This is never forgotten for a moment in the text: he is not some dangerous but cuddly alpha male she needs to just shut up and submit to. He isn’t human, and as fascinating as this makes him, it’s means they aren’t on equal footing and this is never something romanticized.
Likewise, Selene is an unflinching depiction of what it would actually be like to be “owned” by a monster. How you can be attracted to one and care for one on some level, but know its an unhealthy situation you need to be free of before it kills you. To be trapped, literally enslaved, by forces out of your control, and having the constant tug of needing freedom even if it means your life. There is no swooning, I-will-bow-to-your-will here. Selene is her own person and desperately needs to be free. Saintcrow never takes the easy way out with any of her characters, but especially not Selene, who never loses her desire to be in control of her own life. Her arc from controlled to in control is wonderful to follow.
Though Selene–the novel–ends the only way it could have, the sequel short at the end, Just Ask, provides a satisfying conclusion to Selene and Nikolai’s story. This isn’t a happily-ever-after, tied up in a bow sort of world, but it’s a REAL one full of hope…which, for me, is a perfect ending.
You can currently get Selene for just $5.99–a steal for what’s technically a three-for-one–exclusively at Lili’s site in HTML, MOBI, PDF, or EPUB. It releases elsewhere for $6.99 on May 1, and later will be available in print.
And a small reminder: thank you to those who buy books. Because it matters. Series get cancelled. The numbers have to be there for writers to continue to publish, and midlisters need the support. And I want writers like Lili, who put so much time and attention into their craft, to always be able to publish their work. Thank you to those of you who help them do so.
About Selene:
Life isn’t easy for a sexwitch. Even your own body betrays you. It’s bad enough that Selene is part slave to Nikolai, the Prime Power of Saint City, but she’s got her brother Danny and she’s got her job at the college. In the postwar wreckage of an uncertain world, it’s pretty much all she’s ever allowed herself to want.
Then Danny ends up murdered, and Selene finds herself a pawn in a dangerous game. Indentured to a bloodsucking Nichtvren and helpless, told to stop trying to uncover the identity of her brother’s killer, Selene has nowhere to turn. If she’s a good girl, Nikolai will leave her a little bit of freedom. He’ll take care of her, and she’ll be safe–if she obeys.
But Selene hasn’t survived this long by being obedient to her cursed powers, or to the men who buy her time. Her brother was all she had, and now she’s ready to borrow, beg, lie, steal or kill–whatever it takes to avenge him.
And if Nikolai gets in the way, Selene will use every tool in her arsenal to make him regret it…
This special edition also contains the prequel short story Brother’s Keeper and the sequel short story Just Ask.
Speaking of excellent books to read, I have Wayfarer here awaiting my attention this fine Friday afternoon. I haven’t slept in a week and I think lounging with the cats and reading is exactly what my brain needs…
Darien Cox popped my cherry.
Doug Crandall’s perfect suburban life imploded after his boyfriend’s betrayal and a subsequent lawsuit left him personally and financially devastated. A year later, with a new place in the city and a fresh outlook, he’s back on his feet and ready to start over. Eager to lose his cynicism and heal his battered heart, he immerses himself in the local social scene, which includes a pair of charismatic men engaged in an open relationship. As Doug finds himself becoming emotionally and sexually entangled in their lives, he’s forced to reevaluate his views on fidelity, betrayal, love, and the often calamitous price of happiness.
Doug’s at a place in his life where he’s learning to accept change, and that the life we have in mind for ourselves isn’t always what we get. After his ideas of what his life is ‘supposed’ to be like are shattered, he’s forced to open his mind to new things, and that’s one of the reason he tries to accept Stewart and Corey’s situation, though part of him rejects it completely. But he’s ultimately motivated by his feelings for Stewart. Falling in love is one of the most out of control experiences we can have as human beings. We’re wired for it, all those lusty chemicals clouding our brains, often a battle between what the body wants, what the heart wants, and what the logical mind tells you is the right thing to do. It’s easy to stand on the outside of that and decide ‘Dude, you’re playing with fire, stop now.’ But when you’re in it, being carried away by that hurricane of feelings, it’s a gamble which side is gonna win out, and sometimes the call of the heart is too strong to fight.
I guess one message is that life can really screw with you, and things are going to happen that make you feel like you’ve lost everything, that you simply don’t have the strength to start over, much less be hopeful about the future. But short of crawling into a hole until you die, there’s really no other choice but to dust yourself off and try again – but it can take WORK. The other message is that no one is immune to falling in love, no matter what their situation. It’ll sneak up and grab you by the balls when you’re not looking. Despite this being the key to all romance stories—the fantasy of love coming along and knocking you on your ass—how the character handles it is what makes it interesting. There’s a reality to it that everyone can relate to, no matter how different we all are.
My plan is to take it down to the beach for the next one, since summer is coming and I’m in that kind of mood. But I’ve been having so much fun doing the city settings as in Criminal Pleasures and Guys On Top, it’s been a tough call! But none of my books ever turn out exactly the way I plan initially, so I’m banking on the hope that the new characters will come to life and let me know what they want. And that’s all another way to say I have no clue yet! But I hope to gain one soon.
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Writer of urban fantasy, thrillers/mysteries, and horror.