Firebird
Princess Firebird..... Goddess of Swannie Fics
I am a Swan.
63 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 01-07-2002
Posts: 3689
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29-04-2004 07:03
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Buffy
Boardie
0 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 25-07-2001
Posts: 382
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Hehe...Would be interesting to see who likes what in spite of the bad reviews here?
Yes! I have one. Though I am sure the warning only applies to a small percentage of this site due to the genre in question.
I would not recommend any Cassie Edwards Romance Novel.
She does a series of native american historical romance novels though the 'native american historical' part is beyond dubious.
Now I admit I have always been a closet historical romance novel fan. They are like comfort junk food for the brain: Same basic plot, saccerine and ambiguous sex scenes heavy on the metaphors, same basic Irish Lass heroine who must have creamy white skin (grunt), a name that sounds like the latest Estee Lauder perfume, and long flowing locks, innocent bla bla bla. But hey, the men are usually hot. well endowed, and they are guaranteed a happy ending.
That aside. Why is it Cassie Edwards feels the need to romanticize the language and relationship to the point that it makes one's teeth ache? And for god's sake, WHY does she feel the need to describe orgasm with the name of the novel in EVERY FREAKING TIME? ...and they reached fulfillment in a rush of savage thunder that left them both sated and fulfilled with fulfillment because of the intense savage thunder that thundered through them savagely....because Savage Thunder was the name of their book....
Now that would be forgivable. After all, we're talking romance novel here: The Lick'em Stix of the literature world.
What really killed me was the fact that she uses clumsy improbable plot devices to solve all the random story threads as often as she religiously can. ( I think there's a term for that even... 'deus ex mechina' or something?)
True example: Brave and handsome native stud loves innocent but in trouble white chick. However, he can't go with her because he is responsible for his adored deaf/blind/mute from birth younger brother who cannot travel with them. Hmmm...problem.
Does brother get conveniently stampeded off a cliff in a freak buffalo accident you ask? No, not even that predictable. Brother goes to cave on spirit quest and is in the vicinity of a freak meteor strike, the shockwaves and radiation emissions of which miraculously restore both his hearing and his sight. The brother then goes on to learn to speak and fully function in the tribe within a couple of months or so, managing to snag the sexiest little chick in the village for his own and become a top notch hunter and provider too. (The native chick's name was probably 'Gentle Fawn' or 'Morning Dove' or some such crap to boot). I'm admittedly a little hazy on the aftermath because I started skipping pages to hasten the end of the book at that point.
Bleeech. I guess in my defense, I was 16 when I read my first Cassie Edwards and was distracted by the bronze manly chests. I haven't read one in 10 years until last week.
No, I won't read one ever again. And neither should anyone else for the love of all that is cheesy.
__________________
"Spider sense....tingling."
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29-04-2004 09:20
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Berg Katse
Pleather Goddess
0 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 06-06-2001
Posts: 216
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The list of books never to read? Oh, I'm such a critic, it would be SO long!
How about a series of books that has my ire right now? The "Left Behind" series of Christian novels. A series of books that deals with what happens when the Rapture occurs and the Anti-Christ and Satan run amok on Earth for seven years. Imagine reading a book where all the blessed Christians are saved (the ones abusing Iraqi POWs, perhaps? Or the ones killing abortion doctors? Or the clergy sexually abusing children?), and the leader of the UN is viewed as the Anti-Christ (Kofi Annan, I never thought you had it in you!). And this series is raking it in, big time. Particularly in the US (how much you want to bet its popular in the Bible Belt?).
It just sickens me that in a day and age where tolerance is needed, one of the largest grossing book series is preaching that indeed, one religion (Christianity) is better than the others, and when this Rapture occurs and all the good people are whisked away to be with God, the rest of us are left behind to wallow in the mess THEY helped make.
Personally, I can only think of a handful of people on this planet who deserve to be whisked off to any paradise. Oddly enough, only one of them is Christian (Mother Teresa), and she's already been carried off. If God thinks segregation is the way to go, he must have never been forced to sit in the back of the bus.
As a wise bumper stick once told me: "If the Rapture comes...can I have your car?"
Katse
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09-05-2004 23:08
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Buffy
Boardie
0 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 25-07-2001
Posts: 382
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Sigh....
And as popular culture tells us, Bibles are evil.
Hard to be a Christian in today's society. I am blamed for everything.
Not to spark a big debate here, but I would like to gently point out that I have learned intolerance and hate and blanket condemnation of a belief system and culture is not a Christian value, any more than it is a Muslem, Hindu, Wiccan, Atheist, or Agnostic value. Intolerance and Hate stems from human failings and fears, not religion itself, whatever flavor it is. "When Religion Becomes A Social Club" tsk. (or would that be "Organized Religion: The Conglomeration of Faiths"?)
I am a Christian who happily lives in the Bible Belt. I wouldn't think of condemning anyone on the basis of my religion. It is hurtful, and useless and goes against everything I have learned. And no, I really don't think i'm in the minority of Christians.
Of course, it sounds like Kat was criticizing western society as a whole for praising intolarance, with the flavor of the week being intolerant christianity.... If that is the intended message instead, I'd say, search deeper. Pop culture labels that the media slaps at us are nothing but depressing you know? Hard to find good in sensational headlines...and half hour psychumentaries.
Actually, I didn't care for the Left Behind series either. I just didn't think it was very well written and was entirly too full of propaganda. And truthfully, as someone who works in a library in the heart of the Bible Belt, I can't say that the Left Behind series is any more popular here than anywhere else. It appeals to a segement of people, just like any other book might appeal to any segment. Short version: If you are looking for unbiased, broad, wellwritten storytelling, Left Behind is not the series for you. If you are searching for passionate glorification of Christianity, to the exclusion of all else, you might just like it.
__________________
"Spider sense....tingling."
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10-05-2004 02:28
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