The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith

The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith

It was her last chance:

Amber Bierce had nothing left except her sister and two tickets on Earth’s first colony-ship. She entered her Sleeper with a five-year contract and the promise of a better life, but awakened in wreckage on an unknown world. For the survivors, there is no rescue, no way home and no hope until they are found by Meoraq—a holy warrior more deadly than any hungering beast on this hostile new world…but whose eyes show a different sort of hunger when he looks at her.

It was his last year of freedom:

Uyane Meoraq is a Sword of Sheul, God’s own instrument of judgment, victor of hundreds of trials, with a conqueror’s rights over all men. Or at least he was until his father’s death. Now, without divine intervention, he will be forced to assume stewardship over House Uyane and lose the life he has always known. At the legendary temple of Xi’Matezh, Meoraq hopes to find the deliverance he seeks, but the humans he encounters on his pilgrimage may prove too great a test even for him…especially the one called Amber, behind whose monstrous appearance burns a woman’s heart unlike any he has ever known.

MY REVIEW 

“If you cannot have an easy journey, make an interesting story” This book is epic. An ODYSSEY that should not be taken lighthearted. I understand that the book may scare people off because of its length, but I believe it is important to treat it as 8 separate books as opposed to one book. The book has clearly eight distinct parts in which different events take place and you have a different degree of knowledge about the characters and their world. The emotions change. The number of characters and the familiarity between them vary. The landscaping changes too. Each part could be treated as a different book with a cliffhanger in the end. Something happens always in the end that gives a head start to the next part. Thus I would like to break down my thoughts towards this book in eight parts as well: BOOK 1 - AMBER: The start of the book is absolutely awesome. Earth has changed and not in a good way. Drugs and corruption are present. But still the human race is exploring the outer space and starting colonies in other planets. From the beginning it is clear that Amber is a survivor. Amber tries to avoid her dead mother fate and become a whore in order to survive and not die of hunger and without shelter. Amber and her sister decide to take part to the mission to colonize a distant planet called Plymouth. Her little sister is basically dragged to this adventure by Amber. I need to mention here that Amber is a big girl and her weight is a problem. She even takes drugs to reduce her weight and become fit for the mission. She is that determine to escape Earth. Pioneers’ ship will eventually depart from Earth and crash on an unknown planet. The description of the crash and burn was one of the best I have read in Science Fiction. As a result only a few people survive. Where are they? Who lives in this planet? Houston, we've had a problem here … BOOK 2 - MEORAQ: The action with the humans stops there and we meet Meoraq who is like the top dog (or should I say top lizard of this planet). Uyane Meoraq: A holly man, a warrior, a philosopher, a ruler, a leader, a judge. A sheulek. We see the world through his eyes. This is a new savage world. Cold and inhospitable. They solve their differences in the Arena. Females are the lowest of the low. Every father is proud if Meoraq takes the virginity of his worthless otherwise daughter. There is no description of the creatures/anthropoids, but you may notice that they are talking about their snoots instead of their noses. And about their scales. Thank God no talking about tails. And all I can think is “huh”? What? And I got even more worried for the poor ex inhabitants of the planet Earth. I was scared of the moment whey will be discovered – especially women (bahaha...evil laughter). Meoraq has seen the fires of the huge explosion and soon he will start his long journey to discover what God has sent him (Have I mentioned that he is an extremely religious male?) All these happen in like the first 100 something pages of the 1000 pages. BOOK 3 – LOST AND FOUND: Meoraq discovers the most plainly ugly beings he has ever seen in his life. So the miscommunication starts. He thinks they are not intelligent beings. They think he is some kind of a stupid animal. Only Amber tries to communicate, although Meoraq is not responding. Believe me she tries really hard in a “Me Jane, You Tarzan” short of way. He will stay with them. He will not kill them and they will start a journey together to the end of the world to Xi’Matezh because God told him to do it (Have I mentioned that he is an extremely religious male?). The survivors will be his pets. He will feed them, find them water and shelter. Like sheep and he is the shepherd. This is the part where you really start hating the rest of the survivors and mainly because all of them hate Amber (including her sister). The worst of them is Scott who named himself commander and all of them follow him. The humans treat her badly, they starve her to death, they tell fat jokes to her. And you will like Amber. For sure! She is clever and tough, she is a problem solver, she is not nagging, she is a natural leader but she doesn’t want to lead. Amber will try so hard to understand Meoraq, although he is the ugliest creature she has ever seen. There is this super, incredible, magnificent scene where Meoraq defends Amber and suddenly they all know that Meoraq can speak and understand English and that Amber is HIS. Oh and when Meoraq and Amber actually FINALLY start talking and exchange insults, points of view, experiences, emotions, they are just pure joy. Meoraq: “God see us both and we can both show Him improvement.” Amber: “I’m still an atheist!” BOOK 4 – PIONEERS: This is the book where Meoraq prays a lot and takes six breathes (the magic number) constantly trying to calm down. Humans drive him crazy, but he is not supposed to kill them. This is the book also that we discovered that the ancients of this planet were really advanced in technology until God contemned them and they abandoned their advanced cities and returned to the simple ways. Thus, Meoraq despises anything of technological value. The relationship between Meoraq and Amber is getting also more serious. Meoraq starts having naughty dreams. But they are tiptoeing around each other. Amber:”Will you miss us, when we are gone?”, “Aren’t you going to ask if I’m going to miss you?” Meoraq : “I don’t know what to do with you”, “I don’t think I can teach you. You upset me.” BOOK 5 – SCOTT AND THE SHIP: Scott is the man who named himself commander and all gave him the responsibility because simply they didn’t want it. This is the book in which Scott believes that he will find a spaceship at the end of the world and fly away. This is also the book where the humans have a look in an ancient city, Meoraq keeps praying for patience (Have I mentioned that he is an extremely religious male?), a huge storm almost kills them. And Amber almost dies twice. Meoraq looks for reasons to sit with her, to speak with her, to fight with her. The end of the book will find Amber and Meoraq alone, abandon by the rest of the humans. This is truly the best thing that could happen to Amber and Meoraq (and me). BOOK 6 – GANN: This is the book where Meoraq and Amber will really fall in love with each other. Soul deep. A communication of souls. Not because of body attraction. Not because she has sunny blond hear or because he has nice abs, but truly because they admire each other. An “I don’t understand your culture and the things I understand I hate them and I think you are butt ugly but I still want you beside me” type of love and connection. They will have the type of love that they could not understand, the one they don’t know where it is going. They don’t even know if they are sexually comparable, but they still have embarrassing dreams about each other. The tension is building up for them. He calls her softskin, she calls him lizardman. And then Meoraq prays and he has a vision (Have I mentioned that he is an extremely religious male?). And they FINALLY have sex. My favorite book :) BOOK 7 – ZHUQA: This is the book where Meoraq loses Amber and prays, Amber discovers more lizardmen and she becomes a slave and she makes friends, Meoraq turns berserker and Amber kills. This is a very hard book to read. It has many rape scenes described in graphic details and lots of violence. Blood and killings. Your heart may bleed, but as Meoraq keeps saying “Shit happens”. It is also time for Amber to reunite with whoever is left from the humans’ team. Meoraq is not happy (and neither am I). I really cannot understand why from the whole ship only these awful people survive. BOOK 8 – Xi’MATEZH: This is the book where Meoraq gets exceedingly disappointed with his God – although he is a very religious male (Have I mentioned that?). Favorite quotes from Book 8: a) Amber: “Why did you marry me?” Meoraq: “God gave you to me” Amber: “Did you keep the receipt?” b) Amber: “He doesn’t love me like He loves you, Meoraq” Meoraq: “If He loves me, He will never let you die.” c) Meoraq: “I love your ugly face.”, “I love your ugly fur”, “I love your ugly teats”, “And I love your beautiful shoulders.” d) Meoraq: “You saved my life” Amber: “Feels awful, doesn’t it?” (and this is my absolutely favorite dialogue!) Okay, you need to invest lots of time in this book, but It’s worth it. Totally. So my advice is that you need to take your time, have long breaks, and even read other books in your breaks. And then go back and start from where you left it. I can assure you that you will not have forgotten any details. Gann will be there waiting for you to be brave enough and continue reading about Amber’s adventure in the lizards’ land and the eventually green sky.

The Scholomance by R. Lee Smith

The Scholomance by R. Lee Smith 

For centuries, there has been a legend of a hidden school where magic is taught by the demons who dwell there to anyone who seeks them out, but they ask a terrible price: Anyone who reaches the door of the Scholomance may enter, but the Devil takes every tenth student who tries to leave.

A hidden school. Demonic masters. An inescapable fate for one out of every ten graduates. But Connie would do anything to have the magic her best friend was born with.

And Mara would do anything to get Connie back.

MY REVIEW 

You may call me naïve, but I thought that this would be a magical book about a magic school that resembles Hogwards but for grown up readers. A dark, doomed, not innocent school near Bucharest, located inside a mountain, with demons as teachers, with talented cruel adults as students.
Thus, I was really excited before I started this story.
But not for long.

I suppose my main issue (which I suppose it was an issue for the most people who read this book) is the main female character aka Mara: A young really gifted with mental power girl who is looking for her best friend, Connie. Connie wanted to become powerful, so she started attending this magic school and she disappeared from Mara's life until she sends a letter crying for help. So, Mara runs to find her friend and she ends up as prisoner/student in the school of magic.

Mara. I have read five books by R.Lee Smith, this is by far the most annoying main female character. She tries to pose as a kick ass, powerful, strong-minded heroine. She manages to look like a pathetic, cold-hearted bitch who is angry with everything and everyone and for no particular reason.
I did not like getting lost inside her head and her Panic Room. I did not like listening to her thoughts and her reasoning.

Kazuul. The main male character is weak - although he tries to be (unconvincingly) a strong demon. He does not have the substance and the personality of Kane, Meoraq, Azrael, Sanford.

The secondary characters are actually more interesting:
-The follower and wannabe best friend Devlin (the 'humorous' parts of the book).
-The professor and mentor Horuseps (the 'explanatory' parts of the book)

Moreover, the pace of the book is really slow and the way the demons talk does not help. Lots of "thou" and "thee" and "thy". I wanted to bang my head on the wall every time a demon was talking.

The mystery about the disappearance of the best friend which covers the majority of the book, after a while is not really important. Every time Mara was asking 'where is my best friend, I know she is alive', I was thinking 'yeah, yeah whatever...'

The most interesting parts of the book are actually the description of the school, the inside mountain, the caverns,the cells where the students are sleeping, the Great Library, the theatres, the labyrinth, the lyceum, the chambers, the dining hall.

Overall a really weak book. Unimportant characters. Uninteresting story. I was expecting something that would push my morality and ethical boundaries as it usually happens with Smith's books. Instead I was just bored.

The answers in the end of the book about what happened to Connie and who really Mara is, they did not satisfy me and they did not convince me. I felt that everything was left unfinished. 

Land of the Beautiful Dead by R. Lee Smith

Land of the Beautiful Dead by R. Lee Smith

SUMMARY 

SHE WOULD DARE ANYTHING TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM HIS RULE.

EVEN HIS BED.

He ascended from the darkness years ago—Azrael the Eternal, Azrael the Undying, Azrael Who Is Death—bringing with him the black rains, the fires, the souring of the sky, and the Eaters. Now he rules in the walled city of Haven with his favored Children and his dead court, while all that is left of the living struggles to survive in the ruins of a world that used to be their own. But even as extinction looms, humanity will never surrender to their monstrous conqueror.

For Lan, this brutal life has been the only one she’s ever known, but she still believes it can change. If the war can never truly end until the Eaters are ended, she will go to Haven, to Azrael himself, and demand he end them. To her surprise, she does not immediately die the hero’s death she expected. Instead, Azrael offers her a chance to convince him, and all she has to do is submit herself to the chill embrace of the lord of the Land of the Beautiful Dead. 

MY REVIEW 

I believe in God, but really I am not a very religious person. When I hear the word “Apocalypse”, I can only think that it means resurrection of the dead and final judgment for everyone who is already dead and everyone who is still alive.
If you are a nice, good at heart person I suppose Apocalypse is not a bad thing. You will be expecting to receive the final, best, perfect gift of the God himself.

Hmm, have you noticed the paintings, the religious painting, the comics, the books, the films about this subject? Apocalypse is dark, scary, full of demons, persons with open wounds and dead with desperate faces.
Nobody thinks of it as the nicest thing that can happen to him, either because he/she is certain that deep down they are not nice persons or because nobody wants to die.

There is a kind of Apocalypse going on in this book. Maybe partly Apocalypse, because there is not God present – at least as we have imagined him. I honestly tried to distance myself from anything deep and I tried to see the book as pure entertainment, but I failed.

There are so many questions in the book about
what is the point of life when it is finite and not very pleasant
what is the point of death when you are not remembered
what is the point of immortality if everyday that passes is another day of same old same old
what is the point of being a God and give life and take it back whenever suits you

The conclusion is that nothing really matters if you do not evolve, grow up, learn, change and have strong feelings (hate and love). No matter if you dead, alive, immortal or God.

The book is not a religious text. It is a plain and simple love story. Simple in its feelings. There is nothing simple in the way it is developed. Love and hate are after all the most basic feelings and the feelings that I am sure they existed in the Universe even before humans were created.

So there is a female and a male in the story.

No one knows who Azrael is or even what. Is he a Demon? A sorcerer, Satan, alien, or mutated man? He is definitely NOT THE GOD. Because he may have made all the dead people, alive again but now they are called Eaters and they can never die until they are burned. Nobody dies anymore. Everyone transforms into Eaters and they attack anything living until they kill it and he/she becomes one of them. This is the scenario of the best zombie books/films.
Azrael is not alone, besides the brainless Eaters, he has his companion. He has his children and thousands of dead that he made them to rise in order to serve him and his children. His city is Haven, the land of the beautiful dead. Beautiful dead, because he can change the features of the dead people who surround him and they are all beautiful. Unlikely Azrael who is a walking nightmare. He cannot heal himself from attacks, although he cannot die. So, he is full of open wounds, scars and a face that he needs to hide behind masks in order not to make everyone run away screaming.
He has his own morals: a) He does not rape, he makes deals with his mistresses. A lot of women want to be with him mostly for protection, for the good life or simply for food. And they loath his face and his touch; b) He kills children, but he does not abuse children; c) He punishes only when his safety and the safety of his people are compromised. His punishment is 1000 times crueler than the danger his enemies posses; d) He always keeps his word.
And he is bored.

Everyone in Norwood knows plain and simple Lan. She is an outsider in her village, a peach farmer, not really pretty, not really clever. She has recently lost her mother who transformed into an Eater and they had to burn her to keep her dead. She truly is an extraordinary girl who does not realize her value. So, one day she decides to go to Haven and talk to Azrael and beg, ask, demand one thing:
END THE EATERS
Obviously Azrael will laugh at her, but he likes her spirit.
And she will become his courtesan very soon.

If I could break down this very lengthy book, I would more or less identify four distinct parts:
1. Getting to know each other
2. Compromises
3. True love and sacrifices
4. Epilogue

Getting to know each other: When Azrael and Lan first meet, I thought of the movie Labyrinth, the one with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. There is a scene in the movie in which there is a ball and Bowie is wearing a grotesque mask dancing around with beautiful people who are all wearing strange masks and you can hear the song “As The World Falls Down":
There's such a sad love deep in your eyes.
A kind of pale jewel open and closed within your eyes.
I'll place the sky within your eyes.
Well after I thought about this movie, this image stuck in my head. I was always picturing Azrael as Bowie and the song was keep playing in my head.
Compromises:I am sure you know/watched the movies “My fair lady” and “Pretty woman”. Imagine plain, uneducated Lan trying to become a lady, because Azrael does not want rough, village women as mistresses. She will have tutors, dresses, hats. She will learn how to read, write, behave, talk, eat. Until one day she will look at herself and she will not recognize herself.

“For now, we are agreed your home is here. And you do not wish to leave it. You’ve grown accustomed to my bed.”
“So, what? You’re just going to keep me in it the rest of my life?”
“How curious. You say that like I would then have to stop.”

And later Azrael and Lan will have their first major fight, where Lan almost dies.

“This is death and you do fear it, don’t you? You fear it and you are right to fear it, for where it ends, I begin!”

True love and sacrifices:Lan learns

“You traded a day of your life for a little food, a few hours’ sleep, and the view from that window. You will never have that day back. You have no guarantee you will ever have another. You would have returned to him if he’d sent for you, but he didn’t, so you did nothing and now that day is over. That day is gone. So. Was it worth it?”

Lan will run after Azrael. Lan will fight for Azrael with his other mistresses. Lan will beg for him, not the Eaters.

“Because if I can’t be your only dolly, I have to be the one you want most.”

Azrael will run after Lan.

“We’re oil and water, me and you. You can shake us and shake us, but we’ll never mix.”
“Oil and water?” he echoed with a tired sort of humor. “No. We’re flint and steel.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh yes. And when we strike together, there are sparks.”

Azrael will change the world for Lan.

Epilogue: Lan will give hope back to Azrael. Azrael decides that he cannot live without her, even if she hates him one day.

“Forgive me. I have been alone too long to be noble now.”

I feel that I am not the same person every time I finish one of R.Lee Smith's books. I cannot stop writing lengthy reviews about her books.
And now I have book hangover… Damn!

Cottonwood by R. Lee Smith

Cottonwood by R. Lee Smith
SUMMARY 

They never meant to come to Earth. They were never allowed to leave...

Welcome to Cottonwood.

MY REVIEW 

"Please, I just want to go home!"

The bug appearance is the least sympathetic the aliens could ever have. Think of the “starship troopers”, the most famous military science fiction action films. There, “The Bugs” are an extraterrestrial race that wants to kill the brave soldiers, to eat their brains and to conquer Earth.
Nobody likes cockroaches and insect-like creatures. They are the nightmares for many people including me.

So the author challenged her readers. Could she make these weird looking aliens lovable, sympathetic, sensitive, fighters who are trying to survive in a hostile environment?

Her aliens are tall (7 feet approximately), humanoids, their outer shell is hard and they look like bugs. They can even reproduce with egg farms.

20 years ago their spaceship crashed on Earth and because they were ugly for the human standards, everybody thought that they were hostile or stupid or both.

It was the perfect opportunity for some evil men to steal their technology and take advantage of them.

So they put them in camps all over the worlds that looked like favelas in Brazil and smelled like rubbish dumps in India. Because the aliens were like cockroaches and cockroaches must (NEED TO) be surrounded by garbage.

I suppose the new established refugee camps in Europe will be a close approximation very soon, if people keep being packed there continuously.

Author wins her bet. The aliens won’t just be tolerable. They will be likable.

The main male alien character Sanford (or Nk’os’a’knko really) is a hero, a military man, an inventor who has been waiting 20 years until he is ready to escape and bring help. He is also an affectionate father and a true gentleman.

The little alien boy, Sanford’s son, named T’aki is adorable, cute and clever. He has never seen his planet. His home, his whole world is Cottonwood. A whole generation of young aliens actually has been born, grown up, learn to live in garbage and they have never seen their true home. Children of a lesser God.

The main female human character, Sarah, might look a bit naïve, but she is destined to do great things. She will be the catalyst in order things to be changed.

The two main characters’ relationship will be sweet and kind. They will learn to love each other and please each other. And they will naturally fall in love – although Sarah will never see it coming.

The secondary alien characters will be mostly appealing: John Byrnes, Hancock, Levin, Good Samaritan, Che Baccus etc.
(Their names are basically nasty little jokes, given by the humans who could not pronounce the aliens’ true names. Another way to degrade the poor aliens)

The rest of the humans will be unfortunately bad or aloof or clueless.
But some (just a few) humans will be truly interested in the aliens’ well being and misery. Some of their stories are incredible and may bring you a few tears to your eyes.

Concluding I just need to add that maybe this book appears to be Sci-Fi, but it is deeply a political statement with hidden ethical messages.

Heat by R. Lee Smith

Heat by R. Lee Smith
SUMMARY 

Earth. A world quarantined since its discovery by the Far-Reachers of Jota's history. And where the fortunes of slavers and chemists have been made ever since.

It was to Earth that Kanetus E'Var, the son of Jota's most ruthless slaver, escaped to make Vahst, a powerful drug manufactured from the human brain. And it was to Earth that Tagen Pahnee, Fourth-ranking officer of the Jotan Off-World Security Fleet, was sent to bring the criminal back to justice. Neither of them could have anticipated that at that moment, E'Var's hunting grounds were experiencing the worst heat wave in years, triggering the Jotan breeding cycle in both males.

Home is not an option for either of them. Both are determined to find a way to work on this hostile planet, surrounded by humans, surrounded by dangers, surrounded by Heat.

MY REVIEW 

I liked the bad guy. I would have never wanted to meet him in person of course, but he is the most interesting out of the two main male/alien characters.
Because Kanetus E'Va aka Kane is a mean sonofthebitch. Let’s count his attributes:
• Brilliant mind
• He prefers to use his talons and his claws to kill
• He carries his Chemist bag and he is an awesome Chemist
• He likes to f@ck
• Drug dealer
• Son of the most notorious slaver and a slaver himself
• Sadist. A predator who plays with his food.

The other male character, Tagen Pahnee aka Tagen is your typical cop who runs after Kane in order to arrest him. Let’s count his attributes:
• Not such a brilliant mind. He is searching Kane on foot without realizing the magnitude of planet Earth, without knowing that there are cars he could use.
• He knows how to shoot
• He carries horrid weapons
• He likes to watch TV
• Man of law
• Man of honor and duty who goes by the book
• Good in bed

This book consists of two stories that run in parallel, but the result is the same for both. Two alien men will fall in love with two earth women.

Kane has just lost his drug dealer/slaver (but still beloved) father, his ship and his money and he is about to be transferred to the prison where he will spend the rest of his life. He will escape and he will cross the gate in order to get to Earth. Earth is a very friendly planet full of potential slaves. It is also good for hunting. Humans’ brains can be used to develop a Vahst, a powerful drug. If he kills enough people and get their juice, he may be able to buy a new ship and continue his father heritage.

Tagen has no clue the revolution that Earth has had the last few hundred years. All the people from Earth that he has met are previous slaves who have been saved and they live isolated close to his planet, Jotan. Not very friendly neighbors, not very advanced and not very cooperative. They usually die when they become 20 something after all this suffering at the slavers’ hands. So, when he follows Kane through the gate and lands on the Earth, he will be surprised. Humans from Earth are very highly developed. They have cars, computers and TV. They have visited space. According to him, in about 50 years they may even discover Jotan.

Kane knows his way around; he can speak the language since he has visited the planet many times mainly for business and not pleasure. Tagen knows absolutely nothing.

The extra parameter that will make our favorite aliens’ life a living hell is the HEAT. They will land on Earth in the middle of the summer. As a consequence, Jotan breeding cycle will be initiated in both males. And they will have to find females to seize the fire inside.

Kane will try several females (not very willing I have to say), but then he will choose Raven as a more permanent solution. His Raven after a while.
“You’ll do as I say, Raven. You have no idea the things I can do to you.”

Tagen will use Daria, because she is the first female he met and she is kind to him and understandable.
“You burn in my blood, Daria Cleavon. I will be ashes when I return. I will never be able to feel again.”

So, pick your favorite alien. Most probably, both will kill you. Kane because he enjoys killing, Tagen because he will have one more of his oops/what-have-I-done/sorry-my-mistake moments.

Every time I open a book by R. Lee Smith, I know that I am in for a few surprises. I know her fascinating worlds will blow my mind and I know I will think differently when I finish the book. The author does not hesitate to use raw violence and graphic rape scenes while the ethical boundaries are not most of the times clear. 

Have a great summer my beautiful people! July (what is left of it) is the month of R. Lee Smith!

JULY 2020 - Lefkada GREECE

AND R.Lee Smith

Perfect summer reading if you love epic space stories and weird aliens...