Heart of the Dragon

I've mentioned before that one of my listeners suggested I read some paranormal romances. So this week, after reading Allan Steele's Galaxy Blues, I picked up Gena Showalter's Heart of the Dragon.

It's a bit of rollercoaster ride switching from sci fi to paranormal romance, but also a bit enlightening. Steel introduces his main characters by their actions. Gena introduces hers by their emotions. Steel describes his character's escape from a space ship with detailed descriptions of the character's actions supported by his thoughts about those actions. Showalter's characters spend the first few chapters fighting unexpected sexual attraction and arousal. Their passion and their reactions to that passion are the main focus of her writing.

As a man, of course, I find it more enjoyable to read about space ships and alien encounters. But I did learn something very interesting from reading Heart of the Dragon. Showalter's characters experience intense sexual desire beyond their understanding or their control; as if their bodies had already decided to mate, and it just took a while for their minds to catch up. The overwhelming intensity of their passion made them feel more alive than anything else in their lives. The whole story reminds me of forced arousal sexual fantasies.

In these fantasies, a lover/seducer arouses your body beyond your control. No matter how hard you try to fight it, your body becomes driven by mind-numbing arousal, and all you can do is lay back and surrender until your body gets what it needs. There are at least two differences: 1) in sexual fantasies one person is deliberately trying to arouse the other, where Showalter has both characters fighting a mutual desire, and 2) in a sexual fantasy, it usually only takes a few pages for the seduced to be overcome, and Showalter's characters require most of a novel. But the primary plot is still about fighting your own body's desire.

When I wrote Demon Seed, I wrote it as a forced arousal fantasy. And I had thought (foolish man that I am) that this genre was completely separate/different than romance stories. But now I understand why my listener said the recording would appeal to readers of romance novels. Although the storytelling styles are somewhat different, the genres do overlap.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

I don't normally read paranormal romances, but after a conversation with one of my customers, I thought I should look into it. On her recommendation, I started reading Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1). And I have to say, I was a bit surprised. This is not what I expected from a romance novel.

None of that sappy pining away for the perfect lover. No mushy courting or poetry. Ward's hero makes women feel raw animal lust beyond their control. He turns two women's brains to instant mush just by his presence. In fact, the women's responses in at least two scenes very closely resemble many scenes in the mind control porn at The Mind Control Story Archive.

Naturally, Ward's hero is better developed and much more interesting than any character found in amateur porn. And the provoked lust is just a small component of her stories as a opposed to the focus of mind control porn. But now I understand why my customer said that my hypnotic audio stories would appeal to the same audience as Dark Lover. We both 1) aim to develop sympathetic and identifiable characters, and 2) aim to provoke intense erotic feelings in our characters and our audience.

The backstory for Wrath, the male lead, was also very interesting. This is a strong, but flawed character who doesn't understand his own worth. He is the hereditary king of the vampires, but he has refused to accept the throne because he blames himself for his parents death. After 300 years of living alone, he is surprised to find a woman that can make him feel any emotion beyond self loathing. And it is through the desire to be worthy of that woman that he finally starts to accept that he might be worthy of more himself.

I found the villains of the story to be superficial and a bit forced, but they played a crucial role in Wrath's decision to become more than he previously was.

Overall, Dark Lover is a fairly good book. Enjoyable even for those of us who'd rather read sci fi than romance.

Hegel Texts And Commentary: Theology

Hegel Texts And Commentary: Theology

Bad typography and bad layout make this book nearly impossible to read. I've read about a dozen introductions to various philosophers, and this was absolutely the worst one. The book is so poorly laid out, that you can't even tell where some paragraphs begin and end. The translation is on the left pages, the commentary on the right pages. But there's no change in typography between the pages, so the section headings and text seem to jump incoherently.

If you want to learn about Hegel philosophy, I suggest finding another source.

Shadows in the Starlight by Elaine Cunningham

Shadows in the Starlight (Changeling)
I picked this book up at the library. Didn't know that it was a sequel to another book which I hadn't read. In fact, I didn't figure that out until I was halfway through the book.

The prologue was great. Good introduction to the characters. But then it fell apart. Gwen is handling 3 separate and unrelated cases and her attention is too divided to let the reader develop any interest in any of her clients. Seemed like most of the book was discussions about things that happened 'off stage'. I never did catch the reason the Medical Examiner was killed, and I was very annoyed at the heroine revealed the solution to the missing woman's case. (not enough details given for the reader to figure it out with her).

Unless you a fan of Cunningham's other books in this series, don't waste your time.

Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick

I originally wrote this in Jan 2004, but the local newspapers refused to publish it.

I recently read Philip K. Dick’s novel, Radio Free Albemuth. In this book, Dick speculated what might happen if the people accidentally elected a paranoid fascist dictator as the President of the United States. Dick died in 1982, and his estate published the book posthumously in 1985. But it’s amazing how closely his vision resembled the events of 2002-2003.

Dick’s villain, Ferris F. Freemont, traveled the country speaking of threats from subversive elements out to destroy the United States. Like Hitler in the 1930s, he used patriotism and fear to rally the people behind his cause. He created the Friends of the American People (FAP). A Nazi-like organization that got people spying on each other in order to ensure their loyalty to the President.

Dick’s three protagonists were a novelist, a singer and a record company executive. Since recording artists often have the ability to inspire people’s passions and rally them to a cause, FAP wanted to prevent the singer from recording any music that might criticize the President. They blackmailed the writer into spying on the record executive, and the record executive into spying on the singer.

As I read Dick’s novel in March 2003, I couldn’t help noticing the similarity to the Dixie Chicks’ controversy. President Bush was traveling the country in 2002 spreading fear about Al Qeada’s and Iraq’s potential for attacking American citizens. Bush said it was essential that we start a war with Iraq. And when a recording artist, Natalie Manes of the Dixie Chicks, criticized Bush’s position, the country jumped on her.

Political commentators and several major news organizations blasted her. "Support your President," they insisted. "Doesn’t he deserve your support?" they asked rhetorically. Political commentators harassed her for weeks. Bush’s supporters sent threatening letters, staged protests, and burned her CDs. They pressured her into backing down and apologizing for exercising her right to free speech.

Although Natalie Manes backed down, many other people stood their ground. Janeane Garofalo, Martin Sheen, Mike Farrell, Tim Robbins and nearly 100 other celebrities banded together and continued speaking out against the U.S. starting a war with Iraq. These people weren’t just fighting for peace, they were fighting for their Freedom of Speech.

The founders of the United States declared that freedom of speech was a basic and inalienable right. Opinions expressed at the time reflected a belief that without the freedom of speech, there could be no true liberty. If the ability to pursue liberty is a measure of human welfare, then our welfare has been under a malicious attack by those claiming to cherish it.

Like Dick’s fictional FAP, the mainstream news media can sometimes act like an oppressive watchdog organization, spewing propaganda under the guise of patriotism and unbiased reports; and doing everything possible to discredit or silence other voices. Dick’s novel shows clearly how losing the freedom of speech can create fear and mistrust among people, and how people ruled by these emotions become afraid to stand up for their rights, or the rights of others. They become afraid to openly question even the most obviously false rhetoric and propaganda.

We must never let these things happen to us.

Natalie Manes showed us that we need to stand up for our Freedom of Speech or it can be taken from us; and with it, our liberty. Tim Robbins and other celebrities show us that we can still stand up and fight for our Freedom of Speech and our liberty. But celebrities cannot do the job for us. We must all maintain the ‘eternal vigilance’ necessary to become aware of these attacks on our freedoms, our liberty and our welfare.

The United States remains a rhetorical battlefield in which we must continually fight for the right to create a better society. We are all soldiers in this fight. Together we all must stand up for our beliefs and continuously fight to protect our Freedom of Speech. When Americans fight to protect the Freedom of Speech, we contribute the most to general human welfare.

 Radio Free Albemuth is an inspired social commentary that everyone should read.