Yorum: Lover at Last

Böyle uzun seriler genelde bayar insanı; bir yerden sonra devamını merak etmez olursunuz. J.R. Ward’un Blackdagger Brotherhood serisi, hep söylerim, arada baysa da merak uyandıran, bir sonraki kitapta “buyrun size heyecan!” diyen bir seri… Beni bu vampirlerle tanıştıran Kathy’ciğimin anlattıklarından ve internette gördüklerimden anladığım kadarıyla da hayranları bu durumu kabullenmiş durumda ve her seferinde heyecanla bir sonraki kitabı bekliyorlar.

Lover Reborn - J.R. Ward

Lover Reborn is the 10th book in J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Now, I must say that I wasn't too crazy about the previous one, Lover Unleashed. Mainly because a brand new character kind of dropped into the story, and the rest of the characters weren't as involved in the story as they usually are. Lover Reborn, in the other hand, is about a character we've known from the beginning, and he's also an important soldier of the Brotherhood. 

Even though Lover Unleashed had made me go 'ehhhhhh,' my faith in Ward's story telling was restored in Ward. I believe the lovers of the series are going to enjoy this one.

Bu seri hiç bitmesin!

J. R. Ward'un Black Dagger Broterhood serisi kitaplarının 10'uncusu Lover Reborn. Bir önceki kitap, Lover Unleashed, pek hoşuma gitmemişti açıkçası. Yepyeni bir karakter pat diye hikayeye girmişti çünkü. Lover Reborn'da ise serinin en başından beri tanıdığımız, Black Dagger Brotherhood'da önemli biri olan bir savaşçının kitabı. Bir önceki kitabın 'mehhhhhh' olmasını affettim valla çünkü Ward döktürmüş yine.

Seriyi sevenler bunu da severek okuyacaklar.

Of Amazon!

Kindle'ımla büyük aşk yaşıyor olsak da yeni kitaplara gelince bozuşuyoruz. Black Dagger Brotherhood'un 10'uncu kitabo Lover Reborn mesela. Çıktı çıkmasına ama Simay Amazon Kindle Store'dan alışveriş yapabiliyor mu? Hayır. 

Korsanlık yapayım dedim, onu da beceremedim. Bütün indirdiklerim bozuk çıktı. Hayat çok zor, çok!

Kitap Yorumu: J.R. Ward'un Türkçe'ye bir türlü çevrilmeyen kitaplarından...

Bunun da Türkçesi yok maalesef arkadaşlar. Bunları niye çevirmiyorlar anlamıyorum. Koca koca insanlar bile (bakınız ben) çoluk çocuk için yazılan vampir hikayelerini okuyor, bunları niye okumasınlar? İşin içine seks meks giriyor, olaylar azcık abarıyor diye olabilir gerçi ama bana mı düşmüş nedenini bulmak?

Bu kitap, J.R. Ward'un Black Dagger Brotherhood serisinin bir nevi perde arkası. Ward ablamız kitapları nasıl yazdığını, nasıl sattığını, vampir aşklarımızın kafasında neler yaptığını anlatmış gayet güzel. Kitaba başladığımda ne beklediğimi de pek bilmiyordum açıkçası. Bu kitapları başıma saran (iyi ki sarmış gerçi!) arkadaşım Kathy kitaplarda sözü geçen eski dili falan öğreneceğimi söylemişti. Başka birşeyler de söylemiştir kesin ama benim aklımda bir tek o kalmış. O yüzden çok heyecanlandım tabii ama bilmiyordum ki koskoca kitabın tek bir sayfası için heyecan yapmış olduğumu...

Öncelikle Ward'un yazı sürecini okumak şahaneydi benim açımdan. Yazarlar genellikle 'geliyor, yazıyorum' tarzı bir havayla anlatırlar bu süreci. Tamam, gelmeden yazılmaz ama 'hiç mi zorlanmıyorsun be adam!' diye bir omuzlarından tutup sallayası geliyor insanın. Ward da geliyor yazıyorum diyor ama aynı zamanda zorluk çektiği karakterleri, bölüm ve olay sıralamalarında çektiği zorlukları da ayrıntılı bir şekilde anlatıyor. Ve benim için en önemli olan tarafı, zorluk çektiği zamanlar olduğunu idare ediyor. Resmen kadına daha çok saygı duydum ve daha bir sevdim kendisini.

Beni en heyecanlandıran bölümlerden birisi bu yazım süreci olsa da kitap aslında Bella, Zsadist ve Bella'nın yayımlanmamış bir hikayesiyle başlıyor. Bu hikaye hem çok şirin, hem de çok depresifti. Zsadist'in kitabı üçüncü kitap ve o kitabı cidden içiniz acıya acıya okuyorsunuz. Adamın başından neler neler geçmiş, psikopat ve insanlardan kopuk olması kadar normal birşey yok yani. O nedenle yeni doğmuş bebeğiyle ilk başlarda ilişki kuramaması ancak sonrasında duruma alışmasını izlemek bayağı ilginçti.

Her bölüme teker teker yorum yapmayacağım çünkü sabaha kadar kalırız burada. O nedenle diğer favori bölümlerimden bahsedeyim... Bir Kicks and Giggles bir de BDB forumlarından alınan kısımlar şahaneydi. Özellikle brother'ların forumlara girip de saçma sapan muhabbetlere başlamalarını okurken kendi kendime güldüm durdum. Artık hergün aynı otobüse denk geldiğim insanlar kesin deli sanıyor beni ama değer valla. Kitabını okuduğumdan beri (merak ediyorsanız ikinci kitap) Rhage'e aşıktım zaten ve bu board olayında da o muzur karakteri direk ortalığa dökülüyor. Özellikle V'yle didiştiği kısımları okurken katıla katıla güldüm manyaklar gibi. İyi de geldi, ne yalan söyleyeyim.

Bu kamera arkası tarzı kitap Phury'ninli olan altıncı kitabın peşinden yayımlanmış. Ben ta sekizinci kitabı da bitirdikten sonra okudum. Doğrusunu isterseniz bir şey farkettiğini pek sanmıyorum. Tek söyleyebileceğim kitap şu an çıkmış olsaydı Rehv ve John Matthew hakkında da bir kaç birşey bulunurdu içinde, iyi olurdu. Artık bir altı kitap daha sonra yazsın bir tane daha! Bu seriyi mutlaka bulun, alın, okuyun.

Book Review: Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

Lover Mine by J.R. Ward
(Black Dagger Brotherhood Series #8)

In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. Long divided as a terrifying battleground for the vampires and their enemies, the city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate.

Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates.

Two words: JOHN MATTHEW.

We'd met him in Lover Eternal, the second book of the series, when he was a tiny, mute kid living on his own in a destroyed apartment building, carrying a big secret. Now, though, he's become a strong, powerful vampire fighting with the Blind King and the Brotherhood. Oh, and, he's in love.


What I love about this series is that in each book we get to know more and more about particular characters while we meet new ones, new mysteries build up while the older ones resolve. Even though they're all written in the third person, Ward switches points of view in such a crafty way that we usually get to live the important parts of events twice, each more exciting than the other. The way she lays out the chapters and the sequence of events makes you whoosh through a chapter and keep going just so you can find out what's going to happen next.


Most of the time, when I was reading about the lessers (the Brotherhood's enemies), I used to try to read quickly so I could get back to the vampires. Since Lash joined them, though, even they've gotten a lot more exciting. Especially in this book, Lash has so much to do with everything that instead of thinking "Die already," I found myself think, "Oh, they're so coming to getcha!" And he's even fun at certain points, which doesn't make him any less evil, but impossible to ignore and even enjoy.


I liked the way Xhex and John's romance worked out: she's a powerful, kinda manly-featured assassin who is used to taking care of herself and not letting anyone in. He's been in love with her ever since the first time he saw her, but he also knows who she is and doesn't expect anything from her. That's doesn't mean, of course, that he doesn't find her and save her and revenge her and give her what she wants. And it's a good thing he does because that's how she realizes that she, too, is in love with him. Most of the hard times they went through in the past bring them together, as well as other surprising things that I'm not going to get into here.


As much as I love John Matthew and loved seeing the world through his eyes, another super-exciting part of the book for me was the relationship between Qhuinn and Blay: it's as if they started cracking and soon there will be a big explosion, which I cannot wait for. I hear Ward's discussing with her editors whether or not they should get their own book or just a novella, and I honestly think they deserve their own book: whoever has a problem with gay characters should feel free to not read it.


Having said that, though, it does look like the next one will be Payne's--The Scribe Virgin's daughter-- book. Up to now it's been the brothers, and not it's going to be a female related to the Brotherhood. It might reveal more about The Scribe Virgin and what she had been up to (no good!), but I'm afraid we're gonna lose John Matthew, whom I'm used to being around. Hopefully J.R. Ward's dedication at the beginning of the book will keep its promise:


I cannot believe you and I have come so far.
Your book is not a goodbye, however--
just another beginning.
But you're used to that...

Book #15 of 2010

Ruthless and brilliant, Vishous son of the Bloodletter possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a pretrans growing up in his father's war camp, he was tormented and abused. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of a human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time- until a destiny he didn't choose takes him into a future that cannot include her.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Is Vishous an interesting character? Yes-- he's a tech-savvy, bisexual warrior vampire who's into BDSM and can heal or electrocute humans/vampires with his magic glowing hand. Since the beginning of the series, I've thought he was pretty cool and especially enjoyed reading his interactions with Butch. In this book, however, I wasn't as curious about him as I'd expected I would be because there was so much more going on. The biggest shocker about him is the fact that we (and he himself, too) find out The Scribe Virgin is his birth mother. His back story with his father, Bloodletter, was rather interesting as well, but, like I've said, failed to be the center of my attention because there was so much more going on.

• Phury loses his virginity after a forever-long celibacy. He's still hung up on Bella, which makes me rather sad to read about because she's his twin's shellan. Because of all this, he takes Vishous's place as the Primale, which I have mixed feelings about, yet I cannot wait to read about him and The Chosen, Cormia, in the next book.
• John Matthew was the most interesting part of the book. He finally went through his transaction and is a warrior-sized vampire, who uses the daggers with his left hand like Darius used to. I remember Darius making a request to the Scribe Virgin in the first book, so I have my suspicions about this, but I'll just wait and see instead of dwelling too much on it.
• Lash is a whole different story. I felt like something was up with him, too, and I'm hoping I'm right and that I'll find out what it is in the following books.
• Jane, the female Vishous falls in love with, was alright. The way she comes back after she's killed by a lesser feels kinda funny to me, though. I'm not too crazy about the whole "Jane, the Friendly Ghost" kinda deal. 
• The lessers weren't around as much in this book, so I'm expecting them to make a strong comeback.

Book #14 of 2010

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard living, ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world to engage in the turf war with the lessers. He's got nothing to lose. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. If he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers...

When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead but found by a miracle, the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back, though even her love may not be enough to save him...

All I'm going to say about this one is that it seemed to drag for too long. Maybe it's because Butch was always a character I didn't really care about. Sure, he's fun, but I could do without having to read his story. Anyway... Still, bonus points for some great Rhage moments.

Book #13 of 2010

Even within the vampire brotherhood, Zsadist is feared. Still bearing the scars from a tortured past, he is renowned for his unquenchable fury. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion-until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society. 

***SPOILER ALERT***
This one brought me to tears at least three times. In the first two books, whenever I read about Zsadist, I had a "what the hell is his problem?!" kind of attitude toward him. You know he was a slave and all and probably went through hell, but you still don't understand why he's so cold and very killer-like all the time.

In Love Awakened, though, you get the whole story behind this "tortured hero," which instantly makes you feel for him. Although I wanted to strangle him when he kept denying love and happiness to himself, I did understand the reasons why.

As torture-filled as they may be, I enjoyed reading about Zsadist's past, and what his twin had to go through to free him. This also lead to my sobbing hard when Phury shaved his hair off and scarring his face to go meet the lesser in his twin's place, and their bonding at Haver's when Zsadist hugged him.

Time for a few bullet points:

• Zsadist eating with Rhage to gain weight = *melt*
• I'm still very curious about why Vishous made Butch drink his blood, and I'm hoping it will be revealed in the next book.
• John Matthew is such a cute character. I was so sad when both Wilsie and Sarelle were killed by the lesser and Tohr disappeared.

That's all I can think of right now, but whoever said these books keep getting better is damn right. And no, I'm not sick of their listening rap music and walking around in shit kickers all the time. 

Onto book four...

Phew!

I took my external hard drive to the shop today because even though it turned on, it wouldn't show up on my computer. The guys at the store pronounced it dead and said they would give me a new one 'cos there's still time on the warranty. I said I didn't want it. I don't care about anything else in it, but all my writing and interviews were in it, and I really didn't want to lose them-- why I was stupid enough to let an external drive store them, I don't know. Anyway... My amazing friend Barkin saved it! He took it out of its box and hooked it up to his desktop computer, and now it's safe and sound in there. PHEW.

* * *

On a different note, I'd really like to say that this woman knows what she's talking about. I'd started the 3rd book of The Black Dagger Brotherhood series yesterday, and I'm almost done with it. Looks like I'm going through this box set pretty fast and will need the rest of the books very soon.