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There are things with claws, beings with venomous fangs, and spies lurking in the jungle. Most of them want to keep their secrets. One wants QuiTai dead. Paperback , pages. Published April 30th by Wayzgoose Press first published January 1st Devil of Ponong 1. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
To ask other readers questions about The Devil's Concubine , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The Devil's Concubine. Lists with This Book. Feb 02, Holly rated it liked it Shelves: I absolutely loved the vivid, lush descriptions. I could get lost in this authors ability to describe the jungle, ocean, and vibrant people of this island.
Her wording is fabulous and she has some real skill at setting a scene. I couldn't tell if they were in love or hated each other. It didn't help that the author completely glosses over love scenes so after the first one I was left thinking "what just happened there??? I'm not a fan of fading to black when the romance gets hot especially with how heavily the author seemed to push tense romantic feelings. At around the mid way point I had to push myself to keep reading. There was a lot of bickering between QuiTai and Kyam.
It started to get on my nerves but I was invested enough in the story to want to see it through. The author excels at keeping the true goals of the characters enough of a mystery that I wasn't really sure if Kyam was a good guy or a bad guy until the very end. I loved the use of jellyfish for lanterns. As a marine scientist this totally tickled my pickle!
And I also found the local drug of choice black lotus very interesting. I really liked reading about the local Ponong culture. I found the way they revered their elders very refreshing and I loved how no matter what rush they were in they would all sit and crouch for a good story telling. I also found the communing with the goddess very interesting. The story ends in a bit of a cliffhanger and it's enough that I'd be interested in checking out the second book.
Imagine a world beautifully entrenched in Far Eastern culture. Imagine a world in which fantasy and technology battle for supremacy. Where your usual UF monster is transplanted. And all of a sudden he represents the devil in this case both figuratively and historically, if you remember your Far East history class. Imagine a writer who can wax poetically about jungles and intrigues and make you wish you were there. The Devil's Concubine is definitely this kind of book.
One that Imagine a world. One that surprises the hell out of you. Where the main focus is a woman's battle for vengeance and justice for her people, at whatever price. Where colonialism and racism are touched, but they never overcome the plot. Where, cover notwithstanding, there's not a hint of PNR or any R to it. Mind you, it has its problems. It seemed too much a plot to force them together and play nice. Like the author didn't put all her heart in them. Or didn't want to scare people away. Because to me some facets of Eastern cultures are difficult to swallow.
I keep imposing my cultural and feminist perspective on them. And sometimes I need rage when faced with some unacceptable truth or betrayals. But all of the above is me. Go get the book. DRC courtesy of publisher via NetGalley Oct 29, Ari rated it really liked it Shelves: A surprisingly good read. From the title, I was expecting a romance, but what I got was organised crime, spies and a mystery plot.
QuiTai is the concubine but also the right hand of the Devil, the crime lord and werewolf who, together with the foreign colonial government, rules Ponong, QuiTai's home. Rumours of smugglers bringing and unknown shipment to the island, without giving the Devil his cut, and then a murder find QuiTai working with the spy Kyam Zul, who serves the country who conquer A surprisingly good read. Rumours of smugglers bringing and unknown shipment to the island, without giving the Devil his cut, and then a murder find QuiTai working with the spy Kyam Zul, who serves the country who conquered Ponong, to solve both mysteries.
Sometimes I felt the narrative was trying to hard to keep QuiTai and Kyam working together, despite every reason for them not to be, and I have a few other minor quibbles, but I enjoyed the character of QuiTai a great deal. Although at times she's was very stupid for someone so smart. I'll be picking up the next book. Sep 19, Linda rated it really liked it. Jill Braden has written an intriguing fantasy around Ponong, a Polynesian type island with a touch of Asian flair. Her world is nothing like I have ever read before. The Ponongese people are humanoid with snake like qualities, which include fangs and poisonous venom.
They are ruled by the Thampurian government whose people are known as sea dragons. Since no troubled world would be complete without an evil underbelly they have a crime syndicate, which happens to be run by werewolves. However ther Jill Braden has written an intriguing fantasy around Ponong, a Polynesian type island with a touch of Asian flair. However there is a new evil in town. The Ravidians, a lizard like people, are bringing mysterious shipments into the port town of Levapur.
She is Ponongese and the brains behind the crime syndicate. She is sensual, intelligent, ruthless, and loyal to her race above all others. From her position of power she is able to manipulate the alpha werewolf, Petrof, who is known to everyone as the Devil , for the good of her people. I really appreciated the way the Ponongese showed respect to one another in this primitive society. Despite being oppressed, they strived to keep their customs and dignity. Until we met and got to know a little more about Kyam Zul, a disgraced Thampurian from the royal family, who has been exiled to Ponong.
He is smart enough to realize that QuiTai knows more than she lets on and the banter between these two was very entertaining as their respect for each other grows. At one point QuiTai reflects: The terrible thing about excruciatingly good manners was that there was absolutely no defense against them. There is adult language contained in this book that may be offensive to some, but the sex scenes are behind closed doors, which I found a little disappointing.
I also found no significant editing errors. If you enjoy mystery, politics with hidden agendas, complex characters, and multi-layered storylines, I think you will enjoy this series.
There is an interesting although not really surprising twist at the end of this book that will most likely draw you into reading the next of this promising series. May have received a free review copy. Jun 01, Ian Wood rated it it was amazing. This is the complete review as it appears at my blog dedicated to reading, writing no 'rithmatic! Blog reviews often contain links which are not reproduced here, nor will updates or modifications to the blog review be replicated here.
Graphic and children's novels reviewed on the blog will generally have some images from the book's interior, which are not reproduced here. Note that I don't really do stars. To me a novel is either worth reading or it isn't. I can't rate a nove This is the complete review as it appears at my blog dedicated to reading, writing no 'rithmatic!
I can't rate a novel three-fifths worth reading! The only reason I've relented and started putting stars up there is to credit the good ones, which were being unfairly uncredited. So, all you'll ever see from me is a five-star or a one-star since no stars isn't a rating, unfortunately. The Devil's Concubine is another exercise in making sure you choose a unique title for your novel. The cover art is exquisite, although I don't normally address covers because the author typically has little or nothing to do with them.
This blog is about writing! This novel is evidently the first in a series. The sequel, The Devil Incarnate is already available and the author is working on the third in this unique series. Jill Braden is a fellow blogspotter, although I don't know her. From her blog link above it sounds like she writes pretty much like I do in terms of basic approach which is a bit nice to know, and it looks like she blogs about her writing as she goes. I've never recommended a writer's blog before, although I always link to it if I can find a link, but in this case I will make an exception because it looks like she's all about writing too, something which I have to say I admire and in which I find a lot of comfort!
Her blog is not one of those nothing-but-promote-myself blogs like all-too-many writer's blogs seem to be to me.
Please go take a look. Braden's is actually a dynamic blog. SherlockYou can find my refutation of the standard criticisms of the Lara Pulver episode here. I think too many people, several of whom are purportedly feminists, sadly got this wrong in their quite evidently undue haste to condemn Moffat's Adler, and I think they will realize how wrong they got it when Irene Adler returns.
Of course, I could be wrong I often am! The critics' main problem, in my opinion, is in first of all misunderstanding Adler in the original Doyle version, and thereby pumping her up into something she was actually not and second, in misunderstanding Moffat's version even more than they have misunderstood Doyle's. That's not to say that their criticism is entirely without foundation, but I think such criticism needs to be much more realistic than it has hitherto shown itself to be.
What bothers me about Braden's criticism is that she's a writer herself! If she's so outraged by it, why doesn't she take up the challenge and write her own Adler story? That I'd like to see, especially since she appears from what I've read of her blog so far to share many of my own views on strong female characters! Some minor grammar errors but an entertaining story. You almost start thinking about the souls on earth Must Read Juliet and Shallem's love for one another it's something most of us wish for. I feel so sorry for the priest.
I was so engrossed with the story line. Characters were so intense. It was a very interesting read. One of the things that make this book so great in my opinion is the fact that the author mixes different religious and philosophical concepts with the Darwinian theory of evolution. It was provocative and brilliant! Another thing that I really liked about this book was the fact that the author shatters all those preconceived religious ideas that have been drilled into us since we were little.
In fact, angels despised humans. They thought humans were atrocious beings, the only species capable of killing one another for no apparent reason. But in this book, the fallen angels, particularly Shallem, defied God because he wanted to stay on Earth, the haven God created for the angels, not because he wanted all the glory of being a god. I loved the parallelism between the Chinese philosophy of the Ying and Yang and the fact that Shallem and Canaat, two parts of the same soul, were Shadow and Light.
And in the end, he kept her soul to himself, just because he could. A very devilish act. After all, he was the most beautiful and powerful fallen angel. Even though I suspected for some time what was going to happen to Juliette in the end, I really enjoyed the last scene with the priest going mad. A very twisted ending. Jul 13, Mary Hartshorn rated it really liked it. I was not really anticipating much from this book, but I have to say that it was better than I thought it would be.
Imagine if you were a priest whom I wanted to confess my sins to, and tell my life story would you be willing to listen? Maybe, maybe n I was not really anticipating much from this book, but I have to say that it was better than I thought it would be. Maybe, maybe not right? Seems like an interesting story worth hearing though. I recommend this book!!! I want to actually go 3. What a thought-provoking story. My biggest complaint is with spelling and some grammatical errors.
It makes we wonder who if anyone bothered to edit this story This story did keep me very involved though. I would definitely recommend to others. Aug 29, G rated it liked it Shelves: I liked it, this book was not what i expected. I'm not sure how i feel about it. Over all i gave a 3 star rating becuase of the end.
The story was well written and very disriptive. The ending is the only issue i had. Feb 24, Kimberly Kline rated it liked it. I loved the majority of this book. However, I eventually found myself skipping paragraphs as they seemed redundant not a good sign! The whole theme of "fallen angels" and their read on humanity is interesting. Jul 05, Jessica rated it really liked it.
This author reminds me of Anne Rice with slightly less descriptive writing. I liked the story and the character's and felt glad to have a book finish without leading me into 2 more novels May 07, Steph rated it liked it.
This made for a decent story and was equally thought provoking. I enjoyed it most for the ideas it proposed regarding religion and human souls, yet perhaps a bit was lost in the translation as I commonly find with books that were originally written in another language. Dec 02, Tovia rated it it was ok Shelves: I give it 2 stars because the title is. The most interesting part is the nephilim and their abilities.
Aug 02, Lorna rated it it was amazing Shelves: I loved this book. I was expecting something completely different, yet I am grateful for the ending provided. I will most likely reread at some point. I couldn't put it down, it wasn't what I was at first expecting, it was so much better. I will definitely be re-reading this! Jul 06, Eva Kristin rated it did not like it. I didn't finish this book. The idea and consept was interesting and had a lot of potential, but the quality of the writing was appaling.
Jan 13, Lisa rated it liked it Shelves: Imaginative plot with interesting characters. Aug 27, Liz rated it liked it. You have to approach the book with an open mind, but it is VERY thought provoking. Aresa rated it really liked it Apr 30, Maryjean priore rated it it was amazing Jan 20, Patty rated it really liked it Dec 30, This trend is seen in the West too. Suddenly vampires who suck your blood are the most romantic of heroes, as are werewolves who generally would like to disembowel you with their sharp teeth.
The idea that someone dangerous loves you, that you have the power to tame the demon, makes you feel special.
I continued reading, hoping for the story to pick up, but it never really did. I think the hardest part I had was that although the author was very precise and told exactly what the main character thought and experienced it was hard to relate to her. Because to me some facets of Eastern cultures are difficult to swallow. One she might So the devil goes down to Ponong and sets up castle, taking a mistress named Qui Tai. May 07, Steph rated it liked it. It was hard to feel much for the characters as they all carried such disdain for human life, and really, all they had going for them was that they liked animals and were attractive. A lot of walls must fall for any real change to happen.
We want to feel special in a world where everyone has the iPad and a Facebook account. This relationship between man and God has been the subject of much literature. In Vaishanava bhakti literature, one finds analogies made with the animal world. Should the devotee be like a kitten and allow God to pick and place you in safety, like a mother cat?
Who should play the active role — the devotee or God? Of late, we seem to saying, if God cannot behave like a cat-mother and take care of us, we will turn into a baby-monkey and cling to the Devil instead.