#want to put that out there right now so nobody thinks I'm cribbing from Cooper (though she may infuse energy in my revisions)

[mumblingsage]

Meanwhile a fantasy author I've enjoyed: yeah, Isabel Cooper's The Nightborn, finished last night, was fantastic both as fantasy and as romance. Honestly, if your complaint about romantic fantasy is "the romance keeps derailing the fantasy stuff I'm interested in," I'd say give this a shot? The fantasy plotline doesn't feel compromised, the worldbuilding is interesting, the monsters and magic are very vivid.

-And this makes me enjoy the romance plotline more, even. Nightborn seems to have done something that I'm glad to see someone do and at the same time kinda envious I didn't do first (I need to write more book-length work, obviously). Avert yer gaze for spoilers to the end of this paragraph, but: I don't think the hero and heroine actually say "I love you" in this one? And now I'm not even sure the couple in the prior book said it either (though the hero and his late/ex partner talk about loving each other with the message "there are all different kinds of love", now I need a hankie). Instead they demonstrate they care about each other in a whole bunch of other ways and say other things, including a swoony romantic "I have to die someday and you're a great person to die beside" (not an exact quote because my ereader isn't loaded at the moment, but close).

-Worldbuilding-wise, this is a 'queernorm' setting that I liked and believed in! Notable things: use of singular 'they' pronouns both for nonbinary characters and, at least on the heroine's side, for children whose gender she doesn't know. The heroine doesn't seem to pursue women romantically (she does have a nonbinary lover in her backstory) but at a ball she dances with another woman. Not as a romantic pairing but because it's a ball, you dance with your fellow attendees! (Also the other woman is a general and somewhat plot-relevant, but it's not some sort of manipulative attempt to get close to her--they're dancing to be friendly and because it's a ball.) I feel like I've seen a lot of ballroom dancing scenes by authors with feminist and queernorm cred, but this might be one of the first times I've seen one with true gender-neutral dance pairings?

-My "Cooper's characters might actually be too decent and calm and correct all the time; a dash more interpersonal drama could be realistic and interesting" qualm is somewhat present but not hampering my enjoyment. Because I don't want every book I read to be about smart, competent, kind people who I'd like to hang out with in real life--but I do want to read books like that occasionally, and this one met that need! The hero does do one consent-check before a sex scene that I think was actually inappropriate (frankly, it seemed to raise concerns the reader didn't have and the story doesn't follow up on)--even as it's a consent check I've had said almost word-for-word to me in real life and appreciated (my circumstances were different!). But it's not a bad flaw to have, and there might well have been a characterization point being made that I didn't quite grasp (that is, the point possibly was intentional that the hero was being a bit too conscientious when the heroine is actively jumping his bones). There was another point I really liked when this poor, darling, much-cockblocked man was like "Wait, you're stopping mid-sex. Is something wrong? If you need to stop I completely understand--oh we're being attacked by monsters." I like to think my thought process in the situation would be similar.

-Cooper is great at giving characters realistic thought processes. I had a small giggle around the second chapter where the hero and heroine take a few steps arm in arm, then have to stop and untwine their arms at the cloak check. Not awkward enough to induce embarrassment, but plenty relatable.

-There IS a leavening amount of snark, sarcasm, and wry humor (none of it smarmy) that keeps things from being saccharine. What sweetness there is feels earned and is often either there to up the stakes so you feel worse when characters are in peril (not a specific spoiler but an indication of the series' tone: not all make it!), or is there as a soothing balm after someone's gone through the wringer. And here's also where I feel the fantasy is as prominent as the romance: certain strands of romance would pull punches in a way fantasy writers wouldn't, and Cooper doesn't pull the punches. There's some gore in here and the fantasy demons are genuinely horrific. Which also avoids my *other* concern when genre writers use humor: the humor feels realistic, sometimes used as a coping mechanism for stress; it doesn't undermine the stakes of the story or break the mood or verisimilitude.

-In my earlier post, I praised how the hero of Nightborn rarely wears sleeves and Cooper frequently comments on this fact for the better delectation of the reader. There's a scene toward the end where he's ripping his sleeves off to use as bandages and the text pauses to comment on this fact in a way I can only take as a wink in my direction. I have rarely felt so loved and nourished as a reader.

All this said, neither my library system nor Hoopla have the last book in the trilogy so I'm probably going to buy it (happy to support her, but books I buy tend to drop down under my library-based reading lists). Most of all because I want to know how the ominous apocalyptic fantasy plotline is resolved! The central romance in that one features a Paladin-type, and frankly I'm interested to see how "author I like who writes characters who are on the borderline of too decent" writes "character archetype known for being boringly decent." I think she's going to pull it off!

[aricazorel]

Hi! OK I'm hopping on the fluff prompts bandwagon. Although I am torn between 5 & 10 for Kori and Kaidan. I've read your stories on AO3 and I think Kori is awesome. :)

Thank you so much for the ask and I managed to work both prompts in.  I’m so glad you like Kori!

5)    I’m better when I’m with you.

10)   “You’re such an idiot.”   “But I’m your idiot.”

Kaidan Alenko x Kori Reese; post ME3; 923 words

“You realize it’s easier if you actually use the instructions, right?” Kora Reese asked from where she laid on the couch.

Kaidan Alenko glanced up at her form the middle of the cabin’s living room floor. “Ah, yeah, Kori. I get that. And I have looked them over.

The Normandy’s former XO gave her husband an incredulous stare. “You looking them over is not the same as reading them.”

The Major made a face as he turned from her back to the mess of parts and tools scattered across the floor of their mountain cabin north of Vancouver. The afternoon sunlight cast the shadows of the North Shore Mountains through the windows.

“It’s a piece of furniture, Kori. Not one of the Normandy’s prototype systems. I think I got this.”

“If you had this as you put it, you would have had it put together this morning,” she countered as she rolled onto her back, looking at extranet sites for redecorating on her omni-tool.

“Hey! I had to help you too,” he protested as he made another attempt to put pieces together.

“I am not an invalid, Kaidan!” she stated rather loudly.

“No one said you were,” the L2 reassured her gently as he put down the parts. “You just need a little extra help now and then.”

Kori made a sound of indignation as she moved onto another site. “I’m still working in R & D, even if it’s mostly from home…EDI makes that a lot easier though.”

“And I’m glad for that,” he said staring at his wife’s profile. “My students are getting antsy about all this. They want to know what—”

“Nope. Not telling,” she said firmly. “And neither are you. It’s a surprise, remember? Even EDI’s sworn to secrecy.”

“You’re treating this like on of your secret project,” he noted picking up a different piece, determined to not prove his wife was correct about the instructions.

“It is a secret project, and you can’t tell, Alenko!”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied with a mock salute as she rolled onto her side again.

“You still out rank me. I was only promoted to a Commander.”

“Only a Commander she says,” the Major muttered as her omni-tool came into his peripheral vision. Ignoring it he went on, “No mention of a N7 designation or spearheading a completely new R & D section for reverse-engineering Reaper tech in conjunction with the Geth and Quarians.”

“Kaidan.”

“No mention of exemplary service on both Normandies.”

“Kaid.”

“Or that she has a bunch of awards for promoting inter-species cooperation she doesn’t like to draw attention to.”

“Alenko!”

“Or that she married a really handsome, smart, nerdy guy who loves her with all his heart.”

He turned to gaze at her with a smirk as she appeared to be torn between a desire to kiss him and knocking him senseless. To make amends he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Her eyes fluttered shut as she took a breath. “Will you please just look at the how-to vid I found, tech boy?”

Kaidan chuckled. “Okay. I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

Satisfied with her small victory, she played the vid from her omni-tool. A minute later, he let out a groan. “You mean I had the damned thing upside down the whole time!?”

Kori laughed as he flipped a long rectangular board around to reveal the holes he needed for the other pieces. “You’re such an idiot.”

His annoyance disappeared as he leaned over again and kissed her quickly. “But I’m your idiot.”

Reese grinned. “Yes. You are.”

Kaidan chuckled as he resumed his task. “Nobody’s perfect.”

Reese rolled her eyes as she switched off the vid. “Do you think you can put it together now?”

“Oh, yeah,” he answered. “Thanks to the help of my awesome wife.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Alenko,” she note as she ran a hand through his dark hair still peppered with grey. The beard he had grown in the year and half since the end of the war reflected the same coloration of his hair. And she still found it sexy.

“I aim to please,” he said as he successfully put two piece together correctly.

Kori clapped. “Yippie! The Major did it!”

He arched an eyebrow as he moved on to another part. “Really, Kori?”

She shrugged. “Maybe this is one story you shouldn’t tell your students. Don’t want them to get the wrong idea. Their badass Specter instructor defeated by a piece of furniture.”

Kaidan sighed. “I suppose…Maybe don’t tell anyone.”

She smirked. “I cannot make that promise.”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “Why would you—”

“Hey, tech boy. It’ll get better. Once you’re done with this, there’s just the dresser and the table thingy. It’s okay…” She trailed off when she saw that he was gazing at her with a sappy grin. “What?”

His grin only grew wider. “It’s already better. I’m better when I’m with you. Always.”

“That’s good to know,” she replied quietly as she tugged on his shirt, encouraging him to lean towards her. Always happy to hear his honest feelings, she gave him a lingering kiss in reply.

Resting her forehead against his, Kori murmured, “Maybe I won’t tell anyone that a crib almost got the best of the second human Specter.”

“Please don’t,” Kaidan pleaded with a half-grin. “We can’t have future generations of Alenkos bearing that disgrace.”

As she placed his hand over her stomach, Kori said with confidence, “I think our future Alenko is going to be just fine.”