Being Human U.K. Season Two Episode Three: Long Live the King

 

This episode begins with a flashback to Bristol 1665.  In an underground tunnel some religious men travel with torches until the run into what looks like a group of people living underground.  A man opens a scroll and says, "Demons, blood suckers, incubi, spreaders of the great great pestilence, you have been tried in front of God and this country and found guilty of witchcraft, heresy, satanic ritual, collusion with Beelzebub and of bringing disease and pestilence to the land. You are to be destroyed so that our kingdom might be cleansed of your devilry and the plague will be washed from or soil and taken from the air. Is there an order?  Should we start with the infants?  Your teeth will be smashed from your skull, and your head will be removed from your body."

In present day a woman is jogging in the park, and she stops when she comes across a shoe.  On the grass their are signs that someone has been dragged in their own blood and she follows the trail until she sees a young man and a young woman lying in the mud covered in blood.  At the hospital Lucy and the orderlies are rushing one of the victims down the hall, as Mitchell is mopping the floor. The police later announce that there has been a brutal attack on a young couple leaving one of them dead.

Mitchell walks into the room to the hospital room to see that the young man is unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator.  He imagines unhooking him when Lucy walks in and asks what he is doing.  He covers by claiming to be praying.  Lucy says, I suppose the bad conditions in the hospital has lead you to believe in a monethestic deity.  She tells him that the victim was a student and that this is murder inquiry because no one asks to have this done to them.  She gets paged and says that she has to go because an anal abscess burst in geriatrics.  Before she leaves, Lucy asks what happened to her drink and Mitchell tells her that he is busy tonight.

Back at the house, Annie brings George a cup of tea and opens the blinds. When he takes a sip he spits it back into the cup and asks what the hell is this. She tells him that there is no coffee, tea or milk in the house but that there is a shower. When George asks why no one has gone shopping Annie responds, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been struggling with the whole ghost thing the last couple of days.  Strangely, being invisible, makes purchasing pyramid tea bags a touch awkward."  When George asks where Mitchell is, because apparently, it's his turn Annie answers, "He hasn't so much as purchased a pint of milk in weeks. I can't remember the last time he washed up and as for cleaning the bathroom George, I don't think he's ever cleaned the bathroom."  George tells her that he will handle it and Annie asks him if he wants to talk about Nina dumping him.  George says that all he needs is tea.  Annie tells him that he is depressed and that he needs to let out his emotions but George tells her that she has no idea what she is talking about.  

They hear a knock on the door and when Annie looks out the window he sees Hugh.  George goes downstairs and tells Hugh that Annie is gone and that she left a note saying that she is never coming back.  He tells Hugh that Annie said that it was not his fault.  Hugh says that this is exactly what happened with his ex girlfriend Kirsty.  Hugh asks, "what's happening with me George?  Why does every woman I love run a mile when I get just a little bit serious?"  

Mitchell is underground at what looks like a tube station and sees Cara the woman that used to work at the hospital cafeteria.  He asks what happened and where everyone is, and she responds that she is an orphan now that his pet, meaning George killed Herrick.  Mitchell tells her that the two people were attacked by the waterside and that the killing has to stop because they cannot cover it up right now because there is no process anymore.  When Cara says, "so," Mitchel responds, "so they'll find out about us. They'll come after us."  When Cara says that she thinks that she would like that, Mitchell tells her to round everyone up at the old church.

Back at the house, George is sitting on the toilet when Annie barges in saying that she has been thinking about what happened to Hugh and has decided to get him back together with Kirsty. When George tells her that she cannot go interfering in peoples lives like that, Annie tells him that this is a regime change and that he is essential to her plan because he is another broken, rejected man. She tells him that he is the only one that can understand what he is going through.  When George tells her that he is glad that his misery can be useful, Annie tells him that they are going to come from her, the men from the other side and that she has to be of some use and make the most of everyday that she has left.  She tells him that after everything that happened with Saul that she feels cursed, or tainted somehow and George answers that he knows how she feels and so Annie proposes that he needs this too.

Mitchell meets Chief Constable William outside who greets him saying, "I see you're the new Herrick."  Mitchell says that he is not the new Herrick and that he is not even standing in.  He claims only to be a representative. Mitchell goes on to say that they have a situation and that he hopes that they can come to a similar agreement like the kind he had with Herrick.  William responds, "I need to know that the people I'm deal with are reliable. Herrick was a despotic ginger ass but he had backbone and I don't see that in you."  When Mitchell asks what he intends to do, William tells him that maybe it's time to start rounding up all of the vampires.  Mitchell counters by reminding him that he is implicated already.  Not one to be easily defeated William responds, "I'm chief constable.  I'm on a first name terms with shitting home secretary and you're a bloody monster. Who the fuck is going to listen to you? No, if you want this deal work, you're going to have to come up with a lot more than you're implicated.  You boys have access to money don't you?"  Mitchell responds that they made some good investments in the 1800's and William tells him that not only is he going to need it, without coroner Quinn, that this is all academic and he walks away leaving Mitchell alone.

Being Human U.K. Season Two, Episode Two: Serve God, Love me and Mend

 

The episode begins with a flashback to Vienna in the year 1999. Mitchell is tied to a chair.  It seems that this is the beginning of him coming off  blood.  He asks how long drying out is going to take, and Carl tells him that to do it properly, maybe six months. 

At the bar, Saul and Annie are flirting.  George walks in, and Annie introduces him to Saul and Hugh. Annie and Saul are clearly focused on each other, and from the way that Hugh is looking at Annie, it is clear that he is very interested in her.

Back at the hospital, Mitchell is in an elevator with Lucy, the woman he is interested in. He tells her that he does not know how to talk to her and that he knows he came on too strong the other day.  Lucy assures him that the goldfish was the perfect gesture, and that this is the speed that she is comfortable with.  Lucy asks him to go for a coffee, and he says that he is a huge fan of coffee.  When he asks where she is going, Lucy tells him that the paramedics just brought in a body, and that she has to go and declare it.

At the body, Lucy notices that there are puncture wounds on the neck.  The cop in attendance says that it is probably a gay thing. Once again, I see that we have returned to homophobia on the show.  Mitchell listens as he hears that the body has been drained of blood, and Lucy says somewhere in Bristol there is a gay vampire as the cop laughs saying, "I bet he would like to see my full moon."

Back at the house, George brings Nina breakfast in bed.  He brings her a large selection of food and a cigarette, because he has given up the fight on that one.  He gets up to leave, and she asks him to stay because she would feel weird sitting there eating on her own. 

In his home, Saul walks in and turns on the television.  He starts to feel out of sorts and takes some medication.  He hears his name being called and it turns out that, Sir Terry Wogan is talking to him from the television.  He says that he needs to talk to Saul, because he thinks that he and Annie make a smashing couple. When Saul suggests that there is a hidden camera somewhere, Sir Terry Wogan tells him that it is about the corridor.  Sir Terry Wogan says, "Until you had your little accident, I can't say that I paid too much attention, but the minute you walked into that pub, and saw that lovely girl, I knew I had to lend a hand.  Terrence I thought, lend a hand.  And I'm saying tell her about the accident and all of the interesting things that you saw.  It will make you seem special and vulnerable. The ladies go potty for that. Your face, you look like you have seen a ghost."

Back at the house, Mitchell is looking for George. The scene then switches briefly to a recording room where someone is clearly listening to every word that is being said. Mitchell tells Nina, that there is stuff that they can teach her, and she says that she is fine and is just going to move onto plan B. George tells her that he is making sheppards pie, and Nina responds saying that she won't be home 'till late and he answers that it is not a problem, and that she should just pop it in the microwave.  

As soon as Nina leaves, Mitchell tells George about the dead body that came into the hospital that day. "The thing is I know him", Mitchell says. "One of the times I tried to stop drinking blood properly, I was living with this vampire, Carl.  He's been clean for like twenty years".  George being George, immediately gets fussy because Mitchell has lived with someone before him. "Of course I've lived with other people," Mitchell says. "Do you think I've waited the last eighty years for you and your three different types of upholstery cleaner to show up? Anyway, after me, he lived with this other guy, Dan a human, and that's the body that came in." George asks if Carl killed Dan, and Mitchell tells him that Dan and Carl were lovers, and that he does not believe that Carl hurt him.  Okay, I have to take a pause to point out that it only took Being Human U.K.,7 episodes to finally getting around to introducing a gay character.  The writers had no problem with including all sorts of homophobia before this, so this latest addition is hardly something to celebrate, especially considering that it begins with the death of a gay man.  Mitchell tells George that Carl has disappeared, and that anyone could have killed Dan.  George wants to know how it got to the point where there is a body.

Saul returns to the bar and he tells Annie that he almost died.  He says that he had a car accident and that he fell asleep at the wheel. Carl says that he was the only one who was hurt - in fact, he was technically dead for almost 6 minutes.  He tells Annie that when he died there was a bright white corridor and that it was frightening.  He says that there were men with sticks and rope.  Annie tells him that she saw it a few years ago when she was attacked.  He takes her hand and she says, "For years I have wanted to talk to someone about this. What on earth made you tell me?" Annie leans forward and kisses him on the cheek and he smiles. 

There is a knock at the door and its Carl. Carl tells Mitchell that he had been dreaming about blood and it frightened him.  He says that Dan didn't even look frightened, he looked disappointed. Mitchell tells him that this is going to take a bit of handling, and offers to let Carl stay at the house.  George asks why he didn't recruit him, and Dan says, "because he was kind, and if I had, when he came back, he may not have been kind anymore."  George tells Mitchell that Carl is not staying because he is trying to create some semblance of normality. "Mitchell it's not just your house, it's not just your decision", George says but Mitchell tells him that it won't take long.

The mysterious Kemp is kneeling in prayer, when Mark the technician walks in holding a transcript from the house. Mark tells Kemp that there is something that he should look at. They now know that Nina is not just a sympathizer, and that she is in fact a werewolf.  Mark wants to know why they have not been contained. Kemp says this is an opportunity to study them, and that this the first time a ghost, werewolf and vampire have cohabitated.  Kemp still believes however that beasts should be put in cages. Mark points out that the next full moon is in 20 days, and that they don't have a type 3.

At the bar, Annie is going on and on about Saul.  George asks her if she is being careful, and responds  that she is a bit old and dead for contraception concerns. George points out that she already has two blokes chasing after her and that this could get messy. Annie asks George what he means when he says two blokes, and he responds Hugh and Saul.  Annie tells him that Hugh is like a brother to her and George responds, "Oh promise me you won't ever tell him that. Why not just stab him in the face. A brother, Annie, the only man who would want to hear that is your actual brother." Annie denies once again that Hugh sees her that way, and George concedes the point saying that Saul clearly does. Annie tells George that she and Saul have a lot in common, and that she cannot spend the rest of eternity spectating. Is there anyone George will not control?  Annie asks again if he is sure about Hugh, and George responds, "I know that look. I've given people that look, usually while they are giving that look to someone taller." Annie smiles and says to herself, "I've still got it."

Nina walks in and Carl is eating the shepherds pie.  He tells her that he is a friend of Mitchell's and that he is going to stay out of her way.  Carl asks if Mitchell told her why he's there and then says that she is not in any danger.  "You've killed someone, it sounds pretty dangerous to me", Nina responds. He tells her that she doesn't understand, and then adds don't be too hard on George. Nina stops him, asking how this became his business and Carl admits that it is not. Nina says, "two months ago I lost control, the worst that could happen was (she sighs), but now, we shouldn't be in houses, in streets where there's children". Carl tells her that there are safe guards that you can put in place, but Nina says that, "things go wrong. Christ knows that we're both proof of that. I'm radioactive now, that's how that feels". Carl continues to eat and says, "trust me, he knows what he's done."  Nina sits at the table with Carl and they finish the sheppards pie.

Review: Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Book 1 of the Were Hunter Series

 

 

The Kategari are a race of creatures born as an animal but able to shift into a man. The Arcadians are a race of creatures born as a man but able to shift into an animal. Both races are gifted with incredible magic powers and both races loathe the other and have been fighting a long genocidal war with the other without rules or mercy since ancient Greece.

Verne’s mother was an Arcadian and his father a Katagari. Both loathe him and want him dead, along with his siblings and after the death of Anya, his sister and Vane’s actions protecting the Dark Hunters, his father has a perfect excuse to order his death

He’s now on the run, grieving for his sister, worried for his comatose brother and fleeing the attention of his father’s pack – and even his mother launching attacks across time.

And then he meets Bride, a woman with whom he is destined to mate – and if she doesn’t accept the mating in the next 3 weeks, he is doomed to a life of celibacy. But is avoiding this fate – and being with the woman he loves – really worth risking Bride’s life; a human who knows nothing of the supernatural world.

He now has the uphill battle of protecting Bride, adapting to human society and introducing Bride to the hidden world, all under fire from his parents – and deciding whether to truly try and make a life with Bride or not.

I think this book set a new record for a Dark Hunter’s book for speed in which the relationship was established. There’s Vane, walking down the street, worried because his brother’s in a coma, worried about his dad and pack leader who wants him dead and grieving for his dead sister Anya. And then he sees Bride! The most beautiful woman in the world! And she is sad! There must now be hot/hard/sexiness and then kissing then making out and then the hot monkey sex! HUZZAH!

And there is Bride. She’s sad because her arsehole boyfriend dumped her  - but then she sees Vane! And he is so hot/sexy/awesome! Bring on the kissing and the making out and the hot monkey sex! HUZZAH!

As far as complex romances go it’s not exactly the most nuanced or complex of beginnings. 2 people see each other. Think they’re both hot. Sex happens, magic steps in to firmly stamp Twu Luv on things. They have 3 weeks to decide to bond in metaphysical marriage or Vane will be forever celibate. 

Review of Curse The Dawn by Karen Chance Book Four in the Cassandra Palmer Series

 

I think that I have a love/hate relationship with this series.  At times, the characters, world and plot are absolutely fascinating, and at others, I struggle not to roll my eyes and toss my ereader across the room.  Curse the Dawn turned to be more of the same. 

At this point, Cassie has been the pythia for one month, but she still has not been crowned, because the circle refuses to acknowledge her right to fulfill this role, though the power clearly chose her.  At every turn, Cassie is being manipulated because if a group does not want her dead, they want her under control because of the strength of the office that she holds. I must say that I like the fact that Cassie is particularly resistant to being used and continues to hold onto her moral beliefs despite the fact that everyone around her continually encourages her to put them aside.  Even when she is under attack, the one thing that Cassie clearly respects is life and she will go to extraordinary lengths to protect it.

I wish that I could say more good about Cassie.  She is clearly devoted to doing what she thinks is right however unfortunately this too often takes the role of spunky agency.  She does not think through her decisions carefully and continually runs head long into trouble that in most cases could be avoided with a little bit of forethought. This makes the fact that Mircea keeps her in the dark about his plans perfectly acceptable.  It is hard to be upset with fact that both Mircea and Pritkin are condescending and paternalistic because at times, Cassie clearly needs to be lead around just to keep her head attached to her neck.  This of course takes away from the whole strong kick ass protagonist thing that Chance has going on.   Having a strong female character should mean that the majority of the time she uses the brain God gave her rather than continually rushing brashly along from one crises to another.

With Pritkin the war mage by her side, Cassie travels through ley lines and battles war mages in an attempt to save the world from the return of Apollo, who wants to reassert his power on the earth, by any means necessary.  At one point in the story, Pritkin and Cassie change bodies, which leads to some of the most hilarious scenes in the book.  How does a woman suddenly transported into a mans body suddenly deal with waking up with an erection that is demanding to be satisfied?  Even though this new male body is filled with strength and the ability to heal, it is still male and things like leg hair just don't feel right.

Wednesday Reboot: Blade II

I think that Blade II falls into the typical action movie but with vampires.  There is nothing about it that stands out.  It's true that the Blade trilogy is the only movie in the urban fantasy genre that I can think of that has a Black protagonist but there is nothing about Blade that particularly reads as a man of colour except the the colour of his skin.  All of the characters are decidedly straight and there is no attempt to move beyond the typical heterosexual male testosterone violent action theme.

I know that for some, just the fact that Blade is Black makes this movie progressive, but for me it's not enough.  In some ways he is exactly like Bonnie from The Vampire Diaries - a White man painted Black.  Though Whistler found him when he was a young man, that does explain the absolute absence of any cultural markers.  This, combined with the fact that the female protagonist changes from a dark skinned Black woman, to the Chilean Lenore Valera, who played Nyssa, tells me that the creators weren't heavily invested in making a real racial statement.  I am thankful that they didn't have a White female lead, but what does it say that with proof that the series was in fact bankable, that the writers, directors and producers, felt comfortable moving away from a Black woman?

I have never been one for action flicks.  They don't challenge the mind, or add anything new to discourse.  More hypermasculinity is not what the world needs, and when it comes to Black men, the fact that this is considered the natural state is problematic.  I will say that White male hypermasculinity is very normalized, while Black male hypermasculinity is often construed to be a threat and so twisting this to be a good quality in a Black male is new.   But rather than legitimizing any form of hypermasculinity, we should be attempting to eradicate it, rather than constructing it as honourable or noble as the writers of Blade II attempted to do. In terms of gender it is reductive and limiting.  It places Blade into a position where he must always be the hero and violently save not only the day but the female protagonist. For as strong of a character that Nyssa was, Blade still saved her life twice, thus reinforcing traditional gender roles.

It is further problematic that Whistler was brought back from the dead.  Sure, White people adopt Black kids, but in this case, Whistler becomes a paternalistic figure.  Having him die and stay dead, would have given Blade a sense of independence but in the end, Blade continues to be beholden to a White man, regardless of his skill set.  If that were not enough, Whistler ends up saving Blade's life asserting the idea that Black men are always beholden in some way to Black men. 

Review of 'Nightwalker' By Jocelynn Drake, Book One of the Dark Days Series

 

Though this book was written in the first person, a style I really don't prefer for a story, it had a very large world.  Drake takes care to include lycanthropes, vampires, witches/warlocks and the fae.  The fae in this story are called the naturi and as a group from the antagonist, though they are split into several different clans like animal, and earth for instance.   Nightwalker is essentially the story of an ongoing war between the fae and all other supernatural creatures.  The fae have the ability to control lycanthropes essentially turning the into slaves and there goal is to open a door to a dimension that was previously sealed by the vampires.  Their goal is to rule the earth and eradicate the Nightwalkers.

Mira is alone in her own kingdom ensuring that the vampires obey the rules and keeping peace between the vamps and the lycanthropes.  She is 500 years old and is the oldest vampire in the Americas.  What sets Mira apart from all the others is not only her age, but her ability to start a fire with her mind.  As long as she can see someone, or an item for that matter, she has the ability to incinerate it.  Mira is also one of the few nightwalkers to win her freedom from an ancient.  Her fragile world is ripped asunder when a hunter named Dannus enters her territory killing vampires, and bringing the news that the Naturi are back.  

Having once been captured and tortured by the Naturi, Mira suffers from PTSD.  It manifests in things like night terrors.  I think that this is key, because far too often in urban fantasy, characters suffer absolutely traumatic events and then walk away as though the event itself was as harmless as taking a nap.  Drake does an excellent job of making the reader feel Mira's pain and her fear.  There is no rising above to conquer the past, it is simply something that Mira must negotiate throughout the story.

Review: Generation Dead by Dan Waters

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters was recommended to us by one of our readers, and after enduring this book, I have no idea what this person was thinking.  As you may have guessed by the title, Generation Dead is a zombie story.  In the movies the zombie is usually the antagonist, who spends most of its time trying to eat living humans; however, in Generation Dead, the zombies are trying to integrate into society.  At this point the only zombies are teenagers, who come back after dying.  Science cannot explain why they come back to life or why some of them are more animated than others.

As you might expect, there are some who are happy to have their loved one back and others who quickly abandon them out of fear.  Preachers are actively saying that the dead are a sign of the coming apocalypse based in the idea that zombies are unholy.  Because zombies have been declared dead they have no rights and this means that killing them is not a crime, nor is discriminating against them in many forms.  

This is a book primarily about discrimination and prejudice. I don’t think it’s especially a love story (though there are elements of that) or even a YA school story - this is about discrimination, how people deal with bigotry, how bigotry affects people and the different forms of bigotry.

I’ve said before that the whole “fantastic” prejudice theme is overdone - and it is. But I’m not going to slam a book for that because I also think it can be a decent way to explore prejudice if it is done right.

Sadly, I don’t think this book did that.

It touched on many issues but didn’t really explore them. It’s also a book about prejudice told entirely through the eyes of people who don’t experience the prejudice - and oh boy have we seen them before. But it also covers a lot of issues very shallowly

It touches on reclaiming slurs - but encourages the living (i.e. people who aren’t zombies) to do it as well - and the people urging the reclaiming are also not zombies. It talks about using slurs not mattering without the negative intent behind them (yay! Magic intent!) and how it wouldn’t matter if friends used them (a note to my friends: Do. Not - not unless you wish me to apply a large, wet fish to the head, repeatedly). Their friends make frequent tasteless jokes that are supposed to be completely ok - and feel its perfectly ok to ask them what should be very personal questions

We poke at how the living guy selling merchandise for zombie rights and earning lots of money off it is a little skeevy - but never outright call him out as the arsehole he is

We touch on the nature of being a more societally acceptable member of a marginalised group - and even how that’s not easy because privilege people expect you to conform to stereotype and how not doing so can make people aggressive - but completely miss the internal policing and shaming and rule following the come with “aiming to please”. We even touch on using privileged people to be spokespeople because more listen to them - but never cover how silencing this is, especially since the story is told through the eyes of the living, again.

But more than any of this, there’s a great big elephant in the room crapping on the carpet - Waters uses this premise to compare zombies to historically marginalized people in a manner than can only be called an appropriation lalapoloza.

Merry Christmas

 

Hello everyone, Paul and I just wanted to take this time to wish everyone a happy holiday.  May the booze pour freely and your turkey not be dry. May no one pass out drunk in the mash potatoes, and may nothing end up on fire.  Have a happy holiday season everyone.

Paul & Renee

Being Human U.K. Season Two, Episode One: Cure and Contagion

 

George and Mitchell are at a bar talking.  It seems that Nina is withdrawing from him, even though she has moved in.  Mitchell tells George that he has to have compassion for Nina, because not only did she find out that he is a werewolf, she has to deal with the fact that she watched him kill someone. Frustrated, George leaves the bar and follows the sound of crying, which leads him to a woman in the alley.  It turns out that this was a ruse to draw him out on his own, and he is taunted by a male vampire. A fight ensues, and Mitchell breaks it up, as the two vampires run away.  

Back at the house, Nina asks Annie about George's condition. Nina pulls back her sleeve and shows Annie her scar.  Annie tries to assure Nina that she is fine, because George had not completely changed when he scratched her. 

Back in the alley, George tells Mitchell that he has been attacked three times since Herrick's death.  They decide to split up, and George follows the woman, while Mitchell goes after the man. The woman steps out of the shadows and says, "with a lot of vampires it's about the blood and the world domination, but me and Ivan, it's just about the tourism." The male vampire, accosts Mitchell easily and says to him, "it's true then you are clean".  When Mitchell asks how long he has been back, Ivan tells him that they have been back a couple of weeks and that Daisy is visiting family. It seems that Ivan felt compelled to attack George because he killed Herrick, though as Mitchell points out, he has never been a Herrick loyalist. Ivan tells him that anyone who wants to make a name for themselves is going to go after George. 

In another part of the garage, Daisy gets closer to George, and asks him what it was like to kill Herrick and at first he says he does not remember, but when pushed again he says it was cold.  Daisy moves even closer and kisses George. 

Back at the house, Nina tells Annie that she has been having nightmares of turning into an animal, and killing people.  Apparently, the nightmares have gotten so bad that she is afraid to go to sleep.  She says it's all that she can think about, and that she wants to scream and pull her hair out in clumps.  When Annie asks what Nina plans, Nina says that she is planning to use the room where George scratched her.  Annie promises her that she is going to be fine, and promises to go with her, because the full moon is tomorrow night.

Back at the garage, Ivan tells Mitchell that things are going to fall apart because there is a power vacuum now that Herrick is gone.  Mitchell then rises to his feet and says, "You tell everyone you meet, that an attack on him, is an attack on me and tell them to hide -- we go back to the shadows where we were before.  The revolution has been cancelled."  In another part of the garage, George and Daisy continue to make out until Ivan calls out Daisy, and announces they are leaving. As Daisy is walking away, she tells George that they are staying at the Travelodge and that he should find her.  George, Mitchell, Daisy and Ivan all meet up and Ivan tells George that they are a long way from through.  When Mitchell asks George what happened between him and Daisy, George lies and says that she attacked him and he fought her off.  Mitchell responds, "yeah, well you got lipstick on your mouth."

The next morning back at the house, Nina is sitting on George's bed when he walks in wrapped in a towel from the shower.  She stands up and tries to move around him and he blocks her path saying, "you are very pretty."  She tries to avoid him again by saying that he just had a shower, but he persists.  She tells him, that "it's a lot to take in, werewolves, vampires and ghosts," and George asks, why she is still here. "You've forgotten what it's like discovering this world. It's not exciting it's frightening. You are the only constant I have left, even if you are part of it.  I need you to seem me through this", Nina says. George gets up in frustration.

Downstairs, George complains that Annie is dunking biscuits into her tea and she tells him it's like occupational therapy.  Nina grabs her coat and kisses George before she walks out. Annie hands George tea and Mitchell coffee and she tells them she has applied for a job at a local pub.  Mitchell says that Annie can't get a job because she is not solid she is squishy.  Annie persists and walks out of the room.  George says that it is wonderful that Annie is moving on and Mitchell responds, "Oh, you're right, a disembodied dead woman is getting a job in the service industry, what could possibly go wrong with that?" George tells Mitchell that he is only upset because he does not have a purpose. He doesn't have a girlfriend, his enemy is dead, and even the bloodlust, which has been a problem for years is gone. George tells him, "You're like a piece of deadly furniture and I guess it must be disconcerting to see that purpose in other people when you don't have one yourself."

Review: Monster Hunter Vedetta by Larry Correia, Book 2 of the Monster Hunter Nation series

Owen Pitt continues in his job as a Monster Hunter. Hired to go round the world hunting down monsters of all kinds – from oni to chupacabra, from zombies to werewolves. It’s a very dirty job, but it pays well.

Unfortunately, in his last adventure there was a problem. Due to a large number of truly epic events, Owen was indirectly responsible for having a nuclear weapon drop into a very bad place and hit an Elder God. The Elder God is Not Pleased and blames Owen.

And so Owen finds himself being hunted by an obscenely powerful cult – a cult made up of many normal humans, but also no small numbers of monsters including shoggoth, oni, zombies, vampires and Mr. Trash Bags, his fiancee’s imaginary friend. A cult lead by a Necromancer of incredible power who is seeking to literally conquer the world with his army and his magic. And first and foremost to do that he needs to throw Owen through to the Elder God to curry some favour. He’s deadly, ruthless, lethal – and willing to go after Owen’s family to get the job done.

Of course, on such an epic scale, Monster Hunter International can’t be expected to act alone. The Federal government’s Monster Control Bureau is very much present and doing whatever it can to destroy this cult – and if that means using Owen as bait, they will. If that means sacrificing Owen’s family – well they’re happy to do that as well. Owen, less so.

And if things weren’t complicated enough, there’s a spy in Monster Hunter International – and the Necromancer himself has old ties with the organisation. Who do they trust and who do they blame? 

Review: Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost, Book 4 of the Night Huntress Series

Cat is all settling down for a relatively quiet life. Having defeated the attack on their line and Bones now firmly ensconced as the co-ruler of the line with Mancheres, it’s time for a holiday. But, naturally, nothing is that simple.

There is a powerful vampire out there who has his eyes on Cat. Gregor is ancient, more powerful than Bones and is known as the Dreamsnatcher – and for good reason. With the power to invade people’s minds while they sleep and even kidnap them over vast distances, he’s a terrifying enemy.

Cat has to go on the run – a flight that literally takes her around the world, but always in secrecy. Scarcely being able to sleep safely, she has to travel in ignorance of where she is – not even knowing the continent she’s on, for fear of Gregor plucking the information from her brain. In endless frustration, she has to leave her rescue in Bone’s hands, ignorant of his plans.

Worse, as they flee they learn that Cat has a history with Gregor – a long and intimate history that has been erased from her mind. Both Bones and she have to worry about what happened in that time – and what Cat really felt for Gregor. All the while with Cat’s frustration over Bones’ plans and her acting in the dark to try and help him drive a wedge between them.

And if that weren’t enough, the ghouls are worried. If she is this powerful as a half-vampire, what would happen if she were raised as ghoul rather than a vampire? Would she have the powers of both? The answers are worrying people and making them easy recruits for Gregor

 

Last book I felt the series had really picked up. We had tension, action, a lot of lovely world building, an epic enemy and a focus on some powerful, character driven plot.

Which made this book rather disappointing.

Review of Sophia By D.B. Reynolds Book 4 in the Vampires in America Series

As always, in order to be fair to D.B. Reynolds, I am going to declare up front that I am not a fan of paranormal romance.  As far as Sophia goes, I do think it is the best book in the series that I have read to date.

Sophia get a summons from her vampire lord to return to Vancouver and upon arrival she learns that not only he missing but several of her his vampires are dead.  The only clue as to what is going on, is a letter that he left to her with instructions to see out Lord Raphael.  Once Sophia arrives in Seattle, she learns that several more vampires are dead and one human mate was savagely raped.  That is not the only surprise that awaits her, because investigating the murdered vampires, along with Cyn, and Raphael is Colin a former navy seal, whom Sophia has unresolved history with.

What I liked about this romance is that for once it wasn't a case of girl meets boy, some woo woo is interjected and then zmog, instant I lurves you forever. I think that we can all agree that, that approach to writing romance is old and tired.  The other flip in this, is of course the fact that for once, the female in the relationship in question is the vampire, and the human is male. This led to a lot less paternalism in this relationship, because Colin was forced to confront the fact that despite Sophia's appearance, she most certainly is not a wilting little flower.

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins Book 3 of the Hunger Games

Katniss has been rescued by the rebels and she is on her way to the now infamous District 13.  She has arrived with several other winners of the games, but unfortunately because they were separated, Peeta has been left behind. Katniss learns that her role in the rebellion is to be the Mockingjay - the symbol of the rebellion.  She is initially reluctant to take on this role until she is offered the opportunity to kill President Snow.

Though her heart is willing, they quickly realise that Katniss is not good at creating canned propaganda for the masses, and so she is forced to go to the front to take live action shots.  Once there, she visits a hospital containing non combatants and learns first hand that the people do in fact see her as a hero.  They strain to touch her, or even just catch a glimpse of her as she makes her rounds.

Through it all, Katniss must figure out whether or not she is destined to be with Gale, her childhood friend, who has come to take on the attitude that to win a revolution, one must think like the enemy, or Peeta, who has had his memories of her stripped and now believes that she is an enemy agent.  If that were not enough Coin, the leader of District 13 does not feel that she has Katniss’ support and has determined that Katniss has served her purpose and can now be eliminated.

The overriding theme in this book is the cost of a revolution.  There can be no doubt that the conditions under the capitol rule were absolutely atrocious; however, in their desire to over throw the capitol, few gave active thought to the kind of government that  would replace capitol rule. This is something we see time and again with revolution and also something that is so rarely examined. How many books or films end with the revolution winning, as if that’s the end of the story? What comes next? How does it happen? A peaceful, just government doesn’t just happen and revolution alone doesn’t guarantee that the new regime will be any more palatable than the old. It’s extremely rare and very encouraging to see this portrayed here - when there are countless examples in our own history of revolutions that replaced the old regime with one that was nearly as bad - and sometimes worse. In this book, we perfectly saw this example - a power hunger revolutionary leader using whatever means necessary to claim power and, in the end, she was indistinguishable from the regime she was replacing.

This descent was sealed by President Coin pushing for one last Hunger Games - only this time it would be the Capital’s children being murdered. The oppression is the same, only the victims were different - here’s the new boss, same as the old boss.

If the survivors of the destruction of District 12 had paid attention they would have seen that the restrictions in place in District 13 mirrored in many ways the same authoritarianism of the capitol.  The leadership was quick to torture people from the capitol and was so strict they issued punishments for daring to leave the cafeteria with unfinished food.  Each person was issued a scheduled which was imprinted on the arm on a daily basis that they were expected to follow. The fact that failure to follow routine was punished with physical pain and that their lives were every bit as regimented under the rule of Coin, should have screamed a warning to the rebels.

This is why one must consider the cost of winning and the deep flaw of the “ends justify the means” thinking. Gale was more than willing to take on the tactics of the capitol no matter who, or how many lost their lives. This can clearly be seen in the liberation of District 2.  While District 2 was definitely favoured by the capitol, the fact that they still were not free was quickly forgotten when the goal became the elimination of the Capitol’s source of weapons. By any means necessary at times has a place in war, but unless one is cognizant of the fact that this approach leaves little separation between the forces of oppression and the so-called freedom fighters, there is a substantial risk of becoming what you despise. In the approach to the liberation of District 2, Gale did not see human beings and that is exactly the way that the capitol viewed residents of the districts.  It is Katniss who sees the horror of his proposal and she realises that something in him has been broken. If we were left in any doubt about the growing similarity of the rebels and the Capitol, it was shown when Katniss didn’t know who it was who set the bombs that killed the children. The worst tactics of the rebels and the worst tactics of the oppressor had become indistinguishable.

Wednesday Reboot: The Prophecy

 

Did you ever notice in the Bible how whenever God wanted to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? Your whole existence praising your God, but with one wing dipped in blood.  Would you ever really want to see an angel? 

The Prophecy was released in 1995 and stars Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas and Virginia Madsen. We are all aware of the original war in heaven where the angels rebelled, and God cast Lucifer our leaving him to rule over heaven.  The Prophecy posits that this was not the last war in heaven.  It suggests that another war has been raging for centuries, because the angels are jealous that God has elevated man over them by bestowing a soul upon humanity.

The movie begins with Thomas Dagget standing in line to take his priesthood vows.  As he lowers his body to the ground to ask for the strength and forgiveness of God, he is overwhelmed with a vision of angels covered in blood, screaming in pain, in the midst of a battle.  We learn that unlike many, Thomas has lost his faith because heaven showed him to much.  Years later he has become a cop.

The war is at a stalemate and the archangel Gabriel is searching for the soul of a man who was a general in life, guilty of heinous war crimes in Korea.  In this search he is willing to stop at nothing.  Being an archangel is impossible to kill and possess superhuman strength.  This makes him a formidable opponent.

Before Gabriel can possess the soul of Colonel Hawthorne, it is removed and placed into a young Native American girl named Sophia.  All that stands between Sophia and Gabriel is Thomas Dagget and her teacher Katherine.  To protect her they must even face Lucifer himself played by Viggo Mortensen. 

Review of Darker Angels, Book 2 in the Black Sun's Daughter Series By M.L.N. Hanover

Once again Jayné (every time I read that name it got my nerves) Aubrey, Ex and Chogyi Jake are in the thick of it again. When we left the foursome, they were busy doing a tour of not-gay uncle Eric's various homes, attempting to create a wiki on the riders.  Though they are all exhausted, Jayné keeps pushing them forward, and this culminates in her acceptance of a mission in New Orleans.  The minute I read New Orleans I knew that this books was going to be all about Voodoo.

After Hurricane Katrina it is impossible to write a story without talking about the horror of natural disaster and Hanover dealt with the issue in a powerful manner.   Though it has been years, the city has not been rebuilt and we are given vivid images of ruined homes and the people who fell through the cracks.  I appreciated the fact that Hanover made sure to point out that it took money to leave the city and that those without were forced to stay behind.  It is not often acknowledged in the media, but class played a huge role in who lived and who died.

Once in New Orleans, the scooby gang, (yeah that's what I am calling them) meet up with former FBI agent,  Karen Black who wants help freeing a young girl from a loa who has take possession of her body. Thus begins the focus on a specific kind of rider - the loa. I really do wish that urban fantasy authors would step away from the association of people of colour with Voodoo.  It has been done to death and at this point has become so one dimensional that it is hard to retain interest.

We learn that there are various forms of loa and that they have a functioning society and rule separate from that of humans. In some cases loa are not the parasitic creatures that Jayné and the scoobies have always believed.  Loa and humans can work in mutuality with the person that they are riding and in the case of battle, Jayné comes to term with the idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Lost Girl, Season 2, Episode 13 Barometz. Trick. Pressure

Lauren is heading off on a road trip with Nadia and, naturally, Bo is rather angsty about it. Bo also learns that *gasp* the Ash is manipulative and cunning and has used her rescuing of Nadia to rebind Lauren to him! Upon my word, who could possibly have guessed that the Ash had an ulterior motive! And Bo is shocked that her trust has been so abused! And she can’t even figure out how he did it! Bo, you’re not smart enough to play fae politics

Bo goes to rant with Trick, but Trick actually has intelligent things to talk about – and lo, he actually wants to check out the meta-plot! Good gods, someone remembered the terrible fate stalking them! He wants to tell the future to see what disaster is looming. But to do that he needs a magical ring. Sadly, he’s already paid someone to steal his mystic bling – a shifter named Taeg who has gone and got greedy. He wants Bo to negotiate him down using her succubus woo-woo (does anyone remember she has succubus woo-woo? Yes she does, I know she hasn’t used them in a while)

Meanwhile we see a lady get an old fashioned and most well applauded divorce and then she turns into the guy she smacked – this would be Taeg. And when Bo meets him, he turns into her. Ok forgive me for the cattiness but Anna Silk isn’t really the actor to pull these body switch scenes off (no, really, it’s not great). Can we have Dyson playing Kenzi again instead? That was fun!

Taeg has his own plan – fake being Bo to rob Trick blind, but he gets succubused and Bo gets the ring anyway and he gets his *sigh* gold bricks. For gods’ sake the word is “INGOT”. Metal comes in ingots. Not bricks.

Trick goes to see an old girlfriend (and gives us some mental images that are going to stick) Wai Lin, a fae who has the power to acquire truth. She’s a herbalist who has another element of the seeing the future ritual. But her price is 4 freely given answers in return. During which we learn how Trick’s wife died, that he took skulls on holiday and Hale learns that Trick was the Blood King.

But before we leave Wai Lin extracts the truth from Dyson – he cannot love Ciara. Yay, relationship angst. Trick does his ritual, Bo tries to go after Ash – Trick says no, but Bo, being Bo, agrees in the “I can’t act to save my life so am clearly lying” kind of way and runs off with some books/scrolls. Oh Bo, something foolish is going to happen. Because Dyson and Hale really need to be worried about this while helping Trick in a ritual that could kill him, right?

Bo manages to get past the Ash’s defences using a lighter. No, really. Yes, I didn’t believe it either. She then breaks into his secret secure chest – using a rock. Yes, the Ash’s security can be compromised using a light and a rock. And she finds a stash of heads! And the Ash! And he’s pissed so decides to arm her so they can have a proper duel (really? Someone breaks in planning to kill you so you give her a weapon because she’s been too damn foolish to bring her own).  Oh and some sex-shaming. Sex-shaming a succubus, really? Bo suddenly learns fighting skills – apparently. This being the woman who was defeated by a human dominatrix carrying a short knife? Make up your mind! Either Bo can fight or she can’t.

It’s a pretty cool fight though. Even with Ash trying to convince her she’s Dark Fae really, it’s pretty decently done. Thankfully the banter part of the fight has Bo reveal to the Ash that she has been speaking to the Nain Rouge (about damn time) so they can finally talk.

Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins Book 2 of the Hunger Games

Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy. When we last left Katniss, the protagonist, she had been declared the winner of The Hunger Games along with Peeta, the other contestant of district 12. This win came at a great personal cost to her and was further complicated by the fact that on the return trip, she had to tell Peeta that she was unsure of her feelings for him.

Upon returning to district 12, Katniss settles into her new life. For the first time in her life she has the money not to have to worry about feeding her family; however, life in district 12 remains the same for everyone else. Her best friend Gale, now has to work 12 hours a day in the mines and so fills her time hunting for food to feed his family. For all that she gained being declared a winner, Katniss lost the closeness with Gale, a relationship that meant the world to her for five years. It turns out that having watched all of those tender kisses in the arena, Gale decided to declare his feelings for her with a kiss.

Katniss’ life quickly becomes even more complicated when she is visited by President Snow before starting on the victory tour with Peeta. He tells her that she become a symbol throughout the country thanks to her treatment of Rue and the fact that she threatened to commit suicide rather than engage in a battle to the death with Peeta. Snow tells her that the unity of the country is at stake, and on this tour she must convince the populace that her actions stemmed from being a silly girl caught up in love, rather than a desire to flout the power of the government.

For Katniss, it feels as though the very fate of Panem and the people that she loves rests upon her shoulders. She was only trying to survive and never meant to become a symbol to anyone. On the tour Peeta and Katniss agree to be friends and understand that for better or worse they are in this together. When they arrive at District 11 the home of Rue, Katniss thanks them for their gift and a man responds by whistling the very same tune that Rue whistled during the game. The crowd follows by saluting Katniss with the same salute she gave Rue before leaving her dead body. The government responds by shooting the man dead in front of Peeta and Katniss. As the violence increases Peeta proposes to Katniss in the hopes of having people believe the cover story of a couple in love but it is all for naught.

When Katniss returns to district 12 she meets two women who have escaped their district because of the violence due to open rebellion. They tell her that they are headed to District 13. Katiss is shocked because the government claims to have destroyed that district but the women claim that it is ruse and that in actuality the government reached a statement with District 13 because of their possession of nuclear weapons. Katniss begins to think of taking those she loves and escaping before things can get out of hand. Both Gale and Peeta agree to go with her but before she can actually formulate a plan to leave the government announces the quarter quell - a Hunger Game in which all former victors must participate in a special lottery and once again enter the ring.

There were many of the same themes present in Catching the Fire as there were in The Hunger Games. Many of the themes of oppression and classism are similar to what we saw in book 1 - and don’t really need repeating exactly but they are extremely well done and continue to be writ large.

But one of the new themes we started to see was hopelessness and inevitability. Especially in relation to oppression. Here Katniss has won the game. She is supposed to be as privileged as it is possible for a member of the districts to be. for the first time she doesn’t have to struggle to eat, for the first time she doesn’t have to fight to survive. She knows her sister is as safe as it’s possible to be and her mother has the resources to run the business she’s always wanted. Yet despite this, she’s still not safe. She has the constant pressure of the President’s threat looming over her, all her stability is an illusions, subject to being revoked on a whim. Her safety was an illusion - and one that inevitably lead her again back to the Games. And not just her, but the other Victors who, themselves, seemed to be the peak of their societies - none of them were safe.

Similar to that, we see the change of control in district 12. The people of district 12 had a comfortable rut - it was hard, people were oppressed and people starved, but compared to district 11 they were relatively comfortable. But that all changes this book with a new, more brutal, more sadistic overseer who enforces the rules brutally. Again, that safety, that comfort they had is illusory. It can be removed at any time and it shows oppressed groups, especially under an authoritarian regime, can never really be safe and can never relax or take their security for granted.

And that safety was universally illusory. While the districts are the most obviously threatened, even Cinna, a respected capital native and the former head of the games were both killed at the whim of President Snow. If there’s one thing this book made clear it is that no-one is safe and in an authoritarian society, conformity is a necessity.

We’re also introduced to a topic that is developed in the next book - the power of a symbol, a symbol of hope. It also shows how dangerous a symbol, an idea is to an authoritarian government - how hard it is to truly quash an idea or symbol. In a way it is reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984 where Newspeak was created to destroy the very language of defiance because so long as people can think it, there’s no way to truly quash it. And so we see here the power of that symbol, of the Mockingjay, inspiring people in all these districts based on nothing more than a handful of berries. And, in turn it shows the measures the authority has to go to to try to oppress it.

Looking at that system, we also see a point that you cannot win in a system that is rigged for you to lose. Katniss won the Hunger Games but still lives with the threat over her life. Gale works 12 hours every day in the mines to feed his family - but still needs hunting to supplement their diet. even doing everything they can, everything they should do, they still can’t win.

And, perhaps most poignant in this series, we are faced with the inevitable truth about revolution - people are going to die. Always. There will be losses and there will be sacrifices and there will be people killed unjustly. Just like the last book, we see more people die and the losses that stain this series continue - there is always a cost.

This series continues to be great books that examine oppression and classism as well as revolution through a very stark and sometimes even painful lens. It’s an extremely powerful and impactful series that is gripping from the very first word.

INTERVIEW with Gail Carriger: Fangs for the Fantasy podcast, episode 46

This week, to our fanpoodling glee, we interviewed Gail Carriger, author of that most wonderful of series, the Parasol Protectorate

We have reviewed her first 4 books – Soulless, Changeless, Blamless and Heartless and fandpoodled them muchly (we’re waiting eagerly for Timeless to be released next February).

So grab a cup of tea and tune in

Merging Names, Merging Faces in Urban Fantasy

Ever since Brangelina society has taken on the most irritating habit of combining names to represent couples.  What does this irritation have to do with urban fantasy you wonder?  Well, this trend has become quite popular in urban fantasy as well.

I give you:

Ian Somerhalder (Damon)

+

Nina Dobrev (Elena)

=

Delena

and

Taylor Lautner (Jacob)

+

Kristen Stewart (Bella)

=

Jabella

And

Nina Dobrev (Elena)

+

Paul Wesley (Stefan)

=

Stelena

And

Review: Kiss of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon Book 4 of the Dark Hunter Series

Wulf is cursed. Despite being an ancient Viking of massive size and incredible fighting prowess, anyone who sees him forgets him within 5 minutes. He can never have a friend and he is a stranger to everyone – even if he sees them every day. The only people exempt from this curse are his fellow Dark Hunters, who he can’t be around, his blood family – of which there’s only one left, his enemies – and one woman. Cassandra.

Except Cassandra is an Apollite. Doomed to die on her 27^th birthday unless she feeds on the souls of humans, becoming a Daimon and the very enemy Wulf fights to destroy. More, Cassandra is the last direct descendent of Apollo and enthused with his life essence. When her line dies, so too does Apollo – and so too does the sun itself. When she dies, everything dies.

And the Daimons are trying to kill her. Not just Daimons but Spathi, ancient warriors pledged to the goddess of destruction, far more deadly than anything the Dark Hunters have faced before.

Wulf has to keep Cassandra alive as their relationship grows deeper and as she becomes pregnant. Then both of them are faced with the harsh truth that, as a 26 year old Apollite, she only has months to live. Faced with this, Wulf gets a far greater insight into the pain the Apollites suffer and how the seemingly awful choice to kill humans so you can live seems so much more tempting when its your own loved one facing the inevitable death.

Reading this book is like watching a fascinating film, but you can’t see the screen because there’s a couple shagging in front of the screen. Great world, great setting, potentially fascinating setting – aaaand lots and lots of pages of bumping and grinding.

The sex isn’t as Ikea as Anita Blake, as dull as Vampire Huntress or as ridiculous as the Black Dagger Brotherhood, but it takes a special prize for the Iridescent Indigo writing. Yes, this prose is so purple that special eye protection may be needed (“He tasted of beer and wild, untamed masculinity!”). And this makes the scenes long, very very long. Extremely horribly long. Also, sorry but I have to quote this line:

“I need to go clean up”

He didn’t release her. “I don’t want you to.”

She cocked her head at him in confusion.

“I like the sight of my seed on you, Cassandra,” he said raggedly in her ear. “My scent on your skin.”

Yes, we have Anita Fug!

It doesn’t help that we have the standard “oh I’ve just seen you and now I can’t stop thinking about your hot, luscious loveliness” that is so very common in this series – I really dislike the trope, it’s kind of lazy and seems to stand in rather than developing an actual relationship.

Review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This series has been recommended to us several times, but to be honest, I was reluctant to read it because it is Sci-Fi and Y.A.  Technically, Fangs for the Fantasy is primarily focused on urban fantasy, and so I used that as my excuse to avoid this series.  After receiving what amounts to the umpteenth recommendation, I finally broke down to read this book, firm in the belief that it cold never live up to all the hype that it has received from the fangs community and the blogosphere.  Well folks, I was wrong.  This book was so amazing that I read it in one sitting, pausing only to eat and go to the bathroom.  It is a rare thing for any novel to captivate me this way, let alone a Y.A. novel.

The novel takes place in a future earth in a country called Panem, which essentially consists of what we would consider to be North America.  Panem is divided into 13 different districts, and a capitol which is ruled by an extremely authoritarian government.  Each year the Capitol, hosts a tournament called The Hunger Games, to punish the districts for an earlier rebellion.  Each district must surrender one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18.  They are placed into a special arena, where they not only must survive the elements, but each other. All contestants are drawn by lottery.

The two contestants chosen from district 12 Primrose Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. When Primrose is chosen, her sister Katniss cannot bear the idea of Primrose in the games, and she volunteers to go in her stead.  Katniss has been the main provider for her mother and her sister since her father's death in the mines.  Each year she puts more than one entry into The Hunger Games lottery, because it allows her family the necessary grain that they need to survive the year.  She supplements their food by hunting illegally, and trading the meat that her family does not consume for the basic necessities of life.  Peeta is the bakers son, and though he has never really truly known hunger, he has never known prosperity.  Life in district 12 is hard, and it is not uncommon for people to die of hunger, accidents in the mine, or disease.  Peeta is brought to Katniss' attention one day when he risks a beating to give her two loaves of bread to prevent her from starving.  Though she is grateful, she can never let go of the feeling of owing him.