Top 5 Sundays #42 - Favorite Books Featuring Travel in Some Way!

Sometimes you just need to get away from it all. Unfortunately, when you're a character in a book - especially a book where magic is the norm and fangs commonplace - chances are good that getting away from it all is just going to land you in a whole different kind of trouble and mayhem.

So, without further ado, I present this week's Top 5 - my favourite books featuring travel in some way!

#5 - Michelle Rowen's Blood Bath & Beyond

After having spent all five books of the original series in Toronto, vampire fledgling Sarah Dearly and her boyfriend Thierry kick off the start of their new mystery spin-off series (or would this be a sequel series? O_o) by taking this couple on the road and relocating to the dazzling city life of Las Vegas where, naturally, their bad luck follows.

#4 - Jennifer Estep's By a Thread

After tying up the first major arc of the series, Gin decides to do what every heroine dreams of doing and heads to the seaside for a well-deserved vacation with her boyfriend, sister, and stepbrother. Lucky for Gin, she ends up in a town where her sister's best friend is dating her ex and a power-crazy vampire is up to no good. Definitely one of those instances of good intentions going horribly off track.

#3 -  Ilona Andews' Magic Rises

Yes, this book is still a month and then some away from release but, people, let's think about this for a moment: after five books of Kate and Curran staying within the city limits of a magic-eaten Atlanta, this book will have them setting sail and crossing the ocean to Europe. Are you thinking about it? Yup. Exactly. Need more be said?

#2 - Nalini Singh's Archangel's Kiss

So, while Elena and Raphael are based in New York City, they're both no strangers to travel. This book, however, is the first time they head off somewhere within the timeline of the main story. It starts off in the tropic-like Refuge of the angels - where Elena's period of rest and healing is marred by a would-be assassin stalking the halls - and then takes a trip to the Forbidden City - where you get zombie servants and, say it with me now, a would-be assassin stalking the halls.

#1 - Kresley Cole's A Hunger Like No Other

It begins with Emmaline being taken hostage of a half-crazed Lachlain who has only just gotten free from two centuries of torture. A forced road trip to Scotland ensues, with the narrative taking side-trips to New Orleans every now and then to check in with Emmaline's family, and, after a teleport and some epic battle scenes in Eastern Europe and a near-death experience and a marriage in New Orleans, a Scottish happily ever after ties everything up. Talk about your continent jumping...

Top 5 Sundays #41 - Best Book Sidekicks!

Ah, sidekicks. They aren't the ones to save the day or get the girl and if a villain targets them it's more because the villain's looking for an indirect strike against the hero than as a proactive move against a real threat. Yup, it's a hard role, that of the sidekick, but also more important than you'd think. After all, When you're not being held captive or threatened, you're supporting the hero (or heroes) in a whole slew of ways, including emotionally, physically, and, yup, even comically. Not everyone can be a sidekick, it takes a special kind of person, one with the sort of personality that can shine through to the bright side even when tied to a chair with a sword blade to their throat.

Which brings us to this week's Top 5 Best Book Sidekicks!

#5 - Finn Lane from The Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep

He's not just Gin's brother, he's her source for all the gossip and cold hard facts she could ever hope for on her targets, a crack shot, and better-than-reliable back-up. Add to that the fact that Finn well and truly understands his sister, that he supports her unconditionally yet isn't afraid to call her on her BS and, really, what more could a first class assassin ask for?

#4 - Ilianna and Tao from The Dark Angels series by Keri Arthur

I could tell you about how this trio has a awesome relationship of many forms; they're business partners in a restaurant, they're roommates, they're friends, they're family. I could tell you about how they have complimentary skill sets and a stronger-than-steel bond. But, really, what makes Ilianna and Tao such great sidekicks is their willingness to have Coca Cola at the ready when Risa returns from a hard day of butt kicking.

#3 - Jess, Marc, Tina, Sinclair, Nick, Antonia, Garrett and more from Betsy Taylor, Vampire Queen series by Maryjanice Davidson

In the beginning, it was just Betsy and her best friend Jess. Then she saved Marc from his almost-suicide. And then she fell in love Sinclair who came as a matched set with his majordomo Tina. And then the werewolves found out about her and sent one of their own, Antonia, as a sort of ambassador-cum-babysitter-cum-spy. And  then Antonia fell in love with Garrett, a slowly recovering vamp savage. And then Jess got together with Nick. And on it went until her house had more in common with the Hotel California than 1313 Mockingbird Lane.

#2 - Cookie from Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones

Technically, she's Charlie's assistant. And next door neighbour. And best friend. And cheerleader. And fan club president. And alibi. Okay, so the list goes on a bit long. Putting up with a boss/friend/neighbour/so on who is the Grim Reaper and frequently targeted for death is no easy thing, but Cookie pulls it off superbly.

#1 - Pony from Elfhome series by Wen Spencer

When he first pops up in  the first book, he's just a random elf assigned to guard the newly elfin Tinker. By the book's end, however, he's become so much more, willingly binding himself to Tinker in ways that are still being made clear two books later. He's an awesome blend of big brother, best friend, and sexual tension, all wrapped up in a pretty package with a gooey, golden-hearted centre.

Top 5 Sundays #40 - Favorite Female Movie Characters

Did I miss a week? Yes? No? I don't even know, having been the busiest of busy beavers lately. But, hey, I'm here now and, really, does anything else matter?

...You're right - it does. So how about we get his bad boy on the road?

This week's theme is my Top 5 Favorite Female Movie Characters and, as anyone who knows me can tell you, I have a wealth of resources to draw from so, if it's all the same, I think I'll skip my usual introductory babel and get straight to the good stuff.

So, without further ado, I present my Top 5 Favorite Female Movie Characters!

#5 - Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Belle is my hero and has been since I first saw the movie when I was just three years old. She looks like me with brown hair and brown eyes. She loves to read and, what's more, she loves to talk about what she reads. She a bit of an odd duck who doesn't quite fit in among the townsfolk. And then she goes on to have an adventure in an enchanted castle with talking furniture and an amazing library and saves the Beast from a potentially eternal curse. As Lumiere says, "Don't you see? She's the one! The girl we have been waiting for! She has come to break the spell!"

#4 - Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) from Batman Returns

She starts off a mousey, mild mannered assistant whose boss tosses her out the window when she uncovers records of his dirty dealings. Cue a bunch of cats, some chugged milk, a little smashed neon and a reincarnated leather jacket and - presto! - Catwoman was born. She flirted with Batman, toyed with Penguin, and  messed with her aforementioned murdering boss. To quote Penguin, "You're Beauty and the Beast in one luscious Christmas gift pack"

#3 - Alice from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Alice tries to escape the pressures and monotony of her life by following a rabbit down its hole and into "a place like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say to survive it: You need to be as mad as a hatter." It's a place of impossible things and, in due course, Alice is shrunk, stretched, scratched and stuffed into a teapot! Fast forward, and she's told she needs to be the champion and slay the Jabberwocky. What I love most? Not once does Alice break down in tears or bemoan her fate or close her eyes and wish for home. Sure, she thinks it's all a dream at first and, okay, she balks at first but ultimately she finds her muchness and saves the day. "I try to believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Count them, Alice," she says, "One, there are drinks that make you shrink. Two, there are foods that make you grow. Three, animals can talk. Four, cats can disappear. Five, there is a place called Underland. Six, I can slay the Jabberwocky."

#2 - Evelyn O'Connell from The Mummy and The Mummy Returns

She starts off something of an uber-geek, showing up the Cambridge scholars who'd refused to admit a woman into their midst by deciphering the location of the lost Book of the Dead. She sets off to put together her own little expedition team to head out and retrieve it and, somewhere between there and becoming a best-selling adventure writer, she encounters mummies, curses, gods, magic and past lives and becomes quite the bad ass thank you very much. And that's in addition to being a wife, mother, and sister to some very taxing males. In her own words, "I-I may not be an explorer, or-or an adventurer, or-or a treasure seeker, or a gunfighter, Mr. O'Connell, but I am proud of what I am...I...am a librarian..."

#1 - The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz and Oz, the Great and Powerful

The Wicked Witch gets a raw deal. I mean, heck, in The Wizard of Oz she shows up in Munchkinland to find the Munchkins celebrating the fact a house had just fallen out of the sky and crushed her sister to death. When she then asks to have the only remaining piece of her sister - her shoes - she gets told nope, sorry, they clearly must be powerful little beauties for you to want them so badly so we'll just keep them. And if you've seen Oz, the Great and Powerful you know her lot hasn't improved much. To say nothing of Wicked. Got to love a character that so dynamic, managing to stir feelings of pity while still leaving no doubt to her evilness. And she only gets better with time!

Top 5 Sundays #39 - Favourite Female Book Characters

The heroes makes us swoon, no question, but more often than not it's the heroine who gives the story its voice, who acts as our eyes and ears within a story, who we most relate with. Her sarcasm, humour, seriousness, and opinions set the tone for the story and can be the difference between a reader connecting with a book and get stuck on the outside. And, of course, we all have our favourites.

So, without further adieu, I present this week's Top 5 - my favourite female book characters.

#5 - Risa Jones (of Keri Arthur's Dark Angels series)

She's snarky, she's powerful, she's loyal, she's kickass, she's brave, she's unbelievably complicated and the best part of all? She's addicted to Coca Cola. She drinks it like other people drink coffee and, OMG, she has her friends trained to pour her glasses of coke following any emotional upheaval or  bad guy skirmish. That alone is an incredible feat - I can barely train mine to keep an emergency bottle in their fridge, should I drop by. That's a heroine anyone can get behind!

#4 - MacKayla Lane (of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series)

She starts off a bubbly, sun-loving, fun-loving blonde and over the course of the book she's...well, she's like a blade being forged in fired; she goes through hell, literally in several instances, and comes out the stronger for it. She's not as bubbly at series end - suffice to say the darkness has rubbed off her more than a bit - but she's still sun-loving and fun-loving and, hey, even blonde. She's a real inspiration on several levels.

#3 - Jane True (of Nicole Peeler's Jane True series)

From the beginning, Jane has been a woman who has been confident about her own identity. Sure, she has an intricate support system and she may not believe herself capable of saving the world, but when it comes to who she is - and what she is - Jane is a character who makes no apologies and simply is as she is, take her or leave her. I took her. She's worth it.

#2 - Kate Daniels (of Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series)

She's the daughter of a man so powerful that he's been worshiped as a god more than once over the centuries. She's the spouse of a man who can take the form of a prehistoric lion and who leads a pack of almost two thousand shapeshifters. She's sent gods running with their tail between their legs, or at least those gods she let live. She's got buckets of attitude, loads of spunk, and enough power to cow the powerful...and somehow still ends up in situations you would've have thought toddlers knew to avoid. Epic.

#1 - Charley Davidson (of Darynda Jones' Charley Davidson series)

She's the Grim Reaper - a lost soul magnet and portal to Heaven. Every demon this side of Hell wants to get their hands on her, every other ghost wants her help in some way or another, and her love life? Well, her love interest in the son of Satan. Need more be said? What I love most about her though is her sense of humour and the healthy helping of sarcasm that comes along with it. Charley, simply put, is the most-like-me character I've ever read...super powers aside.

Top 5 Sundays #38 - Favourite Romance Novels!

Ah, romance. The stories that tell you about two souls battling the odds, overcoming obstacles, defeating prejudices, and ending up living happily ever after. Eventually. Sometimes we're talking vampires, sometimes werewolves, sometimes fae or witches or demons or humans or a combination thereof. Sometimes it's set in the past, sometimes the future, sometimes the present, sometimes whole other worlds. No matter what though, these are stories meant to pull at your heart and illustrate just how enduring love can be, despite the difficulties it faces.

#5 - Seducing the Vampire by Michele Hauf

This book has a couple who must overcome social status (she's nobility, he's illegitimate), prejudice (she's a pure blooded vampire, he's a vamp/werewolf halfbreed), a scorned lover (his brother and a pure blooded noble to boot) and, oh yes, her death (which is actually an immobilization spell that leaves her trapped in a glass coffin underground in Paris' catacombs...needless to say she wakes up insane two hundred years later).

#4 - Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

A retelling of Cinderella, this story has a prince in an arranged marriage meeting his cousin's finacee who's actually a woman impersonating her ill sister at her wicked stepmother's insistence. Both these characters have determination and wit playing in their favour, but Kate's deception and Gabriel's pride keep getting in their way and tripping them up right to the end.

“Give me one last time,” he begged. “Please, please. I beg you.”

“I—” She stopped and started again. “I’m afraid, Gabriel. You’ll break my heart.”

“Mine is already broken.” 

#3 -  Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

“With the world securely in order, Dain was able to devote the leisurely bath time to editing his mental dictionary. He removed his wife from the general category labeled "Females" and gave her a section of her own. He made a note that she didn't find him revolting, and proposed several explanations: (a) bad eyesight and faulty hearing, (b)a defect in a portion of her otherwise sound intellect, (c) an inherited Trent eccentricity, or (d) an act of God. Since the Almighty had not done him a single act of kindness in at least twenty-five years, Dain thought it was about bloody time, but he thanked his Heavenly Father all the same, and promised to be as good as he was capable of being.”

Enough said.

#2 - And One Last Thing ... by Molly Harper

The main character, Lacey, notifies her cheating husband that she plans to divorce him in an email. An email that takes the form of his monthly business newsletter. Which she forwards to all his clients and business associates. It's glorious. And disasterous. But mostly glorious. When Lacey then flees the town scorn by running away to the family cabin, she meets Monroe, former cop turned successful writer and gets to work on some writing of her own. In true Harper style, this book is a through-through romantic comedy that would do the likes of Pretty Woman and 27 Dresses
and their ilk proud.




#1 - A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

After spending centuries chained to wall and being tortured daily by flames as a prisoner of vampires,  Lachlain MacRieve rips off his own leg (don't worry - it grows back) in order to reach his destined and long-awaited mate who just happens to be a half-vampire. Their relationship goes downhill from there but somehow manages to come around to a happily ever after. It's an amazing story of overcoming the obstacles and defeating the odds to find your happiness. What's not to love about that?

Top 5 Sundays #37 - Sexiest TV Characters!

When it comes to sexy, TV has more than enough options to go around, regardless of your personal tastes and opinions on the matter. Blond, ginger, browm? Check, check, check. Brains, brawn, magic? Check, check, check. Pick your poison and TV has someone on some show on some network that will suit - the tricky part is finding him or her. After all, there are a lot of shows and a lot of networks out there to peruse and who know when you'll come across that special someone?

So, without further ado, I present Calliope's Domain's Top 5 Sexiest TV Characters!

#5 - The Tenth Doctor - David Tennant (Doctor Who, BBC)

Allow me to sum him up with two quotes from the series:

"See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I - I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy?  [he winks at Rose] Am I an old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor, a liar, a nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob." 

- The Christmas Invasion (Season 2, Episode 1)

"He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun...He's ancient and forever. He burns at the centre of time and can see the turn of the universe...and... he's wonderful." 

- The Family of Blood (Season 3, Episode 9)

#4 - Steve McGarrett - Alex O'Loughlin (Hawaii Five-0, CBS)

Steve is the sort of man with a clear concept of right and wrong and, were it not for the fact he was running a governor sanctioned task force, he'd no doubt be considered a vigilante. I mean, heck, he's held suspects over the edge of roofs, tied them to the hood of his car for high-speed pursuits, and dropped them into shark infested waters. And that was just in the first season. Sure, his sanity may be a little questionable, but what's not to love about a guy who's just trying to do the right thing at any cost?

#3 - Damon Salvatore - Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries, The CW)

For over a century and a half, Damon worked to save the woman he loved from eternal imprisonment only to learn that she had never been imprisoned to begin with. He then falls for his brother's girlfriend, a woman he believes deserves better than him, and sets about securing her happily ever after even if it doesn't include him in any role beyond friendship. For a man cast in the light of villainy, he's got one noble heart inside him.

#2 - Dean Winchester - Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, The CW)

He fights monsters, he conquers evil, he saves the world, and he looks out for his little brother. He drives all over the USA in a '67 Chevy Impala playing at Lone Ranger (well, in the sense he rides in, saves people, and leaves than the lone part - he's partnered with his brother after all). He cops attitude to Satan himself, snaps sarcasm at angels, and stares down heathen gods, all of it with a cheeky grin. What can I say? The man knows how to rock the swagger.

#1 - Oliver Queen/The Hood - Stephen Amell (Arrow, The CW)

There is nothing sexier than a man who knows how to handle a car, how to make an engine purr and how to make all that steel and power take to the roads with a grace and sleekness you'd never expect of a machine. Except, that is, for a man with a bow. Be he Robin Hood or Legolas, there's something about a man who can take a bent stick with taunt string between its ends and turn it into weapon. To say nothing of his ability to aim. Enter Oliver Queen; wealthy playboy by day, avenging archer by night, with a tortured past, a heart of gold, and a tendency to brood. Oh, and did I mention that there hasn't been an episode yet that hasn't featured a shot or two of a shirtless Oliver training? *sigh* Need more be said?

Top 5 Sundays #36 - Series I Plan to Start in 2013!

Books are like the animal kingdom; even as new specimens evolve, there's still so many more already out there just waiting to be discovered. This week's Top 5 post is all about the future - the Top 5  Series I Plan to Start in 2013 - but as we set out to explore my goals here, I just wanted to clarify that new to me doesn't mean new to the world. It's a big, dense book orchard out there, folks, and it's not always the low hanging fruit that peeks interest and curries favour. Did that metaphor makes sense? O_o Oh, well, either way you get the idea. 

#5 - The Novels of  Jane Austen

Alright, so if you want to be technical this isn't really a series. But they are six books written by the same author that share similar (if not the same) settings, themes, and tropes. I just finished Northanger Abbey and am planning on hunting down another target in due course.

#4 - A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin

Do I want to read this series? Do I not? I keep going back and forth on this and quite simply can't decide. On the one hand, I like the television series well enough and if the plot of the book's even half as good (and these things tend to have the book as doubly good), it should be one hell of a read. At the very least, I want to read the first book to know if the rest are worth pursuing. And, hey, also? Wolves.

#3 - The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

So, for the record, it's not always movies and television that sparks my interest in a series but sometimes it does give the little extra push of incentive that takes a series from "Oh, that seems interesting!" to "OMG! Must find! Must find!" It helps that books has the whole "normal girl learns of not-so normal origins and finds herself drawn into conflicts of previously hidden/unknown magical world" plot device working for it.

#2 - Celestial Blues series by Vicki Pettersson

On the one hand, you've got rockabilly girl Kit Craig, an eternally optimistic and peppy reporter, and on the other hand, there's angel-turned-human Grif Shaw, an embittered former private detective whose own unsolved murder is a cold case fifty-years frozen.  And they're working together. Colour me intrigued. Plus some generous soul gifted me with a copy of the first books months ago, so really I've no excuse not to get reading this one.

#1 - Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie

So, um, remember when I said that it's not always movies and television sparking my interest? Well, I want to state for the record that my sudden desire to delve into Agatha Christie has nothing whatsoever to do with that episode of Doctor Who - "The Unicorn and the Wasp" - that featured Agatha Christie and sang her praises. No, not at all, nope. And Murder, She Wrote has nothing to do with my interest in Christie's Miss Marple series. (^_~)

Top 5 Sundays #35 - Fave On-Going TV Series! {Part II}

So, anyone who knows me knows I watch a lot of television. Some people play music in the background, I marathon television shows. Which gave me a lot of options to run through for this week's Top 5 post - my Favourite TV series, Part 2. I mean, it goes without saying that Supernatural is still the reigning champ - especially now that they've canned the Leviathan arc and gone back to focusing on the brothers' relationship and the monsters. But, hey, that's neither here nor there.

Since the last Top 5 post dealing with my favourite television series, the fall season has seen a slew of new releases and I've caught up on some much hyped-about series I hadn't gotten around to yet, although, I admit a preference for those 80s detective shows.

Again, I digress. The point here is that this list was interesting to put together, to say the least, and without anymore of my babbling, I present Calliope's Domain's Top 5 Sundays Fave On-Going TV Series - Part Two!

#5 - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

 Alright, so tiny confession time; my love affair with this show waxes and wanes depending on whether or not Cristina and Owen are together. Their relationship makes the show for me, mostly because Meredith annoys me more often than not and makes me want to scream. I understand her, but understanding really doesn't help. The medical stories are fantastic, don't get me wrong, but I'm a drama vampire and Owen and Cristina bring the drama. And Callie and Arizona, of course. 

#4 - Elementary (CBS)

It's an American take on a modernized Sherlock. He's still British, brilliant, and brash, but now he's in New York City just out of rehab for drug abuse with Dr. Watson a former surgeon turned recovery coach who's taken him on a client. And did I mention Watson is now female and Asian? It's a great new take on an old tale. Best part of all? You get more than three episodes every eighteen months!

#3 - Young Justice (Cartoon Network)

The sidekicks get their turn in the lime light and, unlike with Teen Titans, the mentors are still hanging about to lend a hand and provide guidance and assistance when needed. It only got better in the second season when a five year time jump meant you got Nightwing AND Robin, plus got to see the heroes you'd come to know and love in the first season all grown up. The fact that the plots have only improved since last season is but the icing on the cake. Now if only Cartoon Network would stop putting it on hiatus!

#2 - Doctor Who (BBC)

This is a show about a mad man in a box travelling through all of space and time, saving worlds and galaxies, if not the universe itself, over and over again, with a companion or two in tow to serve as his moral compass. Or, you know, in the words of The Doctor himself,

I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the Constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who is gonna save your lives and all 6 billion people on the planet below.

#1 - Arrow (The CW)

Oliver Queen has just returned to civilization after spending five years marooned on an isolated prison island (or maybe not - who can tell with this guy?). He returns home to Starling City and immediately dons a hood and picks up a bow to avenge the city against a group of the city's rich and powerful whose names appear in a list bequeathed to him by his father. That being said, I'd like you take a moment to look at Stephen Amell. Now imagine him shooting a bow. Or working out sans shirt. Or in a suit. Or...well, heck, just LOOK at him. In my defense, the show also has awesome plot and great story lines...but Stephen Amell doesn't hurt. Not one little bit.

Top 5 Sundays #34 - Favorite Sci-Fi (Space Opera) Books!

So, admittedly, science fiction is not my typical cup of tea. Usually, when I read sci-fi, it tends to be an accident. How do you accidentally read a sci-fi book? Well, let's see. Sometimes I'll pick it up because I've read something else by the author and want to see how her tone differs between genres. Sometimes I'll pick it up thinking it's fantasy and realize midway through that, nope, it was misshelved (...is that a word? If not, it should be.) Sometimes I have no other options readily available. Sometimes there's a movie or book tie-in motivating me. And sometimes the plot and writing are just too good to pass up on. Plus, you know, who can resist aliens from outer space?

Oh, and just to be clear, I consider Sci-Fi to refer to books where a major element of the setting - if not the plot itself - is advanced science, be it in the form of technology, interplanetary associations, or time-jumps into the far future.

So, without further ado, I give you Calliope's Domain's Top 5 Favorite Sci-Fi (Space Opera) Books!

#5 - Doubleblind (Sirantha Jax #3) by Ann Aguirre

This is a book about a girl whose genes allow her to mentally jump ships through hyperspace. She is serving as an ambassador, of sorts, on a diplomatic mission to a planet of giant bugs while dealing with the fact that her PTSD suffering, telepathic boyfriend's recent experiences have cut him off from his emotions and made him dangerous and unpredictable. But, hey, you know, no pressure or anything.

#4 -  Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern #1) by Anne McCaffrey

I first read this book when I was still in elementary school and the dichotemy of main character Lessa fascinated me. She was such an interesting blend of brave heroine and scared little girl. Case and point; when she and her dragon go back a couple hundred years in time, she's most concerned with the fact her mate is going to be upset and shake her something fierce when she returns. And, oh yes, did I mention she totally redefines the role of her gold dragon and saves the day in a way no one could have ever predicted? 

#3 - Touched by an Alien (Kitty Katt #1) by Gini Koch

Honestly, the whole series is awesome beyond words but the first book? That's where the love affair began. I mean, imagine you're a covert agency with aliens and humans working in tandem to rid the world of dangerous mutant-causing parasites and you've been working at it for decades. Then one day this girl walks in and a few days later has not only killed several of the parasites, something you've found all but impossible to do yourselves, but done so using hair spray, boiling water, bass pounding music, and salt water. See? Told you. Awesome.

#2 - Playing with Fire (Tales of an [Extra]ordinary Girl #1) by Gena Showalter

Superheroes work for the government to bring in villains with dangerous powers of their own. How did they get these powers? Well, while most of them volunteered for the government-funded experiments, heroine and narrator Belle Jamison received her ability to control the elements through a syrum dropped into her coffee by a fugitive mad scientist. Add in heaping dollops of humour and romance and presto! You've got perfection!

#1 - Tinker (Elfhome #1) by Wen Spencer

A satellite launched into space twenty years ago had the unforeseen consequence of sending the whole of a futuristic Pittsburgh to another dimension for all but three days of each month, another dimension populated by elves and adjacent to a third dimension filled with demonic oni. The heroine is a plucky little genius who finds herself entangled with the elves and in short order with the oni. It's the price you pay when you're the only genius around capable of building transdimensional gates. Such hardships!

Top 5 Sundays #33 - Top 5 Sci-Fi Series

Alright, boys and girls, I took a break for the holidays but now I'm back and all set with a new Top 5 Sundays post. This week's theme is my Top 5 Sci-Fi series. Now, to be clear here, I take sci-fi to mean those series that involve advanced technology and science-based monsters and phenomenon, not necessarily space...although space certainly wouldn't hurt.

So, without further ado, I present Calliope's Domain's Top 5 Sci-Fi series.

#5 - Stargate SG-1

This show follows one of a dozen or so teams of US military personnel who use a giant eye-like portal generator to transverse and explore the universe. My favourites seasons are the ones with Jack, Carter, Daniel and Teal'c; they have the best team dynamic, in my opinion, and I just plain love the characters. It's amazing how often Daniel can get killed and bounce back.

#4 - Firefly

They aren't heroes. They're barely good guys. What they are is essentially a ragtag crew of futuristic pirates who take in a brother and sister running from the law and get in some serious trouble in the course of one misadventure after another. But with sarcasm and deadpan humour and irony tossed in. Plus, you know, Nathan Fillon.

#3 - Batman Beyond

It's Gotham, fifty years in the future, and Batman's retired. That is, until Terry McGuinus, through a series of unfortunate events, finds his way to the Batcave and, with Bruce Wayne about to mentor him, dons the cowl (no cape) to fight crime in Gotham once more. But with some really, really awesome technology, even by Batman standards. And all while dealing with high school. *happy sigh*

#4 - Sanctuary

In the late nineteenth century, five scientists injected themselves with a sample of original, undiluted vampire blood and consequently woke previously dormant traits in themselves. Fast forward to the present and one of them has established a network meant to stand between humanity and the abnormal creatures that share this world, protecting both sides from each other. And it stars Amanda Tapping and features a vampiric Tesla and a teleporting Jack the Ripper. What more needs to be said?

#1 - Doctor Who

 So, what we have here is a thousand year old Time Lord (give or take a century), the last of his kind, who travels around the whole of space and time in a blue police box with one or two human sidekicks in tow to keep him from losing touch with his morals. As the man himself says, "I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I - I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? [he winks at Rose] Am I an old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor, a liar, a nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob."