Rating: 
Summary: Creepy
Review: Am I the only one creeped out by this book? Ritual of Proof showcases Dara Joy's usual excellent imagination, and her writing style has improved overall (or maybe she has a better editor), but if her aim was to convince us of the essential creepiness of the older, experienced man coupled with the young, innocent woman by reversing the roles, then she has succeeded brilliantly. I started this book when it came out last year (even bought it in hardcover!) and found it so distasteful I couldn't finish it. I picked it up again this week to see if I would like it any better and had the same reaction all over again. I'm only halfway through but I'm not sure I can finish it. How often have we seen the romance novel convention of the older, jaded man who is so sure he knows better than the feisty but naively independent virgin who actually thinks she can live a different kind of life, only to be out-manouvered by the man who knows she has only to be awakened to her sensual nature to be content within the marriage to him? I've never seen a book expose this plot so well for the anti-female tripe it is. If this were written as a satire it might be tolerable but it isn't, and it makes my skin crawl. Can other readers give me a reason to finish the book?
Rating: 
Summary: Have to agree
Review: This book is worth all the time spent to read and fully understand and enjoy the new world of Dara Joy. I have to say no one can quite create a story like Dara
Rating:
Summary: This book is a must read
Review: All I can say is to truly know what this book has to offer, you must read this book and enjoy it for all its worth.
Rating:
Summary: Ritual of Proof
Review: I just finished reading this book, and was thoroughly impressed with how every detail tied together so completely. This is a book that stuck with me much after I finished it
Rating:
Summary: A Regency Sci-Fi? And it works!
Review: What a wonderful idea - take the Regency period and reverse it so that the women are the top dogs.When Dara Joy is "on", she is one of my favorite authors (think, High Energy). When she is "off" (e.g. Mine to Take), I can't even finish the book. I am glad that this wonderful idea for a plot occurs in one of Joy's "on" books. Women astronauts flee their home planet and settle on a new one, without any men. Using artificial insemination, they begin their initial colonization of the planet. They set up society based upon romance novels they brought with them, which are subsequently locked in the archives and available to only a select few. In this society, the role reversal is almost total. Men are prohibited from education, good jobs, political activity, and sexual freedom. Their role is to impregnate their wives and raise the children or serve as minor servants or be prostitutes. Men of good background are secluded until they become adults to preserve their mental and physical innocence until their first "Season" when they seek to attract a good "catch". Their physical innocence at the time of marriage is visible and an absolute necessity. The need to prove this innocence is the origin of the "Ritual of Proof". The heroine Green is a high-ranking politician who has known the hero, Jorlan, since he was a boy. Much older than Jorlan, Green is sophisticated, beautiful and known for her sexual prowess. Jorlan is an innocent, who nonetheless wants to rebel against society and encourage a more equal relationship between men and women. He persuades his grandmother, a duchess, to allow him a choice in his marriage, but he intends to never agree to any woman under society's current structure. At a ball during the season, Green entices Jorlan out to the garden and gives him his first kiss. This wonderfully written scene is poignant and sweet and sensual all in one. Green intends to offer for Jorlan, but realizes that he will have to be finagled into it over time due to his displeasure with societal structures. Alas, her subtle plans are for naught when she discovers that the evil Lordene Claudine has designs to make Jorlan her 4th husband. To protect Jorlan from certain death, Green and the duchess arrange a quick marriage, much against Jorlan's will. (The women do not tell Jorlan of Claudine's evil designs, because it is their role to protect the men in their lives.) Jorlan's "deflowering" was both a clever reversal of sexual roles and another wonderful love scene. Shortly thereafter, the couple must travel to one of Green's estates to handle a crisis caused by Claudine. While they are away, Claudine contests the marriage on the grounds that Jorlan was not a virgin. This plot to steal Jorlan away leads to the climax of the book. I have only two caveats, and they are minor. I wish that Jorlan had retained more of his innocence throughout the book. In the early chapters, Green notes that his essential innocence, naivete, and sweetness are a core part of his being and that they would always be there. However, I felt that the quickness with which he to took to wanting to always be the dominant person in the sexual relationship negated that statement, even though the author explained it as being due to his nature as a "Sensitive". Even though Jorlan is a rebel, he was totally ignorant of sexuality and yet felt the need to always be on top. I understood why he needed to be a rebel for the characters to work, but I felt that he was moving perilously close to becoming a "typical male". Secondly, given what is revealed of Green in the last 2 pages, I don't understand why she was sure she would die in the duel with Claudine. There are two setups clearly leading to more books in this series. One involves Green's "pleasurer", River, whom she is sending off with her help to create a new life so that he does not have to return to being a prostitute. The second involves Claudine's young daughter who learns of her mother' evil and flees the capital. Are these two going to meet or are they two separate books in the offing? I can't wait to read them!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting twist on a regency romance
Review: Any reader of Regency Romances will recognize this novel as a Regency in Reverse. I'm not sure if I would consider it a satire or a parody, though. I find it interesting to see how the various genders are treated in role reversals like this because too often the roles we're used to seeing come to the fore. For the most part, that doesn't happen in this novel, which is a good thing. (I've got about 25 pages left to go, though, so I can't say anything about continuity the very end even if I wanted to.) Unlike most regencies, it's a very sensual romance; don't read it in public if you blush easily. Ms. Joy excels at keeping the interaction between the characters from becoming stale. (If you permit me a moment of divergence, Linda Howard could learn a thing or two or three from her in this area.) If you read it for romance, you will not be disappointed. The reason I rated it 4 stars, despite the fact that I just stayed up nearly all night reading most of it, is that it was categorized as Science Fiction. I am disappointed with her execution of the SF components. For the most part it involves irritating terms that are not sufficently different from a regency. Instead of "Lords" you have "She-Lords". You'd think that in trying to make a society where women "naturally" rule, that the terminology would be less cumbersome. By this I mean the lingo should favor females, where the males require specially derived forms. (I would have preferred "Ladies" and "He-Ladies", but not by much. Something original would be better.) It seems she's trying to show a connection to Earth and Feminists, but even here there's a push for "womyn" to replace "women," and any group of "womyn" that I know would extensively re-write vocabulary if they had a chance at starting over. I find it hard to believe that these characters would maintain "She-Lord" for a millenia. Additionally, she has created a new world with new plants and new life forms yet in the tradition of "classic" romance, gives them short attention in favor of the love scenes and personal interaction. Toward the very end, she finally brings in some of the SF aspects of the story and offers more detail. I think it should happen sooner and be better integrated. For instance, Ms. Joy tosses out vocab with nary an explanation. It's easy to figure out what most of it is supposed to mean because it's phrases we've all seen a hundred times, with one "SF" word substituted. I just found it jarring and intrusive to be reminded constantly that it's "just like Regency England except it's not." The vocab should be worked in with details, not by having it pop up in idiom only. But even the items used outside of idiom aren't fleshed out well. Maybe we're supposed to guess what their riding mounts look like, but I'd like more of a foundation than "something you can ride from place to place" from which to build my mental imagery. Do they have feathers? fur? scales? 4 legs? 8 legs? red eyes? pointy teeth? who knows? certainly not me. In summary, it is a steamy romance where the characters care about each other and are superior specimens of their race. The SF leaves something to be desired, but ultimately is wound into the story. I'd recommend it, but not actively promote it.
Rating:
Summary: Ritual of Proof, humm to prove a man's Virginity
Review: This is a ground breaking book is an understatement. Ritual of Proof is a satire plan and simple. This book turns the romance world as we have read it time and time again upside down, reversing the roles, adding twists and connections to many different plots, sci-fi/fantasy plane that is created, sensual and creative character attraction, and a glossary of the terms used in the book. These are few of the elements thats used to create this masterpiece. I have it on hardcover and I will buy it on paperback. This book puts a sensation in you that many books try to reach and fail in doing so. I recommend this book to all who read in all genres for this book does not fit specifically in one genre.
Rating:
Summary: Dara Joy is a Joy to read
Review: You have to check preconceptions in at the door when you pick up this book. I have been a Joyful fan for the last few years and really looked forward to this newest effort.
It isn't a standard romance, put me more in mind of a sci-fi favorite, Shari Tepper. Thought provoking, and really well done.
Worth the read... but if you're out for a bodice ripper... this isn't it.
Rating:
Summary: AA+++for originality, sensuality, and for going for it!
Review: Oh, I loved this one! First of all, this story will wipe away all your preconcieved notions of male/female roles/stereotypes. To me the really interesting thing was that Dara Joy used stereotypes to showcase them in a work I can only call brilliant. It's a science fiction book, a satire, an inverted historical, and above all a very sensual coming together of two people who find their love. I don't want to give away what the ritual of proof is for those who haven't read it,all I'll tell you is that i found the concept HIGHLY erotic!!
As others have said this is not a world where men are treated equally and Ms Joy makes it plain in many ways that this is not a good thing. Once she establishes that, she takes the reader on a never to be forgotten trip into the very seeds of this society. Staying true to her reputation for making books come alive, this world and its people jump off the pages. It all played out like a movie for me andd it was so easy to become the willing spellbound spectator in the ritual. I found myself reading this passage annd I'm almost ashamed to admit she had me panting out loud. I have never done that before! (She is the only writer that has that ability over me. I remember reading MTT and my heart was pounding in some scenss) The imagery in this book will stay with you for years. The lush, sensual love that Jorlan is capable of will make you breathless. The ultimate heroine,in my view, is Green. Strong, not with a beat you over the head thing but true strength from within. She is courageous, honorable. Someone we can all admire. It's as if Joy created the ultimate heroine to match our heroes. Don't miss this stunning work. It is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Good, very unusual but...
Review: I wanted to read this book because I've read every other Dara Joy book and I like most of them. This was an unusual story in that the traditional roles of man as the protector and woman as the protected or usually damsel in distress is reversed. However, I still feel that there is something missing, the extra zing that makes a book a phenomenal read. I can't tell you what it is but I just know that it's not there. That's why I've given it a 4 star instead of a 5. Still it is a very entertaining book.
|
