The Klockwerk Kraken by Aidee Ladnier #Review #GuestPost #Giveaway@aideelad

The Klockwerk Kraken

by Aidee Ladnier

Genres: Gay (M/M), Sci-Fi, Adventure Romance

When the right space pilot walks into his bar, a desperate bartender uses all his wiles (and tentacles) to talk the man into business and his bed--but the spacer is still enslaved by his past and isn't sure he can deal with a two-handed lover, much less one with six.

As the supply shipments stop coming, Teo Houdin needs all his tentacles to keep his waystation bar open. Facing a riot by thirsty miners stranded in the backwater of the galaxy, Teo helps a greenie space pilot buy a ship in return for a regular haul of liquor. But he longs for the courage to invite the enigmatic spacer to fill his lonely bed as well.

Still smarting from his newly implanted navigational ports, Jimenez knows owning his own ship will prevent him from ever being bought and sold again. For a former slave, transporting cargo through the emptiness of space sounds like paradise, but after meeting the compassionate and sexy Teo, his heart feels empty, too.

At the edge of the galaxy's spiral arm, can Teo convince Jimenez that the heart has its own tentacles and theirs should be entwined forever?

The Mythology of the Kraken by Aidee Ladnier

In my new novel, The Klockwerk Kraken, I have a tentacled bartender—don’t laugh, a few extra arms come in handy on a busy Friday night. But the novel is actually named after the bar—The Klockwerk Kraken. It’s a place that Teo (the bartender with tentacles) has built as an homage to the mythological idea of the kraken.

And what is a kraken?

Well, in Norse mythology krakens were sea monsters that lived off the coast of Norway, Greenland, and Iceland. In fact, the word kraken is Germanic in origin and refers specifically to octopuses. The kraken of mythology was so enormous it could wrap its arms around a ship and then physically drag it under water. 

The first written account of the kraken was in the 13th century, in the Icelandic saga Örvar-Oddr. It referred to the monster as Hafgufa (or sea mist). I can only imagine the terror of seeing a gigantic tentacle rising out of the mist late at night on the sea.

Of course, today we believe the kraken myth refers to the Colossal Squid which can grow to a size of 60 feet and has been known to wrestle with sperm whales. There are even accounts of colossal squid attacking ships in the modern era, however most end up badly injured by the boats’ propellers. 

And recently there’s been speculation about a really large octopus that might have roamed the prehistoric seas. The bones from aquatic dinosaurs have been found in strange patterns accompanied by fossilized beaks of enormous cephalopods. 

Maybe the kraken isn’t so mythological at all…

My Review 4 of 5 stars

The Klockwerk Kracken has a character driven story-line and is what I like to call "soft sci-fi" which means that and even if you aren't a fan of science fiction in general, you should consider giving it a try.

With six arms and a personality that is slightly larger than life, Teo Houdin is outgoing, funny and an all-around likeable guy. Recently he's been noticing that the bar scene isn't as exciting as it used to be. He isn't looking for change per se, but he's been feeling a bit of restlessness lately . Something's coming, he isn't sure what that something will be, but for now he's comfortable where he is and is willing to wait.

Jiminez, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to blend in, and would happily live the rest of his days unnoticed by those around him. Life hasn't been kind to Jiminez, and just when he finally begins to feel as if he may have found a place to start fresh, Teo tumbles into his life, shining the brightness of his soul directly into the shadows of Jiminez's heart.

What do you get when you take a space station, two unknowingly lonely men with opposite personalities, a dash of adventure and a bit of lust??? The Klockwerk Kraken of course!! I enjoyed the heck out of Aidee's quirky characters, their heartbreaking pasts and tentative futures. The age old lesson is still true; you really can't judge a book..er..Celosian..by it's cover.

Aidee Ladnier began writing fiction at twelve years old but took a hiatus to be a magician’s assistant, ride in hot air balloons, produce independent movies, collect interesting shoes, and amass a secret file with the CIA. A lover of genre fiction, it has been a lifelong dream of Aidee's to write both romance and erotica with a little science-fiction, fantasy, mystery, or the paranormal thrown in to add a zing.

You can find Aidee on her blog or on social media:

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