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Post by BarefootRoot on Dec 27, 2014 21:03:16 GMT -5
Anyone else pick this up? I got it as kind of a "eh, the art is really nice and the material certainly looks... interesting..." but after reading the whole thing I have to say I really enjoyed it and not just because of the BDSM content. you could almost take all that stuff out and still have a really good story about relationships and sexuality. And the only reason I say almost is that I think that part helps show the level of trust required for that kind of relationship and how both ladies are going way out on a limb... I would be willing to say I never pictured myself reading a romance book, and I freely admit that wasn't what I was thinking about when I picked it up, but I have to say it has broadened my horizons (regarding reading material, at least) and I am looking forward to the next volume. also, it made me become a big fan of Mr. Sejic's art. I am a sucker for expressive faces and the, I want to say "acting"(?) of the characters (particularly the facial expressions) really sold the whole thing for me. I may be looking into Rat queens and Death Vigil now just for some more of his artwork  |
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Post by Tony on Dec 27, 2014 21:20:58 GMT -5
I don't own a physical copy of it yet, but i've been reading the series on his deviantart page for a while now, and, yeah, I love it. It's warm and relatable (even as a hetero dude, who's never experienced any sort of BDSM) and very three-dimensional and human; his art conveys a remarkable amount of emotion and nuance, and I feel like the characters come across as very real and alive. The pacing is good, he hits the right beats at the right times; nothing negative to say about it whatsoever. I haven't read Death Vigil, but i'm extremely excited to see what he can do with Hannah, Betty, Dee, and Vi, (let alone Braga, Orc Dave, and of course Gary), and I look forward to picking up a physical copy of Sunstone sooner rather than later.
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Post by toxicsooner on Dec 31, 2014 11:57:06 GMT -5
Wow…what a surprise, I was expecting a naughty fun comic, but this was exciting, funny, sexy, and really just a great story. I picked this up because of Death Vigil and what Sejic has done with those characters (and I will be grabbing rat queens as well because of him), but man it was much more than I expected. The art/dialog combination made this book very real to me, and not the “all women, relationships, and sex are like this” type of real, but real in that as a reader I felt and related to their nervousness, self doubt, and excitement as the book progressed. I remember feeling some of these same things when my wife and I started dating. Like barefootroot, I think this is because of the facial expression and wonderful use of thought bubbles.
While the content was explicit, it wasn’t vulgar and over the top. I like that it portrayed the trust and passion elements of the BDSM/Kink lifestyle rather than the degrading abusive garbage normally depicted to the masses. And, while I do not practice BDSM, I’m also not a prude on the topic of sex, so it is nice to see a more positive light shined on the subject.
Ally and Lisa are wonderful characters and it is fun to follow as their personalities and relationship develop. Lisa’s analogy in the story about BDSM people basically being “sex nerds” was awesome. Alan might be my favorite character. He is your typical guy and thinks like a typical guy. The part where he walks in on Ally and the inner monologue that goes through his head is hilarious.
Like I said this is not a book I would have sought out, but I’m glad I read it and I look forward to the next volume.
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Post by BarefootRoot on Dec 31, 2014 16:04:55 GMT -5
Wow…what a surprise, I was expecting a naughty fun comic, but this was exciting, funny, sexy, and really just a great story. I picked this up because of Death Vigil and what Sejic has done with those characters (and I will be grabbing rat queens as well because of him), but man it was much more than I expected. The art/dialog combination made this book very real to me, and not the “all women, relationships, and sex are like this” type of real, but real in that as a reader I felt and related to their nervousness, self doubt, and excitement as the book progressed. I remember feeling some of these same things when my wife and I started dating. Like barefootroot, I think this is because of the facial expression and wonderful use of thought bubbles. While the content was explicit, it wasn’t vulgar and over the top. I like that it portrayed the trust and passion elements of the BDSM/Kink lifestyle rather than the degrading abusive garbage normally depicted to the masses. And, while I do not practice BDSM, I’m also not a prude on the topic of sex, so it is nice to see a more positive light shined on the subject. Ally and Lisa are wonderful characters and it is fun to follow as their personalities and relationship develop. Lisa’s analogy in the story about BDSM people basically being “sex nerds” was awesome. Alan might be my favorite character. He is your typical guy and thinks like a typical guy. The part where he walks in on Ally and the inner monologue that goes through his head is hilarious. Like I said this is not a book I would have sought out, but I’m glad I read it and I look forward to the next volume. I agree 100%! In the interest of full disclosure, from the little I knew about it beforehand I was expecting half the book to be essentially a porn book. However, I was extremely happy to find that not only was that not the case (there really wasn't that much sex in i), but it's like you were saying: what sex was in there was done in a very classy and romantic way. I found it interesting you said "..while I do not practice BDSM..." because in a recent interview Mr. Sejic says at his DeviantArt page most of the comments tend to start with something along the lines of "Now I'm not really into BDSM, but..." which was exactly how I felt when I first wanted to comment on it and I went to great lengths to try to not say that (though it is true  ) very surprising book and I'm glad you guys dig it as well one thing I fought with while reading it was the who mindset of "yeah, right, these are 2 super hot women! no way they are both single and lonely!" (the story nerd in me leaping out and saying "this is completely contrived!") which I think comes from how I felt about girls/women when I was a teenager. I always liked to think my perspective on stuff like that had matured but this book managed to dig up the old angsty me from high school who held all women on a pedestal with no flaws and tore myself down with the notion that they are all taken so why bother even believing they might even be avaialble. It was a real struggle for me to wrap my head around the idea that not only were they super attractive ladies, but they were single and lonely, and it was because of the very thing (or one of the things) that gives them the most joy. talk about a double edged sword. But for me personally it made me once gain face my own preconceived notions about women which is never a bad thing  |
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Post by harmonica on Jan 13, 2015 19:27:29 GMT -5
im so glad i gave this book a try after initially being repelled by the subject matter but wanting to help out funding my one true comic love, "Death Vigil". im not terribly interested in romance and i cant help but feel like a creep reading overly erotic stuff. but Sejic delivers and made me into what i hate most, a shipper.
i just love sejic. despite being an awesome artist he really shows his talent as a writer. his humor just hits a spot with me and his characters are all clearly destinctive in looks and behavior.
and this shows here as well Ally, Lisa and Alan are just so likeable and relateable. the subject matter is handled in such a respectful way and offered, for me at least, a good bit of insight.
i think one of the best things you can say about this book, that even though it is so damn sexy, still i never thought "ooh sex" i was just happy for those two to have found each other, this really isnt a story about BDSM but a story about 2 women trying to live out their hobby and finding love while doing it.
about his art, ot really is something special. sometimes it looks more like a rough sketch, other times its highly detailed, even photorealistic and that sometimes all in 1 panel, his fantasy Epic Ravine is the best example of that.
Sejic just shows me again why he is my favourite comic creator right now, and i really hope that his new job as Rat Queens artist, and Sunstone 1&2 being Nr1 Bestselling Romance novels on amazon helps him to get noticed by a larger audience, not just as an artist but also as a writer.
He definitely deserves it
now ill try to wait for volume 2 in print instead of diving into the webcomic
PS: there is actually another Webcomic based in the same Universe with the occasional crossover, as mentioned in the great afterword by Sejic's wife Linda called Bloodstain and its also really worth checkig out.
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Post by toxicsooner on Jan 13, 2015 20:45:46 GMT -5
im so glad i gave this book a try after initially being repelled by the subject matter but wanting to help out funding my one true comic love, "Death Vigil". im not terribly interested in romance and i cant help but feel like a creep reading overly erotic stuff. but Sejic delivers and made me into what i hate most, a shipper. i just love sejic. despite being an awesome artist he really shows his talent as a writer. his humor just hits a spot with me and his characters are all clearly destinctive in looks and behavior. and this shows here as well Ally, Lisa and Alan are just so likeable and relateable. the subject matter is handled in such a respectful way and offered, for me at least, a good bit of insight. i think one of the best things you can say about this book, that even though it is so damn sexy, still as a male white guy i never thought "ooh id like to jump in there" (lets be honest thats what we normally would think) i was just happy for those two to have found each other, this really isnt a story about BDSM but a story about 2 women trying to live out their hobby and finding love while doing it. about his art, ot really is something special. sometimes it looks more like a rough sketch, other times its highly detailed, even photorealistic and that sometimes all in 1 panel, his fantasy Epic Ravine is the best example of that. Sejic just shows me again why he is my favourite comic creator right now, and i really hope that his new job as Rat Queens artist, and Sunstone 1&2 being Nr1 Bestselling Romance novels on amazon helps him to get noticed by a larger audience, not just as an artist but also as a writer. He definitely deserves it now ill try to wait for volume 2 in print instead of diving into the webcomic PS: there is actually another Webcomic based in the same Universe with the occasional crossover, as mentioned in the great afterword by Sejic's wife Linda called Bloodstain and its also really worth checkig out. I couldn't agree more & thank you for pushing Sejic on the forum. I probably wouldn't have picked up Death Vigil, if I hadn't seen some your post. I love that book, it may be my favorite thing on my pull right now. |
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Post by BarefootRoot on Jan 13, 2015 23:02:15 GMT -5
Yeah I picked up death vigil as well after I finished reading Sunstone and loved it. Sejic's stuff is pretty much my favorite thing right now. |
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Post by BarefootRoot on May 22, 2015 20:05:32 GMT -5
well, it took me a little bit to get around to it, but I just finished volume 2. I really love this series. Lots of development for Ally in this one and it's all pure gold. Can't wait for volume 3 Anyone tried getting friends or family to read this though? I know several people who would probably really enjoy it based on the story itself, but I'm not sure they would get past the BDSM aspect of it. I just have no idea how you would even present this to someone else (maybe my own personal hang-ups are what makes the notion difficult). I did mention it to my wife, thinking she would enjoy it (she probably would), but when I mentioned it had a heavy BDSM theme she kind of shut down. I tried to frame it as a romantic comedy but she still didn't bite. Oh well, I'm enjoying the hell out of it and it gives me a lot of food for thought. |
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Post by toxicsooner on May 22, 2015 23:07:04 GMT -5
My wife reads it, and I have recommended it to people who know me at my LCS. I usually sell it by referencing rat queens or death vigil art and people are more receptive. I push both of those titles to just about anyone who will listen. If that doesn't hook them, I tell them it's sex criminals humor mixed with 50 shades naughtiness.
It's a great series. The characters are relatable and well developed. I have abstained from reading it online, but man it's tough to do. Sejic is one of my top creators going right now. Especially when he is both artist and writer
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Post by harmonica on May 23, 2015 1:51:21 GMT -5
yeah its definitely not the book you can just spring on someone, i bought the book on FCBD and brought one of my flatmates with me and he was a bit irritaded when he saw that i pulled Sunstone from the shelves.
its even worse for me, i dont even have friends who read comics and they already give me the look when i talk about the "normal" ones, so im not going to try to get people to read it, unless i know they might be interested in that kind of thing.
although every time i hear people talking about 50 shades of grey i want to slap them in the face with Volume one of Sunstone
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Post by toxicsooner on May 24, 2015 0:01:37 GMT -5
yeah its definitely not the book you can just spring on someone, i bought the book on FCBD and brought one of my flatmates with me and he was a bit irritaded when he saw that i pulled Sunstone from the shelves. its even worse for me, i dont even have friends who read comics and they already give me the look when i talk about the "normal" ones, so im not going to try to get people to read it, unless i know they might be interested in that kind of thing. although every time i hear people talking about 50 shades of grey i want to slap them in the face with Volume one of Sunstone I couldn't agree more with your comment about 50 shades of grey. My wife read all 3 books. To her credit, she said they were garbage, but she's one of those people who has to finish something once she starts it no matter how bad it is. I handed her sunstone and the first words out of her mouth were "When does the next one come out". Great book. |
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Post by harmonica on May 25, 2015 23:29:48 GMT -5
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Post by lennyreid on May 27, 2015 4:53:08 GMT -5
Finished Vol 1 last night. Like a BDSM hug. Sejic is an amazing romance writer. Usually I balk at how self-obsessed characters are in romance books - which is the trope you have to ignore in that genre as its kind of the point - but Lisa and Ally are so sweet it is difficult not to care about them.
Looking forward to Volume 2.
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Post by harmonica on May 27, 2015 11:25:42 GMT -5
awesome glad you liked it, we need more people to support Sejic's stuff, he just doesnt get the exposure he deserves and its just sad that his 2 other books are tanking despite being just as good as this one.
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Post by BarefootRoot on May 27, 2015 13:59:04 GMT -5
awesome glad you liked it, we need more people to support Sejic's stuff, he just doesnt get the exposure he deserves and its just sad that his 2 other books are tanking despite being just as good as this one. I know Death Vigil isn't doing as well as it deserves, but what is the other one? Rat Queens? |
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