Literate Concepts

Fade by Lisa McMann

2009-02-17T22:36:00.005-05:00

*****
Fade by Lisa McMann

I was hoping that Fade would be better than Wake, but I wasn't hoping too hard. Wake was fantastic even if it was too short and a tad choppy. Those same 'flaws' are in Fade and it is every bit as good as Wake.

Janie and Cabe are back undercover at their high school this time working to stop a teacher that is suspected of being a sexual predator based off an anonymous phone call. The caller didn't say which teacher which is where Janie & Cabe come in. Captain Komisky thinks the deviant is probably male though which puts Janie in far more danger than Cabe, an issue Cabe has a hard time coming to terms with.

Even though that takes up the majority of the plot there is still plenty of time for Janie and Cabel to sort through their own personal issues together. Janie is still learning how to control her dreams and the dreams of others and Cabel's doing his best to try not to be too overprotective. He has a hard time of it and the results are adorable.

I think I even liked Fade better than Wake because they are together so much. Also, the action ties up nicely by the end but leaves plenty of room for a third book with Janie and Cabel.

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, 2) by Ilona Andrews

2009-02-16T09:29:00.006-05:00

****
Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, 2) by Ilona Andrews

This is not the first time I've read this book... but I don't think I realized how amusing Kate really was the first time. Kate makes all these great snarky comments that must have gotten lost in the action the last time I read it.

Kate Daniels is a mercenary that just can't seem to keep herself out of trouble. Her friends all seem to be business acquaintances (Curran the Beast Lord, Derek a werewolf, Saiman a shapeshifter she guarded once, Ghastek a vampire rider, Jim a werepanther, Andrea a beastkin that also works at the Order etc etc.) so when she takes on a mission involving an orphaned girl, a missing coven of witches, and a rogue deity set on making Atlanta his new home, Kate really doesn't think her friends will be able to help too terribly much.

It turns out that the missing coven of witches was worshipping the wrong deity and really messed things up when a cauldron of rebirth got stolen and the mythical enemies of Morrigan called the Fomorians begin chasing down Kate and the orphaned girl that Kate has taken under her wing. Things continue to get messy as artifacts get stolen, informants withhold crucial details, allies make decisions without all that crucial information and Morrigan's Hound (named Bran) continues to try to get into her pants.

Kate certainly keeps busy fending off, well, everything and everyone. The action is tightly worded and fast and can get confusing if you tend to skim when things get exciting so that you can take in more information in less time (like I do).

Kate continually turns down Bran but he's not the only one making offers and I was pretty pleased with Curran's role through most of the story. He's about as tough and snarky as Kate and so they make a good team for both fighting and bantering. His actions and commentary in this book were very amusing particularly at the end. ^_^

It does seem to take the author/publisher a long time before the next in the series comes out but if it's quality fiction like these first two books I can't really complain too much.

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig

2009-02-13T17:22:00.003-05:00

*****
The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig

I love this series by Lauren Willig! Each novel follows the continuing story of Eloise, an American researching for her thesis in Britain. Eloise is intent on unmasking the Pink Carnation, the only English spy that remains unmasked that was working in the early 1800s. And since the books started she has made quite a bit of progress in that quarter mainly due to the family papers of one Colin Selwick. Colin and Eloise are finally dating (yay!) and they've headed back to his home in Sussex so Eloise can continue going through the archives there.

Eloise means to continue her search for the the Pink Carnation and where her favorite spy headed after her brief stay in England, but she gets sidetracked with some documents written by Lady Charlotte Landsdowne that mention the madness of King George. Intrigued by the idea that Henrietta Selwick and Charlotte had anything to do with the king's bout of madness, Eloise reasons that she may as well take a look and she jumps right into the story in the past.

Charlotte is a bit of a shy and secluded creature that generally prefers the company of books to people. Despite all that when her long-missing (distantly-related) cousin Robert returns to the family seat, Charlotte is more than willing to walk down memory lane as long as it is with him. Robert on the other hand, returned to England from India to track down a possible spy that shot his mentor in the back in the heat of battle when the errant shot wouldn't be missed. His investigative skills take him into the heart of the Hell Fire club. The man Robert has been chasing is not just plotting with the French but also plotting against the king. Since Charlotte is a lady-in-waiting at the time and a great friend to the king she also becomes involved in stopping the plot.

As usual, the dual storyline of Eloise and whatever historical characters she is studying is both interesting and amusing. The characters don't always think or do things the way that we might expect them to and the little romantic interludes between the historical characters lighten up the feel of what could be an otherwise tense historical spy novel. We're teased with the short chapters between Colin & Eloise's relationship but that usually just makes me more eager to read the next one.

Blindspot: a novel of a Gentleman in Exile and a Lady in Disguise by Jane Kamensky & Jill Lepore

2009-02-10T08:57:00.005-05:00

****
Blindspot: a novel of a Gentleman in Exile and a Lady in Disguise by Jane Kamensky & Jill Lepore

Blindspot refers to many different things in this novel. It encompasses Stewart Jameson's inability to see that his apprentice is female, Fanny Easton's blindness to her own father's cruelty and the freedom that she used to have, Parliament's lamentable habit of taxing their colonies for a war they already paid for, and even the colonists' ironically calling Parliament's taxation shackles when they still kept slaves in physical shackles...

Stewart Jameson has run away from his debtors in Scotland by crossing the puddle and taking berth in Boston and setting up shop as a painter of faces. He immediately hires an apprentice, one Frances Weston, to grind the paints, set up the canvases etc. Jamie is attracted to his apprentice which doesn't seem to bother him overmuch despite his normal preference for women. Weston(Fanny Easton in actuality) thinks Jamie is the best man she knows (considering her point of reference with other males one can hardly blame her). Several years ago Fanny was the daughter of one of Boston's leading families but an affair with her painting master left her a 'fallen woman' and Fanny refused to give up her freedom and marry the man despite her pregnancy.

Jamie is also more than he initially appears, having come into his debt with all the best of intentions - freeing his best friend, a university-trained doctor and a runaway slave. When the deal went awry Jamie got caught with all the debt and his friend got sold anyway.

To further complicate an already detail-driven plot the colonies are rebelling against England and abolitionists have already taken to the platform in Boston. When a prominent politician is murdered and a black man is blamed Jamie and Fanny (and Doctor Ignatius Alexander) work together to figure out who the real killer is.

The plot is fairly predictable despite the complicated details and switchbacks but the authors keep it fairly light and historically accurate. Jamie is something of a rake and has a unique way of looking at (and phrasing) things. It's really quite entertaining.

Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, 4) by Patricia Briggs

2009-02-09T21:31:00.004-05:00

****
Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, 4) by Patricia Briggs

I was pleased to finally be reading the next Mercy Thompson book, but found it to be less edgy than the others that I had enjoyed.

I suppose that's to be expected. Mercy is still having panic attacks after her last adventure and is definitely a tad gun-shy about putting any of her friends in danger. As usual though, Mercy attracts trouble as easily as she attracts hot men...

Nonetheless when Stefan is dropped nearly dead (again?) in her living room she puts on a brave face to help. Similarly when an old college friend drops by to see if Mercy can solve her ghost problem, Mercy tackles it head-on.

One of the things I really like about Mercy is her ability to reach out to the 'outcast' members of society (Samuel, the loner, Chad, the deaf boy, fae, werewolves, vampires...) and bring them together around her even as she gives off a no nonsense, stick-it-to-the-man vibe. Her ability to be abrasive as well as protective, scared and still brave is what makes her such a kick-butt heroine. That 'live in the now' sense where she buries her fear makes her human and her attributes attainable and likeable.

This book feels like a bridge. Much DID happen in terms of action, but it also felt like there was much more of an emotional journey to this one than any of the last three (well, excepting perhaps the third - that was plenty emotional).

I'm VERY excited for the next Mercy Thompson (which Amazon lists will be available approximately six months from this review) and can't wait to see what Ms. Briggs has in mind for our Mercy next.

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

2009-02-04T20:35:00.007-05:00

**
How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

I had several major problems with this book.

My first problem occurred on page one in the first sentence. Spoffs? What the heck are spoffs? Every time I thought I could get into the book the language was a turn-off. Normally I have no problem adjusting to whatever strange and various words and/or names authors make up to cover vague or alien concepts. But most of the concepts in this book (while sometimes vague) were not exactly alien. Spoffs refers to breasts I finally found out about three paragraphs in (at which point I had to return to the beginning and recapture what I'd lost making the story seem choppier than it should have. The words she used may have been British or Australian slang but were so unfamiliar to me in the context that they were used that they might as well have been made up.

My second major problem was the depth of the characters. They were all amazingly shallow. The main character doesn't want or see value in her parking fairy merely because she's not old enough to drive yet. Her immaturity could have dissipated throughout the book but didn't. I'm not sure any of the characters made any kind of lasting impression on each other either except maybe with the poor girl whose name really IS stupidly long...

The school that the kids attended was also a point of distraction for me. Who would elect to go to school for 10 hours a day for 6 days a week? Even if you do love sports that length seems a tad extremist and should probably be checked out by a therapist. Their tight rule system, while intended to instill discipline in the children, only seemed to make them anal retentive (as evidenced by the growing list at the beginning of each chapter, which incidentally was the only thing keeping me turning the pages).

All in all this book was a disappointment for me since I was so interested in the concept to start. *sigh*

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-02-03T19:34:00.005-05:00

****
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I'm not quite sure what I thought the Hunger Games would be about when I picked it up (Amazon recommended it) so I was a tad disturbed with some of the Lottery-like imagery. Despite several loud comments from a friend (to whom I had described the plot a few pages in) that I should just "put the book down and walk away," I perservered and finished the book. I'm really glad that I did.

Katniss Everdeen has been providing for her family since her father died in a coal mine a few years ago in District 12 (Appalachia). Her mother is an apothecary but couldn't care for either Katniss or her younger daughter Primrose (Prim for short) right after her husband's death. All three would have starved if not for Katniss' hunting abilities.

As if life wasn't cruel enough in this post-apocolyse world, every year one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts must be sent to the Capitol (somewhere in the Rockies) to participate in the Hunger Games. The participants are chosen on a lottery system with every boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18 putting at least one name into the pot. 12-year-olds must put in one slip, 13-year-olds two slips etc. Life is so poor in some parts of the district though that you can enter your name more than once to receive a yearly food stipend for your family. On Katniss' first entry into the reaping (the lottery) she entered herself four times: once for the requirement and then once for food for herself, for her mother, for her younger sister. Moreover the slips are cumulative so Katniss will enter at least 8 her second year and increasing her odds of being chosen to particpate in the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games are held each year to remind the Districts of their loss and the participants are rightfully called 'Tributes.' Once all 24 names have been chosen the Tributes are taken to the Capitol to prepare for the televised games (which are mandatory for the districts to watch). Only one Tribute can survive the Hunger Games and the reward for winning is a life of luxury and fame. No one from District 12 has won one of the Hunger Games in 30 or so years and the last winner spends all of his time drunk.

The odds are against Katniss the year that her beloved younger sister Prim is forced to enter her name into the reaping. She has 20 or so slips in the pot with her name on it and made sure her sister would only be putting in her obligatory one entry. Despite the odds, Prim's name is chosen and Katniss, knowing her younger sister would definitely not survive the Games, volunteers to go in her place.

I did see many plot points coming (the banding together in the arena for one) but others were unexpected (her coming to truly care for her comrade Peeta) and it was a violent and bumpy ride. The effect at the end though was cheering as Katniss stands against the system. I look forward to the next book in the Trilogy and hope it clears up some of the lingering questions I had since the book ended so abruptly.

Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George

2009-02-03T19:18:00.004-05:00

*****
Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George

I loved this sequel to Dragon Slippers. We pick right back up with the adventures of Creel and Prince Luka. Creel now has her own dress shop and has quite a bit of business including making the trousseau for the new queen-to-be and helping her friend Marta design and sew her wedding dress. But with Shardas and Queen Velika laying low so they can rest and recover and with Luka out of the country on dipolmatic prince duties things are not as exciting as Creel might want.

Things definitely get more exciting though when Prince Luka writes to Creel from the southern country where he had been saying to say that the king planned to destroy Feravel and every country in between. Worse, the king has an army of dragons and riders. This is, of course, more than Creel can stand since the dragons are obviously being coerced into doing human fighting by some sort of evil alchemy.

I very much enjoyed seeing Creel and Luka again and was pleased by the progress all the characters made within the book. Things wrap up beautifully for not just Luka and Creel but for Marta and Tobin, Shardas and Velika and all the dragons. For being an unplanned book things certainly tied up nicely.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, 3) by Richelle Mead

2009-01-28T18:33:00.005-05:00

*****
Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, 3) by Richelle Mead

This book, the third in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, ended very sadly...

Rose has been feeling more and more dark and depressed ever since her friend Mason died while he, Rose, Eddie, Christian and Mia were trying to escape their kidnappers. Rose had managed to get them all out and was facing the two Strigoi herself but Mason came back for her and got killed in the fight.

Rose managed to slay the Strigoi captors and now bears the molnija tattoos, but nothing can take away the pain of his death. Worse, Rose fears she's going crazy when she begins to see Mason's ghost around campus.

Rose had a theory or two about why that was happening. And Adrian and Christian seem to have a few theories about her many violent outbursts lately. They surmise that with her bond to Lissa and being shadow kissed that she is able to pull the darkness away from Lissa.

More trouble comes when the Strigoi attack the school leaving several Moroi and dhampir dead and many more captured. Rose helps the other guardians (including Dimitri) come up with a plan of offense to get the kidnapped back.

I can't tell you how it ends; I don't want to spoil it. But it is well worth reading even if it did make me terribly depressed. I have a theory about what will (hopefully!) happen in the fourth book that will put things to rights and I can't wait until it comes out to see if I'm right.

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

2009-01-28T18:30:00.007-05:00

*****
Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

I loved this book! There's something very satisfying about this book that borders on fairytale but pulls back before getting too out of hand.

Creel is a girl from a small town that is orphaned and goes to live with her aunt and uncle who are also very poor. Her aunt (who is not quite all there in the head) comes up with the idea to give her to the local dragon so that a rich lord's son will rescue her and take them home to his grand house etc etc.

This doesn't sit well with Creel, who is a practical girl. Once she meets the dragon (she gets over her fear fairly quickly considering the circumstances) she asks him to just let her have a piece of his hoard and she'll stop the oncoming son (bent on slaying the dragon) and be on her way without any further trouble.

That's when things get amusing. I believe the dragon says something along the lines of "What would you want a pair of my shoes for?" in a surprised grumpy/exasperated voice. So Creel gets her first lesson in dragons. Not all dragons like gold or gems. The dragon she first meets collects shoes and he eventually lets her take one pair even though he was NOT keen on giving her the pair she eventually took. The next dragon she meets collects stained glass and one very silly dragon collects dogs...

But Creel couldn't always stay with the dragons, despite her friend Shardas being very nice to her while she stayed with him. So she heads to the capitol to try to find a job embroidering clothing. She gets a job finally but barely survives a harrowing day where she gets yelled at by a princess for almost stepping on her dog, nearly arrested by a guard for being out after curfew and rescued by a prince who has been the only one to give her a kind word all day.

The story plot continues as delicate and complicated as the patterns Creel embroiders and doesn't lose an ounce of humor (or cuteness) along the way. I was ecstatic to learn that she'd made a sequel as well even though this first one ended well enough. I like Creel and Luka and Shardas well enough that I want to continue knowing what happens to them.

Frostbite (Vampire Academy, 2) by Richelle Mead

2009-01-25T11:27:00.007-05:00

*****
Frostbite (Vampire Academy, 2) by Richelle Mead

I think I liked this second one better than the first! The story continues pretty much right where we left off with Rose and Lissa. Rose is still trying to catch up in her guardian training with Dimitri (made only slightly awkward by the events that happened at the end of the last book) and Lissa is working with a teacher specially to help her train and find out what the magic of Spirit will mean for her.

The real action starts when Rose and Dimitri take a little drive (5 hours) so that Rose can take her Qualifier exam as a guardian. When they arrive at the house where the legendary guardian lives they find that the entire Moroi royal family that lived there as well as their guardians have been murdered by the Strigoi and that humans possibly had a hand in helping them take down the magical wards guarding the house.

All the sudden things are different in the vampire world - parents of students come to the Academy for Christmas and with it comes their guardians as well (including Rose's mother, the legendary Janine Hathaway). The entire school is taken to spend the Christmas holiday at a huge ski resort in Idaho so that they can pool their guardians for protection. Lissa is spending more and more time with her boyfriend Christian and Rose is having a difficult time of thinking about anybody but Dimitri even though she's been trying to move past them with her friend Mason.

Nothing is ever easy for Rose but she does learn and grow a great deal more in this book than in the last. She's reckless and headstrong but has her friend's best interests at heart and she's a really terrific character.

He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo

2009-01-22T14:05:00.004-05:00

****
He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo

I'm not sure that I needed to read this book, but I'm glad I did anyway. Both Greg and Liz have that air of 'been there, done that' and it is refreshing to get a guy's point-of-view.

The situations presented are ones that crop up in real life and the advice he gives to each situation is sound (and sometimes silly). Greg will make little snarky comments that are not just amusing but true. Even when you're getting depressed about your chances of finding a decent man he throws in some optimistic and self-conscious boosting comment that makes you feel hopeful again.

I also enjoyed the 'workbook' sections. I liked having another opportunity to get out my crayons ^_^

The Becoming (The Anna Strong Chronicles) by Jeanne C. Stein

2009-01-21T21:28:00.004-05:00

***

The Becoming (The Anna Strong Chronicles) by Jeanne C. Stein

Anna Strong is just your typical teacher-turned-bounty hunter that chases down bail skippers when one of the skips gives Anna and her partner the slip. After leaving her partner (David) unconscious in an alley the skip comes back to brutalize Anna and leaves her for dead. A day or two later (after being seriously sedated at the hospital) Anna gets better and completely loses her reflection. Shocker.

But nothing is ever too easy and once Anna finds out about her new undead status her house burns down and her partner, David, gets kidnapped. Anna is counciled by her new vampire 'Family' to just let it go - that since David is mortal he no longer really matters. Anna is convinced his kidnapping is her fault and takes all necessary steps to find him. This leads her to question her instincts and the many of the people that she knows.

The plot is okay. Nothing too far out of line here. I was a tad weirded out by how easily she accepted the idea of sex with a strange vampire but hey, who am I to judge? Those bits were even glossed over... There also seemed to be no motive given for the villain. Was he just bad? There is absolutely no backstory on him - making him very shallow and Anna is very nearly as bad.

There does seem to be an effort to expand the plot near the end where one of the vampires says something about the villain being right, that Anna is 'the One' which is so cliche ... And the worst thing is that Anna doesn't even pick up on it.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Read

2009-01-17T14:35:00.005-05:00

****
Vampire Academy by Richelle Read

There were several things that I really liked about this book.

I liked that Lissa and Rose were friends despite their differences (or because of them). There was a whole opposites attract thing in their friendship that makes all of Rose's assertions that she is guarding Lissa for the continued good of their kind seem like just an excuse for her to be near her friend.

I liked that each girl had her own set of problems that both girls could face on their own if they had to, but with the friendship of the other the problems pare down to something mangeable.

I liked that the past helped shape their future and that neither girl really ran from the past but mostly accepted it. Rose's research into the life of St. Vladmir was interesting and it showed that Rose was continuing to grow up and take her duties seriously.

I liked that Rose wasn't put down for liking Dmitri even though he is older than her and a mentor. I liked that Lissa liked Christian despite him being unpopular at the academy. I'm interested to see where both relationships go because although Lissa and Christian's relationship can go forward there are several pitfalls for Rose and Dmitri: age, job & the fact they're both dhampir...

I'm looking forward to the next one. ^_^

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

2009-01-17T14:03:00.004-05:00

*****
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I absolutely loved this book and was terribly disappointed that since it was the author's debut novel and had only just come out in October that there was nothing else by Kristin Cashore for me to read.

I really enjoyed the characters in this novel and much of the action was really driven by them. Katsa is the king's niece and a Graceling, one who is very skilled in one thing. When Katsa was young she unintentionally killed a cousin of hers and was marked with the Grace of killing. She is unhappy with the distinction the Grace gives her and sought for many years to train herself and keep her Grace under control. Katsa is a character that while self-assured of herself in some ways is desperately unsure of herself in others. Like so many other heroines in popular YA books right now Katsa is afraid of the power within herself and of changing the status quo. Despite that Katsa is unhappy with her status of court bully and seeks to change things outside of her sphere with the Council.

It's on one of the missions for the Council that Katsa meets Po, a prince from the island kingdom of Lienid and a Graceling himself. Po tells her that his Grace lies in fighting - any of the hand-to-hand combats. Katsa has been basically undefeatable as a fighter for many years and enjoys the chance to use her skills to their fullest against him. It is an unlikely start, but theirs becomes a true friendship that weathers a multitude of trials.

Politics play a huge role in this novel (rather like in the Poison Study books by Maria Snyder or Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith) but augment the novel by forcing the characters to move faster, take leaps and create bonds. The politics of the Seven Kingdoms are what drive the characters to take action.

I can't wait to see what's next from this author.

Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle

2009-01-05T21:31:00.004-05:00

*****
Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it is very much similar to the book 'Sorcery & Cecelia' by Sterverner & Wrede.

Persephone & Penelope Leland are twins and gifted in magic. This book mostly focuses on Persephone or Persey for short. Persey is definitely a more diligent study than her sister mostly thanks to their governess Miss Allardyce or Miss Ally as the girls call her. Preparing for their first season is harrowing work especially when Ally is kidnapped and Persey and Pen have no idea where she's been taken. To make matters more troublesome for Persey, Lord Lochinvar Seton, has grown into quite a distinguished and handsome young man - a fair bit different from the boy who would chase them with frogs in his hands when they were all very much younger.

Persey is a bit perplexed about how to deal with this handsome young man and gets rather tongue-tied when he is near. Add to that trying to save Ally, ruining the plot of Sir John who is trying to take regency over Princess Victoria, and not ruining their evening gowns and you've got a fairly complicated plot. There are a number of difficult problems for the Leland girls to overcome but they tackle them mostly head-on. It is a good growing up story as well as a lesson in that things don't always turn out the way you would think or expect them to. It is very uplifting and at times was downright humorous. I'm looking forward to the next Leland sisters book.

Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge

2009-01-05T21:10:00.004-05:00

**
Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge

Eh, this was not the novel I was hoping it to be. Luna Wilder and all her antics seemed very much thrown about and rushed into. Understandably with Luna being a werewolf we should expect some unpredictability and agression but that seemed to be par for this character no matter what time of the month it happens to be. As a cop she rushes unthinkingly into dangerous situations without heed to herself or others (like her sister, her boss, or her friend Dmitri).

Luna is repeatedly fired - at first for just being a smartmouth but then for getting too close to the truth (although I'm still not quite sure how that happened). As she blunders her way through the investigation she repeatedly accuses (and arrests) her suspects even though she has minimal basis for the arrest.

It seems only due to luck and the friends and acquaintances she has managed not to scare off that she is able to save the day. Both Luna and her alpha werewolf 'friend,' Dmitri, are unlikeable as heroes.

Oh and the plot... Ukrainian illegal immigrant women (mostly prostitutes) are being killed in a ritual of death to release a demon and the DA, his assistant and his son are all in on it. Frankly I feel worst for the women who had to rely on Luna to keep them safe...

Breath by Donna Jo Napoli

2009-01-05T20:46:00.004-05:00

**
Breath by Donna Jo Napoli

*Spoiler's below*

I was a tad disturbed by this book. I know that all fairy tales aren't happily ever afters but I was still hoping for some optimistic twist near the end.

Instead I found that every possible thing that could go wrong did. The story is tragic starting with the fact that the main character Salz (basically 'Salt') has cystic fibrosis a disease that makes it difficult for a person to breathe due to mucus accumulating in their lungs. That he survived into his teenage years during the medieval times is practically a miracle.

This affliction is not so bad in comparison to the rest of the plot but it makes the sorrows heaped upon Salz seem even more unbearable. Salz lives in the German hamlet of Hameln and during the spring the countryside suffered a rainy spring followed by a summer of dying livestock and an infestation of rats. Strange behavior by the townsfolk followed by disturbing symptoms makes the residents of Hameln think the rats are responsible for the disease. But despicable as the rats are, they are not spreading the plague. Desperate to relieve themselves of the disease the townsfolk seek out an end to the rats. At one point Salz is accused of witchcraft but manages to save himself. Eventually Salz recalls the strange piper that called the forest animals to him one day in the woods and somehow convinces the town to find this piper to lead away the rats. Thus the rest of the story is familiar. The piper is unpaid and leads the town's children (the only remaining healthy members) away leaving only Salz behind as he could not catch up due to his CF affliction.

As I stated before I kept hoping for some glimmer of hope but the story kept seeking out darker and sadder plotpoints. Salz's grandmother dies under a scythe meant for him and the little sister he had adopted and truly loved is taken from him by the piper. The illustrations on the front of the copy I read are disturbing at best and the naked death they display is a bit disturbing just like the story within.

The Swan Kingdom by Zoë Marriott

2008-12-18T22:07:00.004-05:00

****

The Swan Kingdom by Zoë Marriott

Once Upon a Time... there was a kingdom that flourished. The king was strong but shallow, the queen wise but afraid and they had four children the last of which was an ugly duckling and her name was Alexandra.

Swan Kingdom seems to be a sort of amalgam of several different fairy tales although from the author's notes it is adapted from Hans Christian Anderson's 'Wild Swans'. In this retelling, young Alexandra is a "cunning woman" - one that can manipulate the energies (enaid) of the earth to help things grow and heal. Her mother, the Queen has the same power but learned how to use it to a fuller extent. Alexandra grows up feeling rather unnecessary in her father's household even with the love of her brothers and mother.

When her mother dies by unnatural means, Alexandra seems to lose her very place in the world. Her father searches for her mother's killer but comes back with a woman who can influence all those around her. Only Alexandra and her brothers see through her spells. After a failed attempt to rid their kingdom of the usurper, Alexandra and her brothers are cast out of the kingdom. Alexandra to live with her aunt in Midland and the brothers as swans and caught between worlds.

Once away Alexandra grows stronger and grows up. She learns to stand on her own two feet and do what is right and necessary instead of just standing back and letting others make decisions for her.

I was very much relieved when she finally learned this lesson. The prose picked up quite a bit for me after that.

All in all a very good fairy tale - very much like the books by Robin McKinley, Cameron Dokey or Donna Jo Napoli. The only improvement I can think of would be to have gotten to the 'make your own way' part faster. She was a much more enjoyable character after that.

The Devil Inside (Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist, Book 1) by Jenna Black

2008-12-18T21:50:00.004-05:00

**

The Devil Inside (Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist, Book 1) by Jenna Black

This book was easy enough to read but not terribly well-written or plotted out. Even the idea was mediocre and done.

Basically Morgan is an exorcist with a huge chip on her shoulder about demons and those who choose to host demons. As an exorcist Morgan is able to expel illegal demons - demons who choose a human that is unwilling to have him/her. Morgan's brother Andrew willingly chose to let a demon ride him and Morgan has never really forgiven him for it.

In what should have been a routine exorcism Morgan is touched by a demon who should have been able to transfer himself to her body but it didn't. This causes Morgan some doubt and confusion especially after she finds notes she has written to herself when she'd been asleep to the effect of 'It can't possess you because you already have a demon' and 'Hi! My name is Lugh and by the way you can't trust your best friend because she wants to kill both you and me.'

If that were the basis of the whole plot that would probably be fine. But the author adds on these other little unnecessary messy details like some fairly graphic male-on-male S&M sexcapades. It's probably a turn-on for some but wasn't really what I was looking for in an urban fantasy book.

On the whole the book was a disappointment.

Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, 3) by Patricia Briggs

2008-12-14T20:52:00.003-05:00

*****

Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, 3) by Patricia Briggs

Once again Mercy gets tangled up in trouble. The action starts when she agrees to help Zee and Uncle Mike sniff out the murderer on the Fairyland reservation to end a debt she owes the fey for helping her end the vampire demon from the last book.

Mercy determines that the murderer must be a human man named O'Donnell who works as a security guard at the Fairyland Reservation. This is puzzling news to Zee and Uncle Mike since no human should be able to kill the fey like O'Donnell managed to. Uncle Mike and Zee go to talk to O'Donnell but when they get there their suspect is already dead and the human police have just arrived and take Zee into custody.

Since Zee is a personal friend and Mercy knows that while her old gremlin friend is capable of murder that he did not kill O'Donnell. Mercy hires the best lawyer she can find and starts digging for evidence herself.

As usual the plot is complicated and Mercy gets in way over her head. The werewolves and her fey friends help out a lot but there is no mention of the vampires in this particular book. Once again the tension between Adam and Sam is present but in this book it comes to a head and Mercy has to make a choice.

I particularly appreciated the last few pages of the book where the author takes some time to ponder feelings of guilt that sexual abuse victims may carry. I was almost ridiculously pleased with the revelation about Ben (the snarky, usually snarly werewolf that was abused as a child and stood up to protect Mercy). I knew there was a reason that I liked him/didn't hate him as we were obviously supposed to. That part was also particularly heart-wrenching and added a whole new human emotional depth to the story that doesn't usually find it's way into urban fantasy novels.

I think this was my favorite of the three so far and now consider myself to be well and truly hooked on Patricia Briggs.

The Shiksa Syndrome by Laurie Graff

2008-12-14T19:38:00.004-05:00

**

The Shiksa Syndrome by Laurie Graff

The novel started out with an entertaining enough idea but I had a hard time believing anyone could be so desperate and deceiving.

It's one thing to model yourself after a certain desirable typeset to attract attention as long as it doesn't change the core of who you are.

Aimee is a publicist and Jewish in New York and is ready to settle down and have kids and let her biological clock have it's way. She wants to find someone that is Jewish too so that the kids will be raised in the faith etc etc. The only way she thinks she'll find someone to help her with those goals are to pretend to be a Gentile and deny every aspect of herself. She does of course find someone and even though he's Jewish he doesn't seem to like Judaism very much.

I had a hard time getting through the book. The lies and mass amounts of deceit were difficult to take even if Aimee did get the boyfriend she was setting out to get. I'm not sure the guy was worth the stress. Yikes.

Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville, Book 2) by Carrie Vaughn

2008-12-14T19:14:00.003-05:00

Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville, Book 2) by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Norville is the host of her one-of-a-kind radio show, "The Midnight Hour" where she and her listeners discuss all things paranormal: werewolves, vampires etc. Since Kitty also happens to be a werewolf she is seen as kind of a celebrity expert in the field.

So when the Senate decides to hold a hearing about the necessity and validity of the Center for the study of the Paranatural Kitty gets called to the stand and she brings her trusty lawyer Ben.

Kitty is in a bit of a bind though trying to exercise her newfound freedom from the pack while staying out of trouble. Once in DC she is practically kidnapped and taken to the vampire Mistress' home where she will be 'safe.' Alette seems to be truly good but she is still a vampire. Kitty also gets to meet more 'weres' in DC and not just of the wolf variety. She meets a hot were-leopard and a bunch of new friends that hang out in relative peace without any of the pack posturing.

Once the Senate hearing is underway there are a whole host of witnesses other than Kitty including the Reverend Elijah Smith who is serious bad news for any in the paranormal community.

Kitty gets kidnapped again but on the night of the full moon by a series of individuals that want to prove their points about the paranormal.

Oh, and also there's a plot to overthrow Alette.

Basically there's a lot going on in this book. The action is very fast-paced and the book probably would have been better if the author had settled on one plot direction instead of several but you get a really good idea of how hectic Kitty's life has become.

Like many other urban fantasy books Kitty is the unwitting (and usually unwilling) heroine. Trouble just seems to dog her footsteps. :)

Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs

2008-12-14T18:54:00.003-05:00

Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs

Book Two of the Mercy Thompson series picks up pretty quickly after the first book and starts right in on the action.

Mercy is an auto mechanic and a walker that can turn into a coyote but raised by werewolves and trained by a fae. To add to that Mercy is actually friends with Stefan, one of the local vampires. When Stefan asks Mercy to accompany him to confront a new vampire in town things start to get really prickly.

The new vampire is also 'demon-ridden' and a sorcerer. The demon-vamp causes all sorts of discord just by his presence and can affect the minds of other vampires. Only Mercy really has a prayer of stopping him and she is not exactly the kind of chick that goes looking for that kind of action. But with the werewolves and the vampires nearly incapacitated Mercy steps up the plate with a little help from the fae.

Mercy is a terrific heroine because she is not a know-it-all, kick-@ss, overly sexual character. She is portrayed as very human and seems to only manage to get herself out of situations through luck, bravado and sheer perspicacity. This unperfection makes her very endearing and Mercy continues to grow as a character.

Beg for Mercy by Toni Andrews

2008-12-12T09:22:00.003-05:00

Beg for Mercy by Toni Andrews

Since she was a teenager Mercy Hollings has struggled with what she is - with her inherent talent to press people into doing her will. Orphaned and shuffled through the foster care system, Mercy is something of a loner - or at least she thought she was a loner. This book starts with the one person Mercy could call a friend: Sukey.

Sukey has this thing for big muscles and small brains - which basically defines Rocko the drug-selling goon she meets up with in a bar. When Sukey ends up in the hospital from a Rocko-induced heroin overdose Mercy gets very angry and presses Rocko to get out of town and flush all the heroin down the toilet. This would have been fantastic except for the fact that it wasn't Rocko's heroin and the owner happens to be able to press people in the same way Mercy does. He gives Mercy three days to find his heroin (even though Mercy knows exactly where it is - the sewage plant) or he'll start hurting her friends. This wouldn't be so bad for Mercy the loner except that she suddenly has friends popping out of the woodwork.

Mercy is a great heroine because she is constantly struggling with the moral quandry of her talent. What is acceptable to do? In her hypnotherapy practice is it all right to give more than gentle suggestions about improving people's lives? What is the extent that she can use her gifts and still be able to live with herself? There is no black and white morality here and even though Mercy continues to use her gifts (with greater frequency) to gather information and keep her friends safe the moral problems of it weigh her down. And through it all she keeps the secret of what she is able to do from most of her friends.

I was able to get this read it one night and pretty much found the action fascinating. I can't wait to see what Mercy gets up to in the second book.

Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli

2008-12-12T08:47:00.003-05:00

Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli

I liked this fairy tale by Ms. Napoli fairly well but I didn't think it was my favorite of hers. Sirena is one of fifty mermaids born of the eggs of a rainbow fish, fathered by the Greek god Eros. To avoid a curse and attain immortality each mermaid must seduce a mortal man to lie with her. However, living near a rocky shoal near an inhospitable island does not bode well for the sailors that Sirena's pod tries to call to their arms.

Set during the onset of the Trojan War the mermaids take advantage of the thousand ships worth of sailors to lure a few in but after seeing that most of the men drown and then watching the angry survivors beat one of her sisters to death, Sirena decides that the seducing beauty of her voice is not the way to attain her immortality.

Sirena lives alone for a time around the deserted island of Lemnos when a ship full of Greeks stops by her shores to deposit a man, effectively abandoning him to her care. The man is Philoctetes - friend to Heracles and therefore disliked by Hera. A sea serpent bit his leg and his fellow sailors left him to die. Sirena saves his life.

This book is good in that Sirena, despite being immortal is not perfect. She loves Philoctetes but doubts his love for her~ thinking that he was only staying with her because of the charm of her voice. However, once she realizes that he does love her too it is because he is going away to end the Trojan War and won't be back. And then the story abruptly ends. Revelation achieved. Story finished. No tidying up.

The action was somewhat stilted too. When Sirena gets into dangerous or harmful situations the descriptions of what are actually going on are sketchy but gets summed up in about a sentence.

Storm Born (The Dark Swan, Book 1) by Richelle Mead

2008-11-29T12:31:00.003-05:00

Storm Born (The Dark Swan, Book 1) by Richelle Mead

Eugenie Markham aka the Dark Swan Odile is a powerful shaman trained to kill and / or banish the Fey that make their way into the human world to cause trouble.

Trained by her shaman foster father Eugenie is a little bit mercenary and a little bit freaked out when her prey start knowing her real name and start trying to get in her pants.

Eugenie takes a job to try and rescue a teenage girl that was kidnapped and taken into Fairy. A trip to visit King Dorian reveals some of the answers as well as a battle plan to get the girl back. Eugenie finds that she is the subject of a prophecy that says her first born will rule and change the world (which explains the fey trying to get into her pants...). Eugenie also finds out that she is half-fey herself, daughter to the tyrannical Storm King that nearly took over all of Fairy several years ago.

With the help of Dorian and a half-kitsune named Kiyo, Eugenie tries to save the girl while trying to ignore (and failing) both men's romantic attempts.

Eugenie is a very kick-butt character and basically knows what she wants most of the time. Most of her mistakes stem from either not thinking things through all the way or going off half-cocked on incomplete information. All the same she is a witty and amusing character that seems to be falling deeper under the spell of her own power as the book progresses. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next book (Thorn Queen, I think).

Blood Witch by Anya Bast

2008-11-24T23:38:00.003-05:00

Blood Witch by Anya Bast

Eh, I liked the first one better. This second one capitalized on the characters introduced in the first book but other than that the characters seemed terribly flat.

Isabelle's motive for seeking out Stephen (the new leader of the warlocks) but even that seems flat. Her motivating actions are weak and the plot with the demon having a 'crush' on her seems a bit contrived.

Even the part where Thomas gets stuck in the other world and Isabelle has a chance to prove herself gets a little murky. With the help of a mysterious new friend Thomas somehow breaks free and manages (again, we don't really know how) to break through to the world where he is supposed to be.

Even their romance stuff seemed flat although she is just as explicit in this book as the last. I hope the third one (due out in January 2009) will be better.

Oh, and the cover art looks a little too ... something. She looks like a plastic Barbie in pain.

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

2008-11-21T20:05:00.004-05:00

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

I really liked this book. Mercy Thompson was a believable protagonist despite her coyote "skinwalker" heritage.

Mercy is not too strong - she acknowledges she has both strengths and weaknesses. She is friendly and kind (as seen by taking in Mac) as well as mostly unafraid of the other paranormals around her that she maybe should fear a little more (like the vampires). However Mercy is not a 'badass' female character. She shows real fear when going into the vampires underground lair to meet the mistress and has to show submissive behavior to Samuel when he is hurt.

She is a well-rounded character as are a few of the other characters in the book. I particularly enjoyed Stefan, the vampire, who owns a van that Mercy is working on. It just happens to be painted like Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine too.

The tension between the two Alpha werewolves, Samuel and Adam, should turn out fairly interesting later. Samuel is an old love interest; a childhood sweetheart. Adam is a more recent protector and the kidnapping of his daughter drives much of the action.

The dialogue is smart and sometimes snarky depending on the characters speaking and the plot moves at a good pace. It is definitely a book that I could keep up with but was never boring.

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

2008-11-21T19:47:00.003-05:00

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

When Charlotte's father died leaving the wool mill and her younger sister Rosie to care for, Charlotte thought the world should be ending. As the elder and more practical and stubborn sister, Charlotte was used to running the finances for the wool mill that kept the tiny town of Stirwaters afloat. She was aware of the curse on Stirwaters that was tied inexplicably to the mill and her family but didn't really believe it until catastrophe after catastrophe began to assail her and Rosie.

When it is brought to her attention by her father's friendly out of town banker that her father had borrowed 1000 pounds that Charlotte knew he could never repay and that 600 of that was due immediately Charlotte knew she was going to have to combat the curse or lose Stirwaters and her mill family of workers.

Rosie, young and beautiful and impulsive, calls on the Fae to help and a man introducing himself only as Jack Spinner comes to their aid to spin straw into gold.

The plot is familiar but new with many complicated twists and turns. Charlotte finds and nearly loses love, her family and her mill but remains strong and true to her desire to save those around her even if she doesn't always go about it in the correct way.

Parts of the story were chilling but just like most modern fairy tales end happily.

Witch Fire by Anya Bast

2008-11-16T00:57:00.003-05:00

Witch Fire by Anya Bast

First off, there definitely could have been a PG or PG-13 version of this book. I'm not sure if that would have been as amusing though...

It does get fairly graphic fairly frequently. They do a lot of fantasizing at first but that doesn't last long. I would classify this as one of those books where their problems/issues could have been halved if they'd had less sex and more talking.

Miri is a waitress with very little family. Her godmother raised her since her parents died when she was very young and there's nothing much exciting about her life. Or at least there wasn't until some strange men try to bust down her apartment door and abduct her hitting her soundly on the head in the process.

They don't actually get to abduct her though because Mr. Gorgeous (her nickname for one of the customers at the diner where she worked) abducts her instead. It turns out that he - Jack - is actually a Fire Witch and he tries to explain to Miri that she is an Air Witch, rare and powerful. Of course Miri doesn't believe him at all even after he lights a flame in his own palm. He does eventually prove it to her but it is sort of a process.

Jack is protecting Miri from being used in a ritualistic circle of elemental witches to call forth a demon. Jack has to explain to her that that was how her parents died, how to use and manage her magick etc.

Of course nothing ever goes as smoothly as it is supposed to which is what makes the story amusing to read. There are some little plotholes and quick coverups but nothing too egregious.

Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

2008-11-16T00:03:00.006-05:00

Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

I really liked this first book of the Kitty Norville series and I think it shows a lot of promise for the series as a whole.

Kitty is a disc jockey at a radio station and has taken over the midnight shift since she also happens to be a werewolf. One night when she's feeling bored Kitty takes a caller who brings up some paranormal activity. Kitty plays it cool like the whole idea of vampires and werewolves is a really good joke but her frank commentary and easy acceptance or dismissal of ideas (and callers) makes her rating soar and all the sudden Kitty has her own syndicated show.

Of course no one on the radio knows that she's a werewolf - well until someone sends out a hitman to take her out while she is on the air. Kitty manages to talk down the killer (she points out that someone is playing him) but admits on air to being a werewolf. Kitty's ratings (and problems) go through the roof at her admission.

Most of her problems are pack related - keeping the right "people" happy is tough and Kitty refuses to give up her show to make others happy.

The best part for me was seeing how much of what happens in Kitty's life is luck. A lot of what she does would be really impressive, if she had meant to do it that way. But as with most other things in life, for Kitty it's guesswork and being in the right place at the right time and being open to other possibilities.

I also liked the author's sense of humor which translated to some of Kitty's snarky on-air commentary. And having a werewolf named Kitty is just ironic.

Midnight Rising (The Midnight Breed, 4) by Lara Adrian

2008-11-12T00:03:00.003-05:00

Midnight Rising (The Midnight Breed, 4) by Lara Adrian

I finished this book in one evening. It probably had nothing to do with the fact that I already mostly knew (and was sort of attached to) the characters or that the main 'hero' of this novel had so much to overcome.

Rio, one of the Breed warriors, was betrayed by his Breedmate Eva, in the very first book. Her betrayal nearly killed him; scarring his body and soul so badly that by the time the fourth book rolls around Rio is ready to end it all.

Before he can set off the explosives that would be necessary to destroy evidence of a cave crypt of an Ancient One (and seal himself inside) a woman enters the cave where he had been hiding and sees the glyphs on the wall, the human remains and the empty crypt. Unable to let her just walk away while knowing more than she should (especially since the woman is a journalist!) Rio follows her and eventually has to kidnap her. But containing the information and the woman he kidnapped (Dylan) is much more difficult than Rio had imagined.

Dylan's unique gift as a Breedmate allows her to see Breedmates who have died, who have something they want to tell her or want her to do. This isn't something that Dylan understands at first, never having learned about her potential as a Breedmate. The ghost of Eva actually led Dylan to Rio and helps Rio locate Dylan after she is kidnapped by Dragos (the villain!).

It was very easy to read and certainly furthers the main storyline plot. Can't wait to snatch up the next one this December.

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

2008-11-11T23:48:00.003-05:00

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

I was disappointed by this story as I thought the premise sounded so interesting. For the story to fall so flat ... I did make it all the way through the book and had to take a moment or two when I was finished to sort out what the heck had actually happened.

Quincie is not exactly a normal high-schooler in Austin, Texas. Her parents died when she was small and her childhood sweetheart is a half werewolf. On top of that she has inherited her parent's restaurant and is almost too responsible.

Despite her apparent responsiblility in helping to run a restaurant, Quincie makes some terribly poor decisions. She's drunk for the second half of the book for example.

The writing is staccato and doesn't flow as it should and even Kieran (Quincie's best friend & childhood sweetheart) who is the most dynamic character feels static and unlikeable. The story ends abruptly and badly in my humble opinion. :(

Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline Murphy

2008-11-10T21:01:00.003-05:00

Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline Murphy

I began reading this book today and also returned it to the library today. I couldn't get into it and got very lost in the details.

The subject matter was interesting enough but just SO laden with genealogies and descriptions of their clothing, the foods they ate (I was very grossed out by the breakfast food of "eyes, ears and brain of baby goat") etc.

The genealogy was terribly difficult for me to follow especially since I'm not a scholar of the era and have only minimal knowlege of the Medici's history. I was hoping to broaden my horizons with a novel similar to the ones by Phillipa Gregory but this read more like a text than a novel (and Phillipa Gregory is very detail heavy too).

All in all, I got about 50 pages in and called it quits. I was probably most disturbed with the image of the dwarf Morgante winning 10 scudi for crippling a monkey...

Dishes by Rich Wallace

2008-11-10T19:18:00.003-05:00

Dishes by Rich Wallace

This was sort of a strange book in my opinion. Or, perhaps fairer, it wasn't really what I was expecting when I read the summary off of my library's website.

Danny is straight and working for the summer in a predominantly gay tourist town in Maine. As a dishwasher at the restaurant 'Dishes,' Danny is only one of two straight guys that work there and the other is his father.

Danny goes after a waitress that works at a different restaurant but gets hit on fairly often by the waiters at his own restaurant which can get a bit confusing since Danny is nice enough (and secure enough I suppose) to not get weirded out at getting hit on by gay guys.

Perhaps that was where it got really strange for me. I don't know any 20-year-old guys that would be as cool about the situation as Danny was. Then too the book was short and kind of trite. Everything just worked out in the end. Amazing.

The Last Mermaid by Shana Abe

2008-11-10T18:24:00.003-05:00

The Last Mermaid by Shana Abe

I liked this book even though I didn't think it was as good as Abe's Drakon series.

Basically it is a compilation of four love stories throughout "history" and taking place mostly in a few tiny islands in Scotland.

The first story is very brief - just enough to explain a curse and about the mermaids.

The second story is more developed and takes place in 531 AD when a Prince of the Isles is betrayed and kidnapped and thrown into the sea. With a little mythical help he is able to win back his kingdom.

The one I liked best took place in 1721 with the Earl of Kell and a Spanish assassin named Leila. I probably liked this one best because they had some equal footing. Ronan has his mermaid heritage but Leila also brought to the relationship an ability to know the hearts and minds of the people she touches. It is interesting to see the way they save each other.

The last story takes place in 2004 when Iain McInness seeks out the last remaining Kell to explain to her her own inheritance and heritage. Ruri also has gifts (perhaps from Leila a few centuries earlier) but this final story really circles around back to the first love of the mermaid and Kell, completing the circle and ending the curse.

The story is mostly well-written but slightly confusing in some spots. As with any fantasy there are a few plot-holes but they are easy enough to overlook.

The Rose Bride: A Retelling of "The White Bride and the Black Bride" by Nancy Holder

2008-11-02T08:28:00.003-05:00

The Rose Bride: A Retelling of "The White Bride and the Black Bride" by Nancy Holder

This story was not as easy for me to read as some of the others in the Once Upon a Time series. I was not very familiar with the story of the White Bride and the Black Bride so that might have had something to do with it.

I found the story to be a lot like Cinderella but without the fairy godmother. Despite the abundance of magic Rose did much of the "work" of the tale on her own which was good. I did find her character to be strangely unlikeable as she spent much of the 1st half of the book weeping and much of the next quarter of the book being beaten down. Only towards the end when she believes the message of the roses does she really improve as a character.

I also found the king to be lacking. I was more than a little weirded out that he could replace his wife in his affections with another that looked just like her. To have married three people that all look exactly the same was more than a little strange to read even if Desiree only borrowed the form.

It certainly wasn't my favorite of the series of fairy tales.

Beast by Donna Jo Napoli

2008-10-29T11:24:00.003-04:00

Beast by Donna Jo Napoli

I really liked this story as a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Per Ms. Napoli this story has roots from an earlier version told by a Mr. Lamb in the 1800's where the Beast was a Persian Prince.

The culture and faith of the Beast make for a nice change. In the story the Prince wasn't necessarily bad, just proud and thoughtless.

Prince Orasmyn is the son of the Shah and knows the Quran well. He takes joy from the simple things in life like the gardens he helps to design and flourish. When the Prince prepares a camel for sacrifice and knows that the animal has been defiled (already has known suffering) and then knowing that continues to prepare the animal to die an djinn or pari (a fairy) curses him to take the form of a beast stating that his own father (the Shah) will kill him tomorrow during a hunt where lions from India have been brought in for a special event.

The Prince manages to avoid death and decides to follow the caravan back to India. Orasmyn learns much about being a lion but almost looses himself as a man. The djinn had said only the love of a woman would break his spell. The Prince, remembering a tale from a visiting Frenchman, decides to go to France to try his luck there. Life as a lion is difficult and terribly lonely. Orasmyn stumbles upon an abandoned chateau and sets up shop. Everything must be stolen, something that goes against his very upbringing

It's really a well-written story about faith and perserverance and overcoming despair. The romantic aspect of Belle falling for the Beast almost seems incidental to the obstacles that Orasmyn is able to rise above.

The Smart One and The Pretty One by Claire LeZebnik

2008-10-28T19:19:00.004-04:00

The Smart One and The Pretty One by Claire LeZebnik

Ava and Lauren are two modern sisters who look pretty much alike but see the world in completely different ways.

Ava, the older sister, is a lawyer and the responsible daughter. She dresses professionally but plainly with as little fuss and bother as possible. Lauren on the other hand, makes her living buying clothing for retail stores and is a little bit of a clotheshorse. When Lauren really racks in the debt and can't continue to pay her bills AND her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer she decides to pack it in and come home.

Ava helps Lauren sort out her bills and Lauren helps Ava sort out her love life but neither sister is particularly gracious about the help she is receiving. Ava makes Lauren sign a contract stating how Lauren won't buy anything unnecessary for the next six months. Lauren decides to get even when she finds a betrothal contract their parents jokingly made several years ago and sets Ava up with a man the she is unknowingly engaged to.

This sounds like a fairly stereotypical plotline but the author's ability to describe the situations and the easy, witty dialogue between not just the sisters, but all the characters makes this novel stand out from all the others. I really enjoyed this book.

Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn

2008-10-27T19:28:00.004-04:00

Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn

I just wasn't as impressed by this as the summaries had led me to believe I'd be... The plot seemed trite and overdone. The characters seemed very static and stereotypical. Two characters that I would have liked to see more of were Morio, a Japanese kitsune (read demon fox) and 'Smoky' a white dragon. One can hope they make a larger appearance in the second and third installments.

The plotline is fairly standard. Three sisters are living on Earth on assignment from their CIA-like agency from Faerie. Since the sisters are half Fae, half human they each have their weird powers. Camille is a witch, Delilah is a werecat and Menolly used to be great at acrobatics before a mission gone wrong saw her turn into a vampire.

The sisters manage well enough Earthside and they all have their own jobs. Menolly helps tend bar (at night of course), Delilah is a detective and Camille runs a bookstore. By the title, Camille is the obvious focus of this story and things were going fine until a friend that worked at the bar with Menolly died of very suspicious causes. That sets off a whole slew of otherworldly problems including the rising of a demon named Shadow Wing. I couldn't help it; I thought of Darkwing Duck every time I saw the name in print...

It took me a good four or five days to get through this slim little paperback, a size that would normally take one or two max. I just couldn't get into it. I'll (of course) read the next ones to see if they turn out better. I hope they do.

Hands of Flame (The Negotiator, 3) by C.E. Murphy

2008-10-22T21:32:00.003-04:00

Hands of Flame (The Negotiator, Book 3) by C. E. Murphy

C. E. Murphy stuns again in her third book of the Negotiator series.

Hands of Flame begins a few weeks after the end of the last book House of Cards. At this point we are well-entrenched in the series and it's not recommended to read this book as a standalone novel.

Margrit Knight has only known of the Old Races (Dragons & Djinn, Gargoyles & Selkies and Vampires) for a scant three months but her life has been immeasurably affected by her knowledge. Having quit her old job as a lawyer at Legal Aid, Margrit is poised to begin a new job as Eliseo Daisani's secretary which would give her considerable freedom to pursue "jobs" for the Old Races.

In the last book Margrit found herself sitting on a quorum as the representative of her race. In this book Margrit takes her role as token human to a higher level of respect within the Old Races. In this novel she continues to push the Old Races to change their centuries-old traditions in favor of new governances that will help them survive the ever-shifting world of humans. Margrit negotiates a peace agreement on the docks between the Selkies and Djinn and faces Alban's detractor Biali in a gargoyle trial in an effort to win Alban back into the Gargoyle's gestalt.

As usual it's a complicated plot fraught with financial politics and pitfalls. Trading "favors" (destroying an empire, removing a dragon, stopping a war) seems to take up much of Margrit's time and her quick mind seems to catch on to the intricacies of the problems much faster than I would have had I been in her shoes.

My only real complaint is that Alban kept to shadows, showing up to protect Margrit or push the plot along with little jabs. Margrit handles almost all of the action - including a few fights scenes. It's really quite impressive when comparing her character through the duration of the series, but I miss some of Alban's quirks.

Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner

2008-10-20T22:30:00.003-04:00

Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner

This is the story about Helen of Troy and how the author imagined her to be more than just a pretty face that got kidnapped and started the Trojan War. This is about Helen as a woman-child, meeting mythological heroes and making her own decisions in a time when women were supposed to be passive.

Helen had always been the pretty twin and the heir to be Queen of Sparta. Even as a young girl though she knows her beauty will not always be enough. She sets about making herself formidable as well by obtaining some secret training like her brothers (Castor and Polydeuces) receive.

When her sister is betrothed and finally ready to go and live in her new husband's house, Helen goes with Castor and Polydeuces to deliver her and meets up with some mythological heroes. The political winds are changing and so the three siblings change up their traveling plans to avoid some unwelcome company and so stop at Delphi. From there the adventures just continue to grow.

It is very interesting for me to read about a well-known character and to imagine an more in-depth existence for them. Realistically Helen must have had feelings about the man she was married to, her brothers and sister, the country she lived in etc. The author imagines them so vividly you almost think that there must be some basis in fact. This was a very enjoyable read.

Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, 1) by Patricia Briggs

2008-10-17T19:47:00.003-04:00

Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, 1) by Patricia Briggs

This story starts right off where Ms. Briggs started in her short story in the book "On the Prowl" (featuring various authors). I suggest reading that first so that you have a good background of what Anna went through and how short a time she has really known Charles.

Anna is a werewolf and has been for three years but it wasn't her choice to make the change. In most things she is basically ignorant about what it means to be a werewolf and she knows even less about herself as an Omega wolf. Charles is still recovering from the silver bullets he took in the fight in Chicago and is trying to learn enough for both of them. He's trying not to scare off Anna since they are not "mated" even though their wolves are. The situation is unheard of in the werewolf community.

To compound matters the Marrok must send Charles off to deal with a rogue wolf that has attacked one human too many in the wilds of Montana. Anna, unwilling to let Charles face an enemy alone, goes with him and plays an integral part in taming the rogue as well as the Marrok when he nearly goes berserk after being held captive by a 200 year old witch that can utilize pack bonds and has a guardian werewolf.

As with any good heroine, Anna is what holds the story together. She's shy but stubborn, strong yet delicate, unsure of herself but definitely a force to be reckoned with...

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

2008-10-12T12:21:00.004-04:00

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Dear Stephenie Meyer,

When I was first considering reading The Host I was reluctant. I was a pessimist thinking about how it wasn't emotionally possible to be as good as your Twilight series. That the writing that made me love the impossible romance where vampires and werewolves exist (and Edward!) was surely a fluke.

I was wrong. I'm sorry I doubted you. I didn't think it was possible but I may just love this novel more than Twilight (etc.) although I am quiet about it. I don't want my fellow Twilighters to string me up for my heresy. Also the summary on the jacket flap does not do justice to the complicated love and morality inherent to the story.

When I first got the book I let it sit in my room for several days - a week at least. I would eye it warily, not really certain that I wanted to get emotionally bound to another book but reassuring myself with my pessimism. I started slow (or so I thought). The first day I started the book I only took in the first nine chapters; just enough to lay the groundwork. The second day I read a little more but not much. I think I knew (somewhere underneath the surface) that if I got too much farther in I would be lost. The third day I could not put the book down. I still had to go to work and about my normal routines but I was a shell of a human - most of my consciousness with the book and the characters. I worried with Wanderer about whether Jamie was okay and if he was getting enough to eat. I agonized over whether the Seeker would drag Mel and Wanda back to "civilization." The fourth night I stayed up until four a.m. finishing the story: crying when things seemed hopeless, smiling when Wanda really got the hang of sarcasm.

The story was truly beautifully written. With such a complicated plot it would have been all too easy to stray from the main point and go off on a tangent or develop the characters too fast. I was constantly impressed with the depth of emotion the writing wrought within me. When I cried it was not for me or any related memories I might identify with but for the characters themselves: their hurts, their sorrows, their hopelessness.

The long and the short of it is that I can't remember ever being so moved by one single book (or movie or song) and I am a voracious reader (watcher, listener). So thank you. I look forward to whatever else you may write (Twilight related or otherwise, although I do wish you'd continue on with Midnight Sun - I still haven't read it out of respect for the process. I don't think I'll read it until you actually publish it. Please don't let me down!).

Thank you for bringing to life Melanie and Wanda and all the rest. It has been an experience I won't soon forget.

Maria

On the Prowl

2008-09-29T18:46:00.007-04:00

On the Prowl, 4 short stories by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilkes, Karen Chance & Sunny (whoever that is...)

Short Story #1: Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs

I started this during my lunch hour and could not put it down! There is something about the story of Charles and Anna that I really enjoyed and I picked it up again as soon as I was off work and finished it really very quickly and wanted more. I was happy to see that she has followed up with a book titled "Cry Wolf." I'll be checking that out of the library soon.

Anna has been living in Chicago as a werewolf for the past three years when she was changed against her will or knowledge of what was to come. Charles is a dominant alpha male werewolf and the son and second of the Marrok - the leader of all the alphas. He is sent to Chicago after Anna warned the Marrok about the murder of a boy by the alpha in her pack. Upon arriving in Chicago Charles immediately realizes that Anna is an Omega, a rare wolf that has the ability to calm those around her. Anna doesn't believe him at first since she is considered submissive (and therefore useless) in her own pack. That Anna was changed against her will and then beaten into the appearance of submission absolutely pisses Charles off and he sets out to find out what is wrong with Anna's pack.

It is a swift plot but sets the characters and scene for a much wider scale of possible events. And I liked Anna as a character quite a bit. Charles I could take or leave since most (romantic) male leads are alpha males anyhow. It is Anna that sets this plot apart.

Short Story #2: Inhuman by Eileen Wilkes

This was not such a great story from my point-of-view. There was so much potential! The otherworldly characters and friendship and love despite the differences are an excellent foundation for a story. It just didn't follow through or came out to be too trite. There was danger, sort of, in the creature that took on human form but even that was tamed. All in all the tale seemed so watered down it was hardly worth it...

Short Story #3: Buying Trouble by Karen Chance

I've now read Karen Chance quite a bit and like much of her Cassandra Palmer series. That series is so swift and complicated that the swift but uncomplex plot of "Buying Trouble" was a tad jarring. It does touch on the Cassie Palmer series very briefly but the plot is mostly just standalone. Our heroine in this novel is a 'null' human - one that by her very presence blocks magic. Nulls can be very powerful weapons in the magical world and Claire has narrowly avoided being sold by her family (her real father is unknown) by escaping with a elfin hottie. The amusing thing is that she can't seem to keep herself away from him despite all the trouble they get into once they land in Faerie (I think I sense a theme here, Ms. Chance...). After a rather crucial interlude (*coughcough*) Claire is reborn into her second self - a dragon.

Short Story #4: Mona Lisa Betwining by Sunny

By far the worst short story in the anthology the story seems to be a work of fan fiction based off of someone else's work but poorly chopped together and badly explained overall. There is also quite a bit of unnecessary sex. I remember picking up the book and wondering "Who the heck is Sunny?" and find that now that I've read a short story of hers I really don't care to know.

Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz

2008-09-29T13:55:00.003-04:00

Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz

Masquerade is the sequel to Melissa de la Cruz's Blue Bloods.

Masquerade picks up a few weeks after Blue Bloods ends with Schulyer and Oliver searching Venice for Schulyer's grandfather, Lawrence Van Alan. She does find him and events move more quickly once he enters the picture.

I don't want to give away too much of it, but Mimi gets accused of being the harborer of the Silver Bloods, and a Silver Blood herself after she was found in the possession of dark magic.

Schulyer ends up saving her because as the daughter of Gabrielle, she is the only one of the Blue Bloods who can taste the blood of other vampires without succumbing to the addiction and memory overload that can cause madness.

The action is far from being over - they managed to find out about one Silver Blood and the rest of Council knows about the danger but nothing else has happened to really put a stop to them and they are all in danger until then...

The action moves along with a nice pace and the title sums the book up nicely. There is an actual masquerade ball but the title seems to really bring out the idea of not knowing who is on which side of the 'fight'. Sometimes it even seems like the characters themselves don't know which side they are on.

It's well worth reading but I think I'd have absolutely confused if I had not read the first book first. This is not a series you can just pick up on from the middle.

Midnight Pearls: A Retelling of "The Little Mermaid" by Debbie Viguié

2008-09-26T23:46:00.002-04:00

Midnight Pearls: A Retelling of "The Little Mermaid" by Debbie Viguié

This is one of my favorites from the 'Once Upon a Time' series. I've always loved the story of the sacrifice of the Little Mermaid but in this retelling the main character is not the one that must sacrifice something to the Sea Witch.

Peal was discovered by a fisherman in the ocean on the day of a huge storm. She was about four years old, naked as a bluejay and clutching a large, dark pearl. The fisherman and his wife raised her like their own for they had been praying for a child. They told the other villagers that she was family that had been orphaned in a village that had been harder hit by the storm.

Many years later Pearl is all grown up and probably about 17. She still has long, ungainly legs pale translucent skin, silvery hair and won't eat fish. She stares and stares at the sea but never goes in because she has nightmares about a pair of dark eyes watching her in the water and the memory of words that the ocean would kill her. Pearl's best friend is James and he just happens to be a prince. They're tied together as friends because neither treat the other differently despite their rather obvious differences. They really care for each other and so when the topic of marriage comes up from both their families they immediately turn to the other to bail them out. On the day that James would have proposed, their boat sprang a leak and James nearly died but a mermaid brought him to shore while her brother (a merman) watched over Pearl as she swam in to shore.

The merman, Kale, recognizes Pearl as Adriana, a mermaid princess. But Pearl remembers nothing about being a mermaid and Kale doesn't want to risk frightening her off because on top of everything else he had been betrothed to her. Faye, his mermaid sister, falls immediately in love with James despite knowing nothing about him. They help the humans to the land and both head to the Sea Witch who can turn them human. From Faye she takes her voice and strikes a bargain that she must convince the prince to fall in love with her within seven days or lose her life. From Kale she strikes the same bargain but takes his eyes instead of his voice.

Both have quite a handicap to overcome and there is drama on land involving James and a distant cousin that wants the throne. Only by knowing herself and recognizing love will Pearl be able to make everything turn out all right in the end. And of course she does so both of the little mermaids turn out to have a happily ever after but Pearl returns to the sea and Faye remains on land with James.

The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights" by Cameron Dokey

2008-09-26T23:29:00.002-04:00

The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights" by Cameron Dokey

This is one of my favorites of the 'Once Upon a Time' series but one of the least imaginative colors. They could have done all kinds of cool things with the Arabic wear and veils and many different fabrics. As it is the poor half-woman on the cover has diamonds patterned over her skin and a bland looking, oddly patterned dress...

However, this is one of my favorites probably because of the inherent magic. Shahrazad is the daughter of the vizier to the king and Maju, a storyteller from a faraway land. Maju is one of great beauty and one of the greatest storytellers but is blind. By feeling cloth that comes out of her trunk she is able to decipher the story in the weave of the cloth. Once Maju died this gift to read the cloth (and also blindness) went to Shahrazad. The vizier remarried and his second wife also bore him a daughter but that wife died birthing the child.

Every good fairy tale must have a prince and so the story takes a turn to look at the two princes of the king that Shahrazad's father serves. Both sons married and both sons had their wives betray them (and nearly kill them). The eldest prince was cursed by his wife before she killed herself that he would never know peace until he knew the heart of the woman and that woman knew his heart as well. This tormented the prince so much that his heart turned to stone and he set forth an edict that he would take a new wife at the full moon so that he would not be without female company but would have her beheaded the next day so that she would not have time to betray him. No one wanted to give up their daughters but Shahrazad volunteered for the job. Her father and sister tried to dissuade Shahrazad but she had a plan in place that would hopefully give her the time needed to learn the prince's heart and him to knows hers as well. Each night she would read the cloth and tell the prince (and her little sister) part of the story within the cloth.

The plot is deceptively simple with a little bit of tricky politics but under it all is just a well-written love story.

Golden: A Retelling of "Rapunzel" by Cameron Dokey

2008-09-26T23:05:00.002-04:00

Golden: A Retelling of "Rapunzel" by Cameron Dokey

This is not a normal story about Rapunzel. We know this within the first several pages of the book because the child named Rapunzel is bald and remains that way. So you know right off that this is no run-of-the-mill child unfortunate enough to get stuck in a tower for most of her life.

This Rapunzel starts out normally enough. Her mother had to have a certain variety of parsley/lettuce known as rapunzel and sent her husband next door to gather some. However, since their next door neighbor was a sorceress the devoted husband thought that he would have a better chance of getting the parsley if he stole it. This is where we know the story has gone awry because the sorceress is kind and allows the woman to have all the rapunzel she desired and in return, they must love their child no matter what because if they don't, the sorceress would take the child away.

The baby came out completely bald but the mother, so foolish about the rapunzel earlier, saw that the child would never be like herself (vain with beautiful, long, golden hair) and so rejected it. The husband/father was terribly sad at this because he would have loved his daughter no matter what and his wife's foolishness took the baby away from them. :(

So the sorceress raised Rapunzel (in a different town, of course) with love and eventually Rapunzel made some good friends despite her looking differently. The best friend she had was the tinker (Mr. Jones) and his adopted son Harry. When she turned sixteen a sickness in a nearby town caused Rapunzel and the sorceress to move out of the area before the villagers came with pitchforks for the sorceress. They traveled with Mr. Jones and Harry to a magicked tower where the sorceress' daughter by blood was held hostage. The two girls were of a similar age but not alike at all; opposites in most ways. For where Rapunzel was bald, the girl, Rue, had beautifully long golden hair that let them climb into the tower.

The day is saved (finally) when Rapunzel gives her name to Rue and Rue gives her heart to a passing prince. Of course Rapunzel (now nameless) had already given her heart to Harry. The girl formerly-known-as-Rapunzel took the new name of Susan. And Harry and Susan lived happily ever after. :)

This was not my favorite of the 'Once Upon a Time' series by a longshot but then I've never thought that the story of Rapunzel was terribly good either. Why did the mother HAVE TO HAVE the lettuce? I know pregnant women get cravings but geez, have some ice cream instead. It'd be more believable... And allowing people to climb up your hair just never seemed like a smart thing to me. She must have gotten sick of jokes like 'Well that's using your head!' The Rapunzel of fairy tales just never seemed like a smart or worthwhile character. She was a paper princess with not a lot of substance. It's a little bit sad but some of that carried over and into this story too. Rue wasn't a very fleshed out person and were hardly on a first name basis with many of the other characters. Parts of it dragged on while others happened so fast I wasn't sure what was going on anymore. I was truly confused about why Rapunzel had to give up her name.

I've got several more of this series to read so I'm hoping there are still a bunch of good ones.

The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter

2008-09-26T17:54:00.003-04:00

The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld, 3) by Gena Showalter

This book is very much more of the same as the previous two books. Reyes holds within him the demon Pain and has been lusting after Danika Ford since book 1.

I had some major concerns for Danika as Reyes is a fairly violent and bloody person (not to mention messy... all that blood...) and he tends to taint the women he associates with his demon so that they too begin to crave pain. Unwilling to afflict this future on Danika, Reyes protects her from both Aeron and himself. Of course this only works for a period of time before Danika forces his hand.

However since Danika is the all seeing eye and basically a portal between heaven and hell the demon can't hurt her. It basically just goes to hell (lol) when she is with Reyes rendering her safe from the demon.

I just checked and there are not any other books published after this one so I'm not certain if she is still writing this series or not. The plot points set out certainly aren't finished by this book. Only two of the four godly objects have been found and so they haven't gotten Pandora's box. Paris did have a vision of Danika holding the box but that's obviously sometime in the future. If Ms. Showalter writes more I'm willing to read them.

Out of Power for the Last few days...

2008-09-17T15:50:00.002-04:00

I'm adding this post at work because there's a generator there so I'll have to be really brief...

To review:
Thunderbird Falls - C.E. Murphy
Beauty Sleep - Cameron Dokey
Raintree: Haunted - Linda Winstead Jones
Nobody's Princess - Esther Friesner

Hope power will be back on soon... We've been without it for 4 days now (since Sunday).

The Night Dance: a Retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by Suzanne Weyn

2008-09-14T00:13:00.004-04:00

The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn

I really enjoyed this fairy tale combination. I had always liked the tale of the 12 Dancing Princesses but always found them a bit lacking. Why does the father lock them up in their room every night? Why doesn't the father just separate the daughters into different rooms? Why does the father hire strangers to find out what his daughters are doing? Can't he watch over them himself? Why do the daughters feel compelled to go out dancing every night and ruin their slippers? Aren't they tired???

By mixing the fairytale with Arthurian legend Weyn has a way to answer most of those questions. The girl's mother is the Lady of the Lake and is captured and imprisoned by Morgan LaFaye. The girl's father, wild with grief at losing his wife builds a great wall around their home to keep his daughters from getting lost and never coming back in the same way. The youngest daughter, Rowena has inherited some of her mother's magical skill and is desperate to try to get out of the prison of her home. One day she stumbles into Bedivere, the last knight of the Round Table and the bearer of the legendary sword Excalibur. King Arthur entrusted Bedivere with the sword and the mission to return it to the Enchanted Lake and the lady that lives there. Bedivere and Rowena fall instantly in love.

The sisters are eager to escape in the same way Rowena did but their father discovered her exit route and blocked it off. Instead the girls escape into tunnels and caves under their home and discover a lake deep underground. Unbeknownst to them that lake is where their mother is imprisoned. In an effort to distract the girls, Morgan LaFaye weaves a spell that changes their nightclothes into fine ballgowns and for barges to take the girls to a magical island on the lake where they can eat, drink and dance all night long. When they come home in the morning their slippers are ruined and their father is upset at them have left without his knowledge and the fact that he has to foot the bill (pun intended) for their ruined footwear.

Rowena is upset that she can't get back to Bedivere and she suspects her mother is captive beneath the lake but each time she goes down to the caves she is drawn off in the barges and forgets about her intention to search the lake. Finally the girl's father calls for his infamous contest of wits to see which man can figure out how his daughters are getting out every night and in return win one of their hand's in marriage. Luckily Bedivere manages to snag the card that shows he is the suitor for the second night of the trial (or the book might have gone on for far too long) and is able to help set the Lady of the Lake free, return Excalibur to her and win fair lady Rowena's hand and heart.

It's a charming retelling even if it does have a few flaws. As some other reviewers have noted the character development is a little lacking - only two of the sisters have any real role to play and the others are basically about as animated as store manniquins. We don't really get to see much of anyone's reasoning for anything although much of it is implied. On the whole it's not as good as some of the other stories from Weyn but it is worth a quick read.

Water Song: a Retelling of "The Frog Prince" by Suzanne Weyn

2008-09-13T23:46:00.004-04:00

Water Song: a Retelling of "The Frog Prince" by Suzanne Weyn

I have really begun to like the "Once upon a Time" series with it's interesting retellings of standard fairy tales in unconventional settings that I wouldn't have dreamed of. This is the third book I've read in the series and I continue to be impressed with the level of storytelling they provide.

This book felt much less like a fairytale than some of the others I have read so far. One would expect a story like the frog prince to be rife with magic and fairies and princes but the story of the frog prince is almost a gloss over the true story of the book.

Emma is a British aristocrat that got trapped in her mother's ancestral home in Belgium on the Western Front in World War I. Her mother died in a bombing and Emma is literally caught between the Germans and Allies as they battle it out to control the North Sea ports. An American soldier fighting for the British troops named Jack got badly injured in a chlorine gas attack and was able to make his way to Emma's home and down her well to save himself from the gas. As is, his skin is torn and broken and his eyes are burned and swollen into slits. He is weak from the effects of the gas and is saved by Emma who happened by the well and saw him in search of a locket (the gold ball) that she threw in anger.

Jack and Emma are not alike at all but common cause and experience bind them together to survive the insanity of war. Both go to extreme lengths to save each other (after Jack gets his strength back) and to pass information to the Allies and end up falling in love. The extra layer of story as the Frog Prince really didn't enhance the story too much but definitely gave things an extra flavor at times. The story worked well with Jack's background growing up in Louisiana and swimming in the Mississippi etc. I also enjoyed the subtle reference to Louis Armstrong and how the books that Jack and Emma read in captivity are ones that were popular then and we still enjoy reading today like Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. It gave the tale such a realistic background... as if fairy tales are everyday occurences and we just aren't looking at them correctly.

Raintree: Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones

2008-09-13T12:23:00.004-04:00

Raintree: Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones

This is the second part of the Raintree family series. Gideon, younger brother to Dante is a cop with the ability to see and hear ghosts as well as control electrical fields.

Gideon is called upon to investigate the murder of his cousin's roommate and is saddled with a new partner, Hope Mallory. Hope is determined to learn something from Gideon's stellar record and prove to the big boys that a woman can do just as well or better.

Gideon tries to scare her away from him and off the case but both parties are too stubborn to give in. When it turns out that the intended target of the murder investigation was actually Gideon's cousin herself and that he was next in line to be murdered the partners step up to the plate to get it solved. Hope herself becomes a target as well since the murderess sees both what a distraction she is to Gideon and also how her death would harm him. The murderer is running out of time though since she must complete her family's dark plan before the Solstice.

Some other stuff happens and Gideon and Hope "find each other" and keep each other safe but the story is not quite completed. Hopefully the third book will tie it all in together. So far this has not been a great series despite my feelings about the individual authors. I guess I'll see how the third pans out.

Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, 1) by Ilona Andrews

2008-09-10T19:28:00.004-04:00

Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, 1 by Ilona Andrews

This was a CONFUSING book. I've really started to get into the urban noir/paranormal drama scene but every so often it throws me for a loop. This was definitely one of those books.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary with affiliations at the local Order in Atlanta. When the Knight Diviner of the Order (a father figure named Greg) is found dead Kate promises herself that she'll find the killer and avenge Greg's death. Kate bumbles about a bit seeking information and pissing off a couple of suspects / allies before determining that the real enemy is a creature called a upir.

The upir is basically a beast that will copulate with anything in the hope of creating a male child that the upir will nourish with the offspring's mother. (Eew!) Only someone very strong will be able to bear the upir's child and it has set it's sight on Kate because of her strong magical background, which we don't know about because Kate won't talk about it. We do know that it has to do with who her father is and how strong that makes her blood. No normal weapon can kill the upir and so Kate is stuck trying to figure out how to kill the beast before it gets her. Kate does have an ally or two -- in particular the Beast Lord aka Curran. Curran is immensely strong and controls all of the shapeshifters in the Atlanta / Southern region. He can shift into a huge lion-like creature and helps take on the upir and a vampiress named Olathe. I like him as a foil for Kate and they fight and tick each other off at every chance they get.

I particularly liked the scene near the end where Kate was being offered a job over the phone and Curran was fixing her roof (that he broke earlier in the book) and Kate was told that she had been recommended by the Beast Lord. Kate breaks away from her phone conversation to yell at him about what he'd said to them and he replied that he had told them she was disciplined, a team player and was able to follow order - all things Kate doesn't do well at all. So she had to tell the person on the phone that the Beast Lord is a liar, that she doesn't exactly play well with others and that the Beast Lord can't hammer worth sh*t (because he's there on her roof trying to hammer down shingles).

Kate's audacity in the face of danger was really kind of impressive. I also enjoyed the part where she was with the Order's Crusader (Nick) and Curran about to bust into the upir's lair and she had to will herself to go in. She was scared and she knew it but wasn't willing to back down. Curran kissed her to piss her off and it brought back her anger and her courage. I'm sure there's more to come on that front in the next book.

Where it got really confusing was some of the wording about the upir -- at one point Kate figures out who it is and I thought she was able to contain him with a ward of bone and wood but then later she sees the guy she named on the street watching something (or so I thought)... and then later she captures something that must have been one of his minions but I thought she had said it WAS the upir. That whole section after she first figures out who the upir is really had me confused but most of it was clear by the end. I'll probably want to go back and do some careful rereading now that I know how it's supposed to go.

I think the next one should be worth reading since Kate has more "friends" now and a job all lined up. I can't wait to see how that goes...

Kiss of Crimson (The Midnight Breed, 2) by Lara Adrian

2008-09-08T18:24:00.003-04:00

Kiss of Crimson (The Midnight Breed, 2) by Lara Adrian

Only in movies is the second installment worse than the first. In most of the novels I've read recently that have been serialized the best works have been second or third novels.

This held true for Kiss of Crimson. Book 1 got us started on all the backstory about the Breed and the war with the Rogues and set a very definite rough plot of where the series would be headed.

Kiss of Crimson started right up on the action even though it takes place a few months after Lucan and Gabrielle in Book 1. Dante is out patrolling when he stumbles into a Rogue that doesn't react to titanium the way they normally do. The Rogue fights like an animal and Dante has a hard time taking him out when several other Rogues show up at the scene and blow up the dock. Dante barely escapes into the river and crawls upshore badly injured. He pulls himself into a vetrinary clinic needing to feed and finds Tess Culver alone. He tries to convince her that she's safe and she doesn't put up much of a fight through the feeding but stabs him with a syringe once he's closed the wound on her neck and he's realized that she has the mark of a Breedmate. The syringe knocks him out for a few minutes -- long enough for Tess to call a friend who gets worried and calls the police. Dante isn't out for long and has to scrub her memories so that he'll have time to properly explain things to her later. Obviously a beautiful start to a wonderful relationship

Dante heads back to the compound thinking that there's no way his night could possibly get worse when an agent from the Darkhaven comes by with unexpected news about vanishing teenage vampires and a new drug on the club scene that causes Bloodlust in the teens that take it. Those teens eventually become Rogue which would allow for Lucan's brother Marek to practically manufacture Rogue soldiers for his cause. Agent Chase Sterling wants to help the Order stop whoever is dealing in this drug and bring back the missing teenagers and Lucan has assigned Dante to babysit him.

The plot continues to complicate when Dante can't stop thinking about Tess and shows up at an art show just to see her. Tess has the gift of healing (even among the Breed) although before she met Dante she had sworn never to use her "curse" again. She uses her gift to heal a dog that Dante brought to her (to get closer to her, sneaky guy) and sort of helps Dante to fight off the death visions he's been having all his life. Also through a little digging Dante finds out that one of Tess' best friends is not only the dealer of the drug Crimson but also the man who created and pharms the drug. Agent Chase Sterling also has his own agenda and is looking for his nephew among the missing drug users to impress his widowed sister-in-law.

Eventually Dante and Chase catch Tess' friend Ben (the drug dealer that Tess didn't really know about) but Chase lets him go and then Ben gets kidnapped by Marek's minions. Tess was walking by Ben's apartment and Rogues set upon her and nearly killed her with their feeding. Dante goes berserk and pretty much takes out all the Rogues present before deciding that only his blood can heal her. This would complete the Breedmate process something that Dante had been reluctant to do without explaining the ramifications to her or even asking her permission.

Tess did go a little crazy when she realized what had happened and left the compound in broad daylight. Dante is felled by the same death vision he's had all his life but he realizes that it is not HIS death he sees, but Tess' and Dante realizes he can't just let her go to face her possible death. So Dante goes out in broad daylight with Agent Chase and Niko to save her and gets badly burned in the process. It's after this that Tess realizes that no matter what Dante inherently is he still loves her.

The story is more complicated and dramatic than the first and even our heroine Tess seems to be a stronger character than Gabrielle ever was. Tess' whole history and her overcoming her demons automatically make her a more realistic and courageous woman.

I believe the next one has to do with Tegan and Elise, which makes me wonder what is going to happen with Agent Chase (who had fancied Elise). I guess I'll have to read and see...

Embrace the Night by Karen Chance

2008-09-04T18:19:00.005-04:00

Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer, 3) by Karen Chance

I have to say, Cassie Palmer really DID embrace the night in this latest book by Karen Chance. She does a lot of interesting things in this book that she would not have been willing or capable of doing in the first two books.

The book starts off a couple weeks after the last book ends but the action starts immediately with no review of what has happened in previous books. This can make the series a little difficult to read if you are not reading them one after the other or if you pick up the wrong one first.

Cassie is still trying to fit into her role as the new Pythia, the seer for the entire magical community, but she seems to have much better luck finally adapting to the position in this novel. At several points near the end she uses her position to justify her actions to some characters that would have been on her do-not-cross list in the previous books and they step aside for her. It's gratifying to see her make some progress in that arena.

Since the storyline does deal so heavily with finding the Codex Merlini in both time and space the action can get a little garbled but the plot is not so complex that you get lost, just complex enough for you to really think about aspects of it. Cassie is seeking out the Codex in order to reverse the geis that was placed on her (once) and Mircea (twice) to bind them together. Since this threatens Cassie's independence she's willing to go through quite a few hoops to get it removed. An emergency 'out' was built into the geis (sex with the originator - in this case Mircea - or with one of his chosen stand-ins) but Cassie tried that in the last book with Tomas and it didn't exactly work.

Along for the ride is Pritkin who, as a war mage, is sworn to protect the Pythia. Pritkin is the source of most of the confusing aspects of this book as several interesting factoids about his past come to light. First off, Pritkin is half incubus and his father, King of the Demons, would really like to kill the Pythia and nearly seduces Cassie twice to get the job done. The thing is that he looks almost exactly like Pritkin but more stylish so Cassie confuses them at first.

The other major thing is Pritkin IS Merlin and wrote the Codex way back in the day. This leads to a long series of time-jumping, confusion about a map to the Codex which interestingly enough somehow involves stripping, a lot of distrust and some almost paradoxical episodes. Pritkin has tried to remove the geis from Cassie and Mircea but since it got doubled on one end the spell warped and the standard removal spell just won't cut it.

Cassie finally figures out how to remove the geis but it involves having sex with a Mircea from two time periods. Some parts of that were quite confusing (is it a threesome if there are three bodies and only two lives?) and the rest was interesting and dramatic enough to make up for the confusing bits. Cassie still has several problems on the horizon but there's quite a bit more light at the end of this book than at the others. At least the geis is gone and Cassie is finally starting to assert some sway over others so she's not constantly running but standing up to protect as well.

This was my favorite of the books so far and I can't wait until the fourth book comes out.

Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard

2008-09-02T09:46:00.003-04:00

Raintree: Inferno (Silhouette Nocture) by Linda Howard

The book starts out so promising. Dante Raintree is owner of the casino in Reno the Inferno which is ironic on more than just the name level since Dante is a Level 1 Fire Master AND his casino burns down as the first action of the book.

As Dranir ("king" of the Raintree clan) Dante is the most powerful of his family as so has some rather interesting gifts aside from being able to control fire.

When he first meets Lorna Clay, it's because he thinks she's been cheating in his casino, counting cards or something because she continues to win without appearing to try. But she's not cheating... she just knows what cards are coming, which slot will pay off. Before he is done questioning her the fire alarms in his casino go off and Dante uses a mind compulsion to get all of the guests (and Lorna) down the stairs and into safety. He then uses that compulsion to keep Lorna with him despite the fact that she is extremely afraid of fire. When Dante is unable to calm the fire that is raging through his casino he turns to Lorna and takes her raw power to help save them from the heat and the smoke that is overwhelming them. Several hours later he takes her to his home under the pretense that he's not done questioning her and keeping her under the compulsion. By that time she's figured the compulsion thing out and is spiting mad. To make matters worse he orders her to "strip" so that he can see if she has the mark of someone of the Ansara clan (a rival and enemy) but doesn't bother to explain himself. Since she doesn't have the mark, Lorna is a "stray" as Dante calls her - not affiliated with either the Raintree or the Ansara clans which makes her inherent power and precognitive ability so much more unusual. She's untrained which is the next pretense for keeping her with him.

The Ansara were the ones that set the casino on fire and it took four of them to maintain that fire and still Dante and Lorna survived. Their next attempt to kill the Dranir is with a car accident on the highway but again Dante and Lorna both walk away pretty much unscathed due to some tricky driving and a protection charm.

By this time they are on better terms with each other and really learning the extent of Lorna's power. She feels sick before each attempt on their lives and is able to save him from the last attempt - a marksman with a rifle outside his home. The book pretty much ends with Dante calling his two siblings, Gideon and Mercy, and warning them about the upcoming attack on the family home.

The book ends starkly even though the action is obviously nowhere near finished. I have heard the following two books are better, so I'll have to see how that goes...

Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance

2008-09-02T09:18:00.002-04:00

Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance

The second book in the Cassandra Palmer Series by Karen Chance is full of crazy drama and great paranormal characters.

Cassie is on a major tear to find and punish Tony, the vampire that ruined her family years ago. With her new powers as Pythia, although not fully realized, Cassie is even more a target for the shady elements of paranormal society than usual and trouble is never far from poor Cassie. Within the first few pages Cassie (and her new friends the Three Fates) practically destroy a casino and almost get captured/killed by the Silver Circle.

Her one ally in this book is Pritkin, the slightly trigger-happy war mage of the Silver Circle. Pritkin helps Cassie as she travels through time in an attempt to save Mircea, the vampire who protected her throughout her youth, from Myra, the sybil who had been heir to the Pythia before falling in with Rasputin. Without Mircea protecting Cassie from Tony, Cassie's not sure she'd have made it to adulthood -- not to mention a flood of other possible changes in their timeline. To protect the timeline as well as herself Cassie has to save Mircea at least twice in the past.

This wouldn't be a major problem except for the geas that was placed on Cassie by Mircea that draws them together - and keeps other men away. Since Cassie has the geas in the present but Mircea doesn't have it in the past seeing Cassie there unintentionally casts the geas back onto Mircea. By the time Cassie sees Mircea again in the present the geas has practically crippled Mircea with the need to be near her - it's physically painful to both of them to stay away.

To add to the drama, the power of the Pythia wants to fully exert it's office over Cassie and to do that it has been making every man seem like a delicious dish. She first realizes this when she is absolutely attracted to Pritkin (lol). Cassie does assume the full office of Pythia with Tomas, which I wanted to happen in the first book early on but not so much by the second book.

I liked this second book much better than the first because the characters were already established and the plot could just move forward. Cassie's life is hectic and dangerous and Cassie does not want the power of the Pythia which means she's perfect for the job. I can't wait for the next book.

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

2008-09-01T20:52:00.003-04:00

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale (illustrated by Nathan Hale)

Rapunzel's Revenge is a great book by a great author.

Shannon Hale retells the classic tale of Rapunzel with a little bit of a Mother Goose (Gothel?) tie-in in a wonderfully comic-book style illustrated book.

Hale is funny and thoughtful in creating this new version of Rapunzel, a heroine who realizes that the woman who has been raising her is NOT her mother and that her real mother has been slaving away in Mother Gothel's mines. When Rapunzel rebels, Mother Gothel places her in a towering tree room. Mother Gothel posesses growth magic and so the tree is able to provide everything Rapunzel needs to survive for several years.

Finally on Rapunzel's 16th birthday (after her hair has grown to ridiculous lengths, like everything else in the Forest) Rapunzel rebels for the last time and Mother Gothel commands the tree to stop providing food and shelter. Rapunzel uses her hair to swing to safety and the real adventure starts from there.

Rapunzel immediately meets several characters and makes a friend of Jack, a briefly cross-dressing, goose-toting man with some fairly loose morals when it comes to stealing. Rapunzel and Jack save each other from some seedy characters before heading out of town on stolen horses.

Rapunzel (or Punzie as Jack sometimes calls her) is determined to save her mother from Mother Gothel's mines. With the help of Jack (and a little bit of magic) Rapunzel is able to get into the party Mother Gothel is hosting and save her mother and all the inhabitants that Mother Gothel had oppressed.

The book is a charming retelling of the fairy tale and the illustrations are terrific. Hale is able to use the illustrations to tell a fuller story. My favorite instance of this is when Rapunzel is escaping from her tree tower and the words say that she manages to gracefully escape but the pictures show her falling into the water around the base of the tree. In this way Hale is able to make the heroine both strong and funny. She's not perfect but learning and growing (without the help of Mother Gothel's magic).

The Darkest Kiss by Gena Showalter

2008-09-01T15:13:00.003-04:00

The Darkest Kiss (Lords of the Underworld, 2) by Gena Showalter

The second installation of Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld Series was much better than the first of the series (in my humble opinion). It could have to do with the fact that the characters were a tad more believable or it could have been the fact that all the backstory setup was already accomplished.

I had a problem with Violence (Maddox) becoming anwhere reasonably tempered in the first book but found Death (Lucien) to be spot-on what I was expecting. Lucien is cold, shut-off from emotion and others in an effort to keep his own demon perfectly under his iron control.

And then there's Anya, minor goddess of Anarchy and a more perfect foil for Lucien's staidness couldn't be found. She is snarky and silly and goes after what she wants without regard to anyone. In their first meeting she tempts him in front of his brothers to lose control and almost suceeds. She lies and thieves to keep her more violent side at bay and just can't seem to get enough of Lucien.

It really does work out perfectly since as a goddess Anya is immortal like the rest of the Lords of the Underworld and Anya is perfectly capable of defending herself against Death. Cronus, the king of the Titans, has set a task to Lucien; to kill Anya or else he will make the other Lords suffer. Initially Lucien tries to take Anya out but his attempts are half-hearted at best. Little by little they learn about each other and why the Titans are toying with them.

Anya is the daughter of Lawlessness and Tartarus. Tartarus' wife is Justice and when she found out about Anya, Justice cursed her so that Anya would never be able to complete the sex act. Penetration would bind her to the man for forever, even if he were to love another. To further complicate matters Anya carries within her the All-Key which allows her to escape from any prison and guarantees her freedom. The person that kills her to take the All-Key becomes powerless himself (something that Cronus didn't exactly tell Lucien) and if Anya were to freely give up the All-Key she would lose all memory of her life while she had the All-Key. This renders both Lucien and Anya helpless to save each other on more than one occasion. To up the ante (again) the Lords of the Underworld must search out Pandora's box before the Hunters find it and to find it they must find four powerful objects first.

This book is action packed and easy to read. Lucien and Anya are a much better couple than Maddox and Ashlyn were in the first book and there is so much else going on that even if you don't like them as characters there is backup and the third book is poised to start with Reyes and Danika. I can't wait to see how THAT turns out...

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

2008-08-31T23:00:00.005-04:00

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

I had heard this book compared to Twilight but aside from both books being about vampires there wasn't much I found that was similar.

Blue Bloods starts out with Schulyer Van Alen, a teenage girl at a ridiculously rich school in New York. Schulyer's father died before she was born and her mother has been in a coma since just a few weeks after she was born leaving her stately (and slightly intimidating) grandmother to raise her. Schulyer's only real friend is Oliver and they feel like the Outcasts of Duchesne High School.

As the story progresses we see many other characters from their own point of view. We see Jack & Mimi Force, twins and Blue Bloods. We get some of their previous life memories, their personalities and quirks etc. Many of the chapters start with diary entries that date back to the days of Plymouth and Roanoke Island. Little by little we learn that Schulyer and many of the other students at Duchesne are vampires, "Blue Bloods," for the way their veins pattern through their skin and the glow of their blood when the lights are out. We find out that the Blue Bloods are fallen angels trying to get back into heaven through the guidance of the two archangels that voluntarily became vampires to help them find their way back (Gabrielle & Michael). We also learn that nothing can kill the Blue Bloods, except another Blue Blood by drinking them completely dry. Those vampires that suck the blood of others are true devils and go crazy with the additional memories of the one they sucked dry. They are called Silver Bloods for the way the additional blood shows in their veins and the silver slits of their eyes.

Finally, near the end we learn that Schulyer is not one of the vampires that has been around for forever (one of the Four Hundred). Her mother (the angel Gabrielle, or Gabriel) had a child by a Red Blood, a human, and so Schulyer is a new soul. There is also a prophecy that said the child of Gabrielle would save the Blue Bloods. As of yet we don't know if she will be instrumental in saving them from the Silver Bloods or getting them back into heaven or maybe both. We do know that Schulyer is unusually gifted in that she can sometimes control the minds of humans and has a bloodhound as an angel protector.

The book is a little bit confusing because the information changes very fast sometimes. At one point Jack and Schulyer are dancing at one of the highschool formal dances and they share a memory which is confusing since as a new soul, Schulyer should not HAVE memories. Jack waves it off later as he was projecting his memory onto her but I don't think that is necessarily the case.

It was very obvious from the beginning that this book would only be the first of several since it seemed to take a long time for the action to get started. I started to get near the end of the pages with no end to the action in sight. As with many other books that are serial, I think I'm going to have to wait until I've read the second or third book to decide whether the series as a whole is worth it.

Hush by Donna Jo Napoli

2008-08-28T23:07:00.003-04:00

Hush by Donna Jo Napoli

Hush is based off an Irish legend of a princess that was captured and made a slave and who through her silence won back much of her freedom.

Melkorka starts out as a beautiful, headstrong Irish princess that still has a lot of growing up to do. For her birthday she begs her father to take them to see the Viking town of Dublin. Her entire family pays bitterly when her brother loses a hand and her family goes to "war" over the dishonor. Melkorka and her little sister Bridgid are sent away somewhere safe only to become captured and made slaves. For the rest of the book Melkorka doesn't say a word. She takes the motto of her mother to heart, "Hush."

Bridgid eventually escapes the slave ship but we never know what has become of her. Melkorka travels through much of the world to see Russian cities, Arabic cities, Norse cities etc. Through it all she is silent which cloaks her in an air of mystery. Her captor is reluctant to give her up because she is so beautiful and because he thinks she is an enchantress of some kind. Mel is able to win some much needed food and clothing for her fellow captives through his fear and admiration of her. She does eventually get sold to a Norseman that impregnates her.

Boiled down like this it doesn't sound like a terribly good story but it actually is. Donna Jo Napoli has a way of taking the facts and weaving a life into and around them. By the end you feel much in tune with Mel and the choices she has made. It's an interesting story that does end reasonably well. It is a story that can teach girls and young women to be strong despite adverse conditions.

Kiss of Midnight (The Midnight Breed, 1) by Lara Adrian

2008-08-28T22:49:00.002-04:00

Kiss of Midnight (The Midnight Breed, Book 1) by Lara Adrian

Okay, so I might have devolved into trashy paranormal romance novels but is that really such a bad thing?

I've obviously been on something of a vampire kick lately (blame it on Edward Cullen, I know I do) and I can't find it in myself to regret it. I've read some really intriguing (okay, that might be a stretch) novels and have sort of been working out a vampire truth theory. Well, okay not really but I have been trying to sort out the "facts" if you will of vampirism. Each author perceives them differently there aren't many straight truths that haven't been bent or twisted. I find that interesting (so sue).

In this novel the main male lead is named Lucan, a Generation One vampire that leads warriors of the Breed (a simplistic name for the good vampires, ha ha) against the Rogues who have given into their bloodlust addiction. As a Gen One vampire Lucan has the most strength and power but also the most temptation to fall into bloodlust which is where our female lead comes in.

Gabrielle Maxwell is an artist, a photographer of lonely, desolate places that somehow convey hope to the average viewer. She generally feels alone in life until she witnesses a brutal murder outside of a nightclub. When she reports the strange murder the police brush her off as crazy and even her cell phone photos won't convince them of what she saw; a man brutally torn apart and cannibalized by a group of men with fangs and feral yellow eyes. Lucan protects Gabrielle from the rougher elements of the Rogue society that are after her for her rare gift of finding vampire locations. Lucan has a hard time protecting her from himself (he just can't get enough of her for some reason), especially after learning that she bears the mark of a Breedmate (a woman with the genetic capability of bearing vampire children). By feeding from Gabrielle Lucan would be tied to her for life, a burden that he doesn't want or need in his warrior lifestyle.

Of course Gabrielle breaks through all of that in the end and they learn that it is Lucan's brother controlling the Rogues in the upcoming war (and so the saga continues). But Gabrielle and Lucan live happily ever after so to speak. All in all a likable enough story. We'll see how the next one goes.

I have a feeling this is going to be another one of those series where I look back and think, "If they'd have just talked more and had sex less this never would have happened..."

Before Midnight: a retelling of "Cinderella" by Cameron Dokey

2008-08-28T22:15:00.003-04:00

Before Midnight: a Retelling of "Cinderella" by Cameron Dokey

This was an interesting retelling of the classic tale Cinderella by a good storyteller. I thoroughly enjoyed some of the new concepts presented like the magic that was so prevalent that it was commonplace. I liked the way the author started the book, with the knowledge that we are all made up of multiple stories with multiple beginnings narrowing down into one perfect end of a person. The author had a way of writing about her characters that was both detached and loving - a bedtime story for her children to fall asleep to.

There are some main differences from the other major written works of Cinderella and a ton of differences from the Disney Cinderella many children have grown up with. In this book Cinderella is Cendrillon (the French version of the name) but her real name is Constanze after her mother who died at her birth. Her father is a nobleman but is alive for the duration of the book and cuts himself off emotionally from his daughter blaming her for the death of his beloved wife. As he leaves his infant daughter with Old Mathilde who delivered her he also leaves a baby boy. Mathilde gets to name both children and raises them as equals. She names the young boy Raoul.

In this story Cendrillon's father does remarry and sends his unwanted wife to the same stone house where his unacknowledged daughter lives. Through her goodness and kindness Cendrillon is able to get the nobleborn stepmother and her two daughters Amelie and Anastasia to become a real family for her. There are no ugly stepsisters in this story; just ones who have a little more growing up to do. It is a very happy ending for everyone: Amelie ends up with Niccolo (a younger nobleman's son from another country), Anastasia falls in love with Raoul (who turns out to be a prince) and Cendrillon falls instantly in love with the Prince Pascal who is twin brother to Raoul.

It is a lovely story with many good lessons in it. Cendrillon admonishes her father for turning his back on love. Mathilde advises her young charges that nothing is impossible just perhaps not as you would expect it. We learn that things can change in a blink of an eye and that sometimes it may take years of wishing and hoping to get what you want. All in all this is a beautiful bedtime story.

The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter

2008-08-20T10:27:00.003-04:00

The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld Series, 1) by Gena Showalter

I ordered this book from the library because it showed up in my Amazon.com recommended list. I'm not positive what book I read or bought or reviewed that made them think I would like this book but they did okay and I'm not sorry I read it. It just wasn't on par with what I normally like to read.

This is a paranormal romance focusing on the immortal warriors of the gods who felt slighted when the gods chose Pandora to guard the box of evil instead of one of the other warriors. Thinking to prove Pandora an incompetent woman the warriors opened the box and let the demons loose on the world. The gods punished the warriors by making each of them bear one of the demons set loose from the box. I thought that it was an interesting (and feminist) prospective to the old Pandora's box story.

The first novel follows Maddox who bears the demon Violence. Maddox carries a second curse in addition to Violence. Since he slaughtered Pandora in his first demon rage the gods cursed him to die every night at midnight in the same way that he killed her.

The other main character is a woman named Ashlyn who has heard voices for all of her life. She can hear all of the conversations that have taken place where she is from all through time. This makes her a valuable asset to the people who employ her skills seeking out the paranormal who would normally prefer to remain hidden. It is on a trip to Budapest that Ashlyn learns about the angels/demons on the hill with extraordinary powers. She intends to visit them in the hopes that one of them is able to quiet the voices that she hears constantly.

The warriors that house the demons have been living (so to speak) in Budapest for quite a long time and have become benefactors of a sort to the people. The castle on the hill houses not only Violence (Maddox) but also Death (Lucien), Wrath (Aeron), Pain (Reyes), Disease (Torin) and Promiscuity (Paris). When Ashlyn comes up on the house on the hill only Torin and Maddox are home and Torin will not touch another living creature for fear of the plague that he could spread. So Maddox goes to frighten her off while fighting off his own violent rage since the hour is so close to his death time. He sees she is being followed by four men (hunters) and slaughters them before pouncing on Ashlyn thinking that someone has sent Bait to lure him out of the safety of the castle to kill him. Ashlyn proves to be different from what he expected; she is not scared of him and even seems to cling to him. For whatever reason when Ashlyn is near Maddox the voices go away and she is so grateful that they abated that she won't leave his presence. Of course since he harbors the spirit of Violence this provides some rocky tangle-points but eventually both Maddox and the demon want her and form a truce of sorts to protect her.

While reading this book I was very much okay with the plot line -- it was an interesting plot after all. But in retrospect I just can't see how plausible it is for anyone to remain with Violence or with Violence wanting to protect someone. I also felt an enormous amount of pity for Torin (Disease) because I can't think of a way the author could give him a happily ever after. I also found it amusing that the voices of the past stopped because they were, what scared? of the demon of Violence. As far as I can tell from this first book there are 12 demons within warriors total and only three books. I'm a little sad that not all of them are going to be getting a human romance to counterbalance the inner demon. It was also not addressed how the warriors were going to live once their human counterparts got old and died. It was sort of a depressing realization.

I did order the next book and I'm hoping that at least answers some of those questions...

SweetHearts by Sara Zarr

2008-08-20T09:13:00.004-04:00

SweetHearts by Sara Zarr

This is an excellent growing-up novel for any teen. Jenna Vaughn is a senior at a small charter school in Utah who, on the outside, has it all - friends, a boyfriend, a great body etc.

What Jenna's friends don't know is her rocky childhood or the one boy who helped ease her loneliness.

Peppered throughout the book are memories, little things that Jenna remembers about Cameron Quick and her own childhood. She remembers the day he snuck a ring and a note into her lunchbox saying that he loved her. She remembers being teased by the popular kids and being called Fattifer. She remembers the week Cameron spent at her house and how hyped on sugar he got after eating chocolate chip pancakes. She remembers the dollhouse he built for her birthday and escaping from his father. She remembers compulsively stealing food.

One day Cameron doesn't come to school and then he's just not there for a few months. When Jennifer finally gets her courage to ask the teacher says that he's moved away and the kids at school tell her he has died. Either way Cameron is gone and he didn't even say goodbye. Eight years later on Jenna's birthday Cameron shows up again to place a birthday card and a cheap plastic ring in her mailbox.

Jenna is thrilled Cameron is alive and hurt that he never contacted her before this. She's never forgotten what he meant to her but she's not sure how to incorporate him into the new life she's built for herself.

There are aspects of the book I really related to and I really felt some heart-tugs for Jenna and Cameron. The book was well-written in almost a journal style with randomly interspersed memories and completely from Jenna's point of view. The reader only knows what Jenna knows and sometimes this is helpful and sometimes it hinders the whole Cameron picture since it's based on her childhood information.

I felt the end was unfinished but even that felt right after I thought about it. Jenna's mother said she always felt there was something unfinished about Jenna and Cameron and Jenna reflects later that that unfinished something was love. The book felt unfinished because their love is unfinished and that made me feel infinitely better about the ending and not really KNOWING how the two of them end up and if it all works out.

All in all an excellent book.

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

2008-08-14T15:19:00.003-04:00

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

This was a confusing book in my opinion.

Cassandra Palmer (Cassie for short) is basically a normal human with clairvoyant abilities in a world where vampires, werewolves, fairies and ghosts coexist stealthily with humans. With her psychic abilities and the fact she can see ghosts she is very much a commodity in the vampire mafia world of Tony, a 3rd level master who killed her parents to keep her talents in his control.

Cassie escapes from Tony's clutches and three years later the book starts. A wide cast of characters is introduced including Cassie's ghost symbiot Billy Joe, several historically prominent figures (Cleopatra, Rafael, Rasputin, Jack the Ripper etc. as vampires of course), a few different ruling bodies for the magical communities (Silver Circle, European Senate, Dark Fey etc.) and some that we only really learn about in passing like Cassie's parents.

The action is quick and sometimes hard to follow especially since Cassie and Company make intuitive leaps that I might not make as a mere mortal. Still the characters and how they interact with Cassie and further the plot are interesting. I enjoyed seeing the historical characters come to life (well as vampires) and the little interesting snarky comments about how they became what they did. Cleopatra got the single line about how she wasn't bitten by an asp. Rasputin got a full paragraph about how historians had been arguing about how long it took him to die and that it was hard to kill someone who was already dead. (Historical note: Rasputin was a "holy man" in Russia in the early 1900's who curried favor with the Empress Alexandra for his hypnosis healing of her hemophiliac son Alexei. Rasputin was assasinated by Russian royals who were displeased at the influence he had with the monarchy. They fed him tea and cakes that contained mass quantities of cyanide which didn't kill him immediately as it should have. So they tried clubbing him, shooting him several times and rolling his body up in a carpet and dumping it into the river. When his body was fished out several days later it was determined that he had died of pneumonia because his lungs had filled up with water.)

In the end Cassie becomes the Pythia, a job she thoroughly does not want. She is a part of but outside the jurisdiction of everyone else in the magical community and has the power to settle disputes. Among other interesting things the previous Pythia lived for over 400 years. Cassie does not necessarily look forward to all of that and still has plenty of questions to settle about her parents and the vampires that once controlled her life. I recommend reading this one and have ordered the next one.

Prince of Magic, Prince of Fire & Prince of Swords by Linda Winstead Jones

2008-08-11T23:33:00.007-04:00

So since I last updated (some 18 days ago) I have completed:
Heroes Adrift by Moira J. Moore
Prince of Magic, Swords & Fire (3 books) by Linda Winstead Jones
Lucky's Woman by Linda Winstead Jones
Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
Goddess of Love by P.C. Cast
Storm Front (Harry Dresden Files, 1) by Jim Butcher
Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

I REALLY need to restrict myself so that when I finish a book I write about it.

Since I just finished the 'Prince' Trilogy by Linda Winstead Jones I guess I'll jot that down before my need to read overwhelms me yet again.

The Prince of Magic was the first in this Trilogy that for some reason is called "The Children of the Sun Trilogy." Since the three main characters of these novels are the children of the Sun Witch, the Moon Witch and the Star Witch (from the Fyne Witches Trilogy, a name that makes perfect sense...) the name doesn't quite make sense to me.

Reading these easy novels is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. There seems to be some small plot lurking somewhere and it has to do with the emergence of a demon that eats souls and has inhabited the body of Emperor Arik's son Ciro. Ariana, Sophie Fyne Varden's firstborn, is a witch who has been working in the palace at Arthes to help heal the Emperor who has been dying since his son disappeared (when he was taken by the Isen Demon).

Sian (which is not a great name in my opinion) is a wizard who has the general ability to move things and make illusions. He enters the palace bearing a prophecy from his grandfather which has to do with the firstborn of three "fine" women which the Emperor (knowing the Fyne Sisters) is immediately able to translate to "Fyne." Ariana, being one of the firstborn of the prophecy seems too delicate to be of any use in the war to come so Sian takes it upon himself (stupid, arrogant man) to teach her to strengthen her magic and combat skills.

As any good guilty pleasure goes he falls irrevocably in love with her, risks his life to save her and in the end she saves him and maybe the world as they know it since she is one of the few who can weaken the Isen Demon that threatens them. It was my least favorite of the books I think but then I had trouble finding Sian's character to be likable. Perhaps it was the odd illustration on the cover or her description of his too large nose. Maybe it was his spiky, snarly personality that seemed completely undeserved. I have no problem with a tortured hero but he didn't really have the past to justify his snarky behavior.

This second book by Linda Winstead Jones in the 'Prince Trilogy' or 'Children of the Sun Trilogy' was by far my favorite. In Prince of Fire the plot from Prince of Magic continues but is now focused on Keelia, the daugher of the Queen Mother of the Anwyn Juliet Fyne and Queen of the Anywn in her own right. As the Red Queen that was prophesied about a long time ago (in the Fyne Sisters Trilogy) Keelia is supposed to take a Caradon lover (a species that is different from her own in that on the full moon they turn into panther-like cats and not wolf-type creatures like the Anwyn) and unite their peoples. Keelia doesn't see this a likely possiblity since her people are already at peace. Even though Keelia is a psychic she just didn't see him coming. Literally.

Joryn is Caradon (naturally) and has gifts and talents of his own. Aside from the panther he can shift into at the full moon, Joryn commands fire that can open the spirtual doors between worlds (and make normal campfires I suppose). Joryn kidnaps the Anywn Red Queen and holds her prisoner for several days as he tries to determine why she would have put a curse on his people that when bitten cause them to turn into soul-less half beasts at the full moon, unable to shift fully into man or panther. Keelia is suprised by his assumption that she has cursed his people and steadfastly denies any such power. After days of watching her Joryn has to agree that she is incapable of such maliciousness even if their separate species have been unfriendly in the past.

After a time it becomes necessary to move on and face the real perpetrator of the curse on his people and Keelia is determined to help him. They strike an uneasy truce; a partnership and they have a hard time keeping their hands off of each other. After awhile Keelia tries to convince Joryn that they are mates because all the signs are there. He adamantly denies any such assumption (stupid, stubborn man).

Unknowningly Keelia has a part to play in the firstborn prophecy and must betray love for victory. She is kidnapped (again! You would think being psychic would really cut down on her odds of getting captured in plain sight) and taken to the wizard responsible for the Caradon curse. The wizard wants to take her for his wife and create with her a baby according to the will of the Isen Demon. Joryn immediately goes after her but is himself captured when Keelia reveals to the wizard his exact location and when he would be resting. When Joryn is brought to her, he can see that she is not herself and that her will has been sapped by a talisman so all the hurtful things she says to him can be dismissed as she wasn't in her right mind etc. Of course it all works out in the end for Joryn and Keelia but Ciro and the Isen Demon are not defeated yet and there is one more person left to fulfill the prophecy and put an end to the fighting.

I really loved how absolutely stubborn these two characters were. Keelia is imperious and absolutely used to getting her own way without being frail or delicate or clingy. Joryn is addicted to the freedom he thinks he has and spurns her requests at every opportunity until he can't deny what they both want. One part I found particularly amusing was when Keelia demanded sex and Joryn being completely bull-headed turned her down because of her wording of the demand which was more like an imperial decree. Lol, no one ever said these were based off of reality...

In the last novel of the 'Prince' series the Prince of Swords, Lyr Hern, son of Isadora Fyne knows full well the trouble he is getting into when he travels from his home in Trynfyn (a different country) to assist his cousins in war against the Isen Demon. He knows that he is part of the firstborn prophecy and that he must find the Crystal Dagger in order to defeat Ciro and reclaim peace for the land. He is an honourable man who has earned his position in the Circle of Bacwyr as Prince of Swords and never uses his ability to stop time without just cause.

What he didn't know was that finding the Crystal Dagger meant finding Rayne, the daughter of the wizard Fynnian who made brief appearances in the first two books as the woman that Ciro "loved" and planned to marry and impregnate. As a woman that was pure in body, heart and soul this apparently made her the perfect carrier of his child. This scared the socks off of Rayne (as it should) and so when Lyr rescued her from the prison of her own home she gladly gave him the Crystal Dagger that her mother had fashioned and made him take her to a safe location.

Lyr didn't want a complication like Rayne added to his little warrior party and was pretty much determined to leave her at the first stop they made until he discovered Ciro's plans for her and her white soul. Knowing that having a child by Ciro would be worse than death Lyr tried to convince himself to kill her outright but couldn't make himself take that dishonourable action especially as she was so innocent of any crime. Rayne did try to sully her soul with cursing (which was amusing) before deciding that a sin like lust and covetousness would do just fine. She decided that maybe if she wasn't a virgin (pure of body) that Ciro might not want her anymore. After an interestingly straightforward conversation about her own deflowering, Lyr comes to her room to fix that oversight.

This seems to unleash some of Rayne's own magic which has to do with the Earth and growing things. Before long Lyr and Rayne find out that Rayne is an Earth Goddess incarnate and has the power to manipulate vegatation, rocks and water. This proves to be a useful gift in the end. With the crystal dagger and some illusory magic Lyr is able to get close enough to defeat the Isen Demon and Ciro before anything truly dark happens. But the story is not over as Lyr still has to prove his love to Rayne and the true heir needs to be crowned Emperor.

This was my second favorite novel mostly due to Rayne. She was an interesting enough character but I still liked Lyr better. At times Rayne seemed passive and fragile - not as strong as the other female characters even though she was supposedly an Earth Goddess. It was also a bit unresolved with some of the other characters but one can assume Ms. Winstead Jones is setting herself up for another interesting trilogy.

So far behind!

2008-07-24T13:33:00.006-04:00

So this is just a little note to let myself REMEMBER how far behind I am...

I need to review (cause I've already read):
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
Halfway to the Grave by Jeanine Frost
One foot in the Grave by Jeanine Frost
Urban Shaman (The Walker Papers, 1) by C.E. Murphy
Wake by Lisa McMann
Beastly by Alex Flinn
Avalon High manga 1 & 2 by Meg Cabot
Armed & Magical (Raine Benares, 2)
Absolute Boyfriend Vol. 6 .
Heroes Adrift by Moira J. Moore
Lucky's Woman by Linda Winstead Jones
Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
Goddess of Love by P.C. Cast

Currently on Hold (and waiting for me to read them):
Storm Front (Harry Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher
Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs
Raintree by Linda Winstead Jones
Senrid by Sherwood Smith
Inda by Sherwood Smith
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline Murphy
The Queen's Bastard (The Inheritor's Cycle, 1) by C. E. Murphy
Thunderbird Falls (The Walker Papers, 2) by C.E. Murphy

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce

2008-06-15T00:40:00.004-04:00

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce

This was probably my second re-reading of this series and I loved it just as much as I had the first time.

Daine is a young girl, newly orphaned who applies for work at a horse fair. The horse trainer, Onua doesn't want to take on such a young girl but gives her a chance and sets her in among the horses she has already purchased. It's not a problem for Daine that those horses are wild, untamed and unruly because Daine has wild magic and can speak to the animals.

Onua takes her on and they set off for the capital of Tortall because Onua is the horse-mistress of the Queen's Riders. Daine makes herself invaluable on the way by keeping the horses in line and fighting off immortals.

She meets Numair who plays a huge role as her teacher in the rest of the series. Numair is 27 at the start of the series and Daine is 13 so there is a huge age gap there.

Daine's magic grows leaps and bounds under Numairs tutelage and Daine's wild magic becomes instrumental in saving Tortall from Carthaki invaders.

Daine is probably my favorite character in the Tamora Pierce world of Tortall. She's got this natural thing with animals that I would love to have... She's not overly stubborn (like Alanna) or boring (like Kel - she was my least favorite heroine) or mischievous (like Aly, who is my second favorite (^_^) ) or even determined (like Pierce's newest heroine Bekka). Daine is just nice and has a lot of common sense and is brave.

Next up is Wolf-Speaker.

Magic Lost, Trouble Found

2008-06-15T00:23:00.003-04:00

Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin

I read this because I had heard that it was quite good; similar to the Heart of Stone series by C. E. Murphy.

Like the C.E. Murphy novels Raine is a fully formed character that already has had quite a bit of life rush past her and so she starts off (almost immediately) into a whole heap of trouble.

That might be helpful for some people to get them sunk into the story, but I tend to prefer a little more backstory before a full mental plunge into a character's life and story.

Raine comes into possession of a magical amulet that an employee (and friend) of hers had been hired to steal. This amulet while looking like a plain piece of ugly jewelry is really a powerful beacon to a much more dangerous magical item called the "Soul Thief." Once Raine has the amulet in her possession it won't let her go and so poor Raine goes the whole book trying to avoid all the bad guys who want the amulet and "Soul Thief." With the possession of the amulet Raine also gains all kinds of fun and interesting powers which she definitely needs to be able to survive all the bad guys that don't care if she lives or dies.

I had such a hard time getting into this book, especially at first... However about half-way through the book (once Raine has gotten herself thoroughly steeped in trouble) we really start to get to know and work with this Conclave Guardian named Mychael whose job it is to protect the amulet (and "Soul Thief"). And it was MUCH easier for me to read the back half of the book because of him.

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

2008-06-09T23:27:00.005-04:00

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Pages: A Lot (I forgot to check this time, maybe 500 - 600?)

The title of the book, Terrier, refers to the nickname Beka (Rebekah) Cooper gains as a Puppy (trainee) in her first year of training to become one of the Lord Provost's Dogs. (The terms Dog and Puppy are excellent metaphors for the police-like patrolmen that keep the peace and "sniff out" criminals. It is not used in a derogatory manner at all.)

Like a terrier, once Beka gets her teeth into something she doesn't let go. The book starts with several journal entries the first (I believe) starting in almost "present day" Tortall with George Cooper's mother (Eleni) telling us that this is the story she once told George as a young boy so that he would understand why she would not permit him to steal and lie and cheat. The story blossoms from there to show journal entries from Beka's Dog trainers before they knew her and her own mother before we hear from Beka herself.

Beka has all the things that make for a good heroine in a Tortall novel.
1.) The Gift of some kind. In Beka's case she has the ability to hear the dead spirits when they ride on the Black God's messengers (aka pigeons). She can also hear the words held by dust spinners. This is important as it is one way that Beka can gather information.

2.) She has the favor of the gods. The Cat with Purple Eyes makes an appearance (again) as Beka's pet and guide. Now we know how he put up with Alanna's stubborness so many years later. He had Beka to practice on.

3.) She is friends with many people who like/love her despite her faults. I was particularly interested in Rosto, the fellow from Scanra that anyone could plainly see would feature in Beka's story. I guessed correctly that he would become the Rogue by the end of the book but did not get closure on whether he was still WITH either Aniki or Kora. I maintain that he wasn't and hasn't been that kind of friend with either of them for a long while but nothing was implicitly stated and so I'm left hanging. I hate hanging. I mean he made his intentions well-known enough in like the last two pages of the book. Anyone can see where George gets his particular charm with stubborn women...

There are probably more but this is enough for now. I loved this book immensely and can't wait for the next one to come out. I did find this one darker (and more full of death) than many of the other Tortall quartets but I think that is just due to the nature of the time-period and occupation Tamora Pierce has set her character into. I look forward to Bloohound and Elkhound and whatever else is upcoming for Beka Cooper. :)

Not So Snow White by Donna Kauffman

2008-05-30T09:31:00.002-04:00

Not So Snow White by Donna Kauffman

The fairytales continue with Aurora, Mercedes and Vivian at the Glass Slipper as Aurora puts the company to good use to help get two friends of her family to notice each other.

The novel follows (mostly) the beautiful former tennis star and party-girl Tess Hamilton as she tries to find her place in the world after being retired from tennis (before 30). Whereas most retired tennis players of Tess' caliber would live off of their saved winnings, the hot-headed Tess spent hers as quickly as she got it and the IRS walked off with most of the rest. Not willing to let her family (or the public) know that she is almost broke Tess tries to stir up some advertising interest but doesn't have any luck until she is invited to her brother wedding just weeks before Wimbledon (the last place Tess wants to be).

Tess is taken in by Aurora who (sneakily) invites her to be the "mentor" of a young tennis prodigy with a temper much like Tess'. The only problem there is Gabrielle's big brother Max who is a patient as Tess is impatient and uninterested as far as relationships go. As with any good Donna Kauffman novel the characters win each other over (but with more than the normal amount of strife and tension) and win the reader over as well.

I spent the majority of the first part of the book upset at Tess for being such a hot-headed arrogant party-girl. After several chapters though she sort of becomes less evil and more pathetic as she tries to figure her way out of her financial predicament with her pride intact. I gained a lot more sympathy for her after that.

All in all the book was good and a fast read.

Sarah: A Novel, Canaan Trilogy by Marek Halter

2008-05-21T12:19:00.003-04:00

Sarah: a Novel (Canaan Trilogy) by Marek Halter

I read the paperback version: 336 pages

This is the first historical / bibilical novel I have read in awhile. I think the last one that I really read was "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamante about Dinah and I had loved that one novel so much that I actually dug up a copy of the bible to find that one small passage where Dinah is mentioned.

This book was similar to that one in so many ways. Sarah (Sarai) is quite a major character in the Old Testament but is portrayed as quite a shallow character. This novel by Marek Halter takes a little artistic licensing and delves into her character. We see a probable history of her life in Ur, an account of her decisions, the hows and whys she did things the way that we see her doing them in the Bible.

Mr. Halter fills in the gaps in her life with rich period details and made me empathize completely with the character I used to feel apathetic about. After all, most of us probably only remember the bad things about Sarah: sleeping with Pharaoh, casting off her handmaid Hagar, and doubting Abraham and God when he tells her she will finally have a son. Yes those things happened in the Bible but like so much else in life there is always a reason and most people don't set out to do wrong intentionally.

This is an excellent book for those who want to dig a little deeper in the Bible and that era.

The Soloist by Mark Salzman

2008-05-21T12:02:00.003-04:00

The Soloist by Mark Salzman

Hardback Edition: 304 pages

This novel took me about two nights to read. It's a little bit abnormal for my usual style of reading but with the way that it is written I'm not really surprised that I finished it that quickly.

The storyline looks at the life of a sheltered child musical prodigy. Renne (short for Reinhart) spent much of the first 18 years of his life learning the cello and touring through Europe. After his teacher died and Renne was trying to become his own person his music failed him (or he failed his music) by focusing too close on the pitch and not the overall piece.

Several years later and Renne is teaching at the university, unhappy with his life but unable to see how to change it. He is called up for jury duty on a case that involves Zen Buddhism and the question of insanity and at first he wants to decline to jury duty but soon the case sweeps him up in its grasp.

So between the case and Renne's newest pupil, a nine-year-old musical prodigy from Korea, Renne must examine his past (both right and wrong moves) and decide how best to move on into his future. It is a very introspective book with very little real action. Somehow though that doesn't impede the interesting nature of the book. Some parts are quite sad but at the end I was feeling quite hopeful for Renne.

The Firebrand

2008-04-29T14:15:00.003-04:00

The Firebrand by Susan Wiggs

400 pages

This is the third novel that I have read by Wiggs that follows the lives of some young women who had been touched by the Great Chicago Fire. This third one follows Lucy, the intellectual of the group, as her father dies and she loses all the assets she has lived with her whole life.

In the Great Fire Lucy saves a baby girl from certain death after a woman dropped the bundle out of the window of a burning hotel. The heroic gesture comes after a rather humiliating night of being rejected by a potential lover (Rand, who unknowingly was married, oops).

Lucy raises the child as her own (with the help of her own mother) and names the child Maggie. Several years later (where our story picks up again) Lucy meets again the married man she had hoped to take as a lover. She needs his help as a banker to extend the loan on her bookshop (named the Firebrand after the moniker earned to Miss Woodhull-Claflin for her views on woman's sufragette) and learns that her daughter Maggie is actually Rand's daughter Christine that he thought died in the Great Fire. Since then he was divorced by Maggie/Christine's birth mother and was living all alone with his scars.

Lucy really does not want to tell him about how she became Maggie's mother but does eventually because she knows that it is the right thing to do. Maggie likes her "new" father, but needs her mother too so Rand eventually "proposes" an arrangement. Literally a marriage. Since Lucy had liked him all along it turns into a difficult kind of 'I-want-to-but don't-want-him-to-think-I-do' situation.

It is sort of cute and awkward and not nearly as risque as some of Wiggs' work.

Heroics for Beginners

2008-04-29T11:39:00.006-04:00

Heroics for Beginners by John Moore

256 pages; medium-size print

This book seemed to take me quite awhile to finish - and not because it was bad or anything - but because it was such a parody that there was no urgency to get it done, get it read and make sure the characters live happily ever after.

Everything is mocked in this novel. The overall plot is that of a fairytale with princes and princesses trying to defeat an evil overlord. Once you get reading though you realize the fairytale plot is just a vehicle for the mockery. The prince is named Kevin and the princess is Rebecca or Becky.

The evil overlord took the path of most evil overlords and started out teaching. Giving essay tests and homework over the weekends sure paid off though because this evil Overlord, He Who Must Be Named, Lord Voltmeter has acquired an Ancient Artifact Model 7. With his Fortress of Doom (open Monday through Friday 9 a.m - 4 p.m. including gift shop), Ancient Artifact and a horde of minions Voltmeter is ready to take over the 20 fairytale kingdoms.

Prince Kevin is not exactly the heroic type and so when Princess Rebecca's father choses Prince Logan over Kevin to lead an army to defeat Lord Voltmeter (the prize being Princess Rebecca's hand in marriage) Kevin borrows the Heroics for Beginner book and starts off on his quest. Nothing quite goes right for Kevin starting with Becky wanting to be his comic sidekick and entering the castle through trickery (getting himself hired to clean the castle ducts).

It's cute and funny and worth reading but it didn't drag me into it. Several parts are just ridiculously comical and sarcastically amusing. It's great for a rainy day.

The Secret Swan by Shana Abe

2008-04-01T11:48:00.006-04:00

The Secret Swan by Shana Abe

I've read Shana Abe before. My mom accidentally picked up a borrowed copy of "Smoke Thief" before I got to read it. She was bored at first, but then I noticed she couldn't put it down. :) The funny thing was that I asked her about it later and she said it was the most sexually explicit or risque thing she'd ever read. So I had to read it after that shining endorsement. I had to know if my mom's sensibilities were more sheltered than mine. (Of course)

A friend wanted to know -- was this book as risque as those Drakon books? My answer: Yep.

I think a lot of it just has to do with the author's preferences. Yes, some of it is gratuitous but other parts are used to make a point. Since sexuality happens to be a rather large part of life anyway...

The plot of this one is fairly medieval (I must be on an unconscious kick). The main character (whose name escapes me because it was hard for me to say so I always glossed over it: Amalgarin?) a plain girl infatuated with the Tristan (easy enough to remember) is arranged to be married to him. Tristan didn't really want to get married and so leaves immediately after the wedding for France to fight in a war after doing the whole consumation thing.

Eight years later he returns to the castle where he left his young wife to find only one woman remaining - a beautiful girl named Lily (also easy to remember) who claims to be the cousin of his late wife. 'Late' because she died of the plague. Yes, that plague.

They both get sick and there is a lot of personal history backtracking for them. Which is a bit annoying really. Also Tristan seems to be bipolar. A lot. He's all melancholy about his lost wife but is all hyped up about Lily.

It's readable and even enjoyable in parts, but I definitely liked the Drakon series much better. I'll have to try the Mermaid one to see if the pattern holds or if this was a fluke...

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

2008-03-31T14:03:00.008-04:00

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

This is (technically) another children's book ...

Again... I didn't really realize it would be a children's book. I just knew that I wanted to read the latest Newberry award winning book. I guess I figured that if it fell into the same category as "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle then it must be good.

I was a little surpised at how thin it was. I was also surprised at how it is not just one coherent story (or even a story in the general prose form).

They are monologue and dialogue plays written by a librarian for the children in her school classes. She wrote them so that each child would have a starring role for three minutes.

They are poetic and easy to read with nice large print. The tone and vocabulary is all medieval - let's face it, I learned a few new words. Large colorful pictures are on every page and even the margins are colored and have text that explain certain words or aspects of the medieval culture/life. A large colorful map is on the first or second page and instead of locations being labeled the specific characters in the story are shown and labeled.

The tempo of the words is good and interesting -- I was particularly impressed with the two monologues done by the sisters talking about the apprentice boy their father has taken and how one of them must marry the apprentice for the apprentice to inherit the shop. The older daughter likes the boy and wouldn't mind marrying him but thinks the boy would want her sister (younger, prettier) instead. The younger sister thinks the boy will want her older sister (so he doesn't have to wait to inherit) but thinks that it's terrible that one of them will have to marry the boy in the end. The dialogues are completely different but manage to come together for a chorus type of refrain.

Another one that does this is the dialogue between the Jewish boy and the Catholic girl. They are able to put aside their differences for a little while and just be children playing together. The dialogue ends with the children saying together "Almost like she's a Jew;" "Almost like he's a Catholic."

The one down spot I can see - if I were the one performing the plays - would be having to play the role of the beggar child or the child of the villein where you obviously are not well-cared for and have to scrimp to survive. Or maybe that's just me being a girl and wanting the character I embody to be noble somehow...

All in all, it was a beautiful book and very easy to read. It took me maybe forty minutes of carefully thumbing through and looking at the pictures to complete it. :)

The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty & the Beast tale

2008-03-27T15:57:00.004-04:00

The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty & the Beast Tale by Laurence Yep

I don't remember exactly why I was looking at Laurence Yep books online. Actually I don't remember why I thought this was a novel and not a children's book either. It might have had something to do with the fact that the very first Yep book I read was "Dragonwings," a YA book.

Regardless I picked it up at the library and was actually surpised to see the thin, little, hard-bound book sitting among all my fat novels. I leafed through it slowly before just sitting down to zip through it. The thing that really caught me wasn't the writing (which was standard children's fairy tale style) but the illustrations. Each drawing was vibrantly colored with plenty of attention to detail. All of the scales on the dragon shimmer with movement. The Chinese people depicted actually look Chinese and not like racially stereotypical Asians with yellow skin and severely slanty eyes.

The writing is passable and even amusing at points. I had a brief attention quirk at the thought of the unfortunate daughters named One, Two, Three... etc. all the way up to Seven. I was also a little confused about why as an author, if you are going to have masses of daughters in a Chinese story not to have eight (which is a lucky number because in Chinese it sounds like the word "prosper"). The antagonist then (Three in this case) should have been named Four. Four in Chinese (四) sounds like a different word: death.

4 stars overall (No death pun intended!) since the illustrations are so gorgeous and the story itself so timeless.

Happy (late) Easter

2008-03-25T08:58:00.003-04:00

I got home from working at Target at 12:45 or 1:00 a.m. on Easter morning and sat down to finish the rest of Fatal Voyage. As usual, Kathy Reichs' writing is intense enough that I don't like to read it before bed. (I'm a happy-endings girl at heart.) However I get so worried about the characters... that I just have to know how it ends or I'd spend all night tossing and turning and worrying about what kinds of crazy things Tempe got into while I was sleeping.

So I stayed awake until three getting the details hammered out of who was accusing (stalking and trying to murder) Tempe. I was all proud of myself because I had a vague idea of what was going on... that it wasn't just one person at the heart of the corruption but probably several at the top levels to have had her so stymied at every turn. That's way more than I usually have -- I must be getting used to Reichs' novels. Usually reading her books ends up being like a bus ride in China; it's crazily confusing and you'd best hold on to your seat and when it's all over you end up asking yourself what exactly happened and do I ever want to do that again?

Inevitably I do. I need to know what is going to happen to Tempe (and Ryan). So I've ordered the next book from the library. In this last one Tempe promised to give Andrew Ryan a try which I'd love to see happen.

At the end of Fatal Voyage Tempe has figured out all the twists and dips (and cartwheels) through the plot maze. I was SO worried for her when the unknown assailant knocked her & Boyd (the dog) unconscious... and then she woke up bound and gagged! Lucky thing she had that scalpel in her jacket and that her assailant left his medical bracelet at the scene of the attack so that Ryan and the sheriff could find her...

4.5 stars overall. They are excellent books and keep me coming back for more but they don't really make my favorites list due to the graphic content and the way I am constantly scared for Tempe's life... I am after all a happy endings girl...

Too horrific to read before bed

2008-03-20T08:33:00.004-04:00

Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs

Pages: 363

Pages Read: 114

I began reading Kathy Reichs' novel "Fatal Voyage" last night. In typical Reichsian fashion the novel jumps in with a scene of gore, a woman flying downwards through the trees naked and bloody severed from the rest of her body at the hips. The woman's position is compared to that of a car ornament.

The next paragraphs try to distance the reader from the carnage while filling in some background details. It's October, warm enough today but it will get colder etc.

It's masterfully done. Shock to reel 'em in and then distance to make them curious enough to stay. I started reading the Kathy Reichs novels after I fell in love with the Fox TV series "Bones" starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. I think I mostly wanted to find out who they had based Booth's character off of ...

The Temperance Brennan of the novels is nothing like the Temperance Brennan in the television series except for the shared name and occupation. Whereas TV's Dr. Brennan is completely naive or oblivious about some things (most notably pop culture), the novel's Tempe is well-studied on a range of different topics, married and separated and has a whole host of family, including a daughter, that she worries about in every book.

At 113 pages in several things have happened. The main plot has been introduced - a fatal airplane crash involving over 80 people - and Detective Andrew Ryan has come down to North Carolina to help investigate since his longtime partner, Jean Bertrand, was on that plane transporting a prisoner. Tempe has been sorting through bones and body parts, distancing herself from Ryan and poking into things that would probably be safer unpoked - aka normal Tempe behavior.

In the woods of the crash site Tempe finds a foot being gnawed on by coyotes and after scaring them off (with Ryan's help of course) Tempe tags it to the plane crash. After examining it later, the foot doesn't seem to fit with any of the plane crash victims listed on the manifest. So Tempe does her usual thing and pokes around. Not long after that an anonymous complaint was filed against her for mishandling evidence and trespassing and she is summarily fired. This just pisses her off and makes her dig deeper to find out the truth of who is accusing her and what does it have to do with the weird severed foot she found?

I'm typically a happy-ending reader and I did not want to face the idea of going to bed with all that blood and gore at the forefront of my thoughts... So I picked up a new manga called Sorcerers & Secretaries by Amy Kim Ganter.

The pages aren't numbered (and I'd rather not bother to count them) but I'm on Chapter Six and have perhaps twenty pages left to read.

The premise here is that Nicole is a secretary who writes and dreams of a fantastical fairy tale other world while living, working and studying in our boring dreary one.

She guards her dream log against discovery while fending off the catty drama of a "friend," avoiding a boy who'd like to be more than just "friends" and getting through her day-to-day life.

The situation takes a turn for the comical when the boy, who is normally pretty smooth, shows himself to be goofily infatutated with Nicole. Nicole brushes off all his attempts with a stoic cold shoulder and we don't even find out that she likes him until they have had several uninspiring encounters. All his flirting with other girls doesn't seem to show Nicole how desirable he is but that he doesn't care for Nicole in particular. So Nicole is wary of his attentions but it just makes Josh try harder.

The drawings are mediocre and even a little childish looking and I hope the plot warms up soon. I'm attracted to the idea of the plot but there's something about it that is not as satisfying as other manga (even American manga) that I have read. Perhaps it's not moving fast enough to keep my attention or well-fleshed out enough to be realistic. I'm not positive on that score yet so I'll have to get it figured when I have finished with this first book. Maybe once I'm into the second book I'll be hooked?

House of Cards by C.E. Murphy

2008-03-18T11:25:00.005-04:00

So this is the very first post of my own blog (finally!).

I'd been playing around with the idea for some time and finally the benefits of one outweighed my lack of time.

House of Cards by C.E. Murphy is the second in the Negotiator trilogy. I'm not generally one for sci-fi or so I thought. I bulldozed my way through the first novel, Heart of Stone, and loved it so much I could barely believe the second one was immediately available for literary consumption.

C.E. Murphy has a way of writing that makes me slow down. The word use and concepts are excellently twisted and complex. C.E. easily throws out ideas that are rather foreign to me as a non-sci-fi reader (generally) but does it with such nonchalance as to make those ideas instantly acceptable. What is impossible in other books becomes unerring truth in this series. As this is my first experience with C.E. Murphy I'll have to withold judgement about other series. I know that I will be reading more of her work soon.

In regards to this book in particular, our heroine Margrit, becomes the main negotiator between the races and what they desire from their changing world. Selkies make a reappearance (in bulk) in this novel and all of our favorite characters from the first novel slip effortlessly into the second.

The relationship between Alban and Margrit is illogically simple within the confines of such a complex plot. It is basically Beauty and the Beast with enough lovely quirks to make it new and dramatic. Alban suffers from more human emotions than he can ever recall having and seems to be having a fantastic time of it. The gargoyle can't seem to reconcile himself to change but changes easily enough to accomodate Margrit's whims.

So much seems to happen within the pages that it is difficult to put down what aspect of the plot takes precedence over the others. Trying to boil it down is just wrong and ends up sounding like a poor Dick & Jane story that outlines the basics but is devoid of the inherent drama.

Margrit has become a major player within the Old Races and negotiates a quorum with one member of each of the Old Races present: Janx for the Dragons, Daisani for the Vampires, Malik for the Djinn, Kaimana for the Selkies and Alban/Biali for the Gargoyles.

They discuss the three exiling offenses to the Old Races and overturn two of the three. The overturning of the "breed with humans" rule allows the Selkies to return to the society surrounding the Old Races and gives Alban and Margrit a chance of actually being together.

That is probably the biggest step the plot takes but there are dozens of other small things that happen. Margrit breaks up with Tony. Margrit's boss at Legal Aid dies. Margrit takes a job for Daisani. Alban takes a job with Janx. We find out about how Margrit's mother knows Daisani. (This is the bad Dick & Jane style that I was so afraid of...)

It's a terrific book. I very much recommend it although you must read the first novel (Heart of Stone) first so that you are not completely overwhelmed but the jump-right-in style that C.E. Murphy uses so well.