The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Basically, The Secret says to focus on what you want, not what you don't want. You have to feel it, your feelings have to match your thoughts, and you should feel joy and gratitude, too.

Some of it seems silly. Like the part about telling the universe you want more money, than believing you have it. You are supposed to act like you already have it, say that I can afford that, I can afford that, I can buy that, I can buy that, and it seems to me that is a good way to get into debt.

There are three steps: say you want something, believe you can have it, and than receive. She says stuff about quantum mechanics and I will be the first to admit that I don't understand quantum mechanics. I took a class in modern physics; all I got from that is that modern physics and I do not match (in my defense no one else in the class understood either and we only passed because he made the last two tests as easy he could and because he gave everybody like 40 points, which put most of the class in C range.) But it still comparing this to quantum mechanics seems odd to me.

But, still, it is true the placebo pill sometimes works as well as real thing and that works just because you believe it is working. So maybe there is something to this. I just don't know. A little experimentation is in my future, I think.

Infinity (Chronicles of Nick 01) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

Warning: Spoilers

Infinity is Sherrilyn Kenyon’s first YA novel. It takes place in the familiar Dark Hunter universe. I’d forgotten it was coming out until I saw in the store. That doesn’t say a lot for how much I was looking forward to it. Despite that, I finished it in short order, with only a very few unavoidable pauses in between reading sessions.

From the other Dark Hunter books, I knew Nick as a young man, in his early 20’s or thereabouts. In this, like the book summery says, he is 14 and going to a private high school on a scholarship. He worries about bullies, about homework and constantly checks out girls. I wouldn’t say it is necessary to be familiar with the Dark Hunter universe before reading this, but it would be helpful. Nick discovers that world as he goes on and sometimes it is even explained. Not all that often though and someone unfamiliar with the Dark Hunter world might find it confusing. Also, sometimes the transitions between adult Nick and 14 year old Nick were a little jarring.

All in all, Infinity is a pretty good read. I am tempted to say it is too short because of how quickly I finished it, but it feels complete and not really lacking in anyway. The part I liked best was a scene with the adult Nick reflecting on what had gone wrong in his life. Not too much action, but good in other ways. Action-wise, the fight at the end was pretty damn good.

Grade: B

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

Kate Daniels cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to deal with-especially if they involve Atlanta's shapeshifting community.

And now there's a new player in town-a foe that may be too much for even Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family.

Warning: Spoilers. Lots and lots of spoilers

Magic Bleeds is the fourth Kate Daniels novel. It is pretty good, fast moving, with lots of action. It is also the most romantic book to date.

Magic Bleeds book is a game changer. She moves in with Curran, and tells him and her best friend both who her family is. Considering her issues with him at the beginning of the book and her considerable issues with trust, these are both biggies. And not to be overlooked, she also quits the Order. So, yeah, major changes.

Despite all that drama, there are funny moments. For example, Curran glued her ass to her office chair (mostly in retaliation). This was the best moment in the whole book.

Her aunt shows up and tries to kill her. Her aunt looks just like her, and really, it is just as well her Order boss never got a good look at the aunt. The aunt tries to kill her. She said something about waking up a few years ago, and I have to wonder, what woke her up? Why was she asleep? Maybe these questions will be answered later.

But even if they are not, there is little doubt in my mind that her father will shortly become aware of her presence (if he isn’t already!) and then the shit will hit the fan.

Grade: A-

Out of Mind by Stella Cameron

Willow Millet longs to deny her family's exceptional gifts—paranormal talents known to few, shared by even fewer. Benedict Fortune is one such—a connection that should have strengthened the undeniable bond between him and Willow. But her self-doubt has driven them apart.

Married instead to her business, Willow's concierge we-can-do-anything service is thriving until it is hit by a string of bizarre and fatal accidents—every victim a client. Now her livelihood depends on two enigmatic socialites and their notoriously decadent parties. In this anything-goes atmosphere, Willow and Ben are thrown together again and their need for each other is as strong as ever, but they are challenged at every turn….

For dark forces are stalking Willow—coveting her gift as a means of cheating death…and ruling New Orleans forever.

When I first got Out of Mind, I thought it was a mystery but it is really a paranormal romance, the second in the Court of Angels series. I have not the read the first or anything else by this author, and I don’t think I am going to.

Out of Mind’s premise is good and should have been interesting. I had a hard time getting into it at first; the beginning was a little chaotic and disjointed. Towards the middle it smoothed out and I wanted to know what would happen next. But then in the last part, Out of Mind became a little scattered again. Also, the character was in denial for a large part of the book and after a while that was just annoying. Overall it was mixed and so at times I was skimming rather than reading.

I did like was the idea of bats. I mean, you hear bats in paranormal romance, you think vampires. At least I do. So when demons appeared instead, that was interesting to me. The prologue was a good hook. Someone gets killed and later when you hear talk of pinpricks and beaks, you just think back to that, even if the characters themselves are clueless. 

I think if you don’t care how the book is sometimes a little scattered, Out of Mind might be a good read. As for me, I wasn’t terribly impressed and I am not going to follow this series. I have not read the first in the series and that might color my view a bit.

Grade: D+

Changeless by Gail Carriger

Blurb: Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.

She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

Warning: Spoilers

 Changeless is the second in the Parasol Protectorate series. The first one was good, but this one is even better. We finally learn something more of werewolves in this world and why he left Scotland. Mostly Changless is better because of the ending. I never imagined this particular ending.

Changeless was as funny as the last one. Alexia decides to beat an impertinent soldier with her parasol; she gets hit on by a hat maker who, oddly, wears men’s clothing. Also funny was the image of her husband ending up human, stark naked, in the middle of London and meeting one of the gay vampire’s minions in that state.

The ending is without doubt my favorite part of the story. Oh, the other parts were good. Especially the part where she was pushed off the dirigible and nearly poisoned. But the best part was when he threw her out for cheating on him. Not that she really did, but he discovered she is pregnant and could not believe the child was his. He shouts and rants and throws her out. It was deliciously dramatic. Truly, he should have realized that she turns him human, with full human fertility. Idiot. I hope she beats him with her parasol in the next one.

Grade: B

The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip

The Riddle-Master of Hed is an oldie but a goodie. According to wiki, it was first published in 1976. I first encountered it decades later in high school. I read the combined trilogy, because that’s what the library had. It was good than, and when I reread it, I found it was still good. Not a common occurrence with works I loved when I was 14.

When I first read it I was fascinated with the idea of a prince who lived in a normal house and promised to fix the roof of his pig herder. It didn’t seem especially prince-like. I also liked the idea of magic that bound the rulers to their land and a sort of higher education that taught riddles. On rereading, I still found these ideas interesting.

The first book ends on a cliffhanger. This did not trouble me, because I had the omnibus and could read the next immediately. If I hadn’t, I imagine that ending would have driven me crazy wanting the second book. Even with it, for a little while, I didn’t know if he was dead or alive. I couldn’t believe he was dead (when does the hero ever die?) but for a while it seemed as if he had. The second is also told from the point of view of her heroine, which I had forgotten, and which was also a jarring change. The third is good, with a really fantastic finish.

The Riddle-Master of Hed has its flaws, of course. At times, the dialogue seems forced and stilted. I would have liked to see heroine could use her powers more.  If you are familiar with other fantasy, I don’t think there any twists and turns. Even if you aren’t, I don’t think there are many surprised. I don’t mind any of these flaws.

Grade: A-

Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton

When Anita Blake meets with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have her reanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full of sympathy for his loss. Anita knows something about love, and she knows everything there is to know about loss. But what she also knows, though Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing she can do as a necromancer isn't the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that Anita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs. Bennington's grave would not be the lovely Mrs. Bennington. Not really. And not for long.

Warning: Spoilers

Flirt is a short, quick read. Its title comes not for a business named Flirt, but because the dead woman was a serial flirt and because throughout the book, Anita Blake herself does a fair amount of flirting.

There is just one sex scene. In a lot of ways, considering the past few novels, this is a relief. In some ways not, because most of the interaction between Anita Blake and her captors revolves around sex. Naturally, they are insanely attracted to her and just as naturally, she rolls the mind of at least one. I am not surprised by this turn of events. She also acquired another man and that does surprise me. I thought she had enough. What is she going to do with him?

There are some interesting things. In the beginning of the books, a memory from her time with her grandmother surfaces, one that explains her hang-ups a little more. I suppose that is good, because the trauma from when her mother died, how she isn’t as blond as her family, how her college finance dropped her because she wasn’t white enough for his family, all that is getting a little old.

The most interesting thing is at the end, when something interferes with the zombies she raised. She raised a whole cemetery’s worth of zombies and some other power was there, something that interfered with her ability to control them. I suspect this something will figure prominently in the next novel. I also have a sneaking suspicion that Ms. Hamilton needed Anita to raise the whole cemetery in order to introduce this something, Anita being too powerful for this something to interfere if she had raised just one zombie. That may be why the client insisted on a human sacrifice and why Anita didn’t work all that hard to persuade him that she didn’t one to raise the zombie.

Grade: C+

Frost Moon by Anthony Francis

In an alternate Atlanta where magic is practiced openly, where witches sip coffee at local cafes, shapeshifters party at urban clubs, vampires rule the southern night like gangsters, and mysterious creatures command dark caverns beneath the city, Dakota Frost's talents are coveted by all. She's the best magical tattooist in the southeast, a Skindancer, able to bring her amazing tats to life. When a serial killer begins stalking Atlanta's tattooed elite, the police and the Feds seek Dakota's help. Can she find the killer on the dark fringe of the city's Edgeworld? Among its powerful outcasts and tortured loners, what kind of enemies and allies will she attract? Will they see her as an invader, as a seducer, as an unexpected champion ... or as delicious prey?

Frost Moon was a very enjoyable read. Fast-paced, lots of action, vampires, weres – it is a good urban fantasy. It is the first in the Skindancer series. I suspect this may be Anthony Francis’s first story. Dakota herself is a magical tattoo artist, the best in the southeast. I, personally, have not read a book before where the main character makes magical tattoos. Uses them, yeah, but not makes them herself. She is also bi, which isn't that common either.

Frost Moon begins with Dakota brought into the police station by the cops and she is nervous. There, she learns a serial murderer is killing people with tattoos. It only speeds up from there. My favorite scene was probably when she went looking for a werewolf she was supposed to tattoo underground and the cat with her sidetracked him. The ending was pretty good, too, a little unexpected. A part of me knew who the murderer was, but hadn’t figured out that the wolf and vampire were his minions.

Dakota also develops maternal feelings for the cat and I didn’t see that coming at all. I really didn’t. Oddly, by the end, it doesn’t feel that unbelievable. Though if she had developed maternal feelings in the beginning, I would have had a hard time buying that.

Frost Moon is also fairly specific in the setting. Specific enough that I imagine that the author either visited Atlanta or knows someone with intimate knowledge of the city. She was also specific about years – this happened in 2005. I don’t know if that’s good – ten years from now, that might make Frost Moon dated. But it also might not so . . . . I don’t know. I do know I will definitely be reading the next book.

Grade: B

The Associate by John Grisham

Kyle McAvoy grew up in his father’s small-town law office in York, Pennsylvania. He excelled in college, was elected editor-in-chief of The Yale Law Journal, and his future has limitless potential.


But Kyle has a secret, a dark one, an episode from college that he has tried to forget. The secret, though, falls into the hands of the wrong people, and Kyle is forced to take a job he doesn’t want—even though it’s a job most law students can only dream about.


Three months after leaving Yale, Kyle becomes an associate at the largest law firm in the world, where, in addition to practicing law, he is expected to lie, steal, and take part in a scheme that could send him to prison, if not get him killed.


With an unforgettable cast of characters and villains—from Baxter Tate, a drug-addled trust fund kid and possible rapist, to Dale, a pretty but seemingly quiet former math teacher who shares Kyle’s “cubicle” at the law firm, to two of the most powerful and fiercely competitive defense contractors in the country—and featuring all the twists and turns that have made John Grisham the most popular storyteller in the world, The Associate is vintage Grisham.

The Associate starts out strong, very promising, very interesting, but it loses speed very quickly. I bogged down in the middle and barely finished it. Not that it doesn’t have an interesting story and some very nice twists; it does. But the plot meanders and doesn’t really go anywhere. By the end, Kyle, our clever hero, solves his problems, but there are questions still left unanswered; we never find out who the villain is or where he comes from. There are hints, but nothing solid. I started losing interest when Kyle was working in the law firm. It went on and on about billing, how tedious the work was and how long the hours were.

The parts I did like were few and far in between. I liked how when Kyle came to the city and was looking for a place to live, he tells the bad guy (his handler) one thing and takes a different apartment. Kyle gained time and cost the guy money. I liked the scene when Baxter went into a bar and struggled not to get a drink. The part where his father negotiated with the girl’s lawyer was good, too, I liked how he used the video. But that part could have happened earlier and nothing would be lost. Well, the story would have been almost over. Almost, because the threat of the video was still there and the handler could have published it as revenge.

During the course of this novel, Kyle somehow manages to elude the master spy, somehow manages to get around him. Kyle was a law student and than a lawyer. He reads mysteries and spy novels, visits spy stores and somehow manages to gain the knowledge to evade the master spy? It doesn’t make much sense to me.

Grade: D

Emissaries from the Dead by Adam-troy Castro

Adam-troy Castro is a new writer for me. Emissaries from the Dead is fantastic. It is science fiction, of the space opera variety, and the first of the Andrea Cort series. I loved the world building, the way everything was described. The AI race (yes, there seems to be entire “race” of Artificial Intelligence programs) have created sentient beings. Odd, because usually sentient beings create AI. There are other alien races, too, but the book doesn’t really deal with them.

Humans and these other alien races all have collective rules about creating people and slavery. So they send a human diplomatic mission. Human, because the AI would only accept humans. Somewhere along the line a murder happens and Andrea Cort is called in to investigate.

She investigates, she probes, she finds answers to her life’s quest (related to the actual murder). Naturally, the answers involves AI and whether or not they should commit suicide en masse. I confess, I find the concept of aware programs wanting to die a little out there, but interesting. Very interesting.

Equally interesting is the idea that you can link a pair of people so that they become one person with one mind, but two different bodies. Maybe even link three people so they have one mind, but three different bodies.

Grade: B

Shalador's Lady by Anne Bishop

For years the Shalador people suffered the cruelties of the corrupt Queens who ruled them, forbidding their traditions, punishing those who dared show defiance, and forcing many more into hiding. Now that their land has been cleansed of tainted Blood, the Rose-Jeweled Queen, Lady Cassidy, makes it her duty to restore it and prove her ability to rule.

But even if Lady Cassidy succeeds, other dangers await. For the Black Widows see visions within their tangled webs that something is coming that will change the land-and Lady Cassidy-forever..

.
Warning: Spoilers

I loved Shalador's Lady. Okay, so it doesn’t quite reach the heights of the Black Jewels Trilogy, but it comes close. By the end of the last book, The Shadow Queen, Theran seems to be willing to accept Cassidy as Queen. In this one, he is trying to figure out to replace her at the end of the year when her contract runs out. It’s not really an about face, more like he went back to how he was acting in the middle of the last book, only this time the court is more willing to support Cassidy.

There were so many fantastic scenes, I really don’t know which one I like best. Gray grows up, Cassidy learns to trust her court not to leave her, the Shalador people get to know and love her. Theran gets an ultimatum from the other Warlord Princes living in his land. That was fun. Possibly, if I had to pick, the best scene was when Ranon keeps Cassidy from running away by taking her trunks.

The end was perfect. So perfect, I cannot imagine a more deserving ending.

The most intriguing part, the one that makes me want to read the next Black Jewels book, are the references to Falonar and flexible honor and Daemon doing something to him. In the trilogy, there wasn’t any indication that his honor was a flexible thing. Of course, there was any indication his honor was as strong as the other characters (Daemon for example). So I want to know what happened.

If this book has a weakness, it’s that it doesn’t stand alone. It is a sequel, of course, but that’s not what I mean. I mean that if you haven’t read the trilogy first, you are going to miss a lot. Not a lot, you will still get the idea and what’s going on all that and it will still be fun. But Shalador's Lady will lose depth.

Grade: A-

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

I have known about Ender’s Game from a long time, as long as I can remember. I tried reading it in high school. I got it from the library; unfortunately, I didn’t get the first (because the library didn’t have it) but some other book in the series. I thought it didn’t matter, and in a lot of series it doesn’t, but in this one it does and I gave up on Ender’s Game too soon. I was too confused. I picked it up again and finished it overnight, it was so good. I was up until the wee hours of the morning and intensely tired when I woke up, but it was worth it.

So the world . . . that is as interesting as the main character, Andrew Wiggin, Ender for short. Ender is a product of his world; it was invaded twice by aliens and now there are population controls in place everywhere. One of the rules is that only the first two children get a free education. Ender is a third and gets a special dispensation to go to school. He and his two siblings are geniuses, fairly equal in brains, but vastly different in temperament. The military first add its eye on his older brother, but he was too mean to make a good commander; his older sister was too mild; Ender was perfect. All three of them were birthed with the express purpose of getting a genius military commander.

The military inserts a chip of sorts into children to determine if they would make good soldiers. At the age of 6, Ender’s chip was taken out. But then on his way out of school, he was attacked by bullies and ended up killing the main one. Not that he knew that; he didn’t and he cried after because he had to hurt the bully. He needed a decisive victory to keep from attacking him day after day, but he didn’t like it. So later a military officer arrives and asks why; Ender tells him and they decided he is good candidate for battleschool because of his reasons.

There was a lot of that kind of manipulation and deception in this story. Not just on the part of the teachers in an effort to turn Ender into a brilliant commander, but in the part of his siblings. They were just as smart he was; his brother (with this sister’s help) embarked on a quest for world domination. He succeeded.

They (Ender’s teachers) lied to him and he destroyed the alien’s homeworld for them. He wouldn’t have done it if they had told him the truth; his life so far had cost too much. And he didn’t actually like killing. In the end, he and groups of other extra children colonized and lived in the alien’s world. There he discovered that the aliens had not intended to attack; they were insect like creatures and could not conceive of another sentient race without constant hive-like communication.

edit: It seems I forget to give this a grade.

Grade: B+

Ender's Game is one of those books that is touted as a science fiction classic. It did blow me away (I spent all night reading it!) but I can't see myself reading the whole thing over again so I am thinking B+ is probably a good grade to give it.

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

Long ago, so the storyteller claimed, the evil God Torak sought dominion over all and drove the world to war. Now the one talisman keeping this sinister force from seizing power has been disturbed—and no one will be safe. . . .

Raised on a quiet farm by his Aunt Pol, Garion spends his days lounging in his aunt’s warm kitchen and playing in the surrounding fields with his friends. He has never believed in magic, despite the presence of a cloaked, shadowless stranger who has haunted him from a distance for years. But one afternoon, the wise storyteller Wolf appears and urges Garion and his aunt to leave the farm that very night. Without understanding why, Garion is whisked away from the only home he has ever known—and thrown into dark and unfamiliar lands.

Thus begins an extraordinary quest to stop a reawakened evil from devouring all that is good. It is a journey that will lead Garion to discover his heritage and his future. For the magic that once seemed impossible to Garion is now his destiny.

I first read Pawn of Prophecy in high school. Back then, I wasn’t as familiar with the fantasy genre as I am now and I did not realize it abounds with clichés. You have the prophecy, the chosen one and on and on. At least, they are clichés now. Pawn of Prophecy was published years and years ago, and I have no idea if they were clichés then. Maybe they weren’t and David Eddings broke some new ground (not entirely new – Tolkien came before him.) Just somewhat new. He could have – his books are still in print and certainly popular enough.

In anycase, I loved Pawn of Prophecy in high school and it remains one of my favorite comfort reads. Why? I don’t really know why. It is just somehow comforting to read – if I am in the mood for nothing else, I can always read this. Or one of the books in this series (there are five). I cannot begin to count how many times I have reread this. I didn’t read it last year of course (odd!!!), but normally I manage to read one of the five books once a year. On rare occasions, I manage to read all five. It just that it is easy to read and it still makes me laugh.

It has flaws of course but I ignore those. :P

Strange Brew edited by P. N. Elrod

Strange Brew is an excellent anthology and I am sorry I didn’t read it sooner. It has 9 stories: Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs, Last Cal by Jim Butcher, Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine, Vegas Odds by Karen Chance, Hecate’s Golden Eye by P.N. Elrod, Bacon by Charlaine Harris, Signatures of the Dead by Faith Hunter, Ginger: A Nocturne City Story by Caitlin Kittredge and last Dark Sins by Jenna Maclaine. None of the stories are truly short, but neither are any of them long enough to qualify as a novella. All of them feature witches and magic in some way. There are also no bad stories.

Vegas Odds by Karen Chance is the best. This story was action filled and excellent. There is a mystery, a sexy werewolf boyfriend and betrayal, all packed into a few dozen pages. I am not if sure if it is related her new dhampire series, but it might be and I am going to read the first one (Midnight’s Daughter) to find out.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Synopsis: Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.


Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.


With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?


SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Warning: Spoilers

Soulless is the first in the Parasol Protectorate series. It is hilarious. I delayed in reading this because I thought it would be silly, because how do you kill vampires accidently with a fancy umbrella? All in a Victorian society. But it wasn’t. It really wasn’t and I am so glad I read this. Soulless is one the funniest stories I’ve read in ages.

I knew it would be funny when Alexia is holding her wooden hairpin to the vampire throat, hitting him with her parasol and saying, “Manners!” She hit a little too hard, the hairpin went through his throat. And that was just the first few pages.

I am not sure whether to call Soulless paranormal romance or urban fantasy. The romance isn’t the focus, not really, but it is a very important of the story and they end up married by the end. The mystery aspect is just as, if not more important, than the romance. Without the mystery there wouldn’t be a romance, because I don’t think the romance would have happened at all without it. Or happened at a glacial slow pace. Both Alexia and Lord Maccon needed a kick in the butt for the romance to get going.

If this story as weakness, it is that sometimes the POV changes quickly in the same scene (usually to forward the romance). Even that wasn’t confusing, not really, so it is not that much of a black mark.

I want to read the next book! I wish it were already published. It is not. According to the Amazon, Changeless, Parasol Protectorate book 2, comes out on March 30 2010.

Grade: B

Wyvernhail by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

HAI HAS ALWAYS been an outsider. With a falcon mother and a deceased cobra father, she is considered a mongrel by most, an ally by some, and a friend by few. Hai's broken falcon wings are a painful reminder of the life she once led on the island of Ahnmik. And here in Wyvern's Court, the avian and serpiente royal family keep their distance, refusing to acknowledge her cobra bloodline. They know that Hai's magic is so volatile, she can barely control it, and images of the past and future threaten to overwhelm her.

When Hai's cousin, Oliza Shardae Cobriana, abdicates the throne of Wyvern's Court, Hai has visions only of destruction: the serpiente king Salem, dying in her arms; the dutiful guard, Nicias, unable to save a generation of children; and Wyvern's Court engulfed in flames.

Now Hai will do anything to protect her new home - even if it means betraying the very people who need her most.

Wyvernhail is the fifth book in the Kiesha'ra series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. It is also the first book I read by her. I knew it was the fifth and that I was reading them out of order and I usually try not to do that, but I figured, what the hell. It was a short book and a quick read. Despite not reading the first four in the series, I was never lost.

The world involves shapeshifters, wolves, ravens, snakes and falcons. But it is not urban fantasy; it is written very much like a traditional fantasy story with a strong dash of romance. You have the prince, the princess, the mixed blood misfit, all with both human and winged shapes. Hai is the misfit. She also has visions of the future.

I liked this book very very much. If it has a weakness, it is that scene transitions are a bit abrupt. Sometimes that can be confusing. I didn’t expect to like it so much. I have read other non-urban fantasy involves that involve shapeshifters and I liked few of them this well. They were better written, maybe, but they lacked something Wyvernhail has. I am not sure what that is.

The scene I liked best was at the end when Hai was contacting her empress and realized that though she thought of the empress as a mother, the empress never loved her like that.
Grade: B-

Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz

More than three centuries ago, Nicholas Winters irrevocably altered his genetic makeup in an obsession fueled competition with alchemist and Arcane Society founder Sylvester Jones. Driven to control their psychic abilities, each man's decision has reverberated throughout the family line, rewarding some with powers beyond their wildest dreams, and cursing others to a life filled with madness and hallucinations.

Jack Winters, descendant of Nicholas, has been experiencing nightmares and blackouts—just the beginning, he believes—of the manifestation of the Winters family curse. The legend says that he must find the Burning Lamp or risk turning into a monster. But he can't do it alone; he needs the help of a woman with the gift to read the lamp's dreamlight.

Jack is convinced that private investigator Chloe Harper is that woman. Her talents for finding objects and accessing dream energy are what will save him, but their sudden and powerful sexual pull threatens to overwhelm them both. Danger surrounds them, and it doesn't take long for Chloe to pick up the trail of the missing lamp. And as they draw closer to the lamp, the raw power that dwells within it threatens to sweep them into a hurricane of psychic force.

Fired Up is the latest in the Arcane Society series. I think it may be the first book where a whole family has decided to stay away from society and away from Jones & Jones.  Staying away from Jones & Jones is harder and when Chloe learns one of her uncle’s works from them, she is horrified. Says the whole family would disapprove. It was funny. I am also pretty sure this is the first book that goes into the legend of Nicholas Winters, the enemy of the original Jones, the one who came up with the founder's formula that both enhances their power and drives them insane and that is now causing such problems (such delicious problems!) for Jones & Jones. No one has not read the previous Arcane Society can fully appreciate that, of course, but it doesn’t matter, because the book can stand alone. Most of it is explained, in a very natural, non-lecturing way.

The part I liked best was at the end when Chloe was kidnapped. She had to deal with a dying teenage boy, a doctor certain of his (erroneous) conclusions and being injected with the founder’s formula. It was here that we learn the founder’s formula works by opening dream energy to the waking mind, and that’s why it is unstable, because dream energy is inherently unstable.

There are hints of other legends, of the enemy leadership being involved with them. But best of all the current Jones got an assistant! This means nothing until you realize for the last half dozen books Jones had obviously needed an assistant and was resisting getting one. She walked in and told him she was going to be his assistant. Hilarious! I can only imagine what the background check will tell Jones.