Spoiled For Books

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

2010-06-11T17:05:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-03T21:42:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-02T20:28:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-05T17:54:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-23T17:07:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-06T21:06:00.001-04:00

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

2010-04-01T19:31:00.000-04:00

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

2010-03-25T20:32:00.001-04:00

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

2010-03-22T16:19:00.001-04:00

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

2010-03-18T19:45:00.002-04:00

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

2010-03-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

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..

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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

2010-01-27T20:53:00.006-05:00

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

2010-01-17T20:29:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-16T18:35:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-06T19:56:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-05T20:18:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

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.

Book Releases: January 2010

2009-12-23T21:26:00.004-05:00

The Keepers of Sulbreth (The Futhark Chronicles) by Susan Gourley - January 1, 2010
Heart of Darkness by Gena Showalter, Maggie Shayne, and Susan Krinard - January 1, 2010
Monster Republic: The Divinity Project by Ben Horton - January 1, 2010
Kitty's House of Horrors (Kitty Norville, Book 7) by Carrie Vaughn - Jan 4, 2010
Sympathy for the Devil by Justin Gustainis - January 4, 2010
The Domino Pattern by Timothy Zahn - January 5, 2010
Doppelgangster (Esther Diamond Novel) by Laura Resnick - January 5, 2010
Catalyst: A Tale of the Barque Cats by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough - January 5, 2010
Bone Magic (Sisters of the Moon) by Yasmine Galenorn - January 5, 2010
Realms of the Dead: A Forgotten Realms Anthology by Susan Morris, R.A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, and Richard Baker - January 5, 2010
Arms-Commander (Saga of Recluce) by L. E. Modesitt Jr. - January 5, 2010
Firespell: A Novel of the Dark Elite by Chloe Neill - January 5, 2010
A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) by Lynn Kurland - January 5, 2010
Inked by Karen Chance, Marjorie M. Liu, Yasmine Galenorn, and Eileen Wilks - January 5, 2010
Brain Thief by Alexander Jablokov - January 5, 2010
Bad Blood (Blood Coven) by Mari Mancusi - January 5, 2010
Hastur Lord: A Novel of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross - January 5, 2010
Blood Cross (Jane Yellowrock, Book 2) by Faith Hunter - January 5, 2010
DarkShip Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt January 5, 2010
Wicked Enchantment by Anya Bast - January 5, 2010
The Many Deaths of the Black Company by Glen Cook – January 5, 2010
The Spirit Lens: A Novel of the Collegia Magica by Carol Berg – January 5, 2010
The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny (Nightside) by Simon Green - January 5, 2010
Starbound by Joe Haldeman - January 5, 2010
Brooklyn Knight by C. J. Henderson - Jan 5, 2010
Through Stone and Sea: A Novel of the Noble Dead by Barb Hendee and J.C. Hendee January 5, 2010
Blood Alchemy (Bad Tuesdays) by Benjamin J. Myers - January 7, 2010
Wild Hunt by Margaret Ronald - January 12, 2010
The Kiesha'ra of the Den of Shadows by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes – January, 12 2010
Sleepless: A Novel by Charlie Huston - January 12, 2010
Undead Much by Stacey Jay - January 21, 2010
Spider's Bite: An Elemental Assassin Book by Jennifer Estep – January 26, 2010
Unperfect Souls (Connor Grey, Book 4) by Mark Del Franco - January 26, 2010
Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass – January 26, 2010
Prince of Storms (Entire and the Rose) by Kay Kenyon - January 26, 2010
Blood in the Water (Chronicles of the Lescari Revolution) by Juliet E. McKenna - January 26, 2010
Hardcore (Combat-K) by Andy Remic - January 26, 2010
Superhumans: Meteorite Strike by A.G. Taylor - January 29, 2010

Imager's Challenge by L. E. Modesitt

2009-12-22T19:55:00.003-05:00

Synopsis: Imager’s Challenge takes up immediately after the conclusion of Imager. Still recovering from injuries received in foiling the plots of the Ferran envoy, Rhenn is preparing to take up his new duties as imager liaison to the Civic Patrol of L’Excelsis. No sooner has he assumed his new position than he discovers two things. First, the Commander of the Civic Patrol doesn’t want a liaison from the infamous Collegium, and soon has Rhenn patrolling the streets of the worst district in the city. Second, Rhenn receives formal notice that one of the High Holders, the father of a man Rhenn partly blinded in self-defense, has declared his intention to destroy Rhenn and his family.

Rhenn’s only allies are the family of the girl he loves, successful merchants with underworld connections. In the end, Rhenn must literally stand off against gang lords, naval marines, Tiempran terrorist priests, the most powerful High Holder in all of Solidar, and his own Collegium—and find a way to prevail without making further enemies and endangering those he loves.

Warning: Spoilers

Imager’s Challenge is the second book in this series. It doesn’t move as quickly as many other fantasy novels, but I don’t mind. I have read almost all of Modesitt’s Recluce stories so much of the progression wasn’t a surprise. But for all that, I liked it very much.

I expected Rhenn to kill his enemies. Mind, I didn’t expect him to kill the High Holder by destroying the building he was standing on. I thought he wouldn’t be quite that drastic because that kind of thing could get other Holders and/or their children killed and that would have put in the middle of aa feud (maybe even multiple feuds!) yet again. It didn’t; the imagers somehow managed to work that to their advantage – after telling Rhenn repeatedly he must do nothing that led directly back to the imagers! But I wasn’t surprised when he did and I knew High Holder’s daughter would inherit the holding. I knew that was going to happen since they danced.

What I like best about this series is the magic system. It is unusual. Being able to imagine things into being, well, it just sounds so good. It works, too, because there are limits on what can be imagined and how. Nothing comes from nothing, after all, and everything has a cost, even if it is just in energy.

What I disliked about Imager’s Challenge is that Rhenn spends a lot of time complaining. Complaining that the imagers won’t help him and aren’t interested in what he knows if he has no proof, proof he has no way of getting. I get it and and I get that its not fair. But it got old half way through the book.

Book: B-

Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell K. Hamilton

2009-12-19T20:16:00.006-05:00

Book Description: You may know me best as Meredith Nic Essus, princess of faerie. Or perhaps as Merry Gentry, Los Angeles private eye. In the fey and mortal realms alike, my life is the stuff of royal intrigue and celebrity drama. Among my own, I have confronted horrendous enemies, endured my noble kin’s treachery and malevolence, and honored my duty to conceive a royal heir—all for the right to claim the throne. But I turned my back on court and crown, choosing exile in the human world—and in the arms of my beloved Frost and Darkness.

While I may have rejected the monarchy, I cannot abandon my people. Someone is killing the fey, which has left the LAPD baffled and my guardsmen and me deeply disturbed. My kind are not easily captured or killed. At least not by mortals. I must get to the bottom of these horrendous murders, even if that means going up against Gilda, the Fairy Godmother, my rival for fey loyalties in Los Angeles.

But even stranger things are happening. Mortals I once healed with magic are suddenly performing miracles, a shocking phenomenon wreaking havoc on human/faerie relations. Though I am innocent, dark suspicions of banned magical activities swirl around me.

I thought I’d left the blood and politics behind in my own turbulent realm. I had dreamed of an idyllic life in sunny L.A. with my beloved ones beside me. But it becomes time to wake up and realize that evil knows no borders, and that nobody lives forever—even if they’re magical.

Warning: Spoilers

Divine Misdemeanors opens with a murder scene, but this book isn’t about the murders. Not really. I am not sure what it is about. There is plenty of stuff about her relationships, lots of sex, a few power plays and a few hints that not all is well in her aunt’s court.

That is not to say I didn’t like this book, I did, I liked the relationship aspect and there were a few things I wasn’t expecting. One of those things was that Barinthus is possibly gay or bi and in love Merry’s father. He didn’t deny it. I was stunned because I wasn’t expecting that. It explains why he won’t go to bed with her. The other reason would be he doesn’t want to sleep with his friend’s daughter. Both are good reasons. This particular facet of Barinthus wasn’t important to the story; what was important was his disapproval of her rejecting the faeiry crown to save Frost.

I am not really sure what part of Divine Misdemeanors I liked best. There are lots of really great scenes. I think it may be the sex scene with Rhys by the sea. But he is my favorite of the men and one who isn’t on stage enough. He gets a sithen of his very own in that. We didn’t see it and I wanted to.

This book has one glaring weakness and that’s the mystery. It is not much of one, and despite being a private detective, Merry doesn’t do any investigating. She goes to murder scenes, gives her opinion, gets trapped by reporters and that’s it. Okay, so with reporters following her around like rabid dogs she couldn’t do much anyway. But the murderer falls into her lap. She doesn’t have to do anything to find out who he is. Then there was the finale – capturing the killer. That part was good, but I am still stuck on how she didn’t have to do anything to find out who he was. It started with a murder scene and ended with the killer, but there was very little of the mystery in between. There were all her guards and her relationships with them, but after the first chapter I was expecting a bit more in the way of mystery. This would have been perfect with it. Longer, too, but I wouldn’t have minded that.

Grade: B-

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

2009-12-02T20:26:00.003-05:00

Synopsis: St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Vampire Academy was an excellent read. The main characters are in high school and there are a lot of the usual problems everyone has in high school: mean teachers, crushes, the popular crowd. This is a YA novel, and while I am not overly familiar with the genre, this was darker than I was expecting. More sexual, too. Rose nearly has sex (due to magic!) to her older mentor and has feelings for him besides. He is 7 years too old for her. Though if she were a year older, it would be legal and the age difference a mere 6 years.

The world is fascinating – vampires who specialize in a single element, dhampir who are the bastard children of vampires, their mistresses and their bodyguards. Dhampirs need at least one vampire parent, usually the father, and in order to preserve their race, they guard the vampires. It seems to me this cycle is not especially healthy, but it works and there is certainly plenty of room for drama.

My favorite scene in this series comes at the end. Their friend, the daughter of the one who was causing all the damage, betrays them and becomes a strigoi, the sort of vampire out of horror movies to please her father. Dhampirs are sworn to kill them. She took Rose by surprise, but she was a friend of sorts and Rose hesitated when it came to killing her.

By the end of the book Rose realized that if Lissa becomes a strigoi, she would be safe from her own magic. It makes me wonder.

Grade: B

Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb

2009-12-02T18:37:00.001-05:00

Synopsis: When the newly promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they were looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter who had stayed behind.

Not even their worst nightmares could have prepared them for the crime scene that awaited them instead. Brutally murdered in her bedroom, Deena's body showed signs of trauma that horrified even the toughest of cops; including our own Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who was specifically requested by the captain to investigate.

When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know yet that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities. Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to bring justice.

Kindred in Death was good, just like all the other In Death books. It was a fast, easy read. She gets the case while she is not working and not on call. But she takes the case anyway, because it was a cop’s daughter that got killed and because all cops’ families run a certain amount of risk. More than families of people with less risky jobs.

Colombia’s President, Peach, was great. She’s like Eve in a lot of ways. She was more cooperative than I was expecting and I expected her and Eve to butt heads. They really didn’t.

One thing puzzled me and that’s the use of the word unsub. It was capitalized: UNSUB. The In Death books have never used it before. It means Unknown Subject. I haven’t read any other mysteries that use it, but I don’t read many mysteries so I can’t say if it’s becoming more common. The first time I heard this word was in Criminal Minds and reading it here was just odd.

Other than that, it was good. Eve had a few shaky moments when she first the girl and knew she had been raped. It brought back memories, but she put them aside and later realized the rape didn’t shake her as much it might have before. It was good. She’s getting over the childhood abuse and that’s good for her. But it means less emotional drama. Her relationship with Roark was smooth too, no drama there and I must to admit to hoping for some. It won’t last; they are bound to butt heads over something.

My favorite scene in this whole part was when she was examining Deena’s body and I am not entirely sure why. It was vivid and when I think of this book, that’s the first scene to come to mind.

Grade: B-

Writer’s Corner: John Gardner, The Art of Fiction, First Chapter

2009-11-11T20:56:00.002-05:00

Chapter One: Aesthetic Law and Artistic Mystery

In this first chapter Gardner begins be declaring the beginning the writer wants rules on how to write, but there are none. There are principles that the beginning writer needs to know and a few warnings. But no hard and fast rules. He says once you begin to believe there are certain things you cannot and should not do in fiction, your intuition becomes paralyzed. He says art needs to be judged on its own merits, by its own laws, and if a work violates its own laws or if they are weak, the work will fail.

As an example, he says a general principle is that all the questions raised by a work must answered for it to be satisfactory and if it doesn’t, that’s a loose end. Like all principles, this is generally true, but may be broken on occasion. Such as when we never really know if Achilles really loves Briseus or just thinks of her as his rightful prize. Or how Hamlet becomes decisive with his enemies and less decisive with everything else.

After all that he says that the first and last writer is that there are no real rules for fiction. There might be formulas for easily published fiction. There are common mistakes (such as following formulas?) and things writers need to think about, but no rules.

He says the beginning writer needs mastery, not rules. In particular, mastery of breaking rules (that don’t exist!). He says that the value of any work has to do with the writer’s character and personality. I find that odd, because I am not reading the writer when I read something but the work itself. Personally, when I read something, I would rather know nothing about the writer until after I finish and sometimes even then I don’t care to know anything about the writer. Then he implies personality and character are the writer’s instincts, knowledge of art and the world. It isn’t. One is craft, the other is how the writer is and the two are only tenuously connected. A writer can be greedy, generous, kind, ruthless and it doesn’t affect the writer’s craft. The writer’s attitudes and experiences will undoubtedly slant the work toward one thing or another, but that’s not the same thing as craft either.

He also says one needs a certain mastery in order to read well, to know if something is boring, juvenile and simple minded. I find this mildly offensive. If something is boring, it is boring and no matter how much you read, a boring book is going to stay boring (unless your tastes change, but if they do, than other previously interesting books can become boring). It’s a matter of taste. As for the rest – there are stories that were positively fascinating when I was younger and that I can hardly read now. But that’s because it is easier to see the flaws now and also because I am not the same person I was when 14. I don’t call that mastery.

Heart Change by Robin D. Owens

2009-11-11T20:54:00.003-05:00

Book Description: Signet D'Marigold's lonely life is shaken when a prophet reveals she is a catalyst for change. But to accept her new life-and the charge of the noble child Avellana-means embracing a danger that may be fatal for them both. Especially when Signet's attraction to her new bodyguard signals a secret enemy sworn to destroy them.

Warning: Spoilers

Heart Change begins with Signet depressed enough to consider suicide. She’s depressed because all her friends have left her, she has no purpose in life and she doesn’t know what her flair is. Flair, in these books, is her magical specialization. All that changes in the first few pages. Her flair is lets her adjust other peoples’ flair. It is an odd one and a type of flair no one has ever heard of before.

The hero and love interest in this story is, Cratag, the bodyguard. A bodyguard as the love interest isn’t odd. But Heart Change is the first book in this series to have a commoner main character. More, he has a strong body, strong weapons skills, but weak flair and in this world flair is the ultimate arbiter of strength. So he is not the hero I expected but excellent all the same. He is described quite often as a “rock.” If Signet is going to make a habit of getting caught up in other’s passages and flair, a rock to hold on to would be a good thing. As a side note, neither one of them made a heart gift for each other. The hero didn’t because he doesn’t have enough flair to go through even one passage; she didn’t because she barely sensed him in her own passages, probably because he has so little flair.

The most interesting scene had nothing to do with the main romance. Maybe that’s sad. Cratag’s student and a brother of sorts married and the wedding was just chock full of drama. Only her side of the family was there and she had terrible, ugly things to say to him afterward (things that rang in his head and made him decide he was wasn’t good for Signet). It was a really bad (or a really good one in that a good story is bound to come out of it) beginning for a marriage and I hope this will be the next story.

Grade: B-

Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb

2009-11-11T20:52:00.003-05:00

Book Description: For fifteen years FitzChivalry Farseer has lived in self-imposed exile, assumed to be dead by almost all who once cared about him. But that is about to change when destiny seeks him once again. Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, has vanished and FitzChivalry, possessed of magical skills both royal and profane, is the only one who can retrieve him in time for his betrothal ceremony--thus sparing the Six Duchies profound political embarrassment...or worse. But even Fitz does not suspect the web of treachery that awaits him or how his loyalties to his Queen, his partner, and those who share his magic will be tested to the breaking point.

Warning: Spoilers

Fool’s Errand is the first of The Tawny Man Trilogy. It takes place after the Farseer trilogy and the Liveship books. The events of both are referred to in the book, but it should be possible to read it without having read those first.

Fool’s Errand begins with Fitz and Nighteyes settled in a cottage and raising his foster son. Starling visits often; they are lovers. The Fool and Chade both try to convince him to come back, but he refuses. When Fitz does go back, it is because Prince Dutiful has disappeared before his engagement and Chade needs him to go find the prince. He does, but not before the prince is thoroughly disillusioned about the nature of his new Witted companion and friends both.

The saddest part was when Nighteyes died. I never really thought he would. I kept thinking, somehow he will be saved. Someone will come along who can save him. No one did. I can’t really question the writer’s decision to kill Nighteyes because it makes sense in the story. But it was very hard to read and I needed a break after.

The best part was the reunion with the Fool. The Fool’s skin turned golden where it was white before and that’s damn odd. He changed, become someone else, changed his name, his clothes, everything. But he was still the Fool.

The ending was good, too. Despite being the first in a trilogy, it was a satisfying ending in and of itself. There was no cliffhanger. Not that it matters. All three books are out so even if there was a cliffhanger, it is easy enough to get a hold of the second and third book.

Grade: B

Myths: Siren

2009-10-27T19:52:00.003-04:00

According to www.askoxford.com, siren is defined as: noun (1) a device that makes a loud prolonged signal or warning sound. (2) Greek Mythology each of a number of women or winged creatures whose singing lured unwary sailors on to rocks. (3) a woman who is considered to be alluring but also dangerous.
ORIGIN: originally denoting an imaginary type of snake: from Greek Seiren.

I did not know before reading this that that word siren originally had something to do with snakes. Maybe dangerously seductive woman were considered snake-like?

In any case, Greek mythology would have as women who sang so beautifully they dazzled sailors into crashing into rocks and dying. Odysseus so longed to hear their song that he plugged his sailors ears so they could not hear the siren’s song, had himself tied to his ship, and sailed his ship past the sirens. These women are sometimes depicted as mermaids, sometimes half-woman, half-bird, or just a very sexy woman.

In the Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton, the siren is a type of mermaid that is feared by other merfolk. Unlike other mermaids, sirens have the ardeur. The ardeur is a power that some vampires (and Anita Blake!!) have to inspire sexual passion in others, the ability to feed off sex and that can result in a nearly insatiably sexual appetite. Personally, I thought this was a nice use of the myth. They are mermaids and they can certainly lure men to their death with it. Her sirens don’t sing, but the result is the same.

The Arcane Society series of Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle/Amanda Quick also has a type of siren. In this case, sirens are human, musically gifted women who can hit the high “money notes” such as D’s, E, F’s and the occasional G. Notes so high and pure, the siren could lure and kill with them, just as in the siren of myth. No mermaids, of course, but the Arcane Society books doesn’t run to paranormal creatures.

Incidentally, a siren is also a type of eel that has external gills. Who knew sirens were real? Though it is probably not all that enchanting.

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

2009-10-26T19:46:00.003-04:00

From the backcover:

The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October "Toby" Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas.

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby is forced to resume her old position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery...before the curse catches up with her.

Rosemary and Rue is the first in the October Daye novels. October “Toby” Daye is the main character. It starts with the her reflecting on her job, and her husband and children. I was surprised, because I can’t remember the last time I read something where an urban fantasy protagonist had a husband or children to worry about. More, she had a normal child and husband, people with no magic or any worrisome powers of their; people she could not share the parts of her life that dealt with magic and the fae.

She lost them in first few pages. She loses quite a few years of her life as well. I thought this part of the story; how and why she lost it all and how she reacted to it heart wrenching. In the middle of that, a dying countess curses October with finding the murder or die trying.

Rosemary and Rue is fast paced and full of action, just what I like best. There is a hint of romance, but not much of it, and I suspect it will be many more books before the romance flowers into something tangible. October spends a lot of time being injured; her magic is weaker than a lot of the other characters and she has to be careful how she spends it.

I can’t decide what part I liked best, there are so many good parts. Probably the scene that stands out in my mind is when she came back to her lord, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills. She expected he would hate her and he doesn’t and her relief and homecoming are fantastic. So is the duke’s daughter; she is the only who reacted as October expected and I expected the girl will be more of a major character in future books. In fact, I anticipate in some future book October and the daughter will fight to the death. It won’t be the next one, I don’t think, but somewhere down the line.

Grade: A-

Writer’s Corner: John Gardner, The Art of Fiction, Preface

2009-10-21T22:18:00.002-04:00

I have just started this book. It is supposed to be good and helpful. I hope it is! Anyway, as I finish each chapter (or section, depending on how far I get each week) I will post my thoughts on it.

In the preface, Gardner writes that this book is for the serious writer and not for writers of “nurse books or thrillers or porno or the cheaper sort of sci-fi”. I guess writers who write those types of books are not serious writers. I will admit, I have never heard of nurse books and I don’t know what they are. I also not quite sure what he means by the cheaper sort of science fiction and how to tell it apart from more expensive science fiction. I mean, I know what I like in science fiction, but who is to say that’s what he means? I am familiar with the other type of books – thrillers, porno.

In fact, those are the genres I know the best. Science fiction, fantasy and romance, not necessarily in that order. That’s what I like to read and that’s what I like to write as well. So I guess this book is not meant for me, huh? No matter! I will read it anyway. And if I am disappointed, I guess it will be my own fault for continuing to read after he states so clearly this book is not meant for me.

Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

2009-10-12T21:00:00.002-04:00

From the writer's website: Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero.Life sucks, and then you die. Or, if you’re James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.

Now Stark’s back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you’d expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future. Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.

Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author.

Richard Kadrey is a new writer for me, though he has other novels out. Sandman Slim is urban fantasy, but one involving demons and hell and heaven and angels instead of the near obligatory vampire and werewolves. Not that demons and angels don’t show up with some regularity in urban fantasy. ;)

Sandman Slim is a quick, enjoyable read. The main character’s voice is strong and consistent. He is an assassin, but a remarkably sympathetic one. He starts off wanting revenge because his old coven sacrificed him and sent him to hell. In the end, he saves the world. He does get his revenge along the way.

Despite all that, there are a few things I didn’t like about Sandman Slim. In the beginning (and a few other places), I found the dialog to be less than convincing. It wasn’t the high level of curse words, though some of that as well because sometimes I got the feeling the curses were there just to show how tough the characters were. But something was just off in a lot of the dialog. Not all of them, but a few here and there.

The other thing I didn’t like all that much was that towards the end the scenes felt disjointed. Like one scene ended, the other began and it felt like they were not connected even though I knew they were. If that makes sense.

The thing that stands out the most for me is the imagery he uses. A lot of the way he describes things is just hilarious.

Grade: C+

Twilight By Stephenie Meyer

2009-09-27T19:16:00.002-04:00

Interested by all the hoopla surrounding Twilight, I wondered if I should read it. I could read the book or watch the move, but I wasn’t going to do both. Movies rarely live up to the book, but they are usually good on their own terms. In anycase, I never read a book and watch the movie. Up until that point, I hadn’t read Twilight because I felt it would be just another paranormal romance, but without the sex.

The book started out well – the opening scene about her mother and her reasons for moving. It made me think she had a terrible mother. I suppose she did.

But than she started school, met Edward and the book slowed down to a crawl. To be fair, Twilight didn’t begin with a bang. I was okay with that. But the middle was just plain romance and a lot of cuddling. Even under the best situations, I am not a big fan of plain old romance. I rarely read it; I usually only read romantic suspense. The more usual type of romance is usually is too sweet for me. Despite the vampires (sparkling vampires at that) the middle of Twilight was no different. It was very hard to get past it. The only reason I did read it was because of all the damn hoopla and me trying to figure out what was so great about it.

Bella plays the damsel of distress frequently. There were times when I didn’t entirely buy it. There was that situation with the boys while in town and Edward rescuing her in his car. All I could think was, this is an excuse for Edward to rescue her.

The ending saves Twilight. It goes from 0 to 60 I was left staring at the page. See, if it had been like that the whole time I would understand why people are so crazy about it. As it is, I really don’t.

Grade: C+