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  • Tempt the Stars, Omens, & Parasite

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    The sixth book in Karen Chance‘s Cassandra Palmer series is a lot like the previous entries, so you should basically know what to expect. Its three notable features are exploring the hell dimensions a bit, introducing the Covens and touching on the Pythia’s court, and giving practically no page-time to Mircea (focusing instead on Pritkin and retrieving him from his father).

    Kelley Armstrong‘s new series (Cainsville) begins with a fairly infuriating opening segment showcasing the horrors of unwarranted tabloid-fueled reputation assassination. Once it gets past that setup and arrives in the town of Cainsville things begin to get quite good indeed. The supernatural aspects start off mostly subdued and only gradually begin to make their presence known, which works fantastically. And the variety of supernaturals being dealt with here? It’s not explicitly stated, but seems to be a combination of inherent psychic abilities with some Fae thrown in for good measure.

    Parasite is the first novel in Mira Grant’s (Seanan McGuire‘s) new Parasitology series. It’s something of a combination between the renegade scientist parts of her Newsflesh trilogy and Stephenie Meyer’s The Host. It’s a little shaky due to both the characters’ tendency to monologue exposition at you and the awkwardness inherent in the protagonist not being legally in control of her life. I’m also not sure if the reveal just before the “to be continued” is supposed to be a surprise or not; it’s telegraphed so heavily that it ends up rather anticlimactic.

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  • Karen Chance Novellas

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    There are several free novellas that take place in the Cassandra Palmer universe available on Karen Chance’s homepage:

    The Gauntlet – Set long before the series proper starts this focuses on a young Kit Marlowe and some witches who don’t show up in the series until the sixth book (or if they do show up earlier I don’t recall them). It’s pretty good.

    The Queen’s Witch – The sequel to the above; is also pretty good if you don’t mind the spontaneous attraction between the main characters.

    The House at Cobb End – Focusing on Pritkin and also taking place before the parent series this is a very interesting short story about the origins of his house. A house that I cannot for the life of me recall appearing in the main books.

    The Day of the Dead – This focuses on a character I do not remember ever seeing before (Thomas), though I do remember the main antagonist (Alejandro) getting mentioned in passing a few times. The story is okay… if a bit random and not particularly engaging.

    In Vino Veritas – Part of the Dorina Basarab spin-off, this feels more like a low quality fanfiction than an author addition. That it was originally published in an anthology explains this to an extent; anthology entries have the disturbing tendency to be vastly inferior to their parent series.

    A Family Affair – Set between books four and five of the Cassandra Palmer series and featuring Pritkin, Rosier, Casanova, and Cassie this deals with a trip through one of the hell dimensions. It’s a solid story that ends up referenced a bit in the sixth book.

    Shadowland – A sequel to A Family Affair, this features most of the same characters. It’s more or less on par with the prequel, with the exception that the opening scene told from Pritkin’s point of view feels completely out of character.

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  • Recent Books

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    Normally I do these three at a time… but, well…

    Cast in Sorrow (Michelle Sagara) – Completes the storyline started in Cast in Peril. I’m indifferent toward it. While on the one hand there’s some tangible progress on the Barrani front, on the other the general style and plot developments are starting to seriously trend into the abstract and hand-wavy. It’s hard to read some of it without feeling a deep sense of skepticism. Aside: For some strange reason I picture the Barrani as being similar to The Last Remnant‘s Sovani.

    Chimes at Midnight (Seanan McGuire) – Not much to say about this really other than it’s just as good as the earlier October Daye novels. Well, one more thing: It seems to mark the beginning of shifting the overarching background conflict into the foreground.

    Ritual Magic (Eileen Wilks) – It’s fairly amazing that this series continues to avoid the various and sundry paranormal romance pitfalls. Picking up right where Mortal Ties left off, it ends with what looks to be a good point to switch over to a different set of protagonists for a bit.

    Steelheart (Brandon Sanderson) – The setting for this novel is very good and having a protagonist that seems to have either asperger’s or autism is an interesting choice. Unfortunately, those are the only things I can praise about it since the general character behavior and plot developments seem ripped right out of a summer blockbuster. It all feels so artificial.

    Perdition (Ann Aguirre) – This beginning of a new series set in the Sirantha Jax universe is, for the most part, very engaging indeed. The only area in which it slips up a bit is the romance aspect. The relationship seems a little forced and does not feel quite natural. That said, it’s certainly not as bad as what you’d find in a generic romance novel.

    Dancing with the Devil (Keri Arthur) – Speaking of generic romance novels…. I ordered the first three books in this series blind due to what I’m going to chalk up to sudden insanity. For some reason I thought this might be more like Arthur’s Myth and Magic series then her Riley Jenson/Dark Angels series. Again, no clue why I thought that, but this book is as generic paranormal romance as you can get.

    Hearts in Darkness (Keri Arthur) – The first entry in this series is merely generic; this one is downright painful. Not only is the most by-the-numbers example of a paranormal romance still present and as vaguely embarrassing as ever, signs of power-level creep start to appear alongside a dash of internal inconsistency.

    Chasing the Shadows (Keri Arthur) – While for the most part just as unpleasant to read as the second book, this does take an unexpected turn toward the end. The ‘good guys’ actually losing is a very rare thing to see in this sort of novel. Of course, considering the new suite of powers Nikki gains here that loss may end up being not much of a loss at all in the long run.

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  • To Die; Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli

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    This series by Lisa Jackson starts out intriguing, if busy, and becomes rather rote and familiar before long.

    Left To Die kicks things off with what amounts to two separate stories stapled together, one better than the other. There is a lot going on here. Most of it is good, but a significant portion starts trending toward the ridiculous and before long you may end up finding yourself wondering exactly what you’re reading. It also ends on a cliff-hanger which Chosen to Die picks up shortly after. Chosen ends up much better than Left for two reasons; it’s much more focused and the romance aspects are nowhere near as ill-fitting.

    That’s not to say it’s perfect however, as it does still contain a couple of extraordinarily improbable events. Which brings me to the main issue I had with this series as a whole. The central ‘problem’, as it were, is that the plot developments in these books are actually less realistic than the fantasy/urban fantasy books I normally read. This came as a shock initially, but after some thought it makes sense; since fantasy uses up most of the audience’s suspension of disbelief on its universe mechanics it doesn’t have anywhere near as much wiggle-room in the plot and character behavior departments.

    Born to Die continues the twin themes of serial killers and spontaneous romance. It’s more or less on par with Chosen, with its oddly convenient plot developments staying fairly subdued for the most part and the romance at least making an attempt to blend into the overall picture. Afraid to Die is where things become to get overly fabricated, essentially eviscerating most of what makes Alvarez a semi-interesting character. Followed up as it is by Ready To Die, which is practically dripping with melodrama and contrivance, results in a one-two punch that effectively kills any further potential this series may have had.

    I think I’ll just stick with fantasy from here-on out. Fantastical settings and abilities are much easier to deal with than fantastical plot developments and character behavior.

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  • Possession, Twisted, & Exposed

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    Possession is the eighth installment in Kat Richardson’s Greywalker series. After the reading sixth book, Downpour, I wasn’t planning on continuing this series… then Sea Witch arrived out of nowhere (apparently I blindly pre-ordered it) and it was enjoyable enough to reverse that decision. This one is much more like Downpour than Sea Witch; dry, not very interesting, and fairly detached. It feels more like reading a history student’s dissertation than a fantasy novel.

    I picked up two of Laura Griffin‘s Tracers novels basically on a whim, hoping a change from the urban fantasy genre might open up some new avenues. Sadly, both of these books (Twisted, Exposed) are structured remarkably similar to your generic one-shot paranormal romance novel. I was getting flashbacks to Gena Showalter‘s novels while reading them, and that’s not really a good thing if you’re looking for something on the realistic side.

    If you just want some spontaneous/forced romance (Twisted‘s isn’t as bad as Exposed‘s in this regard) tinged with a bit of excitement though, in the form of racing against the clock to stop a killer, then these books are pretty good at delivering just that.

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  • Magic Rises & Theirs Not To Reason Why

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    The seventh book in Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series (assuming you include Gunmetal Magic) deals primarily with Hugh d’Ambray and has a small side-focus on some of the Shapeshifters in Europe. While the basic situation and various plot/romantic developments come across as rather contrived, the general feel of the book is similar enough that it ends up enjoyable regardless. The one-liners help.

    The Theirs Not to Reason Why series (A Soldier’s Duty, An Officer’s Duty, Hellfire), authored by Jean Johnson, has an uncommon central concept and an expansive setting. The story centers around an extremely powerful psychic (capable of seeing the entirety of the past, present, future, and all of the alternate realities thereof) who upon discovering that the universe will be completely destroyed by an overwhelming outside force sets her life upon the one narrow path that can lead to the avoidance of that fate.

    Despite being so heavily focused on predestination and following a painstakingly exact schedule, the first two books do not come across as contrived or feel particularly forced. Which is impressive. The third book on the other hand does not quite manage that feat. It has a couple of moments here and there that manage to feel organic, but the majority comes across as a dictated compilation of deus ex machina. That’s not to say its bad or unreadable, it’s just not as engrossing as the first two.

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  • More Caitlín R. Kiernan

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    This next set of Kiernan‘s books is somewhat different from the previous set. Three of them are constructed as though they were written by their in-universe characters (unreliable narrators all) while the last is a short-story compilation in graphic novel form.

    The Red Tree is the literary equivalent of a ‘found footage’ movie. It is also brilliant. Beyond brilliant. Written in the form of a 1st-person diary as told from the point of view of a not particularly successful author on a summer retreat, it ends up eminently realistic and shockingly engrossing.

    The follow-up to the above is The Drowning Girl. It’s quite a bit more fantastical and abstract than The Red Tree is as a result of being written from the perspective of a schizophrenic. It also has an extremely nonlinear narrative which can end up somewhat confusing at times. It’s still a remarkably intriguing read, just not exactly immersive and better appreciated as a fictional work than a potential reality.

    Slightly changing gears from the previous two books, Blood Oranges‘ in-universe author’s lack of reliability does not come from mental distortions. Rather, it comes from her being a junky and prone to lies. Thematically speaking this is quite a bit different from the previous novels in that it’s conventional cut-and-dry urban fantasy rather than theoretical urban fantasy (i.e. fantasy that may just all be hallucinations/delusions instead of ‘real’). Presumably this is why it was written under the name of Kathleen Tierney… then again it says right on the cover: “Caitlín R. Kiernan Writing as“. So… who knows what the point of using a secondary name was. Anyway, it’s fairly amusing in a cynical fashion and quite entertaining. Somewhat busy though with lots of different supernaturals all crammed in together.

    Finally we come to Alabaster: Wolves. This is a graphic novel compilation of short stories focused on the albino girl who appears in Threshold. Curiously, her personality seems quite a bit different here than it does there. Different bad rather than different good; the conversations are atrocious. The stories also seem especially simplistic and are frankly not particularly enjoyable in any respect. On the bright side, this contains some fairly fantastic pieces of full-page artwork.

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  • Caitlín R. Kiernan

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    The five books I’m going to cover here start at the horror end of the spectrum and eventually metamorphosize into urban fantasy that leans heavily on the fantasy. They remind me of Justine Musk‘s two BloodAngel novels.

    Silk kicks things off with an intriguing story split among several viewpoints. The fantasy aspects are at their most subdued here, mostly taking the form of general horror and alternate perceptions. It’s nicely self-contained and simply works… for the most part. Having Niki spontaneously turn bisexual is a fairly abrupt plot development when you consider the reason she washed up in Birmingham in the first place.

    Threshold features both a different set of characters and a different set of antagonistic mythology, the latter of which will only appear in the later novels once in passing. Here the balance starts to shift away from horror and into more conventional urban fantasy. The antagonists have much more clearly physical manifestations and while there is still a bit of twisting perception, what occurs happens in a relatively straight-forward manner. The ending is unfortunate on a great many levels and sets a nasty precedent that will be revisited in Daughter of Hounds.

    Low Red Moon I feel is the best out of the five, striking the cleanest balance between reality and misconception with a nicely paced story filled with intriguing developments. It features different versions of the same characters from Threshold and yet another change of antagonistic forces.

    Murder of Angels is my least favorite of this bunch. It’s very, very close to being almost pure fantasy and picks up a decade or so after the ending of Silk with the same characters (along with a transplant from Low Red Moon). This takes what occurred in Silk and turns it into a half-bit imitation of grand fantasy. It’s fairly terrible all-around and painfully contrived (turning Daria into a pseudo-bisexual, Scarborough making his re-appearance, everything about the Dragon and the Weaver, etc.).

    Finally we come to Daughter of Hounds, which picks up years after Low Red Moon and revisits the horrid contrivance that ended Threshold; the ability to rewind time. There are few, very few plot devices cheaper than waving away everything that’s happened and simply pretending it didn’t. Time-fiddling aside, this novel takes a step back from the heavy-fantasy abyss of Murder of Angels to be slightly more grounded in the ‘real world’. It still has a significant focus on fantasy lands and wizards/witches, but presents them in a much less oversaturating fashion.

    All told, I’m rather glad I decided to check out Kiernan’s work. For the longest time I thought that I wouldn’t come across anything else like BloodAngel and these scratched that itch nicely.

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  • The Red Plague Affair, Bleeding Out, & Wages: Future Tales of a Hired Gun

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    The second book in the Bannon and Claire series takes place several years after the first and has a lesser focus on sorcery. It’s a bit more investigative and much more reactionary, with the protagonists being less proactive and instead forced to adapt to unexpected situations.

    Bleeding Out caps off Jes Battis‘ OSI series (according to the foreword anyway). It starts out pretty standard for the series, gets brilliantly abstract in the eighth chapter… and then peters out into a Contact-style ending that’s just aggravating on every level.

    Zack Parsons’ Wages: Future Tales of a Hired Gun novella is a dystopian look into a possible future through the eyes of a mercenary. It is wonderfully, darkly comedic in all the ways things can and do go horribly, horribly wrong. If you like any of his earlier work, from Liminal States to the extensive number of politically-themed articles written for Something Awful, then you cannot miss this.

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  • Bronze Gods, Graveyard Child, & Kat Redding

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    A. A. Aguirre’s (Ann and Andres Aguirre’s) Bronze Gods is a little off in some ways while being immensely interesting in others. Its first issue is… structural I guess. There’s this weird periodic absence of descriptive text, as if whole paragraphs of background flavor have been spontaneously excised with little regard to the holes left behind. The other complication is that the protagonists feel as though they’re being railroaded into an unnaturally deep relationship, which ends up particularly hard to ignore considering this has been written by a husband/wife team. Those two problems aside the book is a fairly engrossing window into a new setting.

    The fifth book in M.L.N. Hanover’s (Daniel Abraham’s) Black Sun’s Daughter series, Graveyard Child, is just as entertainingly unique as the previous four. It just has a certain flavor, a dash of the bizarre depicted in a remarkably believable manner that ends up working on every level. That all the previous plot points have been tied together into a basically complete whole here is just icing on the cake.

    E. S. Moore‘s Kat Redding series (To Walk the Night, Tainted Night, Tainted Blood, & Blessed By A Demon’s Mark) is rather severely flawed. The first book is not bad, merely average vampire-centered urban fantasy. Even so it has some annoyances in its penchant for branding (Honda DN-01) and the overuse of “I” coupled with a staccato sentence structure; “I did this. Then I did that. All the while I was thinking about what I would do when I got to where I meant to go.“. Just distracting. The second and third books however… those are actively unpleasant to read.

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