The Bloodhound Files was created by Mr. Barant as a social satire. I had no idea of that when I bought the novel. In fact it was not until creating this review that I discovered that fact. However, the feeling of social criticism was there throughout Dying Bites.
No doubt about it, Dying Bites is an action-filled mystery with a whole lot of dark fantasy/science fiction to it. We are talking about a parallel world with an alternate history and lots of paranormal creatures and magic.
Jace Valchek fits into the gung-ho main protagonist mold without all of the gooey romance that some fantasy/science fiction novels glory in – the kind that I never seem to understand. The closest we get to romance would be a couple of thoughts about Cassius and Dr. Pete and some action with Tanaka.
DD Barant uses vampires, werewolves, golems and humans to create a world where racism is based on races rather than silly things like color. In my head it becomes easier to understand the concept of racism. Several of the scenes where Mr. Barant shows us the less pleasant sides of our world become incredibly clear. Two of those scenes are the post-sex scene with Tanaka and the nazi-camp. I found that dialogue well-done.
Other dialogue that I enjoyed greatly was between Jace and Charlie, her partner, and any conversation including Eisfanger. Eisfanger is a wonderfully nerdy person whose greatest assistant is a rat skull called Wittgenstein. I found myself wanting to sit down with Eisfanger and have a chat. Being a nerd myself along with being married to one and having two sons who are nerds makes me predisposed toward nerdy characters – if they are well-written.
Dying Bites was great entertainment with a serious undertone and lots of humour.
Here in Norway we have this strange tradition of reading mysteries during the Easter holidays. I just finished an oldie by Carter Dickson. My Late Wives is extremely funny in parts, tense in others and keeps me double-guessing myself until the end.
I’m thinking that with the technology available in 1946 Bewlay probably would have gotten away with the murders he did get away with. That is, until he went head-to-head with Merrivale. Today someone might have gotten him filmed somehow.
Sir Henry Merrivale is a delightful character. He is of the old detecting school (Poirot/Marple) but without the apparent self-control of the others. Merrivale is large, loud, active and has a noisy temper. The scene at the game hall at the beginning of the novel is one example of his bluster – and also of Carr’s well-written humor. I laughed at that scene and giggled at some of the comments Sir Henry Merrivale made later on.
We get real tension in My Late Wives. I read this novel a while back and was surprised at how I again became caught up in it. The wonderful thing about it is that time matters not when it comes to humor and tension. I love reading the older language and scenery wrapped neatly up in the spirit of its time.
Back to the tension. There are a couple of things worth mentioning. Bewlay is a great serial murderer to have in a mystery. He is a slightly above average man according to witnesses but impossible to describe. A natural blender or reader of people. His charm brought him women with small inheritances, women who would not be missed. Perfect victims these women who longed for the love of another. In a sense it is really sad to realise that there are plenty of men and women out there who fit this description at this very moment. I find it frightening to realise that there are probably plenty of Bewlay’s of one type or another just waiting to take advantage of such people.
Spooky house – there is definitely a spooky house in My Late Wives. My Late Wives is worth reading just for that scene – that and the above gaming hall. Carter Dickson did an excellent job of getting me at the edge of my seat.
Like many mysteries of its and our age My Late Wives is purely for entertainment. I was entertained.
Japanese cover: “The katakana is translated as “supai chiisai onna don bakkaru”, literally “Spy Girl Dawn Buckle”. (Dylan)
Dawn Buckle‘s family is strange. Her father and grand-father could be Aspergers with the keen interest they have in their respective hobbies: wall-clocks and game-shows. Dawn’s mother always has such a lot of work she must do. When the S.H.H. (Strictly Hush-Hush) ask if Dawn can come work for them during the summer, Dawn’s mother says:
“So Dawn would be out from under my feet … I mean she’d be taken care of for the whole of the summer holidays?
And I thought I was bad. I realize there are a great deal of children who live in homes where they are ignored. What a challenge this must be for the child. For Dawn, the appearance of Emma Cambridge is a gift. Finally, a person who actually notices her.
You see, Dawn Buckle is the kind of girl who seems to be invisible. She could be standing next to you and you would not notice her. She is average looking and has nothing that is extraordinary about her. A lot of us fit into that category. In fact this used to be me. I’m of average looks, like comfortable clothes, am observant, have had various types of stuffed animals and like information. My parents though, well they were a bit more present and would never have let me go off on a P.S.S.T. type of stay – that is unless I had recently gotten myself into trouble.
That is the trouble about us quiet ones. We are often underestimated. As Dawn finds out being underestimated is a bonus in the world of espionage. Just because she is seldom noticed does not mean that Dawn is incapable.
Dawn’s first lesson in spying is that things are not always as they seem. As she and Emma arrive at the headquarters of P.S.S.T. (Pursuit of Scheming Spies and Traitors) Dawn is puzzled:
“Emma opened the front gate, knocking the stalk of a magnificent sunflower. Its heavy head swung to one side, revealing a sign behind it that read “Dampside Hotel”.
Dawn is a prime example of not being what she seems. This is a great example to young boys and girls as to how girls really are. Not all girls but a lot.
For some strange reason, the apparently dead Mundo Meek seems to know too much about what is currently going on inside P.S.S.T. But is he really dead? Therein lies the mystery and the suspense.
Delightful names and acronyms are used by Anna Dale. Ms. Dale has managed to create a story that is exciting, funny, interesting and informative all at the same time. Her proposed age group target of 8-12 years seems appropriate.
Ever since I read the first novel in this now 11 book long series about Rachel Morgan I have been hooked. How Ms. Harrison manages to keep up the quality of her writing is beyond me.
In Ever After the story is mainly about Rachel, quite a bit about Trent and Jenks with some Quen and Al thrown in. The rest of the players have minor parts this time and some of them are only mentioned in passing.
I have been wondering if I would be able to make decisions based on “the greater good”. Could I harm an individual I knew/liked/loved to save the many? Rachel faces this choice in Ever After. She faces this same choice in just about every single one of Kim Harrison’s stories about her.
Rachel is an interesting person. She is an outsider among outsiders, the peg having to accept that she will never fit into any of the holes. If I was going to choose a main theme for the series it might be how to figure out how to accept your inability to fit in. I felt Rachel managed to do that in The Undead Pool. Like all people who get to that point, the Rachel we now meet is safer in her knowledge that she is who she is. That helps when trouble keeps on following her around.
In many ways Rachel’s life stinks royally. Yes, she is an adrenaline junkie. As with all other addictions, I am assuming that your fixes need to be larger over time. If there is one thing Rachel cannot complain about in Ever After, it is the dose of trouble Ms. Harrison feeds her. Ka-boom, ka-boom, ka-boom. From one fire to the next Rachel tries to keep up dragging along her leaking bucket. Ms. Harrison loves doing that to her Rachel.
Another thing Rachel has discovered she needs in these past few years is friendship. Being friends with Rachel is difficult but rewarding. Once you have her for a friend it takes an awful lot to lose her. All you have to do is ask Nick. He has done his utmost to turn her against him (although he does not see it that way). Nick is one of those persons who is never at fault – never. He and Ku’Sox are alike in that regard and as such make a pretty good team (or maybe not).
What must it be like to think that you are never to blame for anything? I get that most things in life are plain luck of the draw while others are a direct result of what we have done. From what people say to me, the majority seems to find it incredibly easy to see its own flaws. I’m finding myself completely mystified at how a person is able to accept absolutely no blame but be glad to take credit for good things happening. Narcissism is one of the weirder disorders out there and Nick fits the bill in so many ways.
As usual, you get no synopsis from me. There is as always with Rachel Morgan action, character growth, justice, unfairness, tragedy, mystery, love and closure. You can read Ever After without reading the other novels in the series, but why deprive yourself of that much fun?
My sweet sister-in-law (she is a really nice lady, book or no book) gave me a copy of The Cuckoo’s Calling in Norwegian. The Norwegian title is Når Gjøken Galer. Therefore, my first comment goes to the translation. Heidi Grinde did an excellent job.
Robert Galbraith’s chances of falling from the heights of my expectations were huge. But you know, this is English mystery at its best. If you are a fan of the kind of mystery with little violence, little sex, tricks to fool the reader (both worked and did not work with me) and an explanation by the detective in the best of Christie tradition, then this is the book for you. I am one of those fans.
Strike (Cormoran Strike) is NOT anything like a James Bond character. Nor is he one of the bitter, cynical or alcoholic detectives that come and go in the fashions of writing. Instead I found Strike to be a likable hairy bear who was smart yet not a genius. His experiences as an investigator with the military police in Afghanistan had given him both the insight necessary for the work of a private investigator and a prosthesis (lower leg). He is huge, hairy, and a bit over-weight (result of processing loss of leg). He has also just dumped his off-on fiancè and is waiting for her to get her revenge.
In this manner I guess we could lob Cormoran Strike in with the beleaguered type of detective who has plenty on his plate already. Strike’s business isn’t a roaring success and payment on the loan from his famous but seldom seen birth-father is due. Galbraith is stacking the odds against him in great author tradition without making Strike a ridiculous figure.
Robin Ellacott is Strike’s temporary assistant. They get off to a rocky start but Robin’s intelligent handling of both the assignments Strike gives her and her handling of the clients causes Strike to want to keep her on – if only he had the financial stability to do so. Robin has fun being a detective’s assistant. She does feel unappreciated at times but that is always the role of Watson or Hastings. Fortunately for her, Strike is neither a sociopath as Sherlock or full of himself like Poirot. Both Strike and Ellacott do bring their prejudices to the WORKING relationship causing interesting interactions.
I enjoyed the way both Robin and Carmoran became more comfortable with themselves and each other. No romance though – strictly working relationship.
The plot itself is as old as humanity – is my guess. Wanting what the other person has and a willingness to do anything to obtain it. It is strange, yet comforting, how people tend to tell the exact same stories all over the world and up through known history. In my experience, it seems the only thing that ever differs is the window-dressing. The window-dressing is the truly fun part, the part that enables me to explore words and talent. Authors are such a gift to society.
It was a story as old as time, and Rasha had played the role of disapproving elder with fervor. And even though her intent had been noble – to protect her granddaughter from an untrustworthy man – she paid the price with crushing loneliness so deep that she’d risked death or injury to …
To what lengths will we go to avoid feeling lonely?
The first five novels in the Kara Gillian series shows how far she has been willing to go to avoid that feeling. Now she experiences a sense of belonging she had never thought possible.
Loneliness is a concept I have spent much time contemplating. I’m kind of a misfit with most people. We can talk a bit, but when it comes to wanting to spend more time with me or me wanting to adjust to their expectations of “proper female behavior” – well, it just ain’t happening. In the past I have done stupid things to stop feeling lonely. I genuinely like being in my own company and sometimes find the presence of others intrusive. Even my dog and my husband. But it has been lonely growing up being a person like me. Thankfully, loneliness is no longer a factor in my life.
The other side of the loneliness coin that some people choose is that they would rather be alone than risk facing their own inner demons. Mzatal used to be like that. Then Kara and Idris came along and opened up the cracks of his emotional armor. This I really understand.
Emotions are confusing and illogical. They follow no rhyme or reason and appear when most inconvenient. I used to hide mine in a large chest that only I held the key to. Then patience and acceptance came my way through my husband and tiny emotion-elves started picking that lock.
Sometimes we all have need of a person in our life that sets off our tiny emotion-elves. Kara found several of them in her posse, and Mzatal found his through his protegés. Now both of them just have to figure out how to want to keep those positive influences in their lives.
As a compliment to Ms. Rowland’s writing, I found myself stupidly reading, and reading and reading through the freaking night. Her writing becomes better with each production. I love it when I can follow an author in their progression as a writer.
I like Sam’s (Samhain) character. Upon beginning this review I looked for further literature about our magically-challenged witch. There is a novel (Death’s Daughter) in the inning, but I do not know when it is going to be published. The Brinded Cat (striped cat) is even more fun than Foul is Fair.
Witches and their cats! Or maybe it is witches and their familiars. In this case Mrs. McGinty’s cat is caught in a tree and Sam is asked by her boss, Fin, to climb up and rescue it. Fin is involved with Mrs. McGinty and therefore amenable to granting her small favors, but Fin is also afraid of heights. So Sam has to step into the fray and keep Fin in Mrs. McGinty’s favour, and she does. That is after all what good friends do. We support our friends in their affairs of the heart, but only to a certain point.
When Sam meets Mrs. McGinty’s cat, she realises that perhaps the cat needs rescuing but not rescuing from the tree. And off we go.
Sam is adorable. Ms. Halpin has made her strong, vulnerable, insightful, experienced and funny. I think perhaps I like people who protect under-dogs (well, in this case a cat). The vulnerable need protecting and once upon a time Sam herself found such protection when she most needed it.
How old would you have to be to read The Brinded Cat? Well, The Brinded Cat is safe enough for a five-year old to read the story, but I doubt they would get much out of it. There is extremely little violence and no sexual content. Beyond that I haven’t got a clue. There is plenty of action, some fighting, lots of magic, and a look at trust.
I am a fan of the television series about Chief Inspector Morse that starred John Edward Thaw as Morse and Kevin Whately as Inspector Lewis. I suspect my love for the television series has stopped me from reading the novels by Colin Dexter about the Chief Inspector as I do not want my image of him changed. From experience neither medium translates well into the other.
My love for the original cast made me apprehensive when young Morse was to appear in a pilot episode on television. How on earth were the casters supposed to find an actor who could portray a younger version of Thaw?
Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised and my meeting with Shawn Evans as the young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse and Roger Allam as Detective Fred Inspector Thursday was a delight. Endeavour is everything I could have hoped for and I have enjoyed watching each episode as they have come out.
I find myself needing to mention the music. My goodness the British understand the whole “mood” thing on screen. I love the music in the series. Absolutely love it.
In 2007 Emma Bull and Will Shetterly got together and laid the groundwork for what would become the website Shadow Unit. A series bible was created and authors were contacted, which is how Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette got onboard the whole thing. Then they drew in Amanda Downum as art director and Stephen Shipman as technical director. The series bible was amended and improved. Finally Leah Bobet and Holly Black joined the writing team (along with Stephen and Amanda) while Kyle Cassidy had fun with the covers.
Shadow Unit I includes the first four stories from season 1:
The rest of the episodes from season 1, 2, 3 and 4 are available on shadowunit.org. As you will notice the last story available was released December 16, 2012. I recommend that you read the stories in order.
I was introduced to the phenomenon of the Shadow Unit through the above published novel. It is impossible for me to write a review without seeking out more information about the novel. This time I had a plethora of information to choose from, kindly served up by the instigators of the phenomenon. And what a fun phenomenon Shadow Unit is.
The whole group of creators at Shadow Unit are awesome for making such a large body of work available to readers and nutters all over the world for free. They wouldn’t mind donations as it is we, the readers, who are keeping the concept going, and what a fun concept and group of investigators this is.
The Anomalous Crimes Task Force (“Shadow Unit”) consists of: Stephen Reyes (boss), Esther Falkner (vp), Solomon Todd, Nicolette Lau, Daniel Brady, Hafidha Gates, Charles Vilette, Daphne Worth and Madeline Frost. Whenever inexplicable crimes are committed the task force is called upon to help find the criminals.
I recommend you use the website as your starting point and read the stories. They are of the action/thriller/mystery/horrorish kind with strange powers and strange bodies all over the place. The group itself is filled with people of all kinds – anything from the seemingly insecure to the broody ones. If you have read stuff by the above authors before, you know you are probably going to find a venue of enjoyment.
Cover art S.M. ReineI’ve had some strange and terrible things happen in my life. Most people have. I grew up in a home with parents who had managed to stray from the original paths their lives might have taken. Instead they changed what they had grown up with into a new type of family life. But the consequences of the lives they had grown up with were there. And let me tell you, their growing up years were extremely difficult. But they changed the script of their lives.
Maybe this is why I prefer Elise over James. Elise continually tries to change what life throws at her into something that will keep the balance between different types of people. James, on the other hand, is driven by his ambition. Both grew up with challenges, although Elise’s seem much more extreme than James’ challenges.
When James was a kid it became apparent that his talent for magic was extreme. At nine years old he taught three girls who were older than he. He thirsted for more knowledge of magic. Conquering magic became his goal in life, no matter what he might end up sacrificing to get there. Sadly, he was good at everything he tried his hand at. I say sadly because in James’ case all of his success turned out to give him a skewed sense of morality (at least it seems that way to me). That affects his relationship with Elise and just about every other person he meets. To him demons are dirty, filthy, evil creatures who deserve only death. Humans are the important breed to him, the ones he needs to protect.
James’ coven has been under the rulership of the angel Metaraon for years and years and years.
Metatron: (Metatetron, Merraton, Metaraon) A great angel honored as the angel of presence, chief of ministering angels, chancellor of heaven, and whom maintained the world.
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p>The coven has provided Metaraon with girls who are taken to a garden to be with Adam (or Him / God). While James was young Metaraon came to the coven to take away a young girl (Ariane). Metaraon’s ultimate goal was to create “The Godslayer” (yes, you are catching on now, huh? ;= ). Ariane was matched with Isaac Kavenagh in order to create a baby. Ariane became Isaac’s apsis so the two of them would be bound to each other. When Ariane was 16 and Isaac 20 years old Elise was born. And who is Elise supposed to be????
One of Ariane’s co-students was Hannah Pritchard. Hannah later became involved with James and she and James had a son – Nathaniel. If you remember, James found out about Nathaniel in Damnation Marked. James now discovers that Hannah has kept the knowledge of their son from James because of the kind of person James is. That’s got to hurt. James is the god of rationalisation and so manages to keep on finding justification for his actions and ways. Some of the choices he makes bring him and Hannah into great danger. Danger from which Elise is going to have to save them.
As you discovered at the end of Damnation Marked, Elise survived her death. She was changed into a demon of the kind that Yatam and Yatai were. For a kopis that had to suck. All of a sudden she has become what she has fought against her whole life (ever since she was able to hold a falchion). Part of that change has brought confusing urges and a look into other people that she isn’t understanding. So, she is confused, angry and worried.
When Nathaniel turns up, what does she do? Well, in true Elise style she drops everything and goes off to help James. Anthony has stuck with her through thick and thin, but this time he says no thanks and leaves Elise and Nathaniel to the job. And what a job this is turning out to be. Throughout Dire Blood I am reminded of why I like Elise so much (and now Nathaniel as well). Sure, she is a mess, her life has turned up-side-down and she has no idea what is happening to her. So what. Life has to go on and a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do. If that means saving James with his magically talented son coming along, then that is what she will do.
Action. Is there action in Dire Blood. Oh, yes. Plenty of that. I had fun with both the action and the background information on our main characters. As usual I loved S.M. Reine’s writing. She does an excellent job with this kind of fantasy.
Dark Union sure is a fitting title, because the Union of kopis and apsis sure is dark and its motives are suspect. You don’t just round up kopis and apsis and witches by force unless you are a bit iffy. Where do they get their money from? There cannot be all that many Mr. Black type kopis – at least not if they are doing their jobs the way they are supposed to. But messing with friends of Elise might not be the smartest thing these guys have ever done. Especially not an Elise that is bursting with anger from all that happened in Darkest Gate.
Elise and Anthony are angry with each other, angry with the world and angry with the sense of helplessness that they feel. We are like that sometimes. Helplessness, grief and confusion are bummer feelings to have so anger can be a tempting feeling to replace them with. We get a lot of anger in Dark Union. A lot of it.
On top of that Elise has to struggle with this new strange bond that she and James have managed to impose on themselves. They actually know what the other person is feeling and can see what they are doing if they think too much about the other person. No wonder James is in San Fransisco with Stephanie. What an awful thing to experience for humans. Especially for some one as private as Elise is. They are both trying to control the bond, but when her pain is too great it becomes a bit difficult for Elise to control how much she shares.
Anthony is finally beginning to realise that he wants more out of their relationship than Elise is willing and able to give. Another thing to add to the simmering pot of feelings.
I’m trying to figure out if anything happy happens in Dark Union. Let’s see. There is one thing. At one point Elise is challenged about her “greatest kopis” status. That is a fight that is both satisfying and without deadly intent. Getting one over on the Union is also a satisfying (but worrying) episode for Elise. Those Union people – especially the leaders – are great big rear ends (don’t want to offend all the asses out there).
So, if you want cheer, Dark Union is not for you. But if you are like me and enjoy the darker side of humanity, jump right in.
I think my favorite part ofThe Darkest Gate is the way S.M. Reine writes Elise’s pain. Her emotional baggage is at least ten sizes larger than her and the manner she deals with other creatures (human or not) reflects that. Emotional pain eats you up and makes itself so much at home that you forget that it is there. But your interactions will reflect the depth of your pain and the extent to which you work to keep a lid on it. For once the lid comes off, man. Well, it’s an experience.
Elise’s awkwardness is not only due to her emotional pain. As we get snippets of her past we see that the main focus of her parents has been to train her to fight and to repress her feelings. At 14 James found her (see Death’s Hand) and her career as a kopis began. No wonder Elise has no time for the niceties.
Another factor influences Elise’s interactions with others. In 1999 (as you will discover in this novel) Elise went to a gynecologist to figure out what her problem was. Her discovery shocked her and created another wound to place in her casket of pain.
How much influence this next factor has had on Elise’s way of dealing with the world, I do not know, but I imagine quite a deal. The life of kopis and aspis is not an easy one. It requires a great deal of dedication and sacrifice. There is no glory and no wealth in the life of keeping humanity safer from other creatures. At one point James tells us that:
“hope for was dying in the service of mankind. The idea of being able to settle down was equally tempting and disappointing, since he knew it was something he couldn’t have. He couldn’t afford to eat on many days.”
We get several realistic descriptions of their situations. My parents grew up with poverty, my dad with hunger. When they speak of the harsher parts of their childhoods I find myself amazed to see the people they have become and the lives they have been able to provide us. I see some of their pain reflected in the writing of S.M. Reine.
When you are placed in such a position, some of us find ourselves willing to do things we might not otherwise do. Our practical sense of survival takes over. In 1999 Elise, not James, was the practical one of the two and decided she had to do the job Mr. Black offered to pay for. Doing that job and the consequences that derived from it led to the situation the retired kopis and aspis find themselves in when 2009 comes around. One might say that James and Elise’s lovely rear ends are being royally bitten by the past catching up with them.
I think I am going to leave you with that. Well, that and (as you have probably guess) I LOVED The Darkest Gate.
There is a reason I love Wen Spencer’s writing. Her characters are all odd-balls trying to fit in with the rest of the world. Some are more successful than others. Having pretty much grown up in mental institutions ensures that Nikki is going to have a harder time of it than most people. Having an obsessive compulsive disorder called hypergraphia isn’t helping Nikki fit in.
The driving compulsion to write; the overwhelming urge to write. Hypergraphia may compel someone to keep a voluminous journal, to jot off frequent letters to the editor, to write on toilet paper if nothing else is available, and perhaps even to compile a dictionary. Hypergraphia is the opposite of writer’s block.
The way Wen Spencer describes Nikki’s writing compulsion is pretty intense. At one point Nikki tells us that she would even use her own blood to write if the urge became too strong. Wow! That is some disorder to have.
For some weird reason, quoting law to some policemen was like hitting Superman with kryptonite. They just couldn’t cope with material from their home planet. (p. 1)
When Nikki’s mom drags along a police officer to have Nikki interred in a mental institution, quoting law to the police officer is one of the tools Nikki uses to get away. She does get away to Japan on a roller-coaster ride of gods, goddesses, super-natural creatures (like tanuki) and new friends.
But first things have to be resolved with the police officer and Nikki’s mom.
All mom’s are nuts, but some moms are crazier than others. While Nikki certainly has a pronounced form of OCD her obsession is fairly easy to satisfy. All her mom had to do was make certain that Nikki had the writing implements she needed. Being a Senator from a wealthy family (in the US that goes without saying) would also give Nikki’s mom the finances to make certain Nikki could get her education and help her with her obsession at the same time. That means that either Nikki’s mom is insane or maybe there is some other reason for Nikki being placed in a mental institution than the one Nikki thinks is true.
The blurb kind of gives the answer to that. Hah, hah – one of the many reasons I seldom include the blurb in my reviews.
When Nikki discovers that perhaps there is more to her hypergraphia than insanity, she is filled with relief and despair. Her relief is obviously from understanding that she isn’t nuts (well, not only nuts). The despair comes from realising that her horror stories are real, real, real.
What would it be like to realise that the story you had written about a person being killed by a blender was for real? It’s not the most common method of killing a person and to have that person be killed in the exact manner you had written – well that would freak me out. Then imagine finding out that the gods, goddesses and mythical creatures in Japan were real, and wanted something from you. Nikki freaking out is an understandable reaction. She does, but not in a major manner. In fact, her experiences with getting away from her mom’s attempts to get her into mental institutions serve her well in adjusting to her new reality.
“Eight Million Gods” was a fun story. There is an element of romance, but it doesn’t dominate the tale. Instead, we get loads of action, murder and mayhem. In other words, my kind of fantasy story.
Avarice was not what I expected. Now that I have read it, I do not know exactly what I did expect. Perhaps something along the more traditional lines of paranormal police procedurals. Avarice is that, but to my relief there were no vampires or werewolves. Sometimes it is nice to read something different.
Avarice had humans interacting with Kirgani (somewhat catlike people) and Anuran (more humanlike in appearance, but with scales and weird eyes). Due to the interaction of these three races we get a sniff of racism. As Avarice is a police procedural we also get a bit of police bias from some of the public – guess which part of the public.
I got a clearer sense of who Cordonate Zhivana Nedrogovna was compared with Cordonate Parshan Koury. Perhaps that had to do with Parshan dealing with his grief and guilt connected with the loss of his previous partner (and lover). The two have one thing in common. Somehow they seem to get more or less unscathed through pretty severe situations. Something is up with that.
The mystery was straight-forward. Some things were clear to the reader early on in the story while others revealed themselves later on. In fact I would say that Avarice is a good old fashioned story of crime and punishment placed in a world of swords, magic and strange creatures.
I’m trying to decide if I deem Avarice a young adult novel. It is dark, but not too dark. There is no sex and the violence is pretty safe. If you can handle Agatha Christie and her likes, you can certainly handle Avarice. I really enjoyed this meeting of minds.
Dreamer is the title of a series of short-stories/novellas beginning with A Bit(e) of Discretion, Please.
If you are going to be naughty in this world of ours (with a few super-naturals added to it), you had better make certain you do not attract the authorities. Stuart did and he who was once a Prince of Dreaming now has his powers for mischief limited. As if that wasn’t bad enough Stuart also has to do community service in the form of catching other breakers of human rules with what seems to be a girl (Mei Lin the spiritualist) as his partner. But as long as the tea is good Stuart manages fairly well.
T.A. Miles gives us a humourous look at scoundrels and their baby-sitters, baby-sitters whose patience is sorely tried at times. We also get a look at characters who think themselves devious but who are fooled themselves instead. Dreamer is indeed a light-hearted and enjoyable read.
humanitysdarkerside 