River Marked - Patricia Briggs

I enjoyed this one far more than the last Mercy Thompson book.  Briggs did an amazing job fleshing out Mercy and Adam as characters and giving a nice depth to their relationship beyond what they've previously had in the rest of the series.  I like the fact that there isn't a dive into adding more of a bodice ripper type facet into the series--I didn't like it when the Rachel Morgan series veered that way.  The dynamic between Mercy and Adam is great--he's this old fashioned gentleman type who's been modernized and faced with a boat load of change.  I mean, you have to give the guy his due--gets changed into a werewolf during a war where there were lots of veterans with psychological problems afterwards, then turns out to be superhuman and has to face changing eras, technologies, and hem lengths.  He's perfect--I know, I know, I'm doing that thing I do where I fall for fictional characters.  I've got a list of them going.

The fae mythology aspect is super appealing, and the addition of the Native American mythology is great--Briggs does such an amazing job meshing it all together without getting overly specific or delving too deeply into which myth is right or wrong.  I enjoyed Coyote immensely--his humor, irreverence and sarcasm tickled me.

All in all, another good read.  I'm now looking forward to the next book in the series!

Silver Borne

Some miserable buggers from work were coughing and sneezing all over everyone Saturday.  So, yours truly has spent most of the day in bed napping and reading.  I finished Silver Borne in record time--but I think it was also short.  Hard to tell on a Kindle.  Of course, I do read rather quickly.  Silver Borne had a rushed feel to it...  It wasn't as difficult to put down, though it was still relatively good.  I certainly liked the first three or four books better.

I love a good series, really.  It is great to continue a story, and I'm always feeling a little drained after a really good single book.  But, when the story feels rushed or trite, it kind of gets me down.  I just get the vibe that maybe Briggs is more intent on capitalizing on the success of the Mercy Thompson books, rather than telling a genuinely good story.  I started River Crossed earlier, but was a little tired from reading so much in one sitting earlier.  I hope it is just that, and not an urge to give up the series.  Ever since I read Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, I've always had a hard time with keeping interested in a series--which is another reason why I can't go for very long without completing a series of books.  Goodkind started out really strongly with the characters, the plot line, the tension...  And once he wrapped all the initial plot lines up, he kept going.  And the series just sucked from there.  I felt the same way about the Dante Valentine series--Saintcrow just kept going and I no longer felt vested in the characters.  The only series where I still feel vested in the characters is Wheel of Time.  I'm still willing to finish, even after nine books (out of a total of fourteen), though it was getting tedious.  I really hate leaving a good story unfinished, as if maybe, it isn't done with me yet, instead of the other way around.

That is what a good story does to you.  It takes you in and doesn't spit you back out until it is thoroughly finished with you.  And, maybe not even then, if it's truly good...  When it is truly good, I always end up returning.

Iron Kissed

I've mentioned how much I love kick ass heroines, right?  Well, if I haven't...

I have to say, I think Mercy is quickly becoming a favorite.  I love the fact that she knows she's not really qualified to deal with all the crazy, preternatural stuff that keeps popping up in her life and she gets her ass handed to her on a regular basis, but still handles her business.  That's just so...  Awesome.  I have never been a big fan of the whole damsel in distress thing.  Granted, I know my limits and when to ask for help.  And so does Mercy, for the most part.  Well, so long as you don't count the whole getting involved with Fae, vampires and werewolves.  She doesn't make the wisest choices, but she does make sure she sticks to her guns.

My question is: Where were Rachel Morgan, Mercy Thompson, and even Dante Valentine when I was a girl??  I think I would have a totally different outlook if I'd had these as a kid.  Mind you, my mom has always been a "I'll fix it my own damned self!" type, and I'm a bit like that as well.  I don't tend to sit on my hands and let someone else solve my problems for me.  Just doesn't sit well, you know?  I think it'd be nice to have a more PG version of these in YA books.  Are there ones I don't know about??

Blood Bound

Have to say, Patricia Briggs doesn't disappoint.  And, I'll say it again, I love my kick ass heroines.  Mercy is such a blast to read about.  She's so...  Human, pardon the pun.  She just has so many layers, and I'm totally enjoying how Briggs chooses to reveal them.  Granted, I don't know how I feel about the love...  Square?  Quadrilateral?  Anyway, whatever it is, I'm not sure how I feel about it.  Definitely adds a bit of drama to the story line... And, admittedly I like a little romance added to my urban fantasy.  So what?

So, I'm looking forward to hitting the library tomorrow evening after work to pick up the rest of the series.

Dante Valentine Series, Lilith Saintcrow

As I've stated before, I love me some kick ass heroines.  Especially ones that carry swords.  AND do magic.  Because that is just the epitome of awesome.  Dante Valentine is a character I am still ambivalent about, especially as I got to know her through the five books in her series.

The first book, Working for the Devil, introduces Dante.  She's a necromancer bounty hunter with a death wish who ends up hunting a rogue demon for none other than Old Scratch himself.  Dante's world is a melting pot version of ours, except with a severely dysfunctional pot.  But, the reality of that doesn't really become clear until midway through the series.  Religion is now a mix of sorcery and witchcraft.  And the technical aspect that Dante gives her craft makes it quite realistic, which I loved.  Dante spends most of the novel investigating and arguing with her demon guardian, Japhrimel.  Saintcrow makes it obvious that Dante has a past, but again that is something we don't get much information about until we progress through the series.  I loved the first book.  I immediately went and snapped up the rest to read.

In Dead Man Rising, Dante's past is revealed and the reader gets a glimpse of why Dante is such a pill.  I'm not going to go in depth here, since it would ruin some plot points of both this book and the first one.  Suffice to say, I still really liked Dante at this point.  However, when I hit the third book in the series, I started to get annoyed with Dante.  She's beginning to get a bit whiny and petulant.  And at this point, I still had a hard time blaming her for that since Lucifer is giving her the run around and she's demon hunting again.  By book four, I considered quitting, but I already had it and book five in my possession, so I finished.

All in all, I liked the series.  I just had a hard time with Dante.  Granted, she often ended up with the short end of the stick, but I can think of other similar series where I see the main character continuing to grow and progress.  Dante merely seemed to deal with her issues and doubt herself regularly.  She really strikes me as a very flat character who just happens to have a ton of history that was quite interesting.  What saved the series was the great plot lines.  I'd definitely like to try the Jill Kismet series and see if Saintcrow has the same problem with developing her characters, which would be a shame because her story is so engaging.  If you do like urban fantasy, this would be a good one to read if it's at your library or you run across a copy.

Darkfever

Oh my word, I forgot about Rewind Wednesday!  My apologies, dear readers!!  This week at work has been a bit chaotic, not to mention Cavern of Black Ice is slow, slow going, though it is quite good.

So, tonight (let's all just pretend that I DIDN'T forget to post last night) I'm going to write about the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.  These books are a great urban fantasy series that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I'm not sure how I came across them--might have been a freebie on the ol' Nook a couple years ago.  But, I read them and just couldn't stop.  There are five books total, the latest being released in January 2011. 

The series is about a young girl named MacKayla who goes to Dublin to investigate the death of her sister, who was studying abroad.  Well, MacKayla's world gets turned topsy turvey when she discovers that she is a sidhe-seer (a human who can see pass the glamour a Fae casts to appear human).  MacKayla gets caught up in a hunt for the Sinsar Dubh... and she gets to kick Fae ass while she's at it.  Nothing makes me happier than a kick butt heroine.

The one thing that kind of makes the books rub me a little wrong is the romance element, but it's not painful too bad.  All in all, it is a fun read--they go pretty quickly.  I missed the release of the last book and recently checked it out from the library, only to discover that I couldn't recall if I'd read the previous book.  So, I'll be rereading these when I get around to it.

Also, there has apparently been so much love for the books that there is talk of a movie, which would be fun (I'd rather see the Rachel Morgan books as a movie or a Buffy-esque type television series).  Now I'm thinking about who I'd like to see play MacKayla and Jericho Barrens.  Hmmmm....

The Lightning Thief

I have no clue how I've never read this before now--I even have a freebie Rick Riordan novel on my nook and I've never read anything by him until now.  I have to say I just loved it (I say that a lot, don't I?).  It's a really great twist on mythology, which was always one of my favorite things to cover in school.  Mythology and Greek literature were also some of the best courses I covered in college as well.  And as for Percy, I have to say he is one of my favorite characters.  He takes charge, he actually takes responsibility, and I guess I just love the fact that he comes from a "nothing" type background and rises based, not on who his father is, but by what he accomplishes, which is a great lesson for a YA novel.

Another aspect I loved was the description of the various gods.  It really gives a nice feel for what they represented in mythology.  Ares with his constant bad attitude "vibes" and Poseidon's description (moody fisherman to me) really gave a good feel for the differences between all the gods and gave them a bit of realism, for instance, Zeus's attitude and reaction to Percy.  If I was a teenager, I certainly would thing that perhaps a god should be above such petty nonsense.  But, since this is sort of an urban fantasy, I much prefer the realistic personality traits Riordan gave the gods I came across with Percy.  I really like that Percy has accomplished some of the same feats that his namesake Perseus did (defeating Medusa).  Percy's attitude towards this also serves as a great contrast for Luke's disdain of his quest, which was also something a previous hero had accomplished.  Again, a great example of how choices can determine who and what we become, and not just circumstances.

I ignored YA and children's books for so long that I forget how wonderful they are until I come across one that I end up getting totally engrossed in.  I'm looking forward to my next library haul (it'll likely be the rest of the Percy Jackson novels).

On to The Crystal Shard now!

Dresden Files

I'd seen the first few Harry Dresden books during my regular bookstore visits and just never picked them up to see what they were about.  I also missed when the Dresden Files came on SciFy several years ago, but finally watched the full season.  So, I picked up the first book, Storm Front sometime last year, or maybe before then to see if I liked it.

I love the character, first and foremost.  Harry is just this really, really comfortable character.  It's written in first person (between these books and the Rachel Morgan series, I imagine this is where I'm getting the whole writing in first person thing), and Harry's inner dialogue is brutally honest.  Jim Butcher writes the way I want to--casual, yet proper grammar, etc.  But, at the same time, he's funny and I just get pulled in to the story.  Hence the blowing through 5 books in under two weeks.  I'm finishing up books six sometime this week.

I do need to get out of my book comfort zone, however.  I've met with some success when I do (Atonement, The Sparrow, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan).  I've not returned to the authors I read that weren't in my usual genre picks, but I know I ought to.  So, I'm thinking that after I finish this book, it's time to read something other than my usual fantasy/science fiction picks.