Inkblots

I liked the characters in this story, and it answers a what if... what if after the war, some angels were discontent with God's verdict? I think that's mainly what Remiel's character is, an answer to that question. Discontent with the way that God has sentenced those who sided with Morning Star, Remiel willingly fell into the Earth to be human and fell in love.

The story is told in parallel lines of the past and the present and what the fallen angel Remiel is feeling along with another possibility, what if other angels followed his suit.

Although I do like the characterization, the way the other biblical beings were brought in the story, I didn't like the way that the story was written. For me it was dry-cut, with too many novels already coming out about private investigators of the supernatural, for it to stand out, it had to bring something special other than a new character.

Emotionally, the book was beautiful, how does an immortal come to grips with the feeling of leaving someone behind? However, I didn't feel it. I read it in Sniegoski's writing but I wasn't able to feel it. Could be a lack in me, but something in me didn't resonate with the feelings the book wanted to convey.

I probably could have liked it before I read the humor of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden. The book itself isn't bad, however, I honestly think that there are better books in the market.

And for the angelic world building, well I loved the first book of Sharon Shinn's Samaria series, Archangel, before all the mythos got caught up with its quasi futuristic building(so... only book one), and sometimes Georgina Kincaid, with all of its other denizens would be worth a look too, but that doesn't focus too much on Angels being central powers as say, Nalini Singh's Angels' Blood (romantic fantasy, which I'd rather not repeat, but had that feel) oh and of course, Thorn St. Croix by Faith Hunter. All angel community centered books with good world building.

*sigh* well, more appropriately urban fantasy is killing every other genre.

Well, I have noticed that once a person is starting to write in the Urban Fantasy genre, every other book goes on the backburner. I'm not saying it's the author's fault, becuase, hey the author is writing where the money is, or where the publisher wants her/him to write. But I am following several authors who have stopped writing traditional fantasy or even chick-lit, put it in the back burner and write urban fantasy every six months.

I am not complaining about the urban fantasy, I love the genre (when the writing is good... and it is quite easy to fuck up writing urban fantasy for someone who isn't experienced in writing fantasy in the first place), but sometimes I wish the publishers would allow a fantasy or a traditional chick lit book to be written in between all of that ass kicking chick. For example, Jim Butcher releases the Dresden files every year, but manages to sneak in a coupe of Codex Alera in between. (okay, so that's not ass kicking chick.. haha) or Moning still writes her traditional romance between writing the Fever series (although, I really am not a fan of her traditional romances, go figure).

I guess having less than 10,000 copies sold for the non-urban fantasy series weighed with a whopping more than 500,000 copies for a good urban fantasy would have an obvious winner. That said, publishers really have no choice but to buy the manscript that crunches the numbers. But still, it's sad for the other genres, especially since urban fantasy is starting to get so saturated, that most of the ideas are already flung in the open and enjoying a book depends on finding the best author to write down the good idea or the first author who wrote in the genre.

My Christmas read this year turned out to be Karen Chance's Dorina Basarab Chronicles. Dorina, Dory to her friends, is the half vampire half human daughter of Mircea (yes, it's a spin-off Cassandra Parker series for those who read it.) And if you're not weirded out by the fact that the main romance lead in one book is the father of the other, Dorina Basarab will get you past the fact that the next Karen Chance book is off in the middle of 2009. Dorina is a bit rougher than Cassandra, and I keep wondering when the two leads will meet even if Dorina doesn't want to do anything much for her father, but that's for another book. This book is mostly about learning about the Basarab family ties, including Uncle Vlad the impaler and the bookish Radu and the only vampire, because in this book, Mircea pits Dorina against Vlad who, if I'm not mistaken, is actually alive due to the changes in time dealt by the Priya. There is also a subplot involving the Fey because, yes, every Urban Fantasy female lead needs a love triangle or, at least, another dominant male to shake up the attraction between Dorina and the leading contender. I like the tension present between Louis-Cesare and Dorina, in fact, I like the way the deal with each other. I am looking forward to the next book in this series and am happy that one of the other leads in the Cassandra Parker series was given a history other than what Cassandra knows. I really like the characters and am picking up the next book, but then, this is another Cassandra Parker book anyway

I finally landed a copy of the Dresden files and found out that it was precisely to my taste. Witty banter nerdy if somewhat lost wizard and a skull companion. And because I was sooo giddy about the book and I got semi-depressed on the ending of book 3, I went and found myself a copy of the series. Ugh. This is where making a series/movie is never as good as reading a book. Bob doesn't ever look like that, but then we have to ahve some corporeal body else the talking skull would be freaky most times, so okay. Susan was completely cut out of the picture probably due to money saving matters. And Harry Dresden looks more like the womanizing, brooding and rough wizard, which he isn't. He sounds more like an introverted, albiet clever, wizard. Bob lost all of his weird and sex crazed mind, and Harry got loads of girlfriends. And they didn't even get the diner right. *hmph* Serves me right to get excited over a series based on a book.

Which means, maybe Anita might be toned down in her TV series version... hmmmm. ;p

Anyway I'm off to read the fourth book.

Another one for Lilith Saintcrow, with less baggage than the one with Dante Valentine. I'm hoping that she explores more of the demon world that she created this time.

Jill is a new hunter in town, taught by a (previously killed hunter), who made a deal with one of the "Traders" (AKA demon spawns from possibly hell again), so that she could gain the strength that she lacks to kill off other Traders. She is haunted by memories of her teacher (whom she had a fling with) and whose memory is obviously being replaced by the were (FBI) in town (who is actually more wifely than she is... Jaf, Jaf, is that you???). For me the story isn't predictable, although some say it is, and Jill makes a better damaged but determined heroine than Dante ever showed (but okay lets face it, she could turn out to be more deranged)

As with Dante Valentine, Jill Kismet is set in a world of good against evil. What I do admire about Saintcrow is that she doesn't recycle the world she creates. Although Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet seems to have a good deal of similar themes running, it just feels like I read another urban fantasy theme, not a recycled Dante Valentine story. Of course it's just the first book.

Saintcrow, however, seems to have deep interest with swords and fighting in dojos. Strange but livable. I'm looking through Hunter's night and hoping that I get it soon. Hopefully, the first book's well satisfied feeling bleeds into the next few books... then again I only started disliking Dante Valentine at Book 3 onwards, and the author herself confessed to hating Dante. We'll give it the benefit of the doubt and await the next installment.

In retrospect, it DOES have a lot of elements that run parallel to the Dante Valentine series, but not close enough to say that it's a rehass. And the worlds are distinctly apart, it's just that a lot of the themes (or maybe characterizations) are similar. If you liked Dante's first few books, then you'll probably enjoy Kismet too. As I said, she holds less baggage (be reminded that she still DOES hold baggage) As I said, we'll wait for the next installment.

Finally picked up Rob Thurman's series (if not the latest, Madhouse, then his first two books) because it was backed by majecki and shartyrant.

Cal Leandros is half-human and half-Grendal, (later on we'd find out what they were truly called in the paranormal circles, but hey Grendal it is). He was made in a demonic deal by his mother to his father so that his father could have a half-human child for reasons unknown. He had been watched over by Grendals all his life and had been taken when he was fourteen. Since then, he and his brother had been on the run from the Grendals moving from city to city to avoid any more paternal visists.

Cal isn't like most of the other heroes you managed to share POV's with. Not that he's amoral exactly, not the way that he's an anti-hero, because he isn't. He's more a mercenary, and I guess, prey... but being half-Grendal doesn't lend to that.

Unlike most female urban fantasies, male written urban fantasies don't lend into a male training a female what's happening. It's more of a brother-brother camaraderie. Haha imagine watching Supernatural with no bad acting and no overprotective father, and you have a similar version of Cal and Niko. They're close brothers, and they're trying to survive. Cal is the half-paranormal brother, but Niko is more dangerous. Cal is lazy while Niko is diligent... and the brains of the operation. I rather like their interaction (I don't have two brothers, and I'm really happy with the glimpse this is giving me on how two brothers would go with life when they're locked close together).

The references to classic literature and pop-culture in the book seems to be my downfall. Fortunately for me, google is my friend. I never actually read/watched Beowulf and it's a good thing I read some Shakespeare, way on the forced education here ;p

As for the supporting characters, I like Robin (what's not to like about Robin?) I could care less about Promise, and I really liked the way Cal handled George. (Niko is a given in the solid I like him department, there's something about unfailing family loyalty that gets me everytime... haha)

It took me three days to read the two books, not because it was a difficult read, and surely not because it was a bad read, but simply because the style was different from what I was used to, it exhausted me. Really exhausted me to read it.


No romance, fair action, and some really weird skips in the narration because of sudden fastforwarding in Cal's POV which gave me some huh, what was that again, but a must read in my book. Being female, I miss all the romantic interludes (am I giving my gender a bad name?), but what the heck... I'd still read it.

Okay. Enrollement tomorrow, I have to sleep. It will be the last day of my life to read tomorrow. I have to spend it on something fun.

I got it. I wrote a long spiel about it. I lost it. :(

But I must say I enjoyed this book too, and I really can see that it seemed more of an urban fantasy this time around. The Tony/Sue relationship was more of a background story to murders, serial killers, meeting new poweres (people wise and magic wise) and understanding the world of the Sazi.

I did like the idea of the seers not talking in a single tense too. It was a great idea and makes so much more sense. Confusing for other people though, but it made sense. It makes me want to skip books 3-5 in order to read book 6 which is about Josette, an ancient seer mentioned in this book, but I need EQ so I'd go through books 3-5 first, even if it kills me. Her story seems interesting and Tony might be in it, which is a PLUS, but still... told in a female perspective... it might be strange for me... Tony has spoiled me.

I find that a male POV in stories keeps it less emotional baggage, less issues, more focused on the investiagtion and less on the really annoying parts. Or maybe it's because authors tend to make weird females, trying to give equal opportunity and say, I am a female hear me ROAR. So strange and sad, because they want their female leads strong they end up with a whole ton of emotional baggage that these females lock up insade only to be read by readers like me who want to pull my hair out. Nuff said.

I like Tony as the anti-hero. Really, and he was really brilliant and funny. There were times that I just had to say ahhh, when I heard him think. Plus I like the way the authors deal with his ways, his assassinations and his lack of morals. Really, and the way he doesn't need to overprotect his mate, the fact that he's unique but not the most powerful wolf out there (a fact that he can be classified as an omega), that he has a bad mouth.

I was weirded about by the were-dragon, the were-snake and the were at the end of the book. Honestly. A were KOMODO dragon. It was strange. And they were also the other part of the romance in the paranormal romance class that made this book shelved under romance in Tor's opinion.

Anyway... off to pretend to study.

I managed to get hold of a copy of Halfway to the Grave without Amazon.com. Lucky me. Shipping would have taken forever and my parents are yet to leave for Indy. Besides Zelda: Twilight Princess has been eating my reading time (I've spent 30 hours on it... if you believe the save screen) The cover girl kind of reminds me of Kirsten Dunst... but enough of that.

Another urban fantasy. Lucky me. And all the better to gobble it up with. Catherine Crawford (Cat) is a half-vampire out for blood (okay, bad bad bad joke). She's hunting vampires in the secret hope she'd manage to stumble on to her vampire father who raped her mother and produced the extremely rare half-vampire her. (Halflings really are a great theme in a lot of things aren't they?). One night she ends up trying to stake more than she can handle, and she's given a deal, join forces with the vampire named Bones to kill bad vampires, or die.

First book in the series called the Night Huntress. And I am glad I picked it up. And that shartyrant pointed me in the right direction. Cat is a character full of self-hate and prejudice. She lives at home where her mother constantly tell her that she is half a monster. And other than the fact that she'd rather stake first before asking questions, she's a great character, even with her flaws. I've read enough urban fantasy to know that most female characters in them have some anguish about who they are, about how they're chosen to be this and about how their lives are current wrecks. A good thing about Cat is, she may be a bigot in the beginning and she may have large doses of vampire hating (thus self-loathing) thrown into the mix of her character, but she shows a willingness to grow beyond that. She gets hurt, but she's not snippy, she's not whiny and she can hold her own. All in all she's one of the better characters that urban fantasy has produced. I give her bonus points for saying that the words "you're not dumb" is actually truth with her. She really isn't dumb. And her actions prove it.

Bones, as a vampire kind of reminds me of Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I have to agree. He's also a pretty well made character. Unlike most of the other characters, Bones does not have the silver spoon stuck in his mouth in the past. He wasn't an upstanding citizen before he was turned, and he wasn't nobility. (I find that most vampires born out of the 18th century tend to be noblemen and rich sods, not so with Bones) And the characterization works.

Some people didn't like the book after his appearance, probably of all that romantic tinge to it. (more than a tinge...) but I am after all a romance lover, and therefore don't really mind. If they want to skip all that read a male written urban fantasy, I always say, Romance there is underdone.

As for the mystery, they weren't really out to solve it. It's a bounty hunting story. Meaning there was a search for murderers but they were all pretty laid out already. All they had to do was follow the trail. There were little clues, and a whole lot of information gathering, but not really anything to sink your mystery teeth in. You know initially who's behind the murders, you're just out to get them. Pretty straightforwawrd. It's more a book about how Cat trained, how Cat is dealing with all of her self issues and her relationship. 'Nuff said.

I'm definitely waiting on the stands for the next book, One Foot in the Grave, out April 29 (oh God, oh God, my internship) and her part in the Anthology Weddings from Hell on May 27.

If the other books on the Riley Jenson series got a 2, this one gets a half star. I barely even read it. Okay, I read it, but I half skimmed it, finishing it in one hour. It probably has to do with the fact that the most interesting things in the series were not in the book namely psycho guardian Vampire and extremely old masochist vampire who keeps coming back for Riley.

Even the entire mystery/investigation the directorate was after in this particular book was half-assed. They had TWO investigations going on, unlike the other books where there was one investigation which was streamlined into an entire story arc.

This book seemed like an attempt to introduce more potential men into Riley's bed (which thankfully, hasn't happened yet. She has kept to the 'three men' rule ... or the author has anyway... in which there are only three significant men in one book and all the rest are one night stands...) and eliminate some of them.

( Spoilers on issues on the clicky )

I read this book because it was recommended under ... if you like fae. I wouldn't have bought it for sheer cover alone... the cover is in extreme need of a rehaul since Moning writes for romance readers and the book was mostly urban fantasy like rather than romance. In fact in the entire book, there was attraction there were two attempted "rapes" although I think I wouldn't call it that... it's rather strange when paranormal things get mixed in the stories, and one 'possible' kiss. (Although I recently saw the new covers and they were decidedly better than the ones that I saw. I realized I had passed Blood Fever a couple of times in the bookstore and didn't buy it becasue I thought it was a mystery)

Unlike Laurell K. Hamilron, Moning was actually writing about the sidhe as bad guys this time. Possibly closer to their real inclinations, Moning wrote the sidhe closer to what Christians would classify as denizens of Hell. It's written in the first perspective (as most of the urban fantasies that can be found nowadays) and isn't about a girl who is a necromancer, a vampire hunter, fae, witch or any generic paranormal resident.

I have some trouble with teh way the story is told. Unlike the usual present first person POV, the POV is entirely past first person. Which leads to strange transitory scenes and a lot of, in retrospect, "I didn't know what I was thinking at that time" types of phrases.

The primary character, Mac (short for MacKayla) has gone to Dublin, in search for her sister's murderer, where she finds herself thrust in an entire story which is close to impossible and something she's not quite equipped to handle. By sheer luck and utter stupidity, she stumbles on one of the characters who uses her as a dector, with questionable trustworthiness, but finds herself unable to leave anyway. In exchange he teaches her about the world she doesn't know about to find her sister's murderer and execute her last "wish" to find the Sinsar Dubh.

I like the book, and have already picked up the next in the Fever series BloodFever (and will be awaiting the next when I finish my entire rotation this April... ugh). Unlike most urban fantasies, you aren't thrust into a world where the lead character knows everything initially, she is just as ignorant as you are. And because of it, you learn along with her. Jericho Barrons, who plays mostly her cynical, mysterious and reluctant mentor is actually fun to read becuase of his dry humor. And honestly, he does get into a lot of verbal fights with almost everybody he meets, intentionally.

I am happy that this series will be continuing on for at least 7 more books, (but please no more than that), and am so far enjoying it. It has promises to have more substance than Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry novels (although, I admit, I am more than addicted to taht series).

edit I found I liked Dark Fever more than Blood Fever, the second book in the installment, but not because Blood Fever was any less of a book than Dark Fever, but because Dark Fever was the book that was needed to set the characters in place. As with any book in series, the first is usually something to remember.

I guess this is mostly because the first book had mystery and getting to know you. The second book was just establishment of Barrons and Mac's relationship and what is going to be normal routine for the two of them, and, introduction of the characters on the other side of normal. Mostly it was about finding more OOPs, and there was no plot progression. (They didn't find clues to Mac's sister's death because she thinks she already has the murderer and they didn't find out more about the fae crossing over, because Mac missed an entire month off human world, and since Barron is closemouthed and we're seeing entirely through Mac's eyes, we missed an entire chunk of the developments in the Unseelie fae walking around). This book didn't even deal with any how or why's of the "Lord Master" and what the big game plan was. I think the only progression that happened plot wise is the 'relationship' between Barrons and Mac, if you call that progression.

The second book strives to introduce the major players in the field to us. Moning has decided to ditch the past first person POV and moved on to a present first person. The style still needs a bit retouching since there are sometimes gaps in the story. I find myself doing a figurative double take at the scenes (what? she's chained to a post? did I miss that?) becuase most of the story happens in dialogue than in Mac's narration she misses out on these explanations and gives them away in the conversation. Maybe it's because Mac isn't the most observant person in the book and therefore the book suffers for it (does that make sense?). To make up for the mostly dialogue scenes, the dialogue is witty and drily humorous.

The ending of the second book also had me wishing it was september. It dropped enough hints of what Barrons was to watn to read the next book in frustration without giving it away. Mostly I think the series is just going to give away pieces of himself. *sigh* no excerpts nor summaries for book 3 titled fae fever yet. Although I saw the republished covers in the site: http://www.karenmoning.com/novels/index.html and the book site which lets you spray paint messages, leads you to her blog and her official site... I don't know what else it's supposed to do but that: http://www.sidhe-seersinc.com/. I do hope there's more plot progression in the third book, although I really wouldn't complain. I usually don't notice these things until it ends, and why am I to complain about one more book.... of course there is the wait.

*Sigh* the first book I've read in a week. I blame Exams, but I also blame the WII. Please. I've been logging 5 hours per day in that console. :p