Book Review: Dead Witch Walking January 21, 2010
Posted by kmcalear in Book Review, Book Series, Urban Fantasy.Tags: Dead witch walking, Kim Harrison, Rachel Morgan, the hollows
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Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison is my most recent read, and I wish I had picked it up off my bookshelf much sooner than I did. I really enjoyed the novel, particularly because it didn’t repeat one of my Primo Numero Uno complaints about heroines in Urban Fantasy, the Bitch Factor. I don’t understand why the female heroes have to be smart mouthed to be interesting, powerful or face Bad Guys. Sometimes I think they speak up and insult their enemies when being silent, or not provoking them would be far wiser. Rachel Morgan still has ample One Liners, and good retorts, but what I like about her is she’s NOT your typical smart mouth. She’s resourceful and clever, and does make mistakes. It’s a big pro of the book.
Other Pros: The Pixie characters , while starting to show up in a lot of Urban fantasy, are very interesting in Harrison’s series. She gives a very unique definition to the pixie culture and behavior. The plot is fast paced and interesting, ties up enough loose ends while leaving questions open for further books. Oh and there’s a sexy librarian as a love interest, who has just a touch of magical power.
Cons: Rachel really has way too many Freak Out moments over her vampire roommate, which don’t seem to really fit in the development. The vampire, Ivy, is a flat character and could use some more development. In fact many of the sub characters could use a bit of development.
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Adventure
Age: Teen/Adult
Content: Curses, Assasination attempts, references to prostitution, mild violence
Overall: 4 paws
Book Review – On the Edge – Ilona Andrews January 13, 2010
Posted by realitybypass in Book Review, Book Series, Romance, Urban Fantasy.5 comments
Happy Wednesday, Folks.
Yeah, second week back to work is easier than the first. Well, at least back to the day job, some work never takes a vacation. 
Today’s review features On the Edge, by the lovely Ilona Andrews. We’ve reviewed some of her Kate Daniels books here before with much love, so feel free to go see what we thought of that. On the Edge is NOT a Kate novel but the first book in a new series which I’d classify as a paranormal romance. I’ve been following Ms Andrews blog for a long time and spent much of the lead up to this book eating up snippets, so I was excited to pick it up.
This leads to a CONTEST announcement! I actually picked up two copies back in October when it released but I ended up giving one away for a contest and the other to my best friend for her birthday and realized I was bookless. Now I have two copies again because I bought one for myself for Christmas and so did my husband. Soo…I’ve a copy that needs a good home. Contest will be open until Sunday night and one commenter will get my unread copy of On the Edge.
Now, back to review things. This was a fun read and a quick one. The flow of the writing is very easy to get into with a good balance of action, humor and romance. I really enjoyed the family dynamic as it’s so easy to get the hard bitten heroine, and here Rose is a loving sister and granddaughter who is trying to do everything and take care of everyone. As the oldest of six and mother of two I empathized immediately with much of her situation. Okay, not the magical aspect or being pursued by highly messed up hounds, but ripped shoes and getting kids to school and the toy aisle at WalMart were right up there.
Rose’s love interest, Declan, was amusing to me as well. There were moments where the high blood arrogance got on my nerves, but those were around the same moments when Rose would verbally poke him or something would happen to show that there was much more to the story than met the eye. The logistics of why he’s at Rose’s door and what he really wants both in the beginning and at the end had me giggling. It’s human nature to make assumptions and in this case they both jump to conclusions which get Declan and Rose in trouble with themselves and others. The younger brothers, George and Jack, were delightful as was Grandma. I appreciate very much the skill this author has with secondary characters. I’ve never read an Andrews book where the secondaries weren’t just as round as the primary characters, but were still secondaries. This also applies to William and his painful story and need to be accepted. Bayou Moon, the next book in the series, is William’s story and I’m hoping to see him end up in a happier place!
All in all this was delightful and fun. I guessed a lot of what was going to happen in the plot, but it didn’t matter because the method of getting there was interesting and fun.
“Grab the guns and get in the truck, we’re going to WalMart…” – On the Edge
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Age: 15+
Content: Some sexual content, mushing of badguys, violence, magic, family, lurve
Overall: 4.5 paws
Jana
Book Review: Soulless – Gail Carriger January 6, 2010
Posted by realitybypass in Book Debut, Book Review, Book Series, Steampunk, Urban Fantasy.3 comments
It’s funny to me to live in Utah where the winters are routinely below zero. I’ve been listening to people complain that it’s going to drop to zero in their home town or there might be snow and I respond with a typical intermountain west ‘meh.’ Snow and freezing temps are just part and parcel. For everyone else I suggest extra socks, walk like a duck, and let your pipes drip just a little so they won’t explode.
Moving on to other things. Today’s book review is focused on Soulless by Gail Carriger. I picked this one up from the library after reading a lot of very positive reviews. Then I accidentally dropped it behind my bed and forgot I’d checked it out until the library started sending me ‘return our book’ emails. Despite acquiring a nearly five dollar fine (I should have just bought the book in the first place since between getting a copy and the fine I’ve nearly paid for it twice) I held onto the book and got it read. I’m glad I did.
Soulless is a Victorian age Urban Fantasy crossed with some Steampunk. My library shelved it in Horror, so I suppose there’s some of that in there too. The Soulless are a type of prenatural as compared to the supernatural creatures who are seen has having an abundance of soul which is why the super powers kick in. Alexia Tarabotti is a soulless who has the problems of being Italian blooded, big nosed, swarthy, unmanagable and old…like all of 25. Her mother, step father and step sisters despair of ever getting Alexia properly married off and she seems to have accepted her social demise with at least some measure of grace. I loved Alexia as our heroine. Much of the trouble she gets into honestly isn’t her fault, and when it is she knows it and fesses up. She’s a great balance of a proper lady and someone playing on the fringes of acceptable society and the combination was charming. This charming aspect is reflected in the language of the book and the way she reflects on things such as a badly tied cravat on a vampire trying to eat her.
In this London the supernatural have come out of the closet, so to speak, and are an accepted part of society. They have ruling classes within their own groups and both the werewolves and the vampires have specific attaches to the queen in order to keep everything in balance. In particular we are introduced to Lord Conall Maccon, the Alpha werewolf who just can’t keep his eyes or his hands off the troublesome Miss Tarabotti, and Lord Akeldama, the vampire dandy who is one of Alexia’s best friends.
Plotwise the book holds together fairly well. I saw some of what was coming early on, but it was done in such a way that I remained both amused and willing to go along with it. I love the dichotomy of the scientific versus the spiritual and man versus supernatural. It was also nice to seem someone using a proper mythological golem and it went well with the book. As vampires and werewolves began disappearing and Alexia got drawn further and further in Carriger did a good job at balancing the pacing between drama, romance and action. There were points that were maybe a big heavy on the romance for everything else that was going on, and the book ends on a rather sexy note, but it sets up really well for the next book. I’d expand on that, but it’d be spoilerific, so ask in the comments if you want to know.
I’ll definitely keep reading this series. Over the top, sure. Charming, absolutely…and it left me craving treacle tart!
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Horror/Victorian Steampunk
Age: 15+
Content: Some violence, sexual content and destruction of a perfectly good treacle tart!
Overall: 4.5 paws
Jana
Book Review: Child of Fire – Harry Connolly December 2, 2009
Posted by realitybypass in Book Debut, Book Review, Book Series, Urban Fantasy.2 comments
Happy December, gentle readers.
This month K is crazy as she’s writing papers and taking finals. Upon occasion she paddles bravely to the surface, takes a deep breath and plunges back in. So we’ll see her sometimes, but the babbling is getting stranger. Personally I think she’s going to summon feminist Cthulu Santa any time now.
Anyway…moving on to today’s book review.
I picked up Child of Fire after reading a recommendation from John Scalzi. This is a debut urban fantasy taking place mostly just outside of Seattle, Washington. We’re introduced to Ray Lilly and his sorta partner Annalise. The two of them are on a mission which encompasses finding people using magic to be bad and killing them. There’s some mention made of redeeming them, but that doesn’t seem to happen much. We know immediately that Ray is under a death sentence, but not why and within a few pages the main plot is introduced, from there it really never lets go. Ray is put through the wringer, particularly after Annalise is injured and can’t do as much as she usually does.
The book was very interesting on a lot of levels. It was a very different Urban Fantasy, much closer to the works of favorites like Jim Butcher, but also with a darker horror bent. I was reminded very much of Lovecraft and the investigator novels. I liked the male pov, since much of UF is female, and the matter of fact attitude that he brought to his universe. One of the neat things is that for the most part Ray is just a guy. He has some knowledge about the way things are and a couple of magic tricks which help him out, but when he goes up against fire breathing monsters the right answer is to run for it and he knows it. I’m fascinated by the world presented as it mentions some of our favorite UF critters, but stays very firmly with people and the horror they cause with the absolute best intention. As a study of human nature the book is absolutely brilliant.
This is not to say it was perfect. It has a few issues of pacing and I was felt a bit teased by some of the information. We had so MANY hints about Ray’s past and his great sins, but nothing ever really explained. I think I’ve pieced together the vast majority of it, but my mental picture is still missing some puzzle pieces that I’m not really happy to wait for. Hopefully we’ll get more of this in the next book. As my husband put it: It’s not perfect, but I’m invested enough in Ray as a character and the world to keep reading.
And I do like Ray. He visits a lot of violence on a lot of people, but mostly in reaction to being threatened himself or defense of other people and at the end of the day he feels bad about it and is trying to be a better person, even as the world around him seems determined not to let him be.
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Horror
Age: 15+
Content: Violence, frightening images, language and some very mild sexuality.
Overall: 4.5 paws
Jana
More Supernatural Squee September 25, 2009
Posted by realitybypass in Television, Urban Fantasy.1 comment so far
Okay, last night’s episode made me giggle and squeal. My poor husband had to leave the room cause he just doesn’t get the show and I’m fairly sure he doesn’t want to. As long as I’m happy about it he’s happy.
Though for me there were some great moments…
If you haven’t watched the episode don’t read any further.
I mean it.
Okay.
Dean and Castielle out on the town just about killed me. The look on Castielle’s face was priceless
Raphael the arch angel, scary and fun all at once. I looved his defense of God (That’s my father you’re talking about), even as he gave into the despair that God was dead.
Castielle’s faith!
Sam and Lucifer!!!! IPE!!!
Sad moments: Dean admitting he was happier without Sammy. Wah! I can totally see where he’s coming from but…ouch.
Looking forward to next week. We’ve seen the past, now here comes the future!
Jana
Book Review: Shadowlight – Lynn Viehl September 23, 2009
Posted by realitybypass in Book Review, Book Series, Romance, Urban Fantasy.add a comment
Hallo my darlings and welcome to another book review day on RealityByPass. As a matter of housekeeping I’m changing the scoring on our books just a little. The overall category we’ve been using as a buy, borrow or toss and I find it’s actually pretty hard for me to break things down that way. Sooo…I’ll give it a paw rating between 1-5 and go from there.
Today’s selection comes from an E-ARC which I was lucky enough to get my hands on and will be available to the public on October 6th.
Ms. Viehl is a prolific author with 43 books published to date and at least a good handful coming soon. This was the first time I’d picked up one of her books despite being an avid reader of her blog. Now I have to look for her books at the library, since I’m not allowed to buy anything until after my birthday. My husband says so.
Shadowlight is the first in Ms. Viehl’s Kyndred series, which takes place in the same world as her Darkyn series. It tells the story of Jessa Bellamy, a psychical gifted young woman who died and then was reborn with even stronger skills. Her particular power the ability to touch a person and see his or her internal shame and guilt. It’s a double edged sword since it’s always on, and Jessa struggles with always seeing the darkest side of anyone she touches. She takes to wearing gloves and does her best to be careful, mostly keeping her own company. When her talents are identified by a genetics company (GenHance) with a dark goal she’s put in danger of being both kidnapped and killed. Enter Matthias, the man with a secret past, who works with an operation focused on stopping such things and giving the gifted new identities and someplace to go. He knows from the first time that he meets Jessa that she’s the woman for him, no matter how she fights him and tries to escape from his protective custody. They have to learn how to work together in order to keep her from being found by the authorities, the company, or the mutated man who wants to take her apart piece by piece.
As well in this piece we get cameos by Lucan and Samantha from the Darkyn series, who are down in Savannah for Samantha’s police work and Rowan and Drew, gifted folks who are helping Matthias with his relocation program and trying to put a stop to GenHance all together.
Overall I found this an enjoyable read. The pacing is good and the characters well thought out with few too stupid to live moments. Jessa was so bull headed about wanting to do everything herself that it made me laugh because I know people like that. I’m fairly sure I’ve been people like that. She and Matthias might have been a little too perfect, but not so much that it dragged me out of the story and they are both given flaws and backstory which are charming and interesting. That Matthias wants to be a family man also won points with me. Rowan, the chef, was my favorite character and I’m really glad her story will be the next book in this series.
The plot is generally very good though there were a few points where I kinda felt like things happened too fast or there was a twist which the reader should have been given more information about. I love the powers the characters have because they don’t tend to be typical. No teleporting or flying here. The romantic arc works well, save that I feel like Jessa goes from clubbing Matthias in the head to calling him the man he loves just a little too suddenly. I reread the section twice to see if I’d missed something.
I liked the inclusion of the Darkyn folks as it made me curious to go look up some of those books and gave a different perspective on what was happening. Sometimes their appearance at certain places seemed a little contrived, but also necessary to keep things rolling along. I did like watching Samantha learn to at least begin to embrace who and what she is and I find myself curious to go back and find her story.
So all in all it was a good read and kept me flipping the virtual pages. There is some graphic violence and a couple of graphic sex scenes which folks may want to be aware of. I don’t think any of this was gratuitous as each scene seemed to serve a purpose either on the plot or romantic arc, but the reader should be aware.
Genre: Paranormal Suspense Romance
Age: Adult
Content: graphic violence, sexuality, language
Overall: 3.5 paws
Book Review: Black and White September 16, 2009
Posted by realitybypass in Book Review, Urban Fantasy.add a comment
It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s…neither of the above, but it is a tremendous story about superheroes and where lies the line between hero and villan.
Black and White is a joint project by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge which follows the lives of two superpowered women in a world where heroes are born every day and the Corp uses them to keep the world safer for all the normal humans like you and me. The problem is that all is not happy in the world of the Corp and there are good reasons for it too.
This book took on a huge challenge in how it tells this story. We’re moved back and forth between the heads of the two protagonists and back and forth through time to see what is happening in the current day and then given the background of the characters in snippets which show their years together in school. Each section is clearly labeled with JET or IRIDIUM and a THEN or NOW to help the reader keep track. Honestly when I picked up the book I was highly concerned by this set up and fairly sure it would be annoying. Thankfully it’s not annoying and, in fact, works brilliantly. I think a good part of this success is because both authors know both characters so well that even when the view point switches both characters remain perfectly true to themselves. So instead of being jerked back and forth between two very different stories, it’s a beautiful lay out of one situation through two pairs of eyes.
I very much liked the characters involved and believed their motivations and the character quirks that were both their strengths and weaknesses. I liked seeing the play on the normal superhero tropes by making Jet the shadow user the hero type and Iriduim the light user the ‘rabid’. Their interactions as friends and later as enemies who remember being friends and still yearn for that closeness is powerful stuff. The plot going on around them makes sense and while I figured out a few things early, it was only by a page or two. This lead to me doing a happy dance when my suspicions were confirmed and my husband giving me a long suffering look before going back to his Terry Prachette.
The story was satisfying but definitely a lead into the next book Shades of Grey, which I’ll be happy to snatch up. Now I’m going to go make enchiladas…I’m hungry.
Genre: SuperHero
Age: 14 +
Content: violence, mild sexuality.
Overall: Buy
Book Review: Vampire Academy – Richelle Mead September 9, 2009
Posted by realitybypass in Book Review, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult.add a comment
I don’t have any excuses for the amount of time we’ve spent away from the blog. However, the time has been well spent in reading a LOT of stuff. I love the library, though my ‘to buy’ list for the next time I’m at the bookstore is getting hefty.
I picked up Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead on a whim. I wasn’t sure I’d like it. Vampires in school can go so many different ways, but I’m happy to say this one worked for me. The pages flew by and while there were a few moments when I was rolling my eyes for the most part I enjoyed every minute. I think the eye rolling was mostly a matter of teenagers being teenagers. If I think about it I’m pretty sure the teenagers I know would do the same petty things. The games of popularity and trying to figure out who you are and how you fit in really represent that time in life. It doesn’t actually get easier when you’re an adult, but teenagers are more honest about it.
I have to give Ms. Mead props for the relationships she builds between the characters, particularly between Rose and Lissa. It’s a hard balance to strike to get the friendship and devotion without the two characters melding into a muddy sameness. I believed in the friendships and the attractions and the rivalries and the twist as to who was behind many of the problems worked for me. I only figured it out about a page before it was revealed, so I’m impressed. The plot was very consistent with the world Ms. Mead presented and it’s a world I’m looking forward to visiting again.
I’ll go jogging with Dimitri any day. Vavavoom.
Jana
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age: 15+
Content: violence, animal deaths, blood feeding, minor sexuality and smooching
Overall: Buy
What makes an Urban Fantasist? September 2, 2009
Posted by kmcalear in Musings, Urban Fantasy, Writing Craft.Tags: munsters, Urban Fantasy
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I promise there will be a review of the book I read by tommorow, unfortunately today was spent wading through some Literary Theory and preparing my first commentary on it, which means I’m fairly wiped out. However, to relax, I decided to pop over to my netflix queue and see what was on the instant and I spotted The Munsters. It was another moment where I could look back at my writerly origins and realize there was always something that attracted me to the “Not Quite so Normal” in my entertainment. As a kid, the Munsters was one of my favorite shows: probably because it had those scary creepy monsters but with that air of comedy that made them more human than the humans around them. I think that’s where some of the true genious was in that show, the subtle commentary on the nature of monsters which I feel a lot of Urban Fantasy tends to touch on as well. Where do the Monsters Start and the Humans end? Is there a difference?
Anyway it’s time for me to crawl into bed, to start another day tommorow. 8 months and counting…. until the classwork for the PHD is done.
Book Review: The Iron Hunt – Marjorie M. Liu August 27, 2009
Posted by realitybypass in Book Review, Book Series, Urban Fantasy.add a comment
To be honest I had no idea what to expect going into this particular book. I’d seen some very positive reviews and the cover was pretty, though I was wondering if all the tattoos would actually make an appearance in the book. I get rather tired of the ‘tramp stamp’ tattoos which are put on our warrior heroines and then never show up in the book. Same with the big weaponry they never use. Happily in this case the cover is a pretty good representation and is the first of many good things about a good book.
Maxine Kiss is a woman set apart by a call to guard humanity from the demons who slip in and out of their spiritual prison and possess the bodies of the hopeless, feeding on their agony and their lives. She herself carries five demons who guard her flesh by day as tattoos that make her nearly invincible to damage, and as bodied guards at night. Their agreements with the women of her family go back more than ten thousand years and one day they’ll move on to her daughter, just as they came to her from her mother. I have to admit I feared this was going to be cheesy, but it’s done in a lovely way. The ‘boys’ are Maxine’s family and friends and while the move to her one day daughter is just another turn of the circle they love her and do their best to take good care of her. As well they all carry their own personalities…and a disturbing desire to rip teddy bears apart.
In the pursuit of her duty there are rules about not getting attached…not to anyone or anything. Maxine has done both and it makes her a nicely rounded character. She’s got plenty of ‘kickassitude’, but it’s tempered by an honest caring about the people around her from the crazy lady who grows pot in the basement of the homeless shelter, to her boyfriend Grant, a musical wonder with a twisted leg but a sense of hope that he can make the world a better place. As you get to know them both you want them to succeed. I loved the romance here because it was the comfort of people who have been together for a while and live in a world which could tear them apart. They offer strength and comfort and understanding to each other. Perhaps my favorite line in the book was after Maxine had a rotten night and Grant was waiting for her in bed. He just looks up and says: “I’ll make it better.” And all through the book he does.
There’s a lot of mythology twisted through this book and a very solid new world emerges. Liu has a fun new take on demons and on zombies which I’d never considered. Her heroine walks a line where she knows that she could be someone who will save the world or doom it, and she surrounds herself with people from both sides of the black and the white in order to remember this and make the right choices.
There were a few places where I found myself a little twisted up in the plot, but these resolved and I feel like Liu has a strong idea of where this is going and I’m enjoying the ride. This is very obviously a first in a series as we don’t get even a fraction of our questions answered, but I didn’t mind that…only that I can’t have all the rest of the series right now, though Darkness Calls is out and my birthday is in October. Oh husband mine…
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age: 15+
Content: violence, a few deaths, implied sexuality
Overall: Buy
