Acheron, Sherrilyn Kenyon

Holy shit balls, Batman! I did not see this pairing coming!!

Wow. Ok, a lot to cover here. I've been waiting for this book.

As you can probably guess, this is Acheron's book. And it is a doozy.

So, lucky for us, Kenyon takes pity and doesn't make us relive the vast majority of Ash's horrific life. Most of the worst part is through his sister, Ryssa's point of view. She only finds out about what happened to him from 7 to 17 once she rescues him at 17. Thank god we don't have to experience it with him.

It's super sad and hard to deal with regardless.

For one, every time his sister, Ryssa, tries to help him, she makes it worse. You know she loves him and wants desperately to save him, she just can't seem to make it happen. Being a woman doesn't help either.

For Apollymi too. I can't imagine a mother having to deal with the loss of a child like that. Not giving him up, exactly. Or at least not only that, but not wanting to and knowing there's no way you'll never see him again. Never hold him again. I can almost forgive her for wanting to destroy the world. Almost.

But here's my holy shitballs moment: Ash's love is Tory!!

OK, you have no idea who Tory is. I know.

Dream Chaser, Sherrilyn Kenyon

We got another dream god here.

So, when Kat and Sin were fighting the demons in Devil May Cry, they got help from a dream god, Xepher, who was killed and sentenced to eternal torture by Hades. Kat makes a deal in exchange for his help.

He was sentenced because he supposedly tortured and killed people with his powers. Remember I said some dream gods could become addicted to the emotions they siphon from humans? Well, Xepher was one of those.

Only thats not really what happened. Satara, Stryker's sister, manipulated him into killing for her. Ok, she seduced him. Straight up. He was willing to take the fall for her, but she was supposed to wipe out his existence completely so Hades couldn't torture him. Only she doesn't. Of course not. That would be too nice for her.

So, now, the deal. If Xepher helps Kat et al, which he definitely does, he gets a month of freedom. If he doesn't show his humanity in a month, then he goes back to eternal torture. His plan? To kill Satara. If he's going to be tortured for eternity, he wants her to be right beside him.

That doesn't happen of course. Satara hears about his plan and devises one of her own. She uses a pair of bracelets that tie the life energy of two wearers to each other.

Devil May Cry, Sherrilyn Kenyon

So, I read this one out of order by mistake, just 2 books off, but still. I'm reviewing it in it's proper place, but hopefully I don't let my foreknowledge get the better of me and mess with the review.

So, we finally learn all about Kat!

I'm still surprised.

She's Ash's daughter! With Artemis'.

I really did not see that coming. I still think she thought about Ash in non-fatherly terms before. Not in a creepy way, but...I donno. It just seemed like she was...pining for him.

Which doesn't necessarily make it romantic. I know. You can pine for a father. But this is a romance series.

So, yeah, daughter. Ash doesn't find out until this book. Artemis made a half ass attempt to tell him when Kat was born, but Ash thought it was a child Artemis had taken from her mother to try to replace his nephew. That's how the gods got servants back in the day. Well, that and having parents leave the kid as an offering. Whatever. I would explain what happened to his nephew but I have no idea. We haven't been told yet.

However, instead of making sure he understood, she lashed (physically and verbally) out at him and kept Kat from him. She let her pride get the better of her. Needless to say, he was not too pleased when he does finally find out. Poor Ash, every time he turns around, Artemis has something new to hold over him - a new way to hurt him.

Dark Side of the Moon, Sherrilyn Kenyon

Oh, Nick.

So.

A lot happening here.

Our main characters are Susan and Ravyn. Susan is a reporter who used to be renowned for her investigative reporting. She was disgraced and now works for a trashy tabloid. The kind that writes about bat boys and alien invaders.

The catch? It's run by a squire! If you don't remember squires, they're the human helpers of the Dark Hunters. They help care for them during the day to allow them to focus on protecting humans against the Daimons.

Ravyn, he's a rare were-Dark Hunter. See, if you remember the creation story of weres, you'll remember they were created by a king to save his Apollite sons from dying at 27. That makes the weres and Apollites cousins of sorts. So, becoming a hunter isn't something that weres really do or appreciate.

His backstory, like all Dark Hunters, is pretty sad. As a were, he received the mate mark. If you remember from the other were stories, were's get one fated mate. It's the only person they can procreate with. And it's all on the women to choose to stay with her mate. Ravyn's mate was a human. His mother encouraged him to tell her the truth about them, that if she loved him, she would accept him.

Well, she didn't love or accept him. She ran and told her village about them. Her village then attacked his and killed all the women and children. Everyone who was in the village was slaughtered. The men were out hunting when it happened. Some were bonded with their mates and died when the women did. That's how the group knew what was happening. They rushed back, but it was too late.

Ravyn's family has blamed him ever since.

Seize the Night, Sherrilyn Kenyon

Yay!! Valerius is back!

OK, you have no idea who that is.

So remember Zarek from Dance with the Devil? This is the brother that I mentioned. I wanted he and Zarek to reconcile.

And Kyrian from Night Pleasures? Well, this is the grandson of the guy who crucified him (No, I don't mean that as a figurative crucifixion. I mean literally.) and who also looks exactly like his grandfather.

Oh, and don't forget Kyrian is married to Amanda now, and her twin is Tabitha, our heroine.

One big happy family, right?!

Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh!

OK, I'm done.

So, Val's story is one of the easiest to read. He certainly hasn't had an easy time of it, and you feel bad for him, but for some reason it just didn't hit me like the others have.

And he does act like a dick. A big one. It's intentional, a defense mechanism to keep people away, just like Zarek acts crazy, but Val does a seriously good job of being a dick.

He and Kyrian come to a truce, if not a friendship, and Zarek moves to accept his brother - even making him a god like he is. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but we find out in Kiss of the Night that Zarek takes great pleasure in messing with Val using his new god powers. Well, now the sibling rivalry is on equal footing.

So, what happens? Well, everyone dies.

No really.

Night Play, Sherrilyn Kenyon

So, back in Night Embrace, we meet Vane and his brother, Fang, very briefly. They were wolves who could take the form of humans. Vane helped Talon by protecting Sunshine during the day when she needed to be out.

We find out later that in return the Daimon's attacked his pack and killed a bunch of the women and children, including their sister and her new litter.

As punishment for the decision that lead to the Daimon's attack and, therefore, their sister's death, their father (gleefully) sentences them to death. Something he's been wanting to do since they were born. To ensure he gets rid of them, he also sends some Daimon's after them.

Vane manages to fight them off, but Fang is seriously wounded and goes into a coma.

Now, present day, Fang is still in a coma and he and Vane are staying at Sanctuary. Hiding really. Their father is still out to kill them, after all. Well, once he confirms they are in fact alive.

Anyway. Back to Night Embrace. When Vane was protecting Sunshine a friend of hers, Bride, comes to chat. Vane is immediately attracted to her, but doesn't make a move because a) he's busy protecting Sunshine, and b) Bride is human and Vane is a wolf.

Only he's not.

Kiss of the Night, Sherrilyn Kenyon

I was very confused at the beginning of this one.

So, this is the story of Wulf. Wulf is Talon's best friend and he enters Talon's story (Night Embrace) by phone. What threw me off was at the start of this one, Talon is single. At first I thought I'd messed up the order, but a quick check confirmed the order.

Then Talon and Wulf have a phone conversation and I realize it's the same conversation as in Night Embrace. Just from Wulf's point of view.

This book takes place at the same time as Night Embrace and Dance with the Devil.

Once that was established it was all good.

So, Wulf is a Norse hunter - think Beowulf - who was cursed so anyone not of his bloodline forgets him after he leaves their presence. How sucky is that? He also never got vengeance.

How does that work, you ask? Well, Loki tricked him and exchanged his soul for another hunter's. It was never his choice to become a Dark Hunter.

Anyway, the reason I enjoyed this one so much was that we learn so much more about Apollites and what their lives are like. And how they view the Daimons.

Night Pleasures, Sherrilyn Kenyon

OK! I'm finally seeing how these work!

Ok, so Julian, in Fantasy Lover. Back before he was cursed, his best friend was Kyrian of Thrace.

Remember Grace? Julian's love? Her best friend Selena is a psychic and is the one who found Julian's book and got Grace to call him out. Selena's sister is Amanda.

This is Amanda and Kyrian's book.

Amanda's family is like Selena, except for Amanda. She's the only "normal" one. That even includes a vampire hunter. Really.

For real.

Kyrian is the first Dark Hunter we meet and I finally know what they are! OK, a Dark Hunter is a warrior who has sold his/her soul for 24 hours to exact vengeance. Nope, not the Devil - Artemis. In payment, they become immortal hunters of Daimons. Daimons are Apollites who have decided to extend their lives by killing and eating the souls of humans.

None of those words make sense, do they?

Dark Slayer, Christine Feehan

Sigh, I was really disappointed in this one.

Possibly because I've been waiting for it for so long. See, even though this is book 20 of the Dark series, it's the first one I bought. I found it in the bargain bin and mistook it for the first in the series. So, maybe that's why I just didn't find this one that great - I'd been anticipating for too long.

I liked it generally, but not when I looked closer.

Let me fill you in what going on...

Meet Ivory Malinov. We first learned about her in Dark Possession. She's the only sister of the Malinov's, and the only Malinov not a vampire. She's been thought dead all this time, but she's been in hiding.

This is my first complaint. I'm just not really clear on why she's in hiding. I mean, I get it a little. OK, so we know she went to Xavier's school and was betrayed by the Prince's oldest son. Now we find out she was turned over to vampires who literally chopped her to pieces. Alive. They kept her alive so she'd feel the most pain possible. Keeping her alive also gave her a chance to heal, though. And she does. It just takes 300 or so years. By the time she can leave the ground, he brothers have decided to become vampires.

So, I kind of get why she might not be welcoming to other Carpathians. She feels betrayed by the Prince and by her family. But the Prince dies. And the De la Cruz family was basically her family. It just seems odd that she'd rather just hide out. I guess there was just too much trauma. I donno. I just didn't think the decision made much sense. And when she meets Mikhal and see he's a good person she still doesn't want to go back. When she finds out the De la Cruz family is ok and misses her - mourns her - she still has no interest. Even seems to resent them. I just don't get it.

Then there's Razvan.

Dark Curse, Christine Feehan

Nicolas De la Cruz it is!

So, we meet Lara here. Well, we met/learned about her in Dark Demon when Natalya saw the history of the knife. She was the little girl in the vision where Razvan, her father, was using her for blood. We also saw her escape with the help of two dragons who, we learn here, are her great aunts in dragon form.

Lara is now back in the Carpathian Mountains, an adult trying to find out if her beloved aunts are real, and to save them if they are (They are, she does). She remembers what happened to her, all the horrors and trauma, but it's also fantastical and she's become unsure if she just made parts up to make sense of her horrific life. Specifically, made up the aunts.

So, she's back and searching the mountains for the ice cave where she was held prisoner. Her first attempt is pretty fail. She and her friends get attacked and wounded. They rush back to the Inn for help. After arriving at the Inn, Mikhal (Dark Prince) takes over to help heal her friends. Before she can go into the Inn, she runs across Nicolas, looking for a meal.

Nicholas is in the Mountains to tell Mikhal about the plan the Malinov and De la Cruz brothers concocted centuries ago. He's on his way to the Inn to do just that when he sees Lara. His plan is to tell the Prince the plan, then die before he becomes a vampire. Seeing Lara, he figures it's his last meal. He figures out pretty quick that she's his lifemate.

Now, if you were used from birth as food for your father and psycho great-great grandfather, having someone take your blood is not going to be something you appreciate.

She stabs him.

Dark Celebration, Christine Feehan

This book was intended as an enjoyable book for fans to revisit the characters they love.

According to Feehan, it got away from her a bit.

All the Carpathians are invited to a Christmas celebration. Most, but not all attend.

Mostly, it's an update book. Mikhal goes around visiting all the people who've come for the celebration.

There are some attacks against the women and children, particularly against Shea and her baby, as well as Skyler, but that's a fairly minor part of the story.

So, let me give you the highlights.

Raven wants Mikhal (Dark Prince) to play Santa for the kids. He's not a fan of the idea so decides to make Gregori, his son-in-law and 2nd in command, do it instead. Gregori. The Dark One. The boogie man of all Carpathian children.

Seems legit.

And hilarious.

So, as he goes around to visit, he tells them all his plan. All the men want to see it happen. All the women think it's mean. And funny.

Dark Demon, Christine Feehan

Well, as predicted, Vikirnoff catches up to Natalya.

And. She. Is. Fan-tastic!

She mentions in Dark Secret that she doesn't know how to keep a vampire dead for good.

Let me put it another way: she's been hunting for centuries and has had to learn everything herself. A more experienced hunter has never been around to teach her. Yet she's managed to survive for centuries.

She's seen a lot of movies.

But as she tells Colby in Dark Secret, there's only so much you can learn from Dracula movies.

She also calls Vikirnoff "Vik," which is hilarious.

Like I said, fantastic.

She's made her way into Romania, being drawn the the Carpathian Mountains. One mountain in particular. She's on her way there when she comes across some vampires. A fight ensues.

Meanwhile, Vikirnoff is lamenting his situation. Planning on killing himself as soon as he can. Wondering if it's already too late for him.

His psychic whining draws Natalya's attention and she tells him to shut up so she can concentrate on her battle. No, really, that's exactly what she tells him. He of course immediately realizes she's his lifemate and rushes to help in the fight. She's not entirely enthusiastic about his "interference," but they end up working together pretty well.

Shadow of Night, Deborah Harkness

OMG!! I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE INDEFINITELY!!! THERE'S NOT EVEN A RELEASE DATE YET! OR A TITLE! WTF am I going to do?!?! *whine*

Obviously, I liked it. And I was devastated when I finished that I have to wait an indefinite amount of time. In fact, all my other books looked boring - all I wanted to read was book 3.

To catch up anyone who hasn't read my review for the first book, A Discovery of Witches and this one are part of the All Souls Trilogy. I'm not surprised at all this book won the 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Paranormal Fantasy.

At the end of the first book, witch Diana and vampire Matthew escape into the past in an attempt to find a teacher for Diana and keep the council, the group that ensures the agreement keeping the species/races separate is kept, from attacking again. This book starts as Diana and Matthew...land(?) in 1590.

Matthew is Matthew Roydon, an actual historical figure little is known about, and is friends with many other historical figures such as Sir Walter Raleigh and Christopher Marlowe, known as Kit. Kit is actually not a fan of Diana. He's jealous of her really, as Matthew loves her, not Kit. Most of these friends, including those I just mentioned, are part of the School of Night. Through the book, Diana, a historian, gets to meet many other figures Rabbi Loew, Queen Elizabeth, even Emperor Rudolf.

Omen Machine, Terry Goodkind

I've been trying to figure out what to say about this book. As I thought, and struggled, I realized the only way to explain how and why I was disappointed in this book was to explain why I enjoyed the old series so much.

So, Goodkind wrote the Sword of Truth series, the last of which came out in 2003. The series follows Richard and Kahlan, and assorted other characters, as they fight to save the world. It's kind of an interpretation of the King Arthur legend.

As I've said before, characters can make or break a plot, and these made it. Richard is kind hearted, smart, curious, and...almost guileless  That's not to say he was some fool, he can deceive when necessary, he just prefers honesty. It fits his role as the Seeker of Truth and the weapon that goes with that role, the Sword of Truth. Kahlan is similar: smart, powerful (no really, not only does she rule, but she has a wicked magic power), and definitely kind hearted. While she definitely needs saving on occasion, the role of damsel in distress she plays in this book just doesn't suit her.

There are other characters that make the story fantastic. Zedd, Richard's grandfather, cranky old man, and mischievous wizard. Nicci, a bad guy, who turns good when she truly sees and understands Richard. Cara, Nathan...and so on.

And that's one of the downfalls of this book, I think. Goodkind seems to forget who they really are. This book starts one day after the finale in Confessor. Let me repeat: one. day. Now, the Confessor has a few of it's own issues. The ending feels a bit...forced. Some have called it a cop-out. I don't know if it's that, but it certainly seemed anticlimactic. But then, the next day, the characters are almost completely different. There is one scene where the old Kahlan seems apparent. A woman tries to kill her, a poor attempt, because she doesn't want Kahlan to suffer the horrible death the woman saw in a vision. She's already killed her children for the same reason. Kahlan uses her power and questions the woman. She is regal and powerful and cold. She knows who and what she is, and will use it when necessary; yet she mourns the children who needlessly died.

The plot has it's merits. Angry and misguided rulers, prophecy, a malevolent force out to rule the world, and a mysterious machine. If you ignore some of the missteps, the general plan of the story works. It's the details that hurt it. I've already talked about the character issues. It also feels slow. Scenes that should take one chapter, takes five. Richard in particular seems a bit slow. He finds he can talk to the machine, and waits about 100 pages to actually ask the machine questions. Seems very un-Richard like.

My other issue is with the purpose. Sword of Truth definitely ended. This book says "A Richard and Kahlan Novel" on the cover, indicating this is a new adventure. Yet, as I said, it's only one day later. It seems to be the start of a new series - the bad guy is definitely still lurking - but it starts with hardly a breath for the characters. Are we starting a new saga? Did Goodkind decide that Confessor wasn't really the end? Or maybe it never was and it was a misunderstanding with the readers? The blurb for Confessor calls it the "concluding novel," so I don't see how.

I will read the next book, The Third Kingdom, because I hope it will improve. As far as this book...well, if you're a fan, give it a shot. Hopefully, you'll disagree with me. If you're not a fan, then you should be starting with Wizard's First Rule anyway. I would recommend the original series, so have at it! As far as this one goes. Well, it's just a bit.....limp.

Omen Machine, Terry Goodkind

Twilight's Dawn, Anne Bishop

Another Anne Bishop, so you already know I liked it.

This is a collection of 4 short stories from the Black Jewels Series. This world is a flip flop of what you typically find for fantasy imagery. The Darkness is good - in fact the darker something is, the better. Gender roles are turned on their head. Men have to protect their virtue and reputation. Women rule and men bow to their wishes - for the most part - and are happily sexually liberated. Unfortunately, men are also more vulnerable to sexual predators. The characters are named Lucivar, Daemon, and Saeten, High Lord of Hell. They're also the good guys.

Bridge of Dreams, Anne Bishop

Anne Bishop is one of my favorite authors! I love her. I enjoy fantasy generally because of the worlds the fantasy genre can create. You can do things you just can't do when you have to adhere to, say...physics.

Bishop, for me, is one of the best. Yes, Tolkien et al are epic, I don't mean to  downplay the the greats, but Bishop creates such unique and inventive worlds. I just look forward to whatever she writes.

This is the third book in the Ephemera series. Ephemera is the name of the world. It has been broken by a war, and pieces are adrift. Say, you're in Spain, maybe even right on the border of France. But because the world is broken, you can't get to France. That's not true for every piece of Ephemera, but some are completely unconnected.

Ephemera is also... sentient, it has a personality. It's childlike and grants its peoples wishes, changing the world to fit those wishes. So, in this world, there are Landscapers and Bridges.

A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness

*sigh* Another awesome book. Another awesome book from a story that's not complete. Unlike City of Dark Magic and the Gale Women books, this story isn't even complete! It ends in a cliffhanger!

Admittedly, this books is a love story, but it doesn't feel like a romance. For one, the characters take time to get to know each other. While they may develop feelings quickly, they don't act on them. In fact, at the end they're married, but haven't consummated the marriage yet. Not that romances are all about sex, I just mean this had a different feel than romance novels. The main characters' first date is so adorably awkward!

One of my favorite things about this book are the vampires. Now, I know it wasn't long ago I was reading about Anita Blake and talking vampires, but this is completely different.

A couple weeks ago I saw this picture while browsing facebook:

My thoughts were, "Yeah! Good point! How come vampires don't use their time more wisely!? WTF?!"