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.

Dream Hunter, Sherrilyn Kenyon

So, this one threw me off a bit.

It takes place way before any of the other books, in 1996 to be exact. But I definitely think this is the place to read it. It's written in a way that I think if you did try to read it in chronological order as the first book, you'd be really confused. I think you'd miss some of the most important tidbits.

So, as I said, it's set way back in time. We actually see Nick as a teen, but I'll come back to that.

We meet Greary and Arik in Greece. Greary's family has been searching for Atlantis for generations. Unfortunately, it's ended in death mostly. After her father dies, she takes over the search.

Arik is a dream god who finds Greary in her dreams and wants to see her in the human world. But here's the problem, all the dream gods were punished by Zeus and stripped of all their emotions. Arik wants to be with her, but doesn't understand the feelings he has. Dream gods should only have feelings in dreams, when they siphon off from the humans who dreams they've invaded. Sometimes, they get carried away and end up addicted to the emotions. Like any addict, the can destroy in an effort to feed that addiction.

Arik was turned into one of those. Think incubus. Anyway, Zeus' curse is weakening, and their getting their emotions back, but Arik doesn't know that. It's a big secret. So, he doesn't realize the feelings he has are his own. He doesn't understand what they are either. So, being the emotionless psycho that he was made, he makes a deal with Hades to be human in exchange for Greary's soul.

Sins of the Night, Sherrilyn Kenyon

So, this one had a lot of good backstory. Not just about the Dark Hunters, but specifically about Ash.

Here we meet Alexion, which seems to be more title than name, but they use it like a name. His real name is Ias. He was the third hunter ever created. He's also the one who got the "get your soul back" out clause established for all the hunters.. He paid for it by becoming a shade, which is basically a sadder form of ghost.

Yeah, his bitch wife intentionally dropped his soul.

But Ash hates the idea of his hunters suffering. He tries to save Ias, but wasn't familiar enough with his powers and kinda fucked it up. Since then, if a hunter dies in the line of duty, Ash takes them to a special island where they can be as content as shades can be. He even gives them some kind of form. He doesn't tell others because he worries they'll be more reckless if they know they can come back from it. Sorta.

A fair point given the attitudes of most hunters.

Anyway, as I said, Alexion is a title. Basically he's Ash's #2. Apparently over the past eleven thousand years, a pattern has developed. Every couple thousand or so, a bunch of hunters get their souls and go free, and another bunch decide to mutiny. When that happens Alexion goes in and saves those he can, and executes those who insist on fighting Ash.

I should clarify that those who revolt do so with the idea that the should rule humanity and prey on them. Its not just a pissed off Ash.

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.

Dark Storm, Christine Feehan

I didn't know what was next, but this was certainly not even in the running.

We meet another ancient. Dax ran off the fight a vampire named Mirto. They were pretty evenly matched, so they were sealed in a volcano by Arabejila, Dax's friend.

The kicker? She's also Mitro's lifemate.

So, remember those questions and theories I had in my Dark Predator? Well, this just makes it all more confusing.

OK, Mitro is a psycho. Legit. Entitled. Always thinking he's better than everyone else, just no one can see his genius.

Dax is a hunter who has a talent for seeing someones darkness and predicting who will turn vamp. He and Arabejila's family were friends.

Arabejila had very strong earth powers. Mitro hated her because he believed lifemates made the men weak. He ends up killing her family before running off. He tries to kill her, but can't quite kill his lifemate. Instead, he does something worse: he binds her.

So, as we know, being physically separated from ones lifemate is very difficult. Meanwhile, the lifemate can typically feel/experience the things the lifemate is going through. So, all the horrible things Mitro does, Arabejila knows. He makes sure of it.

Riley and her mother, Arabejila's descendants, are traveling the Amazon to ensure the volcano with Dax and Mitro inside stays sealed. They don't know about Dax and Mitro, but they make the trip every year.

This year, it is not going well.

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 Secret, Christine Feehan

This is the 2nd story in Darkest at Dawn, which has Dark Hunger (14) and Dark Secret (15).

We meet another of the De la Cruz brothers, actually we meet 2, but Nicolas is only around for a few pages. The main brother is Rafael, and he is the first Carpathian I really don't like. All Carpathian men are arrogant and domineering to an extent, but Rafael? He's just an ass. Riordan mentions in Dark Hunger that the brothers have always been more Carpathian than other Carpathians. Stronger, smarter, more arrogant and domineering.

He is really all about having everything his own way.

His lifemate is Colby. She's a cowgirl. No shit. A cowgirl. She also has the same last name as Gary from Dark Magic. We don't learn anything about that really, but I feel like it can't be a mistake/coincidence.

They meet because Rafael and Nicolas go to Colby's ranch to convince her to come to Brazil with her brother and sister, Paul and Ginny. See, the De la Cruz family has a human family they're close with. The Chavez family knows they're Carpathian and have been working with the brothers for centuries.

The stories a little complicated...

Dark Legend, Christine Feehan

Just when I'm feeling like we need some more complex plots, we get one.

We finally find out what happened with Gabriel and Lucian here.

Previously, we found out the twins had made a pact to take the other out if one turns vampire. The story goes, Lucian turned, the brother's fought, and then disappeared.

Well, as we know, legends usually have a kernel of truth. They fought, usually to a stalemate, until Gabriel locks them both in a Paris cemetery. Hundreds of years later, the cemetery is being excavated, and awakens the brothers.

Francesca is a healer (not a doctor) in Paris and comes across Gabriel thinking he's a homeless man.

My favorite thing about this one? I finally get my fully knowledgeable Carpathian woman! I know I had Deseri (Dark Challenge) and Savannah (Dark Magic), but Deseri wasn't raised that way, she didn't really know about lifemates, and Savannah was just so young by Carpathian standards.

But Francesca! Francesca is an ancient female Carpathian with her own powers and training, raised in the Carpathian way. And she knows exactly what being lifemates means.

See, she knew the brothers before everything went to shit. When Mikhal's father was still alive, she saw Gabriel and knew he was her lifemate. So she's tried to understand when he chose to keep fighting instead of claiming her.She left her family and friends because having an unclaimed woman around was too difficult on the males. She felt like Gabriel had sacrificed their life together for the sake of their people, so she sacrificed her community for the sake of their people.

That doesn't mean she doesn't resent him a bit. And trust might be a small issue.

Of course, Gabriel never knew. It was a misunderstanding, she saw him, he never saw her.

But what about Lucian?

Dark Fire, Christine Feehan

Right again! :)

Darius and Tempest, the mechanic.

She's human, but can talk to animals. So, we're more back to human/Carpathian storyline. However, I do finally get something I want: a woman who chooses to convert! She's not even dying! Well, the situation is still life and death, but....Beggars and Choosers, people!

I'm getting ahead of myself again.

Ok, so Tempest is hired on as the mechanic and of course as soon as Darius sees her, he knows. He comes on strong, too. :) It seems Carpathian males don't know any other way.

He drinks her blood and erases her memory, only because her brain is a bit different, it doesn't work. So, of course she freaks, thinking him a vampire and runs. Unfortunately, she gets in a car with a bad man who tries to rape her. Darius saves her before he gets to far, but we find out this wasn't her first incident. It happened once before when she was barely an adult.

This allows her and Syndil to talk about their experiences, which is a really nice moment. Darius learns a bit, too. Syndil seems to be healing, though she and Barack are still not together in the beginning. It seems having someone who understands is helpful.

Something I really found entertaining about this story was Tempest's ability to get into trouble. Every time she's alone, something happens. And it doesn't seem like a new development in her life. It made me smile.

And my favorite part is her conversion.

Dark Challenge, Christine Feehan

Yup! I was right, Julian and the singer, Desari.

And this definitely switched things up for me. It was even a bit feminist!

Let's get down to it!

So, as we know from Dark Magic, Julian, Aidan's twin, is pretty close to changing. In an effort to keep him going a bit longer, Gregori gives him the task of protecting a human woman the society thinks is a vampire.

Of course she's his lifemate.

But here's the good part: She's Carpathian!

OK, so back in the day, the Carpathian Mountains were invaded by the Ottoman Turks way back in the day. It was pretty brutal, as many wars/invasion were then. When I've said many Carpathian women and children were killed, this is what I've been referring to (though, that hasn't been clear until now). They slaughtered the people, herding women and children into a straw shack to burn them.

A small group of Carpathian children escaped. They managed to flee to the coast of Africa and survive. They've been traveling as troubadours for centuries, moving from country to country when they're presence and lack of aging becomes suspicious. They've always thought they were the last of their kind.

Until Julian walked into their concert.

Dark Magic, Christine Feehan

Gregori is safe!

And I finally get a woman who knows what's up!

Her reaction is kinda the same, but still, she has more info to go on.

And. It. Shows. She stops fighting it way earlier.

So, Savannah is the daughter of Mikhal and Raven. Raven has raised her daughter to be strong and independent. She's travels, performing a magic show. That's where she's been for 5 years.

Beyond that she's got more info than the past women - being a full Carpathian woman (Finally!!) - their story isn't as good as I had hoped.

Gregori is as wonderful and tragic as I had imagined, so there's that. And the evolution of his relationship with Savannah is really sweet. How she comes to understand what the 5 years without her cost Gregory, and his opinion of himself, is really sweet.

As was his comprehension of what she needs. I can admit there were quite a few tears through this one.

It's just...it wasn't as memorable as I'd hoped, I guess.

There's some vampire hunting, here of course. They move to New Orleans (can't have a vamp series without at least mentioning NO!) and find the (human) vampire hunters active in the area.

They take care of them, of course, but in the process, they meet Gary, the most interesting part of the story.

Except the Queen, Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder

I love this.

It's really good. And really different from the way I think most fantasy is structured.

The main characters are Sparrow and Robin, but unlike most fantasies, it's all told from the point of view of two sisters who stumble into Sparrow and Robins life.

Let me back up here...

Serena and Meteora are sisters and fairies. The catch the Queen in a *ahem* compromising position - she's gettin' busy with a mortal. The manage to keep the secret for a while, but eventually Meteora spills the beans. By accident, sure, but she's always struggled with keeping it a secret anyway.

The Queen finds out who "sullied" her name, and banishes the sisters to the mortal world. Serena to NYC and Meteora to Milwaukee. Their journeys bring them in contact with the main characters. Serena meets Robin while his band is playing in the park. Meteora lives in Baba Yaga's house with Sparrow.

Sparrow is an emo chick who's had a really rough life. She only vaguely remembers her mother and her father was abusive in every sense of the word. She's been on the run ever since - she knows she's different.

Robin is (obviously) a musician. Unfortunately for him, he knows exactly who his parents are. He loved him mom, who was raped and destroyed by this father, Red Cap. If you're unfamiliar with Red Cap, he kills innocents and soaks his cap in their blood, making it a red cap. He's part of the Unseelie Court. Robin isn't, he's not deemed worthy. His father treats him as a dog. Literally.

Stormlord's Exile, Glenda Larke

I feel like I should really title this "Ode to Fantasy Fiction." I think I'm a fairly eclectic reader,  generally speaking. Maybe, with the common thread of something different, something not easy to figure out. I like to be surprised. I mean, it's fine to know that everything is going to work out in the end, but that's just common sense. I feel like this book is a really good example about what fantasy fiction can really bring to the table.

It's kind of...coincidental that I picked this book after finishing Unholy Night. In that review, I tried to focus more on matters of faith than religion. That's not going to be possible in this one. So, I'll repeat my disclaimers: 

1)      If you are hyper religious, and find any negative portrayal of religion bad or blasphemous, don't bother with this book or review. You'll probably just be unhappy.

2)      If you are hyper non-religious, and don't see the point in discussing religion you may want to stop reading this review here. I'm going to go into the thoughts religion, which you may not enjoy.

See, one of my favorite things about the fantasy genre is it's ability to criticize society without pissing anyone off because the people/places/things they criticize aren't real. How can you get pissed they're criticizing a religion/politics that don't exist? This book does that and more.

OK, confession time: I don't really remember the first 2 books in the Watergivers trilogy. I vaguely remember them, broad strokes, but the details? Nope. Not really. But I've got enough to sketch out the world for you.

Darkness Bread, Stella Cameron

So, after I finished Shadow of Night, I had to pick a book to distract me. I happened to be on vacation, so my choices were limited. As I said in the review of Shadow of Night, all I wanted to read was the third book of that series. I didn't have that, so I chose this one.

I'm repeating all this because this book had an uphill battle. This is a book from the Chimney Rock series which focuses on a pack of werehounds. The werehounds have been dying out, along with all the other shifters. The females are dying during pregnancy with their children. The first book of the series, Darkness Bound, explains all this. I read it pre-blog, so it's not reviewed, but the basic idea is the leader of the pack, Niles meets and falls for his mate, Leigh. Sean, the main character of this story is Niles' second in command and plays a large part in protecting Leigh. We discover Leigh is a particular race that is thought to have no magical abilities, but actually just has very rare ones. The idea is that these rare abilities would allow them to carry children for the werehounds (don't worry, I'll come back to this one in Feminist Corner).

During the first book, we also meet Silkywidden, a mysterious cat. Well, she is also a shifter, and part of the same race as Leigh. She and Sean have fallen in love while acting as go betweens for Leigh and Niles in the first book. This book starts with the necessity for a decision: Can Sean and Elin (Silkywidden) be together? Niles is concerned because Elin is fey. She's not, but she's not telling anyone that because she wants to make sure Sean wants her, not just her possible reproductive abilities (again, I'll come back to this, patience). See, Elin was kidnapped as a baby and raised by the fey Queen. Niles is worried Elin is a spy for the Queen - and to be fair, the Queen does want her to do that. She's refused. Leigh already suspects Elin's true origins, and she sees the love between the two, so he's firmly on their side. Niles is harder to convince. In the first book, they encounter a traitor among the hounds, this seems to put them all in a distrusting mood.

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.