tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47885546356561714422024-03-14T10:34:53.357-04:00Lupines and LunaticsA blog devoted to the werewolf in literature and popular cultureLupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-65662210017181615752013-02-18T12:02:00.000-05:002013-02-18T12:02:59.506-05:00Necromancing The Stone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBgBiKPunztwQ2FNsWk3NfygSWh-pUB03rYcBywydkRlRawoDetUk-tCZCfxUpfpRTXiQS_Lxy7apYEY6gowoNdpcYGIiPVG2c118M_rpFBf7DGp1H4Z6RiwF8lJGGBzXFBpc6ni5pxs/s1600/necromancingSIDE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBgBiKPunztwQ2FNsWk3NfygSWh-pUB03rYcBywydkRlRawoDetUk-tCZCfxUpfpRTXiQS_Lxy7apYEY6gowoNdpcYGIiPVG2c118M_rpFBf7DGp1H4Z6RiwF8lJGGBzXFBpc6ni5pxs/s200/necromancingSIDE.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Macmillan" width="133" /></a></div>
Series: Necromancer (#2)<br />
Genre: Adventure<br />
Author: <a href="http://www.lishmcbride.com/">Lish McBride</a><br />
Publisher: <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/">Macmillan</a><br />
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Second novels are a tricky business. As the saying goes, you have all your life to write your first and only a few months to write your second. The sophomore jinx is very much a reality -- it even has its' own TVTropes page. On the other hand, though, first novels tend to be where the young author makes all their worst mistakes. Writing, like chess, is learned by continuously and embarrassingly screwing up. So while the author may go into their second book with less enthusiasm, they compensate with more experience, a more assured hand, and an understanding of common pitfalls. So you also get books like <i>Necromancing the Stone</i>, the followup to 2010's <i>Hold Me Closer, Necromancer </i>which manages to exceed it's predecessor.<br />
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When we last left our hero, Samhain Corvus LeCroix, he had managed to defeat the vile Douglas Montgomery, thus inheriting Douglas' estate and his incredible necromantic power. Since then, he's been trying to enjoy his (formerly Douglas') new house, no small feat considering that the staff includes some rebellious lawn gnomes and Douglas' passive-aggressive manservant, James. He also has to deal with the new responsibilities of being a member of The Council, the local supernatural governing body. On the bright side, he's scored some sweet, if creepy, necromantic powers of his own, a hot werewolf girlfriend, and a backyard big enough to erect a half-pipe for skateboarding purposes. Unbeknownst to him, he has an even bigger problem brewing: Douglas has survived his apparent death and is recovering in a cabin in the woods, plotting revenge. And his first strike will hit uncomfortably close to home.</div>
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When I read <i>Hold Me Closer, Necromancer</i> way back in 2011, I found it entertaining, but it had some issues. Most of them seemed to stem from the fact that it was originally a shorter story, solidly told but too short for publication. So it had to be padded to reach a publishable wordcount, and it showed. The side-material was extremely weak and exposition-heavy compared to the better-crafted main story. This time around, Lish McBride knows her target wordcount and hits it. The story never slows down, at least not due to poor or slipshod craftsmanship.</div>
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That's not to say that there aren't still a few problems. Most notably, the scene order is off. The pacing is great; each scene entertains on its' own, and most develop the plot too, but sometimes the revelations come out oddly. Several times I thought that things would flow together much better if the chapter I was reading was swapped with another.<br />
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There are also issues with cast. The characters are universally an interesting and sympathetic lot (even Douglas, but we'll get to that in a minute), and both new and old get good development. But there's too many of them. There is a limit to how many characters you can put in a story before some of them fall out of focus. The <i>Nightshade</i> books had this problem early and often, and the <i>Intertwined</i> novels also struggle to juggle their cast. McBride hasn't yet reached the point where important players have to be pushed aside, but it's obvious she's having some issues.<br />
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Brid, for example, abruptly gets sidelined halfway through, although this isn't necessarily a bad thing. A problem I had with the first book was that, realistically, Sam's relationship with Brid should not have worked anywhere near as well as it did. <i>Necromancing the Stone</i> fixes that -- or at least sews a patch on it -- when Brid and Sam have to take a break and step back from one another a bit, and they don't get back together by the end. The stated reason for this is bad stuff forcing Brid to focus her attention elsewhere, but it's easy to see that the honeymoon is over and reality is setting in.</div>
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Another complaint I had with the first book was with Douglas, who was an evil schemer who couldn't decide what his scheme was. The major problem here is worked around, as Douglas now has a clear and straightforward goal and he goes about it in an intelligent manner. Surprisingly, though, we also get to see a lot of depth in his character. We see early on his attachment to James, and the importance they both hold to one another. We also, in a series of flashbacks, witness important events in Douglas' life; the moments that shaped him into the man he is now. It's an oddly humanizing way to treat the character, and it succeeds in engendering pity and even sympathy for the man. Which is a masterstroke on McBride's part, because without that sympathy, the ending would feel like a huge cop-out.<br />
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James also has a lot to do in this book. His basic character arc has him wrestling with his long devotion to the resurrected Douglas and his growing friendship with Sam and his friends. Essentially, he's a mole for Douglas, but also genuinely cares for his new friends. The great thing is, the book doesn't spell this out. McBride just puts the hints right there in front of you and winks knowingly, confident you know exactly what she's talking about. Thank you, madam author. It is a pet peeve of mine when an author treats me like an idiot. The fact that you don't makes me respect you all the more as a writer.<br />
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But for all that, and some interesting new characters, there's the crucial problem that this book doesn't bring much new to the table. In fact, in many places it feels like a retread of the first book; it's McBride correcting what she did wrong last time. The climax, although moving and meaningful, is also a fairly shameless regurgitation of what's come before. The book, in short, feels like a do-over. And while it's serviceable enough as a story, it's kind of a disappointment; I wished McBride had been able to give us something vaguely new.<br />
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Still and all, Necromancing the Stone is encouraging because it shows a substantial improvement in McBride's craftsmanship. She has a classic of the genre in her somewhere, and while this isn't it, we're getting there.</div>
LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-23865627668776228692013-01-14T19:03:00.000-05:002013-01-14T19:15:14.350-05:00Prey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZNTGN7Scglcw8h4mRdh5niH1hC4uZ5oug_uSR6OhLkmap33Rf2gmj-g1F_dhK4yVUIwf-Id1HKzt_1oLX7d4nKAL2tZRv8WWWKTuKikPLh0K0eV5_knCDWBpcX5DDKCfPsU4VwA9Deg/s1600/Shifters+Book+IV,+Prey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZNTGN7Scglcw8h4mRdh5niH1hC4uZ5oug_uSR6OhLkmap33Rf2gmj-g1F_dhK4yVUIwf-Id1HKzt_1oLX7d4nKAL2tZRv8WWWKTuKikPLh0K0eV5_knCDWBpcX5DDKCfPsU4VwA9Deg/s200/Shifters+Book+IV,+Prey.jpg" title="Cover image copyright MIRA" width="125" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Shifters (#4)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://rachelvincent.com/">Rachel Vincent</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.harlequin.com/store.html?cid=242">MIRA</a><br />
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Oh MAN, that feels so much better.<br />
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2012, as you may have noticed, wasn't such a great year for my blog. Between stressful events, burnout, and some disenheartening reading choices, I didn't have a lot of energy or motivation to focus on this blog. So, for my 2013 new years resolution, I resolved to get back in the saddle and start reading again. I picked up the fourth volume of Rachel Vincent's werecat series hoping that it would remind me why I do this. Though at times frustrating, Vincent's saga of fur, fangs, and feminism has never failed to grab me. I'm happy to report that <i>Prey</i> continues the series' high standard of quality.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>When we last left our heroine Faythe, her werecat pride was in a precarious state. Faythe herself had been acquitted of murder, but her friend, the refugee Manx, still had to face justice for her crimes. Marc has been exiled to the free zone, the no-man's-land between pride territories. Kaci, a teenage tabby improbably born of human parents, has been adopted by the pride and bonded with Faythe, but this proves as much a curse as a blessing. Psychologically unable to shift, Kaci is slowly fading away, and other alphas, particularly the slimy Calvin Malone, see an opportunity to claim custody of her for themselves. Amidst all of this Faythe is sent on a mission through the free zone, escorting Manx to her trial. She's psyched for the opportunity to see Marc again, but her elation doesn't last long. Ambushed by a huge force of outlawed strays, the caravan barely makes it to their destination. Then Marc vanishes from his home, leaving behind two dead strays and signs of a struggle. Faythe has to put everything on the back burner to try and rescue her love from his mysterious kidnappers.<br />
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The first two books of this series made it very hard to cheer for the good guys, with werecat society being sexist, tyrannical, isolationist, and generally backwards. <i>Prey</i> continues the trend, started in <i>Pride</i>, of portraying the south central pride as a voice of reason against the less progressively-minded werecats, particularly Calvin Malone. It works very well, and the story retains it's topical edge while no longer being rage-inducing. In particular, Faythe's characterization -- independant and competent, but hampered by the rules of her society -- is a much-needed contrast to authors who think feminism is a heroine with fate-decreed superpowers that needs to be rescued by the men in her life.<br />
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It's not just the social commentary that makes this a good book, though. Vincent is talented. In a genre crowded with half-hearted clones, self-published trash, and taudry romance novels, she stands out from the crowd with characters that are neither bland nor cliche nor idiotic. It happens too often that the bad guys start winning because the good guys do stupid things. Not so here. Admittedly, sometimes it takes Faythe and her pridemates a while to be smart<i> in the right way</i>, but they always make good decisions. Faythe herself has come a long way since <i>Stray.</i> She spends most of the book leading the search for Marc, and thus gets to look a lot less powerless and impulsive than she was painted in previous books.<br />
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Other characters have also evolved. Jace, the other love interest destined to wind up dead or tossed aside at some point, nevertheless grows into his own late in the game. We also get to see the human side of Greg, Faythe's dad, as both the tiredness and the frustration that comes with his job eat away at his stoic facade. Minor characters from previous books also return in beefier roles, a good sign the Vincent knows where she's going with all this.<br />
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Marc, oddly for this genre, seems to have been sidelined. He was already barely there in <i>Pride</i>, and he spends most of <i>Prey</i> as an off-page damsel in distress. This will likely ruffle some feathers among those who read this genre for the romance but I, for one, applaud the reversal of roles. After all, this story is about Faythe first and the prides second, and they have to stay at the center of it all.<br />
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For all that, I have to admit that this is one of the weaker books in the series in terms of plot. The first half is great, a slow build over many chapters, the mystery unfolding bit by bit, revelation by revelation. In this it's far superior to<i> Pride</i>, which dragged a lot. There's more action, more suspense, a lot more tension, and the plot moves in ways both unexpected and brutally obvious. To a large extent, this series has always been about chickens coming home to roost -- every book's conflict is ultimately provoked by the werecats' ass-backwards policies towards strays, women, and outsiders. <i>Prey</i> focuses on the latter; the exiles in the free zone don't trust Faythe to represent their interests, and given their mistreatment by the prides, can you blame them?<br />
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But then, just as things are building to a crescendo, the book shifts gears to a temporary side-trip, which turns into a permanent change of direction after some especially bad shit goes down. It works, in isolation; it's unexpected, it grabs your attention, and it tells you in no uncertain terms that shit has gotten real. And the aftermath gives the characters time to show off their humanity. But eventually, it's done with, and we have to go back to the main plot, which is no longer as interesting by comparison. Faythe has two goals throughout most of the book: First, find Marc, and second, find the bad guy, take him alive, and figure out what's going on. The bad shit makes number 2 unimportant, so we're left with just Faythe trying to rescue Marc. This robs the story of much of it's bite, meaning the finale kind of fizzles -- I was more interested in the fate of the secondary characters than Marc, although this might be my personal taste and sympathies.<br />
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Warts and all, though, I will always give props to this series' storytelling, if for no other reason than because the werecat books are a model of how to do a series <i>right</i>. None of this "one book for the price of three" nonsense, dragging things out forever and ever until the audience wanders away, bored. Each individual volume is a complete story, and yet also contributes to the series' overall plotline. And the stories are good, with just the right mix of action, angst, and suspense. If <i>Prey</i> stumbles -- and it does -- it still keeps on its feet better than the only-just-now-abetting flood of <i>Twilight</i> clones over the past few years.<br />
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So, an overall positive impression of <i>Prey</i>. It's not perfect, nor classic, but it is a much-needed reminder of the importance of solid craftsmanship. And the fact that there is still room to tell interesting stories in this genre. Hats off to Rachel Vincent for showing us how it's done.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-14244595688638406822012-12-17T19:30:00.000-05:002012-12-17T19:30:35.797-05:00Released<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOJ_pEhYShtKs4ZQkWIYM9pfGUlvDGwX2ABCw6WK61wt1yjXjQXaC8rV-5gA0jj3AtM7X9_KN7sj53VADAtTlsQ8VyMR3Qhb4lbwsKlQ72QF_F1dgrCNSp-eKerGG0HwahPyrb64ubPo/s1600/Released-900x1438-640x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOJ_pEhYShtKs4ZQkWIYM9pfGUlvDGwX2ABCw6WK61wt1yjXjQXaC8rV-5gA0jj3AtM7X9_KN7sj53VADAtTlsQ8VyMR3Qhb4lbwsKlQ72QF_F1dgrCNSp-eKerGG0HwahPyrb64ubPo/s200/Released-900x1438-640x1024.jpg" title="Cover image copyright the author" width="125" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Shapeshifters' Library (#1)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.amberpolo.com/">Amber Polo</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Self-published<br />
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Yes, I know. It was barely a month ago I swore off self-published books, and now here I am with another one. This is a special case. Most self-pubs, I get a request from the author to review, forget about how much I hate these things, and say "sure, I'll do it." <i>Released</i> is different; <i>I</i> approached the author about doing a review, because the idea was interesting. Then I promptly forgot about it. So, when I was clearing my slate of self-pubs, I remembered this, and figured that since I was the one who asked and that they've already been waiting quite some time, it would be rude of me to just toss the book out unread. So I read it, and I'm giving it a writeup, and I really wish I could say I enjoyed it. But alas, it's just the same problems as always.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Our heroine Liberty Cutter (the name, aside from being ridiculous, is a Library and Information Services pun) is the head librarian for the town of Shipsfeather, Ohio. After her library goes up in flames, the town decides to shut it down and convert the building into an upscale restaurant. Having already faced endless opposition from the town's leadership over just about everything, Liberty is about ready to call it quits. Public outcry intervenes, however, and instead she's put in charge of converting the old, abandoned Shipsfeather Academy building into the new library. Unbeknownst to the world at large, the Academy is home to an underground city of therianthropic dogs, which make their presence known to Liberty soon after she moves in. Academics and librarians themselves, the dog-shifters were trapped underground decades ago by a pack of book-burning werewolves (their ancient enemy). Chronus, one of their number, takes a shine to Liberty and begins offering clandestine assistance. But as the curse weakens and the dog-shifters' power grows, the werewolves that still control the town above make a play to eliminate their old rivals once and for all.<br />
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For a moment it really looked like <i>Released</i> was going to rekindle my interest in self-published novels. Okay, so it's cheesy as hell, with characters having absurd names like Bliss D. Light or Elsie Dustbunnie. And yeah, it's packing some rather annoying librarian stereotypes, and wields its pro-library, pro-literacy themes with the subtlety of a fifty-pound sledgehammer. But it has energy, at least in the early chapters. You can tell the author had a keen interest in what she was writing about. And it has a unique plot -- I've seen a lot of takes on therianthropes, but never seen them made the guardians of human knowledge. Most authors go the opposite way, playing the man-as-animal theme. So it's imaginative, if nothing else.<br />
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But a few chapters into <i>Released</i>, everything goes to hell. Often, while writing one of these reviews, I will mention a novel's pacing. Whenever I do, I cringe inwardly, because it always feels like scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to say. But if nothing else, <i>Released</i> reminded me just how utterly crippling bad pacing can be. About a quarter of the way through, we get the first Big Exposition Monologue and the plot stops dead in its tracks. For most of the remainder, it's big clumps of exposition, pointless filler scenes, and bad attempts at comedy. The decisions this author has made for her story are utterly disastrous; she devotes large amounts of pagespace to boring crap like holiday celebrations and keeps potentially interesting plot threads -- like the race for town mayor -- in the background. I'd go into details, but to be honest with you, by halfway through the book I had lost so much interest that I was skimming, and only sheer stubbornness kept me reading at all.<br />
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One thing I did manage to pick up on is the fact that this book has an idiot plot of the highest order. Just a few examples of the flagrantly stupid things major characters do to drive the plot:<br />
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<li>Elsie (who is revealed to be both werewolf and witch early on) was charged with the destruction of the dog-shifter library way back when, and instead of just killing and burning she locked them inside with a magic spell that A) still leaves them a limited degree of freedom and B) ensures that her fellow werewolves can't get into the library to finish the job.</li>
<li>Knowing they can move relatively freely, nobody in the library thinks to move the books to a different location. For that matter, although they're able to get food and internet access inside (which doesn't make a lot of sense either, but never mind that,) nobody think to send a message to their fellow shifters in the outside world saying "Werewolf trouble, plz send wolfhounds. Preferably w/guns."</li>
<li>Despite <i>knowing</i> that the werewolves are running the town, Chronus never tells Liberty that she should deal carefully with the townspeople. Liberty, for her part, doesn't make the connection between the bureaucrats who are blatantly stonewalling her at every turn and the werewolves she knows exist.</li>
<li>Despite coffee having been around since the 17th century, none of the dog-shifters in the library knew that it was bad for them.</li>
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I could go on. I wanted so much for this book to renew my faith in the self-publishing movement. As it is, all it proved to me was that self-pub is a woefully poor way to produce quality literature. The seeds of a good story are in here, and if the book had had an editor to point out and fix all the stupid things the author did wrong, it might have been worthwhile. But a self-pubber can't afford those resources, and so the result inevitably suffers. A pity.</div>
LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-82479680758740852562012-11-12T18:11:00.001-05:002012-11-12T18:11:50.613-05:00Shifted Perspective (Non-Review)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are certain rules to be followed when reviewing a book, especially if you're an author yourself. One of them is to evaluate the book as it is, not how you would have written it. I admit to having bent this rule in the past, but have generally respected it. Don't throw stones, after all. Don't rock the boat, don't open that can of worms, etc., etc.. Pick any idiom you want, you know what I mean. Well, I'm about to rock the boat big time. <i>Shifted Perspective</i> is such a fundamentally wretched book that I'm going to stand it up before you all and give you an enumerated list of how, exactly, author J. Bridger turned a decent idea into the festering pile of refuse it is today. (Which is why it's a non-review.) Mr. Bridger, if you are offended by what I am about to say about a book that you provided to me free-of-charge in exchange for my opinion, I am sorry. But I'm more sorry for myself for having suffered through it, because each of these 192 pages was like a knitting needle stabbed into my chest.<br />
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The plot of <i>Shifted Perspective</i> is not unique, but it is serviceable. During his senior year of high school, Caleb discovers he inherited therianthropy from his mother, turning into a cocker spaniel once a month and/or at will. Mom conveniently vanished into thin air before she could explain anything about it, and Dad is clueless about the whole affair. Fortunately Caleb's aunt and uncle are also therianthropes, so summer after high school, he gets shipped cross-country to live with them and learn the ropes. He also gets involved in a love triangle with a beagle-shifter named Penny and his high-school sweetheart Jo, with all three of them investigating a series of apparent werewolf attacks on innocent humans.<br />
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Now, here's what the author should have done to make this idea into something readable:<br />
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1) <i>Write a book, not a trilogy:</i> Any time I see a indie author hawking a debut novel with "Book 1 of" printed somewhere on the title page, my guard goes up. I don't dismiss it immediately, because hey, everyone has to start somewhere, and besides that the entire PNR/UF genre is series-oriented these days. But it indicates two things: first, that this author has big plans, the kind of plans a first-timer often doesn't have the experience or discipline to carry to the big, explosive climax 2 to 11 books ahead. Second, that there's a very good possibility the author will unwisely try to "pace himself"; do a disposable story first, to introduce the characters and the world, end the story on a cliffhanger to tease the audience, and then bring the big, awesome ideas in the sequel, after you've gotten the audience hooked. <i>Shifted Perspective</i> follows this procedure to a T: nothing much happens, we've got a conflict that is mainly a backdrop for us to learn about the characters involved, and the epilogue introduces a whole new plotline that promises bigger things in book 2. Here's the problem: I won't be buying book 2. A lot of readers won't, and why should they? Nothing happened in Book 1. It was 100% buildup and scene-setting. It was boring, pointless, and stupid. Yes, you could say things will improve now that we've gotten it out of the way, but what guarantee is there? I'm the one who's being asked to pay, what assurance do I have that book 2 won't be more of the same? If you can't handle small ideas, what kind of a mess are you going to make out of big ones?<br />
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2) <i>Stop telling me shit I don't need to know.</i> Nearly every werewolf book I've ever read tosses in a pile of expository dialog explaining how lycanthropy works. A few of the more daring souls toss their readers into the deep end and say "Learn fast!" Those writers I respect. In so doing they have demonstrated respect for my intelligence and confidence in their own writing. For the rest, I've learned to live with it. I'll never be used to it, but it's not the kiss of death. I can tolerate it so long as it doesn't go too far. <i>Shifted Perspective</i> goes way too far; not only does it deluge you with exposition, but most of it is either easily deduced from the goings-on of the plot, or completely irrelevant to the story being told. I'd give you examples, but here's the kicker: I don't remember any of it. The stuff that he showed me rather than telling, that I'm pretty clear on. The pages of lecturing from Kalista, Penny, and everyone else just went in one ear and out another, with none of it having stuck. On the subject:<br />
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3) <i>Cut the filler.</i> A story should be as long as it should be. No longer, no shorter. True, the market is pretty strict on wordcount; an author who strays outside the 80-100K range and gets published is extremely lucky, but still, there's only so far you can stretch things by getting creative. Self-publishing should have changed this, allowing authors to publish a story at whatever length they find suitable, but it hasn't. This, combined with disobedience of rule 1, gives us books full of scenes that don't matter. If you're lucky, some of them are fun on their own. I admit I liked those early scenes with Caleb learning how to get by on four legs from his pet bloodhound Sampson. But most of these throwaway bits I'd just as soon throw away. After the book morphs into an amateur-slueth tale, we get a few scenes of Caleb and Penny chasing down false leads; first a seedy she-wolf named Fang, then a roving bunch of roaming werewolf bikers. Neither lead pans out, which is to be expected in this kind of story, but neither adds anything to the story either. The protagonists just kind of shrug, say "Oh, well", and go on as if the preceding scene never happened. It's obvious setup for the sequel, but none of these characters have any further relevance to the story. Their scenes are a waste of time. As is the entire first half of the book, which seems to be from an entirely different genre. Thus leading us onward down the list to:<br />
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4)<i> Pick a story and stick with it.</i> Above, I described <i>Shifted Perspective</i> as a mystery story. It is, eventually. But that's the second half. The first half is about Caleb growing into his fur back home in small town america, and not only is it a dull and plodding story, but the tone is completely different from the second half. It plays lighthearted and occasionally comical and totally different from the second half, with it's grisly murders and undertones of corruption and shifter-on-human prejudice. I don't have problems with concatenating stories together, but there needs to be some kind of thematic unity, some thread connecting them. As is, the first half is just more aggravating and uninteresting filler.<br />
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5) <i>Don't keep the big stuff off-page. </i>There's no excuse for this one. The big turning points of your narrative should be on-page, where they can have an impact, not recounted after the fact. Unless you have some arty reason for deliberate anti-climax, you don't want to just throw out the window an opportunity to catch the reader's attention. So imagine how appalled I was when, during a time-skip in part one, Jo is in a car crash and sustain injuries that make her susceptible to epileptic seizures. Now, Caleb and Jo are estranged by now, on account of Caleb needing to keep his Very Big Secret under wraps. But she's still very important to him, and we should have gotten at least some reaction to that. But not only do we not see any such thing, the incident itself hardly matters. It's only purpose in the plot is so that Jo can be suddenly incapacitated at a critical point and need saving. This isn't the only incident. The human-killing werewolf is eliminated off-page by a secondary character while Caleb is running for his life, and the character behind it all doesn't show up until the epilogue, with little or no foreshadowing beforehand.<br />
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Some of you might look at this and think I'm projecting. Damn straight I am. This book is everything I did wrong with <i>Bonds of Fenris</i>, and nothing I did right. There is a good story in here, but it needed a good editor, a lot of rewrites, and a heaping helping of murder your darlings to bring it out. An author on his own, with nobody to tell him what he's doing wrong, cannot possibly produce optimal work.<br />
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I think I'm pretty much done with self-pubs on this blog. In fact, from now on I'm not reviewing self-published books unless they're from an author I already respect or recommended by someone whose judgement I trust. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite, but I just can't take another poorly-written, unedited piece of shit. These rank amateurs are killing my enthusiasm for reading.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-20670876542778727222012-09-24T18:02:00.001-04:002012-09-24T18:02:21.338-04:00Kitty Steals the Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66LYKizWoGGKcTjn72nZ48fbMKdYVImiDqYpEbjbHsgH7UxO8qZLUX73FyEtGkxhBoY2VgWdJtfcKgE5-V28fTIqjuHBXGAlhhn59srPp6yjKt8yEsoI8qNDtzi_lyaCpxC_J60uED_Y/s1600/kitty-steals-the-show-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66LYKizWoGGKcTjn72nZ48fbMKdYVImiDqYpEbjbHsgH7UxO8qZLUX73FyEtGkxhBoY2VgWdJtfcKgE5-V28fTIqjuHBXGAlhhn59srPp6yjKt8yEsoI8qNDtzi_lyaCpxC_J60uED_Y/s200/kitty-steals-the-show-small.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Tor Forge" width="124" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Kitty Norville (#10)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://carriev.wordpress.com/">Carrie Vaughn</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/TorForge.aspx">Tor</a><br />
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I've reviewed so much Kitty Norville by this point that I worry about repeating myself. I want to call this book a "return to form", but have I used that term in relation to one of her other recent books? I can't remember, and I'm too lazy to look it up. But it's true. After wandering into unfamiliar territory in her last outing, Kitty has gotten back to basics. The latest entry in this long-running series hearkens back to the early days, full of strange, remarkable, and above all human characters. It pays off: <i>Kitty Steals the Show</i> is the series' best book in years.<br />
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After years of toiling alone, Kitty Norville is finally getting some recognition. Not for her battles against the megalomaniacal vampire Roman, those remain secret. But her greater work of speaking out and speaking for the supernatural citizens of the world has gotten her tapped to deliver the keynote address at the First International Conference on Paranatural Studies in London, England. So, with husband Ben, perennial hanger-on Cormac, and no idea of what she's going to say, Kitty packs up and heads out. In London she runs into friends old and new, but also enemies. Because the vampires have likewise converged on London for a gathering of their own. Although the city is neutral ground, that won't stop Roman's lackeys from scheming. And they have an eye on a good, good friend of Kitty's.<br />
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Vaughn's biggest strength as a writer has always been her characters, and <i>Kitty Steals the Show</i> wisely puts them front and center. The idea of a conference where the supernaturals of the world come together before scientists and onlookers gives her the perfect excuse to bring back some old friends, and unlike <i>Kitty's House of Horrors</i>, this time they're here to be more than cannon fodder. Tyler, the special forces werewolf from <i>Kitty Goes to War</i>, is back and a major player in the plot. Emma, the newly-turned D.C. vampire who had her own story told in a short story, is also on the scene. And there are compelling newcomers as well, including a fairy queen whom I hope we get to see more of and the vampire master of London, Ned.<br />
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There is, however, a hazard in all this; a lot of characters means page space has to be divided many ways, and inevitably someone gets pushed aside. <i>Kitty Steals the Show</i> bites off a bit more than it can chew, and almost chokes. The pagecount is spread a little too thin over a few too many plotlines. Some of them could have really stood to get more focus. Luis, Kitty's wild fling from book 2, shows up unexpectedly, and you expect some tension between him, Kitty, and Ben, but that plotline winds up going nowhere. Cormac has his own storyline, which does go somewhere, but it doesn't relate much to the main plot. In fact, Cormac generally sticks out like a sore thumb. The major bullet point of his character since book 8 -- having the disembodied spirit of a ghost living in his head -- is something that's hard to get across with Kitty being the perspective character. Vaughn has recently made noise about spinning him off into his own novels, and that might be for the best; he's increasingly out-of-place in the main series.<br />
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Still, the overall story holds together well. Some might complain that nothing much happens, but this isn't true. Stuff does happen, and it seems to be prep for the final conflict with Roman, which might be coming sooner rather than later. In recalling the series' early days, there may be a tacit acknowledgment that the whole Long Game arc has fizzled, dragging the series towards epic chess games between forces of good and evil when Vaughn is much more comfortable and assured doing small-scale, personal stories. Again, the return to basics is welcome; <i>Kitty Steals the Show</i> has less to do with world-ending conflicts and more with Kitty finding her place in the world.<br />
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Do I have more to say? I guess not; I am, as always, a devoted fan, and <i>Kitty Steals the Show</i> serves up exactly what I wanted. Little surprised or shocked me, and as before, I never felt like the major players were in any real danger. But I don't have to be suprised; proper execution of an idea matters a lot more. I said over twitter that this book reminded me why I do this, and I wasn't exaggerating. In an environment where everyone regurgitates the same old stories and amateurs with less skill then they think dominate (yeah, yeah, glass houses,) Vaughn's solid craftsmanship and refusal to embrace cliches is a breath of fresh air. Would that I could read books like this more often.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-88955893392791527712012-08-16T19:16:00.000-04:002012-08-16T19:16:03.379-04:00Wolf Girls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNl8in6F3Vu0TsiLHr_8nX7Qfpel5V-9KR9tMjqp8cbvZZ5x6pJkFWSDE2H5W3MNXTTv6Yj3CEG94U5qtV6g90O0Ie3JSkjAstlewpkxihJeAikrf1mWnyK4PIM8Cg-5oyMTdHd1yKs8/s1600/wg+cover+only.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNl8in6F3Vu0TsiLHr_8nX7Qfpel5V-9KR9tMjqp8cbvZZ5x6pJkFWSDE2H5W3MNXTTv6Yj3CEG94U5qtV6g90O0Ie3JSkjAstlewpkxihJeAikrf1mWnyK4PIM8Cg-5oyMTdHd1yKs8/s200/wg+cover+only.jpg" width="132" title="Cover image copyright Hic Dragones"/></a></div><b>Series:</b> Stand -Alone<br />
<div><b>Genre:</b> Anthology</div><div><b>Author:</b> Various (edited by <a href="http://www.shewolf-manchester.blogspot.com/">Hannah Kate</a>)</div><div><b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.hic-dragones.co.uk/">Hic Dragones</a></div><div><br />
I get a lot of requests to review my fellow indies. I don't accept anywhere near as many as I'd like to, especially since I'm now trying to balence a regular job and my own writing career with my blog. But when Hannah Kate asked me to review her small press' new anthology, I couldn't say no. Hannah's blog is one of the most underrated on the net (at least when it's not drowning in CFPs), and her academic background gives her a needed dose of perspective on the stories we all rant and rave about. As an anthologist, she proves just as adept, as do the collection of lesser-knowns and up-and-comers assembled to write for her.<br />
<a name='more'></a>The stories on offer:<br />
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<b>A Good Mate is Hard to Find</b> (Nu Yang): A she-wolf living in the big city picks a serial killer to join her in lycanthropic bliss. Visceral, but a little rushed. There's no sense of character for the love interest, beyond tired serial-killer cliches, and the last-scene twist is perplexing. Solid writing keeps it together, but this story could have benefited greatly from a few more pages.<br />
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<b>Familiar</b> (Mary Borsellino): Centuries-old were takes in a new convert and teaches her the facts of life. Feels like the first chapter of a longer work, and as such has a threadbare plot. Old wolf finds new wolf, New wolf angsts, then gets over it at some time between the last two scenes so we can get on to the story. Only this is just an excerpt, so the story ends there. A disappointment, but the writing is good and the voice unique.<br />
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<b>The Deserter</b> (Lyn Lockwood): Romeo and Juliet meets Cowboys and Indians. Indian werewolves, anyways. One of the weaker stories, it does almost nothing with a premise that has some promise. Everything is recounted in a matter-of-fact tone, and nothing feels emotionally real. Plus, the old "Native Americans are werewolves" thing is a grating mix of cliche and stereotype.<br />
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<b>The Pull</b> (Mihaela Nicolescu): Dark romance between a wolf-girl and a terminally ill man. Well-paced and poignant, certainly worth reading. But it's emo as hell, with lots of brooding despair and the love interest's death as our heroine's hands being played as a happy ending. No thanks.<br />
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<b>Cruel Acts</b> (L Lark): Dreamlike story about strange characters in a Siberian boarding house. Not a lot of plot, focusing instead on atmosphere, but very good at creating atmosphere. Moody, evocative, and rancid with filthy details (in a good way). <br />
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<b>The Cameron Girls</b> (Jeanette Greaves): Racism and lycanthropy among the working class. Succinct, punchy story about understanding your children, or failing to do so. Like "Familiar", this feels like a prologue. It kinda is. According to Greaves, she has a lot of stories set in this world kicking around her head. I hope she share more of them with us someday.<br />
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<b>A Woman of Wolves Born</b> (Kim Bannerman): Historical fiction in which an abandoned she-wolf joins the Crusades. Framed as a folktale, it has compelling writing but can't seem to figure out what it's about. It jumps around to several points in our heroine's life, glossing over points (such as meeting a pack of fellow weres in the army) that deserved more extrapolation. A good read, but it feels like it's dropped the ball.<br />
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<b>Lucinda</b> (Lynsey May): Brief little gut-punch of a story about a sleazebag who seduces a she-wolf. Very impactful for its short length, although it lacks depth. <br />
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<b>Sender: She-Wolf</b> (Hannah Kate): Morality play about why you shouldn't watch nasty porn, especially not at work. A good story that feels out of place in a number of ways. For starters, a warning about the dangers of internet porn is well past it's freshness date in 2012. More bizarrely, Kate violates the rules of her own anthology. "Sender: She-Wolf" has nothing to do with werewolves except as a very thin metaphor; our villain is a nasty piece of malware instead. Shenanigans! Don't get me wrong, I liked this story. The characters are at once vivid and totally unsympathetic, and the plot keeps you in suspense. But it feels like it's in the wrong book. Kate should have stuck with the Stephen King direction she was heading in instead of petering out into a heavy-handed cautionary tale.<br />
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<b>Run Wolf</b> (J.K. Coi): A "Dangerous Game" story where a she-wolf is forced to fight her fellow weres by an unseen psychopath. Well-done, but unfortunately there's precious little about this genre that hasn't been done before, making the story as a whole feel cliche.<br />
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<b>Cut and Paste</b> (Rosie Garland): Two lesbian paranormals stalk some food. Good characterizations and a moving ending, but otherwise a rather thin plot that banks on suspense to carry itself. Suspense doesn't quite get the job done -- I was tapping my foot in places -- but the story was enjoyable overall.<br />
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<b>Nina Lupe-De-Loup</b> (R.A. Martens): Comical tale about a family of sideshow freaks and a man who gets the wrong idea about them. Cute, but awfully mean-spirited towards its male lead, a true believer with many screws loose. For the story to work, the eponymous Nina, and in fact most of the characters, has to be conveniently oblivious to the extent of his delusion until the last scene. Below average.<br />
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<b>Sweet Tilly</b> (Beth Daley): A suspenseful story of postpartum depression. Our heroine being a hospital cleaner who's memories of her own infant daughter are awakened by the sight of a baby girl in the maternity ward. The plot that ensues is very dark, downright ghoulish by the end. Writing skill and the author not pulling punches makes this the most memorable story in the collection, but it's way too much for me. In fact, I wish I could forget it. It's well crafted, though.<br />
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<b>Lunacy</b> (Marie Cruz): Eerie horror tale about a woman who develops symptoms after an altercation with a psychiatric patient. Great atmosphere and a bizarre twist ending shore up a plot that is otherwise very standard<br />
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<b>Fur</b> (Helen Cross): After a pair of dark tales, we swing to something lighter. A woman's husband tells the tragic tale of his wife's lycanthropic infection and her subsequent development of... body hair. Yes, that's it. And that's the joke, that this man is so shallow that such a thing is enough to utterly destroy his marriage, leaving him ranting on the internet about how awful lycanthropy is. I laughed.<br />
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<b>The Librarian</b> (Andrew Quinton): Recovering man-eater decides to put her dark desires to good-ish use via some vigilante justice. A fun story with a sympathetic heroine and solid pacing. Not a rosey tale, but it's a ray of light relative to some of the more cynical or horrific stuff in the book.<br />
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<b>Exiled</b> (Sarah Peacock): A teen runaway's lycanthropic awakening. Solidly written, but a bit cliche, and a huge wad of unnecessary expo-speak right in the middle brings it down. Decent enough, despite lacking a certain oomph.<br />
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In all, it's a good collection. Some editing issues, though. The conventional wisdom with anthologies is to start strong and finish strong. Kate finishes strong, alright, but front-loads the book with the lesser stories, making the first half of the book a slog. The second half is worth the effort, but many readers might not last that long. Were it me, I would have put the last story first. Not only is it generally stronger, it would leave the book starting with a lycanthropic awakening and ending with someone finding a purpose for her she-wolf-ness,. <br />
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Be that as it may, <i>Wolf Girls</i> is still a worthwhile read, with most of the contributors hitting their marks and some showing great promise indeed. </div>LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-41448209503396217722012-06-25T14:47:00.000-04:002012-06-25T14:47:58.250-04:00Taken by Storm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil19KsCehKcu1SmTqkgc1ocemk_ZBf_kxBehZueLZk68o3i_q_hnJSEDkWd44Lyu35KMlct72WvNePhRdKmSHScjfwwvSV2TtGcnmBAQuEIGx0l52_UZB1tZ3-XgY1BkI45-nR6PS_CmE/s1600/takenbystormSIDE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil19KsCehKcu1SmTqkgc1ocemk_ZBf_kxBehZueLZk68o3i_q_hnJSEDkWd44Lyu35KMlct72WvNePhRdKmSHScjfwwvSV2TtGcnmBAQuEIGx0l52_UZB1tZ3-XgY1BkI45-nR6PS_CmE/s200/takenbystormSIDE.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Egmont" width="133" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Raised by Wolves (#3)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://jenniferlynnbarnes.tumblr.com/">Jennifer Lynn Barnes</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.egmontusa.com/">Egmont</a><br />
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I'm fanboyish about Jennifer Lynn Barnes' <i>Raised by Wolves</i> series. This shouldn't be a secret to anybody who reads this blog regularly. So the news that <i>Taken by Storm</i> would be the last chapter of this series, at least for the time being, made me sad. After having read the book, however, I can totally see why Barnes wants to wrap things up. <i>Taken by Storm</i> is by no means a bad book, but there's a sense of fatigue about it; a feeling that's it's time to move on. All great stories, after all, must come to an end.<br />
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After the traumatic events at the end of <i>Trial by Fire</i>, Bryn has realized that she can't be a human in a werewolf world for much longer. Callum, the precognitive alpha of alphas, has promised to change her into a werewolf, but for reasons known only to him he refuses to do it just yet. To give herself a fighting chance, Bryn is instead training to use her innate power of resilience, in between high school and pack duties. The relative peace is shattered by a call from Shay, the scheming alpha of the Snake River Pack. Shay has called the Senate together to discuss a matter of grave importance: a rabid werewolf is on the loose, threatening to expose them all to the humans. And Callum confirms Bryn's worst fear: the rabid is, most likely, an old and troubled friend.<br />
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As I said, <i>Taken by Storm</i> isn't a bad book. Barnes still has her particular knack for storytelling. Characters are unique and distinct. Plot twists are unexpected, but not bullshit. Deeper themes about coming of age, standing by those you love, and making hard decisions are present. Overall, it's a compelling read. But the fire in the story is... well, not gone entirely, but dimmed. <br />
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The main problem with <i>Taken by Storm</i> is that it's just not enjoyable. While the series has always gone to dark places, the serious bits were mixed in with moments of hopeful, lighthearted energy. It was <i>fun</i>. <i>Taken by Storm</i> isn't fun. It's unrelentingly grim from start to finish. Characters die, survivors agonize, and there's a persistent sense of helplessness through it all. It's like the main objective here is to push our heroes to their breaking point, and while that's not bad storytelling, it's not pleasant to read either.<br />
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I get the sense it wasn't terribly pleasant to write, either. The writing is detached, as if Barnes' interest is distant. I get the sense that she's going through the motions, but her heart is not in this story anymore. The pacing is whacked, too. After a slow first half, we start getting plot twists one after another. To Barnes credit, all of these twists make sense; it doesn't feel like she's just throwing out random nonsense. (Well, except for that business of shadows, which wasn't foreshadowed even a bit to this point.) But it crowds the story unnecessarily. Interesting ideas wind up neglected. One bit that especially sticks out as mishandled is when they need to join forces with a former enemy. Great idea, I thought. He was a good character in the past, and he does indeed inject a bit of life into the proceedings. But rather than do anything with this, said character merely swoops in, does his thing, and then swoops out. Instead of playing up the potential drama of an interesting situation, we get a quick cameo, and then move on. Weak.<br />
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On the subject: the ending is also kind of weak. It feels like Barnes wrapped up the main story, then spent the last fifty pages on a mini-sequel. Those last fifty pages aren't bad, and in fact they make for a very satisfying ending. But it's has a tacked-on feel, and seems to be even more rushed than the preceding material.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;">The cast is probably let down the most. </span>Bryn was the chief attraction of the first two books, snarking and smartassing her way through life, with allies by her side adding their own personal brands of awesomeness. No more of that. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Bryn is world-weary and morose, scarred from the events of <i>Trial by Fire</i>. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Devon is still his same old self, but he's off-page for 90% of the book. Lake is here, but she fades into the background. The other returners have the same problems, reverting to bland nonentities. Only the mysterious Callum and antagonist Shay are in their usual form, and while they're both memorable personages, their prominence contributes to the sense that our main characters are powerless in the story.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">So overall: a decent read, a decent finale, but a letdown. <i>Taken by Storm</i> has</span><span style="background-color: white;"> thrilling bits, triumphal bits, and tragic bits; it's well-executed, though not so much as the previous books; it keeps you turning pages. But the plot's a huge downer, the themes gloomy, and the writing apathetic. Not a failure, but a definite stumble, and just before the finish line, too. By the end Barnes has wrapped up all the series' major plotlines, albeit some of them in a hurried manner, and that might be for the best.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">I still want more stories about these characters and this universe, but she needs to take a break and start fresh a few years down the line.</span>LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-89599697758809547472012-06-04T13:21:00.000-04:002012-06-04T13:21:12.046-04:00The Wolf Gift<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqUTsG1iiRNOFQYO-DhmFc8bl2DIxqQIM86CUIxsXPZ-Wxs3UPxbOcyC5Ug_l0aY1K7DWCAK1P-BoSvihZvodwLhm2L0Dos1JfSeeCVHrujevjBkxAOdFwEj1BjqOkoma0c7uYzmIBVI/s1600/thewolfgift-cvr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqUTsG1iiRNOFQYO-DhmFc8bl2DIxqQIM86CUIxsXPZ-Wxs3UPxbOcyC5Ug_l0aY1K7DWCAK1P-BoSvihZvodwLhm2L0Dos1JfSeeCVHrujevjBkxAOdFwEj1BjqOkoma0c7uYzmIBVI/s200/thewolfgift-cvr.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Knopf" width="135" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Stand-Alone<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://annerice.com/">Anne Rice</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://knopf.knopfdoubleday.com/">Knopf</a><br />
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When I heard Anne Rice was writing a werewolf novel, my eyebrows were raised. Her novels are, after all, one of the major touchstones of modern urban fantasy, second only to Chris Claremont's run on <i>X-Men</i> in their influence. So the fact that she's writing a werewolf novel feels like a personal stamp of approval; a rebuttal to the people who think of the current craze for things lycanthropic as just another passing fad. This is, after all, not some newbie hoping to make it big; this is someone who knows what she's doing, and she thinks the subject has storytelling potential. And, as expected of a writer of her experience, she fulfills that potential on a level that most don't bother reaching for.<br />
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Reuben Golding is a trust-fund kid with a degree in English who works for a San Francisco newspaper while hoping to someday do something more significant with his life. The job has him working on some interesting stories, but a house at Nideck Point does not initially appear to be one of them. The owner of the mansion, Felix Nideck, has been missing presumed dead for nearly twenty years, and his heir Marchent Nideck is trying to put it up for sale. Reuben is sent upstate into redwood country to do a piece on it, but once he sees the grand mansion Reuben falls in love with it. He also falls for Marchent, and a night spent together in bed is interrupted when Marchent's wicked cousins break in and kill her. The murderers are then themselves murdered by a strange beast, who also bites Reuben in the melee. Taken to the hospital, he recovers surprisingly quick, despite strange symptoms that his doctors can't account for. But after his release it soon becomes apparent that Reuben has changed. Convinced that Felix Nideck is somehow connected to the beast that attacked him, he sets out to try and figure out what exactly is going on, and how he can control the strange new urges he finds himself subject to.<br />
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<i>The Wolf Gift</i> did not exactly grab me from the start. In fact, the first chapter is hideously awful reading because it belabors the scene-setting. First we hear a description of Reuben and Marchent; fair enough, we need to get to know at least Reuben. Then we listen to Reuben and Marchent drop several pages of character and setting information disguised as sociable banter. Then we listen as the narration waxes on about Reuben's life. Then backstory on Marchent and Felix, florid description of his house's interior, and on and on for thirty pages before Marchent and Reuben jump into bed together and the fun begins.<br />
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Okay, that last part sounded dirtier than I intended. But the point is, I had to drag myself through thirty pages of exposition and description before the first interesting thing in the story happened. It was a chore. I slammed the book shut after two-thirds of that first chapter and nearly didn't pick it up again because I couldn't stand it. This isn't an isolated issue, either. The book's climax is around fifty pages from the end, and the remainder is mostly answers to questions that we hadn't really asked to begin with, seeming less like wrap-up than setup for a sequel. And there are scattered bits of it here and there throughout: Rice pausing the plot to shove Information That We Really Need To Know (But Don't) awkwardly through the narration or the dialogue. It drags the book down, and after awhile starts to feel like padding.<br />
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For all that, there are some important questions that are ultimately unanswered. In particular: why is it that, mere hours after they sleep together, Marchent changes her will so that Reuben inherits the house? The implication is that she was prepared to either die soon or fake her death as part of a cunning master plan. I was waiting for the reveal through the entire novel, and it never came. So... what? Was it just a contrived way to put Nideck Point in Reuben's hands, or is the answer being saved for the sequel?<br />
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Once the story gets going, though, things get better, albeit going in an unexpected direction. Much like its beleaguered protagonist, <i>The Wolf Gift</i> has a bit of an identity crisis near the beginning. At first it appears to be a mystery story with gothic and paranormal elements: creepy old house, family with a dark secret, inexplicable happenings. Then comes the crucial moment: Reuben wolfs out for the first time, and driven by a new desire analogous to a carnal urge, he takes off over the city rooftops to commit vicious acts of superheroism.<br />
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Yes, really. Apparently, Reuben now has the ability to smell evil on people, and his wolf form is correspondingly driven to kill the guilty and protect the innocent. So he prowls the streets under cover of darkness, visiting brutal vengeance upon the darkest specimens of humanity, and soon becomes known as The Man-Wolf of San Francisco.<br />
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Yeah, it kinda caught me off-guard too. But hey, if Rice wants to stretch a little as a writer, I'm down with it. And I must admit, she handles the new genre uncommonly well. A lot of superhero stories forget that these people are operating outside the law, dispensing beatings and even murder in the name of vigilante justice. Rice doesn't forget, and doesn't let Reuben or the audience forget either. In daylight hours, when beast mode wear off, Reuben agonizes regretfully over his actions the night before. He pens articles for his paper about how the Man-Wolf is a sad creature that should be pitied rather than lionized, and he's not trying to throw the police off the trail, either. He honestly worries for the state of his conscience. Underneath it's paranormal trappings, <i>The Wolf Gift</i> is unquestionably a superhero yarn, but it's also a brutally realistic deconstruction: A hero conscious that he is not a hero, no matter what anyone says, and tormented by his alleged heroism.<br />
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There's another swerve in the story, and this one Rice doesn't handle so well: the addition of Laura to the cast. Laura is an older but not old woman living a hermit's life in the forest. Reuben stumbles upon her after a night of avenging evil and hunting small forest animals, their eyes meet, and then they jump into bed together and fall in love.<br />
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Well, okay, it's handled a <i>little</i> better than that. What happens is: they meet by accident at night in the woods. She's captivated, he's horny. A passionate, furry one-night stand ensues. Fine. It's good enough that the next morning they want to see each other again sometime. Fair enough. Reuben goes home and does some internet searching to dig up her backstory. A little creepy, but understandable; He's living a double life, after all, can't trust just anybody. Then he goes back to her and they bone again, as planned. In the morning, they're in love.<br />
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I was going to say that this is the point where the whole romantic subplot falls apart, but now that I think of it, maybe not. In fact, there's a totally plausible explanation for it: shared loneliness. Laura has, as said before, been living a hermit's life for some time. Reuben, meanwhile, has found his life taking an unexpected turn that has distanced him from everyone he knew, so that he feels utterly alone in a strange world. It's natural that both would be somewhat desperate for companionship.<br />
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So, yes, it's love at first sight, but in this particular instance I can forgive it. What I can't forgive is that Laura then goes on to contribute nothing to the story. She doesn't take any action to resolve anything, nor does she inspire Reuben to do anything he wouldn't have done in the first place. The best she does is hold Reuben back from doing things that he would have done if not for fear of her safety, and the instances in which she does this are nearly irrelevant. She's dead weight to the story. The only thing she adds that couldn't have been added otherwise is a reason for Rice to add in scenes of sensual foreplay which... you could argue is worth the trouble, honestly. Rice is <i>good</i> at this stuff.<br />
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Yes, I'm shallow. Screw you too. I don't complain when <a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/search/label/Series%3A%20Shifters">Faythe and Marc</a> hit the mattress for their contractually mandated once-per-book roll in the hay, do I?<br />
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(Watch that question bite me in the ass after I get around to reading <i>Prey</i>. Go ahead, just watch.)<br />
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Ahem...<br />
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I've gone on quite a bit about what <i>The Wolf Gift</i> does wrong, but said very little about what it does right. Ultimately, the good does outweight the bad, but whereas the bad sticks out like a sore thumb, the good is more subtle. I'd say that the most distinctive feature of <i>The Wolf Gift</i>, the one that kept me reading when it ran into rough patches, is the skill with which the characters are drawn. Aside from Laura, who comes off as a bit of a Mary Sue, nearly the entire cast feels real, with realistic goals that they set about achieving in a reasonable manner. Reuben's relationships with his friends and family, which is at the core of the story, are true to life and feel genuine. There is a bit of a stumbling block in that practically every named character is rich, which makes it hard for this starving artist with no day job to empathize in places.<br />
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And the story takes us to places, thematically, that are rare and rewarding. There's a very strong religious angle in play here, as is probably to be expected. Rice has had a rather tempestuous relationship with religion in recent years, and it's tempting to see this book as an examination thereof. Certainly a huge element of Reuben's disquiet with his new form is a worry about what it does to his moral identity. Even if you banish the whole "avenging angel" business, he is still driven to do things that his human self considers wrong or unseemly. He is driven by desires he doesn't understand and can't accept, but can't resist either. And yet, he also can't escape the fact that it <i>feels</i> inarguably right. If this all seems like a sexual metaphor, the idea occurs to Rice too: at one point she compares wolfing out to an erection. But it's deeper than that. It's about personal versus social ideas of morality, about what our conscience tells us is right versus the rules others set for us to follow.<br />
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So, no, this isn't a perfect book, but then again what is? <i>The Wolf Gift</i> is still worth reading as a compelling study of both human characters and of big philosophical questions. I can give it a very confident recommendation.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-26645626351040426292012-05-04T16:26:00.000-04:002012-05-04T16:26:56.311-04:00Bloodrose<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrwh-d12yizIT9khR77c-SFgLArb3VaOMP2cS2pn_FhZldChL4SQYxSpxeNgR6D1MRdoySiQSzJRWkGT1Bc4g36wvmDhMSnryJyNVtb-4Tj9-vkX0eExi110kBGd5dNg2S-lRqBQP-qs/s1600/bloodrosecvr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrwh-d12yizIT9khR77c-SFgLArb3VaOMP2cS2pn_FhZldChL4SQYxSpxeNgR6D1MRdoySiQSzJRWkGT1Bc4g36wvmDhMSnryJyNVtb-4Tj9-vkX0eExi110kBGd5dNg2S-lRqBQP-qs/s200/bloodrosecvr.jpg" title="Cover art copyright Philomel" width="133" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Nightshade (#3)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.andreacremer.com/">Andrea Cremer</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.nightshadebook.com/">Philomel</a><br />
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The <i>Nightshade</i> books have had their ups and downs. The first volume gave us an impressively deep story with a lot of potential, but also some issues arising from a tenderfoot author and an overdose of epicness. The sequel <i>Wolfsbane</i> stumbled, giving us more epicness when we had too much to begin with while introducing new problems. <i>Wolfsbane</i> was still a decent book, but it was more or less coasting on readers' goodwill. That goodwill is now exhausted. <i>Bloodrose</i> is thus a make-or-break point. Either the trilogy finishes strong, leaving open the possibilities for sequels (and prequels, one of which is being hyped as we speak), or it sputters out. After reading, I have to report with sadness that it's the latter.<br />
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<i>Wolfsbane</i> ended with Calla sneaking behind enemy lines to retrieve Ren, the third wheel in the series' ongoing love triangle. <i>Bloodrose</i> picks up as her mission goes horribly wrong and she gets captured... err, well no, actually. I was expecting that -- I think we all were -- but in reality she meets Ren, already reeling from the climax of the last book, and successfully convinces him to defect to the side of the good guys. After Calla lays down the law and forces a truce between Ren and Shay, the Searchers and rebellious Guardians join forces to retrieve the remainder of the Elemental Cross, all the while preparing for the final battle with Bosque Mar.<br />
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I liked <i>Bloodrose </i>while I was reading it. It's well-paced, and draws you in. But at the end, I have to say I felt cheated. The story wasn't what I was expecting, and not in a good way either. The first book set a lot of stuff out on the table. There were themes of social injustice and oppression that drew on Cremer's background as a history scholar and elevated the book above the usual Paranormal Romance cliches. There was a deep history to the world, stretching back centuries and with official records obscured by the Powers That Be. There was a cast full of well-developed characters, all with distinct personalities and their own personal conflicts to deal with.<br />
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But after the first book, all that was chucked aside in favor of a much less interesting direction. The themes were buried under the storyline of a shallow fantasy adventure. <i>Wolfsbane</i> dropped most of the first book's cast in favor of giving page time to a equally-large but less-interesting group of newcomers, and now the third book fails to bring the old cast back into focus. And the history and backstory are pushed aside in favor of an utterly <i>retarded</i> Dismantled MacGuffin plot. One of my favorite moments of <i>Wolfsbane</i> was Shay getting <i>right in the fourth wall's face</i> to diss this storyline as trite and unoriginal. When your own <i>characters</i> tell you that your story sucks, maybe you should back up and try something different.<br />
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Don't get me wrong. If the <i>Nightshade</i> series had been a unapologetic fantasy adventure from the start, and done right, I might have enjoyed it. But book one captivated readers by promising meatier fare than usual, so when I get this I just stare and wonder, "<i>This</i> is what Cremer had in mind all along?"<br />
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And she doesn't really do it right, either. Her action scenes are not memorable. She wastes time with pointless filler like rock climbing and scuba diving. She kills off characters and totally fails to make it meaningful or moving. And she stuffs her story to the gills with cheese. The climactic fight scene is corniness from start to finish, ending with a tying up of loose ends that I swear to God was ripped straight from <i>Doctor Who. </i>And that's not even getting into forty pages of post-fight angst that exist purely because we couldn't have a happy ending.<br />
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At points the <i>Nightshade</i> series reminded of Gena Showalter's <i>Intertwined</i> books, in that I get the feeling that both authors really want to be writing <i>X-Men</i>. <i>Nightshade</i> has the same expansive cast, complex personal relationships, and serious themes underlying the story, but doesn't do anywhere near as much with them. Or, perhaps more accurately, <i>can't</i> do much with them. Since the middle of book two, the elephant in the room has been that Cremer had bitten off way more than she could possibly chew. Every named character has at least one subplot of his own, and there's just not enough page space for all of them. So when the time comes for the buildups to have payoffs, we get wrap-ups instead. Quick and tidy resolutions that sometimes defy credibility. The saving grace, if you can call it that, is that most of these characters have been out of focus for so long that the audience doesn't care that they're being shafted. At one point it's mentioned that Cosette committed suicide off-page, with horrified reactions from Calla. My own reaction was "Ummm... who?" I spent five minutes trying, but couldn't for the life of me remember who Cosette was, or whether or not I had ever cared about her. So it stinks, but it's not a lost game so much as a scoreless draw.<br />
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But enough generalities. We have to talk specifics. In particular, we have to talk about Ren.<br />
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I'll tell you this for probably the third time: as a character, I like Ren. Not in the manner that many readers seem to, but I've always thought Cremer handled him well. The narrative has been uncompromisingly upfront about his failings, but has nonetheless depicted him sympathetically as a victim of the society he lives in. All this came to a head in the <i>Wolfsbane</i> finale and left him two possible paths to follow: abandon his old ways and seek atonement, or embrace the monster and become that which destroyed him. He chooses the former. I generally like it when the story goes that way, because I don't believe that a man can become irredeemable. But Cremer botches the execution so badly that it brings the book down.<br />
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Here's the thing: At the end of <i>Wolfsbane</i>, Calla chose Shay as her love and abandoned the Keeper's society completely. At that point, the love triangle was resolved. Shay wins, and Ren's plotline from then on should have been about his search for redemption. For whatever reason, though, Cremer didn't want to do it that way. So she moves the princess to another castle by having Ren and Shay get all alpha-male on each other, which in turn forces Calla to broker a truce by holding her love hostage until the Keepers are defeated. I might be able to buy that plot twist if it was done well. Certainly it's realistic; people don't just change overnight. The problem is, it is obvious to all three parties that Ren has no chance. Calla has chosen Shay, whether she admits to it or not. Shay knows this, and if he's in anyway unsure it becomes obvious after Shay tries to "set Calla free" and she responds "the hell you will!" and jumps on him for make-outs. (Okay, not <i>exactly</i>, but you get the idea.) Ren himself, in one of the book's best scenes, reveals that he wants another chance and that, deep down, he knows he's not going to get it. Everyone knows that the truce is nothing more than a formality. The game is over.<br />
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(Spoiler incoming)<br />
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But this stalling tactic does succeed in wrecking any hope Ren has of redemption. Calla was presented to him by the Keepers as a reward for his loyal service. A crucial step in turning over a new leaf is giving her up. He doesn't get the chance. Instead, he winds up in limbo for the entire book, and dies without having had any kind of cathartic moment. It's not even a particularly ennobling death, it's more like Cremer tying off yet another loose end. Ren is essentially killed off in the middle of a stalled character arc because the book was ending soon. Weak, dudette. Maximum weak. Love him or hate him (Lord knows I've done both), Ren was one of the lynchpins of the story, and he deserves better than to be casually tossed aside.<br />
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(End of spoilers)<br />
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This series is disappointing to the point of being depressing. It had so much going for it at the start, but over the course of two sequels everything great about it has dribbled away bit by bit. I'm not going to be reading the <i>Nightshade</i> prequels, or the sequels suggested by the fact that several villains are still at large. Cremer still has some talent, and maybe with a fresh start she'll be able to make the most of it. But I just don't have the patience. Sorry.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-15625097795636924752012-04-20T15:58:00.001-04:002012-04-20T15:58:45.341-04:00Running With the Pack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikMg2Oqu7nX85RwkdQJxccq3AnRCxdrbLT-yu3JbOByb_hG8FO23T26xTWIRJy6ydjec6chuB9NYv3p40oM4fuLZp5xQBSBMyT5ro13BIyYo8x-vLJ-3iYxndUTAtfQKh6-fq5R2iSLIQ/s1600/6726099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikMg2Oqu7nX85RwkdQJxccq3AnRCxdrbLT-yu3JbOByb_hG8FO23T26xTWIRJy6ydjec6chuB9NYv3p40oM4fuLZp5xQBSBMyT5ro13BIyYo8x-vLJ-3iYxndUTAtfQKh6-fq5R2iSLIQ/s200/6726099.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Prime Books" width="127" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Stand-Alone<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Anthology<br />
<b>Author:</b> Various (edited by <a href="http://www.ekaterinasedia.com/">Ekaterina Sedia</a>)<br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.prime-books.com/">Prime Books</a><br />
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I'm happy to report that the popularity of werewolf fiction has not declined during my hiatus: all the books that I had planned to review first thing I got back had been checked out of the library before I got there. So, I improvise. I got <i>Running with the Pack</i> as a gift from a <a href="http://djlibrariandishes.blogspot.com/">blogging friend</a> a while back, and had meant to get around to it last year, but stuff kept coming up. So, maybe this is fortuitous: one should, after all, dispense with old business before getting to new.<br />
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There's no major theme or gimmick for this anthology, beyond werewolves. That means the authors have full license to unleash their creativity, and produce a remarkably varied body of work.<br />
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Let's get right into the play-by-play:<br />
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<b>Wild Ride </b>(Carrie Vaughn): Since I've <a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/08/kittys-greatest-hits.html">reviewed this before</a>, I skipped over it. I do note, however, that it's one of Vaughn's better shorts, and thus well-suited to an opening act.<br />
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<b>Side Effects May Include</b> (Steve Duffy): After breaking a wisdom tooth during a business trip to Hong Kong, a London businessman goes to a back-alley doctor and gets more than he bargained for. Good writing, but poor consistency. It's a mixture of comedy and horror, but the comedy is too restrained, and the horror doesn't hit in full force until near the end. The swing is pretty abrupt, too, without the growing dread that one expects of a horror story's second act. The story also struts out ethnic stock characters. Though not offensively stereotypical, they're still stock characters, and in poor taste. Actually, the whole story is pretty stock, like a less-then-stellar episode of <i>The Twilight Zone</i>. Average.<br />
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<b>Comparison of Efficacy Rates for Seven Antipathetics as Employed Against Lycanthropes</b> (Marie Brennan): What, was there a special award for the longest title? Sheesh. Well, anyway, this is the research paper of a slightly-mad scientist, documenting his field-testing of various traditional werewolf-killing implements with the aid of a colorful assortment of hunters. A black comic yarn that pokes fun at detached scientists and various cliche werewolf-hunter plots. Swift-paced and very entertaining. Bonus points for linking Patricia Briggs' <a href="http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/silver/silverbullets.shtml">article on silver bullets</a>.<br />
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<b>The Beautiful Gelreesh</b> (Jeffrey Ford): A mysterious creature uses his glamour and a talent for sympathy to prey upon depressed individuals. After a promising beginning, the plot goes nowhere. It piles on exposition, seems to be building to something, then ends with a pointless campfire-tale twist. Doesn't even seem to have a point, though I suppose it could be a screed against therapists or something. And by the way, Gelreesh is nothing like a werewolf. As described, he's more of a beastman. Shenanigans!<br />
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<b>Skin in the Game</b> (Samantha Henderson): The newcomer in a group of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunco">Bunco</a>-playing ladies schemes to cheat them out of the pot. Good buildup let down by poor characterization. Only the main character has any, and she doesn't have enough. A disposable tale with little to recommend it.<br />
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<b>Blended </b>(C.E. Murphy): Victorian romance about a she-wolf in search of a suitable mate who finds the hunter that killed her family instead. A compelling story, tense and well-written. Some fridge logic, thin characterizations, and a too-convenient ending work against it. But it holds together very well despite these problems. Worth reading.<br />
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<b>Locked Doors</b> (Stephanie Burgis): After Mom walks out, an eighth-grader is stuck alone caring for his lycanthropically-afflicted father. Emotionally powerful, but undermined by metaphorical dissonance. The author seems to want us to believe a cigar is just a cigar, but it's very difficult to interpret this as anything other than a story of domestic violence. Consequently, it's an awkward read, sympathetic toward its werewolf when that sympathy seems undeserved. And if it is meant to be taken at face value, it's hard to ignore the fact that the central conflict could have been solved easily by a dumbwaiter, or a food chute, or just taking better precautions.<br />
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<b>Werelove</b> (Laura Anne Gilman): The neighborhood's Cool Old Woman dispenses brutal honesty to the local children, then has to advise a woman trying to break from her husband. Enthrallingly written. The main character conveys a sense of the world-weary resignation and iron will common to cool old ladies. Unfortunately, I was put off by the fact that it's the second story in a row to deal with domestic violence. This makes the title feel like false advertising, and the story a cliche even though it really isn't. Enjoyable, but depressing.<br />
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<b>In Sheep's Clothing </b>(Molly Tanzer): ...and from that to a story that begins "My daughter turned into a lamb and I ate her." Real ray of sunshine, this book. A hippy woman and her daughter survive an apocalypse brought on by high-fructose corn syrup. Then things get <i>really</i> weird. Distinctive tone: crazy woman in a crazier world. The narrative is well-paced and well-written, but something about it just failed to grab me.<br />
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<b>Royal Bloodlines </b>(Mike Resnick): Resnick had a story in <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/05/full-moon-city.html">Full Moon City</a></i>, about a gyspy-cursed lycanthrope and a 40's gangster entering the former in a dog show. And this... is the same story. I mean, literally<i> exactly the same</i>. We're dealing with a gambling preacher instead of a racketeer, but other than that the major plot points are identical right down to the twist ending. Shenanigans! Shenanigans and BULLSHIT! I admit that it's improved over the last version. And yeah, it's funny, and with a lot of dark stories in here something lighter is welcome. But c'mon, Mr. Resnick. You've been in the writing business a long time, and this kind of shameless recycling is unbecoming.<br />
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<b>The Dire Wolf </b>(Genevieve Valentine): A were tracks down a murderous fellow-were while dealing with a human lover she abandoned years ago, but still carries a torch for. Difficult to follow: the perspective jumps in and out of several time periods, giving it a rambling quality. But the tone is very compelling: moody and contemplative without being emo, hopeful without being happy. Very nice.<br />
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<b>Take Back the Night</b> (Lawrence Schimel): Aging lesbian feminist meets werewolf version of same and joins her for some vigilantism because... umm... well, basically because they have nothing better to do. Interesting protagonist, well drawn and sympathetic. But she's wasted in a plot that's a stream of cliches.<br />
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<b>Mongrel </b>(Maria V. Snyder): Homeless teenager who hangs out with dogs takes in an injured werewolf and gets mixed up in his problems. Exemplary work, powered by distinctive voice, brisk pacing, and a clever heroine. The swing to romance in the last few pages is unnecessary and awkward, but takes nothing away from what precedes.<br />
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<b>Deadfall</b> (Karen Everson): Teenage she-wolf in a hick town goes out to avenge a hate crime. Quality storytelling all around, despite some reliance on cliche. The twist ending is both highly appropriate and surprisingly satisfying. Well worth reading.<br />
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<b>Red Riding Hood's Child</b> (N.K. Jemisin): Young boy in pre-industrial town draws the eye of the local pedo in an allegorical tale of gay sexual awakening. Very suspenseful, with a fast-paced plotline; top-notch work on technical merits. However, the story falls apart completely when you take a minute to think about it. Halfway through, our hero escapes the predator by fleeing in the woods, meeting a werewolf who offers him lycanthropy and a gay relationship. The boy refuses, which the wolf is cool with, but then returns home to find his caregiver murdered. He returns to the wolf, takes him up on his offer, and then the story ends with them heading out to take revenge. Here's the thing: if the boy is still young enough to be the target of a pedo, how is the wolf any different for taking advantage of him? If the boy isn't young enough, then it's an issue of consent, so that makes sense. But it doesn't gel with tone and characterization up until that point. You could claim, I suppose, that he becomes an adult when he sees his mother-figure murdered and is left to fend for himself, but on any level but the purely metaphorical that's absurd. A compelling story, but it needed a few more revisions.<br />
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<b>Are You a Vampire or a Goblin?</b> (Geoffrey H. Goodwin): A woman in an asylum is trying to decide whether she's a vampire or a goblin. Starts off as a black comedy about mental healthcare, but then spirals further and further into WTFery. I think it's trying to pull the same trick as <i>One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest:</i> the perspective character's mental problems distort reality so that the story becomes surreal, but understandable. The true reality is there, just beneath the surface, and with a bit of effort you can see it. Here, though, the author goes too far with the bizarre and dreamlike, so that clarity is lost. As a result, I have no idea what to make of it. It seems like pure weirdness for the sake of weirdness, and it left me feeling baffled and unsatisfied.<br />
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<b>The Pack and The Pickup Artist</b> (Mike Brotherton): Title says it all, really. Pickup artist targets a knockout, gets more than he bargained for. Rich characterization and snappy dialogue pulls you into this one. Suspenseful, although this may be a mistake. It's primed to end bloodily throughout its length, but doesn't. Still, I did like the way it turned out, and enjoyed the story as a whole.<br />
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<b>The Garden, The Moon, The Wall </b>(Amanda Downum): Haunted by ghosts, her dead boyfriend, and a craving for the meat of the dead, a young woman is drawn into a dreamlike journey into the underworld. Very evocatively written, but threadbare. Feels more like an outline than a complete story, and left me feeling like I'd missed something. Also very thin on backstory details, with the effect that there seems to be a very long history here that we're not getting. I suspect this may be an excerpt or side-story from a full novel or series.<br />
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<b>Blamed for Trying to Live</b> (Jesse Bullington): A black teenager living in a poor neighborhood of Tallahassee searches for an escape. Very interesting on technical merits. It seems like it's going to descend into cliches at any minute, but deliberately fakes you out before sidestepping them nimbly. After the early scenes, you expect that the dad will be either uncaring or outright abusive. But he turns out to be an alright guy who cares deeply for his son. You expect the local assholes to take the opportunity to bully the main character just because. In fact, when they run into each other, the assholes just walk on, having other things on their mind. You expect our hero, upon wolfing out, will roam the streets and take revenge for his screwed-up life. Instead, he just sneaks around, observing the ghetto like a fly on the wall, and eventually makes his way back home. And in fact this is exactly the point: our hero thinks he's in a horrible, lousy situation, and he may be, but things are also a who lot less bad than he thinks. In other words, the story is about opening your eyes and seeing past your preconceptions to see the world as it is. Very, very nicely done.<br />
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<b>The Barony at Rodal </b>(Peter Bell): A travelogue through Norway with a bit of intrigue tacked awkwardly on at the end. The scene-setting is great, but takes up half the story. And the other half is all buildup. The story ends as soon as it should be getting interesting, and nothing is explained. Boring and tedious.<br />
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<b>Inside Out</b> (Erzebet Yellowboy): A were struggling with her affliction finds another of her own kind imprisoned and tries to free her. Very well-written, with a pseudo fairy tale tone that reminded me of the excellent <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2010/10/sisters-red.html">Sisters Red</a></i>. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. Part of the problem may be that it's too long. A short story is supposed to be briskly-paced, but this one drags its feet, with lots of scenes that serve little purpose. Still, it's well-crafted and I liked it.<br />
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<b>Gestella </b>(Susan Palwick): Bitter, cynical, brutally dark feminist fable about a werewolf who gets tamed to be a college professor's trophy wife. By turns heart-rending and rage-inducing, a sign of good writing. But also the single grimmest story in the anthology, with a powerless protagonist, an unsympathetic supporting cast, and an ending that borders on nihilistic. And as a general rule, I'm not terribly appreciative of being beaten over the head with how much my gender sucks.<br />
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My final assessment is... surprisingly tepid, I'm afraid. The overall quality level of the writing is above average, but the book's a huge downer. Most of the stories feature characters in horrible situations, often unavoidably destined for tragedy. The occasional hopeful resolution or comic tale does nothing to dispel the relentless miasma of gloom that hangs over the book. So while I can definitely admire the stories on display for their technical merits and craftsmanship, I'm hard pressed to say I <i>enjoyed</i> them. In fact, this may be part of why it took me so long to get through the book. Somewhere past the halfway point, I had to start forcing myself to read. I thought it was simple fatigue, but looking over the review I've just written, I'm convinced it was actually that I just couldn't stomach another depressing story of loss and suffering.<br />
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The bottom line is that while I respect the quality and more or less enjoyed the book, I enjoyed <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2010/12/strip-mauled.html">Strip Mauled</a></i> more. Yes, the quality was a lot spottier, but it was <i>fun</i>, and for all its merits <i>Running with the Pack</i> is not a very fun book.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-82137716773948676872012-04-03T15:44:00.000-04:002012-04-03T15:45:13.379-04:00Promise of the Wolves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMd2ZR7Cfx1AVYHd_ay6SNY1qiQUklmb0WVbp5kG7Up7mNNPNQIe3CQeZQnNP38tKKb4KqMi3hu7rfWw5TKPGCO2NcyaiYPxwXndPSEKAIlkMMKxMJP7CiGeJJkq4ybTNSyXTW8JbzBVI/s1600/9781416569992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMd2ZR7Cfx1AVYHd_ay6SNY1qiQUklmb0WVbp5kG7Up7mNNPNQIe3CQeZQnNP38tKKb4KqMi3hu7rfWw5TKPGCO2NcyaiYPxwXndPSEKAIlkMMKxMJP7CiGeJJkq4ybTNSyXTW8JbzBVI/s200/9781416569992.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Simon and Schuster" width="123" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Wolf Chronicles (#1)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.dorothyhearst.com/">Dorothy Hearst</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/">Simon and Schuster</a><br />
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I've been duped. Or rather my girlfriend, who got me this book for Christmas, has been duped. But I don't mind too much, because a good story is a good story.<br />
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If you've seen this book marketed as a werewolf book, it ain't. It's a fantasy novel that takes place 14,000 years ago, before the neolithic revolution. Is there a genre for prehistoric fantasy? There ought to be, because I can think of two or three works using a similar conceit. You could also argue that <i>Promise of the Wolves</i> is a furry story, since most of the main characters are essentially talking wolves. So I'm a bit out of my element here, but not enough that I can't recognize a worthwhile tale being told.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The story takes place in a sheltered river valley which is home to several packs of wolves and abundant prey. Our heroine is a wolf named Kaala, whose mother made a big mistake by consorting with a wolf from outside the valley. Kaala and her siblings were the result, and when the Swift River pack finds out, they massacre the pups and banish mom from the valley. Kaala herself survives, thanks to the intervention of the Greatwolves, a kind of higher power that regulates the governing of the packs in the valley. The Swift River alpha reluctantly adopts Kaala into his pack, but this is just a temporary respite. Kaala has a year to prove that she deserves to be a Swift River wolf, and with the alpha against her she'll needs to make friends with the other wolves to do so. Complicating matters further is the fact that there are humans in the valley. The wolves are charged to avoid humans on pain of apocalyptic disaster, but they also feel a strange mystical connection. Almost irresistible.<br />
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This is, as I said before, a fantasy novel, and heir to all the tropes associated therewith: the hero/heroine marked for a great destiny, the series of trials she has to go through to meet it, the wise old hermits that show up now and again to babble exposition, and so forth. The protagonist is a wolf trying to fit in with lupine society, but that hardly matters. The entire story could be transplanted onto a tribe of prehistoric humans and lose nothing. So <i>Promise of the Wolves</i> is not an especially original story, but it's still a well-told tale. The werewolf stories I so love are built upon an unspoken connection between human beings and the primal, animal self inside us. <i>Promise of the Wolves</i> turns that common device around, showing us a group of animals that are not so different from the humans they co-exist with. As the story goes on, many of the wolf characters wind up paired with humans who share their attributes, further driving home the point that we are all in this together.<br />
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If I have a major problem with this book, it's that it switches gears halfway through and never gets back to the story it was telling. Kaala's goal through the first half of the book is to be accepted by the pack. Midway through, she becomes convinced that this is impossible, and the remainder of the book is devoted to averting a war between the humans and wolves. You could tie both together to <i>Promise of the Wolves</i> being a story about Kaala finding her place in the world: when she fails to make it in her pack, she finds another place for herself instead. But in the end, Kaala neither rejects one world nor accepts the other. This makes sense intellectually. Neither society is depicted as bad, and the author is clearly favoring a peaceful coexistence. But it still feels like I've been cheated out of the payoff.<br />
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Likewise, the book has the old issue of being the first of a projected trilogy. A love triangle is blatantly set up for future books, and the important revelations are sidestepped with the usual "you're not ready for that yet." But it averts the worst of this by keeping the focus on the story it's telling, and though I can't say much was truly resolved, there's at least a temporary victory at the end, and a feeling that things have changed significantly. I do not feel like I've merely been teased into buying the next book, is what I'm saying.<br />
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<i>Promise of the Wolves</i> fails to distinguish itself significantly, but it's solidly put together nonetheless. Call it somewhere between average and above-average.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-47682335341727748072011-12-10T10:55:00.001-05:002011-12-10T11:13:57.160-05:00Lupines and Lunatics is on hiatusI'm taking a break from reading and reviewing. I don't know how long, but definitely until January. If March rolls around and I still haven't gotten back, I'll post to let you know what's going on. Recently, I haven't been pleased with the quality of my reviews. The last few have not been up to standards. After doing this for more than a year, I'm burned out and need a break.<br />
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Additionally, there are a lot more restrictions on my time these days. The day job takes a lot out of me, and when I get home I have to work on this blog, Shooting for the Moon, keeping up with friends' blogs, my own novel, and just generally keeping my shit together. It's too much. Somethings got to give, and right now what's giving is the novel, which is supossed to be my ticket to a better future.<br />
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I love this blog, but you have to have priorities. I'm putting Lupines and Lunatics into hibernation so I can work on getting <i>Bonds of Fenris</i> published. I'll be back when I have more time. In the meantime, I'll stay in touch via the personal blog.<br />
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Keep on howlin', you sons-of-bitches.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-57277057979497854312011-12-06T18:25:00.001-05:002011-12-10T10:54:58.892-05:00Torn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJk00KhShGoFr66xK6U-RNqOjeO7wZaK9OeGYBnGROBvPW7CH_15_j5o2tHfY-mxsTuQfp1ZfOjlCSoDNKIHI3hHYKx0xvv3CrtsNpdDj-hdpCc8gTNKs_I8_IwbBcsYzaKsKczG5OqFs/s1600/tornside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJk00KhShGoFr66xK6U-RNqOjeO7wZaK9OeGYBnGROBvPW7CH_15_j5o2tHfY-mxsTuQfp1ZfOjlCSoDNKIHI3hHYKx0xvv3CrtsNpdDj-hdpCc8gTNKs_I8_IwbBcsYzaKsKczG5OqFs/s200/tornside.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Broken (#1/1.5)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Romance<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://deanwrites.blogspot.com/">Dean Murray</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Self-Published (via <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DeanWrites">Smashwords</a>)<br />
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<i>(Review copy provided by the author.)</i><br />
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I was not too enamored of <i>Torn</i> to begin with, but at the end it did something that outright infuriated me. By now regular readers know that I'm not a fan of books that tell half a story and leave the rest for the sequels. Well, <i>Torn</i> is like that, but worse. It's one side of a story that is intended to be seen from two sides. In other words, there's a complete story here, you're just not getting it. For that, you have to pay for <i>another</i> book. And if <i>Torn</i> by itself is any indication, both together get you a story barely worth the price of one book.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
Our hero is Alec Graves, teen shape-shifter and leader of a pack headquartered in Southern Utah. Since his father's death years ago, they've been feuding with a rival pack led by a vicious alpha named Brandon. Amidst escalating tensions and territorial skirmishes, the mysterious Adriana Paige moves into town. Adriana's has a mysterious aura which resembles a shifter's, but she shows little sign of being an actual shifter. Alec is intrigued. Enough so that Brandon becoming Adriana's girlfriend is cause for concern, since Brandon has little regard for human life.<br />
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The Author's Notes indicate that <i>Torn</i> is a companion piece to a forthcoming novel called <i>Broken</i>, which is supposedly the same story told from Adri's perspective. I don't see this as being an intrinsically bad idea. (I have visions of a Rashomon-style collection of novellas, each book telling its own story, and the whole series telling a greater story in the background.) My problem is that it's completely unnecessary. Bluntly put, there's barely enough material in here for a half a book to begin with. In fact, the story drowns in piles of filler and useless scenes. We know Alec is having trouble leading the pack, we know Brandon's pack is hassling Alec's at every opportunity, and we know Alec is a master manipulator and blackmailer. Each of these factors requires one scene to set up, just one. Yet the author throws in fights and chessmaster bits at every opportunity, all of which are redundant and pointless. We <i>know</i> already, get on with it.<br />
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When the actual plot does poke its head out, it's cliche. There's not a single plot twist here that you haven't seen a dozen times before, usually in a very familiar context. Supernatural creature's touch is addictive to mere mortals? Seen it. Bad Guy manipulates love interest so as to outmaneuver hero? Been done. Girl and Boy dance the tsundere dance for while, then she comes around after he saves her life? Please. And the things that could offset this -- compelling world-building, characters with depth, engaging writing style -- are absent. Even at its best, there's absolutely nothing to elevate <i>Torn</i> over your standard boiler-plate <i>Twilight</i> knockoff.<br />
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The pacing doesn't do the book any favors either. In fact, <i>Torn</i> could be exhibit A for why authors need to outline their stories. For pages upon pages the plot barely moves, but the twists come in an instant, usually falling flat. Alec spends a good portion of the book trying to figure out whether Adri is a shifter, then once he has his answer it's dismissed and the plot moves on. A love triangle between Adri, Alec, and Jasmin comes in about thirty or so pages from the end after Alec and Jasmin have been just friends for most of the book. Adri's swing from hating Alec's guts to being his girlfriend is sudden and unrealistic. Yeah, okay, he just saved her life, but it still rings false. It feels like the plots moving on to the next station and the author's yelling out "All aboard!" It all feels very, very first draft.<br />
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I've railed on the obnoxious one-for-the-price-of-two gimmick, but honestly, it wouldn't annoy me anywhere near as much if I thought the story was worth it. It isn't. The author could easily cut out all the B.S., do the same for <i>Broken</i>, and put them together into a single novel with two viewpoints. It's been done before, rather successfully too. But even then, <i>Torn</i> wouldn't amount to anything but another teen PNR with the same tired old plot we've seen before. To sell a book in such a crowded genre, the story has to be either fairly original or exceptionally well-crafted. <i>Torn</i> is neither.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-48837366498753186852011-11-20T11:21:00.001-05:002011-11-21T20:59:42.900-05:00Pride<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhRLkL-d4XutRU7844ebaQC-6kyRADrK9dXhJrl9cAekd9joEmthIVZMHDbT25AyXV_MfuFRXvgmxuyj7_G6Bk2rlS8O2_t81JL6P81R36mto8GluNFsyR6RAqWQhwHoEjrJpLhZyfXs/s1600/Shifters+Book+III%252C+Pride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhRLkL-d4XutRU7844ebaQC-6kyRADrK9dXhJrl9cAekd9joEmthIVZMHDbT25AyXV_MfuFRXvgmxuyj7_G6Bk2rlS8O2_t81JL6P81R36mto8GluNFsyR6RAqWQhwHoEjrJpLhZyfXs/s200/Shifters+Book+III%252C+Pride.jpg" title="Cover image copyright MIRA books." width="125" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Shifters (#3)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://rachelvincent.com/">Rachel Vincent</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.eharlequin.com/store.html?cid=242">MIRA</a><br />
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Rachel Vincent is an excellent writer, but it's kind of difficult to enjoy her werecat books. On the one hand, she crafts interesting characters, and has an especial talent for snappy dialog. On the other, the world in which her books take place is grim. Sympathetic individuals are few and far between, with most of the cast holding up a fundamentally corrupt social order. Each new book is a struggle between cheering for the good guys and wanting them all to die in a fire. Thankfully, with <i>Pride</i> she finally seems to have found a direction for the series that the reader can get solidly behind, and the result is worth the wait.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Following the untimely death of her ex-muggle ex-boyfriend Andrew, Faythe Sanders stands accused of both infecting Andrew and murdering him. The North American Council rents out a resort campground in rural Montana for a trial, which soon devolves into Faythe's allies trying to outmaneuver a hanging judge with a deep grudge. But the proceedings are disrupted when a group of strays congregating in the area make themselves known with a bold attack that leaves two werecats injured and the intruder dead. And an even bigger shock hits in the form of a rogue tabby dropped off on their doorstep, which forces Faythe to put her own concerns on hold and puzzle out who the newcomer is and where she comes from.<br />
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The lack of someone to cheer for has generally held this series back. Even Faythe, our heroine, supports the very system that oppresses her. Sure she has her smart mouth, sharp claws, and rebellious tendencies, but whenever the shit hits the fan she immediately runs to either her jackass boyfriend Marc or "Daddy" for protection. The first two books compensated by making the antagonistic outlaw society of the wildcats and the South American prides even worse, but that excuse only goes so far.<br />
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With this third book, Vincent tries a new approach, and it works. With Faythe facing the death penalty, her pridemates circle the wagons and the battlelines are re-drawn. It's no longer Faythe against the world, instead we have Faythe's Pride against the reigning social order. Said order is represented by a tribunal consisting of a friendly judge, an antagonistic judge, and a swing vote, a device so overused that it's easy to miss how subtle it is. Faythe's judges represent the three faces of law (or paternalism, if you want to go with the feminist interpretation): "Uncle" Rick Wade, compassionate and protective, Calvin Malone, controlling and manipulative, and Paul Blackwell, well-meaning but out of touch with the times. Freed of the need to have Faythe's allies represent the antagonistic culture, Vincent is able to paint them in a much more generous light. Marc, in particular, has finally grown out of his jackass boyfriend characterization, and is a much more less domineering figure. Mind you, that's partially because he has a much diminished role in <i>Pride</i>, to the point that his sex scene with Faythe feels like a contractual obligation. The focus is a lot more on Faythe, Malone, Greg.<br />
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About halfway through, the plot shifts gears. Kaci -- a teenaged tabby cat -- essentially shows up injured on their doorstep, and much of the remainder of the book is devoted to figuring out what's up with that. This is kinda good and kinda bad. Kaci provides a driving mystery for the book, a way for Faythe to prove her worth to the council, and a sign of the changing times. The last is important, since it's a driving theme of the series. Over the past two books, the inevitability of change has been percolating in the background. Greg's been aware of it for some time, hence his eccentric decisions like allowing Marc, a stray, in his pride, or letting his daughter go off to college. Revelations about werecat genetics dropped in <i>Rogue</i> were so underplayed that most readers probably didn't think them important, but it was foreboding. Kaci is the most obvious sign yet that the werecats perspective on themselves and their world are about to shift.<br />
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The problem is, all of this is <i>coming</i>. None of it is <i>here</i>. Despite their victories, the first three books of this series give a sense of the good guys not really getting anywhere. The Prides are still as ass-backwards now as they were at the beginning of <i>Stray</i>, giving the idea that the entire series thus far is pure buildup. <i>Pride</i> gets it worse than the first two, since it's pretty much a breather episode to begin with. The villain is a Threat of the Week, barely relevant until the final chapters, and the other stories serve primarily to introduce Kaci and Malone, the latter of which is set up as a major antagonist going forward. While it's clear that the plotline is going somewhere, I wish it would get there already.<br />
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But even if it sometimes feels like merely marking time, <i>Pride</i> is a solid book that delivers likeable characters and both mystery and intrigue in ample amounts. There's not a lot of action, and readers who haven't been following the series will probably be lost, but overall <i>Pride</i> as a good read. The Shifters books continue to be one of the best Urban Fantasies out there, and here's hoping they can maintain this level of quality.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-3849666934776149452011-11-07T21:54:00.001-05:002011-11-07T21:54:51.035-05:00Wolf Mark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMu8Q6xqCJU-qS6tRN0rRVbyzUvrm1x59wcH-I2OfJqReKoKW8pzMohWw4pQRH6fqJ0T0TUvz42CsC-PkRwvdUo1W41jD_IsuDfSyg3tjdhfzCgiEeQC_1dbNIfs7d3LyYv1xaBQ8yshk/s1600/wolfmark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMu8Q6xqCJU-qS6tRN0rRVbyzUvrm1x59wcH-I2OfJqReKoKW8pzMohWw4pQRH6fqJ0T0TUvz42CsC-PkRwvdUo1W41jD_IsuDfSyg3tjdhfzCgiEeQC_1dbNIfs7d3LyYv1xaBQ8yshk/s200/wolfmark.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Lee & Low Books" width="133" /></a></div>
<b>Series: </b>Stand-Alone<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://josephbruchac.com/">Joseph Bruchac</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://leeandlow.com/">Lee & Low Books</a><br />
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The last book I recall snatching off the library shelves on total, blind impulse was <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/03/red-moon-rising.html">Red Moon Rising</a></i>, which turned out to be an underrated gem. I picked up <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/01/wolfbreed.html">Wolfbreed</a></i> and <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2010/08/raised-by-wolves.html">Raised by Wolves</a></i> in the same fashion. So when I saw <i>Wolf Mark</i> sitting on the new books cart, having heard nothing of it beforehand, I trusted my instincts and grabbed it. I was not disappointed. Joseph Bruchac has crafted a tale that, while not quite as original as he seems to think, delivers a solid reading experience.<br />
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While you can't exactly call Lucas King's life comfortable, he gets by. Sure, he lives in a dilapidated trailer with a father who drowns himself in booze and weed. And sure, he lives in a small town on the verge of collapsing from the Great Recession. But on the other hand, he's got good friends, a sweet motorcycle, and an actual home -- be it ever so humble -- after spending too long moving from place to place around the country. His main concern is making a love connection with a beautiful Pakistani immigrant whom he knows from school. But then his dad's past comes back to haunt them both, when Lucas receives a coded message from dad telling him he's been kidnapped. Dad vanishes, but the kidnappers have no idea what they're dealing with. Before mom died, dad was a special forces operative, and he taught Lucas everything he knew, including how to think his way through difficult situations. And when dad's directions lead Lucas to an ancient family secret, Luke finds out he has more than enough power to take on the kidnappers and get his father back.<br />
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<i>Wolf Mark</i> takes a bit to get going. The opening chapters are very patchwork, introducing a bunch of ideas and concepts with little enthusiasm. And the writing style is, to be blunt, not the best. It's serviceable, especially Luke's vibrantly sarcastic and rambling narration, but actual dialog is often stilted. Bruchac also soapboxes a bit much; that rambling narration takes repeated swipes at the poor state of the country's economy and the failure of trickle-down policies to fix it. It doesn't jar too much, but it's annoying. More annoying is his habit of consistently faking out the reader with false scares. The first time he closes a chapter on Lucas reacting in surprise to something only to backpedal right at the start of the next chapter, it's mildly irritating. But it becomes increasingly obnoxious with each iteration, and you often get the feeling of him laughing at the reader, "Ha ha! Fooled you!"<br />
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With that said, though, once the action got properly started, <i>Wolf Mark</i> became a highly engrossing read. Luke stands out among the heroes of YA literature for being incredibly clever and competent. He doesn't just blunder into a conflict and start acting on instinct. He takes in every facet of a situation with practiced ease, and then deftly outmaneuvers his enemies with the techniques his father taught him until he's in the clear and they're frustrated and confounded. The crowning moment of the book is a confrontation at the trailer where Luke outwits two henchmen into abandoning their mission and leading him straight back to their base without them ever knowing he's even there. This is a style of awesomeness that is rarely seen in YA.<br />
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Regrettably, the book can't hit this level of quality consistently. After this point, the book runs out of steam. A confrontation with the police feels like filler, and in general the plot meanders a bit until things are set up for the castle-storming sequence. And when it comes time for the rescue mission, the trickster-hero bits are abandoned for shocking discoveries, pages of exposition, and more traditional action sequences. A pity, it was going so well.<br />
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The book is also, as mentioned, not as unique as Bruchac believes it to be. He stated in the author's notes that he wanted to create a sympathetic werewolf that drew from Native American traditions, and he succeeded, but he seems to think this is uncommon, when in fact both aspects are kinda standard, maybe even a little overdone. And while he deserves credit for a book with a Native American hero, a Middle Eastern love interest, and a group of friendly Russians who turn out to be allies, the multicultural love is somewhat undermined by a bad guy who is a stock-standard Evil German Mad Scientist. Seriously, the archvillain is so obnoxious that when he finally appears, his over-the-top motive rant and cheeseball, cliched villainy completely derails the books climax.<br />
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But I don't want to give the impression that I disliked this book. To the contrary, despite the things it does wrong, <i>Wolf Mark</i> is still an engaging story with a charismatic and enjoyable hero. Give it a try.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-87338418362026959852011-10-31T17:00:00.000-04:002011-10-31T17:00:03.249-04:00Eternal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTh_xgr0CUqHF4Dh5cs5SbMHnFLZgPpu9L57AkYZWkovr58r51GRZ2ulDU7wVEpn0F6wc6hJqchWC6nnand_GR3ws7KVrPIvaNAJf3j_-VVL2CQfktSFStYLLK_o0ta99XV6VlN1FHDeM/s1600/eternalside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTh_xgr0CUqHF4Dh5cs5SbMHnFLZgPpu9L57AkYZWkovr58r51GRZ2ulDU7wVEpn0F6wc6hJqchWC6nnand_GR3ws7KVrPIvaNAJf3j_-VVL2CQfktSFStYLLK_o0ta99XV6VlN1FHDeM/s200/eternalside.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Candlewick" width="130" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Tantalize (#2)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Romance<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/">Cynthia Leitich Smith</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.candlewick.com/">Candlewick</a><br />
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I've been advised that criticizing other authors on this blog could hurt my chances of getting agented. Unfortunately, I also have an obligation to my readers to be honest. And I'm terribly sorry, but there's just no easy way to say this: Cynthia Leitich Smith can't write. She got her start in children's literature, and maybe she's good at that, but YA is a different beast. While <i>Eternal </i>is generally an improvement on its predecessor, <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/01/tantalize.html">Tantalize</a>, </i>it's still light-years away from where it needs to be to stand out in the crowded YA Paranormal field.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Miranda was turned into a vampire a year ago, at the age of seventeen. Specifically, she was turned to become the adopted daughter of Radford, a vampire king whom she lovingly calls "Father". She's spent the last year learning to adapt to her new situation, and has finally developed enough to take an active role in vampiric politics. To that end, she places an ad in the Eternal Herald-Gazette for a Personal Assistant, and hires a young man named Zachary after falling head over heels for him. Unbeknownst to Miranda, Zachary is a former angel. Specifically, he's Miranda's former guardian angel. On the night she was turned, Miranda was supposed to die instead. Zachary's intervention saved her life, but cost her her soul. Consequently, he was booted from the angelic host and sentenced to walk the earth in disgrace. However, he's recently been given an opportunity to regain his wings. All he has to do is kill Radford. Unfortunately, Radford's currently out of town on a big media tour. And, while the cat's away, the rats will play.<br />
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For a while, Smith shows potential. The world she crafts is a strange mixture of medieval fantasy and modern trappings, presented in a humorously tongue-in-cheek manner. The kind of world where official angelic correspondence includes Yahoo!Maps directions and a thoroughly evil vampire loves country music. The kind where a twenty-something job seeker tries to suck up to his potential employer by eating live insects in front of her. ("Classic Renfield", Miranda calls it.) In fact, the first half of Eternal is the most fun I've had reading in a while.<br />
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But whenever the book starts to get serious, it trips and faceplants in the ground. Hard. For one thing, the pacing is awful. That summary above starts out "Miranda was turned into a vampire a year ago", because that's where the story begins. Specifically, at her coming-out party. But it's not where the <i>book</i> begins. The book first spends a sixth of it's total length on a glorified prologue depicting Miranda's turning and Zachary's fall. Then another big chunk is spent on more setup, so that it's only halfway through the book that the conflict proper gets moving. Actually, in retrospect, it feels like the <i>whole book</i> is backstory: a bit of background for <i>Blessed</i>, the proper <i>Tantalize</i> sequel, that got so massive it spun off into a story of its own. While this isn't necessarily bad, it means the book has to work extra hard to stand on its own, and it doesn't.<br />
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Then the second half of <i>Eternal</i> moves too fast. Zachary's relationship with Miranda proceeds at breakneck pace from meet-cute to half-hearted Tsundere dance to first date to the obligatory relationship catastrophe that sets up the climax. Meanwhile, things go to hell around the castle with startling rapidity. Characters betray and/or die before we've even gotten a chance to know them properly, making it very difficult to get a handle on anyone other than the mains.<br />
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A bigger issue is that the plot relies so much on the characters being incompetent that it's painful. It says something about Miranda that literally as soon as she takes over, all the servants start sticking it to The Man. We're probably supposed to get the idea that she wasn't cut out to be evil, but she still looks like an idiot. Zachary, for his part, is the worst secret agent in history. He's supposed to be infiltrating the castle to assassinate Radford, but he makes no attempt to blend in whatsoever. He literally turns up in a rumpled suit with a stake on his person for the job interview, getting caught with the stake, and winds up hired <i>anyway </i>because Miranda gets hot and bothered by him and Radford's butler is training himself in the fine art of Not Giving A Shit. And then after being hired, Zach spends most of his time subverting or questioning authority. In the real world, he would have gotten his ass fired after half a day, but to hell with plausibility, this is a romance!<br />
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Like it's predecessor, though, the real problem with <i>Eternal</i> is that it has no spark. Everything is related to us in a very matter-of-fact manner, like a news report. And much like a news report, it seldom makes for interesting storytelling. A character gets clandestinely turned and goes on a bloodthirsty rampage, but there's no tension in the scene. The vamp behind it is later revealed to be a minor character of no importance, and then the plot kinda shrugs and gets back to what it was doing. Geoff, Miranda's crush from her human life, shows up unexpectedly and this should be cause for drama, but the guy's role in the story is that of a living prop who might as well have been a cardboard cutout with a blood bag attached. The whole book has a feel of the author not really caring that much.<br />
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<i>Eternal</i> is not a good book. It's a decent outline for a good book, but it squanders it's potential with painfully poor execution. I think it could have been good if it were properly developed, but Smith is either too green to YA or not invested enough in her story to make it work. She does some things right: the setting, the characters, etc., but it's like a big-budget film with lots of gloss and little substance. It might take me a while to get to subsequent books in this series. I might not get to them at all.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-35982188348861310672011-10-24T17:00:00.000-04:002011-10-24T17:00:02.316-04:00A Brush of Darkness (Off-Topic Review)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTqWeCQ1fAXXhbJ_HUY2RJg0MacM6UewbUthaKKUpiuBUfrROiH7KMjtTVbV_Kwc1NsFcULVPPBMZG12VguYKMXVFfgnoFkL91QYvKhHrvhWGsGOK0oq5rsTTrCqU-P2RYs2ZaxdI1Ug/s1600/Brushside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTqWeCQ1fAXXhbJ_HUY2RJg0MacM6UewbUthaKKUpiuBUfrROiH7KMjtTVbV_Kwc1NsFcULVPPBMZG12VguYKMXVFfgnoFkL91QYvKhHrvhWGsGOK0oq5rsTTrCqU-P2RYs2ZaxdI1Ug/s200/Brushside.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Pocket Books" width="123" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Abby Sinclair (#1)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Romance/Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.heartofthedreaming.com/">Allison Pang</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://imprints.simonandschuster.biz/gallery">Pocket Books</a><br />
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There are two things that convinced me to go off-topic to read this book: Cyna's <a href="http://ykmreviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/024-brush-of-darkness-by-allison-pang.html">uncharacteristically gushy review</a>, and a quote from the author's website: "I had a naked incubus in my bedroom. With a frying pan of half-cooked bacon and a hard-on. And a unicorn bite on his ass. Christ, this was turning out to be a weird morning." So when I sat down with <i>A Brush of Darkness</i>, I was expecting some kind of urban-fantasy version of <i>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. </i>Well... no. Not that the book I got is bad, but if you've seen this book hyped as a comedy, the hype man has it wrong. It's a far more complex book than that.<br />
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In the world of <i>A Brush of Darkness</i>, the human realm is one of several dimensions home to magical beings. However, most of these beings can't stay in the human realm for long. To do this they need a TouchStone, a human companion who agrees to anchor them in exchange for certain benefits. Our heroine Abby Sinclair is TouchStone to Moira, the Fairy Protectorate, an authority figure who commands much respect in the supernatural community. Recently, however, the Protectorate left town without leaving much info about where she was going. Abby is just starting to get worried about that when Brystion, an incubus, swaggers into her store asking to speak with Moira. Somewhat against her better judgement, Abby gets roped into Brystion's investigation of his sister's disappearance. If you're guessing the two vanishings are connected, you're not wrong.</div>
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While I won't be gushing over this book as much as Cyna did, I did enjoy it. The world-building is interesting, and the characterizations are second-to-none. Abby is one of the more complex heroines out there, balancing snark with very real traumas regarding the car crash that ended her dreams and killed her mother. If that seems like a cliche, it's not, because Pang does more than just give lip service to the "broken woman" trope. The effects of Abby's injuries are very real, and her coping mechanisms -- including refusing to take seizure meds out of denial and the cavalier bitchiness with which she confronts all her problems -- are a significant part of her character. I admire an author who is willing to put their characters through hell, rather than having them shrug off horrifying incidents with a dark one-liner and a brooding shrug.</div>
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For his part, Brystion is a solid love interest. He cares for Abby, but there's evidence that he's working his magic on her manipulatively. It's actually very, very subtle. Read the book and watch how Abby's tone shifts from general snarky disdain for everything to snarky disdain plus raging libido whenever her thoughts turn to Brystion. And take note that it happens <i>without Abby noticing it</i>. Well done, Ms. Pang, well done indeed. Brystion is also motivated by more basic desires like staying alive and finding his sister, and conflicting emotions are a factor in quite a few places. The most interesting twist on his relationship with Abby is that both of them acknowledge they're <i>not</i> in love. Not yet, anyway. It's a relationship of convenience and easy, hot-as-hell sex, with potential to grow into something deeper. <i>Very</i> well done, and a touch of realism that a lot of books could use.</div>
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All of this is elevated by a supporting cast which is quirky and vibrant, adding both depth and humor to the world, and a compelling writing style which brings out the appeal in both the magic and the mundanity of the setting. While it's not a great read from start to finish, the ingredients in this meal are flawless, and it was very enjoyable to wander through this world meeting new and interesting people.</div>
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But, and this is a big But, the plot is really, <i>really</i> rough. For starters, this is one of those detective stories where the heroes don't investigate so much as muck around until things fall into place. Admittedly, it's somewhat more justified here than in most cases. The villains start moving openly pretty early on, so the question becomes less "how do we solve this mystery?" and more "how do we stay alive long enough to solve this mystery"? Pang skirts the issue by shifting focus to Abby and Brystion, which works because both characters are well developed and fleshed out. But there are still problems. Setups are good, but payoffs tend to fizzle. The secrets of Moira's note, the key in Mel's painting, and the fourth path, are all set up as major twists early on, but the eventual reveals carry no energy. A plot twist should ideally make the reader go "Wow!" Here it was more like "Oh. Huh." (That fourth path business was really obvious, too.)<br />
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There are also subplots that go nowhere: most egregiously, the business with Katy near the beginning exists purely so that Abby can have a Spear Carrier to babble some world-building to. And there's a character called the PETA Pixie who has no visible reason for being in the story other than that Pang thought it was a funny idea. And on the subject, while Pang does a pretty good job of balancing funny, angsty, and romantic/sexy, you kinda wish she could have brought this all together into a consistent tone.<br />
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I don't want to be too negative, because <i>Brush of Darkness</i> is a good book and I enjoyed it. It rises above lesser books with similar plots through the author's skill. And if it's also held back by the author's inexperience, then those problems will be worked out with time and effort. Recommended.</div>LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-77331248752702111722011-10-12T21:18:00.000-04:002011-10-12T21:22:54.081-04:00Twisted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9el1UztXPQyWPJ9G0caj1r9DLS964Dwov7YW6TF1Tj9S75sJEsqjAFoJwp05blVilFQ_dWHEmIUm2GIIBGDPxD2VHGSXRGC-hncE5j-d0W_ihZL4vjxAsWv3w2ThRyJQ-oauubQK7GYw/s1600/Twistedsidebar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9el1UztXPQyWPJ9G0caj1r9DLS964Dwov7YW6TF1Tj9S75sJEsqjAFoJwp05blVilFQ_dWHEmIUm2GIIBGDPxD2VHGSXRGC-hncE5j-d0W_ihZL4vjxAsWv3w2ThRyJQ-oauubQK7GYw/s200/Twistedsidebar.jpg" width="138" title="Cover image copyright Harlequin"/></a></div>
Series: Intertwined (#3)<br />
Genre: Adventure<br />
Author: <a href="http://members.genashowalter.com/">Gena Showalter</a><br />
Publisher: <a href="http://www.eharlequin.com/store.html?cid=2357">Harlequin Teen</a><br />
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By this point in the <i>Intertwined</i> series, you either love it or you hate it. Put this reviewer in the former camp, but I am well aware that it's not for everybody. In reviewing the <a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/02/intertwined.html">previous</a> <a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/04/unraveled.html">two</a> books, I noted the randomness of the plot, the way it picks up and drops plotlines at random, and the occasional out-of-character moments. I also noted that, on the whole, the books rise above that by being unique, unpredictable, and plain old fun. Book three more or less stays the course in that respect, serving up a fun little read, albeit not exactly thought-provoking.<br />
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At the end of <i>Unraveled</i>, Elijah's prediction of doom came true when Tucker -- under Vlad's mental domination -- stabbed Aden to death in a dark alley. Victoria tried to save Aden by turning him into a vampire, but things went screwy. Aden survived, but Victoria's beast -- the physical manifestation of her vampirism -- wound up in him, while the souls bonded to Aden wound up in Victoria's head. <i>Twisted</i> opens with the two of them convalescing in a dank cave, oscillating between feeding, sleeping, and wanting to tear each other apart. Eventually, Aden recovers and returns to the vampire mansion to take his throne, but he's a changed man, with a new and strange darkness in his soul. Victoria, too, has changed, feeling weaker and more human for her ordeal. Meanwhile, Mary Ann has run away, fearful that her life-draining powers will bring tragedy on her friends. Heartbroken, Riley leaves the mansion to track her down. Unbeknownst to the young werewolf, Mary Ann has joined forces with Tucker, who's trying to resist Vlad's influence and needs her power-nullifying ability to keep him sane. Having nothing much else to do, the odd couple is researching Aden's past, trying to dig up clues to the identities of the souls inside him. As various adventures ensue, Vlad lurks in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to reclaim his throne and cast down his enemies.<br />
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I was done with this book a week ago, but due to various dramas it took me this long to finish the review. In the intervening time the ideas I intended to put on paper had eroded away into a list of bullet points, which is what you get:<br />
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1) First and foremost, If you liked the last two books, you'll like this one. Period. It still has likeable characters, a compelling if somewhat random plot, and the savvy not to take itself too seriously. Thumbs up despite the problems illuminated below.<br />
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2) Showalter has <i>got</i> to get a handle on these characters already. While it's been a while since I read <i>Unraveled</i>, both Aden and Victoria are much different than I remember. This is justified pretty well, but it still jars. These are not the people I've been following for two books.<br />
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3) Tucker has been given a bigger and more important role. This is good. What's not good is that he seems to be locked in what TVTropes calls the "Heel/Face Revolving Door": he flips back and forth between tortured snarker in need of atonement and pure evil. Yes, I know he's supposed to be struggling with both his demon half and Vlad's mind-control, but it feels more like he's two characters compressed into one, which isn't the case.<br />
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4) Sorin, Victoria's brother, is badly handled. First he's bald-facedly retconned into existence, then after we've gotten to know him a bit he changes rather abruptly from vicious enemy to cheerful and loyal ally.<br />
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5) On the bright side, the plot structure has improved significantly. Instead of jumping back and forth between storylines, we follow one at a time until it's done and then start the next. This works a lot better, lending the book the feel of an episodic TV series rather than the mish-mosh of subplots that the previous books entailed.<br />
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6) The writing is also very strong, with brisk pacing and punchy dialog. Fights and (PG-rated) love scenes are also very well crafted.<br />
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7) The ending stinks. The final arc plays out far more subdued than it should for what goes down, then after it's over, we have fifty pages of cleanup between there and the back cover. Not too bad, but then in the last twenty pages no less than <i>three</i> different characters act absurdly out-of-character for the sole purpose of setting up a edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger. It doesn't work. It comes off like a pointless screwjob on the cast.<br />
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So to sum up: A popcorn read, but a good one. Not likely to change anyone's outlook on the world, but good, solid entertainment. Read and enjoy.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-26237582588082144182011-09-29T18:26:00.000-04:002011-12-11T10:53:54.715-05:00Lunatic Fringe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzrRuNLcmqlFLaU4LtlhkjHeVsM_JTMOIVDX5K4iIlYO8IaeD_JYIHGKv4-czCvfAU4HI15S8kBPOEmSennIE7RXMizkgBpFAleZ3qkpOZ0fyVlTotwEFHV6RXLDXmv6IXcfdZRIvOCc/s1600/LF_halfbook_LG_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzrRuNLcmqlFLaU4LtlhkjHeVsM_JTMOIVDX5K4iIlYO8IaeD_JYIHGKv4-czCvfAU4HI15S8kBPOEmSennIE7RXMizkgBpFAleZ3qkpOZ0fyVlTotwEFHV6RXLDXmv6IXcfdZRIvOCc/s200/LF_halfbook_LG_web.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
Series: Stand-Alone<br />
Genre: Erotica (Lesbian)<br />
Author: <a href="http://www.talesofthepack.com/">Allison Moon</a><br />
Publisher: Self-published (via author's website)<br />
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<i>(Review copy provided by the author.)</i><br />
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<i>Lunatic Fringe</i> was significantly better than the last self-pub book I read, and better than a lot of books from big publishers, too. But it ran hot and cold. Author Allison Moon's craftsmanship is alternately talented and slapdash, so that at the end of the day, I felt that the book wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been. Possibly it's a matter of perspective. This book is aiming at a rather specific niche, and I may not be in tune enough with the target audience to "get" it. But Moon has potential. She may not be able to make the most of it in this debut outing, but the raw talent is there.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Our heroine Lexie is a young girl, just eighteen, off to college for the first time. No sooner does she arrive that she falls in with a lesbian sorority called "The Pack", who awaken Lexie's own desire for other women. And not a moment too soon, because lust hits Lexie like a bullet train between the eyes in the form of Archer, a badass, cabin-dwelling woman who is more than willing to introduce her to the myriad ways of girl/girl loving. The Pack has some secrets of their own to share with Lexie: they're werewolf-hunters, seeking to exterminate the beasts that lurk in both the woods and the towns, raping women and killing men and women both to sate their perverse desires. When Lexie learns that Archer is herself a werewolf, and that she's unwittingly changed Lexie into one, the two halves of Lexie's new life wind up on a collision course.</div>
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A self-published author has to make do without many of the basic conveniences available from a traditional publisher. So, a general lack of polish is to be expected from <i>Lunatic Fringe</i>. There are proofreading mistakes, passages in need of revision, and the occasional typesetting snafu. (EDIT: The author reports that the review copy was an uncorrected proof, and the released version should have these cleaned up.) Plus, there are signs of an author playing without a safety net in the form of a developmental editor. A lot of tell-don't-show is in effect; long paragraphs are devoted to the Pack's feminist rants and Archer's expo-speak. But if <i>Lunatic Fringe</i> is a rough diamond, it glitters nevertheless. The characters are well-developed -- excepting a big underlying problem which we shall get to in a moment -- each with their own distinct personalities, and Moon's descriptive writing is vivid and compelling, almost lyrical. </div>
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The plot is... well, I wouldn't call it bad, but I can't deny that it's schizophrenic. Moon seems to have trouble settling on a single genre and tone. At first the book has the makings of a coming-of-age story, with Lexie falling in with the Pack and discovering herself. But then, as soon as all the members have been introduced and properly fleshed out, Archer shows up and everything else takes a back seat. The book swerves into erotica, with a string of Archer/Lexie sex scenes interspersed between bits of plot and world-building. Then late in the game the plot swerves again into a romantic adventure story.</div>
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I wound up putting<i> Lunatic Fringe</i> on the erotica shelf, because quite frankly you can't have this much explicit sex in a book and be anything else, regardless of whatever other motives you may have. If you prepared for it, however, it's not bad sex. Girl/girl is not my cup of tea, but I think it was executed well. Occasionally, however, Moon gets carried away. One scene goes on for so long that I just started skimming it, and while the prose never hits purple, it veers violet on a few occassions. Also, there's a fisting scene. Yes, fisting. As in, shoving a hand in a woman's vagina up to the <i>goddamn wrist</i>. Granted, if you look at it a certain way, it makes sense. Archer's clenched hand is described as a "knot", which is brilliant if you know canine reproductive physiology. It's still fisting. Whatever makes you happy, ma'am. Me? I'm gonna turn the page now.</div>
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There are other problems, too. Even overlooking the fact that seemingly every woman Lexie meets over the course of the story is a lesbian, the story has moments of extremely flimsy construction. Twice -- once with Lexie's Nana and again with Hank -- a character is introduced with no foreshadowing at the exact moment they're needed to move the plot forward. This is just pure authorial laziness. It would not have taken that much effort to insert a mention or two or a brief introductory flashback earlier in the book so that these people don't wind up coming out of nowhere.<br />
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There's also the matter of how widespread and well-known werewolves are in this world. For most of the book they seem to be a local problem, a college town's dark secret. But the business of the Full Moon Tribe and the mention of other packs later in the book contradict that. The latter also opens up a massive plot hole: If there are killer werewolves around, and the locals can't handle it, why have none of the other packs stepped in to take care of the situation? These packs are implied to have authority to act as a group against a serious breach of the pack laws, so how does a score of deaths and murders not count?</div>
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But by far the biggest problem with <i>Lunatic Fringe</i> is that the characters are <i>all</i> incorrigible horndogs. The Pack's lifestyle includes a concept of "free love". They're stated to sex each other up on a regular basis. Sometimes this is in the context of monogamous relationships between packmates or with other women, but sometimes not. Lexie is just as oversexed, at one point mentioning that she masturbates five times a day over the course of a month after meeting Archer. And as for Archer, she is so<i> flamingly</i> butch it's ridiculous.<br />
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Yes, I know this is erotica, and a bit of unreality is to be expected for the sake of getting it on. The problem is that all the pheromones running around majorly undermine the story's feminist themes. Moon either doesn't understand or doesn't care that the characters she's created embody all the ugly, objectifying pornography stereotypes of lesbians. Ironically, despite the presence of some obnoxious frat boys and a lot of characters ranting about the oppression of the patriarchy, two of the book's three major <i>male</i> characters are decent types who keep it in their pants. That part is probably intentional; it's clear very early on that Moon has contempt for the more misandrist aspects of the feminist movement. But put it next to a group of liberated women whom the story defines mainly in terms of their sex drives, and the overall picture starts to look really ugly.<br />
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Enough, already. I said I liked <i>Lunatic Fringe</i>, and despite all the obstacles it presented to my enjoyment, I did. That's because Moon's potential shines through it all. When it doesn't degenerate into political monologues, her dialog is fast-paced and punchy. When she doesn't drag them out, the scenes she writes are engaging. Her writing is surprising deep, with a good amount of symbolism. Her characters, despite their perpetual hornyness, are have varied and well-rounded personalities. And though the identity crisis holds it back, the plot is serviceable. On rare occasions -- the Dionysian Full Moon Tribe party comes to mind -- Moon hits her mark dead-on. All the ingredients of a good story are here, they just don't <i>quite</i> come together.<br />
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So, it's a mixed report. The Antique Scales of Judgement judge this book to be good, but it's a very, very wobbly, very qualified "good." You won't find it more than average unless your in the niche. Even then, it's like an inexpertly-grilled hamburger: you have to put up with the charred crust to taste the juicy center. But its main problem is the author's lack of experience, which means in time the shortcomings will shrink away. The prognosis for Ms. Moon's career is distinctly positive.</div>LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-74502910896746836412011-09-19T17:00:00.000-04:002011-09-19T17:00:03.234-04:00Nocturne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBprjxeHaRyunQlkLyt9cWbpugdWpScj5UEqgt9eJWPH4BexKdYE1n9jmM0fI4-6myTWE6AIe1VI4_9Z9B52wRr1UwmEPzFF-tbITwD2J8DVGcMVsolQXi9N_0lmIWenDWeLaOoTc4CCs/s1600/nocturne2-200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBprjxeHaRyunQlkLyt9cWbpugdWpScj5UEqgt9eJWPH4BexKdYE1n9jmM0fI4-6myTWE6AIe1VI4_9Z9B52wRr1UwmEPzFF-tbITwD2J8DVGcMVsolQXi9N_0lmIWenDWeLaOoTc4CCs/s200/nocturne2-200x300.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Simon and Schuster" width="133" /></a></div>
<b>Series:</b> Claire de Lune (#2)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Drama<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.christinejohnsonbooks.com/">Christine Johnson</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/">Simon and Schuster</a><br />
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I had some harsh words for <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2010/08/claire-de-lune.html">Claire de Lune</a></i> when I first read it. After a year, however, I look on it a little more highly. Yes, the author made some bad mistakes, and her general inexperience was obvious, but at least it was creative. It wasn't just trying to be another <i>Twilight</i> knockoff, and it wasn't just another batch of standard-issue lycanthropes, either. Johnson had some good ideas, and blended the werewolves with elements of a witch's coven and a predominantly-female cast to give the story a feminist bent. <i>Nocturne</i> is a substantial improvement from it's predecessor, with a deeper storyline and much-improved characterization and pacing. But unfortunately, it hasn't improved enough. Try as I might, I just couldn't get into it, and it leaves me with the sour, undercooked taste of wasted potential.<br />
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<i>Nocturne</i> picks up more or less where <i>Claire de Lune</i> left off. With the pack out of danger and the rogue werewolf dead and gone, the pack settles in, expecting a peaceful autumn. Victoria is expecting a baby, and Claire is to join the pack officially at the next full moon. Trouble is a-brewing, though. Claire's relationship with her boyfriend Matthew has soured with the revelation that she's a werewolf. And Claire's initiation requires that she light the ceremonial fire with magic, which she's unable to do. Caught between two worlds, Claire must figure out whether she wants to be a werewolf or a human. And whether or not she can live with the consequences of her choice.<br />
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It takes a while to get into <i>Nocturne</i>, because for most of its length it lacks tension. For all its faults, <i>Claire de Lune</i> at least served up storylines that grabbed your attention. A rogue werewolf committing murders and evil scientists out to capture our heroines are both somewhat different kettles of fish from what we get here. The evil scientists show up now and again to remind us they're still around, but they're irrelevant to the plot. Most of the book concerns Claire trying to learn her fire-lighting magic and failing because she'd rather spend time with her friends or her boyfriend Matthew than practicing. In place of murders and kidnappings, we have Claire on a quest to be accepted by the werewolf world while not losing touch with the human.<br />
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The truly disappointing thing is, I <i>like</i> these kinds of stories. I like conflicts that are personal rather than world-threatening. I read a lot of books that treat lycanthropy and other supernatural attributes as not-always-controllable superpower. There's nothing wrong with that, but a great storyteller can go further, using the paranormal world as a representation of more real, down-to-earth conflicts. <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/03/red-moon-rising.html">Red Moon Rising</a></i>, for example, used the old Vamps vs. Weres plotline as an avenue to explore discrimination and racism. Similarly, <i>Nocturne</i> uses lycanthropy as a metaphor for adolescence. Claire wants to become a fully-fledged member of the community (the pack), but this requires balancing her responsibilities to them, with her own desires and, eventually, her own moral beliefs. Her packmates have found various places along the spectrum between wolf and woman which are comforting to them, and throughout the book, Claire is seeking a happy medium of her own.<br />
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It's a great idea, but as the song goes, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing." Like Claire herself, the book has no fire. Just like in the previous book, Johnson's story is undone by bland writing and cardboard characters. In the first book, we didn't get a real sense for Matthew, making him a dimensionless love interest. Not only has this not changed, but the problem is worse. Matthew and Claire have grown distant because, essentially, he has no idea how to handle dating a werewolf. So he keeps Claire at arms length, causing Claire to think he's abandoning him entirely. We get this info through telling instead of showing, which is a problem in and of itself, but the bigger one is that we <i>wouldn't</i> know it if we weren't told. Matthew remains a cipher, giving us so little clue as to what's going on in his head that we can't get a grip on him. For half the book I figured the coming twist was going to be that it was just Claire's own angst playing tricks on her.<br />
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Marie gets hit worse. She came off poorly in the first book, and just as poorly here, although this time I'm not sure it's her fault exactly. As the new pack alpha, she's required to keep distance between herself and her packmates, and to enforce the pack laws. It's really not her fault that said laws are a disastrous blend of zero-tolerance rules and merciless punishment. The excuse is that they need to keep the pack hidden and safe, and with evil scientists gunning for them maybe they've got a point, but that's no excuse for this kind of heartless barbarism. You may say that the entire point of the story is that Claire eventually become strong enough to defy the laws, but that's missing the point entirely. The point is to find balance between the two worlds she lives in without having to choose one and cast the other aside. The pack laws are so draconian that it's hard to see why Claire just doesn't give them all a big kiss-off.<br />
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I tried very, very hard to like <i>Nocturne</i>, but I just couldn't. It has some solid ideas and themes, the skeleton of a fabulous story, but in the end it's just that: skin and bones. I can give props for trying to be more than your standard YA paranormal, but in the end it's just not a good read. I hope Johnson keeps writing, though. There has been noticeable improvement in her craftsmanship since book one. If she's able to develop the writing skill to go along with her ideas, then she could land herself on my recommendation list someday. But that day is not today.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-11119014824129607802011-09-07T20:02:00.001-04:002011-09-07T20:02:27.883-04:00New layout and other stuffJust a quick note to anyone reading Lupines and Lunatics in a reader. The blog's layout has changed. Not significantly, I just prettied it up a bit and removed some clutter. The major thing to note is the new links on the sidebar, particularly the one that goes to my new side-blog, Shooting for the Moon. There's not much there currently, but I plan on filling it with insightful posts soon, so follow now and beat the rush! ^_^ SFTM will be home to personal musings dealing with various subjects, most importantly the quest to get my own book, <i>Bonds of Fenris</i>, published. Lupines and Lunatics will remain up as a pure review blog.<br />
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Also: as you might notice, I'm having a little trouble centering the banner up top. Any more experienced bloggers willing to give me a hand?LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-79212650549591683002011-09-05T17:00:00.000-04:002011-09-05T17:00:03.320-04:00Bargains and Betrayals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2kO6su3OvrmmzW0K8LTWGKEJtm3y0eM7ArIF6Ac16XCn7rr0GWWMPvnd1gOCTCrRdaI9_JeXfx8umZYuCHAs1wQVBkWicSDvjHdaFfy0vvP-0wc8KYZZ0FEiCyVNaiROEAtG1PElKao/s1600/9339970.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2kO6su3OvrmmzW0K8LTWGKEJtm3y0eM7ArIF6Ac16XCn7rr0GWWMPvnd1gOCTCrRdaI9_JeXfx8umZYuCHAs1wQVBkWicSDvjHdaFfy0vvP-0wc8KYZZ0FEiCyVNaiROEAtG1PElKao/s200/9339970.jpg" title="Cover image copyright St. Martin's Press" width="133" /></a></div>
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure/ Romance<br />
<b>Series: </b>13 to Life (#3)<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.shannondelany.com/">Shannon Delany</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b><a href="http://us.macmillan.com/smp.aspx"> St. Martin's Griffin</a><br />
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The <i>13 to Life</i> series has never been the best YA paranormal out there, but it's always been a notch above the crowd thanks to likeable characters and a winking sense of its own absurdity. <i>Bargains and Betrayals</i> is therefore a disappointment of the highest caliber. It's a pity, too, because the problem with the first two books -- namely, that not much happened during them -- has finally been overcome. It its place, however, we have a new, more serious problem, one that destroys any potential in the story.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>During <i>Secrets and Shadows,</i> Jess was seeing a therapist, Dr. Jones, ostensibly to work through her issues with her mother's death. Only it turned out Jones was in league with the mysterious organization that employs secret agent Wanda and psychic vampire Derek, and is also keeping Pietr's mother in captivity. The book ended with Jess' therapist having her carted off to an asylum. So now Jessie's locked up in Pecan Place -- "where the nuts gather", har har -- where strange things are going on. While Pietr and her father try different approaches to get her out, Jessie herself tries to avoid being attacked by fellow inmates or drugged into unconsciousness by the staff for long enough to get to the bottom of it. Meanwhile on the outside, the Rusakovas have problems of their own. Max and Amy are still dealing with the fallout from Amy's breakup with her abusive boyfriend Marvin, Alexi is haunted by his own troubled past, and Pietr's trying to not only engineer Jessie's rescue, but their mother's as well. The impossibility of just a handful of teenagers pulling something like that off -- even if they<i> are</i> werewolves -- leads Pietr to make a risky alliance.<br />
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For a while in <i>Bargains and Betrayals,</i> I saw the <i>13 to Life</i> series coming into its own. The first half is some of the best material Delany has turned in yet: locked up in the loony bin, Jessie finds intriguing characters and compelling mysteries, plus hints that the organization behind it all is much bigger and more powerful than previously thought. Our secondary plotline, told from Alexi's point of view, involves him coming to terms with the consequences of unsavory actions in his past, all the while watching helplessly as Pietr makes the same bad decisions that he did. Delany tells both stories with her characteristic style: alternately snarky, self-aware, and romantic. There are missteps here and there indicating that she is still fairly new to the writing game, most notably some occasions of stilted dialog. On the whole, though, it's engaging and enjoyable.<br />
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Then things go wrong. Badly wrong. The major plotlines come together and wrap up, as they should. There's a climactic battle, an equally powerful emotional climax, and our heroes succeed in escaping their current predicament only to wind up knee-deep in another. To Be Continued. A perfectly good ending. The problem is that it comes halfway through the book. The second half is the story on the other side of the To Be Continued, with its own conflict and narrative arc. In other words, we have two stories in one book.<br />
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There's nothing at all wrong with this. I've done it myself, in fact. But there's a good way to do it and a bad way to do it. As a writer, I can tell you that the optimal length of a story is the length the story demands to be. Sometimes this comes in at less than the wordcount you need for a full book. So, you tinker with it a little, adding and expanding scenes as necessary, but you can only stretch things so far in either way before the quality of the story starts to suffer. So if you still fall short of what you need, you write a different, related story and put it together with the first, doing your best to blend them into a cohesive whole.<br />
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<i>Bargains and Betrayals</i> seems to have wound up here by the opposite route: both of these stories could have been expanded to a full book on their own, but instead they're combined to make a single book. I don't know what went on behind the scenes, but my theory is that the first half originally <i>was</i> the entire book, and it was complete and good at that length. Then someone -- maybe the author, maybe the publisher, who knows -- decided it was no good by itself. So the projected sequel was hastily written and tacked on to become the second half, with the first half cut down to bare bones to accommodate it. Essentially, two books were cut down to a half-book each and then smushed awkwardly together.<br />
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Both stories suffer for the change. The first winds up with continuity issues and a woefully underdeveloped supporting cast. We meet three major new characters and re-introduce one in a new role, but by the end two are dead and two vanish for the entire second half. The second story winds up even worse. It's very obviously an early draft that has not been properly revised and developed. Dialog is awkward, characters lose their depth and uniqueness, the pace is rushed, and the climax just flat-out stinks. I mean, it <i>really</i> stinks. It feels like it was supposed to be a wrapup for the entire series, and thus has to deal with a lot of stray plot threads. So Delany sets up a bunch of plot twists like dominoes, and they go off one after another during a long action scene with very sparse detail to what exactly is going on. It's compressed way too much, leaving no time to process one twist before its on to the next one. And while the final boss was set up adequately in the first two books, it still feels random because his presence in this one has been limited. It's all really, really slapdash and obviously thrown together on a tight deadline.<br />
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It feels a lot to me like this series was intended by the author as a quartology or ongoing series, but for some reason the plan was changed to a trilogy, thus necessitating the compression. If so, whoever had the idea must be seriously miffed now, because book 4 has been approved after all. So we get a tacked-on sequel hook rather than a complete denouement and a promise of a new direction for the series in the next book.<br />
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<i>Bargains and Betrayals</i> is a horrible letdown, all the more painful for the fact that it seems to have been a solid story before it was re-worked. But while her stories have been solidly above average to this point, Delany isn't a good enough writer to save the book from the consequences of ham-handedly Frankensteining two stories together. If you've read the first two books with only moderate interest and wonder if you should skip this one, then go ahead and skip it. Properly executed, the forthcoming <i>Destiny and Deception</i> could revive the series, but <i>Bargains and Betrayals</i> does not deliver.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-13629663811405024752011-08-29T17:00:00.000-04:002011-08-29T17:00:10.730-04:00Kitty's Greatest Hits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcBSVmxNefvlaiCRZpeOgh6Dvdog0pcW07X-L6s-95Z84vvZtNbbc-6IgC9fkxU0rlotkzse3D4ctC_3Q3U6jza6asU8FAPobrELPWNb6xVEjhqEZJSGlFoUcrillvYBGh41V92A9XwQ/s1600/kittygreatesthitssmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcBSVmxNefvlaiCRZpeOgh6Dvdog0pcW07X-L6s-95Z84vvZtNbbc-6IgC9fkxU0rlotkzse3D4ctC_3Q3U6jza6asU8FAPobrELPWNb6xVEjhqEZJSGlFoUcrillvYBGh41V92A9XwQ/s200/kittygreatesthitssmall.jpg" title="Cover image copyright Tor books" width="132" /></a></div><b>Series:</b> Kitty Norvile (Side-story)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Anthology<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.carrievaughn.com/">Carrie Vaughn</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/tor.aspx">Tor</a><br />
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A while back, I shared with a friend my opinion that Carrie Vaughn was a short story writer applying herself to novels. Hence, she produced novels that are really collections of 2-5 shorts woven together into an intricate tapestry. "Well," my friend opined, "maybe the short story collection she has coming will be the best Kitty Norville book ever."<br />
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I wouldn't go <i>that</i> far. But still, <i>Kitty's Greatest Hits</i> is an excellent addition to the world Vaughn has created, steeped in the uncommon layer of realism that keeps her fans coming back. Where other authors of urban fantasy are satisfied making pulpy escapism, Carrie Vaughn reaches higher, giving us characters who are human beings instead of cliches, conflicted instead of angsty, and ultimately just trying to get by the same as everyone else.<br />
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As is customary, we will take this anthology story by story, with warning of unmarked spoilers to readers who haven't read the main series to this point:<br />
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<b>Il Est Ne:</b> A tale from the "lone wolf" period of Kitty's life, after being booted from the Denver pack and before hooking up with Ben. A depressing Christmas away from home turns first into Kitty counselling a fellow lone werewolf, then the two of them tracking a spree killer. For non-fans, this is a good start to the anthology. It brings the reader up to speed on the basics of Kittyverse lycanthropy, the setting's major underlying themes, and Ms. Norville's unique style of heroism. To readers familiar with all that, however, the story is kind of bland and predictable. Kitty's voice isn't as strong here as expected. Daniel, her sidekick-for-the-day, is better, but his personal issues are solved mainly by hanging out with Kitty for an afternoon, which feels cheap. The implication is that he's stuck in an epiphaniac prison -- he can't get out until he realizes getting out is possible -- but it still comes off as a conflict resolved far too easily. An average story, overall.<br />
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<b>A Princess of Spain:</b> Intrigues and vampires in the court of Henry VII. Wasn't expecting historical fiction, and it puts me out of my element. Seems well-researched, though; I'm not an expert on English history, but the world is consistent and believable. The three main characters are also well-developed, and you can see Vaughn's feminist tendencies in both characterization and setting. The only weak point here is a villain. Not only is she a cipher with a vague and uninteresting goal, but she goes down way too easy. A drawn-out fight would be inappropriate, given the genre, but you don't expect an immortal vampire to be blindsided by a pair of teenagers who mistake her for a completely different supernatural. A minor problem in an otherwise solid tale.<br />
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<b>Conquistador de la Noche:</b> Rick's origin story. As a down-on-his-luck caballero in colonial Mexico, he gets dragged kicking and screaming into the vampire world, then makes his new master regret vamping him. This one really grabbed me. Rick is entertaining as a protagonist, demonstrating moral clarity and willpower amidst a cast that revels in villainy. The plot is also quite good, with both action and pathos in ample supply. The climactic moment is the most memorable part: it's the perfect encapsulation of the themes the story manifests. However, it introduces some logical issues regarding the interplay of vampirism with religion in this universe. Explainable issues, but in context it seems like a bit of a Deus Ex Machina. It's also a bit shorter than it should be. Some expansion to smooth out the pacing would have been nice. Nevertheless, I liked it.<br />
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<b>The Book of Daniel:</b> And speaking of religion. In an early Kitty book (<i>Kitty Goes to Washington</i>, I think,) it was mentioned that the biblical Daniel was secretly a were-lion, which is how he survived being thrown into a lions den. Here, we get elaboration. An excellent story with good characters, but -- like <i>A Princess of Spain </i>-- it suffers from a weak climax. The outcome was always a foregone conclusion, so I won't object to that, but Daniel literally talking to the animals is a bizarre deviation from how therianthropy is suppossed to work. Maybe Vaughn is trying to imply there's more to it? Decent and agreeable, in any case.<br />
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<b>The Temptation of Robin Green:</b> Scientist at a super-secret military/government institution gets seduced by one of the test subjects. The author's notes indicate that this story has an interesting history. It was written very early in Vaughn's career, predating <i>Kitty and the Midnight Hour</i> even, when she envisioned her magnum opus being a series of stories about Rick walking the earth in the manner of Caine from <i>Kung Fu</i>. Later, she wound up writing a story about a werewolf talk-radio star and the plan changed. Still later, this story was dusted off and rewritten for a PNR anthology. Vaughn was only just starting to conceive of the world her stories would take place in, and it shows. We have a talking dog, mermaids, and Rick (in what feels like a "before they were stars" moment) somehow having wound up as a government lab rat. Vaughn admits she had no idea how this would have happened and that the story itself is borderline-apocryphal. Shenanigans! All that said, though, this is a great story on its own merits. The main character is a sexually repressed virgin, a state which renders her vulnerable to a selkie's bewitching. You know it's not going to end well, and so does she, but you also know that she's going to fall for it hook, line, and sinker. The plot is unforgivingly real, with a powerful emotional core and steamy love scenes. Rick also makes a strong showing as the voice of reason in all this. You can see why Vaughn almost tapped him as her main protagonist before he slid into his current role in the 'verse. The continuity issues nag at me, but in terms of quality, it's a very worthy inclusion.<br />
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<b>Looking After Family:</b> A tale from Cormac and Ben's shared childhood. Young Cormac takes Ben out to hunt a werewolf, but an unforeseen complication arises. Vaughn mentions in the author's notes that this story is one of the most historically important in the book, defining Cormac, Ben, and their fraternal relationship to each other. Honestly, I don't see it. While well written, the story is missing something. There's not a lot of tension, given that we know what these kids grow up to be. The twist is good, and the setting is realistic and believable, but nothing especially grabbed me. One scene has Cormac undressing in great detail, which is a little creepy since he's sixteen at this point and the perspective character is his cousin.<br />
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<b>God's Creatures:</b> And for an encore, here's grown-up Cormac doing what he does best. Having tracked a werewolf to a Catholic boarding school, he has to suss out who it is before the wolf loses control and goes homicidal. Very well paced and exciting, even if the mystery is a bit obvious. Fans will be interested in seeing what Cormac was like before he met Kitty. It's not a pretty picture -- in fact, he's a stone-cold killer, cold enough to con a teenage girl into being live bait. Apparently he didn't take his lesson from the last story. Solidly written, and very appealing.<br />
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<b>Wild Ride:</b> Origin story for T.J., the gay werewolf from <i>Kitty and the Midnight Hour</i>. Interesting thing about this one: it could have ended five pages earlier than it did, the major conflict resolved and it's job done. But the story goes on, and those last five pages make it a whole lot deeper. T.J. made a lot of fans in the first book by being the only named character in Kitty's pack that wasn't an asshole. But his death at the end meant we never really got to know him. Here we do, and he's a compelling character: headstrong and free-spirited, but also lonely. Unable to fit in, he's constantly on the move, searching for somewhere he belongs. And it's a tragedy, because if you know his later life you know that he never found it. Very poignant, and one of the better stories on display here.<br />
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<b>Winnowing the Herd:</b> ...unlike this next on. Well, I suppose every anthology needs a stinker. A glorified deleted scene from <i>Kitty and the Midnight Hour </i>shows Kitty, pre-stardom, dealing with a bunch of obnoxious co-workers at an office party and not seeming to realize that she's no better than them. Amusing, but utterly pointless. This is the kind of thing that goes into the first drafts of my novels and is important for me to get on paper, then comes out in revision and is tossed aside for not contributing to the story. The only real benefit here is a glimpse into Kitty's day-to-day life as a DJ, and the fact that much of it is new information only drives home how little Kitty's job really matters to the series. I know Vaughn can turn an outtake into a proper story, as she did in <i><a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/05/full-moon-city.html">Kitty Learns the Ropes</a></i>. By contrast, the lack of effort put in here is really obvious.<br />
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<b>Kitty and the Mosh Pit of the Damned: </b>Kitty goes to see a band whose fans have a rep for partying a little too hard, and things get real bad, real quick. A fun little action story with an inordinately solid supporting cast. Not much to say about it, but a good read.<br />
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<b>Kitty's Zombie New Year:</b> Another lame party, this one to celebrate New Year's Eve. Kitty mopes over her lack of a date, then a zombie shows up at the door. How's that for a party-killer? Vaughn's stated goal with this story was to revive the old-school zombie tradition. Rather than a flesh-eating monster, we have a enslaved corpse resurrected by black magic. Vaughn's passion for research shows through, and the story that comes out is both heartbreaking and creepy as hell. Fun stuff.<br />
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<b>Life is the Teacher:</b> What a pleasant surprise this was! Emma, the newly-turned vamp you might remember from <i>Kitty Goes to Washington</i>, tries her hand at the art of vampiric seduction. The D.C. paranormal scene is one of the great missed opportunities of the main series; the cast and setting is some of Vaughn's best work, but she never got a chance to revisit it after the second book. Here we get a long-delayed second glimpse of this world, and it has all the vibrancy that I remembered. The plot is a kind of multi-layered metaphor: Emma's first hunt has overtones of sexual initiation, which in turn is played as a right of passage. Alette, the maternally-inclined vampire who is also underused in the main series, gets a nice role as the supportive mentor in all this. This was originally written for an erotica anthology, and it shows, being much more explicit than longtime fans are used to. But Vaughn knows what she's doing, and constructs a tale that is sensual without losing emotion, and vice versa. The pacing is just right, too. A definite high point.<br />
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<b>You're On the Air: </b>The other side of a scene from <i>Kitty and the Silver Bullet</i>. A pretentious vampire who claims to have known Lord Byron calls the <i>Midnight Hour</i> and talks about how awesome vampirism is. A down-on-his-luck vamp stuck working at a convenience store hears, gets miffed, and calls in with a different perspective on the vampiric lifestyle. Predictable, and with a really moldy old plot twist, but amusing enough, and short enough not to wear out its welcome.<br />
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And now, our feature presentation:<br />
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<b>Long Time Waiting:</b> In 1900, a Victorian adventuress and occultist named Amelia Parker was executed at a Colorado prison for a murder she didn't commit. Decades later, after the events of <i>Kitty Takes a Holiday</i>, Cormac is serving a term for manslaughter in the same prison. Unknown to anyone, Amelia is still around, having bound her spirit into the prison walls. When inmates start dying mysteriously, she turns to Cormac hoping he can help her fight the supernatural killer. But doing so requires her to get into Cormac's mind, and he's not going to let her in. Vaughn has been hyping this story on her blog for awhile, and it's easy to see why. Like the previous Cormac stories, it's a glimpse into the psyche of a man who's less hero than antihero. It's also our first real look at Amelia, who until now we've known only by her influence. My first thought on it was that it was an idiot plot. Here's this demonic killing machine prowling the jail, this ghostly woman offers help, and Cormac rebuffs her repeatedly. Meanwhile, she acts just as dumb by trying to force her way into his mind instead of being diplomatic about it. However, in retrospect this makes perfect sense. As Cormac notes, he's in prison, where the inside of his mind is pretty much the only thing he has left to control. Amelia is in the same situation, but worse off because she doesn't even have a body anymore. Their confinement has worn them down until they have nothing and are mortally afraid of losing what they do have. The story, in other words, is is about learning to trust. Well-written, well-characterized, and with an awesome finish. First-rate work.<br />
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Should you get this book? If you're a Kitty Norville fan, definitely. (Beware of spoilers if you're not up to date, however.) If not, it's still good reading. The stories are encapsulated enough that you don't need an encyclopedic knowledge of the series to enjoy, and the writing is as strong as we expect. Fully in her element, Vaughn demonstrates the creativity and down-to-earth world-building that makes her work endearing among a sea of mass-market paperbacks about chicks in leather with guns and katanas. Time well spent.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-85303561446210194042011-08-18T16:16:00.000-04:002011-09-05T14:02:39.720-04:00Teen Wolf (Season 1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuP4KkHPAOeuvPAsBDbhDDI7npfPvgtuNzODyqkfHQwWA46zHynBfadPzkHQWP13orgvzhqj0KcLAGJ2LwuQU9rAg7ire2_EnsI0Idbde9HunOPdSi0heA1A29y3N7s7ZIy_D6LUbAexs/s1600/scott_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuP4KkHPAOeuvPAsBDbhDDI7npfPvgtuNzODyqkfHQwWA46zHynBfadPzkHQWP13orgvzhqj0KcLAGJ2LwuQU9rAg7ire2_EnsI0Idbde9HunOPdSi0heA1A29y3N7s7ZIy_D6LUbAexs/s320/scott_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Medium:</b> TV Series<br />
<b>Airs:</b> Mondays, 10/9c (currently in reruns); previous week's episodes streamed on MTV.com<br />
<b><a href="http://www.mtv.com/shows/teen_wolf/series.jhtml">Official Webpage</a></b><br />
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I was initially a little leery of MTV's attempt at a werewolf TV show, largely because it was on MTV. They're not exactly what you'd call a bastion of quality cable programming. They've had successes, yes. In the field of animation, they've given us <i>Beavis and Butthead</i>, <i>Daria</i>, <i>Aeon Flux</i>, and <i>Celebrity Deathmatch</i>. They arguably invented reality TV with <i>The Real World</i>, and their unscripted shows are still above average for the genre. But for every success, there are at least three failures, and they have never produced a successful scripted drama. Still in all, with the internet having more or less annihilated the market for music videos on television, they're faced with an "evolve or die" situation. So <i>Teen Wolf</i> emerges as part of the first wave of a series of scripted drama and comedy programs. And as it turns out, it's not too shabby.<br />
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<a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2011/06/teen-wolf-tv.html">When we last left our hero</a>, Scott McCall, he was trying to deal with the travails of high school while keeping his lycanthropy under wraps. It's particularly important to keep his new girlfriend Allison Argent out of the loop, since her dad leads a band of werewolf hunters. This isn't Scott's only problem, however. Allison's aunt Kate is also a wolf-hunter, and while Papa Argent plays cool and cautious, Kate is full-on psychotic. There's also the mysterious alpha wolf, who turned Scott and is now roaming the town killing people seemingly at random. Adding to the drama, the local lacrosse ace Jackson is making Scott's life miserable out of jealousy. After an accidental scratch from a werewolf claw, Jackson starts to experience terrifying hallucinations which eventually help him piece together the mystery of Scott's newfound athletic prowess. As you might imagine, all this is a bit much for Scott and his friend Stiles to handle alone. So they form an uneasy alliance with Derek Hale, an older and more experienced werewolf who can show Scott the ropes. Together, the three of them try to sort this whole mess out before it's too late.<br />
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As mentioned in our previous post, <i>Teen Wolf</i> started off iffy and improved after two or three episodes. Improvement continued at a steady pace over the first season as the story slowly found its voice. At first it was played somewhat like a murder mystery, with Derek and Scott trying to evade detection by the hunters while figuring out who the alpha was. However, this plot was something of a non-starter. Derek's investigations didn't really get anywhere, whereas Scott just wanted to be left alone and acted only when his friends were placed in jeopardy. Following a confrontation with the alpha in episode 6, the mystery plotline gets pushed aside in favor of love triangles and character drama. Then at the end of episode 9, the alpha is revealed and his revenge scheme takes front and center for the last three episodes, leading to a season finale that wraps major plotlines while leaving sequel hooks for season 2.<br />
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<i>Teen Wolf</i>'s success is owed primarily to the realism of its characters. MTV may have a reputation for shallowness and sleaze these days, but they've always had a handle on where the youth of america is at. The teenagers in this show actually act like teenagers, with all the hormones, angst, identity crises, and self-doubt that implies. Credit goes to the writers for this, but more so to the actors, who deliver first-rate work. Dylan O'Brien, playing Stiles, continues to be a favorite. Colton Haynes' Jackson is a note-perfect high school bully, by turns overgrown brat and sniveling coward. By the last few episodes, I wanted to punch Jackson in the face every scene. Jill Wagner plays Kate to the hilt, reveling in the villain role so much that by the end it's questionable whether or not the alpha is really the main bad guy.<br />
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Then there's Holland Roden, who's portrayal of Jackson's girlfriend Lydia is... either underskilled or brilliant, I'm not sure which. Lydia is, essentially, the school bitch, and throughout the first half of the season, I got the feeling that Roden was either trying a little too hard, or had been directed to act like she was trying too hard. Lydia is a bit over the top, almost like a caricature. But the thing is, the character's entire arc is <i>about</i> her being a caricature. Lydia is actually very intelligent, shown in episode 7 when she MacGuyvers together a weapon to use against the alpha. The shallow rich-girl facade is mainly for the sake of Jackson's ego. ("You don't have to suck just to keep him happy," Allison says, regarding Lydia's bowling talents. "You don't want to know how much I suck to keep him happy", Lydia responds.) I hope she gets more screentime and is allowed to take it down a notch in season 2, because she's one of the more complex characters in the series.<br />
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When you think about it, that's the entire premise of the series: adolescent crises of identity. Scott, of course, is dealing with his double life as a werewolf. But it goes beyond that; in the second half of the season, nearly every character has a moment when they question who, exactly, they want to be. Allison, for example, wants to stop being a weakling and become an action girl instead, but after Kate shows her what that means Allison starts having second thoughts. Stiles, for his part, is frustrated by being little more than Scott's brainy sidekick. And once Jackson learns the truth about Scott, he wonders what lycanthropy might do for him.<br />
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The series excels on the production end. I praised the werewolf effects earlier, and they've generally stayed at a high level of quality. The CGI is occassionally jarring, so they compensate with cinematography. The alpha's beast form -- furred all over and bipedal or quadrupedal as the situation demands -- is not seen clearly until the last episode, the rest of the time being in the background, or just out of frame, or obscured by shadow, all traditional tricks to keep the monster out of the audience's view. Scott and Derek have the Talbot look: latex and makeup on the hands and face, for an animalistic look that still allows actors to speak and emote. It works pretty well, although Derek always winds up looking like he's trying to be Wolverine. The music is also above-average, as expected from an MTV production, and cinematography is solid, occasionally even clever. (Watch the trapped-in-school episode and catch the alpha lurking around in the background of deep focus shots.)<br />
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There are, however, two big problems dogging the series, no pun intended. The first is that the dialog is bland. The writers have a good handle on how teenagers behave, but that's not quite enough. It lacks punch; it makes for serviceable writing, but nothing more. The second is that the plot lurches, for lack of a better word. Each scene moves the story forward, but the plot also seems to move between scenes and episodes, resulting in the viewer feeling as if he's missed something. Episode 9 begins with the characters in a car chase with the cops, and how they got into this situation isn't clear. There are also plot holes, some of them rather serious. One episode implies that Lydia is abusive prescription drugs, but this plot point isn't mentioned again. Late in the game, a minor character reveals that he knows more about werewolves than expected. But even though he's friendly and there's ample opportunity for Scott to question him, Scott instead leaves immediately and the viewer is left wondering what the hell is going on here. Most egregiously, the alpha's ability to compel Scott to wolf out and hunt is quietly dropped halfway through with no explanation, and the alpha settles for persuasion through threats instead. Things need to be tightened up and streamlined.<br />
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Fortunately, there's time to deal with these issues. <i>Teen Wolf</i> has apparently been doing <a href="http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/08/16/teen-wolf-season-one-comes-to-a-dramatic-conclusion-and-scores-series-high-ratings/100637/">rather well</a> in the ratings, and a second season has been greenlit for next year. I'll be waiting. And I might pick up the inevitable DVD in the meantime, too.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788554635656171442.post-69730474962712325652011-08-15T16:00:00.015-04:002011-08-15T16:14:06.866-04:00Wolfsbane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxtbbpnUvxQO-8JKLXaby89rGY241OE8-6yySxckHcaIDArB9ojkt4zXBIeKjHmKYyQ7Ad0G0oJ8hijvCt_80Oemf4PF-WEFP-5DDHy8tfPOCpPkb3PCcHvKv162h2xtICfE5edDT2cA/s1600/Wolfsbane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxtbbpnUvxQO-8JKLXaby89rGY241OE8-6yySxckHcaIDArB9ojkt4zXBIeKjHmKYyQ7Ad0G0oJ8hijvCt_80Oemf4PF-WEFP-5DDHy8tfPOCpPkb3PCcHvKv162h2xtICfE5edDT2cA/s200/Wolfsbane.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><b>Series:</b> Nightshade (#2)<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Adventure<br />
<b>Author:</b> <a href="http://www.andreacremer.com/">Andrea Cremer</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> <a href="http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/yr/philomel.html">Philomel</a><br />
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I object to the cover art on general principles.<br />
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The original<i> <a href="http://luplun.blogspot.com/2010/11/nightshade.html">Nightshade</a> </i>cover was <a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1269185530l/7402393.jpg">fantastic</a>. It was colorful and eye-catching. It jumped off the bookshelves to hit you between the eyes and make your brain say "Huh, interesting." The <a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311977964l/10801710.jpg">original <i>Wolfsbane</i> cover</a> was done in the same style, and while not quite as eye-catching it was well-designed and nice-looking. But now, by publisher fiat, those covers are out and we have <a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311279331l/10331417.jpg">three</a> <a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1302538224l/7263429.jpg">new</a> <a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1308177384l/8130839.jpg">ones</a> with generic composition over dull black covers, the same as half the other covers in the YA paranormal section. What was wrong? My assumption is that the public couldn't tell that these were werewolf books. Hence the not-very-subtle <i>Nightshade</i> cover, the wolf on <i>Bloodrose</i>, and the full moon hanging over a bored-looking model for <i>Wolfsbane</i>. While I can understand wanting to put a selling point front and center, I think someone at the publishing house doesn't get this series. While the <i>Nightshade</i> books have werewolves, that's pretty much all they have to do with the current vogue for paranormal YA. They're more accurately defined as fantasy novels placed in a modern environment -- evil wizards, noble orders of mage knights, swords and bows as the weapons of choice, and a strong focus on the personal evolution and development of it's main character.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><i>Nightshade</i> ended on a cliffhanger, with Calla and Shay having fled the Keepers into the hands of their enemies, the Searchers. Not being entirely trusted, Calla was chained up by their gracious hosts until Shay could sort things out. <i>Wolfsbane</i> picks up a week later, with Calla being let out of her cell and meeting the enemies of her enemies. In their ongoing war against the Keepers, the Searchers have attempted to ally with rebellious Guardians before. Calla is convinced that she can bring her young packmates over to their side. But after an initial attempt at contact goes bad, the good guys find themselves having to mount a rescue mission instead. Meanwhile, Calla fights with her own divided loyalties. While she's in love with Shay, she hasn't yet thrown away Ren's ring, and the guilt of betraying him -- justification regardless -- weighs heavy upon her.<br />
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<i>Wolfsbane</i> has a lot going for it. The characters, at least once fully developed, are appealing. Andrea Cremer being a history scholar, her world-building is second to none, despite the occasional cheesy touch. And the plot is very good. As mentioned, it shoves aside the usual PNR/UF tropes in favor of becoming more of a fantasy novel with a modern setting. I liked this change of pace, but it sometimes seems a little awkward. Our heroes favor crossbows and blades as their main weapons, which is a little jarring in the twenty-first century. I'm left wondering why noone ever thinks to pull a gun.<br />
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There are also times when Cremer simply trades one set of tropes for another. The MacGuffin the Searchers need is a pair of swords broken into two pieces each. Each piece represents one of the four classical elements, and is hidden at a secret location. Shay has one already, from the Haldis site. To defeat the bad guys, he has to travel to the other three sites, find the other three pieces, then assemble the swords and dual-wield them against the evil forces. When this is all revealed Shay, being a fan of comic books and other pulpy forms of entertainment, expresses disappointment at how predictable and cliche it all is. The reader may be inclined to agree. I think the author kinda does too, because all that gets tossed onto the back burner while the heroes deal with more pressing matters. Instead the main plot divides it's time between Calla trying to put her memories of Ren behind her, and the buildup to the rescue mission. It's far from bad, but it's brought down by a truly excessive amount of padding. There are pages upon pages of exposition and entire scenes full of color dialog that add nothing to the story. Near the beginning, several full chapters are devoted to an infodump in the form of a war council, and in the last chapter the denouement is pointlessly delayed so that a character can babble her backstory to Calla.<br />
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Paradoxically, despite the padding, the book also has too <i>much</i> plot. Or perhaps more accurately, too much sub-plot. The opening chapters introduce us to half a dozen Searchers. Like with the first book, I'm ambivalent about such a large cast. On the one hand, they're all well-developed characters with distinct personalities and backstories. On the other, relating all those backstories to the reader requires more and more expositionary dialog while the plot stalls. It also clutters the story. The sheer number of supporting characters makes it nearly impossible to keep everything important in your head. <i>Nightshade</i> had the same problem, and at the time I thought it was worth it. But when Calla's old packmates showed up it took some time to remember who was who and what their personal subplots were, which suggests the approach might be counter-productive.<br />
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Most of the real meat in the story is the Shay/Calla/Ren love triangle, which is actually a lot deeper and better executed than most books can pull off. Despite having run off with Shay, Calla is still wearing Ren's ring, and Shay becomes a bit of a jerk about it, which hangs a dark cloud over their relationship for most of the book. For awhile I thought this was all a contrived attempt to draw out the tension, but on further reflection it makes perfect sense psychologically. On Shay's part, he's risked his life for Calla several times, and spent the whole last book trying to help her break away from a corrupt social order. So when he sees her still hanging on to what she left behind, of course he's going to be a little frustrated.<br />
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Meanwhile, if you read between the lines of Calla's feelings for Ren, you realize she's not really in love with him. She's concerned about his fate, but it's not the same thing. In her mind, Ren's become a symbol of the life she left behind -- bad for her, certainly, but also familiar. Contrariwise, the Searchers are an unknown faction who don't fully trust Calla, so it becomes a case of the devil you do know versus the devil you don't. More importantly, however justified she was, Calla still betrayed Ren. Not only that, she betrayed her packmates as well, condemning them to imprisonment and torture. They were all part of the system, giving it their tacit approval, if not always supporting it. But they were also good people and close friends. What Calla's asking herself, really, is "did I make the right decision?" Was her freedom worth the price?<br />
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As for Ren:<br />
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Contrary to popular belief, I do not object to Ren as a character. He makes a good villain. I'll even say that by the end of <i>Wolfsbane</i>, he's significantly more sympathetic then when we first met him. My objection is to the fangirls who think he would make a good match for Calla. Her angst notwithstanding, Ren was a horrible boyfriend, possessive and controlling yet with no loyalty to Calla. And while his brief appearance in <i>Wolfsbane</i> shows some regret, it's still a violent encounter with undertones of rape. With that said, though, it is becoming apparent just how much Ren is a product of the society that raised him. His personal growth was stunted the same way Calla's was, hemming him into the same restricting worldview. The only real difference between them is that the system put him on top and her on the bottom. So while he's still a villain, he's a tragic villain, a falcon in a gilded cage with no control over his destiny. Cremer is setting up a redemption arc for him, one which will hopefully bear fruit in <i>Bloodrose</i>.<br />
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All in all, <i>Wolfsbane</i> is a solid story, although not as good as its predecessor. It drags a lot in places, and a lot of the supporting cast is all dressed up with no place to go. Still, it's a worthy read for those who liked the first book, and hopefully with all of the world-building out of the way, Cremer can deliver a solid concluding chapter in <i>Bloodrose</i>.LupLunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01569316994425614394noreply@blogger.com0