Dean Koontz: In Odd We Trust
I am an Odd fan. I enjoy his adventures and truly believe he is an innocent person with great strength. That said I am not sure this is really a valuable addition to the Odd story.
It is a prequel to the adventures of the novels. It is a graphic novel in the anime type drawing style. The problem I have is that it focuses too much on the drawing and not on the story. From beginning to end it took me a little more then an hour to read. The story had a scene from the Odd Thomas books with him chasing someone across yards only this time he doesn’t catch the person. There is also the repeating of finding a kidnapped person and escaping from the bad guy. Only this time the bad guy was quickly subdued and captured. My main problems though were that the bad guy is found way to quickly and easily and a character never mentioned in the books is introduced who should have been important enough to Stormy to at least have been mentioned in the books. Essentially, it felt dumbed down and robbed of the essence that make Odd Thomas great. Probably the best part was him arguing with Angelica about flying monkeys.
Don’t get me wrong it is an interesting idea to do a graphic novel of a character. Am I glad I read it? Yes, it was fun despite being dumbed down. Could the series have lived without it? Yes. I would have been much more interested in some of the stories mentioned in passing throughout the books of other adventures he has had. I think there is one about being tied up to a dead guy and dumped in the lake. I was hoping it would go that way and give more insight on some of the early adventures that we are teased with in the book.
Dean Koontz, you could have done so much better.
Karen Chance: Touch the Dark
I first read some Karen Chance in the On the Prowl anthology. I wasn’t too impressed but not every author is perfect all the time. There was some promise in her writing so I decided to give her a chance. Touch the Dark is the tale of Cassandra who was rasied in a vampire household/stronghold and ran away when she learned her ability to see into the future was being used for evil (vampires, duh!). I have some problems with the character being able to see the future and understand the workings of vampires well enough to know they are vicious and dangerous, especially the master she lives with, and not see that they would use her ability for their own profit. That aside the story and characters have much potential but I don’t really feel that it reached it. I was left wanting more and feeling cheated out of a better story. I am considering reading the second book in the series but other reviewers have mentioned that it is much of the same.
Overall, it wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t that good. There were parts where the story built up momentum only to have it fizzle without climax. There were hints dropped with grave significance that did not develop into anything and continuity problems from chapter to chaprter with some of the characters and developments. It was a unique twist on the old classic human vampire interaction story but not so new or well written that I think I will keep reading Karen Chance. Maybe someday when I run out of others to read I will try her agian but for now Touch of Dark will travel to the “books to be donated” pile that is slowly building instead of the “books to be reread” pile.
Simon R. Green: Daemons are Forever
The second installment in the Secret Histories Series staring Edwin DroodAKA Shaman Bond. The Drood family has been ruling the world for centuries and no one knows. Well, the important people know because Presidents, Kings, Emperors and such have to ask permission to do certain things. All the bad guys, aliens, and creatures kept the war secret and out of sight for fear of what the Droods would do to them…. until now. In the first book Edwin discovers the the golden torcs that give his family their power come at a high price. Each Drood is really a twin and one twin is sacrificed so the other can gain a torc. It is hinted that a piece of the twin becomes the torc. What is the torc? A golden body armor that can absorb or reflect almost anything. With a Word it encases the wearer and makes him or her super strong, fast and nearly invincible. Only some things can get through the armour. When Edwin discovered the family secret he overthrew the Matriarch who ruled the family (his Grandmother) and destroyed the Heart who gave them their torc. He meet Strange Matter, or Ethel as it likes to be called, along the way and Ethel is now providing him with silver armour.
In the beginning of the book the family is disjointed and upset. The world powers have taken notice of the Droods lack of activity and are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Edwin decides to make a definitive action to show that the family is not weak and take down the Loathly Ones, soul-eaters, once and for all. While he wants to limit who gets new torcs since the old were destroyed with the Heart eventually all the family gets them. With his love at his side and friends and enemies covering his back Edwin eventually conquers all at no small price to himself.
Simon R. Green once again writes a good story but it is reminiscent of his other series of the Nightside and Darkwood that I have read and I have no doubt similar to Deathstalkers. The story lines are different but some things remain similar. The baddies of the supernatural world have simple names that describe them such as Subway Sue, Mr. Stab and Blue Fairy. While humorous and unique in their own way each character reminds me of another. Mr Stab is reminiscent of Razor Eddie. The main characters and their scarred but strong female side kicks are also similar across the series. Even the wording is oddly the same, the phrase “It was the easiest thing the world” comes to mind. With specific characterizations and word choices repeated throughout the book. I am all for the reiteration but it becomes a little repetitive since it is the same wording.
Despite this it is a fun read. I cant wait to see what exploits Edwin Drood gets into next. I know I saw at least three story lines developing for future work in this series and perhaps an extension on the Deathstalker series occur.
Thomas Sniegoski: A Kiss Before the Apocalypse
See I do read some male centered and male author stuff. Just not that often, the sci-fi/fantasy books seem to be dominated with male writers who portray females as decorations or useless so I tend to stear clear of them. But this one was interesting but not terribly memorable.
Remy is an angel, really. He fought the Devil and decided he had enough killing so he came to Earth. God will let him back in Heaven but he wants none of it. He has love, although she is old and dying, and family, a dog and a dying wife, and work, PI. He is pretty happy, that is until the Angel of Death walks off the job. His wife cant die even though she is ready and neither can anyone else. He eventually finds the Angel of Death who decided to take a holiday in a human body (flashbacks to Meet Joe Black?) and was having trouble dealing with the human emotions. By the skin of his teeth Remy stops the apocalypse and gets Death back on the job. While he looses his wife he still want to stay on Earth and with his dog so he turns down a position at Gods side.
Dont know if this is a series or trilogoy or stand alone. Looks like a stand alone which is good and bad. I kinda do and kinda dont want to know more. The characters never really got off the page for me but the story was generally good.
On the Prowl
An anthology of stories. I bought it for Patricia Briggs I read past hers in hope of finding new authors.
1) Patricia Briggs, Alpha and Omega: We meet Anna a three year old werewolf (okay really older but has been a werewolf for three years). She is the lowest in her pack and a submissive. She has been used and passed around by the pack until she tried to kill herself with a silver knife and the Alphas Mate finally stopped the rape. Still she barely survives from paycheck to paycheck because the pack takes 40% of her money. Then one day she sees a newspaper article about a young missing boy and recognizes him as the young werewolf in the cage of the Alphas home. She calls Bran, the leader of the American werewolfs, to let him know. Taking place at the same time as the end of Moon Kissed Bran already knows and has sent his son Charles to take care of it and talk with Leo, the area Alpha. Charles gets there and learns something interesting, Anna is an Omega. Omegas are very rare because they make others clam and protective of them the trait can been seen and felt before they are werewolves and no sane werewolf could hurt a submissive. Which explains why the insane Justin was ordered to change her by Leo. Additionaly, they are not submissive and only have status in the pack form their mate if they are female or outside of the pack order if they are male. Werewolves are either submissive or dominate and they fight to climb higher but certain werewolves can never be stronger then others because much of it is inborn. It turns out that Anna had been beaten and passed around to make her think she was submissive. Charles quickly deals with the problem of Leo, turns out his mate was batshit crazy and had killed all the females. Leo had then killed any males who disagreed, only Annas presence was keeping her sane now. Charles though is wounded in battle and Anna has to save him and then keeps him sane while he is wolf so others can help him. Apparently, Charles was born a werewolf through magic of his mothers who died giving birth to him. She gave him the gift of changing quicker and being stronger then others. The downside is he is hurt more by silver then others, it makes him a little unbalanced. Cry Wolf is coming out in August and is the first full novel about Charles and Anna. Can’t wait to see where this goes and how she is going to tie it in with Merry.
2) Eileen Wilks, Inhuman: The world is different, magic roams free and people are scared of it there are anit-Gifted marches. It would appear that the Gifted range in what they can do. The heroine here is thought to be an empath but really she is more then that, we dont know much but she can see thoughts. Thoughts in color with movement. So not really the words but she has been able to since she was young and has learned what it means. Her neighbor is a cop who also is more then he seems. We learn that he is a hellhound from another plane of reality sent to chase and evil fae and left in our world for four hundred years. He had a chance to go home when the magic winds blew but he stayed. Really though this story is a man denying his love and woman who is trying to find her way. It ends with them having sex and decided never to be seperated agian. When his Queen comes to help her and him with a problem the Queen knows what the heroine really is and her law says that binders must die. But on closer examination she is not a normal binder she is a fae-human mix and maybe there is hope. The story ends with them being set on three quests to prove she should live. Kinda hum drum and boring. Slightly tempted to read more about the characters but still undecided.
3) Karen Chance, Buying Trouble: A null is up for sale at an aution and she doesnt even know it. Until her cousin shows up to buy her that is. When she tries to escape all hell breaks loose and she finds herself with a Fey in the light fey lands being hunted. She sucks the energy from her attackers like nulls can but then she throws it back at them, which shouldnt happen. Later when they have sex in the shed while running for their lives (Seriously?) she turns into a dragon. Turns out her father is really a dark fey who can turn into a dragon. Daddy comes to the resuce and saves her then sends her back to Earth with her newly found half brother to try to get the rune that sent her and her now lover to the Fey lands in the first place. After accidentaly destroying what they were sent to get her and her lover decide to stay on Earth. Very boring and typical story. Yawn.
4) Sunny, Mona Lisa Betwining: I only got through a little of this one. Of the 80 pages that make up the story roughly 45 are sex scenes. Seriously. I am all for the occassional one, especially when it is relevant to the plot and characters. But I dont enjoy reading 45 pages of stuff that describes both sides exact move, thought and how it looked. If you only have 80 pages to tell a story then tell a story. It felt like an Anita Blake scene. Anita Blake went down in a blaze of glory because it became more about the sex then the story and this reminds me of that.
Patricia Briggs: Mercy
I have found a new author! It is always exciting to realize that there was an author you have been missing out on.
1) Moon Called: In which we meet the mechanic walker Mercy. She is half Native-American and with that half a walker. Not a skin walker who needs an animal skin to change and is evil but a walker. Someone who can change without pain at anytime, or not at all, into a coyote. She also speaks to ghosts. Mercy is tough because she was raised by werewolves. While the Fae have come out of hinding, mostly, the werewolves are still unknown to humans and they want to keep it that way. So when Mercy accidentally kills a werewolf who is trying to kill another werewolf she calls the local Alpha, Adam, is a handsome Vietnam veteran who was changed in battle many years ago. In Briggs world werewolves age very very very slowly (if at all) and their minds are more likely to go before they die of old age, assuming they survive the Change which very few do. Anyways, back to Adam. Adam is also Mercy’s neighbor and none to happy with the situation. That night after telling his pack what is going on Adams is attacked and nearly killed and his human daughter is kidnapped. Mercy takes Adam back to where she was raised to her old love Samuel, his brother who is the only born werewolf Charles and their father Bran who is the leader of all the werewolves in America. After much piecing together they learn that someone is trying to learn how to cure werewolves or atleast control them with drugs and testing them on newly changed werewolves who have been attacked and taken or left for dead. Through it all though Mercy and hers overcome and save the day but Mercy returns home with her old love Samuel.
2) Blood Bound: Mercy is called to the aide of her vampire friend Stefan to return the favor her did for her in the last book. A new vampire is in town and did not check with the local group before arriving. We find out why the walkers were virtually killed off by vampires and discover the deceit in the vampires of the Tri-Cities area. The main thing in this book is that Mercy saves the day with the help of the Fae and kills a vampire. Well two really. The second one was supposed to be left alone but Mercy kills him to save herself from being hunted by him later. The friendly vampire knows as does another who could be trouble later.
3) Iron Kissed: Mercy owes the Fae a favor for using the item given to her in the last book one more time then she should have. That favor though leads her into dangerous territory. First she refuses to let things lie and keeps investigating, then she is nearly killed and finally she is raped. Thankfully this is not one of the authors who is into vivid sex scenes so the rape is less then a moment in the book and the reader is unsure until the next paragraph that it even happen. Through the tragedy though comes triumph. Mercy breaks through the grief and pain and learns that Adam truly loves her and wants her for his mate. Samuel admits that he does not want her for a mate only a pack member and her friendship with Zee is restored.
4) Bone (something): Due out late July 2008
Mercedes Lackey: The Snow Queen
This is another entry in Mercedes Lackey’s Five Hunder Kingdom series. In this story we meet a new charater, the Snow Queen, who lives alone in a remote castle high in the mountains. While some of the old characters are talked to and about they do not feature in the story. The Snow Queen is a Fairy Godmother who tries to minipulate the tradition into giving happy endings instead of sad endings. The tradition is the traditional fairy tales we have all heard and loved. Essentially, in the kingdoms the tradition will see the possible beginning of a tale and build up magic and power around the people and force it to end in the traditional manner. The Fairy Godmothers each have a territory in which they work with the tradition to try to make the outcome positive instead of negative for the people involved. This Fairy Godmother is stuck working with the same story over and over because of where she is and she is getting bored. Until something new comes along and she has to leave her castle to take care of the situation in person. Featuring the same story line of saving the day by realizing the truth about the enemy who is really not so bad as we all though it is a well written and entertaining story. While a nice addition to the Five Hundred Kingdoms story I think the ending was cut short and the Snow Queen did not have enough debth as the previous Fairy Godmothers from the earlier books.
Stephanie Meyer
So first up is Stephanie Meyer and her books. I read them all pretty quickly because I enjoyed them.
1) The Host: Interesting concept. There is a peaceful alien invader who has taken over earth. It is a creature that needs a host to survive and for countless generations has traveled the universe taking over worlds. When the alien (souls they call themselves) they essentially kick out the human mind, most of the time. The story revolves around a soul who has traveled more then most an has not found a creature she enjoys living in. On Earth she is put in the mind of a rebel human and slowly grows to love the human who she shares a body and mind with. While not so much a suprise on every page it is enjoyable and fun to read. The ending sets the stage for more to come.
TWILIGHT SERIES
1) Twilight: This is the one that started it all. Written as a teen fiction instead of adult one I think it crosses boundaries and could be enjoyed by all. It is the story of a young girl who has moved in with her Dad in the deary state of Washington. There she meets a fascinating “boy” who first ignores her and then saves her. Turns out he is a vampire who is drawn to her like no one else he has ever meet. He tries to ignore her and push her away but she does not want to because she too is drawn to him. Filled with interesting characters such as his “family” who do not feed from humans and a mysterious legend from the local indian tribe about the family this book promises and delivers much. It also has a new twist on the classic vampire tale which is a nice change. This one is being made into a movie to come out in December. Hopefully it will be done well and the series will all be made into movies. Considering it is as long as the Harry Potter books though there might be some things lost in translation that could damage the story.
2) New Moon: In this, the second of the Twlight series, we see our heroine broken by the loss of her love. He decided that it was too dangerous to be around her and leaves her and she cannot function properly without him. She is an empty shell of herself and those around her notice. She is woken out of the slump by an old friend from the Indian Tribe. They grow closer until one night he becomes very sick and when he is better they rarely see each other. It turns out that his tribe has guardian werewolves who awaken in their blood line when vampires are near. Despite the vampires leaving new werewolves are being created through the bloodline and her friend is one of them. He is forbidden to share his secret but she figures it out with a few guiding clues. As with the vampire she does not care what he is only that he is her friend. She and he are to go cliff diving but he is pulled away, she jumps without him and gets sucked away in the current. He saves her but not before the vampire who can see into the future sees her fall. Thinking she has died her vampire love goes to committ suicide by the ruling vampires in Europes hands. She is able to save them but does so at the cost of the friendship of her other friends and is doomed to become a vampire herself.
3) Eclipise: In the thrid Twlight series book the heroine finds herself back into old habits and love with the vampire. Her werewolf friends are ignoring her because of the long standing fued between the two. But danger is near as a vampire who does hunt humans is looking to kill her. This book is mostly setting up for the final book with the vampire and werewolf struggling for her attention and love. In the end though she leaves with the vampires and is to wed her love in the next book (her high school graduation took place at the end and she does not want to be much older then her love). The werewolf takes it hard and the book ends with him running away.
4) Breaking Dawn: Due out in August 2008.
Overall, Stephanie Meyer is a talented writer. For years I have been reading different variations on the same story. While this is still my typical reading (female hero, sci-fi/fantasy) it is a new twist that I was not expecting. It is always refreshing to not be able to tell where the author is going.
