Jenn Bennett: ARCADIA BELL

Author: Jenn Bennett
Series: ARCADIA BELL
Plot Type: UF
Ratings: V3; S4; H3
Publisher and Titles: Pocket:

     Kindling the Moon (6/2011)
     Summoning the Night (4/2012)
     "Leashing the Tempest" (e-novella, 12/2012)
     Binding the Shadows (6/2013)
     Crossing the Æthyr (4/2014)

     This blog entry was revised and updated on 6/4/12 to include a review of the second book in this series: Summoning the Night. That review comes first, followed by an overview of the world-building and a review of book 1:

       BOOK 2: Summoning the Night

     In book 2, Cady and Lon once again find themselves involved with the Hellfire Club, this time with its president, Ambrose Dare. Thirty years ago during the days before Halloween, a never-identified serial kidnapper snatched seven children of Hellfire Club members, and those children disappeared without a trace. Now, it's happening again. Someone is kidnapping Hellfire Club children, but this time it's only the children of those who can transmutate. That would include the sons of both Lon and Dare. Dare suspects Jesse Bishop, a former Club member who was turned down when he begged for transmutative powers, and he wants Cady to track Bishop down. 

     The story follows Cady as she searches for leads and attempts to find Bishop, but then must look elsewhere for a suspect when Bishop turns out to have been dead since the earlier kidnappings. The story reads almost like a police procedural, with Cady and Lon following the clues to the final solution. The ending ties up most of the story threads except for one. That one involves Ambrose Dare, who has discovered Cady's real identity, the one she has tried so hard to hide all these years, and he blackmails her into doing his bidding. This is the single wrong note in the story for me. When Dare threatens Cady, she keeps it to herself and never tells Lon. Lon already knows about her true identity, so why doesn't she tell him about the threats so that he can make Dare back off? The answer is, of course, that Bennett needs the blackmail threat as the centerpiece for the plot of book 3, but that reason is just not good enough. Earlier in the book, Cady made a big point of telling Lon that she wants the two of them always to be honest with one another. She tells him, "I don't want secrets between us....Not ones that matter, anyway. I keep secrets from everyone all day long. But not you. Okay?" (p. 112), And then, a few chapters later, she goes back on her word. This just doesn't fit the character. 

     Great emphasis is placed on the relationship that is building between Cady and Jupe, Lon's 14-year-old son. He is quite a character with his geeky love of old horror movies, his boundless enthusiasm, and his developing knack for persuasion, which he uses for both bad and good purposes as the story plays out. Cady and Lon appear to have a solid, loving relationship by now as she spends most of her time at his home when she's not at her club, the Tambuktu. Cady is still getting used to the new magical "moon" powers that she gained during the climax of the previous book. At this point, she can use them, but she doesn't have much control over them. 

     This is a solid addition to the series with an action-filled plot and fully realized characters. Although I don't like the way the author has set up the blackmail plot that will surely play out in book 3, I'm still interested in reading that book to see how Cady handles Dare. 

       WORLD-BUILDING       
     Set in the Big Sur area on California's Central Coast, this series follows the adventures of Arcadia ("Cady") Bell (aka Seléne Duval), a 25-year-old magician with developing powers and a tragic family history. (Isn't that always the case with UF heroines?) In this world, there are two main types of supernaturals: magicians (similar to mages or witches) and demons. The demons are divided into two groups: Earthbounds, who look like regular mortals but have various magical powers, and Æthyric demons, who live in another dimension and look like the huge, scaly, horned creatures of myth and legend. Æthyric demons can be summoned by magicians who have enough talent and power. Using a particularly powerful spell, Earthbounds can be transmutated, meaning that they gain the ability to change back and forth from human form and demonic form. Each supernatural person/creature has his or her own particular knack—a particular magical ability (e.g., empathy, telekinesis, persuasion). 

     In this world, humans who don't believe in the existence of Earthbounds, magic, or anything else supernatural are called savages. If a child has one Earthbound parent and one human parent, he or she is always human and is called an "Ugly Duckling." 

     Each demon has a colorful halo (similar to an aura), but most magicians don't, so Arcadia's silver halo sets her apart. Here, Cady explains: "Yep, that's right. Demons have halos. Everything preternatural does. Not a static, detached ring like you see in religious paintings, but more of a diffused, colorful cloud....My small, silver halo didn't quite look like the nebulous green and blue halos on the demons who frequented our bar, but it still came in handy; most demons wouldn't normally come near a practicing magician with a ten-foot pole, much less frequent a bar owned by one, but my strange halo granted me a wary trust." (Kindling the Moon,  p. 5) 

     Here, Arcadia describes how she "kindles" a spell: "Different spells called for different kinds of magick, but the energy I needed to power a binding like this had to be amplified, or “kindled.” The easiest way to think of magical energy—Heka—was to picture it as a wood log in a fireplace. Just as wood burns when you put a match to it, Heka transforms into a more intense energy when it’s been kindled by an outside source; electricity was just one of several ways to do that." (Kindling the Moon, p. 9) 

     Arcadia has been on her own and on the run for seven years, ever since her parents were accused of the brutal, magical murders of four leaders of several magical orders. Her parents faked their own deaths and escaped together. They faked Arcadia's death, too, but left her behind to be looked after by the Ekklesia Eleusia (E.E.), the occult order to which they belonged. Arcadia has gone through a series of faked identities, and now she finally has settled down into a life in which she feels relatively safe—as the  half-owner of a tiki bar where she works as a bartender and bouncer. Arcadia can cast powerful spells, but she is a self-taught magician, without much training. 

      BOOK 1: Kindling the Moon       

     As book 1 opens, Arcadia sees a television news bulletin that her parents have been spotted alive. Soon thereafter, the head of Luxe (a rival to E.E.) demands that E.E. turn over either Arcadia or her parents for punishment for the four murders. The Caliph Superior of E.E., whom Arcadia has known and trusted since childhood, gives Arcadia two weeks to prove her parents' innocence, or E.E. will find them and turn them over to Luxe. One of Arcadia's friends introduces her to Lon Butler, an enigmatic Earthbound demonologist with a huge, mostly stolen, library of ancient demonic texts. Since Arcadia has a partial description of the demon that was involved in the murders her parents are accused of, she asks Lon to search his books to find that demon so that she can summon him and ask him about the murders. In this world, if a summoner asks a demon a question, that demon must answer truthfully. 

     The story follows Arcadia and Lon as they attempt to track down the demon and save Arcadia's parents. On the way, they meet with violence at a local demon club, battle a bounty hunter who threatens Lon's son, Jupiter ("Jupe") uncover secrets from Arcadia's past that will change her life forever, and fall in love. The only happy moments for Arcadia in this book are the ones in which she and Lon develop their budding romance. 

     Click HERE to read "An Impromptu Tour of Morella, California," the fictional town in which Arcadia lives. Click HERE for a look at portraits of the three lead characters: Arcadia, Lon, and Jupe.