UPDATE! Caris Roane: "Savage Chains"--Set in MEN IN CHAINS World

UPDATE!

I have just updated an ongoing post for Caris Roane with a review of Savage Chains, a novel set in her MEN IN CHAINS world.

Click on the pink-link book title above to go directly to the new review.

UPDATE! DIana Pharaoh Francis: DIAMOND CITY MAGIC SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated an ongoing post for Diana Pharaoh Francis' DIAMOND CITY MAGIC SERIES 
with a review of Edge of Dreams, the second novel in the series. 

Click on the pink-link series title above to go directly to the new review.

UPDATE! Molly Harper: HALF MOON HOLLOW SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated an on-going post for Molly Harper's  HALF MOON HOLLOW SERIES with a review of The Danger of Dating a Rebound Vampire, the third novel in the series. 

Click on the pink-link series title above to go directly to the new review.

Daryl Gregory: "Harrison Squared"

Title::  Harrison Squared 
Author:  Daryl Gregory  
Plot Type:  Science Fiction (appropriate for YA and adults)
Ratings:  Violence—4; Sensuality—2; Humor—3   

Publisher and Titles:  Tor

FIRST LINES:

Just to give you a taste of the book's spooky tone, here are the first lines of the Prologue and Chapter 1:

Prologue: "What I remember are tentacles. Tentacles and teeth." 

Chapter 1: "The building seemed to be watching me."

PUBLISHER'S BLURB:
Harrison Harrison—H2 [H²] to his mom—is a lonely teenager who’s been terrified of the water ever since he was a toddler in California, when a huge sea creature capsized their boat, and his father vanished. One of the “sensitives” who are attuned to the supernatural world, Harrison and his mother have just moved to the worst possible place for a boy like him: Dunnsmouth, a Lovecraftian town perched on rocks above the Atlantic, where strange things go on by night, monsters lurk under the waves, and creepy teachers run the local high school. On Harrison’s first day at school, his mother, a marine biologist, disappears at sea. Harrison must attempt to solve the mystery of her accident, which puts him in conflict with a strange church, a knife-wielding killer, and the Dwellers, fish-human hybrids that live in the bay. It will take all his resources—and an unusual host of allies—to defeat the danger and find his mother. 

MY REVIEW:

     Although the story has its roots in the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft, you don't have to be a Lovecraft fan to enjoy this book. The small seaside town, the weird characters, and the imaginative monsters also put me in mind of Ransom Riggs' entertaining "Peculiar Children" novels. (Click HERE to read my reviews of the "Peculiar" graphic novel and the first and second novels.) 

     Harrison Squared is set in a strange Massachusetts seaside fishing village populated by a weird cult, a community of fish people, and a few major monsters. The town and its people are immediately, unmistakably sinister. As the story begins, Harrison and his mom arrive at Dunnsmouth Secondary School. The early scenes at the school are a perfect parody of a reluctant teenager's first day at a new school: hostile classmates, haughty teachers, and a strange curriculum. From the beginning, the author emphasizes the creepiness of the school and the teachers: "It looked like a single gigantic block of dark stone, its surface wet and streaked with veins of white salt, as if it had just risen whole from the ocean depths. The huge front doors were recessed into the stone like a wailing mouth. Above, arched windows glared down…This was like no school I'd ever seen before. I didn't know what it was—a mausoleum maybe? Something they should have torn down. Yet some lunatic had looked at this hulk and said, I know, let's put kids in here!" Harrison's mom agrees with him that the school is "kind of…tomb-y." Harrison soon learns that his daily schedule includes classes in fishnet weaving and cryptobiology (where the students attempt to reanimate dead frogs with electrical shocks).

     Rosa Harrison is a workaholic who focuses on her research and leaves Harrison on his own much of the time. Over the years, Harrison has developed a sardonic attitude toward life, and he isn't shy about standing up for himself. He thrives on asking questions and making comments about touchy subjects no matter what reaction he gets from his teachers and his fellow students. These scenes sparkle with lively, witty dialogue that is sprinkled with humorous pop-culture references. Unfortunately, Harrison also has a hair-trigger temper that frequently explodes without warning, a personality trait that has gotten him into all sorts of trouble in the past and which becomes a problem in this school as well. Harrison also has a physical disability that dates back to his misadventure with the sea monster when he was just three years old. The monster bit off the lower part of his right leg, so he wears a prosthesis. 

     Although Harrison misses his sunny California home, he is determined to remain in damp, dreary Dunnsmouth with his mother, even with no access to the Internet, no cable TV, and no cell phone towers. Harrison's life goes from strange to tragic when Rosa is lost at sea on the day after their arrival. She is presumed dead by everyone except Harrison, who is quite sure that she is still alive and is determined to find her. 

     The story follows Harrison's adventures as he makes friends with a handful of his odd schoolmates, befriends a boy who breathes through gills in his neck, discovers an underwater community of fish people, learns (the hard way) that some of Dunnsmouth's respected citizens are involved in some very dangerous activities, and tries very hard to avoid being killed by a fiendish, knife-wielding killer. Together, Harrison and his new allies go into action to find out what's going on and gather clues as to what exactly happened to Rosa. Although one of those allies is a girl, she is definitely not a love interest. As Harrison muses, "I wasn't even sure Lydia liked me. She was so grim, so serious, it was like trying to cozy up to Batman."

     Harrison is such a likable kid that you root for him all the way and enjoy his frequently hilarious verbal exchanges with his peers. When his Aunt Selena arrives on the scene, things get even more lively. She is a 21st century Auntie Mame whose ideas of child-rearing have the quality and depth of a sit-com mom. The scenes with Selena and her cab driver, Saleem, are just plain fun to read.

     The audience for this book includes both teenagers (YA) and adults. Teen readers will be entertained by the spookiness of the story and will empathize with Harrison's loneliness. Adults will enjoy the story even more because they will "get" the many cultural and literary (sci fi and horror) references that are scattered throughout the book. For example, Rosa's research buoys are named after horror writers: Steve (Stephen King), Pete (Peter Straub), Edgar (Edgar Allan Poe), and Howard (Lovecraft). This is not a typical YA novel in that there are no angst-filled love triangles, no mean girls, and no geek-vs-jock drama. In fact, the stakes are high: a parent gone missing, a murderer at large, and a cult running amok. 

     Gregory is a great story teller who excels in characterization and dialogue. His well-developed cast of eccentrics lead us effortlessly though a highly entertaining, if creepy, plot. Just when you think the story can't get any stranger, it does…and then it does again. Once I started this book I couldn't stop reading, mostly because the story moves along so quickly and with so much dark humor that you just want more. The epilogue guarantees that there will be a sequel to tie up some unresolved loose ends. Click HERE to read an excerpt. 

UPDATE! Robin D. Owens: GHOST SEER SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a post for Robin D. Owens'  GHOST SEER SERIES with a review of Ghost Killer, the third novel in the series.

Click on the pink-link series title above to go directly to the new review.

Jacquelyn Frank: IMMORTAL BROTHERS

Author:  Jacquelyn Frank  
Series:  IMMORTAL BROTHERS 
Plot Type:  Soul Mate Romance (SMR)
Ratings:  Violence—4; Sensuality—4; Humor—1   
Publisher and Titles:  Ballantine
          Cursed by Fire (2/2015)

          Cursed by Ice (3/2015)

          Bound by Sin (9/2015)

          Bound in Darkness (11/2015) (FINAL)

This post was created on 4/14/15 to present an introduction to the IMMORTAL BROTHERS series. It begins with an overview of the world-building and presents the publisher's blurbs for the first three novels. In addition, I have added a few comments about book one. As more books are published, I will add those publisher's blurbs to this entry. 

NOTE: I will not be adding any personal comments or reviews for the remaining books because it appears that they will be quite similar in nature—an all-too-familiar paranormal romance plot with good-versus-bad themes and characters, a simple story line, an overdose of angst, and a vigorous infusion of graphic sex. If you read paranormal romance for escape (or for the sex scenes) and if you have enjoyed Frank's story-telling style in her other series, you will probably enjoy this one as well, but if you are looking for multi-layered characters and an inventive approach to the paranormal romance genre, you won't find it here.

                           WORLD-BUILDING                         

       This series takes place in a standard fantasy setting—a medieval, feudal culture with kings and nobles at the top of society and starving peasant farmers at the bottom, with a sprinkling of magic just to liven things up.

     People pray to 12 gods and goddesses who do not get along well with one another. As the series opens, the deities have split into two factions, each trying to wrest power from the other. 

On one side are the good gods and goddesses: 

     > Weysa, goddess of conflict and peace; leader of this faction

     > Hella, goddess of fate and fortune

     > Meru, goddess of hearth, home, and harvest

     > Mordu, god of hope, love, and dreams (brother of Meru)

     > Lothas, god of day and night

     > Framun, god of peace and tranquility

On the opposing side are the bad gods and goddesses:

     > Xaxis, god of the eight hells; leader of this faction

     > Grimu, god of the eight heavens

     > Diathus, goddess of the lands and oceans

     > Kitari, goddess of life and death

     > Jikare, god of anger, deception, and storms

     > Sabo, god of pain and suffering

     Although Kitari is on the bad side, the good gods believe that she has been forced into that alliance. Part of the series story arc involves the good gods trying to free Kitari so that she can follow her own free will, preferably to the good side of the fight.

     Two hundred years ago, four warrior brothers had the audacity to drink from the fountain of immortality. The gods punished them by imprisoning each one under horrific conditions: 

     > Dethan, who is chained in the deepest hell in Xaxis' territory while being burned alive, allowed to heal, and then burned up again (the eldest brother)

     > Garreth, the youngest brother, who is chained to a mountain in Diathus' territory while being frozen solid, allowed to thaw, and then frozen again

     > Jaykun, who is chained to a star in Grimu's territory while being burned alive, allowed to heal, and then burned up again

     > Maxum, who is under Sabo's control. His whereabouts and punishment are unknown as the series opens. Before his punishment, he was a mercenary warrior, hiring out his sword for both good and bad causes.  

     In each book, one brother is freed by the goddess Weysa and commanded to go forth and gain her more followers so that her strength will increase. In the process, each brother finds his soul mate and follows a rocky but sex-filled romantic road all the way to the inevitable HEA ending.

     This is a by-the-numbers paranormal romance series with one-dimensional characters (either all good or all bad), courageous but conflicted tragic heroes, virginal but lust-filled heroines, plenty of graphic sex scenes, and lots of political intrigue and battle action. In Frank's earliest NIGHTWALKERS novels, the characters were less melodramatic and more witty, but in her later books—as in this series—Frank has taken a humorless, angst-filled interior dialogue approach to her story telling, which for me is a major downer.

                       NOVEL 1:  Cursed by Fire                      

PUBLISHER'S BLURB:  
     For centuries, Dethan has been trapped in a fiery inferno for defying the gods and snatching the power of immortality. Condemned to have his battle-hardened body licked by flames only to regenerate and be consumed all over again, Dethan has lost all hope—until the Goddess of Conflict appears. She will release him from torment—if he’ll use his power and strength as a warrior to raise an army and defeat a fierce enemy faction of gods.

     Free to live as a man once again, Dethan meets Selinda—heir to the throne of Hexis—and his thoughts quickly turn from the conquest of cities to the conquest of this headstrong beauty. Betrothed to a cruel, calculating powermonger, Selinda needs a champion, and so Dethan enters into another bargain: If she will share her bed—and her body—with him, Dethan will save her city from destructive forces within and without. As the lovers ignite a searing passion, Dethan will risk all—even the wrath of the Goddess of Conflict—for a chance to make Selinda his forever. 

     To read or listen to an excerpt from Cursed by Fire, click HERE to go to this book's Amazon.com page and then click on either the cover art or the "Listen" icon.

MY COMMENTS:

     This book (and series) has all of the bells and whistles you would expect of a fantasy-based soul-mate romance: weird character names (e.g., Tonkin Mudskin); a muddy Medieval setting; decent, hard-working peasants; cruel and pompous nobles; an over-the-top evil villain, a kind-hearted, courageous, sexually innocent, ingenue heroine; and a tragic, brave, sexually adept warrior hero. The heroine is so over-the-top virtuous that she actually teaches basket weaving to the poverty-stricken peasant children. 

     The book is stuffed with long, anguished interior monologues from the hero and heroine as they mourn their past tragedies, worry about their dangerous present circumstances, and ponder their bleak futures while keeping dark secrets from one another. Frank frequently uses a structural model in which she has a character mentally analyze one choice of action for several paragraphs and then switch suddenly to a completely different choice, generally signaling the change in thought with a paragraph beginning with the word "No" (e.g., "No. She would not be ignorant and weak." "No. That wasn't fair.") In chapter 8 alone, Frank uses this device six times for the heroine and once for the hero.

     My nomination for the silliest sentence in the book comes when Selinda sends Dethan's page to fetch some healing concoctions: "Go to the kitchens and fetch me a bottle of hyaita juice, some kettle greed, gloaming goat, and juni beet juice." Gloaming goat? Really? 

     One more oddity: Selinda's female page is called a pagette—a designation that smacks of 21st century feminism and bears no resemblance whatsoever to a medieval job title. 

     

                      NOVEL 2:  Cursed by Ice                      

PUBLISHER'S BLURB:  
     As punishment for plotting with his brothers to steal immortality, Garreth is suffering a freezing torment until the end of time. Again and again, his fierce fighter’s physique is frozen into a chiseled ice sculpture, his heart hardening like a diamond in his chest—only to thaw and resume the chilling torture. Until, like his older brother Dethan, he is offered a reprieve from a goddess—in exchange for his allegiance in a celestial civil war.  

     Garreth lives to fight and fights to live. But while laying siege to an embattled city, he finds another reason to go on—a beautiful warrior woman named Sarielle, who commands a mythic beast through a mysterious and powerful bond. Terrified of her strength, the city rulers have kept her captive, and now she refuses to submit to a new master. As Garreth seeks to unleash her passion and melt the icy resistance of her heart, will he become her ultimate salvation—or lead them both to greater destruction? 

     To read or listen to an excerpt from Cursed by Ice, click HERE go to this book's Amazon.com page and then click on either the cover art or the "Listen" icon.

                      NOVEL 3:  Bound by Sin                      

PUBLISHER'S BLURB:  
     After being chained to a star to burn endlessly as punishment for stealing immortality from the gods, Jaykun has been unshackled to wage war alongside his brothers. But his freedom comes with a price: Each night Jaykun must still suffer—his body burning from the inside out. One early morning, recovering from his torment, he encounters a beautiful stranger on the beach. Naked from her midnight-black hair to her sandy toes, she approaches him with starry-eyed innocence and the unmistakably full body of a woman.

     Soon Jaykun is swept up with the force of a comet, his desire for this woman hotter than any sun. His brothers fear he is blinded by her radiant beauty, and that she has been sent by their enemies to seduce and destroy him. Jileana is indeed from another world—one Jaykun cannot begin to imagine. But will their passion burn brightly enough to light the way through the darkness that threatens to consume all in its path? 

     To read an excerpt from Bound by Sin, click HERE go to this book's Amazon.com page and then click on the cover art.

                    NOVEL 3:  Bound in Darkness                      

PUBLISHER'S BLURB: 
     After drinking from the fountain of immortality along with his brothers, Maxum is condemned by the gods to be entombed in the earth. Even though he has now been granted a reprieve by day, each night he is buried anew, his rock-hard body immobilized, his bones crushed by the pressure. When he emerges, his body heals, but his spirit remains scarred. There is only one way for Maxum to be completely free: He must kill the god who cursed him. 

     The task will require tremendous power, so Maxum must gather talismans to equip him for the battle. To help him on this quest, Maxum approaches the alluring Airianne and strikes a bargain as tempting as it is audacious. A skilled thief, Airianne could be a valuable ally, if only Maxum could trust her. Will this stealthy seductress also try to steal his heart—or will their boldness end up getting them both buried?

     Click HERE to read an excerpt from Bound in Darkness.

NEW SERIES! C.T. Adams: THE FAE SERIES

Author:  C. T. Adams  
Series:  THE FAE 
Plot Type:  Romantic Fantasy 
Ratings:  Violence—4; Sensuality—2; Humor—2   
Publisher and Titles:  Tor

          The Exile (3/2015)

               WORLD-BUILDING               

       In her introductory "Author's Note," Adams sets forth a few caveats about her world-building for this series, explaining that the Faerie world of this mythology is completely her own. "I have not used Spenser, nor any other work detailing the mythos of the Sidhe, Seelie, and/or Unseelie courts. I have, however, used the familiar names of the Sidhe, trolls, brownies, pixies, doxies, goblins, and other creatures." Unlike traditional faerie mythology, all Sidhe are members of a single Fae species and are not divided into the traditional Seelie and Unseelie courts. The Sidhe "look most human, except taller, thinner, with pointy ears. They can use illusion and can use magic like a weapon. They also have this innate ability called the shining or shine and it's dangerous…They use it deliberately to cloud people's minds and overpower their will, so that they do whatever they're told."

     Other Fae species—trolls, pixies, etc.—have their own courts and kings. Ruling over most of the Fae is the High King, although a few Fae species exist in separate nations and pledge allegiance only to their own kings.

     Leu, the High King of the Fae, never wanted to be the king, and as the series opens, he is trying to determine which of his offspring will succeed him: 

    >  Brianna, the series heroine: daughter of Helena Washington, a human witch 

    >  Lucienne (aka Luci), daughter of Mara, a Sidhe

    >  Eammon, son of Asara, a Sidhe (Leu's firstborn son)

    >  Rihannon, daughter of Asara; a spaced-out drug addict

    >  Rodan, son of Asara

     Brianna spent her childhood in Faerie, but left when her mother escaped back to mortal Earth after she was convicted and imprisoned for closing off the Veil that separates the Fae and human worlds, making it impossible for the Fae to move between the realms. Until Helena closed the Veil, the Fae could freely move back and forth, stealing human babies and making all kinds of mischief in the human world. The Sidhe nobles hate Brianna because she lives in the human world and because her mother closed the Veil. All of Brianna's half-siblings have spent their entire lives in Faerie, and several of them want to take over the throne, no matter what the cost. Brianna would rather stay in the relatively peaceful human world, but in book 1, outside forces push her into the middle of the rapidly deteriorating political scene in Faerie. 

     Brianna owns a magic shop in Philadelphia in which she sells herbs, magical objects, and spells to magic practitioners. She has two employees: Maxine, a human, and David Antonelli, a gay man who inherited some Sidhe magic from his Sidhe grandmother, Sophie (aka Cephia), who is an oracle. David's brother, Nick, is a police detective who has always resisted his magical genetics and continues to deny the very existence of magic. Moments after he meets Brianna in book 1, though, he changes his mind when he gets caught up in a doxie ambush. After Nick's first brush with the Fae, his brother tells him, "Look, it's probably going to be easiest if you just assume that every mythical creature you've ever heard of really does exist—on this side of the veil [in Faerie]. And everything and everyone here is dangerous as hell and not to be trusted." 

     Faerie is a realm of political intrigue and constant danger as various individuals and groups vie for power and influence and murder their enemies without a second thought. Also playing a part in the series is Fate, a being made up of three separate souls, or aspects: Atropos (the eldest), Lachesis, and Clotho (the youngest). When Atropos chooses to move on, Lachesis moves up to take her place. Clotho then replaces Lachesis, and a new soul from among the dying becomes the youngest aspect. In the prologue of the first book, King Leu grants a favor to Atropos and receives a boon (i.e., information about the future). The details of the favor and the boon are quite important to the plot of the The Exile, but the reader must wait a long time for those details to be revealed. 

     This is C.T. Adams' first solo series, and its quality is just as high as her books written with Cathy Clamp under the joint pen name Cat Adams. Click HERE to read my review of Cat Adams' BLOOD SINGER series. 

               NOVEL 1:  The Exile               

     As the first book opens, a mysterious Sidhe woman enters Brianna's shop and demands to purchase Pug, Brianna's gargoyle friend. (Note: In this mythology, a gargoyle is the smallest of the stone trolls and has a natural affinity for rocks of all kinds.) When Brianna refuses, the woman threatens Brianna with future violence and makes good on her threat the following day when she sends a horde of doxies to attack the shop. When Brianna and Pug go after the escaping doxies through the Faerie portal in Brianna's bedroom, Nick and David follow them. Immediately, all three are plunged into the poisonous political climate that permeates Faerie. Nick and David are particularly vulnerable because some of the Sidhe nobles want to block them from returning to the human realm because they want to keep them as pets.

     Most of the story follows their adventures in Faerie, where Briana has to     successfully juggle a number of delicate tasks, including the following:

     >  Deal with the vicious Sidhe nobles.

     >  Try to get along with her siblings (and keep them from killing her and her friends).

     >  Maintain a friendly relationship with her father.

     >  Protect Nick and David from harm in Faerie.

     >  Get Nick and David back to the human world in one piece.

     As the story progresses, Leu learns that Valjeta, a long-time enemy, is about to attack his kingdom, and he creates an elaborate, secretive plan to keep Brianna safe. 

     Although a few of the story lines are resolved, some are left unresolved, while others are never really examined—fuel for the plot of book 2. For example, in an early chapter, Brianna receives a powerful magical knife from a character who turns up late in the book in an unexpected role, but we never hear anything more about that knife. Also, in the human world, the FBI suspects that Brianna and her staff are mixed up in some type of illegal operation that has resulted in serial murders. That story line just simmers in the background with no resolution. Then we have the magical fertility totem that Leu sends to Brianna early in the book—a hint that she needs to start reproducing. If Brianna so much as touches that statue, she will mate with the first male she sees, but that story line stops almost immediately, pushed aside by Brianna's adventure in Faerie. Thus, we can't be sure that Nick will be "the one" (although he and Brianna are quickly developing a mutual attraction). The book ends with a major cliff-hanger that leaves Brianna in a difficult position and with Faerie in the throes of war.

     Adams tells the story in the third-person voice from the perspectives of several characters, primarily Brianna (16 chapters) and Nick (13 chapters). The remaining 16 chapters are divided among the perspectives of King Leu, Ju-Long (a dragon who is Leu's old friend and his spymaster), Leu's daughter Lucienne, and Asara (Leu's treacherous mistress, the mother of two of his children). 

     Adams is a terrific writer, and this book is a fine example of her talents. The story drew me in immediately and kept me engrossed right through to its climactic ending. Brianna is a multi-layered character who is torn between her human feelings and her Fae heritage, but she doesn't indulge in long angst-filled interior monologues. (Thank goodness for that!) She tries to make her life in the mortal world as normal as possible, but when events in Faerie erupt into war, she jumps right into the action with passion, courage, advanced martial arts combat skills, and powerful magic. David is also a nicely developed character. Although he is human, David has nurtured his magical heritage and has received unconditional acceptance from Brianna and Pug—acceptance that his homophobic father refuses to give him. Nick's character isn't quite as well developed, but there is time for that in book 2. Now that he knows the truth about Brianna, he'll have to walk a fine line with the FBI agent who is investigating her. 

     If you love to read well-written, suspenseful, romantic fantasies, I'm sure that you will enjoy this book. Adams' use of multiple perspectives allows the reader to see the whole picture—or at least the parts of it that she wants you to see. I'm definitely looking forward to the second book to see what happens next to Brianna and her friends and foes. Click HERE to read chapter one of The Exile.