Matthew Hayes is just an ordinary High School student who was asked to find a candidate to support for the President, and reasons to elect him. Despite feeling that the candidates were all the same, Matt eventually settled on a man named Winston Mazone, and shilled for him to the other kids in class. Regardless of his feelings, the kids chose other candidates, but in a way, Matthew did win over someone to Mazone's candidacy- his own teacher. Unfortunately for Matthew, he is kidnapped from his home soon after the end of school.
Tony Westlake is a soldier in the army. But when an argument between other soldiers over a poker game outs his mutant ability as a lie detector, his own comrades decide to take him out. But he's rescued by Wolverine, who asks him to consider joining the school for mutants in New York. Surprisingly, Tony pooh-poohs the idea as hiding away, and compares it to enclaves of black people hiding from prejudiced whites. Wolverine doesn't mind- that's his choice to make.
But when they find out about the kidnapping of Matthew Hayes, Tony begs Wolverine to help. Because he hasn't just been kidnapped, he's been kidnapped by a group of terrorists who threaten to kill him if the current US President isn't voted out of office on Election Day. Wolverine resists at first. It isn't his country or his president, it isn't his fight, but eventually, he caves, and he takes Tony with him both for his ability to fly aircraft, and his ability to detect a lie.
Of course, the eyes of the nation are on the situation, and the President is blamed for not doing more to prevent it. And Wolverine and Tony aren't the only ones on the case. A famous bounty hunter named Kaz, who claims to have gotten his powers from extraterrestrials, has assured Matthew's mother that he will find the people responsible for her son's kidnapping and bring them to justice. But does he really have Matthew's best interests at heart, or is he just playing the situation for his own publicity?
Teaming up with Tony and Logan, Kaz says he knows where the group that snatched Tony is holding him. Unfortunately, their Blackhawk helicopter is attacked, and by the time Wolverine and Tony get to the island, Matthew is already dead. Sometimes even the best don't make it in time.
Or is he dead? At the funeral, Logan realizes that the corpse in the casket isn't Matthew Hayes. Some kind of shapeshifter has been pretending to be Matthew's corpse, and Logan knows what this means- Matthew is still alive! The question is, can he track down the crew responsible for his snatching, and find out the reasons behind it before the mutant mercs responsible can take him out?
I found this book interesting. Wolverine, or Logan, as he calls himself, is supposed to be an almost wildman character, but Peter David makes him a lot colder than that. Despite Wolverine's reputation for going into frenzies, he's almost restrained here, and I thought that was kinda strange.
On the other hand, he does pull off a lot of things that are rather distasteful, like holding a guy upside down over a cliff to get information out of him, and later on in the book, skinning a dead merc to use his DNA to get past traps that only react to foreign DNA. In fact, that last one made me say aloud, "Wow, he's just made himself more repulsive than the mercs." I'll admit that it made him able to get pass the traps, but on the gross and disgusting scale, that was a 9 out of 10.
This book was a curious mix of a Wolverine who seemed almost too controlled and not quite animalistic enough, and one who very occasionally went far in the other direction. But I never got the sense that this was Wolverine, the comics character. It didn't feel authentic to me, and that's a shame, because I love Peter David's writing from back when he was writing Photon books. I guess my ultimate feeling about this book is merely "meh".
The writing is good and flows well, but the character issues caught me up, and I've read so many Wolverine comics recently that it really jarred me. So YMMV, but this book had enough flaws of character that I don't feel I can recommend it.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Beka Cooper- Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce
Beka Cooper has left her Puppy Year behind, and is now out on her own as a Junior Dog, or guardsman under the Lord Provost of Tortall. But she hasn't had any luck at all with partners- she's on her fourth one now, and he makes her grind her teeth all the time. He's lazy and spends far too much of his time eating, drinking and being convivial. But just when she thinks she's going to rupture something inside from keeping all her ill-feeling in, he tells her that he's cutting her lose as his partner. She makes him feel twitchy and nervous.
Beka is reassigned back to her old partners from her Puppy Days, Matte Turnstall and Clary Goodwin. She's happy to be back with them, but a new unrest is brewing on the streets- colesmithing. Coles are false coins, and the current batch is silver, around a center of plain brass. So many have been coming into the city that prices are going up, and especially with food, where so many poor people are going to starve with the coming winter.
As Bekah and her partners attempt to run down whoever it is passing the bad coins, there are some other changes on the home front- One of the Provost's Scent Dogs that Beka was introduced to in her Puppy days, Achoo, has passed from his primary handler to others, and Beka discovers that her current handler is abusing her. She remonstrates with the man, only to have him thrust the dog on her, telling her to be a dog-handler if she thinks it's so easy.
At home, her constellation-cat Pounce tells her that he's interfered too much in the lives and affirs of people in the city, her and the people around her alike. He'll be missing for much of the next few weeks, which makes Beka cry as if she has lost him for good.
But the problem of the coles is affecting more than just the law-abiding people of the city. Even the Rogues are upset and being affected with all that is going on. One member of the court of the rogue was caught passing silver coins that she thought were good, and the chief Rogue, Rosto, thinks that none of his Rogues are involved- false coin hurts them just as much, if not more than the honest merchants.
But after a city-wide riot over the rising cost of bread, Matte's legs are both broken, and he's confined to a bed, so the Lord Provost sends Clary Goodwin and Beka to the Port City of Port Caynn, since that is where the Coles seem to be coming from. Beka and Clary are sent on the quasi-official mission to find out how the Dogs in Port Caynn do things, while performing a real mission in finding out who is producing all the Coles and letting the Lord Provost know so they can stop him or her or them.
But Port Caynn is a different world from the one Beka is used to. Most of the guards seem to be on the take, and the man in charge down there seems to actually be frightened of the criminals he is supposed to be chasing. As Beka and Clary track down the people responsible, they'll have to be careful not to tread on the wrong toes. Even the Head Rogue of this town, Pearl Skinner, doesn't seem to have the best interests of her people at heart. But when it all goes south, will Beka and her allies be able to pull a victory from the jaws of defeat? Or will the realm crumble under the weight of all those false silver coins?
I liked this second book in the Beka Cooper series. It was quite a wait for it, but given the outcome, and how good it was, I couldn't have been happier. And yes, it's good. No, it's better than good. It's damn near perfect.
Of course, that doesn't mean that only good things happen to Beka. She still has a lot of growing up to do, which means that she has to stop looking to her cat for help and learn to accept normal human help from the people around her. And that's hard for her to do, even after she's beaten nearly to death by two goons upset that she nabbed their brother. That's a hard learning experience for her, but one that stands her in good stead later on. She also has to learn how to speak in public without her voice coming out only as a squeak, and through difficult circumstances, she learns that, too.
But the denouemont of the book has her going beyond bodily weakness to nab the real mastermind behind it all, and nearly dying in the process. And when she finally recovers, the learning process begins again for her, but hopefully, this time she'll be more fortified by the lessons she's already learned. I can't wait for the third book, whatever story it holds, if it in any way compares to this one. Highly recommended.
Beka is reassigned back to her old partners from her Puppy Days, Matte Turnstall and Clary Goodwin. She's happy to be back with them, but a new unrest is brewing on the streets- colesmithing. Coles are false coins, and the current batch is silver, around a center of plain brass. So many have been coming into the city that prices are going up, and especially with food, where so many poor people are going to starve with the coming winter.
As Bekah and her partners attempt to run down whoever it is passing the bad coins, there are some other changes on the home front- One of the Provost's Scent Dogs that Beka was introduced to in her Puppy days, Achoo, has passed from his primary handler to others, and Beka discovers that her current handler is abusing her. She remonstrates with the man, only to have him thrust the dog on her, telling her to be a dog-handler if she thinks it's so easy.
At home, her constellation-cat Pounce tells her that he's interfered too much in the lives and affirs of people in the city, her and the people around her alike. He'll be missing for much of the next few weeks, which makes Beka cry as if she has lost him for good.
But the problem of the coles is affecting more than just the law-abiding people of the city. Even the Rogues are upset and being affected with all that is going on. One member of the court of the rogue was caught passing silver coins that she thought were good, and the chief Rogue, Rosto, thinks that none of his Rogues are involved- false coin hurts them just as much, if not more than the honest merchants.
But after a city-wide riot over the rising cost of bread, Matte's legs are both broken, and he's confined to a bed, so the Lord Provost sends Clary Goodwin and Beka to the Port City of Port Caynn, since that is where the Coles seem to be coming from. Beka and Clary are sent on the quasi-official mission to find out how the Dogs in Port Caynn do things, while performing a real mission in finding out who is producing all the Coles and letting the Lord Provost know so they can stop him or her or them.
But Port Caynn is a different world from the one Beka is used to. Most of the guards seem to be on the take, and the man in charge down there seems to actually be frightened of the criminals he is supposed to be chasing. As Beka and Clary track down the people responsible, they'll have to be careful not to tread on the wrong toes. Even the Head Rogue of this town, Pearl Skinner, doesn't seem to have the best interests of her people at heart. But when it all goes south, will Beka and her allies be able to pull a victory from the jaws of defeat? Or will the realm crumble under the weight of all those false silver coins?
I liked this second book in the Beka Cooper series. It was quite a wait for it, but given the outcome, and how good it was, I couldn't have been happier. And yes, it's good. No, it's better than good. It's damn near perfect.
Of course, that doesn't mean that only good things happen to Beka. She still has a lot of growing up to do, which means that she has to stop looking to her cat for help and learn to accept normal human help from the people around her. And that's hard for her to do, even after she's beaten nearly to death by two goons upset that she nabbed their brother. That's a hard learning experience for her, but one that stands her in good stead later on. She also has to learn how to speak in public without her voice coming out only as a squeak, and through difficult circumstances, she learns that, too.
But the denouemont of the book has her going beyond bodily weakness to nab the real mastermind behind it all, and nearly dying in the process. And when she finally recovers, the learning process begins again for her, but hopefully, this time she'll be more fortified by the lessons she's already learned. I can't wait for the third book, whatever story it holds, if it in any way compares to this one. Highly recommended.
Token by Alisa Kwitney and Joëlle Jones
Shira Spektor is a nerd st her high school. She is fairly pretty, but she isn't rich enough to be with the "in" girls at the High School. The one source of love she has is her Dad, and he's always been there for her. But when her Dad starts dating one of his secretaries, a woman named Linda, life goes downhill for Shira very quickly.
Shira isn't Daddy's Little Girl anymore, and he doesn't want to spend time with her, or buy her nice things, "just because". He spends time with Linda, and Shira feels like she's the one getting the shaft. To even up things, Shira takes up a new hobby, Shoplifting. It isn't even things she really wants or needs, but doing it makes her feel excited.
And through it, she meets a hispanic boy who at first chides her for looking guilty, and offers to teach her how to do it better. He also steals a kiss from her, her first, and Shira can't help but be attracted to him. He's handsome, he's a little older than her, and he wants her in a way that no one else around her seems to.
Shira can confess to her Grandmother, Minerva, but even her Grandmother's advice doesn't help too much at this point. Unfortunately, when Shira sneaks out of a dance at the Jewish Synogogue to meet her boy, Rafael, she doesn't realize that her grandmother is going to have a stroke, and the house of cards she built to insulate herself from the changes in her family, is going to come tumbling down around her. Can she save her relationship with Rafael? Or is it too late for them? What sort of life does she have to look forward to?
This is a slice of life story about Shira, whose life is facing some major changes, but from the outside. Her dad is in love, and the change in their relationship presages all the changes that are coming afterwards. But we see it all from Shira's point of view, and her dad looks pretty unreasonable from where she stands.
From where I stand, too. I admit I sort of laughed when Shira's dad asked where she got such a materialistic look on life when he's been buying her anything she wanted ever since she was a child. I felt like saying, "Where do you think, dimshit?"
But for all that, it's a very short story, and sometimes painful to read. It almost reads like a true story rather than fiction, but it won't be of much interest outside of high-schoolers. Recommended for teens only.
Shira isn't Daddy's Little Girl anymore, and he doesn't want to spend time with her, or buy her nice things, "just because". He spends time with Linda, and Shira feels like she's the one getting the shaft. To even up things, Shira takes up a new hobby, Shoplifting. It isn't even things she really wants or needs, but doing it makes her feel excited.
And through it, she meets a hispanic boy who at first chides her for looking guilty, and offers to teach her how to do it better. He also steals a kiss from her, her first, and Shira can't help but be attracted to him. He's handsome, he's a little older than her, and he wants her in a way that no one else around her seems to.
Shira can confess to her Grandmother, Minerva, but even her Grandmother's advice doesn't help too much at this point. Unfortunately, when Shira sneaks out of a dance at the Jewish Synogogue to meet her boy, Rafael, she doesn't realize that her grandmother is going to have a stroke, and the house of cards she built to insulate herself from the changes in her family, is going to come tumbling down around her. Can she save her relationship with Rafael? Or is it too late for them? What sort of life does she have to look forward to?
This is a slice of life story about Shira, whose life is facing some major changes, but from the outside. Her dad is in love, and the change in their relationship presages all the changes that are coming afterwards. But we see it all from Shira's point of view, and her dad looks pretty unreasonable from where she stands.
From where I stand, too. I admit I sort of laughed when Shira's dad asked where she got such a materialistic look on life when he's been buying her anything she wanted ever since she was a child. I felt like saying, "Where do you think, dimshit?"
But for all that, it's a very short story, and sometimes painful to read. It almost reads like a true story rather than fiction, but it won't be of much interest outside of high-schoolers. Recommended for teens only.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Superman: Shadows Linger by Kurt Busiek, Peter Vale, Jesús Marino and Renato Guedes
Superman and Lois have adopted a Kryptonian child from the Phantom Zone named Chris. The three live together as a happy family in an apartment on the Upper East Side. To control his abilities until he can control them on his own, Chris wears a red sun watch to keep his powers in check.
But when a race of Insect people invade Metropolis, they not only carry away people and items, they steal Lana Lang, CEO of Lexcorp, and abduct her, taking her away. When Superman goes to see her, the other people in the company tell him of her disappearance. Superman goes seeking her, and eventually, thanks to some unusual dust he keeps finding around the various places the insect-people have been sighted, tracks them to the moon.
There, he finds that the insect people's Queen has used Lana Lang to model her new body on. But the Queen has an excess of arms and built-in stilettos on her feet. After her insect drones fail to kill Superman, she decides he's strong enough to be her mate, and tries to make him dream of ruling an empire together with her. Meanwhile, Lana has escaped and met up with other Lexcorp scientists and engineers hiding in the base of the insect hive, which used to be the Lexcorp Moonbase 1.
Using their knowhow, Lana helps Superman get free and deal with the Insect Queen, imprisoning her in her own food substance and sending her spinning through space, hopefully landing far, far away from the sun. Back home, Chris has been getting sick, feverish, and when Lois realizes that it's the watch causing the problem, she tells him to take it off, which makes the entire apartment explode!
She and Chris escape, but Chris is afraid that Superman will banish him back to the Phantom Zone for what happened. Superman doesn't, and he tells Chris that he loves him, and he would never send Chris back because he is family now. Using his powers, Superman rebuilds the building, saying it is a present for his two favorite reporters.
But his troubles aren't over. Superman is still seeking a cure for Lar Gand, whom he once called Mon-El, thinking him a fellow Kryptonian. But Lar Gand's fellow Daxamites, a group of priests, have tracked him to Earth, and get in between a fight between Superman and a villain known as Paragon, whose suit drains some of Superman's powers and gives them to Paragon.
Superman asks for Paragon's help in dispersing the Daxamites, but Paragon's idea of help is shooting them, and lead, like that in bullets, is a fatal poison to them. Superman tries to help them when he realizes that the one bullet that wasn't a through and through wound is poisoning one of the Daxamites, but they would literally rather die, or commit suicide, rather than accept the help of Superman's science.
Which leaves Superman to fight the Daxamite Golem on his own. But will he be able to secure the help of the cowardly Paragon, or will he be on his own in this fight? And Arion warned Superman of a coming disaster if humans relied on Alien Superheroes to fight for them. Is there any way for Superman to stave off an Apocalypse?
This was only slightly more exciting than the Atlas graphic novel, although it was awfully nice to see Lar Gand of Daxam again, as my favorite comic series, once upon a time ago, was The Legion of Superheroes, and he was a part of it under the name "Mon-El". Ah, for those long-forgotten days!
But all he does here is hang out in the Phantom Zone while Superman attempts to find him a cure for his lead poisoning, and talk to Supes. We find out that his planet is ruled by a religious elite who hate science that they don't control, and that Lar Gand and his entire family were condemned to death for wanting to try and fix the machines that were slowly dying. Lar managed to escape to earth, but the fanatics have gone after him in a starship. Hmm... religious fanatics who hate science... who does that resemble?
Lots of fighting, but the stories didn't thrill me all that much. It just seemed so boring and humdrum. But given that this came before the "Atlas" book, I had to wonder what happened to Chris in the meantime? We certainly seem to be heading for the future of the Legion, with the Science Police in the "Atlas" stories. But isn't even that a contradiction? As opposed to what? The magic police? The Religion Police? Okay, I'd recommend this, but only weakly.
But when a race of Insect people invade Metropolis, they not only carry away people and items, they steal Lana Lang, CEO of Lexcorp, and abduct her, taking her away. When Superman goes to see her, the other people in the company tell him of her disappearance. Superman goes seeking her, and eventually, thanks to some unusual dust he keeps finding around the various places the insect-people have been sighted, tracks them to the moon.
There, he finds that the insect people's Queen has used Lana Lang to model her new body on. But the Queen has an excess of arms and built-in stilettos on her feet. After her insect drones fail to kill Superman, she decides he's strong enough to be her mate, and tries to make him dream of ruling an empire together with her. Meanwhile, Lana has escaped and met up with other Lexcorp scientists and engineers hiding in the base of the insect hive, which used to be the Lexcorp Moonbase 1.
Using their knowhow, Lana helps Superman get free and deal with the Insect Queen, imprisoning her in her own food substance and sending her spinning through space, hopefully landing far, far away from the sun. Back home, Chris has been getting sick, feverish, and when Lois realizes that it's the watch causing the problem, she tells him to take it off, which makes the entire apartment explode!
She and Chris escape, but Chris is afraid that Superman will banish him back to the Phantom Zone for what happened. Superman doesn't, and he tells Chris that he loves him, and he would never send Chris back because he is family now. Using his powers, Superman rebuilds the building, saying it is a present for his two favorite reporters.
But his troubles aren't over. Superman is still seeking a cure for Lar Gand, whom he once called Mon-El, thinking him a fellow Kryptonian. But Lar Gand's fellow Daxamites, a group of priests, have tracked him to Earth, and get in between a fight between Superman and a villain known as Paragon, whose suit drains some of Superman's powers and gives them to Paragon.
Superman asks for Paragon's help in dispersing the Daxamites, but Paragon's idea of help is shooting them, and lead, like that in bullets, is a fatal poison to them. Superman tries to help them when he realizes that the one bullet that wasn't a through and through wound is poisoning one of the Daxamites, but they would literally rather die, or commit suicide, rather than accept the help of Superman's science.
Which leaves Superman to fight the Daxamite Golem on his own. But will he be able to secure the help of the cowardly Paragon, or will he be on his own in this fight? And Arion warned Superman of a coming disaster if humans relied on Alien Superheroes to fight for them. Is there any way for Superman to stave off an Apocalypse?
This was only slightly more exciting than the Atlas graphic novel, although it was awfully nice to see Lar Gand of Daxam again, as my favorite comic series, once upon a time ago, was The Legion of Superheroes, and he was a part of it under the name "Mon-El". Ah, for those long-forgotten days!
But all he does here is hang out in the Phantom Zone while Superman attempts to find him a cure for his lead poisoning, and talk to Supes. We find out that his planet is ruled by a religious elite who hate science that they don't control, and that Lar Gand and his entire family were condemned to death for wanting to try and fix the machines that were slowly dying. Lar managed to escape to earth, but the fanatics have gone after him in a starship. Hmm... religious fanatics who hate science... who does that resemble?
Lots of fighting, but the stories didn't thrill me all that much. It just seemed so boring and humdrum. But given that this came before the "Atlas" book, I had to wonder what happened to Chris in the meantime? We certainly seem to be heading for the future of the Legion, with the Science Police in the "Atlas" stories. But isn't even that a contradiction? As opposed to what? The magic police? The Religion Police? Okay, I'd recommend this, but only weakly.
Superman: The Coming of Atlas by James Robinson, Renato Guedes, and Wilson Magalhaes
Superman is playing with his Superdog, Krypto, in outer space, having Krypto chase a frisbee. Along with him for the ride is Hal Jordan. Lois, meanwhile, is down in Metropolis. She wants Clark to get rid of Krypto, because she thinks he's too dangerous to have around. But then, something arrives, a cloaked figure wearing some kind of metal helmet who shouts that he wants the Titan who protects the city. He demands that the man come out and fight him.
The man doing the demanding is Atlas, and he's not here on his own. He was ripped away from his own planet/dimension and thrust into ours, pulled here by some kind of experimental machine run by men who want to rid the world of Superman. Atlas doesn't trust them, even after they have taught him to speak English, but he has his own reasons for wanting to fight Superman: Atlas is the strongest man on his own planet, and he rules it, but lately he has felt that there is no challenge left for him. And that's why he's happy to fight Superman.
Luckily, Superman hears him, even out in space, but the two of them are pretty evenly matched. Or are they? Soon Atlas is beating Superman, but who comes to his rescue but Krypto, who flies at Atlas and bites and scratches him, after all the other people who have tried to come to Superman's aid have failed.
As Krypto continually springs back on Atlas after Atlas hits him or manages to toss him away, scratching, biting and going for his throat. Superman leaves Krypto behind to seek a permanent solution to the problem of Atlas, and we find out that It wasn't just the machine that stole Atlas away, even his closest companions wanted him gone, because while he may once have been the champion of his planet, in later years, he was prone to rages when his wishes were thwarted, and he had become a worse tyrant than any he once overthrew.
But now that he is Earth's problem, can Superman find a way to deal with him and keep him from hurting, and ruling, the people of Earth? And what of the people behind Atlas, the people who stole him from his planet/Dimension and tried to make him fight Superman? Will they get their comeuppance as well?
I found this particular story... kinda boring. In the end, while Atlas is a strongman character with a rage problem, he's kind of like the Hulk. He's big, he's strong, and he gets angry easily. But the differences are that Atlas is more intelligent and literate than the Hulk, and his rage doesn't add to his strength. And he's not green or gray.
The major problem I had is that the entire book and storyline read as though Atlas was introduced (or re-introduced) as a "Solution" to the problem of Krypto. Though he may be more intelligent (or as intelligent, it can be hard to tell because we can see his thoughts) than Earth Dogs, he's also more powerful, yet still just as interested in doing doggy stuff. And by the end of the story, no one would dare demand Superman get rid of him, not even Lois. And as the point of an entire story, I found myself unthrilled by that.
Okay, he's a hero, we get that. But I mean, really... he's stronger and able to Bounce back more than Superman? Is that really where the writers and people at DC want to go? Not recommended- read elsewhere.
The man doing the demanding is Atlas, and he's not here on his own. He was ripped away from his own planet/dimension and thrust into ours, pulled here by some kind of experimental machine run by men who want to rid the world of Superman. Atlas doesn't trust them, even after they have taught him to speak English, but he has his own reasons for wanting to fight Superman: Atlas is the strongest man on his own planet, and he rules it, but lately he has felt that there is no challenge left for him. And that's why he's happy to fight Superman.
Luckily, Superman hears him, even out in space, but the two of them are pretty evenly matched. Or are they? Soon Atlas is beating Superman, but who comes to his rescue but Krypto, who flies at Atlas and bites and scratches him, after all the other people who have tried to come to Superman's aid have failed.
As Krypto continually springs back on Atlas after Atlas hits him or manages to toss him away, scratching, biting and going for his throat. Superman leaves Krypto behind to seek a permanent solution to the problem of Atlas, and we find out that It wasn't just the machine that stole Atlas away, even his closest companions wanted him gone, because while he may once have been the champion of his planet, in later years, he was prone to rages when his wishes were thwarted, and he had become a worse tyrant than any he once overthrew.
But now that he is Earth's problem, can Superman find a way to deal with him and keep him from hurting, and ruling, the people of Earth? And what of the people behind Atlas, the people who stole him from his planet/Dimension and tried to make him fight Superman? Will they get their comeuppance as well?
I found this particular story... kinda boring. In the end, while Atlas is a strongman character with a rage problem, he's kind of like the Hulk. He's big, he's strong, and he gets angry easily. But the differences are that Atlas is more intelligent and literate than the Hulk, and his rage doesn't add to his strength. And he's not green or gray.
The major problem I had is that the entire book and storyline read as though Atlas was introduced (or re-introduced) as a "Solution" to the problem of Krypto. Though he may be more intelligent (or as intelligent, it can be hard to tell because we can see his thoughts) than Earth Dogs, he's also more powerful, yet still just as interested in doing doggy stuff. And by the end of the story, no one would dare demand Superman get rid of him, not even Lois. And as the point of an entire story, I found myself unthrilled by that.
Okay, he's a hero, we get that. But I mean, really... he's stronger and able to Bounce back more than Superman? Is that really where the writers and people at DC want to go? Not recommended- read elsewhere.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Demon's Kiss by Maggie Shayne
Seth Connor is seriously bored with his life. Sure, he's a manager at a local restaurant, but the guy underneath him can't seem to handle things without Seth around. And this time, when Seth walks home afterwards, he steps into the middle of a fight that leaves him dying on the ground. Seth prepares to pass on, never having met the woman he's been dreaming about seemingly forever.
Rafael doesn't go by that name any more. Now, he's the vampire named Reaper. He's on mission for one of the real old vampires, a woman named Rhiannon, when he feels that Seth is in trouble. Not everyone can become a vampire, you have to have a rare gene called the Belladonna Antigen, and Seth is one of those rare people. Vampires have a connection to those with the Belladonna Antigen, so Reaper offers Seth a choice: die or live as a vampire.
Seth, still thinking of the beautiful woman, chooses to become a vampire. And when he wakes up, he's glad he did, because he can somehow sense her better now. Reaper has no choice but to take Seth with him and teach him about being a vampire. He tries to drop Seth off with a human woman named Roxy, who just happens to be a witch. But instead of being a convenient drop-off point, she somehow convinces Reaper he'd be better off with her tagging along on his mission.
Reaper works alone, so all this has him gritting his teeth. But soon they are joined by another, the vampire Topaz, who has been cheated out of money by a vampire named Jack of Hearts. He's gone to join the vampire he is looking for, a man named Gregor, and Topaz wants both her money back and revenge on Jack.
Meanwhile, in Gregor's lair is Vixen, a woman who was a shapeshifter and now has been made into a vampire by Gregor. It is she that Seth has been dreaming of, and she has been desperate to get free of the cage they have stuck her into. But Briar, a sadistic woman who loves to cause others pain, is in charge of her, and Vixen knows that the minute she tries anything, Briar will visit more pain on her body.
Unfortunately for Reaper, Gregor wants something more than just killing him, he's out to set Reaper up for his own crimes, and wants to steal his powers away, along with his life. To add insult to injury, he knows the code words that will change Reaper from a normal man into a kill-crazed assassin, and none of them know the code word that can make Reaper change back. So how can Reaper overcome Gregor and his barely intelligent vampire drones?
Vixen might be able to help him. She can change into a fox form that makes her immune to the sunlight- while it lasts anyhow. But she's much more used to living the life of an animal rather than the life of a human that she finds Seth's love for her as annoying as it is arousing. But when Seth finds out her secret- of changing her shape, will he be able to accept it, or will his rejection of Vixen push her away from all human society, forever?
This was an unusual vampire novel, okay, vampire romance, because of the many intertwining threads from all the different characters. Seth is supposed to be the lead, but oftentimes his and Vixen's story becomes a background to the Briar/Reaper story, or the Topaz/Jack story. And yet, none of them can become the main story, because none of their endings seem particularly happy or long-lived. How can Reaper be happy when he's still got those killing codes in his brainspace? So far, he only knows the command that makes them kill, not the one that makes him stop. Which could be quite bad for any woman he ends up with.
There are three separate stories crammed into this volume, one mainly about love, the others more about lust, but despite all that goes on, the story never becomes confusing about the love matches. On the other hand, the beginning may seem like quite an infodump if you haven't read the other books in the series, from when they began back in the days of Silhouette Shadows. There is so much backstory in this series that it can be confusing if you haven't read all the backstories.
I would recommend this book, but it's very dense with story, and comes off more like a brownie than a cookie. There's a lot of stuff packed in here, and it can be more than a bit overwhelming. So despite it being a romance, something most readers would consider fluff, this is one you'll have to take your time reading.
Rafael doesn't go by that name any more. Now, he's the vampire named Reaper. He's on mission for one of the real old vampires, a woman named Rhiannon, when he feels that Seth is in trouble. Not everyone can become a vampire, you have to have a rare gene called the Belladonna Antigen, and Seth is one of those rare people. Vampires have a connection to those with the Belladonna Antigen, so Reaper offers Seth a choice: die or live as a vampire.
Seth, still thinking of the beautiful woman, chooses to become a vampire. And when he wakes up, he's glad he did, because he can somehow sense her better now. Reaper has no choice but to take Seth with him and teach him about being a vampire. He tries to drop Seth off with a human woman named Roxy, who just happens to be a witch. But instead of being a convenient drop-off point, she somehow convinces Reaper he'd be better off with her tagging along on his mission.
Reaper works alone, so all this has him gritting his teeth. But soon they are joined by another, the vampire Topaz, who has been cheated out of money by a vampire named Jack of Hearts. He's gone to join the vampire he is looking for, a man named Gregor, and Topaz wants both her money back and revenge on Jack.
Meanwhile, in Gregor's lair is Vixen, a woman who was a shapeshifter and now has been made into a vampire by Gregor. It is she that Seth has been dreaming of, and she has been desperate to get free of the cage they have stuck her into. But Briar, a sadistic woman who loves to cause others pain, is in charge of her, and Vixen knows that the minute she tries anything, Briar will visit more pain on her body.
Unfortunately for Reaper, Gregor wants something more than just killing him, he's out to set Reaper up for his own crimes, and wants to steal his powers away, along with his life. To add insult to injury, he knows the code words that will change Reaper from a normal man into a kill-crazed assassin, and none of them know the code word that can make Reaper change back. So how can Reaper overcome Gregor and his barely intelligent vampire drones?
Vixen might be able to help him. She can change into a fox form that makes her immune to the sunlight- while it lasts anyhow. But she's much more used to living the life of an animal rather than the life of a human that she finds Seth's love for her as annoying as it is arousing. But when Seth finds out her secret- of changing her shape, will he be able to accept it, or will his rejection of Vixen push her away from all human society, forever?
This was an unusual vampire novel, okay, vampire romance, because of the many intertwining threads from all the different characters. Seth is supposed to be the lead, but oftentimes his and Vixen's story becomes a background to the Briar/Reaper story, or the Topaz/Jack story. And yet, none of them can become the main story, because none of their endings seem particularly happy or long-lived. How can Reaper be happy when he's still got those killing codes in his brainspace? So far, he only knows the command that makes them kill, not the one that makes him stop. Which could be quite bad for any woman he ends up with.
There are three separate stories crammed into this volume, one mainly about love, the others more about lust, but despite all that goes on, the story never becomes confusing about the love matches. On the other hand, the beginning may seem like quite an infodump if you haven't read the other books in the series, from when they began back in the days of Silhouette Shadows. There is so much backstory in this series that it can be confusing if you haven't read all the backstories.
I would recommend this book, but it's very dense with story, and comes off more like a brownie than a cookie. There's a lot of stuff packed in here, and it can be more than a bit overwhelming. So despite it being a romance, something most readers would consider fluff, this is one you'll have to take your time reading.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Naruto, Volume 36 by Masashi Kishimoto
Naruto continues to train while Asuma's team tracks down the Akatsuki team that killed the Monk at the temple. The Two Akatsuki members aren't friends, as one of them is more interested in money, while the other is some kind of priest and obsessed with killing for his faith.
Naruto masters the Wind Chakra, with the help of Kakashi and the Captain, but linking it to the Rasengan is hard, and even with all his Shadow Dopplegagngers, it takes Naruto a while. Kakashi reveals that the Rasengan is a broken jutsu, because even the Third Hokage was unable to complete it. However, Kakashi believes that if anyone can do it, it's Naruto.
Meanwhile, Asuma's new team, Cell Number 10, track down the slayers of the Monk and the Two-tails. But we find out that one of the Akatsuki team, the priest named Hidan, literally cannot be killed. You can chop his head off, and he only complains of the pain. But unlike his teammate Kakuzu, Hidan enjoys killing and hurting people. Kakuzu only joined the Akatsuki to become rich.
So while Asuma is able to cut off Hidan's head, his deathlessness means that his team is ultimately defeated. The others all live, but Asuma is too badly hurt and dies as a Shinobi. Meanwhile, however, Naruto is frustrated at constantly hitting a dead end with combining his wind Chakra and the Rasengan. Kakashi might be able to provide a clue that Naruto has been missing, but can Naruto find a way to make it work?
And, after all this time, we finally find out what the Akatsuki really want and what they are really up to. Each member wants something different, but can they all get what they want?
This was again an issue where the battles go on in the background, while Naruto is struggling to master an entirely new Jutsu, a Jutsu possessed by no one else. But will even this, a Wind Chakra Rasengan, be enough to give Naruto a leg up on his friend snd Rival Sasuke?
The question is whether Sasuke can even really be redeemed in the eyes of the readers. I'm not sure he can be- the stuff he's done to his (supposed) friends and village is very bad- he nearly killed Naruto, and now he's gone off to kill his brother after studying under Orochimaru. But will he be able to walk away from the Devil's bargain he's made? Naruto and Sakura may have loyalty to him, but what of his loyalty to them?
This volume also feels strange in that Naruto always seems to be in the brunt of the battles, but now he's just training while others do the battling. It lends a strange feel to the book when Naruto is hanging out in the background. And a story thread seems to have been dropped. Where are Sakura and Sai while all this is going on? Weren't they just given a mission together?
I'm willing to stay with the story for now, but Sasuke's redemption can't all be on the backs of Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke is going to have to do something, and something pretty deep and amazing, to be able to wipe out the memories and actions of how he left Konoha in the first place. And it's going to have to be a pretty bitchin' story to make me forget what he did.
Naruto masters the Wind Chakra, with the help of Kakashi and the Captain, but linking it to the Rasengan is hard, and even with all his Shadow Dopplegagngers, it takes Naruto a while. Kakashi reveals that the Rasengan is a broken jutsu, because even the Third Hokage was unable to complete it. However, Kakashi believes that if anyone can do it, it's Naruto.
Meanwhile, Asuma's new team, Cell Number 10, track down the slayers of the Monk and the Two-tails. But we find out that one of the Akatsuki team, the priest named Hidan, literally cannot be killed. You can chop his head off, and he only complains of the pain. But unlike his teammate Kakuzu, Hidan enjoys killing and hurting people. Kakuzu only joined the Akatsuki to become rich.
So while Asuma is able to cut off Hidan's head, his deathlessness means that his team is ultimately defeated. The others all live, but Asuma is too badly hurt and dies as a Shinobi. Meanwhile, however, Naruto is frustrated at constantly hitting a dead end with combining his wind Chakra and the Rasengan. Kakashi might be able to provide a clue that Naruto has been missing, but can Naruto find a way to make it work?
And, after all this time, we finally find out what the Akatsuki really want and what they are really up to. Each member wants something different, but can they all get what they want?
This was again an issue where the battles go on in the background, while Naruto is struggling to master an entirely new Jutsu, a Jutsu possessed by no one else. But will even this, a Wind Chakra Rasengan, be enough to give Naruto a leg up on his friend snd Rival Sasuke?
The question is whether Sasuke can even really be redeemed in the eyes of the readers. I'm not sure he can be- the stuff he's done to his (supposed) friends and village is very bad- he nearly killed Naruto, and now he's gone off to kill his brother after studying under Orochimaru. But will he be able to walk away from the Devil's bargain he's made? Naruto and Sakura may have loyalty to him, but what of his loyalty to them?
This volume also feels strange in that Naruto always seems to be in the brunt of the battles, but now he's just training while others do the battling. It lends a strange feel to the book when Naruto is hanging out in the background. And a story thread seems to have been dropped. Where are Sakura and Sai while all this is going on? Weren't they just given a mission together?
I'm willing to stay with the story for now, but Sasuke's redemption can't all be on the backs of Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke is going to have to do something, and something pretty deep and amazing, to be able to wipe out the memories and actions of how he left Konoha in the first place. And it's going to have to be a pretty bitchin' story to make me forget what he did.
Naruto, Volume 35 by Masashi Kishimoto
Naruto has once again met Sasuke, and failed to defeat him, and he's devastated. Reduced to tears while his teammates look on, Sakura tells him that crying is weak, and they have to be strong if they want to defeat Sasuke and hope to save him. Naruto takes heart from that, and from Sai's telling him that they still have six months before Sasuke is taken over. So there's time to help him.
Naruto agrees, and that makes him happy. He tells Tsunade this, and she smiles and tells the group she's going to give them another mission right away. Sai has been touched by Naruto and Sakura, and wants to keep his persona and stay with them for a while, but his "father" warns him that emotional attatchment only leads to pain. Sai may not agree any longer, however.
Sai tries to make up for his lack of people skills by reading books, but when he tries giving Sakura the nickname "Homely", he pays for it. They go visit Kakashi in the hospital, and Kakashi reveals he has an idea for how to train Naruto more quickly, but when Naruto asks what it is, they are interrupted by another set of Shinobi come to visit him.
Meanwhile, the Akatsuki are taking down the other Jinchuruki, starting with the two-tails, who falls easily to the two Akatsuki stalking her. After her defeat, they prepare her body to be subsumed, and travel on to the Fire Nation Temple, where they defeat a powerful holy man with a price on his head. And another Akatsuki team takes on the three-tails.
Naruto discovers that Kakashi means to teach him to change both the form and the Nature of his Chakra. To do this takes a very long time, but if he uses Naruto's multi-shadow Doppleganger form, he can compress the learning. The more Shadow Dopplegangers Naruto can summon, the more their separate experiences can add to his store of knowledge and experience, allowing him to compress time and learn new techniques in a fraction of the time. Because of the great power in the nine-tailed fox spirit inside him, he can create more Shadow Dopplegangers than anyone else, which means he is the only one who can train this way.
Naruto discovers that his Chakra Element is Wind, and he trains to master and control it, along with Kakashi and Captain Yamato. By using one of his Shadow Dopplegangers to ask the only other Shinobi in the village for advice on using Wind Chakra, he is able to gift this knowledge to all his Shadow Dopplegangers at once, allowing them to succeed. But even as his knowledge and power increase exponentially, so does his exhaustion when he finally disperses his dopplegangers, which can make him faint.
The question is, even as fast as Naruto is learning, he's doing it to defeat Sasuke. But will he be able to grow strong enough to defeat Sasuke in time? And will he be able to prevent Orochimaru from absorbing Sasuke, body and soul?
I have to admit, this book surprised me and made me smile. I never would have thought of training Naruto using his Shadow Dopplegangers. And it looks like Naruto, through this technique, will someday get his wish and be able to become Konohakugure's Hikage, the protector of the village.
Naruto remains himself, straightforward, loyal, and very powerful, but with a power he has to be careful when he draws on it or he can lose himself. We also get to see the kind of powers it takes to advance in Shinobi society: being able to manipulate and control two different kinds of Chakra power to create an entirely new one: Water and Earth make wood, and Naruto's power is wind. If he can use fire, would it increase both sets of powers? Wow, now there's a thought! And earth and fire would make Metal. Wind and Lightning, Spirit? Hard to tell, but its worth remembering that the Elements in the West (fire, water, earth, air, spirit) are not the same as those in the east.
Not much fighting goes on in this one, as we never get to see the techniques that take down the two-tails or three-tails (or the monk), leaving us in the dark as to the abilities of the Akatsuki who took them down. But they are a contrast to Naruto's training and the political and strategy meetings of Tsunade. All in all, a well-rounded volume and recommended.
Naruto agrees, and that makes him happy. He tells Tsunade this, and she smiles and tells the group she's going to give them another mission right away. Sai has been touched by Naruto and Sakura, and wants to keep his persona and stay with them for a while, but his "father" warns him that emotional attatchment only leads to pain. Sai may not agree any longer, however.
Sai tries to make up for his lack of people skills by reading books, but when he tries giving Sakura the nickname "Homely", he pays for it. They go visit Kakashi in the hospital, and Kakashi reveals he has an idea for how to train Naruto more quickly, but when Naruto asks what it is, they are interrupted by another set of Shinobi come to visit him.
Meanwhile, the Akatsuki are taking down the other Jinchuruki, starting with the two-tails, who falls easily to the two Akatsuki stalking her. After her defeat, they prepare her body to be subsumed, and travel on to the Fire Nation Temple, where they defeat a powerful holy man with a price on his head. And another Akatsuki team takes on the three-tails.
Naruto discovers that Kakashi means to teach him to change both the form and the Nature of his Chakra. To do this takes a very long time, but if he uses Naruto's multi-shadow Doppleganger form, he can compress the learning. The more Shadow Dopplegangers Naruto can summon, the more their separate experiences can add to his store of knowledge and experience, allowing him to compress time and learn new techniques in a fraction of the time. Because of the great power in the nine-tailed fox spirit inside him, he can create more Shadow Dopplegangers than anyone else, which means he is the only one who can train this way.
Naruto discovers that his Chakra Element is Wind, and he trains to master and control it, along with Kakashi and Captain Yamato. By using one of his Shadow Dopplegangers to ask the only other Shinobi in the village for advice on using Wind Chakra, he is able to gift this knowledge to all his Shadow Dopplegangers at once, allowing them to succeed. But even as his knowledge and power increase exponentially, so does his exhaustion when he finally disperses his dopplegangers, which can make him faint.
The question is, even as fast as Naruto is learning, he's doing it to defeat Sasuke. But will he be able to grow strong enough to defeat Sasuke in time? And will he be able to prevent Orochimaru from absorbing Sasuke, body and soul?
I have to admit, this book surprised me and made me smile. I never would have thought of training Naruto using his Shadow Dopplegangers. And it looks like Naruto, through this technique, will someday get his wish and be able to become Konohakugure's Hikage, the protector of the village.
Naruto remains himself, straightforward, loyal, and very powerful, but with a power he has to be careful when he draws on it or he can lose himself. We also get to see the kind of powers it takes to advance in Shinobi society: being able to manipulate and control two different kinds of Chakra power to create an entirely new one: Water and Earth make wood, and Naruto's power is wind. If he can use fire, would it increase both sets of powers? Wow, now there's a thought! And earth and fire would make Metal. Wind and Lightning, Spirit? Hard to tell, but its worth remembering that the Elements in the West (fire, water, earth, air, spirit) are not the same as those in the east.
Not much fighting goes on in this one, as we never get to see the techniques that take down the two-tails or three-tails (or the monk), leaving us in the dark as to the abilities of the Akatsuki who took them down. But they are a contrast to Naruto's training and the political and strategy meetings of Tsunade. All in all, a well-rounded volume and recommended.
Kiss of Crimson by Lara Adrian
Dante is a Breed, the offspring of a long-ago mating between humans and aliens. Each Breed also has a special ability passed down through the blood, and his is prophetic visions, which he inherited from his mother. His problem is that his visions are always of his death- by fire. Each vision debilitates and hurts him, setting him up for massive pain. But all that he gets from each vision is that he's tied down and dying. He isn't sure where or when or why.
Dante's job is as a Breed warrior, protecting their race from the ones who go rogue and spend their time killing and feeding from others. Luckily, the touch of titanium makes the rogue disintegrate from the inside out. But when Dante runs into a strange sort of Rogue at a local hotspot, it worries him. The Breed definitely has Rogue characteristics, but the titanium doesn't affect it at all, and there is pinkish saliva dried around his mouth in a froth. But after he runs after it, he comes under attack from a hidden opponent with a gun, and hurt, falls into the River and is swept away.
Meanwhile, Tess Culver is a local vet with problems. She wants to be a vet, but she deals with patients with owners that don't have a lot of money, and her business is failing. Not dramatically, but slowly, draining her of money that she doesn't have too much of to begin with. And her ex-boyfriend, Ben, helps her as much as he can, but he has a sideline in freeing mistreated animals from cruel owners, and she helps him by providing them with free medical care.
Tonight, he's "liberated" a de-fanged, de-clawed tiger that was owned by a local gunshop, and the tiger is pathetically friendly, too thin, and has wounds from the chains and shackles used to restrain him. Tess thinks she may have to sedate the tiger, but its friendliness helps her out in that regard, and she is able to work on it anyway. Ben tries to renew their relationship as lovers, but Tess is resistant. She can't bear to be intimate with him any more.
Soon after Ben leaves with the Tiger, Tess hears something in one of the rooms of her clinic, and discovers Dante, who is badly wounded and needs blood. He tries to disarm her suspicions, but he's soon on her and drinking blood from her neck. Her blood seems especially delicious to him, and as he's drinking, he sees a strange birthmark on her hand. It's a breedmark, making her a breedmate. He curses to himself, but doesn't have time to do anything else, because she sticks him with the sedative intended for the tiger, knocking him out.
Terrified, she tries to help herself and calls Ben, but the sedative doesn't work for long, and Dante re-awakens and wipes her memory. The next day, all she can remember is that she fell asleep at her desk and somehow speed-dialed Ben in her sleep. Ben is happy because this gives him another chance to see her and try to mend things between them. He invites her to a soiree at a local museum to view a new art collection, and she agrees.
Dante, meanwhile, can't get the thought of Tess out of his mind, even though another breed named Chase shows up from one of the Breedhavens with stories of young male Breeds disappearing and not being seen again. Or if they are, turning up dead, their mouths covered with pinkish dried saliva. This tingles Dante's radar, and he tells of what happened the night before, of the strange Rogue/notRogue he'd cornered in an alley, and how it resembled the dead bodies of the Breed youths.
Chase has been asked by the Breedhaven to investigate, and he insists on coming along with the Breed warriors. They agree very reluctantly, and send him out with Dante to a location suspected to contain Rogues. Nearby, Dante spots Tess, and he trails her into a local market, where she meets Ben and reiterates their time to meet, and that it's for a special occasion, but the Rogue location turns out to be a bust.
Chase has his own reasons for tracking down the missing Breed youths, his own nephew ia one of them, the child of his brother's widow. The woman is named Elise, and Chase has always loved her. He wants her for his own, and hopes that if he can track down Cameron, his nephew, he and Elise can be together. He knows that she won't marry again, but wants her anyway.
Dante turns up at the museum soiree and makes contact with Tess. She's attracted to him, but all they get to do is share a kiss. Even so, it makes her tingle inside. Afterwards, he goes out on a mission while she goes home with Ben. Ben tries again to revive their relationship, but she's not having it. On Dante's mission, he and Chase look for the missing Breed youths at various clubs, and discover a young Breed who buys a drug, a crimson powder, and after taking it, goes completely Rogue, surprising both the dealer and the humans in the room.
Dante takes out the Rogue, but recognizes the dealer- it's Ben, Tess's former boyfriend. He sends Chase after Ben, but Ben gets away this time. From there, they find out that this new drug, called Crimson, is what is causing the Rogue-like behavior in the young Breed male. But is it something that is just a coincidence, or is the Rogue Gen-One Breed using it to make more Rogues for his army?
Meanwhile, they also find out the truth about Chase. He isn't doing this for Breedhaven security- they fired his ass when he committed an act of flagrant disobeyal of orders. None of the warriors are very happy about this, and they track him down to learn the truth. He tells them why he did it- to help Elise, his sister-in-law find her son, one of the missing. But he still wants to help find whoever is pushing Crimson. They accept it, for now.
Dante tracks down Tess again to find out more about Ben, but he spends more time asking about her and talking to her. He pretends to have a dog just to get closer to her, and later adopts a sick and soon-to be killed dog from the shelter to bear out his story. But the dog is so sick, he ends up taking it to Tess to get it help, and Tess wants to keep it overnight- but during the end of the day discovers its true problem- it has advanced cancer, and cures it with her touch.
Soon after, she and Dante become lovers, and while Dante captures Ben before he can be killed by the people who gave him money to distribute Crimson, he sends Ben off with Chase to bring him back to the warrior Breed Compound while he goes to see Tess. Dante has been injured, and while Tess sees to him, she reveals her power to him, healig a wound in his thigh with merely a touch. She confesses her past- that her father had died, and her mother was an alcoholic. When she remarried a man from the local church, the man didn't marry her mother for herself, he married her for Tess.
Tess sensed something was wrong with him and tried to stay away as much as possible, but one night he came into her room and tried to rape her- her seventeenth birthday. When he had a heart attack and died in the process, her mother, who had been drinking and knew of Tess's powers, demanded she bring him back, calling her a murderer. Tess did as she demanded, but soon found pictures concealed in her stepfather's things showing that she wasn't his first victim, so she lured him into her bedroom and undid her healing- after that, she left and never looked back.
Now, her mother is dead, but she's still running away from what she did so long ago. She's afraid Dante will hate her for killing her stepfather, but he views it as admirable- she took out a predator who was hurting innocents. There is no way he can hate her for that! But meanwhile, Chase discovers that Ben sold Crimson to his nephew and attacks him, then lets him go, telling him that if Cameron has died, his life will be forfeit. He doesn't wipe his memory, either. But Ben is picked up soon after he calls Tess to warn her about Dante by the Rogues who work for the man who is backing him.
They want him to recreate the formula, but he's already wiped his computer and put the information on it on a small hard drive, which he hid in Tess' clinic. They don't want to let him go and get it, and give him two hours to recreate his work. But he's unable to do it, so they turn him into a Rogue as well. Dante is worried about Tess when he gets a call from her asking him to explain about the message Ben left on her voicemail, but he can't come over until night falls to explain to her what's going on.
When he gets there, she's being attacked and drained by Rogues, which he kills and saves her by letting her drink his blood. He takes her back to the compound and provides his blood for her, binding them irrevocably since they have now exchanged blood. But before he can explain much to her, she encounters Rio, a barely-sane Breed Warrior who has a mate but who nearly attacks her. When she realizes the Breed are vampires, she gets upset and runs off into the day. Dante has another vision and realizes that the visions he's been having aren't of his death, but of Tess'. But can he save her from Ben, her killer, when it is full day outside? And even if he can, will the doing kill him as well from Sun damage?
This is a fairly long romance book, packed with story, that builds on Lara Adrian's earlier Breed books such as "Kiss of Midnight". But even though this is only the second book, I liked it much, much better than the first. Dante, the Breed Warrior is sane, making him a much better, much more likeable hero than Rio. Yeah, he didn't have as much of the angst factor, but sometimes less angst is better.
Dante isn't sure he wants a mate at the beginning of the book. But after he meets Tess, he realizes that this is one woman he can't live without, and changes his attitude accordingly. He also comes to realize that his discomfort with the other warriors with mates came not because he didn't want one, but because he wanted it too much and wasn't sure he'd love his own mate as much as his parents had loved each other.
I was less thrilled with the "heroine's ex-boyfriend turns out to be a villain" trope. Why can't a woman ever have a romance with a guy who's nice, but just not the one for her? It always seems like whenever a romance heroine has had a relationship with a man in the past, he always turns out to be "teh EVUL!" rather than just a guy who's "Not the One". At least Ben wasn't complete evil- that waits until after he becomes a Rogue, but when he turns out to be a drug dealer before then, well, I just knew this was in his future.
Apart from my distaste over that trope, this is a good book, and you may not find that subplot objectionable yourself. The attraction between the two is strong, and the chemistry is there. The sex scenes are solid and nice, but not so much on the heat scale. I go by my earlier review of "Kiss of Midnight"- nice, but I'll pick these up from the library rather than purchasing them myself.
Dante's job is as a Breed warrior, protecting their race from the ones who go rogue and spend their time killing and feeding from others. Luckily, the touch of titanium makes the rogue disintegrate from the inside out. But when Dante runs into a strange sort of Rogue at a local hotspot, it worries him. The Breed definitely has Rogue characteristics, but the titanium doesn't affect it at all, and there is pinkish saliva dried around his mouth in a froth. But after he runs after it, he comes under attack from a hidden opponent with a gun, and hurt, falls into the River and is swept away.
Meanwhile, Tess Culver is a local vet with problems. She wants to be a vet, but she deals with patients with owners that don't have a lot of money, and her business is failing. Not dramatically, but slowly, draining her of money that she doesn't have too much of to begin with. And her ex-boyfriend, Ben, helps her as much as he can, but he has a sideline in freeing mistreated animals from cruel owners, and she helps him by providing them with free medical care.
Tonight, he's "liberated" a de-fanged, de-clawed tiger that was owned by a local gunshop, and the tiger is pathetically friendly, too thin, and has wounds from the chains and shackles used to restrain him. Tess thinks she may have to sedate the tiger, but its friendliness helps her out in that regard, and she is able to work on it anyway. Ben tries to renew their relationship as lovers, but Tess is resistant. She can't bear to be intimate with him any more.
Soon after Ben leaves with the Tiger, Tess hears something in one of the rooms of her clinic, and discovers Dante, who is badly wounded and needs blood. He tries to disarm her suspicions, but he's soon on her and drinking blood from her neck. Her blood seems especially delicious to him, and as he's drinking, he sees a strange birthmark on her hand. It's a breedmark, making her a breedmate. He curses to himself, but doesn't have time to do anything else, because she sticks him with the sedative intended for the tiger, knocking him out.
Terrified, she tries to help herself and calls Ben, but the sedative doesn't work for long, and Dante re-awakens and wipes her memory. The next day, all she can remember is that she fell asleep at her desk and somehow speed-dialed Ben in her sleep. Ben is happy because this gives him another chance to see her and try to mend things between them. He invites her to a soiree at a local museum to view a new art collection, and she agrees.
Dante, meanwhile, can't get the thought of Tess out of his mind, even though another breed named Chase shows up from one of the Breedhavens with stories of young male Breeds disappearing and not being seen again. Or if they are, turning up dead, their mouths covered with pinkish dried saliva. This tingles Dante's radar, and he tells of what happened the night before, of the strange Rogue/notRogue he'd cornered in an alley, and how it resembled the dead bodies of the Breed youths.
Chase has been asked by the Breedhaven to investigate, and he insists on coming along with the Breed warriors. They agree very reluctantly, and send him out with Dante to a location suspected to contain Rogues. Nearby, Dante spots Tess, and he trails her into a local market, where she meets Ben and reiterates their time to meet, and that it's for a special occasion, but the Rogue location turns out to be a bust.
Chase has his own reasons for tracking down the missing Breed youths, his own nephew ia one of them, the child of his brother's widow. The woman is named Elise, and Chase has always loved her. He wants her for his own, and hopes that if he can track down Cameron, his nephew, he and Elise can be together. He knows that she won't marry again, but wants her anyway.
Dante turns up at the museum soiree and makes contact with Tess. She's attracted to him, but all they get to do is share a kiss. Even so, it makes her tingle inside. Afterwards, he goes out on a mission while she goes home with Ben. Ben tries again to revive their relationship, but she's not having it. On Dante's mission, he and Chase look for the missing Breed youths at various clubs, and discover a young Breed who buys a drug, a crimson powder, and after taking it, goes completely Rogue, surprising both the dealer and the humans in the room.
Dante takes out the Rogue, but recognizes the dealer- it's Ben, Tess's former boyfriend. He sends Chase after Ben, but Ben gets away this time. From there, they find out that this new drug, called Crimson, is what is causing the Rogue-like behavior in the young Breed male. But is it something that is just a coincidence, or is the Rogue Gen-One Breed using it to make more Rogues for his army?
Meanwhile, they also find out the truth about Chase. He isn't doing this for Breedhaven security- they fired his ass when he committed an act of flagrant disobeyal of orders. None of the warriors are very happy about this, and they track him down to learn the truth. He tells them why he did it- to help Elise, his sister-in-law find her son, one of the missing. But he still wants to help find whoever is pushing Crimson. They accept it, for now.
Dante tracks down Tess again to find out more about Ben, but he spends more time asking about her and talking to her. He pretends to have a dog just to get closer to her, and later adopts a sick and soon-to be killed dog from the shelter to bear out his story. But the dog is so sick, he ends up taking it to Tess to get it help, and Tess wants to keep it overnight- but during the end of the day discovers its true problem- it has advanced cancer, and cures it with her touch.
Soon after, she and Dante become lovers, and while Dante captures Ben before he can be killed by the people who gave him money to distribute Crimson, he sends Ben off with Chase to bring him back to the warrior Breed Compound while he goes to see Tess. Dante has been injured, and while Tess sees to him, she reveals her power to him, healig a wound in his thigh with merely a touch. She confesses her past- that her father had died, and her mother was an alcoholic. When she remarried a man from the local church, the man didn't marry her mother for herself, he married her for Tess.
Tess sensed something was wrong with him and tried to stay away as much as possible, but one night he came into her room and tried to rape her- her seventeenth birthday. When he had a heart attack and died in the process, her mother, who had been drinking and knew of Tess's powers, demanded she bring him back, calling her a murderer. Tess did as she demanded, but soon found pictures concealed in her stepfather's things showing that she wasn't his first victim, so she lured him into her bedroom and undid her healing- after that, she left and never looked back.
Now, her mother is dead, but she's still running away from what she did so long ago. She's afraid Dante will hate her for killing her stepfather, but he views it as admirable- she took out a predator who was hurting innocents. There is no way he can hate her for that! But meanwhile, Chase discovers that Ben sold Crimson to his nephew and attacks him, then lets him go, telling him that if Cameron has died, his life will be forfeit. He doesn't wipe his memory, either. But Ben is picked up soon after he calls Tess to warn her about Dante by the Rogues who work for the man who is backing him.
They want him to recreate the formula, but he's already wiped his computer and put the information on it on a small hard drive, which he hid in Tess' clinic. They don't want to let him go and get it, and give him two hours to recreate his work. But he's unable to do it, so they turn him into a Rogue as well. Dante is worried about Tess when he gets a call from her asking him to explain about the message Ben left on her voicemail, but he can't come over until night falls to explain to her what's going on.
When he gets there, she's being attacked and drained by Rogues, which he kills and saves her by letting her drink his blood. He takes her back to the compound and provides his blood for her, binding them irrevocably since they have now exchanged blood. But before he can explain much to her, she encounters Rio, a barely-sane Breed Warrior who has a mate but who nearly attacks her. When she realizes the Breed are vampires, she gets upset and runs off into the day. Dante has another vision and realizes that the visions he's been having aren't of his death, but of Tess'. But can he save her from Ben, her killer, when it is full day outside? And even if he can, will the doing kill him as well from Sun damage?
This is a fairly long romance book, packed with story, that builds on Lara Adrian's earlier Breed books such as "Kiss of Midnight". But even though this is only the second book, I liked it much, much better than the first. Dante, the Breed Warrior is sane, making him a much better, much more likeable hero than Rio. Yeah, he didn't have as much of the angst factor, but sometimes less angst is better.
Dante isn't sure he wants a mate at the beginning of the book. But after he meets Tess, he realizes that this is one woman he can't live without, and changes his attitude accordingly. He also comes to realize that his discomfort with the other warriors with mates came not because he didn't want one, but because he wanted it too much and wasn't sure he'd love his own mate as much as his parents had loved each other.
I was less thrilled with the "heroine's ex-boyfriend turns out to be a villain" trope. Why can't a woman ever have a romance with a guy who's nice, but just not the one for her? It always seems like whenever a romance heroine has had a relationship with a man in the past, he always turns out to be "teh EVUL!" rather than just a guy who's "Not the One". At least Ben wasn't complete evil- that waits until after he becomes a Rogue, but when he turns out to be a drug dealer before then, well, I just knew this was in his future.
Apart from my distaste over that trope, this is a good book, and you may not find that subplot objectionable yourself. The attraction between the two is strong, and the chemistry is there. The sex scenes are solid and nice, but not so much on the heat scale. I go by my earlier review of "Kiss of Midnight"- nice, but I'll pick these up from the library rather than purchasing them myself.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Ever More by Alyson Noël
Ever Bloom is a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and goddess-like looks, but these days she spends her time hiding under shapeless hoodies and listening to blasting punk-rock music. She does these things to hide herself, because not that long ago, she was in a car crash, and ever since then, she hasn't been normal.
Now, Ever can see auras, and if she somehow manages to touch them, she knows all about them. And she can see ghosts. Well, at least one ghost, that of her young sister, Riley, who was killed in the crash along with their parents and their dog, Buttercup. Ever is no longer normal, and she wants desperately to be normal. But she and normal are no longer friends, they're not even acquainted, and she knows that everything was all her fault.
When her parents, sister and dog died in the car accident, she died with them, but didn't cross over to heaven with her family. Instead, she somehow survived, and ended up with her psychic gifts. But she can't control them, so she tries not to touch anyone or look at anyone. The only ones she exempts from this are her friends, Miles, a gay guy who does more than his share of theatre, and Haven, a girl neglected by her family who acts out by dressing up in unusual styles- this year, it's goth, to get attention from her family and others. But no one really seems to notice or care.
Then a boy named Damen Auguste enters school, and Ever is determined to keep well away from him. But when her fingers brush his, she is shocked to feel- absolutely nothing. No rush of thoughts and memories. When she looks at him, she can't see his aura, either. To everyone's surprise, Damen pays Ever attention, but she can't help but notice he pays attention to other women, too. Every time she sees him, he seems to be with someone else, and while she feels he might be falling in love with him, she's irritated at how he spreads his attention around so liberally. And her friend Haven's called Dibs on him, so she's not too happy that Ever can't control herself around Damen.
Haven ends up hanging with a woman she meets at a twelve step meeting (she goes to them for the loving attention she garners from the other participants), and this woman, Drina, claims to be a donor, someone who goes to parties with vampires and donates blood to them. Soon, Haven is spending more time with Drina, and turning into a clone of her as well. Ever is concerned for her friend, but when a mutual friend of theirs turns up dead, Haven appears to recover after a bout of bad stomach flu.
But while Ever had sneaked into Damen's apartment, thinking that he was some kind of vampire, now she can't remember ever going there. Damen seems to be more interested in Drina than in her, and Ever slips into a haze of alcohol when she realizes that it blocks her psychic abilities. Messed up as she is, will Ever be able to fight back against an enemy who wants to wipe her completely off the earth? And has her penchant for Alcoholic stupor ruined the gifts that might be able to save her life? But when she realizes the true reason her life was so messed up, can she fight back and save herself from eternal dissolution?
I found this book interesting at first, but the heroine, Ever, is someone who is extremely passive for 90% of the book, and I found that incredibly boring to read. She doesn't act, she only reacts, and that was a major yawn for me. Admittedly. she's still hurting from what happened to her family, and blaming herself for their deaths, but her passiveness and reactions to the people around her just made me annoyed.
I also disliked the resolution of Amber's blaming herself for her parents death. Basically the villain appears and says, "Oh, it was all me. I caused the crash- you didn't have anything to do with it." Which I felt was an easy out for that particular story thread. It would have been nice to make Ever actually deal with the feelings and not just obliterate them wholesale- it would have made her a more believable character.
The hero, Damen, is so good a character that it's like he poops gold and diamonds and farts expensive french perfume. Even Ever seems to realize this, as she begs him to tell her something he's bad at so that she doesn't feel like a horrible, talentless schlub compared to him. I also wasn't so sanguine about how she was the reincarnation of a woman he'd been in love with many times before, but also lost many times before. Is that an implication he likes her for her, or is he trying to replace the original her he fell in love with? I wasn't sure, but the thought made me uneasy.
This whole book left me with a vaguely unsatisfied feeling, but I can't point to one big flaw that killed my enjoyment, since it was more like a host of little ones. This book is just... lacking, and I'm afraid I can't articulate it any better than that. Not recommended at all.
Now, Ever can see auras, and if she somehow manages to touch them, she knows all about them. And she can see ghosts. Well, at least one ghost, that of her young sister, Riley, who was killed in the crash along with their parents and their dog, Buttercup. Ever is no longer normal, and she wants desperately to be normal. But she and normal are no longer friends, they're not even acquainted, and she knows that everything was all her fault.
When her parents, sister and dog died in the car accident, she died with them, but didn't cross over to heaven with her family. Instead, she somehow survived, and ended up with her psychic gifts. But she can't control them, so she tries not to touch anyone or look at anyone. The only ones she exempts from this are her friends, Miles, a gay guy who does more than his share of theatre, and Haven, a girl neglected by her family who acts out by dressing up in unusual styles- this year, it's goth, to get attention from her family and others. But no one really seems to notice or care.
Then a boy named Damen Auguste enters school, and Ever is determined to keep well away from him. But when her fingers brush his, she is shocked to feel- absolutely nothing. No rush of thoughts and memories. When she looks at him, she can't see his aura, either. To everyone's surprise, Damen pays Ever attention, but she can't help but notice he pays attention to other women, too. Every time she sees him, he seems to be with someone else, and while she feels he might be falling in love with him, she's irritated at how he spreads his attention around so liberally. And her friend Haven's called Dibs on him, so she's not too happy that Ever can't control herself around Damen.
Haven ends up hanging with a woman she meets at a twelve step meeting (she goes to them for the loving attention she garners from the other participants), and this woman, Drina, claims to be a donor, someone who goes to parties with vampires and donates blood to them. Soon, Haven is spending more time with Drina, and turning into a clone of her as well. Ever is concerned for her friend, but when a mutual friend of theirs turns up dead, Haven appears to recover after a bout of bad stomach flu.
But while Ever had sneaked into Damen's apartment, thinking that he was some kind of vampire, now she can't remember ever going there. Damen seems to be more interested in Drina than in her, and Ever slips into a haze of alcohol when she realizes that it blocks her psychic abilities. Messed up as she is, will Ever be able to fight back against an enemy who wants to wipe her completely off the earth? And has her penchant for Alcoholic stupor ruined the gifts that might be able to save her life? But when she realizes the true reason her life was so messed up, can she fight back and save herself from eternal dissolution?
I found this book interesting at first, but the heroine, Ever, is someone who is extremely passive for 90% of the book, and I found that incredibly boring to read. She doesn't act, she only reacts, and that was a major yawn for me. Admittedly. she's still hurting from what happened to her family, and blaming herself for their deaths, but her passiveness and reactions to the people around her just made me annoyed.
I also disliked the resolution of Amber's blaming herself for her parents death. Basically the villain appears and says, "Oh, it was all me. I caused the crash- you didn't have anything to do with it." Which I felt was an easy out for that particular story thread. It would have been nice to make Ever actually deal with the feelings and not just obliterate them wholesale- it would have made her a more believable character.
The hero, Damen, is so good a character that it's like he poops gold and diamonds and farts expensive french perfume. Even Ever seems to realize this, as she begs him to tell her something he's bad at so that she doesn't feel like a horrible, talentless schlub compared to him. I also wasn't so sanguine about how she was the reincarnation of a woman he'd been in love with many times before, but also lost many times before. Is that an implication he likes her for her, or is he trying to replace the original her he fell in love with? I wasn't sure, but the thought made me uneasy.
This whole book left me with a vaguely unsatisfied feeling, but I can't point to one big flaw that killed my enjoyment, since it was more like a host of little ones. This book is just... lacking, and I'm afraid I can't articulate it any better than that. Not recommended at all.
Moonlight: A Dark Guardian Novel by Rachel Hawthorne
Kayla Madison is from Texas, so why did she take a job as a nature guide in a National park in the far north, almost near Canada? She's always enjoyed the outdoors and nature, but her sleep is often plagued by nightmares. Because when Kayla was only a child, her parents were killed by hunters who later claimed that her parents were actually wolves.
Kayla has only dim, confused memories of the time her parents died, but something about it makes her wake up screaming whenever she has the dream/nightmare about them. Last year, Kayla and her adoptive parents had come to the park, and something about it had called to her. She felt safer here than anywhere else. So, this year, when her shrink told her to face her fears, she decided to take a job in the park as a guide, also known as a Sherpa.
Her seventeenth Birthday is fast approaching, and she's surprised and stunned to see that the Sherpas have thrown a surprise birthday party for her, complete with cupcakes and candles. But on the trip through the forest with her friend Lindsay to the place where they spring the surprise on her, she feels like someone is watching them, and that the watcher is someone who wishes her ill. Lindsay doesn't seem to notice anything, but Lucas does.
Lucas Wilde is the senior Sherpa in charge, and he's very gorgeous. For her birthday wish, Kayla can only think of one thing she wants- she wants Lucas to kiss her. But the next day, they'll be going deep into the park with a scientific expedition under Dr. Keane, a professor at a college. The boys and single girl who come with him are his students, and as they travel deeper, they are unashamed about what they have come here to do: find and capture a werewolf for study.
Apparently, rumors of Werewolves inhabiting the forest have persisted around here for years, but Dr. Keane wants to see if it is true. Kayla and the other Sherpas are scornful of the possibility- Kayla has a hard time keeping a straight face, but later that night, she hears Dr. Keane talking with Mason, his son and also his student, and he really does think that Werewolves are real.
Meanwhile Kayla finds herself being attracted not only to Lucas, but also to Mason. But while Mason is a somewhat boring "safe" choice, Lucas attracts her much more. So much more that she's a little scared about the strength of the attraction.
But something is going wrong with the trip. Kayla still feels like someone is watching all of them, and is inimical to them. And then things start going wrong. Crossing a raging river, a rope snaps, sending Kayla washing downstream, where she bounces off a rock and is hurt. She barely manages to make it to shore, but meets a wolf who seems unusually friendly for a wild animal. She's rescued by the others and makes it back to camp, but she's hurting.
That night, she can't sleep, and walks around. Lucas finds her, and she's once again strongly attracted to him. But in the end, nothing happens except that she finds out that he can be nice to her. He tells her its dangerous to wander alone, and if she can't sleep and needs to walk to find him and he'll go with her.
When they finally reach the camp, Dr. Keane and his students (but especially Mason) ask Kayla to stay with them at their camp. One Sherpa was going to stay anyway, but Kayla says sure- as long as she can ask Lucas if it's okay. He says yes, but seems troubled by the request. He and the other Sherpas leave, and when she and Mason go out that night to spend a little time together, she sees the wolf she saw earlier, and even manages to pet it.
When Mason sees it, he pulls out a gun and shoots the wolf-twice. Kayla screams in anger and fear at seeing a wild animal hurt, but Mason and his father insist that this wolf is a werewolf- its eyes are still human. Back in camp, they imprison the wolf in a cage and reveal that this is what their expedition was all about. The girl in their party was intended to be bait for a werewolf, but Kayla proved to be much better at that. They intend to make the wolf turn back into a human and use its secrets to make supersoldiers and other scientific advancements.
Kayla, feeling responsible for the capture of the wolf, sets out to free it, and uses a nail to pick the lock on the cage, setting the wolf free, after knocking out the guard from behind. The wolf, much to Kayla's surprise, turns out to be Lucas, and they escape from the camp together. He reveals that he couldn't leave her there because her birthday is in two nights. She's a werewolf, and female werewolves undergo their first change at 17 at midnight.
She's shocked, but also shocked to discover that Lucas feels she might be his mate. He'd felt it last year, when he first met her, which is why he wanted her to come and be a Sherpa this year. As a female wolf, she needs to be helped through her transformation by her mate. But if she doesn't accept him, he'll be cursed to a lone and loveless existence.
But their escape from the camp doesn't mean that they are completely free yet. One man betrayed the werewolves, and Lucas expects he knows who it is, his brother, Devlin, who he fought for his position as leader of the Dark Guardians. It was supposed to be a fight to the death, but Devlin ran off when he lost. Now he seems to be back, and he wants revenge on Lucas.
There will be another fight, but will Kayla, who is still human at this point, be able to do anything to affect the outcome? Will she be able to accept being a werewolf, and Lucas as her mate? And can she and Lucas overcome Devlin, who's crazy and willing to do anything to win? And if she does accept becoming a werewolf, what will she do at the end of the summer? Can she go back to Texas for one last year with her family, or is she fated to remain in this small park forever?
This book did an effective job of portraying Kayla as someone with problems, who has come to the park both for a job and also a solution to her memories and nightmares. But she hardly expects what she learns about herself, or that she'll be used as bait to capture a werewolf.
Kayla comes across as someone who thinks she's a weakling, but hardly knows her own unexpected strengths. While Lucas is someone so indrawn and focussed that he can come across as cold and indifferent despite his male beauty. The story kept my attention well enough, but it wasn't super-exciting. I felt that the book deserved to be longer. The story felt curiously unfinished- the action takes place over less than a week, and the confrontation between Lucas and Devlin, once they actually get to fighting was practically a "blink and you'll miss it" moment.
The pacing felt uneven, and several possibilities for ramping up the tension went woefully unusued- something is watching Kayla from the forest- why isn't she more freaked out about this? It was just something of a disappointment to me.
This is the first book in a series, but it suffers from too little story. Yeah, the book isn't very long, but it felt as if more should have happened before the ending. The story felt anemic and bloated at the same time. Anemic with events and tension, bloated with an excess of words, and, pardon my french- useless crap. A major story thread, that of the good doctor and his students, is left to lie without any resolution once Kayla and Lucas escape them. I wish this could have been a better book, and I wish I could recommend it, but I can't. You're going to have to look elsewhere if you want anything like a really satisfying story.
Kayla has only dim, confused memories of the time her parents died, but something about it makes her wake up screaming whenever she has the dream/nightmare about them. Last year, Kayla and her adoptive parents had come to the park, and something about it had called to her. She felt safer here than anywhere else. So, this year, when her shrink told her to face her fears, she decided to take a job in the park as a guide, also known as a Sherpa.
Her seventeenth Birthday is fast approaching, and she's surprised and stunned to see that the Sherpas have thrown a surprise birthday party for her, complete with cupcakes and candles. But on the trip through the forest with her friend Lindsay to the place where they spring the surprise on her, she feels like someone is watching them, and that the watcher is someone who wishes her ill. Lindsay doesn't seem to notice anything, but Lucas does.
Lucas Wilde is the senior Sherpa in charge, and he's very gorgeous. For her birthday wish, Kayla can only think of one thing she wants- she wants Lucas to kiss her. But the next day, they'll be going deep into the park with a scientific expedition under Dr. Keane, a professor at a college. The boys and single girl who come with him are his students, and as they travel deeper, they are unashamed about what they have come here to do: find and capture a werewolf for study.
Apparently, rumors of Werewolves inhabiting the forest have persisted around here for years, but Dr. Keane wants to see if it is true. Kayla and the other Sherpas are scornful of the possibility- Kayla has a hard time keeping a straight face, but later that night, she hears Dr. Keane talking with Mason, his son and also his student, and he really does think that Werewolves are real.
Meanwhile Kayla finds herself being attracted not only to Lucas, but also to Mason. But while Mason is a somewhat boring "safe" choice, Lucas attracts her much more. So much more that she's a little scared about the strength of the attraction.
But something is going wrong with the trip. Kayla still feels like someone is watching all of them, and is inimical to them. And then things start going wrong. Crossing a raging river, a rope snaps, sending Kayla washing downstream, where she bounces off a rock and is hurt. She barely manages to make it to shore, but meets a wolf who seems unusually friendly for a wild animal. She's rescued by the others and makes it back to camp, but she's hurting.
That night, she can't sleep, and walks around. Lucas finds her, and she's once again strongly attracted to him. But in the end, nothing happens except that she finds out that he can be nice to her. He tells her its dangerous to wander alone, and if she can't sleep and needs to walk to find him and he'll go with her.
When they finally reach the camp, Dr. Keane and his students (but especially Mason) ask Kayla to stay with them at their camp. One Sherpa was going to stay anyway, but Kayla says sure- as long as she can ask Lucas if it's okay. He says yes, but seems troubled by the request. He and the other Sherpas leave, and when she and Mason go out that night to spend a little time together, she sees the wolf she saw earlier, and even manages to pet it.
When Mason sees it, he pulls out a gun and shoots the wolf-twice. Kayla screams in anger and fear at seeing a wild animal hurt, but Mason and his father insist that this wolf is a werewolf- its eyes are still human. Back in camp, they imprison the wolf in a cage and reveal that this is what their expedition was all about. The girl in their party was intended to be bait for a werewolf, but Kayla proved to be much better at that. They intend to make the wolf turn back into a human and use its secrets to make supersoldiers and other scientific advancements.
Kayla, feeling responsible for the capture of the wolf, sets out to free it, and uses a nail to pick the lock on the cage, setting the wolf free, after knocking out the guard from behind. The wolf, much to Kayla's surprise, turns out to be Lucas, and they escape from the camp together. He reveals that he couldn't leave her there because her birthday is in two nights. She's a werewolf, and female werewolves undergo their first change at 17 at midnight.
She's shocked, but also shocked to discover that Lucas feels she might be his mate. He'd felt it last year, when he first met her, which is why he wanted her to come and be a Sherpa this year. As a female wolf, she needs to be helped through her transformation by her mate. But if she doesn't accept him, he'll be cursed to a lone and loveless existence.
But their escape from the camp doesn't mean that they are completely free yet. One man betrayed the werewolves, and Lucas expects he knows who it is, his brother, Devlin, who he fought for his position as leader of the Dark Guardians. It was supposed to be a fight to the death, but Devlin ran off when he lost. Now he seems to be back, and he wants revenge on Lucas.
There will be another fight, but will Kayla, who is still human at this point, be able to do anything to affect the outcome? Will she be able to accept being a werewolf, and Lucas as her mate? And can she and Lucas overcome Devlin, who's crazy and willing to do anything to win? And if she does accept becoming a werewolf, what will she do at the end of the summer? Can she go back to Texas for one last year with her family, or is she fated to remain in this small park forever?
This book did an effective job of portraying Kayla as someone with problems, who has come to the park both for a job and also a solution to her memories and nightmares. But she hardly expects what she learns about herself, or that she'll be used as bait to capture a werewolf.
Kayla comes across as someone who thinks she's a weakling, but hardly knows her own unexpected strengths. While Lucas is someone so indrawn and focussed that he can come across as cold and indifferent despite his male beauty. The story kept my attention well enough, but it wasn't super-exciting. I felt that the book deserved to be longer. The story felt curiously unfinished- the action takes place over less than a week, and the confrontation between Lucas and Devlin, once they actually get to fighting was practically a "blink and you'll miss it" moment.
The pacing felt uneven, and several possibilities for ramping up the tension went woefully unusued- something is watching Kayla from the forest- why isn't she more freaked out about this? It was just something of a disappointment to me.
This is the first book in a series, but it suffers from too little story. Yeah, the book isn't very long, but it felt as if more should have happened before the ending. The story felt anemic and bloated at the same time. Anemic with events and tension, bloated with an excess of words, and, pardon my french- useless crap. A major story thread, that of the good doctor and his students, is left to lie without any resolution once Kayla and Lucas escape them. I wish this could have been a better book, and I wish I could recommend it, but I can't. You're going to have to look elsewhere if you want anything like a really satisfying story.
The Twilight Prisoner by Katherine Marsh
Jack Perdu once entered the lands of the dead to find the spirit of his mother. To do so, he needed a Golden Bough, an object that permitted him to enter the Underworld. During his time there, he met and befriended a Ghost girl named Euri, and when Jack finally returned to the world of the living, they promised to keep in touch.
Months later, Jack is attending George C. Chapman High School, and is falling in love with a girl named Cora, who is in his classes and in Latin Club. He wants to ask her out, but this is the first girl he's ever really liked, and he's hesitant because he isn't sure if she likes him, too.
But something else is wrong- Jack can still see Ghosts. He had supposed that when he escaped the underworld in the last book, he would have lost that ability. But he hasn't. And now Jack suspects something is wrong- with him. So when he does manage to ask Cora to meet him, he plans on showing her the Cyclotron underneath the college where his Dad teaches. Only fellow schoolmate Austin comes along for the ride, making Jack annoyed. He wanted to be alone with Cora, not Cora and Austin.
But in their travels in the tunnels under the college, Jack realizes he can show Cora something better than an old Cyclotron- he can show her the Underworld! And so the three of them cross into the Underworld. But Cerberus, the guardian, scents them immediately and gives chase. Jack tells Austin to run, and flees with Cora, where they find Euri, who keeps them safe from Cerberus, at least for the moment.
Jack finds Euri... different. Darker than he remembered, and smaller and younger as well. She's not happy to see Jack with Cora, but he asks for her help, and she unbends enough to give it to him. Cora is frantic at being trapped in the Underworld when she realizes what is happening, and insists on being taken to see her mother. But when they travel there, Jack realizes that Cora isn't as rich as some of the kids at the school, and her mother is sick. Cora not only attends the school on a scholarship, but takes care of her mom in the bargain.
Jack and Cora must escape the city. Only, since the last time he wound up in the Underworld, things have changed, and *not* for the better. The Underworld police are being more stringent than ever, and all the exits to the human world are under a strict watch. The place where Jack escaped the last time is now under guard, and Jack, Cora and Euri must find a new place to escape.
To do that, they must find the Ghost of Egbert Viele, the man who laid out the city's water plan and surveyed the city to find the underground waterways. He would know where there are hidden springs or streams that would allow Jack and Cora to escape. But he's much harder to find than Jack and Euri anticipated, and Cora doesn't know that there is a time limit on their ability to escape the Underworld. Worse still, Austin also appears to be in the Underworld, and he didn't escape like Jack told him to. And with the revelation that Euri has become a Poltergeist, everything Jack knows about the Underworld seems to have changed.
Can Jack and Cora find Viele, find a hidden spring, and cross over, escaping the Underworld before their three days are up and they both die? Why does Jack seem to be nothing more than a Ghost, despite being alive? And can Jack confess his love to Cora without being completely shot down? Even if she does love him, will her love survive his lying to her about the Underworld? And can Jack save Euri from becoming something very dark in spirit terms?
This was an interesting follow up to "The Night Tourist". Though the other book seemed like it was complete in itself, this one takes up after the other one leaves off, and the ending of this one just cries out for a sequel, which means it will probably end up being a trilogy.
The big mysteries in this book are: Why does Jack appear to be a ghost in the underworld rather than a living person? We never get an answer for that, exactly, but we are told that Jack can choose what he wants to be. And my feeling is that this is because Jack's mother used to be a Ghost before Jack's father rescued her, so Jack inherited a sort of "half-ghostly" quality from her, but it wasn't activated until he visited the Underworld in the last book. The second mystery is: Does Cora return Jack's affections? And yes, that one is answered, and definitively.
I can almost feel sorry for Jack, but I can tell what sort of book the third volume is going to be, and I hope there is a happy ending for both Jack and Euri at the end of it- it's by no means guaranteed, but the fact that Jack can be either fully human or fully a ghost means twice as many chances for them to be happy. But what will he choose in the end, or will Euri choose to move on? I don't know, but I recommend this book anyway.
Months later, Jack is attending George C. Chapman High School, and is falling in love with a girl named Cora, who is in his classes and in Latin Club. He wants to ask her out, but this is the first girl he's ever really liked, and he's hesitant because he isn't sure if she likes him, too.
But something else is wrong- Jack can still see Ghosts. He had supposed that when he escaped the underworld in the last book, he would have lost that ability. But he hasn't. And now Jack suspects something is wrong- with him. So when he does manage to ask Cora to meet him, he plans on showing her the Cyclotron underneath the college where his Dad teaches. Only fellow schoolmate Austin comes along for the ride, making Jack annoyed. He wanted to be alone with Cora, not Cora and Austin.
But in their travels in the tunnels under the college, Jack realizes he can show Cora something better than an old Cyclotron- he can show her the Underworld! And so the three of them cross into the Underworld. But Cerberus, the guardian, scents them immediately and gives chase. Jack tells Austin to run, and flees with Cora, where they find Euri, who keeps them safe from Cerberus, at least for the moment.
Jack finds Euri... different. Darker than he remembered, and smaller and younger as well. She's not happy to see Jack with Cora, but he asks for her help, and she unbends enough to give it to him. Cora is frantic at being trapped in the Underworld when she realizes what is happening, and insists on being taken to see her mother. But when they travel there, Jack realizes that Cora isn't as rich as some of the kids at the school, and her mother is sick. Cora not only attends the school on a scholarship, but takes care of her mom in the bargain.
Jack and Cora must escape the city. Only, since the last time he wound up in the Underworld, things have changed, and *not* for the better. The Underworld police are being more stringent than ever, and all the exits to the human world are under a strict watch. The place where Jack escaped the last time is now under guard, and Jack, Cora and Euri must find a new place to escape.
To do that, they must find the Ghost of Egbert Viele, the man who laid out the city's water plan and surveyed the city to find the underground waterways. He would know where there are hidden springs or streams that would allow Jack and Cora to escape. But he's much harder to find than Jack and Euri anticipated, and Cora doesn't know that there is a time limit on their ability to escape the Underworld. Worse still, Austin also appears to be in the Underworld, and he didn't escape like Jack told him to. And with the revelation that Euri has become a Poltergeist, everything Jack knows about the Underworld seems to have changed.
Can Jack and Cora find Viele, find a hidden spring, and cross over, escaping the Underworld before their three days are up and they both die? Why does Jack seem to be nothing more than a Ghost, despite being alive? And can Jack confess his love to Cora without being completely shot down? Even if she does love him, will her love survive his lying to her about the Underworld? And can Jack save Euri from becoming something very dark in spirit terms?
This was an interesting follow up to "The Night Tourist". Though the other book seemed like it was complete in itself, this one takes up after the other one leaves off, and the ending of this one just cries out for a sequel, which means it will probably end up being a trilogy.
The big mysteries in this book are: Why does Jack appear to be a ghost in the underworld rather than a living person? We never get an answer for that, exactly, but we are told that Jack can choose what he wants to be. And my feeling is that this is because Jack's mother used to be a Ghost before Jack's father rescued her, so Jack inherited a sort of "half-ghostly" quality from her, but it wasn't activated until he visited the Underworld in the last book. The second mystery is: Does Cora return Jack's affections? And yes, that one is answered, and definitively.
I can almost feel sorry for Jack, but I can tell what sort of book the third volume is going to be, and I hope there is a happy ending for both Jack and Euri at the end of it- it's by no means guaranteed, but the fact that Jack can be either fully human or fully a ghost means twice as many chances for them to be happy. But what will he choose in the end, or will Euri choose to move on? I don't know, but I recommend this book anyway.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Mercedes or Mercy, Thompson is a car Mechanic, but that's not all she is. She's also a skin-changer, a kind of Native American werecreature. But unlike Werewolves, Skin-changers aren't tied to the moon, and don't *need* to change at the full moon. They also find shifting pleasureable rather than painful, as most werecreatures do. Mercy's form, as befits her heritage, is a coyote.
But because she's not tied to the moon, Mercy found herself to be wanted by quite a number of Werewolf men who wanted her to bear their children. Female werewolves suffer spontaneous abortions when they change at the full moon- their children are unable to change, and the body flushes them out. But Mercy was holding out for love, and eventually found it with the local Alpha, Adam Hauptman, who lived next door to her.
Adam and his were-pack aren't the only supernatural creatures that Mercy has contact with. Her former boss and mentor, Zee, is a fae whose full name is Siebold Adelbertsmiter, is a Mettalzauber, what we today would call a Gremlin. Unlike most fae, he's not as affected by iron, which allowed him to start the business that Mercy eventually took over and bought from him.
She's also friends with Stefan, a vampire who drives a VW bus decorated to look like the Mystery Machine. He's the second in command to Marsilia, the vampire in charge of the city's vampires, known as a seethe. And Mercy is still recovering after being raped by a human called Tim, who had come into possession of a Fae goblet that, when drunk from, puts you into a condition of servitude to the one holding it. So in addition to being raped physically, she was also raped mentally and emotionally. Adam made her drink from it again to free her of some of the damage to her, but she's still not quite right.
Now, she's still skittish when people get too close to her, but paradoxically, she finds the scent of Adam, who she loves, to be relaxing. But when Stephan appears in her house, flayed, bleeding and burnt, she and Adam try to discover what happened to him. Stephan refuses to drink her blood, even when she offers, so Adam offers his, and some of that of his werewolves. And Mercy's mother shows up beforehand, having discovered what happened to Mercy on the news, as her attack was filmed on security cameras at her place of business.
Her mother is angry that she had to find out what happened to Mercy that way, and when Stephan shows up, she wants to kill him, too, but Mercy and Adam convince her that Stephan is a friend. Soon after, Mercy recieves another visitor, an old friend from her college days, Amber, who shows up to tell Mercy that she also found out about what happened to Mercy in the press and asks her to come to Spokane to look into a ghost infesting the house of her and her husband. Mercy doesn't let her in the house, but since Stephan tells her that Marsillia knows that Mercy was responsible for killing another one of Marsillia's seethe, and that she should run, she debates going to Spokane just to get away from Marsillia.
From Stephan, she learns that he is also being punished by Marsillia. His flock, the humans he feeds from and cares for, were all killed by Marsillia, one by one, before she inflicted the punishment on him for which he came to Mercy. He thinks that Marsillia hoped that Stephan would kill Mercy for her blood, thus wiping out Mercy, and the Werewolves would kill Stephan for her.
In the meantime, two crossed bones are placed on Mercy's garage, marking her as a traitor to the local supernatural community, and her garage is vandalized with grafitti, calling her a "whor" (no typo), among other things. Mercy is somewhat amused by the misspellings, but since Tim's sister was one of the people responsible, she is more convinced that she should go to Spokane.
The fae world is also rocked during this time by an incident in a local bar where some kind of spell is affixed to the overhead beams of the bar, causing an incident between the Fae and the Weres. Mercy saves the day by removing the thing and getting it away from the bar. One of the pack is killed, but a fae there manages to revive her.
At Amber's house, she discovers that Amber married a local businessman and has a son, Chad, who is eight years old and deaf and mute. Stephan told her before she left that there is only one vampire in Spokane, and that he defends the entire city by himself. Apparently, he's so powerful that no one is willing to cross him, and his nickname among the vampire community is "The Monster", which makes Mercy very wary of meeting him. But on the first day that Mercy gets there, she finds that Mercy's husband is hosting the vampire (who is also a businessman) at his house for dinner. Mercy meets him and is scared of him, but he's nothing but friendly to her.
Mercy talks with Chad, Amber's son (well, so to speak) and discovers that the house is indeed haunted. The ghost is strange and smells of blood, a smell also shared by Amber, which worries Mercy. Worse yet, she wakes up with a vampire bite, and after discovering that the Ghost is inimical to the family, convinces them to flee the house and get it exorcised. Soon after, she finds another vampire bite on her neck, and she can't remember getting either of them. Stephan appears to drive her home, and she lets him bite her and takes some of his blood to block the effect of the other vampire's bites.
She can tell that the master of Spokane, Blackwood, isn't pleased by what happens, but he's certainly not going to leave his city to chase her. Marsillia, meanwhile, is in negotiations with Adam and his pack, and also with Samuel, Mercy's friend and former boyfriend. But when she commands Mercy to appear, it's not for negotiations, but a trial against traitors in her Seethe. Mercy must testify, and even though Marsillia wants to kill her, she leaves Mercy alive afterwards.
Then, Amber's husband shows up at Mercy's door right after the trial and tasers her, telling her he must do it, Blackwood has his son and wife hostage. He throws Mercy in his trunk, and takes her to Spokane, where Blackwood takes her blood again, and imprisons her in the basement of his home. Amber is dead, but her spirit is somehow tied to her body, and she smells of blood. Mercy discovers that Blackwood's power is to take on the characteristics of anything he feeds off of. And he's become immune to sunlight by feeding off a fae called an Oakman, who feeds on sunlight.
But with Mercy's blood, he'll also be able to command ghosts. And there are definitely ghosts around, including that of the vampire who made Blackwood, whom he slew, and a young man who was the ghost haunting Amber's house, who resents Chad and all the wonderful toys and books he had. Can Mercy free Amber's ghost, destroy Blackwood and somehow come out of this whole business alive? She can't bring herself to be responsible for the deaths of any more people, but she may have no choice in this case. But how can she take on the Monster, when he is so powerful?
This is the first Mercy Thompson book to be published in hardcover, and the reason why was the stunning popularity of the first three books in the series. Patricia Briggs is a first-class writer, and one of the things that makes her works so strong is that for her characters, actions have consequences. To use an example- Mercy was raped at the end of the last book. Though the magic of the fae goblet allowed her to put away dealing with a lot of it, this is not something that Mercy can duck entirely.
In this book, she has to deal with feeling like she's going to bolt when men get too close to her, and an ongoing series of panic attacks that in some cases literally leave her unconscious- one so badly that Adam ties her to the pack to bring her around. That also has consquences, but... later on, Adam and Mercy manage to make love again, and she thinks this should be a cure for all her problems. It isn't, and even Adam tells her she's being unrealistic about it. She's going to suffer from this problem for quite some time, still.
That's realistic, and one of the reasons why the characters don't seem like mere characters, but real people, even with all the supernatural stuff that goes on. I also like how the supernatural characters are more than stereotypical examples of their type. The Fae aren't effete wispy things, but a collection of peoples more different than alike. And the Werewolves are also different from normal portrayals from them. They aren't one big happy family- some of them hate and dislike Mercy for what she is. They even have problems accepting some of their own who are different, like the gay werewolf, Warren.
I give this series not only a high recommendation, but I'll go further. This is a series you *must* read. It's so good that it can change your definition of what a fantasy is (or paranormal romance), and get you to see why so many people enjoy fantasy. It manages to excel in every area- characterization, plot, romance, fantasy, world-building. Authors wet-dream about being this good. Read it. You won't be disappointed.
But because she's not tied to the moon, Mercy found herself to be wanted by quite a number of Werewolf men who wanted her to bear their children. Female werewolves suffer spontaneous abortions when they change at the full moon- their children are unable to change, and the body flushes them out. But Mercy was holding out for love, and eventually found it with the local Alpha, Adam Hauptman, who lived next door to her.
Adam and his were-pack aren't the only supernatural creatures that Mercy has contact with. Her former boss and mentor, Zee, is a fae whose full name is Siebold Adelbertsmiter, is a Mettalzauber, what we today would call a Gremlin. Unlike most fae, he's not as affected by iron, which allowed him to start the business that Mercy eventually took over and bought from him.
She's also friends with Stefan, a vampire who drives a VW bus decorated to look like the Mystery Machine. He's the second in command to Marsilia, the vampire in charge of the city's vampires, known as a seethe. And Mercy is still recovering after being raped by a human called Tim, who had come into possession of a Fae goblet that, when drunk from, puts you into a condition of servitude to the one holding it. So in addition to being raped physically, she was also raped mentally and emotionally. Adam made her drink from it again to free her of some of the damage to her, but she's still not quite right.
Now, she's still skittish when people get too close to her, but paradoxically, she finds the scent of Adam, who she loves, to be relaxing. But when Stephan appears in her house, flayed, bleeding and burnt, she and Adam try to discover what happened to him. Stephan refuses to drink her blood, even when she offers, so Adam offers his, and some of that of his werewolves. And Mercy's mother shows up beforehand, having discovered what happened to Mercy on the news, as her attack was filmed on security cameras at her place of business.
Her mother is angry that she had to find out what happened to Mercy that way, and when Stephan shows up, she wants to kill him, too, but Mercy and Adam convince her that Stephan is a friend. Soon after, Mercy recieves another visitor, an old friend from her college days, Amber, who shows up to tell Mercy that she also found out about what happened to Mercy in the press and asks her to come to Spokane to look into a ghost infesting the house of her and her husband. Mercy doesn't let her in the house, but since Stephan tells her that Marsillia knows that Mercy was responsible for killing another one of Marsillia's seethe, and that she should run, she debates going to Spokane just to get away from Marsillia.
From Stephan, she learns that he is also being punished by Marsillia. His flock, the humans he feeds from and cares for, were all killed by Marsillia, one by one, before she inflicted the punishment on him for which he came to Mercy. He thinks that Marsillia hoped that Stephan would kill Mercy for her blood, thus wiping out Mercy, and the Werewolves would kill Stephan for her.
In the meantime, two crossed bones are placed on Mercy's garage, marking her as a traitor to the local supernatural community, and her garage is vandalized with grafitti, calling her a "whor" (no typo), among other things. Mercy is somewhat amused by the misspellings, but since Tim's sister was one of the people responsible, she is more convinced that she should go to Spokane.
The fae world is also rocked during this time by an incident in a local bar where some kind of spell is affixed to the overhead beams of the bar, causing an incident between the Fae and the Weres. Mercy saves the day by removing the thing and getting it away from the bar. One of the pack is killed, but a fae there manages to revive her.
At Amber's house, she discovers that Amber married a local businessman and has a son, Chad, who is eight years old and deaf and mute. Stephan told her before she left that there is only one vampire in Spokane, and that he defends the entire city by himself. Apparently, he's so powerful that no one is willing to cross him, and his nickname among the vampire community is "The Monster", which makes Mercy very wary of meeting him. But on the first day that Mercy gets there, she finds that Mercy's husband is hosting the vampire (who is also a businessman) at his house for dinner. Mercy meets him and is scared of him, but he's nothing but friendly to her.
Mercy talks with Chad, Amber's son (well, so to speak) and discovers that the house is indeed haunted. The ghost is strange and smells of blood, a smell also shared by Amber, which worries Mercy. Worse yet, she wakes up with a vampire bite, and after discovering that the Ghost is inimical to the family, convinces them to flee the house and get it exorcised. Soon after, she finds another vampire bite on her neck, and she can't remember getting either of them. Stephan appears to drive her home, and she lets him bite her and takes some of his blood to block the effect of the other vampire's bites.
She can tell that the master of Spokane, Blackwood, isn't pleased by what happens, but he's certainly not going to leave his city to chase her. Marsillia, meanwhile, is in negotiations with Adam and his pack, and also with Samuel, Mercy's friend and former boyfriend. But when she commands Mercy to appear, it's not for negotiations, but a trial against traitors in her Seethe. Mercy must testify, and even though Marsillia wants to kill her, she leaves Mercy alive afterwards.
Then, Amber's husband shows up at Mercy's door right after the trial and tasers her, telling her he must do it, Blackwood has his son and wife hostage. He throws Mercy in his trunk, and takes her to Spokane, where Blackwood takes her blood again, and imprisons her in the basement of his home. Amber is dead, but her spirit is somehow tied to her body, and she smells of blood. Mercy discovers that Blackwood's power is to take on the characteristics of anything he feeds off of. And he's become immune to sunlight by feeding off a fae called an Oakman, who feeds on sunlight.
But with Mercy's blood, he'll also be able to command ghosts. And there are definitely ghosts around, including that of the vampire who made Blackwood, whom he slew, and a young man who was the ghost haunting Amber's house, who resents Chad and all the wonderful toys and books he had. Can Mercy free Amber's ghost, destroy Blackwood and somehow come out of this whole business alive? She can't bring herself to be responsible for the deaths of any more people, but she may have no choice in this case. But how can she take on the Monster, when he is so powerful?
This is the first Mercy Thompson book to be published in hardcover, and the reason why was the stunning popularity of the first three books in the series. Patricia Briggs is a first-class writer, and one of the things that makes her works so strong is that for her characters, actions have consequences. To use an example- Mercy was raped at the end of the last book. Though the magic of the fae goblet allowed her to put away dealing with a lot of it, this is not something that Mercy can duck entirely.
In this book, she has to deal with feeling like she's going to bolt when men get too close to her, and an ongoing series of panic attacks that in some cases literally leave her unconscious- one so badly that Adam ties her to the pack to bring her around. That also has consquences, but... later on, Adam and Mercy manage to make love again, and she thinks this should be a cure for all her problems. It isn't, and even Adam tells her she's being unrealistic about it. She's going to suffer from this problem for quite some time, still.
That's realistic, and one of the reasons why the characters don't seem like mere characters, but real people, even with all the supernatural stuff that goes on. I also like how the supernatural characters are more than stereotypical examples of their type. The Fae aren't effete wispy things, but a collection of peoples more different than alike. And the Werewolves are also different from normal portrayals from them. They aren't one big happy family- some of them hate and dislike Mercy for what she is. They even have problems accepting some of their own who are different, like the gay werewolf, Warren.
I give this series not only a high recommendation, but I'll go further. This is a series you *must* read. It's so good that it can change your definition of what a fantasy is (or paranormal romance), and get you to see why so many people enjoy fantasy. It manages to excel in every area- characterization, plot, romance, fantasy, world-building. Authors wet-dream about being this good. Read it. You won't be disappointed.
The Joy of Sex- The Ultimate Revised Edition by Dr. Alex Comfort
Lots of people can screw, or make love, but can you say that you are any good at it? This book, although it was originally published in the early 70's, still has the power to piss people off, showing positions they find objectionable, or an attitude to lovemaking and a partner that they find distasteful.
I work in a library, and many of our copies (I can't say all, because I haven't taken them all out) either end up going missing or are damaged by people cutting out pages they disagree with- or perhaps to put a nicer complexion on it, cutting out the stuff they really want to try. But how many people want to try "rear entry" type things, really?
For the uninitiated, this book discusses, in a frank and sensual manner, how to transform making love from a mere act to a feast of earthly delights. You are urged to pay attention to your partner, to find out what he or she likes, and on different sexual positions you may have not tried before.
The book is broken up into a few main sections- ingredients, appetizers, main courses, and sauces and pickles. Each deals with some aspect of lovemaking. Ingredients covers you and your partner, and the attitude and physical and mental space you bring to the bedroom. Appetizers are things you can do in your lead up to the bedroom, or to start things off once you are there: dancing, tongue baths, strip-teases, and so on.
Main courses is all about making love. Positions, postures, and things to try in bed. Straight up missionary position is the easiest for a man, but this section gives intriguing things to try, and you don't have to be an acrobatic contortionist to try them. Dr. Comfort argues that lovemaking works best when you respect your partner and try to give as much pleasure as you take. Then, sauces and pickles are things you add to the basic main course for spice: clothing, various erotic items such as a horse, a swing, making love in various places, both indoors and out, and so on.
It also discusses why adding another party to what is essentially a two-person affair can lead to more problems than anything else, and speaks frankly once more of erotic toys like ben-wa balls. The book ends with a list of resources and support, along with a index in the back.
This book may be the "Ultimate Revised Edition", but that doesn't mean it's without problems. Whoever edited the book and approved the final version that went to press should be ashamed- some pages are repeated twice! There is no excuse for such sloppiness in a major press house. At least this wasn't like an earlier version I saw, where an internal section repeated twice, making some of the unrepeated pages go missing. Is the idea of sex in our rather puritan society so distasteful that the editor couldn't even read the final edition and correct its mistakes?
Regardless, even if you're not buying or reading this book to share with a partner, but am using it to get ideas for erotic sections in your own writing, it's an invaluable resource. It's like a giant cinnamon bun, studded with raisins of pictures, both photographic and drawn, in full color throughout. This isn't to say that you'll enjoy everything. I have never been drawn to the underarm area in the way that Dr. Comfort is, but everyone has quirks, and I can't say that mine are less strange than his.
Readers will find a wealth of erotic possibilities in between these pages, and may find themselves wishing to try them out, if not with a partner, then in a fantasy at the very least. No matter how you feel about lovemaking, you'll find lots to like, and probably at least one thing that will make you feel turned-off when you think about it. But this is a landmark book, and for that reason alone, I found myself enjoying and thinking about the material in the pages a lot. Highly recommended.
I work in a library, and many of our copies (I can't say all, because I haven't taken them all out) either end up going missing or are damaged by people cutting out pages they disagree with- or perhaps to put a nicer complexion on it, cutting out the stuff they really want to try. But how many people want to try "rear entry" type things, really?
For the uninitiated, this book discusses, in a frank and sensual manner, how to transform making love from a mere act to a feast of earthly delights. You are urged to pay attention to your partner, to find out what he or she likes, and on different sexual positions you may have not tried before.
The book is broken up into a few main sections- ingredients, appetizers, main courses, and sauces and pickles. Each deals with some aspect of lovemaking. Ingredients covers you and your partner, and the attitude and physical and mental space you bring to the bedroom. Appetizers are things you can do in your lead up to the bedroom, or to start things off once you are there: dancing, tongue baths, strip-teases, and so on.
Main courses is all about making love. Positions, postures, and things to try in bed. Straight up missionary position is the easiest for a man, but this section gives intriguing things to try, and you don't have to be an acrobatic contortionist to try them. Dr. Comfort argues that lovemaking works best when you respect your partner and try to give as much pleasure as you take. Then, sauces and pickles are things you add to the basic main course for spice: clothing, various erotic items such as a horse, a swing, making love in various places, both indoors and out, and so on.
It also discusses why adding another party to what is essentially a two-person affair can lead to more problems than anything else, and speaks frankly once more of erotic toys like ben-wa balls. The book ends with a list of resources and support, along with a index in the back.
This book may be the "Ultimate Revised Edition", but that doesn't mean it's without problems. Whoever edited the book and approved the final version that went to press should be ashamed- some pages are repeated twice! There is no excuse for such sloppiness in a major press house. At least this wasn't like an earlier version I saw, where an internal section repeated twice, making some of the unrepeated pages go missing. Is the idea of sex in our rather puritan society so distasteful that the editor couldn't even read the final edition and correct its mistakes?
Regardless, even if you're not buying or reading this book to share with a partner, but am using it to get ideas for erotic sections in your own writing, it's an invaluable resource. It's like a giant cinnamon bun, studded with raisins of pictures, both photographic and drawn, in full color throughout. This isn't to say that you'll enjoy everything. I have never been drawn to the underarm area in the way that Dr. Comfort is, but everyone has quirks, and I can't say that mine are less strange than his.
Readers will find a wealth of erotic possibilities in between these pages, and may find themselves wishing to try them out, if not with a partner, then in a fantasy at the very least. No matter how you feel about lovemaking, you'll find lots to like, and probably at least one thing that will make you feel turned-off when you think about it. But this is a landmark book, and for that reason alone, I found myself enjoying and thinking about the material in the pages a lot. Highly recommended.
Ghost Rider: Vicious Cycle by Daniel Way, Javier Saltares and Mark Texeira
Johnny Blaze was the original Ghost Rider, having made a deal with the Devil to save his adopted father from dying of cancer. Instead, the man died the next day in a crash during his stuntriding circus show, and Johnny was only saved through the intervention of Roxanne Simpson, who saved Johnny with a pure heart full of love. The Devil took his revenge by binding a revenge spirit named Zarakos to his soul, making Johnny become the Ghost Rider.
Now, Johnny is in Hell, literally. He's there being tormented by the Devil. The Devil holds out hope to Johnny and crushes it, again and again and again. It's one of the main forms of the Devil's amusement- holding out some hope for Johnny to change something or make a difference, and then brutally crushing that hope. Johnny realizes that fact, but doesn't seem able to change his actions, to stop grasping for any shred of hope that comes his way.
When he encounters a digging demon trying to escape, Johnny tries not to listen when it claims to have found a way out of hell, but eventually he gives in and rescues the thing from the Devil's captors and forces it to show him where it could dig out of Hell. But when he shakes on helping it escape as well, it turns out to be the devil, and when Johnny sinks into the water of the cavern and manages to make his way out, the Devil tags along with him.
Rescuing the Devil from Hell wasn't what Johnny wanted to do, but he doesn't realize what happened at first. His cycle runs out of gas and he's given a lift to a truck stop from a female trucker who, unbeknownst to him, recognizes him from when she was a girl. But he can't get over his suspicion that he's still in Hell, and that all of this is just a trick from the Devil. Especially when he's attacked by someone sporting the eyes like the Devil
Especially when he runs into Stephen Strange in a local graveyard. Johnny attacks Strange, who is attempting to speak to him, thinking that he's the Devil. Strange attempts to defend himself, but Johnny is too strong, and when Strange fails to fall to his "penance stare", only then does Johnny realize the horrible mistake he's made. But one of Strange's spirit allies, a woman called Numecet, shows up and tells Johnny what happened.
The Devil did indeed escape Hell along with Johnny. Johnny's soul still had a body to go to, so he inhabited his body again. But the Devil was *only* a soul, and when it reached the earth, it shattered into pieces- 666 pieces. Each piece possessed a nearly dead or newly dead body, and now they are out in the world wreaking havoc.
Johnny wants to go and fight them, but Numecet points out that with each one Johnny destroys, the piece of the Devil's soul he frees will go into the rest, making them stronger. And by the time he's down to only a few souls, those left will be very powerful. Should he manage to take them down so that only one soul is left, the devil will have won- his soul will be in one piece, inhabiting a real, physical body. And that's what he wanted all along.
Johnny doesn't see that he has a choice, though, and leaves to begin his task. Numecet agrees that he is the only one who can do it, and also, that no one can stop him from doing it. But that doesn't mean that she's happy about it. And her tears finally revive Stephen Strange.
So. Johnny knows that the Devil is after him, but he's lured into one last trap, at the site of the old circus where Crash Simpson died and where Jonny summoned the Devil. We see the story told out, and are given a bit of hope for Johnny as he roars off into the night after defeating one of the Devil's pseduobodies. But given the odds that lie against him, is there any hope for him to defeat the Devil? Or will he soon be back in his former position, trapped in Hell and taunted by his foe? Is this just the largest trap of all?
After the comic Ghost Rider went defunct back in the late 80's, it had been killed off through lack of sales. But fans of the series never forgot, and in 2007, he was brought back for this series, after another short series and the final end to the Ghost Rider series was published, probably to coincide with the coming of the film starring Nicholas Cage.
This book is the first five issues of the new series, and was intended to give fans a long story arc to look forward to. In that, it doesn't fail. Hell is suitably Hellish, if you'll pardon the pun, that you can see why Johnny is desperate to leave. But the manner of his leaving is just another trick of the Devil, and Johnny, hardened by his time in Hell, cannot at first believe that he has really escaped, not even when the female trucker kicks him in the 'nads for being a prick... but she still helps him later.
Not having read any of the original series aside from one graphic novel featuring Danny Ketch, Wolverine and the Punisher versus Blackheart, I can only say that this graphic novel is a wild ride, and quite enjoyable. A situation is set up that only Ghost Rider can deal with, and he brings his trademark hatred of evil with him, even if Johnny Blaze is perhaps more hardened after his time in Hell.
I liked this book a lot, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed comics. While you don't have to know much about the original comics series to enjoy it, it does help to know something about the character's original appearance and powers. But having watched the movie will suffice.
Now, Johnny is in Hell, literally. He's there being tormented by the Devil. The Devil holds out hope to Johnny and crushes it, again and again and again. It's one of the main forms of the Devil's amusement- holding out some hope for Johnny to change something or make a difference, and then brutally crushing that hope. Johnny realizes that fact, but doesn't seem able to change his actions, to stop grasping for any shred of hope that comes his way.
When he encounters a digging demon trying to escape, Johnny tries not to listen when it claims to have found a way out of hell, but eventually he gives in and rescues the thing from the Devil's captors and forces it to show him where it could dig out of Hell. But when he shakes on helping it escape as well, it turns out to be the devil, and when Johnny sinks into the water of the cavern and manages to make his way out, the Devil tags along with him.
Rescuing the Devil from Hell wasn't what Johnny wanted to do, but he doesn't realize what happened at first. His cycle runs out of gas and he's given a lift to a truck stop from a female trucker who, unbeknownst to him, recognizes him from when she was a girl. But he can't get over his suspicion that he's still in Hell, and that all of this is just a trick from the Devil. Especially when he's attacked by someone sporting the eyes like the Devil
Especially when he runs into Stephen Strange in a local graveyard. Johnny attacks Strange, who is attempting to speak to him, thinking that he's the Devil. Strange attempts to defend himself, but Johnny is too strong, and when Strange fails to fall to his "penance stare", only then does Johnny realize the horrible mistake he's made. But one of Strange's spirit allies, a woman called Numecet, shows up and tells Johnny what happened.
The Devil did indeed escape Hell along with Johnny. Johnny's soul still had a body to go to, so he inhabited his body again. But the Devil was *only* a soul, and when it reached the earth, it shattered into pieces- 666 pieces. Each piece possessed a nearly dead or newly dead body, and now they are out in the world wreaking havoc.
Johnny wants to go and fight them, but Numecet points out that with each one Johnny destroys, the piece of the Devil's soul he frees will go into the rest, making them stronger. And by the time he's down to only a few souls, those left will be very powerful. Should he manage to take them down so that only one soul is left, the devil will have won- his soul will be in one piece, inhabiting a real, physical body. And that's what he wanted all along.
Johnny doesn't see that he has a choice, though, and leaves to begin his task. Numecet agrees that he is the only one who can do it, and also, that no one can stop him from doing it. But that doesn't mean that she's happy about it. And her tears finally revive Stephen Strange.
So. Johnny knows that the Devil is after him, but he's lured into one last trap, at the site of the old circus where Crash Simpson died and where Jonny summoned the Devil. We see the story told out, and are given a bit of hope for Johnny as he roars off into the night after defeating one of the Devil's pseduobodies. But given the odds that lie against him, is there any hope for him to defeat the Devil? Or will he soon be back in his former position, trapped in Hell and taunted by his foe? Is this just the largest trap of all?
After the comic Ghost Rider went defunct back in the late 80's, it had been killed off through lack of sales. But fans of the series never forgot, and in 2007, he was brought back for this series, after another short series and the final end to the Ghost Rider series was published, probably to coincide with the coming of the film starring Nicholas Cage.
This book is the first five issues of the new series, and was intended to give fans a long story arc to look forward to. In that, it doesn't fail. Hell is suitably Hellish, if you'll pardon the pun, that you can see why Johnny is desperate to leave. But the manner of his leaving is just another trick of the Devil, and Johnny, hardened by his time in Hell, cannot at first believe that he has really escaped, not even when the female trucker kicks him in the 'nads for being a prick... but she still helps him later.
Not having read any of the original series aside from one graphic novel featuring Danny Ketch, Wolverine and the Punisher versus Blackheart, I can only say that this graphic novel is a wild ride, and quite enjoyable. A situation is set up that only Ghost Rider can deal with, and he brings his trademark hatred of evil with him, even if Johnny Blaze is perhaps more hardened after his time in Hell.
I liked this book a lot, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed comics. While you don't have to know much about the original comics series to enjoy it, it does help to know something about the character's original appearance and powers. But having watched the movie will suffice.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Woverine: Dangerous Games by Various
This is a collection of short stories about Wolverine by different artists and different writers. Each involves Wolverine doing what he's best at, even when he's trying to save a family or control his temper among Monks in Thailand.
The first story: The Death Song of J. Patrick Smitty, a Thug and two-bit punk about to die at Wolverine's hands looks back on his life, a life of missed chances to do good, and wrong choices. Now, about to die because he was involved in a bank robbery that ended in the death of many innocent people, including a very nice old lady, he reflects. But will there still be time to change his ways?
In "Tally Ho!" Wolverine is brought in by a group of nature lovers to stop an old-fashioned Fox Hunt down near Bayou Country. But when the man behind the hunt decides to hunt the most dangerous game of all- Wolverine, is he prepared for how vicious this mutant can be?
"Purity" finds Wolverine meditating at a Temple in Thailand, trying to overcome his rages. He's been putting the criminals and gangs in the area to flight with intimidation instead of slaughtering them outright- all at the request of the Klahan, or leader of the temple. But when a criminal boss decides to strike back against the temple and slaughter the monks, will Wolverine be able to hold in his rage?
"Killing Made Simple" finds Wolverine in chains next to a student of the Xavier School, now in danger from a cyborg named Nanny and her killer "child", Robin. They mean to kill Wolverine unless Trance can free her astral self and somehow set him free. She believes he's invulnerable- he tells her many of the ways he can die. But when it comes down to it, can she overcome her crippling fear?
"Disturbing Consequences" has Wolverine being sent to Antarctica to find out what happened to a scientific expedition looking into viruses. Apparently, one of the viruses got free and infected one of them, and the infected man killed the others. Can Wolverine overcome both man and virus and destroy what's left?
In "Firebreak" Wolverine must lead a shattered family to freedom from a fire filled with toxins that will kill them if they breathe them in. But when Hydra, who was behind both the fire and the toxins, comes back to finish the job, can Wolverine save them from the firestorm to come?
And finally, in "Little White Lies", Wolverine is asked by a D.A. to rescue his Drug-addicted son from a group of criminals who have kidnapped the boy to kill in punishment for his father's "crimes" against them. Can Wolverine save the boy, or failing that, punish the group and its leader? And how will he break the news to the boy's father?
This group of short stories is pretty much all over the map as to plots, but all of them are serious and involve Wolverine letting his wildest instincts come to the fore. The tracking, the hunting, and yes, the killing, too. It's a look at Wolverine at his most dangerous, and also his most human. Best of all, it shows why you shouldn't attempt to play with this man; he's like fire, and you can get badly burned.
This book was an antidote to the Deadpool book of Wolverine Origins, and I'm glad I read it second. I was far more appreciative of this ride than I was of the other. Most of the stories are short enough to keep your interest without feeling overly involved, and feel like an aperitif rather than a full meal. Very well done, and recommended.
The first story: The Death Song of J. Patrick Smitty, a Thug and two-bit punk about to die at Wolverine's hands looks back on his life, a life of missed chances to do good, and wrong choices. Now, about to die because he was involved in a bank robbery that ended in the death of many innocent people, including a very nice old lady, he reflects. But will there still be time to change his ways?
In "Tally Ho!" Wolverine is brought in by a group of nature lovers to stop an old-fashioned Fox Hunt down near Bayou Country. But when the man behind the hunt decides to hunt the most dangerous game of all- Wolverine, is he prepared for how vicious this mutant can be?
"Purity" finds Wolverine meditating at a Temple in Thailand, trying to overcome his rages. He's been putting the criminals and gangs in the area to flight with intimidation instead of slaughtering them outright- all at the request of the Klahan, or leader of the temple. But when a criminal boss decides to strike back against the temple and slaughter the monks, will Wolverine be able to hold in his rage?
"Killing Made Simple" finds Wolverine in chains next to a student of the Xavier School, now in danger from a cyborg named Nanny and her killer "child", Robin. They mean to kill Wolverine unless Trance can free her astral self and somehow set him free. She believes he's invulnerable- he tells her many of the ways he can die. But when it comes down to it, can she overcome her crippling fear?
"Disturbing Consequences" has Wolverine being sent to Antarctica to find out what happened to a scientific expedition looking into viruses. Apparently, one of the viruses got free and infected one of them, and the infected man killed the others. Can Wolverine overcome both man and virus and destroy what's left?
In "Firebreak" Wolverine must lead a shattered family to freedom from a fire filled with toxins that will kill them if they breathe them in. But when Hydra, who was behind both the fire and the toxins, comes back to finish the job, can Wolverine save them from the firestorm to come?
And finally, in "Little White Lies", Wolverine is asked by a D.A. to rescue his Drug-addicted son from a group of criminals who have kidnapped the boy to kill in punishment for his father's "crimes" against them. Can Wolverine save the boy, or failing that, punish the group and its leader? And how will he break the news to the boy's father?
This group of short stories is pretty much all over the map as to plots, but all of them are serious and involve Wolverine letting his wildest instincts come to the fore. The tracking, the hunting, and yes, the killing, too. It's a look at Wolverine at his most dangerous, and also his most human. Best of all, it shows why you shouldn't attempt to play with this man; he's like fire, and you can get badly burned.
This book was an antidote to the Deadpool book of Wolverine Origins, and I'm glad I read it second. I was far more appreciative of this ride than I was of the other. Most of the stories are short enough to keep your interest without feeling overly involved, and feel like an aperitif rather than a full meal. Very well done, and recommended.
Wolverine Origins: Deadpool by Steve Dillon, Daniel May and Steven Segovia
Someone's hired Deadpool, the "Merc with a Mouth" to take out Wolverine. But is Deadpool up to the job? Sure, he's a product of the same weapons program that created Wolverine, but Wolverine is crazy good at what he does. And Deadpool is just- crazy.
They battle their way from where Wolverine had gone to eat dinner, all the way around the city, with explosions, showers of blood and body parts left behind in a trail. Deadpool might get the drop on Wolverine with a gun, but how can he fire it with no fingers?
Eventually, they fight to a literal standstil, each having taken out the other. But since both of them have a mutant healing factor, that's not the end of the battle, and Wolverine winds up chained and hanging over a large pool. Deadpool accuses Logan of having no sense of humor, and thinks that Wolverine should be more like him, always laughing, always cracking jokes.
They are interrupted by the arrival of Daken, Wolverine's son by Itsuko, raised in Japan with no knowledge of his father. He wants to kill Wolverine himself, and he thanks Deadpool for having incapacitated Wolverine for him.
But he isn't the one who hired Deadpool. He and the assassin fight, and while he is able to get the upper hand for a while, Deadpool fights back. Wolverine gets dumped into the pool, but when Daken knocks some of Deadpool's grenades into the same pool, Wolverine is blown out of it by the force of the explosion.
As Deadpool and Daken continue their fight, Daken cuts off both of Deadpool's hands, and then starts to go after Wolverine again, only to be taken out from behind by a shot from Bucky. Daken takes a Carbonadium bullet to the head, slowing his mutant healing factor to a crawl. He passes out, and Wolverine reveals to Deadpool who hired him- Wolverine himself. He set this all up to lure out Daken and capture him. Deadpool is somewhat annoyed to find himself used, and despite Wolverine telling Deadpool he'll really kill him if Deadpool tries to attack him again for real, Deadpool finds that more of a challenge than a turn-off.
Then we get to see why Daken grew up so twisted, and Wolverine takes him to a place he once guarded to try and rehabilitate him. But with the ghosts of the past awaiting both of them, will Wolverine's plans end in triumph, or defeat?
Much of the comic is the fight between Deadpool and Wolverine, and to someone who doesn't read a lot of the Deadpool comics it can be quite jarring when we suddenly see things from Dadpool's perspective- foes become animals or weak and powerless- the visual and auditory hallucinations Deadpool experiences are very strange- but apparently well-loved by fans of the character and his comic.
I only found it bizarre and somewhat off-putting. I didn't find the character and his jokes all that funny, but there are some truly funny moments in the comic, like the part where Deadpool goes to fire a gun at Wolverine, only to find all of his fingers cut off. He says, "Aw, I was going to need those..." His rage when Daken steals his thunder also rates at least a smile, if a small one.
Sadly, for me, Deadpool just wasn't amusing or funny. I found him interminable and boring and very unfunny. For those who enjoy him and his antics- great. This is definitely the graphic novel for you. For me, not so much.
They battle their way from where Wolverine had gone to eat dinner, all the way around the city, with explosions, showers of blood and body parts left behind in a trail. Deadpool might get the drop on Wolverine with a gun, but how can he fire it with no fingers?
Eventually, they fight to a literal standstil, each having taken out the other. But since both of them have a mutant healing factor, that's not the end of the battle, and Wolverine winds up chained and hanging over a large pool. Deadpool accuses Logan of having no sense of humor, and thinks that Wolverine should be more like him, always laughing, always cracking jokes.
They are interrupted by the arrival of Daken, Wolverine's son by Itsuko, raised in Japan with no knowledge of his father. He wants to kill Wolverine himself, and he thanks Deadpool for having incapacitated Wolverine for him.
But he isn't the one who hired Deadpool. He and the assassin fight, and while he is able to get the upper hand for a while, Deadpool fights back. Wolverine gets dumped into the pool, but when Daken knocks some of Deadpool's grenades into the same pool, Wolverine is blown out of it by the force of the explosion.
As Deadpool and Daken continue their fight, Daken cuts off both of Deadpool's hands, and then starts to go after Wolverine again, only to be taken out from behind by a shot from Bucky. Daken takes a Carbonadium bullet to the head, slowing his mutant healing factor to a crawl. He passes out, and Wolverine reveals to Deadpool who hired him- Wolverine himself. He set this all up to lure out Daken and capture him. Deadpool is somewhat annoyed to find himself used, and despite Wolverine telling Deadpool he'll really kill him if Deadpool tries to attack him again for real, Deadpool finds that more of a challenge than a turn-off.
Then we get to see why Daken grew up so twisted, and Wolverine takes him to a place he once guarded to try and rehabilitate him. But with the ghosts of the past awaiting both of them, will Wolverine's plans end in triumph, or defeat?
Much of the comic is the fight between Deadpool and Wolverine, and to someone who doesn't read a lot of the Deadpool comics it can be quite jarring when we suddenly see things from Dadpool's perspective- foes become animals or weak and powerless- the visual and auditory hallucinations Deadpool experiences are very strange- but apparently well-loved by fans of the character and his comic.
I only found it bizarre and somewhat off-putting. I didn't find the character and his jokes all that funny, but there are some truly funny moments in the comic, like the part where Deadpool goes to fire a gun at Wolverine, only to find all of his fingers cut off. He says, "Aw, I was going to need those..." His rage when Daken steals his thunder also rates at least a smile, if a small one.
Sadly, for me, Deadpool just wasn't amusing or funny. I found him interminable and boring and very unfunny. For those who enjoy him and his antics- great. This is definitely the graphic novel for you. For me, not so much.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
Jenica is the second eldest of five daughters growing up in the Mountains of Romania. Her father is a successful merchant, but as the year turns colder, he is sick, and his doctor suggests a vacation to a warmer climate for their father to recover. His daughters all urge him to go- they want him to be well.
But when he finally does leave, he puts Jenica in charge over her sisters, and asks his brother and business partner, their Uncle, to look after them, and leaves for warmer climes with his secretary, Gabriel. Jenica promises to write him faithfully, and to send the letters with her uncle's messengers.
Soon after their father leaves, however, their Uncle is killed in a hunting accident, leaving his son César to watch over them all. However, as good and kindly as their Uncle was, his son is quite a different matter, for he hates the fairies and creatures of the wood and otherworld- long ago, they drowned his brother in the local river.
Jenica and her sisters have a secret: for many years now, always on the full moon, they have visited the fairy kingdom to dance and revel. Each of them gets something different out of it. Jenica and Tatiana, the two oldest sisters, love to dance, and the Scholar, Paula, speaks with the learned of the court. Middle sister Ileana also loves the dance, and a bit of romance, while the youngest sister, Stela, gets to play with children her own age.
But when they next go to the dance, something has changed. Three Dark Ones are visiting the Fairy Court. Jenica is afraid of the Dark Ones, who drink blood and kill young men and women. Soon, though, she finds that Tatiana seems to have fallen for one of them, a young man known as Sorrow. Tatiana's obsession with Sorrow deeply troubles Jenica, and she tries to deny her sister time with this man-boy, all to no avail.
Out in the human world, César slowly hems the sisters in at their home of Piscul Darcului. First he removes the control of their father's businesses from them, then control of their home finances. Jenica hates the erosion of the control she has over her own life, and César's attitude of "let the big strong man do the dirty work while you and your sisters go be ladies". Worse, he's decided to try and wipe out the fairies by cutting down the forest come spring.
Jenica is distraught over César's vendetta against the Fairies, who have always been nothing less than welcoming to her and her sisters. She can see César changing into a cruel, hateful man, and it frightens her to think that this is the man she grew up with, playing in the forest with himself and his brother Costi.
All she has for companionship is Gogu, an intelligent, telepathic frog who she rescued from the forest. He seems to be the only one whose counsel she can trust, but when it comes to César and what he is doing, even Gogu is being intemperate. As time goes on, César grows to suspect that Jenica and her sisters are consorting with the otherworld, and he is livid over it. Meanwhile, Tati is wasting away from her love for Sorrow, and the one man Jenica thinks she can find love with she sees turning into a monster in a magic mirror. So when he finally shows up, mute, and turns out to have been Gogu all along, can she put aside her horror with his transformation and trust him?
Surrounded on all sides by enemies and those who would wish her and her sisters harm, with Tati dying and César becoming increasingly shrill and demanding, Jenica must decide what she will do to save herself and her sisters. But can she put her trust in someone she no longer knows as she thought she did? And is there any hope for her dying sister? Or will she have to release her to the world of the Fairies in return for a good man to love? Is there any hope for her and her sisters?
Wow. This was quite a book, and constructed on many fairy tales right out of the Brothers Grimm. We have the 5 sisters, whose story seems to come right out of the Seven Dancing Princesses, complete with a door to fairy in their room and their penchant for dancing. There are vampires, a woman wasting away because of the one she loves. A man transformed into an animal. And a woman with a frog who sleeps in a bowl by her bed... even on her pillow.
But the story is filled with real people, not characters from a fairy tale. Too many times when reading, I wanted to smack the bastard, César, for what he was doing to Jenica. Patronizing her. Taking away her freedom, taking away her independence and that of her sisters. Nearly forcing himself on her because he wanted her as his wife. Actually, I wanted to do far more than smack him. This story raised strong emotions in me in a way that very few stories do. I began to identify so strongly with Jenica that I felt what was happening in her life as if it was actually happening to me. It was wonderful, but also very uncomfortable to read.
I can't recommend this book enough. But be warned that it's not a comfortable book. This is a book that slashes your emotions until you bleed and hurt and hate along with the characters in the book. It's strong stuff.
But when he finally does leave, he puts Jenica in charge over her sisters, and asks his brother and business partner, their Uncle, to look after them, and leaves for warmer climes with his secretary, Gabriel. Jenica promises to write him faithfully, and to send the letters with her uncle's messengers.
Soon after their father leaves, however, their Uncle is killed in a hunting accident, leaving his son César to watch over them all. However, as good and kindly as their Uncle was, his son is quite a different matter, for he hates the fairies and creatures of the wood and otherworld- long ago, they drowned his brother in the local river.
Jenica and her sisters have a secret: for many years now, always on the full moon, they have visited the fairy kingdom to dance and revel. Each of them gets something different out of it. Jenica and Tatiana, the two oldest sisters, love to dance, and the Scholar, Paula, speaks with the learned of the court. Middle sister Ileana also loves the dance, and a bit of romance, while the youngest sister, Stela, gets to play with children her own age.
But when they next go to the dance, something has changed. Three Dark Ones are visiting the Fairy Court. Jenica is afraid of the Dark Ones, who drink blood and kill young men and women. Soon, though, she finds that Tatiana seems to have fallen for one of them, a young man known as Sorrow. Tatiana's obsession with Sorrow deeply troubles Jenica, and she tries to deny her sister time with this man-boy, all to no avail.
Out in the human world, César slowly hems the sisters in at their home of Piscul Darcului. First he removes the control of their father's businesses from them, then control of their home finances. Jenica hates the erosion of the control she has over her own life, and César's attitude of "let the big strong man do the dirty work while you and your sisters go be ladies". Worse, he's decided to try and wipe out the fairies by cutting down the forest come spring.
Jenica is distraught over César's vendetta against the Fairies, who have always been nothing less than welcoming to her and her sisters. She can see César changing into a cruel, hateful man, and it frightens her to think that this is the man she grew up with, playing in the forest with himself and his brother Costi.
All she has for companionship is Gogu, an intelligent, telepathic frog who she rescued from the forest. He seems to be the only one whose counsel she can trust, but when it comes to César and what he is doing, even Gogu is being intemperate. As time goes on, César grows to suspect that Jenica and her sisters are consorting with the otherworld, and he is livid over it. Meanwhile, Tati is wasting away from her love for Sorrow, and the one man Jenica thinks she can find love with she sees turning into a monster in a magic mirror. So when he finally shows up, mute, and turns out to have been Gogu all along, can she put aside her horror with his transformation and trust him?
Surrounded on all sides by enemies and those who would wish her and her sisters harm, with Tati dying and César becoming increasingly shrill and demanding, Jenica must decide what she will do to save herself and her sisters. But can she put her trust in someone she no longer knows as she thought she did? And is there any hope for her dying sister? Or will she have to release her to the world of the Fairies in return for a good man to love? Is there any hope for her and her sisters?
Wow. This was quite a book, and constructed on many fairy tales right out of the Brothers Grimm. We have the 5 sisters, whose story seems to come right out of the Seven Dancing Princesses, complete with a door to fairy in their room and their penchant for dancing. There are vampires, a woman wasting away because of the one she loves. A man transformed into an animal. And a woman with a frog who sleeps in a bowl by her bed... even on her pillow.
But the story is filled with real people, not characters from a fairy tale. Too many times when reading, I wanted to smack the bastard, César, for what he was doing to Jenica. Patronizing her. Taking away her freedom, taking away her independence and that of her sisters. Nearly forcing himself on her because he wanted her as his wife. Actually, I wanted to do far more than smack him. This story raised strong emotions in me in a way that very few stories do. I began to identify so strongly with Jenica that I felt what was happening in her life as if it was actually happening to me. It was wonderful, but also very uncomfortable to read.
I can't recommend this book enough. But be warned that it's not a comfortable book. This is a book that slashes your emotions until you bleed and hurt and hate along with the characters in the book. It's strong stuff.
Drums of War by Edward Marston
Daniel Rawson is a half-English, half-Dutch Captain under the Duke of Marlborough. He'sa good soldier, but where his value for the Duke really comes in is as a spy. Daniel has an absolute genius at blending in and getting information, or people, out of enemy hands and into the hands of the English.
His best friend in the army is a enlisted Sergeant named Henry Welbeck, a grumpy man with a pessimistic outlook on life. But now one of his relatives, a nephew named Tom Hillier, has joined the army as a drummer boy after hearing one of Welbeck's letters home. Wellbeck refuses to have anything to do with his nephew, fearing that his army career will end badly, but Tom persists nonetheless and earns Daniel's admiration.
But having Daniel's admiration puts Tom firmly in the sights of an officer who is jealous of Daniel's closeness with Marlborough, Major Simon Cracknell. And when Daniel is sent far from the front lines, on a mission to rescue a Dutch Master craftsman who was acting as a spy for Marlborough and the English, he must leave everyone behind- for both good and ill.
Daniel's mission takes him to Paris after the Master Tapestry maker Emanuel Janssen. He was invited to Paris by King Louis and worked on a tapestry for him. But now he has disappeared, leaving his daughter Amalia, her servant Beatrix and his apprentice, Dopff, to wonder what has happened to him. And now there is a man watching the house and looking at Amalia with such menace that she is utterly terrified.
When Daniel arrives, he scopes out the situation and goes to look for the man who was passing Janssen's reports along, only to find that he and his wife have been killed, hung by the neck in their own bedroom. He goes back to Amalia and convinces her to take a walk with her household, and takes care of the spy. But the man nearly gets away, and forces Dan to kill him.
He hurries Amalia and her household from the house where they have been living in, and lodges them across the city with a friend of his who married a Frenchwoman and now lives in Paris. He knows that the killing of the man watching the house will have consequences, but he also discovered where her father is being held- the Bastille. And getting him out of there, and all of them out of the city... Well, that will require some work.
Back at Camp, Tom is riding high, having made friends with one of the drummers who had been tormenting him. But now Cracknell decides to break him because Tom is well-regarded by Daniel. But when Tom holds up strong under Cracknell's treatment, a night at a local whorehouse gives Cracknell the excuse to destroy Tom under the guise of camp discipline. But will Tom live through this as well, or will the experience take away all his pleasure in army life?
And can Dan do anything to change the horrible road that Tom is being forced to travel down, or will it be too late by the time he gets back? The battle of Ramillies is coming, and all will be decided on its fields. Life, Death and the fate of Empires.
This is the second book in the series, but even though I didn't read the first, I found it a solid mystery, and a thrilling book. But since I didn't read the first book, it's hard for me to say how good of friends the two main characters are. They spend 80% of the novel apart, and rarely think of each other, but that's explained in how busy both are, and how both tends to keep their mind on their work, which is admirable in both characters- except when it leaves Tom Hillier open to abuse.
The characters are well drawn, and it is quite obvious early on that Simon Cracknell is a villain. You despise him the first time he appears, and he only seems to get worse every time he shows up. His subplot with his mistreatment of Tom easily overshadows most events in the second half of the book- including even the Battle of Ramillies- but only slightly for the last one. The ending of that particular story thread came as a bit of a shock- Tom had withdrawn from everyone, and there was no idea what was on his mind- until it happened. But it ensured that the ending was bitterly satisfying, if sad.
This bumping of the storylines makes the book a bit uneven. I was more interested in what was happening to Tom rather than another subplot about the Dutch wanting to murder Lord Marlborough, or even Daniel's rescuing of Janssen, but it also made me unable to put the book down until I was through with it. I'd recommend it, and somewhat strongly, but mention that the subplots weren't exactly well-balanced. YMMV, of course.
His best friend in the army is a enlisted Sergeant named Henry Welbeck, a grumpy man with a pessimistic outlook on life. But now one of his relatives, a nephew named Tom Hillier, has joined the army as a drummer boy after hearing one of Welbeck's letters home. Wellbeck refuses to have anything to do with his nephew, fearing that his army career will end badly, but Tom persists nonetheless and earns Daniel's admiration.
But having Daniel's admiration puts Tom firmly in the sights of an officer who is jealous of Daniel's closeness with Marlborough, Major Simon Cracknell. And when Daniel is sent far from the front lines, on a mission to rescue a Dutch Master craftsman who was acting as a spy for Marlborough and the English, he must leave everyone behind- for both good and ill.
Daniel's mission takes him to Paris after the Master Tapestry maker Emanuel Janssen. He was invited to Paris by King Louis and worked on a tapestry for him. But now he has disappeared, leaving his daughter Amalia, her servant Beatrix and his apprentice, Dopff, to wonder what has happened to him. And now there is a man watching the house and looking at Amalia with such menace that she is utterly terrified.
When Daniel arrives, he scopes out the situation and goes to look for the man who was passing Janssen's reports along, only to find that he and his wife have been killed, hung by the neck in their own bedroom. He goes back to Amalia and convinces her to take a walk with her household, and takes care of the spy. But the man nearly gets away, and forces Dan to kill him.
He hurries Amalia and her household from the house where they have been living in, and lodges them across the city with a friend of his who married a Frenchwoman and now lives in Paris. He knows that the killing of the man watching the house will have consequences, but he also discovered where her father is being held- the Bastille. And getting him out of there, and all of them out of the city... Well, that will require some work.
Back at Camp, Tom is riding high, having made friends with one of the drummers who had been tormenting him. But now Cracknell decides to break him because Tom is well-regarded by Daniel. But when Tom holds up strong under Cracknell's treatment, a night at a local whorehouse gives Cracknell the excuse to destroy Tom under the guise of camp discipline. But will Tom live through this as well, or will the experience take away all his pleasure in army life?
And can Dan do anything to change the horrible road that Tom is being forced to travel down, or will it be too late by the time he gets back? The battle of Ramillies is coming, and all will be decided on its fields. Life, Death and the fate of Empires.
This is the second book in the series, but even though I didn't read the first, I found it a solid mystery, and a thrilling book. But since I didn't read the first book, it's hard for me to say how good of friends the two main characters are. They spend 80% of the novel apart, and rarely think of each other, but that's explained in how busy both are, and how both tends to keep their mind on their work, which is admirable in both characters- except when it leaves Tom Hillier open to abuse.
The characters are well drawn, and it is quite obvious early on that Simon Cracknell is a villain. You despise him the first time he appears, and he only seems to get worse every time he shows up. His subplot with his mistreatment of Tom easily overshadows most events in the second half of the book- including even the Battle of Ramillies- but only slightly for the last one. The ending of that particular story thread came as a bit of a shock- Tom had withdrawn from everyone, and there was no idea what was on his mind- until it happened. But it ensured that the ending was bitterly satisfying, if sad.
This bumping of the storylines makes the book a bit uneven. I was more interested in what was happening to Tom rather than another subplot about the Dutch wanting to murder Lord Marlborough, or even Daniel's rescuing of Janssen, but it also made me unable to put the book down until I was through with it. I'd recommend it, and somewhat strongly, but mention that the subplots weren't exactly well-balanced. YMMV, of course.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians- Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
Percy is back for another battle with the forces of the Titan Kronos, and this time it starts with a visit to another school. His mom has been seeing a man named Paul Blofis, and he's a teacher at a School in New York. Percy has applied to the school, and is going in for a tour when he sees a familliar red-haired girl. He tries to avoid her by going in the side door, but she finds him anyway, and they are soon attacked by two cheerleaders who are actually Empousa, demon-women.
He and Rachel Dare are saved when the Empousa set off an explosion, and they manage to get away in the confusion- and with the help of Annabeth, who isn't happy to see Percy with another girl. But as he bids Rachel goodbye, she writes her phone number on his hand and asks him to call her. Still, he remembers something the Empousa said to him and he and Annabeth hurry back to camp.
There, he meets a warrior named Quintus, and his pet hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary. Quintus has been engaged at the camp as a teacher for swordwork, and with him, he's brought not only Mrs. O'Leary, but some crates that move and rattle. But more important is the trial of Grover. Despite having been a searcher, he's been unable to find the God Pan, and the council wants to make him give up trying. Grover tries to protest, but the council only gives him an additional week to find the God, which is nowhere near enough time.
Percy is also having dreams again, this time about Nico, who is taking advice from a ghost-man and raising the spirits of the dead. The Ghost has convinced him that he can trade a spirit for a spirit, but it has to be one that has cheated death- which means that Nico will want to trade Percy's spirit for his sister's. And it's not only dreams that Percy is seeing Nico in. For some reason, he is getting them through Iris Message as well.
During a preparation battle game at the camp, Percy and Annabeth are cornered by three Scorpion-like monsters and dive into a rock cleft to hide. But this isn't just a rock cleft- it's an entrance to the Labyrinth, which now underlies the entire US. And Grover realizes that Luke has been seeking Ariadne's thread to use the Labyrinth as the perfect invasion device- once his soldiers are in the Labyrinth, they can come out anywhere- even into the middle of the well-guarded Camp Half-Blood.
To stop Luke and Kronos from using the Labyrinth, they will have to seek out Daedalus, master of the Maze. He's been hiding in the maze from his own fate for 2000 years, after having been cursed by Athena for killing his own nephew in a fit of jealousy. Annabeth is handed the quest to find him, because she's been studying Daedalus and his works. With her, she chooses Percy, Grover and Tyson to go, despite the standard being only three on a quest- even if more go, usually only three come back.
She also goes to the Oracle, and recieves a prophecy, part of which troubles her greatly, and she won't repeat it to anyone, not even Percy. But even for Demigods like Annabeth and Percy, the maze can do worse than kill them. It can drive them insane, like it did the Half-Blood named Chris, who was Clarisse's boyfriend. Now he raves about string and the maze.
Once inside the maze, though, Annabeth and the others are completely lost. All of Annabeth's readings don't help her in the Maze. She tries heading for the older parts of the maze, but they always seem to end up in places that aren't much help. To find Daedalus, they must find Hephaestus, and to do that, they must find their way out of the maze. But one exit takes them to Alcatraz, where they rescue Briareus, a hundred-handed one from one of the monsters of Kronos. Tyson looks up to Briareus, but it seems like his hero-worship is misplaced- Briareus is too scared to fight against Kronos, or even to escape from his prison- until he has the help of Tyson, Annabeth and Percy!
Another turning takes them to a ranch owned by Geryon, a three-bodied monster who looks after several supernatural animals for their owners, among them being the Cattle of the Sun, the man-eating horses of Augeus, Hippalektryons- creatures half horse and half rooster, and others. But Geryon doesn't just look after them, he's also selling them for meat, something that none of the heroes can stand. So when Percy agrees to perform the same task as Hercules did- clean the filthy Augean stables, will his mouth finally be bigger than his ability to perform such a task? And even if he can clean the stables- will Geryon keep his word? And can they convince Nico, who is staying at the Ranch, that Percy wasn't really responsible for Bianca's death- or will it take Bianca to convince him?
Their trail eventually leads them to Hephaestus, who tells Percy he already knows how to navigate the maze, but he also needs their help-finding out who took over one of his workshops under Mount Saint Helens. If they do that, he'll help them as much as he can. And while Tyson and Grover go off to find Pan, having felt him in the maze, Percy and Annabeth must tackle whatever is hiding in the Workshop.
In the end, it all comes down to Daedalus, and using Rachel Dare- a girl who can see through the Mists that protect the Gods and the Half-Bloods, to track him down. But can they convince Daedalus not to give Luke the string? And what will happen if Daedalus has already decided to help Luke? Is there any way that the battle can go their way?
Wow, I ripped through this book in only a few hours. I wanted to savor it, but the story came fast and hard, and carried me along like a rushing river. So much happens in this book, and we see how much the war is going to hurt both sides. Percy gets asked some hard questions, such as "Are you on the side of the Gods because you agree with them, or because one of them is your Dad?" and has to decide for himself what the answers are. Luke's fate is up in the air, but seems to be bad nonetheless.
And we learn more about Percy's friends. For instance, how Annabeth was concieved, and that was just... strange. Percy seems to be almost a one-man force for policing the monsters, and I wonder what he is going to do with his life after the battle with the Titans is over. What will he do with his life? What are all of the half-bloods (the ones that survive, anyway) going to do? I can guess that Annabeth will be some hotshot Architect, but Percy? What is he good at besides fighting monsters?
I suppose all these questions will be answered in the last book. I want to savor that one, too, but I proably won't be able to if it's as good and fast-moving as this one. I can only hope that all the characters involved have a good and happy life, but I'm not so sanguine that all will survive. Highly recommended.
He and Rachel Dare are saved when the Empousa set off an explosion, and they manage to get away in the confusion- and with the help of Annabeth, who isn't happy to see Percy with another girl. But as he bids Rachel goodbye, she writes her phone number on his hand and asks him to call her. Still, he remembers something the Empousa said to him and he and Annabeth hurry back to camp.
There, he meets a warrior named Quintus, and his pet hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary. Quintus has been engaged at the camp as a teacher for swordwork, and with him, he's brought not only Mrs. O'Leary, but some crates that move and rattle. But more important is the trial of Grover. Despite having been a searcher, he's been unable to find the God Pan, and the council wants to make him give up trying. Grover tries to protest, but the council only gives him an additional week to find the God, which is nowhere near enough time.
Percy is also having dreams again, this time about Nico, who is taking advice from a ghost-man and raising the spirits of the dead. The Ghost has convinced him that he can trade a spirit for a spirit, but it has to be one that has cheated death- which means that Nico will want to trade Percy's spirit for his sister's. And it's not only dreams that Percy is seeing Nico in. For some reason, he is getting them through Iris Message as well.
During a preparation battle game at the camp, Percy and Annabeth are cornered by three Scorpion-like monsters and dive into a rock cleft to hide. But this isn't just a rock cleft- it's an entrance to the Labyrinth, which now underlies the entire US. And Grover realizes that Luke has been seeking Ariadne's thread to use the Labyrinth as the perfect invasion device- once his soldiers are in the Labyrinth, they can come out anywhere- even into the middle of the well-guarded Camp Half-Blood.
To stop Luke and Kronos from using the Labyrinth, they will have to seek out Daedalus, master of the Maze. He's been hiding in the maze from his own fate for 2000 years, after having been cursed by Athena for killing his own nephew in a fit of jealousy. Annabeth is handed the quest to find him, because she's been studying Daedalus and his works. With her, she chooses Percy, Grover and Tyson to go, despite the standard being only three on a quest- even if more go, usually only three come back.
She also goes to the Oracle, and recieves a prophecy, part of which troubles her greatly, and she won't repeat it to anyone, not even Percy. But even for Demigods like Annabeth and Percy, the maze can do worse than kill them. It can drive them insane, like it did the Half-Blood named Chris, who was Clarisse's boyfriend. Now he raves about string and the maze.
Once inside the maze, though, Annabeth and the others are completely lost. All of Annabeth's readings don't help her in the Maze. She tries heading for the older parts of the maze, but they always seem to end up in places that aren't much help. To find Daedalus, they must find Hephaestus, and to do that, they must find their way out of the maze. But one exit takes them to Alcatraz, where they rescue Briareus, a hundred-handed one from one of the monsters of Kronos. Tyson looks up to Briareus, but it seems like his hero-worship is misplaced- Briareus is too scared to fight against Kronos, or even to escape from his prison- until he has the help of Tyson, Annabeth and Percy!
Another turning takes them to a ranch owned by Geryon, a three-bodied monster who looks after several supernatural animals for their owners, among them being the Cattle of the Sun, the man-eating horses of Augeus, Hippalektryons- creatures half horse and half rooster, and others. But Geryon doesn't just look after them, he's also selling them for meat, something that none of the heroes can stand. So when Percy agrees to perform the same task as Hercules did- clean the filthy Augean stables, will his mouth finally be bigger than his ability to perform such a task? And even if he can clean the stables- will Geryon keep his word? And can they convince Nico, who is staying at the Ranch, that Percy wasn't really responsible for Bianca's death- or will it take Bianca to convince him?
Their trail eventually leads them to Hephaestus, who tells Percy he already knows how to navigate the maze, but he also needs their help-finding out who took over one of his workshops under Mount Saint Helens. If they do that, he'll help them as much as he can. And while Tyson and Grover go off to find Pan, having felt him in the maze, Percy and Annabeth must tackle whatever is hiding in the Workshop.
In the end, it all comes down to Daedalus, and using Rachel Dare- a girl who can see through the Mists that protect the Gods and the Half-Bloods, to track him down. But can they convince Daedalus not to give Luke the string? And what will happen if Daedalus has already decided to help Luke? Is there any way that the battle can go their way?
Wow, I ripped through this book in only a few hours. I wanted to savor it, but the story came fast and hard, and carried me along like a rushing river. So much happens in this book, and we see how much the war is going to hurt both sides. Percy gets asked some hard questions, such as "Are you on the side of the Gods because you agree with them, or because one of them is your Dad?" and has to decide for himself what the answers are. Luke's fate is up in the air, but seems to be bad nonetheless.
And we learn more about Percy's friends. For instance, how Annabeth was concieved, and that was just... strange. Percy seems to be almost a one-man force for policing the monsters, and I wonder what he is going to do with his life after the battle with the Titans is over. What will he do with his life? What are all of the half-bloods (the ones that survive, anyway) going to do? I can guess that Annabeth will be some hotshot Architect, but Percy? What is he good at besides fighting monsters?
I suppose all these questions will be answered in the last book. I want to savor that one, too, but I proably won't be able to if it's as good and fast-moving as this one. I can only hope that all the characters involved have a good and happy life, but I'm not so sanguine that all will survive. Highly recommended.
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