Rosemary and Rue, October Daye #1 by Seanan McGuire

 

I rarely "read" by audio book, but I did listen to Rosemary and Rue.  Two problems I have with audio books: 

1.  A problem with sitting and listening, so I had to keep finding things to do as I listened.  Things that don't take much thought--so my house was a little cleaner when I finished,  I made progress on a little embroidery project, and I walked a lot.  It just takes so damn long to get through an audio book and this one is unbelievably long.

2.  Listening to a woman try to give assorted male voices takes me out of a story.  I know this is difficult, and I admire good readers, but still...

As far as the book itself, I was interested in October Daye and her problems, but the almost getting killed, surviving, almost getting killed, surviving,  over and over was well over the top and strangely unexciting.  

Ultimately, I'm giving it a 3/5 because I see potential and this is the first in a series that received two Hugo nominations. I may read the next book to see if some of the problems I had are resolved by reading instead of listening and if the author skips some of the filler.  Eleven hours is simply too long when you can read it in half the time.

Audio book

Urban Fantasy.  2010.  Print length:  346 pages.  

 A friend of ours actually caught a squirrel in the act of carving her pumpkins.

Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne and The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey

Kevin Hearne is better known for the Iron Druid series which I have not read, but Ink & Sigil is a humorous urban fantasy with some diverting characters and weird versions of mythological characters.

Magical sigils, dead apprentices, hobgoblins, curses, a battle seer, and lots of jokes about bollocks.  The characters are interesting, the mystery a little forced.

Some of it was fun and funny, so seemed strained and overdone, but as the first in a new series, I enjoyed it and see potential.

Read in May.  Blog review scheduled for


NetGalley/Random House
Scifi/Fantasy.  Aug. 25, 2020.  Print length:  336 pages

Margot Livesey's The Boy in the Field is a wonderful combination of complexity and simplicity.  Three young people walking home from school discover an injured boy in a field.

Stabbed and left by the stranger who picked him up on his way home,  Karel whispers a word which each three siblings hears differently.  Karel recovers, thanks to the interventions of Matthew, Zoe, and Duncan, but the lives of all four young people are changed.  One traumatic incident with lasting, but different effects.

Livesey's prose tenderly examines the rippling repercussions of the one violent attack.  The crime is sort of an inciting incident, and the narrative quietly follows the three siblings and the victim through their adolescence.  Family dynamics play a role as the four grow into adulthood.  

I loved this book.  It was not at all what I expected, but it will remain one of those memorable experiences of both narrative and elegant writing that lingers for some time.  

Read in March.  Review scheduled for Aug.

NetGalley/Harper Collins
Literary Fiction.  Aug. 11, 2020.  Print length:  272 pages.


For you knitters:  Yarn Bowl from Something Lucky 13

Some Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Witchy, Vampire, Werewolf Stuff

I read and enjoy a variety of genres.  Back in March, I found Melissa F. Olson's Boundary Witch series and greedily gobbled up the first 4 books in the series.  The other day, wanting more of the urban fantasy genre, I turned again to Olson.  This time it was her Scarlett Bernard series.   

From description:  "Scarlett Bernard knows about personal space: step within ten feet of her, and any supernatural spells or demonic forces are instantly defused—vampires and werewolves become human again, and witches can’t get out so much as a “hocus pocus.” This special skill makes her a null and very valuable to Los Angeles’s three most powerful magical communities..."


The thing about urban fantasy (aside from contemporary urban settings, mystery, monsters, and magic) is that no matter how dire the situation, our protagonist wins--even if it is only temporary.  Because there is always the next adventure and mystery and monster.

Some of the characters in Dead Spots (which was Olson's debut series) appear later in her Boundary Witch series, so I was already a little familiar with Scarlett and several other characters.  

It was fun finding out about nulls and Scarlett's background, as well as more about Jesse Cruz (human detective) and  the vampires and werewolves of LA.  Scarlett, a null who defuses magic, is a cleaner for crime scenes involving Old World magic.  Initially, these are fairly mild situations, but then...things start to get wild, and Scarlett, who works for a group of vampires, werewolves, and witches, finds herself cleaning up more and more horrific crimes.  Worse, someone is trying to set Scarlett up as the villain.

Trail of Dead.  Who is killing witches and why?  And OOPS, Scarlett's mentor was supposed to be dead.  

Once again, Scarlett must work with human detective Jesse Cruz to find the murderer.  

Scarlett made a bad decision in the previous book--for all the right reasons, but without any concept of the consequences, and it destabilizes Will's wolf pack.

A rogue werewolf , the appearance in LA of the feared Luparii wolf-hunters from France, and a Bargest keep things rolling in The Hunter's Trail.





Of course, these books are not great literature, but they are fun and full of action.  I like the Boundary Witch series better, but the Scarlett Bernard series is Olson's first foray into urban fantasy and is still quite good.  This was supposed to be a trilogy, but Olson does return to Scarlett and friends in future books.  

Looking for some interesting October/Halloween books?  Try Olson's urban fantasy!

Boundary Magic Series by Melissa F. Olson

Boundary Magic series

Boundary Crossed by Melissa F. Olson is an urban fantasy full of action and suspense, witches, werewolves, and vampires.  Did I like it?  

Well enough to gobble the next three books in a matter of days.  Is it for everyone?  Probably not, but I enjoy urban fantasy and all of the concomitant creatures that are usually found in the genre.

Opening line:  "The third time I died was early on a Monday morning, a week after Labor Day."

Allison "Lex" Luther, an army veteran, feels compelled to protect her niece after Lex's twin sister is murdered.  The story opens with a bang when Lex realizes her niece has been kidnapped and in her attempts to stop the kidnappers, she is killed.  When she come to, she realizes she has miraculously survived (again), and she discovers that the reason she survived is because she is a boundary witch; learns there is an Old World of witches, vampires, and werewolves; makes a deal with the cardinal vampire; and takes lessons in witch magic.

This first book does a lot of world building and character introduction, but it engaged me immediately.  

Urban Fantasy.  May 2015.  Print length:  322 pages.

Boundary Lines, book 2 in the Boundary Magic series, has Lex trying to adjust to her new understanding of the Old World and her recently acknowledged witch powers.

Magic goes haywire, two vampires disappear, a magical snake-like creature is eating folks, and Lex and Quinn are assigned by Maven to investigate.  Lex interviews the ghost of a boundary witch (who owned a brothel in another century) to get more information about ley lines.

Although the local clan of witches are not very accepting of Lex (understatement), her friendship with Simon and Lily continues to grow.  There comes a point that means the three Old World creatures must unite to overcome the present danger.

Another fun adventure that has humor, suspense, and action-packed scenes.

Urban Fantasy.  Oct. 2015.  Print length:  304 pages.

Oops--Lex's father shows up, and he's...nope not going there, it would be a spoiler, but we do learn more about Lex's background.  

Vampires are being poisoned by a deadly Belladonna strain.  Who is the real target?

I like the way the characters work together; there are friendships that Lex can count on and even the different races often have to put aside grievances at times.

Urban Fantasy.  July 2016.  Print length: 290 pages.

"The times they are a-changin' " in two ways in Boundary Broken.  One--the book begins two years after the previous installment, and Two--changes are in the forecast for the way the Old World and the three races relate to each other.

A figure from a previous book reappears (this was not unexpected), and an insurgency is in the making.  

Actually, several characters from previous books make an appearance, and the hint of a new, unknown enemy left me happy to expect another book in the series. 

Urban Fantasy.  March 2019.  Print length:  347 pages.




If you enjoy Urban Fantasy, this may be a series you would enjoy.  I certainly have been glued to the "pages" of all four books.  I do recommend beginning with the first in the series with the caution that it could be addictive.  

The Rook and Once Upon a Time

I've joined Carl's Once Upon a Time challenge again.  This is my first book in The Journey: "This is really as simple as the name implies. It means you are participating, but not committing yourself to any specific number of books."  There are several ways to participate, so if you are interested, click on Carl's link and check it out.


The Rook by Daniel O'Malley is the first in the Cheque Files series, a kind of British Ghost Busters.     

From the description:     "The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

It was that description on the book jacket that made me slip the novel into my library bag.  

What I liked:  From the first page, the book captivated me, and I admit that it was a page turner extraordinaire; I truly had difficulty putting it aside to take care of all the mundane elements of life.  So...good thing my husband was satisfied with sandwiches.

A secret government organization battles supernatural threats in the UK, and Myfanwy Thomas is a high-ranking member of the agency, although mostly concerned with administration and finance as she is very shy, not particularly courageous, and reluctant to use or develop her powers.  Members of the Chequy have titles associated with chess; there are bishops, rooks, chevaliers, and pawns.  Myfanwy's opposite rook takes care of the action while she brilliantly handles the paperwork. 

I liked that the original Myfanwy was a dedicated, but introverted character so that when she discovers the nature of the threat against her (her memories will be expunged--definitely a kind of death), she must battle her natural inclinations in order to prepare the way for the next Myfanwy.  I also liked that the second Myfanwy (who awakes to the startling realization that she has no personal history that she is aware of) must depend on the letters the original Myfanwy wrote to clue her in and keep her safe.

The second Myfanwy learns that in order to keep herself and the agency secure from the predations of an enemy organization, she must discover the traitor within.  Someone wanted Myfanwy out of the way.  What had Myfanwy stumbled on that revealed a traitor and a threat to the organization?  

The second Myfanywy is forced to try to fulfill her "new" role by using the letters and information left by the first.  She attempts to uncover the conspiracy and to decide which of her colleagues wanted her out of the way.  Her personality is different, picking up on the latent courage of the first.  The second Myfanwy is more outgoing, more daring, and much more inclined to use her powers.  

What I liked less:  I really think the author was having too much fun with his story and that the editor must have picked up on it and refused to cut more extensively.  This is a personal feeling, and I think it is wonderful that the author loves what he is writing.  However, while I was captivated by the mystery and the suspense, I was less interested in a couple of the battles--they were too long.  Here is where I think the author was indulging himself a bit with too lengthy descriptions of these weird, supernatural battles.  But hey, for others that might be the highlight of the book.  For me, they slowed down the action I was really interested in and believe that a little excision would have helped the pace.  

:)  Some parts are just ridiculous (the duck), some parts suspenseful--overall a fun fantasy ride!

The next installment is Stiletto.  Hope my library gets a copy.  It is due out in June.

Library copy.

Supernatural Fantasy.  2012.  504 pages.

Anne Bishop, The Others

I decided to try Marked in Flesh from NetGalley, in spite of not having read the 3 previous entries.  Urban fantasy is one of those "hit or miss" subgenres for me, but I'm so glad I tried this one.  Marked in Flesh caught me by surprise--and I'm hooked on this series. 

I admit that the place names and days of the week initially put me off, but then I became so enthralled with the characters that putting down the book was an annoyance of major proportions.  My husband wanted clean jeans?  Well (pointing authoritatively): there is the washing machine, have at it!  Leave me alone, I'm not just reading--I'm immersed in the world of the Others, and I'm not ready to leave.  

When I finished Marked in Flesh, I immediately ordered Written in Red, the first in the series.  It seemed imperative to know the backstories of these characters; I was not willing to let them go.  No waiting for a trip to the library.  Must have it now.  Therein lies the wonder of the ebook--it appears within minutes.  Instant gratification.  

Written in Red has been all over the blogosphere for a while, but I hadn't paid much attention.  Now, I realize why readers are so fascinated.  The world Bishop has created is powerful and addictive.  Despite the fact that I  initially quibbled over some minor details, the world of the Others is compelling: full of suspense and imminent danger and populated with well-drawn characters, but no romance.  The  book examines prejudice and propaganda, malevolent characters and corruption, but also contains a lot of gentle humor.  Bishop has diligently built a unique world, full of layers and anomalies.

Briefly--in the world of the Others, shape-shifters, vampires, and Elementals exist in a precarious relationship with humans.  Humans are prey, but they also manufacture products that the Others want, so an uneasy truce is in place.  

In addition to the Others and the "normal" humans, a special kind of human exists--the cassandra sangue, blood prophets.  Unlike the daughter of King Priam, the problem is that people do believe these Cassandras.  To achieve a prophecy, the skin of a cassandra sangue is cut, over and over, one cut for each prophecy purchased;  the women are segregated, imprisoned in various compounds under "benevolent ownership" and used for profit by unscrupulous humans.  

Meg Corbyn, a highly sensitive and valuable cassandra sangue, escapes from her compound and ends up in one of the Others'  Courtyards.  Simon Wolfgard reluctantly gives her a job as Human Liaison. Meg's Controller, however, wants her back and will go to any length to regain his property.  

In addition to this plotline, a growing rebellion among humans whose slogan is "Humans First and Last" is escalating.  The fragile relationship that has been fostered between humans and the Others is being tested.

In spite of the fact that the Others will kill and eat any human who violates the rules of the contract between them, they are more trustworthy than humans.  They can be trusted to eat violators.  Humans are meat, but the Others can refrain from eating humans as long as they follow the rules.  Which, of course, being humans....

As soon as I finished this one, I ordered Murder of Crows and devoured it.  :)  I'm trying to behave myself and leave a little space before ordering the third in the series, but I'm weak.  It will happen sooner rather than later.

I was going to review Murder of Crows, but think I'll just wait.  Maybe I'll review books 2, 3, and 4 together, since I don't think I can resist Vision in Silver much longer and may even re-read Marked in Flesh after having read the series from the beginning.  

I'll be checking out Bishop's other series as well.  If you've read any of her other series, are they as good as The Others?

The series in order:

Written in Red
Murder of Crows
Vision in Silver
Marked in Flesh

Marked in Flesh is from NetGalley.  I purchased Written in Red and Murder of Crows.

A Mix of Genres and Sub-genres

Grave Matters:  A Night Owls Novel

Night Owls bookstore always keeps a light on and evil creatures out. But, as Lauren M. Roy's thrilling sequel continues, even its supernatural staff isn’t prepared for the dead to come back to life.

Ok, I admit that that I am always susceptible to books about bookstores.  And a supernatural staff doesn't hurt.  That's just me, I'm a little superficial like that.

The fact that it was the second in a series did make me pause, but I needed something to read right then and decided to go ahead.  I liked it.  Vampires, Jackals, Necromancers, Renfields, and Succubi.  Grave Matters is an urban fantasy that provided interesting characters, suspense, and a fast-paced  and entertaining read.  If you like that kind of thing, that is.  I do.  

It would have been better perhaps, if I had read Night Owls: Bk. 1 first, but I can always remedy that.  Here is the book description for the first book:

Night Owls book store is the one spot on campus open late enough to help out even the most practiced slacker. The employees’ penchant for fighting the evil creatures of the night is just a perk…

There is just this tongue-in-cheek attitude about these descriptions that appeals to me, and this is just the kind of urban fantasy that I enjoy.  Is it great literature?  No.  Is it entertaining?  It was for me.

NetGalley/Penguin Group

Urban Fantasy.  Feb. 24, 2015.  Print length: 304 pages.

Mist of Midnight by Sandra Byrd

"A captivating Gothic love story set against a backdrop of intrigue and danger, Mist of Midnight will leave you breathless."

The cover pulled me in, but no, it really didn't leave me breathless...or particularly satisfied.  I looked at the Goodreads reviews, and the reviews are all 4/5 stars, so it is just another example of how we all find sub-genres that we prefer. Maybe this falls in the Gothic Romance category.

Read in late Dec.; blog post scheduled for Feb. 18

NetGalley/Howard Books

Gothic Mystery.  March 10, 2015.  Print length:  384 pages

A Man's Word  (The King's Hounds Series)

Last year when I was on my medieval mysteries kick, I read The King's Hounds and The Oathbreaker by Martin Jensen and enjoyed both of them.

I purchased the first two and was pleased to find the third as a NetGalley offering.  Love me some free books!

Although I liked the characters of Halfdan and Winston the Illuminator in the first two novels, I wanted to see more of Alfilda, Winton's paramour.  I was happy to see that Alfilda's role grows in this latest novel.

These medieval mysteries are set in the time of King Cnut during the early part of the 11th century.  The king has ordered his "hounds" to keep their eyes and ears open as Cnut must return to Denmark.

As it turns out, Halfdan, Winston, and Alfilda end up trying to solve a series of murders that have nothing to do with the king.  The translation uses some terms that are too modern for the time and that jar a bit, but overall the translation by Tara Chace works well.  Halfdan has been a womanizer in the two previous novels, but I was put off by his womanizing in this one.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed this third installment in the series.

NetGalley/Amazon Publishing

Medieval Mystery.  First published in 2010; March 1, 2015.  272 pages.