My (admittedly amateurish) review of The Demon's Librarian
The Demon's Librarian
****** (6 stars)
Lilith Saintcrow
Lilith Saintcrow is one of my favorite writers. If I see a book that I don't already have with her name on it, I'm going to buy it. Just because her name is on it. (hope that's not too fangirly, 'cause I'm too old for that sh--)
Anyway I am glad that I bought this book. And this book was not easy to buy {for me, anyway}. I looked it up on Amazon.fail It was there but I didn't want to use them, so I didn't. I looked it up on Borders. Not listed. I went to Borders and asked them to order. They tried, but couldn't. I looked it up on Barnes & Nobles, there but online order only. "WTF?" I thought. meaning I didn't really want to order through B&N either, (sometimes I get on a kick about big conglomerate businesses vs. small stores) Then I found out that I could order it through Cover to Cover, a bookstore in VanCouver, Washington. I live in California or I would have just went to their store. And not only could I order it, but I could order a signed copy. Wow, how cool is that for a closet fangirl? So I ordered it from them, talking to a real person to do so. What a neat store.
It actually took me a little while, longer than usual to read this book for a variety of reasons.
- One of them: I could hardly stay awake this week. at least during the day. At night I had no problem, but then I would be surfin' the 'net. {evil internet}.
- Reason # 2: That good ol' BADD {Book Attention Deficit Disorder} reared it's ugly head again.
- Another reason: Lots of grandchildren time. That's a good reason; the best reason.
- And the last reason, not a very strong one, at first I had a hard time getting into the book, or actually the characters. This really didn't last long. It suddenly seemed to get better, and soon I was really into the book. When I stopped to think about it I realized that I am used to reading books that are in the first person. I prefer first person, and many times will not buy a book if it's in the third person. I am probably missing out on some good books this way. {I need to work on this issue} The Demon's Librarian was written in the third person, using two main characters' POV. {See? I ordered it just because Lilith Saintcrow's name was on it - but I am glad I did.} Along with being in the third person, Ms Lilith uses italics to show the inner thoughts of the characters. Which flows better than using a lot of "she thought", "He wondered", or "She felt".
The female main character is a librarian named Francesca, or Chess for short. She is not your stereo-typical librarian. No, she is a smart-assed, strong woman, who uses some foul language. {something my daughter is trying to break me of.} She sees something evil happening, a demon with a kid, and does something about it. There was one point in the book where I thought come on; that's when Chess is thinking about saving the children, because who else is going to do it. Then I reminded myself - hello, she's just recently noticed something weird - demons - which no one else has talked about. So what else would she think, if she was able to read about them and ends up with a demon killing knife? There are people in the world who would put them selves out there, especially for children, and if they thought they were the only ones who could.
The male main character is a Drakuel named Orian, or Ryan {not for short, or is it, orion - 3 syllables, Ryan- 2 syllables. okay, for short} Being a Drakuel means he is part human and part demon. He is part of something called The Order, where he and others like him are treated as something less than human; they are not respected, but they are used for their demon abilities and trained to protect Maliks (magic users). He is in charge of a Malik named Paul, a Malik who seems mainly interested in finding dates. Ryan looks at himself with almost the same contempt that The Order does, conditioned to do so.
There are a few interesting side characters; Charlie (Chess's sister), Paul the Malik, and The Order.
The Order has been around for many, many years. They fight demons and are supposed to be against evil. Though Ms Lilith has shown us an organzation that is supposed to be on the side of good, but has a few flaws. {kind of like almost every organization out there that is supposed to be for good. They are all ran by humans, therefore, some flaws exist, true? sorry, micro-rant here} One of The Order's flaws is their treatment of the Drakuelen. The Drakuelen are treated poorly, with contempt and suspicion. Some clear bigotry there. The Drakuelen males are known to become possessive and one-minded when they come into prolonged contact with Malik females. So they are kept away from the females except for short sessions - when a female volunteers to be "company" to a Drakul.
The Demon's Library begins with a bang. We meet Chess as she is finishing up a fight with a demon. She kills the demon, (her first demon kill) and goes home worn out with injuries and a little shook up. She has a knife which glows blue when demons are around. This encounter with the demon has brought her to the attention of Ryan and his Malik, Paul. Ryan is ordered by Paul to watch her, find out what he can about her (they aren't sure at this point what she has to do with the dead demon) while Paul leaves to take care of other business. During his vigil of watching Chess, Ryan begins to grow possessive and attracted to Chess and Paul falls off the radar.
The rest of the story is an adventure along with a growing love story between Ryan and Chess. Chess grows stronger and stronger througout the story. When she finally meets Ryan, she's not sure about him, (her knife glows when he's around), but she can't get him to leave. By this time he as grown quite possessive of her, something he cannot stop himself from doing. Chess begins to have some feelings for Ryan, though she's not sure about them, and fights them. Not only does she have to deal with Ryan, she has to deal with demons, and everything about her world changing. Demons begin hunting Chess, and Ryan stays with her to protect her, while they both search for Paul, who has disappeared.
I loved this book. I really enjoyed all the smart-assed comments these two characters thought at each other, as well as at others. I loved how Chess stayed strong throughout everything, even when she was scared to death. I really enjoyed Ryan's point of view, as well as his demon half- who was always stirring, trying to get out. There are times when Ryan saves Chess and time when Chess saves Ryan. The passages when Chess and Ryan are in the demon's clutches were very poignant. There is a possible spoiler here, so highlight if you want to read. There is one point that I found very romantic even though it was in the midst of demon captivity - Ryan lets his demon take over, because he HAS to find Chess. His demon part and his human part both call Chess "mine", then his human part lets go, so his demon can take over, to escape and find Chess. Call me morbid, but I found that very romantic. end of possible spoiler.
A lot happens in this book; love, betrayals, personal growth, and lots and lots of danger. No matter how the book started out for me, by the end of the book I was wishing it was longer. The ending of the book was very satisfying. I was also left hoping that Ms Lilith might someday write another book along these lines. I wouldn't mind reading more of Ryan and Chess, or even a story regarding some of the other characters that were mentioned in The Demon's Librarian.
I haven't been disappointed by any Lilith Saintcrow book that I've picked up. Her books are always well written.
Next up is Prey, by Rachel Vincent - my dad's favorite fiction writer. I have to read this one as fast as I can, so I can pass it on to my dad, who is possibly Rachel Vincent's oldest fan. He's so cute.
It's entirely possible that SkippyJon and Eva are trying to hide Prey from G-Bob (my dad). They do like him, and they are selfish for attention....