More books!
As always my comments are more of the rambly kind than the literary review kind so be aware! ;-)
The Way Of Shadows, Shadow's Edge and Beyond the Shadows (The Night Angel Trilogy) By Brent Weeks
First of all, this is a fantasy (I'd say dark-fantasy) series without the contemporary-urban setting that I usually favour, I normally wouldn't even know (or care) about these books, but Ilona Andrews recced the first one on her LJ and I decided to give it a try.
As always, I won't even try to describe the plot, which in this particular case, would be absolutely impossible, there are too many characters and the story is too long and complicated to describe with just a few words.
What I can say is that I really, really liked the series, the writing was very good and the characters were the kind of characters who will stay with you a long time after the book is over. I think this could have been a nearly perfect series if not for a bunch of little (and sometimes not-so-little) things that bugged me.
One: the -sometimes kinda sudden- switch of point of view, I'm not crazy about multiple povs to begin with, but in this case I really do think that the book could have been so much better with no more than 2 or even 3 different povs...the story would have been much much sharper and focused imo.
Two: and that's really a very personal opinion, I found one of the main female characters (the one "paired up" with our hero) sort of annoying, and by the second book I was shamelessly rooting for another girl...I don't want to spoil the ending but even if things went kinda the way I hoped/wanted, I still felt that everyone was happy (everyone still alive by the end of the series, that is) except the main character. The bittersweet ending was nice, but I wanted a full happy ending, damn it.
And even if I'm pretty sure (at least I hope) that there's going to be a sequel, it's going to be literally years since we'll be able to read it (the author is now writing a new, totally different trilogy), and this sucks like a very sucky thing. :|
In conclusion, read this trilogy because it's worth it and then let me know what you think so we can discuss. *nods*
Destiny Kills (Myth and Magic book 1) by Keri Arthur
Well, Keri Arthur is a pretty decent writer, sometimes she's good (re: the Riley Jensen Series) sometimes not so much. This book is more a paranormal romance book than a urban fantasy one...the supernatural aspect is kinda lame (water dragons), the characters are uninteresting and the plot is far from original. Even if the book wasn't that bad, I don't think I'll bother to read the rest of the series...
Servant: The Awakening and Servant: The Acceptance (The Servant Series) by L.L. Foster
Ah, this series is one of the most original things I've ever read, it's not strictly urban fantasy but something between paranormal and thriller with a tiny bit of romance. It took me some time to really get into it, because the first few chapters are mostly descriptions and internal ramblings (I'm a dialog freak, so I usually tend to discard the books with pages and pages of descriptions) and to be honest, in the beginning I was tempted to put it down more than once...boy I'm so glad I didn't!! This series is...I don't even know how to describe it...I think the better world for it is disturbing, but in a very good way.
Somehow (even if they're totally different) this series it's a lot like Dexter, the main character is half crazy half sociopath, she's rude, emotionally stunted and romantically inept; I find her incredibly fascinating, fragile and strong, scary and scared, sexy and naive...I just love her.
I truly recommend these books but you need a strong stomach and an open mind, because the bad guys are truly bad (in a way only real bad guys can be) and the good guys...well, aren't exactly angels... ;)
Requiem For The Devil by Jeri Smith-Ready
Well, the story is the oldest story ever told: the devil falling (in every sense of the world) for a mortal woman. I love the way the author managed to incorporate such an old, mythical story into a very modern (urban) setting; the characters are perfectly portrayed and the writing is definitely good (sometimes even poetic). Still, to me it feels too much like a romance book (which is kind of the point, being basically a tragically doomed love story) but if you can gloss over the "love at first sight" (aka borderline obsession) plot-line, it's a quite entertaining and definitely worth reading book.
The Bride Of Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula Book 3) by Marta Acosta
This series is fun! It's a typical Summer-ish reading, witty, entertaining and funny...rainy winter is probably not the right period to read this series and I feel I should have waited for more cheery times to read this third book. Still, it was a nice read, it was a bit slower than the first two books, and a bit too chaotic in places, but I really loved the ending (I was rooting for our heroine to choose that guy and not the other one) so I'm happy.
The Devil You Know (Felix Castor Book 1) by Mike Carey
This was a very entertaining read, basically a detective story with a supernatural element (our guy is an exorcist and a ghost buster). I definitely enjoyed the book, the plot was good even if sometimes a bit slow, and I very much liked the characterization. Felix Castor is a pretty intriguing guy and I hope I'll be able to get my grabby hands on the two sequels (Vicious Circle and Dead Man's Boots) soon!
The Devil's Due (Morgan Kingsley book 3) by Jenna Black
I really liked this third book in the series (the best so far, imo), the plot thickens and the writing is definitely improved. The whole premise is quite original - Morgan is an exorcist (of demons, not ghosts) but she's also possessed (against her will, sort of) by the king of demons who's - in the meantime - at war with some of his fellow demons. I enjoyed the book and the writing was definitely better than the previous ones, my biggest problem (and again, it's definitely a very personal opinion) was with Morgan herself: sometimes I found her extremely annoying and close minded...it's not so good when instead of sympathize with the heroine you strongly feel the need to slap her silly... ;-)
Already Dead, No Dominion, Half The Blood Of Brooklyn and Every Last Drop (Joe Pitt Series) by Charlie Huston
Ah, this is another series I didn't think I'd like (I don't even know why) but I ended out madly in love with instead. :-)
Sadly it's not finished yet (still one book to go, damn the wait), but so far I really, really liked it. The whole thing is extremely original - the vampires are not your usual vampires, the zombies are even more original and New York (where the story takes place) is divided into vampire "clans" who control the different parts of the city. As always, the most important thing to me are the characters and I have to say that I love Charlie Houston's characterization very, very much.
Every single character is original and interesting and Joe (our "hero" or I should say anti-hero) is the most interesting of them all. He's smart, but not too smart, strong, but not invincible, sometimes lucky but most of the time incredibly unlucky, he's cynical, abrasive, and most of all...he's in love. Love (at least from the second book on) is the reason behind all Joe's (sometimes crazy) actions and even if there is very little romance in this book (and basically no sex at all), everything that happens to our hero, happens because he's hopelessly, utterly, madly in love. And that warmed my soul and made me fall in love with Joe all over again, despite his many faults and his often not so brilliant plans.
I cannot wait for the last book in the series, hopefully our hero will finally be able fix things and get his girl in the end... ;-)
Bloodring, Seraphs and Host (Rogue Mage Series) by Faith Hunter
I read Bloodring more or less a year ago, I loved it, and I tried to get the other two books in the series for months without succeeding; then a few weeks ago I discovered they were publishing the mass market paperback edition of the whole series and I finally got my hands on it (better late than never). :D:D:D
Anyway, this is another incredibly original series set in a post-apocalyptic era where plagues have decimated mankind, Earth is now in an ice-age, and "angels" and "demons" fight a never-ending battle. I'm an atheist, so the religious aspect of the books didn't bother me at all, but instead, it made the whole thing even more interesting and compelling. Contrary to some of the Amazon reviews said (wtf were they smoking?) there's basically no sex in this series (except for the last book) even if there is a lot of sexual tension and our heroine is attracted to more than one guy... ;-) There's a lot of action, mystery and good characterization...my only complain is that the author killed one of my very favorite characters at the end of the third book and that made me incredibly sad. :((
Still, hopefully Hunter is not yet done with this series (even tho she's writing a brand new story right now), the third book leaves many unresolved issues and I really, really want to know what happens next!
P.S. If you want to keep up with the stuff I read, check out my library, exchange book recs etc, you can check out my aNobii page here.
The Way Of Shadows, Shadow's Edge and Beyond the Shadows (The Night Angel Trilogy) By Brent Weeks
First of all, this is a fantasy (I'd say dark-fantasy) series without the contemporary-urban setting that I usually favour, I normally wouldn't even know (or care) about these books, but Ilona Andrews recced the first one on her LJ and I decided to give it a try.
As always, I won't even try to describe the plot, which in this particular case, would be absolutely impossible, there are too many characters and the story is too long and complicated to describe with just a few words.
What I can say is that I really, really liked the series, the writing was very good and the characters were the kind of characters who will stay with you a long time after the book is over. I think this could have been a nearly perfect series if not for a bunch of little (and sometimes not-so-little) things that bugged me.
One: the -sometimes kinda sudden- switch of point of view, I'm not crazy about multiple povs to begin with, but in this case I really do think that the book could have been so much better with no more than 2 or even 3 different povs...the story would have been much much sharper and focused imo.
Two: and that's really a very personal opinion, I found one of the main female characters (the one "paired up" with our hero) sort of annoying, and by the second book I was shamelessly rooting for another girl...I don't want to spoil the ending but even if things went kinda the way I hoped/wanted, I still felt that everyone was happy (everyone still alive by the end of the series, that is) except the main character. The bittersweet ending was nice, but I wanted a full happy ending, damn it.
And even if I'm pretty sure (at least I hope) that there's going to be a sequel, it's going to be literally years since we'll be able to read it (the author is now writing a new, totally different trilogy), and this sucks like a very sucky thing. :|
In conclusion, read this trilogy because it's worth it and then let me know what you think so we can discuss. *nods*
Destiny Kills (Myth and Magic book 1) by Keri Arthur
Well, Keri Arthur is a pretty decent writer, sometimes she's good (re: the Riley Jensen Series) sometimes not so much. This book is more a paranormal romance book than a urban fantasy one...the supernatural aspect is kinda lame (water dragons), the characters are uninteresting and the plot is far from original. Even if the book wasn't that bad, I don't think I'll bother to read the rest of the series...
Servant: The Awakening and Servant: The Acceptance (The Servant Series) by L.L. Foster
Ah, this series is one of the most original things I've ever read, it's not strictly urban fantasy but something between paranormal and thriller with a tiny bit of romance. It took me some time to really get into it, because the first few chapters are mostly descriptions and internal ramblings (I'm a dialog freak, so I usually tend to discard the books with pages and pages of descriptions) and to be honest, in the beginning I was tempted to put it down more than once...boy I'm so glad I didn't!! This series is...I don't even know how to describe it...I think the better world for it is disturbing, but in a very good way.
Somehow (even if they're totally different) this series it's a lot like Dexter, the main character is half crazy half sociopath, she's rude, emotionally stunted and romantically inept; I find her incredibly fascinating, fragile and strong, scary and scared, sexy and naive...I just love her.
I truly recommend these books but you need a strong stomach and an open mind, because the bad guys are truly bad (in a way only real bad guys can be) and the good guys...well, aren't exactly angels... ;)
Requiem For The Devil by Jeri Smith-Ready
Well, the story is the oldest story ever told: the devil falling (in every sense of the world) for a mortal woman. I love the way the author managed to incorporate such an old, mythical story into a very modern (urban) setting; the characters are perfectly portrayed and the writing is definitely good (sometimes even poetic). Still, to me it feels too much like a romance book (which is kind of the point, being basically a tragically doomed love story) but if you can gloss over the "love at first sight" (aka borderline obsession) plot-line, it's a quite entertaining and definitely worth reading book.
The Bride Of Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula Book 3) by Marta Acosta
This series is fun! It's a typical Summer-ish reading, witty, entertaining and funny...rainy winter is probably not the right period to read this series and I feel I should have waited for more cheery times to read this third book. Still, it was a nice read, it was a bit slower than the first two books, and a bit too chaotic in places, but I really loved the ending (I was rooting for our heroine to choose that guy and not the other one) so I'm happy.
The Devil You Know (Felix Castor Book 1) by Mike Carey
This was a very entertaining read, basically a detective story with a supernatural element (our guy is an exorcist and a ghost buster). I definitely enjoyed the book, the plot was good even if sometimes a bit slow, and I very much liked the characterization. Felix Castor is a pretty intriguing guy and I hope I'll be able to get my grabby hands on the two sequels (Vicious Circle and Dead Man's Boots) soon!
The Devil's Due (Morgan Kingsley book 3) by Jenna Black
I really liked this third book in the series (the best so far, imo), the plot thickens and the writing is definitely improved. The whole premise is quite original - Morgan is an exorcist (of demons, not ghosts) but she's also possessed (against her will, sort of) by the king of demons who's - in the meantime - at war with some of his fellow demons. I enjoyed the book and the writing was definitely better than the previous ones, my biggest problem (and again, it's definitely a very personal opinion) was with Morgan herself: sometimes I found her extremely annoying and close minded...it's not so good when instead of sympathize with the heroine you strongly feel the need to slap her silly... ;-)
Already Dead, No Dominion, Half The Blood Of Brooklyn and Every Last Drop (Joe Pitt Series) by Charlie Huston
Ah, this is another series I didn't think I'd like (I don't even know why) but I ended out madly in love with instead. :-)
Sadly it's not finished yet (still one book to go, damn the wait), but so far I really, really liked it. The whole thing is extremely original - the vampires are not your usual vampires, the zombies are even more original and New York (where the story takes place) is divided into vampire "clans" who control the different parts of the city. As always, the most important thing to me are the characters and I have to say that I love Charlie Houston's characterization very, very much.
Every single character is original and interesting and Joe (our "hero" or I should say anti-hero) is the most interesting of them all. He's smart, but not too smart, strong, but not invincible, sometimes lucky but most of the time incredibly unlucky, he's cynical, abrasive, and most of all...he's in love. Love (at least from the second book on) is the reason behind all Joe's (sometimes crazy) actions and even if there is very little romance in this book (and basically no sex at all), everything that happens to our hero, happens because he's hopelessly, utterly, madly in love. And that warmed my soul and made me fall in love with Joe all over again, despite his many faults and his often not so brilliant plans.
I cannot wait for the last book in the series, hopefully our hero will finally be able fix things and get his girl in the end... ;-)
Bloodring, Seraphs and Host (Rogue Mage Series) by Faith Hunter
I read Bloodring more or less a year ago, I loved it, and I tried to get the other two books in the series for months without succeeding; then a few weeks ago I discovered they were publishing the mass market paperback edition of the whole series and I finally got my hands on it (better late than never). :D:D:D
Anyway, this is another incredibly original series set in a post-apocalyptic era where plagues have decimated mankind, Earth is now in an ice-age, and "angels" and "demons" fight a never-ending battle. I'm an atheist, so the religious aspect of the books didn't bother me at all, but instead, it made the whole thing even more interesting and compelling. Contrary to some of the Amazon reviews said (wtf were they smoking?) there's basically no sex in this series (except for the last book) even if there is a lot of sexual tension and our heroine is attracted to more than one guy... ;-) There's a lot of action, mystery and good characterization...my only complain is that the author killed one of my very favorite characters at the end of the third book and that made me incredibly sad. :((
Still, hopefully Hunter is not yet done with this series (even tho she's writing a brand new story right now), the third book leaves many unresolved issues and I really, really want to know what happens next!
P.S. If you want to keep up with the stuff I read, check out my library, exchange book recs etc, you can check out my aNobii page here.