Embrace the Night
Embrace the Night by Karen Chance
Cassandra Palmer #3
Rating: 9/10
In this book Cassie is hunting down the Codex Merlini, volume 2. And Cassie's not the only one who wants the book--so do the dark Fey King and the god Apollo, and the vampire Consul wouldn't mind having it herself. Basically anyone in the supernatural community would be happy to have the book. Cassie and the vampire Mircea are under the effects of a mutated geis and Cassie is in search of the counterspell. The problem is that the Codex only exists in the past. Luckily for Cassie, she is the Pythia and among her powers is the ability to go back in time up to several hundred years.
In her quest, Cassie is aided by one of my all time favorite characters, John Pritkin. Pritkin is a war mage nominally under her command due to his oath to her as Pythia. He's prickly and difficult at the best of times, and is always armed for bear, if bears packed uzis instead of claws. Some steamy moments occur when Cassie has to deal with a look-alike, to verify Pritkin's identity courtesy of the magical sword tattoo on his back from the last book. A small window into Pritkin's past is opened courtesy of a photo of his dead wife that Cassie finds while ransacking his hotel room in search of a magical rune.
The prose is fast moving and you have to read closely as small details can become important later. The interactions between the characters are always interesting, whether it is Cassie's regular browbeating of the vampire-incubus Casanova or Pritkin's general crankiness. Cassie's cowboy ghost companion Billy Joe is another favorite character of mine. He's a fan of women, booze and gambling and completely loyal to Cassie. Billy's a bit of a wiseass, as evidenced by his comment in book 2 when told of Pritkin's first name. "Which don't you believe? The good? Honest? or English?" This has become one of my favorite series, ranking up with Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.
The setting of this series is good. Plenty of supernaturals--the vampire Senates and the Silver Circle of mages are the two big groups Cassie deals with, but there's also Faery and werewolves. Demons figure into this book fairly strongly, particularly the head incubus, Rosier. Nearly unique in this series is the Pythia, a clairvoyant woman that can shift temporally and spatially. The origin of the Pythia's power is from the god Apollo, though god isn't quite the right word for it.
My main problem with the series is the historical notables that crop up, mostly as vampires. The North American Consul is Cleopatra. Cassie's protector Mircea Basarab is Dracula's older brother, while the Vampire Senate's spymaster is the playwright Christopher (Kit) Marlowe. Those are the major famous people.
Overall, the series is well worth the time to read. Start with Touch the Dark.
Here be spoilers:
Took Chance three books, but even Merlin is around in this series, in the guise of John Pritkin. He spent about 1000 years in Hell (he lived about 10 years--time runs differently between the worlds) In this case, his true identity only adds to the character. Cassie is one of the few people who know his secret. We're treated to one of the few glimpses into Pritkin's past when he briefly talks about Arthur. Cassie has one of my favorite mental comments in the book at realizing Pritkin's identity -- "I've said before he doesn't look like a John, but he does look like a Merlin." Even better in my view is that it doesn't dwell on the fact of Pritkin being Merlin--Cassie realizes that part of his life is over.
This book explained a lot about Pritkin. His hatred for his father, the incubus Rosier, defines his existance to the point where Billy remarks "Who would have thought the Silver Circle's top demon killer is half demon himself?" Pritkin has plenty of reason to hate the demon--no one bothered to tell Pritkin about his demon powers so he accidentally killed his wife on their wedding night. Cassie notes he keeps her picture around, not as a pleasant memory, but to hurt himself and remind himself of the monster he sees himself as. The fact that Pritkin is extremely long lived explains his abrasive personality. He discourages people from getting close to him so they don't notice the fact he doesn't age much and learn his secrets. The fact he's long lived also explains why he avoids the vampires and has so many misconceptions about them. In this book some of the puzzle pieces fit together, the image of Pritkin becoming evident. This book shows the beginning of Cassie's changing view of Pritkin from annoying protector to trusted friend.
Mircea's story in the book about his being made into a vampire was of note, especially the repercussions of how he was made. He was cursed and became a vampire over the course of a week or so, something I don't think I've run into before. The fact he had no guidance was made painfully clear when he turned his tutor on the man's deathbed, leaving the tutor a mess as a vampire.