Briggs, Patricia: River Marked
River Marked (2011)
Written by: Patricia Briggs
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 291 (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Book Six (Mercy Thompson)
Why I Read It: So I'll be honest: I've not been all that happy with the last three Briggs' books I've read. Two of those were Mercy Thompson novels, and the other was the second installment of the Alpha & Omega series. When River Marked was released last year, I read enough reviews to make me realize that it was probably time to divorce this series and its spin-offs and move on. However, when browsing through my local Walmart, I found the mass market edition of River Marked, I had a hard time saying now (I think it's because of the whole series, it's my favorite cover). So I decided to give Briggs one more shot: after all, during the period that I found her work to be the weakest, it was because she was trying to churn out two novels a year. She'd announced, before River Marked's release, that she was going back to one book a year. I figured if that didn't do the trick, nothing would, so I gave in and read it.
The premise: ganked from publisher's website: Being a different breed of shapeshifter -- a walker -- Mercy Thompson can see ghosts, but the spirit of her long-gone father has never visited her. Until now, on her honeymoon with the Alpha werewolf Adam. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River -- and innocent people are dying. As other walkers make their presence known to Mercy, she must reconnect with her heritage to exorcise the world of the legend known as the river devil….
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. It's a fun read, and while I will discuss some various revelations, I won't spoil the actual ending. However, if you're spoiler-phobic, feel free to skip to "My Rating," and you'll be just fine.
When I first started reading, I felt a little deflated. It's been a few years since I've visited Mercy's world, so one part of it was the simple fact that I was having to reacquaint myself to everyone and everything. I was having trouble remembering past events, and the opening in and of itself was rather bleh to me because I didn't remember those past events.
But once we got past that hump and into the whole wedding (which didn't take long) to the honeymoon, I found it easy to settle into Mercy's world once more. It helped that I really like her and Adam together, and this book was pretty much all about them.
I'd read some reviews in the past that criticized this book for changing what Mercy is. She always considered herself a walker, but after hooking up with some of the local Native American tribes and meeting others who are like her, she learns that's not quite accurate, that she's considered a shifter, or an avatar. That didn't bug me: it made sense that Mercy was pulling at straws to begin with and using the wrong words to describe herself, so getting to learn more about what she was and why really worked for me. The revelation that she is sorta-kinda Coyote's daughter didn't bother me. Partially because Briggs never comes out and says, "Mercy, I am your father," and partially because the explanation given, that he was Joe Old Coyote but Joe Old Coyote wasn't him, made sense in my brain.
So it also makes sense, to me, that Mercy is the daughter of Coyote, but she isn't.
That's not going to work for everyone. But for now, it works for me.
Reading this book made me rather nostalgic for the beginning of the series. While I've been struggling over whether or not to "divorce" this series, it says something that I found myself wanting to re-read the very first book, Moon Called. Part of it was to see just how far Mercy (and Adam) have come since the start of the series, but part of it too to see if Briggs was simply writing better back at the start.
Not that this is bad. In my mind, Bone Crossed (4) is the weakest of the six, followed by Silver Borne (5), and then I'd place this one, River Marked (6), next in line, with the original top three rounding out the top three spots. Don't ask me to put those in order, because it's been a very long time since I've read those, but I do feel that as a whole, they were better and stronger than the books that came after.
And as much as I hate to say it, because I never was one for love triangles in this series, it's important to note that the quality slipped after Mercy and Adam officially got together. I'm not saying that's the reason the quality slipped either (no Moonlighting effect, to reference an old television show), because as I mentioned above, the series was at the peak of its popularity after the third book, and that's when Briggs got the hardcover deals (which I still resent as a reader, because now I have to wait a whole year to continue the series and still pay what I want) and that's when, most importantly of all, she was trying to publish two books a year. To this day, I swear that's what killed the quality, but now that she's back to one book a year, we're starting to see an improvement.
The real question for me isn't whether or not I'll continue the series: I think I will. It's not like I'm tired of these characters or their situations (unlike Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels), and as long as there's a marked improvement, I'm always happy to sit down with a book I don't need to think too hard about. We all need fluffy reads, yo, and this is a fluffy read.
No, the real question for me is where the series goes from here. I don't think trying to split Adam and Mercy up now that they're finally together will get much mileage. It's too soap opera-y and a quick turn-off, but killing one of them is still fair game (and since the series is in Mercy's POV, I'd say if one of the two will die, it'll be Adam). No, I think we'll see them together for a while, dealing with the various things that couples have to deal with (multiplied by the fact there's a teen daughter and a wolf pack as part of the family), and I think we're going to see Mercy have a kid. I mean, seriously, how can Briggs not do that? Mercy's breed-ability has been a major factor since book one, so if Mercy and Adam don't start a family, or at least talk about starting a family, I'll be rather surprised.
And the question becomes, then, whether or not I'll give a crap about such a storyline, and THAT depends solely on how well Briggs sells it. For the time being, I'm along for the ride. Unless I just get bored and find myself forgetting about the series. We do seem to be gearing up for a major fae conflict, based on this book and what I've heard about the new Alpha and Omega title, though I'm debating about that sucker, because book two in that series was weaker than any of the Mercy books. We'll see. I've got a year before the mass market comes out.
And now for some fun nuggets out of River Marked:
Page 19 (regarding the film Shadow of the Vampire, which was about the making of Nosferatu):
At one point, watching Stefan's intent face, I said, in a stage whisper, "You know, you are a vampire> You aren't supposed to be scared of them."
"Anyone," said Stefan with conviction, "who ever met Max Schreck would be scared of vampires for the rest of their lives. And they've got him dead to rights."
I love this to pieces, that Max Schreck is a real vampire in Mercy's world. It's all kinds of awesome. :)
Page 73 (I love how, in Mercy's world, the following action between werewolf and coyote is cute and adorable):
He dropped a second rabbit at my feet and lay down in front of me, nose on his paws and his ears flattened.
Nothing says you're sorry like a dead bunny.
An irritating note: on page 75, Mercy's giving Adam hell and uses the word shit. Which is fine, except it's published as "sh--" and she's not even getting cut off. I know this was the way of writing profanity way back in more sensitive, Victorian times, but seriously? For a modern book? I don't know if this is a typo or what, but Briggs doesn't exactly go crazy with profanity, which means letting one or two words slip in shows just how frustrated the characters are. Censoring it just calls attention to the fact that it IS profanity, and for me, personally, is a distraction.
My Rating: Good Read
The beginning was a bit of a hiccup for me, but I'll blame it on the fact it's been over a year since I've read anything in this series, and my brain needed time to catch up. Once the story gets going, it's a solidly fast romp that teaches the reader more about Mercy's abilities and why she is the way she is. And having Mercy and Adam on their honeymoon provided a lot of amusement, because rather than doing what normal couples do (which, for the record, they do get to do, but Briggs isn't explicit in the slightest, so no worries there), they get mixed up in trouble and a lot of it. Briggs seems to be setting up for a larger arc, and that has me curious. River Marked still isn't as good as the original first three Mercy Thompson books were, but it's close, and that makes me happy.
Cover Commentary: Love, love, love. Yes, it's breaking my rule of unnecessary tattoos, but they are rather pretty. The pose doesn't look too uncomfortable, and since in the story, Mercy's on her honeymoon, the outfit doesn't bother me like it usually does. The coloring is welcoming, and the runes in the background come straight out of the book, which is a plus. Yep, definitely my favorite Mercy Thompson cover, with Bone Crossed being a close second.
Next up: Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler