Monthly Archives: February 2018

Book Review of The Twilight Pariah, by Jeffrey Ford

I borrowed a copy of Jeffrey Ford‘s The Twilight Pariah from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
All Maggie, Russell, and Henry wanted out of their last college vacation was to get drunk and play archaeologist in an old house in the woods outside of town. When they excavate the mansion’s outhouse they find way more than they bargained for: a sealed bottle filled with a red liquid, along with the bizarre skeleton of a horned child

Disturbing the skeleton throws each of their lives into a living hell. They feel followed wherever they go, their homes are ransacked by unknown intruders, and people they care about are brutally, horribly dismembered. The three friends awakened something, a creature that will stop at nothing to retrieve its child.

Review:
Not bad, but I wouldn’t say it covers any new ground or anything. I appreciated that, even with the narrator being male, the leader of the gang is obviously the women. Similarly, the inclusion of an incidentally gay man (and his boyfriend) with no need to include a homophobic encounter was nice. The writing was easily readable and the editing was good. But I finished the story with a shrug, rather than a shiver.

Book Review of The Innkeeper Chronicles (#1-3.5), by Ilona Andrews

I bought book one and two, Clean Sweep and Sweep In Peace.  Then I won the third, One Fell Sweep, through Goodreads.


Description:
On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is…different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, “normal” is a bit of a stretch for Dina.

And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night….Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.

Review*:
I have a really odd relationship with Ilona Andrews books. I enjoy them, but I almost never rate one higher than 3 stars. I like them but just don’t think they’re all that great…but taken together, I always want another. They’re like hard candies, not anything special but once you’ve had that first one you just want to keep popping them in your mouth until your tastebuds burn. That’s me and Andrews. I don’t think the books are great, but I always want another one. What am I supposed to do with that?

This is no exception. I thought it was a lot of fun, though bordering on utterly ridiculous and there were several too-coincidental-to-be-believed moments. But I liked all the characters; as always I appreciated the strong female and alpha male willing to let her lead, there are a ton of little easter eggs hidden in it and I’m already ready for the next one.

*Technically I read and reviewed this book in 2016, but I’ve just gotten around to reading the rest of the series and have brought this review forward for continuity.


Description: 
Dina DeMille doesn’t run your typical Bed and Breakfast. Her inn defies laws of physics, her fluffy dog is secretly a monster, and the only paying guest is a former Galactic tyrant with a price on her head. But the inn needs guests to thrive, and guests have been scarce, so when an Arbitrator shows up at Dina’s door and asks her to host a peace summit between three warring species, she jumps on the chance.

Unfortunately, for Dina, keeping the peace between Space Vampires, the Hope-Crushing Horde, and the devious Merchants of Baha-char is much easier said than done. On top of keeping her guests from murdering each other, she must find a chef, remodel the inn…and risk everything, even her life, to save the man she might fall in love with. But then it’s all in the day’s work for an Innkeeper…

Review:
I didn’t like it as much as book one, but still enjoyed it. I still like Dina and her inn-keeping. I still liked the writing and I’m still curious about the threads left open. I’ll certainly be continuing the series. But if I thought book one walked the like of ridiculous, this one went full bore. And good lord, every little thing is described in such overwhelming and distracting detail that I wanted to beg characters not to change costume, so that I didn’t have to suffer another page long description of their new clothing. But for the most part, this is classic Andrews for me, I didn’t love it but I still want more.


Description:
Gertrude Hunt, the nicest Bed and Breakfast in Red Deer, Texas, is glad to have you. We cater to particular kind of guests, the ones most people don’t know about. The older lady sipping her Mello Yello is called Caldenia, although she prefers Your Grace. She has a sizable bounty on her head, so if you hear kinetic or laser fire, try not to stand close to the target. Our chef is a Quillonian. The claws are a little unsettling, but he is a consummate professional and truly is the best chef in the Galaxy. If you see a dark shadow in the orchard late at night, don’t worry. Someone is patrolling the grounds. Do beware of our dog.

Your safety and comfort is our first priority. The inn and your host, Dina Demille, will defend you at all costs. We ask only that you mind other guests and conduct yourself in a polite manner.

Review:
I think I liked this one the best of the three, so far. For some reason, I erroneously thought this was a trilogy and the end of the series. So, I’m both disappointed to find it didn’t wrap up and delight that there will be more. But I like that we saw familiar characters coming back together, instead of a barrage of new ones, and some important progression in Dina and Sean’s relationship.

I did think some of the threats being planet-level was a little too much and all the jumping around the galaxy never seemed to take long enough. But I’ll be looking for more of the Innkeeper Chronicles.

Review of Magic Runs Deep, by Alex Whitehall

I received a copy of Alex Whitehall‘s Magic Runs Deep through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
For the last five years, Veier has been chained to a king’s throne in his bear form. When a neighboring kingdom overthrows the crown, Veier’s imprisonment ends, but true freedom is not so easily earned. With blood on his hands, he needs someone with patience, strength, and trust to help him become the person he was before and prove to the invaders that he isn’t the monstrous king’s loyal pet.

Elrid, the invading king’s brother and a powerful mage, is everything Veier despises. He’s also the only thing between Veier and execution, because he thinks he can help Veier change from an aggressive bear shifter into a reasonable man. While the pair have a rough start, with long talks and mutual leaps of faith, they begin to care for each other.

However, the closer Veier gets to his freedom, the closer he is to losing Elrid. He must find balance in his heart and his life if he wishes to truly claim the freedom he’s been given—and the man he loves.

Review:
I think it was me. I’ve read books like this before and been ok with the plot. But this time I just wasn’t able to overlook how quickly Veier got over five years of enslavement, physical, mental and sexual abuse (the last being implied) when it came to Elrid. They were just instantly civil with one another, trust bloomed in no time and almost instantly Veier and Elrid were comfortable with one another. It was too much too fast, and instead of reading as building trust and Elrid being a nice person, it just read as Mary-Sue, bland. I was frankly bored for most of the book, absolutely all of the book in which I wasn’t too busy being utterly incredulous.

Having said all that, the writing is fine and any editing issues I noted were few and far between, and probably due to the fact that I was reading an ARC. Thus, my assertion that I this case, “it’s me, not you,” might account for my dislike of the book.