Tag Archives: fantasy

Anointed

Book Review of Anointed (The Cantati Chronicles #1), by Maggie Mae Gallagher

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I found a signed copy of Maggie Mae Gallagher‘s Anointed at a secondhand store. We all know how I love signed books, so I bought it.

Description from Goodreads:
My name is Alana Devereaux. I enjoy the simple things in life, walks in the park, sky gazing, and ripping a demon’s heart out though its chest. I am a demon slayer, the last of my kind, and I have been sent back through time to save your world.

How am I doing so far? My time travel went haywire, all the signs I needed to stop the prophecy have passed, and the only way I can save my world is by keeping yours from ending. Then there’s Gaelen, most days I want to deck him. He hides his true motives and if it was not for the intel he had, I would be rid of him. Any day in my life without a demon attack is a good day; I haven’t had a whole lot of those lately. The only problem is, if I don’t stop the Mutari, this world will burn.

Review:
So, this was not very good. I won’t go so far as to say horrible, but not very good. It’s full of plot holes (and a pretty problematic paradox), both the heroine and hero are unlikable, assumptions are made and not supported, and there is no real conclusion.

It was not liking Alana or Gaelen that really clinched it for me. Her entire personality is contrary, angry, full of bluster, and distrust. I promise, authors, a female character can be touch without being so prickly as to be nothing but solid unpleasantness. He is abusive and possessive. Somehow these two horrible people fall in love with each other, though I never saw why or how…or really when. It just suddenly was.

Plus, I want my badass female characters to be badass. Alana was at best inconsistent. Taking on 60 demons one minute and not able to beat 6 men the next. She was constantly making threats she couldn’t or wouldn’t, certainly didn’t follow through with. She was constantly demanding information she was never given and she was constantly given orders she didn’t like, but followed. In the end, she felt like a child rebelling against a parent, but doing as told.

Then there was the author’s use of rape. It a much overused method authors use when they want to make sure readers know a man is really bad. Not just bad, but really bad. And they (the authors) prance out the rape threats. It’s so overdone as to be boring and totally infuriating. Rape should be so much more than a plot device!

Speaking of plot devices, there were far too many major coincidences. Alana developed abilities as needed and, at one point, when locked in a room (by someone who was going to rape her, but was conveniently interrupted by a knock at the door and had to leave) she found he’d dropped the key on the floor! Yes, the author went there.

So, I said it was bad, but not horrible. In writing this review, I think I talked myself into saying this book is horrible. I will not be continuing the series.

Book Review of Ironfoot (The Enchanter General #1), by Dave Duncan

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I borrowed a copy of Ironfoot, by Dave Duncan, from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
It is 1164, and for a hundred years England has been ruled by the Normans. A young Saxon boy named Durwin, crippled by a childhood accident, had caught the eye of a Norman sage teaching at a rural school of magic. Realizing that the boy had promise, Durwin was made stable boy, and eventually allowed to attend classes.

Now twenty, Durwin is proficient enough that he is assigned to teach, but the other sages refuse to promote him and he is hassled by the Norman juniors for his disability. But those troubles turn out to be the least of his worries when he manages to corrects errors in an ancient corrupted spell, which promptly prophesies murder.

Sure enough, word soon reaches the school that one of the local count’s house sage has died, perhaps slain by black magic. Durwin is whisked away to the family’s castle, only to find that one death was only the beginning. The young sage quickly learns of a dizzying plot to assassinate King Henry. Dropped into the middle of the complex politics of England’s royal courts, can Durwin stop them in time?

Review:
I found this surprisingly enjoyable. It’s much more a mystery than anything else, so it’s not action packed, but it kept me interested and I really enjoyed Durwin and William. I’ll admit that I found William’s quick capitulation a tad hard to believe and, considering how much Durwin seemed to be discriminated against, he faced very little notable resistance. Plus, he’s just a bit too good at everything. But I liked the writing, the magic system and the plot. All in all, I just plain had fun with it and look forward to more.

Food of the Gods

Book Review of Food of the Gods (Gods and Monsters: Rupert Wong #1-2), by Cassandra Khaw

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I borrowed a copy of Cassandra Khaw‘s Food of the Gods from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
Paying off a debt to the gods is never easy.

It’s not unusual to work two jobs in this day and age, but sorcerer and former triad soldier Rupert Wong’s life is more complicated than most. By day, he makes human hors d’oeuvres for a dynasty of ghouls; by night, he pushes pencils for the Ten Chinese Hells. Of course, it never seems to be enough to buy him a new car—or his restless, flesh-eating-ghost girlfriend passage from the reincarnation cycle—until opportunity comes smashing through his window.

In Kuala Lumpur, where deities from a handful of major faiths tip-toe around each other and damned souls number in the millions, it’s important to tread carefully. Now the Dragon King of the South wants to throw Rupert right in it. The ocean god’s daughter and her once-mortal husband have been murdered, leaving a single clue: bloodied feathers from the Greek furies. It’s a clue that could start a war between pantheons, and Rupert’s stuck in the middle. Success promises wealth, power and freedom, and failure… doesn’t.

Review:
In deciding how I feel about this book, I kept going back and forwards with the good and the bad. The good is definitely some first class writing, a character with a good wit and sarcastic mouth, some great nods to feminism (which also seemed to highlight the bum deal EVERY wife in the book seemed to get) and an interesting world. The bad was far, far, far too much gore. I don’t say this because I’m grossed out by viscera, but because I just got mindnumpingly bored of reading yet ANOTHER scene of some hapless human being shredded. (On a side note, how did hundreds of people keep disappearing and no police ever investigate?) And I could have definitely done with a glossary. All in all, I’d happily read more of the series. But I think I’ll step away for a breather first.

As an additional note on this version of the book, the actual physical book, the font is very small. As are the margins and line spacing. (Definitely below average.) I admit I’m 40, but I don’t yet need reading glasses and I found this…maybe not difficult, but not easy to focus on and read.