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Obsidian Butterfly (An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 9)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 328 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

There are a lot of monsters in Anita Blake's life. And some of them are human. One such individual is the man she calls Edward, a bounty hunter who specializes in the preternatural. He calls her to help him hunt down the greatest evil she has ever encountered. Something that kills and maims and vanishes into the night. Something Anita will have to face alone...

Praise for the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels:

"In Obsidian Butterfly, Laurell K. Hamilton delivers an erotic, demonic thrill ride. Her sexy, edgy, wickedly ironic style sweeps the reader into her unique world and delivers red-hot entertainment. Hamilton's marvelous storytelling can be summed up in three words: Over the top. She blends the genres of romance, horror and adventure with stunning panache. Great fun!"-- Jayne Ann Krentz

"Hamilton has endowed her heroine with a charming mix of male bravado, feminine guile, and self-deprecating humor."-- Publishers Weekly

"Ms. Hamilton's intriguing blend of fantasy, mystery, and a touch of romance is great fun indeed."-- Romantic Times

"Hamilton takes her world by the teeth and runs with it, devising a whipcrack adventure that moves like the wind, grips you by the throat and doesn't let go."-- Locus

"Mayhem, madness, old spells and older vampires. And Anita Blake at the center of it, struggling to stay on top...perfect!"-- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows, Book 2)

Kim Harrison

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 126 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Just slap a little pixie dust on that... 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I admit that, while it has its flaws, I really enjoy this series. It's just so much fun. It's not high literature, or full of deep meanings, and there's nothing spectacular about the writing (if I hear one more description of Jenks's wings `blurring to nothing' I might scream!), but it's so enjoyable to let yourself get lost in this world among these characters that it's high on my list of favorite series so far. Rachel is not the perfect heroine, and yes, she's a bit on the edge, but she's basically a nice person... er, witch, and I find myself rooting for her. There's plenty of action and interesting side characters, good dialogue and a touch of mystery. With each mystery that is put to rest, another situation crops up.

In this book, we learn the mystery of Trent but gain even more complications of a demon...

I might get blasted for this, but in a lot of ways this series reminds me of the Harry Potter series, slightly grown up. It has the same fluid writing that drags you into the story, the same type of action-packed storyline with twists and turns, the same brand of main character (the main character bumbles through on luck and with the help of friends), and the same enjoyable supporting cast. The writing isn't high-brow and I'm sure there are plenty of plot holes, but it's just so... addicting. The story is plain fun to read, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one.

And a note on the audiobook: the reading isn't as smooth as it could be, with some odd pauses mid-sentence that were occasionally distracting, but the vocal work was good and it's still one I'd say is good to listen to.

Editorial Review:

It's a tough life for witch Rachel Morgan, sexy, independent bounty hunter, prowling the darkest shadows of downtown Cincinnati for criminal creatures of the night.

She can handle the leather-clad vamps and even tangle with a cunning demon or two. But a serial killer who feeds on the experts in the most dangerous kind of black magic is definitely pressing the limits.

Confronting an ancient, implacable evil is more than just child's play -- and this time, Rachel will be lucky to escape with her very soul.

Mistral's Kiss (Meredith Gentry, Book 5)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 240 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

I am Princess Meredith, heir to a throne of faerie. My day job, once upon a time, was as a private detective in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, princess has now become a full-time occupation.

My aunt, Queen Andais, will have it no other way. And so I am virtually a prisoner in faerie–trapped here with some of the realm’s most beautiful men to serve as my bodyguards . . . and my lovers. For I am compelled to conceive a child: an heir to succeed me on the throne. Yet after months of amazing sex with my consorts, there is still no baby. And no baby means no throne. The only certainty is death at the hands of my cousin Cel, or his followers, if I fail to conceive.

Now Mistral, Queen Andais’s new captain of the guard, has come to my bed–defying her and risking her terrible wrath in doing so. But even she will hesitate to punish him in jealous rage, because our joining has reawakened old magic, mystical power so ancient that no one stands against it and survives. Not even my strongest and most favored: my Darkness and my Killing Frost. Not even Mistral himself, my Storm Lord. But because Mistral has helped to bring this magic forth, he may live another day.

If I can reclaim control of the fey power that once was, there may be hope for me and my reign in faerie. I might yet quell the dark schemes and subterfuges surrounding me. Though shadows of obsession and conspiracy gather, I may survive.

Anansi Boys

Neil Gaiman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 183 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Great Follow Up to American Gods. 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not so much a sequel, as an "enrichment" to the world Gaiman created in American Gods, Anansi Boys is a much more light-hearted and accessible read. Though not possessing the same level of ambition as AG, it is perhaps more successful because of it. Solidly entertaining.

Poor for Gaiman 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

American Gods was a fun take on gods. With that in mind, I looked forward to Anansi Boys. Oooops. The book was about as predictable as could be. Nothing original existed in the book and it often seemed its purpose was to piece together a few shticks that came to the mind of the author. True, some of the shticks and jokes were cute, but that doesn't make a novel. I was fairly certain how it would end from very early on, and the righting wasn't exciting enough to let me get past that.

If you want a really funny, well written book about ancient gods and modern people wandering around together, get Coyote Blue: A Novel. It's great!

Editorial Review:

Fat Charlie Nancy's normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn't know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother.

Now brother Spider's on his doorstep—about to make Fat Charlie's life more interesting . . . and a lot more dangerous.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel

Susanna Clarke

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 729 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me Centuries ago, when magic still existed in England, the greatest magician of them all was the Raven King. A human child brought up by fairies, the Raven King blended fairy wisdom and human reason to create English magic. Now, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, he is barely more than a legend, and England, with its mad King and its dashing poets, no longer believes in practical magic. Then the reclusive Mr Norrell of Hurtfew Abbey appears and causes the statues of York Cathedral to speak and move. News spreads of the return of magic to England and, persuaded that he must help the government in the war against Napoleon, Mr Norrell goes to London. There he meets a brilliant young magician and takes him as a pupil. Jonathan Strange is charming, rich and arrogant. Together, they dazzle the country with their feats. But the partnership soon turns to rivalry. Mr Norrell has never conquered his lifelong habits of secrecy, while Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous magic.He becomes fascinated by the shadowy figure of the Raven King, and his heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens, not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear. Elegant, witty and utterly compelling, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell creates a past world of great mystery and beauty that will hold the reader in thrall until the last page.

Season of Mists (The Sandman, Vol. 4)

Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Harlan Ellison, Mike Dringenberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 52 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In many ways, Season of Mists is the pinnacle of the Sandmanexperience. After a brief intermission of four short stories (collected as Dream Country) Gaiman continued the story of the Dream King that he began in the first two volumes. Here in volume 4, we find out about the rest of Dream's Endless family (Desire, Despair, Destiny, Delirium, Death, and a seventh missing sibling). We find out the story behind Nada, Dream's first love, whom we met only in passing during Dream's visit to hell in the first book. When Dream goes back to hell to resolve unfinished business with Nada, he finds her missing along with all of the other dead souls. The answer to this mystery lies in Lucifer's most uncharacteristic decision--a delicious surprise.There is something grandiose about this story, in which each chapter ends withsuch suspense and drive to read the next. This book is best summed up by a toasttaken from the second chapter: "To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and theseason of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil hisdue." --Jim Pascoe

Cerulean Sins (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 11)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 400 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

One of my favorites in the series 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is the 11th book in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. A few months have passed since the conclusion of the previous book, Narcissus in Chains, and it's the beginning of September.

There is a lot going on in this book, unlike the last book, Anita does some necromancy and crime-solving with the local police unit that solves supernatural crimes involving vampires and shapeshifters (called RPIT, Regional Preternatural Investigation Team). Not only does Anita have to juggle trying to track down a possible serial killer with the local police, she has to deal with the vampire entourage sent to St. Louis by Jean-Claude's maker, Belle Morte. It appears that Anita has caught Belle's interest and she sends her cronies to check her out, surprising everyone with the unexpected early visit. Not to mention another new, mysterious vampire that is wakening that makes Belle Morte look like an innocent baby. On top of that, Anita has some assassin/spy goons interested in her and she has to figure out what exactly their motives are in following her.

I really enjoyed this book and it's one of my favorites in the series because IMO Hamilton was able to strike a better balance between the sex scenes and the crime-solving aspect of the series. In later books, there is less of the detective/sleuth and more of the ardeur/sex plot line. I can't say that was unexpected change because in Cerulean Sins, Anita even admits she is tired of all the blood, death, and carnage she sees at all the supernatural crime scenes she assists the police with. It's taken its toll on Anita where it's clear she needs a "break", so in that regard I can understand why the next few books touches little upon crime scenes and Anita helping the police and more on vampire and shapeshifter intrigues and politics, not to mention the ardeur/sex plot lines. (Note: the latest Anita Blake book, not yet published, appears to be swinging back in the other direction, all I know about the latest book is Anita is called in to help the police in Las Vegas catch a serial killer that seems to have interest in Anita so I really look forward to this book in the series).

Anyways, you get to see a bit of early Anita, the book opens up with her taking a client to raise a zombie and then Anita going to her next zombie appointment where you get a brief scene of her using her necromancy powers. For those who are uncomfortable with detailed descriptions of blood, gore, and sex this book has all three in abundance.

For instance, at one crime scene a man is found nailed to the wall, another where a woman is found in her bed with only her head intact, the rest of her body "exploded" with all the bits and pieces everywhere, a third crime scene described in a bathroom looking like someone just had a fun bloodbath with blood covering almost everything and the floor literally swimming in blood. If that sounds very disturbing, it is and the author does a much better job than me detailing the scene. Did such a good job in fact that I could very much see the image in my head.heh.

Oh, another scene that may make some people squeamish, there is a group sex scene between Anita, Jean-Claude, and Asher. Yah, it wasn't too bad compared to later ones, but those who like more mainstream horror/urban fantasy will probably not like this book or the later books.

Now, I did have some annoyances with this book, and that had to do with the main character herself, Anita Blake. Anita is a very hard person to like, and since the series is told from first person POV you really get inside Anita's head. There are a few scenes where I thought she was being a total "B" and wanted to slap her.

Despite those few annoyances I'm still able to enjoy this series a lot. (really, if you're going to read and enjoy this series you have to be able to take reading about Anita's personality quirks...control-freak, anger issues, intimacy issues, relationship issues...basically she's very flawed). But, she is a kicka** character and doesn't put up with crap from anyone and that's one thing I love about the character. She's very practical and straightforward, she can only take so much crap from others before she just goes, "Look, hate to say this, but can we do this now!?" There are also humorous moments in the book, Anita can be really dry and sarcastic and it's really funny.

Overall, a pretty good book. Nice balance between the ardeur/sex plot-line and the crime-solving plot-line, with a few other side vampire plot-lines added in for good measure.

Editorial Review:

Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Master Vampire Jean Claude and leopard shapeshifter Micah. When a centuries-old vampire hits St. Louis, Anita finds herself needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves.

A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows, Book 4)

Kim Harrison

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 134 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Someone Should Make a Movie 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This one was so full of events...I think someone should make it a movie. I would certainly go see it!

I'm glad my library stocks this book... 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Before buying a book, I go to the library and borrow it. In this case, with Harrison's series "Dead Witch Walking", "The Good, The Bad and the Undead" and "A Fistful of Charms" (very cute puns on Clint Eastwood films) I'd feel my money would be better spent elsewhere.

I *enjoyed* parts of the books, when there was plot evident, but I did not enjoy the constant emo-ing and angsting. Although the plague that wiped out a huge portion of humanity is mentioned once in a while, usually in tandem with tomatoes, the only effect the plague seems to have had was to bring supernatural creatures and witches and so forth out of the closet. If Harrison was not going to incorporate such a enormous societal change in a realistic way, it should not have been included at all as an explanation for a world with open magicking.

By "A Fistful of Charms" the only character I give a hoot about is Jenks. He doesn't emo all over the place, although he does take part in one too many deep heart-to-hearts with Rachel Morgan about her love life and psychological state. This book in particular felt like I was eavesdropping in on a massively long and drawn out therapy session instead of following along in a well-structured adventure/mystery puzzle.

The plot, when it bothered to show up between talking head heart-to-hearts, was sort-of cohesive. There was some weaving together of elements from the beginning of the book to later scenes, but, either I wasn't reading closely enough, or I missed the section that introduced a character (by name) and by who he was arriving with in order to have an assisted suicide. I had to figure out he'd been mentioned cryptically a few chapters earlier, but not by name. He was not a character until Rachel had the chance to ooze emo all over HER ethical dilemma. It made her incredibly self-indulgent and unlikable. I almost found myself wishing she'd been killed in the car wreck, also.

Rachel Morgan's own revelation at the end of the book about her psychological nature of needing thrill-seeking to have sex was just...I won't say repulsive, but really, I didn't need to have it spelled out for me. In fact, I didn't like having every deep personal motive of the every major character spelled out for me in dialogue between the characters, as if they were all in Junior or High School trying to figure out their social status and who they could screw and why not or why it could work or not. Does every character own some sort of speshul knowledge about a key character, as if they all have canted telepathy?

Harrison does have a way with writing hooks in her stories. I just wish she'd reign in the emo-talk, the spelling-out of motivations, and hang her stories together a little more securely. Also, make Rachel less of a whiny sex-driven stereotypical witch, please. Sex is healthy; but I don't want to read about characters endlessly whinging about it!

Editorial Review:

The evil night things that prowl Cincinnati despise witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan. Her new reputation for the dark arts is turning human and undead heads alike with the intent to possess, bed, and kill her -- not necessarily in that order.

Now a mortal lover who abandoned Rachel has returned, haunted by his secret past. And there are those who covet what Nick possesses -- savage beasts willing to destroy the Hollows and everyone in it if necessary.

Forced to keep a low profile or eternally suffer the wrath of a vengeful demon, Rachel must nevertheless act quickly. For the pack is gathering for the first time in millennia to ravage and to rule. And suddenly more than Rachel's soul is at stake.

Sunshine

Robin McKinley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 315 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Burdened with excessive inner monologue 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I really wanted to like this book. The storyline was interesting and the character development was fine. I didn't even have a problem with the first person narrative as some readers do. The problem I do have is the rambling inner monologue that is simply never ending! I am halfway through the book and am now so frustrated by the monologue that I just can't bring myself to finish reading it.

Also, the author's use of analogies and similies is all over the map and mostly nonsensical. I spent so much time attempting to figure out the point she was trying to make. After a while I realized that my mind started wandering while I was reading the endless monologues so I figured there was no point in reading any further.

Sadly, this book had promise but I will not be coming back for seconds.

Editorial Review:

There hadn't been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts. Vampires never entered her mind. Until they found her.

Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows, Book 3)

Kim Harrison

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Best So Far 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am currently on the 5th book in the series (I am hooked), but this has been my favorite so far. I love the characters! I felt like I got a little closer to them when I read this one.

Editorial Review:

Rachel Morgan's back! Bestselling author Kim Harrison returns with a new supernatural adventure that fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris won't want to miss.

Some days, you just can't win. Witch and former bounty hunter Rachel Morgan's managed to escape her corrupt company, survive living with a vampire, start her own runner service, and face down a vampire master.

But her vampire roommate Ivy is off the wagon, her human boyfriend Nick is out of town indefinitely and doesn't sound like he's coming back while the far-too-seductive vampire Kisten is looking way too tempting, and there's a turf war erupting in Cincinnati's underworld.

And there's a greater evil still. To put the vampire master behind bars and save her family, Rachel made a desperate bargain and now there's hell to pay—literally. For if Rachel cannot stop him, the archdemon Algaliarept will pull her into the sorcerous ever-after to forfeit her soul as his slave. Forever.