Midnight Texas, Season 2, Episode 3: To Witch Hell and Back

Nightshift (Midnight Texas #3) by Charlaine Harris

People are committing suicide at the Midnight crossroads. Once is tragic, twice unlikely and three times definitely more than a coincidence

There’s a dark presence under the crossroads. It’s been there for centuries - but it’s waking up. The inhabitants only clue to what it is and what it wants is in a book that none of them can read. They’re running out of time and the dark voice Fiji hears is growing louder

Meanwhile Olivia’s family may have finally caught up with her - with lethal repercussions and increased suspicion about the true motives of her neighbours

I really do like the concept of Midnight - a small town in rural Texas where the supernatural gathers, where people with secrets gather to build their new life. Over the last few books this has developed further as the members of the community have grown closer together. And this is something Charlaine Harris has always been very very good at: building a community, building all those little social interactions, those visits and family histories and little gossips that gives a real sense of community

This does, in some cases, slow the pacing as various characters discuss their issues with each other, then discuss those issues with other characters and all pry into each other’s business - especially since we have a lot of characters all with their own back stories and issues (which I, again, really like). But it works here because the overall story of this small town is the community that has been built here. So I don’t mind that we spend what appears to be a truly unnecessary amount of time discussing Lemuel’s human life even though it adds absolutely nothing to the plot. Or that we have Manfred’s old cronies from Las Vegas living nearby. Or the time spent gossiping around tables discussing what Chuy and Joe are (which is not known for most of this book and these are somewhat peripheral characters - which is a little weird given what they’re facing). It works because that’s what these books are.

I do think Olivia’s story is a little…. Weirdly convoluted. But hey, it’s not completely out there so I can run with it.

At times it seems the characters are somewhat distracted from the main plot, largely waiting for Lemuel to translate a convenient book he’s found - convenient in that it has all the answers and plot convenient in that it’s written in a convoluted ancient language for no good reason (and, honestly it makes little sense and really is just a method of drawing out the main plot so they can focus on the smaller side plots and relations. But it works).

The plot itself does have those convenience issues and does sort of circle slowly towards the ending rather than run for it - and it has some weird road bumps with Olivia’s story kind of running mundanely across the main supernatural - there’s something dark and evil under the crossroads plot line.

Allegiance of Honour (Psy/Changeling #15) by Nalini Singh

This is book pretty unique in the series. Unlike previous books in this long running series, there’s no central couple. Instead we have nearly everyone here. All the previous couples, all the previous major characters are all here to greater or lesser degrees all focusing on the greater development of the world rather than focusing on a single central romance

And this is absolutely excellent.

This is the fifteenth book in the series - that’s a long long long series. That’s a lot of characters and, while each book has been a romance, there has also been a truly epic and amazing metaplot burning along. The defections from the Psy Council, the greater rebellions against the Council machinations. The establishment of new factions, new networks and webs of alliances through to the massive change of the Fall of Silence and the creation of The Trinity Accord.

A lot has happened and there needs to be a book to address all of this and establish it without having to work it in around another romance.

This gives us the chance not only to establish the world, update us on where it is and further the world building and metaplot but it also lets us catch up on many of the characters who have kind of fallen by the wayside. Like Sascha and Lucas who should be so important in the series but haven’t been prominent for a while after they basically set this in motion (in fact, I think the Leopard pack in general has been neglected compared to the wolf pack). We see more of Faith and see her abilities in use again. Alesha appears again with her scientific skills. Even better, while we revisit a lot of these characters we also see a lot of cross-contact. We see characters talking to each other and forming links that we haven’t necessarily seen before which I think does a really excellent job of bringing these characters together and setting up a greater network and alliance which is what the Trinity Accords are all about. I mean theoretically we know these various characters probably interact but seeing scenes and contacts really underscores the society being developed and remembering all the characters which may have slipped aside.

We also have more development of Black Sea, the Aquatic Shapeshifters who run in a very different way to other organisations while still linked with all the caring and love that characterises a shapeshifter pack for even the weakest and least important members. At the same time I like that this contrasts with a shapeshifter pack that has so completely failed to uphold those basic conditions: because it would be so easy for us to go with the idea that Psy = bad while Changelings = good. Similarly I also like the awareness of what humanity brings to the equation - since they’re so often the “and there’s also this” element, and how they are essential to everyone’s survival as well as providing the creativity for society.

This book just brings so many threads together: while it advances the plot I think the main focus is just to set a baseline after we’ve reached a somewhat new beginning for the series after The Fall of Silence. We began with survival, facing down the Council and now as we’re entering a new era it’s really good for this book to kind of raise a hand and say “This is what we’ve achieved so far!” and recap the vastness of of the last 15 books.

Stranger Things, Season 2, Episode 1: MADMAX

We open with the introduction of a bank robber who seems to have powers - seeing the future and able to cast illusions. She has an 8 tattooed on her arm - I never thought about it but the fact Eleven is, well, Eleven does suggest there are at least 10 more out there.

She does need some advice though - if you’re going to rob a place, do it with a co-conspirator who doesn’t have a mohawk. Really, I don’t care what kind of mask you’re wearing, if you have a mohawk you’re identifiable

After that we catch up with where everyone is.

The central kids: Mike, Dustin and Lucas are getting on with their lives rather happily with no great dramas - mostly concerned by a new student Maxine (Max) whose awesome arcade game skills means she’s completely blasting Dustin’s high scores. This leads to them following her around in awe with more than a little stalking.

Mike is having some family friction as he’s been acting up and stealing money from Nancy (which given her badassery is an act of considerable courage) and Karen is addressing that being supremely awesome (though that Regan sign in her front line has collapsed my faith in her. Oh Karen no).

Will is having more troubles. He still has “episodes” where he suddenly finds himself in the Upside Down only the dark and ominous ruined space now has a raging, red-lightninged storm tearing the place up.

Joyce is clearly worried about Will and trying to not hover over him in overprotective smotheriness. She and Sheriff Jim (who is awesome and supportive) take Will to the hospital to continue to be examined about these episodes. The doctor considers this to be PTSD and gives quite good advice and support to Joyce and Jim about what they need to expect and be prepared for - including more visions, more nightmares and increasing irritability. Above all the doctor insists they need to trust him and the Ominous People are gone

The Ominous people are in the basement and their Ominous computers are Ominously freaking out over the Ominous red storm. They’re also using flamethrowers on the portal.

Will himself is getting more agitated with both the storm and pressure and bullying from others. He snaps at Jonathan about how everyone is treating him - either the freak who came back from the dead or Joyce and Jonathan who are treating him like he’s made of glass. Jonathan continues to be supportive, awesome and the best big brother ever (hey, and points to Stranger Things for positive sibling relationships rather than having younger siblings constantly at war with the elders)

Joyce is also dating a guy. He seems… nice. Jonathan and Will kindly tolerate him. Joyce is also still paranoid about her phone ringing

Supernatural, Season 13, Episode 9: The Bad Place

We’re getting more intriguing hints for the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin off.

Jack is back in the picture, using an artist with some woo-woo (later explained because of his Native American-ness because even the son of Satan is using Native people for woo-woo) to dream walk between realms to show him where Mary is still being held captive and tortured for no apparent reason. This process doesn’t seem to be especially pleasant for the Native American artists.

So it’s no surprise when later his girlfriend finds him dead with his eyes burned out. Alas oh Native American woo-woo tool, your purpose is over

I also want to know where Jack got the money from without being all morally dubious

Jody hears about this from her police contacts and quickly contacts Sam and Dean with an apparent angel death and an eye witness who clearly identifies Jack (unlike every real life eye witness ever who I wouldn’t trust to clearly identify their own mothers)

Sam and Dean hurry to the scene and find the artist, a Dream Walker, has painted pictures of apocalypse land where Lucifer and Mary are trapped

Dean assumes the worst, believes Jack is trying to get his dad back and has gone full dark side (since they don’t know Lucifer has already escaped). Which I guess I can kind of see as plausible and Dean isn’t all smug and I told you so about it - but at the same time I have to question why neither of them even considered he is trying to rescue Mary

They plan to go to the Native American reservation to have more woo-woo and likely cringeworthy scenes; but instead Sam looks through the dead man’s contacts and finds he has been talking a lot to a woman called Kaia - who he describes as the most powerful Dream Walker, ever.

So Kaia - she’s an orphan, haunted by terrible dreams from her dream walking who has resorted to desperately taking drugs to try and suppress them and let her sleep without this agony. She’s ended up forced to attend a rehab where absolutely no-one understands her, obviously, as they believe she’s an addict

I have to say now that she might be an addict- if she’s in the habit of taking drugs to suppress the dreams doesn’t mean she’s not an addict. This is one of the problems that a lot of depictions of addiction seem to miss: the fact that Kaia is using drugs to suppress pain doesn’t mean she’s immune to addiction. Using addictive substances for “good reasons” doesn’t mean addiction disappears - addiction isn’t some kind punishment for using a drug with impure motives. It doesn’t work that way.

Midnight Texas, Season One, Episode Two: Bad Moon Rising

As far as I am concerned, the jury is still very much out on Midnight Texas. It's fun trying to figure out what kind of supernatural the residents of Midnight are and how it all fits together to form a community but given that this inspired from the work of Charlaine Harris, my skepticism is going to continue until I see good reason to let it go. 

Okay, Bobo has been arrested for the murder of his ex girlfriend Aubrey.  As an audience we know that Bobo is innocent but the cops don't.  There's a healthy fear among the supernatuals that the cops investigating the goings on in Midnight is not a good thing because for their community to be safe what they need is anonymity. At the end of the pilot, Manfred agreed to help the residents to free BoBo but to do that, he's going to have to confront whatever is glowing under the floorboards of his new home and get rid of the ghosts who have taken up residence. 

Deputy Gomez decides to throw Bobo into a cell with members of the Sons of Lucifer.  It seems that this was planned by the leader of the motorcycle gang. Bobo tries to explain that he didn't kill Aubrey but the bikers don't want to hear it and instead go on the attack.  It seems that Bobo has had some training somewhere because he is able to fight off all of the bikers, leaving all of them in need of some kind of medical care. I cannot help but wonder if some of Bobo's ability to defend himself is the result of the supernatural?

The supernatural residents of Midnight gather and Manfred admits that he needs help to deal with whatever is going on in his new home.  Joe and Fiji agree to help out. Joe volunteers when Manfred mentions that he is concerned that at least some of the infestation could be demonic. Once inside the apartment, Manfred allows Aubrey to take over his body so that he can see what happened on the night she died.  We learn that Aubrey was hit from behind and therefore didn't see much beyond the fact that her attacker was wearing a jacket from the local white supremacist biker gang and that it took her three days to die.  With this new information, it's decided that Joe and Manfred will go and see the sheriff while Fiji gets to work on an exorcism to free Manfred's home of ghosts and whatever evil is underneath the floorboards. 

Deputy Gomez returns after taking the Sons of Lucifer for medical treatment to find that Sheriff Livingstone is not pleased with her.  Gomez is suspended from active duty immediately which pisses her off. Gomez tries to justify her actions by bringing up what happened to their patrol car but Livingstone simply doesn't want to hear it. 

Joe and Manfred arrive at the station and Manfred tells Sheriff Livingstone what he knows about Aubrey's death.  Because Aubrey didn't see much, Manfred doesn't have a lot of details that Livingstone can verify.  When Livingstone expresses doubt, Manfred points out that it was him who told the cops where to find the gun.  Despite his doubts, Livingstone orders the lake where the gun was found dredged for further evidence. 

It's a full moon which means that the Reverend has to be locked up to avoid him hurting anyone. It's Olivia who does the duty, promising to see him the next morning, even as the Reverend reveals that he has a bad feeling that something just isn't right. It turns out that the Reverend's hunch was right because Gomez, determined to get to the bottom of exactly what is so weird about Midnight, ends up freeing the Reverend, who is now a tiger. Gomez ends up paying for her action by being killed by the now weretiger Reverend. 

A weretiger roaming around Midnight is absolutely not a good thing.  When Manfred realises what is going on, he rushes to find Creek to warn her and is scratched by the tiger for his trouble. The two manage to make it to Manfred's trailer but the weretiger isn't about to give up on his meal.  Fortunately for Creek and Manfred, this is when Olivia and Lemuel arrive, causing the weretiger to give up on his meal for now.  Free of the threat, Manfred returns home to find out how Fiji is dealing with the exorcism. 

Fiji has managed to send all of the ghosts packing but the evil spirit under the floorboards is still there.  The demon under the floorboards has taken a liking to Fiji and not only refuses to let her go, it gets all rapey. It even goes as far to call Fiji by name which of course is ultra creepy. The situation has escalated beyond Manfred's ability to deal with. Manfred heads out to his trailer and grabs the skull of one of his ancestors.  Manfred then rushes back to his place and banishes the spirit of whatever demon had taken up residence under his floorboard. This results in the skull being reduced to ashes.

Shield of Winter (Psy-Changeling #13) by Nalini Singh

While Silence is falling, it may be too late to save the Net. The infection of the PsyNet is growing and catastrophic collapse is imminent - a collapse that could kill thousands. As it gets closer there are more and more Psy infected by darkness, driven to unreasoned and uncontrolled violence even as Psy society is learning how to live without Silence

Kaleb, leader of the net and former Councillor, can think of only one way to save the Psy - the key must be the Empaths.

He collects Empaths into a camp to learn how to overcome the trauma of being suppressed in the Net and try to find the extent of their powers after so much knowledge has been lost. And who better to protect them in a hostile net than the Arrow Squad?

Led by Vasic - broken by the demands the Arrows have placed on him, he is slowly awaiting death and not valuing his own life. But if anyone can reach him it’s the Empaths - specifically Ivy

While we followed so many trope laden romances over this series, in the background there has been another story developing - the Arrows. The Arrows have always been a really fascinating element to this series because they are the very epitome of what Silence was for - and the damage it did. All of them are Psy with lethal combat abilities - the very Psy who rely on extreme Silence training to control their lethal abilities. At the same time they are the Psy used and abused by the Council to enforce their reign, causing so many disappearances and deaths. Seeing them turn from Silence, even as they relied on it’s training was an excellent parallel to the actual fight for the future of the Psy Net. Seeing Aden worry about his people and trying to lead the Arrows to a new future and a new life - independent from those who constantly use and abuse them is, again, a wonderful microcosm of the actual net and the Psy race in general. There’s also Vasic, bowed, broken and wounded from the terrible deeds the Council has forced upon him, now just looking to end a life he no longer sees as worth living. Again - an excellent parallel to the wounds of the Psy Net and the many broken and damaged Psy who have been so torn by Silence

Their story, interlinked with Kaleb, the new de-facto ruler of the Psy, also shows the growing evolution of the Psy themselves - and not just in the loss of Silence or the battle against the Darkness Infection of the net. But simple things - in a society where inconvenient people are just disappeared (because actual Psy criminals would expose the lie of Silence), what does it mean in a new age when justice must be done in the light? When justice happens where everyone can see it? When you have a society where the most powerful and ruthless have always ruled, where people’s power is denoted by their inherent woo-woo, what does that mean for future rulership, what does a government look like? In a society where obedience and conformity has been ruthlessly enforced for nearly 100 years, how do they adapt to allowing actual dissent and disagreement? Where are the lines drawn?  In some ways  wish there were no romance at all in this book and we focused on the Arrows and Kaleb and Sahara alongside the other Councilors actually looking at what the future of the Psy should actually look like - because that is fascinating and just the elements that are hinted at here

  

I have to say i was also annoyed by this romance because of Vasic and Aden. We have seen repeatedly how deeply Aden and Vasic care for each other, how close they are - we have seen how worried and sad Aden is that Vasic is embracing death, how determined he is that Vasic won’t die, determined to show Vasic he is valued and cared for. I was looking forward to see them growing closer, for that love to become clearer, for Aden, who knows more than anyone exactly what Vasic has had to endure and suffer, to be the comforting arms that Vasic could fall into and be lifted up and…

And Designated straight love interest Ivy appeared. Oh. yay. And we had another book - now book 13 - without a single LGBT character so we can tell the same trope laden straight romance again and again.

And I have to complain yet again about the archaic gender roles in this series because they’re cringe worthy. How come the man always has to be the big dangerous alpha in control one? How come he’s usually the one with the big dangerous powers? Even when a woman has strength and power - like Mercy or Adria - she has to be paired with an even MORE Dominant man. And when she’s dangerous that means she’s desperate and fragile and needs a big strong man to save her like Sienna (note that the big strong dangerous men - Judd, Vasic - don’t get big, extra-dominant women to order them around. No, they get sweet, gentle, delicate and sometimes fragile women to shelter and be all protective and gentle with. Even Sienna was more dangerous to herself and had to be paired with The Most Dominant. I cling to Indigo, though even her and Andrew’s dynamic was hardly a subversion.

Not only have we got Shapeshifter biology supporting this rigid binary with big Alpha possessive males and “matriarchal” females but now the Psy are getting in on the action as well: apparently most Empaths are female. Because lovey-emotions-soft-gentle-healing while most telekinetics are male because big-strong-destructive-dangerous-heavy-lifting-chest-hair.

Why couldn’t there be a big dangerous telekinetic woman who is breaking things and covered in the blood of all she has slaughtered saved by the gentle, loving, patient Empathic man to find her heart and emotions. This is a world with amazing imagination, incredible world building, awesome character development, a history that is truly fascinating and is generally excellent in so many ways - so why - with all this excellent proof of imagination and creativity, are the romances and gender roles so cliched and tired and limited?

Heart of Obsidian (Psy/Changeling #12) by Nalini Singh

Former Councillor Kaleb Krycheck is the most powerful Psy in the world, a dual Cardinal, his power is beyond compare and all of that power has been dedicated to finding, protecting and avenging one person:

Sahara

He has finally found her and brought her home to keep safe. But now he will find those who hurt her

But she may also be the light to pull him back from his ruthless darkness – and the one who helps shape the future of the net as Silence becomes every shakier, as Pure Psy becomes more extreme and Kaleb, the most powerful of the Psy, is in a position to shape the future of the entire race

Ah, gender roles. Because I have to talk about this every book because these same patterns keep happening – even when we have our first 2-Psy relationship, those same tropes keep happening.

Male character substantially more powerful than the female? Yup – Kaleb is the most powerful psy in history ever. He can quite literally DESTROY THE PLANET with his power.  No matter what power Sahara has, anyone has, it pales next to Kaleb who is just 2 small steps behind Kaleb

Both characters have had terrible terrible traumatic pasts. But he reacted to that by becoming cold and hard and deadly and dangerous (like Dorian and Clay and Lucas and Hawke) while she became scarred and damaged and vulnerable and broken and needing protection and healing

Bonus points that we have people hunting her and she is in danger so of course he has to be on hand to protect her from the big bad.

Also, this series has long established that Psy have no experience with physical touch or intimacy – but Kaleb comes out of the box, complete virgin but full of sexual skills because he has “researched”. Uh-huh really. And, of course, all of this sudden physical intimacy isn’t making him quail and break – just break other things to remind us how powerful and scary it is (this is exactly the same as happened with Judd. Even Sienna was less a case of “look how dangerous I am” so much as “I’m going to die and take everyone else with me”).

In any other book I’d probably look past a lot of these because their relationship has a lot of excellent things, She genuinely challenges him on top of his pillar. They use their relationship to look out on psy-net and confront their own dark pasts and forge new resolves. She both sees him as the ruthless monster he can be while at the same time acknowledging the victimhood that led him there – both not judging him and demanding he become something better. And with that, from their pedestal of power, it reflects a change for the entirety of psy-net. Their relationship and her challenges of Kaleb are reflected in the growing battle for Psy-Net and the future of the Psy race

Kiss of Snow (Psy/Changeling #10) by Nalini Singh

Sienna, powerful Psy defector and Hawke, SnowDancer Changeling Alpha have struck sparks since she first arrived in their land. Rebellion, anger, defiance – but under it all attraction which Hawke is desperate to avoid. His mate died when he was a child – he knows he will always be alone and he cannot offer Sienna the life she deserves

While Sienna has her own fear – she’s an X Psy, incredibly rare and even more dangerous. She’s already lived longer than any other of her designation. She knows her days are numbered – but who will she take down in the inevitable end.

There is an issue sometimes, especially with long series, where you have a long running complaint and then a book kind of deals with the issue and you celebrate but part of your brain realises that you’re not so much celebrating a good thing so much as the reduction of a bad thing. So we have with this book:

Squee!Brain: a relationship with a female Psy who has an actual active, destructive power!

Cynical!Brain: And they have to pair her with literally the most ALPHA DOMINANT changeling ever so she would still be the submissive one in the relationship

Squee!Brain: But she challenges him!

Cynical!Brain: They ALWAYS do. But they’re always the underling fighting to be treated as an equal from the man who still largely gets his own was. Also we have a creepy age-gap “let’s wait until she’s juuuuuust of age” issues along with virginal heroin + no man may touch her issues.

Squee!Brain: But she isn’t a delicate Silenced Psy who has collywobbles if someone so much as touches her

Cynical!Brain: But she is facing super death because of her powers and being saved by his looooove (no this doesn’t count as a spoiler. If you’ve reached this book in the series you know exactly how this relationship is going to end and don’t pretend you don’t).

So, I’m conflicted. This relationship does address some of the main issues I’ve had about the previous books in this series. Sienna makes it clear that she is the one who knows her own powers and she will make her decisions about them. I like that she establishes her own authority when it comes to her powers, limits et al which is so vital when we’ve had so many Changelings decide they know their Psy lovers better than those Psy do. Equally, unlike the previous books I like that Hawke is somewhat respectful of Sienna’s boundaries – at least in terms of her bodily integrity. He doesn’t touch her or pursue her – the opposite in fact

Bonds of Justice (Psy/Changeling #8) by Nalini Singh

Sophia is a J-Psy. She’s a justice Psy, able to read the minds of people who have committed terrible crimes and then take the image of what they did and pass them on to others. That can then be used in court to prosecute them. And what can be greater evidence than the testimony of the killer’s own mind?

Unfortunately even the Silent psy cannot stand this kind of mental bombardment and J-Psy have a short shelf life before their shields finally degrade and they die – by suicide or by being min wiped

Sophia is reaching the end of her career and…

….aaaaaaaaaaaaaergh!

Again? Really? This is the 8^th book in the series and so far all but one of them have included a main female character who is either imploding because of her Psy powers (Sascha, Faith) or deeply traumatised by her past (Brianna, Talin, Katjya) or on the run and are an actual distrusted prisoner (Ashaya, Katya again) – always we have the terrible fragile and/or broken and/or vulnerable woman who needs to be saved by the big strong man.

I think what makes it more glaring and annoying is that the man in this series are also traumatised. Judd struggles with his abilities (which are lethal because he’s male so allowed to have lethal powers) as does Dev. Lucas, Dorian, Vaughn and now Max have all had traumatic, terrible pasts. But none of them are 2 seconds away from utter destruction/meltdown. None of them need saving or putting together. None of them are dealing with PTSD or fear – none of them are fragile. At most they need “melting” or “thawing” because they’re big strong manly he-men of manliness and trauma just turns them into diamond hard weapons of tough ruthlessness, rawr; while women become puddles and wrecks and cower in a corner for a man to put together again – occasionally having flashes of temper so the man can announce how he likes a lady with spirit (or words to that effet).

And I’m not saying that either is the correct way to respond to trauma. But where are the men cowering in puddles? Where are the women becoming iron hard, emotion-deadened ruthless scary forces? Both are viable responses but in this series they’re rigidly gendered.

And of course our love interest, Max, gets all hot and bothered for Sophia within minutes of seeing her – and then he starts talking about her like he’s hunting her:

“Slow, he thought, he had to do this slow. She was so skittish, he’d have to stroke her into trusting him”.

Blaze of Memory (Psy/Changling #7) by Nalini Singh

Devraj is the director of the Shine institute, the organisation created to find, protect and help the Forgotten. The descendants of those Psy who decided to resist conversion to Silence and went into hiding to escape the Council

The Council still knows about them and plots against them – so when Katya turns up on his doorstep, broken, amnesiac, tortured and blocked from the Psy Net he instantly suspects a trap

Katya is considered dead by the Psy – which makes her a perfect tool for Ming LeBon, Psy Councillor, deadly telepath and ruthless fighter. He can use her to research the Forgotten… and if not? Well, she’s disposable. But as Katya starts to rebuild herself from the ruin he left, she is determined to find answers in her shattered memories – even if it means defying Dev’s control of her.

Let’s address that perennial problem with these books – the romance. I knew very quickly in the book who the romantic partners were

Was it because of how attractive they were? No

Was it because of how compelling they found the other? No

Was it because of them simply being the protagonists? Well, yes, but not the prime reason

No, I knew they were love interests the minute Katya turned up on her doorstep like a lost broken bird in need of sanctuary and protection and healing while Dev was the big, gruff, super dangerous-oh-so-dangerous man who needed to decide whether or not she was the enemy he may need to kill.

Because for some unknown reason there are apparently a vast number people who think “damaged, traumatised woman and the violent man who may murder her” is really hot. And my gods, WHY? Why does this storyline keep happening? Not just in this series but in general?! Who are these hordes of people who are gasping “ooooh, she’s completely traumatised and facing death, such a perfect candidate for romance!” or “he’s so angry and cold and unemotional – this is so haaaaawt!” or even “he just threatened to kill her for the THIRD time! It’s getting steamy in here!”

It boggles me, it really does, that this is not only seen as romantic, but it is so often seen as romantic it has become such a prevalent trope. This is problematic in its own right – the rigid gender roles that it promotes (women as weaker, as fragile, as vulnerable, man as tough, angry, aggressive, in control, domineering) as well as the very damaging dynamics it not only portrays but encourages (male as violent, threatening, controlling, possessive) and puts on a pedestal. These are not healthy relationships. These are not relationship dynamics we should encourage. These are not a template for a happily ever after.

But it’s also, frankly, getting boring. This is the seventh book in this series. And in all but one of the previous books, this is exactly the same romance storyline. Vulnerable/fragile/broken/breaking woman, facing collapse, implosion, menace, destruction meets aggressive, emotionally distant, uncommunicative, angry, dangerous man who may hurt or kill her and LOVE HAPPENS. Sasha, Faith, Brianna, Ashaya, Talin – all have the same story with Lucas, Vaughn, Judd, Clay and Dorian. Only Mercy and Riley have a different story and it’s still not that far from it. Change the record already. We even have a moment in this book where Dev is violently jealous for no good reason and this is even lampshaded as “normally a Changeling trait.” Yet, it is – but we’ve so strongly established the idea that a man in love is 2 seconds away from axe murdering any other man who comes near that it feels almost like love can’t be depicted without it.

Branded by Fire (Psy/Changeling #6) by Nalini Singh

A Changeling research is captured – and it falls to DarkRiver Leopards and Snow Dancer Wolves to bring him back. They suspect, as always, the involvement of the Psy

But the Human Alliance is back in San Francisco with their very high risk, ambitious plan. While the Chanagelings may not be their direct target, the fallout can consume all of them

Which is leopard Sentinel Mercy and wolf Lieutenant Riley’s job to work together and solve. And work together without killing each other. And work together despite the increasing pressure of their mutual attraction despite the differing clans, differing shifter type and differing loyalties. And a whole lot of old fashioned ideals to be conquered.

I love the ongoing world building of this series, especially the focus on the complex issue of Silence and the Psy

This has been something that has been touched on before in previous books but the focus has been very much on threats to the Changelings. To them and the Psy defectors, the broader societal implications of Silence are less important than surviving the latest shenanigans from the Council

But in this book the prime antagonist is the Human Alliance and their prime target is the Psy. The fact the Changelings are not the centralised target (though they are certainly are involved because it’s happening on their doorstep and something can’t happen in their territory without getting involved) means we can examine the broader implications of Silence falling for the Psy. Rising violence rates, the fact the race was desperate when it adapted Silence, the fact that there are a lot of Psy genuinely terrified of the damage they could cause without Silence. Silence is way more than just a threat to conquer, it’s complicated and involved.

And this book really brings home how important Silence is – and how collected the Psy are. Because of the Psynet, thing that individual Psy do can actually affect the Psy as a whole. We begin to address some really interesting ethical debates about whether the Psy should be forced to quit Silence, whether Silence is a viable choice, especially when we consider that for some Psy with genuinely dangerous and need Silence to function in society and to survive, or the fact that crime rates spiking can affect everyone, or that the Psy falling could literally destroy society. What about personal choice? What about if that choice is being affected by scare mongering rather than just reality?

On top of that we have a nuanced look at the Council itself rather than just seeing them as the antagonist with a few decent members. From the nuance of Nikita to simply acknowledging the integral role that the Psy play and even if you hate the system, burning it all down isn’t that helpful to anyone.

Supernatural, Season 12, Episode 4: American Nightmare

Oooh flashbacks waaay back to eaaaarly Supernatural when we had Azazel and the human psychics – including Sam way back in the day.

Since this is a monster-of-the-week-ish episode it has to relate to some emotional issue the brothers are having. Specifically, Dean, master of not dealing with his emotions, is feeling all abandoned by Mary leaving for some space. While Sam has some sense of emotional maturity and recognises Mary may need a break to absorb the massive changes in her life, Dean is pouting that she doesn’t respond to his text within 10 minutes of him sending it.

This brings us to the case of the week – people dying of apparent stigmata. Dean focuses on a woman who works for the CPS after her boss was the first victim – because the woman is a wiccan so Dean reads “evil witch” in a moment of murderous religious prejudice. But mainly because she works for the CPS and is examining a close knit family and Dean is having huge family issues and is hissing at anything he sees as threatening his idealised idea of family

And the hyper religious family who are home schooling and off the grid aren’t presented as inherently evil form the beginning. They raise some decent points about how modern life had been far from fulfilling for them (though the point of long working hours is a good point it is also accompanied by an all too frequent demonisation for medicine that treats mental health). Dean in his waaah-I-want-a-family mode is totally enamoured of this close knit simple family

Sam, however, is less enthralled by a family who apparently let their eldest daughter die because they opted to pray rather than seek easily available medical care. He has no time for that at all.

They split up, Dean pursuing his witch lead (only to find out his suspect absolutely does not want the job she now has thrust on her and absolutely no-one would. Oh and she gives Dean her number because he’s hot. Ok, I get this is supposed to be a joke and, yes, Dean is hot. But can we at least try to address the fact Dean was completely willing to murder this woman because of her religious faith).

Mine to Possess (Psy/Changeling #4) by Nalini Singh

Talin works with disadvantaged children – homeless, troubled and in trouble. And several have gone missing and the only thing she can think to do to help them is confront a horror from her past

Clay, the wereleopard and desperate reminder of a terrible past she’d left behind and a moment of terrifying bloodshed that still stains her memories

Clay can’t believe the woman he long thought dead is still alive, but he can hardly reconcile the fact she left him for so long nor can he bring himself to let her go again.

I continue to love the world building of this series – the Psy and the Changelings, the Psy’s society’s desperate struggles as they face conflict and threats on all sides against the council; whose loosening grip increasingly shows the flaws in Silence while at the same time we still see how dependent the Psy are on it. I love how we’re seeing Psy both shape the netmind and be shaped by it

I love the history of Silence and the existence of the Forgotten which is so excellently filled out and developed to create a very real society with so many possible storylines and characters arising out of it.

I really like that we’re beginning to look at humanity as well – after all here we have people with no powers, no strength, clearly the victims of society. They’re even called the “worker bees” and often forgotten. But Talin embraces this label – and we several mentions of how the humans are supposed to be the glue that holds their society together

And now we have emerging hints of what the races are like when they come together

All of this is excellently explored with the ongoing story of the Psy, Talin desperately hunting for missing children with extra bonus insight into Ashaya, another Psy facing the Council while still being Psy – not an outsider like Sasha or Faith. She’s still Psy, she’s still Silent – but she still fights the Council. A Psy doesn’t have to be none-Psy to oppose the Council or what the Psy have become.

Caressed by Ice (Psy/Changeling #3) by Nalini Singh

Brianna was terribly traumatised by her abduction by the Psy serial killer. Her family and her Pack are determined to protect her, moving her home, sheltering her and almost guarding her every moment

Only Judd, the cold and terrifying Psy seems to be the man who knows what Brianna needs.

But Judd has always been the Psy out of place – desperately sheltering behind the shield of Silence, he needs the emotional control to keep people safe from his lethal abilities. Brianna may have the ability to crack his shields – but will it ever be safe to do so

One of my main concerns with this book isn’t about this book per se at all – but about how this book contrasts with the previous two books in the series

The previous two books had a pattern: we have a female Psy struggling with Silence. They’re vulnerable, imploding and desperately at risk because of the repression that silence represents. They cling to silence because it’s all they’ve ever known – but a shapeshifter male decides that he knows better than the Psy and repeatedly pushes her, even physically ignoring her boundaries, until Silence collapses and she feels emotion. In each case we have a narrative of a vulnerable female Psy whose agency is largely ignored by a shapeshifter male who knows better and saves her from her destruction by ignoring said agency.

Now take this book which breaks the trend – here we have a vulnerable, hurting Changeling who is, at least in part, healed by the love and support of the Psy. That Psy breaks silence, but on his terms – in fact the Psy is menaced by the loss of silence so much that the shapeshifter has to back off and give the Psy space rather than pushing the Psy’s boundaries past what is safe.

Vision of Heat (Psy/Changeling #2) by Nalini Singh

Faith is an F-Psy, one of the rare Psy who can see the future. And she’s one of the best of the best, literally worth billions from her forecasts

Until her visions become more unpredictable, dangerous and horrific – and she sees not just economic trends, but some brutal murders. The killer stalks her dreams and she fears she may be heading for the inevitable insanity that everyone expects the F-Psy to suffer – or she may crack enough for even her limited freedom to be shattered… for her “own good” of course

But is the only alternative the mysterious, ominous werejaguar who seems so obsessed with her and will not stop until he has demolished all her walls?

It’s difficult to write a review when nearly everything positive I want to say about this book I have already said in my review of Slave to Sensation, mainly the world setting. The whole history and complexity of Psy society, their different powers and abilities and how they’ve evolved with the introduction of the Silence is excellent. I like that we can still see crumbs of why the Psy would have turned to Silence even as we also see how it is so terrible for them now. I like as we explore more and more of the Changelings own history as well – particularly since it shows a lot of their brutal pasts (even if there is a sense of giving the male love interests tragic pasts because nothing makes brooding alpha males sexier than deep seated childhood trauma, apparently) and that their society is also not perfect. It would be easy to paint Changelings as good and Psy as bad but there’s clearly more involved in that. I also like how we had a brief introduction of humanity to this series – just a reference because more wouldn’t be relevant.

I like how this has been developed and the introduction of the Netmind and what that actually means for the Psy race. This world setting is not only fascinating and unique but it is also growing and developing.

The writing continues to be excellently paced and well balanced, bring in both the world building and action and development in a well balanced manner.

Marked in Flesh (The Others #4) by Anne Bishop

Things now rest on the knife edge, the Humans First and Last Movement is growing in power and popularity, attacking humans who don’t support them and continually provoking the Terra Indegene

And they may have gone too far – and they have no idea what mighty powers they have raised against them

This book is all about surviving, hoping for the best and preparing for the aftermath. It’s not even about trying to make it less bad – it’s past that – it’s all about getting ready to pick up the pieces.Wverything heading to a bad place and everyone is just trying to soften the blow. There’s no doubt here, the worry that has been brewing for several books has reached its peak: it’s too late to stop the disaster, the elder Others have been roused and people are going to die.

The Terra Indegene we know are not unscathed by this. Simon, Henry, Vlad et all are all closely associated with the humans and one of the repeated conflicts they face is the question of how much humanity is allowed to remain. That doesn’t just mean how many humans are allowed to live – but how many human things are allowed to remain, which is a conflict for them as well as there’s a number of human things they themselves want to keep

Which also is a personal question for Simon in particular as well – Terra Indgene are beings that imitate a predator and become more like them (so wolfguard’s ancestors saw wolves and became increasingly wolfish) – as he is more and more involved with humans how much of a human is he becoming?

Which also fits in part of the personal conflict with Meg who has excellent storylines of being the Trailblazer, trying to find a new way of living and surviving for the Cassandra Sangre like herself: trying to use their power to predict the future without it killing them. There’s also the personal story of her connection with Simon. Personally, I don’t think this book needs a romance, and I appreciate, at least, that it has been a very slow burn – but if it is going to be there it’s interesting some of the elements that they’ve added. Meg has been abused – physically emotionally and sexually – by human men; she actually views Simon’s increasing humanity as a threat and a barrier

The conflict facing the human characters is how to convince the ignorant and entitled Humans First and Last Movement demanding more and more from the Others despite the repeated warnings they’ve received. There’s lots of conflict of these humans desperately trying to placate the Others and being victimised themselves for being “Wolf Lovers”. There’s a lot of uncomfortable and difficult moments with the Others, especially the wolves, being furious with humanity for just reasons and these humans being caught in the middle, sympathising while also trying to point out some of them are trying to stop this. It’s messy and has no good ending – which is kind of the underlying theme of this book

All of these is bleak and grim but comes with a nice heavy dose of humour as well which so defines this series. The joyous confusion of the Others trying to understand humanity, especially The Meg. This light, hilariously confusion is an excellent addition to ensure that everything isn’t so grim.

The world building of this series is fascinating and pretty unique. We have a lot of book series out there where the supernatural hides out of fear of the vastness of humanity – but this is one of the few where it is the opposite. The supernatural are vastly powerful who tolerate humanity’s presence. This book also lets us see how this works in different lands with the people of Cel-Romano giving gifts to their “friends in the woods” which is a nice take on old superstitions of leaving gifts out to, for example, the fae and other local supernaturals in different parts of Europe.

Vendetta (Deadly Curiosities #2) by Gail Z. Martin

Cassidy runs Trifles and Folly, an antique shop, with Teag while secretly using her psychometric powers to ensure dangerous magical items are quietly squirrelled away where they can cause no trouble. It also means she’s in a good place to see when the ghosts of Charleston are getting riled up

And when it does it heralds a major new threat come to town – but this monsters and its terrifying, apocalyptic minions are not just a threat to the city, but a very personal threat to Sorren, her vampire protector and mentor as well

I find myself faced with the same issue I have with this author’s other books – because there’s a lot I like about this series. I really like the world setting. I love the whole concept of trying to control magical artefacts that may cause damage either inadvertently or purposefully by unscrupulous people.

I really like how ghosts are such a large part of the book as well – it’s rare to see ghosts to be such a major emphasis in an Urban Fantasy novel and I do like the novelty of it. I also like how the ghosts are worked into the setting – Charleston – and history. And here we have another unique element – it isn’t sanitised. For whatever reason, a not-insignificant amount of Urban Fantasy is set in the south of the US, with lots of immortal beings all straining real hard to pretend slavery wasn’t a thing. This book doesn’t do that – the haunted streets of Charleston is populated by many of the horrors and scars of the city’s history. I like that, I like that a lot.

I like the potential richness of this series with so many different magic systems, vampires, ghosts, demons and even hints of many more. I also really like how restrained the series is. Sometimes you have a book series that has taken the kitchen sink approach to the supernatural and they decide to include ALL THE THINGS. This book doesn’t – only what is relevant is present and most of that focuses on a few magic users, the ghosts that populate the city and the core characters. I appreciate the restraint.

And I like the characters. I like Cassidy who, as I said in the last book, is skilled and capable, powerful without being super powered, with good relationships and good friends. I like Teague – an openly gay characters who manages to dodge a lot of stereotypes and have a very original (albeit rather convoluted) magic. We do have a number of very powerful, respected and capable Black characters who make regular appearances – but they are called on for their woo-woo. Yes, everyone has woo-woo in this book, but there’s more to Teague and Cassidy and Sorren than their magical nature – while the Mambos and Root workers are, well, Mambos and Root Workers. I don’t know much more about Mrs. Tiller than the fact she’s a root worker. I don’t know much more about Lucinda than the fact she practices voodoo. Yes, she’s a professor – in voodoo. It kind of defines her character. I think in book three I really need to see more of Lucinda: her past, her history, her hobbies, her work, her relationships. I want to see her do something that doesn’t involve a Loa