Paper and Fire (Great Library #2) by Rachel Caine

Jess, Khalila, Glain and Dario are now working for the Library – but working knowing that their lives hang by a thread and the Archivist is just looking for an excuse. While the last members of their group – Morgan and Thomas – are imprisoned. Morgan fights for freedom – and Thomas may be already dead.

Together they need to free their friends and somehow escape the Library’s incredible power and reach

I am just going to repeat all my endless praise for the world building of this book that I said during the first book review of Ink and Bone. Because it’s still awesome

I do love how the characters look on their battles with the library. Because they don’t want to destroy it, they don’t want to bring it down. They want, desperately, passionately, for the Library to be what it should be – the excellent, shining force for good. It should be this place which can protect knowledge, spread knowledge and advance the whole world. We have wonderful looks back into the past where the Library stood against all kinds of discrimination (as I’ll come to, the cast is wonderfully diverse), where the Library passionately resisted control of nations for the sake of knowledge for its own sake.

But despite all that they have come a long way from those original routes. As the Library became more and more about power. Defending Library independence from national control has changed to them outright taking over, destroying and controlling nations in the name of Library Power. We find whole stashes of books they are not only hording, but actively suppressing (we learn that the printing press has pretty much been invented dozens of times over centuries and each time has been viciously suppressed by the Library – Thomas and Wolfe are not the only ones by a long way. After all, the press is a relatively simple invention).

Through this, in some ways, even the enemies they fight are not entirely demonised. They horde those books even though they’d ban them and not read them – because even then destroying them is an anathema to everything they stand for. They legitimately think they’re a force for good even as their actions in the name of that good go ever darker. Which is why the whole struggle of the gang not WANTING to burn it all down – but desperately wanting to make it better.

Ink and Bone (Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine

The Great Library of Alexandria was never burnt and, more, has spread across the entire world. Part religion, part supreme national body, its power is unquestioned.

Jess Brightwell is a book smuggler, from a family of book smugglers. His entrance into the Library as a scholar was initially planned to be a way for his family to get access to more and precious books

But while going through the vigorous training procedure to join the Library, his already complicated loyalty becomes stressed. Something which doesn’t get simpler as he learns some of the Library’s many secrets – and the length which the Library will go to protect those secrets and its global control.

Well that was a surprise – I didn’t expect something nearly as unique and original as this.

The whole idea of the Great Library surviving, of it becoming a major international force, charged with the maintenance, protection and furthering of knowledge is really well done. This creates a whole different world – not just politically with the Great library being like a world religion with its own laws, army and rules – but with a different world map all based on how the Great Library has radically changed society. And it’s not just the map, it’s also how people think. The library has an almost religious significance, recording your personal thoughts in your journal to be kept in the library after your death has become both a funerary rite and an incredibly important ritual to people – to the extent that even armies at war will keep emergency reserve journals for people to fill in. The whole idea of reading one of those journals has become almost a sacrilege

Actual books have become incredible precious objects of such value because of the power of the library and the purpose knowledge has. A whole black market as built around it – precious actual books and what they represent compared the alchemical copies that the library produces – temporary copies that anyone can read, beamed to specially prepared blank books.

Not only does this fascinating world setting serve as an excellent backdrop, but through it we also see the excellent depiction of how this well meaning organisation can be corrupted. How the promotion of knowledge – even pushing forward thinking ideas for the time like educating women. Because the library was about learning, preserving and spreading knowledge. And how easily the “spread” of knowledge becomes the “control” of knowledge – again, the good intentions are really clear there: The idea that knowledge has to stay in Library control – because if information is spread willy-nilly, well, who can be sure if it’s true or right? Or maybe dangerous? Maybe its lies? Maybe is should be kept secret? Maybe it’s dangerous?

Carniepunk Anthology

By: Rachel Caine, Delilah S. Dawson, Jennifer Estep, Kelly Gay, Kevin Hearne, Mark Henry, Hillary Jacques, Jackie Kessler, Seanan McGuire, Kelly Meding, Allison Pang, Nicole Peeler, Rob Thurman, Jaye Wells

When I first saw this anthology I leaped to request it – so many of the authors included in it are the authors I already read and already love, a collection of stories by them was definitely something I was sure I’d be able to devour in seconds, loving every word.

I preface the review with this to make it clear that my expectations were very very high – perhaps too high given my oft mentioned dislike of short stories. This left me feeling a little disappointed.

Firstly, on the book overall I was impressed by the unity of theme, short story compilations by different authors can feel very disjointed as you are buffeted from epic story to laughing comedy to heart wrenching tragedy that makes them almost impossible to read in one sitting because they’re so different.  While the writing style of this book was, obviously, very varied the overall theme not just of Carnivals but of something sinister, dark and something pretty creepy was generally well maintained throughout. I don’t know if it was intended or if the authors just find carnivals as creepy as I do – but nearly every story had a strong sense of the creepiness, the alien and the outsider about them that helped keep the whole book together as a coherent whole which I appreciated.

In terms of the stories, the ones by the authors that drew me in were very much their style, but also nothing special and didn’t form much of a useful addition to their own stories:

Kevin Hearne’s The Demon Barker of Wheat Street, was a fun ride with characters I’ve come to know and love. Atticus, Oberon and Granuaile are always immensely fun romp around a Carnival, fighting evil with humour and flair with odd moments of depth and emotion to it that so characterises Kevin Hearne’s work; it’s good but not his best, lacking in style or real relevance to the world he has…  if you’re not a fan of the series already you’re going to be a little lost reading this one – and a little Spoilered as well, which is a bad choice for a short story, I think.

Jennifer Estep’s Parlor Tricks, is much the same. If you know her world and her characters then it’s a great read, a nice continuation and nice to see Gin in some semi-downtime. If you don’t know her world then you’re probably going to be more than a little lost as the full weight of her massive Ashland world is thrown at you. As a fan and a current reader of her series, I enjoyed it while still feeling I wouldn’t have missed anything if I hadn’t read it. That’s a good thing in the sense that I don’t want my series to depend on me tracking down anthologies, but bad in that I left the story feeling I hadn’t gained anything.

Seanan McGuire’s Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid and the Open, Lonely Sea, surprised me in that it didn’t seem to be related to any of her actual series. While I liked this story, I also felt that it was the only one that didn’t fit the overall theme of the book, though I quite liked the subversion of finally presenting the Carnie’s point of view and taking their otherness that had been so pushed through the rest of the stories and making that a strength rather than the sinister nature that had been pushed so far. It was an excellent close to the book.

Notable others were Painted Love by Rob Thurman, it was the first story in the book and did a very good job of setting up the dark and sinister theme; the fantastic and the other, the evil and the cruel, the hidden threats as much as the hidden wonders. It was an excellent choice for the first story. But, as far as the story itself goes, it didn’t work for me. It had a nice twist ending but to make that work it forced a lot of character interaction that didn’t make a lot of sense and some very stilted descriptions. The story also had an over-wordy, over-introspective style that I’ve never particularly cared for. It did really set up the sense of the other – in ways that go beyond the simple supernatural creatures we’ve already known - and definitely laid the groundwork for the creepy, the evil and the sinister

Bite Club (Morganville Vampires #10) by Rachel Caine

The unstable state of Morganville has spawned a considerable number of plots in the aftermath of the last few battles; some of them far reaching and sinister and some as simple as grab to make money. The instability leaves Claire and her friends with a lot of difficult choices. When an acquaintance is involved in dubious activities, do you report them and risk the vampire authority’s disproportionate response? Do you ignore him and hope that he isn’t doing something that could jeopardise the whole system – or provoke and even greater backlash? Or do you get involved and risk being pulled in yourself?

And then Shane is pulled into such a scheme himself - a strange fighting tournament – a chance for him to express his skills and talents, a chance for him to hone them. But it’s also a chance for the deeply repressed sides of him to come to the fore, his deep seated hatred of vampires that he tries to keep buried is encouraged to flourish in the ring – but how much is it changing him? And what are the ultimate goals of his manipulators?

As if it weren’t thorny enough, Bishop, Amelie’s creator, the ancient and lethal vampire has broken free again – and any of the plots could be his doing to reclaim ascendency.

This book did several things right that previous books had annoyed me about. Firstly, Claire was involved in the plot from early on and throughout the book; in the past I’ve been annoyed by the fact that the protagonist seemed almost ancillary to the proceedings, almost a spectator. Secondly, Claire and her crew handled things alone – but they did so for good reason, they weren’t just charging off like a loose cannon because they wanted to or for random reason. They were involved and they had to try and handle this as alone as they could because they understand the ruthless, scorched earth policy the vampires habitually employ and know Shane will get caught up in it. I also like that, when it did come down to it, Claire did seek help, did realise things were beyond her and did stand up for what she wanted and needed without coming off as a petulant child or someone poking the bear (which she has managed extremely well in the past). She both sought the help she needed, worked with the powers that be and wrung out the concessions she deserved in a sensible and reasonable fashion

In fact, all through this book, Claire’s actions have been relatively sensible and realistic. Certainly not always correct – but always believable and always real – and I can believe she is as smart as she’s supposed to be.

I’m not entirely sold on Shane’s POV – to the best of my memory it’s the first time we’ve stepped outside of Claire’s head. It came with a lot of info-dumping and the same style of long winded monologues that so dominate people’s mental processes in this series. Yet I think it was essential to truly explain this book, what was happening to Shane and how he has grown as a character. From the outside this wouldn’t have worked, Shane would have looked nonsensical and Claire would have looked like a doormat. Or the juice he was drinking would have looked like some kind of mind control elixir. Only in his head can we see the effect of his upbringing, his helplessness, what he has suffered, the abuse of his father, his ongoing fear and hatred of vampires and how the juice affected all of them. Together it made Shane a much more complex character – and a character we could still, on some level, identify with even as he goes off the rails

This book did have scenes that could be seen as superfluous – and, again, that has been a problem with the book series in the past. But in this case I think they genuinely did serve a purpose – like the fencing scene showing off more of the factional differences in Morganville and the differences between Oliver and Amelie even while they both make common cause despite their differences. I think it was, perhaps, a slow and drawn out way to make those points, but the scenes did have a point and did develop the complexities that rules this town. I really like the sense of how dangerously balanced the town is – with the different philosophies of ruling and the battle between human independence and vampire predatory instinct all overlaid with a sense of not provoking any one of several factions (human hunters, Amelie, Oliver, the old Bishop loyalists, human authorities) too far without the whole thing collapsing.

I can’t say I’m the greatest fan still. The writing style is too enamoured of its very long winded internal monologues. Nearly everything that happens has to be agonised over by Claire over and over again at great length that I do tend to find boring. I still think Monica and her cronies are almost cartoonish in their ridiculous extremity and, at this stage in the series, I’m not sure they even come close to adding anything to the overall plot.

There are also elements of the world building that I don’t think I can fit into the canon sensibly. I can’t imagine, in a place as control dominated as Morganville, that a building as big and public as the gym would be built without any kind of CCTV. I have trouble believing that the psychic Miranda would be wandering around quite randomly on her own – and known as a psychic by a fair few people – without Amelie or Oliver or Myrnin checking it out, verifying its truth and then seizing her as a valuable asset. I’m not entirely sure why Amelia and Oliver, knowing what was going on, would wait as long as they did to act. Nor am I entirely sure what the point of her was.

Devil's Due (Red Letter Days #2) by Rachel Caine

Lucia and Jazz have finally succeeded in getting Ben, Jazz’s old partner, out of jail where he has been wrongfully imprisoned and his life threatened for years. It’s a difficult time to celebrate though, as the death threat still looms over Jazz, confining her to the office.

But the battle between the two psychic organisations – the Cross Society and the Eidolon Corporation – is heating up and getting ever more deadly, even their office is no safe haven. And, as can be expected from organisations that can see the future, their plotting is convoluted, long term, confusing and very complex; and nearly impossible to protect against

It also seems that their pasts were more affected by these organisations than they ever imagined – and that their supposed allies are much more ruthless and much more callous than they previously thought, begging the question whether they’re truly on the good guy’s side here. Or if there are any good guys at all

 

The last book made me turn on my brain and pay attention as the late appearing mystical elements of the story added a whole new level of complexity – the duelling psychics constantly trying to shift tiny events to have a massive effect on major events, the whole concept of different people having massive different influences on the time line. Then there were our two main character’s attempt to negotiate this and do what’s best with forces determined to play “end justifies the means” long term planning that may sacrifice many people in the name of the greater good.

This book not only continues that but plunges us in ever deeper with a much stronger challenge of the ethics of the whole seeing the future. Lucia and Jazz are increasingly trying to distance themselves from or at least question the actions of the Cross Society and Eidolon both as they’re struggling over the idea of who to trust. There’s a lot of moral quandary here, a lot of struggling to figure out exactly what would be the best thing to do all more complicated by the two men in their lives – Ben and James – having very strong and very rigid opinions of the Cross society as well. I like how the disagreement is handled in a mature fashion, there’s no big dramatic ultimatums, no screaming matches, just a mutual wish to work it out coupled with a firm insistence that none of them cross their red lines they’ve set up.

So, in many ways this continues the fascination of the first book - it has a fascinating world, an excellent concept and a well paced story with lots of really well done action, sensible behaviour and interesting mystery as Lucia tries to navigate her way round the complications of the Cross society’s planning, Eidolon’s plotting and several mine fields from her past.

Ghost Town (Morganville Vampires #9) by Rachel Caine

Morganville has changed a lot extremely rapidly and it is still, in many ways, reeling from what Bishop did to the town and the after effects, including the human residents of the town demanding a far greater level of protections while a faction of vampires resents the greater aggressiveness of humanity. It’s a delicate balance

It’s even harder to maintain with the destruction of Ada, the computer that managed to boundaries around Morganville. Without the shields and the portals and, most importantly, the field that erases humans memories when they leave, Morganville is now vulnerable and the vampire’s control is tenuous.

Tensions flare still higher when violence leads to an actual coup and the return of draconian punishments the vampires had supposedly abandoned, completely ignoring the human council members.

Then the badly damaged computer starts messing up – and it’s not just the memories of people leaving that it tampers with.

This book follows the pattern of the last book in fixing many of the issues that so characterise the Morganville vampire series.

Firstly, Claire is fully involved in this story. She is involved from the first page, involved in trying to find a solution and involved in implementing the solution – the protagonist is an active participant in this story. And she isn’t an active participant because she has decided to meddle and what everyone needs is a clueless 16 year old flailing around for no good reason. It is actually reasonable for her to be front and centre in this campaign, she is the one with the knowledge and the skills, she is the one who is best able to actually confront the problem.

And her motivations and reasoning are sensible. Initially we have to ask why she’d support the vampires, but the memory loss makes it personal. But more, she sees the nuance of the volatile situation and the risk of the vampires lashing out if they don’t have their safeguards. The factions are similarly fleshed out. We also see some real proof of Claire’s maturity with her not just seeing this nuance but also her behaviour over her father’s heart condition.

The factions that are tearing at Morganville are also far more nuanced than we’ve seen before – Amelie and Oliver have an interesting relationship that is fascinating to explore. Myrnin is almost a tragic figure even while terrifying and dangerous and brilliant. Even Shane’s father has some depth to him. It’s actually rather bemusing but the big forces in the town and the antagonists are, in many ways, far more developed than the actual 4 main characters.

Review: Devil's Bargain by Rachel Caine

 Jazz is an ex-police officer whose life was well and truly derailed by her partner being arrested – and convicted – for murder. Quitting her job and leaving some hostile officers behind who would love to lock her away as well, she is determined to have him proven innocent and validate herself, her judge of character and the trust she placed in him. And silent that nagging doubt at the back of her own mind.

Then there comes an offer that seems more than too good to be true. Funding and guaranteed cases to set up a PI firm – something she had tried to do but failed to get the financing for. And there’s only one catch – she needs to work with a partner, Lucia Garza, ex-FBI agent who is looking for a challenge and a less structured work place.

They’re both duly wary but they quickly work well together and even if it is too good to be true, who turns down such an offer? Even if there are guys who seem to be willing to fight – and even kill them – since the offer arrived.

But, in between their other cases, they complete their benefactors cases. Cases which seem both trivial and bemusing. It’s only when these seemingly benign cases are connected to a murder; revealing a much larger and more bizarre reason for their recruitment.

For a long time I thought I’d made a mistake with this book. I thought “Devil’s Bargain” was entirely metaphorical and there was no supernatural elements at all. I thought I’d actually picked up a standard mystery without any magic, vampires, angels or even a slightly confused Christmas elf.

And I was fine with that.

Which is saying a lot for me. Unrepentant geek that I am, I have little time or interest in books which don’t contain some element of the fantastic. Aliens, vampires or elves, it has to have something non-mundane to keep me interested. But this book I was quite happy to keep on reading without the supernatural.

The main reason for that was probably the characters. I loved Jazz and I loved how she and Lucia bounce off each other. They did fit together perfectly – and yes, it was a little freaky how quickly and amazingly they gelled (but explained within the book) – but they did gel so well. They’re funny, they’re witty, their skills go together – and even with Lucia having so many qualifications, Jazz still fits in with useful skills and additions, she isn’t the junior partner. We don’t face a classic situation of the cool, competent one and the spunky, inept yet plucky and lucky one. They’re both competent, both capable, both extremely good at their job and both bring unique elements to the partnership. I even love how she bounces off Pansy, and she only has a bit role. In fact, this is what makes the book for me – all the characters, even Manny and Pansy who are in such minor roles, are such great characters in their own right.

Review: Kiss of Death, by Rachel Caine, Book 8 of the Morganville Vampires Series

  

Michael has a made a deal with a recording studio to finally get his music out there. It’s exciting, unique – and involves them leaving Morganville. This is also a useful opportunity for Claire and co since it allows them to avoid a deal Claire made that could get them all eaten.

On the road, they quickly raise the chance of finally escaping Morganville for good. But Oliver has been sent as chaperone and what about the loved ones they left behind? More, it’s clear that Even and Michael, residents of Morganville all their lives, have little idea of the outside world and how to behave in it.

Then there’s the problem of the vampire rebels. With the Morganville security network down, the only thing holding the vampires in Morganville is Amelie’s word. And some are not accepting that. Leaving the town, these wild vampires are looking for a new place to take over, one without the rules and restrictions of Amelie. Their travel makes them cross paths disastrously with Claire & Co – and when they reach their destination, they find things are not what they expected.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about this series. I’ve felt that the world that has been built and some of the background characters have been fascinating and have a lot of potential.  Unfortunately the main characters don’t appeal to me and I often find Claire, the protagonist to be an outsider in her own story. In short, I was coming close to giving up on the series, it’s just not for me.

This was my “last chance” book, the last book I’d read before I shelved the Morganville vampires and didn’t open another one.

And I enjoyed it.

By taking the story out of Morganville, we introduced a lot of new contexts and themes. We got to see how the very insular life the Morganville residents had lived. How they were so used to the supernatural dangers of the vampires and how they are used to negotiating the dangers of Morganville, that they were utterly lacking in the social skills necessary to survive in small towns with close minded, dangerous people without vampires lurking around to keep order. It was a really well done twist that added a lot to the world, the characters and the story.

Review: Chill Factor by Rachel Caine. Book 3 of the Weather Warden Series

Joanne and David are trying desperately to catch up with Kevin and Jonathon – Kevin has stolen Lewis’s powers, the most powerful Warden in the world and without them Lewis is slowly dying. And Jonathon is the most powerful of the Djinn, bottled for Kevin to use. Between them they have vast power and the potential for extreme destruction – especially since they’re extremely careless how they use that power. The growing instability is threatening a global environmental disaster.

Then there’s the organisations that shape the world who are determined to become involved. The Wardens want David and Jonathon’s bottles, Lewis playing his own game and a new force, Ma’at, sees the Wardens as a deadly threat – but has little compassion for humanity.

It’s been a long time since she has been in Vegas as well – but the place holds terrible memories for her of events that are very much connected to the current crisis – and the growing number of missing Djinn.

I’ll start with fulsome praise for the World Building. The world building and research is impressive but, again, perhaps too impressive. It’s not as extreme as the last book, but I’m not a meteorologist (or a seismologist for that matter) and while the science is well explained, there’s a lot of it. It’s nice to see magic have a grounding in reality, but at times I think I’d be happier with “she waves her hands and it rains” than the scientific chain of events that causes air born moisture to form precipitation. It’s impressive, but perhaps too much for the lay reader.

Beyond the world building of the magic, the Djinn, Ma’at and Wardens are all coming together with more detail and more information about each of them and how they interact together – and in turn adding a lot more information to the magic system and the way the powers actually work. It’s artfully done without ever resorting to lecturing even if Joanne’s point of view about weather manipulation can be excessively complicated and detailed.

The story is fascinating – all these organisations, the dilemma of taking down Kevin, how Kevin himself is not an entirely unsympathetic character, Jonathon’s own plotting and Joanne trying to negotiate between these many different forces and powers – and choosing who to trust. We have the very struggle of getting near Vegas with the most powerful Djinn in the world trying to brush you aside; the complex ethics of what to actually do with Kevin; the need to save Lewis while at the same time dealing with his and the Warden’s behaviour and, through all that, the presence of Ma’at, their own agenda, their demand that Joanne joins them and their own shady ethics. There’s a lot here, a lot of twists and turns and several times just when you think it’s all ironed out, a new curve ball lurches out to surprise you. It’s well paced and interesting never dragging but I do have to say there may be one twist too many – towards the end of the book I reached a point where I just wanted her to win already and be done because there was so many new twists added on at the end.

I’m really curious how Joanne reacts to the people around her from here. So much has opened up – the true nature of the Wardens, Ma’at, the Djinn, Lewis, yet at the same time she has been given zero reason to trust any of them. In fact, each of them has betrayed her in some fashion, sometimes pretty severely. Where does she go here when she has little reason to trust or want to be part of any of these groups?

Review: Fade Out by Rachel Caine, Book 7 of the Morganville Vampires

After the last few books, life in Morganville has just come out of a series of disaster. The war with Bishop is finally over, with the ancient vampire destroyed. The illness that was slowly killing the vampires of Morganville has finally been cured – it looks like the town has been saved and can begin to return to normal – reinforced and made more just by the concessions Claire wrung from Amelie for the rights of humans within the town.

But things are not stable. The new laxer rules have led to some humans prowling in gangs, carrying the weapons they are legally allowed to carry

Similarly, groups of vampires are frustrated by the “domesticated” way that Amelie makes them live, working through the blood banks and the people they protect rather than hunting and are seeking to either change the system or leave Morganville entirely.

These revolts couldn’t happen at a worse time as Amelie is consumed by grief from the loss of Sam. She’s unable – or unwilling – to put down the revolts and even Oliver is questioning her ability to rule.

Against that we have the problems of reality TV coming to Morganville – and Ada, the vampire computer that maintains the town, its portals and its veil of secrecy is becoming increasingly more erratic and dangerous – threatening not only Myrnin and Claire but also the future of Morganville.

The book makes me think almost that one story was planned and then the author changed her mind after a few chapters and decided to write another. I think we’re supposed to be having the found work of how Morganville is now unstable with vampires and humans rising up against Amelie’s control and this is supposed to be foundation for a new meta arc after the end of the Bishop storyline. But I don’t think it went especially smoothly, we spend a lot of the beginning of the book worrying about vampire opponents of Amelie, whether Oliver will stand against her, whether there is going to be an anti-vampire human uprising – then we suddenly leap over to the cameras.

There’s not much smooth transition there and the two plots are tied together clumsily in a way that, I think, is supposed to suggest that one leads into the other.

Similarly there’s the plot line with Ada and the implications of that, what it means for Claire and Myrnin and what it means for the town as a whole – Ada is vital for the continuing functioning of the town and enforcement of its rules and status after all. Again, there’s a vague sense of tying it into the previous 2 plot lines but no real connections so much as a jump from plot to plot.

I think what frustrates me more is that any of these three could have been interesting plot lines in their own right – political unrest after the war with bishop could be interesting to pursue and tax the Scoobies decisions on where they stand and why. There could be a continuation of the question of whether to support vampires at all, even exploration of Amelie’s claim that vampires are dying out and humans control the rest of the world so don’t they need a space? This could have been an interesting plot – and I really hope it’s explored in future books because it wasn’t here.

Similarly with Ada – what are the consequences for Morganville without Ada, what does it mean, what did Ada do, can Morganville exist without it? This needs exploring a great deal more than we saw.

Even the reality TV show, its implications and the considerations of national media et al could have done with extra exploration. Instead we had the previous two ideas developing and then this plot line kind of slapped on top. It didn’t flow for me.

Despite that, all 3 plotlines were more interesting than the Bishop storyline for me, primarily because Claire is involved (albeit convolutedly) in these stories and not just a clumsy, awkward observer to action that is, primarily, happening behind the scenes. I got a much larger sense of being involved in the plot this time, of Claire at least somewhat fitting into the story and us seeing the full extent of the action unfold rather than being an outsider, only seeing half of the story and any scenes where Claire was involved being somewhat shoe-horned into the proceedings.

Review: Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine, Book 2 of the Weather Warden Series

Joanne is now a djinn. Saved from certain death by David in the last book. She now has to learn the realities of her n ew life, with the new senses, the new body, the new powers and the sheer new world that comes with being a djinn, a creature of smoke, fire and pure energy.

But things aren’t so simple – David has hurt himself creating Joanne and he is bleeding power into her. And there’s a whole hierarchy of djinn, including a virtual god who is very not happy with this – and has an ultimatum. Either Joanne learns how to sustain herself within a week, or he will destroy her to save David.

And to make matters worse, there’s a rift into the demon realm – a rift that is producing sparks that seem to be doing odd things to the world – and the djinn.  It has to be sealed and Lewis seems to think he knows how – but he needs a djinn to do it.

Then there’s Yvette – a Warden out to bottle and capture some djinn. And a sadist who has her eyes on David

I liked the story – we had major issues coming together. The frustration and need to escape as a djinn, the coming of age of learning ton be a djinn, the love story of David and Joanne and the mystery of the coldfire- it was a mix of genres without a simple box to put it in. I did feel it seemed to leap between several storylines and not know exactly where it was going –but it coalesced in the end. We had the coldfire, Joanne learning to be a djinn, the capture of Joanne and her ongoing relationship with David, all of which seemed to run vaguely parallel to each other but be rather separate – and it was a little frustrating because I rather wanted to just get on with one of them – any of them would do because I actually enjoyed them all. But they did all come together towards the end of the book, establishing one dominant storyline that had roots in all of them which was really rather nicely done. I still think I would have preferred a story that, say, focussed on Joanne being a djinn, but I still liked it and am impressed by how it was done. Especially since elements of the story felt superfluous at first, a distraction, btu then came back to be dominant near the end.

The story does end with a cliffhanger - with Jonathon and Lewis both in doubt. I’m not normally that keen on cliffhangers – hints to keep me intrigued but not a sudden plot break – but Rachel Caine seems to like them a lot since her Morganville Vampire series uses them as well. I will say that the cliffhangers in this series are much better and tend to leave with n introduction to a new plotline more than breaking in the middle of a plotline. I think of it as more of a prequel or insight into the next book than a fingernail-biting tense finish.

The story of Joanna learning how to be a djinn and what it means to be a djinn is fascinating and added so much to the world building of this book. It’s also interesting how both the Djinn and the Wardens, to some degree, view the other as the ultimate power. From their creation to the Ifirt to the formation of another djinn and the consequences of it there was a lot of world building here – and it was all done reasonably – no lectures no info-dumping. It all fit the story. And the way they depicted the djinn being captured – and the full extent and powerlessness of it was really well done. The combination of both ultimate power from being connected with a human but at the same time being utterly helpless in the face of their commands.

Review: Ill Wind by Rachel Caine, Book 1 of the Weather Warden Series

Joanne is a Weather Warden. A Warden gifted in the elements of Water and Air, who has the solemn duty to protect humanity from Mother Nature’s devastating wrath. But one mission to dissipate a terrible storm enmeshes her in plots beyond her measure.

She’s now on the run, with a demon mark, no less, and with the entire organisation of the Wardens hunting her for murder. A crime for which they could kill her or strip her of her powers. And if they find the demon within her, then it’s a near certainty that she will have her powers ripped away.

Her only chance is to get rid of the demon – but there are so few ways to do that. The easiest would be to pass it on to a Djinn – and curse the Djinn to live the rest of eternity in torment – not a fate she can contemplate, especially after meeting Djinn. Or there is Lewis, an old friend, a rebel and the most powerful Warden the world has ever seen.

But she has no idea who she can trust, very few friends and she is hunted not just by the Wardens, but also by a vast storm she conjured accidentally while fighting for her life – that now follows her relentlessly. And then there’s someone else, some enemy who continually strikes at her. To say nothing of Djinn that pop in and out – and who knows who they serve or what agenda they follow?

The world is rich and huge and novel. The different Wardens acting to protect humanity from the vagaries of Mother Nature is such an unusual concept. Throw in the Demons and the Djinn and we have something fascinating that actually took an effort of will for me not to reach instantly for book 2 the minute book 1 was finished, I wanted to know much more so soon. Storywise I’m impressed. We have a combination of survival and mystery with an extra side-order of mystery. The main mystery of what Joanne’s doing and how she will save herself and who is to blame – or even if there is someone to blame-  is huge and fascinating and constantly kept me guessing – and I guessed wrong every time. Yet the clues were there – but I never remotely imagined the results. But we have so many other mysteries along the way – who is David, who is Rahel serving and constantly what what what is happening!

We also had what I normally consider a contrived plot line. We start with secondly – Joanne on the run from something. And we don’t know the why and wherefore of that something for a while, adding to the mystery. But it works because it allows the full mystery to be complicated without us having to be infodumped vast amounts of world building so we can understand it. Without this method, I suspect this would be the second book in the series and the first book would be slow, meandering and just full of infodumping to set up this book. So, I’m impressed, a literary trick I normally loathed was used to good, nay, brilliant effect.

The world is doled out in nicely sized chunks through nice little vignettes that give us flash backs into Joanne’s past – and they fit and are interesting rather than a distraction. The various forces arrayed against Joanne happened often enough to keep the book exciting without it being too much of a survival horror that the mystery was lost. And the character interactions were fun, real and very human.

Review: Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine, Book 6 of the Morganville Vampires Series

Morganville is under the control of Bishop. All resistance is quashed and even Claire is forced to obey with the magical tattoo that compels her will. The whole town is under Bishop’s brutal regime, anyone walking around after dark can expected to be hunted and killed by vampires loyal to Bishop and the old system of tax and protection has faded. In short, things may have been bad under Amelie, but they’ve never been close to as bad as this.

Of course, there is a resistance. Amelie is still alive and leading her vampires in a shadowy campaign against Bishop in a clever and desperate ploy to release his grip. Other vampires are seeking to flee the city, and no small number of humans as well. But Claire finds herself forced into the margins, unable to be part of the battle as people fear her under Bishop’s control (and others revile her as a traitor) and further as she is forced to follow the mentally unstable Myrnin who appears to have thrown his lot in with Bishop.

Add in Claire’s worry for Shane who has been imprisoned for trying to kill vampires along with his father, Claire’s being forced to work with Bishop even as he uses her for his vile control and Claire’s worry for her parents and being ostracised from her friends, well altogether times are pretty dire in Morganville.

This book had a really great story. Bishop is ruling the town and the resistance must both find a cure to the pervasive illness that is continuing to afflict them while, at the same time, work away to bring bishop down and roust him for good. It’s especially hard because several vampires have been forced to convert, serving Bishop – as has Claire herself. There follows a lot of careful manipulations, crafty plans and covert movements around Morganville, helped by some very clever and brave undercover agents in Bishop’s regime – all cumulating in a truly genius plan to finally bring Bishop down in an amazing play of cross and double cross.

The problem is I’m kind of extrapolating here. Because we’re following Claire. And Claire is involved in NONE OF THIS. So we don’t see it. Instead she whines about Shane being imprison, then spends a lot of time with Shane (and I’m not against this because the relationship is touching and sweet and actually kind of well done which surprised me. But there’s a war going on, less teen romance, more war!). She then spends much of the rest of the book moving medicine from lab to lab and following people around while they do things for the resistance with occasional bursts of random activity that doesn’t do much. I’m particularly not impressed by having Claire go and explore places for no reason. We’ve seen her do this before, in this book she decides to explore the boarded up coffee shop of Common Grounds. Why? No idea, a vague feeling at best. It’s sloppy writing.

And while we didn’t get to see all this fascinating behind the scenes plotting, instead we got some random scenes that didn’t matter much and added nothing to the storyline. The Goldman storyline that added nothing. Claire being kidnapped, AGAIN, for no good reason. The Dean storyline. Even the ending where they play pass the book with Bishop. They all seemed tacked onto this glorious main storyline we didn’t even get to see.

Claire, as a character and a portrayal continues to annoy me, especially since she is an observer to the actual events rather than an active participant.

Review: Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine, Book 5 of the Morganville Vampires series

All out war is now tearing through Morganville. Bishop and Amelie have gathered their forces and their factions and are feinting against each other in an underground conflict that could literally tear the town apart.

Parts of the town are burning, others in ruin. Refugees are flooding to the few safe spaces and among them many humans are finally seeing a chance to throw off vampire control and are lashing out and rioting in rage. But not all of their anger is directed against the vampires – humans who are seen as collaborators are also being targeted and all pretence of rule of law is threatened. In such chaos of course Shane's dad has to come back to town.

Even without the riots, humans have to wonder what the future holds – which vampire master or none at all?

And if that wasn't enough – the stress is accelerating the vampires' disease. The more they remain under pressure, the faster the disease spreads and the more confused, frightened and uncontrolled the vampires will become. A cure becomes more essential as the battle heats up.

And there's a storm coming, extreme weather rolling in to add more chaos and destruction to the already torn town

Fangs for the Fantasy podcast, episode 41

Another week, another instalment of our podcast, discussing what we've watched and read this week and also seeing which of us has suffered reading or watching the most painful content this week.

We continue our struggles with the Vampire Diaries, wonder exactly where the Walking Dead is going along with the American Horror Story, sigh over Secret Circle and consider the problematic erasures in Once Upon a Time, yet also discuss what we like about it and Grimm. We also discuss our new catch up series, The Fades. We also cry over the sheer horror of the CW defiling our beloved Hollows series

Looking at the books we've read we discuss Chloe Neil's Chicagoland Vampires, Rachel Vincent's series and Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires

We also discuss the extremely problematic way many Urban Fantasy appropriates teh language of equality movements

And next week we'll be reading Gail Carriger's Blameless, book 2 of the Parasol Protectorate series

Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine, Book 4 of the Morganville Vampires series

In the last book we were left with a cliffhanger. The Bishop, Amelie's father has come to town – and so has Claire's parents. The Bishop is dangerous, threatening and powerful...

And we open the book basically in the same situation. Big threatening bad guy and Claire's parents hanging round. And then we enter a holding pattern. I said the same thing about Midnight Alley and, sadly, I have to say it again, there's very little plot to review.

There are events. Claire spends a long time worrying about the big bad vampires, worrying about her dad, worrying about Shane, worrying about Myrnin in his cage, worrying about, well just about everything. But nothing actually happens. No plot moves forwards, nothing is advanced. There are events – but even less of them than there were in the last book. Claire goes to university, Claire drinks coffee. Claire's relationship with Shane continues (without developing), Claire keeps studying the vampire disease, Eve's brother Jason hangs around and is creepy. Eve's father dies and they go to the funeral. Shane and Claire go to the blood bank and give blood. Michael plays the guitar at Common Grounds and is good at it

I hate to present a long paragraph with just random bitten out events but that's pretty much the book.. Even in Midnight Alley there were more events to reference, but not here. I wouldn't mind if the events were good for foreshadowing or character development or world building, but even then there were too many of them without plot scenes interspaced - but most of them don't seem to add anything. They feel like filler scenes - and most of the book is like that. Worse, all of the foreshadowing of the Big Bad is told and told and told and told and never shown, it's vexing.

And it continues like this until we get to nearly 90% - and that is when the bad guys make their move, there is a great big showdown and the powerful, dramatic aftermath and hints of a long time campaign to come. Bishop makes his move, Amelie responds and fights back, lines are drawn, humans and vampires come together it looks like a rocking battle and a truly great story will begin here, filled with tension and reluctant alliances and fights for the whole town... except it started at 90%. It's really sad because she could have put this at the beginning of the book and gone on from there and actually had a fascinating plot. At least I have some hope for the next book

Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine, Book 3 of the Morganville Vampires series

So let us begin, as I normally do, with a plot summary.... and I've deleted this a few times because my openers were a bit snarky – but the plot of this book was a problem to me.

Stuff happened. There are EVENTS. Random stuff happening, but they're not really linked as a plot. There's no coherent whole and, in some ways, Claire feels completely dropped into storylines that don't concern or involve her. There's a lot happening that doesn't advance the plot, storylines kind of limping along without going anywhere but above all, these events and plot lines are not linked. There's a tangle of stuff happening rather than a coherent plot.

The dominant story line is that Amelie, big Founder Vampire, to whom Claire has pledged herself (for some reason. Technically to protect her friends but the at the same time it's made clear that the protection doesn't extend to them) has ordered Claire to become the apprentice to Myrnin, an ancient and knowledgeable vampire. Myrnin is ill and Amelie wishes to preserve his knowledge as much as possible by using Claire's superbrain (I know I know, after reading Glass House and The Dead Girl's Dance it's bemusing to think Claire even has a brain, but remember she's supposed to be super smart). To further complicate things, the illness makes Myrnin violent, unpredictable, unstable and dangerous – and he's killed his 5 previous apprentices. Myrnin's illness is degenerative and, surprise, all the vampires have it! So it's only a matter of time before everyone dies – and it's Claire's job to continue his work and find a cure!

Fangs for the Fantasy podcast, Episode 27

This week we discuss True Blood "Cold Grey Light of Dawn", Yasmine Galenorn's Darkling from the Sisters of the Moon series, Lauren Beukes' Zoo City, Kelley Armstrong's Bitten from the Otherworld series and Rachel Caine's Glass Houses from the Morganville Vampire series

Review: Glass Houses by Rachel Caine, Book 1 of the Morganville Vampires series

Claire is an ultra-bright 16 year old college student. Away from home for the first time she arrives in Morganville – a Texas University town that happens to be controlled by vampires. And, having pissed off some vampire lackeys, she now has enemies – some of them with fangs.

Fleeing the dorm she arrives at Glass House, home of Michael, Shane and Eve all with their own secrets yet none of them in the vampire's pockets and all are willing to help her navigate the murky and dangerous politics of Morganville life.

Now she just has to find a way to get the vampires off her back, make her enemies back up and negotiate some kind of peace for her life.