Gwen’s review of For A Few Demons More (Rachel Morgan & The Hollows, Book 5) by Kim Harrison
Paranormal fantasy published 20 Mar & 27 Nov 07 by Eos
My relationship with the Rachel Morgan books is complicated. I both love and hate them. I care about the characters, enjoy the action and predicaments, but I want to throw the book at the wall regularly when a character (usually Rachel) does something stupid. There are many TSTL moments in a Rachel Morgan book. Despite this, Harrison manages to work the characters thru these moments and the plot actually ends up moving along because of them, not in spite of them. That’s the one thing I really like about these books – the plot moves. It rolls unpredictably, jarringly, inexorably along. And that is what makes these such page-turners, despite the flaws. The reader just has to know what happens next.
This book was released in hardcover (the author’s HC debut) 20 Mar 07 and in mass-market paperback 27 Nov 07. There have been some people decrying the fact that one of the main characters is killed off in this book; they felt cheated that an expensive hardcover rattled their Rachel-world. There are others new to the series who were irritated that this book didn’t stand-alone; they felt cheated that an expensive hardcover wasn’t readable on its own. None of those things bothered me. To begin with, brave authors take plots and characters to unpredictable and sometimes undesirable places and I think they’re allowed to do that, applaud it, in fact. Lastly, buying an expensive hardcover of a book in the middle of a series you’ve never read may not be the smartest thing to do; but to then be irritated that you don’t understand all of the plot points or the characters is a bit simple-minded.
Rachel Morgan books are not a typical romances – they are paranormal fantasies set in an alternate reality. None of the books have had an HEA, strictly speaking, though they all end on a somewhat upbeat note, even if the characters are all very changed by the events. This one is no different, even with the tragedy. I won’t give any spoilers other than what I have already, so forgive the vague wording.
I really liked all of the secondary characters in this book. We get to know quite a bit more about the elf, Trent, and his second, Quen. We get some tantalizing glimpses into the politics of the whole demon ever-after. We get a glimpse of a new, sexy demon named Minias and let me just say that I’ll never quite look at my sneezing attacks in the same way again. All of this serves to give us a very fun story and is setting the stage for Book 6, The Outlaw Demon Wails, coming in hardcover 26 Feb 08 (terrific excerpt up on Harrison’s site, just click on the title). I am really looking forward to it – can’t wait to see what new trouble Rachel gets into.
This was a good book for fans of the Rachel Morgan series and I highly recommend to to you fans out there. Needless to say, it does not standalone so it would be a poor choice for readers new to the series.
[singlepic=80,80,80,,] Grade: B+
Blurb: Despite dating one vampire and living with another, Rachel Morgan has always managed to stay just ahead of trouble . . . until now.
A fiendish serial killer stalks the Hollows, and no one living in or around Cincinnati—human, inhuman, or undead—is safe. An ancient artifact may be the key to stopping the murderer—a mysterious relic that is now in the hands of Rachel Morgan, fearless independent bounty hunter and reckless witch. But revealing it could ignite a battle to the death among the vast and varied local supernatural races.
Rachel’s been lucky so far. But even she can’t hide from catastrophe forever.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
I gave up on the series with this one. It was a DNf (although I went to the end to spoil myself). Rachel the Dumb and her partner in angst Ivy the Annoying just drive to distraction. They should get it on or move on.
I love this series, plus Harrison has a great world…well at least I like it and I’m probably one of the few but I have no problem with Rachel’s character. The only thing that bugs me is the Ivy/Rachel thing that I am hoping will be rezolved sooner than later. I also was pretty mad about Kisten dying.
Outlaw Demon Wails sounds good and finally she’s not wearing a tight black dress on the cover, an inprovement.
Just tight black (leather) pants. LOL
Rachel the Dumb = good characterization. She makes me nutz some of the decisions she makes.
I started out loving the series but by the third book I could not deal with it anymore. The series seems to be about inventing new ways to torture Rachel and keep the series going through that and to me it has gotten old, fast. If it ever ends, I wouldn’t mind finding what happens at the end of the series and I do have a vague hope she will get togethere with elf boy Trent (can no one else sense the tension??) but until then, I will not be reading the rest of the series.
Yeah, I’ve been hoping that Rachel and Trent get paired up from the beginning, but at this point, I doubt that’s going to happen. Is it sick that I also think there’s tension between Rachel and the demon Al.? Sure, he wants to kill her in all sorts of inventively painful ways, but still . . .
I’m still a fan of the series, but this whole Ivy thing needs to end. Make a decision, and get over it- the whole thing got old a long time ago.
I was trying to name the blog when I ran across her book The Good, The Bad and The Undead. Cracks me up people always think it is a play on the movie.
::shrug::
I haven’t read this yet and didn’t read the review yet but I always giggle when I see her name. I am sure she thinks I am on crack cuz I told her about it in Dallas. Tres nice author. Well she had that nice nod and smile at the crazy reader thing down.
I’ve read all of the series except for this one, and I don’t think I will read it after hearing that the author killed off Kisten. Maybe that’s a little close-minded of me but there is so much great stuff out there to read, I really don’t want to have to go through the killing off of a favourite character.
However, if Ivy had have been written out I probably would have read that! There is way too much angst going on there…
I agree with Tara – let me know if Rachel and Trent get together or the series reaches its conclusion and I’ll pick it up again.
To those of you who want Rachel to hook up with Trent – I’m thinking you may not want him to after you read this book. He does some decidedly nasty stuff that would seriously turn me off him, let alone Rachel.
Minias, however, I can see. Now THAT would be interesting!