Gwen’s review of One Silent Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 16) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal fiction long novella released by St. Martin’s 4 Nov 08

Kenyon’s site calls this a “long novella” and says OSN is a book to bridge the gap between the older books and the ones coming.  It serves to fill in some battles and back-story, I suppose.  Read on to see what worked and what didn’t work for me. 

To begin with, OSN doesn’t have much of a romance, which is why I didn’t label it such. I think that only fans of the series will find it interesting, and I don’t recommend it if you’re new to the series.

In this entry, we stay down the “not-so-Dark-Hunter” path and focus more on the alternate pantheons and baddies.  I’m okay with that – I figure Acheron ended the original storylines and we have ventured into another world.  It’s just that this other world seems overly complex and unknown.  I’m having a very difficult time keeping track of who’s who and what’s what in this new realm Kenyon is creating.  I mean, Nick is now something else entirely?  Really??  Why???

The story was okay.  We get a taste of romance between Stryker (normally Mr. Bad Guy Himself) and his first wife (all around Ms McNasty), but it’s just a taste. We’re supposedly introduced to a variety of main characters we’re going to see get their HEA’s in future books; Kenyon does a good job of making characters be there for a reason and avoids the “trot them out to perform for the company” style that can sometimes afflict an established series.  But I was underwhelmed.

I can only recommend this book to fans of the series.   Not awful, but, well, meh.  Now the little smackerel we get on her site promises MUCH better things to come in her Feb release, Dream Warrior, not to mention the cover is yummy and (gasp) doesn’t have Nathan Kamp on it.

Grade: C-

Summary:

While the world carries on unawares, Stryker, who leads an army of demons and vampires, is plotting an all out onslaught against his enemies-which, unfortunately for us, includes the entire human race. To avenge his sister, Stryker prepares to annihilate the Dark-Hunters. But things go awry when his oldest enemy returns. Enter his ex-wife. Zephyra. Just when he thought nothing could stop him, he’s now embroiled in a centuries old war with a shrew who gives new meaning to pain.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series (in suggested reading order, most recent print release linked where possible):

and Book 18, Bad Moon Rising, coming Aug 2009

Gwen’s review of Acheron (Dark-Hunters, Book 12) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal Romance released by St. Martin’s Press 5 Aug 08

Kenyon wrote this book in two parts, so I’ll review it in two parts.  Part I is the story of Acheron’s early life. (“Acheron” is properly pronounced “Ack-uh-RAHN” and we learn he’s westernized to “ASH-uh-rahn” or “Ash”.)  Part II is the story of his modern life and his love story.  I couldn’t review it in any other way than two parts.   I tried, and just couldn’t.  When you read the review, you’ll see why. 

Part I, Acheron’s Early Life [my name, not the author's]

Part I is the (long) tale of Ash’s birth and the first roughly 2,200 years of his life.  The focus is on his human days, before he’s re-born into his godhead. It centers around his step-sister’s journal for large portions – giving an interesting first person accounting of his most vulnerable moments.  Much of it is told in third person after his sister is sent to Apollo’s temple.

We learn more about his mother, his history, his family.  We learn just how badly Artemis treated him and why (that woman needs some serious counseling).  And we learned how totally screwed over he was and how little anyone cared about it – including his real mother despite all her protestations of love.

However, as interesting as all this was, I have to admit, I didn’t read all of Part I.  I skimmed and skipped sections.  It was really dull to me.  Perhaps I need to be more of a fangrrl to have slogged all the way thru it, but I just couldn’t.  After roughly 200 pages of reading what was roughly the same event, for what felt like the thirtieth time, I just skimmed and thumbed until I saw more dialog.  Then I skimmed and skipped until it looked like something might be happening.  Therefore, I can’t say I read all of Part I – perhaps I will by the time I stop thumbing thru it, but I can’t say I slogged all the way thru it and it was a slog for me.

That’s why my grade of Part I is…

Grade: DNF

Part II, Acheron Present Day

This part of the book is set in modern day and is the typical Dark-Hunter novel we all know and love.  Well, know at least.  This part of the tome would be the typical mass market paperback length, about 300 pages.

It’s no secret by now that Ash’s heroine is a character mentioned in the first Dream-Hunter novel – Megeara’s (“Geary’s”) cousin, Soteria (“Tory”).   Ash and Tory meet when Ash, in a very uncharacteristic move and to cover up the existence of Atlantis and what happened to him there, submarines Tory’s archeological peer findings presentation. Tory immediately decides she hates him.  Of course, the love story begins.

Tory isn’t what I expected for Ash.  Not at first, at least.  In many ways she grows into the part by the end of the book.  I enjoyed their love story and their HEA. I thought the chemistry between them was believable and sweet.  Hey – we also learn why he’s always carrying around that backpack and actually are told what’s in it.

I liked the secondary characters, even if I felt a bit of the Feehan’s Dark Celebration thing going on in part of it.  You know what I mean: trooping out all the old characters like a family reunion to no very good purpose, making a “kids perform in front of the relatives” kind of thing. It seemed a bit overkill there once or twice, given that Ash didn’t really need the help and how the bloody hell did all those guys manage to get in one place at the same time anyway.  Seemed a bit much to believe and felt a little disingenuous.

The last issue I want to bring up is what Kenyon seems to be doing to her heroes.  I think she’s trying to make them more “vulnerable” and less “alpha”.  In doing so, however, I feel that perhaps she’s taking them down the “woe is me” path too much.  I mention this in my reviews of a couple of her last few books.  Her heroes all are more than damaged – they’re damaged and wallowing in it.  I don’t like men (or women) who wallow.  Life sucks some most of the time – just pull up your big girl/boy panties and get on with it.  Now, mind you, going thru decades of torment might skew your view of the world for a few years, but 11,000 fucking years?  C’mon!  There’s a difference between caution and cynicism, over holding onto a grudge and self-pity. Learn it.  Live it.  I just thought Acheron would be tougher emotionally than he turned out to be.

The upshot is the second half of the (enormous) book called Acheron isn’t bad.  It’s not great – it’s a kind of middlin’ sort of Dark-Hunter book and was a little disappointing.  I expected a lot more.  Not sure what.  Just.  More.

Grade: C+

Summary:

The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly… or more fun.

Read an excerpt here.

LynneC’s review of Acheron (Dark-Hunters, Book 12/13) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal romance hardcover (UK version) released by Piatkus Books 7 Aug 08

SPOILER WARNING: I reveal his heroine’s name, but I think most people know it by now. I did this review before I read Devon‘s.

Well here it was. The book I wasn’t going to get until it came out in paperback. But it was on offer at Amazon, bringing it down to the price of a paperback, so, there you go. I wish the book had been lighter, or shorter, or something, because I’ve got to tell you, my wrists hurt from holding this sucker. But I manfully (womanfully?) struggled on. Oh, and the British cover? Hideous. I’ve added it for your delectation.  [Ed.: Amazon UK says this is book 13 in the D-H series, Amazon US says book 12 - you choose.]

I’m going to get picky, but I do want to start by saying that I really enjoyed the read. Kenyon has lavished a lot of love and thought into this book, and it shows. So get it, read it and enjoy it. This is the book diehard Kenyon fans have been waiting for, the story of the badass, humongously tall Acheron, the ancient god with the face of a youth and it doesn’t disappoint. But at the end of the book I wanted more, and I had to wonder why.

The first part of the book is Ryssa’s journal. Ryssa is Acheron’s sister, and this part is really well done. Interesting to see how Kenyon writes in first person. I think she should do more. Ryssa really came alive in these pages. And describing Acheron’s early suffering from a step away really worked. I would have liked a bit more about her feelings for their father, the man who could distinguish so well between his children and treat them in such different ways. Acheron’s father remains a shadowy figure, a bit of a stock villain who I couldn’t really believe in. External motivation was great, but I wanted more internal struggle.

The gods were described as members of society. Apollo and his sister Artemis were introduced as participating in the society of the time. That, too, didn’t really ring true for me, and I’ve always had issues with Kenyon’s depiction of Artemis. Perhaps I read The Golden Bough at too early an age, but I’ve always believed in the complex philosophy behind the Diana/Artemis cult. But, this is a novel, and I found it easy to suspend my disbelief in this regard. Novelists make stuff up. However, I never got a real feel for the ancient world, and there were anachronisms you have to ignore in order to keep the story going. At one point, Ash’s father’s “alienation” was discussed, for instance (in this sense, it’s a 20th century concept. Freud and his counterparts deliberately chose words that were already in existence but attributed different and new definitions to them). Ryssa’s journal was bound into a book, which was explained (why isn’t it a scroll, or tablets?), although I didn’t buy into the explanation. “It just is” didn’t work for me.

Told you I was going to be picky. Again, I wouldn’t have read this far if I hadn’t been enjoying it.

In the second part, we go into Acheron’s story. Interesting, but towards the end – enough with the torture, already! I did, at one point, exclaim, “Not again!” out loud, which surprised the people around me. I think there was too much. Although the descriptions were really well done, we never had more than a couple of emotions. I would have liked more depth of emotion, less gory description. Acheron suffered and despaired, and gave up, and was, to be honest, a bit of a wimp.

But nil desperandum, Acheron dies, is made a god, and gets a backbone. As well as certain of his body parts being returned to him. I got a bit lost here, wondering how exactly he made the godhead. Never mind, it didn’t bother me too much.

Then we got to the modern part of the story, and the bit most fans wanted. Who would be his heroine? There were a couple of candidates I really didn’t want it to be, and luckily, it wasn’t them. In fact, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. The story is the usual kind of Kenyon, vintage, you might say. Intellectual, scatty, vaguely dorky but tall woman meets god. Gets into trouble, is rescued by the deus ex machina, you know how it goes.

Very enjoyable, but I wasn’t sure how or why Acheron fell for this particular dorky intellectual. He’s eleven thousand years old and he hasn’t been touched emotionally before except for that one time? A lot was made of his love for Artemis and how she destroyed it, but eleven thousand years? I can’t begin to imagine how that must feel, to live for that long. Tofler’s Futureshock must have exploded in Ash and his Dark-Hunters. I wanted to understand but I’m afraid I didn’t. I wanted to know why Tory, what made her so special, but I never really felt it. A lot of it was that she happened to be there at the time, when Things happened.

I wanted more for Ash, but when I started to wonder what, I wasn’t sure. Just – more. Maybe it was because this book has been so heavily promoted and discussed before its release. But I have to say, I enjoyed it. The book took me out of myself and into the world of the Dark-Hunters for three days, and that’s all I can ask. Well done, Ms. Kenyon, you pulled it off!

Grade: B-

Summary:

The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly… or more fun.

Read an excerpt.

Devon’s review of Acheron (Dark-Hunters, Book 12) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal Romance released by St. Martin’s Press 5 Aug 08

I credit Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunters series with getting me reading romance after a long hiatus. For the first few books in the series I could be found stalking the bookstores prior to release date, hoping the book had been put out early. The world she created was fascinating, the men dreamy, the romance hot. But over time my ardor cooled, as the rules changed, and the characters grew repetitive and bland. The primary love story never seemed as interesting as Dark-Hunter leader Acheron’s developing stories. Indeed, I never even read Devil May Cry until a couple of weeks ago, and skipped the Dream-Hunters all together. To my surprise, I found myself getting very excited over the release of Acheron. Could it stand up to expectations? Read and find out. Warning: It’s going to be a long review.

A friend joked that Acheron’s story was going to be “torture porn”, and she wasn’t far off the mark. The first 300 plus pages of this book (I read it in html, so I can’t be exact) are difficult to read. Ash’s early life was awful. He suffers horrific physical and sexual abuse by family members, strangers and Artemis. Even as he prayed to die, I prayed he would die also, so we could get on with the next half.

I am not one to think that difficult subjects should be shied away from, but I really found the detail and repetition of Ash’s abuse to be gratuitous and rather disturbing. The night I started the book, my hands were shaking, and I had to get up and walk around. To be fair, I was angry at the characters, not Kenyon, so my emotions were definitely engaged. The writing was powerful (and quite different from her usual style). Although there is no doubt the writing was compelling, there was no good reason for it to go on as long as it did. Feel free to skim, I would have if I hadn’t been reading to review. You’ll get the gist.

My enjoyment definitely picked up once Ash died and we get to see how he came to lead the Dark-Hunters. Then the book moves forward to present day. Finally, some happiness for Ash! The second part of the book is pure vintage Kenyon. Kenyon’s writing can border on cheesy: she tends to use certain phrases and clichés over and over, things can get overly sentimental, and the humor tends to schoolyard taunt rather than witty banter. But when she’s on her game, as she is here, her books suck me in like nothing else.

The heroine (is it okay to say who she is now?) is pretty much standard Kenyon. Intelligent, not classically pretty, sassy to the point of being annoying, deeply empathetic and understanding of her brooding man. In other words, fairly likeable. While she was more well drawn than some Dark-Hunter’s heroines, I wasn’t sure why Acheron would be so attracted to her. Their relationship does get off to an entertaining start, and develops well over all. I just wanted Acheron to be happy dammit. I was glad she was a plain old human though.

This section of the book moved fast and was very entertaining. Have to warn y’all about the cheese, though. There is a serenade, of Nickelback no less, waaaay too many pop culture references (Shia LeBeouf? “10, 000 BC”? “Fergielicious”?), and one hilariously dorky moment. I don’t want to give it away, but it happens right before Acheron goes to rescue his heroine and it involves characters from previous books. Some will find it heartwarming, but I groaned. But it’s Sherrilyn Kenyon, master of cheese, so I always momentarily cringe then dive right back in.

Although I enjoyed this section of the book, it felt a bit too quick, given all that had to be resolved — Acheron’s relationship with Artemis, his relationship with Nick, and his twin, and his mother. Some things were resolved, and some things were set up for the next arc of the story, which I’m looking forward to. If you ask me, 200 pages or so of Acheron abuse could’ve been cut and given over to his present and love story.

As you can tell, I’m all over the place with this book. Hmmm…gotta admit, I think I’d read the second half again. Despite my criticisms, I enjoyed it and was happy to see Ash happy. I wouldn’t read the first half again if you paid me. Thus my overall grade. Don’t bother with this one unless you’ve been following the series. If you are a Dark-Hunter fan, you are likely to be happy. But skim the first part, unless gratuitous abuse turns you on. Fingers crossed that this marks the beginning of a new and fresh direction for the Dark-Hunters. Stryker’s up next.

Grade: B

The Summary:
The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly… or more fun.
Read an excerpt here.

Gwen’s review of Upon the Midnight Clear (Dream-Hunters, Book 2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Contemporary paranormal romance published by St.Martin’s 30 Oct 07

Sherrilyn Kenyon is quite good at writing heroines. I have always loved her women and Leta is no exception. She’s determined and self-sacrificing. An all-around nice person. She’s also a Greek goddess of dreams and isn’t supposed to have any emotions, as per Zeus’s curse on her kind. A curse that isn’t working, by the way.

I have been ambivalent on Kenyon’s heroes – for example, loved Zarek, hated his brother Valerius. This book’s hero, Aidan, is on the down side of Gwen’s Likability Scale. He’s a whinny, self-pitying bitch for most of the book. No noble characteristics about him at all. As such, it was very difficult for me to believe in his relationship with Leta.

The interesting twist in this book was the heroine had the special powers and the hero was the human. I always like that, when an author switches things up. It did very little to help this story, though. Leta managed to stay a bit weak and ineffectual when it counted, leaving the heavy-lifting to Aidan.

When you see this book, it seems short for a paperback – not as many pages. When you open it, it seems REALLY short for a paperback – they have used double spacing, wide margins, and a large font. Now, either Kenyon’s publisher is formatting books for her older, more myopic fans, or this was a short-story that was made into a novel. Add a little padding and a huge font and, presto-change-o, you have a very short paperback that you can still sell for the full paperback price. Grrrrrrr! That did not amuse me.

All in all, it just wasn’t a very good book. It should have been left a short-story and put at the back of one of her other novels. I’m depressed about this. I’m a big Kenyon fan and her last three books just haven’t been as good. On the plus side, the Holiday Gatherings short-story at the end of the book was a fun read – perhaps she needs to go back to the lesser Were-Hunters. This does not bode well for Acheron’s story, coming out next year – but I’ll still buy it (it’s a sickness).

Grade: D+

blurb:

     Ever think Scrooge had it right before the ghosts ruined his life? Meet Aidan O’Conner. At one time he was a world-renowned celebrity who gave freely of himself and his money without wanting anything in return…until those around him took without asking. Now Aidan wants nothing of the world-or anyone who’s a part of it. When a stranger appears at his doorstep, Aidan knows he’s seen her before…in his dreams.Born on Olympus as a goddess, Leta knows nothing of the human world. But a ruthless enemy has driven her from the world of dreams and into the home of the only man who can help her: Aidan. Her immortal powers are derived from human emotions-and his anger is just the fuel she needs to defend herself…One cold winter’s night will change their lives forever…Trapped together in a brutal winter storm, Aidan and Leta must turn to the only power capable of saving them-or destroying them both: trust.

Read an excerpt.

Gwen’s review of Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter, Book 11) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal romance published 7 Aug 07 by St. Martin’s Press

This is the latest entry into Kenyon’s long-lived Dark-Hunter series.  The heroine is one of Artemis’s koris, Katra, and the hero is a Sumerian ex-god named Sin.  This book is centered around a new fight with a new pantheon’s baddies.  These baddies are actually badder than the Daimon baddies.

This entry into the Dark-Hunter world introduces another pantheon (Sumerian) and a new set of bad guys (the Gallu and the Dimme). None as familiar to us westerners as the Greek pantheon, though, and this leaves the reader a little at sea. This fact shouldn’t be fatal to a story if that story is well-told and interesting.  But, this story is well-told, just not that interesting.

In Devil, I felt like Ms Kenyon never gets very invested in Katra’s deeper feelings and motivations.  She talks about Kat’s immetiate motivations, her immediate reactions, some of her immediate feelings, but we never get much more than superficially involved.  I felt that at the end of the story I didn’t know Kat a whole lot better than I did at the beginning.  Among many things, I wanted to know more about how she felt about having to depend on another for sustenance, after an unfortunate encounter with one of the demons.  We never know, though.

I felt like the male lead character was more developed than Katra, but I didn’t like him very much, so I didn’t care.  He was too sarcastic and too unappealing to me to begin to care about him much.  I felt sorry for him, but only because Ms Kenyon reminded me over and over how betrayed Sin was, how wronged he was, etc. etc.

Let me equivocate a bit by stating the absolute fact that I have always liked Sherrilyn Kenyon/Kinley MacGregor novels.  Tons.  Perhaps I’m just tired of the whole D-H thing, but I’m interested in other paranormal series similar to the Dark-Hunters.  Well, then, perhaps I’ve been overexposed to the D-H’s, but it’s been months since I read a D-H novel.  Perhaps it’s just run its course with me. 

However, I’ll be picking up the next one.  Is that sick, or what?  I’m such a sucker for these stories.

If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool D-H fan, you’ll enjoy this book, but perhaps not love it.  If you’re new to the whole D-H craze, I wouldn’t start with this book – it picks up several existing characters mid-stream and will be confusing.  Start with the first book in the list below, Fantasy Lover – it’s fantastic, as are most of the subsequent entries (especially Zarek’s story, Dance With the Devil - loved it).

Grade: C+

Here’s the book blurb:

     Trust of any kind died in him the moment Artemis tricked him, but now he must rely on another woman or see an annihilation of biblical proportions. Enemies have always made strange bedfellows, but never more so than when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Now a man who knows only betrayal must trust the one person most likely to hand him to the demons. Artemis may have stolen his godhood, but this one has stolen his heart. The only question is will she keep it or feed it to the ones who want him dead?

     Read an excerpt.

Here are the other Kenyon Dark/Dream-Hunter books: