Liviania’s review of Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts, Book 2) by Stacia Kane
Urban Fantasy released by Del Rey 6 July 2010

The second book in a trilogy tends to be the worst, since it is stuck setting up the exciting climax of book three.  Luckily for me, Unholy Magic didn’t feel like it was just marking time.  There were typical second book touches of expanding the setting and furthering an ongoing storyline – in this case, possible corruption in the Church, letting to unsettled ghosts.  At the same time, the one book mysteries about murdered prostitutes and a haunted movie star stand pretty well on their own.

The biggest flaw of the book is the giant coincidence that helps Chess Putnam putt the pieces together and figure out the murderer’s identity.  Truthfully, it’s a series of about three giant coincidences, which makes it all the more convenient and lazy.  Stacia Kane makes up for botching the mystery through the strong atmosphere of the novel, revelations about Chess’s past, and more of Terrible and Lex.  There’s also some needed levity amongst the grit, mostly due to Chess’s smart mouth and the consequences thereof.  But she manages to get herself into some situations that are funny in a tense sort of way.

Terrible and Lex are both bad ideas. They’re mixed up in drugs, they probably kill people, but they’re also charismatic.  It’s easy to see why Chess falls for Terrible and keeps falling into bed with Lex despite the fact that she knows she shouldn’t be involved with either.  Terrible continues to exhibit many sides, as he did in Unholy Ghosts, and Lex gains more texture.

For those bothered by drugs, that aspect does not disappear.  In fact, Chess has been increasing her drug use since she now has access to two dealers.  Once more there are clear negatives to Chess’s use, but nothing life-ruining and while Chess angsts about many things, her inability to stop using isn’t one of them.  Other readers may be bothered by the orgy scene in the middle of the novel.  (Fans of soap operas will adore the movie star storyline.  It’s convoluted and over-the-top and reminds me of the delicious craziness that was Passions.)

It’s a combination of factors that makes me enjoy the Downside Ghosts series so much.  Part of it is the novelty.  While Unholy Ghosts and Unholy Magic fit easily within the boundaries of the urban fantasy genre, they don’t use many of the more popular tropes.  I’m frequently annoyed by love triangles, but Kane keeps me at bay by actually offering up two equally plausible love interests.  I’m also a sucker for stuff that extrapolates what society would be like if just a few things were different, and Kane has that down as well.

Grade: A-

Summary:

ENEMIES DON’T NEED TO BE ALIVE TO BE DEADLY.

For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job. As an agent of the Church of Real Truth, Chess must expose those looking to profit from the world’s unpleasant little poltergeist problem—humans filing false claims of hauntings—all while staving off any undead who really are looking for a kill. But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a new “celebrity” assignment while trying on her own time to help some desperate prostitutes.

Someone’s taking out the hookers of Downside in the most gruesome way, and Chess is sure the rumors that it’s the work of a ghost are way off base. But proving herself right means walking in the path of a maniac, not to mention standing between the two men in her life just as they—along with their ruthless employers—are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown. Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire.

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

Liviania’s review of Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 1) by Stacia Kane
Urban fantasy released by Del Rey 25 May 2010

Sybil was offering me a variety of books to review and quickly realizing I’ll say yes to almost anything.  The hook for Unholy Ghosts was the controversy over the main character’s drug use.  There’s nothing I love more than being able to take a specific side in an argument.

I can see why the people who don’t like drug use are disturbed by the depiction in Unholy Ghosts.  Chess Putnam credits the drugs for helping her cope and shows no desire to stop.  There’s no angst about her drug use ruining her life.  Despite that, I wouldn’t call it a positive portrayal.  Chess acknowledges that the drugs dull her senses and that keeping her use a secret is a hassle, especially when her dealer is blackmailing her.  All in all, it felt more realistic than a gimmick, so I felt the inclusion of drugs made sense within the story.

The blackmail?  Ghosts have started showing up at the airfield dealer Bump wants to use to move product.  He enlists Chess, a Debunker for the Church of Real Truth, to exorcise the ghosts.  The world of Unholy Ghosts diverged from ours when homicidal ghosts showed up.  The Church of Real Truth replaced other religions when they figured out how to get rid of ghosts.  Many people fake haunting, causing a need for Debunkers, who rarely have to deal with actual ghosts. Stacia Kane does a good job of working out the logistics of her world, which includes gangs who refuse to obey the Church due to Confucian ideals.  It’s much more exciting than reading a standard vampire mythology again.

One of the things I love about the Downside Ghosts series is the fact that Chess is just another Debunker.  She’s competent, and a decent detective, but she doesn’t have super special awesome powers.  She just gets involved with nasty cases due to her underworld connections.  She can be hard to sympathize with sometimes, since her issues tend to rule her life, but her voice is absorbing.  While she tries to be hard, her narration reveals how fragile she is.

I also enjoyed both of her love interests.  Terrible starts out as a thoroughly unlikeable thug working as Bump’s enforcer.  But as Chess gets to know him, she starts to appreciate his better qualities and finds him more attractive.  At the same time Stacia Kane reveals Terrible’s ability to be nice, she maintains his characterization as a guy who beats up others for a dealer.  He’s a complex character, which I love.  Lex, conversely, remains a cipher during Unholy Ghosts.  He’s a hot cipher though, and Terrible’s busy being complex, so it works.

After I finished Unholy Ghosts, I immediately passed it on to my dad and picked up Unholy Magic to read myself.  (After finishing that, I begged Sybil for City of Ghosts.)  I like the Downside Ghosts because it has a different feel to it.  The mystery, world-building, and romance elements are well-balanced.  As noted, Chess isn’t super special awesome.  Plus, I’m intrigued by both love interests instead of instantly pulling for one and being bored during the other’s scenes.

Grade: A

Summary:

THE AFTERLIFE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen and constantly attack the living. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Consequently, there are many false claims of hauntings from those hoping to profit. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully-tattooed witch and freewheeling Debunker and ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for nailing the human liars or banishing the wicked dead. But she’s keeping a dark secret from the Church: a little drug problem that’s landed her in hot and dangerous water.

Chess owes a murderous drug lord named Bump a lot of money. And Bump wants immediate payback. All Chess has to do is dispatch a very nasty species of undead from an old airport. But the job involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and crossing swords with enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust with a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah.

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

Liviania’s review of Ice Song by Kirsten Imani Kisai
Science fiction/fantasy released by Del Rey 19 May 2009

Sybil quickly figured out that I enjoy stories that play with gender.  Many people are intrigued by what separates men and women, but I enjoy that separation even more when it’s illuminated by a blending of the characteristics.  Therefore, a story about a main character who transitions from female to male naturally seemed right up my alley.

Unfortunately, that’s one of the weakest aspects of the story.  Sorykah doesn’t become Soryk until over a hundred pages into the novel.  Then, she only stays Soryk briefly; it’s just long enough to meet a girl, become attached, have sex.  The relationship does spur on many later events in the novel, but it felt clumsy.  Until the finale, Soryk doesn’t serve much purpose other than having sex and preventing Sorykah from moving forward in her quest since he has no clue what her quest is.

Fortunately, Kirsten Imani Kasai imagined an interesting world.  Many people are born with strange deformities in this dystopia, and discriminated against.  One man, the Collector, enjoys experimenting on them and has just stolen Sorykah’s twin babies.  He’s incredibly creepy, and his servants provide the most intriguing point of views.  After all, those who work for him are the same as those he hunts.  But they do have their reasons.

I like Ice Song best when it’s being a straight ahead sci-fi adventure about a mother and her allies against the man who stole her children.  The relationship between Sidra and Soryk becomes touching after its clumsy start, so I could forgive the seeming gratuity of it.  But I find the other sex scenes in the book fairly unpalatable, as – this is something of a SPOILER – Sorykah is forced to prostitute herself in order to receive information about her children.  This interlude did explore the consequences of the setting, but I just feel like I’d be more interested in the questions it presents in a different book.  Here it slowed down the action.  It seemed to me like Kasai tried to inject some eroticism, but only made the sex disturbing instead of titillating.

Ice Song was not what I was expecting.  I mostly enjoyed it, though the parts I didn’t like I really didn’t like.  The unevenness took away from the reading experience.  I may pick up something else by Kasai in the future since this is her first novel.  Though the execution was clumsy, she had several ideas that I would love to see her explore again once she gains more experience.  I would recommend Ice Song to fans of dystopian fiction who don’t mind fantastic elements, since the worldbuilding was the strongest part of the novel.

Grade: B-

Summary
There are secrets beneath her skin.

Sorykah Minuit is a scholar, an engineer, and the sole woman aboard an ice-drilling submarine in the frozen land of the Sigue. What no one knows is that she is also a Trader: one who can switch genders suddenly, a rare corporeal deviance universally met with fascination and superstition and all too often punished by harassment or death.

Sorykah’s infant twins, Leander and Ayeda, have inherited their mother’s Trader genes. When a wealthy, reclusive madman known as the Collector abducts the babies to use in his dreadful experiments, Sorykah and her male alter-ego, Soryk, must cross icy wastes and a primeval forest to get them back. Complicating the dangerous journey is the fact that Sorykah and Soryk do not share memories: Each disorienting transformation is like awakening with a jolt from a deep and dreamless sleep.

The world through which the alternating lives of Sorykah and Soryk travel is both familiar and surreal. Environmental degradation and genetic mutation run amok; humans have been distorted into animals and animal bodies cloak a wild humanity. But it is also a world of unexpected beauty and wonder, where kindness and love endure amid the ruins. Alluring, intense, and gorgeously rendered, Ice Song is a remarkable debut by a fiercely original new writer.
Read an excerpt here.

Gwen’s review of The Betrayal (The Ælven, Book 1) by Pati Nagle
Romantic fantasy released by Del Rey 24 Mar 09

I don’t get much chance to read fantasy, though it is one of my first literary loves.  I cut my reader’s teeth on J.R.R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny, and Terry Brooks.  To this day, I hear music that I listened to while reading and I still get a nostalgic whiff of what it was like to first experience those books.  It’s like being touched by the ghost of a wonderful old friend – a bit of a shiver and peaceful feeling all at the same time.  I got that same feeling, and a touch of romance, with this book and it was a very nice homecoming. 

All fantasy has some romantic elements in it, but seldom is there a central romance around which a story is based.  Fantasies are often these big, sweeping tales of strife and ambition, pitting magic and mundane, good and evil against each other and there’s seldom much room for romance.   In The Betrayal, we have a juxtaposition of these two genres and in some ways, while it’s a more “limited” tale in it’s sweeping scope, it’s almost a more intimate one because of the emotion involved.  There’s still the sweeping “good vs. evil” saga, but it’s told with the central romance between Turison and Eliani as the focus, and I really enjoyed the read.

Nagle has created a very complex, natural world for the ælven.  The characters are one with their environment and, when they’re not, it’s considered an abomination.  We’re left wondering why an abomination would occur in the first place and are left with some tantalizing hints as to why this has occurred.  (Yes, yes.  There is some not so subtle subtext about ecology, etc., which I choose to ignore.)  Nagle’s is a very complex world and I highly recommend keeping handy the map and glossary on the author’s site; I read the ARC, so I’m not sure if these are included in the final print version of the book (hopefully they are).

What we get with this story is a nicely wrought tale of passion, betrayal, and fantasy.  I hesitated reading it – thinking that I didn’t want to read a dry fantasy tale – and now wish I hadn’t waited.  It was a very good story that I highly recommend to any of you who have – like me – not dabbled in fantasy for a while.  Really a lovely story with quite the cliff-hanger ending.  I can’t wait for the next entry coming next Spring.

Grade: A

Summary:
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When the touch of a hand and a caring thought create a psychic bond that can span vast distances, the lives of two young ælven strangers are forever changed. Turisan and Eliani share the legendary gift of mindspeech, which can aid their people on the eve of war—but only if they are willing to embrace an irrevocable intimacy.
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Read excerpts and deleted scenes.

Other books in the series:

Heart of the Exiled (The Ælven, Book 2), late spring/early summer 2010

Gwen’s review of In Odd We Trust (Odd Thomas Series) by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan, illustrated by Queenie Chan
Paranormal fiction graphic novel released by Del Rey 24 Jun 08

I have a deep and abiding love of graphic novels, manga, and anime.  It stems mostly from my almost slavish appreciation for good art.  These “new” images (what I believe stem originally from ukiyo’e) can be mind-bogglingly beautiful images.  When the drawing is done well, a good story is a bonus to me – I’m just there to soak up the images.  What I’m saying is I don’t need much plot to enjoy a good comic strip or cartoon if the art is good.  With this first Odd Thomas graphic novel, I can see aspirations, but I’m not sure if the delivery is there.  Read on to see what worked, or not…

I have never read any of Koontz’s Odd Thomas books.  The premise is interesting – he’s something of a male “Ghost Whisperer” with an edge and a spatula.  I can’t decide whether the Odd books are YA, though; based on this graphic novel, it feels like one.  The plot is a little simplistic – girl in trouble with a stalker, Odd saves her and puts the guy in jail.

However, the delivery of this thin plot is left even more anemic with the art.  In a manga/g-novel, quite a lot of emotion can be conveyed in a character’s facial expressions, but Chang’s characters seemed oddly wooden.  Their expressions seem to sway between amusement and a weird stunned expression.  That’s about it.  It’s a shame there wasn’t more variety.  And I could have wished more time had been spent on the backgrounds. It would have been nice to see the houses and environs of Pico Mundo a bit more stylistically rendered – it was all so up and down with no interest.

It also felt like large parts of the story were edited out of the g-novel for purposes of space or pacing.   Something else that left it a bit on the weak side.

So, in all, I can’t say I recommend this graphic novel to fans of the series. I think you’ll be disappointed unless you’re a diehard fan and just want to buy everything you can that’s Odd Thomas or Dean Koontz related.

Grade: D

Summary:

“Meet a young man named Odd . . . who helps the dead get even.”

From the infinite imagination of #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz comes the suspenseful graphic-novel debut of a natural-born hero with a supernatural twist.

Odd Thomas is a regular nineteen-year-old with an unusual gift: the ability to see the lingering spirits of the dead. To Odd, it’s not such a big deal. And most folks in sleepy Pico Mundo, California, are much more interested in the irresistible pancakes Odd whips up at the local diner. Still, communing with the dead can be useful. Because while some spirits only want a little company . . . others want justice.

When the sad specter of a very frightened boy finds its way to him, Odd vows to root out the evil suddenly infecting the sunny streets of Pico Mundo. But even with his exceptional ability-plus the local police and his pistol-packing girlfriend, Stormy, backing him-is Odd any match for a faceless stalker who’s always a step ahead . . . and determined to kill again?

Read an excerpt (scroll down to the thumbnails).

Other books in the series (mass market release dates where available):

P.S. Yes, my avatar is a graphic of a portion of Faye Valentine‘s face – some of her hair, her right eye, and right eyebrow.  I realize it looks a little like a Rorschach.

Shannon C.’s review of The Queen’s Bastard (Inheritor’s Cycle, Book 1) by C.E. Murphy
Historic fantasy released by Del Rey 29 Apr 08

C.E. Murphy, whose urban fantasy is, I’m told, very good, certainly has a gift for storytelling. Her narrative voice is smooth, and the prose is lovely without extending that extra notch into purple, and I found the book engaging. Unfortunately, I feel as if I’ve read this story before.

Belinda Primrose is the bastard daughter of Queen Lorraine Walter of Aulun. Raised by her father, Lord Robert Drake, the queen’s spymaster, she is molded into a secret tool used by her mother for the good of the crown, acting mostly as an assassin. However, her latest assignment is to venture to the city of Lutetia, the capital of neighboring Gallin, where, under the guise of Lady Beatrice Irvine, she is to insinuate herself into Queen Sandalia’s court. Sandalia is heir to three kingdoms, and holds much animosity toward Lorraine, whose country has adopted religious reformation. If Belinda, disguised as Beatrice, can ferret out Sandalia’s plots, that’s all to the good. But she never counts on discovering the Witchbreed power she has inherited.

As I said above, I really liked the storytelling here. Murphy really knows how to pace herself, and while I can’t say I couldn’t put this book down, I did enjoy it while I was reading it. I generally like political intrigue, and it really is nice to read about a heroine occasionally who isn’t a trembling virgin. In fact, Belinda revels in her bisexuality, which I still find amazingly refreshing.

Despite all that, though, I didn’t like Belinda. She never particularly resonated with me, and I was bothered by the fact that everything she sets out to do she manages with great aplomb. I kept waiting for an ax to fall, and when it finally did and she got the bitch-slap she so richly deserved, I didn’t really think she’d suffered enough.

Speaking of suffering, I was intrigued by Belinda’s romantic interest, Sandalia’s son Javier. He seems like a pretty nice guy who nonetheless has had an extremely privileged life. His three best friends, a merchant’s son, a young nobleman, and a girl from the streets, all look to him as leader, and his relationships with them shift in subtle ways thanks to Belinda’s machinations. I felt horrible because by the end of the book it’s Javier who has lost a great deal. I’d like to see more of his PoV in the next book in the series, and I’m hoping his story arc is not as destined to end tragically as it sort of looks like it might.

The secondary characters are fairly compelling, particularly the ones we didn’t see much of in this book. Lorraine seems like an especially interesting woman, and Eliza, Javier’s friend from the streets, is definitely a tragically drawn character who I hope gets much more screen time. Most compelling of all is Robert Drake, Belinda’s father, who may have secrets of his own, although from what I pieced together from memories Belinda read from him, I suspect that there’s no way he can reveal his secrets without them being very much on the cheesy side.

I did see the similarities in style between this book and Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel trilogy, of which I’ve read the first two books. In fact, I felt at times that Murphy was trying too hard to emulate an idol, and falling just short of the mark. Also, the book draws heavily on Tudor-era Europe, and at times I found that distracting. I didn’t really get a sense of the uniqueness of this world, or how it differed from ours except in very small, inconsequential ways.

I feel this review may be a tad too nitpicky considering the fact that I enjoyed the book for the most part. I definitely do intend to read the next books in the series, and I would recommend it with reservations to someone who likes their fantasy a bit more on the realistic side. This book has certainly made me eager to start some of Ms. Murphy’s other books which I have languishing on the TBR.

Grade: C+

Summary:
In a world where religion has ripped apart the old order, Belinda Primrose is the queen’s secret weapon. The unacknowledged daughter of Lorraine, the first queen to sit on the Aulunian throne, Belinda has been trained as a spy since the age of twelve by her father, Lorraine’s lover and spymaster.

Cunning and alluring, fluent in languages and able to take on any persona, Belinda can infiltrate the glittering courts of Echon where her mother’s enemies conspire. She can seduce at will and kill if she must. But Belinda’s spying takes a new twist when her witchlight appears.

Now Belinda’s powers are unlike anything Lorraine could have imagined. They can turn an obedient daughter into a rival who understands that anything can be hers, including the wickedly sensual Javier, whose throne Lorraine both covets and fears. But Javier is also witchbreed, a man whose ability rivals Belinda’s own . . . and can be just as dangerous.

Amid court intrigue and magic, loyalty and love can lead to more daring passions, as Belinda discovers that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

You can read an excerpt here.