Shannon C.’s review of Demon Bound (The Guardians, Book 7) by Meljean Brook
Paranormal romance released by Berkley 4 Nov 08

I emailed Meljean asking for an e-arc of Demon Bound before its release date, which was, for those of you paying attention, in November. She graciously sent me the book and then I promptly… didn’t read it. I realize that the book release date is not merely a friendly suggestion when presented with an ARC, and Ms. Brook doubtless would have appreciated the positive review at the actual, y’know, release date. So if she’s reading this, she has my permission to tell Sybil to beat me, whip me, and make me write bad checks. Because I loved this book.

I honestly wasn’t sure that Alice would work for me as a heroine. Creepy Victorian woman with a gift for skulking and a penchant for spiders who’s supposed to bring the heart of the leader of the Guardians to a demon? I wasn’t interested. I should have trusted Ms. Brook’s storytelling better than that, because eventually I came to love Alice. She’ll never be a Lilith or a Savi, but we can’t all be that flavor of kick-ass. And I think that drawing distinct characters is something Ms. Brook does well. I can tell the difference between Charlie and Lilith and Alice in their dialogue from book to book, same with Jake and Ethan and Colin.

Jake, our Vietnam war soldier turned novice guardian, is very compelling as well. I loved that he was kind of an idiot, and had to grow up over the course of the story. I love that his relationship with Alice makes him a better person, and not because Alice is so gosh darn pure that he can’t help himself. No, it all flows together naturally.

I wouldn’t recommend reading this latest entry in the Guardians series if you’re not a little bit familliar with the world. Yet again, Ms. Brook shoves the reader into the plot and expects us to keep up. And the plot here is intricate and byzantine enough to satisfy me.

There were a few things that I noticed that drew me out of the story a bit. The first is subjective, and likely won’t matter to anyone else. But Jake’s Kansas is straight out of the Wizard of Oz movie. I promise, the entire state does consist of other things beyond flat boring wheat fields. And sometimes I find the way Ms. Brook introduces future characters a tad jarring. They’re just kind of there, with no prelude or mention of them at any time previously.

The Guardians series is meaty paranormal romance at its best. It’s the epitome of what the genre can be but so often isn’t, and I highly recommend readers start at the beginning, with Demon Angel [Ed.: or the short story in Hot Spell.] and fall in love with this world as much as I have.

Grade: A-
Read other reviews of books in this series by clicking on its tag.

Summary:
Alice Grey is known as the Black Widow – a woman trapped in a web spun by the demon Teqon. Jake Hawkins is a novice Guardian whose gift of teleportation could be invaluable to Alice in determining her next move. But can they survive when fear and secrets threaten not just their lives and souls, but the fate of the universe?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series, in reading order:

Gwen’s review of Demon Bound (The Guardians, Book 7) by Meljean Brook
Contemporary paranormal romance released by Berkley 4 Nov 08

I am a gigantic fan of Meljean’s writing.  I find it to be quick, witty, complex, and always telling a really good story.  The Guardians series is all of that and more.  This is a very complex world – one full of factions within factions, in-fighting, not-so-good good guys, sympathetic bad guys, and passion. 

As I probably should have expected, nothing was straight-forward or easy in Demon Bound.  There were many times I just had to trust in the author to get me thru a particularly complex scene, a bit of complicated dialog, or seemingly labyrinthine character motivation. I was never disappointed by Brook – she always dragged me out the other side having enjoyed the torture – though I do admit to not liking this entry as well as the other Guardians novels and stories I’ve read.  I was just a bit bowled over by how complex much of the book was – sometimes it’s nice to see why something is happening before you get to the very end of a scene.  I like to make at least part of the trip with a characters.

I never fully understood Alice’s, the heroine’s, “jerky movements” – never could picture them in my mind or why they would appear creepy.  I blame this lack on me – not the author.  I also wasn’t sure I fully believed the love affair resolving the way it did, though it was sweet at the end; there just seemed like too much baggage for Alice to overcome so quickly.  Jake’s (the hero and novice Guardian) inability to control his teleporting is a refreshingly human frailty in an otherwise supernatural world.   I also really enjoyed Jake’s encounter with this human family – it was really quite lovely.  He was my favorite character, but that may have to do more with the creep factor of spiders, etc., than anything.

I liked Demon Bound, but almost gave it a C because of the complexity of the writing.  However, it’s a much better book than a C.  The story arcs are complex but complete.  Some of the characters are deliciously Machiavellian – I cannot wait to see what Brook does with the Doyen, Michael.  Now there’s a character I could sink some fangs into.  Yum!

I recommend this book to fans of the series.  If you haven’t read any of the previous Guardians novels, I don’t recommend starting with this one unless you’ve first read Brook’s Guardians Primer found here (something I highly recommend). I also highly recommend you snapping up the mass market paperback release of Wild Thing, coming January 2009 (see link in the below covers) – those are some excellent stories, including a terrific Guardians one.

Grade: B

Read reviews and info about this and other books in The Guardians series by following its tag.

Summary:

Alice Grey is known as the Black Widow-a woman trapped in a web spun by the demon Teqon. Jake Hawkins is a novice Guardian whose gift of teleportation could be invaluable to Alice in determining her next move. But can they survive when fear and secrets threaten not just their lives and souls, but the fate of the universe?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series (links to mass market paperback releases where available):

Lawson’s review of Demon Bound (Guardians, Book 4) by Meljean Brook
Paranormal romance released by Berkley Sensation 4 Nov 08

I really, really need to get the anthologies that have the short stories that go along with the Guardians series. Not that reading the books isn’t enough, but Brook’s world is amazing and any chance to step into it is a memorable reading experience. This installment in the Guardians series follows Jake Hawkins, who had a secondary role in Demon Night, gets his story in this one. There also some major revelations about the Guardian history and Michael, which if I talk about in depth would just spoil everything. So I won’t. 

Jake starts off the story teleporting into an obscure temple in Tunisia finding Alice Grey, Guardian unofficial librarian who is called the Black Widow. Alice is excavating the temple in hopes that it will give her clues on how to help get her out of a bargain with a demon named Teqon. While there, Jake helps Alice with some of the work, some demons arrive looking for Alice, to give her a message from Teqon. Both Alice and Jake fight off the demons and they leave the temple.

Jake seeks some answers about Alice and learns of her bargain with Teqon and decides to help her, whether to save Alice by getting her out of her bargain or fulfilling it by getting Michael’s heart and giving it to Teqon. In helping Alice, Jake teleports her to new sites where other temples have appeared. The temples don’t always stay visible, as they are spellbound so that humans would not be able to find them.

As Alice and Jake discover more from the temples, Jake starts to control his Gift of teleportation a bit more and he sees Alice as more than the Black Widow, who is known more for her spiders and the creepy way she likes to scare the novice Guardians. Alice is forced to seek help for her problem with the bargain she made, which makes her have relationships with the people around her, and not just her spiders. Along with all that comes knowledge of things that Michael, the Doyen and head Guardian, has not told the Guardian community, from their creation, history to the present day.

Before getting to the plot, a bit about Jake and Alice. Jake I adored. He’s a smart guy, but he was caught up in in the draft and went to Vietnam. Though he didn’t do well in school, it was because he wanted more than his small town in Kansas and getting drafted wasn’t what he wanted. His tale of how he died and was transformed showed a sense of nobility, honor and caring that Hugh had as well. Jake is right next to Hugh, in my opinion, in the best heroes in the Guardian series (though remember, I haven’t read all the stories yet).

Alice at first was very prim and proper and almost cold. Her Gift is to communicate with spiders (which could be rather off putting to anyone who has any sort of fear or distaste for spiders), which does make her odd, it affects even the way she walks and moves. Because of her bargain, she’s used these things as an excuse not to get close to anyone and not let anyone know about her life. She does warm up over the course of the book, and her vulnerability, modesty and fears are replaced with her strength, knowledge and confidence in herself.

While the majority of the action in the book takes place over about two weeks, it does seem odd that Alice would drop her walls so quickly with Jake. They spend so much time together though, that it works and does make sense. Alice and Jake compliment each other well, with her Victorian style dresses that cover her from head to toe, which gives Jake lots to imagine and Jake’s vintage band t-shirts that Alice tries to decipher, thinking they’re message t-shirts. The dynamic between these two gives lots of steam and chemistry as they work together in different ways.

Unlike Demon Moon and Demon Night, Demon Bound focuses more on the history of the Guardians, rather than the present day. The prophecy of Belail is mentioned, from Demon Night, which also has to do with Alice’s bargain. What worked the best in the story was the revelation of the past. Instead of a retelling of the events, it’s continuing layers of world building in Brook’s world. Not only that, but it also expands on the idea that Heaven and Hell are in fact not so far apart, and their struggle has always been intertwined with humanity not only in the middle but an essential part not only for the souls but showing that even those Above and Below are subject to what we would think of as human nature and emotions as well.

As much fun as discussion about everything in the book would be, that would give away too many spoilers. Jake, Alice and their quest for her redemption is tied in well with the spectacular world of the Guardians and the new history revealed gives even more depth to the series.

Grade: A

Summary:

The seductive and dangerous world of the Guardians now yields a secret that threatens the soul of a woman and the fate of the universe, both DEMON BOUND.

Among the Guardians, Alice Grey is known as the Black Widow — a woman trapped in a web spun by the demon Teqon. To save her soul, she agreed to deliver to Teqon the heart of the oldest and most powerful Guardian of all, or else be damned for eternity. After more than a hundred years, Teqon is calling in his debt.

Jake Hawkins is a novice Guardian whose gift of teleportation could be invaluable to Alice in determining her next move. But in aligning himself with her he never expected to fall in love. Now, their passionate flight to escape Alice’s damnable bargain is threatening both their souls. For they’re about to discover a hellish secret about the Guardians — something that will change their universe forever.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: