Liviania’s review of Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane, Book 1) by Jaye Wells
Urban fantasy released by Orbit 1 April 09

I’ve been looking forward to reading this one.  I’ve been reading Jaye Wells’ blog for a year, and she’s a vastly entertaining woman.  Of course, that also made me extra afraid that I’d be disappointed.  What if the quality of her blog completely misled me as to the quality of her novel?  I can build up quite a bit of expectation in a year.  It’s a good thing Wells delivered the goods.

Sabina Kane is half-vampire, half-mage, and working as an assassin, one of the few jobs available to a semi-outcast mixed blood.  She’s got a lot of rage and shooting others is good stress relief.  Of course, she’s got a lingering bit of guilt over her most recent job: killing a close friend.  Now she’s right into another one she’s barely qualified for, not being a spy.  She also doesn’t have quite the balance of temper and thought for the job.  She tends to act quickly when she should think and ponders things when she should go on instinct.  But she is caught between her loyalty to the Dominae and the fact they consistently treat her like nothing.

It doesn’t help that there are two guys around to confuse her further.  Cult leader Clovis says almost nothing but BS, but Sabina is still attracted to the fellow mixed blood.  He has that confidence that’s somewhat more repellent than it is attractive.  She’s annoyed by and attracted to the mage who is stalking her and got her stuck with a demon for a roommate.  (Clovis only stuck her with a bubbly nymph for a roommate.  I do wish there was a bit more of Sabina’s budding friendship with Vinca, as Vinca and Gighul – the demon – are both hilarious.)

There is less resolution than I like, but Red-Headed Stepchild is the first in a trilogy, so I can let it go.  The vampires are the most fleshed out species in the novel, with a lineage trailing back to Lilith.  I do hope the others include more about the mages, faeries, and demons as well as their history.  Sabina’s ignorance about the other species made sense but I hope to learn more about them along with her.  Wells’ world is well-drawn and may make you tiptoe around redheads for a couple of days after finishing.

I’m a sucker for a good vampire novel, but I think my recommendation of Red-Headed Stepchild still counts.  Action, building sexual tension, and interspecies politics.  Three things that help make an entertaining urban fantasy.  Red-Headed Stepchild was a very quick read, due to a plot that moves along briskly without adding enough factors to become muddled.  Now I just need to let my anticipation build another year for the second book.  (There’s one character I’m particularly eager to see Sabina meet face-to-face.  Really, really eager.  This is the problem with reading a book in a series before the next is available.)

Grade: B+

Summary:
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In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she’s on. She’s never brought her work home with her—until now.
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This time, it’s personal.
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Read an excerpt.

Gwen’s review of To Hell and Back (Dante Valentine, Book 5) by Lilith Saintcrow
Futuristic paranormal published 1 Jan 08 by Orbit

I hesitated to start this book. I knew it was the last in the series and I didn’t want the magic to end. I wanted my visit to Dante and Japhrimel’s worlds to go on and on. Well, I hesitated about half a day. I just had to see what happened next.

Reading this series has been a mixture of fun, creepiness, tears, and excitement. To say I liked it is not saying near enough. It’s one of those series of books that just stays with me. I’m not one to read a book twice unless it is stupendously interesting. I’ll make an exception for this series.

In these books, Saintcrow has created a world that is lavish in detail. It has history and mythos, technology that’s woven into the fabric of the story, all giving the world a rich taste, smell, and texture that I’ve only experienced before in Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. This is especially evident during the visceral descriptions of Dante’s fight scenes – you literally wince when something hurts her, like a demon, or hellhound, or ghost, or fellow necromance…

There are no simplistic resolutions to be found in this last book. Saintcrow ties off several plotlines and leaves some dangling. By telling the story from Dante’s point of view, the reader never knows more than Dante, and Danny is left with some still unanswered questions at the end. How it evolves, though, is fascinating. Dante, whom Japhrimel nicknamed “my curious” because she had to know everything, arrives at a certain peace with not knowing everything. And because she’s at peace with that, the reader is as well.

There isn’t much I can say about the book other than, “you must read it.” I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys fiction, and particularly to anyone who likes urban, paranormal sci-fi. The romance between Dante and Japhrimel is surprising, tender, cruel, and loving – everything we know love can be at times. All of this is woven into a tremendous story. Don’t miss this series.

Grade: A

Blurb:

     Fifth and final book of the Dante Valentine series

     Plot. Counterplot. Betrayal. Intrigue. When you’re working for the Devil, it’s all par for the course. You just have to live with it. Right?
Wrong. When you’re Danny Valentine and the Devil double-crosses you one too many times, there’s only one thing to do. Fight back. No matter how hopeless it is. No matter how suicidal it is. No matter how far the game is rigged in the Devil’s favor.
Welcome to Hell.

     Read an excerpt.

Read my review of Book 3, The Devil’s Right Hand, here and my review of Book 4, Saint City Sinners, here.  Other books in this series:

Gwen’s review of Saint City Sinners (Dante Valentine, Book 4) by Lilith Saintcrow
Futuristic Urban Fantasy released by Orbit 1 Nov 07

It’s nearly impossible to review a Dante Valentine novel on its own.  Each of the now four books is dependent on the others.  I also recommend reading the glossary before you start.  Yes, the glossary and I heard some of you groaning out there. Remember, Saintcrow hasn’t created a small world here.  It’s complex and about 100 years in the future with magic, weres, nichtvren (vampires), demons, witches, psychics, humans, and myriad other beings all living together. This alternate world fits over what we know like a loose framework.  Like one of those crocheted ponchos you wore as a kid, you can see what’s underneath but you were still covered.  It’s truly fascinating and has some interesting political and religious differences. 

In this book, Dante continues on rocky footing with Japhrimel – her Fallen Demon.  They love each other, and Japh will do quite literally anything to keep Danny safe, including things that make her hate him.  I keep reminding myself that he’s demon not human, so his motivation is a mystery to an extent.  Toward the end of the book we find out more about why he must keep Dante alive. I’m still not sure if it’s because he loves her, or for selfish reasons, or both.  It’s a conundrum I hope is resolved in Book 5.

Saintcrow’s characters have lives of immense proportions.  They’re fighting life and death struggles every day, making small steps forward, bigger steps back.  For example, there’s a rebellion in Hell – or, what we think of as Hell since it’s Lucifer’s domain – and the politics of this has dragged Dante and Japh into a fight that is not their own, but one they cannot avoid. It must be dealt with if they’re to stay alive.

By the end of this book, Dante has had enough.  She burns for revenge.  Longs for it.  Lives for it.  She has reached the end of her patience and is ready to take the fight to her enemy(ies).  Just as she reaches critical mass, Lucifer brings her to him and says, “Come in, Dante.  Sit down. Let us better understand each other.”  Chills went up my spine when I read that.  And it’s the last line in the book.  Talk about a cliffhanger!

Saintcrow has penned another true piece of literature with Saint City Sinners.  I haven’t felt like this about a series since I read Herbert’s original Dune books.  I can not wait for the next and supposedly last (gosh I hope not) entry in this series, To Hell and Back (Book 5), releasing 1 Jan 08.  I’m going to re-read the series in order, just to get into the flow of the story again.  It is, quite simply, riveting.

Grade: A

Read my review of Book 3, The Devil’s Right Hand.

Blurb:

Saint City has always been Dante Valentine’s home. It’s where she grew up, it’s where her dead are buried, and it’s where she learned to hunt.

Now, one call from an old friend will bring her back to investigate a murder too close to home for anyone’s comfort. But the one person she trusted has just betrayed her.

Sometimes revenge is best served demon-hot…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Gwen’s review of The Devil’s Right Hand (Dante Valentine, Book 3) by Lilith Saintcrow
Futuristic paranormal urban sci-fi so-not-your-normal-romance published 1 Sep 07 by Orbit

This series is not normal.  And I am BIG TIME glad it isn’t.  It combines science fiction, urban fantasy, futuristic, paranormal and romance all in one (or five) package.  The main character is a bounty hunter and necromancer named Dante Valentine.  She leads a dangerous life tracking down the bad guys and, sometimes, slicing them up. 

Dante, Danny to her friends, has fallen in love with a demon named Japhrimel, the Devil’s eldest child and his assassin.  Japh, thru his love of Dante, has “fallen” and lost some of his demon-ness.  At the same time, he made Dante a bit of a demon herself so that she could fight the bad guys and not be “damaged.”  These books are about Dante’s complicated personal and professional life, her unusual but so satisfying love affair with Japh, and acts as a primer on how to negotiate with the damned.  It’s an all around good time that doesn’t fit neatly into any of the genres (yay!).

We start this book with Dante and Japh living in a villa in what would be today’s Italy.  They live a quiet, peaceful life and are constantly in each other’s company.  What occurs in the first two novels is a large part of this book.  I wouldn’t recommend reading RIGHT HAND without reading the other books first.  Too much happens that sets up events for this book.

Saintcrow may as well be writing history books – her world-building is so complete you feel like it exists.  Her primary and secondary characters are full, complex, three-dimensional beings that stay true to their personalities.  The fight action sequences are so well written you’re there, watching it as if it were a movie.  The love affair between Dante and Japhrimel is intricate and gratifying, and you so want them to have it - they really complete each other.

This book is a “mid-story” book.  It covers an important part of the story, but you meet it and leave it mid-stream.  It’s critical to read if you’re interested in the series but not one I’d read on its own.  There were several times the love story brought tears to my eyes, and this was not the first time in this series.  The story is complex, rich in detail, and full of complicated emotions.  There is no happy ending, but it’s not a bummer either - it’s not your classic romance, though there is undoubtedly a romance.

I really love this series.  I am totally transported each time I read one of these books.  Thanks, Lilith!!

Grade: A

Blurb:

Dante Valentine is not a happy camper. She’s just signed away seven years of her life—and her partner’s—to hunt down four rogue demons that have escaped from hell. Maybe she’ll find them. Maybe they’ll find her. Nobody said it was easy being the Devil’s right hand.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series: