The summer King is seeking the one who can free him from his mother's, the Winter Queen, domination and who will restore his powers. He has chosen Aislinn, a girl who sees fairies though no one else can and who is doing everything she can to hide that fact from the fairies themselves. His interest draws the fairies ever closer to her secrets, and when he makes himself appear human and comes to her school as a student, even her friends can't understand her reticence. As it becomes harder and harder to hide her gift, or curse, it become clear the Summer King's interest risks everything precious to her.
Impression: It's been a bit since I read this book (and a good six other books have been read since), but as I recall, I enjoyed it. It's definitely a very different take on fairies and the myths surrounding the Summer King and Winter Queen. Aislinn is a believable character, a high schooler with a gift she's been taught is a curse and that she must hide. She's careful about who she gets close to even among those her age, and confides in no one. The reader's tension builds as her tension builds.
The ending was a bit of a surprise. Rarely does a story end with a sense that the MC has managed to have her cake and eat it too, but the solution Aislinn comes up with to the proposal of the Summer King and being with he boy she wants does feel that way, but also very modern. For once, a woman (okay, girl) makes a decision that best balances her needs and her wants, and just by that alone, it was surprising. But it all made sense as well. Marr's fairies were interesting, different than how fairies have been presented in the past.
The plot is engaging, the characters interesting, the setting well laid out. There are some love scenes, but they are tasteful and appropriate for anyone who may have concerns about their teenager reading such things. The main character is all teenager–bound by rules that she tries to find ways around, but she steps up with courage to find solutions to her problems rather than laying blame. Overall, an engaging book and teen approved.
Joanne has left the Weather Wardens and now works a normal and miserable job as a local weather girl–without her weather powers. Even if she wasn't at risk for having her powers taken away from her, she's too tired, too depleted to use the effectively. But strange things are going on in Florida, and Weather Warden are spread thin because they seem to be disappearing in numbers too high to ignore. To complicate matters, her sister appears on her doorstep, divorced, in need of a new start, and blind to the idea of limited budget. Meeting a British business man who finds her sister interesting keeps her sister out of her pocketbook, but complicates matters, though not nearly as much as the Las Vegas cop that's come looking for answers to the death of his former partner–answers only Joanne can provide. Life spins out of control, and it's all Joanne can do to keep ahead of the storm.
Impression: Still enjoying this wonderful series and not seeing any of the problems that tend to hit longer series in terms of technical issues and quality of writing. This one had a nice turn in that I was able to figure out a few things for the ending while others were unexpected surprises. As a reader, this made me feel smart, while not giving me a boring ending that left me wondering why I was still reading. I think my only issue, maybe, was that the ending is definitely more of a cliff hanger than they have been in the past, but I didn't find that as irritating as I'm sure some would. It just has me wanting to get the next book. But I'm also behind on the series, so I'm not waiting anxiously for the next book to be published.
Some really good things happen in this book in a general sense. In a lot of series, the past can be forgotten in an effort to make the books readable in any order. Not the best way to handle a series because actions must have consequences for characters. In [I]Windfall[/I], Joanne reaps the results of a number of things that occurred in the previous books, and this book forces her to deal with them. The added mix of her sister was entertaining, and it was nice to see a secondary character grow and change as a result of the events unfolding around her.
Still highly recommended, fun reading. And Rachel Caine is still keeping me up at night. Nothing says more for a book than that.
When Warden Morgan appears at Dresden's door wounded and asking for help, he dives Dresden into the worst of White Council politics and treachery. He has to figure out if Morgan was set up for the murder of one of the Council's leading wizards, find the real killer and traitor to the council, and stop a new attempt to start another war between the Council and the vampire courts. Lives are on the line, including his own if he's not careful. Just another day for Dresden!
Impression: Butcher jumps right in from the first word on this eleventh installment of The Dresden Files. It was a bit of a surprise since he usual has some bit of "introduction" before things amp up, but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just something that made it a bit different than previous Dresden Files novels. But, as in previous novels, once the pressure was on, he stayed on top of it.
I think my only real disappointment in the book was that I figured out who was "behind the scenes" VERY early in the novel. However, even though that was obvious to me, Butcher still made the ending interesting, surprising, and a logical result of the actions taken earlier in the novel. Dresden fell a little flat for me this time around: there wasn't the usual character growth and change that we see in the other novels of the series, and there was no struggle between his ethics and his conflict with Morgan as I would have expected earlier in the novel. While I understand that Dresden needed to accept the challenge, I would have expected a little more internal conflict over it. I'm not going to say that this is the beginning of the end for the series—I still enjoyed it, but I do hope that there's more of some of the things that initially made the series so cool in the future books.
But I did enjoy the book and, as usual, gobbled it up. The White Council is actually blown wide open in this book, which was really nice to see. Dresden has been a Warden for a book or two now, it's definitely time to see more of the inner workings of the Council. And even though I figured some of the story out, Butcher still had enough surprises come up to make things interesting and to keep a reader going. Not the best of the Dresden books, but still a strong showing for the series. And I highly recommend the series overall.
Prince Corwin has discovered the true Amber and the damage to the core Pattern that reinforces his family's power over Shadow. It's this damage that is allowing Chaos creatures into Shadow, bringing destruction to Amber. Corwin uncovers an agreement between the Courts of Chaos and his brother Brand and must recover the stolen Jewel of Judgment before Brand can walk the Primal Pattern and remake the world.
Impression:Sign of the Unicorn and Hand of Oberon could have all easily been in the same novel; Oberon continues at exactly the same point where sign ends and without missing a beat. There really was no transition between the two books, especially reading them in the omnibus as I have been. And Oberon smoothly continued the plot points and everything else that was begun in Sign—having to wait for Oberon to be released after Sign must have been a very aggravating experience.
This book in the series probably has impressed me the least so far. I figured out the identity of a particular character very early, and while I understand on one level why Corwin didn't figure it out, I'm also irritated by it: anything can happen in Shadow, and the question has come up before, so why was he too stupid to figure it out? It almost reads as author interference, but could be the character's blindness (in the figurative sense) just taken too far. The plot wasn't particularly difficult to follow either, and it generally became a little too predictable. Add to that the author's insistence of placing an entire chapter of Corwin using Shadow to get from point A to point B and how irritating I've been finding it, and Oberon ends up being the least enjoyable book in the series for me.
I did start the next book, The Courts of Chaos, but have since taken a break from it to read a few other books. And I'm glad I have. Hopefully the break will allow me to enjoy the next books in the series.
Back in human form, Weather Warden Joanne is going to Las Vegas after Kevin, an unstable seventeen year old in control of the most powerful djinn ever created, but the kid and his djinn aren't making it easy. She needs to get the djinn, Jonathan, out of Kevin's hands and either in a bottle or back to his place as a free djinn. But Jonathan has other plans. Djinn are disappearing, and he intends to find the reason for it and stop it even at the cost of humanity itself. Turns out getting into Vegas is easier than doing what she came for: all she needs to do is die...again. Once there, all she has to do is figure out how to grab Jonathan, keep the Wardens at bay, and help a secret society that wants to bring Kevin down without becoming permanently dead and before all hell breaks loose. Yea, this should be easy.
Impression: Rachel Caine really needs to stop keeping me awake all night. I love, LOVE the Weather Warden series. Joanne is a smart ass you can't help but love: flawed but meaning to do the right thing even if it goes against the rules of the Wardens. For her, right trumps law. The characters grow and change with each book (I wish I'd managed to write reviews of the previous 2 books; but maybe I will when I reread the series, because I will reread it), the plots are fast paced but complicated enough that you don't necessarily see the end coming without making the end seem implausible. Even better, the books aren't losing in quality, story, or editing along the way; this book (book 3) is just as good and just as interesting as book 1.
I highly recommend these books. They are well written, fun reads. There is some sexual content, but it's not too explicit, and the romance/sexual element doesn't take over the story or make no sense. Characters can resist their libidos when in danger (which is one of my big complaints about most paranormal and other romance) and don't do anything stupid or out of character because they're in love/lust. The magic in unique, the stories have enough complexity to be interesting without making the book work to read, and the action is almost nonstop. They're a lot of fun, and I can't wait to get into book 4.
Merely a week into his regency of Amber, Corwin is framed for the murder of one of his brothers. The question of who did what to which brother, including Corwin, results in a search for the missing brother, Brand. He's found, trapped, and the siblings work together to rescue him, only to have him stabbed upon his arrival. While awaiting the outcome, an attempt is made on Corwin and he manages to transport himself to Earth, where he must recover from his injuries. He then hides an artifact of his family, the Jewel of Judgment, and returns to Amber to discover the truth behind Brand's imprisonment. As he tries to sort out the truth and the lies told by his family, he ends up at the Primal Pattern with more questions than before.
Impression: The Amber books are generally easy, quick reads, and Unicorn isn't any different. It does, however, take the overall story from a straight forward political drama with a touch of mystery (Corwin's struggle to discover his identity and which of his siblings not only created the situation that resulted in his amnesia but also attempted to keep him in the dark has always been a part of the story) to more of a political thriller/mystery. The writing didn't become more complicated, but the perpetrators are well kept under wraps: Zelazny uses the fact that Corwin has so many siblings quite well despite the fact that those siblings seem to be disappearing or dying at an unusual rate.
I think perhaps my only complaint about the books is the way Zelazny writes when Corwin is manipulating shadow. While I understand why he writes it the way he does, for me as a reader it is a very intrusive way to do it. I become more aware of the writing itself instead of remaining lost in the story. And he does it in every book (at least once, sometimes more), which when reading an omnibus like this, can make it more disconcerting. The books are very short, the process of manipulating shadow hard to forget, and it becomes very irritating. I can see why it wouldn't have been that big of a deal since the books would have come out spaced apart. But in the omnibus, the repetition makes it obvious and annoying, and it's the one thing that will drop me from the story faster than anything.
The one issue in this book is the ending, which reads more like the end of a chapter than the end of a book. While there needs to be some remaining questions in a novel that's in the midst of a series, there does need to be some closure within the novel itself while leaving enough open in the overall story to continue in the next book.
The characters are still a bit simplistic, though we can see Corwin starting to change, which is nice. The setting is vivid, the plot itself tight and becoming more complicated. There are some new threads starting to bear fruit in how the story plays out, and suspicions about certain characters starting to form. And all the additions are woven in without making each successive book longer than the last (a "problem" many current series seem to have). The novellas remain easy to read, easy to understand, and quick reads for those who are looking for something to enjoy without committing to a 300+ page novel. Overall, a decent read and a logical and decent continuation of the story started in Princes.
Prince Corwin of Amber has escaped his brother and finally has healed enough to begin planning the overthrow of his brother, Eric, who he believes has stolen the throne from him. He makes his way through Shadow to reach the places he remembers, to gather the tools he needs, and finds that Amber and the Shadows are under siege by an enemy never seen before. The source appears to be a mysterious black road. As Corwin unravels the mystery of the black road and begins moving against his brother, he realizes the welfare of Amber is at stake, and that takes precedence over who sits in the throne.
Impression: One thing about the Amber books, they read fast. They're short, not very complicated, and very focused on the main plot arc. So the plot is very straightforward: Corwin wants to be the ruler of Amber because he thinks he has more of a right to it than his (half) brother, Eric. The black road is something of a secondary plot, but it doesn't affect Corwin's goals until near the end of the novel, even though he thinks he knows where it came from and that he'll have to deal with it eventually.
Perhaps my one complaint is that the characters overall are too simple, too one dimensional. Corwin has some depth, and his brothers seem to have a little less so, but the other characters don't have any complication to them at all. This might change in future volumes as more comes out about each character, but in the story as written, they all seem to be more plot supports than real people: this man gives a chemical Corwin needs with little difficulty, Ganelon is the supportive follower even though Corwin exiled him and he originally hated Cowin for being a "devil" (though the exile was for a just cause), and so on. There is no hint of anything else in these characters. In fact, Ganelon just accepts the abilities that made him think Corwin was a devil before, even before meeting the brothers who have the same abilities. The advantage is that the plot remains uncomplicated and straightforward; the disadvantage is that the characters aren't believable.
The book was okay, overall. The characters being so simple can almost be overlooked as this was definitely more of a plot driven story than a character driven story. The books are fast, easy, and generally non-offensive. The writing is fairly clean, if a bit dry, and the story is engaging even if the characters (other than Corwin) are not. I can't list the book as being among my favorites, but I can recommend it if you're looking for an uncomplicated, fast read. If you can, you may want to pick up the individual Amber books rather than the 10 book omnibus. The omnibus is just a bit much to manage sometimes.
Robert Langdon, a renowned scholar in religious symbology, is in Paris to meet with the curator of the Louvre Museum. On the night they are to meet, the curator is killed, and along with the curator's granddaughter, Sophie, Langdon is thrown into a race to find the answers to the curator's death and the riddles he left behind, riddles that include the Holy Grail and the secret society charged with protecting it.
Impression: While the story itself is fine, I'm not getting why the books was such a phenomenon. It could have been cut by at least 100 pages just by cutting unnecessary and boring flashbacks, science babble that most readers probably don't care about and maybe found their eyes glazing over at, and unnecessary words and repetitions. And there were a lot of unnecessary words and repetitions. All of this bogged the story down. I ended up skimming far more often than I like to when reading.
But when you take out all that excess verbiage, the story itself is fine. I did (and still do) have some skepticism over a number of the points made by characters in the story, but my belief in their ideology wasn't necessary to enjoy the story itself. The characters seemed fairly well rounded, though I would have liked less head-hopping so I could actually get to know them better. I don't usually have a problem with changing point of view characters, but it happened way too frequently in this book, and often at points where it was pointless—it didn't add anything to the story and didn't give any real character development.
Even with those problems, the story action was fairly believable, and the description and setting details were enough to bring the reader in. as long as a reader doesn’t buy into all the hype (and thus get disappointed when reading) or expect the movie's excitement and conciseness, it's an okay read. Not spectacular, but not bad.
Unless otherwise noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by me.
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