The Better Part of Darkness ~ Kelly Gay

From the back cover:

Atlanta: it’s the promised city for the off-worlders, foreigners from the alternate dimensions of heaven-like Elysia and hell-like Charbydon. Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil….

Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She’s recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.’s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim — but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?

This book showed up in the mail a couple of days ago *cut to me excitedly opening the envelope* and as soon as it was in my hands I thought, well, there’s no harm in reading the first few sentences. Yeah, right! Those first few sentences turned into me ignoring the laundry basket, settling down on the sofa, and digging in.

“You told a two-thousand-year-old oracle to prove it.” Hank kept pace beside me, nursing his bloody nose with a handful of fast-food napkins I’d pulled from the glove box earlier. “I mean, do you ever think before the words spew out of your mouth, Charlie?”

“Yeah, all the time.” I jogged up the four brick steps. “If Alessandra didn’t have to act like a know-it-all, then I wouldn’t have to say things to her.”

“She is a know-it-all!”

The scene goes on, the banter goes on; I immediately liked Hank, and got a good sense of what following Charlie around for three hundred-plus pages would be like. Perhaps a little wearying, maybe with a few nerves grated the wrong way, but I’d do it because she probably had reason to be tough and ornery. And boy, did she ever. But still.

Okay, since I already mentioned Hank, that’s where I’ll start. Charlie and Hank are partners, they work for the ITF, a department of the Atlanta police that deals with the off-worlders from Elysia and Charbydon that came to our world after the Revelation.* Neither is character is what they initially seem to be, of course, and we learn about Hank pretty early on. We also learn that he and Charlie are tight, real tight, but at times they had a funny way of showing it. One thing I love in my books are strong friendships, secure bonds between people, and this one threw me because Charlie was always “I hate Hank for that,” “I could punch Hank for this,” and not in a funny, ha-ha, pseudo-sibling teasing kind of way. We get the depth of their friendship in flashes, mostly as it revolves around Charlie’s daughter, Emma, and I would have loved for there to have been more…believability? Less bickering? It’s picky on my part to point out, but when you’ve set-up something good like that, why not really run with it?

But that brings me nicely to Emma. I don’t particularly like when kids are involved in urban fantasy novels** because it almost always comes down to being a ploy – especially when said kids are fully human. Let’s get the kid kidnapped or, hey, let’s have the child put into a really, really dangerous situation in which the parent/guardian has to choose between the kid and the rest of the world. I thoroughly appreciated Charlie’s dedication as a mother, it brought out a side of her that we probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise, but it bothered me nonetheless, and for reasons already stated. Emma herself was a sweet character and seemed pretty typical to her age.

The Better Part of Darkness had a lot of really wonderful characters. Hank, as I said, and Charlie’s sister, Bryn, who plays a big role in the book as the story arc begins to resolve. There’s also an intriguing noble and an equally intriguing Magnus, both of whom I’d like to see more of in future books.

Also, the world-building was nicely done. In Gay’s Atlanta there are mages, jinn, goblins, gods, and each group has a history and backstory that’s hinted at throughout the story. I was always able to picture Charlie’s surroundings and thought that many of the descriptions were wonderful in painting a just-so kind of picture.

Despite the old-fashioned-style streetlamps that burned twenty-four hours a day, the light on Solomon Street was murky at best, the perfect environment for crooks and convicts. Old Savannah bricks paved the street. Peddlers occupied alleyways. Butcher shops, inns, bars, herberies, magic ship, and strip clubs practically spilled onto the sidewalk. Doors stayed open. Inventory was piled against walls and storefronts. Small carts had permanent spaces on curbs. Open fires burned in barrels, making the air steamier than normal. This was the Charbydon quarter, and while they could tolerate the sunlight, they liked things crowded, hot, and dark. (pgs 190-191)

Despite a few problems I had with the book – a rather drawn out resolution, for one – I enjoyed The Better Part of Darkness quite a bit and will definitely read The Darkest Edge of Dawn when it’s released. Gay has come up with something a little different with this book; it’s not quite police procedural, not quite urban fantasy, a little dark and definitely dangerous, and you’re never completely sure you know what the real deal is. I can appreciate that. And I can say, too, that this review only barely begins to scrape the surface of what goes down in the book. You’ll have to read it yourself to see what I mean.

Waiting on Wednesday: A Twofer

At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy-an Empire fueled by technology and war.

A young spiritwalker of the Aniw and a captain in the Ciracusan army find themselves unexpectedly thrown together. The Aniw girl, taken prisoner from her people, must teach the reluctant soldier a forbidden talent – one that may turn the tide of the war and will surely forever brand him an outcast.

From the rippling curtains of light in an Arctic sky, to the gaslit cobbled streets of the city, war is coming to the frozen north. Two people have a choice that will decide the fates of nations – and may cast them into a darkness that threatens to bring destruction to both their peoples.

I found this one after spending some time on Janicu’s Book Blog. Doesn’t it look fantastic? The author does not have a whole lot about the book on her site, but she did link to a very cool post about the cover on Orbit Books’ blog, which includes some of the cover artist’s pencil sketches. Slated to be released on March 30, 2010.

In the holy city of Othir, treachery and corruption lurk at the end of every street, just the place for a freelance assassin with no loyalties and few scruples.

Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade, but when a routine job goes south, he is thrust into the middle of an insidious plot. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and sorcery from the Other Side, his only allies are Josephine, the socialite daughter of his last victim, and Kit, a guardian spirit no one else can see. But in this fight for his life, Caim only trusts his knives and his instincts, but they won’t be enough when his quest for justice leads him from Othir’s hazardous back alleys to its shining corridors of power. To unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the empire, he must claim his birthright as the Shadow’s Son….

And this one I found on A Dribble of Ink. Loving the cover on this one, too, and have to wonder how Sprunk is going to pull off the story in 280 pages (according to Amazon.) A quick look at the author’s website and it appears that Shadow’s Son is the first in a trilogy to be published by Pyr. Set to be released on June 22, 2010.

Excerpts! Come get your excerpts! Anne Bishop posts Shalador’s!

Oh, it’s a happy excerpt day here at casa Persephone! Anne Bishop has (finally!) posted an excerpt for Shalador’s Lady, the sequel to this year’s excellent Shadow Queen. I have been waiting and checking, waiting and checking, and it’s finally up! (Here)

And here is the first paragraph:

“Ranon stepped out on the terrace behind the Grayhaven mansion, closed his dark eyes, and raised the wood flute to his lips. Then he hesitated while a lifetime of caution warred with the hope he felt because of Lady Cassidy, the Queen who now ruled the Territory of Dena Nehele.”

And since I love a good excerpt, here, in no particular order, are a few for books that are on my radar.

Laurell K Hamilton’s Divine Misdemeanors (here)

A snippet from Ilona Andrew’s next Edge novel, Bayou Moon (here)

Gail Dayton’s Heart’s Blood (here)

Rachel Caine’s Kiss of Death (here)

Glenda Larke’s The Last Stormlord (here)

Polly Shulman’s The Grimm Legacy (here)

Maria V. Snyder’s Inside Out (here)

Skyler White’s And Falling, Fly (here)

Not an excerpt, but Rick Riordan posted a little bit about his new series, the Kane Chronicles. The first book will be called The Red Pyramid. (here)

Okay! I’m going back to read Bishop’s excerpt again!

Fond Four – the T.V. Edition

With the holidays coming up I’ve been asked to jot down wish lists, which means I’ve had to put my thinking cap on. Or give Amazon a good long look. My attention recently snagged on a DVD set of a show no longer on air, one I have very fond memories of, which made me think of doing a post like this. So, here are five shows that I loved that are either no longer on or are in reruns (on obscure channels, of course.) Feel free to play along!

1. Zorro (1957 – 1959)
Obviously I didn’t watch this show when it originally aired, but I owe my mother big time for making sure I watched it when Disney decided to put it back on t.v. for a brief time. This show had everything my young self could have wanted: Comedy, swashbuckling sword action, romance, and a handsome leading man in Guy Williams. It was on past my bedtime, too, and it was an added thrill that I was allowed to stay up and watch it. Though it only ran for two seasons, my love for the story of Zorro endured, and I’ve found myself drawn to this type of character ever since.

2. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955 – 1959)
When you think Robin Hood, who comes to mind? Errol Flynn, maybe, or *shudder* Kevin Costner? Or, heh, Carey Elwes? Probably not Richard Greene, though, and he was arguably my favorite Robin Hood. Greene’s Robin exuded compassion and confidence; he always seemed quick to smile, and was just as quick with his bow. Another one I owe my parents for introducing me to despite the fact that it had long been off the air.

3. The Adventures of Brisco County Jr (1993 – 1994)
Bruce Campbell in a show that was part western, part sci-fi, and part campy comedy. How could you possibly go wrong with that combination? You couldn’t. It is such a shame that this one didn’t get a longer run, but it had so many memorable characters – including Comet, Brisco’s apple loving, trick playing horse – and storylines that kept the show interesting and fresh. Maybe not what Campbell will be remembered for in the future, but it was a role I loved him in.

4. BeastMaster (1999 – 2002)
Okay, I’ll admit it, this one is a guilty pleasure of mine. It was loosely based on the movie, but in the series Dar was played by Daniel Goddard. It disappeared for a while and it wasn’t until all three seasons were released on DVD that I learned how the show wrapped up the story arc of Dar’s search for his family. Between the gorgeous animals and Goddard, there was certainly plenty of lovely scenery.

This could go on and become a fond five, six, and probably more, but I’d rather not bore you. So! What tv shows do you have fond memories of?

Metamorphosis: Junior Year ~ Betsy Franco

My apologies right off the bat: This “review” is going to be all over the place, I’m afraid. And it might be longish. Disclaimer stated and moving on…

Ovid, named after the Roman poet, has several problems, most of which stemming from his sister’s drug abuse and willing disappearance. His parents’ fear that Ovid will pull a repeat performance to rival his sister’s has made his home a prison; he’s suffocating under the weight of someone else’s mistakes and tunnels the energy he has left into art and poetry.

As he looks around at his friends and classmates, Ovid takes a page from his namesake’s book, reshaping myths to narrate their lives.

Most of the myths Ovid uses to explore his world are fairly well known: Orpheus/Eurydice, Daphne/Apollo, Psyche/Cupid. Having at least a passing familiarity with each will make your experience with this book a pleasure. (As for the other, less known myths, well, they can always be looked up after.) For instance, the Orpheus myth – In Franco’s book, Ovid nicknames a gorgeous music player Orpheus, and dissects his failed relationship with a girl named Dalia in a poem  (which you can read after the cut.)

In that regard, I thought this book was very clever, and insightful in the way Ovid regarded superficial appearances.

But things aren’t like that, as far as I can tell. It seems to me that we all navigate our way through high school – solo or in ever-shifting pairs or groups – trying to find some rhyme or rhythm, some sense.

Sometimes we throw lights on our faces, letting other people get a glimpse of us. Then we retreat.

Seems like we’re all just groping our way through a labyrinth, fighting our personal minotaurs, morphing into who we really are, like it or not. And along the way, we cross paths with other people.

There’s no golden thread to follow. That’s for sure. So we all just try to help each other through the maze.

I could have pulled several quotes from this book, random lines that would have really spoken to my teenage self and ones that tugged at me now, but I really like that one above. I like that it keeps to the idea of reshaping mythology to suit contemporary problems and issues.

Along with the poems and prose narrative there are illustrations. Drawn by Tom Franco, the images are actually supposed to be Ovid’s own. Ovid wants to be an artist, to go to art school, and the drawings play an important role in forcing his parents to see who he is, not what they want him to be. They’re also often discussed with Ovid’s art teacher; initially, the art teacher praises Ovid for his creativity and imagination, but, if I read it correctly, eventually begins to question the motivation and emotions behind them.

If I’m being brutally honest, I didn’t always understand the images, certainly not in the same way that I did the poetry. Ovid does explain them to a certain degree, but even then, I kind of looked at them, shrugged after an extended beat or two, and then turned the page. They’re perfectly good and interesting illustrations, fitting of the book’s theme, but I just didn’t feel them in the same way, if that makes sense.

Metamorphosis: Junior Year is a very short book, only 114 pages, and that including full-page illustrations. Despite it’s length, it explores themes of drug abuse, broken families, cutting and other self-abuse methods, and that’s just to start. If I could apply one word to it it would be clever, like I said before, but it’s also creative and engaging. I’m not sure if it would be so warmly regarded among its intended demographic, or by those who have little to no interest in mythology, but I really enjoyed it.

The image and poem were found on Betsy Franco’s website.

Have Fantasy, Will Read

Click on cover for more info.

Several of these are not coming out until next year, but one, The Silver Skull, is out now, and another, Heart’s Blood, is coming out next month.

I’ve heard great things about Charlton’s Spellwright. A Dribble of Ink posted a wonderful interview with the author just a couple of days ago. You can read that here if you are so inclined. The magic system in this one really intrigues me; that coupled with a neat cover and premise means I’m sold.

Months ago I began Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy. Having really enjoyed The Way of Shadows, I purchased the others, but have yet to find an opportunity to read them. ‘Course that doesn’t matter at all when it comes to wanting Weeks’ forthcoming The Black Prism.

“Professor Piers Knight is an esteemed curator at the Brooklyn Museum and is regarded by many on the staff as a revered institution of his own if not an outright curiosity.” That’s the first sentence of the product description on Amazon for Brooklyn Knight. Hello? How could I not want to read this one.

As for Mann’s Ghosts of Manhattan…Look at the cover! That’s about all it took to hook me.

And Heart’s Blood. Ah, Heart’s Blood. I’m really looking forward to reading it as I loved New Blood.

The one good thing about the majority of these coming out next year? I’ll be able to read them! My lit course will be over, freeing up my reading time considerably. Yay!

Bought Today: The Daily Coyote

I’ll be the first one to admit that I avoid animal books as though they were the plague. I LOVE animals (and, yes, that deserves all caps) and it breaks my heart to read about them because, it seems, sadness is inevitable in books about them. But I was browsing Borders and one book caught my eye, and then I pulled it from the shelf, started flipping, and, well, I just couldn’t leave without it. You could say it came as a shock that I was going to go through with buying it (but I’ll also admit to cheating a bit and checking the end.)

Here’s a bit more about it (synopsis from the book jacket.)

When photographer and writer Shreve Stockton decided to move back to her beloved New York from San Francisco, she decided to take her time and make the trip on her Vespa. When she reached Wyoming, Shreve was captivated by the red dirt, the Bighorn Mountains, and the wide-open spaces. Unable to shake the spell of the “cowboy state,” she soon found herself trading her New York City apartment for a house in Ten Sleep, Wyoming — population 300.Shreve threw away her cell phone and took to the rules of the land, adjusting to a lifestyle that was a near antithesis to that of the urban jungle. Time is of a different essence, nature is both livelihood and enemy, deer and coyote mark the dawn and dusk. After she met a local cowboy by chance on the side of the road, first a friendship and then a romance blossomed between them.

When Shreve was unexpectedly presented with a ten-day-old coyote pup whose parents had been shot for killing sheep, she had a choice to make. Despite her reservations and the terror of her tomcat Eli, Shreve decided to do the unthinkable — to raise the coyote pup she came to call Charlie in her 12×12-foot log cabin.

In arresting prose and illuminated with Shreve’s breathtaking photography, The Daily Coyote is at once Shreve’s month-by-month exploration of Charlie’s first year and a meditation on the nature of wildness versus domestication, of nature versus nurture, and of forgiveness, loyalty, and love in all its forms.

I cannot adequately express how wonderful the photographs are in this book. They are gorgeous, beautiful, and sometimes just plain old adorable. For me, looking at them defines longing; for a clear view of an endless sky, maybe, or for the exhilarating breathlessness of a full-out run, or a moment to howl out joy and loneliness.

The pictures range from when the coyote was just a pup to ones where he’s grown into his ears. They also range from full color to the evocative muted tones of the one to the right. (“Feathergrass” by Stockton)

I’m not kidding when I say that I stood in the store, oohing and aahing, as I turned the pages. I kept interrupting my husband’s wandering, thrusting the book in his way so that he could see, too. The photographs absolutely sold me on this one, but looking into it further, the story is one I think I might enjoy immensely.

“If someone had told me, even three months prior, that I would move, willingly, to a town of three hundred people, I would have told them they needed some Windex for their crystal ball. It was a drastic move, one not based in logic, security, experience, or anything other than unignorable desire, dictated solely by my passion for Wyoming’s land. I fall in love with places the way I fall in love with men. Actually, that’s not the precise truth. I fall deeper, more ardently in love with places than I have with any man, and will give myself over to a place in a way I have never given myself to a person.” (page 4)

Yeah, I think I’m going to enjoy what Stockton has to say.

Shreve Stockton has a site that is full of pictures and updates. You can subscribe to the “Weekly Coyote” and be sent a picture of Charlie every week. She also sells prints of her stunning pictures and a calendar that showcases them. And if you know someone who does enjoy animal books of this nature, The Daily Coyote might just make an excellent present for the holidays. I’m just glad I won’t have to wait that long to dig in and meet Charlie.

Kindred in Death ~ J.D. Robb

What follows is a not-quite-a-review review. Because, dude, this is the 29th book in this series. What more can you say?

From the book jacket…

When the newly promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they were looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter who had stayed behind.

Not even their worst nightmares could have prepared them for the crime scene that awaited them instead. Brutally murdered in her bedroom, Deena’s body showed signs of trauma that horrified even the toughest of cops; including our own Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who was specifically requested by the captain to investigate.

When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know yet that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities. Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to bring justice.

Hard to believe, but Kindred in Death is indeed the 29th book in Robb’s/Robert’s In Death series. It’s a remarkable run, really, made even moreso by the fact that I’ve loved each and every release, and that I continue to crave more. The last book, Promises in Death, was an emotional wringer and an installment I loved due to M.E. Morris’s increased involvement in the storyline. So I was going into this one with high expectations for a solid follow-up. I wasn’t quite prepared, however, for the fact that it would hit rather close to home.

“The loss of a child goes deeper than any,” he said. “It doesn’t pass the way other losses may. However the loss came, a parent looks inward. What could I have done, what didn’t I do?”

Last month I lost my brother, the one closest to me in age, the one I was closest to, and I see my mother working through these questions every day. Imagine my surprise then when I’m hip deep in one of the series that I consider an escapist pleasure and all of a sudden I see it mirroring, in a way, something happening very close to home. I guess it made the reading a little bittersweet…any time MacMasters or his wife began to talk about a future without their daughter in it, any time lines read like the ones above.

But moving back to the story.

That the crime involved a cop’s daughter certainly made things tense for Eve and her team, and she took a few knocks in this one that she won’t forget any time soon. But this one also hit at her because of the nature of the crime, bringing back memories from her own childhood, and the abuse she suffered. Roarke, ah, Roarke, was there as always to help her put the pieces back in place after they’d come loose from the work.

Kindred in Death is typical of what we’ve come to expect from this series. I, for one, know this is one formula I will never tire of.

TBR (in the next two weeks) Books

One of these things is not like the others.

And that would be Kindred in Death, the only book on this stack that I’m reading purely because I want to. The rest? Those are for either work or school. And here’s the thing: I’m on vacation for the next almost two weeks and I was really hoping to read more of what I want to, not what I’m obligated to. Ah, well.

Guess I better get reading.

A Northern Light ~ Jennifer Donnelly (& I made a trailer!)

From the book…

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace’s drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the grim truth behind a murder.

Going into this novel the only thing I knew was that Theodore Dreiser has written a book, An American Tragedy, that drew on the same early 1900s murder case. My interest was piqued, of course, and learning more about that case after finishing this book was a given. But it seems to me that the back cover’s synopsis for A Northern Light is a bit misleading: Yes, Grace Brown’s death plays a role in the novel, but it never takes center stage.

This is Mattie’s story. And she’s a strong girl, a dutiful daughter and unabashed dreamer, a character rich with language and heart. And with courage.

When her mother died, Mattie promised to take care of the younger children, and she kept that promise even as she strained against the confines of the border lines that marked her family’s farm. She made a promise to Royal Loomis, a beautiful boy she thought would surely never look her way, when he offered her a ring; she slipped it on her finger even as her mind took her to distant lands each time she opened a book. And she made a promise to Grace Brown, a guest at the Glenmore Hotel where Mattie worked to bring in extra money, that she would burn the stack of letters Grace gave her before anyone could see them. She kept that promise, for as long as she could, after learning that Grace did not survive the boating outing she took with her gentelman friend.

Mattie wants to burn those letters, but being the smart girl she is, she realizes that the bruises and laceration on Grace’s face don’t hold with the drowning theory everyone in the hotel clings to. That knowing makes Mattie’s life infinitely harder. “What had I seen? Too much. What did I know? Only that knowledge carries a damned high price.”

A Northern Light is a wonderful coming-of-age story, filled with characters that provoke and challenge Mattie, and based upon true events that lend the book an eerie, haunting tone. Readers who struggle with non-linear storylines might find the pacing slow or confusing, but the tension and the wondering is always thick and present, making this one a compelling read from start to finish.

Favorite passages:

This first one reminds me of Emily Dickinson, a poet Mattie has much to say about towards the end of the novel.

They leave things behind sometimes, the guests. A bottle of scent. A crumpled handkerchief. A pearl button that fell off a dress and rolled under a bed. And sometimes they leave other sorts of things. Things you can’t see. A sigh trapped in a corner. Memories tangled in the curtains. A sob fluttering against the windowpane like a bird that flew in and can’t get back out. I can feel these things. They dart and crouch and whisper. (p 135)

________________

If you harness two horses together and one is stronger, the weaker horse gets buffeted and bruised. That’s what being friends with Weaver was like. A farmer can put an evener on his team’s yoke to compensate for the weaker horse by shifting some of the load to the stronger one. But you can’t put an evener on two people’s hearts or their souls. I wished I could just up and go to New York City. I wished I was as strong as Weaver was. I wished I was as fearless.
But I was not. (p 313)

________________

I turned around. It was Royal. His shirtsleeves rolled up, showing his muscled arms, already brown from the sun. His color was high from working, his cheeks streaked with dust. He stood with his hands in his pockets and his sturdy legs rooted to the ground, belonging to this place. As much as the silvery streams belonged, and the great, scudding clouds, and the deer in the woods. He was as beautiful as these things, too. He took my breath away. His eyes were the color of amber. Not hazel, not buckwheat honey like I’d thought, but warm, dark amber. (p 117)

I should mention here that I read A Northern Light for my course. Part of my final project is to make a book trailer, so that’s what I did. The final isn’t due yet, but I thought I’d post my first effort at creating a trailer to see what you think. It was challenging – first attempts usually are, right? – but it was also fun and I can see how one could become addicted to creating them. Anyway, here it is…