Non-Laughter Review: DARK AND STORMY KNIGHTS

Regular readers of this space know that Apprentice Writer has recently struggled with lacklustre enthusiasm for sequel volumes of urban fantasy series.

Does the problem lie within herself, she wonders? Overall genre fatigue? Too great a familiarity with individual author style after the first one or two volumes? Can, perhaps, the dreaded 'sagging middle' of a book (which authors strive so hard to avoid after hooking a reader's interest with great beginning and closing on a rousing end) also transfer to a dreaded 'sagging middle' of a series, with great opening volume, fantastic planned closing volume, and possibly not-quite-as-strong volumes in between?

Being apparently incapable of walking by a UF title on her library's New Release table, AW found herself in temporary possession of DARK AND STORMY KNIGHTS, edited by P.N. Elrod.

Perhaps, thought she, the trick would be to find some new UF authors to read and love.

Ilona Andrews, A Questionable Client
First Line: "The problem with leucrocotta blood is that it stinks to high heaven."
A very Kate Daniels sentiment; her emphasis isn't on the astonishing presence of a mythological beast in her neighborhood, it's on her irritation at having to clean its body fluids off her boots after she cuts off its head. Good opener and fun story.
Premise/Author style: Liked and liked (but this was no surprise as the author is 1 of 2 from 9 with whose work AW was familiar).
Novella did its job? Yes - shall read more as Book 4 in series picked up again.


Jim Butcher, Even Hand
First Line: "A successful murder is like a successful restaurant: ninety percent of it is about location, location, location." Excellent first line.
Premise/Author Style: Liked and liked.
Novella did its job? Yes - would consider seeking out more of author's work.

Shannon Butcher, The Beacon
First Line: "There were ten rounds in Ryder Ward's Glock, but he was going to need only one."
Unremarkable first line.
Premise/Author Style: *snooze*
Novella did its job? No - uninterested in pursuing more of this author's work. Which is sad and unfair for the author in case she is much stronger at full-length than novella writing.

Rachel Caine, Even a Rabbit will Bite
First Line: "I got a letter from the Pope in the morning mail." Intriguing first line.
Premise/Author Style: Interesting /Competent but not so powerful as to draw in on its own.
Novella did its job? Partially. Not opposed to reading more, but didn't find self googling backlist either.

P.N. Elrod, Dark Lady
First Line: "My name is Jack Fleming. I am owned by a nightclub." Funny first line, creates positive anticipation.
Premise/Author Style: Premise had similarities to the Jim Butcher story so AW expected a twist at the end, too, was not forthcoming. Enjoyed the noir style.
Novella did its job? Partially. AW appreciated that the story was well-written, but she is not a vampire person so wouldn't seek out more.

Deidre Knight, Beknighted
First Line: "She'd nearly freed him on three separate occasions, coming so close that she could practically touch the mail of his armor." Creates interest in the story to come.
Premise/Author Style: Interesting premise, but style felt muddled and unconvincing. Multiple instances of brand-name dropping in what is supposed to be a future or alternate world were alienating. Didn't get the motivations and backstory of any of the three characters. Female protagonist had some oddly dim moments. Frustrating that not enough was made of what was an intriguing idea.
Novella did its job? No. Uninterested in pursuing more.

Vicki Pettersson, Shifting Star
First Line: "Skamar left her so-called Mediterranean-style apartment as she always did; after first sniffing the air to make sure there were no mortals about." Meh.
Premise/Author Style: Didn't grasp by time decided to stop reading / Was so difficult to grasp backstory and so uninterested in characters to make the effort to do so stopped reading.
Novella did its job? Might have, if had been hooked enough to find out, but now we'll never know...

Lilith Saintcrow, Rookwood & Mrs. King
First Line: "I need to kill my husband." Dramatic, but feels like it's been done before.
Premise/Author Style: OK/Competent overall and well-done in spots. Of the new-to-AW authors, she was most interested in this one due to following her online posts at the grog 'Deadline Dames'.
Novella did its job? Partially. The writing was fine, the story ended with a twist, but again, it is vampiric. If the author branched out into other territory would take a look.

Carrie Vaughan, God's Creatures
First Line: "Cormac waited in the cab of his Jeep, watching each car that pulled into the rest area on I-25 north of Monument." Seriously: not impressing in the least.
Premise/Author Style: Been done (in this antho, in fact) / Competent.
Novella did its job? Partially. Story was fine, but the content was werewolfic (as is the author's full-length work, of which AW has read the first of series). So AW doesn't anticipate reading more.

SUMMARY:
of 2 Known authors - this reader's expectations were confirmed.

of 7 Unknown authors - this reader is interested to read more of a total of 1.

CONCLUSION:
It really is time to give UF a break and read something else.

Triplet Reviews: ANTHOLOGIES, Part 2

Hello and welcome to Part 2 to of the Anthology Triplet Review. For Part 1 ('Must Love Hellhounds' & 'Queen in Winter') please scroll down.

Moving on to the third antho in the bunch:


FOUR DUKES AND A DEVIL (Historical Romance, 2009)
Cover: Liked the small details that came together to make something more than the first impression of somewhat bland house at twilight suggested. The devil's tail in the title was nifty, the red color contrast with deep blue twilight eye-catching, the smoke in the sky kind of cool.

The Irish Duke, Cathy Maxwell
Premise: Spinster who makes her living advising ton families on matches warns against suitability of Irish dukes, and is taken to task by one such.
Writing Style: Did not appeal to this reader.
World: Didn't engage, therefore didn't care to make an effort to suspend disbelief.
Prediction: Probably wouldn't seek out more from this author.

Catch of the Century, Sophia Nash
Premise: Governess travelling with three young charges is stranded on the road; passing Duke acts as Good Samaritan.
Writing Style: Drew AW in.
World: This story was trundling nicely along, looking to be AW's favorite in the bunch, when disaster (readerly speaking) struck. WARNING! SPOILERS!
Hero and heroine are chugging away in their mutual but unacted-upon attraction, when she leaves the ducal manor to go in search of the boys who are exploring the grounds. The Duke happens upon her (quelle surprise) and agrees that it would be good to find them given that there is a lake nearby. Then the pair of them in effect say to themselves "But oh, wait, before we go check if they are busy drowning themselves, we have just enough time for our first nekkid encounter!" END SPOILER WARNING!
These are people the reader is supposed to relate to, sympathize with, root for? AW thinks not. Clearly the heroine is an abysmally bad governess, and he apparently believes in some version of "I'm a Duke, so above other people that I needn't concern myself the potential of contributing to three premature juvenile deaths by negligence since I did my duty earlier in not leaving a young lady by the side of the road." This little bit of 'What the hell???' made this book almost turn into a wallbanger right then and there, but that would have been unfair to the remaining authors whose stories were not yet read.
Prediction: AW is utterly conflicted about this. On the one hand, the egregious plot development. On the other, she had enjoyed the story up to that point. On a glass half full basis, AW would do a ten page test of another work.

Charmed by her Smile, Tracy Anne Warren
Premise: Debutante seeks the assistance of one man to manipulate another.
Writing Style: Didn't engage.
World: Wasn't drawn in, felt impatient both with the heroine's manipulativeness and the hero's being attracted to her.
Prediction: Will probably not seek this author out again.

The Duke Who Came to Dinner, Elaine Fox
Premise: Island resident and newcomer are brought together by canine antics.
Writing Style: Pleasant, easily readable.
World: Was refreshing to have a contemporary thrown in the mix (the Duke in question is a pet), and the story was sweet, but ultimately, not especially stand-outish enough to make AW rush off to her local bookstore to keep the reading experience going.
Prediction: There was enough here to warrant a ten-page test in a longer work to see if it compelled more.

Devil to Pay, Jeanine Frost
Premise: Loner vampire comes to the aid of a human trying to commit suicide to protect others from his actions when he is demonically possessed.
Writing Style: Flowed well enough.
World: Though the trouble the hero finds himself in was certainly compelling and roused sympathy, somehow, didn't quite believe in how fast the couple made a connection and didn't quite get drawn in to the story. As with the Singh story in MLH, this was a case of writing that was good but not good enough to surmount AW's aversion to vampire stories. Fans of this genre would probably like it a great deal more.
Prediction: Will probably not seek out more from this author unless she were to begin writing about another type of character.

TALLY
# of authors AW will definitely seek out based on these short stories,
(in brackets, # AW would give benefit of the doubt in form of a ten-page test of another book)

Must Love Hellhounds - 2 of 4 (plus 1)

Queen in Winter - 2 of 4 (plus 1)

Four Dukes and a Devil - 0 of 5 (plus 2)




Read an anthology lately that AW should try next?

m.

Triplet Reviews: ANTHOLOGIES, Part 1

Alpha Heros and Literary Escapism decided to hold a Short Story/Anthology Reading Challenge.

Since Apprentice Writer recently powered through three of those babies, she decided to give it a whirl.

Here's AW's idea about anthologies: they are supposed to give readers who are unfamiliar with an author's work a taste of his/her writing style, and whether the subgenre or fantasy world appeals. So in theory, if the reader likes a specific new author he/she will be motivated to go out and buy a full-length novel, and if he/she doesn't like that new author - no harm done, it was a small page commitment. So the test here will be: was the story enough to make AW seek out more?

Of the THIRTEEN author collected here, AW had previously read a total of TWO. An almost perfectly clear anthological landscape. Here we go:

MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS (Paranormal/UF, 2009)
Cover: Did nothing for AW. Apparently, hellhounds are particularly unattractive Rothweilers, and the women who take them for walks have spotlights shining out of their crotchal areas.

The Britlingens Go To Hell, Charlaine Harris
Premise: A pair of elite female bodyguards escort a thieving client to hell and are caught.

Writing Style: Didn't appeal.

World: Some imaginative details (loved the dust monsters) and the idea of elite female bodyguards was intriguing, but ultimately some parts of the story torpedoed willingness to suspend disbelief and left no desire to explore this author's world(s) further. Hellhounds played very minor role.

Prediction: Probably won't read this author again.


Angels' Judgement, Nalini Singh
Premise: Guild hunter about to be promoted teams up with loner hunter sent to terminate serial vampire murderer.

Writing Style: Zipped along effortlessly, showing the author's practice at the short story format. Yet despite story tightness and good alternation between action and quieter moments, AW didn't feel drawn in or engaged with either main character. This may have been due to:

World: AW really isn't much of a vampire person. There has to be something else compelling about a story for her to become interested if they form a large part of what's going on. In this case, the angel aspect just didn't make up for it. Hellhound was irrelevant to the plot.

Prediction: From this story alone, wouldn't read this author again. However, she is incredibly popular, especially with other authors who praise her worlds, characters, and writing skills. On that basis, Probably would read this author again.

Magic Mourns, Ilona Andrews
Premise: Shapeshifter with childhood issues teams up with shapeshifter with partner issues to investigate who is controlling a hellhound (among other things).

Writing Style: Loved it. Was rooting for the heroine on multiple levels from page 1. Was so engaged didn't care about the author apparently giving in to the temptation of overpacking the suitcase so it bulged to point of bursting. Whole lot of characters and things going on here, but forgave all and trusted that things will be better integrated with each other in full-length format.

World: Fascinating.

Prediction: Definitely yes. The first volume in this series is already on AW's night table.

Blind Spot, Meljean Brook
Premise: Former CIA-operative turned butler seeks kidnappee with employer's seeing-impaired nephew.

Writing Style: Loved it, but AW already knew that, this being one of the two authors whose previous work she had read. Very nice to be confirmed in belief authory goodness.

World: Consistent, not overwrought, a very imaginative and convincingly written bit about how the hero's special ability is applied. Good example of how other elements make up for presence of vampire characters. Best story of the bunch, not least because the hellhound has some truly hellish qualities and plays a central role.

Prediction: Definitely, AW will keep reading this author! She is quite excited about the upcoming steampunk debut.

QUEEN IN WINTER (Fantasy, 2006)
Cover: Very compelling. Beautiful color combos, lovely arty image, great use of snow. Best cover of the bunch.

Whisper of Spring, Lynn Kurland
Premise: Elf princess is abducted, her brother and non-elf prince mount rescue mission.
Writing Style: Didn't engage.
World: Didn't believe.
Prediction: Probably won't seek this autor out again.

When Winter Comes, Sharon Shinn
Premise: Sisters must flee their home and evade pursuers when one gives birth to a baby with magical powers in an anti-magical world.
Writing Style: Compelling. The reader could sense the characters pain, anxiety, and yearning for a better place and emotional connection.
World: Believable. Felt like the story grew naturally, wasn't forced into premature shape due to short story contstraints.
Prediction: Definitely will read again.

Kiss of the Snow Queen, Claire Delacroix
Premise: Seer sets out to rescue a sorcerer and is aided by a spirit voice from another time.

Writing: Was the most experimental, in that the story starts out in fairly classic high fantasy style, very historic and fairy-tale feeling, and the spirit who speaks to her sounds contemporary.

World: Interesting, with the split in 'era sense' perhaps making it not as easy to fall into the world as would be the case with a story that was either purely modern or classically fantasy.

Prediction: Would read this author again based on interesting approach. (Actually am doing so at the moment - the dystopian 'Fallen' series).


A Gift of Wings, Sarah Monette
Premise: Bodyguard and recuperating wizard are stranded in a mountain inn during a snowstorm and solve a murder.

Writing Style: Loved it, again not a surprise as AW picked up this antho due to this author's inclusion.

World: Similar to and yet distinct from the world created in the 'Doctrine of Labyrinths' series. It was intriguing how gender role reversal was worked in, with the female character, a professional soldier/mercenary, the physically and mentally strong one, and the male character still suffering from psychological abuse inflicted on him.

Prediction: Definitely will continue to read this author.



Please come back for Part 2 of this Triplet Review tomorrow.

In the meantime - is the Gentle Reader familiar with any of these anthos? Agree? Disagree?

m.