Chill by Elizabeth Bear - review

Chill
Elizabeth Bear
Jacob's Ladder #2
SciFi/Fantasy

****** six out of six stars

cover  - See, here's the thing.  These characters are supposed to be very pale - as evidenced on this cover.  But not shown on this cover, is that they are also pretty blue tinged....  however, this IS this representation of a colony of symbiont colonies....a type of nanobyte, if you will, that aids in keeping the bodies fresh, fighting disease and injury - even too much emotions.   Science Fiction - gotta love it.  :)


If you haven't read Dust, then Chill isn't going to make much sense.  It's still doable, but it's better to read Dust first.  The second in a trilogy - Jacob's Ladder trilogy, Chill takes off right where Dust ended.  The aftermath of a great battle...  but you need back ground.  Too  bad you're not going to get a lot of back ground -- you really need to read the book to get the most out that you can. See, I'm not sure I got everything out of the book that I could.  But here's a start...

The generation ship - Jacob's Ladder, has been recently saved from hundreds of years of orbiting a dying star.  Using a dangerous combination of events, the newest captain has managed to begin a journey to find a planet for the inhabitants of this ship to colonize.  this is something that was planned long ago, though the plans to colonize seem to have been delayed.  The original ship dwellers are mostly all gone - there are some who have been around for a few hundred years, but even they don't know all there is to know of the beginnings of the flight; they don't know the complete story to how the ship ended up stranded and orbiting in a dying system for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, though the ship is now traveling, it's also continuing to fail at an even faster rate.

The inhabitants: this is where I believe the SciFi merges with some fantasy elements - whether the author planned this or not, it's how I see it.  There are some strong SciFi elements; bio-engineering, computer programs merging with humans; computer programs turned into artificial intelligence turned into "angels"; elite family members with special gifts such as wings, the ability to sense things and converse telepathically with the AI.  The background of this book is rich with details of all types.

The support staff of the ship are divided according to the systems they work in - here is where I show how much I don't remember terms, so I'll just describe.  The engineering section is one family, the kitchen/life sustenance is another.  there is life support, and the ruling class - the Conn's who are not the nicest people in the world.  And the ship itself - it's vast.  Vast enough to contain seasons, fields and holdings resembling fiefdoms of yesteryear.  I cannot do this book and all the details justice.

So, I skip to the storyline.  In Dust (Jacob's Ladder #1), we meet Perceval, Rien, Mallory, Gavin, Tristen and Benedict - among a few others.  In Chill, Perceval is now Captain of the ship.  Two of the enemy angels have warred - with one clear winner.  Each ship system had its own Angel, and one Angel was ambitious enough to take over and absorb the other angels, trying to effect a change that would save the ship.  Because of this, Perceval's new found love - Rien, is now part of the computer system/angel.  Perceval is angry, and trying to adjust.

And even though the war is "over" it's not really over.  The ship is losing valuable resources almost faster than damaged areas can be fixed.  Tristen (one of the uncles) and Benedict (one of the other uncles) have gone on separate and parallel quests to find out what's going on, and to try to fix the problems.   Unfortunately one of the Aunts - Arianne, seemingly captured, has escaped and has some plan she's been putting into action.   Mallory - a necromancer who looks like a man and a woman, but who claims to be a woman - is helping.  Mallory has the memories of hundreds, if not thousands of previously living people in his ....memory banks.  His sidekick is a metal bird, called Gavin who seems to have the memories of one of the other Aunts.  This aunt was a sorceress - (you see where I get the fantasy along with the SciFi?)

It sounds confusing as hell, but when you're reading it, you just fall into the story, and the details unfold as you read along.  The details as well as the rich surroundings, and the fantastical mix of science and fantasy, computer programs and magic.  It's a hell of a mix, ending in a hell of a story.  

Another merging of factions is the female vs male, hetero vs homo sexual - only it really isn't a versus type of thing, it's more of a mixture.  Sexuality, and even male/female presence is more of an afterthought, or even better - a blending of ideals.  For example, as an exalt (the elite members of the family) one can choose to be sexual or asexual.  Perceval had chosen to be asexual until she fell in love with Rien, and even then though she really wanted to marry this woman, she wasn't concerned with a sex life, more of a merging and spending a life with her loved one.  Mallory - not quite male or female, is with either sex.  It's as if an ideal future for the sexes was being described here - a world where people are allowed to love as they will, with no judgement or spotlight.  The sexual preferences just ... Are.

Good story, with the promise of more with the third of the series - Grail.  I enjoyed the dialogue, the inner thoughts and the lush descriptions of everything from the ship's different sections to the animals and fauna within the ship, and all the different people.  It all combines into one hell of a story.

    

   Books one and three of 
    Jacob's Ladder trilogy

What Came From The Stars by Gary D. Schmidt - review

What Came From The Stars
by Gary Schmidt
MG/fantasy

****** six out of six stars
cover - this cover is what first caught my eye.  The book came through The Junior Library Guild - or JLG (a company that will {among other services} send a set of books to your school library {for money, of course, it's a business}.  The benefit is they will sort out a determined set of books...we have fiction - middle grade, elementary age, and picture books picked out.  They usually pick interesting novels to send.  We get a lot of science fiction and fantasy, as we've picked those as our interests {lol, MY interests})  I saw this cover and marveled at the mix of stars, the colors, the sky, the comet and the house looking at once both peaceful and possibly sinister... it's homey looking and yet looks isolated out there...The setting of the house is at the coast - it's close to the ocean.  The book is set near Plymouth Rock.

What Came From The Stars - what an interesting novel.  Even though this is supposed to be for middle grade - the main character is in 6th grade, with a younger sister.  I was reading it to a group of third graders and they were enjoying it a lot - though some chapters were very difficult to understand, especially since it was peppered with words that seem to be completely MADE UP - it was another planet, after all.  Think of bible style writing with fantasy elements.  It's a style of writing that an older teen, as well as an adult, would find challenging to keep up with.  But the chapters featuring Tommy and friends were captivating my audience.  And here we were at the end of a school year, no more library classes - no more time to read to the class, and we hadn't been able to get through the book.  I've had this happen to me before, where we haven't been able to finish reading a book, but this is the first time I've felt compelled to take the book home and finish reading it on my own.  This was a very good book, with some suspenseful moments, some intense moments and some outright fun moments.  I can imagine a book like this holding the interest of an elementary aged child, a tween, a teen and an adult.  Heck - it held my interest.

Told in alternating pov's - one is third person and focuses on Tommy Pepper, his sister and his father.  It's only slowly that you learn that his little sister hasn't said a word in a long time - since they lost their mother.  Tommy and little sister - Patty - live with their father in a beach house.  Not only are they dealing with their own grief of losing their mom, their father is greiving and hasn't quite been himself, though he's taking care of them.  Father is a painter.  And their house - the view and access to the ocean beach is being threatened by an ambitious real estate agent - one who is not a very pleasant woman.

The other pov is the one that is hard for younger children to understand.  Hell, I think it would be hard for some grown ups to follow, much less older children.  The style is very formal, with many, many completely foreign words - foreign as in not of this world.  The setting is a planet very far away - another galaxy.  War has broken out, an entire race is being wiped out by a wizard and his enslaved ... monsters? beings?  things.  

As the world far away is being threatened, one of the last of the people put all the magical art into a chain, and sends it through the sky, through the atmosphere into space where it travels through galaxies into the Earth's atmoshpere and lands in Tommy's lunch box.  Tommy's lunch box is an Ace Robotroid adventure lunch box and he's embarrassed to use it - feels too old for it.  But granma gave it to him for his birthday...and he finds this chain in it, assumes it's from his grandma and puts it on. Suddenly he's having memories and talents that he's never had before.  Words are coming out of his mouth that people don't understand....

this book is a piece of creative genius.  I was amazed.  Even though at times the subject matter seems a little bleak - the little family is obviously a bit depressed, they're greiving, their very house is being threatened and suddenly the whole town becomes a target for something dangerous and mysterious...there are funny moments peppered throughout.

The suspense built up gradually and steadily, the things Tommy was experiencing increased until the climax of the novel.... and the ending was so good...  This is one book that I'm glad I read, even though it was meant to be a children's book, it read as interesting to me as a good adult book.  Some of the subject matter is intense and a little dark, but on the whole, it was a book about hope, about healing, family, relationships, friends sticking together and the hidden strength of people.  Great reading.

The Wild Ways by Tanya Huff - review

The Wild Ways
Gale Women #2
Tanya Huff

******  (6 out of 6 stars)

cover - I'm not crazy about this cover, it's just personal taste.  There's nothing really wrong with it...except the art is weird (for me) on the woman's stance.  Maybe it's the way her arm looks.  Perspective is off.  I DO like the dragon shadow, though, and the way the seal is represented.  So the cover does kind of fit the story - except I don't remember where Charlie is possibly standing at the beach, staring at a hole in the mountain, but...is probably a representation - right? At least the girl has the right color hair. ;)


Man- I just love Tanya Huff's writing.  I don't know if there's anyone that can really compare, it's so original.  Subtly different than many writers out there.  Huff has written more series than I've read, but each book I've read written by her, I've loved.

The Wild Ways is the second of the Gale Women series.  This one features Charlie (Charlotte).  She is the cousin with Wild Powers.  Meaning she could go either way - evil or good, so the "Aunties" are always watching her.  One of my favorite characters in this novel is Jack, the other younger wild power.  Not only is he a wild power, but he happens to be a Dragon Prince.  He was introduced in the first novel (The Enchantment Emporium) and is a typical fourteen year old boy with the powers of a dragon...and a Gale.  Wow.

Charlie has been traveling, on tour with a country band when she gets called to tour with a former band, all friends of hers.  Things line up to make this possible without disappointing anyone and she's on her way.  When she's at the coast at one of the festivals the band is playing, the fiddler's girlfriend has been crying - incessantly.  This affects the band, so Charlie ends up helping out - turns out there are sealskins involved, corrupt oil company CEO and assistant and things are a bit of a mess.  AND an exiled Auntie is involved - another wild power - Catherine Gale.

Tanya Huff wrote a story that I read in just about 24 hours, mas o menos.  Between the magic, the charms, the smoke from Dragon Prince Jack, and the interplay between the cousins and friends, there isn't one 'bleh' moment in this novel. The setting is Canada and there are both hetero and same sex characters (along with bi), but nowhere is this done in an exploitive or judgmental way.  Very refreshing.

Charlie grows as a person and a Gale Wild Power, as does young Jack.  Made me want to find the first book for a reread.  Huff is definitely one of the best writers around.

The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron - review

*whenever possible, I link to excerpt of novel - simply click on cover*

The Spirit Thief
Rachel Aaron
fantasy
2010 mmpp

*****  (5 out of 6 stars)
cover - mmummmmUMPH!  that eyebrow - amazing eyebrow.  it has a personality all its own.  that nose - that is one good nose, it's not too skinny.  And those lips.  yummy.  you just want to nibble on those lips...(did I just say that out loud?  me?!)  Doesn't the whole thing together just scream wicked?  Oh yeah - wicked fun.  Ironically, this book isn't about that kind of wicked fun.  However, it IS about a wickedly charming man who charms spirits....

The Spirit Thief is a charming, fun fantasy read with some characters that I want to read more about.  Though the series is titled The Legend of Eli Monpress, there are three characters besides Eli that appear throughout The Spirit Thief.   There is, of course, Eli Monpress - self titled the best thief in the land.  He wants to prove this by making his bounty larger and larger.  His stated goal, to become worth a million might not be all there is to this story.  He is traveling with two companions.  Josef is a swordsman who has been chosen by a certain sword that he refuses to use.  There is Nico, who has this ability to disappear and reappear.  There's something about her that frightens the spirits - they aren't simply frightened, they are terrified.  And finally - there is Miranda who belongs to an order (The Spirit Court) that uses and protects spirits, keeping the lands safe from nefarious wizards and other dangers.  Miranda has some strong beliefs about spirits.

In this first of (now) five novels, Eli has decided to raise his bounty by kidnapping a King.  Miranda's order has learned that Eli is in the Mellinor Kingdom and Miranda is sent to arrest him.  Seems it's kind of hard for anyone to detain Eli...  Eli is able to talk and charm the spirits of wood, doors, plants, water, all kinds of spirits.  In this world, every item - living or inanimate has a spirit, some more awake than others.  And Eli has a way with all spirits, they all seem to adore him.  Though his chosen life is as a thief, he does have a strong sense of  respecting all spirits, and never forces the spirits - he talks to them.  All the time; as he's traveling, when he needs something from them, when he just passes by...builds good will.

Miranda, on the other hand, enters into a contract type of co-existence with some spirits, using them as servants in return for protecting them.   She also travels with this huge mist hound - a hound that is as big as a horse with abilities of his own.  While in pursuit of Eli, she stumbles on a plot by the King's sinister brother.  This brother has been exiled from the Mellinor Kingdom  - a kingdom that for four hundred years has banned anything to do with magic, especially wizards.  So when Renaud (sinister bro of the king) began exhibiting wizardly abilities, he was sent away.  Needless to say, he grew up bitter, planned to worm his way back into the kingdom and when an opportunity arose, jumped on the chance to take over the kingdom to begin his plot...

I usually don't go into this much detail on a book review, and hope I stayed away from any spoilers.  However, this novel has been around since 2010 -so any spoilers are already out there.  I enjoyed reading this novel - quite a bit.  The characters were fun to read, the dialogue was fitting, and there were some chuckles to balance out some of the more intense moments.  Not that there were any extremely scary moments, or gore - the moments between wizards were more of a will vs will duel, and even the swordsmen fighting weren't bad - there was blood, to be sure, but nothing that would keep a sensitive person from reading...I think.

In this novel, you have all the parts you need - good dialogue, some chuckles, mysterious pasts, interesting characters (though for some reason, I found Miranda to be irritating - not irritating as in, I do not want to read about her, but in the way of, I'm glad she's not in MY face), and I loved that the spirits -a big part of the world building- weren't just mentioned here and there, but their roles were threaded throughout the book.  I would have loved to find out more about Josef and what makes him tick, Nico - where did they find her?   what made them want to protect her? etc.   In addition, there are endless possibilities of storylines, subplots and side characters just with the idea of the spirits of ALL the items in this world.  The door has a spirit - a wood spirit that is most likely deeply asleep....the water in a river, the sand, metal, even a leather bag - and this Eli seems to understand what these spirits need.  The narration was pretty good, even though I found a few spots where I felt like I was in a classroom listening to teachers talk at each other on the use of magic.  Minor issue, since it wasn't over done, but something that does sometimes pull me out of a story.

When the story ended, I wanted to read more.  This is the type of book that I enjoy enough to buy a sequel to see where the characters are going, or just to enjoy Eli's roguish charm, Josef's intensity and Nico's way of frightening all that surrounds her - all except Josef and Eli.  What is up with her?  you'll have to read The Spirit Thief to find out.  I'll be eventually buying the next story in the series, The Spirit Rebellion.  By the way - the first three books are now available in an omnibus edition - three novels for the price of one book - well, for the price of a trade sized ppb.  

**In fact, there was one moment... correct me if I'm wrong  - but if you injure your left leg in a swordfight - wouldn't you favor your left leg and NOT the right leg?  or would it be the other way around?**

Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin - review

Magic Lost, Trouble Found
Lisa Shearin
*****
fantasy
2007

cover - I like this cover.  A strawberry blonde, confident looking young woman standing there with a sword, the exotic lavenderish sky in the background.  {Is "lavenderish" a real word?  well - to me it is.} That is exactly what the main character is like - strawberry blonde, confident and able to take care of herself in a fight.


Magic Lost, Trouble Found is one of those "sleeper" books for me.  You've heard the term in relation to movies - a movie that doesn't seem like it's going to be a big hit, yet ends up to be one of the best movies you've ever seen for whatever reason.  When I first started this book, I couldn't quite get into it.  I think I ended up putting it aside for at least three years - possible more....yes, in fact I started it in 2007 and finally finished in in February of 2012.  That's quite a wait.  The first time I didn't get past the first chapter, and to be fair, I had brought it with me when my daughter, granddaugher {then 7 months old} and I flew to Los Angeles to visit my brother.  We were pretty busy, and I ended not reading much until we came home, and I became engrossed in other books.  I kept seeing it on the shelf and thinking I should read it...time passes....then I joined that challenge and decided to grab it off that shelf and see if I couldn't finish it.  Once I got into it, I found it was pretty interesting.  


Raine is a fae, living in a city and world populated with faes, goblins and other folk.  There are wizards, thieves, etc.  It's set in a time with no cars or motorized items - think of Willow or Lord of the Rings.  Raine has a small talent - she can find things with a small bit of magic.  She comes from a line of magic users and has been living with her cousins - a large family of happy, busy pirates and thieves.  She has a friend, Quentin, who frequently gets into situations because of his tendency to try to make money by stealing.  She also has friends in the local version of a police precinct.


Her friend Quentin has taken a job, and she's decided to watch over him, to make sure that nothing goes wrong.  Only the job he took was to steal from a notoriously dangerous wizard and of course, something does go wrong.  Goblins - two factions of goblins interrupt and a battle follows.  To keep the item safe, she puts it around her neck while getting Quenting out of danger - and gets stuck with an evil amulet that kind of likes having Raine wear it.  Turns out this amulet is pretty important, and is wanted by quite a few people - one to hide it away and keep it safe and others to use for your typical nefarious purposes.


Goblins in this particular world are not your typical goblins - these guys are human shaped, with silvery gray skin; they like to stay in darker places and can be quite mesmerizing.  They are pretty blood thirsty though.  Turns out Raine has had a long will they or won't they relationship with a certain goblin who happens to be related to the royal goblin family - this matters later in the book.  And now, there are some pretty evil goblins after her and the amulet.  Her cousin, Phaelen {a dashingly roguish pirate} helps her - he's a fun guy to read about.  They have a fun relationship with interesting dialogue - and he's taught her all he knows about picking locks, etc.


Raine needs to find a way to get the amulet off her, into safe hands  before it takes her over.  She's finding new abilities the longer she connected to it.  People, good and bad, are after her, she's not sure who she can trust {besides her family} and she ends up inadvertantly getting her aunt and cousin involved, as well as her wizard tutor, and her cousin Phaelen.  The entire book is fun to read - good dialogue, interesting interactions between characters, adventure, a few good fights and a couple of heart thumping moments between her and a certain detective.  Wizards, magic, Goblins, Fae, spellsingers, roguish pirate captain cousin....Lots of great stuff in this novel.  A good read, and the first in a series.  The narration is first person, with very little in the way of infodumping - there are parts where Raine explains a goblin way of life, for instance, but these are kept short and sweet, and do the job - it explains so that you know a bit more about the story, the person or  the talent.  Shearin does a good job with this.


I'm happy I read this book.  I promptly went out and bought the second in the series and in true contradictory fashion, I haven't read it yet.  Which is silly, because I know I have a good story with great narration and lightly snarky dialogue to go with it.  {I love a lightly snarky dialogue - there's nothing so off putting as over-snark, where the author is so out of control with having her character be a smartass that the person comes across as a super sarcastic asshole} I plan to read Armed & Magical soon, and if it's as good as the first, then I have the rest of the series to look forward to - which is always good thing.


There are currently six books in the series - the next up is Armed & Magical, and the latest novel All Spell Breaks Loose is available now.

Graveminder by Melissa Marr - review

I was sure I reviewed this - but I guess I didn't.  At least I can't find even a draft of a review for this novel.  Oops.

Graveminder

Melissa Marr

fantasy

2011 

****

cover -I like this cover - it's pleasant.  However, my overall impression is that a young woman is standing in a meadow - just a meadow.  This book has a lot to do with graves, graveyards and the dead - so I wonder why there isn't a graveyard - except possibly it might be too cliche.  Oh well.  However, I did see another cover on Goodreads - and this one, though simple - comes across as a little spookier.

Even though Graveminder came out in 2011 - I didn't hear about it {at least I don't remember hearing about it} until I saw it recently as a trade paperback in the store.  It was originally released as a hardback.  I'm glad I found it in paperback price, though it's still a little more than I would have liked to spend.    **There are three excerpts available on this page - under both covers and the name**  While I enjoyed reading Graveminder, I don't think I feel like raving about it.  It didn't quite reach out and smack me with excitement.  However, once I began reading it, I didn't pick up another book until I finished reading.  However, again, though the pace was steady, and just about every page interesting, not once did I feel suspenseful, or worried about the characters, or etc.  I find this odd, since there are horrific things going on.  People aren't quite staying dead, others are being attacked and bitten, there's a sense of urgency from the characters and yet I never felt this urgency myself.

I liked the style of Marr's writing, I was never bored, but I think it's odd that for such a gory plot with such dangerous and potentially horrific events, I never felt chilled - never felt like - "omg, she better watch behind her!".  This could be because the book was as much about dead people not quite staying dead, finding themselve a bit peckish as relationships.  There is a off and on again relationship between the two main characters, with the twist being the woman can't commit or even admit that she wants more than a quick booty call once in a while.  And there is also the estranged bitter relationship between the main character and her stepfather's relatives.  It's complicated, and comes out in bits and pieces.  A good thing about this novel - NO info dumps.

Basically, there is this odd little town, where people rarely leave and it's only as you read on that you slowly come to realize just how odd this little town is, just what a price the townspeople pay for quiet prosperity, health and serenity.

Maylene is the grandmother of Rebekkah - by marriage, though she considers Rebekkah a granddaughter of the heart.  Maylene also has a job, an unofficial job to do for the town, though the townspeople do not actually realize just how extensive her job is.  They and Rebekkah, only know that Maylene regularly performs a ritual at all funerals...and visits all graves for a certain period of time - to make sure the dead stay dead.  

Rebekkah's on and off again boyfriend is Byron, who along with Rebekkah has been kept innocent of the behind the scenes duties Maylene and his father, William (the undertaker) perform.  Byron is totally in love with Maylene.  Byron has come home after trying life on "the outside" and never feeling like he's at home until he returns home.  Things begin to become strange when Maylene suddenly and unexpectedly dies.  Byron is sure that there's more to her death than a simple death and can't understand why the sheriff is doing more to get to the bottom of her death.  His suspicions might be because she's found in her kitchen in a pool of blood, obvious bites taken out of her...

That's just the beginning of the novel.  There is discovery, rebellion and acceptance within all the pages.  It's well written with good dialogue, evenly paced, with POV switching between a few characters - always easy to follow though.  I was never bored while reading it, and yet at the end of the book I just felt kind of ...calm about it.  I liked it.  I didn't feel amazed by it, though.  It's worth reading with a good plot, interesting scenarios, some quirky characters and some bitter characters rounding out the cast of townspeople.  All in all - I would recommend this novel to those who like or need to read something a little different with paranormal twists.  I didn't feel like there were any gross-out moments, though there were situations that another author might have exploited for the gore.

Most readers probably already know this - but just in case - Melissa Marr is the author or the Young Adult Wicked Lovely series, featuring the Fae; she is also releasing a new novel in September of 2012, titled Carnival of Souls.

Sagebrush Song (Into The West #5) by J.A. Campbell - review

Sagebrush Song
Into the West #5
mg/ya fantasy (series)


J.A. Campbell


cover - all of the covers for this entire series have been beautifully relevant to the story covers.  I've never really been into western themes, but these are wonderful covers with beautiful imagery.  I'll include all the past covers with the newest, the final story's cover at the end of this post.  This editor might have dropped the ball on timely publication of Into the West, but the covers - those have been great.


Sagebrush Song is the second to last of this six part series about Tina - a young teen who has been reluctantly relocated to the wild west- and her cowboy Rowe, a young man who lives about 100 years before Tina...  They meet up and together take part in a bit of an adventure.

???

How is this possible?  Well, there's some time travel involved.  In the first four stories, Tina moved to a small town - pretty much a ghost town - with her family because her father's work made this necessary.  She's a city girl, a mall shopper, they type of young girl who polishes her nails, has manicures, face treatments, shops for fun, and pays attention to her looks.  Things are very different in the desert.  Now she's learning how to ride a horse for something besides show, has been helping out at a working ranch, and in the process learning more about desert/ranch life than she ever thought she wanted to know.  Once she inadvertantly goes through a canyon - one that everyone avoids because of strange, mysterious things that happen there.  Ended up getting mixed up with a cowboy and bandits...Turns out she was also quite a ways into the past.

In this past is a handsome young man named Rowe who works for a rancher who has been having some trouble with a rival rancher - trouble that includes horse stealing, shootouts, bandits and lots of danger.

In Sagebrush Song, Tina and Rowe have committed to a plan that will help Ol' Man Taggart keep his ranch and hopefully end the ranch war.  She's going to impersonate a young lady - meaning she has to behave demurely (something many young women of today have a hard time with, lol), wear a long dress and pretend to be a young lady relative of Ol'Man Taggart.  Angie - the Shaman in Training for Eli (medicine man of the local tribe) goes back in time with Tina and Rowe to help out with the plan.  Tina is planning to visit the sheriff to enlist legal help with Taggart's problems.  (Taggart's ranch is the very same ranch that Tina has been working at in her time)

Things don't go quite like they planned, in fact things get dangerous for the three.  However, where one door closes, another door opens....  They meet up with a few good men who are looking for a good cause.  Good thing, because while in town, a bad situation pops up...

In a short story format, Ms Campbell manages to tell a story complete with humor, the beginnings of first love, danger and suspense and sets things up for the final story in the series.  The dialogue between characters is deftly done - Rowe sounds like a cowboy from the early 1900's (how I would imagine one to sound) complete with the manners of that era, while the Medicine Man and his apprentice Angie sound how I would imagine tribal members of modern times to sound like - there's a small difference between Angie and Eli -  young Navajo and elder - which is appropriate.  All the side characters sound like they should.  

I'm not very good at summaries, trying to remember all that I like from a story.  But one of the things I remember enjoying quite a bit was the small little details Campbell included - such as Tina looking around the hotel room when staying the night in an inn.  This would be during their stay in the past.  There are enough details about the differences between now and then that I could just imagine what it would feel like to be in the past suddenly.  It would be strange - no electricity, running water, toilets that flush, so phones, etc.  J.A. Campbell did a good job of detailing some of this without overwhelming a reader with too much.

Sagebrush Song is an enjoyable read with humor, suspense, a few heartstopping moments, and the tender stirrings of a first love - one that might end up to be bittersweet, because the two live in two different time zones - not just a few hours apart, but decades apart!

If you haven't read the series yet, give this one a try.  There will be six parts in all - and each one is an enjoyable read - appropriate for young tweens to young adult.  If I could enjoy this series at 51 years of age - I think many people will like this series.

     



  



newest cover - final episode coming soon

(sorry guys - the new Blogger interface is even harder to format with than the old one, no rhyme, no reason, it's DRIVING ME CRAZY!)

review - Bayou Moon

Bayou Moon

Ilona Andrews

******

Look at the cover.....when the author's name is as big as the title, if not bigger, then I think it means that the publishers are pretty sure that name recognition is pretty good here....people are going to be looking for the name of the author as much as they're going to be browsing for books. I think - it's not like any publishers have come to me to explain this, maybe I'm just making things up. maybe I'm just guessing...but I'm also speaking for book-buying experience. Unfortunately, I think this also means that it's just a matter of time before we start seeing Ilona Andrews' books come out in hardback....you know, as soon as an author gets popular, we have to (don't HAVE TO, unless you want to read the books before the spoilers are all out) buy hardbacks. Which is one of those bittersweet things about authors you love to read getting popular. I don't mean to sound petulant or bitter, but as a long term book buyer - I know what's coming.... Happy for the authors, but sad for my pocketbook.

I like the cover - the swampy background - the sword.... the dark hair and different looks to the woman on the cover. They guy is kind of blond (The darker the better for my tastes), but he looks okay. Like the long hair. Wild.

The Book - What can I say? Thoroughly enjoyed the book. There was just the right amount of wildness in the characters. Just the right amount of crazy. Just the right amount of steamy....(normally, I can do without the steamy, but Gordon and Ilona do a good job of not going overboard, and yet getting the point across that two characters are pretty hot and bothered for each other...) Bayou Moon is set in the swampy area of The Edge, and features a character from the novel The Edge. William is a changeling that has been living in the Edge, ever since the events in the novel (previous novel featuring Rose and Declan). He's approached by the special ops of the Weird's citizens to help capture...or rather KILL an operative of the opposing country in The Weird. If you've read The Edge, you know a bit of the background, if you haven't then you'll learn a bit when you read Bayou Moon. William travels to find and kill this operative (Spider) and has a run in with Cerise Mars...

...and later her crazy family. I LOVE her crazy family. I love the way they are brought to life by Ilona Andrews. The dialogue, the narration, the different points of view....all blends so well together that there is not one boring or "down-time moment" in this novel. I love the edgy, dark personalities of Cerise, her family members, and William. There's a scene set in the town that just gives a glimpse of the different ways of the Edge families.

I also love the different animals that are described in both Bayou Moon and The Edge (the book). There are some seriously strange animals and wildlife in this series. Plants also - there are some crazy plants that come into play throughout this series.

William finds that his mission and Cerise's family issues have a lot in common. Cerise, with her crazed clannish family is the perfect fit for William, which brings us a dark and mildly twisted romance - the best kind of romance to have. (lol). Part of the courtship of Cerise and William is swordplay - real swords.

As with their other novels, Gordon and Ilona Andrews gift us with entertaining narration, great dialogue, twisted plots and some great fight/action scenes. They can also write very good "steam" scenes, that are pretty intense, and yet don't leave me with the feeling that I've just read porn that's been inserted into the book to sell copies. There are also appearances by the main characters in the previous novel, The Edge. Rose, Declan and Rose's brothers all have short and interesting scenes in Bayou Moon. Can't wait to see what they'll come up with next for an Edge novel.

If you enjoy urban fantasy, or fantasy set in strange settings, with edgy characterizations that manage to contain a lot of humor, you're going to love this book. It has it all. Funny, Heartwrenching, action, fighting, steam, .....PLOT! An Excellent Read.

Just in case....Ilona Andrews also writes the Kate Daniels series