Sunshine by Robin McKinley

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This book was recommended to me on my annual shopping trip treat to the Bakka-Phoenix bookstore in Toronto. At least once a year, usually on or around my birthday, I head down and go on a book binge. This year was no different, but I elicited some help from one of the owners of the store in my quest for something interesting to try. She suggested (among others) that I try this one.

Good suggestion.

This is a very dreamy kind of book, almost like a mythical fairy tale but without the romanticizing that you see and read so much of these days when it comes to vampires and other creatures that haunt the night. It has similarities to Charles de Lindt's works in that the main character lives in the real world. It's just that the real world includes vampires. Who, by the way, are as a general rule Not Nice.

The main character, Sunshine, is a talented baker who lives a mundane life that revolves around the cafe in which she works. Her step-father owns it, her mother and boyfriend work there, and her younger step-brothers can usually be found underfoot. One day (it always happens that way, one day) she takes a trip to the lake and ends up a prisoner of some very Not Nice vampires. Another vampire is being imprisoned there as well. What happens as a result of this sequence of events lays the groundwork for this story.

The style has a flavour of Patricia McKillip's magical whimsy -- you can tell that McKinley has written predominantly for the Young Adult and Child markets for fantasy. Reading it is like moving through an extended dream, one of those from which you are loathe to awake because you're just so drawn into the story. It took me a few days to read it because I was savouring.

If you're looking for hard, dark, edgy urban fantasy then you probably won't have the patience for this book. But if you're in the mood to try something a little off the beaten fantasy path, give Sunshine a chance.

Even better, you could drop by Amazon.ca to buy it online. :)

Currently Reading: Widdershins by Charles de Lint

Finally … a book worth reading.

I’m currently meandering through a novel that’s like breathing in clean air in the middle of a field while lying on your back in the grass and staring up at a blue sky with wispy clouds floating by. Sheer pleasure after the last few books I’ve read – and been disappointed by.

Charles de Lint, with his 2007 release called Widdershins, is the book I needed right now. Hits the spot and reminds of how I felt when I picked up my first de Lint book at a second-hand bookstore in Haifa (Israel) while traveling … more years ago than I care to remember!

Am about 150 pages into it so far. Will let you know how it turns out when I’m done.

Street Magic: A Black London Novel by Caitlin Kittredge
Published June 2, 2009 by St. Martin's Press
My Rating: @.5

Disappointing. And such a shame.

As you may have noticed from reading elsewhere on this blog, I've become a fan of Caitlin Kittredge. Her Luna Wilder series really sucked me in.

Unfortunately, Street Magic: A Black London Novel -- the first in a new series by the same author -- did not.

First off, it's implausible -- which is a strange thing to notice in an urban fantasy novel. Magic = implausible. Duh! But in this case, the weak points connecting everything together in this novel really was ... improbable and incongruent.

The main character's accent is the first thing to hit you. Kittredge is American, and she credits someone in the opening with helping her with a proper accent and slang in this book. Unfortunately, the author's lack of native familiarity with the dialect she is trying to use in the story shows -- the conversation seems stilted, without the kind of undercurrent of passion that came through in her other books (written, notably, in "American" English).

The next thing that bothered me was the lead character's working arrangement. She is on the police force and is tracking down who (or what) is taking children. Ok, so far so good. But when she hooks up with a person from her past, Jack, she essentially vanishes from the office while investigating the case. Injures herself. Ends up on desk duty. But ... um ... I don't know of any job out there where you can vanish for days on end, not really check in with your manager, and still have a job to come back to. And yet? She has a job to come back to, and it seems as though no hard questions were asked. It's just too easy.

There seems to be an underlying hint that there is or will be some romantic tension between Pete Caldecott, the lead character, and the mage from her past, Jack. But again, the interactions between these two somehow manage to be both superficial and attemptedly complex at the same time.

Even the cover art. Jack, the mage, is an emaciated junkie when Pete first tracks him down (no pun intended!). The picture on the cover? A very buff guy who is far from the barely skeletal form Kittredge describes in her pages.

Will I buy the next book in the series? Maybe. Depends on how desperate I am for something new to read at the time. Realistically? I'll probably hold out for the next book in the Luna Wilder series instead.

Still want to buy this book? Then please consider dropping by Amazon.ca for it.

Magic Bites, by Ilona Andrews

Published March 27, 2007 by Ace

My Rating: @@

Finished Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews a few days back.

As I was reading it, I was ready to slam this book. It was disjointed, the lead character – a female mercenary with understated/underplayed magical abilities – felt like a two-dimensional stereotype, and there was little passion between her and any of the male leads (or sidelines) in the story. In fact, I was cranky that I was spending time reading it at all given that I’d had the book in my “read me” pile for over a year and only cracked into it because I misplaced my newer, more highly desired reads somehow.

Then, somewhere around the 200 page mark, I finally got into the book.

The lead character, Kate Daniels, is a woman whose guardian was killed by who knows what. Something magical, something somewhat shiftery-slash-undead. Corpulent entrails and other corpseriffic carnage ensues. Supported (in theory, anyway) by a secret society of Guardians, she investigates the death and what the real story is – the one which her now-deceased guardian was investigating at the time of his violent ending.

In her quest for answers, she encounters a morgue doctor named Crest as well as important vampire political players and of course Curran, the Lord of the Beasts (a shifter).

I had a hard time getting invested in any of these characters. The story wasn’t dull to the point where I gave up on the book altogether, and it definitely wasn’t vapid, but it also wasn’t as well written as I would have expected from a book that actually not only made it to publication but also garnered enough support to spawn two more installments in the series.

Digging further into this book, I came across a note on one of the online bookseller sites which explained a lot of the stiltedness – at least up to page 200 or so. Turns out that “Ilona Andrews” is actually a pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. My guess: they were working out the kinks of their writing partnership with this book.

If you feel compelled to own it for yourself, you can pick up Magic Bites on Amazon.ca.

Personally – I’d borrow it from the library or a friend instead.

Catching Up:
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand + Kitty Raises Hell, by Carrie Vaughn
My rating: @@@

Apologies. Really should have written my wrap-up review as soon as I finished reading Kitty Raises Hell, if not Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand. So this may be a little thinner than usual ...

Here is what I can tell you. Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand and Kitty Raises Hell are pretty much parts 1 and 2 of a story. I suspect this is why they were released so close together (February then March 2009). Both are quick and easy reads.

Carrie Vaughn's "Kitty" series books are not deep, but they're nowhere near the vapid fluff-level silliness of that Succubus in the City story I reviewed a few posts back. I'd call them more of an escapist light adventure for people with brains. She introduces a few new characters set against the backdrop of the surrealist Las Vegas strip. Throw in an attempted wedding, a gun show, a really old vampire and some politics and you have the storyline of these two books together.

I definitely did enjoy them. Will I remember the detail enough to be able to tell you what happened a year from now? Probably not.

But on a positive note, at least I'll be able to read them again if I'm so inclined!

Pick up Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand at Amazon.ca

Pick up Kitty Raises Hell at Amazon.ca

Currently Reading:
Kitty and Ben hit Vegas for their honeymoon. Kitty does a live TV show from there, and the couple are staying in the same hotel as a gun convention with many werewolf hunters in attendance. I’m about a third of the way through and so far so good. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Book Review: Second Skin by Caitlin Kittredge

My rating: @@@

Finished Second Skin over the weekend. Finally.

I'm now invested in this series, so I was into it and relished the path. That being said, though, I'm noticing that in these kinds of genre series it's difficult to maintain the romantic/sexual tension of a relationship past the first or second book. Spoiler (highlight to read): Luna and Dmitri break up.

It's kind of like The Jewel of the Nile [Blu-ray], sequel to the hit movie Romancing the Stone [Blu-ray]. Episode one (Romancing the Stone): female and male meet under adventurous circumstances. She can save herself, but he is good to have around for backup ... and other things. Episode two (Jewel of the Nile): what happens after happily ever after? Those qualities which were so great in a danger situation can become problematic when these same people are dealing with the day to day mundanalities of life.

Luna and Dmitri are like that in this book. I suspect that the author couldn't take the angsty will-they-won't-they storyline any further and opted to cut her creative losses and move in another direction.

Luna's stubborn refusal to let other people in also felt like it went to a new level in this book but not in a good way. Think Anita Blake after about book 5 or 6 in the series. Still a likeable character with flaws, but her behaviour was extreme in a way sometimes that made her harder to relate to than in the previous books.

But I still enjoyed the book. And will buy the next one as soon as it comes out if I can. If you enjoyed the first two books in this series, I would recommend this one for your collection as well.

Buy Second Skin on Amazon.ca

Book Review: White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison

My rating: @@@

White Witch, Black Curse is the latest release out in the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison.  I just finished it over the weekend. 

If you’re already into the series, you’ll want to read it – like me – to see what happens next to some of your favourite characters.  Let me save you some of the suspense.  Rachel’s actions get her into further trouble. 

Best: Kisten’s murderer is revealed and that part of Rachel’s history is wrapped up.  It’s an emotional moment.  Worst: Rachel continues to do things which isolate her from the community around her and get her involved in things she probably shouldn’t get involved with.

Kim Harrison always spins a good tale.  I wasn’t bored.  But neither was I compelled to pick up the book and read it through in one sitting.  Maybe it was the book and maybe it was my headspace last week, but I suspect it was the book more than anything else.  IMO, Ms. Harrison is starting to lose the energy of the story line – something that often happens after the third or fourth book in a series.  Ivy is less compelling.  Jenks is dealing with the worsening health of his partner Matalina.  Rachel faces some mild sibling disapproval issues and the reality of her mother finally moving on – both emotionally and physically – after many years of mourning.  Al pops up and is entertaining.  There’s a banshee sub-plot that creates some tension.  And once again, Rachel makes some weird and vague emotional decisions when it comes to her love life – such as it is.

I’m really not sure where Harrison can or will go from here with these characters.  As far as I can tell, the next book will involve Rachel getting involved with a former ghost/witch/runner (sigh) and Jenks will probably have to lay the mother of his offspring to rest.  Ivy will do what Ivy does.  Maybe there will be more fun with Trent who was relatively absent from this book.  

I’m glad I read it because I’m already invested in these characters.  And it was well written.  It just didn’t grab me the way the earlier books in this series did.  Jenks’ insights rang a little hollow, and the consistent evidence of Rachel’s bad choices when it comes to her non-business relationships just kept being reinforced in a far too obvious way.

Sure, I’ll pick up the next book.  But maybe I’ll wait a bit longer after it comes out to get it … and maybe, just maybe, I’ll wait for the paperback edition.