Kristen
Naamah's Curse is a difficult book to review because it definitely had its flaws, but at the same time, I really enjoyed it and want to read the next book. Considering the length of Naamah's Curse, not a whole lot happened. It seems to be a case of middle book syndrome since it wandered off for a while and then eventually came back to setting up the final book toward the end. Also, so much of the first book was explained in detail that I kept feeling like I was reading the equivalent of a clip show a couple of times. Not only was a lot of it expounded on early in the book, but even more from the first book was described toward the middle when Moirin was thoroughly questioned about her past. Looking back on it with these issues, I can't help but feel that I shouldn't have found it nearly as compelling as I did. Yet I'd be lying through my teeth (er, keyboard?) if I said I didn't find it extremely readable in spite of these weaknesses - just like the first book, I found it went by much faster than I would have expected for such a long novel. It wasn't a book where I kept counting the number of pages left and wondering when it would end, but instead I devoured it since I could hardly put it down.
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Lord of the White Hell: Book One had the same strengths that made me enjoy Ginn Hale's earlier work, Wicked Gentlemen - compelling characters facing a clash caused by belonging to two very different social groups. In Wicked Gentlemen, there was a dissonance between Belimai's demon ancestry and life in Hells Below and Harper's role as a part of the Inquisition. Lord of the White Hell features a pair of young men who come from completely different cultures.
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3 1/2 stars
Even though I occasionally experiment with horror, it's not my genre of choice, especially if it's the gory type that has body parts strewn everywhere. So I don't go near books that proclaim “ZOMBIES INSIDE” and almost overlooked this one when a copy showed up in my mailbox as a review copy. Then I noticed that Mira Grant was the same as Seanan McGuire, whose October Daye series has become a must-read for me. That made me curious enough to read the opening paragraph, which had the same light, humorous narration as the author's other books.
After this, I was considering trying it, but I moved it to definite when Seanan McGuire mentioned it was more political science fiction than horror. After reading it, I'd definitely agree - it's not scary or full of graphic descriptions of blood spurting everywhere. Although there are jokes made about brains getting eaten, I was thankful there were no actual occurrences of this nature. As far as being grossed out goes, it was fairly mild - there was nothing that was described in such detail that it turned my stomach and I've read plenty of fantasy books containing parts that were far more disgusting than anything in this book.
That's not to say there is no sense of danger or excitement...
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Each book in this series has been better than the last, and Magic Strikes was so excellent that it was going to be difficult just to match it. Magic Bleeds did take longer than the third book in the series to really hook me, but once it got going it had everything I loved about the previous installment - great character interactions, lots of action, humorous dialogue and occurrences, a strong mythological basis outside of the ordinary, so many memorable moments and lots of references to The Princess Bride (and other literature but mainly The Princess Bride). It was one of those books that had me rereading parts I just read before moving on, and I didn't want it to be over. At times heart-wrenching, at times heartwarming, it was very emotionally gripping.
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The first book in this series was decent and the next one was even better, but Magic Strikes made me a Kate Daniels addict. Each of these books builds on the last and this one was riveting from start to finish. It's a relatively short book but it manages to fit a lot in while maintaining a great balance between plot/action and character development/interaction.
This is a wonderful addition to the series because it is just so satisfying. At this point, Kate has become a sympathetic, fleshed out character.
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Although I liked the first book once the first half was over and it got to the better-paced second half, Magic Burns is a definite improvement. It grabbed my attention much earlier and the plot is more solid than in the first book, which had a lot of wandering around trying to solve a mystery involving the death of Kate's guardian. There were a lot of scenes that felt like they were solely serving as an introduction to the various characters in the first book, and even though this novel introduced more new characters, their appearances flowed with the rest of the story much better instead of feeling somewhat stilted. This book's mystery also unfolded more naturally instead of seeming like Kate was just going to one place then another place trying to gather information.
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