The Speed of Write

It seems I only read 60 books this year, which is 12 less than last year. How did that happen? Either there was a lot less to read or they just took longer than normal. Then there’s always the problem with being easily distracted by television. I will have to make a point of reading more this year!

There were lots of good and not as good books this past year. The action/adventure books ranked pretty high on my last of good books. My favorite authors in that genre all had something to offer, all of them are highly recommended great reads. They’re all listed below.

• Terminal Freezeby Lincoln Child
• Cemetery Danceby Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston
• The Doomsday Keyby James Rollins
• Pirate Latitudesby Michael Crichton
• Fragmentby Warren Fahy
• Alter of Edenby James Rollins
• The 5 Greatest Warriorsby Matthew Reilly
• Impactby Douglas Preston

Then there were the books that were just really great reads in general and were a pure joy to read.

• The Enchantment Emporiumby Tanya Huff
• Kitty Raises Hellby Carrie Vaughn
• Kitty’s House of Horrorsby Carrie Vaughn
• Hunting Groundby Patricia Briggs
• Grave Secretby Charlaine Harris

In the not so good department are Laurell Hamilton and Yasmine Galenorn. Both were disappointments for different reasons.

Laurell Hamilton used to be one of my most favorite authors. I’ve been reading the Anita Blake series since it first came out, back when she was one kick-ass, quirky, likable character. I don’t really care for the sex-obsessed, whiny Anita Blake we have now. The biggest series killer for me in general is not liking the main character and that’s become a problem for me with this series. I don’t care about her anymore and frankly just wish she’d get her shit together.

As for her Merry Gentry series, I really don’t mind erotica in my fiction, I just want there to be a good story line to go along with it. She’s failing me completely on that front and I’m really disappointed.

With Yasmine Galenorn, I’m just not finding the D’Artigo sisters, from her Otherworld series, very likable either. In fact, they’re downright annoying. I’ve tried to like them, really I have, because I enjoyed her two cozy mystery series so much, but it’s just not working for me. If she starts an unrelated series I might consider reading it, but I’m done with the D’Artigo sisters at this point.

I have high hopes for the coming year, since a lot of my favorite authors, most of who are listed above, have new books coming out. I look forward to reading and sharing them with all of you.

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The four short stories in Inkedall share one thing in common, the use of tattoos in their stories. I found all the stories to be enjoyable, but as always, we’ll talk about them individually.

Skin Deep by Karen Chance: War mage Lia de Croissets is still suffering from a magical haywire when she finds out that her werewolf boyfriend Cyrus is missing. Will she be able to help him when she can’t rely on her own magical abilities or will she have to use a new found connection between them that she didn’t know existed? This is my favorite story of the book and makes me wish Lia has more than short stories written about her.

Armor of Roses by Marjorie Liu: Demon-hunter Maxine Kiss finds herself revisiting her Grandmother’s past when an old man dies in front of her car from a gun shot wound. He carries a message asking Maxine to save him and his friends and she must determine what it all means and how she can help them when their story started long before she was born. I really enjoyed this story and find I may have to check out the Hunter Kiss novels.

Etched in Silver by Yasmine Galenorn: This tells the story of how a young Camille D’Artigo first met and got involved with her Svartan lover Trillian while trying to keep herself from being fired from the Y’Elestrial Intelligence Agency. It was slightly refreshing to meet Camille and her sisters before they go Earthside and I enjoyed getting to see how she’d met Trillian.

Human Nature by Eileen Wilks: FBI Agent Lily Yu is asked by her werewolf mate Rule Tanner to investigate the death of his childhood friend in California, a death that could only happen through magical means. I keep meaning to get back to this series and intend to eventually because I really enjoy Lily and Rule’s relationship.

All in all, I found Inked to be a good anthology with interesting stories. Some with characters I know well and some I didn’t. But it served it’s purpose and now I’d like to know more.

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Filed under: Demons, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Romance, Supernatural, Werewolves, Witches

The second book of the Outcast Season series, Unknown,finds us where we left off in Undone,with former Djinn Cassiel and her Warden counterpart Luis Rocha searching for his missing niece, Isabel and the other Warden children who have been stolen by the very powerful Pearl, who was once a Djinn but is now something more. Pearl is training the children as her own private army and the results are frightening.

Cassiel knows that Pearl is trying to get to her specifically, she even suspects why, but she has no idea what Pearl really has in store for her or how far Pearl will go to drive her towards what she wants Cassiel to do. With the Wardens busy fighting other threats and the new Djinn unwilling to help, Cassiel will look for any help she can get, even if it means making impossible promises.

I’m still getting a feel for the Outcast Season series and it’s heroine, Cassiel. So far I like what I’m reading, but having it run concurrently with the Weather Warden series feels a little stressful as a reader. I would almost prefer this to be happening at a different period in time, even while I know why it’s happening now. It just feels like too much happening all at the same time. How much can one little world handle? I guess we’ll find out!

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Filed under: Fantasy, Fiction