I first started this thinking it was the end of the trilogy only to find out that it is now five books and I am fine with that. I couldn’t see how they would get to a good ending by the end of this book and warning it does end on a cliffhanger.
You find out more about Burners and they are not all the same just as it is with the Library. Jess and Morgan develop more of their relationship and Morgan finds out more about her powers. I don’t want to give much away about what happens in Philadelphia but hard choices are made and people will have to live with their decisions. A good read and I always enjoy the bits of backstory and history of the world that is inserted in to give more color to this universe.

Digital review copy from the publisher through NetGalley

This is a short story collection that has some new stuff and some old stuff. Half of this can be read without having finished everything that is out so far but the last half does spoil Staked and there are warnings. This is not all of the short fiction set in this world but most of it. The POV characters do change with some of the stories and the Owen one is really good. The first half fills in time before the start of the first book and some of the time that Atticus was training Granuaile. I like that not all the stories are all Atticus and that other people do not see him the way he sees himself.

This is a great book to read while waiting for Scourged to come out. And tracking down the other stories that were not added to this collection will make the time go faster.

Digital review copy from the publisher through NetGalley

The books in this series build on one another but there is quite a bit of info repeated for a new reader of the series not to be lost on the what and why of the story. Events that happened in the first book shaped Holly one of the two main characters this book focus on. The other one is Viper, a vampire that his creation made him different than other vampires. Because of how Holly was turned, Viper has been working with her training even if most of it has been long distance. The two of them are oil and water in the beginning but he does help her with developing her power set and finding out who has put a bounty out on her capture.

Overall a good story and ties into the first book which makes for a good overall story arc in the long run. One of the things I like the most about this writer. She creates interesting settings and has good use of a large cast of characters that are featured in different books. Can’t wait for the next one.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Tremontaine: The Complete Season One
by Ellen Kushner , Alaya Dawn Johnson , Malinda Lo , Joel Derfner , Racheline Maltese , Patty Bryant, Paul Witcover

It has been forever since I read Swordspoint and I honestly don’t remember much about it and that is fine since this is a prequel to the books. The book is set up as serial but not every chapter ends on a cliffhanger and the story arc builds and completes nicely in the book. The cast of characters is certainly diverse and isn’t built off the European tropes you see so much in fantasy and that makes for a nice change of pace. Lots of growth for several characters and along with love and second chances for several. Not every story line ends well for everyone and that makes for good storytelling.

A fun read and I’ll pick up the next book when I get a chance.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss.

This is set in the same universe as Every Heart a Doorway and you will recognize the main characters but you don’t need to know anything about that book to enjoy this one. Jacqueline and Jillian are twins that have parents that expect certain things from them and don’t seem to care that those choices may not be what the girls either need or want. When they are five, the one person that loved them and wanted the best for them was sent away during the night the girls came to realize that they couldn’t trust adults. As they grew apart helped along by the different goals each parent had for them a door opened in the room they were never allowed to go into anymore, their grandmother’s room and the one person who loved them with all her heart.

The girls go in the door and live for years following two separate but entwined destinies in a small village on the moor of a land with a different moon in the sky. Choices are made by both the girls that are shaped in part by how they were raised and paths they decided to take while they live in the village.

After finishing this I really want to go back and reread Every Heart a Doorway so I can see the twins again.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley

This is currently an audio only short story that has Peter doing a poltergeist investigation at the British Library. This is a short story so there isn’t much development that happens but the librarian that meets with Peter knew his mother when he was a baby. This is more of a quick peek into the setting and a decent taste of what the story universe is like but it was all over way too quickly.

There is something about stories set between novels that are really nice. You know that no one is going to die since you have read further along in the series and know who is still living. This is a novella that has Peter tracking down ghost reports on the Tube with help from Jaget who now is now in charge of anything weird on the London Underground. The plus with this being a smaller story we do get more of Abigail and it really looks like in this story that as she grows up she will be working for the Folly as well.

The story is good and the nice thing is there isn’t a lot of actual magic in the story that hasn’t been seen before performed by anyone. What does seem to do the trick for this one is a nice combo of police legwork with the magic helping it out with the ghosts.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Omg! I read it one sitting and all I know is I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more.

Also review being held until two weeks prior to publication per publisher request.

Wildfire starts right after the previous book with Rogan’s former fiancée showing up and asking Nevada for help to find her missing Prime husband. No one else will help her since he is known to disappear for short periods of time when stressed. Nevada quickly finds out that he has been kidnapped and as she is working this case she is filing paperwork to become her own house to stay one step ahead of her paternal grandmother who wants her badly for her house.
By the end of the book you find out about her sister’s powers and why her father ran from his mother. The ending of the book written in such a way that there can be more books and you are left with wanting more stories set in this universe.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss

The second book in the Arcadia Project series pulls no punches with the characters. Set several months after the previous book, Mille is working at Valiant studios and helping the Arcadia Project hide the fact that there is fey gate in one of the sound stages thanks to the ending of the previous book. While asking for help in possibly cleaning up the sound stage and getting it usable for a producer that wants it very badly instead there is a ghost there and it draws Millie back into working for Arcadia even though she really doesn’t want to give that type of control of her life. Things get complicated rather quickly and Mille is trying very hard to clear a friend of murder charges placed on them by Arcadia and clean up a time bomb of a problem from the last book.

Everything moves fast and yet almost everything in this plot has tendrils that go back way in the past that Millie and the reader know nothing about. I’m very interested to see what happens in the next book with the solution the Arcadia Project in LA came up with to solve the problems.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss

The latest in The Others series has the Courtyard secretly hosting the Elders as they observe the humans that live there. A known troublemaker moves in and is being allowed to stay only because he is related to Lt. Montgomery. His family knows he causes strife and is always looking for the easy way to slide through life. But the Elders want to see what happens. There is progression with Sam and Meg. For the most part this felt more like a book of smaller stories and things happening to lots of people to set up future stories set in this universe. Over all I enjoyed it but I certainly wouldn’t recommend starting here at all in the series.

The second book continues quickly from the previous book and plows right ahead with the scheming of the houses to come on top. This one also has the dragons dealing with schemes and plots and they are working on an alliance with the House Hawthorn.  No matter what happens in the books past events always shape both people and future plans.  Overall I enjoyed the book and the worldbuilding but for the most part no one ends up with a completely happy ending. I think it brings home the fact that the Houses provide safety in the world but not much happiness.

Digital review copy provded by the publisher through NetGalley

An urban fantasy that has vampires, werewolves and the Fay all living out in the open.  When a talented tattoo artist is turned into a vampire and escapes out of the asylum he has been locked in his former clients become his new prey. The Souljacker is hunting his clients down to remove his art from them since he is no longer inspired to create art since he was turned.  Lily is a succubus and one of his former clients. When her Fey Queen commands her to track down the killer she has to obey.

This is the start of a new series and the start of a new chapter in Lily’s life. She has friends and in this book picks up a new job for her Queen and a steady love interest as well.

A fun light read and I’ll be looking for more of these.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley

This can count as either book 1 or book 4.  Since I haven’t read the previous three books that feature Scarlett working for her vampire boss cleaning up any evidence of werewolves or vampires or anything Old World from mere mortals. Scarlett is a mortal but she is a null, someone who can cancel out magic within a small radius around herself.  She gets a message to see her old roommate Molly and when she arrives she finds Molly in the middle of a slaughter. Things don’t add up and she quickly decides to help her old friend clear her name.  A fast-paced story but I didn’t feel like I was missing anything by reading this book first.


Digital review copy proved by the publisher through NetGalley

I grabbed this one from the library as an easy comfort read without realizing I am skipping a few of the previous collections.  Each story does stand on its own but several of the stories do build on previous short stories in the last few books that I missed. This just means that I have more reason to get caught up.  There were more stories that dealt with life outside of Valdemar and several that you really didn’t know when in the time line they happened and that was a nice change.   Good solid stories in a setting that is familiar to readers of the series.

This anthology has a cool theme.  Not quite villains not quite heroes but certainly fitting the anti hero mode.  The nice thing about the collection you get a look at several side characters in well-established story universes that certainly deserve a turn in the spotlight.  Overall the collection was well worth the price of admission. I was originally excited about new Butcher and McGuire but I think the one story I read that made me miss reading more in the universe was the Tanya Huff Vicki Nelson story.  Overall the collection has given me some new series to track down and read and I think that is the best thing that can come out of these themed anthologies.

 

Did you ever wonder about what caused the world to change in the Hollows series? This book tells how the virus that attached itself to tomatoes and killed so many humans and outed the supernaturals to the rest of the world.

Set during the 60’s, fashion and music do play a part to the story and how attitudes towards women pushed the plot a bit but for the most part this is petty revenge of a childhood rivalry gone way out of control.  There are some cameos sprinkled in the book and I enjoyed each and every one of them. The nice thing about the book being a prequel is no prior knowledge is needed for a reader so it does appeal to the fan of the Hollows and a new reader picking it up for the first time.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

The third novella in the life of Penric sees him settled in his life as a divine and on a secret covert mission that fails as soon as he goes ashore.  Things work out in the end and you find out what has happened to him in the years previously. The nice thing is the story does wrap up everything but you also know there is more that could possibly be written about him in the future. Wonderful storytelling as usual for Bujold and the plus with this one and the other stories about Penric if you read them out of order you are not completely lost.

The second novella in this setting is set several years after the previous one. Penric is working with someone of the Father’s order to track down a possible murder suspect that seems to be a shaman.  He is comfortable in his role as a divine and has a good working relationship with his demon.  This book you learn about shaman that don’t correspond to the Five Gods religion but seems to also be just fine with them.
The actual murder isn’t a mystery but the real mystery is what happens when they catch up with the missing shaman.  Overall a great story and it can be read without having read the previous story since the reader is easily caught up with what has happened before.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley

Blackthorn is still chaffing under the restrictions of her deal with Conmael and Grim is under some stringent requirements to build a special house for a local lord. War is coming to their area with fighters coming into the lands and they want to talk to Blackthorn and her nemesis has taken the lands of Lady Flidais’ family.  Everything wraps up by the end of the book and it feels great.
This is a wonderful trilogy and I’m glad that a friend recommend the first one to get me started.