Broken Magic #1: Hell Bent

Craaaaaaawling in my skin! These wounds, they will not heal! …Yes, I have finally found a book emo and angsty enough to warrant the use of those hallowed lyrics. Let’s pack for purgatory with Hell Bent, by Devon Monk.

Synopsis:

Instead of the deadly force it once was, magic is now a useless novelty. But not for Shame Flynn and Terric Conley, “breakers” who have the gift for reverting magic back to its full-throttle power. In the magic-dense city of Portland, Oregon, keeping a low profile means keeping their gifts quiet. After three years of dealing with disgruntled magic users, Shame and Terric have had enough of politics, petty magic, and, frankly, each other. It’s time to call it quits.

When the government discovers the breakers’ secret—and its potential as a weapon—Shame and Terric suddenly become wanted men, the only ones who can stop the deadly gift from landing in the wrong hands. If only a pair of those wrong hands didn’t belong to a drop-dead-gorgeous assassin Shame is falling for as if it were the end of the world. And if he gets too close to her, it very well could be….

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

Well, I put it off for as long as I possibly could, but it’s finally time to return to the Allie Beckstrom series. Well, sort of: rather than being numbered as Allie Beckstrom #10, this one markets itself as Broken Magic #1. The front also proclaims it to be “first in a new series!” To be clear, this is not a completely separate story that just happens to be set in the same world; it features many characters from that series, commonly references events from that series, picks up dangling plotlines left over from that series, and is premised on dealing with the fallout from the climax of that series. So, I think that hits the qualifications for a “Secretly a Sequel” tag. But hey, to be fair: if I was related to the Allie Beckstrom books, I wouldn’t try to advertise that fact, either. That series, if you’ll recall, started out promising but went downhill real fast; and though it never did anything terribly offensive enough for me to hand out one of my rare and scathing one-star reviews, I did kind of hate it by the end. Still, I don’t think it would be fair to judge this series for the sins of the father; so I shall try to put aside my pre-existing baggage and look at it with eyes unclouded by hate of its predecessor.

The plot is that, due to the events of the previous book, which does not exist because this is a fresh start to a completely new series which can totally be picked up on its own without having to read nine other installments, magic has lost most of its former power. The only people who can still use magic at its former strength are soul complements, now called “breakers” for their ability to break magic. Shame and Terric – soul complements, Authority officers, and also living avatars of Dark and Light magic – learn of a government conspiracy to use breakers for some nefarious purpose, leading them to a confrontation with their old nemesis: Eli “the Cutter” Collins. (…Well, he was actually more like Allie’s nemesis. And “nemesis” is a bit strong; it was more like “guy who acted sort of creepy at times and she kind of suspected might be evil, but who never actually did anything overtly evil in front of her so she just shrugged and let it go”. But I’m sure at least one of Shame and/or Terric must have met him at least once in one of those books; and even though it wasn’t memorable enough for me to recall for certain if it even happened at all, it totally laid the groundwork for a long-lasting enmity that makes this case deeply personal).

I have to admit, Shame’s narration style took some adjusting to. I mean, I remember him being kind of a cynical slacker in the Allie Beckstrom books; but I was unprepared to be exposed to the full-force of his emo-goth internal monologue. Every chapter has him thinking at length about how he is a monster who brings nothing but death ad pain to all those around him, and how he struggles every moment to fight the dark urges inflicted upon him by his terrible accursed power and no-one understands, and how he fetishizes death and looks forward to his own demise. The book doesn’t explicitly say that he posts angsty poetry on a livejournal page, using a red font against a black background, but feel free to draw your own conclusions. In short…

By the end, though, I had stopped minding so much, because the tone of the story had actually darkened to the point where Shame’s attitude no longer felt entirely ridiculous. I mean, I have to give the book this much credit: it actually commits to telling a much darker and more disturbing story than the Allie Beckstrom books, and doesn’t pull any punches. Whereas Allie wouldn’t use a gun even when facing a psycho murderer who had an axe in one hand and a shotgun in the other, this book racks up a significant body count of protagonists, antagonists, and people who were just unfortunate enough to get in the way.

So, I’ll give Shame’s cliched monster angst a pass… just this once.

Seriously, though: if he starts listening to Linkin Park’s “Crawling”, I am out of here.

What actually bugged me more was the protagonists tunnel vision with regards to viewing Eli Collins as the bad guy. Yes, I get it, he’s evil. But he’s also going out of his way to drop clues to you that he’s not committing these crimes because he wants to, but because he is being forced to by an even bigger bad guy; that this bad guy is in fact holding him prisoner and forcing him to work on a nefarious plan he wants no part of; and that he is leaving these hints so that the heroes can unravel this greater villain’s plan. But, no matter how obvious he makes it, the heroes are always, “Well, let’s go hunt down and kill Eli; that’ll solve everything.” I’d be like if Luke Skywalker spent the whole Star Wars trilogy trying to hunt down the specific Stormtroopers who shot Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, while Darth Vader was standing around in the background awkwardly tapping his foot. So, when the climax has the protagonists try to attack Eli only for it to turn out they’ve run straight into a trap set for them by Krogher… well, frankly, I actually blame them for it more than Eli. He tried to warn you, dudes. I think Allie has rubbed off on you – she also had this thing where, if a villain told her “Please don’t punch yourself in the face”, she would do it just to spite him, because obviously if someone is evil then you should always do the opposite of whatever they say.

…But no, I’m trying to keep Allie out of this. I’m looking at this as its own series, on its own merits. So, overall, it was fine. Flawed, but not too badly to overlook. I always try to give the first book in a series the benefit of the doubt; and this is definitely the first in the brand-new Broken Magic series right? Not the latest in a long series of novels which have set the bar so low that I’m probably overcompensating and overrating this installment because it is merely mediocre rather than actively awful. So, like I said: fine.

Final Rating: 3/5

Wild Cards #24: Mississippi Roll

Roll along, muddy river, roll. Your dirty water cannot taint your soul. Roll along, roll along, till you are free in the peaceful sea. Let’s listen to the river’s song with Mississippi Roll, edited by George R.R. Martin.

Synopsis:

Perfect for current fans and new readers alike, Mississippi Roll is an all-new, adventurous jaunt along one of America’s greatest rivers, featuring many beloved characters from the Wild Cards universe

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

Mississippi Roll starts off with something none of the other Wild Cards books have provided: a definition. It’s no secret that the Wild Cards books are named as references to card game terminology – well, most of them, at least; I’m not sure about Fort Freak – but this is the first one that’s thoughtful enough to define its title for those potentially unfamiliar with it. Progress! I mean, if it was supposed to have any thematic resonance other than being a Poker variant with “Mississippi” in the name and the book taming place on the Mississippi River, I missed it; but at least I now know what Mississippi Roll is.

This book, like several others in the Wild Cards series, is a mosaic novel, featuring a number of intertwining tales by different authors woven together into a single narrative. The arc forming the main spine of the narrative is the story of Steam Wilbur, who was transformed by the turn of his card into a steam-ghost confined within the boundaries of his steamboat and has been haunting it as a tourist attraction ever since. With the boat now making its last trip before it is scheduled to be decommissioned, Stream Wilbur is concerned with what will happen to him after the boilers are turned off for the final time; and, to complicate matters, the crew is smuggling a number of illegal Kazakh immigrants fleeing the aftermath of what Horrorshow inflicted on their home country in the previous book.

The first and most pointless side-story concerns the Midnight Angel and Carnifex. Midnight Angel is traumatized by her experience with Horrorshow, so Carnifex cheers her up by proposing that they track down and beat up the Witness, a minor villain who once threatened to rape her way back in Death Draws Five. That was a terrible book, and I hate anything that reminds me of it. Also, what? I thought this might be leading into a subplot about them, you know, actually tracking down and fighting the Witness; but no, they both just disappear from the book. What an awkward digression that accomplished nothing.

The rest of the subplots are better. Wild Fox, a Joker-Ace with kitsune features and minor illusion powers who was a failed contestant on the American Hero reality TV show, has a midlife crisis and tries being a hero again, to mixed results. Ram-headed Joker Leo Storgman, former police detective at Fort Freak, solves a murder amongst the crew. Sewer Jack, now working as a bartender on the steamboat, prevents an honor-killing amongst the refugees. And the story which is probably my favorite out of the bunch follows Ravenstone, the Suicide King parlor magician, and Gimcrack, the Ace who can make any product function exactly as advertised. Gimcrack had one of my favorite quirky and unusual Ace powers when he was first introduced, so I’m glad to finally see him again.

Overall, I liked this book. I’d call it a decent entry in the Wild Cards series, though not a standout: none of the stories really stuck out to me as exceptional, and it did have some weird problems like the go-nowhere Midnight Angel story.

Final Rating: 3/5

The Lotus Kingdoms #1: The Stone in the Skull

I can’t close my eyes and make it fade. I won’t shut my mouth and take it. God, no! I won’t be another empty skull. Let’s rattle The Stone in the Skull, by Elizabeth Bear.

Synopsis:

The Gage is a brass automaton created by a wizard of Messaline around the core of a human being. His wizard is long dead, and he works as a mercenary. He is carrying a message from a the most powerful sorcerer of Messaline to the Rajni of the Lotus Kingdom. With him is The Dead Man, a bitter survivor of the body guard of the deposed Uthman Caliphate, protecting the message and the Gage. They are friends, of a peculiar sort.

They are walking into a dynastic war between the rulers of the shattered bits of a once great Empire.

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

An unspecified amount of time after the victory over al-Sepeher, we return to the world of The Eternal Sky. Our protagonists this time are the Dead Man and the Gage, an extremely odd pair of traveling companions: one a sworn soldier to a Caliphate that no longer exists, the other an automaton that outlived both its creator and its quest for vengeance. And, though there are two other POV protagonists – both female rulers of small states in the fractured Lotus Kingdoms – it is these two mercenaries who garnered the majority of my attention and interest. They just have the most perfect character interactions: both for their differences, and for the similarities that neither of them want to admit. I’m actually kind of disappointed that the book ends with them splitting up to go on separate sub-quests, as it means they won’t be able to keep playing off one another.

My biggest complaint about the Eternal Sky trilogy was that the heroes spent the first two books spinning their wheels in the mud, not actually accomplishing anything until the final book. Part of the problem, I think, is that so much time was spent on the POV of the villains: it’s a basic truism of fiction that villains act and heroes react, but what really drives the point home is reading one scene after another of the villain progressing in his evil schemes while the heroes are still loitering around waiting for their Call to Adventure. It also damaged the sense of narrative progress: Edene stealing the Green Ring of Erem at the end of the first book would have felt like the heroes making a significant gain, except that we’d already seen that her taking it was part of al-Sepeher’s plan all along, thus just making it yet another instance of the villain progressing his evil plan while the heroes accomplish nothing. Thus, I think this book does a wise thing by sticking solely to the POVs of protagonists. Sure, everything that happens in the book is surely the result of some villainous plan being orchestrated from behind the scenes by an evil mastermind – but the actual focus of the narrative is on what the heroes are doing. Not knowing who the main villain is or what they are up to yet makes the heroes’ actions seem more meaningful and suspenseful. Last trilogy, we knew from the start that al-Sepeher was the real villain, and so that Temur planning to fight his evil uncle was a big waste of time. This trilogy, it isn’t yet clear if Himada is a pawn or a mastermind. Preparing for war against him might in retrospect turn out to have been a big waste of time… or it might turn out to be a pivotal turning point in the series. Since we don’t yet know for sure, we’re forced to take it seriously and get invested in it, unlike Temur’s pointless evil uncle whose name I can’t be bothered to remember.

Overall, I’d rank this book a stronger start to The Lotus Kingdoms than Range of Ghosts was to Eternal Sky. My hopes for this new trilogy are rising. Come on, Bear, show me some of that old Jacob’s Ladder magic!

Final Rating: 3/5

Dark Days #4: Pray For Dawn

Like a phoenix from the ashes, my light will shine again. I’m burning down my past. I’m a solitary man. Let’s say a prayer for Pray For Dawn, by Jocelynn Drake,

Synopsis:

Pray for salvation . . .

Pray for daylight . . .

Murder has pulled Mira out of the shadows and back into the living world . . .

As the fire-wielding enforcer of the nightwalker coven wrestles with the mind-destroying ghosts of her dark past, the slaying of a senator’s daughter in Savannah threatens to expose her kind to the brilliant light of day. The dawn of chaos has come. The naturi have broken free of their eternal prison to feed on the defenseless and unbelieving of an unprepared Earth.

Mira and Danaus–vampire and vampire slayer–must unite to prevent the annihilation of their separate races. But for Danaus the challenge is intensified, for he must also fight the bori who covets his soul. And Mira, the nightwalker he must protect–whose power is the Earth’s last hope–is rapidly going insane.

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

Ah, time to return to the ongoing adventures of Mira, the pyrokinetic vampire. There’s just no telling what she’ll be getting up to this time. Aurora has escaped into the world with a bunch of naturi; the vampires and experiencing internal conflict over their leader’s plan to end the Masquerade; there are fears that the return of the naturi might presage the return of their ancient foes, the demonic bori… Yes, I just can’t wait to read more about Mira.

Wait, what’s that? This book shifts to the POV of Danaus? …Oh.

Well… okay, fine. I mean, Mira is the most interesting character in the series and the reason why I picked it up in the first place, but that doesn’t mean a book focusing on Danaus will necessarily be bad. I mean, he’s not a terrible character. He’s an immortal who has walked the Earth for millennia, he’s seen empires rise and fall, he believes himself to be cursed because of his nature, he angsts about how his powers are inherently evil and he fears someday succumbing to their corrupting influence… oh God, I’ve just realized that Danaus has more trite vampire cliches than any of the actual vampires in this series. This is going to suck, isn’t it?

Okay, to be fair, I didn’t find the premise of the story to be terrible. A bori has escaped its imprisonment and is committing Masquerade-threatening murders, and Danaus has to figure out a way to stop it. One thing that really made me perk up and decide to give the book a chance despite my misgivings was the long-awaited appearance of the obligatory adorable orphan girl character who is contractually obligated to show up in any urban fantasy series with a female lead. Naturally, Mira is hit with sudden-onset Ellen Ripley Syndrome and immediately wants to adopt the girl; but unfortunately, Danaus talks her out of it. I think that’s a shame, because Lily was a very interesting new character and I really would have liked to read more about her and Mira interacting. Yes, Danaus is technically correct in the reasons he gives why it wouldn’t be practical for a vampire to raise a human girl – but that’s why I thought the concept was so interesting! Conflict makes for the foundation of a good narrative! Let me read about Mira encountering these difficulties and struggling to overcome them! Stupid Danaus, ruining everything.

Still, even if Lily wasn’t going to get officially adopted into Mira’s family and joining the cast as a full-time character, she still stood out as the best aspect of this book – a redeeming element that made this detour worthwhile. Sure, Danaus just isn’t as interesting as Mira; but at least we got Lily out of it, right? And she could at still cameo in future volumes of the series, showing up as a minor character whenever the heroes visit Themis, right?

If, that is, the climax didn’t suddenly and pointlessly kill her off.

Well, fuck you too.

I was going to be lenient in my review. I was going to say that this book might be a fluke, that we might go back to Mira’s POV for the remaining books; or that this might open the door to interesting new possibilities, such as exploring the POVs of intriguing characters like Cynnia. I was going, to put it simply, to give it a pass. But then it had to go and kill off the one character I actually liked, who I thought stood out as a gem amidst the disappointment. So, my final opinion of this book is that it is bad. Moreover, my investment in the Dark Days series has now been seriously damaged, and I am no longer as optimistic about the upcoming volumes. Maybe the series can recover… but not if it sticks to this course of Danaus POV and dead orphans.

Final Rating: 2/5

Dark Days #3: Dawnbreaker

I am waiting for a new dawn, but tomorrow never comes. I waste my youth. I waste my future. I am trapped inside this time. Let’s reach a new horizon with Dawnbreaker, by Jocelynn Drake,

Synopsis:

The dawn brings new terror for the creatures of the night . . .

Those of her race fear Mira for the lethal fire she bends to her will—a power unique among nightwalkers, both a gift . . . and a curse.

The naturi despise Mira for what she is—as they prepare the final sacrifice that will destroy the barriers between the worlds. And once the naturi are unchained, blood, chaos, and horror will reign supreme on Earth.

Mira can trust only Danaus, the more-than-mortal vampire slayer, though he is sworn to destroy her kind. And now, as the day approaches when titanic forces will duel under cover of darkness, destiny draws them toward an apocalyptic confrontation at Machu Picchu. But all is not lost, for a wild card has been dealt to them: a rogue enemy princess who can change the balance of power and turn the dread tide.

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

The war between the vampires and the naturi continues. With the seal blocking travel between worlds now broken, the exiled naturi queen Aurora is looking to make her triumphant return to Earth at the sacred ritual site of Machu Picchu. Heading to stop the naturi are a group of humans and nightwalkers led by Mira and Danaus. Given that this is book three, they believe they can kill Aurora when she tries to cross over and end the naturi threat once and for all – but unfortunately for them, this is not a trilogy, but merely the midpoint of a longer series. Thus, Aurora escapes and nothing is really resolved.

However, this book does do something that the series has been seriously needing: it introduces some naturi characters with actual depth. Up until now, the naturi have all been nothing more than one-note villains, an army of generic bad guys who exist only to do evil and be slaughtered by the heroes. Now, though, we’re introduced to Cynnia and Nyx, Aurora’s younger sisters who don’t support her plans for war against humanity. Being developed as sympathetic characters with many admirable qualities who have found themselves on the wrong side of a war they didn’t choose instantly makes them compelling and adds some depth to this story.

So, overall, I’d call this a solid entry in the series: a little weak on the plot side, but saved by strong characterization. On a side note, now that Aurora has actually crossed over to Earth, I do hope that this is the last book in the series where the climax will be focused on the naturi performing a ritual and the heroes trying to disrupt it. It’s the third time in a row that set up has been used, and it’s gotten old. Let’s try and shake things up for the second half of this series, okay?

Final Rating: 3/5