strange and random happenstance

Hunting Ground (Alpha and Omega Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: August 25th, 2009
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
Challenge: Shifter Challenge 2011, Horror and Urban Fantasy
Rating: ★★
To Buy
Charles and Anna are still adjusting to married life. Charles isn't used to letting anyone into his closed off, sequestered little world and Anna is having trust issues after the brutality she faced at the hands of her previous pack. But personal issues have to be set aside for the greater good of the werewolves. Bran, the Marrok, the Alpha of all North American Alphas, has called a meeting in Seattle where the European werewolves can voice their concerns about the announcement of their existence. They don't have a vote or a choice. This will be happening. But Bran is willing to offer them whatever they need in return, from monies to shelter. The Italians, Germans and French werewolves are the main factions, with England being solely represented by their leader Arthur. They all have personal grudges and feuds. The Italians are bringing another Omega, Ric, whom they swiped away from the Germans, and France is being represented by Chastel, THE BEAST, whose blood lust is notorious. Charles has such concerns over his fathers safety that he does the unheard of and stands up to his father saying that he and Anna will go in his stead. Charles does not care if the others view this as a slight. It's for his father's protection. Arriving at the local packs landing strip, Anna and Charles head into Seattle. For Charles, this is not his element. He is one with nature, not concrete and noise, which is what Anna is. She loves the bustling metropolis right on the water, reminiscent of her hometown, Chicago. Their first stop off is to visit the fairy that Bran has negotiated with. Dana is to see that there is no bloodshed and the truth is spoken, of course, it is virtually impossible to do that around werewolves anyway.

Once their offering has been given to Dana all sorts of hell starts to break loose. There are too many Alphas in once place. First they all show up at a local restaurant and the fracas has to be calmed. The next day Anna is taken shopping by a member of the local pack and his white witch wife, where they are promptly attacked by vampires using werewolf pack magic. But this doesn't stop business from continuing on as usual and dinner parties needing to be attended. Anna and Charles visit Arthur and his human mate Sunny for dinner. Arthur believes he is the reincarnation of the real King Arthur, and even carries around a sword he claims is Excalibur. Sunny will be the first victim. It should have been Anna, but, her life seems to be worth something, unlike others. As death starts to reign down on what was to be a "peaceful" conference, Charles is glad his father isn't present, but he sure wishes that Anna was out of harms way. Trying to untangle who is really behind these attacks and who they can trust will take all the courage and strength the newlyweds have. And hopefully they'll get a happily ever after.

Intertwining myth and pack politics, this is the least successful of Briggs' novels I've read. So much of what drove the first installment of the Alpha and Omega series was the ping ponging back and forth between the confused minds of the two leads. Will they make this work, can they truly be mated. Seeing as at the beginning of this book they are together and everything is going as smoothly as it can given that they have just recently met, there is way to much uncertainty in each other and too much possessiveness on the part of "Brother Wolf." They are MATED. In the world Briggs has created, they are together, there's no going back. They are one. To then have them doubt this over and over makes you kind of want to slap them. But aside from their obvious character flaws, this book took to long to get to the center of all the swirling red herrings. Once you finally got there you realized, it's kind of cool. This is a neat integration of Arthurian Legend and other mythologies into a world of werewolves. But it took a long time of "are we there yet" to reach the point of satisfaction. While I am interested to see what happens to these characters, if they keep doubting themselves and their purpose, I'll start doubting why I'm still reading this series.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Alpha and Omega, Anna, Charles, Chastel, Excaliber, Fairies, Hunting Ground, King Arthur, Marrock, Mate, Patricia Briggs, Seattle, Werewolves

Mercy Thompson: Homecoming by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Del Ray/Dabel Brothers
Publication Date: August 25th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
Challenge: Shifter Challenge 2011, Vampire Challenge, Horror and Urban Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy
Mercedes Thompson has arrived in the Tri-Cities for a job interview. Trained as a History teacher she is hoping to get a job at the local High School. Summer is almost over and her time to find employment is running out. Once the school year starts it's a waiting game till the next year. But before she can even go to her interview she's out running in her coyote form and she is attacked by a pack of werewolves. Not that this is news to her, seeing as she was raised in the Marrok's own pack in Montana. But what is unusual is that another pack of werewolves saves her. Too bad her car wasn't as lucky. Forcing it to the nearest mechanic, Mercy steps in a heap load of trouble in the form of vampires, but she had to save Tad, the little Fae boy. Tad offers her a job, if a nine year old is allowed to do the hiring when his father is drunk with grief. Zee disagrees and promptly fires Mercy. But despite all the wolves and vampires and warnings to leave town now, it's starting to grow on her, despite not getting the job at the High School. Also, if she could finesse Zee to take her back, a mechanic is better than a burger flipper any day. But soon the two packs decide it's time for a throw down and Mercy is caught in the middle.

I am always hesitant of comic adaptations of book series that I love be it Buffy or what have you. Some of that has to do with the artists and the over sexualization of the women and some of this has to do with the writing. But I felt confident to pick this up because Patricia Briggs herself did a lot of the writing, but more importantly, it was a prequel! Sure, we have learned almost all the information provided here in narrative form through back stories and asides in the Mercy Thompson series. But it's fun seeing Mercy's first interactions with Stefan, Zee and Adam as it played out, not in bites and pieces thrown in to help plot development. Also, can I just say, the art is amazing. All the characters are portrayed in a realistic and plausible manner, espcially in the second half. Mercy looks about what I pictured Mercy to look like. And about is good enough for me when it comes to fictional characters in comics. She has a uniqueness and a personality, and gorgeous tawny eyes that made me connect with her on a level I haven't before, versus some Lara Croft big boobed barbie. I am just so pleased to have a more accurate representation of the world I love in the graphic medium, and it's made me slightly psyched for their adaptations of the rest of the series... even if I'd take new material over old any day.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Adam, Buffy, Comics, Lara Croft, Marrock, Mercy Thompson, Mercy Thompson Homecoming, Patricia Briggs, Tri-Cities, Zee

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Published by: SFBC Science Fiction Book Club
Publication Date: 2006
Format: Hardcover, 710 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

In the Tri-Cities in Washington State, a "walker"(derived from skin-walker, though she doesn't need an animals skin to change) named Mercedes Thompson runs a garage specializing in fixing cars of German engineering. One day a lost and confused werewolf shows up at her shop and she takes pity on "Mac," despite her better inclinations for her own safety, her coyote self might be fast, but no match for a werewolf. But he brings a mess of trouble down on Mercy's head. Some government types show up and Mercy ends up killing an unknown werewolf, quite a feat for a little coyote. She realizes that she has to do what she was hoping to avoid, call in the local pack Alpha, her acrimonious neighbor, Adam Hauptman. Things go from bad to worse once the pack is involved. Mercy is woken up in the middle of the night by Mac's body being dumped on her doorstep. She realizes something must have gone horribly wrong at the pack meeting Adam was holding. She rushes over to his house where there are corpses littering his house and he's barely alive. Worst of all... his daughter, Jesse, is missing.

Mercy is scared and she doesn't know who to trust... perhaps one of the pack has gone turncoat. Adam needs help, but more importantly, he needs an Alpha stronger than him to protect himself and others while he heals. So she turns to the only person she knows she can trust and can control Adam, even if they haven't spoken since she shot like a bat out of hell away from Aspen Creek, Montana, and her old pack, headed by Bran, the Marrock, leader of all North American werewolves. But confronting Bran is the least of her problems. Samuel is there. The werewolf who she almost ran away with at 16. The man who was perhaps her true mate. The man she has avoided for so long. Thankfully they are able to help her and Adam heads on the road to recovery, and then on the road back to the Tri-Cities, with Samuel in tow. But while there, Mercy realizes that perhaps the wolves being secret won't last much longer, Bran is pushing for a "revelation" like the Fae did 20 years earlier... technology is making it harder and harder to conceal their presence and they are now a commonly known secret to the government. But she can only deal with one hurdle at a time and luckily the small band of travelers trusts Mercy's inclination that something is wrong with the pack and they ask her who she would trust...Warren, the only gay werewolf she knows is their bet for safety. Now back in the Tri-Cities with a secret base of operations, Warren's duplex, they start their hunt for the weird government types and Jesse. But first they have to tangle with some other Fae, who lead them into the path of the Vampires, and finally they have to find the traitors, because not just a werewolf has betrayed them... and if they're lucky, at the end of the day all will be well and Jesse will be safe.

This book is the first in the popular Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. I picked this book up because it's likened to other authors I like, in particular Charlaine Harris. I can see the similarity and my attraction to the subject matter that made me pick up the Sookie books will definitely lead me to pick up the rest of the series of a strong supernaturally inclined independent, neigh, kick ass female lead. Mercy is a great character, she is a successful female working in a male dominated society, and werewolf society breaks the definition of how dominant a male society can be. She's quirky, funny and willing to do whatever she wants and whatever it takes to get where she's going or needs to be. I also like that she's all inclusive and not bigotted in anyway. The werewolves seem to be all "shifters for themselves" whereas Mercy has an ex-boss who's a gremlin and a good friend who is a vampire, and it doesn't matter to her if a werewolf is gay.

I felt this book was very uneven though. There were times I totally loved this book and couldn't put it down and other times when I just couldn't be bothered. The world creation that Briggs has given us is a nice unique spin on our world, similar enough to ours that we can relate, but different enough that it's fascinating and an interesting possibilty, but also different enough from other writers that it's unique. But the plot was occasionally cliche ridden, some working while others falling flat on their face. In particular I take issue with the girl always having two guys fighting over her, even if she previously thought she had no prospects. That's just too convenient and not really realistic. I know escapism is what people are after, but it's just too predictable to have the males fight for the ladies hand. But I did not have nearly as many issues with that as I had with the "child in danger" plot. If there is a child WHY MUST THEY ALWAYS BE ENDANGERED?!? The second Jesse showed up I was very intrigued by this nice little punky character that is surrounded by wolves and views Mercy as a kindred spirit, and then she's kidnapped! I'm actually more interested to see how Jesse develops as a character in later books because I find her so interesting and she was relegated to a plot point for the convenience of the author to get Adam to do her plots bidding. Stop doing this folks! Just because it's a cliche doesn't mean that your using it makes it fresh and new again!

Finally, one little niggling point, I had issues with Buffy being mentioned. I should really say, I love Buffy and I love that the vampire friend of Mercy, Stefan, loves Buffy, but I think in a world were fairies have been public knowledge since the 70s that a show like Buffy would be inherently different. I love Stefan and his Scooby Doo and Buffy obsession, but the Buffy thing just struck me a little odd, I know it would still exist, but it would be more of a mainstream tv show cause it mimics reality to an extent in Briggs' world, then a cult hit. Maybe it's just too much a call out to the demographic that reads this type of book, but it grates on me.

Personally, despite all the little gripes I have, I'd recommend this to anyone who likes urban fantasy. It's a quick, fun read that anyone who likes a little bit of a kick ass lead and a little bit of a mystery will thoroughly enjoy. Basically if you like Buffy you'll like this...maybe the author was onto something there...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adam, Book Review, Bran, Buffy, Charlaine Harris, Jesse, Marrock, Mercedes Thompson, Mercy Thompson, Moon Called, Patricia Briggs, Preying for Mercy, Samuel, Scooby Doo, Sookie Stackhouse, Tri-Cities

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Published by: SFBC Science Fiction Book Club
Publication Date: 2006
Format: Hardcover, 710 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

In the Tri-Cities in Washington State, a "walker"(derived from skin-walker) named Mercedes Thompson runs a garage specializing in fixing cars of German engineering. One day a lost and confused werewolf shows up at her shop and she takes pity on "Mac," despite her better inclinations for her own safety. But he brings a mess of trouble down on Mercy's head. Some government types show up and Mercy ends up killing an unknown werewolf, quite a feat for a little coyote. She realizes that she has to do what she was hoping to avoid, call in the local pack Alpha, her acrimonious neighbor, Adam Hauptman. Things go from bad to worse once the pack is involved. Mercy is woken up in the middle of the night by Mac's body being dumped on her doorstep. She realizes something must have gone horribly wrong at the pack meeting Adam was holding. She rushes over to his house where there are corpses littering his house and he's barely alive. Worst of all...his daughter, Jesse is missing.

Mercy is scared and she doesn't know who to trust...perhaps one of the pack has gone turncoat. Adam needs help, but more importantly, he needs an Alpha stronger than him to protect himself and others while he heals. So she turns to the only person she knows she can trust and can control Adam, even if they haven't spoken since she shot like a bat out of hell away from Aspen Creek, Montana, and her old pack, headed by Bran, the Marrock (leader) of all North American werewolves. But confronting Bran is the least of her problems. Samuel is there. The werewolf who she almost ran away with at 16. The man who was perhaps her true mate. The man she has avoided for so long. Thankfully they are able to help her and Adam heads on the road to recovery, and then on the road back to the Tri-Cities, with Samuel in tow. But while there Mercy realizes that perhaps the wolves being secret won't last much longer, Bran is pushing for a "revelation" like the Fae did 20 years earlier...technology is making it harder and harder to conceal their presence and they are now a commonly known secret to the government. But she can only deal with one hurdle at a time and luckily the small band of travelers trusts Mercy's inclination that something is wrong with the pack and they ask her who she would trust...Warren, the only gay werewolf she knows is their bet for safety. Now back in the Tri-Cities with a secret base of operations, Warren's duplex, they start their hunt for the weird government types and Jesse. But first they have to tangle with some other Fae, who lead them into the path of the Vampires, and finally they have to find the traitors, because not just a werewolf has betrayed them...and if they're lucky, at the end of the day all will be well and Jesse will be safe.

This book is the first in the popular Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. I picked this book up because it's likened to other authors I like, in particular Charlaine Harris. I can see the similarity and my attraction to the subject matter that made me pick up the Sookie books will definitely lead me to pick up the rest of the series of a strong supernaturally inclined independent, neigh, kick ass female lead. Mercy is a great character, she is a successful female working in a male dominated society, and werewolf society breaks the definition of how dominant a male society can be. She's quirky, funny and willing to do whatever she wants and whatever it takes to get where she's going or needs to be. I also like that she's all inclusive and not bigotted in anyway. The werewolves seem to be all "shifters for themselves" whereas Mercy has an ex-boss who's a gremlin and a good friend who is a vampire, and it doesn't matter to her if a werewolf is gay.

I felt this book was very uneven though. There were times I totally loved this book and couldn't put it down and other times when I just couldn't be bothered. The world creation that Briggs has given us is a nice unique spin on our world, similar enough to ours that we can relate, but different enough that it's fascinating and an interesting possibilty, but also different enough from other writers that it's unique. But the plot was occasionally cliche ridden, some working while others falling flat on their face. In particular I take issue with the girl always having two guys fighting over her, even if she previously thought she had no prospects. That's just too convenient and not really realistic. I know escapism is what people are after, but it's just too predictable to have the males fight for the ladies hand. But I did not have nearly as many issues with that as I had with the "child in danger" plot. If there is a child WHY MUST THEY ALWAYS BE ENDANGERED?!? The second Jesse showed up I was very intrigued by this nice little punky character that is surrounded by wolves and views Mercy as a kindred spirit, and then she's kidnapped! I'm actually more interested to see how Jesse develops as a character in later books because I find her so interesting and she was relegated to a plot point for the convenience of the author to get Adam to do her plots bidding. Stop doing this folks! Just because it's a cliche doesn't mean that your using it makes it fresh and new again!

Finally, one little niggling point, I had issues with Buffy being mentioned. I should really say, I love Buffy and I love that the vampire friend of Mercy, Stefan, loves Buffy, but I think in a world were fairies have been public knowledge since the 70s that a show like Buffy would be inherently different. I love Stefan and his Scooby Doo and Buffy obsession, but the Buffy thing just struck me a little odd, I know it would still exist, but it would be more of a mainstream tv show cause it mimics reality to an extent in Briggs' world, then a cult hit. Maybe it's just too much a call out to the demographic that reads this type of book, but it grates on me.

Personally, despite all the little gripes I have, I'd recommend this to anyone who likes urban fantasy. It's a quick, fun read that anyone who likes a little bit of a kick ass lead and a little bit of a mystery will thoroughly enjoy. Basically if you like Buffy you'll like this...maybe the author was onto something there...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 4:10 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Adam, Book Review, Bran, Buffy, Charlaine Harris, Jesse, Marrock, Mercedes Thompson, Mercy Thompson, Moon Called, Patricia Briggs, Preying for Mercy, Samuel, Scooby Doo, Sookie Stackhouse, Tri-Cities