strange and random happenstance

Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: August 23rd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Everyone in the tri-cities is talking about a new movie that's premiering, The Harvester. The screenwriter is a local and the story is supposedly based on an urban legend he heard as a boy. People are dressing up as the villainous Harvester and going to midnight screenings, but one of these people isn't cosplaying. They're there to kill. And Mercy just happens to stumble on the crime scene. Who knew a late night run to the store would result in a murder investigation? Mercy actually should have learned by now. But faced with the ghosts of the dead she must help them as best she can. As it happens the urban legend might just be about a legendary weapon that exists. A sickle that reaps souls, with the "clever" moniker the Soul Taker. A sickle that her mentor Zee might be willing to kill for because the two of them have a complicated history. And while this is all very disturbing, the fact that the vampire Wulfe has disappeared might be even more terrifying. He's unhinged and missing and his current hobby is following Mercy. And she hasn't seen him in awhile. She's occasionally felt him. She thinks. She might be wrong. She hopes she's wrong. But the only person who could help her is Stefan, the vampire she has a blood link to, and now he's missing. His house is in fact completely empty. Well, not completely. There's a nasty surprise waiting to attack Mercy, but isn't there always? But Stefan is gone, even Marsilia and the Seethe are MIA. Where have all the vampires gone? And does this have anything to do with this evil sickle? As Mercy has learned time and time again, bad things that happen simultaneously are often connected. You might think there might be no possible chance of this being true, but it is. And that happens to be the case here, once again. An old enemy has concocted the most elaborate of plans to enact their revenge. A plan that has the most casualties and puts as many innocent lives on the line as possible. The chaos is an added bonus to disguise their intent and to make Mercy suffer. But as Mercy knows, with Adam at her side she can tackle whatever any enemy throws at her. Hopefully.

I genuinely love each and every Mercy Thompson book. But thirteen books in the action from book to book kind of merges into one long adventure. In the beginning it was easier to separate them because you'd have a vampire-centric book, followed by a fae-centric book, followed by a werewolf-centric book. Now it's a free-for-all with vampires and fairies and goblins and werewolves and what have you in each and every story. I count the tibicena as a what have you. Conversely the Alpha and Omega series is easier to distinguish each volume because they don't all take place in the the same location like Mercy with the tri-cities and vary in quality so drastically. All this is basically stated in an effort for me to point out that the way this series is structured it's hard to write a review for an individual book. What can I say that I haven't said before? I love this series. Each and every new volume is a highlight of my calendar year. I literally do not know what I would do without Mercy or Anna and Charles showing up once a year to share their adventures with me. But this adventure, this one is going down as a favorite. Why? The atmosphere! The tension! The artifact! The humor! The stakes! When people think of werewolves and vampires they tend to think of Halloween, but this is the first story that really leans into this. There's a corn maze, there's murders, there's a sentient sickle, there's an urban legend come to life! So much right there just screams Halloween to me. But the way that Patricia Briggs plays with the humor inherent in horror is what made me just so giddy. The wielder of the Soul Taker, the Harvester, has a big showdown with Mercy, as you'd expect. But this showdown has the staging of Wes Craven. There's terror but there's humor. The Harvester comes across like Ghostface in the the Scream movies when they stumble. Their facade of pure unadulterated terror slips for a second and you see them as human. But then Ghostface's superhuman abilities return and the fight continues. The obvious Scream homages are what made this my favorite book in the series in recent years. It just felt so right. And it didn't hurt that I had recently rewatched all the Scream movies. And while those moments might be my favorite in the entire book, the fact that they save the day and still end on an ominous note was a chef's kiss. As I said before, these books merge, one after the other, and what is coming, that will make the Harvester look like a walk in a corn maze.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alpha and Omega, Anna Cornick, Charles Cornick, Cosplay, Ghostface, Mercy Thompson, Patricia Briggs, Scream, Sentient Artifact, Sickle, Soul Taken, Stefan, Tri-Cities, Vampires, Werewolves, Wes Craven, Wulfe, Zee

Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 17th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★ 
To Buy

Things have been rough since the witches, but that's nothing new. Things are always rough for Mercy. Yet Adam has always been there to share the load. Now he's remote and has shut down their mating bond. Mercy needs to find out why but at the same time she's scared as to what this could mean. Perhaps he doesn't want her anymore as his mate what with trouble always showing up on her doorstep. The newest trouble being their neighbors. They have died of an apparent murder-suicide. Only Mercy knows this couldn't be the case, especially once she sees a bite on the husband's arm. A bite that looks like it could be from a jackrabbit. When Mercy and Adam go out in search of this jackrabbit they come across two additional unsettling discoveries; there are unknown werewolves in their territory and the vampire Wulfe has taken to stalking Mercy as his new hobby. Though Wulfe turns out to be the least of their concerns, which in itself is concerning, because he saves Mercy from the effects of the jackrabbit's bite. She has no doubt that Wulfe's quick actions combined with her weird reactions to magic are the only things that saved her. And her survival has pissed off her attacker. So the pack congregate and formulate a plan. A plan that is having to constantly be reformulated and intensified as the threats and the imminent danger get closer and closer. If only Mercy was sure everything would be all right with Adam at the end of the day this fight would be so much easier; but Mercy's life isn't easy.   

At this point it's getting hard to write reviews about Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series because I feel like there's nothing more to say about how much I love them without repeating myself. This series is hands down the best female driven urban fantasy series out there. Period. Every March I can't wait to get my hands on the newest book in Briggs' universe always wondering what creature will be the big band this time around. Because Briggs does tend to concentrate on a specific threat, Vampire, Fae, Werewolf, Witch, they rotate as the ultimate evil with occasional surprises thrown in. What makes Smoke Bitten so different is that instead of addressing just one big bad Mercy is addressing them all, showing not just the depth and range of Briggs' storytelling abilities to juggle many plot points but also underlining how complicated Mercy's life has become as protector of her plot of land. This makes Smoke Bitten feel not just a more ambitious book, but a more fully rounded book. You can't just pick and choose one crisis to deal with at a time, life isn't that accommodating. Therefore it feels like Mercy has grown up, she's able to handle it all, and in the end she saves the day as she always does, but never without sacrifice and never without her friends by her side. Friends, from Bran to Zee to Wulfe, who be they enemy or throne in the side, feel like my family.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adam, Big Bad, Bran, Evolution, Fae, Magic, Mercy Thompson, Patricia Briggs, Smoke Bitten, Urban Fantasy, Vampire, Werewolf, Witch, Wulfe, Zee

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 8th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

The Fae have an interesting way of showing their displeasure. They disappeared into their reservations and have slowly been letting their more dangerous monsters into the world just to hint at what they could do, given the motivation. One of those monsters happens to be attacking the Cable Bridge which spans the Columbia River, right smack in the middle of the Colombia River Basin Pack's territory. Mercy and Adam's pack. The pack stops the troll, at the cost of the bridge, but luckily not at the cost of any lives. It is obvious that the Fae need to be brought to heel, and at just the right moment Tad and Zee walk back into Mercy's life perhaps with the answer. They have brought with them a young boy Aiden. Or at least Aiden was young once before the Fae and Underhill took him and played with him for perhaps centuries. He is now Fire Touched, but more importantly a link to Underhill. If there's anything the Fae want above all else it's to reestablish their link to Underhill and it's magics. The Fae want Aiden and Mercy has Aiden. Perhaps an agreement can be reached? But the Fae never play fair and attempt to take the boy by force, but Mercy has pledged the pack's protection, even at the risk to their own lives. Yet Aiden himself is dangerous and therefore negotiations are eventually opened. As Mercy and Adam journey into the realm of the Fae they will be lucky to survive whatever underhanded tricks might be headed their way, but a successful outcome could be a boon to all.

I feel like I've started my reviews for the last few Patricia Briggs books talking about the harsh realities of long running series and how some of the books just won't be as good as others. You're being judged against your best and therefore if you stumble, well, your book might be a higher rating for another author, but not for you. And it's not that I haven't liked continuing on these adventures with characters I view as my friends, I just haven't enjoyed the ride as much with these last few forays. The apex for me in recent years was 2011's River Marked. The reason that this book stands out is because the narrative was streamlined. There are a lot of characters inhabiting Mercy's world, some have even gotten their own stories or series, so it's hard to get them all in on the action. With Frost Burned, Night Broken, and now with Fire Touched, Briggs seems determined to bring everyone by the Hauptmans house just to say hi. This is making the books unwieldy, with these drops ins compromising the time in the book that should be spent on plot development. I would rather the story have a solid groundwork than have Mercy baking brownies for the pack with orange oil. Between the knock down drag out fights and Fae politics, I didn't feel as if there was actually anything to this installment.

In fact, my major grip over the recent books is the increasing time spent on pack politics and Mercy's unsuitability as a mate for Adam. Firstly, I think Mercy has proven time and time again that she is more than capable of being the Alpha's mate of the Colombia River Basin Pack. Isn't that basically what every book is? Showing her suitability? Therefore to have these politics brought up again and again, it is really starting to fray my nerves and try my patience. When it was decreed in this book that there would be no more pack political infighting about Mercy I quite literally shouted for joy. The biggest hurtle in my enjoyment in these recent installment had been removed, and quickly replaced with Fae politics. I mean seriously? I feel like Mercy, can I never catch a break? To finally remove the politics only to have OTHER politics fill the void? Ugh, you have got to be kidding me. I feel that this is some kind of punishment. At the end of Fair Game when the Fae basically declared war on humanity, I was really excited to see how it would all play out. I was hoping for all out war and bloodshed. I should have taken into account that I was thinking from a very human perspective. The Fae don't operate in expected ways; and therefore, the politics have taken over.

Here's the thing about me and politics. I don't like them. I avoid them at all costs. And not just governmental politics, oh no, even petty academic politics drive me round the bend. Some of the worst moments of my life have to do with getting my BA in Theatre and the weekly tech meetings we had that were never about what we needed to do and all about the politics of the department. I was once literally brought to tears. As for governmental politics, well, yes, I am paying attention at the moment because this is an election year, but if this wasn't the case I'd be attempting to bury my head in the sand. Now why would I want to read about politics give how much I hate them? The answer is that I don't. As for otherworldly politics? I want to read about them even less. The politics have taken over this series and if this doesn't change I seriously don't know what I'm going to do. There wasn't really a plot, there was no suspense, and if it wasn't for the last forth of this book nothing would have happened at all. Yes, a book CAN be all about politics. Should it? Not if you want me to read it. And of course, I know this book wasn't written just for me, but I'm sure there are people out there with the same aversion to politics as me who just want a cracking good story.

And yes, that means I want a story. I want a plot. I want some sort of narrative that combines what is bound between the two covers into a whole. I don't want politics, fight scene, politics, fight scene, politics, fight fight fight. I am not a fan of the big budget movies because I do not want to watch a three hour fight. I remember all my friends going on and on about how good the second Captain America movie is. So I watched it; and I hated it. In fact hate might be too weak a word for my feelings. All that movie was was one action scene after another. The first Captain America movie was more my style, a period superhero movie with an actual plot. But the thing is, plot is becoming less and less important in this age of spectacle. This is why I have given up on Marvel movies. In fact almost any "blockbuster" movie in general. Mad Max: Fury Road... Mad Eliza: Where's the Plot. Fire Touched felt like it wanted to be a blockbuster movie opening up on the big fight scene that decimated the Cable Bridge. If you think I tune out watching a fight, I tune out even more reading about a fight, because something in me just doesn't care to visualize it. Something in me just doesn't give a damn. I always think of that Eddie Izzard bit when he's talking about car chases in books... it's not that they don't happen, it's that they rarely work.

The redeeming factor of this book is that more mystical aspect of the Fae: Underhill. Underhill is that most interesting of places. This is the only mystery of the book, and that's because the whole place is a mystery, shifting and reshaping itself like a living breathing entity. The journey Mercy, Adam, and Aiden undertake in this realm focuses what was hundreds of pages of politics and pugilism into a story I was interested in. Fae politics are boring, which almost seems impossible given how fascinating the Fae and their world can be given the right writer. This is what the whole book should have been! A journey taken through fairy to mend the rift between the magical and non-magical worlds so that we can move beyond the politics and onto something new. The whole book could have been this epic quest, heck Tolkien got a whole trilogy and then some out of a similar quest. Save the world by journeying through strange lands! The moment I think that this whole series clicked for me was the first time Zee brought Mercy to the reservation and in her coyote form she accidentally slipped into Underhill and was there in that mystical realm. This was a magical moment for me, realizing a had found a new series I loved. For a few minutes I found that initial love again and most of the flaws of this book were forgiven, if not forgotten. Hopefully.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adam, Captain America, Coyote, Eddie Izzard, Fae, Fights, Fire Touched, Frost Burned, Mad Max, Mercy Thompson, Night Broken, Patricia Briggs, Politics, River Marked, Underhill, Werewolves, Zee

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

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson Book 5) by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 30th 2010
Format: Hardcover, 342 Pages
Challenge: Shifter Challenge 2011, Horror and Urban Fantasy
Rating: ★★★
To Buy
Zee's son Tad calls Mercy with worry over a mutual acquaintance. Phineas helped Mercy exonerate Zee with the loan of a book from his store awhile back, so the least she owes him is to check up and return the book. Instead of relieving Tad's fears, Mercy gets a bad feeling. But it's late and she heads home. Things with Adam are going well. She's learning to like the connection they now have, even if the constant feeling of the pack is a bit unnerving. A bit unnerving amps up to a real problem when out bowling someone in the pack plants bad thoughts in her head and a young child is almost hurt. But almost hurt is nothing compared to actually hurt. Samuel has tried to kill himself. Too long in the world and burying too many friends, he has tried to take his life and his wolf half has decided to take over. But the expected massacre of a werewolf without the human half in control does not happen. Sam seems remarkably on top of it... so perhaps if Mercy can just stay away from the pack for a few days so they won't report Sam to his father for execution she can sort this all out. And with the self imposed exile from Adam, she worries she's hurting him, when really she is just trying to protect Sam. As is the case with Mercy, things never go as planed. Instead of everything getting easier, everything gets harder. She looses Gabriel, her garage assistant, because his mother worries about the risk of werewolves, plus, it doesn't look good when a reality bounty hunter show shows up with a fake warrant for your boyfriends arrest with guns loaded.

One thing is clear. There's someone out to get her, and she has a feeling it has to do with Phineas' book, which can mean only one thing. Fae. Soon her home is torched and Adam is wounded. His lack of strength leads to the members of the pack who have been messing with Mercy to make a power play that goes wrong. But the one thing that is made clear is who the real threat is. Turns out it's not just fae, but a Fairy Queen. She wants the Silver Borne. It should have revealed itself through death or fire, but it remains hidden. So the Queen has taken matters into her own hands, or more aptly, hostages. She has kidnapped Gabriel and will make an exchange for the Silver Borne. Mercy agrees to the trade, even if she's not sure the book is the Silver Borne, and other nonsensical restrictions the Queen places her under in order to secure Gabriel and Phineas' safety. Turning to Zee they find a ray of hope. Ariana. Phineas' grandmother, the maker of the Silver Borne and Samuel's lost love. Working through all their difficulties, they head to the Queen's secret liar in Underhill and attempt to get back that which was stolen. But once you're in the land of the fairies, nothing is as it seems and you're playing by their rules. Rules they like to twist to their advantage. Here's hoping when they get out it's the same century.

My least favorite book in a long time in this series. First, let me get the tiny rant off my chest. Again with the kidnapping!!! Ok, rant done, mini rant shall not return till the next kidnapping... River Marked perhaps? Now as to why I didn't feel that "connection" with this book. To me, it took too long to delve into the fae plot while spending too much time on werewolf pack politics. Plus once we get to the fae we're in Underhill and have lost any real sense of how these characters work in the real world. The series works because it's our world, only different. It has an inherent plausibility to it that was lost the second they went into fairyland. It's like Mercy inadvertently ended up in a Tolkien story. But whereas this took us too far away from reality, the reality tv show crew took us too far into reality. It made it too "now." Which is why I've always disliked the references to Buffy. It's too current. Scooby-Doo is more a part of our shared cultural heritage, whereas Buffy is a show for fringe groups and has a cult following, ie, the readers of this book series. It was just too all over the place, lacked coherence, and with a depressing subplot. I hope River Marked gets back on track, because I don't want my new favorite series to go off the rails!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Buffy, Fae, Mercy Thompson, Patricia Briggs, River Marked, Samuel, Scooby Doo, Silver Borne, Underhill, Werewolves, Zee

Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson Book 3) by Patricia Briggs
Published by: SFBC Science Fiction Book Club
Publication Date: 2008
Format: Hardcover, 710 Pages
Challenge: Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Never be in debt to a fairy. Never say thank you to a fairy. But most importantly, when you borrow something from them, just do what they tell you, nothing more. Mercy did a little something "more" and now has a debt to pay off. The fae have been sequestered in their own little camps ever since they came out a dozen or so years earlier. Whether it was for their protection or ours is a matter for debate. The fae are a secretive lot, not trusting the police or government. So when a killing spree happens in the Walla Walla Reservation, they aren't likely to turn to the police. They'll police there own. But sometimes it's good for a little outside help. This is where Mercy comes in. She knows enough to keep her trap shut. Plus there was that whole "favor." Also, in human form, but even more so in coyote, she has remarkable smell, which most fae lack. After persuading the rent-a-cop on duty who works for the BFA (Bureau of Fae Affairs), O'Donnell, Mercy is let into the reservation. Cookie cutter houses in perfect rows that surely are an illusion, or so her nose is telling her. From crime scene to crime scene she is led as she tries to sort out the various smells to find the one link. But her nose does tend to lead her into trouble and she stumbles past the glamors and sees the sea. The faries higher ups, the Grey Lords, are not going to like this one bit. And neither does Mercy, she can't figure out why the murders are happening. What is there link besides the person who killed them?

Things don't start to look up for the fae when Zee is arrested for the murder of O'Donnell, the reservations guard. Zee won't suffer in prison like other fae, seeing as he has an affinity for the substance that harms most, iron. Despite Zee's protestations that Mercy is done with this case, that she can't stick her nose into fae business anymore, she's not one to listen. She's a very nosey coyote, especially when her friends are at stake, despite the Grey Lords ruling that Zee is the fall guy. Soon she's embroiled in anti fae groups with an Arthurian nut Tim and has attracted a fae artifact to her, the walking stick comes and goes as it pleases, but if she wanted to have lots of sheep, she's all set. But maybe this loyal stick is a clue. What if the other victims were also guarding objects of power? Objects that held magic so great that they are a danger. Magic that not even the fae can do anymore in this waning world. Objects they will do anything to get back and to silence Mercy about. But in a world filled with the supernatural, sometimes it's just the plain natural that can do the most damage and can ruin your life. Just when Mercy had sorted through her feelings about Adam and Samuel, everything changes by the violent act of one human being.

The magical masquerading as the everyday. That which is normal posing the greatest threat. This book just completed my love of Mercy Thompson and became my favorite book in the series. The intermingling of fairy tales and myth becoming real, but in the most dangerous and threatening of ways. Fairy Tales are real. Just that thought sends chills down my spine. I love the idea that these simple bedtimes stories are really warnings. We see, more than before, how much power the fae have at their disposal and how nice they have been playing, without killing children and eating their bones, which many, I'm sure, want to do. There is more of an old world, mythic feel. The vampires, for the most part, just keep themselves to themselves with their little herd of sheep that feed them. The fae are an entirely different situation. They have been exposed to the world for a long time. Exposed in a way they controlled, just as the werewolves are trying to do. As meek and magicless. They spend everyday hiding what they are. And now, being attacked, they lash out and show their might. But their artifacts are even more dangerous. Because while the fae just protect them. When a power hungry human gets his hands on them, it shows that humans and their greed and avarice are far more of a threat than the fae are. Because the fae, while hiding their "monsters" are still known to be something "other" not far below the surface. Whereas a human as a monster... it just makes it that bit more scary. There's no way for Mercy to sense magic or otherness. There's no way for her to protect herself. What Mercy goes through and how she deals with what happens has made me connect to her on a new level. Seeing beneath her bravado, giving her vulnerability makes her more relatable. More like me, though I have never been through what she has on a human level. I've never had men fighting over me, which thankfully is resolved in this book on the flirty end of the spectrum, to the horrors of the attack at her garage. But I have had moments of panic and despair, and tearing down a little of her armor has made her a little more human.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Fae, Fairies, Fairy Tales, Mercedes Thompson, Mercy Thompson, Murder, Patricia Briggs, Reading Challenge, Tri-Cities, Walla Walla Fae Reservation, Zee