Review: Pale Demon (The Hollows / Rachel Morgan Book 9) by Kim Harrison

 

The past couple of books in The Hollows series have been 8's and 9's for me, while I've kept the series at a 10 of 10. It's a great series, one of my favorites, and I've enjoyed the past couple of books, but they haven't been humdingers. I am thrilled to say that Pale Demon is one of the better books of the series, and I will go so far as to say it's a humdinger. 

I don't see an official blurb yet, though you can read the first chapter here.

We learn in the first chapter that Trent wants Rachel to drive cross country with not a whole lot of time to get there. And Ms. Harrison kind of hints that this is going to happen when she talks about Rachel, Jenks, Ivy, and Trent getting in a Buick and heading west. So you've got a decent idea that this is going to be a traveling book.  This is no Smoky and the Bandit though, as the people who are after them are not the bumbling idiots that Buford T. Justice and Junior were.

There were some things that I wanted to see in Black Magic Sanction that I was disappointed to not see, and those things are, for the most part, in Pale Demon. I pretty much knew what was going to happen in Black Magic Sanction before I read the book. Maybe not the details, but the general outline. The same cannot be said for Pale Demon. Things came out of left field and bopped me upside the head. Good things -- I like the direction the series continues to go. And I love the metaphysics of this world. 

I'm just a little bit tired after finishing the book. It reads like an adventure flick, with lots of fights and explosions and car chases and buildings falling down... and, oh yeah, a pale demon who creates a whole lot of havoc.

We see Rachel, Ivy, and Jenks - of course. We also see a whole lot of Trent, a little bit of Quen,  and everyone in the Coven (some more than others). Pierce and Al get a decent amount of time. Newt, Dali, Bis, and Belle also make appearances. And there is a new character who promises to be of major importance in future books. Someone who, I think, changes everything going forward. Okay, not everything... but a lot.

As for the writing elements:

• There are two main plots and at least three subplots, and a couple of dozen other threads that have carried forward from previous books. They all weave in and out of each other and work together beautifully. All of the plots are good, and I believe we had more closure at the end of Pale Demon than I've seen in a while. There are still things to do, questions to be answered, things to look forward to... but I was very happy with the ending. 
• Pacing was frantic. Very frantic. In a good way. Not all authors can get away with this kind of pacing. but Ms. Harrison makes it work.
• Prose and dialogue were beautiful where needed, ugly where needed. Also painful, sad, happy... you get the idea. Kim Harrison brings her world and characters to life in a way that only a truly skilled author can manage.
• Character development is fully developed for a large number of characters in this series. I love that Ms. Harrison can make us hate a character and then three books later show us that they aren't quite as evil as we'd originally thought, and two books later have us rooting for them. She brings perspective and "shades of grey" into play in a way that really makes one think. Remember when Al was the main villain of the series? Remember when Trent was the bad guy?
• World-building is so well done that the world is almost another character in the books of this series. During the events of Pale Demon we learn more about the history of this world, and a whole lot more about the magics possible in this world. There is more to learn in future books, and I can't wait for more of the puzzle pieces to fall into place.

As I said in the first paragraph, Pale Demon is the best book in this series in a while.  I can easily give Pale Demon a 10 of 10, and of course the series is going to remain at a 10 of 10.

• Book Rating: Pale Demon: 10 of 10
• Series Rating: 10 of 10

1. Dead Witch Walking (April 2004)
2. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (January 2005)
2.5 Undead in The Garden of Good and Evil (in the anthology Dates From Hell)
3. Every Which Way But Dead (June 2005)
4. A Fistful of Charms (June 2006)
4.5 Dirty Magic (in the anthology Hotter Than Hell)
5. For a Few Demons More (March 2007)
5.3 The Bridges of Eden Park (short story in the paperbook edition of For a Few Demons More)
5.7 Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel (in the anthology Holidays are Hell)
6. The Outlaw Demon Wails (February 2008)
6.5 The Bespelled (short story in the paperback edition of The Outlaw Demon Wails)
7. White Witch, Black Curse (February 2009)
7.5 Ley Line Drifter (in the anthology Unbound)
8. Black Magic Sanction (April 2010)
9. Pale Demon (February 2011)


.

First Chapter of Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

 

Kim Harrison has released the first chapter of Pale Demon. Click here to read the first chapter.

What a teaser chapter! The book releases February 22. That's a really long time away. Slower than Christmas. Really.




Related Post: Click here for my review of Pale Demon.

Review: Pale Demon (The Hollows / Rachel Morgan Book 9) by Kim Harrison

Black Magic Sanction (Rachel Morgan, Book 8) by Kim Harrison

I blogged about my feelings about the HarperCollins' decision to not release the ebook version when they released the old-fashioned-kill-all-the-trees hardback version here. So today I'll just be talking about the book, the part Kim Harrison can control, and I'll try to avoid further ranting about her publisher.

This is one of my favorite series, though I haven't completely forgiven Ms. Harrison for killing Kisten a few books ago.

There is a lot in Black Magic Sanction that I've wanted to see, that I've been waiting to happen, but I won't say this is the best book yet. I've wanted to see Rachel take claim to what she is. I've wanted to see her learning from Al in the ever after. I've wanted to see her and Trent find a way to co-exist without trying to get the upper hand on each other. Though honestly, I'm not sure we've made it all the way to that last one, but a truce with a conditional end date seems a good place to start.

Here's my bit of speculation - Kim Harrison said a while back that she knew who Rachel was going to end up with. I've decided that whoever it is, they are going to have to be able to go back and forth from reality to the ever after as she does. They are also going to have to be her equal in some way. I think this means that, at this point in the game, she's most likely to end up with either Pierce or Lee, and somehow, I don't think it's Pierce. I have a hard time seeing it as Lee either, but after the events of Black Magic Sanction maybe it's not as impossible as I once thought? Yeah, actually, maybe it still is. I dunno. We'll find out eventually. I think we're being teased that it could be Al, but I can't see Rachel going to live in the ever after permanently, and Al can only be in reality during the night time hours. Unless Rachel does something to change that.

Back to the review: I expected the plot we got this time, it was the logical next step after the previous books, plus the title basically told us what the book would be about. While I didn't have a problem with the plot, or the action (lots of good action) - I had a bit of a problem with the ending, though it's going to be hard to explain why, exactly. Sometimes an author paints themselves into an impossible corner and then pulls out a "simple" solution, and it somehow messes the things up, almost cheapens the events that led up to that point. Right? The solution here wasn't necessary a simple solution, though some of it was a bit too easy (too scripted? maybe that's the word I'm looking for). Perhaps it will be easiest to just say that the ending wasn't terribly satisfying for me. I'm not positive it was a solution, it's possible it was just a temporary stopgap measure. (I'm trying really hard to review the book without giving any spoilers.)

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Black Magic Sanction, the pacing was excellent, the story was entertaining, the world building continues to blow my mind, and the metaphysics really make you think about things at times. And I'm pleased with the direction Rachel's adventure, the long term series arc, seems to be heading.

I've given the series a 10 of 10 in the past, and I'm keeping the series there. After going back and forth between an 8 or a 9 for the book, I'm settling on a 9 of 10 for Black Magic Sanction. HarperCollins gets a 1 of 10 for not understanding the changes happening in their own industry, but I said I was going to try to not rant about that in this review, right?

Book Rating: Black Magic Sanction: 9 of 10
Series Rating: Hollows / Rachel Morgan: 10 of 10

I do not see that Kim Harrison has announced the title of book nine yet.





1. Dead Witch Walking (April 2004)
2. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (January 2005)
3. Every Which Way But Dead (June 2005)
4. A Fistful of Charms (June 2006)
5. For a Few Demons More (March 2007)
6. The Outlaw Demon Wails (February 2008)
7. White Witch, Black Curse (February 2009)
8. Black Magic Sanction (April 2010)

Book Covers: Black Magic Sanction, Silver Borne, and Changes

I'm still looking at some upcoming covers of books I'm really really anticipating:

Is this an awesome cover, or what? Black Magic Sanction, the next Rachel Morgan / Hollows book by Kim Harrison is due out February 29th. This is one of my top five favorite series. I haven't found a blurb for Black Magic Sanction yet, but there is a tag line: Apparently wicked witches do come from the west.

I guess that's a bit of a clue to what/who Rachel will be battling in Black Magic Sanction.

On March 30th we get Silver Borne, the fifth Mercy Thompson book by Patricia Briggs. The blurb for this one is:

When mechanic and shapeshifter Mercy Thompson attempts to return a powerful Fae book she'd previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.

It seems the book contains secret knowledge-and the Fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn't take enough of Mercy's attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side-leaving Mercy to cover for him, lest his own father declare Sam's life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn't careful, she might not have many more to live...

I love the Mercy Thompson series, but that blurb doesn't get me all that excited. I haven't really enjoyed the "Samuel angst because he's so old" storyline, and it appears that's going to be a big part of Silver Borne. Still, I really like Mercy, and I want to see what is going on with Adam, and with the rest of her menagerie of friends, so I'll get this book as soon as it's released and I'll hope the Samuel stuff isn't too annoying.

For a while I got kind of ambivalent about the Dresden Files series, but now I'm once again anxious about the next book, Changes, wanting to read it to find out what will happen next. The Dresden series is not one of my top ten, but I'll still be getting my hands on this book as soon as it is released on April 6. And the blurb for Changes makes me that much more anxious to see what happens:

Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.


Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry's not fighting to save the world...


He's fighting to save his child.

Harry Dresden as a father? On the one hand, it's a really scary thought. On the other hand, he'd make a great father if he put his mind to it. And changed his living arrangements. And realized he needs to make some money while he's busy saving the world.

I'm guessing (from the book cover) that Harry's going to take a trip to South America in this book. I also think that I'm going to need to re-read some of this series before Changes comes out. Probably starting with the book that Harry and Susan got romantic with each other.

Unbound (Anthology) by Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, and Vicki Pettersson

I'm guessing at this point that everyone who reads my blog knows that I'm not thrilled with the whole anthology concept. Unbound is no different, though slightly better since it's a paperback and they aren't asking us to spend the price of a hardback when I'm only interested in one or two short stories out of the whole book.

In this case, I was interested in the stories by Jeaniene Frost and Kim Harrison - and both of those stories were most excellent. For short stories.

In Kim Harrison's contribution, Ley Line Drifter, we finally get a story as told by Jenks. I have a feeling that this story is going to be critical to a future full length book in the Hollows series, as there were a few loose ends at the end of the book. But, all in all, it was a good story - an 8 of 10.

Jeaniene Frost' story, Reckoning, gives us the story of Bones' last adventure before meeting Cat. Complete with why his hair was platinum. Again, I'll give the story an 8 of 10. Possibly a bit more, as I don't think that reading this story is going to be critical to understanding a future book in the Night Huntress series.

I have not read the other stories in the book, so I'm not going to give the entire book a rating. If I see others ranting and raving about how good one of the other stories is then I'll check it out - otherwise, I'm not really that interested in the other stories.

Harper Collins has some of the book online, you can read it here.

Review: White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows Rachel Morgan, Book 7) by Kim Harrison

Sometimes you wait a year for the next book in the series and you are disappointed. Other times, you wait a year and when you finish it you are pretty happy, until you realize that now you have to wait a whole 'nother year for the next one. In this case, I was happy with the book, and can't believe I have to wait another year for the next one.

There are a number of reasons to read a series as opposed to individual books. One of the great things about a series is that you can watch a character grow over time. And Rachel seems to be in the process of finally trying to grow up.

Sure, she's all grown up when it comes to taking care of herself. She can fight with the best of them now. Literally. Between her brains and her abilities she's a force to be reckoned with. But as far as making good life decisions? Well, she's working on it. She no longer just does whatever strikes her fancy, she actually stops to think it through now. And while we may laugh at her when she declares "it wasn't my fault", much of the time it isn't her fault. She reacts to bad situations the best way she knows how. In the past perhaps she created those bad situation she had to react to, but now they just kind of land in her lap.

The last book, The Outlaw Demon Wails, answered a whole lot of questions. I think that we're now in the "forming new questions" and "creating new plotlines" phase of the series, but that is perfectly okay. Kim Harrison is a master, and I can't wait to see where she takes us with these new questions and new plotlines. We did have at least one big question answered in this book. This is out there so much that I don't think it's a spoiler to say that we finally find out who killed Kisten. And why.

There is one thing about this book that I have mixed feelings about: There are three short stories, printed in three anthologies, that are pretty critical to the main plot of this story. If you haven't read the short story "Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil" included in the anthology Dates From Hell, then you'll be pretty much lost through a good portion of the book. The same goes for the short in Holidays Are Hell - without reading that story then much in this story won't make sense. It's helpful to have read the story in Hotter Than Hell as well, but probably not as critical. I've read some reviews from a few people who obviously have not read these short stories. A few of them are pretty lost when it comes to trying to understand White Witch Black Curse. In general, I don't like anthologies. I don't like paying full price for a book when there are only one or two short stories in each book that interest me. I don't mind spending money on books so an author can keep writing. But if I'm going to spend money I want to get a full story. Not a short story or two. And being forced to buy five or more short stories when there is only one or two I'm interested in, bothers me. So I'm conflicted that these shorts are this important to the series. It feels like a marketing trick. But, that is the subject for another blog post, for now I'll just say I have conflicted feelings around it.

All in all, I enjoyed White Witch, Black Curse. There were more than a few LOL moments, there were a few teary eyed moments, and there was some stuff designed for deep thought. I had looked forward to seeing Rachel in the ever-after getting her lessons and was a bit disappointed that we didn't really get to see that, but not so disappointed that it took away from the book.

One of the things this series does is make you think about that whole villain thing. We are introduced to a villain, we see them do really bad things, and it is easy to hate them. But then we are introduced to their reasons, we get to know them a bit, see them as people. And suddenly it's hard to hate them. I think we've gotten to know Trent enough that we understand what makes him do the things he does. There may yet be some surprises, but at this point I think we know him pretty well. I'm very curious to know what else we are going to learn about Al. He was the uber-villain for so long that it's hard to get used to this new truce that he and Rachel seem to have formed. It's a shaky truce, but with a few tweaks here and there it seems to be holding. Mostly.

The series is most definitely not stagnating - characters are still growing and learning, and there are still dozens of plot lines heading in all directions with no clue of how they may all come together at some point. And we got a new character in this book. I'm really curious to see how that plays out.

I'll give this book a 9 of 10. It probably would have received a 10 of 10 if it wasn't so heavily dependent on three anthologies. The series remains a 10 of 10, and it remains as one of my top five favorite series.

Book Rating: 9 of 10
Series Rating: 10 of 10




Anthologies:




* Dead Witch Walking (April 2004)
* The Good, The Bad, And The Undead (January 2005)
* Every Which Way But Dead (June 2005)
* A Fistful of Charms (June 2006)
* For a Few Demons More (March 2007)
* The Outlaw Demon Wails (February 2008)
* White Witch, Black Curse (February 2009)

Rachel Morgan, The Hollows Series, by Kim Harrison

In this reality there was a problem with genetically modified tomatoes. This problem killed off large numbers of humans but didn't affect most of the supernatural community. The supernaturals realized that they now outnumbered the humans, and they decided to come out of the closet. This is called The Turn. The series picks up several decades after The Turn.

Despite the supernaturals in the story, this series is about friendship. And about choices. The choices we make kind of define us. Don't they?

It's also about the grey areas between black and white.

And it is about looking at what made the bad guys make the choices they made (and continue to make). It humanizes the bad guy. The author introduces you to the villain and makes you hate him, and then shows you what made him the way he is and what his motivations are. He's still a villain, but it makes it harder to hate him when you can sympathize with him. (Hard to imagine? We hated Darth Vader until we met Anakin Skywalker, right?)

I enjoy so many of the characters in these books. I like the drama Ivy brings, the humor Jenks brings, and the intensity Trent brings.

I was shocked at the ending to The Outlaw Demon Wails, but I can't wait to read the next book, White Witch, Black Curse (due February 2009).

As the titles of the books suggest, two of the supernatural races that are in these books are witches and demons. There are also vampires (two kinds, one kind has a soul and the other does not), pixies, elves, fairies, leprechauns, banshees, gargoyles, trolls, and werewolves. The series takes a very hard look at what constitutes "good" vs "bad". It uses the extra abilities of the supernatural races to look at this, but it also uses the various personalities of the people as well. Some of the decisions made are decisions a human could make, so it isn't all about being a supernatural.

If you want it to be, this is probably one of the deeper series in this genre. Lot's of thought provoking stuff. But the first couple of books can also just be a fun summer read if you want them to be.

The Hollows Series has great characters that come alive as you read them, wonderful plot lines, humor that will have you laughing out loud, and lots of great adventures. It just doesn't get much better than this.

This is another of my top five favorite series.

Series Rating: 10

 

There is a short story about Ivy and Kisten in this anthology. If you are a fan of the Hollows Series, you should read Dates from Hell. It helps explain some of the choices made in the series.

If you are a fan of Kelley Armstrong, there is also a short story showing you how two of her main characters first met. And it gives you some serious background about those characters as well.




* Dead Witch Walking (April 2004)
* The Good, The Bad, And The Undead (January 2005)
* Every Which Way But Dead (June 2005)
* A Fistful of Charms (June 2006)
* For a Few Demons More (March 2007)
* The Outlaw Demon Wails (February 2008)
* White Witch, Black Curse (February 2009)