Down These Strange Streets by Patricia Briggs, Carrie Vaughn, Charlaine Harris, etc.

 

I'm not a fan of anthologies, and while Down These Strange Streets did have one really good story and two decent stories, I'm not sure it was worth the hardcover price. I wish I'd waited for the paperback. Granted, I only read four of the stories, but those were the four I was interested in. Here are the stories:

• Dead By Dahlia by Charlaine Harris
• The Bleeding Shadow by Joe R. Lansdale
• Hungry Heart by Simon R. Green
• Styx And Stones by Steven Saylor (a Gordianus story)
• Pain And Suffering by S.M. Stirling
• It's Still The Same Old Story by Carrie Vaughn
• The Lady Is A Screamer by Conn Iggulden
• Hellbender by Laurie R. King
• Shadow Thieves by Glen Cook (a Garrett story)
• No Mystery, No Miracle by Melinda Snodgrass (an Edge story)
• The Difference Between A Puzzle And A Mystery by M.L.N. Hanover
• The Curious Affair Of The Deodand by Lisa Tuttle
• Lord John And The Plague Of Zombies by Diana Gabaldon
• Beware The Snake by John Maddox Roberts (a SPQR story)
• In Red, With Pearls by Patricia Briggs
• The Adakian Eagle by Bradley Denton

And here is a brief review of the four stories I read:

Dead By Dahlia by Charlaine Harris
I didn't enjoy this one. Perhaps there is a different editor here than Mrs. Harris usually has, but the writing just didn't seem to be of the same quality I'm used to seeing from her. And the story was incredibly weak. I knew who had done it from almost the very beginning. It was more than the plot being weak... the story was weak. This entry gets a 5 of 10 from me.



It's Still The Same Old Story by Carrie Vaughn
A nice Rick story. Nothing earthshattering here, but it was an enjoyable read. The plot wasn't strong here, but the story was very strong. We already know Rick is a stand up guy, and this story just goes to further that knowledge. Yeah, he's a vampire and he doesn't hesitate to kill when he has to, but he's also got a heart, even if it doesn't beat anymore. He has managed to hold onto a good bit of his humanity, and that's got to be hard when you have to watch the humans in your life constantly grow old and die while you stay the same. I'll give this one an 8 of 10.



The Difference Between A Puzzle And A Mystery by M.L.N. Hanover
Set in the same universe as the Jayné Heller'/Black Sun's Daughter books, this one packs a bit more punch than the two previous books. It has a strong plot, and interesting characters, as well as a good bit of morality food-for-thought. This story gets a 9 of 10.



In Red, With Pearls by Patricia Briggs
The best story of the four, it gets a 10 of 10, easily. This story gives us a mystery from the viewpoint of Warren from the Mercy Thompson series. Warren and his boyfriend Kyle are an item in the series, and it's nice to see them outside of the main series. If you aren't familiar with the characters -- Warren is a werewolf, Kyle is a lawyer. As Warren points out, that makes them both a predator. The story also involves Elizaveta Arkadyevna, and is a fairly twisted plot by the time things come to an end. I guessed part of who-done-it, but then missed a huge part of it. A thoroughly enjoyable story.

I'm not going to give Down These Strange Streets a rating, as I didn't read the whole thing. I will say that if you are debating about whether to shell out the hardcover price, you may want to wait for the paperback. I don't believe we learned anything in these four stories that will be critical to the series that they are a part of.
 

River Marked (Mercy Thompson, Book 6) by Patricia Briggs

 

River Marked is the sixth Mercy Thompson book, and after finishing it I'm salivating for the seventh.

All in all, River Marked is a happy book. Mercy and Adam are getting along, they are there for each other, and they are both adults working to make their relationship work. It's not perfect, in real life there are arguments. And in real life both people talk and find a middle ground.  Don't get me wrong, some bad things happen, but Mercy and Adam deal with everything as it comes up. Together.

Once again, Patricia Briggs finds ways to insert humor, sometimes in the oddest places. And it works. Mercy and Adam are sitting around roasting hotdogs in the campfire, having a pretty serious conversation, when Mercy casually interjects a "your hotdog is on fire" into the conversation.

Also, once again this world comes alive with the senses of someone who has supernatural hearing, and who can smell things humans have no clue about. Beautiful worldbuilding. Not only in the sights and sounds and smells and emotions and thoughts... but also with the ability to bring ancient myths and legends forward into the present day.

Here is the blurb:

Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She's never known any others of her kind. Until now.

An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River-one that her father's people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help...

I loved getting some details about Mercy's dad. She's finally learning more about who her father was, and thus a little more about who she is.

I also spent some time looking up the pictures of the places Adam and Mercy went, and the things they saw. She Who Watches is real, as is the petroglyph of the River Devil, and Stonehenge, and the Mary Hill Museum.

As for the writing elements - the plot had depth and substance and really kept the story moving right along. The pacing was perfect. Prose and dialogue were craftily woven together.  Character development was stellar, even for some of the minor characters. World-building continues to be top notch in this series.

For those familiar with the Monkey King in Chinese lore, I would love to be able to wax philosophical for a bit about the similarities, but I can't do that much right now or I will risk giving spoilers. Still, it's a lot of food for thought, the way certain kinds of archetypes show up in different cultures.... different and yet the same.

This series has been a 10 of 10 for me in the past and will remain so. River Marked is easily a 10 of 10.

• Book Rating: River Marked: 10 of 10
• Series Rating: 10 of 10

  Mercedes Thompson Series 
1. Moon Called (2006)
2. Blood Bound (2007)
3. Iron Kissed (2008)
4. Bone Crossed (2009)

5. Silver Borne (2010)

6. River Marked  (2011)


Alpha and Omega Series:
 . On the Prowl (Anthology)
1. Cry Wolf (2008)
2. Hunting Ground (July 2009)

3. Unnamed third book (January 2011)
 

Review: Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, Book 5) by Patricia Briggs

   

The blurb for Silver Borne tells us the story will be about the book Mercy borrowed from the Fae during Bone Crossed.

What the blurb doesn't tell us is that there are two major plots and one substantial subplot in Silver Borne, and that there is so much going on that you'll stay up until 3:00 in the morning to finish the book, even though you must get up at 5:30.

Here is the blurb:

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...

Obviously the pacing is excellent. If there had been a lag in pacing then perhaps I could have gotten more than two and a half hours of sleep last night. But from 11:00 on, there was simply no place I even considered to be an appropriate place to put the book down in order to finish it later.

And Mercy has grown so much in five books, which is one of my tests for how good a series is. You have to learn from what life throws at you, and that means changing and growing. Mercy is smart, and she's picked up more than a few life lessons in her adventures. I liked her in the first book, but I like her so much better now. I know her a lot better now, of course. But I like that she's survived what she's been through, without letting it destroy her. After some of what she's been through, I'm not sure I wouldn't have gone running back to the safety of Bran's pack. But she didn't. She stubbornly stayed put and fought the battles that came to her. And made a lot of friends in the process.

I don't remember how I found the Mercy Thompson series, though I do remember that it was a new series when I first found it. With an established series that you find, you get to breeze through a number of books all at once. But when you find a new series you have to wait for the books to come out. I probably should have re-read the series before Silver Borne came out. I will certainly start over with book one a few weeks before the next book is released next year, and I'm really looking forward to starting over with Mercy again.

I think that the later books in the series are even better than the first books, and the first books were pretty darn good. You don't often get that, but it seems that Patricia Briggs is also learning and growing, and getting better and better at what she does: giving us a great character who has some fantastical adventures with nice secondary characters.

I'm not going to be able to talk about Silver Borne specifically too much, because I don't want to give spoilers. I will say that I was thrilled with the way the book ended. We see a lot of Samuel, a lot of Adam, and a decent amount of Zee. Mercy has to deal with the Fae, with Samuel's issues, with phone calls from Bran, and with some problems going on within Adam's pack (which at some point will need to be Adam and Mercy's pack, but she's a coyote, and you can guess how some of the wolves feel about that). There is also a decent amount of relationship stuff going on between Mercy and Adam - nothing terribly annoying, it's mostly what you'd expect for a couple at this stage of a relationship.

We see a repeat character that has now shown up briefly in two books, and who I'm betting will play a larger role at some point. And we get a new character that I know will be playing a larger role in future books.

As for what I rate Silver Borne, it easily gets a 10 of 10. I've given the series a 10 of 10 in the past, and it will remain so.

Book Rating: Silver Borne: 10 of 10
Series Rating: Mercedes Thompson: 10 of 10

In the past I've rated the Mercy Thompson series my 7th favorite series on my Series Ratings at a Glance posts, but I'm thinking that after Silver Borne that the next time I compile my list, this series will be moving up to a higher ranking.


According to Patricia Briggs' site, the next Mercy book is still unnamed, and isn't scheduled for release until the spring of 2011. The next Alpha and Omega book will be out in the fall of 2011. Bummer.







Mercedes Thompson Series 
1. Moon Called (2006)
2. Blood Bound (2007)
3. Iron Kissed (2008)
4. Bone Crossed (2009)

5. Silver Borne (2010)



Alpha and Omega Series:
 . On the Prowl (Anthology)
1. Cry Wolf (2008)
2. Hunting Ground (July 2009)