Chaotic Cyborgs: Omega Point

Readers, at first I didn't know if I would write about this new novel from Guy Hayley that I read care of the nice boys and girls at Angry Robot.  I realized however that it made sense for me to as I always have a soft space in my heart for Cyborgs.  I find cyborgs an interesting expression of fear of technology as well as a blessing of the union of man and machine started by Leonardo Da Vinci.

In this book, our heroes private detectives in the future, one human and one AI are working the problem of how another AI v5 managed to overtake the gaming worlds in the inter web.  In cooperation with the AIs of Europe and the Uncle Sams of the US, these two are looking for the solution to stopping the breakdown at the Omega Point - a theory of enormous potential to recreate the ultimate moment of creation.

My first impression of the book after I was done is that Mr. Hayley is a worthy successor to William Gibson.  The world's internal logic is just right and the build between the forces assembled on either side and the corruption of humanity and machine invigorates the story deliciously.



Omega Point
By: Guy Haley
Released: Mar 27, 2012, Angry Robot Books
ISBN: 978-0857661494

Dangerous Demons: City of Light & Shadow

Another new book, children.  It's very exciting.  This one is an intriguing much more fantasy / sci-fi tip for me....Not so much the vampire, witch or demon....more sword and sandal really.

I will be frank that I did not read the first two books in this series - I KNOW! - I hate it too.

That being said though, I didn't find myself so upset that I was missing elements.  We meet Tom the ironic hero who is learning from his goddess how to save the City of a Hundred Rows.  In the meantime, the world is falling apart between the bone flu and the Rust Warriors, an offshoot of those who died of bone flu.  While the City erupts in chaos, Tom returns, reuniting with his friend from Under City Kat who is now the Death Queen of the warriors in the Pit.  Between their hard work and the machinations from above the two must overcome the Demon in the system and refresh the Core before all is too late.

I have to say that what appeals to me besides coming back home to fantasy / sci-fi is the well crafted world and the exquisite dance of politics that put me in mind of Dune.

Read it, children!
XX
RHW


City of Light and Shadow: City of a Hundred Rows, Book 3 (The City of a Hundred Rows)
By: Ian Whates
Published: Dec 27, 2011, Angry Robot
ISBN: 978-0857661906

Dangerous Demons: Dead Harvest

Soul Representation from Blog

I'll admit it dear readers, mine.  I have a crush on the boys and girls at Angry Robot Books.  Let's be frank; I like their style.  They like mine enough to add me to their ARC list which makes me all tingly.

One of the first books I will review based on that is a new book name Dead Harvest.

This series (The Collector) focuses on one of the damned who now makes a living chasing down souls and collecting them for Hell.  Not just anybody is fit for h-e-double hockey sticks but those who are get the pleasure of Sam's hand clutching their soul and ripping it from their body.

As he is assigned by his lieutenant, Lilith, he is to hunt down a girl named Kate who has apparently murdered her whole family and is a prime candidate for the Legion.

What follows is a chase down Manhattan streets fraught with drama despair and heart ache as Sam and Kate try to stave off an unbalancing of Above and Below kicking off the War to finish all.

What I enjoy about this book besides of course the interweaving of humanity and demons and angels, is the tight writing, referencing New York of the past and present.  Chris has deftly put us in the mind set of desperation of the damned mixed with a mystery of heavenly import.

I enjoyed how the characters were created especially, perhaps the demons that keep the story moving throttling to the conclusion.

A fun book and worth a read!
XX
RHW



Dead Harvest (The Collector)
By: Chris F. Holm
Published: February 28, 2012, Angry Robot Books
ISBN: 978-0857662187

Aliens - As I Lay Me Down to Sleep

So, I gotta take a second as I am getting ready for bed and thinking a lot about aliens.  Not so much the Ridley Scott aliens but rather the aliens that we keep hearing about in pop culture - UFOs, Area 51 and all of that.

I personally believe that UFOs do exist and aliens have probably landed on Earth in the last 10,000 years.  What I find interesting is the amount of page space / TV time that aliens are getting right now.  Is it because of 2012?  Have we as a culture engaged our apocalyptic paranoia and all this alien stuff is an off-shoot of that?

Not too sure.  I think there may be an uptick in that because of the impending "end of the world" but I also feel like its almost a marketing gimmick.  I mean, I watch Ancient Aliens on H2 and many others do too.  Its always a safe seller, much like vampires, witches and demons......

Another way to think on it is that UFO activity always is a part of our culture and it also adds a nice hint in troubled times that the universe is bigger than what we see in front of us every day.

On the back side of that however, is it a way to wash away the attention where it needs to go....or as our pal Octavius aka Caesar Augustus would say, pane et circus - a grand distraction away from the harsh realities of our everyday world.

What do you guys think?

RHW

Dangerous Demons: Deadtown

Dear Readers,

Back on the scene am I this fine Spring and interested in really more demons for the blog....

So....

Without further adieu, please let me present for your consideration the fabulous book, Deadtown by Nancy Holzner.

As you may have gathered reading my posts, I do so enjoy a strong female lead character.  Especially ones that kick ass.  So, perhaps it is not surprising to find me reading about the trials and tribulations of Victory "Vicky" Vaughn, professional demon slayer and member of the Cerddorion race.

That makes her a shape-shifter.  She's living in Boston, post the plague outbreak which changed humans into zombies.  While it was only a short stay with the virus PA (Paranormal Americans) are caught in the Deadtown, the center of downtown Boston.

While Vicky makes a living slaying people's demons (mostly in their heads but sometimes elsewhere) she is dating a high profile werewolf lawyer and lives with a vampire who was the inspiration for Romeo & Juliet.

Things start to get interesting when she starts having to deal with a Hellion on the loose, the same one who killed her father 10 years prior.  This starts a chain of events that leaves her fighting off the Hellion before he can find a way to influence the Massachusetts election and get the Paranormals caught up in a new slice of hell.

I really enjoyed the fast pace of the book and the characters who inhabit Vicky's world of Boston.  Vampires are there mostly for color but the werewolves and zombies are an interesting fit and the zombies really provide a unique view into what makes someone a monster.  Oh yes, kinda like the Anita Blake novels, but a very different take on the whole affair.

I also enjoy the idea of a flushed Welsh mythos in play interwoven into the story.  Go hang with Nancy's imaginary friends, they'll be yours too.

XX
RHW




Deadtown (A Deadtown Novel)
By: Nancy Holzner
Published: December 29, 2009, Ace Books
ISBN: 978-0441018130

Vicious Vampyres: Red-Haired Stepchild

Sadly, I read these three books at least 4 months ago but never got a chance to start furiously typing away on them.

Let's get 'er done.....

This series by our new author type friend (at least in my mind, dear readers) Jaye Wells.  She introduces us to some of her dark and twisted world where the vampires are fighting with the sorcerers.  The vampire council (the Dominae) are three ancient vampires - like the Fates people - that rule the affairs.

Sabrina Kane is the fix it man, er, wo-man, who is there to police the vampire community.  She is then sent undercover by the Dominae to infiltrate a cult in SF where a sexy demi-demon is trying to have the races of Lilith unite.  After a demon comes to kill her (yes, really) she finds herself talking to a mage who seems to know more than he's letting on about Sabrina's past, and potentially, her future.

I think the best part of this series is really the compelling interplay between the characters and the (pardon the pun) human issues they have trying to deal with each other.

What are you going to do when your life turns upside down and what's right is now wrong and what's wrong now seems like the way to be?

Join me at the blood table and find out.

XX
RHW







Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane)
By: Jaye Wells
Published: April 1, 2009, Orbit
ISBN: 978-0316037761

Dangerous Demons: The Outlaw Demon Wails

Care of ervine_880

I know, Ladies & Gentlemen ~

I'm sorry this is out of order but i did want y'all to start limbering up on Kim Harrison's the Hollows in time to start reading her next one, "A Perfect Blood (The Hollows, Book 10)"

So I wanted to catch you up to where we are in the story now.  In "The Outlaw..." our itchy-witchy Rachel is stuck between a rock and a demon.  She is having a problem as Al, the demon hunting her down was put in jail and because of her.  Rather than pine away, Al is on the loose and looking for blood.  Her blood.

In the midst of this affair, another demon Minias is looking for her and Newt the only female demon is sure that Rachel has something of hers, if only she can remember what.  The power struggle is intense for both control of the supernaturals in Cincinnati as well as the illegal drug trade, a demon artifact made for the weres, and a myriad of problems that somehow always involve Rachel with her two friends/ roommates, Ivy the vampire scion and Jenks the pixy, the co owners of their runner organization "Vampric Charms".

What I find thrilling on this book is the turn into the deeper part of Rachel's story - why do the demons care so much about her?  Why did Trent's father fix her as a child? Dear readers, Rachel is a great character and her story is what drives the plot forward for the next 4 books.

Get into it, readers!

RHW




The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows, Book 6)
By: Kim Harrison
Published: Feb 26, 2008 (Harper Voyager)
ISBN: 978-0060788704

Vicious Vampyres: Skinwalker

So dear readers, I have started a new series of books --  I know I know, such a hussy for a group of paranormal series.

This new series is the Jane Yellowrock series from a Southern author named Faith Hunter.  I think I'm noticing a trend of Southerners on my bookcase...hmmm....  As you may imagine from the title of the first book, she is a skinwalker - a Native American shape changer.  As you may imagine, this has fostered an interest in learning more about the stories of the People, but I have yet to get myself in gear to go learn about it.  I want to though as there is such a rich heritage of the Cherokee / Native American tribes about their past and their spirits.

So, back to Jane and her story.  Jane is a skinwalker but her day job is a rouge vampire hunter.  She in fact is hired by the big kahuna of the New Orleans Vampire Council to hunt down a rogue that threatens their safety.

In this world, the vampires have come out of the coffin as well.  They had to do so because Marilyn Monroe was a vamp and bit Kennedy and was staked by the FBI.  Thought it was  a great way for them to go really.

As you may know from my other posts, while I do enjoy the surface story about the paranormal, I really enjoy some of the bigger picture stuff - for instance, the socio-political implications of the paranormal in the everyday lives of the people in these worlds - the convoluted power plays and internal politics of vampires in their kisses - the supernatural as a trope in the collective unconsciousness - blah blah blah.

Faith Hunter does an admirable job with the vampire politics of her vampires in New Orleans.  I totally think that the political plays and the major families not only harken back to an earlier time in our own human history, she deftly weaves them back into false history......PS - False History is one of my favourite things, dears.  Can't even.......don't even get me started on Kiki & Herb...... another time......

Jane is down in New Orleans looking for the threat, and finds herself embroiled in vampire politics and power plays, and getting the hot eye from a mysterious fellow by the name of Rick La Fluer.

She also learns more about her own personal past and the spirit she shares a body with, her Beast.

I like the sassy mix of Jane's internal dialogue and the external adventure.  Definitely a worthwhile read for you dears.  Drop a bitch a note about what you think after you read it.

Talk soon,
RHW






Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock, Book 1)
By: Faith Hunter
Published: July 7, 2009, ROC
ISBN: 978-0451462800

Vicious Vampyres: Dead Until Dark

"Ahhh, Sookie" --

Alan Ball got that one right.  This series, from the fertile imagination of Charlene Harris is amazing.  Though the covers suck (sorry, Charlene) what is between the covers is a great adventure both endearing and amazing, wandering through supernaturals and humans.

Sookie Stackhouse is the main character, a hard working bar waitress in backwater Louisiana, she is a happy waitress, except she can hear other people's thoughts. 

The world she is in met Vampires 3 years prior to starting the series, in the "Great Reveal" vampires all came out as it were to society.  This has proven a great vehicle to speak about public relations, group consciousness and of course, human intolerance.  One of the many things that draw you to Charlene's story is the fullness of Sookie herself.  She is a strong southern girl, raised with manners, and beauty, and now thrust into a dark whorl of politics and greed.  This causes her to grow from her humble beginnings and actually start getting some respect in the supernatural world.

The first book is really almost the prologue to the long and involved journey our main character must take.

In this first book, we discover her "problem" as well as that it does not work on vampires.  When a certain vampire, Bill Compton makes her acquaintance, she falls for his southern seduction faster than you can say "Craw-Dad diner".  She finds herself protecting him from blood drainers, who sell the vampire blood as a drug.

Since I mentioned Alan Ball at the top, I feel I should provide a disclaimer --  I like Alan's True Blood series a lot.  I have a problem watching it sometimes though as he takes many liberties with the story spine of Charlene's.  Not to say that it is bad but I just have a hard time reconciling his story with her story.  It's not so far off to be un-enjoyable but enough that it jars me a bit out of the telling.  I find Pam's character on the TV show great and Alex Skarsgaard def is a great choice for Eric.  Joe Manganiello is amazing (he's pretty in real life too).   My jury is out on Anna.

While I am not providing a huge plot here, as so many people have gotten into the story, you already know how the first book comes out,  Sookie saving the day but in peril for her life.

Get started with the books, even if you were only into the TV show -- they're worth it.

 



Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood)
By: Charlene Harris
Published: 2001, Ace Books
ISBN: 0441008534

Delicious Druids: Hounded

Writing all about my book hobby is an entertaining respite from the stresses of the everyday.  It's frankly also a great way to exercise my aging faculties upstairs.  That all being said, and again, drowning in guilt around my failure to update this blog for a bit, I have reread some great books leading into my 2012 bonanaza of fantasy.

One of the series I dug out of the metaphorical cupboard (I mean, how would you store books in a cupboard....what a waste.....china is much better there, I promise), was the new series written by a writer out of the American southwest, named Kevin Hearne.  The first book in his series is named Hounded and I enjoyed it immensly.

Why you may be tempted to ask?

I'll tell you why;  it combines a couple of passions of mine.  Let's break it down:

Number A - The book has Druids in it - In fact, the main character is a Druid.  Who doesn't love Druids (well, excepting the Romans)?

Number B - The book uses mythology as a backdrop and as a story telling method.  Yes my friends, mythology still exists past those drabs and dribbles from Bullfinch and Edith Hamilton (and her bad cover art).


Number C - The characters are all quite well written and the story line is engaging.  Oh yes, yes, yes!  Rah Rah Rah, or as my favorite lady, the mysterious Poetry Lady BFF would say, U-S-A U-S-A.  I could chant that all night.

Number D - It made me have to start a new type of post, hence the Delicious Druid tag.  I love Druids and could write all day about that.

Number E -  There are some spicy comic relief bits that tickle those grey cells.  Ok since I started making italicized points after my point, I will say I never know to use grey or gray (Thank you, thank you; I'll be here all year)
 
Alright to summate - the main character of this here yarn is named Siobhachan O'Suileabhain which is a delicious ryme muddle that in your mouth out loud - it's fun,  and is the last of the Druids.  How did he survive, you may ask?  He was in hiding from one of the Celtic gods throughout the ages since there seems to be a disagreement on the finer points of having and wielding a Fae artifact, namely, a really cool sword.

In his adventures you meet a really friendly set of werewolves, an odd old vampire, and oh yes, demons and witches!  He's basically writing for this here blog!  OMG!  They are all great well flushed out characters and the comic relief is brought up the back by a talking dog.  Loves it lots.

I wholly encourage reading his series, the Iron Druid series as it's fun sexy and flirts with mythology.  I got wet from all the references to my favorite supernatural community members and then brings it up the back with a ka-pow by using mythology.

Epic battles, saucy wenches, a thoroughly modern voice and diction. Oh, and better cover art than post of his contemporaries.


I may be in love.  <3


XX
RHW

Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One)
By: Kevin Hearne
Published: May 3, 2011, Del Rey
ISBN: 978-0345522474

Oldsy Timsey: Scions of Shannara

It seems that with the New Year in full swing we are going back to the beginning.  This time, we are exploring one of the longest most important series in fantasy genre - Terry Brooks' Shannara series.  I will admit we are starting with the Heritage of Shannara trilogy rather than the books that started them all but I was digging around at my parent's house over the holidays and came across my copies of these books from the 90s when they were first published.

This book lands firmly in the moment when the Federation is taking over the Four Lands.  We meet again with the Ohmsford family and the current Scions, Par, Coll, Wren and Walker Boh.  Allanon's shade is sending imagery to their dreaming selves, summoning them for a congress with him at the Hadeshorn.

There he reveals a new threat to the Four Lands - the Shadowen and the tasks that the scions with magic, Wren, Walker, and Par face.  It is a very well written book, and the imagery of the loss of magic in the land is dishearteningly akin to how our world is currently looking with its dreary outlook.

I found it a little wistful to go back to Shannara after all these years.  I think that in fact this series really did get me interested in Druids in the first place.  Before you get all high and mighty on me dearest reader, for falling under an author's spell rather than the ancient Druids of old here on Earth, let me remind you that we all learn in our formative years the stories of the old via a story teller.  Whether that be Disney or Mr. Brooks, it always happens that we hear a story for the first time, which interests us in a topic that we continue to explore as we age.

Ahem, now that I'm done with my little tirade......  It was nostalgic and like a warm hug to get back into this series, and I am looking forward to the other two books in the series to arrive back to my home from the 'rents house after I found them.  (Media Mail is slow, dears).  I will keep you posted.

The Scions of Shannara (The Heritage of Shannara)
By: Terry Brooks
Published: March 1990, Del Ray
ISBN: 0-345-37074-0

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Dear Readers!

May your light be burning into the dark.

On my end, as the magic of the turning of time collects, I am making my own resolution - to begin anew with my reviews and feedback on the paranormal world of books.

With sadness, I had been kept away from my blog project due to changes in the real world.  Now that we are in the time of new beginnings and resolutions, I am back to make this a part of my life again and hopefully yours.

Many Horrors & Kisses,
Yours Faithfully,

The Red Haired Witch

Vicious Vampyres: Guilty Pleasures

So.... I want to start at the beginning of another series that I have deep affection for and want to share with you, out there in the dark. (Yes, a little too much Norma Desmond in my life....what can you do).

It was the pictures that got small, dammit!

I digress....

So this series is one of my favorites and is definitely in the 101 of my literary cannon.  We meet Anita Blake, Animator and Vampire Hunter.  She is a small woman based out of St. Louis, MO.  In her world, vampires have come out of the coffin and weres have left the kennel and the world knows that they all exist.  While Vampires are considered legal citizens, weres have a more difficult time, especially in the Western States where varmint laws are still on the books.

Anita is an animator - that is, she raises the dead.  Using her natural affinity for death, she is able to raise corpses to testify at court cases, get knowledge from their lives and generally be a way to safeguard against the misuse of their estates and wills.  She is living her very black and white life until she is made to go with her best friend Catherine on her bachelorette party to one of the vampire owned bars in the edges of St. Louis, Guilty Pleasures.  There she meet Jean-Claude the sexy vampire owner of Guilty Pleasures.  A trap is sprung.

From there, a vampire she knows, the manager of Guilty Pleasures, Jean-Claude involves her in the caper affecting the vamp community.  Someone is killing vampires and the police are not getting to a solution;  who better to ask for help than the local vampire hunter?

This is the beginning of Anita's descent into the world of the supernatural, leaving her to decide what makes her human and what makes them monster.  I have to say that her journey through the series looking into both herself and past and her growing awareness of what makes someone a monster is a telling quandary for me. 

Indeed, in modern life, we far too often see people labeled monsters and far too many as good that perhaps upon greater reflection would be opposite.

Listen here, dear readers:  I can emphatically tell you that this series is most welcome addition to any one's book list.  While I happen to like the former designs of the book cover than the one below, it's the words that matter, not the cover.

Talk soon,
RHW

Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter)
By: Laurell K. Hamilton
Published: August 3, 2004, Berkeley Trade
ISBN:978-0425197547

Weirding Witches: Dead Witch Walking

Hello Dear Readers --
I have been excited to come back to one of my fav authors - Kim Harrison and visited in on the trio of Rachel Morgan, Ivy Tamwood, and Jinx the pixy.
In her first book of the series, Dead Witch Walking, we are submerged into the world of post-Turn Cincinnati, OH.  On the Turn, all the supernatural citizens "came out of the closet" as it were, after the human population of the earth was decimated by a genetically engineered virus named Angel that was transmitted via tomatoes some thirty years behind us.

Rachel, Jinx and Ivy are working for the I.S. - Interlander Security - an CIA for the supernaturals.  They decide on the first night to leave and Rachel is slammed with a death threat from her former employer.  She manages to evade them and get her contract bought off by the human version of the IS - the FIB - Federal Interlander Bureau.  By hook and crook we are introduced to Rachel's new world of freelance and the mysterious first citizen of Cincinnati, Trent Kalmack and finds out he is running brimstone and bio drugs.

This book weaves together action, adventure, a healthy dose of paranoia, and an interesting alternate history.  These three along with their two main antagonists, Trent Kalmack and the demon Al are introduced.  Since I've read the next several books, I'll tell you Kim did a great job of setting herself up for a nice long series of awesome  books.

Werq!
RHW








Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, Book 1)
By: Kim Harrison
April 27, 2004
Harper Voyager
ISBN: 978-0060572969

Dangerous Demons: Trick of the Light

Dearest Reader:

I apologize in my lack of posts of late.  Funny how working gets in the way of writing blogs.... Unless the blog is your work i guess.  Anyways, that does not mean that I have not been reading.

I have been reading indeed....rich fare no less.....We'll come back to the new Sookie Stackhouse book but in the meantime, I wanted to write about the book I finished today, Trick of the Light.  First of all, finding this gem was not easy.  I was sucked into Rob Thurman's writing with her Cal series but I caught the second book in this series (which I will add, makes me cross).  Finally, at a B&N I found the first tome. 

The book sets up Trixa, the trickster goddess, hanging out in Vegas with her friend Leo.  By luck and vim and vigor, she manages to have her vengeance on the killer of her brother.  I like how Rob can weave a story -- disparate elements, partial omniscience and a character that lies to the reader.  I'm into it.

XX
RHW




Trick of the Light (Trickster, Book 1)
By: Rob Thurman
Published: September 2009, ROC
ISBN: 978-0-451-46288-6

Dangerous Demons: From Hell, With Love

In anticipation of Simon R. Green's new upcoming book For Heaven's Eyes Only: A Secret Histories Novel on June 7th, I wanted to go back and re-read the Secret Histories novels.

These novels feature the Drood family, an anciently old protector of humanity.  The star of the show as it were, is one Edwin (Eddie) Drood, a member of the secret family who secretly protects and manages humanity to keep them safe from outside and inside forces that no one else can handle.

While I will write reviews for the first few books in the series before this, I just read From Hell, With Love so I wanted to get this up here tout suite.

I love the character of Eddie Drood and Simon's writing in general.  The author's sensibility in weaving a compelling story, no matter which of his 5 series is always welcome in my reading time.  Specifically in this one, Eddie and the family find out about a super secret auction in LA for an artifact named the Apocalypse Door, supposedly a direct connection to Hell to allow all its denizens to spill forth into this dimension.  Eddie's family, protected by their torcs, pieces of strange matter which become armour to protect them in battle, go forth to smite with extreme prejudice.  With the shadow of traitors throughout the family and their allies and enemies, Eddie is knee deep and sinking fast.  Only by using his connections and of course the resources of the Drood family, does he find himself able to respond to the efforts of Dr. Delerium and his backers.

Part of the reason this series appeals to me is that its a play on the Ian Fleming books and of course his most famous of characters, James Bond.  I happen to love James Bond and the old school gallivanting British agent is an interesting trope to update in a supernatural way with the Secret Histories series.  The writing is all excellent and some of the catch phrases are among my favs as well.  I mean, how can't you want to use pithy bon mots like "needs must, when the Devil drives" or "demons always lie, unless the truth will hurt you more"

Simon's world is the same world as his other series and the characters often bleed into each other as cameos.  I think it's pretty awesome actually and specifically the amount of knowledge you can obtain from one series about the world can be used and referenced in another.  I know some snotty people will say its lazy to create one world, but if you think about it, it's almost harder to create one world with five different view points and perspectives than creating new ones each time.  As an example, the Droods cannot by pact and treaty enter the Nightside where Simon's characters like John Taylor and Walker reside, but sometimes their efforts and accomplishments are referenced as a part of the timeline as gossip.

BTW, does anyone know what Jaffa cakes taste like?

Well reader, I will go back to the beginning one of these days and breathlessly gossip with you about the first book, The Man with the Golden Torc, but right now I want to say, Brava, Simon on another great installment of your Secret History series.

XX
Red Haired Witch









From Hell With Love: A Secret Histories Novel
Simon R. Green
June 1, 2010
Publisher: Roc
ISBN: 0451463323

Fancy Faeries: A Kiss of Shadows

I'm practically vibrating I'm so excited to start talking about one of my favorite authors, Laurell K. Hamilton.  I originally got into her via her first extended series, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter, which I will speak about in due time in more depth but she was the first to break me out of my rather strict vampire outlook and move into the world of the Fae.
A Kiss of Shadows is a great first book, luring me in to the alternate reality of her world.  Her fae are different than many books' takes on the topic, as she posits that the Fae have been kicked out of every nation on Earth except for America and Thomas Jefferson let her people arrive and take the hills in Illinois as their home.  Her main character, Meredith Gentry, is a real life faerie princess, the first to be born on American soil.  The problem Meredith has is that she is not a pure blood Sidhe, but rather mixed heritage, including human, which has made her paternal Aunt, Andias, Queen of Air & Darkness of the Unseelie court try to drown her like a pure bred puppy, and her maternal Uncle, Taranis, King of Light & Illusion of the Seelie court nearly beat her to death.

Meredith's father took her out to grow up among the humans, and most of the Sidhe have not forgiven that.  This first book, A Kiss of Shadows, has Meredith hiding undercover as a private detective in LA and is found by the Slaugh the most un-human of the Fae and their sexy weird king, Sholto, King of the Slaugh and Lord of that which passes between.

I truly enjoy the research Laurell has put into her series, both keeping true to the mythology of the Fae and specifically the Sidhe, but she also weaves in subtleties that make this a most engaging faerie series.  That and it's also a gothic romantic element which I find always a great way to have some paranormal sex.

Meredith, who is hiding in LA as a private detective starts her return to faerie via her under cover work capturing a human who was using the Tears of Branwyn to enslave and capture energy from human descendants of the fae.  After she breaks the man's hold on the spell (and accidentally gets him killed) she is taken to the police where they reveal her as Princes Meredith NicEssus.

After her first hand of power blossoms, Meredith returns to the faerie sithen, and returns to her people's side.  But someone is always out to get her..... can Meredith survive returning home, and further be allowed to be crowned Queen?

Get into it!












A Kiss of Shadows (Meredith Gentry, Book 1)
Laurell K. Hamilton
October, 2000
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345-42340-2