Here are the final three mini reviews of books I read in November.
Daughter of the Blood (2000) by Anne Bishop Genre: Fantasy
Blurb: Seven hundred years ago, a Black Widow witch saw an ancient prophecy come to life in her web of dreams and visions. Now the dark Kingdom readies itself for the arrival of its Queen, a witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But she is young, still open to influence – and corruption.
Whoever controls the Queen controls the Darkness. Three men, sworn enemies, know this. And they know the power that hides behind the blue eyes of an innocent girl. And so begins a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, of magic and betrayal, in which the weapons are hate and love – and the prize could be terrible beyond imagining…
My Take: Daughter of the Blood is the first book in Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Trilogy. The world building is excellent, as is the characterization. I found some scenes to be highly disturbing and this affected my grade as I assign grades on the basis of my overall impression of a book after I’ve finished it. Judged on its own merits, it’s probably deserving of a higher grade, but I was sickened by a couple of scenes involving – or heavily implying – paedophilia. The subsequent books in the trilogy are supposed to be less dark than this one and I look forward to reading them. Jaenelle and Daemon have the potential to be a great couple – she just needs to be a little older to suit my tastes. My Grade: B-
Grimspace (2007) by Ann Aguirre Genre: Science Fiction
Blurb: By all accounts, Sirantha Jax should have burned out years ago… As the carrier of a rare gene, Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace—a talent which cuts into her life expectancy, but makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp. But then the ship she’s navigating crash-lands, and she’s accused of killing everyone on board. It’s hard for Jax to defend herself: she has no memory of the crash.
Now imprisoned and the subject of a ruthless interrogation, Jax is on the verge of madness. Then a mysterious man breaks into her cell, offering her freedom—for a price. March needs Jax to help his small band of rogue fighters break the Corp monopoly on interstellar travel—and establish a new breed of jumper.
Jax is only good at one thing—grimspace—and it will eventually kill her. So she may as well have some fun in the meantime…
My Take: I’ll say straight up that I’ve never been a fan of science fiction. I don’t think I’ve managed to sit through an entire episode of Star Trek and I’ve fallen asleep the couple of times I attempted to watch Star Wars. The SciFi element put me off trying this series for the longest time, despite the glowing reviews. Although it took me a couple of chapters to get into the flow of the story, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I’d expected to. Jax grated on my nerves at first, but I’d grown to like her by the end of the book. As this is a story told in the 1st person from Jax’s point of view, it’s important to have a sympathetic lead character. The plot was interesting and I’m curious to see where Ann Aguirre takes the storyline from here. I’m hoping the saintly Kai turns out to be a traitor! My Grade: B-
Storm Front (2000) by Jim Butcher Genre: Urban Fantasy
Blurb: Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he’s the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the “everyday” world is actually full of strange and magical things — and most of them don’t play well with humans. That’s where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a — well, whatever.
There’s just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name. And that’s when things start to get… interesting.
Magic. It can get a guy killed.
My Take: Storm Front is the first book in Jim Butcher’s bestselling Dresden Files series. It’s an interesting mix of hardboiled mystery and urban fantasy. Although I liked both the premise and the protagonist, the story failed to grab me and it took me a few days to finish this book. I’ve heard from several sources that the later Dresden Files books are stronger, so I would be willing to give one of those a try at some point. My Grade: C+
