Spiral Hunt by Margaret Ronald

Posted on December 12, 2008 by janicu

Margaret Ronald

Eos books sent me this novel to review from debut author Margaret Ronald.

The setting is Boston, where a large Irish migrant population goes hand in hand with this urban fantasy moving away from the usual werewolves and vampires, and takes it's supernatural aspects from celtic mythology. Evie Scelan is a bike messenger with a side business as a Finder. Her nickname is Hound because Evie has an ability to track things with scent. At the start of this book, Evie gets a mysterious phone call from ex-lover Frank. Despite her reservations with who he may be mixed up with, and the warning on the phone, she begins to investigate his disappearance.

"He speaks to you to say farewell. I speak to you to warn you, for I may have damned you with my words"

"Hound, watch for a collar. The hunt comes…"

When I started reading this book the first time, I made the mistake of reading it before going to bed, so I was tired. This book, like most urban fantasies, throws you in midstream and I felt confused about things hinted at in the first few pages. The phone call is the beginning and I didn't understand how Evie related to Frank, and then soon afterwards how she related to other characters she ran into. I ended up putting it down, but bogormen convinced me that things got better, and I picked it up again. This time all the references to the magic in Boston, Evie's past, and her avoidance of showing up on the radar of a shadowy group called The Brotherhood started to make more sense. By around page 100 I had enough to grasp the world and enjoy the story itself. The city of Boston is a nice backdrop and I'm sure Bostonites would recognize many landmarks in Evie's adventures.

Evie is a relatable heroine who thankfully doesn't do overly idiotic things, she goes into situations with her eyes open, but still gets into trouble despite her best intentions. She is a no nonsense, working class gal, trying to survive on her own who has a hard time letting other's in because of her talent. Her soft spot seems to be kids and older people, which shows itself through the course of the story. Her circle of friends is small – a couple of people she knew in school, a black-market magic associate, and a brief mention of coworkers at her messenger job, but I hope that as the series continues that Evie will start to open herself up to others. I thought I saw a lowering of walls in a couple of instances in this book and the hint of a possible romance. Her character was my favorite part of the book.

I don't know much about celtic myths, but I knew enough to recognize some of the names of the major dieties, so it was a refreshing experience to read an urban fantasy that references that mythology and I wanted to know more about it after finishing the story. While the bad guys in this tale seemed to be shrouded in mystery until the second half of the book, once all the parties involved in the mystery that Evie unravels show up, this becomes an absorbing read.

I felt that this book had a satisfying ending (I saw this mentioned elsewhere and I agree), even though it is the start of a series. I was happy where it stopped with the promise of more to come. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to Evie and her friends in book 2. I'd recommend this one to urban fantasy fans.

This book comes out on January 27th, 2009. From the author's website I see 3 books planned for now.

Bogormen's review
Mardelwanda's review

My review is for an Advanced Readers Copy so FYI I'm not sure the quotes I posted will exactly the same in the final version.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris

Posted on November 20, 2008 by janicu

Grave Surprise (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 2)

Charlaine Harris

After reading Grave Sight last week, I was curious enough about the second book, Grave Surprise that I picked it up this week.

This story continues the life of Harper Connelly and her step-brother Tolliver Lang, this time in Memphis to demonstrate Harper's talents to a Bingham College class. The professor Clyde Nunly fully expects to expose Harper as a big fraud, but when she keeps accurately describing the deaths of people buried at the cemetery within campus, his smirk leaves his face. He really doesn't believe it when another surprise occurs - Harper discovers one grave with two bodies – the original and the body of an eleven year old girl who Harper once tried but failed to find. Soon Harper and Tolliver are again embroiled in a murder mystery, and because the victim was such a young girl, this time Harper really wants to find out who did it.

Overall: It's been a while since I've read something that falls more on the mystery side of things, so I enjoyed reading this. It kept my interest and I read it fairly quickly. I also enjoyed this better than the first book because I was feeling a little less annoyed at some of the other characters involved. There was less of a small minded small town vibe and while people still gave Harper a hard time over her talent, Harper and Tolliver managed to give as much as they got, even getting some apologies in the process. Which made me feel better. I also felt that if you read this book before book 1, you'd be OK, Harris went over Harper and Tolliver's pasts again in this book, so you wouldn't be missing anything. Meanwhile, there was some progress in Harper and Tolliver's relationship with their little sisters and something else which I guessed was coming from the first book. Besides that their characters stayed fairly consistent to what they were like in book 1 – Harper really intriuges me.. again, that half vulnerable, half hard thing. Anyway, if you liked book one, I'd recommend this one.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Posted on November 19, 2008 by janicu

Wicked Lovely

Melissa Marr

I kept hearing only good things about Melissa Marr's debut young adult novel Wicked Lovely, so after visiting copies of the book at the bookstore several times, I finally got hold of one to read.

I'm dense because I didn't notice until I was about halfway through the book that the girl on the cover is holding flowers covered in frost. Which ties in with the story. Doh! It is a lovely cover though even without noticing that!

Aislinn goes to an all girls school and lives with her protective grandmother in a town called Huntsdale. For the most part she's a normal teen, except for a wariness she's developed because she has the ability to see faeries. This isn't the sweet kind of faerie but rather capricious beings who are everywhere, usually invisible, playing cruel games on others. If they knew she could see them, Aislinn knows she would be harmed, she's been taught by her grandmother (who also has this ability), to lay low and pretend she can't see them. She spends her days as a normal kid, going to school, and then hanging out with her best friend Seth, an older kid with tattoos and piercings who lives in a train. The iron keeps out the faeries so Aislinn tries to spend as much time as possible there, while harboring secret feelings for him.

Unfortunately for Aislinn, she does eventually gets noticed by Keenen, the Summer King, who decides she's the next girl who could be the Summer Queen. For years he's been chasing human girls, asking them to pick up the Winter Queen Beria's staff and help him break the hold his mother has on the seasons. Every girl who has picked up the staff could not hold off the chill and thus they have become the Winter girl (the current one is Donia) until another girl relieves them.

Overall: I'd recommend this for fans of Holly Black, but I think I like Holly Black better. It has that same type of young adult in modern times with faeries feel (along with my thoughts of how are the parents letting these kids roam about so much?). There are mild allusions to sex but it will likely go over the heads of the innocent. The story had a fairy tale in modern times vibe, reminding me of stories about the struggles between two deities or royal beings over who rules the season - Summer and Winter. And the writing has a lyrical, lovely fairytale lilt which just goes with the story beautifully. There was some greying of characters – especially that of Keenen – he's not seen as the bad guy, even though he's been callous in the past, but I thought that Seth was a bit perfect, and the Winter Queen was a bit heavy handed. I also thought that every main character in this book was described as being gorgeous, so I was imagining these perfect looking beings (including Seth and Aislinn) in a semi-dramatic fantasy, doing stuff like: yearning for things that they couldn't express and being caught in a tragic game for eternity… I wish I saw less romantic characters, but I'm not sure if I'm just being old and crabby here in thinking that. Another thing – I also didn't understand why there needed to be a Summer Queen when there was no Winter King? I'm still a bit confused about that. Anyway,the ending was satisfying. A fine way to pass the time, and I'm sure it's a keeper for many, but not a keeper for me. I'm interested enough to read the next book Ink Exchange, which deals with the Dark court (I think?), but it's going to come from the library.

Review at Dear Author (they gave it an A-)

Review at The Book Smugglers (they gave it an 8 – Excellent).

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

Posted on November 15, 2008 by janicu

Grave Sight (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 1)

Charlaine Harris

Grave Sight is the first in the Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris.

After being hit by lightening at an early age Harper has a talent at locating a dead body if the general area is known. She can also tell how they died. This doesn't make her very much liked by both sceptics (who think she preys on the weak) and by those who hire her (because they don't always like the truth that comes out).

In Grave Sight Harper and her step-brother Tolliver Lang get involved in a murder mystery in the southern town of Sarne. What starts off as a normal case – finding the body of missing, presumed dead wild-child Teenie Hopkins (whose boyfriend's body was found six months ago), becomes increasingly dangerous as more deaths occur. The people of Sarne immediately begin to blame Harper for all their troubles, and Harper is forced by the police to stay in the area. At that point, Harper feels compelled to investigate what is going on.

Overall: New spin on murder mysteries and worth a read. The murderer was someone I guessed at but it wasn't that obvious I think. The writing was absorbing – no troubles where I wanted to put the book down and go do something else, and interesting main characters. Really it's Harper's unusual talent and her life with it, that makes the book so interesting. I couldn't really pinpoint the genre here, it seems to cross a couple of them. There also seems to be a mystery in Harper's past (the abduction of her sister Cameron) which I hope gets more exposure in later books.

Harper was an intriguing character. Sometimes she seems very hard because of her upbringing in a broken home (her mother was a drug addict, as was Tolliver's dad), but also sometimes very vulnerable (with her great fear of lightening, and ailments caused by the lightening strike). She is also very reliant on her step-brother, and their relationship was really strange to read. I have a brother so their relationship didn't seem quite brother/sister, and staying together when they were in their twenties, working together, spending that much time together without their own separate lives - kind of weirded me out. I suspect that their relationship is going to become something more, if I'm reading the subtext right. I am not sure how to feel about that. I have a brother so… eck, I don't know.

The other thing I spent a lot of time thinking about with this book was how almost everyone in Sarne treated Harper and Tolliver badly. It seemed like this small-town, small-minded cliche, and I felt bothered by it. I had a hard time believing that so many people (including the police and city officials) could be so suspicious and rude, and I felt like it gives southerner's a bad name. The whole situation gave me a bad taste, and I was aggravated by the attitudes throughout the book.

Other than those two big issues I had, I did enjoy this book.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Selene by Lilith Saintcrow / Mercy Thompson news

Posted on October 5, 2008 by janicu

Selene – Lilith Saintcrow

Yup, yet another post today. Quick one – has anyone been following the online series by Lilith Saintcrow – "Selene"? It got finished. I've been reading it on google reader. Weird thing was that the epilogue didn't show up on the reader but is online. I read it all and each chapter is long, so you are getting a lot for FREE here. And I liked it. Urban fantasy and dark definitely. Selene has had a very hard and desperate life, partly because of her "curse" as a tantraiiken, and so is subject to her body's constant craving for sex to get power. I liked the ending too, even though it isn't fully complete (looks like the story will continue), I felt rather satisfied with it. Lilith Saintcrow's newsletter says:

"By 9AM (PST) today, the Epilogue to Selene goes live. You can now read the entire book (except the prequel in the Hotter than Hell anthology) from start to finish. This is the beginning of Selene and Nikolai's story, and no doubt a few of you are going to think it hasn't really ended.

You're right, it hasn't. There's one more Selene book, but we're going to have to wait for that. In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed seeing how the Deadly Nichtvren Duo met–and I hope some of their relationship in the Valentine books is clearer!

Feel free to drop by the fan forum, where there's a special corner set up just for Selene. I do read the forum as much as I can, so it's a good way to let me know how you liked the book."

In other news, did you know that

1) The Mercy Thompson series is being put into graphic novel format (this is semi old news), but the new news is that the first 11 pages is online.

2) Again Mercy Thompson – was picked up by 50 Canon Entertainment. Is there a series or a movie in the works? I hope so! (via Dear Author)

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Kin (The Good Neighbors) by Holly Black, Illustrated by Ted Naifeh

Posted on October 5, 2008 by janicu

Kin (Good Neighbors)

Holly Black

Once I found out that Holly Black was doing a graphic novel and it was similar to her Modern Faerie Tales series as in it centers on teens who get somehow involved with the faerie world, I wanted to read it. It's one of those books where I like the author but I wasn't paying attention. So when a new book comes out I am thrilled and also happy that I didn't have to go through the torture of anticipation for months! I thank the avidbookreader blog for pointing out that this book was available.

Anyway, this story is about Rue Silver, whose mother has been missing for weeks. Her father is depressed and does nothing all day, while Rue tries to keep doing her usual activities with her friends, like going to her boyfriend's concerts and breaking into vacant buildings to take pictures. One day the police surround her house and accuse her father of killing one of his students at the university – Sarasa Narayan. Sarasa's last known meeting was with her father, and now there are also suspicions he killed his wife. Rue begins to believe that Rue's dad broke a promise, and Rue's mom, had to leave because of it. Rue realizes her mother is a faerie and so she has faerie blood. Rue starts to see all kinds of strange things, while she tries to find her mother, in the meantime also running into her mother's family, who are dangerous beings with their own agenda.

Overall: I enjoyed this. Recommended to Holly Black fans. It was a quick read, with some things that make more sense the second time you flip back and reread them. The story is however not finished so after this book you'll want to read the next one. While we find out what happened to the dead university student, Rue still has to figure out a few other things. The artwork is good, but sometimes the faces were inconsistent which made me sometimes wonder who I was looking at for a second. The book is in black and white, I'd love to see this in color! The coverwork is gorgeous though, and I liked how the dustcover matches the cover of the book, but it also has a matte finish with some shiny parts. Very tactile. I find myself picking it up and rubbing my fingers against the raised shiney font a lot, it's lovely.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland

Posted on October 5, 2008 by janicu

Any Given Doomsday (The Phoenix Chronicles)

Lori Handeland

There are a lot of ARCs of this book floating around, so if you still don't have a copy and are interested, there are a couple of contests going on that I know of.

1) Lady Vampire's Lair has this book among a trio of books she's giving away for a Halloween giveaway. Comments throughout October 6th-11th in answer to her questions count as entries. Here's the link.

2) Lori's Reading Corner has a contest until October 6th (tomorrow),comment to enter. Additional rules and the link is here.

According to Amazon, the book comes out November 4th.

This is a first book in a new series by Lori Handleland. I've read one other book by this author which I liked more than I expected because I wasn't really into a short story I read in the Dates from Hell anthology.

This series centers on Elizabeth Phoenix, a former foster child, and cop turned bartender with physic powers. She has the ability to touch things and tell where the owner is or has been. The story starts off with Liz feeling called by her foster mom Ruthie, and discovering her dying at her house. The prime suspect is Liz's ex Jimmy Sanducci, who she broke up with after discovering his infidelity through her gift (ouch!). This starts a series of events which open up a new world to Liz – she discovers that Ruthie was the head of a giant battle between good and evil, with supernatural creatures of all kinds and tales from the Book of Enoch being the basis of it all. The gist of it is that doomsday begins now, and Liz has to take Ruthie's place. Meanwhile she has to deal with her ex Jimmy, and her past teacher, Sawyer. Both men aren't completely human.

Overall: I thought the book was OK. There were fascinating world-building aspects like the Nephalim from the Book of Enoch, Liz's talent, and her dreams with Ruthie. There are also some hints of past history that I found interesting regarding Jimmy and Sawyer, but they were done in a way that I had just enough to understand it, rather than feeling like just enough was being held back to make me confused. The dialog is flippant at times, but flowed well, and it did seem to fit Liz's personality. The book does fit more under the urban fantasy genre than it does as a paranormal romance – there is no HEA, at least in this book, and the ending leaves a lot of room for further developments, but there are a few sex scenes and maybe more attention to relationships than I usually see in urban fantasy. Both relationships with Jimmy and Sawyer have a dark edge to them, mostly because everyone involved is pretty emotionally flawed. I am not sure who she will eventually end up with, but both of the men have not treated Liz well. I wasn't sure I liked either of them and sometimes I wasn't sure if I liked Liz either. Still, it does make the characters very interesting and I'd like to see how it develops. I'd like to see Liz more confident in her powers, which hopefully we will see in the next book. The author's letter to her readers in the back of the book mentions Laurell K Hamilton as an inspiration, and I could see maybe a hint of that regarding Liz's hidden power we learn about later. I have to say I sort of … mmm, I don't quite like it, because I think it has a potential to make the books take a turn into territory that many people complain about with Hamiliton's books, but this book is a far cry from that, so I'll just wait and see.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod

Posted on September 30, 2008 by janicu

The Sweet Scent of Blood (Spellcrackers)

Suzanne McLeod

I saw a post about this book on Urban Fantasy Land and I was very intruiged, but a bit frustrated because I didn't see it in a US book website at the time, only in Amazon UK. In the end I got it from thebookdepository.com but it looks like now you can see it on Amazon with a 2-4 week shipping time – probably because it's published in the UK right now, not in the US? The street date is September 4th, 2008.

"My name is Genny Taylor. I work for Spellcrackers.com. It’s a great job, pays the rent, lets me do the thing I’m good at – finding magic and cracking it – and the bonus is it’s run by witches, which stops the vamps from taking a bite out of me.

Not that vampires are the big bad any more, not since they launched a slick PR campaign – oh, and they brought the goblins on board. Now the vamps are sought-after celebrities, and Getting Fanged and taking the Gift are the new height of all things cool.

But only if you’re human.

And I’m not.

I’m Sidhe fae.

And I know firsthand just how deadly a vampire can be.’

When Mr October, a sexy calendar pin-up vamp, is accused of murdering his girlfriend, an old debt is called in and Genny is forced to help prove his innocence, risking her job and the protection it offers – and threatening to expose her own dark secrets. Searching for the killer plunges Genny deep into the hidden heart of vampire society. It’s not long before she realises that she and Mr October are both unwitting pawns in a centuries-old power struggle between London’s non-human communities . . . and it’s not just her own neck that’s at stake, but the lives of all London’s supernaturals."

This book seems to follow more of the urban fantasy tradition in the same vein as Kim Harrison, Karen Chance and C.E. Murphy. Basically you have a female protagonist with some special powers, who gets caught up in a mystery while trying to fend off the interest of big bads because of her unique assets. In this case Genny is the only Sidhe Fae in London – a particularly tasty snack for vampires, with a better constitution, so less likely to die for a long time, and she's already susceptible to craving vampire bites. Genny is reluctant to get involved with vampires but because of a debt, she has to help Mr. October prove his innocence. At first I thought that Mr. October might be a love interest, but he is a minor character, and the love interest seems to be someone she works with, although she also has a strange attraction to a certain vampire.

This book had a really interesting world – and I liked how vampires are treated like celebrities and tourists flock to look at them and have them drink their blood. It was interesting to have them use PR and advertising to project a certain image, while still being dangerous. I was a bit sceptical about how harmless they pretended to be while glorying in bloodplay, fear, rape and whatever else though, the difference seemed so extreme. A nit, I know. The other issue I had was how complicated this book started to feel – It started off really well. Chapter one in the cafe, was a great introduction into the world, but then later the information was doled out in crumbs, especially regarding Genny's past which get vaguely alluded to in either a small flashback or in a sentence or two in the middle of the investigation and in her strange actions (wait till you see her dual personality). It felt like there was a whole missing story that doesn't get told and we're inferring it from what's going on. Then the investigation itself – it seems that every vampire has his or her own agenda, no matter who they are affiliated with, and there are 5 or 6 vampires involved, plus we have witches, brownies, some humans, and the police, all muddying up the waters. When things finally go down and Genny discovers what's really going on, it got rather messy. I had this strange feeling like when you're in a dream and of course everything makes sense in the dream, but afterwards you realize it really doesn't. For example Genny finding herself tied up in the same room as someone else, then escaping and popping into a random person's bedroom? Who wants to help her? And then she gets caught up in a big… fight match thing? It sort of makes sense but not really. And in the end I still felt like there was a big plot hole explaining how Melissa's murder was carried out, but no one cares. I like it when an author lets you learn about the world by just putting you into it, but I felt in this case I'd have appreciated a more basic background details, and a little less trying to add as much as possible into the plot.

Overall: Recommended for urban fantasy fans. It does remind me of Kim Harrison's work, which is a good thing, and Genny is interesting – I want to learn more about her and to find out what happens next, but I wish that the plot flowed better. I say less surprise kinks and characters into the plot, more focus on building existing characters and the world, and I'd be happy. This is a debut author, so for a first book, it gets high points and is a promising series. There is a dark bent to this story so it is urban fantasy, and I'm not sure how many books there will be. The second book The Cold Kiss of Death comes out July 2009.

Excerpt of Chapter 1.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Cast In Fury by Michelle Sagara

Posted on September 30, 2008 by janicu

Cast in Fury (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 4)

Michelle Sagara

Cast In Fury is the fourth book in the Chronicles of Elantra series, and I've been waiting for it – I had it pre-ordered a while ago, and luckily for me, I got it a week early. I was in the middle of two other books, but I put them down and started reading this instead! The release date is officially October 1st.

This series is in a fantasy world populated by a few different races living together in the city of Elantra, which is ruled by a dragon emperor. The protagonist is Kaylin Neya, a once orphaned girl living in poverty but who has worked to become a Hawk, one of the three organizations that police her city. What makes her unusual is that she has mysterious words that suddenly showed up on her skin, and linked to them are powers she doesn't really understand, but somehow, when she really needs it, she manages to do amazing things. Her ignorance about how her power works is the reason why some let her live, but she is constantly caught up in power plays and secret politics within the different groups. Book three (Cast in Secret) centered on the Tha'alini, a race of empaths, and book two (Cast in Courtlight) on the Barrani – immortals who remind me of elves. This book touches on them as well but mostly it seems to focus on an issue amongst the Leontines. Her sergeant Marcus, who is Leontine is arrested for murder, which throws the Hawks off balance, and Kaylin is determined to help him, no matter how much he refuses it. There is also an ongoing assignment to babysit a playwright commissioned to write a play about the Tha'alini, who after the events in the previous book, people (incorrectly) fear. The hope is to calm the city with a positive story about them and what happened.

I have no idea what this cover art is supposed to represent – it's strange – the model doesn't look like the same one in other books, I don't recall Kaylin wearing dresses, and she doesn't deal with a huge wall of water being held back with the force of her hand at all. Not in this book. Very puzzling!

Overall: Well I think this was not as strong as some of the other books in this series, but as usual the world and character building is top notch. I felt that this installment did shed a lot of light on the Leontine race and Kaylin's special relationship with Marcus and his wives. The book showed a lot of how Kaylin's personality was influenced by this group – they truly seem like a foster family for her. The ongoing thread which started in the first book and which has continued in others regarding an Outcaste dragon trying to topple the empire also continues. There are a few more revelations about him and I expect that the series won't end until he gets defeated once and for all. Hopefully at the same time Kaylin manages to control and understand her powers.

Other than that, I felt like a trend is starting to develop here. Kaylin is thrown into a situation she knows nothing about regarding a certain race, and this race doesn't want to explain to her their particular history which is the key to solving whatever problem she's facing. Usually the world has to almost end before they finally reveal the big missing piece in the puzzle. In the meantime, she has to ask a lot of questions trying to solve the problem, and there is always someone around to look at her with an impatient air when she does. I'm getting annoyed on her behalf. I'd like to see something a bit different in the next book, and some more focus on her relationships and her powers. Not that I would mind learning more about the Aerians or the Dragons, which seem to be the two races without their own books, but I don't want yet another disaster that threatens a whole city to be the only way to learn about them. It will also be interesting to see what develops with her childhood friend turned steadfast and deadly partner Severn and the mysterious Lord Nightshade, who marked her as his Consort against her wishes. It seems like a subtle ongoing love triangle that gets hinted at throughout the books, and it's fascinating to watch it develop.

My review of Cast in Secret

I was trying to think of who to recommend if you like this author, but nothing quite springs to mind right now. Maybe Robin McKinley if she wrote series? I recommend her backlist.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Series

Posted on September 11, 2008 by janicu

OK I posted about series I was in the middle of here in July 2007. This is the updated list with edits in blue. Some things have changed, many have not:

1) Wen Spencer - need to start book 4 of 4 in the Ukiah Oregon series

~~2) Wen Spencer – need to start book 2 of 2? maybe in the Tinker series~~ – done!

3) Patricia Briggs – read 2 3 out of 7(!!), in the Mercy Thompson series

4) Kim Harrison – need to start book 3 of ??? in the Hollows series

5) Rachel Caine – need to start book 3 of ?? in the Weather Warden series

6) Rachel Caine - read 2 3 of ?? in the Morganville Vampires series

7) Dawn Cook – need to start book 2 of 4 in the Truth series

8) Kat Richardson – need to start book 2 3 of ?? (3 so far) in the Greywalker series

9) Faith Hunter - need to start book 2 3 of ?? (3 so far) in the Rogue Mage series

10) Michelle Sagara – read 2 3 of ?? (5 so far) in the Cast in series (book 4 will be out October 2008)

11) Garth Nix – started reading his Keys of the Kingdom series (book 1). Waiting for book 7 of 7 to go through it since its fast reading. YA.

12) Anne Bishop – I read book 1 of her Ephemera series (prob a trilogy), not really interested in continuing. Maybe.

13) Mindy Klasky - Need to read book 4 of 5 in her Glasswright series.

14) Moira J. Moore – Need to read book 2 3 of ?? (around 4 so far) in her Hero series

15) Anne Bishop – Read her Jewels trilogy, need to read her 2 other books from this world (continuations?) - Dreams made Flesh, Tangled Webs..

16) Sharon Shinn – Read book 1 of her Twelve Houses series.. not sure if I want to read 2 and 3 out of ??.

17) Karen Chance – Read book 2 of ?? in her Shadows series.

18) S. L. Viehl - need to start book 1 4 of 8 so far in her Stardoc series

~~19) Marie Brennan – Reading book 2 of 2 in her Doppleganger duology (I think)~~ done!

20) Louise Rennison – Read book 2 of ?? (7 so far) in her Georgia Nicolson series

~~21) Casey Daniels – Read book 2 of ?? (at least 3 so far).. in her Pepper Martin series. Probably will not continue~~. gave up!

22) Ilona Andrews – Read book 1 2 of 2 ??? so far of her Magic series

23) Lilith Saintcrow – Read book 2 3 of 5 in her Dante Valentine series

24) Karin Lowachee – Read book 1 of 3 in her series, will continue eventually.

~~25) Katie MacAlister – Read up to book 3 of her Aisling Grey, Guardian series, not really interested in continuing.~~ gave up!

~~26) Janet Evanovich - Read book 1 of … ??? 13 so far in her Stephanie Plum series. Not interested in continuing~~. gave up!

27) MaryJanice Davidson – Read book 1 of ?? in her Undead series

~~28) Holly Black – Read book 3 of 3 in her Modern Faery Tale series.~~ done!

29) Kristen Britain – Read book 2 of 3 (I think) in her Green Rider series.. Not really into it.. may finish though.

~~30) Ellen Schreiner – Read book 2 of ?? of her Vampire Kisses series~~ gave up!

31) Sophie Kinsella – Read book 2 of ?? (5 so far) of her Shopaholic series

32) Kelley Armstrong – Read book 1 of ?? (8 so far) of her Otherwold series

33) Stephenie Meyer – Read book 1 of ?? (3 so far) of her series

34) Clare B. Dunkle – Read book 1 of 3 in her Hollow Kingdom series

New:

35) Patricia Briggs – Read book 1 of ??? in her Anna and Charles series

36) Nalini Singh - need to start 4 of ?? (5 so far) in her Psy Changling series

37) Shanna Swendson - need to start book 3 of 4 in her Katie Chandler series

38) Jasper Fforde – Read book 1 of ?? in his Thursday Next series

39) Jeri Smith Ready – need to finish book 2 of 3 (I think) in her Aspect of Crow series

40) Jeri Smith Ready – Read book 1 of ?? in her vampire DJs series

~~41) Patricia Briggs – Read book 2 of 2 in her Hurog series~~ – done!

~~42) Maria V. Snyder – Read book 3 of 3 in her Study series~~ – done!

~~43) Liz Berry – Read 2 of 2 in Connections duology –~~ done!

44) Ann Agguire – Read 2 of 4 (so far) of her Jax series

45) Jocelyn Drake – Read 1 of ?? in her Nightwalker series

46) Jennifer Estep – Read 3 of ?? in her Bigtime series

47) Ally Carter – Read 2 of ?? (3 so far) in her Gallager Girl series

48) C. E. Murphy – Read 1 of ?? (3?) in her Negotiator series

49) C. E. Murphy – Read 1 of ?? (3?) in her Walker Papers series

50) Kelley Armstrong – Read 1 of ?? in her Nadia Staffor series

51) Tate Hallaway – Read 2 of ?? (3 so far) in her Garnet Lacey series

Looking at this list: Wow, I feel so tired!! I really need to finish off some series before I can start another. I have the rest of certain series just lying in my TBR mountain. Ahhhhhhhhh. I wish more series weren't just "open-ended" without a set number of books expected…

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend