Menolly steps back up as protagonist in this book as the
sisters come across an old potential crime while burrowing through the
storerooms of the Wayfarer. Tracking down a missing elf from years ago isn’t
easy, but is complicated by a missing vampire, a posse of undead, a friendly
neighbourhood necromancer and his wandering ghouls, a demonic frat house who
get exactly what they deserve and a whole new force of demons who fight on the
astral plane
It’s a lot to juggle and, of course, behind it all is the politics from Otherworld and the eternal threat of Shadow Wing and his demons.
Menolly also has relationships to balance – Nerissa is
finding her time taxed with the puma council demanding she assume a political
role; while Vanzir and Rozuriel both pursue Menolly, their demonic natures
fitting powerfully well with Menolly’s vampirism.
One of the main problems I’ve had with this series in the
past is that it brings in a lot of extraneous issues, lots of side plots and
lots of distractions that bogs down a very epic story – which is further
exacerbated by the over-description, unnecessary recapping and constant talking
everything through.
So I was really happy that this book managed to avoid a
lot of that. I think part of it is that the world is so huge now there’s a
limit to how much recapping and reiteration you can actually do. Similarly most
of the storylines and elements were pretty much relevant to the plot without
too much in the way of distraction. The writing was more concise, there was no
need to reiterate the battle order every time they fought, less random
anecdotes from Iris, less putting the end of the world on hold so they could
have a meal – it was tighter. There was still some side references that made
things longer than they needed to be, but they were relevant side references to
things like the fae queens or Iris’s personal life. The story was much more
contained and moved at a much brisker pace with a far greater sense of both the
urgency and the epic consequences they face.
I wasn’t especially happy with how the story started,
however. I can understand going after the astral demons since Delilah was targeted
and people were dying. It was a nice reminder that, while Shadow Wing must be
the priority, he’s not the only threat out there and they can’t focus on him
when there are bodies on the ground. I can also understand Chase asking for
information on the missing vampire from Menolly since she’s his vampire contact
and it’s only a matter of asking questions. What I don’t understand is, with
the ominous threat of Shadow Wing looming over them, they decided that it’d be
great to search for an elf who may or may not have gone missing several years
ago. Where’s the triage? Where’s the sense of priorities? I’m actually a little
put out that it did all end up being related to Shadow Wing. Maybe it’s
supposed to be a sense of how wide spread his power and influence is, but I
felt it was a little “hey we got another spirit seal!” “How?” “Uh… we kind of
stumbled over it, to be honest.” The story
itself was great – fun, well written, well paced – but the beginning and end
were shaky.
I also think the friendly neighbourhood necromancer is
really unnecessary in a cast that already has a rather large cast of
characters. This is a wonderfully huge world with a massive, multi-layers epic
storyline with so many factors and sides and forces that it always stands on
the edge of becoming bloated.
Of course, it’s that world and epic story that keeps me
coming back to this series. The fae, the devas, the different realms of fae,
the demons and their factions, humans, shapeshifters, vampires – I don’t think
there are many worlds I’ve come across that are as rich as this series. And it’s
not just the sheer number of supernaturals that are present, it’s how all these
forces are relevant to the plot line. All of them have an influence and all of
them have a stake – they’re not just mentioned in passing, they are integral
parts of the story
The sisters continue to be excellent, fun characters.
They’re powerful, but with flaws. They are capable in their way but they also
have dire weaknesses. They are, in many ways, woefully unprepared and unsuited
for the heavy burden that has been placed on them but, despite minor doubts,
difficult pasts and challenges, they don’t spend their time wallowing in fear
and angst – though they certainly feel it – they get up and get on with it,
they step up, take the risk, keep fighting even when they’re hurt and even when
the odds aren’t in their favour. And they’re very human, they enjoy life and
don’t apologise for it – they expect fun and down time and love. They have an
extremely powerful bond as sisters and that never weakens or frays – they’re
always together and stronger for it.
And yes, them tearing up the frat house full of rapists
and kidnappers was deeply fun to read.
I am glad that we’re beginning to see some exploration of
Menolly’s bisexuality, rather than it being a background reference as we’ve
seen time and again before. Menolly’s relationship with Nerissa is real,
emotional and they seem to share genuine affection – I have some hope for this –
cautious hope. Similarly we have Sassy forming a relationship with Erin that,
again, looks to have the foundations of something meaningful. We also have
reference to the often-absent-unless-useful Tim and Jason getting married – it
doesn’t make them less tools, but it adds together to give me hope.
If it weren’t for the past record of the books I’d take these
as the heartwarming inclusion they are and be happy, but I have a niggling
little doubt. Because Erin is being tutored in the ways of vampiredom, Menolly
demands – and Sassy agrees – that their relationship remain platonic for at least
a year – it is put on hold. And after a wonderful encounter in the beginning of
the book, we learn that Nerissa is running as a councillor and will be too busy
to concentrate on their relationship for a time and they accept a semi-hiatus
or minimal contact (the relationship on semi-hold, again). For the rest of the
book Menolly looks to two other love interests – Vanzir and Rozuriel, both male
and demons. While there’s still an intention of having Nerissa as the primary
love interest and these 2 as dalliances, I don’t see that working out since
Vanzir and Rozuriel are already established, active and present characters in
the series, deeply involved in the plot while Nerissa is a walk on bit part who
has no indication of being more. They also keep saying things like how Menolly,
as a vampire, needs someone who understands her – a demon (Nerissa is a
werepuma). To solidify my concern, the book is called “Demon Mistress.”
I’d love to see a same-sex relationship presented as the enduring true love for one of the three protagonists – like Chase and Delilah or Camille and Smokey, Morio and Trillian. I’m hopeful this is going to happen – but I’m also wary about it
I could also really do without the constant appropriation of the closet. Enough of the “outing” vampires already.
While this book certainly had its issues with shaky
motivations and odd choices on the characters’ part and I think it ended in a
tad too neat a fashion, it was a general uptick for me on the series. I wasn’t
left frustrated or wallowing in irrelevancies and the plot remained present, relevant
and fun and exciting to follow. I’m hoping this is going to be a continuing
trend for the next few books.
