Blade Bound (Chicagoland Vampires #13) by Chloe Neill

Merit and Ethan are finally getting married. Everything is finally going her way

Until Sorcha returns, bringing winter to summertime Chicago, threatening the entire city and having one terrible demand: that the city and over Mallory and Merit

But no-one believes that her ambition is so simply satisfied with revenge

I am a little bemused about the mayor taking the lead so much. In fact, this has been a thing that has bemused me throughout this series: why is the mayor all powerful, how come they have so much authority and why is no-one else involved? I mean, if the third biggest city in America is evacuated because of a supernatural menace isn’t the president obliged to make a speech or something? Shouldn’t the governor of Illinois actually notice?

The story gets more and more epic but at the same time it’s clear the author wants this to be very very local. This is the Chicagoland vampires, it’s a story about Chicago so even when we probably should spill a little beyond the borders.

I think this probably centres on a general underlying issue I’ve had with this series from the beginning. It has an element of simplicity that kind of hangs on the story. Like keeping the story focused only on the Chicago authorities, making the mayor pretty much a complete authority within her realm and having her and her minions make decisions which are pretty dubious. It serves very much to make our main characters look intelligent, insightful and martyred but it’s a little clumsy (we see something similar ion how this series is pretty disjointed in how vampires are treated, flirting between viciously hated and violently oppressed minority to moderately tolerated/ignored other and back again within a pretty short space of time).

This bleeds over into the plot as well – it’s quite predictable with a lot of conflict resolved quite easily. Ethan makes a speech. Mallory manages to translated a centuries old mystery in a couple of hours. It adds to the story being a trifle… predictable? The arc is not one that surprised me even once and there was nothing resembling a twist

Phantom Kiss (Chicagoland Vampires #12.5) by Chloe Neill

This is an intriguing little short story. It doesn’t particularly add to the greater meta plot – which, as I’ve said before – I quite like because I don’t like short stories and novellas to be actual canon books – in that I prefer them not to be essential reading

At the same time, I do like them to add something to the overall plot: like more exploration of a minor character, or a fun look into the “downtime” lives of characters who we constantly see consumed by action or some aspect of the world building that doesn’t really fit into the major plot.

And I suppose this book kind of does that in that we explore ghosts and paranormal researchers and what it means to live in a world as a paranormal researcher where the paranormal is demonstrably real as well as the extent and damage that ghosts can do

So, yes, that is technically a new angle. I just am kind of left asking “who asked for this?” was there enough about ghosts ion the main series to leave anyone thinking “I really need to know more about this?” I don’t know, maybe it’s just because it has been too long since I read the last main book but I honestly can’t say “ghosts, I need to know about this” is really the impression I got from it

I think maybe if we’d switched out the protagonist and focused more on Annabelle the actual necromancer, delved more into her powers and the world of ghosts rather than seeing it through Merit’s lens we would have had more interesting and fuller book. Instead it was kind of weird that she was such a side character in a book that focused on hauntings. Even, in some ways, that she decided to call the vampires for help at all. I mean, she’s the necromancer – this is your specialty, lady! Necromance already!

We have a random Obligatory Bigotry Moment that reminds me of Anita Blake so much. A random guest at Merit and Ethans wedding shower decides to randomly spout a lot of nonsensical bigotry against vampires (and I don’t just mean that bigotry is nonsensical because bigotry is – but this bigotry makes no sense. I mean, vampires want to eat us all? I get that attack. But vampires are lazing around on benefits? That’s just blatantly cribbing from real world bigotry) setting herself up perfectly for Merit to slap her down and then everyone to basically say “oh how rude”. Seriously she shows up at a wedding shower and then spouts open bigotry against the bribe? Yes this kind of thing happens – but all too often in fiction this is how bigotry is presented: someone doing something so overtly terrible that everyone, EVERYONE, would gasp at how rude it is. And they do it in such a way that it’s easily knocked down step by step while everyone nods and agrees. It’s rarely that easy, that overt or that simple. This isn’t depiction of prejudice as it is – it’s depiction of righteously vanquishing easy prejudice and feeling good about it.

Midnight Marked (Chicagoland Vampires #12) by Chloe Neill

Adrian Reed is a very powerful man, a very rich man and a man who has dark ambition for the city of Chicago – and Chicago’s vampires

His last defeat was only a setback and his sights are definitely set on Cadogan House. As ever, it is down to Merit and Ethan to respond, to defend their house and the city even as their alliances become ever more strained and outright war between supernatural factions seems possible.

There was a time in this book, about half way through, and I honestly stopped. I put down my tablet and had to walk away a little bit and convince myself to come back. I nearly walked away from the book, the series, deleted it and decided I was done.

Because Ethan. I am so very sick of Ethan. Ethan makes no sense. Not even the slightest lick of sense. We’ve complained throughout this series that the characterisation of so many of these vampires is ridiculous and doesn’t come close to reflecting their actual age – but this book took it to extreme

Ethan is 400 years old. Apparently. He has led his House for decades, perhaps even centuries and has been the second in command of the House before then. He is ancient. He is a leader of his people. He has shepherded them for a vast amount of time with, presumably, skill and knowledge

And I don’t buy this. I don’t buy that this petulant manchild could possibly have done any of that. If this man were, say, 23, then I would have considered him very immature and needing to grow a lot before being considered a full adult. I would consider him volatile and still very much a teenager. He has absolutely no control over himself, no control of his emotions and is incapable of making reasoned or long term decisions. He acts on impulse, he has no plans for those impulse, no idea what he’s going to achieve, except to constantly dick-measure against every other man. He can be manipulated so easily that there must be 10 year olds rolling their eyes at his behaviour. He spends a ridiculous amount of this book having mighty temper tantrums at others –Gabriel, Reed.

Yes, he has reason to be angry with both of these, but his inability to handle is anger is anything like a sensible manner is ridiculous. He doesn’t direct his anger at all – he just storms off towards the man, launching himself at them in a stomping, childish tantrum of epic precautions. Even when everyone is telling him it’s a bad idea, he keeps going it. He even attends a party expressly to snarl at Reed – he has no plan, he actually has everyone drop the actual important work they’re doing so he can go to a party and snarl at them. HE HAS NO PLAN, he just HAS to indulge his temper tantrum and ego.

Lucky Break (Chicagoland Vampires #10.5) by Chloe Neill

I have a vain hope. My hope is that, if I stare at this page long enough, inspiration will strike and I will actually think of something relevant or useful to say about this book

My hope may be a vain one

It’s a short story and it’s a short story in a long established series. Ethan and Merit decide to go have a nice relaxing holiday in some cabin in the middle of nowhere and happen to get themselves in a great big feud and have to sort it out.

There’s nothing exactly wrong with it. In terms of plot, pacing, character development or anything else on that level. Ok, there is some problems about how convoluted it is; the way the book ended is ridiculously convenient and immensely implausible, for example. And I don’t even buy the idea that Ethan and Merit would WANT a holiday into the middle of nowhere. Merit is a very urban person – I don’t think she could even survive that far away from at least 4 kinds of junk food within easy reach. Or Ethan who is so desperately refined and loves his fancy things? Honestly, I think a cabin, no matter how shiny, in the middle of nowhere is pretty much both characters’ definition of utter hell

That aside, there is nothing wrong with it. It was amusing, it was somewhat interesting, it was well written, decently paced and generally an easy, happy read. Not amazing but decent.

But I do think it missed the potential to be more. It’s book 10.5 in an 11 book series and it directly involved the protagonist of this 11 book series. So what does it add to this series? What does it develop? What elements does it bring to this series? And I’m not sure it does – I can’t point to any new revelations, new angles, new concepts or new developments or any new anything that enriches the overall series.

I think there could have been. This is, after all, the first book after Ethan becomes head of the new American Vampire government. This could have been an excellent way to touch on what that authority means, what respect he is due and what vampires outside of Chicago actually owe their new overlord. Or possible overlord?

Or maybe even an exploration of clans – the idea of groups of vampires that are technically rogue but not solitary. This could have been something else to touch on in some detail as foreshadowing a new concept.

Dark Debt (Chicagoland Vampires #11) by Chloe Neill

Ethan and Merit have been on edge waiting for Balthasar, Ethan’s creator, to show himself. Finally the ancient vampire makes an appearance – and he’s as terrifying and powerful as they feared; he also feels entitled to his progeny’s achievements, including his house

But it’s not the only threat looking. The problems besetting Navarre house have finally been revealed as two of their vampires become attempted assassins in a very public attack. While Navarre has never been a friend to Cadogan, Ethan and Merit can’t stand aside while the vampire house is acting so strangely and has to investigate, even with Balthasar stalking them.

This is one of those hard reviews to write. It’s hard because I find myself with a feeling of, well, vaguely positive indifference towards the book. I didn’t dislike it, there were few things about it that I had issue with (though there are some which I’ll get to). The writing was well paced, the action seems nicely described. The two main plots were nicely interwoven, related and each got sufficient time and attention to be properly developed and come to a natural conclusion.

Merit continues to be a relatively fun character, active and in control without being overwhelming and eclipsing everyone else. There was also more presence from the other women around her, the other female guards, Helen who runs the house, Margot the cook, Mallory her best friend. They’re not present in huge amounts but this is a very Ethan and Merit focused book. I also like that Mallory is finally coming from beneath the shadow of her past misdeeds to be a less controversial and dubious presence in the book always haunted by her own guilt

I also appreciated that Merit managed to be intelligent and insightful in this book without the need for everyone else to suddenly lose half of their brain cells. It has been an unfortunate habit of the series to make Merit seem extremely intelligent by making everyone else… somewhat limited in their comprehension.

I love Merit’s adoration of all things edible and unhealthy and she almost makes me hungry reading

the book (or, in her case, hangry – her hungry anger has no caused emergency lunches to be ready at all times) though there’s a dubious element of this unhealthy eating without any side issues.

We had some touching on the Sorcerers with Catcher and Mallory’s upcoming wedding – and a lot of interest debate around it. I loved how they chewed over the idea that even with someone you love, getting married for “practical purposes” rather takes the wind out of things. But equally there’s the counter debate that people grow up, what they once dreamed of isn’t what they want and love and practicality can mean that a big romantic moment is less important – it’s a nice back and forth with the added good input from Ethan that her friends are adults who don’t need Merit to police their relationship.

Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires #10) by Chloe Neill

Someone has been murdered – and the police think vampires are involved. The vampire houses are only just enjoying a surge of popularity, the last thing they need is bad press now…

Especially since Ethan has made a play to take over the Greenwich Prisidium. After so long of them being a constant threat to Cadogan house, he’s determined to replace that corrupt leadership – but the testing is difficult, dangerous and gruelling and highly competitive. And some of those competitors are willing to use Ethan’s past to make him bow out – and drive a wedge between him and Merit

And speaking of that GP leadership – Darius, king of the GP, is in town. And he’s acting… oddly.

There were two or three storylines in this book (Darius wandering around up to shenanigans and the creation of a new leader for GP may be seen as one following the other or the same storyline) – and I’m kind of torn over them. They’re all pretty independent of one another, there’s a vague link, but they’re tangentially connected at best – and I’m not sure about any of them

Take the murder mystery – now that’s actually the most interesting and meaty storyline which takes the most effort to solve and the most room in the book. But it’s also the one with the least  impact – it’s a murder mystery, it involves the relative of someone who is somewhat friendly with Cadogan House (I didn’t recognise his name, but we’re assured he said nice things about vampires once) and it’s… mundane. Honestly, when merit and Ethan are called in on the first murder and they declare “actually, it’s nothing to do with vampires because X” I don’t see why they were called in again. Why call in an expert who has already ruled out their expertise? Especially when they have other things to worry about? Merit isn’t police –in fact, since they and Catcher ruled out any kind of woo-woo at all I don’t even get why the Ombudsman’s involved, let alone the vampires. What were they doing at these crime scenes? Why did the police keep calling them in? What was Merit supposed to add to the investigation? Why was this plot line even here?

The problem is that without that plot line we don’t have much else. We have Darius, head of the GP in town doing odd things of oddness. Which Ethan, Merit & co investigate, work on and solve very very quickly. Even the end resolve turns out to be super neat, super easy and not require them to do anything. This could have been a meaty storyline, instead it wasn’t – it was a brief throwaway to prove the point that Ethan and Cadogan House get involved helping people even when they have no obligation to do so – which we kind of already knew. If it had been more involved, the solution required more work etc then maybe – but it didn’t. It was a couple of chapters of distraction

Which lead us to Ethan’s bid to become leader of the Greenwich Prisidium. This should have been the meat of the story but, again, wasn’t. The tests were dramatic and important – but involved Ethan far more than Merit which meant she – and we – weren’t even spectators for the first one – we just knew it happened. The second test, the grand physical challenge, was something we were there for – but it was so simple and quick. I actually blinked and skipped back to make sure my book wasn’t missing, say, 50 pages where the actual test was. I was amazed how brief it was and how quickly addressed.

Biting Bad (Chicagoland Vampires #8) by Chloe Neill

More drama returns to Chicago – this time in the shape of riots. Riots with firebombs targets that are close to the vampires – including their blood supply and Grey House. Naturally this threat has to be investigated and countered – as much as they can counter the growing anti-vampire attitude.

But the rioters don’t behave as would be expected – there’s definitely something behind them and perhaps one of their many enemies is pulling strings and hiding a more nefarious agenda

And the GP is suffering from its own conflict – Darius has had a blow to his authority and his chief rival has his gaze fixed on Cadogan House.

Whenever you have any kind of “whodunnit” or “whydunnit” mystery, you have a problem. There’s a problem between keeping the story going but at the same time not tipping your hand early. It’s simply hard to keep the pacing going while maintaining the mystery – it’s very easy for a book to become boring while everyone sits around frustrated, with no leads. At the same time, too many side plots can derail the plot and make the mystery seem almost background.

Biting Bad does a good job of maintaining that pacing. We have side plots – related to Grey House and the ill vampire which nicely tie into the overall mystery. And there are other side-plots –Mallory, Merit’s parents, the GP – that fit the idea that your whole world doesn’t stop to allow you to focus on one issue. That said, I think both the parents and the GP were rather unnecessary in this book and added nothing to the overall plot and, as explained below, didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

I can see some excellent hooks in this book – I see Mallory joining the house, perhaps Catcher as well and House Cadogan in general building a supernatural coalition its own way. I can see shades of them setting up their own organisation, especially considering the actions of House Grey and the GP. I like these hints of future action that don’t have to be spelled out, merely implied and suggested for future plot hooks.  That said, I found the ending frustrating in that the consequences of it were not shown.

In terms of Merit I think we have some improvements on some levels – her considerations about her relationships with both Ethan and Mallory (and even with other vampires within the House, like Helen) point towards some very belated character growth. Even her interactions with her family suggest we’re edging up to something resembling growth which is long overdue. She has some good ideas – both in the investigation and also with using the press to try and counter their negative image. The ideas are good but not genius – but at the same time no-one hailed her as the world’s most awesome tactical genius for her basic ideas as has happened in previous books. She has competent ideas, she was expected to provide competent ideas and her competent ideas were praised for their competence. It was nice to see.

The flip side is that Merit’s previous strength – her combat skills – were sorely lacking this book. Now, far be it from me to hold up skill with weapons as proof of a strong female character, but one of the main reasons Merit is Sentinel at all is because she is physically dangerous. It’s why she can spar competently with a man several centuries her senior. This is the reason for her rank – beyond her competent ideas and beyond the fact Ethan has the hots for her; she is sentinel because she is physically capable and because she doesn’t bow to Ethan. We saw neither of these things in this book. I can understand her losing to the GP – given his age and power – but being taken down by a human wielding a kitchen knife? Merit is better than that. I could take one comic disaster to have everyone laughing – but where was the counter moment? Where was the moment where Merit kicked arse and showed her strength?

But the main problem I have with this book is how some of the characters are developed and how that fits into the world – I either have trouble accepting them as they are or believing their actions. Some of these decisions could be explained if you extrapolate a whole lot of back story – but that’s not shown in the book and I’m engaging in mental gymnastics to justify the characters.

Where The Exceptional Woman Falls Short

A lot of Urban Fantasy has a purported strong female character as a protagonist - though we’ve said before how much that “strength” is often little more than being a weapon. But we have these strong women, they kick arse, they take names, they are as powerful and strong as any of the people around them - in fact, they’re usually better with skills, powers and possess a will that eclipses everyone else. They are super special, immensely powerful and the supreme masters of their own life. They resist all authority, they are in charge, they are dangerous and they are strong.

But are these really showing strong women? We have several doubts about whether a strong woman as protagonist means a book is showing female strength or women as strong.

Firstly, there’s the fact that so many of these women are strong because of their special powers or Chosen One status. One example of the change that having superpower brings can be found in the Anna Strong series by Jeanne C Stein. Anna becomes a vampire through a forced act but then ascends to the “Chosen One,” because we certainly cannot have a female protagonist, who isn’t a super special snowflake. Chosen One status is absolutely necessary to be declared an exceptional woman. It all began with Buffy who was the one slayer in each generation and it has only proceeded to get worse. Whether it’s Rachel Morgan from The Hollows, or Sookie Stackhouse and her very special fairy blood, or Chrysabelle and her glowing white skin and gold tattoos from Kristen Painter’s, House of Comarré series; to be considered an exceptional woman you don’t need to be driven, smart, intelligent, or pretty, you just need to have some sort of woo woo which will make you desirable to others.

When these women decide to accept these powers (yes, I said accept, because there’s always a process of denial for the sake of angst) they need to decide how to move forward. This is where most writers will not only throw the Bechdel test out of the window, they will then drive over it with a steam roller to make sure that it is well and truly dead. We all know that there are no two snowflakes which are ever identical, but just to ensure that there is no competition for the title of Queen of the Woo Woo, exceptional women typically abhor all other women. This means every other woman is either competition, or a villainous “bitch” in some way. It took Anna Strong seven books to find a woman whom she could tolerate, who was not a blood relative. Of course, all of the women she has problems with are in some form of relationship with her male friends - but it’s not jealousy honest. Anita Blake started off with a friend but alas, like all relationships engaged in by exceptional women, it was short lived. Chyrsabelle has female servants and one female acquaintance....I suppose that’s marginally better than being an enemy to all women. Jaye Wells proved it’s possible that an exceptional woman can have a friend in her Sabina Kane Series, but they had better be a demon who is thousands of years old and of course male.

The Portrayal of Addiction in Urban Fantasy

Because urban fantasy is thought of as unimportant fluff, it often gets a pass on many of the isms that it perpetuates. It never ceases to amaze me that in a genre which is filled with fantastical elements that so many find it difficult to create a world in which serious issues and marginalisations can be discussed or included in anything approaching a realistic or inclusive manner. Appropriation is absolutely rampant in the genre and it is quite common to take serious issues and minimise them by equating them to fantastical creatures. The viewer or reader is meant to identify with the issues of the supernatural creature, even as the portrayal leaves so much to be desired that it ends up stigmatising the very issue that the genre is supposedly discussing.

One of the recurring topics which urban fantasy has sought to integrate is addiction. One of the most obvious examples in the genre is clearly Being Human (UK).  Vampirism in Being Human (UK) is clearly a metaphor for addiction because the vampires in this series can exist for extended periods of time without consuming blood; however, the moment they are turned, they develop an overwhelming desire to consume blood. Essentially, the battle for each vampire seeking to assimilate is to forgo the consumption of blood thereby; making the consumption of blood a moral failing. By making vampirism a metaphor for addiction, Being Human (UK) is essentially saying that addiction in and of itself is monstrous and so are the addicted. This is highly problematic because even though those who love and support the addicted individual suffer, no one suffers more than the addicted person themselves.

It is clear that Being Human (UK) is attempting to create an equivalency between an addicted human and a vampire. While to some degree the biological nature is explored because it is not coincidental that children of alcoholics are far more likely to become alcoholics themselves. However, a propensity for addiction does not make addiction an inherent part of any person’s nature, not even if they go on to become an addict. This contrasts sharply with the blood hunger of a vampire which, by definition, is an inherent, unchanging biological element of who and what they are.

Being Human (UK) is not the only Urban Fantasy to use themes of addiction when it comes to the supernatural. We’ve seen the same themes in Buffy, Secret Circle and even the latest season of The Vampire Diaries, have their addictive dark magic episodes and themes, Being Human (US) even had body hopping addiction with Sally. It’s common in books as well, with Chloe Neil’s Chicagoland vampires exploring magic addiction. Addiction, whether it be to blood, magic, forbidden arts or innumerable other supernatural elements continues to be raised in the genre - but in nearly all cases, addiction is linked to the damage it does to others. The addict is shameful and needs to be stopped not for their own sake, but because of the people they hurt. No-one is stopping Willow or Mallory or worried about Cassie’s dark magic because them living with addiction so much as they are afraid of the people their powers will hurt. No-one is concerned about the difficulties vampires must endure with their blood addiction, interventions are motivated by fear for their victims.

House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires #7) by Chloe Neil

 

Merit and Ethan have recovered from the chaos that ravaged the city not long ago, but that hardly means things are stable. After a tumultuous vote and far too many demands, Cadogan House is leaving the Greenwich Presidium and being considered Rogue. This is a major and difficult step for the vampires, as they reach out to the rogue community to build new ties.

The Greenwich Presidium itself is not pleased with the defection and is determined to make things as difficult as possible. They’re in town and doing their very best to cause as much pain to Cadogan House as they can as punishment and a warning to others. And from sheer pettiness.

But there are also vampire dying in town – Rogues to begin with but it escalates. With the new anti-vampire administration in charge they can’t rely on the authorities, but nor can they let the murderer continue their killing. Especially since it would solidify their place with the Rogues.

Then there’s the Red Guard. Without the Greenwich Presidium, their resources may be more important to Merit than ever, but how can she handle potential divided loyalty from Ethan?

There was another conflict between Merit and Ethan this book and I’m kind of torn about it. On the good side every part of it is reasonable. Ethan has every right to feel the way he does and to be angry about it. His emotions, his reaction and his beliefs are reasonable and justified. Similarly so are Merit’s, a reasonable person would do what she did, feel what she did and act like she did. The whole argument and resolve between them makes perfect sense and fits neatly with the story, the characters and their relationship.

But, this follows from the last book which had a completely unreasonable and rather ridiculous falling out between them. For me, it meant I was a lot less patient and a whole lot more irritated by this book having another relationship drama – no matter how reasonable – especially with everything else going on. I think it especially grates because Ethan and Merit have only just really got into a relationship – every time we get close to them being settled in relationship mode something happens – Ethan dies, or Mallory cast the spell that messed with Ethan’s head and now this. I want to see a baseline for their relationship without the constant storms, even when those storms are reasonable.

The plot is divided into 2 parallel and unrelated plot lines – though they come together at the end. And I like both of them, though I think they could have actually got going a bit faster than they did – I like the vampire murders and how it both opens both some of the world building in terms of the vampire’s history as well as the nature of vampire creation and how it can go badly wrong. I like the ongoing politics with the Greenwich Presidium, what the organisation means, what it means to House Vampires, what it used to mean and the manoeuvring around the contracts and devious manipulations are great fun. Both storylines also connect strongly with past events, the city’s ongoing loathing for vampires and the GP’s ongoing antipathy for House Cadogan. Both stories also contain plenty of hooks for the next book while still being full resolved as plotlines in and of themselves. It takes a lot of work to make stories so integral to the ongoing meta, not close that meta and still have them fully resolved within the book. I can’t complain about the pacing, the action – any part of it, it all worked.

The one minor point I didn’t like is the way they ended. The storyline I viewed as the more dominant, more important and more focused plotline ended first. It ended triumphantly, it ended awesomely and I have no problems with how it ended. Except there was a whole lot of book left. I felt like the main plot had ended and then we were clearing up a side plot line. To use a gaming comparison – I felt like I’d saved the day, then spent some time killing 10 wolves for the farmer in a side quest. I can’t think how it could have been done differently, but I was left with a sense of “wait, the story’s still going? Didn’t I finish this book?” It’s a small issue, vanishingly small, but it was an issue.

Review: Biting Cold by Chloe Neill, Book 6 of the Chicagoland Vampires

 Merit and the newly resurrected Ethan are on a road trip to desperately find the Malefacium, a book of all of magic’s evil that has been sealed away for millennia. Mallory, Merit’s best friend and a sorceress, has been driven to her limit by her addiction to dark magic and is determined to bring down the barriers of good and evil – no matter the cost and no matter who it hurts.

But Mallory isn’t the only one interested in the book. Tate, the former Mayor of Chicago, drug dealer, murderer and supernatural being of unknown origin is also after the book for his own purposes. When they find it, the story is just beginning, because a whole new force is unleashed on the world. Tate’s nature is revealed, and it’s worse than any of them expected.

Finding out how to stop him seems an almost impossible task as they dig through the records of history, consulting magic, fae and gnomes in an attempt to bring him to heel.

To add to the drama, Cadogan house faces ongoing investigation from both the Greenwich Prisidium and the Mayor of Chicago. And, after Ethan’s resurrection, there’s ongoing magical problems that may threaten his relationship with Mallory.

This series continues to have the wonderful, wide, rich world I love. The different supernatural creatures, all with their own unique twists that set them apart from other Urban Fantasy really adds to make this a unique series.

I like the characters, they’re very human now they’ve finally grown up. And Merit’s relationship with Lindsey and the other guards and friendly vampires is great fun – and shows a mundane side to the protagonist’s life that most urban fantasy’s miss. Most protagonists are either fighting, worrying or having sex, it’s rare to see them sitting around having a pizza night. And I do love Merit’s love of food, it’s a nice human quality to her, even though I generally don’t like vampires eating.

The story itself is decently paced with few flat down time moments. It twists quite abruptly from what I expected with the epic fight for the Malefacium being over almost instantly, but leading to a new, much more epic conflict that also fills in a lot of the gaps from before.

Cover Snark: The Longer the Series, the Less Clothes the Women Wear

We have complained a lot about the unnecessarily sexualised and frankly ridiculous covers on so many Urban Fantasy novels. In particular we have complained at how the covers so often do not reflect the people who are actually in the book - there is no way the protagonist we know would dress or pose like that.

What is unique this week is that we have looked at the Chicagoland Vampire series, a series we really like by Chloe Neill - and I have to pity Ms. Neill for having to watch her cover artists gradually lose their ever loving minds.

The cover of Some Girls Bite, the first book in the series. And it’s pretty much perfect - maybe the t-shirt isn’t entirely Merit, but this isn’t too far from how I pictured her and the cover looks pretty intriguing anyway. A good cover.

Now we move to book 2, Friday Night Bites, and we’re slipping. High heels have creeped in. There’s some navel peeking. We have a sexy lean.

Review: Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine, Book 5 of the Morganville Vampires series

All out war is now tearing through Morganville. Bishop and Amelie have gathered their forces and their factions and are feinting against each other in an underground conflict that could literally tear the town apart.

Parts of the town are burning, others in ruin. Refugees are flooding to the few safe spaces and among them many humans are finally seeing a chance to throw off vampire control and are lashing out and rioting in rage. But not all of their anger is directed against the vampires – humans who are seen as collaborators are also being targeted and all pretence of rule of law is threatened. In such chaos of course Shane's dad has to come back to town.

Even without the riots, humans have to wonder what the future holds – which vampire master or none at all?

And if that wasn't enough – the stress is accelerating the vampires' disease. The more they remain under pressure, the faster the disease spreads and the more confused, frightened and uncontrolled the vampires will become. A cure becomes more essential as the battle heats up.

And there's a storm coming, extreme weather rolling in to add more chaos and destruction to the already torn town

Review of Drink Deep by Chloe Neill Book 5 of the Chicagoland Vampire Series

Even though I have had issues with the first four books of this series, I was very excited to get my hands on Drink Deep.  When we last left the Cadogan vampires, Ethan was dead, having jumped in front of a stake meant for Merit and Merit was in a deep state of mourning.  I always knew that Ethan was going to be resurrected it was simply a matter of if Neill could write the story in a way that would seem realistic and compelling.

In the wake of Ethan's death, Malik has become the new master but the GP is threatening to disband the house.  The investigator demands a healthy diet for all vampires, cuts the blood rations in half and demands that vampires stop feeding from each and other and from humans.  Vampires are no longer allowed to congregate in groups larger than 10.  With all of the stress going on, somehow Merit has to find away to discover why the elements are not acting properly.  First the lake stops flowing and turns completely black and then the sky turns red.  The humans begin to believe that not all are the vampires responsible for the disruption but that they are potentially seeing Armageddon.

To solve the mystery of the imbalance Merit must visit, a siren, the queen of the fae as well as discuss the history of magic with none other than Tate. Someone knows the answer to what is going on, but can Merit find the answers before the final elemental sign becomes unstable?

Vampires and Impossible, Timeless Beauty standards

When vampires first entered folklore they were physically described to look like bloated leeches. When you think about this, it makes perfect sense because their entire diet is based on drinking the blood of others and the creature most associated with that in nature is of course a leech.  Overtime, vampire folklore began to change.  The modern vampire looks nothing like its predecessor. Today, vampires all have hard lean bodies, twinkling eyes (that is when they are not glowering and trying to look dangerous) ridiculous hair (think R. Pratz in Twilight) and are disarmingly gorgeous. This is true of both male and female vampires.  With few exceptions, like vampire Eddie in True Blood and Tony, in Karen Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series, no matter how long they have been alive they are gorgeous. And those vampires that aren’t thin are clearly not intended to be beautiful.

In Twilight, Meyer went to the point of saying that vampirism brought out the most attractive physical aspects of the individual in question.  Even Edward’s smell was designed to attract Bella, though his superior speed and strength made such enhancements unnecessary. In the movie Interview with the Vampire, Claudia’s change occurred on screen, and she went from a dirty waif, to a gorgeous girl with beautiful curly hair. It has been suggested in several vampire novels that for the purposes of creating new vampires, only the most physically appealing are chosen. The problem with this assumption is that beauty standards change over time - so whether vampires are chosen from beautiful people or simply transform to become beautiful, that beauty ideal should become out dated with the passing years.

Even the richest human alive 500 years ago would look nothing like the poorest human today.  Slim vampires make absolutely no sense because the height of beauty is what we would today describe as plus sized.  Women were celebrated for being round and having curves.  This symbolised the wealth to be able to eat full meals. In Venus and Adonis, Shakespeare wrote, “My beauty as the spring doth yearly grow; My flesh is soft and plump, my marrow burning.”  I have read and watched a lot of urban fantasy and I cannot think of a single fat female vampire.  

True Blood: Cold Grey Light of Dawn

 

The very end of last night's episode left me screaming noooooo at my television.  Alan Ball, you sir are a supreme tease.  With Jason stopped by Bill's security will he manage to get away long enough to pull Jessica inside the house?  There are a lot of characters that I think are extraneous to the show but Jessica is certainly not one of them, though I could do without the Hoyt, Jason, Jessica love triangle.

Last night we got a lot of Eric and Sookie getting it on in various positions.  I wonder if Sookie has enough peas for her yahoo palace after that much shagging.  I don't know about you but the whole Eric mooning over Sookie thing has gotten old.  I love bad ass, take no prisoners Viking, and not the musty I don't want my memories back because you may not love me anymore Eric. Perhaps Sookie just brings the musty out in men.

When we last left Tara she was in the middle of a huge fight with Pam.  Fortunately for Tara, humans arrive and start taking pictures, causing Pam to leave.  After sending her girlfriend away Tara wonders along the road until she is stopped by Marni/Antonia and asked to join the coven.  As I watched Tara chanting in the circle I could not help but wonder if this is going to be her last season.  There have been rumors that someone big is going to die this season, and now that Tara has aligned herself in a real way against the vampires, I fear it might just be her.

Chicagoland Vampires - Chloe Neill

I am saddened by these books.

They started out really well as seen in Renee’s review of the first book. When the characters and the stories were introduced to us in the first book I was intrigued, interested and eager to read more. As we said, they’re cheesy, they’re fun, they’re cheesy, they’re interesting and they’re cheesy? Did I mention they’re cheesy? Because it’s really good cheese. The world is huge, it’s diverse and it has vast potential – in short, it has so many of the things guaranteed to keep me hooked on a book, despite being as diverse as a neo-nazi rally (which, frankly, is nothing new, sadly).

Unfortunately the series has derailed. It was racing along the tracks nicely, it was fun, interesting and compelling then CRUNCH derail. So you haul it back on the tracks, get immersed again and CRUNCH you’re jerked out of it again. It’s happening so often now that it’s really ruining my enjoyment of these books. As the series progresses I’m getting less and less interested as the characters annoy me more and more

And, for me, it is the characters that are the main problem. In particular, the maturity level that was a problem in the first book just keeps on being a problem. Merit, a 28 year old woman, frequently makes me think of a 17 year old (it’s like reverse Vampire Diaries – there everyone is 17 but acts 30). She refers to the guys around her as “boys” regardless of their age, she plays passive aggressive games and is inclined to be sulky and a trifle childish.

The Chigaco Land Vampires: Some Girls Bite

Over the last week, our beloved Sparky subjected me to the Connor Grey series, by Mark Del Franco.  After reading the first book, Unshapely Things, I determined that series read like Law and Order meets X-Files.  He was so enthused by the series, I assumed that there must be something I was missing, instead of trusting the adage that Sparky is always wrong.  Yes, wrong, wrong, wrong. Even after his most grievous recommendation of Mark del Franco, I decided to give him another chance.  This week he selected The Chicago Land Vampires series by Chloe Neil.

Spoilers Ahead