Super damsels - Strong Women in Peril

Urban Fantasy, as a genre, is no stranger to “strong female characters.” It’s not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination - we still have a lot of female characters who make us want to tear our hair out, and Spunky Agency is, alas, so common that we’ve run entire posts trying to decide which Spunky character takes the prize for the worst decision ever. We also have a lot of “strong female characters” who are little more than weapons with breasts - which often also comes with “strength” being misinterpreted as “anger management problems”.

So, yes, problems. However, putting these aside for a moment, this genre has no shortage of women who can kick arse, claw faces, chop off heads and, occasionally, throw various kinds of magical death. These women are dangerous. These women are lethal. These women can take on small armies and come out the other side with nothing more than a snarl on their face and a very big cleaning bill.

So, with all these kick arse female protagonists and main characters, why do so many of them end up in peril? Why are so many of them severely weakened, traumatised, rendered helpless and, in all too many cases, in need of rescue?

I’m using the word “peril” here for a reason. When I do a google image search for the word “peril” I get picture after picture of women largely tied up and helpless. (Even when removing deviant art from the equation). Peril, the way it is used in fiction, has very different connotations than “danger”. I would expect any Urban Fantasy protagonist to face danger on occasion, it’s an obvious part of many books with any kind of action in them. But “peril” conjures images of helpless damsels tied to train tracks while some mustachioed villain cackles over their helpless forms.

It is peril - weakness and helplessness - that differentiates this trope from the classic action-hero who gets terrible beaten up but keeps on going because they are just that tough and awesome. Or the action hero who is taken prisoner and cooly spits defiance at his captors even when they use torture and prepare the slow-killing-laser. We are not meant to be awed by these women’s ability to suffer incredible damage and still keep moving, we’re not meant to be impressed by the will of these women to keep fighting like Harry Dresden carrying on the fight while his hand is seared to the bone, or Atticus fighting on with terrible burns all over his body. Those are scenes that use danger to emphasise the protagonist’s strength - not peril to bring them low.

Kelley Armstrong’s extensive Otherworld Series is, perhaps, the poster child for this trope, so much so that her own characters even lampshade it - with Savannah commenting on how she’s starting to match Jamie in the number of times she’s been kidnapped (yes, the female protagonists in this book can have a kidnapping league. It’s almost unrealistic for them to be scared because it should be such a mundane occurrence). It’s especially vexing with Savannah because so much of the series emphasises her power (when it’s convenient to have her as a loose cannon) then we have two entire books where her power is stripped from her - and she is imperiled. Jaime sometimes manages to be captured and imprisoned several times a book but Hope could quite likely take the gold from her in the kidnap olympics. They’re truly impressive damsels. Elena is little better, despite her being one of the most lethal women in the series: being kidnapped in Bitten (where her plan involves running off alone to the bad guys to be captured because Spunky), the whole plot of Stolen revolves around Elena being captured and abused (after she drove off alone seconds after being warned of disappearing supernaturals because Spunky). Broken is another book that revolves around Elena’s peril (made more perilous by Elena being pregnant) exacerbated by her deciding to go see the bad guy alone (because Spunky).

Enslaved by the Others (H&W Investigations #6) by Jess Haines

Shiarra has been captured by Max at the end of the last book. It’s her worst nightmare, Royce’s worst enemy is now focused on her and has her in his clutches to use and abuse. Again. Not only is he sadistically trying to hurt Royce by proxy and proving his power over her, but he also intends to use her to undermine his old enemy.

Shiarra needs to escape – but she isn’t the only captive; her best friend and a lot of innocents are also held by the human trafficking Max. And Royce is limited in how much he can directly offer help without massive political fall out. Shiarra may need to make some dangerous alliances to ensure her – and everyone else’s – freedom.

This book had a lot of action and a lot of mental ruminations in Shiarra’s head – and I think it all worked because this book closed a chapter; a long running thread of the books has been closed and ended. I actually think the way it was ended was somewhat anticlimactic, but on the whole it worked – it worked because the build up, the action and Shiarra’s thoughts all brought things to a close. Shiarra seems far more resolved about Royce, there is no suggestion of the ending element (behold my desperate attempts to avoid spoilers!) persisting after this book.

Instead we have new hints – the wars that have been ravaging the supernatural community but have largely gone over Shiarra’s head – including the hostility between the werewolves she knows and Royce. And, of course, the consequences of this book – because it’s clear there will be some. The old has been really neatly closed and a whole new paradigm is now begging to be explored – I’m looking forward to that.

I am always wary whenever I read a plot line that involves the protagonist – especially a female protagonist – being captured and held at the mercy of a cruel, sadistic monster. It’s common to delve into the realms of torture porn and commoner still for us to enter the realm of sexual abuse and rape. I was braced for it to be graphic – and it wasn’t.

It wasn’t downplayed. Max is sadistic and cruel, a human trafficker, a slaver, who keeps a stable of people to be abused and fed upon as well as selling victims to other vampires for food. He definitely demands his stable both feed him blood and, likely, rapes them. He abuses Shiarra, he torments her, he forces her to obey him – but the cruelty was not gratuitous even when it was bad, it wasn’t lingered on and there was very little sexual aspect (one of the elements I didn’t like is Shiarra actually taking that as some kind of comment on her attractiveness – for a rather unpleasant “I haven’t been raped, oh my self-esteem”). The main aspect there was Max feeding on her which is very arousing in this world – but that is shown as horrifying. The fact that his fangs can get Shiarra all hot and bothered is something Shiarra finds repellent which contrasts so well with a genre load of supernatural sexiness. Yes he has fangs that can push anyone’s buttons and make them desperate for sex despite their normal wishes or whether they even want him – and that is a terrifying, horrible thing.

Forsaken by the Others (H&W Investigations #5) by Jess Haines

Shiarra is free from the influence of the belt and now can see what has happened to her life. Her hasty decisions, skewed judgement, anger and fear has left a lot of wreckage behind, a trail of victims and even some deaths. It’s an uncomfortable realisation

Almost as uncomfortable is finally coming to terms with the fact that Royce isn’t the bad guy and that it’s ok to let him into her life, that’s going to take some getting used to.

But now there’s a lot of fallout from the most recent chaos with the werewolves and the only way Royce can see to keep Shiarra and Sara safe is to get them out of New York – get them all the way across the country in fact, to his ally in Los Angeles.

“Ally” may be a strong word, however, and it’s clear the vampires of Los Angeles have their own agenda and their own plots that they’re more than willing to rope Shiarra and Sara into. Especially since they have a zombie problem.

I have to admit that in the first chapter of this book I nearly did damage to my tablet. Because we had another rendition of Shiarra deciding that Royce is the source of all evil. Royce responds with patience and understanding and helps coax her into seeing that he’s never hurt her and reassures her that he will never cause her harm.

This is because Royce is SO VERY MUCH MORE PATIENT THAN ME! Personally? I’d open the door and invite her to take herself through it and never return. She has handed herself to him on a platter repeatedly – and he’s refrained from capturing her (and he’s powerful enough to take her at any time). He has extended repeated favours without any expectation – even though she has spat in his face in response. And, given the people she is willing to trust (murderous hate groups and cheating werewolf boyfriends), being on the suspicious list is a damn insult at this point.

Thankfully Shiarra’s endless Royce suspicion does not last. Shiarra very quickly comes to her senses and we have a book that is very much characterised by Shiarra’s regret. Ok, that doesn’t exactly make for a thrilling read – it’s not fun reading someone repeatedly muse on what a bad person they are – but it was needed. It was sorely needed to help redeem Shiarra as a character and a protagonist to establish that her behaviour for the last book – the last 3 books – has been badly skewed and that, yes, her actions have cost people, her actions have hurt people and her actions have left people dead. If anything, there was too much people reassuring her she was a good person – but that’s only natural, none of these people are realistically going to turn round and say “yes Shiarra, you are evil bad wrong and deserve to live forever in shame! SHAAAME!” (It’s ok, I said it for them). So this would be an amazing redemption of the character and a great turning point for the series

But she doesn’t learn! She talks about how ridiculous it was of her to trust the White Hats – a hate group! A murderous hate group! A murderous hate group that caused her to kill people – how evil! So what does she do in LA? Let’s go see our local White Hats! Of course!

She talks about not making good decisions, not thinking things through – but her master plan is “let’s get everyone – including the White Hats – in one place and hope I can improvise something!” This isn’t a plan! This isn’t thinking things through! And how can someone who spent the better part of the book lamenting her past decisions and how they hurt and killed people then decide that getting 3 or 4 lethal groups who despise each other into one place and hope she comes up with a good idea when that happens. Whyyyy, why would you do this?! Why would someone who is questioning their decisions and their morality do this?

Stalking the Others (H&W Investigations #4) by Jess Haines

Shiarra has a mission – to find the werewolf who infected her and kill him. And maybe her cheating ex-boyfriend Chaz, leader of the Sunstrikers as well. And who knows how many other Sunstrikers if she has the chance

She also has a time limit. One month. One month before she turns. One month before she becomes a werewolf. One month before she cannot use her belt – her magical hunter belt containing the spirit of Isaac, a skilled and dangerous anti-vampire hunter – to give her the edge she so desperately needs.

With the police hunting her and having fled Royce’s protection in favour of more direct hunting, Shiarra decides to align herself with the White Hats once again; the fanatical anti-Other hunters will probably kill her if she changes. But until then she can work with them to hunt down Chaz – who has gone to ground leaving almost no trace or trail.

Shiarra, all alone – having fled Royce and fighting against her boyfriend and the entire Sunstriker pack – where oh where can Shiarra turn?

Why to her friendly neighbourhood hate group of course!

No! I’ve said it before and I will say it again – if the White Hats are some vicious, violent hate group that seeks to kill all the Others regardless of whether they deserve it or not then they are not the people who should be on your rolodex under “people to ask for favours.” She has done this time and again, all the time emphasising their utter hatred of all things Other and how much they hate her contacts with them. It’s ridiculous when you consider how a few mean words about her link with a vampire from a werewolf were sufficient to send Shiarra into tears in the last book, but violent murdering hate groups? Yup, she’s fine with this.  Why would they be more welcoming after she ran out on them the last time?

Add in to this is that Shiarra thinks she is turning into a werewolf. Last book she was making all kinds of preparations for this – but now she goes to the White Hats who discuss whether to kill her now and get it over with? She even lurches into an off-again-on-again possible wish for suicide to try and justify it – but it’s never maintained. She mentions that the White Hats will be able to do what has to be done when the time comes – a clear indication she expects them to kill her, but at no point does she express that being dead would be better than being a werewolf and it goes against how she acted in the last book seeking help and guidance with how to be a werewolf.

This gets more annoying when she has to kill an Other and gets ten kinds of angst out of it. That wasn’t part of the plan! Noooo! Well, you’re working with a hate group that wants to slaughter all of the Others and you are surprised that this comes with death? I’d support her angst and grief over killing someone if it weren’t for her being utterly incapable to follow the very obvious consequences to her decisions.

There’s also Shiarra’s ongoing loathing of all things Royce when, of all the people she has to deal with, Royce is the most reasonable, caring, accepting and helpful of anyone she has dealt with – and has proven this many times. Her blaming of Royce for even the most convoluted things became an almost running joke – I expected her to start cursing Royce every time she stubbed a toe or someone drank the last of the milk. Shiarra must go through life constantly shaking her fist at the sky screaming “daaaamn you Royce!!!”

Ironically, the one thing that Royce can be blamed for – his behaviour in the first book – has been rather consigned to history. The whole forced contract and threat that went with it seems to be banished to the mists of memory.

Deceived by the Others (H & W Investigations #3) by Jess Haines

Shiarra is on the cusp of taking a big step – finally signing the contract between herself and Chaz that would formalise their relationship between a Human and an Other. Before doing so, she’s taking a romantic getaway with him to a camp site to spend some quality time together

And with his pack. While not as romantic as being alone, it does give her chance to get to know the pack and see Chaz around them. And find that while many hail her as a hero, not everyone is happy with the Alpha’s human girlfriend or her connections with vampires. Then there’s some pack politics to handle as well and…

Then all hell breaks loose. The holiday’s over, Shiarra’s running into hiding, but not happy to stay there. She’s plotting vengeance.

This is a book of two halves. Actually, worse than that, this is a book of about 60%/40%.

In the first 60% of the book I was severely losing my patience with it and kind of wondering what the point was. Shiarra is going on holiday with the Sunstriker pack during the full moon to get used to them, befriend them and, perhaps, take her relationship to the next level with her boyfriend Chaz.

This involved just hanging around, eating, drinking and enjoying the views. Chaz spent a substantial amount of time away from her dealing with various issues. She had some vague interactions with the pack that didn’t really go anywhere or really establish any characters (quickly forgot most of their names). There was a Mean Girl werewolf who hated Shiarra for random reasons but Shiarra pulled out some badassery to make her back down – so that petered off. I spent a lot of time wondering what the point was. If she was furthering her relationship with Chaz, I expected that relationship to develop. If she was forming bonds with the pack, I expected her to do so and spend time with them and develop some relationships. Neither really happened.

Then there were random sidequests. Seth and his teenaged minions challenged Chaz and were slapped down easily. End of. Was it supposed to be foreshadowing of Chaz’s true nature? Because it’s kinds of what I expected any way. In fact, the whole “revelation” to Shiarra that Chaz could be both violent in the face of rebellion and that he was politically minded seemed rather convoluted. Chaz is the Alpha of the third largest werewolf pack in the area, he commands 50-60 werewolves – surely being willing to fight down revolutions and being politically minded are assumed elements of the job? So it just kind of happened and then went away

And then there were the Nightstrikers – geeky shapeshifters who resent the Sunstrikers for being popular, bullying jocks. What are they supposed to achieve? Well, except break the whole story for me. As someone who has killed Onyxia, played WoW and is quite happy with geekiness (and I don’t think that’s unusual in the Urban Fantasy genre) I can’t help but feel… cringingly embarrassed by the depiction of the Nightstrikers. Not on their behalf, but at how ridiculously hollow and grossly out of date they are – out of date even when the book was released. It felt vaguely like the author had done 2 seconds of random googling of “Know your meme” and then splurged all the gamer stuff together. It was like watching one of those television programmes where one of the writers has discovered L33t and decided it makes one of the characters one of the most awesome hackers ever. It was embarrassingly ignorant, the characters didn’t even qualify as caricatures. It was like watching your dad try to be cool

And it didn’t work. They can’t possibly have been the viable threat that Royce and the White Hats were warned about. I can’t imagine Cassidy would allow these fools, regardless of family connection, to rampage around attacking and harassing his paying customers; it doesn’t make any sense, not for the sake of a childhood grudge. And how are we supposed to treat them? Because the book is treating them as silly, negligible comic relief, but these guys shot a silver arrow at a werewolf. They tried to commit murder – that’s not something to be brushed off so casually.

It was ill thought out and terribly put together.

Taken by the Others (H&W Investigations #2) by Jess Haines

There’s a new vampire in town and he is not happy with Shiarra – blaming her for killing his progeny. Of course, it’s only a deeper excuse to make a move against Royce over a deep seated grudge that goes back centuries. And Shiarra is a perfect tool to advance that revenge.

But who can protect her from the revenge of a vampire that ancient? Royce, perhaps – but would that mean putting herself even more under his control and how sure can she be that she can trust him?

But are the authorities sufficient to hold off a being this ancient? To be safe, Shiarra needs to go on the offensive.

This story takes the excellent world that began in Hunted by the Others and starts to play in it nicely. The world doesn’t expand but it’s more us getting used to the world that is presented – because it is so huge it’s good to have a book that lets us get used to it, let’s us explore what has already been revealed rather than pushing the boundaries back. The world is coloured in, more details added, we get an idea of the politics and the way the different groups work together and the challenges of this supernaturally integrated world. I like that a lot – not just because I like the world but because so many urban fantasy novels feel a desperate need to add something new with every book – some new revelation, some new shiny creature (usually Wendigos) every book and never really develop what they have.

Shiarra herself has also grown somewhat. She’s still scared of the Others (and tells us so, at length), but is capable of thinking beyond it and is less inclined to collapse into a puddle of goo whenever challenged. She has a level of confidence that makes her fit the role a bit more, though she has room for further growth.

I do like the story itself – the duelling vampire masters using Shiarra as a tool to further their own vengeance. It flows well and has some interesting twists, though I think it has some convoluted moments (like Royce being able to convince the police that he wasn’t responsible for a slaughter) and the premise always shakes me – yes the woman the enemy loved is dead. 2,000 years ago. Time to get over it and move on, get some therapy, go eat a vat of ice cream, whatever you gotta do, but time to move on. But other than those elements (and the White hats, which I’ll get to), it worked – Shiarra is trying to find a way out of her situation, she doesn’t trust hardly any of her allies and the ones she does trust don’t really have a reason to stick their neck out for this battle. She tries to find a way through and while not all her decisions are sensible, she makes them in her own right and seeks her own path. She learns a lot more about Royce and their relationship gets both closer and a lot more complicated in a very organic way. The story works. I never felt the need to put it down and I never felt the need to avoid it. I enjoyed reading it, I resented interruption and I was interested to find out what would come next.

There are 2 things that jar me from the story – one is that the writing has a habit of being long winded. I get that Shiarra is afraid of the Others, there’s no need to repeat it constantly. The second thing is that she makes some bemusing decisions. Like she decides to call her friends who are due home tomorrow – and then assure them they don’t need to come home. Why call them? Why leave them with that worry? Or she decides to make the call about hate groups and monsters in the middle of doing her grocery shopping with everyone in the super market staring at her. She feels pity for the man who kidnapped her – within hours, possibly minutes, of being kidnapped and oddly decides to believe everything he says. She continually does these things that are… bemusing to say the least

I really don’t like how the White Hats are portrayed in this book, especially in the beginning and after the first book. As I said in my review then, I hate how the Others are portrayed as a marginalised group and that discrimination and prejudice against them is views in the same way as bigotry against POC or the disabled or GBLT people.