The Fangs of Freelance (Fred, the Vampire Accountant #4) by Drew Hayes

Being an accountant, even if it is for the paranormal community should pretty much be a danger free calm job. Despite Fred's sweater vests and over all calm demeanor, trouble seems to routinely find him.  Fred isn't the bravest vampire in existence but his strong sense of morality and concern for others has earned him friends and allies who are quite powerful.  Now that Fred is the leader of his own clan, he has to become even more involved in the lives of his friends.

My constant criticism of this series is that each book is more like compilation of short stories rather than one long discernible novel with a beginning, middle, climax and end.  It's almost as though Hayes had several good ideas and could not find a way to pick one and flesh it out until it became a standard length novel. What Hayes does instead is to pick an overriding theme and then write stories which fit whatever narrative he's chosen to fixate on.

The Fangs of Freelance is really all about how Fred adjusts to being the leader of his own clan and the new alliance he makes with the Agency.  Fred may not be a brave vampire and is still relatively new to the supernatural in comparison to his friends but becoming the leader of  the clan of Fred has given him remarkable power. Fred could choose lawfully to twist his friends to his will, or to make life altering decisions for them but instead, Fred chooses to use his powers to empower their autonomy.  This manifests when Fred encourages Albert to spread his wings because Albert possess a weapon of destiny, even though this will take Albert away from Fred.  It's Fred who sees the usury of Amy's contract and rather than enriching himself, not only gives Amy the ability to free herself financially, thus opening up new options, he turns down a bribe to maintain the status quo. Essentially, Fred is just a classic good guy.

Fred's basic decency has earned him the respect of his friends who have formed his clan.  This decency has caused his friends to jump to his aid when he needs it and or risk their lives to protect him.  Arch actually dies to protect Fred from his sire. Sure, Arch may have the ability to resurrect but being decapitated cannot be any fun.

The Fangs of Freelance is the fourth novel in this series and I have to say that the novelty is starting to wear a little thin.  Yes, Fred is unique because of his passion for numbers, fairness, and sweater vests. Yes, Fred gets himself into interesting situations because of his unfamiliarity with the paranormal world and his skill as an account allows him to come up with unique solutions. The problem is that Hayes has hammered home on this to such a degree that it feels been there done that.  The Fangs of Freelance doesn't really offer anything new to this universe or give us any new characterisation to make it a fun read. If you're going to go down a quirky road, it's something that you have to keep playing with in order for it not to grow old and tired.

Undeath and Taxes (Fred, the Vampire Accountant #2) by Drew Hayes

Fred has come a long way since becoming a vampire.  He's gone into business for himself as an accountant, found a girlfriend and has made a circle of dependable friends.  That's not bad for a socially awkward person who used to spend most of his time alone.  Now if only he could stop finding himself in positions which force him to brave - something Fred most certainly is not, then things could be perfect.

Just like The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant, Undeath and Taxes, is told through a series of short stories.  This is still not my preferred format for reading and I would have liked one cohesive story from start to finish better. That being said, there was a nice flow to the mini short stories and Hayes took care to add to the meta, even if I am not pleased with what the addition turned out to be.  Hayes also gave us a great sense of the hierarchy in the parahuman world and how it is policed by agents.

My largest complaint with Undeath and Taxes is the predatory child molesting tone it took in terms of Sally's relationship with Gideon the centuries old Dragon.  From the beginning, Fred wonders why Gideon would chosse to cloak himself in a child's body and become Sally's playmate.  In Undeath and Taxes, we learn that Sally is a Tiamet, quite literally the mother of dragons. (Go ahead and let your mind channel Daenerys Targaryen  for a moment and then stroll on back.) This means that when Sally reaches maturity, she will be able to give birth to a dragon and given that the dragon birth rate is exceedingly low, this is a huge deal.  Gideon has therefore struck a deal with Richard, Sally's father to grow up with Sally as her playmate and then marry her when she becomes an adult.  There's only one word for this kind of scenario and it's grooming. Even if Gideon doesn't touch Sally sexually until she's and adult it's still catfishing.

Hayes treats the betrothal between Gideon and Sally as a huge secret but not because of how problematic their relationship is but because of Sally's potential to breed dragons.   First off, making a female character important because of her potential reproductive ability reduces her to nothing but a womb and it's sexist and wrong.  To then have Gideon grow up alongside her, sharing in her confidences, playing the role of friend and shaping who she becomes only to set himself up as a suitor once she reaches maturity is straight out of a pedophiles playbook.  There's simply no other way of looking at it.  It took some of enjoyment out of Undeath and Taxes for me, even if it only accounts for a small part of the book.

Mage Catalyst by Christopher George

Devon is, in so many ways, a normal Australian teenager, like so many other teens

Until he runs into Renee in a nightclub and learns something awesome – and terrifying – about himself

He is a mage: a being of incredible potential power. But there are few things more corrupting than power.

The core of this book is that Devon is, ultimately, an ordinary person. He’s an ordinary teenager who discovers something surprising has happened to him. That’s the defining feature of how this book is laid out, starting from its very ominous beginning where we clearly expect something very unordinary and pretty horrifying to happen. This book is the origin story. This is where the vaguely mentioned ominous things find their beginning

This is where we have the ordinary man begin to become something so much more

So the very ordinariness of the book is the point. Devon is a teenager, an 18 year old with very 18 year old problems.

He has friends who aren’t always good people but who he cares about. He has romantic issues with Tina and lots of fumbling awkwardness. He’s not academically gifted and school is both a struggle and a trial. He has clashes with teachers but, unlike so many other narratives, it’s quickly clear that his teachers do actually care and aren’t just terribad awful people he has to navigate around. He has some concerns about the future but is largely ignoring it even as other people try to get him to take it more seriously. It’s a very normal reaction – he’s a kid trying to avoid hard questions he has no answers to.

He has a lot of very real world problems and it is excellently portrayed.

The problem is… I don’t really care.

Heart of Stone (Gargoyles #1) by Christine Warren

Ella Harrow is a psychic who keeps to herself and tries very hard to lead a quiet life.  It all changes when she is attacked at the museum where she works and a Guardian (read: Gargoyle) comes to her rescue. Suddenly, this shy woman finds herself on the run for her life in a race to keep evil from overwhelming the earth and bringing an end to humanity.  There's so much at stake and Ella can at best be described as a novice user of magic.  Somehow she has to master magic, stay alive and deal with all of the feelings which Kees arouses in her.

As you may have guessed from the man titty on the cover and the description, Heart of Stone is a paranormal romance. The plot which brings Kees and Ella together really is quite standard though it has the potential to be so much more, if Warren hadn't been so determined to push Kees and Ella together.The plot definitely suffered because of the forced romance. Having characters so quickly fall in love, particularly when Kees had completely frozen out Ella after the first time they were intimate just made the romance seem ridiculous.  It made me wonder if Ella had any self esteem at all?

 In terms of world building, Heart of Stone, would have been far more compelling had Warren focused on building her gargoyle lore. The little work Warren did with gargoyles was spotty at best.  Kees is an immortal being who spends hundreds of years sleeping until he is called to battle by a Warden. The last time he was awoken was in the 1700's and yet he supposedly has a great understanding of the world around him.  English has changed rapidly over the years and yet, Ella has no problem conversing with Kees.  When Kees needs to fly Ella home, he simply goes to the address she gives him.  How is it that a creature who has been asleep since the 1700's can navigate a city as metropolitan as Vancouver and from the air no less, yet land on the appropriate fire escape? Warren decided to present Kees as a man outside of time by his failure to understand pop culture references.  Warren explains Kees's seeming ability to navigate this world by having him slumber yet be aware.  Well, if Kees's was so aware, how come he didn't know that his Warden had been murdered years before?  A man outside of time works but only if he is actually outside of time and difficult to relate to for more reasons than he doesn't get it when he's sarcastically called Yoda.

As a protagonist, Ella alternates between absolutely submissive and irritating and feminist and strong. At the beginning of Heart of Stone, Ella is assaulted twice within the space of a few minutes. She knows that she has power that she can access to defend herself but refuses to kill her potential rapist. Ella almost instantly becomes concerned with her attackers ability to cause problems for her because of his wealth and not only refuses to call the police but almost immediately goes into denial that anything happened.  Ella is rescued from her second attack by Kees, the Gargoyle.  Rather than using her powers against either of her male attackers, Ella decides to aim her magic at Kees, though he saved her and says repeatedly that he won't hurt her.  Normally, after being saved from someone wielding a knife, more people would say thank you and not attack.

Kees is the typical Alpha male that we get in most paranormal series. Under the guise of protecting her, Kees demands to go everywhere Ella goes and even kisses her when he senses another male's interest in her. When Kees attempts to steam roll over Ella however, she doesn't stand for it for one moment.  Ella won't allow Kees to talk about her as though she isn't even in the room and refuses to allow him to make decision for her.  Ella is also quick to notice that all of these ancient organisations seem to lack female members or don't take women seriously.  Ella is absolutely adamant that this amounts to misogyny.

Reap the Wind (Cassandra Palmer #7) by Karen Chance

It's been two years since the publication of Tempt the Stars, in which we saw Cassandra Palmer, Pythia and chief seer of the supernatural world, once again lose the war mage Pritkin, after working so hard to get him back.  This time, Cassie has to travel further back in time than she ever has before in order to save Pritkin's soul.  This one task on its own would be difficult enough but as Pythia, Cassie has to deal with her court, and her supposed allies, who seem more interested in controlling her than helping her prepare for the war ahead. Still new to her power, Cassie is just holding on by the seat of her pants, hoping that somehow in her time travel and bumbling that her luck will continue to hold out long enough for her to help prepare the supernatural world to face their biggest threat - Aries.

It took a long time for Cassie to accept the fact that she is indeed the Pythia and now that others in the supernatural world have accepted her title, the battle is on to see who will control her.  Cassie has known the vampire Mircea since childhood.  Unlike her guardian Tony, he always seemed to treat her kindly and now that Cassie is a woman, there's a bond between them that is undeniable.  They have made a promise to be Senator and Pythia but also to be Cassie and Mircea.  It's a good plan in theory but with so much at stake, it is impossible for Mircea to avoid using his influence to get what he wants. When Mircea asks for a master vampire army to defeat the fae, Cassie knows that if she gives into this demand which Mircea tried to frame as a request, she will spend the rest of her time as Pythia capitulating.  As much as it bothers Cassie, she says, "no", and she means it.

The circle, the Pythia's traditional guardians and protectors having accepted Cassie can still not abide her independence.  To that end the freeze Cassie's assets making it impossible to support her new court, withhold information and set about trying to force Cassie to remain in one location and be the none active Pythia they expect who only uses her power as they see fit.

In many ways, Reap the Wind is about Cassie not only learning more about her powers but understanding the politics behind the position of Pythia.  Sure, Cassie has been told about all the responsibilities the Pythia has and their historic roles but she hasn't really learned how to do her job because she never received training.  It would be easy to just become a pawn of the vampires because she was after all raised by the them or the council because they were always heavily involved with the Pythias but Cassie learns that despite all of this history and the pomp and circumstance, for this to work, she's going to have to do it her own way.

For the longest time, Cassie has been made to feel inferior because she was a human in a vampire world.  When she became Pythia, despite being the seat of power, many sought to control her because of her lack of training.  Reap the Wind is about more than Cassie accepting her role of Pythia, it's about her gaining some much needed confidence in her abilities. Yes, Cassie rushes head long into things and doesn't really stop to form a plan (which is absolutely a problem) but somehow, despite the odds, Cassie has always emerged victorious.  Though many around Cassie would like to believe that this is all blind luck which certainly cannot last, Cassie has finally accepted that her victories are just that, victories and for her to win. skill had to have been involved.

Elven Blood (Imp #3) by Debra Dunbar

Having been chosen by an ancient artifact, Sam is now the Iblis, or in other words Ha-satan.  This is a role that no one in hell wants, including Sam, causing her to wonder if her infamous lucky streak is now at an end.  Unfortunately for Sam, this means that she now has to meet with angels as a member of the angel counsel and as luck or in her case bad luck would have it, this means copious amounts of paperwork, something the trouble loving imp is not the least bit fond of. To make matters worse, there is a demon who has placed a bounty on her head and the elves want her to track down an elf/demon hybrid.  With all of the juggling Sam has to do, will Sam ever manage to finish the requisite forms before Gregory has to punish her?

If you haven't guessed it by now, I am a huge fan of this series.  It's laugh out loud funny and the characters feel extremely real to me.  I love that Sam tortures her Elf escorts by singing sappy love songs, saving Air Supply for her ultimate weapon of choice, after hearing that their music would cause people to void their bowels. Sam has grown so much from the first book in the series from an Imp who makes everyone claim hot wings and throws gum on the floor hoping that it will stick to people shoes, to a demon who has begun to pick up on human morality.  At one time, Sam would have thought nothing about killing and Owning another being but after considering how she would feel if one of her humans were to meet the same fate, Sam actively starts to rethink her position. Being an Imp, some of her change of heart is still about avoiding the paperwork that comes with each kill.

As an imp, Sam's typical modus operandi is to duck and run.  Being the Iblis, she is quickly learning that this is not a tactic that she can take any longer. Just as Wyatt challenges Sam to think about morality in a more human way, Gregory pushes Sam to accept her role as the Iblis, grow her power and throw up a mighty defense against those who seek to kill her.  It is only when Sam faces Haagenti, instead of running that she gets a true sense of herself.  Demons, Elves, and Angels, most certainly don't respect Sam or her potential, so the only way for Sam to survive is to beat them all at their own game.  For Sam that mean beating Haagenti, using angel logic against Gregory and displaying her power while threatening the Elves.

Trickster (Ustari Cycle #1) by Jeff Somers

 

Lem is a trickster, which means that he uses his own blood to perform magic. This usually amounts to conning the non magical around him. He is always looking for the next big score but when he follows up on a tip, Lem ends up on the magical radar of an archmage, who is far more powerful than him. Suddenly, Lem finds himself in way over his head.  The archmage is planning a massive spell for which much blood must be spilled but Lem's interference, which led to the escape of  Claire, one of the intended victims, has put everything in jeopardy.  Lem must now balance his need to stick to his magical morals and his desire to stay alive.  Will he turn Claire over to save his life?

I am going to admit that I didn't get very far in this book.  After reading one hundred pages, in which women essentially were either whores or dead victims and Lem's sidekick person of colour reduced to a simpleton, I simply could not read another page.  Though it is obvious that Claire's character is meant to evolve into something more, the treatment of the women who had appeared thus far in Trickster, simply didn't give me hope for a good portrayal.  It felt like Claire was being set up to be a heroine that Lem saved. 

Lem said repeatedly that he is different from the other mages because he only uses his own blood. It's clear that this a moral choice but at least as far as I had read in Trickster, no explanation was offered.  We were told repeatedly that Lem's way of life is extremely difficult and it is clear that he is barely surviving and so I could not help but wonder why he remained involved at all?  Would it really have been that bad to get a job? I think that question needs to be answered, especially because Lem outright refused to go any further in his training despite being told he is capable of so much more than the cheap tricks he engages in to survive.

Lem's side kick is Mags - an indigenous person. It's absolutely not original to have a person of colour reduced to a sidekick to a White protagonist.  From Somers description, it's clear that Mags is meant to be viewed as neurologically atypical, yet throughout the book, he is described as a simpleton, who seems to be lucky be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Throughout the novel, Mags is only praised for his strength and is continually attacked for his lack of intelligence. This is absolutely racist, abelist and offensive. In fact, Mags is essentially led around by Lem and seems to do his bidding like a helpless puppy.

This novel has been described as gritty, but from my understanding, all that makes it so, are the dead women and the disgusting treatment of Mags. Lem is drawn as a sort of anti-hero, but there is nothing that about him that is even remotely compelling.  His constant treatment of Mag made him unlikeable. 

I simply could not finish this book.  Between the virulent sexism and ableism, it was simply one fail after another.  If after 100 pages and the author has not given us a significant well drawn female character, there is little hope for change.  I have no interest in seeing women constantly described as victims and whores.  The story itself wasn't strong enough to overlook the social justice failures and in the end, I found myself wanting to do anything but finish reading this book.  Dealing with darker elements in any society does not have to be about bolstering privilege and oppression, but you wouldn't know that from reading Trickster.

The writing itself seemed to move slowly and read like a cheap B movie.  The kind that is so bad you're sorry that you paid money to rent it.  At some point, you just have to accept that you've wasted your time and move on and that is why I have decided to DNF this book.  

Giveaway of Kept by Shawntelle Madison Book 2 of Coveted Series

Hey everyone, it's time for a new and exciting giveaway. This time we are giving away Kept by Shawntelle Madison, book number 2 of the Coveted series.

Fresh from defending her pack in battle, Natalya Stravinsky, a whip-smart werewolf with a lovable neurotic streak, wants a little rest and relaxation. Once an outcast, she’s now eager to rejoin the ranks of her New Jersey pack, and has even gotten a handle on her obsessive urge to hoard holiday ornaments. Yet Nat barely has time to revel in her progress before the next crisis comes howling at her door.

Nat’s father has suddenly gone missing, captured by the Russian werewolf mafia. And as Nat steps up to save her dad from a mob boss’s deadly game, two men step in to play another round for her heart: her gorgeous alpha ex-boyfriend, Thorn, and her new flame, the sweetly sensitive wizard Nick. With her life growing more harried by the minute, Nat must stay cool, calm, and collected . . . or else risk losing everything.

For those who are interested, you can find our review of the book here.

Good luck everyone.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Taken by Benedict Jacka Book 3 of the Alex Verus Series

 I'm going to say right from the beginning that I am huge fanpoodle of Benedict Jacka.  It took me longer than I would have liked to get to this book, but when I finally started, I read it from start to finish in one sitting.  Be prepared for much fanpoodling.

The days of a peaceful life running his store are over for Alex Verus.  After what happened with the Fateweaver he is now highly visible and in high demand.  When apprentices start to go missing, Alex decides to take a job hunting down the reason.  With his apprentice Luna at his side, Alex must face a force which may very well be impossible to stop.  If that were not enough Onyx, an old faux has a score he wants to settle.

Normally speaking, I don't like books with a lot of action but the interweaving of mystery and the interesting characters were absolutely gripping. Luna has finally gotten a degree of control over her power and though she will never be an equal of a mage, she is dangerous all on her own.  I love the growth that we have seen in this character from book one. Though she has a lot to learn, Luna is no longer content to wait to be saved and has become a very active part of Verus' investigations.

For the first time in this series, Jacka introduced characters of colour in this novel.  Variam is a heat mage and extremely powerful.  He has been given a raw deal by mage society and is determined to survive.  He is not easily trusting which is understandable given his history but he does in the end learn to trust Alex.  He is absolutely devoted to Anne though he does not like her but because his brother died trying to protect her.  I had a problem with this until it was revealed that Anne is a descendant of Indian mages who attacked the Jagadev - a non human of Indian descent. Jacka could have fallen into the trap of making Variam and Anne completely dependent on Verus as is often the case when the protagonist is a White male, but at the end of the day, they will have to make their own way in the world.  It means something to have a White male protagonist admit that though he has more experience, he is not as powerful as the two characters of colour.

Review of Silver Tounged Devil by Jaye Wells, Book Four of the Sabina Kane Series

 

If I had only one word to describe this book, I would have to EPIC.  Okay fair warning folks, I am a huge Jaye Wells fanpoodle.

For the first time in her life things seem to be okay for Sabina.  Her relationship with Adam is going great and she is happy. The treaty to unite the dark races is only days away from being signed, when on her way to Slade's vampire club, Sabina comes across a dead human body completely drained of blood.  Sabina sees this as vampire business and since she now sees herself largely as a mage, having killed her grandmother Lavina in the last book, Sabina keeps moving.  Things escalate when she gets to the club and a mage dies, as Pussy Willow is having her debut.

Sabina does not want to get involved but she is ordered to investigate. She quickly learns that there is a connection between the mage death and the human death and believes that this is an attempt to destabilize Slade's leadership of the vampires in New York. If that were not enough, Maisie has yet to recover from the horror that Lavina has subjected her to and her PTSD is stopping her from having a vision about the future.  No matter how she reaches out to her twin, Sabina keeps being rejected. 

The peace that she has worked so hard to achieve is crumbling around and Sabina realises that perhaps the reason is because they are up against the evil of all evils - Cain.  Can Sabina somehow unite the dark races and keep the people she loves safe from harm?

Silver Tounged Devil starts agonizingly slow and the bickering between the characters is distracting but when it all comes together, one realizes how necessary this is for the conclusion of the book.  The climax of the story is so shocking and unexpected that it is impossible to put the book down until the last page is read.  

Okay, I suppose I should add some critique, even though my mind is screaming don't attack the precious, must protect the precious.  Unfortunately, there is a deal of ableism in this story.  A side character in the story is Goldie and she is a little person. On page 136, she is referred to as a "midget", though the preferred term is little person, or person of short stature.  To her credit, Goldie Schwartz does call out the usage of the term midget but says, "And I'm not a fucking midget. I prefer the term fun-sized."  As in Green Eyed Demon, she is also called the gimp.  Obviously, this is far from the ideal and is completely unnecessary to the story. The only thing we learn about Goldie is that she is disabled and that she is into water sports.  

There's also the issue of Pussy Willow, who was formerly Brooks. After being attacked, Brooks assumed a female persona as a way of dealing with the tragedy.  Pussy Willow completely identifies as female and lives her life as a woman on a full-time basis and this is why the usage of the terms transvestite and cross dresser are not fitting.  Part of my issue is that it took a trauma for this to happen, which suggests that anyone who transgresses the gender binary is damaged in someway.  When Pussy Willow is banned from participating in the roller derby, Giguhl says:

"It's the whole penis thing." He shrugged. "Somehow the league found out she was smuggling extra equipment in her skirt.  They're refusing to bend about the whole 'only biological females are allowed on to be on the teams' thing. So I had to tell her she can't play." [pg 164]

Fated by Benedict Jacka Book 1 in the Alex Verus Series

 

Alex Verus is a mage with a very interesting power - he can see into the future.  He owns a small magical shop in London by which he makes a living.  The dark mages are no fans of him after his escape from his master Richard and the council has little respect or use for him, that is until one day when when he is brought a very powerful key by Luna, the woman he considers to be his student.  Luna is cursed and anyone who gets to close to her risks being hurt or even dying through association.  

Alex does not immediately know the purpose of the cube Luna places in his care, but when he sees into the future that a dark mage will kill him if he discovers the cube, Alex knows that he has to protect it and by extension protect Luna.  All of the other mages with foresight leave town and Alex ignores the advice to do the same, because he realizes that doing so would be a death sentence for Luna.  Alex is quickly involved in a battle between the mages possess the fateweaver.  Both sides want his skills and the one thing that is certain is that both sides will kill him when he has served his purpose.  Can Alex keep himself and Luna alive?

A mage whose power is the ability to see into the future is quite fascinating.  Because he does not have an active power, Alex has to out think his opponent.  He has a few tools like a cloak that allows him to blend into his environment but his greatest weapon is his intelligence.  I really like that Jacka did this because far too often with male protagonists, power comes from physical force reducing a protagonist to nothing but a ridiculous super hero. 

Review of Violet Tendencies by Jaye Wells Book 4.1 of The Sabina Kane Series

 

Normally, I skip short stories in any series that I read but because I have become such a fan of Jaye Wells, problematic elements not withstanding, I simply had to read Violet Tendencies.  Adam, Sabina, Giguhl and his vanity demon lover Valva have arrived in Los Angelos to search for Sabina's missing sister Maise.  Sabina is hoping to sneak into town unnoticed so she arrives at Fang's vampire bar, with the hope that he will put her up for a few days.  Fangs is hesitant because if the Dominae discover that he  has given them sanctuary it could mean death for him.  Sabina promises that he will keep mum about his involvement; however, she is unable to keep a her appearance low profile because Valva has other ideas.

Valva hopes on a stripper pole and all hell breaks loose.  Before Sabina or Adam can react the vampire strippers are throwing punches, and the bar is on fire.  Realizing that the situation is out of control, Ada zaps them out of there leaving the bar on fire, as the Dominae's guards enter and demand their surrender.  He shifts them to the famous Hollywood sign where Giguhl makes it clear to Valva that his woman is not to behave like a cheap tart in public.  

Valva begins with lip pouting but when he realizes that Giguhl sees her as a possession to be owned, Valva makes it clear that she will shake her ass when and where she wants regardless of how she feels about it.  Despite being a minion, Valva is not only tired of Giguhl but of Sabina, who orders her around.   Valva feel unappreciated and so decides to leave, which shocks them all after declaring that Sabina has split ends.