Dominion, Season 2, Episode 10: House of Sacrifice

Michael has fainted and now has been transported to Mallory in local garb. In the church he is greeted by The Prophet. The Prophet talks about order, rules and solitaire (and virtually paints a neon sign saying “hey, I’m god!”. Prophet isn’t all that pleased by Michael derailing his human sacrifice rules – and now wants Michael dead because he did swear to sacrifice himself and all. He has a dagger of empyrean steel for Michael to do the deed

But Michael is more concerned that The Prophet saved Noma in the Wasteland and, more importantly, is interested in Alex. He grabs the Prophet who chides him for being violent “in his father’s house” but Michael objects to the idea that this is God’s house because human sacrifice is too old school, god doesn’t do that any more. He is sure that The Prophet is getting his power from somewhere other than god

Either way, The Prophet has a simple demand – either Michael dies or the Mallory fire goes out and everyone there dies.

Michael decides to play a game for his life – and The Prophet agrees. They play poker while they talk about Alex – the prophecy of which says he can be a healer OR destroyer. Michael, of course, believes healer. The Prophet almost wins and offers Michael the chance to be spared but doom Mallory. But Michael continues to play because he “has faith” he belongs with the Chosen One. He wins the match.

The Prophet pulls some golden light out of Michael – and says it’s not over until Michael brings the Prophet to him.

His body is actually comatose in Vega much to Noma and Alex’s shock (wait… is Michael wearing a fishnet shirt? I do admire an archangel who has a thing for sexy fetishwear).

Claire and her council are all kind of worried because them completely ignoring the civil war last episode has led to David and his rebel minions taking the nuclear reactor. Gates and Alex cross antlers of course because WOMAN. They both demand Claire support their plans – and Claire sides with Gates because his idea (not having a firefight in a nuclear reactor) is better than Alex’s (boomy booomy ooooh shiny!)

Gates sets up a contact with a guy called Ramirez, a V2, ex-Archangel corps and part of David’s rebellion. Him being Archangel corps also gives Alex an excuse to take over negotiations. In the plant an alarm goes off indicating the plant is going to go boom in 2 hours. Alex tries to appeal to Ramirez but he’s quite happy to blow it all up to change the smoking crater that will be left in the aftermath. That means Gates has to go to the reactor to stop them all dying and Alex, of course, decides to take him.

Doctor Who Series Recap: Season Five

Okay folks we are onto Season Five of NuWho and this means a brand new Doctor.  Matt Smith is a love him or hate him kind of Doctor.  For some people, Matt Smith pales in the shadow of Tennant because for some, he seemed like he was try to emulate the 10th Doctor.  For others, he is a favorite for his slap stick humour, nerdy professor shtick, absolutely frantic movements and inability to walk past a fez.  If David Tenant is lightening quick Doctor because he was always running, then Matt Smith is the tornado Doctor because he always seemed a little bit lost while he moved in frantic circles. Just watching him sometimes was exhausting. Also in geek alert news, Matt Smith is the youngest actor to ever play the Doctor and for many, that was absolutely a negative.

Like any regeneration, though we are still dealing with the same character, it takes awhile to get used to the new Doctor.  Yes, the Doctor's past is still the same but elements of the Doctor's personalty will definitely change with each regeneration. In the Eleventh Hour, not only does the audience and Amy Pond get to meet the Doctor, the Doctor begins to try to figure out who he is and what he likes.  My stomach curdled every time I saw Matt Smith dip his fish stick into the pudding and I absolutely howled watching him ask for multiple items of food, only to be disgusted by it.  Poor Amy. I would have thrown him out of my kitchen. In The Lodger, the Doctor discovers that he's actually pretty good at football.

When The Doctor first meets Amy, she is a little girl praying for someone to fix the crack in her wall.  The Doctor does a brief examination and promises to be right back.  Unfortunately, having just gone through a regeneration, the Doctor's timing is really off and he ends up showing up years later to find an adult Amy.  With the help of Amy and her boyfriend Rory (yes the doe eyed wet lettuce duo) the Doctor takes on an ancient police force seeking to find an escaped prisoner hiding on earth.  Once the prisoner is captured, the Doctor has a word with Atraxi in which he shames them, and informs them that the earth is protected by him.  If this story line is familiar, it's because it's the same one the 10th Doctor had when he first awakened after regeneration.   The Doctor tells the Atraxi to look him up and when they do, they flee in fear.

I think it's fair to say that the 11th Doctor is certainly the most eccentric Doctor of the NuWho series. That being said, he is a throw back Doctor in many ways.  The bow ties that he wears for instance are an homage to Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor. Then there is the fez which Sylvester McCoy's seventh Doctor wore briefly.  The eleventh Doctor however took it to a new level declaring, "I wear a fez now, fezzes are cool." Thank goodness for River Song and Amy putting a quick end to that.  Matt Smith may have been the youngest Doctor, but he really reflected the old man inside.  He tried to be cool with his fezzes and questions like, "who de man?" but it only served to remind us all how old the Doctor really is, despite his absolute frantic energy.

Much of this season is concerned with the Doctor being the boogie man under the bed that so many are afraid.  If you think about it, one wouldn't be rational, if one didn't experience fear in the presence of the Doctor, given what he is capable of and how he deals with dissent. The Daleks call him the, "oncoming storm" for a reason.  The mask he wears as a slightly dated helpful professor hides a being capable of great destruction.

In The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang, all of the destruction the Doctor has caused comes home to roost. Yes, for the most part the Doctor has always done the right thing for the right reason but despite his abhorrence to guns, the fact of the matter is that the Doctor's hands are dripping with blood.  All of the Doctor's enemies come together in a truce to actually contain the Doctor because they fear he is going to break time.  Imagine what it took for creatures like the Daleks and the Cybermen to agree that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.  It was certainly more than vengeance for perceived wrongs.

Along with a new Doctor, season five also introduced two new companions:  Rory Williams and Amelia Pond.  That's a lot to get used to at once and the Ponds didn't help because water dripping from a tap is more exciting than either of the two of them. The second time the Doctor leaves Amy, he once again promises to be back in a few minutes but shows up two years later, the night before her wedding to Rory.  Most brides would be to excited to think about anything else but their big day but Amy jumps at the chance to go with the Doctor.  This is the beginning of the angst of whether or not Amy truly loves Rory or would rather be with the Doctor. The Doctor however has firmly friend zoned Amy and shows up at Rory's bachelor party after Amy kisses him.  Yep, the Doctor plays match maker, even as Amy isn't sure which man she wants. Amy's Choice is an entire episode about whom Amy loves more. It is only when Rory dies that she suddenly decides to pick Rory and so Amy risks her life for the opportunity to see him again.

Under the Dome, Season 3, Episode 13: The Enemy Within

The new Queen is rallying her troops (and is totally disrespecting the last Queen). Step 2 is bringing down the Dome. Step 1 is defeating the enemy within.

Joe, Norrie and Jim are looking at bringing down the Dome though Norrie has angst – which is all irrelevant because lots of Drones with guns appear

Meanwhile Barbie and Julia are burying the body of doctor-don’t-pretend-you-remember-her-name-she-had-like-4-lines-before-she-was-killed-and-no-I’m-not-looking-it-up because it proves they’re better than the Kinship (it also proves they’re vastly less practical since they’re low on time and resources and taking a time out to get all tired grave digging). Julie tries to talk about feelings and Barbie’s last hope to cure his daughter – when a crowd of Drones arrive (they’re both far too exhausted to fight because grave digging and bad decisions), led by Daughter Queen. Daddy-daughter reunion!

Then we have a smoking crater and a stunned, bleeding Junior staggering to his feet. He’s just discovered the truth about Christine

Anyway, the Resistance is all put in a gaol cell and Queen – Dawn – has no time for Barbie’s attempt at sympathy or emotion with Barbie. She has no place for love or parents, people only exist to serve a purpose. Their purpose, as Jim points out, is to be leverage to make Joe obey

She goes to Joe to threaten him and Joe decides to hold his ground and co-operate so long, as Dawn “doesn’t hurt them until the Dome comes down” uh, Joe, can we talk about the time limit you decided to put on that condition?

Anyway since Joe was podded, Dawn points out he’s also Kinship, even if he’s asymptomatic. For now.

In prison Barbie realises they’re doomed because either a) the Dome stays up and they all die or b) they unleash Alien awfulness on the world. Julia suggests murdering Dawn and Barbie has a “no my daughter!” moment. Somehow missing the fact that, as a Black woman, Dawn already has a count-down to death clock ticking away on Under the Dome.

Dawn decides to release everyone but the uninfected– Jim and Julia. And Barbie is still determined to connect to the non-existent humanity in his daughter.

Junior returns – and Sam tries to convince Dawn that he is the super Alpha. She’s not convinced so he warns her that the Dome is surrounded by troops who will swoop in and destroy every last one of them except those who get to be experimented on. Something Christine neglected to mention. Sam tells her about the cement factory tunnels which they can use to escape – and kisses him. Junior watches and jealousy begins

Doctor Who Series Recap: Season Four

After losing Martha Jones, a resigned Doctor returns to his Tardis only to have the Titanic of all things crash into the side of the Tardis. After a few moments of astonishment (including his signature, "what") the Doctor fixes the Tardis and boards the ship. He works together with the other passengers (particularly Astrid) to find out why the Angels are determined to not only kill everyone on board but crash the Titanic into earth.  For a Christmas episode it wasn't bad though it did have the Doctor leave yet another dead woman in his wake.

Season Four is easily my favourite David Tennant season thanks to Donna (Catherine Tate).  In Partners in Crime, Donna's second episode as a companion, (the first was Runaway Bride in series three)  it's immediately apparent that Donna is not the type of woman to just sit there.  Before even reuniting with The Doctor, Donna had decided to investigate Adipose - a company selling miracle weight loss pills. I don't know about you but this felt like a commentary on obesity, particularly because we learned that in the alternate universe, Adipose attacked the Americans.  I was irked by the heavier woman who planned on breaking up with her boyfriend because after some weight loss she decided that she was too good for him. This episode made it seem that everyone is desperate to lose weight and not at all happy with their bodies, particularly because those on the pill were on higher end of the scale. The fact that so many went on Adipose is absolutely about our fat hating culture but it was never really explored. The writer chose to skip social commentary on this one and make it all about the alien. In the Forest of the Dead, Donna casually mentions being on a diet.  The fat shaming might be subtle this season but it's absolutely there.  

The Fires of Pompeii and the Planet of the Ood reveal that Donna's role as a companion is to show The Doctor humanity. When the Doctor and Donna first arrive in Pompeii, he initially mistakes it for Rome. It's not long before they realise that not only are they in Pompeii, but that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius is imminent.  Donna pushes for the Doctor to warn as many people as possible to leave but he is adamant that the eruption is a fixed point in time. When the Doctor refuses to listen, Donna starts trying to warn people herself to no avail.  When Vesuvius finally erupts, the Doctor decides to leave with Donna, though it means leaving Lucius Caecilius Iucundus's family to die.  It's particularly compelling given that Lucius Caecilius Iucundus and his family actively beg the Doctor to save them on their knees and he still turns away.  If it were not for Donna, the Doctor would have left them to die.  Now we know that not only is the 10th Doctor vengeful and cold with his enemies, the cold streak runs extremely deep.

Companions not only improve the Doctor's empathy, they force him to pause fora moment to focus. It's only when we get to The Waters of Mars that it becomes evident how important companions are to the Doctor.  Despite landing on Mars during a fixed event in space in time, the Doctor intervenes, by saving the life of Captain Adelaide Brooke. The Doctor explains that since he is the last Time Lord that he is a survivor and make his own rules, declaring himself Time Lord Victorious. It's absolutely terrifying to watch his mania. The situation resolves itself because Captain Adelaide Brooke committed suicide thus allowing history to happen as it was meant to.  The Doctor knew from the beginning the importance of Adelaid and in order to play God he played with time.  A Doctor in control never would have done that.

The writers decided to comment on slavery in The Planet of the Ood.  Immediately, Donna is saddened by what the Ood have been through.  The slavery, and oppression, were all for the sake of profit.  In this case, the Doctor is quick to intervene on behalf of the Ood but at the same time, I cannot help but think that the last time he saw the Ood (Impossible Planet and Satan's Pit: series two), they were in a similar situation and he  did nothing to help them.  In fact, he viewed them as part of the threat against him and Rose. The Doctor just readily accepted that they (read: the Ood) were a mindless subservient species because that's what he was told by a human. Rather telling isn't it?

The Planet of the Ood was also about foreshadowing for the coming season.  The Doctor is warned that his song will soon end.  He is clearly upset by this revelation but he tries to brush it off as if it's nothing.  This is a warning to viewers to prepare themselves to lose the 10th Doctor.

The Planet Ood was not the only lesson in the ways in which we can be cruel to each other.  In Turn Left, Donna finds herself in an alternate universe and since she was not present when the Doctor battled the Empress of Racnoss  in Runaway Bride, the Doctor died because he was in such a rage that he didn't know when to stop on his own. This reinforces the idea that The Doctor is absolutely dependent upon his companions because they rein him in and focus him.  After London was destroyed because the Doctor was not there to stop the titanic from crashing into Buckingham Palace, the country is forced to go into disaster mode.  Donna and her family are forced to move to Leeds and live in a house which they share with several families.  Donna tires to stay hopeful but it's clear that the situation is stark.  When a family is removed because British leaders decide that England should be for the English, Wilfred (Donna's grandfather) comments that it's just like the last time.  This is all it takes to get Donna thinking. She tries to find out what's happening to the family which is being removed but is ignored. There's always been the false belief that when there's a disaster it pulls people together and that they forget their differences but that is not the case at all.  We don't all pull together as is clear from what happening with the Syrian refugee crises.

Donna was labelled the most important woman in the universe (don't get excited, the Doctor's companions are often called that).  The Doctor notices that they have constantly been drawn together.  It's evident in The Unicorn and the Wasp, when the Doctor needs a shock and Donna kisses him that theirs is a different kind of love. Rose may have been the Doctor's love interest but Donna is his friend.  The relationship might be different but they are absolutely equal. Donna may only see herself as a temp from Chiswick, but she has skills she doesn't even realise.  It's Donna who thinks to check human resources in Partners in Crime and it's Donna who notices the numbers above the doors in The Doctor's Daughter. It's Donna who yells, "oy watch it spaceman", as a warning when the Doctor steps out of line and she is even willing to slap him if she has to.

Black Dog Short Series by Rachel Neumeier

I’m not going to begin with my usual “I don’t like short stories because reasons” disclaimer, because I really don’t think I applies here

This is an excellent short book with three separate stories in it. They’re all very compact, relatively simple stories but, above all to me, every last one of them is really useful and even necessary to the broader plot.

The first story, Christmas Shopping, addresses one of my underlying concerns of the story – the relationship between Keziah and Natividad. These two are the most prominent by far (and, to a degree, the only appreciable) female characters in the series – it is a very male dominated series, especially in major roles even if Natividad is usually the protagonist. Few prominent female characters and those female characters hating each other with the fiery passion of a thousand exploding suns is, alas, a powerful trope

So this story of Keziah and Natividad spending time together is an excellent story. They don’t like each other a great deal, certainly – but this is a rift brought about form vastly different experiences, tastes and lives. Them being together in this story both excellently showcases this while, at the same time, having them build more and more connections, more understanding and approaching, if not friendship, then perhaps mutual respect. It’s all nicely capped with something Keziah taunted Natividad about becoming a joke between them

It also comes with a nice bit of world building shouting back to the major war that defines this series. In all, an excellent story – though I do have a discomfort with how very awed Natividad is of towns and cities. Sometimes her POV gives the impression that Mexico has no great cities and isn’t very sophisticated.

The second Story, Library Work, also brings some really necessary elements to the series. In this case we get to see a lot more of Miguel, Natividad’s human twin brother who is often out on a limb in the world dominated by Black Dogs and magical Pure and vampires. This book helped emphasise his strength – he’s smart, he’s cunning, he’s patient and he is excellently skilled in not only navigating around the dangerous Black Dogs and their uncertain tempers – but also in outright manipulating them for his own well being.

Sense8, Season One, Episode Four: What's Going On?

Wolfie and Felix sit in an alleyway talking.  Felix is excited about the diamond theft and Wolfie points out that nothing will change for them if they cannot sell them.  They meet up with a Jewish jeweler and speak about what happened to the jeweler's family during the holocaust thus mirroring somewhat Felix's ideas on how people think they would have reacted to Hitler.

Sanyam, Kala, and Manendra Rajan meet with the wedding planners to discuss the ceremony.  It seems that Rajan wants to add a ring exchange even though the ceremony is supposed to be Hindu. It seems that the priest is ready to accommodate the couple though it will mean that the ceremony might go on for six hours.  The planners suggest that with a bribe the priest can be talked into delivering a shorter ceremony.  Manendra naturally is disrespectful throughout this entire conversation. The addition of rings is important to Rajan because married men in India don't wear rings and he wants to have something tangible to show his commitment.  Okay, I'm sighing with all kinds of aww at this. Sanyam looks on with a smile as Rajan declares his love for Kala.

In Korea, Sun puts make up on the massive shiner she gained from her fight night but it does nothing to cover the bruising.  We get another flashback to the young Sun talking to her ill mother.  Sun believes that her father hates her and points out that he only attends Joon-Ki's matches.  Sun's mother tells her not to be jealous and not to blame Joon-Ki for how much his father loves him.  Joon-Ki it seems is destined to take over the company and to that end, Sun's mother makes Sun promise to take care of her Joon-Ki.  Back in the present, Sun stares into a mirror thinking.

The jeweler is now examining the diamonds and he declares them to be beauties.  The jeweler believes that the diamonds came out of Mumbai and that he will not be able to sell them unless they are re-cut. Wolfie stands to go calling it a waste of time because re-cutting the demands will dramatically reduce their value.  Felix quickly grabs Wolfie's arm and the jeweler points out that he said a sale would not be easy but will still be possible, promising to buy 1/3 of the diamonds.

Shiro is ironing and tells Capheus that he would be a success without her because then he wouldn't have to pay for her medicine.  Capheus is not interested in what Shiro is saying and pointedly tells her so.  I love that he is so devoted to his mother.  Shiro believes that if she wasn't a bad person, she would stop taking her medicine and allow Capheus to get on with his life.  Capheus answers that without her he would go into the world naked.  Capheus promises to bring back water when he returns and kisses his mother before leaving.

Capheus makes his way to the bus to find a crowd of people surrounding it. Jela greats him with a huge smile and the crowd cheers.  It seems word has spread about the fight Capheus had to get Shiro's medicine back.

Back on the streets, Felix stops to talk about the first time he had sex.  It seems that before he had sex he thought he was wasting his time with the girl because he had been buying her presents and taking her to the movies but once he was able to penetrate her, he realised that everything had been worth it. Yes, that officially makes Felix an epic ass. In celebration, Felix went out and bought a new pair of shoes because everything changed from that point on.  Wolfie laughs.  Wolfie and Felix return to his key cutting shop and Felix announces that he now needs new shoes.

Capheus is driving and the bus is so full that Jela is hanging on to the railing on the side of bus with his body actually outside of the bus. Jela is in full celebration mode until they are pulled over by the cops.  Jela approaches the cops and is told to shut the fuck up because they want Capheus. Capheus is ordered to follow the cops and when he is slow to move, they surround him and escort him away from the bus.  A concerned Jela looks on.

Lito tells Hernando and Daniela that Joaquin came to the set.   Daniela expresses surprised and Lito goes on to say that over lunch Joaquin put a knife to his throat.  Hernando interrupts to get Lito to taste the food he made.  Lito tastes it quickly and goes back to talking about how the set is a sacred space and that it is difficult to concentrate with Joaquin waving around a weapon.  Daniela puts Lito on ignore and goes on about how good the cerviche Hernando made is and suggests that Hernando open a restaurant because he is such a good cook.

Felix is in a shoe store and at this point has already tried on several pairs.  Wofie holds a pair of boots and Felix complains that they fit him too perfectly.

Capheus is escorted through the woods to a clearing where he is met by Silas Kabaka - a local drug lord.

Making Sense of the Dimes and Nickles in Urban Fantasy

© 2014 Pictures of Money, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

Urban Fantasy is, very often, a wonderful form of fantasy escapism. They depict worlds that are similar to ours but full of the fantastic and wonderful, a place where we can escape the mundane worries of our lives to go to a land where vampires brood in the shadows (or glitter in the sun), werewolves manage to make excess body hair hot and magic can make anything possible.

So, it’s not entirely surprising that money and money troubles are rarely a common topic in these books. After all, we can spend our very real, mundane lives worrying over next month’s bills or mentally battling over whether we can afford just a few more books… just one or two… they’re on sale, right? Especially when those money worries can be so all consuming, so painful and so difficult.

But Urban Fantasy is very close to our own world, it’s one of the primary definitions of Urban Fantasy, after all. As such the repeated glossing over of issues and the realities of wealth is a hole in this genre, it’s a failure to develop the lives of the characters and the world building around them and, looming over this, it’s completely avoiding or casually brushing over the very necessary issues of class and poverty that should still be in these settings.

Most commonly this is seen with protagonists - or sexy male love interests - who simply have money. How and why they have money is not really covered. They just have cash as and when they need it without any real explanation as to where the money comes from.

Sometimes there will be a convenient rich relative, friend or inheritance introduced to render it all moot (Mary-Janice Davidson rather appalling introduced a millionaire Black girl in the Undead series to bank roll Betsy, who managed to afford extremely expensive designer shoes on the salary of an office temp).

If they’re employed, we rarely see them actually perform their jobs (when was the last time anyone saw Anita Blake raise a zombie?) sometimes to a laughable degree (does Sookie even still work at Merlottes any more?). Or their job will require minimal effort - they’ll own a business that someone else will run, or it will have big pay-offs for only occasional work such as Elemental Assassin series with Gin’s lucrative assassin job or Dresden Files with Harry always seeming having money in his pocket despite rarely actually working as a wizard for hire. Or Jeremy in the Otherworld Series managing to amass a fortune that requires only the occasional painting to maintain, or Dorina Basarab in her series always had money to drop on some very expensive and rare weaponry despite her only occasional work for a Council that hated her.

They have ready money, they work for it - but working for the paycheck is never more than a small sidenote to their lives, rather than the 9-5 most of us have to put in to get by and they can often pull out large sums of cash at very little notice and with very little consequence - like Joanne Walker can put their day jobs on hold (or actively abandoning it for a while) to pursue whatever adventure has hit this week.

Of course, often wealth is just there and age or random woo-woo is often used as a justification - Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles is an extreme and typical example where everyone is dripping in wealth often with little real explanation as to why beyond the desire to have every scene smeared with purple-prose opulence porn. Age is why Anita Blake Series’ Jean-Claude (and most other vampires) have gathered their wealth, why Twilight’s Cullens live a lifestyle that rather exceeds the wages of one doctor and why every vampire in the Blood Destiny series is rich enough to throw their wealth around and play with credit-limit-less cards and why the Night Huntress Series’ Bones (and fellow vampires) have a near infinite budget to play with.

From the moment Damon appeared, The Vampire Diaries geared the story towards a love triangle between Elena, Damon and Stefan. Many of their interactions in terms of difference between vampires and humans tended to fixate on their abilities and need to drink blood. What I would like to know is where is the discussion of money? We know that Damon and Stefan’s home is the Salvatore family home but how do they sustain themselves, or at the very least pay for their enormous alcohol bill?  Both drive expensive cars and seem to have an unlimited budget for designer jeans. The Salvatore Brothers may pause to think about how to take out a Big Bad but any logistics which involve money are never part of the conversation. We are to accept that they are old men in young mens bodies and somehow this entitles them to wealth. Not only are they supernaturally entitled, Elena never ever questions it and accepts it as part and parcel of their vampiric state.

Kitty Saves the World (Kitty Norville Series #14) by Carrie Vaughn

The battle between Kitty and Roman is finally coming to a head as Roman’s master is revealed – and that master’s plan is finally being executed, possibly leading to the end of the world

Leaving only Kitty and her friends to stand against him – even if she has damaged her own credibility by trying to rally people against Roman’s plotting.

She doesn’t know where he is or how to stop Roman’s immense magic – nor even how to avoid the vast power of his influence, but the world hangs in the balance.

This is the final instalment in Kitty’s story and, thematically, it works. The primary emotions of Kitty here are fear and tiredness. Kitty is ready to stop the fight. She is ready to live, to have a family, to not be afraid, to not keep fighting. It makes the ending especially satisfying since it doesn’t have a huge lavish gift of riches for Kitty so much as a mundane peaceful life. I do find it awfully cliché and such a deeply stereotypical ending for how a woman’s Happily Ever After simply must pan out

It leaves no threads untied and it flows through a lot of action and some very well maintained emotional tension

I find myself immensely frustrated by this book on several levels, especially as a conclusion to this entire series. Here is Kitty’s final showdown with Roman, the final explanation of him and the general conclusion of all of it. And I’m disappointed

I’m disappointed because the whole point of Kitty, as the Regina Luporum, was set up as the major opponent of Roman because she was developing her own coalition. She had allies. She had friends. Even in this book it made a repeated point that Kitty’s super power is her friends. That has always been an excellent point of the series – she isn’t the most powerful werewolf, she isn’t the most powerful supernatural. She doesn’t have super powers, she doesn’t have any secret weapons – but she has friends and allies who are willing to work with her, trust her and make her their leader. She is the opposition to Roman because she was building her own army to match his but in a very different way

So in this book I expected those friends to gather. I expected Kitty to lead them, to gather her coalition, to take advantage of the group she’s put together. And she doesn’t. Oh, those friends appear – Grant, Rick, Tina, Sun and a few others. But they appear because “fate” or because “magic” or some other mystical force guided them. Fate is such a very lazy way of writing because it can justify just about any kind of coincidence. There’s very little emphasis on these people, what they bring to the party or much of their history and involvement with Kitty or why they matter now. And, again, most of her contacts are just irrelevant here (and even most who turn up basically fight a battle where we and Kitty are not).