Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Part fantasy, part historical fiction, Shadow of Night is the second book in the All Soul's trilogy (and you really need to have read A Discovery of Witches first to get what is going on). As a tale about witches and vampires, there isn't a lot of action or back story on the whole witch/vampire/daemon culture. But this book was full of day to day details of life in 16th century Europe, which was a surprising highlight for me.

Shadow begins where Discovery left off, with Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont having time walked back to Elizabethan London. In search of the elusive manuscript, Ashmole 782, Diana is also hoping to hone her skills as a witch before they return to the 21st century.

We learn a lot about Matthew's past and his varied connections throughout Europe which include Queen Elizabeth and the emperor of the Roman Empire (or something like that). We also gain insight into Diana's unique skills, although I really wasn't visualizing the string metaphors Harkness used to help us explain them. We also get many examples of how Diana and Matthew are hopelessly devoted and bonded to each other. The latter involving the ever romantic rituals of bloodsucking and kissing third eyes.

It seemed the search for Ashmole and Diana's training were just vehicles for Harkness to explain what Diana and Matthew wore and ate from day to day, "Diana! Where are my hose!?" Matthew's many ties took them from country to country, meeting new characters that I couldn't keep track of and getting involved in tangentially related hijinks, the details of which I couldn't relate. But I certainly remember their accommodations and the social customs of each location.

At the end of the book, I felt the plot furtherance didn't match the geographical and chronological grandeur Diana and Matthew experienced. I'm worried that the third book will be another slow-moving read, especially without the historical interest the second held over me.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

"If there really were vampires, what would they do for a living?"  That is a question that this book became the unexpected answer to, according to the author on her blog.  As for me, although I've read that Harkness hasn't read the popular YA series, I'd dare say this book could be considered a Twilight for adults.  Compliment?  Or criticism?  You decide.  But at its simplest, there are vampires, witches, and daemons.  (If you're not sure what a daemon is...think borderline insane, ADHD, wildly creative person...beyond that, I haven't figured it out in terms of superpowers or anything).

Here's what I like about the book, and it mostly concerns the author.  Harkness is a historian.  She has several degrees and teaches at USC and has extensively studied the history of magic and science in Europe from 1500-1700.  If you, like me, have ever wondered why classes like this exist beyond giving history buffs something random to chew on, maybe this novel is one.  Harkness' love for these things is obvious from reading A Discovery of Witches, which is a historical work of fiction.  There are all kinds of allusions, most of which were lost on me, to scientists, authors, and novels.  The story spans a range of geography and time, and Harkness seems comfortable with it all.  At times, I feel our 1500 year-old, well-learned vampire Matthew can get a bit pretentious, but understanding Harkness' love for history forgives that for me.

The story begins with Diana, an alchemical history professor at Oxford university (if there is such a thing at Oxford, I wasn't able to figure it out from their website).  Diana is descended from a prominent line of witches, but has shunned her magical ability, at least to the degree it's possible (WHY!?!?!).  During her studies, she is able to recall an old, long-thought-lost volume of magic called Ashmole 782, and this draws the attention of not just her fellow witches, but other supernatural creatures as well.  While Diana doesn't realize the significance of her finding, it sets in motion a series of events that make magic an inevitable part of her life.  As she becomes entrenched in the mystery of Ashmole 782 (which you can read about on Harkness' blog), Diana meets Matthew, a geneticist (and also a vampire).  Why would a vampire be interested in an old book of magic?  Is there something extraordinary about Diana that Matthew sees?  How could Diana's find be the catalyst for a war between witches and vampires?

These are the questions A Discovery of Witches begins to answer, BUT...and here's where other reviewers and I agree, the pacing is slow.  In fact, it took me several months (if not a year) to get through this book as it was a between-book-read.  But I felt, by the end, Harkness had really laid out her premise and introduced her characters fully.  It also helped that the book picked up steam near the end and left off on a cliff-hanger that makes me really curious to see how she handles book two (yes, this is a trilogy...and yes, there is a movie in the making).

So, to be honest, this was a book I almost gave up on.  But in desperation for something to read, I finished it and now want to read the second book.  Probably not for everyone, but if I had you at "vampires" or "Twilight," then we already know you'll want to read it.

Dark Moonlighting by Scott Haworth

Hmmm....everything about this book makes me want to like it.  The premise, the satire, the author, and a lot of reviews I skimmed on Goodreads.  But I just can't bring myself to the level of enthusiasm of these other reviewers.

Dark Moonlighting is the first of a four novel series.  It's about Nick, a 600 year old vampire doctor-lawyer-police officer (needing only 2 hours of sleep a night, Nick has plenty of time to work) .  No, Nick isn't sexy, he doesn't glow in the sunlight, and he doesn't live on synthetic blood.  He has a virus that drives him to kill about one person a week, drinking their blood and then urinating profusely after each kill.  If you calculate the "Urinator's" body count, this comes to around 30,000 souls.  But don't fret, Nick doesn't kill innocent people.  A vampiric Dexter of sorts, he rids society of its scum, which, in this day and age, includes dreaded spammers and door to door evangelists.

Some of the reviews I've read have hailed the book for its departure from the popular vampire genre.  Reviewers are thrilled with a vampire who doesn't take himself too seriously.  While these things may be true, it doesn't automatically mean the book is good.  Are we so disullusioned with Twilight and True Blood that we'll bed the first ugly vampire to wink at us?

The problem I have is with the writing.  Yes, Dark Moonlighting is tongue in cheek and bleeding with satire and pop culture references, but despite this, the jokes flatlined for me.  I kept getting the feeling I was reading something a junior high schooler wrote.  There was no subletly to the humor, instead, the jokes were obvious and overexplained.  Who knows, maybe that's part of what makes it funny and I'm just not getting it, but I couldn't get over the amateur feel the writing had.  Haworth has a lot of good ideas, he just didn't execute them to my liking.

I can't completely write the book off, as it had its moments and was a quick, easy read.  But I won't be rushing to complete this tetralogy any time soon.

Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (CBR #8)

Who makes creepier monsters than a ghost or demon or beast? A kid. There is something inherently creepy about kids even on a good day. And when you add in things like vampires, bullying, and piss balls (yes, piss balls, read the book), then you've got some pretty creepy ass kids.

The cover of this book is a boy and a girl holding hands in the snow. Cute, right? Except that the girl has straggly greasy hair and the bottoms of her feet are bloody. Ewwwwww. I totally wanted to read the book after I saw that. Not even being sarcastic.

This is a vampire book, but my experience with vampire books comes from reading the True Blood series, which seems like a trip to Disneyland compared to this one. The story takes place near Stockholm where some grisly murders have been occurring. We meet several characters, including Oskar, a 12 year old boy. Oskar, who is bullied at school, finds a friend in Eli, a child who has recently moved into his neighborhood. Although Eli is a bit strange, Oskar is intrigued and they slowly develop a friendship. But don't let this give you warm fuzzies. There isn't much room for those in this book. The murders move closer to Oskar's neighborhood and he slowly learns Eli's deep, dark secrets, all the while dealing with his own demons.

I really liked this book. The imagery was great and the characters interesting. Although I wouldn't describe it as a scary book, it would definitely make for a scary movie.

Speaking of movies, there are both Swedish and English versions. Apparently I am the last person on earth to know this (or second to last if you are thinking, "huh?!"). If you don't want to read the book, at least see the movie.

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris (CBR III Book #3)

*note* As this is the 7th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, and I haven't reviewed the first 6 books yet, I'm going to do an overall review on the Sookie Stackhouse series.

Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books are about the adventures of a small town barmaid, Sookie Stackhouse. At some point before the series begins, vampires have made themselves known to the world. This is because a Japanese company has made a synthetic blood substitute that the vampires can live off of, allowing them to live openly in society. The vampires are out of the casket, so to speak (altogether now, groan).

Anyway, Charlaine Harris' books begin with the introduction of vampires to Sookie's small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, yes, the books are about vampires in Louisiana. Sookie falls in love with Bill, a vampire from Bon Temps and quickly becomes entrenched in the supernatural community (which consists of so much more than vampires). But her interaction with vampires isn't the only thing that makes Sookie extraordinary. Sookie herself is a telepath, she can hear people's thoughts. And this makes for some interesting reading even when vampires aren't around.

If you're not familiar with the Sookie Stackhouse books, basically Sookie finds herself in the most ridiculous situations as the result of her interactions with vampires. You really have to suspend your disbelief because the situations Sookie finds herself in are so numerous and incredulous. But with that said, Harris' books are really entertaining and great reads if you're just looking to step away from reality and be entertained. Harris not only writes about vampires, but she throws in warewolves, fairies, shape shifters, and even more (if you stick through the series).

From Dead to Worse is the 7th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. So if you haven't read any of the other books, don't bother with this one. This is one series where you'll need to start at the beginning and work your way through. With that said, this was one of the more entertaining books in the series. Unlike the other books, there isn't one huge event that happens but rather, the stage is set for book 8 (at least that's how it seems). This is more an Empire Strikes Back book, where the characters and plot are developed for the next episode. It was a bit of a respite from the hijinks in the the other books and Harris really just focused on setting the stage for the next big thing.

On a side note, the HBO series True Blood is based loosely on Harris' books. When I say loosely, I really mean that. Both are entertaining but both require you to push the "I want to believe button" many times, maybe the TV show more than the books. And like the books, you have to watch the series with the attitude that you're just getting entertained. The acting is terrible (don't even get me started about Sophie Anne's character), and the plot lines really out there, but in the end, you'll be entertained. And you'll see a lot of boobies to boot.

Reviewed by Cathy

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

Ok, let me start this by saying I'm a huge Twilight Saga fan, so it was going to be hard for this book to disappoint me. That being said, while it is not the best of the Series (They can't all have Edward's, Bella's, and Jacob's) it is still worth reading before Eclipse if you have the time. Being only 178 pages, that's probably doable for most people.

The biggest difference between this book and the others, is that it's written from Bree's point of view. In a way that was a breath of fresh air. As much as I love Bella (believe me I do) it was nice to not hear a character constantly putting themselves down. Bree is independent and had a lot more spunk. Because Bree was such a small character in Eclipse I was surprised that Stephenie Meyer devoted an entire Novella to her, but she was really the perfect character to learn how the newborns work. Stephenie Meyer created such a different type of vampire compared to the typical vampire folklore (burns in the sun, can be staked in the heart), you want to learn about how these vampires work. You will learn the back story of how she and Riley met, how she became a vampire, and how Riley trained the newborn army for the eventual showdown in Eclipse. While you learn about a few more vampires along the way, there aren't many characters you care to remember besides Bree, Riley, and Victoria (possibly one other depending on your preference, but I won't give the other characters away).

I think the only thing that bothered me is that I wanted to know more! I thought it would go more into the Battle scene and interaction with the Cullens and Volturi. You spend all of the Twilight books seeing through Bella's eyes, and when you finally get to see it from a different perspective the details come up short. Overall, it was a fun quick read that will prepare you for the movie Eclipse. But real Twilight fans will be waiting for the holy grail of the Twilight Saga to be released….Midnight Sun.

Posted by Amy