Comments (2)

By Amanda, January 23, 2010

It’s that time of year again – award show season, and I didn’t want to be left out.  With the popularity of a certain teenage vampire series (which will remain nameless due to the fact that I’m not totally in love with it, unlike the rest of the female universe), the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy genres have exploded with new reads.  It can be a daunting task to figure out where to start, so I thought I’d offer a little advice on books I’ve found to be eminently more readable than The Book That Will Not Be Named (see also this PNR bibliography).  So here now, the absolutely meaningless, but hopefully still enjoyable, PNRUFies (pronounced pa-NER-fies).

Longest Series – local author, Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunters at 30 books/stories. Honorable mention to Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake books at 22 and Christine Feehan’s Dark series at 20.  For those REALLY long car trips, I’d suggest starting one of these.

Best Sidekick – Bob from Harry Dresden – he’s a talking skull who knows everything about everything.  Seriously, what else do you need and where can I get one?

Most Cliffhangery (This category is so frustrating that I had to invent a word for it) – Fever series from Karen Marie Moning.  You’ll scream. You’ll cry.  You’ll throw your book across the room (unless it’s a library book, then you’ll gently set it on the nearest table, lovingly brushing off any crumbs or lint, before you turn and punch the wall). Be warned – this one’s got at least one more book to go, and it’s not supposed to come out until December ’10.  Oh the humanity!

Wizard with the Biggest Hero Complex – Tie: Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden and John Pritkin from Cassie Palmer by Karen Chance. Harry’s never met a spell he wouldn’t try in the name of saving the world.  Pritkin would have had something quippy to say, but he’s already saved the world four times since we asked him for a quote.

Best Living Arrangements – The church in which Rachel and Ivy reside in Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series.  A witch and a vampire living in a decommissioned church – you’d think it would be more peaceful.  Honorable Mention to Jean-Claude’s underground lair in Anita Blake and the Black Dagger Brotherhood compound care of the Warden.

Craziest Relatives – Tie: “Grandpa” Eddie from Julie Kenner’s Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series and Niall, Sookie’s fairy great-grandfather, from Charlaine Harris’s True Blood-inspiring series.  One’s not related, one’s not human, but there’s still so much to love.

The Dr. Evil Award for Excellence in Villainy (I haven’t talked to Dr. Evil about this personally, but I’m sure he’d agree that these bad guys are worthy of being compared to someone who went to evil medical school) – Lilith from LA Banks’s Vampire Huntress series.  I mean, come on, she’s married to the devil – that’s evil. Honorable mention to Lash and the creepy baby-powder scented Lessers from J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood.

And there you have it.  The PNRUFy Class of 2010.  I was really hoping to see some Weather Wardens or Werecats in the lineup, but I guess there’s always next year. Agree or disagree with the winners – but either way, these books are all pretty good reading.  Happy PNRUFy-ing!

- Amanda

Comments (0)

By Amanda, January 16, 2010

Divine Misdemeanors
By Laurell K. Hamilton

Ok, I need a hand count.  How many of you love Laurell K. Hamilton?  Alrighty, now how many of you hate her? Yep, that’s what I thought.  You’re either one or the other.  I happen to fall on the love her side of things.  LKH doesn’t write Great American Novels, but that’s partially why I like both her Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series so much.  They are pure entertainment.

Divine Misdemeanors is the latest Merry release.  **Spoiler Alert** With all the pseudo-climatic events of the previous book, Swallowing Darkness, I was surprised (pleasantly so) to find out that this one was even coming out. I was afraid that the series was ending.  DM’s dedication indicated that LKH had a hard time with the book, and it kind of showed. I’m sure it was difficult to find a new story path after tying up some of the previous threads so neatly.

Merry and the guys exiled themselves back to LA.  The Princess, Rhys, and Galen have gone to work for Merry’s old detective agency.  Doyle, Frost, Kitto, and several others, including former guards of Prince Cel,  set up house in Maeve Reed’s estate while she is in Europe.  In working with the police, Merry learns that someone is killing demi-fey, and she has to figure out how to stop it.

If you are fans of Darkness and Frost, this is not going to be your favorite installment.  The guys are there, but they are all work and no play.  Rhys and Sholto stepped up, though, and **Seriously, if you want to be surprised, stop reading!** it was nice to see Rhys get his own sithen (although, it’s an old apartment building? Gee, thanks Faery. You shouldn’t have…no really…). That should give LKH some material to work with to build some new story lines. Overall, though, DM kind of felt like a filler book. I hope LKH can find her way forward from here, because I really want to see what happens when the babies are born. Keeping my fingers crossed…

- Amanda