3 posts tagged “karen chance”
(cries) oh pritkin, how i've missed you!
even though this started off rather slow, i don't think i quite minded. i did notice that she spent more time reintroducing characters than normal, and perhaps even got impatient from time to time when she kept introducing information from past books--but things got better as soon as pritkin came back into the picture. i've always been pretty passive toward mircea as a character, and the couple of intro chapters featuring mostly mircea certainly got me really impatient, but there were several moments when i actually found myself warming to him, which really surprised me. up until now i've found his motives annoying and counterproductive to cassie, but it seems it took 4 books for me to realize he might actually care for her more than everything else, that he might actually drop all the other stuff if it came down to it. that who knows? maybe she might actually come first.
but anyway, if it comes down to it, i would still choose pritkin over mircea, just because he seems to always be there to guard her, i guess. i guess i might have a thing for white knights, even those who are cranky all the time. (but secretly, the crankiness might be the real reason why.) plus the sexual tension between them is undeniable, though i did notice (and am a bit miffed by) the fact that it's definitely been toned down as compared to books 2 and 3. after reading the brief scenes with heat between cassie and pritkin in this book i definitely felt myself wanting to go back and read book 3 again, if only to experience the initial awkwardness between pritkin and cassie again. xD anyway, the plot seemed somewhat confusing throughout, but it does drop clues from time to time, which i must admit were completely lost on me. cassie's visions made no sense to me, so i can't exactly blame her for not getting them either. the way the demons and the gods came together was very unexpected, but i should've known something was cropping up in that form somehow. at this rate, they could probably make a plan to put all their enemies together, sit back, and enjoy the show.
the pacing was rapid as usual, but coming from karen chance that's not entirely surprising. unlike her usual though, it seemed a bit darker than previous installments, and it wasn't until the second half of the book when cassie and pritkin get into some very gender-challenged scenarios that things got interesting. i couldn't stop laughing once that rolled in, but it was certainly random as hell given that the scene before that had nothing to do with it. i did find myself getting confused whenever she described the ley lines though, because all i could see were descriptions of colors, and her descriptions of fissions and vortexes made little sense to me visually. or maybe i wasn't reading it right, or whatever it is. either way that's about the only criticism i had toward this one; the dialogue was entertaining as always, and the characters do tend to be a little more emotional than in previous installments, but i guess it only means they're growing into the roles they will have to take later. what i was really looking forward to happening, though, was to have cassie grow into more of her abilities, because by that intro, that was what i'd assumed would be happening. there's also almost NO time shifting involved in this book, and what else is a pythia supposed to do? not to mention her spatial shifting also got limited after a while, and i had to wonder at the purpose of this book by then. the necromancy could, of course, be viewed as a new ability she could develop in latter volumes instead. i do still sort of wish billy joe could've played more of a role in this book too, like he has in the past, but it seems he's mostly limited to just a cameo appearance, along with a slew of all new characters. i had also wondered what was up with that.
and then, of course, what of mircea? i'm not even sure i want him gone from the picture. he obviously really does care for her, but i want cassie to be first on his list of priorities, and so far she doesn't even know that he has a daughter yet. pritkin, as mysterious as he is, has mostly tended to be straight with her, even if that wasn't his intention. or maybe he just has less to hide, i don't know. again, it could just be pritkin's emotional overload that appeals to me, since mircea seems to barely react most of the time. in this book he does react somewhat though, and the most memorable scene to me when thinking of this change is when mircea kisses "cassie" after catching her.
anyway, i feel i've probably rambled about this enough. i need the next volume right now. it wasn't until i got to the ending (and what a hilarious ending) that i realized that i would have to wait another whole year for the next volume, and it's just a little too far away without anything to satisfy me in between. i am a little suspicious that this volume tended to be so much darker, right after she's had to write the first volume of dorina basarab. if this trend were to continue.. well, i'm hoping there would be more humor and less of the emotional outbreaks in the next book. but otherwise, i'm hoping other releases will keep me company from here until then. i can say for sure that i won't look forward to much else aside from kim harrison and richelle mead nowadays, and those only come once every couple of months. in fact, i'm almost dreading the release of the MJD, CH, and LKH books.. because i'd most definitely have to read them, and am almost guaranteed to be let down. but what else is new?
oh well. here's to hoping this year passes fast and the next book hits a release date soon then.
hmm.. this wasn't actually as good as i expected it to be. read it thurs when i skipped class, actually. i'm sure writing a book with a main character who's crazy is pretty hard to pull off, but she does manage. i just unfortunately end up not liking her as much as cassie, which, i suspect, was the point anyway.
and then, we see the return of louis-cesare! (however you spell his name) for some odd reason i didn't remember him as being quite this temperamental from the cassie books, and perhaps that's because we haven't really seen much of him? who knows. this vers. of him is.. a bit whiny, actually, and so not quite a likeable male character for me. well, i mean, he's quite likeable.. just that he's not the usual kind that makes me swoon. mental damage can be very attractive, but not when they get pissy every two seconds. it makes the female protagonist look sane in comparison. is that why they're shelved together?
i'm not sure i like what i get to learn about mircea, either. it wasn't so much that his character profile changed at all, it's simply that i just don't like a character who's that.. i dunno. something. he doesn't seem to have much sympathy for anyone. he doesn't seem to really feel for anyone, and a lot of his motives are based on himself. and sure, cassie may mean something to him.. but only because of that stupid geis. without it.. he's not that appealing a character. sorry.
now pritkin, however.. ;)
anyway, i guess this was a pretty good way to pass the time. i forgot him name already, but the fey character introduced in here (seems like he'll become a love interest in the future) is pretty damn hot. i like characters who act like little kids :) soo freaking cute. i would definitely look forward to scenarios that manage to pair them together somehow in the future installations of.. dorina's adventures? is that her name? anyway. another half a year to the next cassie book! can't wait!
AGGHHH!! i didn't think this series could get any better, but it manages to--it's been so long since i've had characters that can enchant me even when i'm dead tired. coming fresh off finishing this, i feel like i can almost not bear to return this copy to the library. it's soo fucking good, i just want to reread specific scenes over and over again. the sexual tension in here is so well written i found myself holding my breath from time to time. specific thoughts on specific characters:
pritkin: FINALLY got some action going. and he really isn't who he appears to be. the little nude (or almost nude) scenes of him and cassie were the best, and hilarious in one instance. despite the fact that nothing really happens between them, it's surprising that their scenes were written with so much steam. i really hope something will happen between cassie and pritkin. because god is he the best. i especially loved the scene where mircea questions her where she got her boots. xD
mircea: still sounds attractive.. and i like him enough, but strangely, not as much as pritkin. mircea is usually my type of male protagonist, all cool and unwavering suave, but the fact that his ambition could war with his affection for cassie is a bit of a damper. of course, ultimately his future self goes crazy enough over her to not care about power plays, but his past self still sort of ticked me off. the "mine mine mine" chant going on in the end sort of reminded me of a dog marking territory.. i don't know. there's just something i can't describe. and so for me, pritkin reigns.
because cassie even said it, that she knew that things will never last, because the objectives they work toward are too different. i also wonder how tomas will fare once the dark fey king realizes that cassie hasn't kept her promise. and will they ever get to tony now? he would always be in hiding as far as anyone cared. some people claimed this would be the last book, but since there are still plenty of loose ends to work around, i highly doubt that (and am extremely glad of it). unfortunately, from now until next april or may seems too long a time to wait, but i have no doubt it will be worth every second. in the meantime i can go back and reread all of them instead :D
EDIT: by the way, i never realized the "kit" marlowe in this book was THE marlowe. and once i realized it, i just kept thinking, holy crap! every time the character popped up. is that weird? and is the consul supposed to symbolize *ahem* any specific english royalty? i have to wonder. there is also the case of the fact that both cassie's prominent lovers are immortal, of a sort. cassie isn't. a way to remedy that, maybe? so that another pythia can't come into power and can't bring apollo back? just a thought. it'd solve a lot of problems.
