10 posts tagged “patricia briggs”
i already had a copy of this lying in my TBR list, but didn't want to damage my own copy with any wear and tear, so instead borrowed a copy from the library instead. the cover of the library copy is a lot more updated and colorful, so it probably lended a different mood to what i would've expected going in with my copy instead. it's almost funny how much these little things affect my expectations, and i suspect that's why publishing companies still have marketing departments.
so, moving right on, i wanted to get into how this ties in with the previous book, masques, first. there are almost no recurring characters, but they are set in the same world; sianim is still the mercenary headquarters from where our protagonist originates, and the magic system is the same as the one from previous books. we learn that the ae'magi is a different man now, and learn more about the races that wield green magic. darran, which was introduced briefly in the first book, is the main setting in this one. the one main difference between the last one and this one is the nature of the characters themselves. the slave turned spy, rialla, is a lot more tortured than the heroine from the last book (damn, i forgot her name already). the relationship that developes throughout the book was also a lot less abrupt. instead of the slightly strange transition i felt in masques, i felt that there was a distinct buildup of the relationship between rialla and tris. however, i didn't find any of the other characters all that compelling, which was a shame, because i never got a true taste of the villain, really. at least, that's how i felt. not much of a fight against overwhelming forces here, but it definitely did concentrate more on the spying she did.
while masques explored torture quite vividly, this one is also quite dark in its own way; among them i found rape and slavery the most prevalent and disturbing. though sometimes i felt that her talk of slavery is only slightly melodramatic, the rape thoroughly disturbed me, only because i am not accustomed to reading about it. the way she ends (sort of) the issue raised with slavery with the conversation near the end is quite satisfying, and it ties religion loosely with the concept of slavery, which is also quite thought provoking. the Finis chapter, though, makes me curious; is this supposed to be the opener for the next book? because that chapter in itself ruined the closure she had established by the end of the chapter before it. i guess i'm going to have to read the next book yet in the sianim world to find out what happens to the rising political conflicts here. i'm somewhat reluctant to move on though, because it would require me to leave behind yet another character. this is yet another reason why i find her series that share protagonists that much easier to read. but aside from that, i will try.
closing off now so i can head to sleep, or perhaps at least start another book.
the first novel of briggs is so old that amazon hasn't bothered to put a real cover up :T not to mention that it's wicked rare, and a copy nowadays sells for $200ish. i got lucky and somehow managed to find an ebook version; kudos to whoever out there decided to ruin their valuable copy so that others can enjoy it.
the characters were memorable, although i do see traces of her other characters personified in these two. i guess briggs has always had a fascination with shapeshifters and dragons. and goddesses? anyway, the book was as addictive as all her other ones, which i am certainly not surprised about--how it never got more successful, i don't know. how could it have been a flop? but no matter, she's famous now, so..
the one time i thought it was less than realistic was when they were setting up tar traps to catch those zombie-like creatures; something like that, in real life, would easily have caught wildlife and humans, perhaps their dragon friend instead. so, i don't know. maybe she could've mentioned the spell was designed for dead things instead, but of course, that in turn would make it unrealistic, since, where would our heroes get the time to go and design a spell? that's the only part that got me a bit skeptical, and otherwise, it was amazing.
now, to finally manage to get my hand on a copy.. that would be something. and when is this getting reprinted already? i found that the double meaning in the title was pretty interesting, although at times the characters kind of waxed poetic about philosophy a bit too much--she might have been trying too hard to put more depth into this, but hey, it's a first novel, and there is no blame in that. sometime soon i should be moving on to the second novel in the sianim world.
wow, two books in a row. if every week were like this, i wouldn't need much more kind of destressing.
i expecting less from this volume of mercy, i don't know why. i guess by the end of iron kissed i was more like okay than omg. and the preview i read of this book wasn't that titillating, so i was more blase about it. which, in the end, was really a good thing.. because this book really caught me off guard.
we also get some kind of foreshadowing from a creepy minor side character, and so we know there has to be a showdown in the future somewhere, not to mention the hint is that coyote will die. mercy? probably, but i'm interested now in how ms. briggs will write out of that one. obviously, mercy can't stay dead even if she dies--she's the main character. and i don't believe it's possible to end the series by writing her off; there would be no ending. a toughie, but i guess she must have everything planned, because that's how this book felt.
i just realized that this book may actually be two in one.. because there was the issue of marsilia, and then there was blackstone. it could've easily been extended and separated into two volumes, but i really appreciated that that was not done. there was a brief period of interlude in between the two conflicts; once one was resolved, she gets a breath, goes about some normalcy, before diving headfirst into the second problem. i was actually sad by the death that was revealed in the second conflict, because it seemed to be so unexpected. makes me curious now why the vamp was called "the monster."
relationship stuff happens with her and adam, which i'm glad of. sam is a little in the background here, which i hope will change. stefan makes me feel sorry for him; he seems to care much for mercy, and he holds almost no place in her little repertoire there. he strikes me as the outsider, and i wish that wasn't the case. by the end.. she might have gained a new ally. i don't know. tree in her yard? i wonder what will play out with the walking stick.
now i'm actually looking forward to the next volume. her writing is so well done, i can't help it. little details.. like remembering that friend wasn't a sean or stan at all, but a nick.. those little details add realism that would be lacking in other books i read, like, no offense, carrie vaughn. so regardless of disjointed plots, i will pick briggs over vaughn any day.
plus her characters actually have a sense of humor.
i read the copy that had the older cover, rather than this newer prettified version--which would've been nice to hold, i admit, but i like my books first edition :) i'm not sure who that is supposed to be on the cover, hennea or seraph, since the wolf is right next to her, and he's obviously supposed to be the eldest guardian son.
this one definitely didn't have the buildup that the previous one had. there was a certain goal to that one, and this one was just trying to tie up strings from the previous book, i feel. certain characters also act slightly out of character, i'm not sure if it's just me misinterpreting characters, but i thought it wasn't, in any case. it was weird to centralize the climax on the bard; i also felt that the villain wasn't very convincing. plus it was quite predictable, as the opening let you know from the get-go who the villain was going to be, that i was extremely frustrated that the characters didn't see it sooner.
i think this has to be the weakest i've ever read from her. "dragon blood" might've been it, i thought, but that was told in not so many perspectives, so that helps things along a bit. this was pretty scattered--the most i could say for it was that we did end up having a conclusion, and the characters were still pleasant. maybe i was expecting too much? could be, but still. the end where an introduced character dies because they stand around talking was too much for me.
shrug.
a very good book, as to be expected from patricia briggs. it was odd for it to not be centered on one specific character, but on a whole family of mages, pretty much, and the switching point of views did disorient me from time to time, but in this one i felt the purpose of the plot was intricate enough to have that not detract from anything overmuch. the character of hennea annoyed me from time to time, and i don't know how i feel about seraph as a character. the introduction which included how seraph and her bard husband met was a bit abrupt to me, because i didn't feel there was enough character buildup involved. or maybe i'm just slightly annoyed because we don't see too much romance between any of these characters?
anyway, to sum it up, i liked it, but perhaps not as much as some of her other ones. the covers seem a bit creepy too, and i'm not sure about that either. her daughter the weather witch is almost completely left out of this novel, and i don't know how i feel about that. the journey involved was nice though, and i appreciate it for that.
onto the next one then.
liked it, but not as much as the first book, which is usually not the case for me, since the most recently read one tends to be fresher in my mind. the first book was told almost entirely in the perspective of ward, whereas in this one he disappears for 3 or 4 chapters and we get the story from tisala instead, who i found not very appealing for whatever reason--actually, to me she was a bit underdeveloped as a character, but it can't be helped. the "love" between ward and tisala is a bit underdeveloped too--we saw her for maybe 2 scenes in the first book, and by the end of this book they were supposedly in love. maybe she just didn't make much of an impression on me? i'm not entirely sure what it was, but regardless, i liked this book anyway because come on, it's patricia briggs. the storyline was tightly woven and it seems that she makes the most exaggerated fantastical events entirely believable, so that the reader can actually almost fathom it happening in the real world. a rare skill in a fantasy author, i personally believe.
the tamerlain plays a very significant role in this, but i actually wanted her in here a bit more. i understand that ward doesn't like the presence of that specific god, but the god played a significant part in his survival; working the tamerlain somehow into the conclusion might've been more satisfying? also, the ending left me wanting, because ward gets played down as not quite that much of a hero when he did all the work. kellen also pissed the crap out of me, i wanted to strangle him throughout most of the scenes he's in. the conclusion was most definitely anticlimactic also; the fact that hurogs are descended from dragons get stressed so much throughout this, i kept waiting for ward, the first mage-born in the royal family in a long time, so acquire the ability to transform into one himself. that also plays into my complaint of how ward gets toned down as a hero big time, and.. well, i kept expecting more.
regardless, i also kept marvelling at how big a cast of characters ms. briggs manages to keep introducing and keeping in specific chapters, and that i never got confused over who was who. the individual names were distinctive enough, maybe? or there was something about how she kept tabs on everyone that made it much easier. whatever it is, i don't see that in many other authors either. anything else with this big a cast would usually have me slamming the book shut and waiting enough time for me to absorb the info before continuing, which may be a couple of days to a couple of weeks. anyway.
at one point she actually has tisala mention that she feels like she's stepped into someone else's story--that was very satisfying. at another she mentions ward seeing a dragon other than oreg, and at that point i think she hammered some point home--it wasn't that there was no more magic, it was that no one had the ability to see magic anymore. i think it was an indirect way to say something about people today in general. hurog has an odd semblance to scotland in general, and tallven to england maybe? the theory she builds is that maybe people really did used to see dragons, and as oreg has said, no one sees a dragon unless the dragon wants to be seen. i found that to be such an interesting philosophy to develop within a work of fantasy, i don't know why. i guess i've never considered it?
guess i'll proceed to read all of her other stuff too. at this rate i might as well, every single one i've read from her leaves me wanting more. a definite rarity in my case.
overall a good and engaging read, even though i started off being wary--i knew it was patricia briggs's writing, and oddly, i wanted to find as much fault in it as possible. when my expectations are set high and the book doesn't disappoint, that means much to me, since it almost rarely happens. wardwick's story pulls you in from the get-go, and i suppose this will be one of those where the end would be kind of painful.
so, a bit of a shame that she's now writing mainly paranormal fantasy, almost. if i were to compare the quality of her work now as compared to these, i would undoubtedly have to say that i like these better; the world-building is subtle, but complete. she knows her world well from the get-go, and it really shows even in the way her characters interact, and the motives of the villains. i guess the same could apply for her paranormal series from time to time, but the storyline doesn't progress at quite that breakneck speed; in these series, her characters start out a certain way, and are most certainly drastically changed by the end somehow. there is progress. mercy took 3 books to change relatively, and at times that stability in a character is enjoyable, because i visit them only once a year. otherwise.. for some good storyline and plotting.. i'd settle for an epic/adventure fantasy like this.
sad the way certain characters die. surprising who the villain turned out to be. and very much glad it didn't end on the note i thought it would. there really isn't much to say now that i'm not criticizing--criticism tends to take longer than praise, i guess, when coming from me. so i'll proceed to the next book, and end this story for me.
ended up skipping school because of finishing this book. why? well, i stayed up a bit later than i intended just to finish.. and the result is that i woke up feeling like hell on earth. i'm sad to say i didn't like this as much as i like her usual work, but i'm still looking forward to the next mercy book. here's why:
throughout the book, anna was kind of annoying in her cringe to everything kind of way. i'm not surprised charles couldn't really find it in himself to deal with her calmly after a while. i understand the battered state she's supposed to be in; however, no improvement over the course of 3/4 of the book? hmm. surprisingly, i'd take melodrama any day over someone who flinches at everything like anna does. i did read the short story that precedes this book; even so, i couldn't find myself relating to her. she was acting realistic enough, it was just a personal problem with dealing with someone like that. so i guess overall, not the book's fault, but mine.
anyway. another reason is that it doesn't seem as well put together as usual. is it just me again? maybe. but i remember reading through their trek in the wild and holy cow, how many times did she mention that good witches are weak and black witches are stronger? and how many times did she have to mention that black witches used torture and death to supply themselves with power? i got the point around the third time she said it, but if i went back and counted (which i won't), she must have mentioned it like every other paragraph. cue annoyance here, i guess.
there was something in here that i did appreciate, though. the background information supplied for bran was very welcome, since he's always been this mysterious figure throughout the mercy books. it was welcoming to see him somewhat humanized, and to understand the full extent of his powers. i was sad about walter, but ehh, worked out. the climax was not very climactic, sad to say. i wasn't all too nervous about it, which meant i didn't really care much about charles or anna either way. for me, it's the side characters (like bran and asil) that really fleshed it out. oh, and what's up with anna's powers anyway? there was never a full explanation of what exactly she can DO. everyone just goes "omg she's an OMEGA! they're RARE!" and that's about the extent of it. i mean, there's some demonstration of what she really does.. but no actual definition? it took me until the end of the book to understand remotely what that's supposed to meant. sort of. so as i'm typing this now, i'm still a bit foggy on the concept. not sold on me, sorry.
she also sort of writes it assuming her readers read the short story, which in my case is true. if i hadn't read the backstory behind anna and charles in the short story though, i'd think i would've been much more annoyed.. so maybe that's not such a good thing to do after all (to write assuming readers know what happened, i mean).
oh well. long time until bone crossed, the next mercy novel. and by then they'll be releasing in hardcovers, which is kind of nicer and then not. most authors whose works release to hardcover seem to wane in quality around the same time, so i'm crossing my fingers for mercy. kim harrison being the sole exception, always. until i finish another book, then.
hmm, can't believe it took me this long to get around to actually reading this. i already know i'm a fan of patricia briggs's writing, and i already know i'll enjoy it, but somehow, i just really never thought about reading it. it just never occurred to me, even though i've owned the book for a year and something now.
anyway. the first few chapters go right into the death and despair, although strangely, there wasn't much of the despair. i thought that most of the concentration went into her and her magic, which should be appropriate, i guess, but i would've felt it more had it been easier to sympathize? but anyway. i kept waiting for the hob and her to actually meet, but it wasn't until near the middle of the book that it managed to happen, and by the time it did, my reaction was something along the lines of 'about time' rather than excitement. it does get interesting once that gets going though, and the hob is a really appealing character to read about. having seen the cover though, it's a little bit harder to read about his description being 'beautiful' and believe it. but the hob sounds adorable regardless. i do wonder what his past memories might have been, since he says he remembers having a mischievous mate before.
the book has also been left very open to the possibility of a sequel, and it's a shame there isn't one in the works. or, who knows? maybe there is. i just hope one gets published someday, because i would definitely love to revisit this world. maybe i should make it a personal goal to read all of patricia briggs's previous books.
P.S. - the scene where she finds the ghost of the woman and the baby was the creepiest thing i've read yet. i got shivers and more from the way the scene was set up, just because it was so unexpected. i kinda wish i read the copy with this cover, since thanks to the other cover i kept imagining the hob as an oversized ape, but.. that's just me, i guess. will definitely pick up all her others before the week is over.
well, since jenny's bf bought this for her i didn't even have to wait for a library copy to become available--which suits me just fine. it becomes apparent to me that this series just gets better and better. mercy surrounds herself with family, and at one point she wonders what makes a family, which would adequately set the theme for this series, and maybe her journey in general. i thought it interesting that she finally buckled down and made a choice between the two alphas--though maybe it seemed a bit too easy. love affairs are usually messy, and maybe i was expecting it to be that. maybe briggs thought to settle it once and for all so it doesn't get more complicated--which would work against her, as it will eventually become tiring to write about and no doubt tiring to read about. i do wonder if her vampire friend stephan will pop back into the picture as a love interest? i was left with a very good impression of him, so i wouldn't mind at all. there were several points that made me laugh out loud, as is usual with her books--in the first book, the thing to do with the lamb of god. this book had something to do with the bumper sticker of a car that passes by randomly about slinkies. it's cute little details like that that make me love her as a character so much, and briggs as a writer. hopefully the next book will be announced soon and i can add it to my pbs wishlist. i really am spoiling myself with all these good books.
