Review of Feast of Souls
Apr
18
2009

Feast of Souls
by C.S. Friedman
576pp (Paperback)
My Rating: 8/10
Amazon Rating: 4/5
LibraryThing Rating: 3.91/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.93/5

Feast of Souls is the first book in the Magister trilogy, the latest series by C.S. Friedman, perhaps best known for her Coldfire trilogy. The second book, Wings of Wrath, was just released in hardcover in February. It has yet to be announced when the final book Legacy of Kings will be available. After reading C.S. Friedman’s debut novel, the space opera In Conquest Born, I knew I had to read more of her work and after all I had heard about this one, it sounded right up my alley. Feast of Souls is a dark epic fantasy containing a wide cast of characters and many elements that are somewhat familiar to readers of the genre, yet they are well executed and the nature of magic in the world is interesting enough to keep it from feeling stale.

In Feast of Souls, magic requires great sacrifice, for those who practice it can only do so at the cost of shortening their own life. Small spells may only shave a few seconds or minutes from their time remaining but larger ones could remove a few years from the caster’s total lifespan. The prologue introduces us to Imnea, a witch in her mid-thirties who feels about eighty years old due to the amount of magic she has used. Although she has retired from spellcasting to preserve what little time she has left, the people she helped throughout the years despise her for her selfishness in refusing to give up the last little bit of life she has left to help them. When a woman comes to Imnea requesting she save her child from a plague, Imnea resists at first but ends up giving up her life to help the boy. Meanwhile, his young sister Kamala watches and determines to become the first female magister rather than die from using her ability.

The magisters are a small group of men who can wield magic to their heart’s content without dying. Many of them have survived for centuries despite rather liberal use of their power. Their secret of longevity is only known to themselves and no woman has ever been able to accept the consequences of becoming a magister, for the cost of magic is still life itself and magisters simply use another person to fuel their spells. When the Prince Andovan is diagnosed with the Wasting disease associated with those who are bound to a magister, their ugly secret is threatened – a truth that must remain hidden from the general public so the vulnerabilities of the magisters is not exposed.


This book was a little difficult to get into toward the beginning, as it switched back and forth between characters and introduced the main players and their motivations. However, once the story got going, it was difficult to put down and I ended up staying up late one night to finish it because I just had to know how it ended as soon as possible. The story is far from finished, though, with many questions left unanswered in the first installment of this trilogy.

Overall, there were many plot elements and character descriptions that seemed like very typical fantasy tropes. An old, nearly forgotten threat to the world returns true to the prophecy that what had happened before would happen again. Most people regarded this danger as an old myth but a few chosen to defend remember it. There is a mad king (both crazy-mad and temperamental-mad) who is led astray by a corrupt adviser. A mysterious wizard seems to know more about events than he is willing to share. These are still handled well, but there are two main parts that make a Feast of Souls stand out from the typical fantasy novel: the examination of power via effects of wielding magic and Kamala.

C.S. Friedman’s portrayal of power is harsh. It’s fleeting for those who are not cold enough to use the energy of other people. The only way to remain strong is to be a survivor, to be willing to look out for yourself first and remain alive no matter what the consequences – even if it means that somewhere an innocent person dies to keep you hale. Although the means of becoming a magister is horrible, they do some good. Power is not always exercised for selfish reasons – one may use the life force of a single person to save several people.

Most of the characters did not seem particularly well developed or out of the ordinary to me in this largely plot-driven novel – the one big exception to this was Kamala. From early on, the one character whose story always hooked me and kept me reading was Kamala’s. The powerful scene in the prologue showed a defining moment in shaping her life and from then on I was very intrigued by the young woman who had the strength and determination to pursue a path knowing that all others of her gender had not been able to follow it. She has not had a happy life (her mother was poor and sold Kamala to men as a prostitute at a young age) but has come out more resilient instead of weakened. Kamala is not a “good” character but she is not come across as an “evil” person, either. It is perfectly reasonable that she would be hardened, but she is not completely heartless.

Feast of Souls is the beginning of what promises to be an entertaining dark fantasy series. Although it has some obvious characteristics of the genre, there are enough elements done well that it’s well worth the read and I’m looking forward to the next book (although I will be waiting for it to come to paperback).

8/10

Read the prologue (scroll down)

Other Reviews:

Review of Iron Kissed
Apr
16
2009

Iron Kissed
by Patricia Briggs
304pp (Paperback)
My Rating: 8.5/10
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.29/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.42/5

Iron Kissed is the third book in the popular Mercedes Thompson urban fantasy series by New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs. Currently, there are four books in this series about the shape-shifting mechanic and one book in the Alpha and Omega series set in the same world with the second novel forthcoming this summer. The first book in the Mercedes Thompson series is Moon Called, the second is Blood Bound, and the fourth is Bone Crossed (which was recently released in hardcover). When completed, the series will contain at least seven books.

In the previous book, Mercy racked up yet another favor when her fae friend Zee lent her some useful items for vanquishing some nasty vampires. While she is at movie night with the werewolf Warren and his boyfriend, Zee calls and requests she repay him immediately. Several fae have been murdered in their homes on the fae reservation and Zee hopes that Mercy can use her coyote senses to pick up a scent common to all the crime scenes. She does indeed manage to find one smell present at each house, which leads to the imprisonment of Zee when he goes to confront the suspect just in time to find his fresh corpse.

Mercy decides to help Zee as much as she can, even if it means angering some of the other fae who would rather she mind her own business. Meanwhile, it has become apparent that Mercy needs to choose between Samuel and Adam as the tension escalates between the two very dominant werewolves. It’s a decision she’s not sure that she can make – not only does she care for both but she can’t imagine losing the friendship of either one.


Each book in this series I read is better than its predecessor. Of course, I may be a bit partial to this one because this time the main mystery involves the fae, which fascinate me far more than werewolves or vampires. Ever since I was about 6 years old, I’ve loved the more disturbing fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm, so they have always held a special place in my heart. The fae of Mercy’s world are of the devious variety – the type you cannot turn your back on for a moment and under no circumstances does one want to owe them. In addition to their dark natures, I also really love the mythology surrounding them and the wide variety of fae races.

Putting aside my bias toward the subject of the mythos of the dark fae, the writing in this book is an improvement over the earlier ones. It is very impressive that Briggs can pack so much into such a short novel. She maintains great balance between action/plot and character/relationship development. Dull moments are non-existent and this was another page-turner that I could hardly put down. Now that there are a few books, the info dumps are becoming less frequent and jarring, although they are still present. It did feel a bit formulaic in the beginning since the mystery plotline was introduced basically the same as the last book – Mercy was asked to return a favor she owed someone who somehow helped her save the day in the last book.

Mercy remains the same character I came to love in the first two books. Even if she does have shape-shifting ability, she is very realistic and human. She tends to be practical and down-to-earth, but she’s not perfect and does have difficulty with keeping her mouth shut at times. Loyalty and friendship are important to her, and part of her difficulty with choosing between Samuel and Adam is the thought of hurting one of them. Yet she is also a very independent woman and will not let either of them walk all over her – if she feels one of them is being too possessive or trying to provoke the other, she makes a point of backing off. This isn’t to say she never gives in to her feelings toward one of them, but when she does, it’s generally not for long before her better judgment kicks in. Both of these men are dominant, overbearing werewolf control freaks, though, so it will be interesting to see if she can continue to deal with them without completely compromising her free spirit.

The love triangle is a refreshing departure from the norm – it is not particularly angsty and Mercy never takes of advantage of it. She is not flirty and she doesn’t gloat about being so popular with the men (even if it is a little uncanny how many of them are attracted to a woman who is described as being not particularly pretty). As with everything else, she has a pragmatic attitude toward it. When she does think about Samuel or Adam, she does not let her heart overrule her head but really thinks about who is right for her and how he would affect her life. Also, the conundrum of who Mercy ends up with is resolved in this novel – and without a lot of drama, in a way that really works and makes sense.

This novel does contain a scene toward the end that is more disturbing than the other two books in the series so far. Since it would be a spoiler to say what it is, it’s a little tough to warn those who may find it difficult to read about it. Despite the severe circumstances, it was executed without being overly graphic. In fact, there was so little detail that I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened at first and had to reread the scene.

Iron Kissed is another strong (but somewhat darker) installment in the Mercy Thompson series involving supernatural races, an entertaining mystery plot, and an endearing lead character. This is the most fun new series I have discovered so far this year and I’ll definitely be picking up more books by Patricia Briggs, both in this series and some of her older ones.

8.5/10

Read Chapter One

Review of The Oracle Lips
Apr
10
2009

The Oracle Lips
by Storm Constantine
398pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 8/10
Amazon Rating: 4/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.5/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.89/5

Short stories have never been a favorite of mine. I much prefer to read novels since they allow more time to get to know the characters and become immersed in the story. However, Storm Constantine is a favorite of mine and has been ever since I read her Wraeththu novels, which are my favorite books along with Sarah Monette’s The Doctrine of Labyrinth series. So I eagerly dug into my copy of The Oracle Lips, a numbered (and signed!) collection of short fiction by Storm Constantine. Although I still prefer the Wraeththu novels, many of these dark stories also appealed to me. Constantine has an incredible way with words and I love the way she tended to end stories on a haunting, ambiguous note.

The Oracle Lips is a very lovely book with a forward by Michael Moorcock and a blurb on each work by the author. It contains twenty-three fantasy and science fiction short stories and one poem. Several stories are related to the worlds in Constantine’s novels, including one set in the Wraeththu universe and three about the Grigori.

As with all collections, the tales vary in quality. The earliest work, “Curse of the Snake” is very dense with too much background information and not enough interesting events for a story of its length. Throughout the book, the writing tends toward density and lush, atmospheric descriptions, but with this particular story it was too much and it lost me. As much as I love Constantine’s gorgeous writing style, I preferred the stories that had a better balance of description and dialogue.

My favorite of the bunch is “Sweet Bruising Skin,” a dark version of the fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea.” Constantine always felt that a girl with skin that bruised that easily was rather creepy and wrote a disturbing tale of a prince who would not settle for less than the perfect woman. His mother asks her sorcerer for a princess who will attract him and soon thereafter a mysterious young lady shows up one day claiming to be royalty. When the validity of her statement is questioned, the prince’s mother declares the the highborn have particularly sensitive skin and if the woman awakens bruised after sleeping on a stack of mattresses with a single pea underneath, she is indeed a princess. The stranger is so black and blue in the morning that she appears badly beaten. As time passes, the prince’s mother begins to realize there is something very sinister about the young woman and determines to discover what her sorcerer is hiding. The tone was at times light with the mother’s pompous narrative as she relates the story to another and at times it was very unsettling.

There is a great deal of diversity throughout this collection ranging from the everyday world and contemporary fantasy to mythical fantasy settings to Egypt and archeology to distant planets and aliens to computers and cyberpunk. Common themes include identity, self discovery, gender, and obsession (both romantic and religious) and are handled very well throughout. Constantine does an excellent job of showing infatuation taken too far. I particularly enjoyed how events played out in “Angel of the Hate Wind” when a man wanted a woman so much that he summoned an angel and asked for the her love. Although his wish is granted, the end is extraordinarily tragic.

Constantine has some great opening lines that set up the story and hook you at the same time. The following are some of the first sentences that I found particularly compelling:

We were sitting on the edge of Celestial Alley just watching the night go by, when the girl out of time walked past, looking for a moment to keep. (“The Time She Became”)

Sheila met the woman she should have been in the ladies wash-room at Euston station. (“The Oracle Lips”)

Donna can feel computers dreaming; they reach out and touch her mind, or so she says. (“Immaculate”)

You can waste a lot of time being in love with people. (“Fire Born”)

The stories are imaginative, fantastic, and beautifully written, yet they cannot compare to the excellence of the Wraeththu novels even though they share similar themes. This is largely be due to my preference for character driven stories since short stories do not allow for a truly in-depth study of the people within. While Wraeththu shares the same lyrical prose style, it has much more emotion since there is time to get to know the characters, who are each very unique individuals with well-drawn, real personalities.

The Oracle Lips is an eclectic compilation of dense but mostly well-written speculative fiction stories that tend to set a dark, haunting mood. It is a great collector’s edition for fans of Storm Constantine, but I’d suggest first time readers begin with the first Wraeththu book, The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit.

8/10

Win Seven Books from Angry Robot
Apr
06
2009

Angry Robot, the upcoming SF/F/WTF?! imprint from Harper Collins, is running a contest in which the winner will receive their first seven books. All you have to do is come up with an award-winning name for the angry robot:


To enter the contest, go to the Name that Droid page. And if you saw it on this site and happen to win, I could win some sort of mysterious and awesome prize too.

Personally, I’m curious about exactly what ticked the robot off… Any ideas?

Review of Blue Diablo
Apr
05
2009

Blue Diablo
by Ann Aguirre
336pp (Paperback)
My Rating: 7.5/10
Amazon Rating: N/A
LibraryThing Rating: 4.33/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.11/5

Blue Diablo is the first novel in the Corine Solomon urban fantasy series by Ann Aguirre (it is due to be released on April 7). According to Aguirre’s website, the next two books will be called Hell Fire and Shady Lady and will be released in April 2010 and April 2011, respectively. I have read Aguirre’s first two novels in the Jax science fiction series and found both to be very entertaining, fast-paced stories that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish – so I knew I had to read Blue Diablo when I first heard about it. Although I still slightly prefer the Jax books, this was a new story that contained many of the elements I enjoyed about the other series and I’ll still be picking up any novel Aguirre writes as soon as I can get a hold of it.

For the last eighteen months, Corine Solomon has managed to leave her old life behind and is happy living a quiet life running a pawn shop in Mexico. She still fears someone from her past will some day find her – a fear that comes true when the main reason she left, her ex-boyfriend Chance, shows up at her store. Corine has no intention of having anything to do with Chance again, even though she still has feelings for him, until she learns the news that someone very important to both of them mysteriously disappeared. Since Corine is a handler, someone who can touch an item and discern its history, she has helped find missing persons in the past and may be the only chance they have of locating this missing person.

In spite of her concern about the situation, Corine is still hesitant to join forces with Chance once again. The two of them used to work together to solve cases, and Corine left after she almost died because Chance insisted they could handle a particularly dangerous opponent. Because of this, Corine came to the conclusion that Chance only cared about her for the income from her ability and took off in the middle of the night without even saying goodbye. But Chance is no ordinary man himself with his talent of luck and offers to use his extraordinary skill to get her the revenge she has always wanted in return for her aid.


Blue Diablo is a short, absorbing book that kept me turning the pages. Although it is urban fantasy with a mystery and romance, it did not contain the typical paranormal creatures, such as vampires, werewolves, and fae. The fantasy elements were black magic, sorcerers and witches, ghosts, and people with abilities.

This book is very similar in style to the novels in the Jax series. The story is told from the first person point of view of the heroine, who has a humorous tone to her narrative. The chapters end on a cliffhanger or with a phrase that doesn’t explain exactly what happened so you want to start the next chapter right away. There is not a large amount of backstory or setup before it starts getting interesting and draws you in. Immediately, we know that Corine has a dark past that she is trying to stay away from, and only 4 pages in, Chance shows up and turns her life upside down. There is no time wasted in getting to the heart of what the story is about – solving the mystery and Corine’s struggles with her past, her ability, and the man she cares for but feels she can’t be with.

Also like the Jax books, the characters are broken people who have had hard lives and any power they have comes with a price. During her childhood, Corine gained psychometry as a gift from her mother, who passed it on to her when their house was deliberately burned down. Every single time Corine uses her ability, her hands literally burn and she remembers her mother’s death and the guilt of obeying her mother’s wish that Corine get out of there as fast as possible, even if it means leaving her behind. Likewise, Chance has good luck, which sounds like it really can’t go wrong. Who wouldn’t like their life to be full of occurrences such as randomly running into people who owe them tons of money when they could really use the cash? However, he also attracts chaos and although he’s fortunate enough to escape the consequences, the people he cares about who are with him do not – and he can do nothing about it since it’s something that happens to him naturally and he can’t just stop being lucky.

This novel did have more focus on romantic relationships than the Jax books. Chance wants to get Corine back, but she doesn’t feel that getting back together with him would be very smart. Meanwhile, she’s getting to know a hunky empath who can teach her about being gifted, but she’s not sure if he is truly attracted to her or only thinks he is since he can feel her attraction to him. I did enjoy the romance, but at times, I found it rather wearisome when Corine would go on and on about how hot one of the guys looked.

The main mystery plot is wrapped up by the end of the book, although there is certainly plenty of room for sequels. I did think the ending was a bit rushed and anti-climactic since it was resolved in one short chapter.

Blue Diablo is another exciting page turner from Ann Aguirre. The conclusion was a bit weak and there was sometimes a bit too much focus on descriptions of physical attraction for my personal taste, but I still had so much fun reading it that I can hardly wait for the next one.

7.5/10

Read the first chapter

Blue Diablo Winner
Apr
03
2009

Sorry I didn’t get to post this earlier but I’ve been at work all day and just got back not that long ago. Ann announced the winner this morning in the giveaway post comments, but just in case no one saw it there, the winner is:

STARFIRENZ

Congratulations! Send your mailing info to aztleclady1 at gmail dot com in order to receive your copy of Blue Diablo. Happy reading!