Beyond the Shadows, by Brent Weeks (Orbit, 2008)

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The unthinkable has happened: the Godking of Khalidor is dead, slain in combat versus the legendary wetboy, Kylar Stern and the beautiful, treacherous Vi. Now the shattered kingdom of Cenaria has to put itself together again in the aftermath of a brutal invasion. Politics and internal strife may just finish the job the Godking started, however, if Logan Gyre, rightful king, can’t find a way to rally folks around him. Meanwhile, a bizarre chain of events has installed a new Godking, a man maneuvered into place by circumstances beyond his control. But as his efforts to do the right thing backfire, and the power of the throne corrupts him, it looks as though Khalidor may still be a threat after all.

With entire countries in turmoil, the stage is set for a dozen smaller stories to play out. Kylar Stern seeks a legendary sword in order to restore his lost hand. Durzo Blint, back from the dead, seeks his missing daughter and looks for the peace he’s long been denied. Vi attempts to find her true purpose in life, discovering a noble streak she never knew existed. Elene looks to do the right thing, no matter what it costs her. And ultimately, the true threat is revealed, as a vast army of the dead is raised to once again threaten the civilized world. Kylar Stern never thought he’d be anything more than a killer. Now he’ll have to become a legend.

Beyond the Shadows is the epic conclusion to the Night Angel trilogy, and just like in the first two books, Brent Weeks really throws a lot of different stuff into the mix. With so many characters, subplots, and things going on, it would be easy to get lost, but his method of jumping from one scene to another with great regularity, often working with cliffhangers and dramatic moments, means that we never spend so long on any one character as to forget what else is happening. Moreover, it speeds up the pace of the story in general, granting it an addictive, perpetually moving quality. Once I started, it was hard to stop.

From the personal struggles and private moments of the various main characters, to the widescreen, cinematic mindbogglingly huge battle scenes, Weeks weaves together an epic tale that really captures the imagination. I was genuinely disappointed when it was all over, just because I’d been drawn that effectively into the story. I’ll miss Kylar and Vi and Logan and all the rest. The amazing thing is that for a great portion of the book, the first half at least, there’s no sign of what we might call the Big Bad. The previous Big Bad, the Godking, was killed in the second book of the trilogy, and his successor isn’t the villain we might have expected. No, the majority of the plot is moved forward by people — good and bad — doing things for personal reasons. None of them are necessarily evil or bad, just misguided or trapped by their circumstances. Everything else is motivated by previous events and the fallout from preexisting conditions. It’s late in the book when we see just who or what remains to threaten the fragile calm, and from that point on, it snowballs into something huge and unstoppable. That’s when we truly appreciate the sense of history and epic scale built into the setting, as it all comes into play one last time.

Beyond the Shadows is everything I’d hoped for in an ending to this trilogy. Maybe not everyone got the ending they wanted, but it certainly resolves itself in a satisfying way, making for one of the best epic fantasies I’ve read in quite some time. Frankly, it would take a review three times this size to properly discuss every thought I’ve had about the Night Angel trilogy. This was a damned good read, and I hope we’ll see more from Brent Weeks relatively soon.

Shadow's Edge, by Brent Weeks (Orbit, 2008)

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Cenaria has fallen to the ruthless Godking of Khalidor and his armies. The legendary wetboy, Durzo Blint, is dead at the hands of his apprentice Kylar Stern, who has since rejected the life of a killer for the quiet existence of a shopkeeper in a distant land. Cenaria’s rightful king, Logan Gyre, is trapped deep in the city’s worst prison with killers and madmen, forced into a feral existence for survival, while the last free nobles of Cenaria forge desperate alliances and plan a resistance in the woods. Truly, dark times have fallen, and it’s just the beginning, as events continue to unfold. The Godking continues to hunt for an ancient magical weapon known as the ka’kari, even as Kylar, its current owner, tries to master it while resisting his darker urges. The beautiful, amoral assassin known as Vi goes hunting for Kylar on the Godking’s orders, even as an old friend comes to hire Kylar for one last job. One job, and then he can retire forever. But can even Kylar Stern rescue Logan Gyre from his prison, and slay the Godking? Or can he stay out of the killing business for good?

As can be expected, things soon get messy, as plotlines progress and the status quo continues to change. Kylar’s attempts to bury the past and forge a new life with his newfound love and family only lead to tragedy, and soon he’s on the hunt. Vi, always a wild card, can’t decide whose side she’s really on, until the choice is made for her. Logan, the quintessential survivor, might escape the Maw, but can he reclaim a kingdom, or will politics seal his fate? And even after death, Durzo Blint’s legacy lives on, in unexpected ways.

As with the first book in the trilogy, The Way of Shadows, there’s a lot going on, with the author juggling a large cast and numerous plotlines, not all of which seem to be immediately relevant. It’s an ambitious story, but Weeks manages to keep all of his balls (or flaming batons) in the air, skillfully jumping between characters and events as he moves the overall plot further along. And believe me, there are some significant changes to be found in this book, as Weeks proves that no character is safe or untouchable. There’s plenty of surprises and twists through the course of the story, and enough happens that it’s easy to see this as the second act of a three act epic. It doesn’t suffer from that middle book slump that afflicts many trilogies, and it’s probably a small blessing that Weeks didn’t try to stretch his series out beyond a trilogy. And for all that happens here, there’s a lot left to be wrapped up in the final volume of the trilogy, and I can hardly wait to see who lives and who dies and if anyone gets a happy ending. I haven’t been this excited about epic fantasy in a while, and for good reason. Shadow’s Edge is telling a new and different story, full of complex characters who exist in morally grey areas. I honestly have no complaints; this is grim and gritty, down and dirty, sharp-edged and raw, and yet it has a certain appeal to it. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down, and the last book can’t come soon enough for my tastes.

The Way of Shadows, by Brent Weeks (Orbit, 2008)

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In many ways, Cenaria is the cesspool of Midcyru, a realm of murderers, thieves, and opportunists perpetually threatened by other lands, the most dangerous of which is Khalidor, ruled by their merciless Godking. In Cenaria City, the worst spot of all is the Warrens, where near-feral children band together in guilds to rob, assault, and kill the unwary. For Azoth, a member of one such guild, anything has got to be better. Anything. Even apprenticing himself to the city’s most notorious “wetboy” — magically-enhanced assassins with a unique style — Durzo Blint. Azoth risks everything in his effort to gain an apprenticeship, knowing full well the training might just kill him. And against all odds, he succeeds. Now, leaving behind a life in the gutters, he begins years of studying and training with the enigmatic, mercurial Durzo Blint, a man who’d as soon kill Azoth as help him.

Years pass, and things change in the city. Azoth becomes Kylar, adopting the false identity of a minor noble while he learns the ins and outs of polite society, all the while continuing his education as a wetboy-in-training. Only one problem remains: his lack of magical Talent, that which separates the wetboys from the common assassins. And Durzo has made it clear that should Kylar not develop such Talent, he’ll die. Meanwhile, other pieces and players move throughout the city, as forces both internal and external play a long game of infiltration, manipulation, and intrigue. The Sa’kage, a not-so-secret criminal organization, controls just about every aspect of illegal and immoral behavior in Cenaria, led by the Nine, who are in turn led by the Shinga. They control everything, but not even the Nine can plan for what the future might bring. Logan Gyre, scion of one of Cenaria’s most powerful noble houses, becomes a political pawn as the mad king Aleine exerts a stranglehold upon his land. Elene, who was once one of Kylar’s closest friends back in the Warrens, may have escaped her life there, but even so, danger reaches out to touch her new life. And the thread that brings all of these people into contact with one another, in one way or another, is the rumor that a ka’kari, a fabled magical weapon unlike any other, can be found in Cenaria. Everyone wants it, and no price is too high.

With a cast of thousands in place, and decades-old plans coming to fruition, the stage is set for things to hit the fan. As events rapidly unfold, everything changes for our heroes and villains. Kylar, Durzo Blint, Elene, Logan, King Aleine, and an entire land find their fates approaching at top speed when the Godking of Khalidor finally makes his move. As Cenaria burns, people will live, die, and discover their true natures, and nothing will ever be the same again for the survivors.

And all of that is just in the first book of this new epic trilogy, a grand effort that tells a sweeping story told across a decade or more. You have Azoth’s growth from gutter rat to wetboy, the multi-pronged quest for the magical ka’kari, the rise of Logan Gyre, the political machinations of the Sa’kage, the invasion of Cenaria by Khalidor, the secret history and true nature of Durzo Blint, some stirrings of romance between various characters, and assorted secondary characters pursuing their own agendas. Truth be told, it’s a lot to take in, even in a 700-page book, with characters coming on- and off-screen with great regularity. Luckily, Brent Weeks manages to juggle all of this with a rather adept hand. It’s a gripping tale, and his characters are fleshed-out, multidimensional, and appropriately flawed. Sure, some occasionally act in stupid ways, but with the exception of King Aleine, there’s no one I can really point to and say “There, that one’s irredeemable.” The King, it must be said, is an idiot who gets exactly what he deserves. As for the others, Weeks does an excellent job of making us care whether they live or die, which is good, since later in the book, it seems as though no one is safe from the bloody hand of fate. In the space of a few pages, he can flesh out someone enough that their loss actually means something, for good or bad, and there were more than a few genuine surprises regarding just how some characters choose to respond to the events around them. Weeks is also good at crafting cinematic episodes. I could see how some of these events would play out on the screen, both battles and more personal moments, and one scene near the end involving the fate of Cenaria and its inhabitants was particularly strong.

It’s still too early to tell just where Weeks is going with this series. Some things are fairly evident, but the greater story is still left in the dark, what with the way he well and truly upset the apple cart in this book. This is one time when I’m particularly glad Orbit has decided upon a rapid release schedule for the trilogy, because I want to know what happens to Kylar and the rest of the characters who made it out of this one alive. Weeks has done a superb job in crafting a fascinating new world, populating it with memorable characters, and setting up a compelling epic tale of heroism, vengeance, and magic. It’s been a while since such a grandiose, far-reaching fantasy novel has caught my attention, and I’ll be waiting for the rest in the series eagerly. Brent Weeks is someone to keep an eye on.

Warrior Wisewoman, by Roby James (Norilana Books, 2008)

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Meant in part as a science fiction companion to the long-running (and recently-resurrected) fantasy anthology series Sword and Sorceress, Warrior Wisewoman is . . . well, a complex creature, if one reads the note of explanation in the back. There, publisher Vera Nazarian says that not only is Warrior Wisewoman meant to serve as a counterpart for Sword and Sorceress, containing science fiction stories featuring strong female characters, it’s also meant to contain adult themes for a more mature audience, and present “action and adventure hinging on the sense of wonder that comes from both the scientific exploration of the universe all around us and the spiritual exploration of the other equally grand universe that lies inside.” Whew, sounds like a tall order to me. Initially, I figured that the logical science fiction companion to something like Sword and Sorceress would involve rocketships, rayguns, and bug-eyed aliens, only with strong female protagonists . . . space opera meets Ripley from Aliens, basically. Instead, it seems that editor Roby James has gone for something far different. I wanted to make that clear up front. What you’ll find here is not “classic” science fiction, and certainly not the feminine (or feminist) flipside to Heinlein, Asimov, or E.E. “Doc” Smith. It’s introspective, spiritual, experimental, and in some cases downright oblique. But does the collection work? Let’s take a closer look at some of the stories.

Douglas A. Van Belle turns in “Ungraceful Cliff Dwellers,” which is all about how a semi-primitive society deals with their God, a rather active and somewhat fallible being who makes frequent appearances in their lives to guide and teach them. As the protagonist continues her association with God, she learns more than any before her ever have about why her people exist, and their role in the universe. It’s an interesting story that gradually unfolds over time, but it seems to lack a little something by way of description, leaving things in a nebulous state of existence. It’s a rather cerebral story, featuring long conversations and a measure of character growth, but no action or adventure to speak of.

Rose Lemberg’s “To Find Home Again” suffers from some of that same lack of explanation, as it follows Ria, a woman who seems to be part soldier, part slave, able to fight as needed but otherwise subject to the whims and needs of her Master and his fellow crew. An ill-advised mission leads her to an unexpected detour in her career, and she’s subsequently forced to reclaim her sense of self and identity. I can’t help but wish Lemberg had opted for a little more exposition and a little less introspection, as I was never really caught up in the trials and tribulations of the main character.

Bhaskar Dutt gives us a rather strong story in “An Ashwini Apart,” which looks at the intertwined tales of Charunee and Isabella. As Ashwini, genetically-engineered pairs who can manipulate peoples’ life energy (ki) to heal or harm, they’re nothing without their opposite half — usually their own twin. Charunee and Isabella have lost their twins, but can they match up with one another to reach their potential? As the story progresses, it becomes clear that one or both may be hiding secrets. There’s a fascinating concept at play, here, and Dutt does a lovely job of showing things from two different viewpoints as he explores the mystery at the heart of the story.

In Fran LaPlaca’s “Faith,” a career soldier lands in a small community with her squadron, intent on doing some recruiting for the Navy. However, this planet has discovered an unusual sort of religion. What’s going on? The truth may be too painful to accept. An interesting story with a slow start, it builds to an emotional climax. I’d be interested in seeing more of the characters and background introduced here.

“Among The Wastes Of Time,” by Mary Catelli, is another one of the stronger offerings in this collection, though the transitions between past and present are occasionally confusing and awkward. However, we’re treated to a poignant, powerful story as one woman weighs the letter of the law versus the greater good. On the space station she calls home, an alien simply known as The Last, so-called for being the only one remaining of its species, has priority in any and all emergency situations, no matter who might suffer in its place. Does the last of a species deserve special treatment when dozens of regular people are in jeopardy? It’s up to April to make the hard call that no one else can, or will. With an intriguing setting, and a genuine moral dilemma at stake, this story is thought-provoking and complex.

The protagonist of Peg Robinson’s “As Darwin Decreed” faces a similar problem. A geneticist, she possesses the knowledge and desire to help humans adapt to an alien planet, but the rules in place prevent her from doing so, no matter who might suffer and die in the meantime. However, when a native species faces problems due to the presence of humans, it all comes down to a choice: us or them. Can she defy authority to find a third option? It’s not easy to do the right thing when the right thing is illegal. Another thought-provoking story about the hard choices we all face, it’s interesting that both this and Catelli’s story feature mothers who’ve lost their children as a result of the problem they must now solve.

“Christmas Wedding,” by Vylar Kaftan, takes place in the near future, after ecological and economic disasters have helped to plunge the world into chaos. However, life continues for some people. For Mel, Corie, and Rayvenna, nothing will stop the three women from uniting their lives in an unorthodox wedding, as a symbol of life, love, and hope. But they’ve all been hurt, mentally or physically, in the months preceding . . . can they really forge a life together? This is another one of those intellectual, emotional, spiritual stories that relies more on character than on action or adventure, and the post-apocalyptic setting is really just stage dressing for this piece on relationships and overcoming the odds.

In Sally Kuntz’ “Only A Personal Tragedy,” a young woman sacrifices everything for peace, when war comes to her home. Is she strong enough to go against her friends and family and community in order to save their lives, or will she buckle under the weight of betraying them? It may cost her more than she expects. This story’s bound to raise questions of right and wrong, treason and justice, but the science fiction setting is fairly irrelevant to the narrative as a whole.

Other authors in this collection include Catherine Mintz, Nancy Fulda, Anna Sykora, and Colleen Anderson. All in all, this is definitely a mixed bag of stories. Roby James was shooting for a blend, answering the twin questions of “What makes a woman a warrior?” and “What makes a woman wise?” and in that respect, I suppose she might have been successful. However, very few of these stories really grabbed me emotionally. Perhaps it’s just not that they appealed to my sensibilities, perhaps it’s a fundamental difference between male and female mindsets, perhaps it’s something impossible to define. Technically, this collection is competent, with a few stand-outs to really capture the attention, but overall, I fear that the theme may be just a little too esoteric, a little too specialized to find widespread appeal. I’ll be interested to see how future volumes in this series fare.

Wicked Game, by Jeri Smith-Ready (Pocket Books, 2008)

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Ciara Griffin spent most of her life as a con artist, helping herself to other peoples’ money, until her work started to eat away at her conscience. After one last big score, she retired from that life, and went back to school. Now, as she tries to lead a life on the straight and narrow, she applies for an intership at WVMP, a quirky little radio station whose late-night DJs each specialize in a different musical era: ’40s blues, ’60s rock, ’80s goth and ’00s grunge. Ciara’s certainly dubious about her long-term prospects in the mkarketing department of the station, especially once she’s met the DJs in question. A stranger, flakier, more unlikely bunch of coworkers she could never have imagined. Especially once she’s forcibly introduced to the true nature of WVMP: it’s essentially a work-study program for vampires, keeping them from losing their connection to the world around them. But a job’s a job, and Ciara rises to the challenge after some initial doubts. And when she learns that the station’s in danger of being sold, which would put her new friends (can a human -be- friends with vampires?) at risk, she convinces them to adopt a bold new format, outting them as vampires to the world (and passing it all off as an elaborate gimmick…)

Unfortunately, there are some older, more traditional vampires who object, most strenuously, to this breach in tradition and potential unwanted publicity, just as there are some humans willing to sharpen their stakes ‘just in case’ and before Ciara knows it, she’s up to her neck in a vampiric power struggle, and things definitely aren’t helped by her growing attraction to her grunge-rock DJ coworker, Shane, who wants to convince her that vampires and humans can be -more- than friends. To save the station and her own skin, Ciara’s going to have to call upon every ounce of con artist in her soul, and pull off one hell of a grift. Danny Ocean’s got nothing on this girl.

Wicked Game is clever, funny, creative, and way too much fun. Jeri Smith-Ready plays with a concept I always thought would work well with vampires, setting them up as nighttime radio DJs whose familiarity with the material comes from actual experience, and she does it well, throwing in a nice mixture of musical styles and character personalities. Honestly, this is a book I wish I’d written, so I’m glad someone went ahead and did it. Smith-Ready’s treatment of vampires is slightly skewed from the average depiction; in her world, vampires need to find a balance between the time period in which they were alive, and the modern era, lest they become disconnected and unable to function. Moreover, they’re essentially locked in to their “Life Time,” unable to easily change or grow or learn new things as time marches on without them. This imbues this particular breed of vampire with a unique and satisfying vulnerability, which makes for some interesting complications in their society. She also plays with the nature of codependency between vampires and humans, showing various ways in which they each get what they want, be it sex, money, protection, or dinner (you guess which is which…) Maybe it’s not -all- entirely original, since there’s only so much variation possible, but it’s explored nicely here.

Ciara’s a fun character in her own right, a natural con artist who’s always looking for that extra angle to exploit, and that back door to escape through. She’s pragmatic, and naturally skeptical at first when things get weird, reacting like any normal person would, but when the chips are down, she really shines. In fact, it’s safe to say she’s got some massive reserves of confidence to draw upon, and an amazing amount of chutzpah, given some of the plans she comes up with. It’ll be interesting to see what she does next, after what she pulls off in this book.
Wicked Game is a sure-fire winner in my opinion, and the sequel will be one of my must-reads.

The Edge of Reason, by Melinda Snodgrass (Tor, 2008)

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There’s a saying: no good deed goes unpunished. Richard Oort, an Albequerque cop, is about to learn this the hard way, when his rescue of a teenage from from a group of inhuman attackers drags him into the middle of a shadowy war. For as long as humanity has existed, two factions have fought against one another for the hearts and souls of mankind. Representing science, rational thought and techology are the Lumina, led by a man named Kenntis. Their opposite numbers are the Old Ones, who work with magic, superstition and religion. Both sides want Richard, one of the very rare people born without any trace of magic, a condition which makes him valuable for a number of reasons. And both sides are willing to go to extremes to secure his services … or neutralize him.

After signing up with the Lumina, Richard undergoes a series of trials and experiences designed to push him to his limits and beyond, as he struggles with his faith, his sexuality, his past, and his future. His only allies in the matter are an unpredictable teenage sorceress, an attractive coroner who wants to be more than a friend, and a homeless god with multiple personalities, as well as the enigmatic Kenntis. Arrayed against him are a host of monsters, demons, and fallen gods. If Richard Oort wants to survive, he’ll have to come to terms with the events that shaped him, and find his new place in the world. If it doesn’t kill him, first. He’d better watch out, because betrayal is close at hand.

The Edge of Reason is a strange book. Billed as “a novel of the war between science and superstition,” it’s a tale of good versus evil where neither term is easily defined. It’s rational versus irrational, light versus dark, past versus future, and faith versus facts.
What exactly is one to make of a book where the good guys are led by someone who might be Lucifer, Jesus Christ is a homeless immortal suffering from multiple personalities thanks to the infinite ways he’s been perceived and worshipped over the years, and the fate of the world rests in the hands of a young cop trying to escape his past?

It’s an intriguing concept, that’s for sure, and Melinda Snodgrass really takes a determined stab at making it work, really getting into the heads and hearts of her characters. You can really feel the pain and anguish as Richard struggles through the crisis of faith sparked by the revelations he’s force-fed in the early parts of the book, and the crisis of sexuality he faces when he starts getting close to Angela, a coworker who bullies her way into his circle of confidantes and allies. It’s also interesting to see how Kenntis, Angela, and Rhiana – a headstrong teenager with a knack for magic – approach the plot in their own ways, for better and for worse.

I will argue that this book seems to have some odd pacing issues, and in no way is this more evident than in the subplot concerning Richard’s sexuality and traumatic past. We’re granted little hints here and there for much of the story, and then, when a revelation is made two thirds of the way into the book, it blows up and becomes a big deal, with issues going from 0 to 60 in the space of a few pages. It seems to me that this could have been spread out just a little more, so it didn’t feel disproportionately weighted against the latter half of the story. Furthermore, the ending seems somewhat abrupt, leaving several major plot threads dangling for what’s obviously a sequel in the works.

That said, I’ll admit that I really enjoyed this book. It’s thought-provoking and certainly memorable, with an intriguing concept and a cast of characters begging for further exploration. I’d love to see more of this world, and the beings that make up the Lumina and Old Ones. Clearly, there’s a lot to be told here. The Edge of Reason is one of those high-concept books that tries to push the boundaries, making for something beyond the usual urban/dark fantasy. Does it succeed in pushing those boundaries? I’ll let the reader decide. It certainly gave me some thingas to think about, and I’ll be picking up the sequel when it appears, so I can find out what happens next in Richard Oort’s saga.

The Devil You Know, by Jenna Black (Dell Spectra, 2008)

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Freelance exorcist Morgan Kingsley has demon problems like she never expected. To her immense annoyance, she’s the unwitting host for Lugh, exiled king of the demons, who’s using her as a refuge while a power struggle in the Demon Realms shakes itself out. Luckily, Lugh hasn’t possessed Morgan, body and soul, like most demons do when they take a mortal host. No, he only shows up in her dreams, where he’s both a distraction and an enticement, neither one of which she needs in an increasingly-complicated life. Her brother, Andrew, was possessed until recently by Raphael, Lugh’s brother, but with Raphael returned from whench he came, Andrew’s in a coma with no signs of improvement. Things get worse when Morgan learns that the demon equivalent of a sociopath, The Hunter, has been released on Earth in order to hunt down Morgan, aiming to kill her and destroy Lugh at the same time. The Hunter will stop at nothing to get its target, and Morgan’s friends and family are right in its path, as victims or hosts. Worse still, Morgan’s just learned things about her family and heritage that she never even dreamed possible, things which cast her entire reason for being into a new light. Now Morgan has to defeat The Hunter, confront her parents, protect everyone she cares for, and still make a living, all while keeping anyone from learning about the demon in her subconscious. And no matter how hard she tries, someone’s getting hurt.

The Devil You Know is the sequel to The Devil Inside, continuing the story of a demon-hunting exorcist forced to coexist with the things she hates, fears, and distrusts the most. It’s a strong, fast-moving story filled with plenty of action and character moments. Morgan’s stubborn refusal to change or adapt when it comes to demons does wear thin after a while; I lost count of the number of times she could have made things easier for herself if she extended even a shred of trust, or a kind word, to people clearly trying to help her. Maybe that’s just how the character is, but after a while, it gets repetitive, especially after the multiple learning experiences she ‘enjoys’ as a result. The relationshsips between Morgan and the other characters are interesting, especially with Adam and Dominic, the sado-masochistic gay couple that act both as allies and occasional foils to Morgan’s plans. The two men attract and repel her in turn, mostly because of their willing demon possession (current for Adam, former for Dominic), partly because of Adam’s love of dealing pain to the willing, and it’s fun to watch Morgan struggle with her conflicting attitudes.

All in all, I’d have to say I enjoyed The Devil You Know. This series is fun, with plenty of action – Morgan Kingsley is an asskicking heroine when she cuts loose – and mystery, with bits of romance seeping through at the edges. One might see Morgan and Lugh getting together in some fashion someday, but she’d have to lose a lot of attitude first. Wherever Jenna Black is going with this series, it’s bound to be enjoyable in the end. I’ll be back for the next installment.

Superpowers, by David J. Schwartz (Three Rivers Press, 2008)

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Who remembers the Madison All-Stars? For a short time in 2001, Madison, Wisconsin, was the home to a group of five super-powered college students, banded together in a shared attempt to understand their powers and change the world for the better. Painstakingly reconstructed through research and interviews, firsthand accounts and eyewitnesses, this is their story. A story of triumph and tragedy, heroism and loss, of the human spirit.

It all begins when five students wake up after a party, each with a hangover, and a different superhuman ability. Jack Robinson has become the fastest man around. Caroline Bloom can fly. Harriet Bishop can turn invisible. Mary Beth Lawson is inhumanly strong and durable. And Charlie Frost can read minds, whether he wants to or not. Naturally, there’s a lot of adjusting to do, for all of them, as they struggle to reconcile their unique abilities with their normal lives and scholastic careers and part-time jobs. Before long, the group decide to take things to the logical level, becoming actual superheroes in an attempt to use their powers for good. Solving crimes, foiling bank robberies and convenience store heists, preventing suicides and accidents, and so on, the so-called Madison All-Stars do their best to keep their identities secret as they fight crime, one day at a time.

But there’s all kinds of pressure mounting upon our heroes. School. Family. The authorities. The public. External demands and internal conflicts of personality, and the sneaking suspicion that there’s more, much more to their powers that meets the eye. With everyone from the police to the press sniffing around, the group begins to fragment under the strain, and in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001, even as the deadly truth about one person’s powers emerge, it seems as though the world may indeed have seen the last of the Madison All-Stars. Were they heroes? Or just idiots in silly costumes? This is their story.

Superpowers is an odd book, to say the least. It reads like a love letter to comic books, written by someone deeply familiar with the genre conventions, but with an eye towards grounding things in the real world. The five superpowered characters – Jack, Charlie, Harriet, Mary Beth and Caroline – are ordinary college students, with wants and needs and desires, and feet of clay. They’re incredibly mundane, but their reactions to their powers are all too believable. Who wouldn’t revel in flight, or be overwhelmed with uncontrollable receptive telepathy, or prone to showing off a little now and again? They fight crime in costumes because, well, it’s sort of expected, and they don’t have any better ideas that wouldn’t expose them to worse potential dangers, like being kidnapped and dissected by the government. It’s an odd, if logical, way to go about doing things, and Schwartz doesn’t pull any punches in looking at how they affect the world, and how the world is affected by them. He looks at how fragile secret identities are, how the best of intentions can turn out poorly, and how a moment of weakness or bad judgment can have immense repercussions. In short, it’s certainly a realistic treatment, without delving too much into the grim and gritty exemplified in a work like Watchmen.

When you get right down to it, Superpowers is, at its heart, fairly mundane. There’s no world-saving, or epic villains to fight, or great castastrophes to stop. There’s just a handful of confused, conflicted young men and women in a relatively small city, and the people changed and touched by their brief time as superheroes. They drink, swear, have sex, screw up in a variety of ways, hurt one another and themselves, and do the best they can to function in a world not ready for people like them. Schwartz does venture into intriguing territory later on in the book, when he brings up the idea of previous superpowered groups, operating either in public or private, and the thought of someone rewriting history to cover it up. It’s those brief glimpses at a larger mythology that make me want to see more of this world, the thought that the Madison All-Stars weren’t alone, that this wasn’t a one-time happening, and that someone out there has the influence and power to simply make them vanish from the history books and news archives.

All in all, I really did enjoy this book. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. I had to know just what became of our little band of would-be heroes, and I was disappointed when their story ended, even knowing going into it that theirs was a finite tale. It might not have been everything I wanted in a superhero book, but Superpowers is nonetheless thought-provoking and entertaining, and Schwartz really captures the various voices of his protagonists. I’ll be looking for him in the future.

Staked, by J.F. Lewis (Pocket Books, 2008)

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It’s not always easy being a vampire. Take Eric, for example. He’s got some serious rage issues, and both short- and long-term memory problems that have plagued him for his entire undead existence. His girlfriend, Tabitha, keeps insisting her turn her into a vampire as well, and nice guy that he is, he’s tempted to do it even though it’ll inevitably ruin the relationship. His best friend, Roger, isn’t as excited about the strip club he co-owns with Eric as he used to be. And when Eric wakes up from a rage blackout to find he’s killed another vampire, and a werewolf wants him dead, well, it sets off a whole chain of bizarre events that seem aimed at ruining everything he cares for and destroying him specifically.

Between the werewolves who want him dead, the vampires who -really- want him dead, and the vampire slayers who want him dead, staked, burned, and disposed of, Eric barely has a chance to catch his metaphorical breath. To make things even more confusing, he’s inexplicably falling for his girlfriend’s little sister. Could things get any worse? Oh yeah, someone close to him may be behind everything. Luckily, Eric’s got family to help him out, even if they are a little unstable and violent on a good day.

Staked is a strangely-compelling vampire story, in which the action, vampirics, and outright outrageousness have all been cranked up as high as the printed page can stand. J.F. Lewis’ vampires pack an amazing array of powers, and Eric is the bloodsucking equivalent of a Spinal Tap song: he goes all the way to eleven. It makes for a certain over-the-top, unashamed insanity, a freewheeling intensity that refuses to settle for anything less than the maximum in carnage and adventure. I see Staked as a B-movie extravaganza, with strippers, a werewolf ice hockey team, sex magic, a magic anti-werewolf gun, and vampire-on-vampire violence aplenty to keep things from getting dull. Done improperly, or with less grace, this sort of thing could fall flat on its face, doomed to failure as pastiche or parody or schlock; Lewis manages to avoid that fate, pulling off an entertaining story that stands out from the more generic vampire fare that I’ve seen of late. With a fast-paced plot, a variety of interesting characters, and a certain cheesy eagerness, Staked makes for great reading, and I’ll definitely pick up Lewis’ next offering to see if he can keep it up.

Shadows Fall, by Simon R. Green (Roc, 1994)

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Somewhere off the beaten path of society and civilization, there lies the mysterious town of Shadows Fall. The elephants’ graveyard of the imagination, it’s where gods and heroes, legends and monsters, myths and childhood companions all go when their time is close to and end, when it’s time to fade away. Some stay and live out quiet lives as they’re forgotten by the outside world, others go through the enigmatic Forever Door, and on to whatever lies beyond. The entire town is ruled over by the immortal Father Time, who uses a variety of clockwork assistants and the turnip-headed Jack Fetch to help keep a semblance of order. It’s a town full of faded musicians, forgotten superheroes, formerly-beloved cartoon characters, time-tossed creatures, and much more. And then James Hart, the subject of an old prophecy, comes home at last, and everything changes, forever.

Even as a serial killer stalks the streets of Shadows Fall, the unstoppable forces of the fundmentalist Christian Warriors of the Light infiltrate and invade the town, and soon, the streets run with blood. In the middle of death and confusion and chaos, it’s all a small band of disparate characters can do to stay alive. James Hart, destined to bring Shadows Fall to an end. Polly Cousins, trapped in her house for decades by a memory. Lester Gold, the Mystery Avenger, a pulp hero who’s been retired for years. Sean Morrison, a rock and roll musician who died before his time. Leonard Ash, who came back from the dead as a revenant, his purpose unknown. Bruin Bear and the Sea Goat, anthropomorphic cartoon characters who refuse to be forgotten. Rhea Frazier, mayor of the endangered town. Madeleine Kresh, an angry young woman sworn to protect Father Time. They’ll all have their parts to play in the last moments of Shadows Fall. But as the Warriors of the Light slaughter indiscriminately, as the Wild Childe kills its own victims without warning, and as the legendary, terrifying forces of the Fae rise up from their Hill to do battle one last time, it’s possible that no one will survive the apocalyptic climax…

Shadows Fall is definitely one of Simon Green’s odder, more ambitious done-in-one books. Released a good fourteen years ago at this point, it’s an odd beast, reflecting an earlier style that defies easy description. Present are characters and organizations and concepts that will come back in later books, such as the Warriors of the Light and Bruin Bear, and the idea of overlapping genres; fantasy, science fiction, comic books, and childrens’ cartoons all mingle and interact in Shadows Fall, giving it an epic feel of anything goes. Also present are the bizarre ideas, catchy names, and evocative descriptions that can be found in just about any Simon Green book you care to name, from Lester Gold the Mystery Avenger, to Jack Fetch the silent (yet deadly) scarecrow. However, in a distinct change from the norm, Shadows Fall lacks the over-the-top uber-characters that populate his Nightside, Deathstalker, and other series. For all that Leonard Ash is unkillable because he’s already dead, the Fae are scarier and nastier than anything alive, and James Hart wields unimaginable power, there’s a very strong sense of most characters as, well, human and vulnerable. And that’s not a bad thing at all. It’s oddly refreshing to see such normal characters, and ironic that they should exist in a town populated by faded legends and forgotten heroes.

Shadows Fall is fast-paced and complex, but it tells a full story in the space of its pages, and we really get to know all od the main players, good and bad, throughout the course of events. Green takes some time to really establish who they are and what they mean to one another, before he cranks things up to the highest volume and cuts loose in a shocking orgy of violence, destruction, and mayhem. Literally, no one is safe in the latter half of the book, once the Warriors bring their war to Shadows Fall, and it’s almost overwhelming to see who lives and who dies, and in what fashion. My only real complaint would be the abrupt nature of the ending, which comes upon you like a brick wall at 80 miles per hour. Given that Shadows Fall is referenced in other works, such as the Nightside series, it’s obvious that it, or a version of it, is linked to the greater overall mythos Green’s created (one which connects the Nightside series, the Deathstalker series, the Secret History/Eddie Drood books, and the stand-alone Drinking Midnight Wine). I’m just not sure exactly how it fits in, given the semi-ambiguous nature of the ending. I suspect it’s best not to ask too many questions, and just roll with it.

I’ve always enjoyed this book. It’s heartfelt and complicated, with some interesting things to say about reality versus perception, the fickle nature of imagination, and the way pop culture goes through trends and discards bits and pieces regularly. I’ve always thought Bruin Bear was a nifty character to get to know, and I’d love to have read Lester Gold’s pulp adventures.

This is definitely a Simon Green classic. Some might say it’s his best; he certainly has claimed so on occasion. I say it’s great fun, and worth reading whether you’re a fan of urban fiction, a fan of Simon Green, or just in the mood for something sparawling, epic, action-packed, and yet confined to the pages of a single book. Give it a shot if you haven’t already.