Succubus Dreams (Georgina Kincaid, Book 3) by Richelle Mead (4/5 stars)

This is the third book in the Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead. While I enjoyed this book, I didn't find it as compelling as the second book was. The side characters introduced in this book also weren't as engaging as those introduced in the second book and I really missed Bastien.

In this book Georgina keeps having really vivid dreams the night after she takes a victim; the dreams leave her incredibly drained of life force. As if this oddity isn't bad enough the demon who owns the contract for her soul brings in a succubus named Tawny for Georgina to apprentice. Georgina is trying to cope with all of this and it is creating a stress on her relationship with Seth.

I didn't like this book as much as the last one; I thought Georgina was a bit unfocused through parts of the book. Also the side characters didn't grab me and hold my interest like Bastien did. It seemed like a lot of this book was focused on Georgina's struggles with her daily life, more than any big investigation. Having a bunch of angels in the book was interesting but they flitted in and out of the story so quickly that I didn't think they were developed into characters all that well. I thought Tawny's character was annoying and somewhat unnecessary. My biggest problem was with the ending. I won't give anything away but I thought that multi-book build up between Georgina and Seth was poorly and quickly treated at the end of the book (if you read the book you will know what I mean).

The things I did like were the interludes that told stories from Georgina's past. These short glimpses into Georgina's former aliases were griping, very interesting, and bittersweet. I also liked meeting the demon who took Georgina's soul. I found it very intriguing that Carter again hinted that Georgina's contract with hell might not be exactly what she thinks it is; this is a theme continued from the second book. I also liked the inclusion of Dante as a supporting character; he is somewhat interesting and I hope his role is bigger in future books.

The overall theme of this series seems to be Georgina's struggle against her contract for her soul and I am intrigued to see where this over arcing story leads. I was somewhat disappointed that the mystery and characterization wasn't as engaging as the second book. It was still a good read though and I look forward to the next book; I am still wishing these books had more action in them. They remind me a lot of the Kitty Norville series in their level of action.

Succubus on Top (Georgina Kincaid, Book 2) by Richelle Mead (5/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead. I enjoyed this book quite a bit more than the first book. I thought Georgina really came into her own as a character, some interesting side characters were also added. There was more urgency to this book too.

In this book Georgina knows something is up when her co-worker and friend Doug starts acting strangely. Georgina is determined to get to the bottom of Doug's issues. She is interrupted by a pleasant surprise when Bastien, an incubus whom she has had a close friendship with for centuries, shows up. Bastien is assigned with taking down a prominent conservative radio host; and is enlisting Georgina's help. Meanwhile Georgina and Seth are still trying to make their "hands off" relationship work.

This book was much better than the first one. With Bastien present you get more look into Georgina's history. The issues with Doug end up being really interesting and Georgina gets sucked into an investigation that propels the story forward. I thought Georgina gained a lot more personality in this book and that her character really became something special; she is smart and has a way of helping people out that is really admirable despite her demonic nature.

The plot-line of this book was tighter and more compelling than the last book. I felt like in general the writing was better. The characters of Carter and Bastien added a lot to the story. In summary I liked this book; my greatest complaint is still that I wish there were more action scenes. I guess these books are just much more paranormal romance than they are paranormal action.

Fables and Reflections, Sandman Volume 6 by Neil Gaiman (5/5 stars)

This was another excellent volume in the Sandman series. Instead of being one long story this book consists of multiple stories; each story illustrated by a different artist. The stories are what the title suggests; fables and reflections.

The stories touch on familiar fables and myths. Everything from Faust to Eurydice. This book was particularly interesting since more of Morpheus's family shows up. You get to meet a number of his siblings; his sister Death in particular makes a number of appearances.

I enjoyed both the artwork and the stories greatly. Each story has its own little dark sense of humor, always with a touch of irony woven in. The stories are engrossing and thought provoking; while expanding on both well known and obscure fables and myths.

A great book. I continue to love this series and am excited to read the next book.

Monday Weekly Book Haul

Okay so I am going to start keeping track of the books I got in the previous week. Last week was quite the haul; since I picked up a whole bunch of books (3) from the library, got a book through paperbackswap.com, bought a couple kids books, and got a book though the Amazon Vine Program.

From the Library:

Finally I am reading "Ink Exchange" by Melissa Marr. I didn't like her first novel "Wicked Lovely" much but I thought I should give her one more chance since I *do* love reading about fairies.


Got my hands on "Kitty Raises Hell" too. I am excited to see where this book goes. These books are never "keepers" for me so getting it from the library was perfect; but they are entertaining.


I found Moores Fool book so entertaining I was excited to get this one.

From Paperbackswap.com:

I have really been looking forward to reading this book too. I was so excited when my "wish" was granted last week.

From Amazon Vine:

I got this through the Vine program. I am not sure what I am in for with this one; but it should be an interesting read.

Bought:

I had to buy this book for my son. We've read it a few times and he loves it. It is a wonderful kid's book.


Another great book from Gaiman. A bit too old for my two-year old; but he will love it when he gets a bit older.

So, that is it for the books that came in last week. Stay tuned from more book reviews this week. I'll list my next haul of books next week. Also, just cause they are listed doesn't mean I'll get to them soon (excepting the library books); I just have so many cool books to read!

The Roar by Emma Clayton (3/5 stars)

I got this book as an Advanced Reading Copy from the Amazon Vine program. This was an interesting book with a few creative elements and many not so creative elements.

Ellie has been kidnapped by a man seeking to develop her "powers" for some unknown purpose. Mika is her twin left behind; everyone believes Ellie is dead except for him. They both live in a world where the northern hemisphere of the earth is walled in order to protect humans from the evil Animals infected with the Animal Plague a generation before them. Ellie it trying to get home and Mika is trying to find a way to get to Ellie despite the fact no one believes she is alive.

This was a fast paced, engaging read. It had some creative elements in the idea of an Animal Plague wiping out half of the earth. Unfortunately it had more uncreative elements in it. For example trapping a subset of humanity behind an enclosure and telling them they are all that is left is a concept explored in many novels. Also genetically modifying kids to develop special talents for fighting or humans morphing to a new species are also both topics that have been overdone in both books and film. Still, if you like reading novels about these types of things this could be the book for you. Personally I thought that this story rehashed a lot of the stories out there. If you are interested in this type of story I think The Storm Thief, The Tripods series, The Hunger Games, and The Diamond Age do this type of story in a more creative and better way that this book does. A lot of people also like The City of Ember (although it wasn't a favorite of mine) and this explores a similar type of story.

What really got me about this book was the end. The ending is rushed and very unsatisfying. This book is either blatantly setting up the reader for a new series or the author just had absolutely no idea how to end the book. Many of the main events in the book were left unresolved and other events are only partially or quickly wrapped up. Nothing about this book was surprising mainly because there are already so many books like this available; especially in the young adult category.

This book is a quick read about isolating humanity in a post-Armageddon type walled city; it is also about genetic modification. If you are really into these topics this isn't a bad read, but it is not an especially mind-blowing or enlightening read either. I personally don't think I will be looking into any more of Clayton's work; it just wasn't creative enough.

News: Kim Harrison = Dawn Cook?

I am trying to expand the book blog a bit with various bits of news that I find out.

Today I learned that Kim Harrison is the nom de plume of Dawn Cook. I have been curious to read some Dawn Cook novels. Now that I know that one of my favorite authors, Kim Harrison, is none other than Dawn Cook herself I am definitely going to add the Decay Princess series to books I want to read. This was apparently posted in the a May 2009 article of Locus magazine.

Also it was with much sadness last week that I learned that David Eddings past away. I have read a couple of his series in the past and really enjoyed them; they were excellent examples of hardcore adventure fantasies. It is always sad when such a steadfast fantasy writer passes away :-(

That's all for today. I am also going to try and start posting what books are added to my seemingly endless pile of reading as time goes on.

Update of the Dreaded Series Reading Chart

Okay so it has been a long, long while since I posted my famous chart of all of the series I am reading. Here it is in all of its glory. I have added in notes about all the info I know about upcoming books in the series, series length, etc. etc. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Enjoy! If it says I am on book 0; that means I have not started to read that book yet. Eventually I will get all of these series read, or I will give up on them. Whatever...