Fifteenth century Venice is a safe haven for the masterless dregs of the vampire world, a city where they can live without the fear of retribution for violating another’s territory.
Still, there are plenty of ways for a young vampire to die in the glittering city, a lesson that prince turned pauper Mircea Basarab must learn quickly. But there are opportunities, too—in the service of a secretive courtesan, in the bed of a beautiful senator, and in the hunt for an ancient assassin.As a vendetta older than Venice itself comes to a climax, Mircea struggles to evade the dangers of his current life, to come to terms with his past, and to uncover the truth hidden behind a city of masks…
Review:
The Masks We Wear
A whole book from Mircea's POV? *le sigh* Is there a more dignified, refined, sophisticated man on the face of the fictional planet? I think not. And even here, in his humble vampiric beginnings, during the rags phase of his riches-to-rags-and-back-to-riches-again story, he was still the Mircea we know and love. Yay!
MASKS is kind of everything you're thinking it's going to be, and a bit more besides. Yes, I missed the mad-cap narration of my girl Cassie. Yes, I missed all the regular Cassandra Palmer World peeps. But Mircea is, in my opinion, Chance's most well-crafted creation. I would never accuse an author of playing favourites - I mean, my goodness, it would be like picking your favourite kid, surely - but if the time and effort spent establishing a character is any indication of favour, then... he's totally hers!
So what is MASKS about? Well, it's set 2 years after Mircea was cursed with vampirism. Long enough for him to get a grip on his initial uncontrolable urges, but not long enough to establish any kind of position within the vampire world. As a masterless vampire, Mircea is easy pickings for anyone in search of a new plaything. So he, and his trusty, still-currently-human tutor, Horatiu, head to Venice, a supposedly "free" area and haven for masterless or abandoned young vamps. Or that's what it said on the brochure, anyway. Unfortunately for Mircea, it seems they used a fair bit of poetic license with that word "free"...
You may notice the page count here. 400-some pages. This is most certainly not novella length or novella-like in its plotting. It's well-crafted and exciting, just like all KC's other books. It does have a completely different tone, thanks to it being from Mircea's POV, but I really feel like, having read, it, I understand his character, and also his relationship with the consul, a whole lot better. So it's absolutely worth a read for that sneak peak alone. And aside from that, it's just a good read. I suppose it could be read as a stand-alone, but I'm not sure I would recommend it. Better for fans of the series to use it to meet the "real Mircea", than for new readers to try and sample the Cassandra Palmer series via this entry, because, like I said, the tone is so completely different from all the other books, it wouldn't be a good indicator of what's to come.
A suave and elegant 4 Stars ★★★★
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Original Title
Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off the books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—or they’ll devour the Edge and everyone in it.Review:
Oh, I do love Ilona Andrews. I love her (their) Kate Daniels series and now I love these too.
It seems that the concept of a world that has part-time magic is something that has really captured the imagination of the writing duo. Because as in the Kate Daniels series where magic comes and goes in unpredictable waves, here we have another world (or worlds, to be more precise) that's partly magic-filled (The Weird), part magical dud (The Broken, aka our world) and then something else in between called the Edge which has elements of both.
The magic of the people from the Edge is only a trickle compared to that of someone from the Weird. Someone like Declan, for instance. I LOVED his character! He is a blueblood noble from the Weird and he's so very arrogant and pompous, particularly at the beginning of the book, and such a contrast to the hard-working country bumpkin that was Rose's character, that they just sizzled on the pages. They seemed so opposite at first, and Rose has such a difficult time trusting anyone, especially a noble (and with good reason), so their interactions throughout the first part of the story made for some very grin-worthy scenes.
This was one of my favourites, and is a good example of their differences:
"Eat slowly," the blueblood said. "Don't cut your food with the fork. Cut it with the knife, and make the pieces small enough so you can answer a question without having to swallow first."
Why me? "Right. Any other tips?" Her sarcasm whistled right over his head.
"Yes. Look at me and not at your plate. If you have to look at your plate, glance at it occasionally."
Rose put down her fork. "Lord Submarine..."
"Camarine."
"Whatever."
"You can call me Declan." He said it as if granting her a knighthood. The nerve.
"Declan, then. How did you spend your day?"
He frowned.
"It's a simple question: How did you spend your day? What did you do prior to the fight and the pancake making?"
"I rested from my journey," he said with a sudden regal air.
"You took a nap"
"Possibly."
"I spent my day scrubbing, vacuuming and dusting ten offices in the Broken. I got there at seven thirty in the morning and left at six. My back hurts, I can still smell bleach on my fingers, and my feet feel as flat as these pancakes. Tomorrow, I have to go back to work, and I want to eat my food in peace and quiet. I have good table manners. They may not be good enough for you, but they're definitely good enough for the Edge, and they are the height of social graces in this house. So please keep your critique to yourself."
The look on his face was worth having him under her roof. As if he had gotten slapped.
She smiled at him. "Oh and thank you for the pancakes. They are delicious."
Hee hee! She called him Lord Submarine.....*snicker*
What's that saying about simple minds and simple pleasures?...
Moving on. Rose's character was someone you kinda wish you were half as cool as. She has this...neat trick, shall we say? And I love the fact that she developed the neat trick by hard work and not just by being "special" or being "the chosen one" or "right place right time". No, she got it like she gets everything else in her life: by trying her damnedest no matter how impossible it may seem.
She has two younger brothers that she is raising by herself, and they were excellent secondary characters. One is a necromancer that can't seem to get his head around the fact that...you know...people die. And the other one is a cat! Or a changeling cat shapeshifter, at any rate, that is very easily distracted by pretty shinies.
The family unit is hard on its luck financially with only Rose's rubbish job to feed and clothe them all, but she would rather starve than let her brothers go without anything. That's how awesome and altruistic she is. Did I mention Rose was cool?
And finally, as anyone that's read any of their other stuff would expect, the writing was superb: witty, humorous, meaningful and thought-provoking. The characters were very enjoyable and the world wonderfully creative. My only slight complaint was the overly descriptive sections whenever anyone went into a new part of the forest. We got descriptions of every flower, plant and vine and what colours they all were until my eyes were glazing. Those were a bit overdone, but that's about all I can think of in terms of negatives. And it's Ilona Andrews so I forgave them and gave it 5 stars anyway!
I highly recommend this book to all Urban Fantasy/ Fantasy Romance/ or heck, even Fairy Tale fans. I don't know why I put off reading it for so long.
5 Stars! ★★★★★
Original Title
On the Edge
ISBN
0441017800 (ISBN13: 9780441017805)
Edition Language
English
Series
The Edge #1
There is no pain in this death, only peace, knowing I am going to die with the one I love the most.Katriona Wilde has never wondered what it would feel like to have everything she's ever known and loved ripped away, but she is about to find out. When she inadvertently leads her sister and best friend through a portal into a world she's dreamed of for six years, she finds herself faced with more than just the frightening creatures in front of her. Kate's forced to accept a new truth: her entire life has been a lie, and those closest to her have betrayed her. What's worse, she has no control over her new future, and it's full of magic and horrors from which nightmares are made. Will Kate discover and learn to control who she really is in time to save the ones she loves, or will all be lost?Review:
What? No, no, no, no, no, that's not the end! It's doesn't end there! *Shakes eReader furiously* Ah man! That sucks!
Well, aside from the book ending VERY abruptly, and without any warning. (Usually you can tell you are being prepared for the end, even for a cliffhanger ending. This one kind of just stops. And I REALLY didn't want it to because I was enjoying it tremendously). So aside from THAT, I loved it!
I always know when my interest has been peaked by a book a bit more than usual because all other activities cease and desist. Normally, I might read for an hour, then maybe go online, listen to some tunes, then go back to my book.
Eeeeeyyyyeah. I don't think this book has left my hands since I picked it up 2 days ago except for maybe working and sleeping.
I can't honestly say the book was perfection; hence the four stars not five. But in terms of enjoyment it was way up there. My main negatives were some slightly stiff and formal dialogue sections. A bit of repetition in the narrative (lots of hand holding, hand grabbing) and just a couple of teensy weensy niggly things like that, that as a reviewer I'm supposed to notice and comment on. Well there you go, I commented on them and they didn't really lessen my enjoyment much at all.
It's always nice to be shown something different and this book and the world(s) it's set in are very creative and unusual, which I just love. It's written in first person, present tense, which seems to be becoming an increasingly popular way of writing at the moment. I remember the first book I read in present tense felt very weird and jarring, but now I'm pretty much used to it and even prefer it in certain circumstances where you don't want your main character to have any clue what's coming. And that fits this book perfectly, because the main character, Katriona (Kate) Wilde, is literally thrown in at the deep end (and then shoved through a magical portal) and it's nice to have to figure things out right along with her.
The main themes of the book deal with prophecies, destinies, chosen ones, fated love etc. I know a few people have issues if their lead character comes across as too "special" and there are certainly elements of that in evidence here. But I don't mind it so much.
The world that she encounters on the other side of the portal I'm reluctant to say too much about as I want people to discover it for themselves. But, suffice it to say, they are having a hard time of it, and Katriona may be their only hope.
“This might be difficult for you to accept, but please know I will never lie to you. You are Encardia's only hope of surviving this war.”
If I could wish for one thing, it would be that the ending was more suspenseful and climactic, rather than just being a surprise because it came out of nowhere. I realise the author will be saving a lot of the fighting/battles to come for future instalments, and judging by the dreams and visions Kate has been having, these should be pretty epic. But it might have been an idea to have some sort of mini battle to close out this book.
Anyhoodle. I will definitely be reading the next one, and I'm now off to stalk the author about when exactly I'll be getting it!
4 Stars! ★★★★
Original Title
Wilde's Fire
Review Copy:
Received from the publisher for an honest review
ISBN
162007057X (ISBN13: 9781620070574)
Edition Language
English
Series
Darkness Falls #1
