Friday Booktalk
Jan
18
2008

I managed to get two books read this week and both I liked quite a bit.

The first one was Eileen Wilks’ Night Season. I think Wilks’ Lupi books are some of the most interesting and well written paranormals out right now so I’d been eagerly awaiting book four in the series and the telling of Cynna and Cullen’s story.

As with the other books, I woudln’t say so much that the books are paranormal romances but paranormals with strong romantic elements. In this book, Cynna and Cullen are sucked into another universe, The Edge where Cynna is told her father is.

So you get lots of great action, magic, interesting worldbuilding and the deepening of the connection between two very well defended characters, both outcasts, both saved in a very real sense by Rule Turner – Cynna and Cullen. It’s a very emotional story and I liked it a great deal.

I must admit several things – first, I love Lily and Rule and I want more. I’d be quite content if Wilks kept the series about them and other people were side characters. But I’m greedy that way and it’s a testament to what wonderful characters she’s written. I wanted more of Cullen. I am fascinated by his character, much more so than Cynna. Although I did come to really like her in this book which was not the case in the last one where I thought she was a bitter, nasty cow – again I think a huge testament to Wilks’ talent as an author.

And then Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Side of the Moon

Now see, I’d read this review and the reviewer was spitting mad over Acheron’s behavior with Artemis and Nick’s character changes. But you know what? She’s been setting that up for some time. Do people really think Nick has turned evil forever?

No Kenyon has given readers some really complicated characters and some fabulously ambiguous villains – in fact I love how the daimons aren’t evil for evil’s sake but are victims. Sure, they’re killers and yes, they need to be destroyed but I think over the last several books Kenyon has taken assumptions about all sorts of characters and turned them upside down.

Stryker is a bad guy with major daddy issues but cripes, he’s got a reason! And I think Ash is just bone tired of having to continually use his one big card with Artemis to give his Dark Hunters the one thing he needs so badly. I think it’s an excellent build to whatever will happen between Nick and Ash in Ash’s book later this year.

I wouldn’t say I was a fangirl, but I do enjoy the series and I think Kenyon’s skill at creating really interesting and layered characters is totally underrated. These are not cardboard villains in any sense. There are times when I read when I really feel for the daimons, even the Spathi.

The main coupling wasn’t my favorite of the series although I liked both Susan and Ravyn separately. I just wasn’t that drawn into them together as much as I was into them as individuals. However, in truth, that was the smallest part of the book for me as I’m continually drawn in and interested by this cast of characters and meta story arc Kenyon creates with her DH world.

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