Archive for June, 2008
Here’s the list of fantasy books that will be released in July 2008. There are some good pickins here based on the reviews I’ve read!
| July 1, 2008 |  |
Dragon Wytch (Sisters of the Moon, Book 4) by Yasmine Galenorn “The D’Artigo sisters are half-human, half-Fae operatives for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. Camille is doing her best to juggle magic, men, and the demonic war into which they’ve been thrust—until she discovers a secret that could change all their lives.“ |
| July 1, 2008 |  |
Deja Demon by Julie Kenner “Keeping the local kiddos in line will take all of Kate’s skills as a mother and demon hunter, just when she’ll need them the most. The High Demon Goramesh has returned to San Diablo—this time with a full-blown army of the undead and a powerful demonic ally. Once again, it’s up to Kate to save the world. Good thing she can multi-task…” Fantasy Girl: this is Book 4 in the Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series. Kate Connor is a Level 4 demon hunter working for a secret arm of the Vatican. She tries to juggle her normal daily “soccer mom” life while preventing things that go bump in the night from overtaking her town. These books are always hilarious and contain just the right mixture of adventure and fun. |
| July 8, 2008 |  |
The Shadows (Vampire Huntress Legends) by L.A. Banks “Yonnie and Val, a strange combination of a daywalker and an angel hybrid, have joined Damali and Carlos’s team. And the two new Council Level vamps, Elizabeth Bathory and Lucrezia Borgia, are still in recovery from their last mission. This time, Damali and Carlos must address serious human casualties and collateral damage…all while the vampire councilman, Nuit rebuilds Blood Music to become more than a record label, but a media brainwashing empire for the dark lord.“ |
| July 8, 2008 |  |
Jhegaala by Steven Brust “Fresh from the collapse of his marriage, and with the criminal Jhereg organization out to eliminate him, Vlad decides to hide out among his relatives in faraway Fenario. All he knows about them is that their family name is Merss and that they live in a papermaking industrial town called Burz. At first Burz isn’t such a bad place, but the longer he stays the stranger it becomes. No one will tell him where to find his relatives. Even stranger, when he mentions the name Merss, people think he’s threatening them. And the witches’ coven that every Fenarian town and city should have is nowhere in evidence.“ |
| July 29, 2008 |  |
Nightwalker (The First Dark Days Novel) by Jocelynn Drake “For centuries Mira has been a nightwalker—an unstoppable enforcer for a mysterious organization that manipulates earth-shaking events from the darkest shadows. But elemental mastery over fire sets her apart from others of her night-prowling breed . . . and may be all that prevents her doom. The foe she now faces is human: the vampire hunter called Danaus, who has already destroyed so many undead. For Mira, the time has come to hunt . . . or be hunted.” Fantasy Girl: this sounds like the type of fantasy books I like to read. |
| July 29, 2008 |  |
The Devil You Know by Jenna Black “The beautiful. The bad. The possessed. Some people worship them. Some people fear them. And some people—like Morgan Kingsley—go up against them toe-to-toe, flesh to flesh, and power against power. An exorcist by trade, Morgan is one of the few humans with an aura stronger than her possessor, even though her demon can tease her body senseless. She’s also a woman who has just discovered a shocking truth: everything she once believed about her past, her identity, may have been a lie.“ |
| July 29, 2008 |  |
Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega Book 1) by Patricia Briggs “Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack…and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country will recognize her value as a pack member—and as his mate.” |
See also: Hot New Releases: Best Urban Fantasy Books for June 2008
Here’s one that makes my “best fantasy books” list:
Rachel Morgan is back and as usual has a cast of characters gunning for her. The main storyline in this book focuses on a string of werewolf murders that have recently occurred in Cincinnati. Rachel gets involved in the investigation when Glen, the illegal tomato-loving FIB agent asks her to come down to the morgue to help him determine the cause of death for a female werewolf.
After other bodies begin surfacing Rachel begins wondering if there’s a link between these deaths and an object that Nick (Rachel’s former loser boyfriend) stole from a group of werewolves. Rachel’s involvement increases when a friend of hers is arrested for the murders.
Now, if you’re a Rachel Morgan fan you know that every book contains demon visitations. This fantasy book is no exception. There are lots of demon visits in this book. I mean, lots.
As a matter of fact this fantasy book begins with Rachel being visited by Newt (the top demon from hell) who thinks Rachel has an object of his. Newt has gone insane and has occasional memory lapses. As such Rachel immediately grasps the seriousness of the situation: if Newt doesn’t find the object he’s looking for he may retaliate by killing Rachel and everyone in the vicinity. Rachel has to think fast to survive and does so only with the help of Ceri. This proves very tricky because Newt, because of his powers, can enter her (or anyone else’s) protection circles.
After dispatching Newt back to his place of origin its business as usual for Rachel which means she continues to struggle with her feelings for Ivy, her living vampire roommate. Rachel and Ivy are great friends but Ivy wants to take their friendship to the next level. Yes, the “next level” definitely includes a few loving bites but it also includes having a more intimate girl-to-girl relationship. To complicate matters Ivy is currently in a relationship with Skinner, a former girlfriend of Ivy’s who’s also a living vampire (as opposed to a dead vampire). Skinner has practically moved in with them and has made it very clear that she’s not a fan of Rachel’s. So, on top of being fearful of Newt suddenly appearing at any time at the church, Rachel also has to worry about Skinner and how far she’ll go to make sure Rachel isn’t competition for her affections for Ivy.
And, as in most of the fantasy books in this fantasy series, Rachel comes into contact with Trent. Trent wants Rachel to work security at his wedding because he just got an RSVP from Al (the demon determined to make Rachel his familiar).
Speaking of Trent, we learn even more about him in this book. I’ll let the readers decide whether it’s good or not. Needless to say, one particular scene between he and Rachel (at the Rachel’s home) left me absolutely speechless. Not that I talk to my books or anything – it was just shocking to me.
And if that wasn’t enough, Rachel receives news that Piscary, the master vampire who was incarcerated because of Rachel’s testimony, has been released from prison. This adds another person to the list of would-be assassins for Rachel. Let’s see there’s Al (a demon), Newt (a master level demon), Skinner (a vampire), and Piscary (a master level vampire). Okay, that seems about right for Rachel!
Our favorite pixy Jenks is back with his ever expanding family. Jenks provides the usual funny and insightful wisecracks we’ve come to love him for. Sadly, Armstrong introduces the idea that Jenks and his wife have almost reached the normal life span of pixies and are therefore in danger of going into a hibernation that they might not be able to survive. I really love Jenks’ character and hope he stays around for many more books in the series.
At over 500 pages this is a fairly long book as fantasy books go but Kim Harrison does an admirable job of juggling all of the plotlines described above (in addition to some I left out) in a manner that’s entertaining and exciting. Her pacing is top notch as always and she does a bang up job of climax building. “For a Few Demons More” is another solid contribution to the Rachel Morgan series and one which fans and newcomers alike will enjoy.
See also: Fantasy Book Quickie: Haunted by Kelley Armstrong
Best Fantasy Stories Pick: Kitty and the Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn
