Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance

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In this, the second book in the series, Karen Chance continues the story of Cassandra “Cassie” Palmer, the reluctant clairvoyant who seems to have a penchant for getting mixed up in vampire politics. This time, she takes a couple of war mages and a few ghosts along for the ride. Does she get in over her head? Of course!

The Story

Cassie is still refusing to complete the ritual that will make her the new Pythia, the top magical power in the supernatural world. It’s been a struggle for her to hold out for so long but if you’ve read this book you know that Cassie has good reasons for delaying this transformation:

  • once she becomes Pythia she’s certain her rival, Myra, will step up her attempts on her life;

  • the council of mages will attempt to control her actions (she’s pretty stubborn);

  • she’ll be eternally bound to Mircea, a powerful vampire.

She’s most concerned about the last issue. You see, Mircea hired someone to place a geis, or love spell, on Cassie. The spell is extremely powerful and prevents Cassie from “gettin’ busy” with anyone except Mircea. If Cassie shows any signs of being attracted to another man the spell kicks in a causes Cassie (and the object of her desire) excruciating pain.

Additionally, the spell causes Cassie and Mircea to crave one another (like, let’s take our clothes off right now) if they’re in close proximity to one another.

All of this is important because if Cassie has sex with Mircea she’ll be bound to him and the spell will make it almost impossible to be away from him for any period of time. Also, in order to complete the Pythia ritual she has to, guess what - have sex with someone. Yes, Cassie is a virgin. And the spell won’t let her have sex with anyone but Mircea. Quite the dilemna, huh?

The main storyline revolves around Cassie’s attempts to locate Tony, the vampire that raised her since childhood. She wants to find Tony because she discovered that he’s responsible for ordering someone to kill her parents; she wants to exact a little revenge. Turns out Tony’s on the run from the vampire senate and has partnered with Myra, Cassie’s nemesis. Additionally, they’ve hooked up with Rasputin (yes, the real Rasputin from history), an evil and deadly vampire that’s dead set on taking over the vampire senate. So, not only does Cassie need to find Tony, but she also needs to take care of Myra.

All of this is complicated by the fact that Myra has learned how to travel back in time and alter history. Cassie’s biggest fear of all is that Myra will travel back in time and kill Cassie’s childhood protector, which means that she’ll alter the course of events and cause Cassie’s death. Or even worse, Myra could travel back in time and kill Cassie’s parents before Cassie was conceived. Bottom line: she’s got to find and stop Myra.

Pritkin, the renegade mage that was against Cassie in Karen Chance’s first book Touch the Dark, is back and he and Cassie team up to find Myra and Tony. Karen Chance throws in a little sexual tension between them which is both interesting and a little funny.

Karen Chance has once again written a great fantasy story that puts a magnifying glass on the world of vampires, mages, and fae. Although Cassie’s personality quirks are fairly consistent, the beauty of the story lies in the character development of Pritkin and his relationship with Cassie. Throughout the story Cassie develops a better appreciation for Pritkin’s knowledge of magic and magical creatures.

This book gets put in the contemporary fantasy/action-adventure category. And although it contains a good bit of vampire lore and vampire fantasy but it’s nicely balanced. I wouldn’t classify this as a vampire romance story, but the scenes between Cassie and Mircea are fairly hot.

Karen Chance does a great job in describing the world of magic, magic users, and faerie politics. The trip through the Dark Fey’s woods is as vivid as Dorothy’s trip through the Dark Forest in the Wizard of Oz. The culmination of forces that converge during the climax makes everything leading up to that point well worth the journey. This book gets a “buy” recommendation.

Note: the next book in the series is titled Embrace the Night and has a release date of April 1, 2008.

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4 Comments »

Comment by Scooper
2008-02-17 11:01:49

Great review. Chance is an excellent storyteller and her next book takes a closer look at Pritkin. If you loved Pritkin, you’ll like the next book. If you hated him, you might learn a little something to alter your opinion.

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Comment by FantasyGirl
2008-02-17 11:09:52

SCOOPER:

Thanks for the info on the next book. I just added “Embrace the Night” to my pre-order wishlist.

I’m actually a fan of Pritkin. I like his hard-as-nails approach to things. As a war mage I assume he’s trained to always be on guard. Looking forward to learning more about his character.

Thanks for the visit!

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Pingback by Upcoming Fantasy Books Worth Waiting For | bestfantasystories.com
2008-02-17 11:28:40

[...] read a review of Karen Chance’s first book in the series, Touch the Dark and the second book Claimed by Shadow. If you’re already caught up with the books, you can read the first chapter the new [...]

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Pingback by Touch the Dark by Karen Chance | bestfantasystories.com
2008-03-07 16:40:10

[...] Karen Chance provides numerous surprises in this book that will keep you guessing. I recommend adding Touch the Dark to your fantasy book list.  Check out the lowest prices on new and used copies of Touch the Dark. You can also read my review of the 1st book in this series Claimed By Shadow. [...]

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