Best Book Quote: “Tatooing is a sacred business for Amazons – one exclusively performed by women, for obvious reasons. Men just don’t have the same spiritual depth. I found it endlessly funny that in the modern world men had come to dominate the art. Of course, it also explained why most tattoos today no longer possess the power they should.”

Amazon Ink is an urban fantasy with a new twist. In Book One of the Amazons series, Lori Devoti introduces us to the world of the Amazon warrior in modern society. She details, with great skill, how the mythical tribe of female fighters lives in today’s world and how they exist without giving away any of their secrets. She introduces us to Melanippe Saka, a shamed Amazon warrior who left the tribe ten years earlier to give her daughter a normal upbringing. Even though Mel has left her tribe behind, she is always watched by her warrior mother and priestess grandmother – the tribe plans to keep an eye on her. Mel wants nothing more than to forget the pain that her tribe has caused her.

Mel has built herself a very successful tattoo business because of her unique magical skills in tattoo creation. She is doing just fine without the tribe and she wants it to stay that way but, unfortunately, that is not to be for Mel. Suddenly, dead bodies have started to show up on her doorstep. These bodies are Amazon tribe girls that in any normal circumstance could not be captured, let alone killed. Mel hides the bodies while she tries to solve the murders before somebody starts to blame her.

Add in a sexy tattoo artist named Peter who knows a whole lot more about the murders than he should and you’ve got the makings of an excellent urban fantasy. The character of Mel is engaging as she skillfully juggles the many problems that have arrived on her doorstep along with the dead bodies. Lori Devoti has given fantasy readers a true treat with this action filled mystery that has a twist of romance added in for fun. For the fantasy reader out there, this urban fantasy book is one that you will certainly enjoy.

Sample Book Passage: “I nod, refusing to look any further than his sleek, black motorcycle boots. The kind that are more GQ than Hell’s Angels. The kind that look very out of place among the rows of multi-colored flip flops that are currently gracing the green-carpeted floor.”

A sixteen year old high school girl who can read the thoughts of others – sounds like a gift, right? Well, not really for Ever Bloom, a young girl who had a near-death experience and she now knows people’s thoughts, learning all of their life story simply through touch. Why is that a bad thing? Well, in Evermore, by Alyson Noel, knowing people’s innermost thoughts is not nearly as entertaining as one would think – people hide a lot of disturbing information from others while maintaining a ‘respectable’ façade.

Hiding behind her iPod and a hoodie, afraid to touch anyone, Ever does whatever she can to block out the psychic energy flowing around her. When a gorgeous new kid, Damen Auguste, shows up in school, every girl wants to be with him – except Ever. Keeping to herself, she avoids looking at him until she finally can’t avoid eye contact any longer and what she sees shocks her – he has no aura and she can’t hear his thoughts. What’s going on? How can this walking, talking hunk have no aura . . . is he dead?

Ever avoids Damen but she can’t run from him, he tracks her down. Hooking up with him at a party, Ever is sure her life is about to change. But, the next week, Damen neither calls nor texts – he’s a grope-and-run. And when she sees him giving a white rose to her top tormentor in class, she can only think that he must be playing some kind of sadistic game – jerk! But, there’s a whole lot more to this story than meets the eye and Ever is in for a wild ride as she finds out just what Damen is and what’s in store for her future.

Evermore is available in paperback, Kindle format and audio format.

Lorena finally gets what’s coming to her in True Blood Episode 7 as Sookie sinks a metal pole into her chest, turning her into a big pile of vampire mush. Looks like we are finally rid of that bitch. And speaking of getting rid of vampire assholes, the Magister loses his head after he is forced to marry Russell and Sophie-Ann. Sookie’s true identify is becoming the big mystery that everyone wants to solve in this week’s episode. Keep reading for some other highlights from Episode 7:

Highlights from Tonight’s Episode
Alcide and Tara rescue Sookie and a dying Bill from Lorena’s torture room and put them in the back of the van. Sookie opens up her wrist, pouring her blood into Bill’s mouth. He’s sucking for all he’s worth and then he starts biting. Wow, is this her thanks for rescuing him?

Sookie is dying when Alcide and Tara pull the van over and they race her to the hospital. Who thought it was a good idea to put a critically hurt vampire in the back of a van with a healthy human? Tara kicks Bill out of the van and he lands in the sun with little ill effects although he starts to smoke a bit.

Sam heads out to “redneck central” looking for dog fights. Sam the pit bull appears at the dog fighting ring and gets chained up, but Sam turns human and knocks him out with a punch. Go Sam! Sam pulls the alarm and rescues Tommy from the ring where he was getting his ass kicked by the rottweiler.

Eric brings Hadley to the queen, who’s sitting in a cage. Eric says he’ll drink from Hadley until the queen tells her why she has such a special interest in Sookie. Eric rips into Hadley’s throat as he continues to ask the queen about Sookie Stackhouse. Hadley says that she’ll tell Eric – Sookie is her cousin and then she whispers into Eric’s ear something to which he replies “well, I certainly wasn’t expecting that” and he meets the queen’s eyes.

Sookie is in emergency surgery thanks to Bill’s big drain-fest. Sookie has a major seizure and the doctor tells Tara and Alcide that they can find no blood type for Sookie – without one they can’t give her a transfusion and she’s in a coma. That’s when Jason notes that Sookie has never been sick, never been in a hospital – she was born at home. The mystery continues….

Sam tells his parents that he’s taking Tommy away from them and for Dad to give Tommy his clothes – the poor guy once again ends up standing in his tightie-whities. As Sam and Tommy walk away, it’s funny to see how well Dad’s clothes fit Tommy, especially since Dad is about six inches taller.

Jason keeps talking to Sookie in her coma, telling her that she is all he has, she has got to come back. Then there is a flash of light around Sookie and she is in another, beautiful world where she meets Claudine who gives her something to drink that makes her look happy and healthy. Claudine says Bill will steal Sookie’s “light”. “What light?” she asks as all the beautiful people disappear.

Bill appears in the hospital room – it looks like he survived his fall into the sun. Bill says his blood can save Sookie and Jason gives permission for Bill to give his blood over Tara’s vehement protests. Bill is sitting by Sookie’s bed when she comes awake and he looks so happy until she start screaming in his face. I guess it’s not going to be a happy reunion after all.

The Magister is torturing Pam by putting sterling silver earrings into her eyelids. Pam is defiant and caustic to the end. Eric arrives in the nick of time, revealing that Russell is now his king. As Russell tells the Magister that he is the authority in town, he whips Pam out of the silver chains and puts the Magister in them. The Magister is forced to marry the king and queen, pronouncing Russell and Sophie-Ann to be husband and wife. It’s certainly nice to see Pam again – I missed her last week.

1. While attempting to apprehend a homicidal madman (wielding a deadly fire-throwing salamander) a mysterious assassin with a crossbow kills her prisoner. He then appears to vanish into thin air. Kate needs to find this guy, determine the motive for the killing, and if needed, take him out because he’s apparently very dangerous.
 
2. A female member of The Pack, the local werewolf clan, visits Kate to inform her that she plans to marry Kate’s ex-boyfriend. If that’’s not shocking enough, she also tells Kate that in order to do this she’ll need the permission of Curran, the Pack Master, and that she wants Kate to approach Curran to obtain his approval. By the way, Kate and Curran don’t get along.
 
3. A different member of The Pack hires Kate to find the crossbow assassin who just recently stole some valuable maps from them.
 
4. While looking for the mysterious archer Kate comes upon a distraught young girl searching for her missing mother. She decides to help the child find her mother, a witch last seen in the presence of a new coven leader, because a 13-year old girl alone on the streets of the city probably wouldn’t make it through the night.

Speaking of the city, Kate lives in an urban city which fluctuates between periods of “magic” and “tech.” When the magic is “up” strange and deadly supernatural creatures come out. Buildings crumble upon themselves. Technology like telephones don’t work. Overall it’s a time when humans without supernatural abilities are vulnerable.

When “tech” is up man-made technology devices start working again but most protections, like wards against magical creatures, cease to function. Although in the past fluctuations between tech and magic were somewhat predictable the city has recently experienced infrequent shifts between the two phases.

Throughout most of the book Kate has to juggle looking after her new ward while trying to capture the assassin. This makes for a great action adventure story with lots of twists and turns. Additionally, the tension between Kate and Curran is great and adds an element of romantic suspense to the book. By the way, Curran definitely qualifies as one of those Sexy Werewolves to Howl About.

Ilona Andrews has done a great job balancing all of the plotlines in this book, especially since it comes in under 300 pages. This is due in part to Andrews’ great world building; it’s not hard to imagine Kate and the supporting cast in this environment.

Overall Magic Burns was a good read that gets my recommendation. Check Prices

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But that’s not all. Her nights are simply unexplainable. She has odd dreams in which she appears in an alien world, helping others fight a war against evil forces. In those dreams she’s a warrior with very powerful magical abilities that render the enemy helpless. This doesn’t happen every night, but it happens often enough to be disturbing. What’s worse, she awakens with bruises and injuries she can’t explain. Bruises that tend to heal at an alarmingly fast rate. She’s been to see specialists about these occurrences but they typically think she’s injuring herself. As such Lee can feel her life spiraling out of control as she tries to understand the alternate world she seems to be drawn to.

Speaking of alternate worlds, let me tell you about the one Lee visits in her dreams. It’s called Ishtan and although it appears barren and desolate with people living in hand-built facilities and primarily traveling by foot, the humans there have technologically advanced weaponry. They also have individuals with psychic and healing abilities. The people there are united against a formidable enemy consisting of super-powerful warlords from a world called Anqar. The humans are outnumbered but dedicated to the fight against those that would enslave them. A “veil” separates Ishtan from Anqar but the warlords are able to open gates that allow them to enter Ishtan to kill and take human prisoners.

Eventually Lee comes to find herself permanently entrenched in Ishtan and has to accept (albeit reluctantly) that this is no dream. She still struggles to understand her role in the war but helping her make the transition to her new life is Kalen, the leader of the group fighting the creatures from Anqar. Although firmly rooted in Ishtan, Kalen has witnessed Lee’s short visits over the years and has patiently waited for the day when she understands that she belongs there, by his side, fighting against the destructive forces from Anqar. The relationship that develops between Lee and Kalen is quite touching and adds a nice contrast to the more violent elements in the book, especially those involving Anqar.

Ah, Anqar. This world of warlords and demons has a maniacal, power hungry, near insane High Lord at the helm that’s hell bent on the total overthrow of Ishtan, primarily for the sake of capturing as many female body slaves as possible. Not everyone in his command agrees with his plans though, and this provides an interesting sub-plot to the main storyline and accounts for some of the intrigue present in the book. The plotline dealing with Anqar, its inner workings, and its politics is written in such a way that I wanted to know more about these beings and their way of life.

As such, Through The Veil has some of the best world building I’ve come across in a long time. Walker’s highly detailed descriptions of both Ishtan and Anqar are rich and mesmerizing to read. Although the first part of the book focuses on Lee’s double life and there’s initially quite a bit of back-and-forth between Lee’s current life (mortal Earth) and her dream world (Ishtan) it never affects the steady pacing seen throughout the book. Quite the contrary. The contrasts between the different worlds actually assist the storyline’s progression and quite nicely builds up to the astonishing climax.

Shiloh Walker successfully combines suspense and adventure in a book that reads at times like an epic fantasy novel, primarily because of her ability to flesh out minute details that collectively serve as building blocks in the development of the overall storyline. And although the heroine Lee is described as an artist in her old life, it’s Walker that skillfully paints the characters on the page and brings them to life.

One of the best compliments I can give a book is to convey the fact that I care about its characters. I can honestly state that on several occasions during my evening commute I eagerly awaited my arrival at home so I could read further about Lee and Kalen’s burgeoning relationship, the politics of Anqar, and the war raging between the two worlds. Through The Veil is unlike most fantasy books I read in that it doesn’t contain vampires or werewolves but I found it to be an extremely satisfying change of pace from the urban fantasy I’m used to. It gets my seal of approval as a recommended read.

Easy one-click links are included to make it easy to check prices from either Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

I continue to be amazed at how urban fantasy is gaining in popularity. This is evident by the number of new books that are slated to be released in June. I’ve listed the first few and will continue adding to the list over the next few days.

See also:

June 1, 2008

All Souls’ Night (Blood Ties, Book 4) (Bk. 4) by Jennifer Armintrout”Something was seriously wrong. In the past few weeks, since we had fled Grand Rapids and come to Max’s Chicago penthouse, Nathan’s entire focus had been my recovery. I’d gone mute and practically catatonic after Cyrus, once my sire, then my fledgling, had died. After I’d wake from one of my many nightmares—daymares, I supposed, since we vampires are third-shifters on account of that pesky sun thing—Nathan would hold me and try to reassure me that it had all been a dream, that he wouldn’t let anything harm me. Now, though, I felt his irritation and acute distraction through the blood tie, the telepathic and empathic connection that coursed between a fledgling vampire and their sire, and I knew something wasn’t right.”

June 1, 2008

The Mall of Cthulhu by Seamus Cooper”A decade ago, college student Laura Harker was saved from a fate worse than death at the hands (and fangs) of a centuries-old vampire priestess and her Satanic minions. Her rescuer, an awkward, geeky folklore student named Teddy, single-handedly slew the undead occupants of the Omega Alpha sorority house, spurred into heroic action by fate itself, inexorably intertwining his and Laura’s destinies. After navigating her way through law school, Laura is now a junior FBI agent assigned to the Bureau’s Boston office.”

June 3, 2008

Walk on the Wild Side (The Others, Book 5) by Christine Warren”In national bestseller Christine Warren’s Others novels, vampires, witches, werewolves, and more have come out of the supernatural closet. Now, the world as we know it will never be the same… Kitty Sugarman is a lot tougher than her name implies. Still, she’s content with how her small- town life keeps her removed from all the changes happening in the world—like the Unveiling of the Others. That is, until a near-tragedy strikes and Kitty discovers she has abilities . . .thanks to a father she never knew was alive. He also happens to be a were-lion and leader of one of the most powerful Prides out West.”

June 3, 2008

Spectre (Zoe Martinique, Book 2) by Phaedra Wheldon (Zoe Martinique Book 2)”Zoë Martinique has the extraordinary ability to travel outside her body at will. When she is drawn into an investigation of a series of bizarre murders, in which the victims are missing body parts, Zoë hopes to help her boyfriend, Atlanta homicide detective Daniel Frasier, stop the killer— one she’s sure is from the darkest levels of the astral plane—without letting him find out about her special abilities.”

June 3, 2008

Nightkeepers (Final Prophecy, Book 1) by Jessica Andersen “As a Miami narcotics detective, Leah Daniels never knows how her day will turn out. But she certainly never expected to be strapped to a stone altar, the human sacrifice in an ancient Mayan ritual meant to coax up a demon from the underworld. Or that she’d be saved by a handsome warrior-priest king who claims to recognize her from his visions… Jaguar Strike wishes he hadn’t made the mistake of reuniting his fellow warrior priests, or broken the law by saving their chosen human sacrifice. Now, he has no choice but to join forces with Leah and invoke dangerous magic in a death-defying race against the end of time.”

June 3, 2008

The Man with the Golden Torc (Secret Histories, Book 1) by Simon R. Green“All those things you hear about as a kid? The boogeyman under the bed? The creature in the closet? They’re for real, people. Eddie Drood knows they’re for real. His family has kept humanity safe from the things that go bump in the night. For ages, they’ve held back the nightmares, locked the doors, barred the gates, and put righteous boot to monster arse on a nightly basis. But now Eddie’s in trouble. One of his own has convinced the rest of the family that Eddie’s become a menace, and that humanity needs to be protected from him. So he’s on the run, using every trick in the book, magical and otherwise, hoping he lives long enough to prove his innocence. And he knows how dangerous the Droods can be-because he’s one of them.”

June 3, 2008

The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar”British author Millar offers fiercely funny (and often inebriated) Scottish fairies, a poignant love story as well as insights into the gravity of Crohn’s disease, cultural conflicts and the plight of the homeless in this fey urban fantasy. Due to the machinations of the obnoxious Tala, Cornwall’s fairy king, only a few humans can see the 18-inch-tall fairies who alight in Manhattan: Magenta, a homeless woman who thinks she’s the ancient Greek general Xenophon; Dinnie, an overweight slacker; and Kerry, a poor artist/musician who hopes her Ancient Celtic Flower Alphabet will win a local arts prize. Fairies Heather MacKintosh and Morag MacPherson scheme to put Dinnie and Kerry together, rescue fairy artifacts and prove that in love or war, music is essential.”

June 3, 2008

Daemons are Forever (Secret Histories, Book 2) by Simon R. Green”Second in the trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Man with the Golden Torc. Eddie Drood’s clan has been watching mankind’s back for ages. And now he’s in charge of the whole kit and caboodle. But it’s not going to be an easy gig… During World War II, the Droods made a pact with some nasty buggers from another dimension known as the Loathly Ones, which they needed to fight the Nazis. But once the war was over, the Loathly Ones decided that they liked this world too much to leave. Now it’s up to Eddie to make things very uncomfortable for them—or watch everything humanity holds dear go up in smoke.”

June 3, 2008

The Cursed (Vampire Huntress Legends) by L. A. Banks”Lilith and her husband, the vampire “Unnamed One”, are caught unawares while awaiting the birth of their angel-hybrid heir. Installed as Vampire Council chairwoman, Lilith calls on vampires, witches and warlocks (including Machiavelli, Jezebel, Genghis Khan and Medusa) to combat the forces of the Covenant, the Guardians, the Neterus and both Neteru Councils. She attacks her enemies Damali and Carlos Rivera where it hurts the most: their libidos. Soon the battle involves a Valkyrie, the Ark of the Covenant and bootleg music downloads. This end of days scenario is a wild amalgam of Christianity, vampire lore, world myth, functional morality, street philosophy and hot sex.”

June 3, 2008

Blood Colony: A Novel by Tananarive Due”There’s a new drug on the street: Glow. Said to heal almost any illness, it is distributed by an Underground Railroad of drug peddlers. But what gives Glow its power? Its main ingredient is blood — the blood of immortals. A small but powerful colony of immortals is distributing the blood, slowly wiping out the AIDS epidemic and other diseases around the world. Meet Fana Wolde, seventeen years old, the only immortal born with the Living Blood. She can read minds, and her injuries heal immediately. When her best friend, a mortal, is imprisoned by Fana’s family, Fana helps her escape — and together they run away from Fana’s protected home in Washington State to join the Underground Railroad. But Fana has more than her parents to worry about: Glow peddlers are being murdered by a violent, hundred-year-old sect with ties to the Vatican. Now, when Fana is most vulnerable, she is being hunted to fulfill an ancient blood prophecy that could lead to countless deaths.”

June 3, 2008

Blood and Iron: A Novel of the Promethean Age (Book 1) by Elizabeth Bear”Ancient grudges and ruthless schemes are simply business as usual to the Faerie court in Bear’s complex and involving contemporary fantasy. Seeker, formerly Elaine Andraste, is a changeling bound to the Mebd, the queen of the Daoine Sidhe, to find other changelings and bring them to the Faerie court. There, like legendary Tam Lin, and Seeker’s own son, Ian, they entertain the queen until she tires of them. Now the queen needs Seeker to find and win the heart of the new Merlin, latest incarnation of a being who, in the hands of the Prometheans, could be used to destroy the Fae. Pragmatic college professor Carel Bierce, the first female Merlin, is not easily swayed by Fae or Promethean advances. Long-forgotten rivalries and unsuspected blood ties arise to tug at Seeker’s loyalties, even as the queen promises to free Ian when she succeeds.”