One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Gods of the Night, Book 1
Rating: 3 Stars
Length: 308 Pages,
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


He is one of the Eleven, ancient predators who have been brought forth by a godlike male after sixty-five million years, awakened to battle a group of immortals who are on the verge of scouring the earth of humans. She is his driver. Ty Endeka has a human body, but his soul is that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Kelly Maloy is human. The attraction between them is primordial but the danger they face is unimaginable. Kelly is drawn deeper and deeper into a world she'd never known existed as she drives Ty around Houston, meeting vampires and otherkin, and battling werewolves. And coming face to face with the most soul-deep terror she could have ever imagined.

Bangs has offered up a unique concept - it's not every day you read about dinosaur warriors fighting immortal evil - and characters that had appeal. While some aspects are familiar in theme to Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series and others, I'm was thrilled to get away from the Greek pantheon which has proliferated into so many other series. I was charmed by the Eleven and amused by their soul nature. Other ancillary characters lacked a little depth, but there was a wide array of them introduced and they fleshed out the scenes nicely.

The problems I had with Eternal Pleasure weren't character-based, nor were they centered on the concept of the book. It wasn't even the plot itself, which I thought had some promise. Where this book broke down for me was the execution and delivery of the plot. There are lots and lots of paranormal romance series that are similarly themed (and I read most of them): a brotherhood of badasses fighting together against a seemingly unbeatable foe. Ward does it, Kenyon does it, Showalter, Adrian...and the list goes on. And on. It's a familiar and well-tread theme. Through them I've realized that the devil is in the details, and there just weren't many here - and those that were didn't make a lot of sense in this book.

I tend to visualize the worlds that authors create, the arc of their series, the plots of each book, and the characters that inhabit them all as deep, wide, dark lakes full of promising story in which I like to swim. In Eternal Pleasure, though, instead of been thrown deep into that story lake with the force and creativity of the exposition, narrative, and dialogue, it felt more like the author took a flat rock and skipped it across that glassy surface, and the book was the sum of the spots the rock touched as it danced across the top. I never felt submerged into the world, the plot, or the characters lives. Too many things went unexplained, or avoided, or danced around. Instead the focus was on the relationship between Ty and Kelly and a lot of repetition about Ty's struggle with his T-rex nature.

We're allowed to know that dino-boys aren't just dino-boys (that's probably a good thing, because...well...ew). Before that they were something else, and it's big and awful and crippling...but their memories have been wiped because of the trauma it would cause them or the distraction it would provide. That's convenient for a couple of reasons - not only to cue the dark, mysterious music and try to add a layer of threat and mystery (unsuccessfully), but also to provide danger for the women who love them, and who will have to enter their beast and join their soul to be their mates (apparently, verbal commitment and a ring just don't cut it with dinosaurs and PNR series with this sort of theme are all about the metaphysical connections). Unfortunately, all the potential for scary threat and "no human love can survive that" angst was ultimately unrealized when the story stone skipped its way across that part of the lake.

It was a problem that recurred throughout the book. Lots of teasers and hints and nudges towards a bigger picture than a bunch of dinosaurs stalking the night...lots of skips of that stone over what could have been a deep, dark, delightful lake of story...and no real moments of sinking in and getting any more than your toes wet. It was impossible for me to connect to the story or the characters more than superficially because of it, and in some places (most notably the scene where Neva disappears and the events that follow), make the characters concern even for each other seem false and unrealistic (hard to believe someone could be SO upset over a person's disappearance when they had only met that person once...in passing...and impossible to sustain belief in the bosom buddy attempt following it).

There's promise in the originality of the concept, there's comfort of familiarity in a favored theme, and there are characters and story I could care about...but if the next book doesn't do more diving than skipping, I think I'll be leaving the Gods of the Night shores.

Genre: Fantasy
Series: Sianim, Book 1
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 320 Pages, 4642 Locations
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


She may be a Lady, but Aralorn was never comfortable with the idea of a noble life. Being a mercenary and spy suit her much better. Well, it did until she was sent in to the castle of Geoffrey ae'Magi, a powerful and beloved mage, to spy on him in an effort to substantiate rumors of assassination. But the powerful ae'Magi isn't what he seems, and the truth is far more grim than Aralorn could have imagined. Death magic, corruption, and an unquenchable thirst for power taint the ae'Magi like a stink and his spells have spread slowly, insidiously through the land.

It isn't until Aralorn returns home to the mercenary city of Sianim that the full scope of the horror becomes clear and the danger so desperately apparent. But what can one mercenary spy and her long time companion but mysterious friend Wolf hope to accomplish against a power so great that it commands monsters and men alike - and turns them into willing slaves and sacrifices? And do they even dare hope they can live through it?

Welcome to the world of Aralorn and Wolf, and the early mind of Patricia Briggs. Originally published in 1993 in a less polished format, Masques was Briggs' first book, and there's a lovely introduction by the author in my Kindle version that explains its inception and eventual resurrection. I hope it exists in the paperback version, as well. I'm quite glad I read it, because I was able to focus on the good in this story and not worry so much about the flaws that any first novel, even in a more polished form, has.

And Masques does have flaws (still...and even after the revisions). The world building is pretty sketchy, there's a dearth of the sort of descriptive writing I'm used to in Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, and the plot isn't the most original I've ever read. It's actually sort of two dimensional and linear, too. The narrative is at times choppy, the pacing a bit uneven, and there are a couple of plot holes, some odd transitions, and an extremely abrupt conclusion.

I've detested books for far less than that, and yet despite it all, I really liked Masques. Quite a lot, actually. In Aralorn, the half-shapeshifter mercenary and spy, there are glimmers of the strength and uniqueness of character that Mercy Thompson commands. I grew quite fond of the practical but wily, small but strong, plain but dedicated and determined Aralorn. She's not perfect, but she's delightfully human. It's a Briggs trait in heroines that translates very well into likability for her characters.

Wolf is a perfect counterpoint and companion. A mage hiding in the form of a wolf, Aralorn saves him from a slow, painful death...then from himself, and he sticks by her - though he tends to come and go - for the four years since. He is an enigma and a mystery and the emotional baggage he's got tucked away is disturbing, horrifying, and scary as hell. Still, his loyalty and dedication to the one person he values in the world is endearing, unwavering, and surprisingly intense. After being so used to Briggs' writing in the first person POV for the Mercy Thompson series, it was a special treat to be able to have some insight into Wolf's thoughts and feelings with the third person omniscient POV of Masques. It increased his depth of character and likability.

Aralorn and Wolf are the driving force of my appreciation for the book, but never let it be said that Briggs can't command a lot of respect with robust secondary and ancillary characterization. Regardless of the page time a character is given, characters live and breathe in Briggs' books, even those written so long ago. They're sympathetic...or easily loathed, as the story requires, and easy to relate to.

The strength of character and the likability of the heroine and hero - and a definite fire to see how that relationship evolves now - goaded me into preordering the sequel, Wolfsbane (Aralorn), which will be out in a couple of weeks. Briggs' evolved ability to write compelling story and amazing characters assures me I won't regret the choice. I'm thrilled I gave Masques a chance (I'm not a humongous fan of fantasy, but I do read it occasionally) and even more happy I took the time to read the introduction by Briggs so I was more understanding of the flaws. I'll remember it fondly as a good, solid, fun read that kept me entertained and got me primed for more.