Title: A Small Taste of the Old Country Author: Jonathan Maberry In: Haunted Nights (Lisa Morton & Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Dark fantasy, Horror, Urban fantasy Dates read: 15th November 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Blumhouse Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: “Maybe she did,” said Becker.
At All Hallows Eve, the presence of the past likes to linger and haunt us. It reminds us that we are not alone in this world…
This was another of those stories that I just kept having
random thoughts on while reading it. The dot points and tired delirium of my notes
are far more entertaining than any sentences that I could turn them into… so
here they are in all their slightly unusual glory…
That’s it, the baker is evil. Pg. 2
There is an obsession with Austrian and German descent…
I’ve missed something here. Pg. 4
But they’re Argentinian? Sure, sure. That MUST
be similar.
Now there’s talk of dead people and honouring
them. Pg. 7
Little random, but the true meaning of All
Hallows Eve is being shared and explained
Pretty beads
Very, very love the Halloween adherence to
actual traditions
Creepy, death and fun!
No religion butt head!!!
Not entirely sure where the final comment came from, but I
certainly enjoyed this little adventure.
Cormac managed to avenge his father’s death. But, he doesn’t think he’s quite done yet. When his younger cousin Bill follows him into the darkness, he realises that he may just have to readjust his priorities.
As a pre-story to a series about a woman who is a werewolf,
I was kind of surprised to find a story about a young werewolf hunter. One that
starts with the boy killing a werewolf in revenge for his father’s death and
continues with his journey for revenge. Yet, I’m pretty sure that this is an
origins story, one that will make a lot more sense when I meet Cormac and Bill
in the full-length novels.
Bill and Cormac are a fantastic pair of cousins. Like two
sides of the same coin – one is a tough, no nonsense, serious boy. The other is
kind of needy, wants to impress his older cousin and show that he’s made of
sterner stuff. Yet, it is ultimately this difference in personality and
relationship that saves both boys – their differences and ability to accept
each other that gives Cormac a chance to move on from his father’s death and live
his life.
This story really asks – when is someone actually a monster?
Is it just because they can kill you? Or because they do? I wonder how Cormac
will answer this question as the series unfolds…
It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lvoer Bones at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.
As if that wasn’t enough, a woman from Bones’s past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself – and Bones – from a fate worse than the grave.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me a little while to
read, because I couldn’t read it late at night before bed, or while I was trying
to study, or really do anything productive in any way, shape or form. It was
just really, really good and I never wanted to put it down. I finally had to
set aside a night to finish it… just so I could get my little happy fix.
Unlike a lot of the books I put on the strong women shelf, Cat finds her beau in the first book, and ever tale afterwards is all about them. And you know, all the people trying to kill them, preying on the weak, yada yada yada. Yet this still works brilliantly. Cat and Bones are trying to create their lives together, but they keep coming up against hurdles. One of which is Bones’ past as a gigolo. But they’re accepting of this. Neither was pure and innocent when they got into the relationship. Neither is free of a past. And they both use their sexuality to constantly trap predators. Its kind of a nice balance – because they both do it. don’t get me wrong, I don’t love that Cat is constantly having to dress provocatively and seduce men into going with her to kill them… but I love that both her and Bones do it, get jealous and understand each others’ motive.
This month, I needed a book that had Dracula as a character.
I figured I was probably just going to finally get around to actually reading Dracula…
but then Vlad showed up in this story. What a brilliant idea! Not only does
this novel feature Vlad the Impaler / Dracula / Haunter of My Dreams, but it
also features Cleopatra’s daughter. Now I’m curious to see what historical
figure Mencheres is… because he must be to be that old and powerful… yay for
reading the next books in the series!
The war that takes place in At Grave’s End feels like it should be finished at the conclusion of the book. But I get the feeling that this is just setting the story up for a much greater war. Makes me feel a little like a conspiracy theorist in my musings… but there is no way that such an intense war between characters can be over so quickly… so I suppose I had better pick up the next book and get reading!
Ruiz has been made into something he never dreamt existed. Never wanted to be and would rather didn’t exist at all. But he might be able to find a new beginning for himself, and just a small spot of revenge.
I don’t know much about the Spanish settlement of the
Americas. Actually, Zorro is my only exposure to such a time period and theme. Which
of course meant that this short story fascinated me from the outset. Especially
since Ricardo was a particularly noble and honourable lead. One who was thrown
into the world of the paranormal incredibly unwillingly.
Most stories I read about vampires feature a character who
is turned against their will. And this paranormal rape is frequently overlooked
or glossed over. Yet, that doesn’t happen in this short story. Actually, the
main focuses of this is on the horrors and atrociousness of being turned
against your will. It makes you feel incredibly sympathetic towards Ricardo and
make you question all of the vampires you’ve read about in books so far.
There is a bit of a Christian overture to this story. One
which seriously begs the question – how do you live when your life is a sin?
But suicide is also a sin? How can you balance your belief against such a
horror and intensity?
He’s a “recovering bad guy”, but when he gets involved with a woman, he might just have to question his priorities.
I love that this short story features a “recovering bad guy”. Unlike the other short stories in the Urban Enemies collection, this villain isn’t really trying to be a villain anymore. Rather, he is trying to atone for some of the horrifying acts that he has committed in the past. It’s a nice change from the more typical villain stories throughout the collection.
Altar Boy is kind of tragic – a man is atoning for
his past and his sins, but he can’t be left in peace. He’s attempting to find a
way in which to just exist is hopeful at the beginning. But, when he is once
again forced to face up to his past, things take a more sinister turn. And it’s
actually kind of heartbreaking in their eventuality. It doesn’t matter what he
does, he has to find a way to justify his actions that are, after all, for the
greater good.
One of the most powerful aspects of this story was the key
question that it asks you: when has biological weaponry gone too far? It’s an
incredibly relevant and scary question in today’s society and one that I kept
on playing with like a loose tooth long after turning the final page.
Title: The Way Station Author: Nathan Ballingrud In: Naked City (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy Dates read: 6th November 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Year: 2011 5th sentence, 74th page: I’m worried, bro.
We are all slightly lost, but Beltrane is more lost than most. Especially when he is forced to leave his own city. Will he embrace the beauty of his past, or the hope of his future?
We’ve all felt like we’re a little in the “between”. Which
means that a story about this feeling makes total sense, and is a completely
relatable feeling. Alright, the paranormal, drifty feel of the story isn’t as
relatable. But that in between, lost ideal is.
Beltrane is an engaging lead. Normally I would find a man
like this as a lead a little bit tedious and irritating. Yet, there is
something relatable about him – his sense of loss with the advent of Katherine,
his need to reconnect, but his unwillingness to let go of his past. This is
echoed gloriously in the flickering between the stories’ timelines.
Whilst Beltrane didn’t really seem creepy, the presence of
the other Betweeners highlighted that there is just something not right about his
foot in the past. We all need to find a way to move forwards in our life, and sometimes
to do so we have to actually let go of the past.
Catherine is the princess of spain, and about to enter marriage with a sickly Englishman. But, when she realises that there are paranormal forces at work, she bands with his younger brother Henry to get rid of the evil.
I only recognised that this was about Henry the VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon because I read Falling Pomegranate Seeds. Which is amazing (read it). But, since I’m not all that well versed and, quite frankly, interested in Tudor History, I wouldn’t have really clicked as to what this story was actually about. Having said that, even if I hadn’t. I still would have thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s obviously a story about a historical figure, and it has a beautiful dose of the paranormal. Both things which always draw me in. Actually, I’m finding that the short stories in the lead up to Kitty and the Midnight Hour are so far beautifully able to mention historical moments that are quite well known. But in a oh so subtle way.
The political intrigue in this story immediately draws you
in. It makes it almost impossible to look away as you want to find out how the
Spanish princess will fare in an English court. Luckily, this is just a short
story. Otherwise I would have happily wasted an entire afternoon trying to
figure out who was up to what in this political tale.
Most people when they imagine Henry VIII, it’s a pretty bad
image. Someone who liked to behead his wives and eat a lot. But, this short
story gives a view of him as a young child. Before he begins to run around
beheading women and divorcing the ones he didn’t kill…
Roman was once a man called Gaius. Who was turned against his will. But, in his quest to find vengeance, he might go a little bit further than expected.
Thoroughly enjoyed the idea of a villain who is simply
seeking revenge on the entire paranormal community because he was forced to
join it. No more sinister, intense reason, nothing else going on… he’s
basically just cracking the shits because someone turned him against his will,
so he may as well burn the whole world down because of it. Talk about a temper
tantrum.
Although I didn’t feel sympathy for this villain (as I do
tend to do with a lot of villain POVs), I did gain a little understanding into
him. And that was kind of nice. After all, the best villains are the ones you
can understand, and even imagine yourself becoming… mostly I think that this
villain is a bit of a petulant child. And probably just needed to break
something. Too bad that someone came along and gave him the means to break the
world…
I absolutely love when you can recognise a historical moment woven into a series. Especially when it’s a contemporary, urban fantasy like Kitty Norville. But Pompeii is in this. And I have a slightly intense fascination with this, have had since I was a young child. Which meant I was completely digging the idea that the villain in this caused Pompeii. That that was one of his petulant child moments of destruction… completely brilliant and so much fun!!! Except for the peoples of Pompeii… not so much fun for them.
It’s the eve of their wedding, and something just doesn’t quite feel right. Until they find the love charms… and everything seems to start making sense. So, do they truly love each other? Or was it just someone’s magic getting involved?
I freaking adored this short story. Which really isn’t surprising since I tend to love everything written by Lori Handeland. She manages to write paranormal romance stories which are sweet and get the pulse racing. But they’re also not over the top. Most of the time, the romance is about pursuing a truth and justice. The kind of relationship that I prefer to be in – something that is about a great connection, lots of sparks, but also a sense of each other. Actually, Charmed by the Moon is more potent at this than any other story I’ve read by her thus far.
One of the aspects of this story that I truly loved was the idea
that even though the couple loved each other and were about to get married,
they were still willing to risk it all. Risk it all to make sure that what they
felt was true, and not the results of a spell that had been cast. It would be
easy to go along the easy route, but they chose the hard one so that they could
have something that was true, and not simply a figment of their imagination.
The last thing I probably loved about this story was the fact that it’s part of the Nightcreature series. I would have been a little devastated if it wasn’t, so I’m definitely glad that it is part of a larger series. After all, I don’t want the story to end there!
Title: The Projected Girl Author: Lavie Tidhar In: Naked City (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Magic, Magical realism, Urban fantasy Dates read: 31st October 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Year: 2011 5th sentence, 74th page: And someone told on her.
What happens when a magicians assistant truly disappears? Where did she go? Can a young Jewish boy finally solve the mystery?
This was a bit of a detective story. Not overtly, but the
journey to find out what happened to the girl and whether the magician was
guilty or not. Why did the girl disappear? It was a series of small questions
that you wanted to know the answer to, but didn’t wrap you up in its power like
many of the other detective series I’ve read do.
This was a great tying together of the past and the present. I’m noticing that I’m really enjoying stories which do this in a seamless way, and The Projected Girl actually moves to the top of the list for this. There is a young boy who, in reading a magician’s diary finds out that they’re connected to his family. And it could somehow answer some of the questions he just didn’t know to ask.
The Projected Girl explores Jewish culture and faith, their ties to family. It’s not a faith that I read much about, unless it has to do with the holocaust, so it was a lot of fun to do so. Especially late at night when I was a little bit overwhelmed by all the sadness in the world.
Earth and Skye 