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A Desert Called Peace by Tom Kratman

This novel by Kratman barely qualifies as science fiction. I've mentioned before that in the realm of what's published these days as science fiction or fantasy, there are actually many books which are more realistically termed as Westerns or Romance or Detective novels, which only get called SF & F because they don't take place on modern day Earth. Kratman's book is really just Military fiction which happens to take place a century or so from now, though even the weaponry hasn't changed that much from what we have today - there's no disruptors, ray guns, stunners or particle beams, just plain old projectile weapons and some good old-fashioned nukes.

Most of the action takes place on Terra Nova (New Earth, right?) and seems to be a slightly altered version of recent events on our planet. A retired military man, Patrick Hennessey, loses his entire family when two airships deliberately crash into the skyscraper where his family's business offices are located, while his wife and children are visiting his uncle. Rather than burn to death in the resulting conflagration, they leap to their deaths as do many others. Hennessey attends their memorial service, then descends into an alcoholic grief-fueled stupor for several months, until some of his friends, former allies and enemies, come to him with a plan which will allow him to take his revenge on the terrorists who ruined his life.

Surprise! The terrorists are Salafi extremists, who have merely been a nuisance to the other cultural enclaves on Terra Nova up to this point. But someone behind the scenes is funding them and giving them strategies and intelligence information to carry out increasingly effective acts of terrorism. Hennessy and his friends begin to build a military force that can reach out to kill the Salafis in their homelands, and eventually are recruited as a mercenary force by the FSC, the most powerful nation on the planet, to do just that.

The main story line is interrupted fairly regularly with what might be termed flashbacks, showing how Terra Nova was discovered, then colonized by Earth. Most of the people who emigrated were either the best and brightest, or what the United Nations, which gained supreme power over Earth as time went by, considered troublemakers - often both. The United Nations, and Earth itself, are now stagnating, and are only able to make repairs to their aging space fleet by selling off Earth's art treasures to the Terra Novans, who have a robust economy, for the most part. The Admiral of the UN fleet in orbit about the planet, and his staff, are hopelessly decadent and corrupt, and are searching for a way to prevent the FSC and its allies from ever achieving space travel, so that they never are able to return to Earth, to dominate the world either militarily or economically.

Brutal violence, graphic sex, just the usual Baen blend these days. Aside from some interesting political musings well blended into the action, that might cast some light on what the author feels would be a more effective set of tactics to use against Islamic terrorism on our planet, it's just pure war porn.

The Warrior King by Chris Bunch

Review written March 2000

Aha!

The long-awaited, thrilling conclusion to the saga of Damastes a Cimabue and the wizard Tenedos! This series, beginning with The Seer King, rolling right along with The Demon King, and (I assume), wrapping things up nicely with The Warrior King, has been a riotous romp from start to finish.

WARNING: This series is not written for children. It contains scenes filled with graphic, gratuitous sex, violence and heretical thoughts!
 
On the other hand, the novels also contain some lessons on loyalty, patriotism, love, honor, duty and many of William Bennett's other virtues.
 
The Warrior King begins with the exiled Damastes being summoned to the capital of Nicias, ruled by the remnants of the Council of Ten. It seems that Tenedos, thought dead, has risen/returned to lead an army to attempt to reclaim his throne. The remaining councilors ask Damastes to lead the armies of Nicias against the ex-emperor. While he is considering this offer, one of his old enemies attempts to murder him, and in the resulting mayhem, Damastes escapes the palace and flees into the countryside.
 
Discovering some unlikely sources of aiding and abetting along the way, he makes his way to his family's estates in Cimabue, where he hopes merely to avoid all politics and war. Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for the readers, neither the emperor nor the council will leave him alone, so he raises an army to defend his beloved country against domestic and foreign aggressors.
 
The Warrior King zooms right along, with plenty of battles, covert actions, magic and mayhem, double-dealings, triple-crosses, thrills and surprises. I enjoyed it, and only regret that it may be the last book of this series.

Wraith by Phaedra Weldon

This looked like an interesting new author to try out. It's the first book in the Zoe Martinique Investigation series. Weldon does something just a little different as far as contemporary urban fantasy goes. Zoe is a fledgling private investigator, who advertises on the Internet for her services, and who does her investigations by astral projection; she is able to leave her body for a few hours and spy on things going on in the world around her.

While snooping for a client on his dot-com employers to see if they intend to fire him, Zoe stumbles into something more serious going on nearby. Following her "nose" she witnesses a murder taking place. A Vin Diesel lookalike in a trench coat puts a bullet in the head of an oriental man, and then "eats" his soul. Zoe manages to escape by rapidly returning to her body, but not before the guy, whom she nicknames "TC", grabs her by the astral arm and leaves a black hand print, like a tattoo, around her forearm.

Zoe's mother is some sort of sensitive, and owns a shop in an old Victorian house in Atlanta which has a couple of resident gay ghosts, Tim and Steve. Rhonda, a friend of the family, is a bit of an expert in paranormal matters. Zoe tells them some of what happened to her, and even though they urge her to stay out of the matter, she can't help herself, and decides to go out of body again to find out what's happening after she sees more about Tanaka's murder in the news.

She finds her way to the murdered man's boss, Hirokumi's office, and eavesdrops on a meeting between him and the detective on the case, Lieutenant Frasier. Hirokumi is mixed up in the spooky aspects of the case, and attempts to warn Frasier away without coming right out and saying it was a supernatural being that killed his employee. Hirokumi's personal assistant, Mitsuri, is also more than she appears, and she detects Zoe's presence at the meeting, attempting to trap her astral projection within a charmed Chinese dragon. Zoe escapes again, narrowly.

Zoe finds herself attracted to young Lieutenant Frasier, and once again despite her family and friends' warnings, goes astral to snoop on the detective. She finds him in a bar talking with the bartender and listens in for a while, but suddenly discovers that her encounter with "TC" has given her a new ability, she becomes corporeal, even though her real body is back home. She has a short conversation with Frasier, but flees when he sees the "bruise" on her arm and thinks she's been battered and tries to suggest help.

This novel just goes on and on with twists and turns and unexpected guests, and Weldon really sets the scene for further adventures (looks like there's a couple out already) with Zoe. It's a bit dark, and Zoe's stubborness and tendency to bull on into things she should have avoided are a little trying at times, but I think the series will continue to be fun. They're definitely something different than the usual vampire, were, and fairy fare.

The Trigger by Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Kube-McDowell

This book reminded me a bit of State of Fear, by Crichton, or perhaps some of the works of Richard North Patterson, in that it is extremely political. The issue explored in Trigger is gun control. Yet, it is still good science fiction, albeit very near future, because it explores the ramifications of discovering a device which causes nearly all explosives to detonate immediately when they enter the field generated by the device. Aside from a nod or two to particle physics in the first chapter or two, there's not a lot of technical information in this novel. 

Where things really take off is when the inventors of the device decide to get the government involved, and turn the prototype over to them. Clarke and McDowell explore pretty thoroughly what sort of strategy might make this technology available to cities and countries so that they can begin to alleviate the suffering caused by weapons in the hands of criminals, militants, and idiots.

One of the less controversial issues addressed by this device is that of "de-mining" places like Cambodia and the Balkans, where land mines have claimed far too many innocent lives. Just turn on The Trigger effect and move through a previously mined area, and the field detonates the mines safely while they are still a hundred meters or so away from the vehicle carrying the device.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the bad guys in this novel are pretty stereotypical "gun nuts," i.e., people who belong to the NRA. The president of the NRA attempts to assassinate a senator who is in favor of widely distributing The Trigger. A Midwest militia captures the inventor of The Trigger and holds him hostage, demanding the secret code that will shut down the device when government troops come to take over (typical militia paranoid fantasy). 

I'm not absolutely certain that all of the statistics used to support the gun control/elimination argument in this book are accurate. I'd have to go check the statistical abstract of the US to get some real numbers. Even if they have been fudged for dramatic effect, it makes a pretty good case that something, somehow, must be done to stop the violence. I'm not entirely certain that disarmament is the answer, as mankind has been doing despicable things to one another for millennia, before the invention of gunpowder. Despite all this, The Trigger is a pretty good read, and gets your brain working.

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A brand new Allie Beckstrom!

House of Cards by C.E. Murphy

I reviewed the first book in this series, Heart of Stone a while back, and I said at the end that I wasn't all that motivated to rush right out and buy the rest of the series. I ran across the next two books at the library bookstore, though, and at $1.50 each, I just couldn't pass up adding them to the library. So, here's my thoughts on the second book.

Margrit "Grit" continues to get herself more deeply involved in the affairs of the Old Races, and actually accepts a job with the leader of the vampires, Eliseo Daisani, as his personal assistant, even though this move is strongly opposed by her family and friends. Her relationship with Alban Korund, the gargoyle, begins to get more serious, as well, though her human boyfriend, Tony, really wants to make things work out between them despite their stormy past.

The central story line here is about the Selkies. It was presumed by all of the rest of the races that the Selkies had died out centuries ago, when the last of their kind swam off into the ocean, never to be heard from again. It was a surprise to most of them when a Selkie and her infant daughter turned up in HoS, and they are truly shocked when a new leader of the Selkies, Kaimana Kaiiai, appears on the scene to reveal that the Selkies have merely been in hiding in the tropical isles, interbreeding with humans until their race once again has enough numbers to be a valid force.

He has come to petition the Quorum (council of the races) that the half-Selkies and above be considered as full members now. Margrit, as The Negotiator, is to have a place at the table when the races meet. There also appears to be some conflict between Janx, the Dragon Lord, and Daisani, who may be having one another's minions killed off one at a time. Margrit's former boss at Legal Aid becomes a casualty in the conflict. The next suspected target is Malik, a Djinn who has been one of Janx's lieutenants for a long time, and Alban is blackmailed into watching over him to keep him safe.

So, if you're already involved in the series, and really just have to know all of their secrets, this book will reveal some, and leave others hidden for the third book, I assume. The only other revelation in this book is the veil being removed (actually it's an evening gown) on the mechanics of making love to a flying gargoyle. Given that Margrit mentions at one point that his kisses taste of stone, one begins to wonder other things...well, "Grit" is her nickname, after all.

Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon

It's been far too long, but Moon has finally returned to the place some of us came to know and love her work, in the world of Paksennarion, Paladin of Gird. The early trilogy was just incredible, and Moon's voice has been sorely missed in the world of fantasy while she pursued her SF story line (those were good, too). Given the length of this re-debut, I thought perhaps it was going to be a one-shot deal, but after finishing it, I think it's just setting the stage for great things to come.

Moon also avoided one of my pet peeves, dropping back into a familiar story a hundred years later, with only brief mention of old friends, as she begins this story within days of the end of Oath of Gold. She skillfully weaves just enough of "what has gone before" into this tale to make it easy for new readers, who are not familiar with Pak and her friends, to feel comfortable with the background, but not more than would be irritating or repetitive for old fans. It felt just right to me, as it has been a couple of years since I re-read the earlier books, and with just a little prompting, I fell right into the world again.

Duke Kieri Phelan, having survived the Verrakai assassins' and Pargunese soldiers' attack, has arrived in Lyonya to take his place as its rightful long-lost king. In his stead, as leader of his mercenary soldiers, he has left Captain Arcolin, his faithful right hand, who may or may not be confirmed as Duke in his place, but who will do his best to keep his cohorts employed and fed, now that Kieri is gone for good.

In Tsaia, Prince Mikeli is attacked by another group of Verrakai assassins, wielding forbidden mage powers, but is rescued by his friends. He commands that the rest of the Verrakai clan be rounded up and arrested to stand trial, except for a disowned woman of the clan, Dorrin, who is also a captain in Kieri's mercenary force. He appoints her Duke of Verrakai and sends her to her ancestral home to tie up loose ends and destroy or remove whatever evil works of magic the family have set in place for their enemies.

Arcolin takes a cohort south for an employment contract in Cortes Vonja, where he and Phelan fought against evil sorcery and foreign invasion together. The peace they left behind has not held too well, and he begins by fighting brigands, but soon discovers that there is more beneath the surface in the southern provinces that may require some cleansing.

Paksennarion is still alive and well, spending some time in Lyonya at first, then moving on as the gods move require her as a paladin to do. I imagine she'll play a fair part in the story at some point, but for now she appears to be getting a bit of a breather after her arduous trials.

Moon moves smoothly between the story lines, setting the scene, in my opinion, for a whole new set of adventures in this well-beloved world. I found myself a bit teary-eyed at times as she manipulated her characters' emotions and mine. The only minor bit of irritation for me was that all of her heroes are just far too stinkin' competent and incorruptible to be true. I borrowed this from the library, but I'll have to purchase a copy for the collection soon.

The Ghost of the Revelator by L. E. Modesitt

I think I finally figured out where the first divergence point was in Modesitt's alternate history stories of Johann Eschbach, begun in Of Tangible Ghosts. Hook baited...I ain't tellin'.

In Ghost of the Revelator Modesitt continues the tale of Professor Eschbach and his lovely bride, Lysette. The political intrigue continues, as rival factions within the nation of Columbia and the insidious spies from the nations of Deseret, New France and Austro-Hungary try to gain control of the "ghosting" technology discovered in OTG.
 
Lysette's singing career finally begins to take off, now that she has become a citizen of Columbia through marriage, and she is invited to sing for the president, then to teach and sing in a concert series in Deseret.
Though Modesitt paints a rich tapestry of everyday life in this alternate timeline, the story tends to drag. Action scenes are few and far between. Modesitt also seems to expect us to remember all the political machinations and motivations from the first novel, and it's been a while since it came out. I'd suggest reading the two one sitting, so to speak.
 
Since I haven't kept up with the sf magazine scene in a long time, I may be unaware of its existence, but it seems that there's an untold story of the good professor's previous life that would provide some keys to his motivation and his character in these novels. If you've run across the story somewhere, let me know, so I can catch up.

Contact with Chaos by Michael Z. Williamson

I was excited to pick up this book by Williamson, which is once again set in his Freehold universe. It is, as one might guess from the title, a novel about first contact with an alien race. A ship owned by Halo Materials Group (HMG) of Freehold discovers a planet in the 107 Piscis system that they are hoping to mine for materials is already inhabited. While it can't be exploited in the ordinary slash and mine fashion, it could be a figurative gold mine for the company, but the first contact experts, such as they are, must be brought in first to determine what effect cultural contamination might have on the residents of the planet.

An expedition is hastily mounted, led by Citizen Mark Ballenger, a former corporate negotiator now working (as the nearest thing to an ambassador to aliens) for the Freehold government, to first survey and then possibly make contact with the Ishkul (as it turns out they call themselves). Mark has a little competition in the system, as a diplomat from the UN, Nurin Russ, soon arrives in system, as well, hoping to woo the Ishkul to trade with Earth and its allies, rather than Freehold. Mark and Ambassador Russ come to an accomodation fairly rapidly, and are able to work together to defend the Ishkul against the rapacious robber barons. The only corporate ships allowed in the system at first are HMG and DHS, one of their main rivals.

The Ishkul are at first thought to have only a neolithic level of technology, but it fairly soon becomes apparent that that impression was mistaken. The planet has almost no elements in the metals category of the periodic table present, and so all of their technology has developed without metals. However, the humans find out that the aliens have already created wood-framed telescopes with ground crystal lenses, and they become aware of the humans' presence in the system quickly and invite contact by drawing geographic and mathematic symbols, like the Pythagorean theorem, on the planet's surface.

Williamson does a fantastic job of doing something that SF authors used to routinely (with varying levels of genius) do - take a hypothetical situation and explore all of the philosophical, cultural and technical aspects of it while telling an entertaining and perhaps educational story. His descriptions of the Ishkul's methods of achieving what turns out to be the equal of 20th century technology in many areas without having the use of metals are fantastic. Sort of like building an alternate history of the industrial revolution that uses glass, resins, wood, steam, water power, biochemistry and genetic engineering rather than Earth's somewhat brute force approach.

His primary alien characters, the ambassadors appointed by the largest nation on the planet, Vlashn and Somle, have fully developed personalities and agendas of their own, which play against Mark and Nurin's desire to move slowly and not contaminate their culture with any hint of how humans got where they are. Some fantastic conversations and twisty intrigues ensue, and there's a truly great surprise at the end. Williamson has done a great job with this book, and I'm hoping to find some more of this genre and caliber soon.

The Honor of the Queen by David Weber (Honor Harrington #2)

Review written December, 1999

Once more we return to the universe of Honor Harrington and the Royal Manticoran Navy. This is the second book in Weber's series, and he's done a good job once more. Honor has been assigned command of a squadron of ships accompanying a diplomatic mission to establish a treaty with the planet of Grayson. Grayson is a world with a mildly repressive and very male chauvinist culture, which provides Weber with some interesting plot devices.
 
Grayson men are very protective of their wives and daughters and would never allow them to serve in any military capacity, so they are shocked and appalled by Honor's high position in her space navy. The officers in Grayson's navy treat her and other female officers rather shabbily, and she decides to leave the system long enough to escort a convoy of Manticoran freighters to another star system.
 
While she is gone the remaining Manticoran forces and Grayson's orbital defenses are attacked by Masada's forces and their PRH advisors. Masada is a planet in the same star system where a radical splinter faction lives which is dedicated to totally destroying their "apostate" brethren on Grayson. The ensuing battle kills the head of the diplomatic mission, formal admiral Raoul Courvoisier, who has been one of Honor's mentors for a good many years.
 
The real "meat" of the story involves Honor's return to Grayson, her reaction to the crisis, and her rather novel problem solving approach. Once again, Weber delivers another fast-paced, fun space operatic adventure.

River Marked by Patricia Briggs

The latest installment in the Mercy Thompson series was worth waiting for. As the novel begins, Mercy is getting serious wedding jitters, about the planning, not so much about being married to Adam. After they tie the knot, it's all good, and they head off with a monster RV on a honeymoon.

This is where it gets especially fun for some of us readers. Get your minds out of the gutter, people, Briggs doesn't get all graphic about the honeymoon, but if you're from the Northwest, you'll recognize the area where they choose to spend their time. It's in the Columbia River gorge, near the Dalles, and a place called Maryhill.

I've spent a lot of time traveling in that area, and have been to the Maryhill museum which she describes quite well, have visited the replica of Stonehenge nearby, which also plays a part in the story, so I was really able to visualize what was happening there above and beyond the descriptions Briggs provides.

Mercy and Adam run afoul of a monster out of Indian legends on the Columbia River, and join forces with some other "walkers" a shaman or two, a few ghosts and even a demigod or two in this tale. The monster has been eating people all up and down the river, and growing in size and power. The fae are peripherally involved, as they have resettled some otterkin (akin to kelpies) in the area where the monster lives, and the otterkin are apparently in league with the "river devil".

There's a lot of relationship development between Mercy and Adam in this installment, too. They learn how to work together more effectively, and begin to define the boundaries of their roles as husband and wife, which is entertaining as they're both seriously alpha material. Love conquers nearly all, in the end.

A skillful blend of ancient legend and modern trappings make this a truly enjoyable tale. If you're one of those folks who likes to peek at the last page or two of a book before you start, I'm warning you not to. You'll be seriously upset and worried, and won't truly be able to enjoy this fine bit of fun.

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

I've been wanting to try some of Andrews books for a while now, and I just happened to run across the first book in what may be a new series for her at the library bookstore, so I grabbed it and gave it a try. Andrews has put together an interesting set of "worlds" here. There's our normal everyday mundane world, called the Broken, and the world of magical beings, called the Weird, and sandwiched between them is a place where people who are capable of living in either world live, the Edge. Beings from the Weird have a tough time crossing all the way over to the Broken, but they drift in and out of the Edge occasionally.

This story has a little Cinderella quality to it that was rather amusing. A woman named Rose, whose parents are long gone, is raising her two younger brothers in a town in the Edge. Rose has some pretty strong magic for someone who lives in the Edge, and it's caused her some problems with the other locals. One day, Prince Charming (not exactly, but close enough) rides out of the Weird looking for a bride, and sets his sights on her. Rose has been burned by a couple of relationships before, and she's not all that thrilled about his suit, so she sets him up with a series of three challenges that he must pass before he can win her hand, if not her heart. Typical fairy tale stuff, right?

But Prince Charming, aka Declan, Earl of Camarine, had other things on his mind when he entered the Edge than wooing and winning a lovely bride. One of the other nobles from the Weird, Casshorn, has gone crazy, stolen a device which creates "hounds" that seek out and consume anyone who has magic, and come to hide out in the Edge. Casshorn's hounds have attacked several people, and when they come after one of Rose's brothers, Declan is there to keep him safe.

Rose's brothers each have a totally different magic than their sister. Jack is a changeling, who is able to become a forest cat of some sort at will, and Georgie has the ability to re-animate the dead, though each one of the living dead he creates drains a little more of his life force away, and eventually if he doesn't stop raising more creatures, it will kill him.

This book is an interesting blend of fairy tale and comedy, like The Taming of the Shrew, and provides a pretty good foundation for some more tales to follow.

The Silver Stone by Joel Rosenberg

Review written December, 1999

Here's another one where far too much time had passed since I read the first book in this series. I think the third one is actually out in the bookstores, so the fault is strictly my own. However, I was lost through much of the book, because I couldn't for the life of me recall "what had gone before."
 
Nevertheless, I've always enjoyed Rosenberg's style, and this book was no exception. I started reading his stuff back when he first published his Guardians of the Flame stuff, and have eagerly devoured anything he's published. I'd suggest, however, that you read the first book in the series, The Fire Duke, before starting on this one.
 
Again (I guess), we follow the adventures of Ian Silverstein, aka Silver Stone as he is drawn into the mythical world of Tyr na nog, where Norse mythology plays a very important part in the tale. Odin tricks Ian and his companions into undertaking a quest, which is not exactly what it seems to be. He's supposed to deliver a message to the Sons of Tyr asking them to back off from the precipice of war upon which they're poised.
However, some of the Sons think that Ian is the Promised Warrior, who will lead them to victory and dominion over the entire land. Others don't believe he's the promised one, and most of Ian's challenges on his quest revolve around this conflict.
 
Actually, the whole story is a little shallow, but it kept me entertained for a few hours. Ian's companions are all somewhat one-dimensional, in my opinion, just a great bunch of guys and gals - doing the right thing whatever the odds.

Teaching the Pig to Dance by Fred Thompson

What do a former senator and former rock star, Pat Benatar, have in common? They both stayed classy and refused to dish up nasty gossip about their colleagues in their autobiographies. Thompson's book wasn't exactly what I was expecting when I spotted it on the library shelves. I thought Fred would use some ink to talk about his failed presidential campaign and really hammer home some conservative talking points, but instead he spent his time talking about how growing up in a small town formed his personality and ideals.

Thompson grew up in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, where he enjoyed the simple pleasures and got into the minor scrapes and scraps that are familiar to most of us in flyover country. His grandparents moved there around the time of the Great Depression, and adopted the philosophy that hard work and a bit of luck were enough to get by on, in our land of opportunity.

While not a spectacular student, Thompson did well enough in his classes to get accepted at law school, and when he graduated he hung up his shingle with a partner, performing small town law, mostly defending DUIs and handling divorces and wills. Whenever opportunity knocked, he took on the challenge, and eventually was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served for eight years. He also began a career as an actor in movies and on tv, playing a prosecuting attorney on the series Law and Order. In 2000, he threw his hat in the ring in the presidential primaries, but was eliminated fairly early from being a contender.

This is the kind of book where you feel like you're sitting around the fireplace in Thompson's family room, while he relates a few anecdotes, sprinkled with a wry humor, and a self deprecation that's quite charming.

The Silent Strength of Stones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Review written December 1999

This is the first novel I've ever read by Hoffman, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I picked it up around bedtime, and ended up staying up a bit late just to finish it. I supposed it qualifies as a juvenile fantasy novel, but it contains enough depth to be satisfying to adults, as well.
 
We pick up the story of Nick, a young man who lives with his father and grandfather at a lakeside resort, where he helps out running the family business of a general store. Nick's mother left them when he was quite young, and throughout the story we learn more about his ambivalent feelings towards his mother and how that abandonment has shaped his attitudes. At the beginning of the story, we are given to believe that his father is a control freak and somewhat abusive, while the grandfather is living a slow slide into senility. Through the course of the story, as Nick grows up a bit, we begin to see a little more depth and understand the character of his father more thoroughly.
 
Sometime during the tourist season, a strange family arrives to stay in a lakeside cabin nearby. One of Nick's favorite pastimes is spying on the amusements of the rich and idle visitors to the resort, so he begins to watch these new people, as well. He rapidly becomes acquainted with one of the girls, Willow, who is about his age, by inviting her to the upcoming Friday night dance.
 
Nick becomes aware rather quickly that there's something strange about this family. They seem to have the talent to make themselves invisible or pass unnoticed by most people. They also indulge in ritualistic behavior, chanting unintelligibly with their arms raised to the sky, or invoking the spirits of earth and water. He makes the acquaintance of a rather strange white wolf, who turns out to be one of the family as well - a shapeshifter named Evan.
 
As Nick develops relationships with several of the younger members of the family, he ends up in conflict with the adult members, putting him in danger from time to time. They are engaged in some sort of mission, and are extremely intolerant of what they perceive as his interference in both their quest and their authority over the children.
 
This story moves along really quickly - all of the action comes to a conclusion in a period of perhaps four or five days. Hoffman perhaps sacrifices some elements of style, characterization and description to achieve this pace, but somehow it works.
 
One of the things I really like about the novel is that Hoffman never takes the easy out of explaining away these people's strange actions and talents by calling them faerie or sorcerers or any of the worn-out magical terms prevalent in modern fantasy. She even manages to invent some new terms, within the basic concept of magic driven by earth, air, fire and water. Perhaps a scholar of archaic tongues might be familiar with the skilliau, which seem to be some sort of power stones, that the family are trying to acquire and bend to their uses, but it and the other items in their private tongue were all Greek to me.
 
This one is definitely worth reading, even if you have to pay full retail. And, as an added bonus, it's suitable for younger readers - G to PG rating.

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Unknown by Rachel Caine

In the second book of Outcast Season, Cassiel and Luis keep right on from where we left them, trying to thwart the evil former djinn, Pearl, who is kidnapping talented children and training them to be her mindless followers. The end game for Pearl is to force Cassiel to do that for which she was exiled, destroy the human race.

The romantic and sexual tension between Luis and Cassiel continues to build in this novel. I have to give Ms. Caine credit for not having her protagonists give in to their primal urges - that's a rare thing in the world of urban fantasy today.

The pace continues to be fast and frantic, with our duo racing to find the missing children and rescue them. The tough thing is that the children don't really want to be rescued. They've been brainwashed into believing that Luis and Cassiel are the villains, having been shown illusions of their parents being murdered by Cassiel.

Our heroes forge some new alliances, e.g., getting the FBI to help track down Pearl's fortresses in remote areas, and to participate in a raid on one of those compounds. Cassiel also convinces one of the New Djinn, Rashid, to help fight Pearl and her minions.

It's a good thing that Cassiel and Luis are able to channel power back and forth between them, as the number of times they're seriously wounded in a fight, and have to be miraculously healed borders on the absurd.  I'll keep forging ahead to find out how it all turns out, but I'm forced to suspend my critical faculties far too often while reading the series.