![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatTo go outside and walk around the park in 26 degree weather or stay at cubicule during lunch break and write post? Hmmm.
Finished Pale Demon by Kim Harrison last night. (I took a break from my slow plod through Girl With Dragon Tatooe to read it. And ended up inhaling the book in the space of maybe four-five days, possibly less - keep in mind I don't have a lot of time to read outside of 20 minutes on the train, five minutes waiting for train, five-ten minutes on subway and at home each night for about two hours if that. This week, I've stayed up way past my bedtime to read said book. Last night - I went grocery shopping, came home,
changed clothes, and thought - I'll just read book for an hour or so - turned into two hours and a half, which meant eating at 8. Then tv show, which I basically read during, and reading until midnight. Not good when you have to get up at 6 am the next morning. Also did not sleep - because wired from book.
Even though I finished it. Have you had this experience? Falling inside a book? Becoming so engaged that you find yourself reading parts aloud to yourself and wanting to literally consume the book. And upset when the last page flies by and there isn't well more...because you want more, dang it.
And feel incredibly bereft that there isn't. And now you have to find a new book and hope it will engage you in the same, or maybe not - since you need your sleep and well not to be so consumed by a book?)
Harrison's a funky writer, a bit different from most of the female urban gothic fantasy mystery writers out there. Her books tend to be more action oriented than sex oriented for one thing. There's no real sex scenes in this book - just three kisses. The first is rather rough, and a bit of a fight scene, the second fleeting and sad, the third intoxicating, life-affirming,
and confusing for the characters. All three have the word trust and consent at their center. But they are ultimately no more than kisses.
And from a stylistic or purely technical stance? It's not the sort of book you are going to see on the shelves of your University library or book store.
Not English Lit fare by a long shot. That's not to say genre isn't English Lit fare - it can be. I read William Gibson's Neuromancer for an English Lit class once. Also did a paper on The Perilious Guard. But Harrison's technical abilities fall somewhere between Laurell K. Hamilton, Elizabeth Peters, and Jim Butcher. The story drags in places, she spends far too much time with details that don't further it, and far too little with ones that would. Also the first person pov - can at times be limiting. There's pitfalls to first pov
close - most of which Harrison does manage to avoid, such as pathetic and whiny. But Rachel at times can come across as abrasive or self-righteous, her self-deprecating humor much like Dresden's cuts across it though and saves the story. The author like Butcher has a very dry sense of humor (which may explain why I adored it.)
Harrison is more into world-building though - than Butcher or any of the others out there. Her world is an intricate thing, and often she will spend chapters on that, instead of the relationships I'd prefer she spent the wordage on. OTOH - she does the world-building well and I'm intrigued by it.
Also her relationships - work for me. They are complicated. The good guys and bad guys in her books aren't as clear as they are in Butcher's, which I guess is saying something. Harrison's characters inhabit a noirish landscape. And Rachel's boy-friends/romantic interests are a series of fatales and anti-heroes, in this book ranging from a billionaire elf who she's known forever yet is ruthless to the bone, think Spike in a suit, as an elf, to a demon mentor, think Giles, with a bad attitude and more than a little of Doc Who's The Master.
Harrison like most of these writers is up on her pop cult references. There's one to Buffy in the earlier novels, and in this one a subtle innocous reference to Doctor Who, which no one but a Who fan would notice. And each title of each book she writes is off of a Clint Eastwood film. Last year's Black Magic Sanction was a take-off of Eiger Sanction. This year's Pale Demon is Pale Rider. Prior to that? The Good, the Bad, and the Undead. Or A Fistfull of Charms. Clever. Also Rachel in some ways is reminiscent of Clint's noir Western and cop heroes - Dirty Harry and The Man with No Name.
She's exploring morality issues. How much power can you use without it corrupting you? What power does to you? What is the ultimate cost? Do the ends ever justify the means? Are people really good or evil or just in between? Each of her characters is a different species. Rachel is a witch (actually a demoness but that's another story),
Trenton is an elf (elves and demons have been at war for years), Jenks is a pixy (pixies hate fairies), Ivy (a bi-sexual living vampire - she still has her soul and when she dies, she loses it and becomes full vampire), Pierce (a centuries old witch, former ghost), Bis (a gargoyle)...and Al (a demon).
And their backstories are intricate, as are their species and races. She explains how they differ, how witches evolved from demons - a way that the elves crippled the demons. And in response the demons attempted to kill all the elves. There's a lot of genetics and biology in these books. The science is biological (I've no idea if it is accurate, not being a biologist, nor do I care that much...since if I don't get such information from these types of books anyhow and well I'm not a biologist.)
The Trenton/Rachel story is a way of examining the issues of two groups or species or races that hated each other. And how much they actually have in common. It's explored in a unique way. Not the traditional one. Since Rachel is not a demon to start, but a witch going after the big-bad human Trenton.
Until she realizes he's an elf - who up until now they thought were most likely extinct. And are quite rare. He's hiding. And because of genetic engineering his father did to help further the elf race, Rachel survived a genetic disorder and can kindle magic like a demon, eventually turning her into a demoness.
The problems in Harrison's tale derive from her ambition regarding the world and over-arching plot of the series. Her world is more complex than most of these novels. And there are places where the plot points don't quite add up.
But other than that? It's an enjoyable read. I love these characters. I just wish I could spend more time with them.
At the very end of the book, I wanted to see the next chapter with Trent and Rachel - they leave that relationship a bit up in the air. We're not quite sure exactly where the writer intends to go with it. Or with Rachel at the end.
I will state that Kindle's unlike hardback books or paper-backs, make it almost impossible to skip ahead and see how the story will turn out. As a result this was more of a page turner, then if I'd bought it in hardback, because I do skip ahead if I can get away with it.
The book left me unsatisfied much as the Hunger Games, Changes, Harry Potter, and many others have. But I know another will come out next year, so not that bad a thing. But I have this feeling after reading it of wanting a bit more, sort of similar to how I feel when I eat a chocolat mousse. That was good. More please?
Finished Pale Demon by Kim Harrison last night. (I took a break from my slow plod through Girl With Dragon Tatooe to read it. And ended up inhaling the book in the space of maybe four-five days, possibly less - keep in mind I don't have a lot of time to read outside of 20 minutes on the train, five minutes waiting for train, five-ten minutes on subway and at home each night for about two hours if that. This week, I've stayed up way past my bedtime to read said book. Last night - I went grocery shopping, came home,
changed clothes, and thought - I'll just read book for an hour or so - turned into two hours and a half, which meant eating at 8. Then tv show, which I basically read during, and reading until midnight. Not good when you have to get up at 6 am the next morning. Also did not sleep - because wired from book.
Even though I finished it. Have you had this experience? Falling inside a book? Becoming so engaged that you find yourself reading parts aloud to yourself and wanting to literally consume the book. And upset when the last page flies by and there isn't well more...because you want more, dang it.
And feel incredibly bereft that there isn't. And now you have to find a new book and hope it will engage you in the same, or maybe not - since you need your sleep and well not to be so consumed by a book?)
Harrison's a funky writer, a bit different from most of the female urban gothic fantasy mystery writers out there. Her books tend to be more action oriented than sex oriented for one thing. There's no real sex scenes in this book - just three kisses. The first is rather rough, and a bit of a fight scene, the second fleeting and sad, the third intoxicating, life-affirming,
and confusing for the characters. All three have the word trust and consent at their center. But they are ultimately no more than kisses.
And from a stylistic or purely technical stance? It's not the sort of book you are going to see on the shelves of your University library or book store.
Not English Lit fare by a long shot. That's not to say genre isn't English Lit fare - it can be. I read William Gibson's Neuromancer for an English Lit class once. Also did a paper on The Perilious Guard. But Harrison's technical abilities fall somewhere between Laurell K. Hamilton, Elizabeth Peters, and Jim Butcher. The story drags in places, she spends far too much time with details that don't further it, and far too little with ones that would. Also the first person pov - can at times be limiting. There's pitfalls to first pov
close - most of which Harrison does manage to avoid, such as pathetic and whiny. But Rachel at times can come across as abrasive or self-righteous, her self-deprecating humor much like Dresden's cuts across it though and saves the story. The author like Butcher has a very dry sense of humor (which may explain why I adored it.)
Harrison is more into world-building though - than Butcher or any of the others out there. Her world is an intricate thing, and often she will spend chapters on that, instead of the relationships I'd prefer she spent the wordage on. OTOH - she does the world-building well and I'm intrigued by it.
Also her relationships - work for me. They are complicated. The good guys and bad guys in her books aren't as clear as they are in Butcher's, which I guess is saying something. Harrison's characters inhabit a noirish landscape. And Rachel's boy-friends/romantic interests are a series of fatales and anti-heroes, in this book ranging from a billionaire elf who she's known forever yet is ruthless to the bone, think Spike in a suit, as an elf, to a demon mentor, think Giles, with a bad attitude and more than a little of Doc Who's The Master.
Harrison like most of these writers is up on her pop cult references. There's one to Buffy in the earlier novels, and in this one a subtle innocous reference to Doctor Who, which no one but a Who fan would notice. And each title of each book she writes is off of a Clint Eastwood film. Last year's Black Magic Sanction was a take-off of Eiger Sanction. This year's Pale Demon is Pale Rider. Prior to that? The Good, the Bad, and the Undead. Or A Fistfull of Charms. Clever. Also Rachel in some ways is reminiscent of Clint's noir Western and cop heroes - Dirty Harry and The Man with No Name.
She's exploring morality issues. How much power can you use without it corrupting you? What power does to you? What is the ultimate cost? Do the ends ever justify the means? Are people really good or evil or just in between? Each of her characters is a different species. Rachel is a witch (actually a demoness but that's another story),
Trenton is an elf (elves and demons have been at war for years), Jenks is a pixy (pixies hate fairies), Ivy (a bi-sexual living vampire - she still has her soul and when she dies, she loses it and becomes full vampire), Pierce (a centuries old witch, former ghost), Bis (a gargoyle)...and Al (a demon).
And their backstories are intricate, as are their species and races. She explains how they differ, how witches evolved from demons - a way that the elves crippled the demons. And in response the demons attempted to kill all the elves. There's a lot of genetics and biology in these books. The science is biological (I've no idea if it is accurate, not being a biologist, nor do I care that much...since if I don't get such information from these types of books anyhow and well I'm not a biologist.)
The Trenton/Rachel story is a way of examining the issues of two groups or species or races that hated each other. And how much they actually have in common. It's explored in a unique way. Not the traditional one. Since Rachel is not a demon to start, but a witch going after the big-bad human Trenton.
Until she realizes he's an elf - who up until now they thought were most likely extinct. And are quite rare. He's hiding. And because of genetic engineering his father did to help further the elf race, Rachel survived a genetic disorder and can kindle magic like a demon, eventually turning her into a demoness.
The problems in Harrison's tale derive from her ambition regarding the world and over-arching plot of the series. Her world is more complex than most of these novels. And there are places where the plot points don't quite add up.
But other than that? It's an enjoyable read. I love these characters. I just wish I could spend more time with them.
At the very end of the book, I wanted to see the next chapter with Trent and Rachel - they leave that relationship a bit up in the air. We're not quite sure exactly where the writer intends to go with it. Or with Rachel at the end.
I will state that Kindle's unlike hardback books or paper-backs, make it almost impossible to skip ahead and see how the story will turn out. As a result this was more of a page turner, then if I'd bought it in hardback, because I do skip ahead if I can get away with it.
The book left me unsatisfied much as the Hunger Games, Changes, Harry Potter, and many others have. But I know another will come out next year, so not that bad a thing. But I have this feeling after reading it of wanting a bit more, sort of similar to how I feel when I eat a chocolat mousse. That was good. More please?