Web of Lies (An Elemental Assassin Book) by Jennifer Estep

Spid

Web of Lies is another sequal, this time to Spider's Bite.  The main character Gin is a "retired" assassin and owner of the Pork Pit.  She's also got a double dose of magical abilities able to control Stone and to a lesser extent Ice (the other elements are Fire, Air, and Lightning), though she doesn't like to rely on them too much.  She's a vicious, blood-thirsty soft-hearted woman who isn't intimidated by anyone.  She becomes involved in someone trying to oust the Fox family from their store when someone tries to kill a Violet Fox in her restaurant.

The attempted murder and ousting is being coordinated by third-party agents of Mab, the fire elemental who controls the crime element (and the rest) of the city.  Mab also happens to be the person who orphaned Gin by murdering the rest of her family as a child.  Needless to say, Gin doesn't let the chance slide by to cause some trouble for Mab along the way.

The conclusion wraps up the Fox family's situation and handily sets the stage for the next episode in the series, Venom.

Overall Rating: 4 /5
(Spider's Bite: 4 /5 )
(Venom: 4 / 5)

Bayou Moon (A Novel of the Edge) by Ilona Andrews

Bayou Moon is the sequel to On The Edge, a surprisingly good quick read.  In this second book, the changeling William has been living on the Edge for two years after the occurrences of the first novel.  The Edge is the region between the Weird, where magic reigns, and the Broken, which is pretty much modern today.

William gets lured back into the Weird side of the Edge by promise of revenge against his long-time enemy, Spider.  He teams up with the Mar family, proliferate and magically strong, but fiscally weak.  Long story short, the good guys win in the end. 

What I like about the first story was the interesting take on magic - in the Edge, everyone had some, but no one really had a lot.  The closer in white along the color spectrum someone's "flash" was, the stronger they were.  Flashing was almost a theme throughout the first novel, but was relegated to the back seat in the second book, as though the author were tired of talking about it.  Instead, the author focused more the personal relations and romance.  Not a problem, I just would have like more niftiness with the magic.

Overall Rating: 3 / 5 
(On the Edge Rating: 4 / 5)

Passage (The Sharing Knife: Volume 3) by Lois McMaster Bujold

The third in a four book series, Passage continues the story of Lakewalker Dag and farmer Fawn, as they seek to find a way for themselves thats not quite of either of their peoples. 

To quickly sum up the first two books, Dag and Fawn save each other from a malice - an evil, quickly evolving, mind-controlling creature - fall in love, and get married.  However, its against Lakewalker law to marry a farmer - read: non-magic type.  Thus they end up on the road seeking a way between their two people.

Moving on, Dag is discovering here-to-fore unknown strength and abilities with his groundsense - magic - and having issues with some of the ethical ramifications of what he's doing, as some of it seems similar to how malice's operate.

Long story short, its an interesting take on magic, with some good action-adventure thrown in and a constant romantic undercurrent.  I read all three this week, and plan on getting the fourth soon.  If all-out action is what you're looking for, maybe not the book for you, but if you want some strong characters that grow throughout each book, and don't mind the romantic overtones, then this is a good series to pick up.

Overall Rating: 4 / 5

Some Girls Bite (A Chicagoland Vampires Novel) by Chloe Neill

This is a fun light read that shamelessly builds on the modern vampire cliche / fad of True Blood.  Vampires have had a big "coming-out" and announced themselves to the world.  The protagonist Merit is a romantic-lit grad student who's rejected her family's political connections and gets unknowingly turned into a vampire to save her life.

These aren't twilight vamps who get all sparkly in the sun - these vampires have a pretty standard set of restrictions and powers, but apparently each vamp is judged in three stats - Phys, Strat, and Psych (author's abbreviations not mine). 

The main gal Merit happens to somehow be a Master-level vamp in Phys and can resist strong Psych.  Regardless of the rpg stat breakdown, this is a good light read that when it ended I immediately ordered the next book.  If urban fantasy - heavy on the vamps, but with magic, shapeshifters, politics, and romance - if your thing, then I recommend giving this book a read.

Overall Rating: 4 / 5

The Summer Tree (The Fionvar Tapestry: Book One) by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Summer Tree takes five college students in Canada and transports them to a foreign world where each becomes vitally important parts in a struggle against an ancient and oppressive evil. That being said, I constantly felt like I was being raced through all the history and modern politics of the foreign world without ever getting a chance to just absorb it. New and different aspects of the mythos were just thrown at you and moved on without giving you the chance to get your feet back under you and really understand what was going on.

It wasn't until I finished the book that I had any desire to read the sequel. And that desire mostly stems from the fact that it ends on a huge cliffhanger without any real resolution of the conflicts that had been established.

Overall Rating: 2/5

Purpose

I am starting this blog to share reviews of books and show series that I'm reading or have read. Being recently graduated, and now have a lot more time on my hands and have gone through probably 20+ books in the least month or so. I don't think I'll be keeping up quite that pace, but I should still hit about two books a week. The books I pick come from Amazon suggestions, random ones I find, or suggestions from my brother, but if anyone has one they'd like me to read, I'm more than willing to be the guinea pig before you go and buy a particular book.

A little about me:
I grew up reading fantasy novels from when I was very young.  My father reads them, as does my older brother.  I was reading Margaret Weis an Tracy Hickman when I was in the fifth grade.  I reread all the Robert Jordan books when a new one comes out.  I've read a lot, I read fast, and I'll read just about anything. 

I'll go through periods when I'll reread all the books I used to take on vacation growing up (The Lioness Quartet, The Prodigal Sorcerer, ...), or I'll go off on a hard sci-fi binge (David Weber, Elizabeth Moon), or I'll pick a different subset and try and rundown a bunch like it.  So, I may glut this blog with a bunch of urban fantasy novels for a few weeks then switch tacks completely and review Incarceron.  Regardless, I hope that my thoughts and comments can help someone find their next book.