October 8, 2007 at 6:45 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Canadian Literature, Mystery and Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
103. Blood Pact by Tanya Huff (Urban Fantasy) 281 p.
Vicki’s mother dies unexpectedly, and Vicki rushes to Kingston to arrange the funeral, only to find that her mother’s body has disappeared. Furious and vengeful, as well as relieved to have an excuse to avoid grieving, Vicki launches her own investigation into the missing corpse, dragging both Henry and Mike Celluci into the case.
I continue to be underwhelmed by Huff’s habit of switching perspectives between the heroes and the villains. I think the books would be much improved by staying in tight third person, focusing on Vicki. Actually, maybe that’s once of the reasons I like the Tony Foster books better?
Other than that, all I can say about this book is that it surprised the heck out of me. Even though I’ve read the Tony Foster trilogy, which follows the Vicki Nelson books, I really wasn’t expecting what happened. So, many thanks to Tanya Huff for somehow avoiding spoilers in the later series. I’m sort of half-looking forward to Blood Debt and the short story collection, Blood Bank, and sort of not, since they’re the absolute last in the series (although I still hope Huff will go back to Tony Foster at some point!)
Books read: 103
Pages read:30,709
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Tanya Huff, Vicki Nelson
July 26, 2007 at 5:41 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Canadian Literature, Mystery and Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
72. Blood Lines by Tanya Huff (Urban Fantasy) 268 p.
When the curator of the Egyptology department at the Royal Ontario Museum stumbles across an incredible find, he unwittingly releases an ancient evil. Vicki, Henry, Mike Celluci, and even Tony become caught up in the mummy’s plans for world domination.
In terms of plot, I think this is probably the best of the series so far. It’s tight, the pace is relentless, and the villain’s actions have more serious consequences for the heroes than ever before. Some of the violence in it was actually a little disturbing, but Huff succeeds in creating a truly frightening antogonist for Vicki to face. Evil mummies have never been so scary.
The story was more serious, much darker and with a lot less humour than the previous novels. My only complaint is that, once again, I would have liked to see more of Tony, although that’s not really a fault in Huff’s writing—if I didn’t already know Tony from his later spinoff series, I wouldn’t miss his presence.
This was the first time I actually liked reading the villain’s POV, and in fact, in this book I think that it was necessary. There would have been too many loose ends for the reader without it.
Books read: 72/100 (72%)
Pages read: 21,458/25,000 (86%)
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Tanya Huff, Vicki Nelson
July 25, 2007 at 3:08 am · Filed under Book Reviews, Canadian Literature, Mystery and Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
71. Blood Trail by Tanya Huff (Urban Fantasy) 282 p.
Henry calls Vicki in when some old friends of his, a family of sheep-farming werewolves in London, Ontario, find themselves stalked by a gunman—one who seems to know their secret. With two of their relatives already dead, they’re counting on Vicki to find the killer before any more of them are slaughtered.
I’m still less than enthused with the inclusion of the villain’s POV. It takes away most of the mystery and a lot of the suspense without, in my opinion, adding much to the story. Also, while Huff does a good job of fleshing out the protagonists, she often shows only those of the villains’ thoughts that are related to their villainy, making them seem a bit like cardboard cutouts. She is clearly capable of writing nuanced and even sympathetic antagonists, but she rarely chooses to exercise this skill. She does succeed brilliantly at showing the mundaneness and sheer pettiness of human evil.
The sheep-farming werewolves are too cute and fun for words. I was glad to see Tony in the beginning of the book, and only wish he’d been present throughout. I like Vicki and Henry a lot, but Tony will probably always be my favourite. Although Vicki’s been growing on me; I’ve heard her compared to Anita Blake, and I can see why, but Vicki is more interesting, not to mention less insanely unreasonable. Although one of the things she ate to win a contest in this book was pretty hilarious.
Books read: 71/100 (71%)
Pages read: 21,190/25,000 (85%)
Days passed: 205/365 (56%)
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Tanya Huff, Vicki Nelson
July 25, 2007 at 2:18 am · Filed under Book Reviews, Canadian Literature, Mystery and Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
70. Blood Price by Tanya Huff (Urban Fantasy) 272 p.
Vicki Nelson is a private investigator and former Toronto cop who left the force when her vision began to deteriorate. Henry Fitzroy is a vampire, romance novelist, and the bastard son of Henry VIII. They eventually team up to help stop a wave of serial killings in the city—killings that look remarkably like vampire attacks.
I enjoyed this book a lot, although more for the characters and the potential for the rest of the series than for the plot. It wasn’t bad (actually, it was pretty good), but Huff didn’t handle it with the same flair as she shows in the Tony Foster books. Since this was the first book in a new series, there was also a lot of exposition that I hope decreases in the later novels. I’m also not all that fond of multiple-POV’s, especially when one of the POV’s is that of the villain. Huff handles it well, but it’s just not a narrative style that I enjoy.
That said, I did have a lot of fun reading Blood Price. I adored the Toronto setting; it was so much fun recognizing the places and institutions that she mentions. Although she doesn’t mention them by name (calling them “the tabloid” and “the other city newspaper”), her descriptions of the Toronto Sun and Toronto Star are spot-on. I love that her heroine rides the TTC. I love that Tony appears in the first book (I wasn’t sure if he was in the series from the beginning or if he was introduced later, but the former turned out to be true) and I’m looking forward to watching his character develop into the Tony from Smoke and Shadows.
I love Huff’s creation of a villain who is both hissable and mundane. Mixing the supernatural with the supremely ordinary is one of her great strengths as an author of urban fantasies, and this book—in which the villain buys the paraphernalia to work evil at Canadian Tire and his local corner store—is no exception.
Books read: 70/100 (70%)
Pages read: 20,908/25,000 (84%)
Days passed: 205/365 (56%)
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Tanya Huff, Vicki Nelson
