Enemy of Entropy
Review: The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance, edited by Trisha Telep
The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance by Trisha Telep
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m extremely surprised by how much I enjoyed this anthology! I picked it up intending to just read the stories by authors I know I like—Kelley Armstrong, Ilona Andrews, Carrie Vaughn, Holly Lisle, Jeaniene Frost, Maria V. Snyder. I had never heard of some of the other authors. A few names I remembered seeing in other anthologies and not enjoying their work.
I did, however, deliberately put myself in a tolerant mindset: this is a book of romance stories. It wouldn’t be fair to judge them as anything else.
That worked rather better than it has in the past. I still got a little annoyed at having so much of each story dedicated to couples (and all het/mono couples, at that!) rather than some intriguing world ideas, but managed to stay on track.
In the end, I only skipped one story—I just don’t like the Weather Wardens stuff at all. I found a couple of others substandard, but all in all, Telep chose very well. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance (maybe even those who usually stick to just romance), and most urban fantasy fans.
calmBooks Books Books!
Yes, the girl and I managed a library run (to the GOOD library) on Friday. It took more time and energy than expected, of course, but we got a bunch of very good books.
I read My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon last night, with much giggling. The stories were a bit uneven (normal for an anthology), but worthwhile overall.
I especially liked “Heorot,” the Harry Dresden piece from Jim Butcher. I love the way he brings in mythology from so many different cultures.
Kelly Armstrong’s “Stalked” was fun, too. Her werewolves are just more wolfish than most, in my opinion.
P.N. Elrod’s “Her Mother’s Daughter” wasn’t bad at all. I’ve obviously missed some of her Jack Fleming novels, and I’m looking forward to catching up.
I want to find some of Marjorie M. Liu’s longer works, as “Where the Heart Lives” isn’t the first of her short stories that have impressed me. What’s even better is that WtHL is a total departure from the earlier stories I remember.
Presentation Done, Good Reading
I can’t talk about the presentation. I might have flashbacks. The fact that BOTH my classes that start next week have group projects is NOT giving me a happy.
However, I did read Kelly Armstrong’s latest Women of the Otherworld book, Personal Demon, yesterday, and then Dana Stabenow’s Prepared for Rage today. They were good.
Read on…
Happy Wednesday!
Sam and I had a very nice date night while Katie was out with her beau. He had started making chili last night, finished it tonight, and added corn muffins. I’m not a big fan of chili (I won’t eat it if Sam didn’t make it), but it was a very satisfying meal.
The girl is doing very well in the online course she’s taking, and I’m happy to say that my semester is going well, too. It’s hard to believe that my baby will likely start college courses this summer or fall!
Read on…
Review: Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong
Cool under pressure. If they posted employment ads for hitmen, that’d be the number two requirement, right after detail-oriented. A good hitman must possess the perfect blend of personality type A and B traits, a control freak who obsesses over every clothing fiber yet projects the demeanor of the most laid-back slacker. After pulling a hit, I can walk past police officers without so much as a twitch in my heart rate. I’d love to chalk it up to nerves of steel, but the truth is I just don’t rattle that easily.
Nadia Stafford is quite the departure from Kelley Armstrong’s other heroines, and that isn’t just because she’s a human rather than a werewolf, witch, vampire, ghost or necromancer. Don’t let that keep you from reading Exit Strategy, though. This book, while not a fantasy, proves that Armstrong is much more than “just” a fantasy author. In fact, it was rather refreshing to read an entirely “mundane” crime novel, since so much of the fiction market is focusing on romantic dark fantasy that borders on erotica.
I am, admittedly, cheap. I seldom buy books for myself, preferring to check them out from the library. Anything I do buy, I’ve probably already read, and want to own.
Our local library hadn’t ordered Exit Strategy, and I’m not big on crime novels, so I really wasn’t planning to read it. It was just there, on an endcap display with Armstrong’s other novels. The cover caught my attention — how could it not? I was killing time, so I opened it and read a random passage. I found that I couldn’t put it down, and ended up buying it. I was in the middle of several other books at the time, but compared to Exit Strategy, they might as well have been cereal boxes.
No, it isn’t a supernatural novel. No, it isn’t a romance. It isn’t even a mystery, exactly. But it’s very, very good. The plotting is even, and I found the main characters believable. I’m glad Armstrong has been contracted for a second novel, but I want it now, please?!
How does a “thirty-something mom” as Armstrong describes herself, come up with novels like this? I’m not sure, but I’m hoping this 40-something mom can someday manage even a chapter or two as of this caliber.
By the way, if anyone ever doubts Kelley Armstrong’s femininity, I will simply point that person to the following paragraph:
I slanted my gaze his way, in case he was talking to me. He wasn’t, of course. I was invisible…or as close to it as a nonsuperhero could get, having donned the ultimate female disguise: no apparent makeup and thirty-five pounds of extra padding./blockquote>
Yep, instant invisibility spell!
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