Rachel Caine
Ill Wind (2003)
If it wasn't for the fact that I was too lazy to get off the sofa, I would have put this book down several times and gotten something else to read. However, I was lazy, and eventually I got into the story, but it took several chapters.
Joanne Baldwin is a weather warden--barely past her apprenticeship. But right now she is on the run, accused of killing her boss, and in danger of losing both her powers and possibly even her life.
The book starts out in the middle. Joanne is on the run, but we don't know who she is, why she is on the run, or where she is going. The problem is that I also didn't care about Joanne right off the bat, and not knowing whether she deserved the trouble she was in made it hard to care what was happening to her. Which is one of the biggest failings I had with the story. I just didn't care about Joanne until several chapters into the book. Which is why I had such a hard time getting into the book.
However, once the story got started--once I finally got into the story--things moved pretty quickly, and I pretty much devoured the book from there on out. I did, however, quite like the ending and the plot twists leading up to the ending.
Take note: there was also a lot of boinking. Take that as you will.
As far as supernatural fantasies go, this one was okay, but wasn't one of my favorites. There are more books in the series, but I'm not sure that I'm interested enough to pay full price for the next book. (i.e. why can't I find more supernatural fantasy without boinking?)
Rating: 6/10
Heat Stroke (2004)
Heat Stroke is the second book in Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series. Joanna was killed at the end of the first book, and is now adjusting to life as a djinn. Unfortunately for her, her adjustment period is not going to be long, and is turns out to be incredibly unpleasant.
When I finished the first book in the series, Ill Wind, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about the series. There was an awful lot of boinking–more than the story seemed to deserve–which somewhat offset how much I enjoyed the story. But it wasn’t bad, so I decided to give Heat Stroke a try.
First things first, there is still a lot of boinking, especially in the first part of the book. The boinking combined with the fact that this was my travel/waiting room book, meant that things were slow going at first. But being my only reading material in a waiting room or while waiting for the PRT means that I am willing to be quite lenient about a book, and put up with a lot more than I would otherwise. And as with the previous book, once I got into the story, the reading got easier, and I eventually took the book out of my jacket pocket to find out what happened.
I also found Joanne a little more likable in this story than I did in the previous. She adapts quickly to her new life and surroundings, and when she discovers that there are problems, she doesn’t sulk or mope (too much) but does what she can to solve her problems. That helped this book a lot.
That’s not to say that there weren’t things that bothered me. There was still a lot of boinking, much of which I found somewhat annoying, since I was more interested in learning how she was going to do with all the changes. The other thing that bugged me was her extreme fascination with fashion. To say that I really couldn’t care about her clothes and her shoes would be an understatement. So her going on and on about shoes was both boring and annoying.
But this book did have one major failing: the story was not resolved, and the end of the book was simply an opening for the next book in the series. So despite the fact that I liked the resolution that was there, I was really annoyed by the lack of a satisfactory conclusion. Nothing makes me madder than a lack of a satisfactory conclusion.
On the bright side, I found the fantasy portion of this book more satisfying than in the previous book. Because Joanna is learning to become a djinn, we learn, along with her, how magic works.
If you read Ill Wind then you may want to check out Heat Stroke. As long as you don’t mind a lot of boinking.
Rating: 6/10
Chill Factor takes up where Heat Stroke took off; Joanne has to get to Las Vegas to try and stop Kevin and Jonathan from inadvertently destroying much of the ecosystem of the planet.
Unlike Heat Stoke, Chill Factor doesn’t have a cliff hanger ending, which is a major point in it’s favor. It does, however, leave major unresolved plot points, which I really don’t care for, but we’re not left wondering about Joanne’s immediate survival.
I still have continuing issues with Joanne, specifically I really hate the way that Joanne is so focused on clothes and fashion. Yes, great. She’s gorgeous and dresses well and can walk in high heels. So what? Rachel Caine writes about this like it’s a good thing for a woman to be obsessed with fashion and looking good and remaining thin and spending all her money on clothes. All I can think is, “What a waste.”
Additionally, I was thrown violently out of the story by what was meant to be a cute random plot point: Joanne’s fight against her new curly hair:
A sleek faux-ivory brush appeared under my nose. I looked up to see he was holding it out. I took it and began dragging it through my curly hair…ran the brush through my hair until the curls became glossy black waves.
Umm… no. It doesn’t work like that. You never every brush curly hair when it’s dry–at least not if you don’t want it completely full of frizz and sticking out around your head. You can brush it while you’re blow drying it, which will straighten the curls, assuming you use enough product, which it is not mentioned that Joanne does. So unless Joanne is using magic on her hair, that is so not happening. Never mind the fact that if her hair was as messy as it would have been, it would have taken a very long time and a lot of conditioner to straighten out the mess.
So sorry, but as someone who has spent years fighting with her curly hair, what Joanne does is completely delusional.
This isn’t to say the story wasn’t enjoyable–the story, as in previous books, was fast paced and engrossing. Joanne isn’t perfect, and things almost never work out the way she wants them, and she has come to rely upon those around her to help her solve the problems she faces.
But because of the things that bother me, I’m not sure if I want to continue to read the series. I’ll think about it and get back to you.
Rating: 6/10
Dark and Stormy Knights (2010)
edited by P.N. Elrod
I can’t help myself–I love anthologies. And fantasy anthologies with writers who write their fantasy with a healthy does of mystery? Sign me up! All anthologies have high and low points, but overall this was a fairly strong group of stories.
The book starts off with a current favorite author, Ilona Andrews. This is a Kate Daniels story, only set in the past, when Kate was still working for the Mercenary Guild. And we get to see how she met Saiman, which is a story well worth reading. Plus, this glimpse into Kate’s past was quite interesting. I have to admit that as much as I have been enjoying the series, I really really like independent Kate.
The second story is by Jim Butcher, but is not a Dresden story (although Harry is mentioned). Instead the main character is John Marcone, who we met in an earlier Dresden book. Justine is in trouble, and comes to Marcone for sanctuary as he is a signer of the Accords. Unfortunately a really nasty monster is after Justine, and Marcone doesn’t really have that much to gain by helping her. What was especially interesting about this story was seeing characters like Harry from the eyes of outsides.
The fourth story was Rachel Caine‘s story, “Even a Rabbit Will Bite.” I wasn’t particularly thrilled with her Weather Warden series, so I wasn’t expecting much from this story. Interestingly, it’s a short stand-alone story that I ended up liking very much. Lisel is the last Dragonslayer, and she is to train her replacement to kill the last remaining dragon. An elderly woman is rarely the hero of the story, so I especially liked that twist.
Jack Flemming makes another appearance in P.N. Elrod‘s story “Dark Lady.” A woman shows up looking for Jack, to beg him for help saving her fiancee from the mob. Unfortunately, he double crossed Gordy (Jack’s sort of boss) so there’s not much Jack thinks he can do for her, but being a sucker for a damsel in distress, he tries to help her anyway.
Lilith Saintcrow‘s story, “Rookwood & Mrs. King” was a vampire story, only without the romantic swoony vampires. Which was a nice change. A woman asks Rookwood to kill her husband, and Rookwood starts to refuse until she tells him her husband is undead and haunting her.
The final story was Carrie Vaughan‘s “God’s Creatures” which stars Cormac early in his career, before meeting Kitty. Again, I liked stepping into a characters past, and I also liked learning more about a secondary character–a nice twist that brings you into the world that already exists, but doesn’t do anything to ruin the ongoing storyline if you’re not familiar with the author.
Yes, there were other stories, but they weren’t particular favorites. but the stories mentioned above are well worth the price of the book, especially if you’ve not read stories by these authors before.
Rating: 8/10
Published by St Martin’s Griffin
Books by Rachel Caine
Weather Warden: Ill Wind (2003), Heat Stroke (2004), Chill Factor (2005)
Anthologies: Dark and Stormy Knights (2010) edited by P.N. Elrod
