Doranna Durgin

Dun Lady's Jess is a nice book with quite an original concept. When Carey is pursued by enemies, he invokes a spell that transports him to our world. His horse, Dun Lady's Jess, comes along with him, but due to some strange quirk in the spell, she is transformed into a woman. Particularly in the first half, we get to see the world through Jess' eyes, trying to learn human behavior. Her little horsey mannerisms are well done, and in general, Jess is a very nice character. She is not perfect or all powerful, but she deals with her transformation quite well, becoming more her own woman as time goes by.

I have to say, the other aspects of the book were rather mediocre. Sure, there are some ok side characters in the book. Particularly Jaime, the owner of a riding school and Jess' host for most of her time on Earth, is sympathetic and turns out to be quite brave as well. Carey is a bit of an ass. Ok, I'm sure I could come up with some excuses for him, but quite frankly, I don't feel like it. No matter how much Dun Lady's Jess might have liked his voice when she was his horse, he is quite simply nothing special. Same goes pretty much for the other characters, even the sympathetic ones. As for the worlds, well, Earth is Earth, and the other world is ok, but again, somewhat mediocre. The magic is nothing special, the society is nothing special. If it weren't for Dun Lady's Jess, this book would be boring, despite the fact that it is an easy read. Fortunately, though, it does have Dun Lady's Jess, and she makes up for quite a bit. Overall, nothing brilliant, but highly entertaining with an original character. You could do worse...… (altro)

I had originally read this some time last year, but because the ending was more open-ended then I liked my books, I waited until I had hard conclusive proof (aka book in my hands) of the sequel before I decided to review it. Which meant I had to re-read the book (what I have a memory problem).

Truth to tell I only had one real problem with the novel and that was the sometimes repetitive nature of Garrie and her Reckoners (Lucia and Drew, Quinn phoning it in for this job...literally). I'm not certain whether this was a product of their job, dealing with normal folk and trying to calm the populace at times, or the author trying to make sure we understood what they did exactly. There's only so many times I could stand to hear about Garrie 'tasting' all the breezes or Lucia commenting on Drew's sorely out-dated slang usage or heck even the general consensus that they did not trust what Trevarr was selling. For a group of people who didn't trust their client as far as they could throw him, they sure let him lead them around.

Oh I lied the other problem I had was just how far into the book it was before Garrie got any clue as to what was really going on. Trevarr literally waits until they are on death's door to explain to Garrie what exactly she's up against. And even then he's still Mr. Vague Answer, dishing out as little as possible.

Moving on to what I liked was Garrie herself, she talks a tough talk, but the bottom line was always to first protect her people. I don't doubt that if Trevarr had explained to her the exact nature of what was going on at the Winchester House, or the amount of risk involved, she would have flipped him off and marched away. Even though Garrie is thinking of retiring, or at least there's a lot of vague indication of this and some breezy discussions regarding it, she cares about her team. And herself of course, but when the cards were thrown down it was the thought of her team being killed that made her act.

I would have liked to meet Rhonda Rose. To see her interact with Garrie in a more meaningful way (random memory snippets and twice told stories don't count). I hope that further into the series we get to see her. Lucia was kind of a funny gal; glamor and glitz and shopping adoration. We mostly see the cheerful, take that! attitude, but from what Garrie says it sounded like Lucia was a wreck before the Reckoners.

I wasn't sure what to make of Drew. In comparison to the others his role is more minimal, more passive than Lucia empathic abilities even. However I would want his power, to read the history of a house or area (or even object) as clearly as if he's watching a movie, the most. And it does definitely come in handy in a place like Winchester House, which I have a keen urge to visit now, since yes its a real place.

Quinn on the other hand I felt nothing from. He decided to stay home for this adventure, for personal reasons (which were tied in with a past affair with Garrie, though I'm not sure if he was trying to prove he was over her or trying to prove that she needed him or what) and other than some awkward conversations via the phone not much else could be said of him. He kept pressing Garrie for some sort of conversation, which Garrie was reluctant to have. He was jealous of Trevarr. He was the research guy. That's...the size of it for Quinn.

Trevarr at first bugged me because of his whole stoic silent act. He kept the fact he had secrets so out into the open that I'm surprised they didn't suffocate him. He was just a shade too precise. A little too much vague and not quite superior sounding. I love Sklayne, the not!cat energy bond-mate of Trevarr's. He spoke and thought in fragments, jagged sentences that were all impulse and no censorship. He flitted between ideas and feelings like a hummingbird. I wanted to know more about his geas with Trevarr, more than little hints at how it came to be. More about his kind in general.

The end, when things finally come to a head at the Winchester House, a lot happened real quick. Then we had a lull as Trevarr explained things and then wham bam back into the action ma'am. Some interesting matters to consider, in regards to the exact nature of Trevarr's 'half blood' status and world, no to mention Garrie's...abilities and connection. And Rhonda Rose. She's truly a meddlesome person.
… (altro)

Part of the problems I had with the first book was in the fact Garrie wasn't given enough details early enough. The threat that she faced, the Krevata, wasn't fully explained until Trevarr nearly died. Then he felt like Mr. Information, though even then he kept a lot back. The other problem was in how repetitive the Reckoners could be. We made definite headway on the first issue and some headway on the second issue in this second novel.

The introduction of Quinn and Robyn was both kind of welcome and a little baffling. During the Winchester House incident Quinn wasn't with the team, he opted to stay behind with his books (for personal and common sense related reasons). However whenever he was on the phone with Garrie he wanted to have the talk. Mind you I'm still confused as to what the talk was about, but it definitely had to deal with their personal shared history. So I expected him to try to have the talk in this book, since they were all together again, but...nothing. Other than some meaningful glares towards Trevarr, veiled censure and snappy remarks they didn't talk about it at all.

Part of that could have been Robyn--his highly skeptical, highly manipulative, highly annoying ex-girlfriend who's entire reason for calling him to Sedona seemed to be for a booty call. Or to see if he would still jump to do her bidding. Probably both. She was not pleased by the team's appearance. She made that displeasure very very evident. She made her derision for what they did very evident. Heck she was given hard to counter proof and she still acted like they were fortune tellers at a carnival trying to con her of her money.

I thoroughly disliked her. She could not, for even a second, relent. Garrie tells her an angry ghost tore up her shop--oh Garrie must be lying to be impressive. Lucia tells her that the spirits are not happy with the way things are--Lucia must be having a mental episode. Quinn even tried to explain to her that she's being a hag and she ignored him! Though truth be told I wasn't keen on Quinn either since he was alternately bristling with jealousy over Trevarr, disapproving of Garrie and for most of the book completely dissing the Reckoners so that Robyn wouldn't get mad at him. When he finally seems to understand Robyn was being extremely rude and offensive, he kind of felt bad. But was still a Robyn Apologetic.

Consequences from what happened between Garrie and Trevarr--when they shared power to defeat the Krevata--run amok. Not only in her physical appearance (blue-silver streaks, iridescent skin) but in how she interacts with her power. She got a level up in terms of power, but with it came a whole lot of cautionary tape. The problem that Trevarr had, with his 'other', got passed onto Garrie, but she's even less capable of controlling it. Simple things quickly spiralled out of control as Garrie tried to come to grips with what was happening. Trevarr, as usual, was rather tight-lipped about it.

A lot of the growth in Trevarr's character we see is seen through others' eyes. Sklayne, still my favorite character, slowly begins to understand just what Garrie has changed in Trevarr. It scares him, makes him worried and fretful, but at the same time he's grateful to Garrie for giving Trevarr a chance to be more than he was. We learned more about his kind as well as what drew him to Trevarr in the first place.

We learn and experience a lot about Lucia. Not just who she is, but the strength she possesses. Her strength of purpose now that she's with the Reckoners. Her belief that no matter what Garrie is an absolute. She's also got some of the best lines (next to Sklayne).

The plot-plot, about Sedona's vortexes and etheral energy being warped and drained, was just as creepifying as the Krevata. Maybe more so because these were humans and that made it worse actually. The Krevata were pretty much indifferent. They came after Earth because it was easy and there, not because of any malice towards humans. The Sin Nombre cult messed with humans and the environment because it gave them pleasure to do such things. It was a difficult challenge for the Reckoners because humans aren't their normal foes.

It simply amazes me how much action Durgin can pack into so few pages without losing sight of the goal at hand. She switches between viewpoints (all third person limited) several times throughout the chapters, but for a few instances I wasn't confused at all. It gives a much more detailed and broader understanding of what's going on and the different motivations or actions everyone takes.

The ending! Imagine a perfect way to end a battle, things looking bright and if not cheery at least better than they were. Wounds are healing, plans are made and all you have to worry about is whether or not you should let your fashionista best friend pick out your clothes anymore. Now shred that up, put it through the grinder and for extra measure light it on fire--yeah that's pretty much what happens to Garrie and Trevarr.

With Garrie's proclamation at the end I am looking forward to the third book for certain!… (altro)