Heretic's Daughter, by Kathleen Kent

3.5 stars

Heretic's Daughter is a slow moving yet effective portrayal of a family's life in 17th century America, and how that family was ripped apart by religious extremism and ignorance in one of the more shameful episodes of American history - the Salem witch trials.

Young Sarah Carrier's family is a typical one of its time, their days governed by the back-breaking work needing to be performed daily to ensure the family's survival, the monotony of which is only broken by outbreaks of disease, fear of Indian raids and visits to the town meeting-house to bask in the spite and ill-feeling of their neighbours who are already eager to lay the blame for an outbreak of smallpox at the Carrier's door. Sarah's mother, Martha, has already made a few enemies thanks to her strong will and sharp tongue, but black looks and malicious gossip are a kiss compared to what's to come as the hysteria over and persecution of so-called witches spreads from Salem Town, and the Carrier family find themselves just one of the many victims fallen prey to the townsfolk using religious doctrine to settle vendettas, jealousies and grudges by casting accusing fingers at their neighbours, and even members of their own families. Imprisoned in appalling conditions and executed if they protested their innocence, many would 'confess' and so be set free (in an example of the sort of insane troll logic that seemed to govern the time), while many others (most of them women) would lose their lives before reason could prevail.

The Salem witch trials are a potent example of some of the evils perpetrated by those claiming to do God's work, and Heretic's Daughter does a good job of depicting the plights of those accused. How the towns concerned recovered from this appalling episode isn't explored, and I had to wonder how one would forgive and move on from such terrible crimes. But then I'm not a particularly forgiving sort, and would hope that those responsible had their lives ruined by guilt (although I'm sure they simply cherry-picked some other piece of doctrine that absolved them of any wrong-doing, before quickly returning to using their religion as a stick to beat other people with).

If you're after something fact-filled you're probably better off looking in the non-fiction aisle but if you want something that brings the people of the time to real life, you could certainly do a lot worse than by picking this up.

The Witches of Eastwick, by John Updike

2.5 stars

I was already really familiar with the film adaptation when I picked this up looking for a campy and fun pre-Halloween read, only to find myself somewhat disappointed at the very different tone of the book (not the only way in which this differs from the film, which also seems to have cast the lead actresses in the wrong roles as well as being in possession of a far more charismatic Darryl Van Horne than the one written). 

Usually I'm a book-first kind of girl, and I did admittedly struggle thanks to having the film so vividly in my head, and found myself continually comparing the two.

Alexandra, Sukie and Jane all reside in the Rhode Island town of Eastwick where their powers flourished once they'd been relieved of their husbands through either death or divorce. They spend their time sleeping with the remaining married men of the town in between their Thursday meetings where they raise their power as a coven and raise small but mean-spirited spells on their neighbours while boozing and gossiping. Until the arrival in town of the mysterious Darryl Van Horne, taking up residence at and renovating the old Lenox mansion. He's soon having the ladies over for orgies, testing the bonds of their friendships and separating them from the rest of the town before disappearing, leaving their friendship forever changed and them facing a new coven of opposing witches, whose own powers arrived once they were deprived of their husbands by our witches. Eventually, our witches too leave town, having magicked themselves up new husbands.

For such a relatively small book it took a long time for me to get through, quite possibly due to the lack of narrative thrust - I'd quite often put it down and then forget to read it again for a few days. And while Updike writes well - and never more so than during the incredibly effective passage on the murder-suicide of the Gabriel's - his flair for description didn't do enough to counteract what I felt as a lack of narrative drive.

Having neither loved nor loathed this, I'm probably not destined to remember much about it either.

Dead Witch Walking, by Kim Harrison

1 star

I think I must have been well and truly spoiled by the Jim Butchers and Kelley Armstrongs of the paranormal genre, as Dead Witch Walking is the latest in a long line of paranormal series I've attempted only to find myself rolling my eyes and tutting loudly nearly every time I turned a page.

In a world post-Turn, where the human population found itself hugely diminished thanks to and still quivering with terror at...um...tomatoes, they've now found themselves living side-by-side with a wealth of supernatural races collectively known as Inderlanders. The wildly irritating Rachel Morgan is a witch and runner for Inderland Security, which polices the supernatural community and tags its ne'er-do-wells. Except she's no longer wanted in the I.S. and, backed by her vampire colleague Ivy and tiny pixy partner Jenks, finds herself on the run from their many assassins (standard I.S. termination policy). Trying to buy herself out of her death, Rachel plans to take down and hand over local big-bad Trent Karramack, but as we'll soon find out Rachel's plans have a habit of being completely crap and falling apart quicker than something that falls apart really quickly.

Constantly overestimated by everybody despite the fact that all of her 'plans' end with her getting captured and having to be rescued by others, Rachel is also constantly jumping to incorrect assumptions as well as having some serious trust issues - as in she refuses to trust anybody who proves they can be trusted, preferring instead to trust people she has just met (but only as long as they act reallllllly suspiciously). In case you can't tell, Rachel made my shit itch as badly as if Jenks had pixed me. 

As Dead Witch Walking preferred to focus more on its characters and their relationships than driving forward the story, the fact that I hated pretty much everyone bar Jenks and his family meant that my only real enjoyment came in rooting enthusiastically for Rachel's death. I'll be pretending that that's what happened come the end instead of reading any more of her adventures.

Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett

2.5 stars

We've reached the 12th in the Discworld series, and we're in the company of the witches as they head on a road trip to Genua to stop a wedding being forced upon a princess by someone who's twisting stories to suit their own purposes (and taking on riverboat gamblers, vampires and lots of banana daiquiris along the way).

My journey through the Discworld to date has been a bit bumpy, with as many lows as there have been highs. This one was more of a middling entry come the end - the road trip itself, which spent far too much time piddling around, really dragged for me with most of the jokes falling as flat as Granny's running bungled alligator joke.

While things did pick up once we'd reached Genua (with Greebo's transformation being a particular high point) it wasn't enough to make me sorry to see it end.

I really want to like these books more than I have so far (except for when it comes to Death and the City Watch), but entries like this aren't helping.

A Dark Kiss of Rapture, by Sylvia Day

1 star

A Dark Kiss of Rapture? A Quick Bit of Bollock-All, more like - writing this review will probably take me longer than my reading did. How this has managed to get an average rating of 3.68 on Goodreads is beyond me - I can only imagine that there are an awful lot of significantly time challenged and very easily pleased people out there. This would appear to be a taster for Day's Renegade Angels series, but instead of building my appetite it's put me off entirely.

Raze is one of the Fallen - former angels who lost their wings and became vampires. Now roaming earth, the Fallen are policed by the Sentinels (angels) and their lycan backup squad, while also apparently being engaged in some sort of face-off with a bunch of rogue vampires and their minions. I've no idea why I'm explaining this to you as it's barely important other than for a quick couple of scenes in which baddies are dispatched easily, but I expect this will also be the back story to future books in the series. Just about the only thing I found interesting in this entire set up was the fact that Raze and his Fallen pals apparently all chose their own names when they came to earth. Considering that they're got such naff names as Raze, Crash, Salem and Torque, one can only assume that fallen angels are actually teenage girls. 

Raze is a womaniser and has never understood his Fallen friends taking mates - until he meets Kim, that is, a "prime choice female" (ugh) with whom he falls in insta-love after she picks him up in a bar. Soon they're both gazing at one another with need and sensing what movies the other will like, because when you fall in love with someone that apparently happens, along with you both enjoying exactly the same things. (This is news to me, as my partner of 15 years wouldn't be caught dead watching Jersey Shore, loves football and the sort of music which I think sounds like a CD jumping. But I digress...) Now Raze must protect the woman he loves from becoming his enemies' target...apparently. We wouldn't really know as the bloody novella ends as soon as this comes up. And for a novella that promises to be erotic, it's not like we even got any good sex scenes in the meantime as each time we built up to the moment, we'd suddenly be whisked away to give our couple some privacy.

At one point Kim muses on a film they're about to watch, which stars fallen angels. Raze's wondering if they're vampires too, prompts her to say: "That might actually be a cool story. Maybe some werewolves too? Like Underworld with angels? Could be interesting."

To this I reply: "Not fucking likely, if this is anything to go by."

Witch Fire, by Anya Bast

2 stars

If this book had a theme tune, it would be this: 

For iPhone/iPad click here.

It should be quite clear by now exactly what type of book I've been reading. It might have a bit of paranormal window-dressing for those who like to pretend they're not reading a sex book, but it's smut nonetheless. As such it sort of worked, in places, but mostly had me wondering if I couldn't give up this life of drudgery and succeed as a smutty writer instead.

Mira was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar sorry, diner (damn my musical tourettes) when she first set eyes on Jack. Brought up by her godmother following the deaths of her parents, Mira is (unbeknownst to her) the child of two powerful witches who were sacrificed in order to call up a demon by a warlock, Crane. Jack witnessed their deaths as a child (what with his Dad being said warlock) and has felt responsible ever since. Estranged from his father, Jack's assigned as Mira's bodyguard by her parents' Coven in order to defend her from Crane (who wants her dead on account of her being an air witch. The habit of referring to witches by their elements kept making me giggle, as I kept imagining an air witch and a fire witch sitting around eating a sandwich).

The first half of the book was virtually a two-hander as Jack takes Mira to his apartment for safe-keeping where they hang out, and Mira first exposes herself as a dumbass. Firstly, she's apparently very empathic and can easily sense the needs and emotions of those around her. Despite this, and despite the fact that Jack tells her, numerous times, how much he wants her, she spends most of her time wondering if she repulses him. Secondly, after hearing that the leader of her parents' Coven shares her mother's maiden name, she's still somehow shocked when - surprise! - it turns out they're related. These weren't the only examples of spectacular slowness on her part.

Thankfully, this is only dragged out for so long and they're soon at it like the world is powered by genital friction. I must admit that the first time Jack and Mira got it on I wasn't entirely tingle-free...however, there are only so many times that you can read about someone doing, essentially, the same routine over and over before you get a bit bored.

Wanna screw like Jack? Lemme tell you how!

Step 1: Stare at her with your "need laid bare"

Step 2: Twiddle her nipples like an amateur radio enthusiast scanning frequencies

Step 3: See theme tune

Step 4: Head south for a short spell

Step 5: Ride her like Seabiscuit

In between humping sessions, Jack continues to 'train' Mira in magick (that k really bugs me for some reason). He seems to think that this is 'training':

Luckily, it doesn't really matter how strange his teaching methods are as Mira is one of those heroines, and after about half an hour of training is easily far more powerful than most of the people who've lived in this world forever (one of my pet peeves in this genre, along with overuse of the words "cream" and "panties". Just once I'd like to read of someone taking off their knickers instead).

If you're looking for something that won't tax too much you could do a lot worse, but right now I can't imagine coming back to the series for more. If I ever do, I'll have to make sure my thinking cap is missing.

Women of the Otherworld

So, you're sick of Sookie sleeping, and Anita Blake rubs you up the wrong way by rubbing up against absolutely everything, so where's a girl to get her paranormal fix? TheShitWizard has two words for you: Kelley Armstrong. 

In case this isn't old news to you, Armstrong has a couple of paranormal series to her name - Women of the Otherworld and its YA sister, Darkest Powers - and they're fantastic brain candy. Women of the Otherworld, in particular, shows how much fun this genre can be when you put your mind to it (and don't use your heroines as your fantasy avatar). 

A series of thirteen books (all published, so there's no waiting if you're instant gratification girl like me), virtually all of them (bar the last couple) have self-contained stories which slowly build a great, believable world (I realise that probably sounds mental when we're talking about supernaturals, but never mind) and feature a wealth of brilliant heroines, none of whom are vapid or wear terrible clothes which are described for pages (hint, hint Harris and Blake!), and who manage to be feisty without making you want to slap them. Their personalities don't consist of being clumsy and lacking in self-esteem, nor are they supermodel types who every man instantly lusts after the moment she walks into a room. They're normal, every day women who dress normally, behave normally and just happen to have some powers - which can cause as many problems as they solve. 

And the men? A nice variety awaits us and, while some of them may fit the alpha male type, they're not controlling freaks who make you think more of abusive relationships than sexy times (I'm looking at you Cullen, the Black Dagger Brotherhood and the douchebag duo from Anita Blake). Like the strong, calm and nurturing type? Armstrong's got you covered. Fancy a sensitive intellectual? Got that too. Or would you rather a doggedly (fnar!) loyal, smoking hot werewolf with a temper as hot as he is? Let me introduce you to Clayton Danvers... 

...Sorry, I'm back. Got lost thinking about Clayton there for a while. Where was I? 

Oh yeah, sex. Naturally, in a series of stories about awesome women and their men, sex does figure but it fits each of the stories well and is only an element of the plot - which actually serves to make it sexier when our peeps finally do get down and dirty (something Laurell K. Hamilton may want to take into consideration). 

There are some minor niggles along the way, there is a slight tendency to go for the happy-ever-after so you're never truly worried for the characters, but they're so small as to be inconsequential in comparison to how much I enjoyed them. 

So, what are you waiting for? Get your teeth into these: 

Bitten - Introducing us to Elena Michaels, the only female werewolf in the world and one of my favourite paranormal heroines ever. The series highlights are always around Elena and her pack, their dynamics and behaviour, and this book does a fantastic job of introducing us to the Otherworld without drowning us in it. I tore through this in a day while waiting for a plane, then rushed straight to the book store on the other side for the follow-up. 

Stolen - The second book starring Elena goes in for a bit of world-building; a group of scientists/rich bods are collecting supernaturals for research into improving the human race (which always goes well) and features witches, sorcerers, shamans, vampires and half-demons, showing the potential for growth in the Otherworld. 

Dime Store Magic - Moving away from Elena and allowing us some time with young witch Paige Winterbourne and her even younger ward, 12 year old Savannah. This gave us a fresh new perspective as well as exposing us to Cabals (think Mob, but with magic and nicer headquarters), who we'll be coming across more and more in the series. 

Industrial Magic - Paige is drawn into a case where the Cabals need her help and although I don't like her half as much as I do Elena, it's still interesting reading things from her point of view, especially as she doesn't live in such a closed environment as the wolf pack and instead interacts with a wide range of supernaturals. 

Haunted - This time our heroine is already dead, but that's not about to stop her from being badass. Introducing us to the Fates and showing us some nice flourishes when it comes to the ghost world, the series starts to show here that it might be a little bigger than just a few, self-contained stories. 

Broken - We're back with the pack, who inadvertently open a portal to Victorian London after stealing the Jack the Ripper 'From Hell' letter, with complications arising from cholera, killer rats, zombies and more... 

No Humans Involved - This time we're in the company of Jaime Vegas, celebrity spiritualist (though a far more likeable one than Derek Acorah) and real necromancer, who is shooting a TV special hoping to raise the ghost of Marilyn Monroe but stumbles across something far more disturbing. 

Personal Demon - One of the weak spots in my opinion, with Hope the half-Expisco demon in the lead. I liked the added moral ambiguity in this one - Hope's power (visions of chaos, and feeding off chaotic energy) means that we're not dealing in black and white - but I found Hope a little too passive a character to really get behind. 

Living With The Dead - The other weak spot in the series, this one shares narration between a few characters, along with a civilian to give us the 'human' view of our supernaturals, and I found it fairly unmemorable. 

Frostbitten - Wolf pack time again (yay!) as they try to track down some man-eating mutts and find themselves in Alaska, which is home to more than just werewolves. 

Waking the Witch - While the witch instalments aren't my favourites, thankfully by the time we get to this one Savannah is all grown up and ready to take on her own book, and we get our first cliffhanger ending...

Spellbound - Following from exactly where we left off in Waking the Witch, and it's becoming more apparent that a supernatural war is brewing. While I squee'd at some of the cameos in this instalment I did also find myself frustrated at ending with another cliffhanger. 

Thirteen - And finally, the last book of a series that had interesting plots and sub-plots that had all been leading us here, with our women banding together to face off the biggest threat the supernatural world has seen yet. Action packed and terribly exciting, I tore through this while knowing I'd be gutted as soon as I'd finished it.

It's probably also worth knowing that several short stories have been published dealing with some of our characters at other times in their lives, so if you didn't get enough from the thirteen above, you should start Googling now.

Sadly it's time for me to bid goodbye to the Otherworld. I'll miss you...