It's okay, it's okay...

...I'm alive. Really.

So after my forced absence from the net world, many of you, oh as-yet-nonexistent and currently loyal readers, have perhaps wondered what in the world occurred. I make it my policy not to blog on weekends, for one, since I like to pretend to have a life outside of the internet (even though I spent the entirety of this weekend writing on my novel and therefore managed to pull together 11,900 words in a week, a feat which is now pretty superfluous and/or obsolete). I also was sick the past two days. Lame, I know. It was not a sickness conducive to very much computer use, and now I am behind in all things writerly. Also, making up words is good for you; so is laughing at safety regulations; no, I won't tell you what that's about.

Okay, now that I've failed at humor and overused punctuation: on to THE READING SUMMARY!!!

Since I was mad ill I resorted to the one thing I do best (which was also on my list of things I probably shouldn't have been doing): reading! Over the past four days, I have read three books. They are:

Greywalker by Kat Richardson
Black Dust Mambo by Adrian Phoenix
Flesh Circus by Lilith Saintcrow

Let us begin.

The first book I read, Greywalker, was actually read over the weekend. This is an urban fantasy book, and tells the story of a PI by the name of Harper Blaine who is assaulted while working a case and loses consciousness - technically dying for almost two full minutes. As Harper begins to get well, she realizes that something has changed. She begins seeing people and things that aren't there, and not just seeing them. Harper can touch them, interact with them, and, more importantly, they can touch her. After a couple of times falling through walls and being attacked by spirit beings, Harper decides to get help, winds up in a mess of vampire trouble, and attracts the attention of a vengeful ghost on a murder spree. Obviously, the story behind the book is definitely good. However, this is one of those manuscripts you often come across in the urban fantasy genre these days that could most definitely use some editing. The characters are sort of flat, and the plot jumps around, leaving the reader behind from time to time. The writer also falls prey to the allure of the dreaded info dump. Great potential, but the book gets a C on Amanda's Grading Scale for Urban Fantasy Novels.

Black Dust Mambo is delightfully set in New Orleans. The main character, Kallie Riviere, is a hoodoo from the swamps with a bit of an ugly past. Taken in by her aunt after her mother shot her father and tried to kill her, Kallie has nonetheless grown into a voluptuous, talented girl often described through the eyes of the male characters in the novel as a "violet-eyed temptress". The book itself begins when this aforementioned temptress finds her one-night gypsy lover dead in her hotel bed after she awakens passed out on the bathroom floor. From there it never slows down, jumping from one conflict to the next like a leprechaun on speed, which can be a good thing, and in this case was pretty entertaining. Adrian Phoenix, the author, did a good job of balancing character development with her break-neck pace, though that aspect could have been fleshed out a bit more. There was also a question of completeness of the story - while there were only a few scenes that seemed to step outside of the plot in any way, the book definitely ends on a cliffhanger, and not one of those tantalizingly smooth ones either. All in all, this book gets a B-.

And, last but not least, I returned to the writing of Lilith Saintcrow, whose love of violence is still insurmountable. The rising tide of bodies, human and otherwise, in Flesh Circus did not disappoint my expectations in the slightest, of course, as the main character, demon-enhanced demon-hunter Jill Kismet, scoured the breadth and depth of Saint City tackling zombies and voodoo andorgynes, with the hunt culminating in a sweet magical chicken sacrifice and the slaying of a demon. All in a day's work for our Jillybean. But lest you think the girl's just about exorcising demons and slaying the wicked, Saintcrow has added a lovely lover's quarrel with Saul Dustcircle, her werecat, Native American hunk. Though sometimes she drives me crazy, Jill is a well-developed character four books in, and the host of side characters that surround her remain amusing and well-written. And of course, the plot always twists just slightly at the end, taking you smoothly into the unforeseen conclusion. My only wish is that Jill would grow a bit more with what she experiences, instead of staying essentially stagnant throughout the books. All in all, I give this book a B+.

Well, that's the urban fantasy gamut for today. I hope that you'll take the time to read the books I've mentioned, as they were all fun reads regardless of what foibles they might be working through. Hopefully next time I get a chance to do a rundown like this, I'll have a little more variety for you to choose from. I'm sure not all of you like urban fantasy.

Over and out.