I’ve been reading the Rachel Morgan series since the third book came out, following each new volume, and often buying them in hardcover, which I don’t do for just any series. Even after my other two favorite urban fantasy series’ authors started phoning it in, Harrison’s Hollows series keeps going strong.
This was my first time listening to one of these books on audible. I liked the actress (Marguerite Gavin), and thought she did a fine job with all the different voices. Jenks was a little annoying, but after a while, it seemed obvious that was how he sounded, and had always sounded, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
One of the interesting things about listening to this novel instead of reading it was that certain quirks of Harrison’s really stood out. Until I listened to this book, I had no idea how many times Rachel either shivered, quivered, shuddered, or stifled a shiver. (Maybe a backless halter and a miniskirt isn’t warm enough?) It wasn’t quite enough to ruin the book for me, but it made me think of a drinking game.
As for the action, it really delivers. Rachel wants to get to the west coast for her brother’s wedding, and also to go to the witch conference, where she’s been promised that her shunning will get revoked. Trent wants to come with her, for reasons of his own. As you might expect, the path doesn’t run smoothly. Assassins are after Trent, demons are after Rachel, and Jenks can’t fly too high above sea level.
I can’t say the plot was flawless. The eponymous demon is freed from where it’s been in the ground for centuries, and later it’s summoned to a different location, where the locals know it by name, from pictographs, even though the locals are short-lived creatures and the creature only existed un-free in the real world a short time. Also, there are times when the magic seems to exist only to allow Rachel to come to death’s door and then spring back at the last minute unscathed.
One pet peeve of mine surfaced in here. (Spoiler at bottom)
I’m willing to forgive these, however, because I like the characters. Jenks is still ascerbic, Ivy sultry, Trent haughty, and Rachel a charming mixture of superhero and train wreck. She careens from disaster to disaster, winning friends so easily that the ones who remain her enemies seem willfully obtuse. If you’re looking for entertaining characters and non-stop action, this is a great continuation of a great series.
I recommend this for people who have been following the series for a while, and for those who haven’t been following it for a while. (I don’t recommend it for people who haven’t read any of these books.) While some of her backstory is touched on, it’s not rehashed excessively, nor does it interfere much with the current story. There may be characters you don’t remember, but not remembering them won’t ruin things for you.
*I think it’s a pet peeve that I alone have, but I’m going to mention it because hey, it’s my review. I saw this in another urban fantasy and it almost ruined the book for me. Here’s the situation: Bad Guy kills people, eats them while alive, kills people Rachel knows, seriously hurts people Rachel loves, seriously hurts Rachel, tries to kill Rachel, and says that he destroy her and everything she loves if he gets free. Rachel has the bad guy at her mercy.
Rachel does what?
a. Kills him
b. Promises if he ever comes near her again, she’ll kill him.
Did you guess A? I would have, too.
Bad guy reiterates that he will destroy her and other people if she lets him go.
Rachel.
a. Kills him
b. Makes him promise he’ll never bother her again.
Again, the answer is “b.”
I understand not wanting to kill people. I really do. I think it’s a great life strategy. But heroes who are trying to save the world, who have already tried reasoning and law, are exempt from the “no killing rule.” There is nothing in Rachel’s experience to make her believe that the bad guy will keep his promise. Letting him go at this point instead of killing him is basically making other people suffer and die to spare her the nuisance of pulling the trigger. It’s kind of a let down. The quest was “kill the bad guy” not “make the bad guy promise to leave me alone.”
It’s not that reason and diplomacy aren’t viable conflict resolutions. I love when they are (see Kid vs. Squid). But the violence should be to scale with the conflict. A girl who wants to make the advanced cheerleading team should not poison her rivals. A woman saving the world from a psychopathic unstoppable monster who has proved he is able and willing to cheerfully murder innocents and eat souls should consider something more serious than a stern warning not to do it again. When the stakes are high enough, the hero who flinches instead of pulling the trigger fails to be heroic.
I suppose it makes for a built-in sequel, but I like it better when heroines choose pattern recognition over blindly obtuse wishful thinking.
