Merry Gentry lives in LA and works as a private detective, but in reality, she is Princess Meredith, a Sidhe Princess, niece to Queen Andais of the Unseelie Court. She has been in hiding for three years because her aunt is out to kill her. But she is discovered and must return to her home to face her aunt and Cel, the next in line to the throne.You may be aware that I've been reading the Anita books and, well, don't really like them all that much. So why I am reading LKH's paranormal erotica series? Well, I'll attribute that to a few things:1. To see if LKH can write a series I do like.2. For the lulz.3. There is tentacle sex.4. Because I stay up late at night finding ways to punish myself.There are a LOT of similarities between the two series. Merry and Anita are both petite, curvy, hugely magically talented woman very comfortable with guns and knives and working at a job that is independent of the police, yet still fights crime. Scenes tend to go from one action/dialogue sequence to the next. There is a lot of manflesh, told in exquisite, almost fangirlish detail (enough that it makes you think that if the author were a teenaged girl, these men would be gracing the walls of her room). The writing is pretty much the same--brutally functional, with little frills (unless, of course, it deals with the lovely men). And of course, my favorite and yours: yards and yards of intricate descriptions of clothing. Because we can't have a character whose clothing isn't relayed completely! You might get confused which man titty is wearing that lime green g-string after all.I don't know if it is me, my attitude, the narrator (who gives Merry's a breathy, more reserved tone) or legitimately LKH expanding her writing, but I felt that Merry somehow was her own character. Yeah, her ease with guns, her "I don't take shit" attitude felt a bit out of place, but she seemed more compassionate, less antagonistic, less likely to spend several hours in a pissing contest over how manly and competent she is. She doesn't strike me as any less capable than Anita, but she does endear herself to me in a way that Anita never did. And that makes me legitimately interested and invested in her story.The rest of the cast--God, there are so many, it's hard to remember them all. Particularly the men. The initial setup, with Roan and Jeremy, was solid. However, after Roan literally swims off (because Merry made him a seal?!?! HUH???), the character list grows exponentially. There is Doyle, Galen, Sholto, Frost, Kitto, Queen Andais, Cel, this woman Merry knew who is trying to be Cel's baby momma (and whose name completely evades me)...it's all a bit much to remember. And other than Doyle and Galen, I can't keep most of Merry's men straight. But I will say, Queen Andais and Cel are pretty decent antagonists.I think one of the biggest and best things that LKH did was to step away from her vampires-wereanimals story and focus on something completely new. Her world of the Fae felt very well done and different. I loved learning about the goblin society; I liked how a variety of Fae appear (such as Sholto, Tentacle Boy), and Merry isn't necessarily instantly turned off by these different beings.Of course, what also helps this book is that it doesn't pretend to not be 100% about sex. Not to spoil the story too much, but Queen Andais tells Merry that Merry could be queen--if she bears a child. And she tells Merry to go and make lots of sex with all the Guardsmen. If that isn't a setup for a porno/erotica series, then I don't know what is. And yes, it may seem cheap and cheesy, but at least LKH doesn't try to tell us this is about an "eternal, pure love" like SOME erotica novels out there *coughFiftyShadesanyonecough*. (Yes, I just picked on a book that I haven't read. So shoot me.)The sex itself, one of the parts I was looking forward to, was actually pretty tame and boring. While there are plenty of teasing scenes (such as Doyle having to lick Merry's inner thigh to heal a scrath *eye roll*), there are only two real sex scenes, and they are pretty meh. The first one was weird. Roan and Merry have sex...and somehow, a seal skin is produced. Roan can step into the skin and then return to the sea. Weird. (Especially sad because I thought Roan and Merry made a sexy couple.) The latter one gets a bit kinky with some rough sex and pain, but honestly, I was kinda bored (and disappointed there was no tentacle sex :( ).One more complaint: I was pretty excited at the setup. Two ladies approach Merry and her agency for help with their abusive lover. This was an excellent setup, one I was eagerly anticipating. However, the plot thread is wrapped up pretty quickly (even the Branwyn's tears is hastily wrapped up with nary an investigation--though given how the Anita Blake series is, I shouldn't have been too surprised), and most of the novel then is about Merry going to her Fae home (Yes, it is in St. Louis--St. Louis must be the paranormal capital of the world) and some disputes with her family. Not exactly edge of your seat thrilling, even if you toss in some assassination attempts and some "I can't have sex with the celibate Guards or Queen Andais will kill them!".I went into this book open-minded, with the knowledge that it would probably be a bit cheesy (and knowing how LKH writes). And you know what? I pretty much enjoyed myself--much more than with most of the Anita novels I've read. I'm legitimately curious about whether Merry will be queen. And of course, I have GOT to read that tentacle sex scene!!
When Lauren and I prepared to go to upstate NY a little over a week ago, we looked around the Providence library's website for audio books we could download. Although I wasn't familiar with her work, I'd heard an interview with Laurell K. Hamilton on one of the podcasts to which I listen, and the first book of her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series wasn't available, but the start of her newer Meredith Gentry series was available. We've very much enjoyed Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, and from the start this novel seemed like it might be in a similar vein. The basic premise is that all sorts of fantasy creatures, starting with fairies (or fey, or elves, or sidhe--call them what you will) and extending to goblins, brownies, and many you've probably never heard of are not only real, but unlike in Butcher's Dresden series, these fantastic creatures have for some time been living openly among us. The setting is the present day, but it's a modern world which has been shaped by the existence of these fantasy creatures (Hitler, we learn, first allied with some of these creatures, but they turned against him when he tried to weed out "impure" magical creatures). The fairies--at least one court of them--have a sort of independent city-state in Cahokia, Illinois (at the mounds, of course!), though many live in mainstream society, albeit as essentially foreign nationals with special laws applying to them because of their magical natures.The story here centers on Meredith (Merry) Gentry, a fairy princess who's been on the run from her family for the past three years. Because of her mixed ancestry (part brownie and human as well as Sidhe), she's mortal (instead of immortal like the Sidhe) and apparently has far weaker magic than her fairy kin. Despite this, she still has a high place in the royal succession of the Unseelie fairy court. That's the set-up: I won't say much here about the plot.Although we found the book enjoyable enough to see it through to its finish, we weren't terribly impressed. Hamilton spends far too much time on description, to the detriment of her work. She describes people and places to a ridiculous extent, apparently in love with similies. As a result, the plot moves with excruciating slowness: an important character shows up, something happens, and then we have to wait for Hamilton to describe the character's appearance, his or her relationship to the main character and to others, the character's personality, all the possibly-relevant details of this character's appearance on the story's stage at this juncture... and on and on. This is bad enough, but then she has to over-explain everything that happens, every decision that the character makes... before it was over, we'd find outselves laughing--at least, after screaming in frustration--as we poked fun at Hamilton's style. I know that fantasy is a hard genre to write: so much needs to be explained because it's not our world, the rules are different, but there's definitely such a thing as over-explaining, and too often Hamilton falls into that trap. Too often, when not boring us with extraneous details, she sounds like she's talking down to us. If this was her first novel--and not just the first in the series--I could understand, but she'd written at least 8 books before this one; if this is what her mature work looks like, I have no interest in reading any of her earlier stuff, and I doubt I'll continue this series either. Even beyond those criticisms, when the plot moves in unexpected directions--and it does--frequently those directions aren't wholly satisfying. The first part of the novel seemed as though it was going in one direction, but instead it went in a whole different direction, with the first bit of plot being left behind quickly and all of the other characters from the beginning completely forgotten by the end: several characters who Meredith purports to care about in one fashion or another are just completely dropped with barely another mention. The thing is, there is something appealing about this novel. Her characters do, for the most part, have a certain something that holds the readers' attention and draws us in. There are moments where the characters really come to life. Hamilton is known for writing very sexually-charged fantasy, and rather sadly the sex scenes are one of the highlights--probably her best writing. The book reads like a trashy romance novel for the reader who also loves fantasy, but it's too slow-paced to really work as the light read to which it seems to aspire. Considering how many other good writers there are out there who I haven't read, I don't plan to spend more time on Hamilton's work any time soon.I suspect that the stylistic flaws that bugged me so much here were accentuated by the fact that we were listening to this as an audiobook. While these things might annoy if being read on the page, they are easily enough skimmed over. When each word is read to you, however, it's impossible not to notice and be frustrated. Oh, and the reader, Laurel Merlington, does a competent job differentiating the characters with different voices, though at times her male voices come off as more flat than I would like.
What do You think about A Kiss Of Shadows (2006)?
I have read this book about three times now and I'm happy to say it doesn't get old. This is the other series written by Laurell K. Hamilton about Faerie Princess Meredith NicEssus, the first elven princess to be born in America. Merry has run away from her Court and has been hiding out in Los Angeles for three years as a private detective. Early on in the book Merry's cover is blown while on a case trying to bring down a womanizer who is using fae gifts to steal power from females with fae blood. As with most of LKH's novels this one was full of action and so much lore you could choke on it, not saying it's bad, because it's not. I love LKH for the very fact that her books contain so much folklore. Meredith is probably the most kick ass faerie princess out there at the moment. For a couple months I was addicted to all things fae and Merry still ranks at the top for me in this particular sub-genre.In this first book Merry is trying to figure out who is trying to build a following in L.A. and who is still attempting to kill her. I don't believe this book could have been any better. I know most people critique LKH really hard and on some level I suppose I can understand that. I also think that many of those critics just don't understand what the story is trying to say. I think that unlike a lot of books these are centered around the characters more than the plot which makes them perfect for me. I live in these fictional worlds and if the books don't have phenomenally written characters then I tend to pass them over. Hamilton's books have some of the best characters around. Each and everyone is unique and can't be confused for anyone else.I hope everyone finds Merry and her men as wonderful as I do.
—Megan Marie
I have enjoyed Laurell K. Hamilton's work for many years now, starting with the redoubtable Anita Blake. However, that series has devolved into what amounts to a sexual free for all (not that I have anything against sex, but I tend to like story more) in which she spends hundreds of pages in self-analysis over whether or not to have sex with this or that new person, animal, fay-thing, god, demon or whatever. The trouble with established bestselling authors is the power they began to weild over the editorial process. Where their stories once were tightly knit and well edited, well mixed tales, suddenly the books become morasses of philosophizing by the author--and the story basically starts to erode into mush. As in Anita Blake's Series. So I was happy to discover Meredith Gentry. The first two are on my to be re-read list. Tight stories, lots of cool characters and well thought out situations--sadly, Laurell cannot seem to resist the urge to let her stories slip into one on-going sexual romp--and sadly MG is headed this way fast. Please Laurell, put the reins on...
—Michael Sorensen
I thought I'd give Laurell K Hamilton another chance, that my problems with the Anita Blake series might be confined to that series and Anita herself. I was wrong. In this, a different series starring Merry Gentry, the half-human sidhe princess, everything that irritated me most about Anita was front and centre; the feeling that the heroine is an author avatar for Hamtilon to 'live out' her fantasies, pages and pages of descriptions on the most awful outfits imaginable, the heroine standing around while those around her discuss how beautiful she is, every male she meets lusting after her, and every circumstance dealt with through liberal application of sex, all of which is decidedly unerotic. There's no real effort at characterisation other than Merry being the most beautiful, most fascinating, most wonderful creature to have ever walked the earth - take it as read that every male will want her more than they've ever wanted anyone before, and every woman will see her as a threat. It amuses me to think Hamilton might want to see herself this way too. I'm convinced she's not getting enough.In hiding from her sidhe family, Merry is working at a detective agency. Not for long though, as she's summoned back to the Unseelie Court, goes to see the Queen, and is ordered to have sex with loads of men. And that's it. The initial 'mystery' is solved without Merry really even thinking about it, as she instead rubs herself up against anyone who crosses her path, including those with tentacles.I'm no prude by any stretch of the imagination so my problem with the constant sex was less to do with being squicky about it and more to do with being insanely bored by it all. I find that the most erotic scenes I've read have usually had some sort of build-up and some investment, emotional or otherwise, is always helpful. Sex is used in this book as almost akin to shaking hands, and it strips it of any eroticism it might have otherwise had. There's not much else for me to say other than to try and remind myself not to pick up any more Hamilton in the future, as we really don't get along. In Merry and Anita's worlds, that would mean I was sexually threatened or jealous. Bless.
—Lisa
