A Fistful of Charms, Kim Harrison.  Harrison's fourth entry in her Hollows series is every bit as good as the earlier volumes, if not as easy to stomach.  Following the Lord Darcy school of magic, A Fistful of Charms offers a carefully planned rescue mission, and lots of explanation of the 'rules' and limitations of magic.  Three cheers for internally consistent worlds.  Harrison's not afraid to take her characters in uncomfortable directions, proving that character development doesn't always mean your 'heroes' become better people.

There are plenty of points where I quite disliked Rachel, and I'm wondering how much the author will pin on her "darkened aura" and how much will be left to personal flaw.  If there's any shortcomings as a series novel, it's that the book attempts to do too much in a very short period of time.  Real life sometimes throws a lot at you, but Rachel has to deal with wolfpack politics, a dear friend's inevitable demise, and the emotional complexities of a lover, an ex-lover and a would-be lover.  Nothing's resolved terribly well, but clocking in at over 500 pages, the novel's already long.  I can only hope that For a Few Demons More (her first hardback) offers some kind of conclusion.

Read July 2006