Wednesday, August 5, 2009

American Gods

American Gods Two reviews in one day, I'm on a roll!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I started reading this the first time about four years ago and I never finished it. But, since it is a source of inspiration for Scion, the tabletop game I absolutely adore I decided to give it a second chance. Not the mention I happen to think Neil Gaiman is a brilliant author, so I figured my first time around with American Gods was just not the best time for the book.

I was right, because this time the story grabbed me and I really enjoyed it. Shadow is a character that is incredibly illusive. He doesn't give away much of what he feels or thinks and is, in general, a good guy that made some mistakes along the way. He more than makes up for them once Mr. Wednesday hires him. The story unfolds slowly and builds to an intriguing climax before it gives an ending that satisfied me.

What I think I enjoyed the most however was the game of trying to decide who all the characters represented. I'm pretty sure I got all of them, but of course there's no answer key to tell me if I'm right or wrong. Now I just have to find the novella Shadow is featured in as well, I'd like to know what happened to him.

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Bad Moon Rising

Bad Moon Rising (Dark-Hunter, #26) Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I've been anticipating this book for ages now. See, I love the Dark-Hunters but the Were-Hunters really really intrigue me. I think Vane may be my favorite of all the characters in these books. But this book isn't about Vane, it's about his brother Fang and his star crossed love Aimee Peltier, the only daughter of Mama Lo and Papa Bear, the owners of Sanctuary. The Peltiers are a fantastic family full of great characters. Frankly I hope we get to see a book for Dev and Kyle as well sometime.

Fang is an interesting character but I didn't connect with him the way I expected to. Aimee is marvelous, you just can't help but like her and want to see her happy. Getting to see Savitar in action was great, and meeting the Hellchaser Thorn added a new character I want to know more about. Given this was a Were-Hunter novel instead of a Dark-Hunter novel it made sense that we saw very little of Acheron but I missed his presence anyway.

What I enjoyed in this book was Fang and Aimee's devotion to each other and their loyalty to their families. That worked really well for me and fit the characters as we've come to know them through other books. The one thing I didn't like was the lack of time line for the book. I found myself getting confused in some areas trying to determine which timeframe different portions of the book took place.

No matter what the Dark-Hunter series continues to entertain and inspire, I'm just disappointed that I have to wait a while for another book to come out. :)

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