The six winners of a copy of The Outlaw Demon Wails are:

Wendy
Shannon
Janell
Li
Logan
Tasha

And the winner of the GRAND PRIZE – the entire collection of The Hollows books (1-6) is:

Bamabelle

All the winners please send your mail address to us at thebooksmugglers AT hotmail DOT com and we will send the books as soon as possible!

Congratulations!!

And don’t forget , we kick off the official Countdown to Smugglivus tomorrow and there will be loads of giveaways throughout the month!

See you tomorrow, folks!

Finally, Smugglivus is Coming! (*mostly*)

On Monday, we start the official Countdown to Smugglivus (our crazy celebratory festival that starts Dec 26th. You can read about it here)and this is this week’s line up of guest authors coming to celebrate with us:

Monday – Joel Sutherland: editor of Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths- and writer of Frozen Blood (which Thea will be reviewing later on the same day). Joel was the first ever writer to contact us way back when we started the blog ,so who better than Joel to kick off the Countdown?

Tuesday – Maria Snyder: writer of the Study books (Poison Study . Magic Study and Fire Study) Maria will be talking about the books she read this year and a little bit about YA as a genre. She will be graciously offering a free signed copy of the new YA edition of Poison Study for one lucky winner.

Wednesday – Meredith Duran: writer of The Duke of Shadows , a historical romance novel who many hail as one of the best of the year. She will be talking about her faves of 2008 and about her next two releases.

Thursday – Loretta Chase: writer of Lord of Scoundrels, Your Scandalous Ways and many others. Loretta is currently very busy working on her WIP but she sent us a present (and boy, what a present): an exclusive (and totally awesome) excerpt of DON’T TEMPT ME, her July release.

Friday – Joanna Bourne: writer of one of the most talked about romance novels of 2008, The Spymaster’s Lady, she closes the week with her best of 2008.

And stay tunned for Saturday with the First Smugglivus Giveaway – more details to follow.

Title: What a Scoundrel Wants

Author: Carrie Lofty

(God, I hate this cover)

Genre: Historical (medieval) romance

Stand Alone/ Series: Stand Alone but there is another book in the same world in the works.

Summary: In Sherwood Forest, outcast warrior Will Scarlet rescues a blind woman who dreams of fire. Now, to defeat the new Sheriff of Nottingham, he’ll need to become a hero for the ages. It’s amazing what a scoundrel will do for love…

Why did I read the book: In the interest of full disclosure and honesty I have to say that I asked for the book. Yes, I did that. I heard about it quite a few months ago and because I just LOVE Will Scarlet I took a deep breath, emailed the author and asked for the ARC. The cheekiness panned out when she actually replied to me and sent me the document. This happened back in May and the book has been sitting in my computer ever since because I was afraid to read it – what if I didn’t like it? What would I do then? It is with a great sense of happiness and relief that I say that I really really liked it – and I am being 100% honest about it.

Review:

Adventure! Romance! Sword Fights! And a drool-worthy hero – What a Scoundrel Wants is great! (even if the title isn’t)

That the above-mentioned hero is named Will Scarlet -, The Will Scarlet of Robin Hood and his merry gang fame – is only one of the things that makes it even better. I love Robin Hood stories , have loved it since I was a kid and had an old book with a collection of Robin Hood stories collected and translated by one of Brazil’s most famous children’s author. Will Scarlet has been a favourite character of mine, in all of his depictions – as a funny sidekick , as a whiny half-brother or as a daring young man always dressed in scarlet but always in all of them, a fantastic fighter.

In What a Scoundrel Wants, Will Scarlet is Robin Hood’s nephew and it has been a few years since Robin Hood and his gang lived in the forest of Sherwood. Robin and Marian got married , had a young boy who lives with his mother at Loxley Manor while Robin is fighting a war with King Richard. Away for three years, Robin left his nephew to take care of his wife and son but Will and Robin never had an easy relationship and Will did the unthinkable and kissed Marian and had to leave the estate as a matter of honour – ever since then he has been away from his family and living the easy life by ( brace yourself) working for the new Sheriff of Nottingham who is really, no better than the previous one.

As the story opens, Will is riding through the forest with the sheriff’s men under Roger of Carlisle when they meet Lord of Whitstowe’s party and a fight ensues – the reason behind Will does not comprehend until later – when Will hears a woman’s scream. That inner chivalry of his kicks in and he rides to her, saving the woman. Things happen quite fast and Will realises he is being set up for the murder of Lord Whitstowe and so he grabs the woman and they flee. Soon he realises two things: one that the woman, Meg, is blind. Two, that he is responsible for imprisoning her sister Ada under the orders of the sheriff and that Lord Whistowe was escorting Meg to the castle so that they can argue for Ada’s release. Things are not as simple though as Ada has been arrested so that they can get to Meg – a woman seen as a witch for her alchemy studies and whose counterfeit emeralds are really what the sheriff is looking for.

At first, Will wants nothing to do with the woman – feisty, argumentative, strong Meg – and plans on leaving her in the middle of the forest by herself (not that she has a real problem with it, she may be blind but she knows how to get around). Later, he realises the only way of keeping Marian safe and to prove his own innocence is to give Meg to the Sheriff. Meg, on the other hand, needs help getting Ada back (she can’t live by herself being blind and all, even with all the hard feelings that there are between Ada and her) and will use anyone to get what she wants. I have to admit that for the first 50 pages or so, I did not like these two at all. Will was a real scumbag and Meg was no better – there is even a scene where Meg behaves no better than an old school hero and takes what she wants from Will, no questions asked.

But soon enough in the midst of all the bickering and the incredible repartee, the layers that hide Will and Meg start to be peeled off and glimpses of greatness appear and the action-packed (I mean, really non-stop action – fights, castles, dungeons, torture, dangerous escapes , witch burning, castle invading, etc etc ) plot serves the romantic plot (and vice-versa if I may add) and from the moment when they choose to trust each other, when Will looks into his heart and thinks to himself:

“Reaping the rewards, both his return to the sheriff’s good graces and a guarantee of Marian’s safety, should have been promise enough to compel him. Instead, Will wanted to put her hands to his face and make promises. Promises he would actually keep.”

the story takes a turn – and Will is relentless in his attempts to protect Meg – he will do everything, anything to save her, to protect her and to have her – there is a great scene where Meg is about to be burnt as witch and Will is chained at the dungeon and he is desperate because of her screams and he nearly cut his hand off so that he can get rid of the chains that bind him and save her.

Meg is a more difficult character to understand with her blindness that separates her from everybody else, carrying the hurt of being treated like shit by her former lover and her own sister, with her great sense of solitude that is only dimmed when Will is around and when she can touch him. But do not be fooled, Meg may be vulnerable but she hardly shows it, she is a kick-ass heroine who will not cower in front of danger. Their moments together are fun to read but also full of sentiment especially when they see past any masks they may wear. I am especially fond of the scene where Meg is twirling around herself because when she does so she can colour and have a measure of normality or when she tells Will that she thinks he is, indeed a good man.

They start off as two completely unlikeable characters that go from partners to lovers, to enemies, to friends, to lovers again in a story that goes full circle: back to their own love story who starts as hate , back Will’s inner struggle to be seen as man by Robin Hood, Meg’s fight with her sister and of course, the fight against the villains in a old-fashioned hoods and swords, bows and arrows (and perhaps a bit of explosion on the side, courtesy of Meg) way. Even if it all happens in only a matter of days which is really, the only minor grippe I have with an otherwise very enjoyable, very fun read.

And I am not even mentioning the brilliant scenes with Robin Hood and Marian – which are emotional and deep. And when Little John shows up to help? I cheered.

Notable Quotes/Parts: This is a good example of action + repartee between Will and Meg. They are in the dungeons fleeing their chasers, Will was dressed as a fool (this is how he got into the castle without being recognised ):

“You there,” shouted a man with a deep voice. “Stop!”

“Meg, down!”

She dropped. The skin at her knees split, assaulted by the twin demands of bone and
unyielding flagstones. A sword’s deadly steel clanged when it slammed into a wall. Shards of rock rained over her veil. Hearing only the grunts of a man-on-man brawl, she could not recall if Will wore a weapon. Had he relinquished his arms in favor of a jester’s disguise?

She pressed against the sanctuary of the nearest wall and fished in her satchel. Upon
locating a particular glass vial, she held it aloft. “Will!”

He snatched the vial without question. The glass shattered and the other man screamed, his tinkling mail rattling to the ground. The slither of steal pulled from a scabbard, a sound too succinct to be that of a sword, etched the air. Will pounced. The other man’s life ended with a single nauseating gurgle.

Meg tried to stand, but trembling legs refused to sustain her weight. “A dagger?”

“Two daggers, in truth.” He sheathed the weapons, pushing air in and out of his nose.

“Lye?”

“Fermented urine, in truth.”

“Do you create anything that does not stink?”

“Counterfeit jewels.”

“Funny girl.” He pulled her up, her knees throbbing. “Turn to your right.”

An endless labyrinth of turns later, he looped her waist and pulled her flush against the
hard length of his armored torso. Bodies pressed into a tiny wedge of space, their limbs
negotiated the mysterious confines. The rumbling clatter of metal and male shouts charged past.

Will panted, heating her temple. “Quiet now,” he whispered.

For a bare moment, Meg relinquished her fear. She sagged against him and sapped
comfort from his arms. He tightened his hold, an enticing promise. He would defend her. No matter his lies or misdeeds, no matter the lengthy list of her own faults, he would defend her.

“I wish I could determine how much of this is to your blame,” she said.

He pushed her none to gently against the wall, both hands on her hips. “Before you
decide, let me describe my grand scheme to have Dryden arrested, and well before the end of his usefulness.”

“Stop your foolery.”

“I still wear my new costume.”

“Will removing it put an end to your ill-timed wit?”

His lips were close, his words like a laughing sigh. “You and your obsession with
removing my clothes.”

Additional Thoughts: What is your favourite Robin Hood?

I have to say, mine is and always will be Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner.

I watched it so many times – I don’t even know how many. I remember one day, when the movie first came out, I had already watched it at the movies but wanted to watch it again. My best friend and I went to the groceries store and bought all sorts of crappy food: crisps, cookies, candy, drops enough for a few hours. We got the movies for the first afternoon showing and stayed there for 4 consecutive showings of the movie. FOUR. And still we managed to cheer every time that camera would follow that arrow (the precursor of the Matrix Bullettime?)

or every time Marian would scream “ROBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNN” in that scene where she thinks he will be killed when they invade the castle. Good times.

But really, one of my favourite things in that movie after Alan Rickman’s camp and yet all kinds of awesome Sheriff of Nottingham

That’s it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, and call off Christmas.

is Christian Slater’s Will Scarlet – my 15 year old fell in love with the actor right there and then.

Humm , me thinks it is time for another viewing.

Verdict: BOTH action-driven and character-driven story makes What a Scoundrel Wants a fantastic read. Prepare to fall in love with the hero.

Rating: 8 Excellent

Reading Next: Just The Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

Title: When the Duke Returns

Author: Eloisa James

Genre: Historical Romance (set in Georgian times)

Stand Alone/ Series: Book 4 in the Desperate Duchesses series

Summary: Married by proxy as a child, Lady Isidore has spent years fending off lecherous suitors while longing for her husband, Simeon Jermyn, the Duke of Cosway, to return. But when the prodigal duke finally returns, ready to take on his obligations, he finds the woman they call his wife too ravishing, too headstrong, too sensual to be a proper duchess. But Isidore will not give up her claim to the handsome duke without a fight

Why did I read the Book: I think this is the best Historical romance series going on at the moment.

Review:

Lady Isidore Del’Fino, the Duchess of Cosway is a desperate woman. When she was merely 12, she married by proxy the Duke of Cosway who was 18 and out and about in India and she has been waiting ever since for him to come home. But he hasn’t – not when her parents died, not when she turned 16, or 18; not even when his own father died. Eleven years have passed and tired of waiting, wanting to become wife, mother, and duchess de facto, wanting, by GOD, to have sex, Isidore makes one last desperate attempt to lure him back: in the previous book in the series, Duchess by Night she decides to travel to the most scandalous house party hosted by Jem, Lord Strange hoping the scandal will be so great that it would bring the duke back. It worked. Simeon, Duke of Cosway made quite the entrance near the end of that book – big, tanned, dressed unlike any other Duke (no cravat!) –leaving the party almost immediately and taking Isidore to a hotel. And leaving her there while he tended to his businesses.

I have known Isidore for a long time now – ever since An Affair Before Christmas – and I admire the woman tremendously. She is capable, intelligent, funny, witty and of course a beauty. She flirts with men at parties but she has been saving herself , body and heart – for that husband of hers. She has talked herself into being prepared and receptive for anything: a short Duke, a tall Duke , ugly or handsome, eyeless, legless, anything, as long as he came back. She was not prepared for Simeon. Neither was I.

At first I thought: is this the Duke we have been waiting to return? Surely this is a jest, and the real Duke will show up any time now. Let me enumerate the ways Simeon is not what we (I) have been hoping for: Selfish and self-absorbed to the point that he rarely spared a thought for his wife over the years, or for his Estate back home or for his family. A control-freak that after being under the tutelage of an Indian Guru has learnt the Middle Way whereupon one most control his emotions at any cost – show no fear and no rage for example. A man who believes the man is the head of the house and the wife should be a sweet underling prepared to accept his directions. AND he is a virgin (a fact that Isidore (and I) was horrified to find out – oh the horror, the horror).

In a series populated with grand, amazing heroes such as Jem, Villiers (VILLIERS!) and Elijah and even Fletch and Damon, full of wit and humour and sexual power it is no wonder Simeon starts off as falling at the end of the queue for best hero in the series. One thinks that a new hero showing up at this point must have a je ne sais quoi that sets him apart….and after some further reading one realises that he does. And this is it: the fact that he IS utterly different from anyone else in the series.

In a world where it is easy to fall into easy characterisation, I think it is rather ballsy to create a character such as Simeon whilst at the same time making it easy to understand why he is all of the these things: the urge to escape the confines of the English ton and to travel and discover new things; the urge to escape his own chaotic family where shouting was the norm. It is clear as light why such a man would cherish control and calm above all things – and peace is not what he find when he returns . His Estate is in shambles, with his father’s death things have gone downhill and his mother is a crazed widow who thrives in being austere. They – her mother and his younger brother – live almost like paupers even though they have plenty of income to set things straight. At his father’s desk he finds letters addressed to his father who were never answered dated from years ago, most of them bills that were never paid. And on top of that, the water closets (the privy) are clogged and the house smells foul (this is actually a rather funny sequence of events.) . And of course there is Isidore.

As Isidore was not prepared for her Duke, the Duke was not prepared for Isidore – his opposite in all things. Instead of a demure, submissive wife , he finds a capable, feisty, sexy Italian who talks back at him at every turn. It is no wonder that their first impulse is to simply annul their wedding and each go about searching a more suitable match. He would find a docile, fragile someone that he could command and she would find someone that would love her as she was. But things do not work out on that front and they must work on what they have. And they do. And it is great to see how things develop between them.

He fully realises that she is better at managing people, better read than he is, more generous than he could possibly be but he still believes he has to be the one to make decisions . And that is really the point: he feels that if he gives in to Isidore he will be less than a man, he would be turned into “porridge”, follow her around like a puppy dog or fall to his knees in lust (a lust that drives him almost INSANE). It is I believe a matter of manly pride. And isn’t it always?

But Isidore is also a proud one – she is not some underling, she is a very capable woman with a vineyard, a palazzo in Venice, a house in Florence and she has managed all of them (because she had no choice mind you, since her husband was away frolicking around the world)- and not one of them as she makes sure to flaunt at Simeon, is

“filled with the stink of excrement! none of my houses are surrounded by withered lands! none of my bills are unpaid! none!!”

Quite. So , Simeon must make a choice – and he knows that, since it is his belief that everyone has a choice in the world and his is to analyse and decide if having control was worth losing this amazing woman. And so they must negotiate their relationship – and realise that opposites do complement each other.

The best thing about these books for me is the complex characterisation. Not a single one of Eloisa James’ characters fit in a predetermined mould, they are not staple fare. It is not simply a matter of listing: The Strong, Scandalous Widow; The Rake; The Prig; The Controlled Man, The Debauched Duke. In When The Duke Returns , this is once again, true. Not only with the main characters but also with the secondary ones, for example the Dowager Duchess – Simeon’s mother. She can’t be described in one sentence like for example, say: the bitter Dowager. Because she is so much more than – a mother who doesn’t approve of her different son, a wife who loved her husband and has chosen to honour his memory by keeping running the house the way he did even though he had a parade of mistresses which she was aware of – and through the pain and through the years she has kept the jewellery he has given her – one of for each of his affairs.

All of her characters sound like real people who are very human, who can be strong and yet vulnerable at the same time and none more than the trio of secondary characters that have been there since book one and that steal the show every.single.time:

Jemma, Elijah and Villiers. They could have been mere staple characters so predominant in romance novels: the scandalous woman, the prig husband, the reprobate and yet redeemable rake but all of these have so many layers and could never fit inside a comfortable box – actually, there is no comfortable here. Elijah was a bastard who cheated on his wife and never apologised for it – Jemma who was so hurt and who waited three years for him to come for her in France and he never did and so she proceeded to have affairs of her own. Villiers who is unapologetic about his life, who has done bad things, but never quite as bad as everybody seems to think (he never participated in the orgies for example, because he does not like to share or he has never bedded a married woman although he would open an exception for Jemma ). The interactions between the three of them in When The Duke Returns is the best thing in the book, overshadowing anything else and are worth the read just for them.

I would go as far as to say that their scenes here are the best out of all of the books, they are of a poignancy that I hardly see in romance novels these days, and speak of love and friendships and hope lost and found. At one particular scene my heart gave a somersault and I felt it stopping for one second in my chest and I cried – but this heart of mine was revived later in one scene that was ALL KINDS OF AWESOME. As things approach a climax and final decisions are made and for anyone who follows their story as anxiously as I do : Jemma makes her final choice and this my friends, is the beginning of the end.

I have a wish list for what I want from this series in the final two instalments to come next year: that Jemma remains one of the most intelligent women I have ever seen in a series and to never lose her edge even if she loses her heart – and I want her heart to be lost. That Elijah is the one to steal it after his apologies and after he grovels ( A LOT) and shows his regret. Of course, for that to happen, Elijah MUST NOT die of his heart condition. Most of all, I want the fabulous, witty, wicked, sly, funny, romantic (oh yes, romantic) Duke of Villiers to find someone to love him as I do.

Is that too much to ask?

Notable Quotes/ Parts:
Even though this book is full of amazing scenes between Simeon and Isidore – and his family and his estate and the hilarious water closets situation, my favourites were of course all the scenes with Villiers, Elijah and Jemma. I don’t want to spoil but I would like to quote one sentence part of one of the Jemma’s inner monologue when she makes her final choice:

“There is no accounting for the human heart”

Really, these three characters are AWESOME.

Additional Thoughts: From Eloisa James’ website, the first faragraphs of This Duchess of Mine, Jemma and Elijah’s book to come out at the end of May:

“No one dressed to please a husband. At least, not in the Duchess of Beaumont’s circle of acquaintances. One dressed – to be frank – to dazzle and amaze one’s female friends. Or, if one were so inclined, to invite a seduction…to engage in an affaire.

Husbands were just there, like coals in Newcastle and pigs in the sty.”

Verdict:This is my favourite historical romance series of the moment. But it is a complicated affair to judge this book on its own- I did not think the main couple had the best romance so far (that would be Jem and Harriet from Duchess by Night), but I thought the secondary relationship between Villiers, Elijah and Jemma (is it really secondary at this point – they steal every single book they show up!) is at its strongest in this book and the best scenes so far of the trio are here. Bar none.

Rating:8. Excellent.

Reading Next: What a Scoundrel Wants by Carrie Lofty

Intro

There are moments in the life of a reader when it seems like the reality is bending, stars are aligning and the Universe is conspiring to make one believe that anything is possible – that people fall in love at first sight, that Dukes and Duchesses frolic about flirting with each other, that virgins have (multiple) orgasms and bad boy heroes can be redeemed by the love of a good woman. In such moments, a reader who is most critical of what she reads, who up until about one year ago, thought that romance novels were well, trashy, all of a sudden finds herself believing in the above and reading and loving romance, over and over again. It took only one book, a well-written, funny and heart-warming book and a whole genre opened up ahead of her – a genre that proves to be everything said reader wanted from a book, with all the emotional content she could ever hope for but never thought it was possible to find. (No, she was not living under a rock; she was living in a world of intellectual prejudice.)

But as with any other genre, there are the very very good, the bad and the average. The latter being the norm, where moderately good books with unexceptional run-of-the mill characters and plotlines that make up for a good read albeit not an amazing one. Then of course, the bad, the really bad ones, that are so bad, one quits at 50 pages or so or the ones one can go on reading only to bang your head against the wall in the end. Combined Bad and Average reads make up the majority of books one reads and at one given time – also known as The Reading Slump – this combination brings Despair. Absolute, unabated despair, where one wonders: When, Dear Lord, WHEN one of the Good Ones, one of the REALLY Good Ones is going to show up.
And when they do, when all of the described in the first paragraph happen – it is absolutely glorious. It doesn’t have to be a perfect book – as we all know, very few are – it doesn’t even have to be a book rated 10, or 9 or even 8 (Delicious by Sherry Thomas comes to mind). The book (or the series) can be imperfect with plot contrivances, eye-rolling twists and even a premise that requires suspension of disbelief but good writing coupled with heart and soul goes a long, long way – and this reader is perfectly happy to let it go, let it all go as long as her heart is filled with joy.

This is a rather long introduction to say that The Desperate Duchesses Series by Eloisa James is one such series of books that brings joy to this reader regardless of any problems I may have found with the books.

The series:

Let me just start by saying that I am a member of the Eloisa James’ Bulletin Board which I joined because she shares it with Julia Quinn and if you are a reader of this blog you should probably know by now, that I adore Julia Quinn’s books. When I joined said board I decided then to give Eloisa James a go and started with her first set of books – the Pleasures trilogy- and I wish I hadn’t because I did not like those books at all (to put it very mildly. Suffice to say that it reminded me of old school romances, with jerk heroes and an abundance of le Big Mis ). The fact is, after reading those I quit Eloisa James altogether. But I kept seeing raving reviews of her latest books, her latest series and couple that with the fact that Eloisa James is such an open and nice person who is always posting at the board and talking to the readers – and listening to them that I just had to give her books a second change so I picked up her latest series starting with Desperate Duchesses.

And OH MY GOD. This is simply put, my favourite Historical Romance series at the moment and I take all of its problems with an open heart because this is a series that is very smart, scrap it, make it downright intelligent, with a well-researched Georgian setting, stock filled with SUPERB characters, funny moments, witty and flirtatious conversations with the right amount of sex ,the kind of sex that works for the plot and not the other way around and with storylines that evolve around two games of ….chess.

The series, Desperate Duchesses is more than a romance series as there is more than a simple romance between a pair of protagonists. There is a cast of secondary characters that are more than mere appendixes to the main couple. There is to be 6 books in total, with the 4th being published this week. It is an ensemble story which resembles a play.

In the interest of examining the complexity of the series, I would like to ask you to pretend that you are part of an audience sitting at a theatre looking at a big stage. On the right side of the stage there are two tables each with a chess board – one of the games is played between the scandalous Jemma, Duchess of Beaumont who is said to be the best woman player of chess and the even more scandalous, handsome, Duke of Villiers who is said to be the best chess player in England (and the most lavishly well-dressed man in Europe – think Georgian costumes, times it by 10, make it purple and you have Villiers) . The other game is played between Jemma and her own estranged husband, Elijah, the Duke of Beaumont, one of the most prominent politicians of the House of Lords.

The three are pretty much masters of Chess. All of them love the game but none more than Villiers who goes a little bit further than that – he loves nothing but the game. The game they play, one move each day is scandal in itself and the whole of England is following the matches. There is to be a maximum of three games – if it comes to a tie , the third game is to be played in bed and blindfolded. Rumour has it that Jemma is to be the prize. The first game starts in book 1, and as we approach book 4, game 3 is about to begin (or it?).

As the two games progress, we get to know each of the three characters better and better whilst at the same time and I ask you now to move you attention to the left of the stage, we follow the events taking place there – they are all somehow connected to the characters to your right.

Take the first book for example, Desperate Duchesses,

the main romantic entanglement is between Roberta , a friend and ward of Jemma and Jemma’s brother , Damon, the Earl of Griffin. But Roberta starts the book in love with…The Duke of Villiers. Who as we know, loves no one. They get even to the point of becoming engaged but Roberta falls in love with Damon which leads to a duel, lost by Villiers. The scenes between Damon and Roberta are really good to read about (hello, strip dominoes) but they are slightly shadowed (but not too much) by the awesomeness that is the trio made up by Jemma, Elijah and Villiers.

In book two, an Affair Before Christmas,

another of Jemma’s friends is the female protagonist: Poppy, a Duchess who starts the book already married and in love with her husband, the Duke of Fletcher who absolutely loves and adores her. And lo and behold , an actual original source of conflict: Poppy and Fletch’s sex life is shit – for a myriad of reasons and the main conflict in that book is how they will sort it out. There is a long separation which offers the chance for intercalating chapters with Jemma, Elijah and Villiers, who is recovering from the duel he fought with Jemma’s brother at the end of Desperate Duchesses. Villiers cannot play chess because he lies dying, or so everyone believes. In this book we learn how exactly Villiers feels about life – he has loved only but two people in the world – his friends Benjamin and Elijah, Jemma’s husband. Estranged from both, close to his death (so he thinks) Villiers has a change of heart and decides it is about time to fall in love with a woman and get married. He thinks he should become lovers with Jemma – whom he sees as a friend and therefore a possible choice for love of his life.

The relationship between Jemma, Beaumont and Villiers is stuff for legends. I love to see the web that Eloisa James is building around them all – how Beaumont and Jemma’s wedding went downhill years ago when Jemma found Beaumont shagging his lover at his office mere weeks after their weeding and proceed to tell Jemma that he loved the mistress and not the wife. How Jemma took off to France where she proceeded to be scandalous and have her own affairs – after she waited for the prig to come for her but he never did. Now, with Beaumont having a heart condition she is back in England and prepared to beget a heir. There is no love between them at the moment, but their moments together are full of so much poignancy, so much regret and hope and love lost and perhaps found, and internal tears. With Jemma being strong, witty but still worried about her husband and the judgmental, prig that is Elijah showing little by little his regret for the way he behaved. Similarly the relationship between Jemma and Villiers who are both incredibly smart people, at the centre of the fashionable world, playing chess for the love of it (they even read books about chess) and having deep conversations imbued with flirtatious banter. It is friendship with a bit more on the side – but Jemma proves to be not so scandalous as to cuckold her husband once she is back in his life. Also the relationship between Elijah and Villiers – who used to be BFF when they were much younger but something went awry back then (and it has to do with a DOG – frankly: men!) . The two men have tender feelings for each other and it is shown when Elijah shows up at Villiers’ deathbed to help him drink water and stay alive. These three characters are not staple fare, they are something more, they do not fit a set mould and they are REAL – strong yet very very vulnerable, which make them all very human.

I mentioned that Villiers also had another good friend, Benjamin. His regret for his friend’s death is also great as Benjamin killed himself after losing a game of chess to Villiers. His widow, Harriet, is the heroine of book 3, Duchess by Night.

Harriet sees herself as the most boring person on the world – she even bores herself. And she carries a huge chip on her shoulder that tells her that her husband did not love her enough to stay – he loved chess more. When the opportunity presents itself for Harriet to join her friend Isidore, the Duchess of Cosway (married by proxy when she was a child and who has been waiting for her Duke to return from his travels around the world ever since) and Villiers (who was enemy then friend), and travel to the most scandalous house party in the country hosted by Jem, Lord Strange in his Estate , she does so. Dressed as a man , young ward to Villiers – Harriet is so tired of being boring and she wants to experience the freedom that only a man is allowed to have.

Things are not as promiscuous as they thought – in fact Strange’s estate is a haven for lost women, actors and actresses rehearsing plays and politicians playing the Game that shapes England. This is my favourite book so far and Jem, OH DEAR LORD, Jem is quite possibly one of my favorite heroes of the year – the cross-dressing offers great opportunity for laughs with the ensuing falling- in- love- with-the- person- for- what- they- are- not- what- they- pretend- to- be bringing a heart-warming feeling that is the best thing of reading romance. This book is humorous, sexy and so so good -even if the ending is not quite what I hoped for Jem (he had to quit a lot for Harriet – although that was good for the heroine who NEEDED just that) , Elijah makes no appearance, we see very little of Jemma and there is just enough Villiers to appease my voracious appetite for the Duke – a character greater than life, whom I want to find a happy ending of his own.

The fourth book, When the Duke Returns will be reviewed by me tomorrow. And it is Isidore’s book, whose idea to travel to Lord Strange’s house party as to create a scandal big enough to bring her husband back to England worked really well, as the Duke of Cosway made quite the entrance near the end of Duchess by Night.

And this is another thing that I adore about this series – each book starts at a party in the previous book.

The fifth book in the series, THIS DUCHESS OF MINE , will be Jemma and Elijah’s story leaving the 6th and final book A DUKE OF MY OWN for the Duke of Villiers. The two books come out within a month of each other (May 26 and June 30) and I simply cannot wait. This series is smart, funny, rich in historical details with a Georgian setting, superbly well written. The romance in them may not be what we are all used to with less time spent in bed, less time spent with the two main protagonists so that everything else in the series have their own time to shine and they are ever so good because of it.

I hope this somewhat shortish compilation of mini-reviews for each book has opened your appetite, for this series is something altogether different, so clever, with great GREAT heroes and with a bunch of fantastic and I mean FANTASTIC, well-crafted women who are all somewhat desperate – for adventure, freedom, pleasure and most of all, of course, for a chance to love.

And the Duke of Villiers is mine.

Kim Harrison is, without a doubt, one of my favorite authors. Her bestselling series, The Hollows, is not only my all-time favorite Urban Fantasy series, but also is comprised of some of my favorite books of any genre. So, when I learned that Harper Collins would be releasing the mass market paperback of her latest book, The Outlaw Demon Wails (in stores today!), Ana urged me to man up, get over my shyness and contact Kim for an interview. Which I did, heart palpitating, palms sweaty. (I am a ginormous pansy, I have discovered–if it weren’t for Ana’s cheekiness, I probably never would have worked up the nerve to click ’send’. I consoled myself by thinking I wouldn’t get a response, and that would be the end of it.)

So, when I received an email back from Kim, agreeing to the interview, I literally fell off my chair. There are probably 50 or so emails from me to Ana which consist of “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”, or other similar unintelligible messages. And, I discovered, Kim Harrison is not only an amazing author, capable of writing the most insane plot twists and beautifully flawed characters, but she’s also just a darn cool person. Now if only I could get my hands on a copy of White Witch Black Curse…

Without further ado, I present you with our Chat with Kim Harrison! *banana dance*

The Book Smugglers: Welcome Kim, and thank you so much for taking the time to “chat” with us! Your latest book in The Hollows series, The Outlaw Demon Wails is a huge hit, scoring a high spot on the New York Times bestseller list upon its first release. I am a huge fan of The Hollows series—in fact it is without a doubt my favorite urban fantasy series period.

One thing I love and admire about these books is how well planned they all seem, and how each revelation seems to have had its seeds planted in previous books. When you began writing The Hollows, did you have a set outline for where Rachel’s story would eventually go? Or was it more of a make-it-up-as-you-go process?

Kim: I didn’t have the first series goal in mind until I finished Dead Witch Walking, actually, and it was only when I finished The Outlaw Demon Wails that I came up with the second series goal. (Which we should reach about book 11 to 13, depending upon contracts and how fast it falls together.) The reason the books are tied together so tightly I think is more because I work far ahead of the publishing schedule, usually two to three books ahead of what’s on the shelf. That lets me go back to a book that is, say in copy edit, (six months before publication) and add something that I won’t actually need until two more books. It works for me, although I know some authors would cringe to have a book open and sporadically working on it for three years.

The Book Smugglers: Why tomatoes? Note: For those who have not read The Hollows books, tomatoes are the cause of humanity’s sharp demise in population, leading to “the Turn”—where vampires and other supernatural beings decided to come out of the closet. So…what do you have against tomatoes?

Kim: Why tomatoes? A couple of reasons, actually. Tomatoes were widely thought to be poisonous for a long time, which is understandable as they are in the Nightshade family. There was also the real biogenetically altered tomato that flopped on grocery store shelves way back when bio engineered food was new to the market. But the biggest reason is a nod to the B rated movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. I love tomatoes, and I usually have a plant or two growing in my landscaping somewhere.

Attaaaaack of the Killer Tomatoes! *Zooeeezoooeeezooee*

The Book Smugglers: Your main cast of characters includes a unique witch, a living vampire, and a pixy— not to mention elves, werewolves and demons. Your use of these archetypal creatures, however, is distinctly unique and each supernatural creature feels rooted in the rules you have created in The Hollows universe. What myths or writings influence you when creating this world?

Kim: This is a hard question for me to answer as I didn’t do much research when I developed the species that live in the Hollows. I read a lot of fairy tales when I was growing up, not just Grimm, but multiple versions of the same story from culture to culture, and I think it gave me a well-rounded idea of what’s out there. I also draw a lot on my scientific background when I develop a new species, using logic to decide things like life span, eating habits, and such. For example, pixies are small and winged, therefore, in my mind, they would have a lot of characteristics that a humming bird would have. And anyone who has had a humming bird feeder knows how fierce and territorial they are.

The Book Smugglers: Each Rachel Morgan book is a frantic, high-stakes read. I find myself out of breath (and sleep deprived) by the time I turn that final page! Rachel herself has admitted to being addicted to danger. So ‘fess up. Are you an adrenaline junkie? Action addict?

Kim: Thank you! I’m glad I’m able to keep you glued to the pages. I’m totally not an adrenaline junkie, but I like watching action movies. That’s about as far as it goes. I’ll never jump out of a perfectly good airplane or climb a mountain just to say I did. I am always trying new things, however, and am not afraid to fail.

The Book Smugglers: Rachel Morgan is one of my favorite heroines—in part because she makes so many rushed mistakes, and yet has her heart in the right place. These tendencies make her even more of a full, real character, if a flawed and at times unreliable narrator. What are your favorite things about Rachel? What motivated you to create such a unique, empathetic character as your heroine?

Kim: My favorite things about Rachel are her loyalty, determination, ability to think for herself, and most importantly, her strength of character to not care what anyone thinks about what she does or what they might say about her. That kind of inner strength is hard to find, but it crosses all personalities from the mild introvert to the extroverted do-it-all. The motivation to create her came from my want to follow the growth of a strong person put in a tenuous position without losing her girl-next-door appeal.

The Book Smugglers: Many Urban Fantasy type novels like The Hollows have a solo hero or heroine, taking on the world and all its problems alone. Your books are different in that the partnership and strong bond of friendship between Rachel, Ivy and Jenks is an integral part to each story—and even when Rachel tries to go it alone in martyred-hero syndrome, her friends and family are there for her. Was this a conscious decision on your part? Why did you choose to make friendship such an important theme in your work?

Kim: Rachel relying on her friends for emotional and physical support was a conscious decision on my part. Friends are a big part of who and what we are, and I wanted to show that. As a character, Rachel is attracted to strong people, and to leave them out of the action would make the story a lot harder to believe.

The Book Smugglers: Be it the drama of the Tamwoods, the close relationship between Rachel and her mother, or the ties of Jenks to his brood, the theme of family is central to all of these books—and even more pronounced in The Outlaw Demon Wails. How prevalently will the revelations of Rachel’s family history figure into the next story arc? Had you planned on Rachel’s unique heritage from the very beginning of the series?

Kim: The revelation of Rachel’s background will of course influence what comes next, but only as a framework sort of way. I am a big believer that people can come from humble beginnings and make a difference in the world, and I tried to make Rachel special without making her unique. Her background was the same as thousands of people. She loves her mom and dad, and that her birth father isn’t the same as the man who raised her was not unique to the witch culture. That she survived a common childhood illness through medical intervention was the catalyst for what happened next, not that “she was born under a new moon when the planets were aligned” sort of a thing.

Rachel’s unique parentage was an idea that I developed while writing Dead Witch Walking, but that she was a stepping stone to demons happened all at once at the end of book six. I had another idea I wanted to end it with, but my editor nixed it because it brought in a few issues that were going to complicate the story line tremendously. (grin) Fortunately the proto-demon idea meshed with what I was planning on.

The Book Smugglers: Rachel and Ivy have one of the most complicated, alternately heart-wrenching and heart-warming relationships I have ever had the pleasure of reading. What inspired you to write such a complicated friendship-love relationship? In The Outlaw Demon Wails we see that Rachel and Ivy finally seem to have reached a tenuous understanding—but given their one step forward two steps back history, should we expect more complicated developments in their relationship in upcoming books?

Kim: I gave up trying to scrip Rachel’s relationships while I was writing The Good, The Bad, and The Undead, and that included Ivy’s pursuit of Rachel. It wasn’t until Ivy pulled off her cross and crawled across the coffee table that I even knew Ivy was bi. It hit me as hard as it hit Rachel, and I had to see where it was going to go. I still am. I never sat down and said that I wanted to explore these issues. They just happened. And that, I think, is why both women ring true.

I like to tell people that I’m trying to find both women’s happy ever after. For a long time, I believed that Ivy’s wouldn’t include Rachel but for a platonic relationship, and the books will reflect that as both women search out new people to be close with. But I am a romantic at heart, and I am open to them ending up together if that is the way the books lead me after all other options have been explored.

The Book Smugglers: Speaking of Ivy, there’s a certain tragic, bittersweet quality to this character—and all living vamps for that matter, as she has the knowledge hanging over her that one day she will lose her soul and become true undead (like her terrifyingly cold mother). Why did you decide to create this schism between living and undead vampires?

Kim: I love rules, and the living and dead vampires came from my want to have my cake and eat it too. I like the strict sunlight restrictions and need for blood to survive that the traditional, soulless Dracula vampire has. I wanted my ugly, terrifying, soulless monsters, but I wanted to write about the tragedy of them, to pity them, to see that though they have everything, they have nothing. It’s hard to find that for a true monster, so I had to develop the living vampires—those with a soul, who live with the knowledge that they will one day lose them. And it worked beautifully.

The Book Smugglers: Originally, The Outlaw Demon Wails was supposed to mark the end of the series. Thank goodness it ain’t so! Considering the dramatic finish to the last book, for the next installments to The Hollows, will we be seeing a lot more of the Ever After and the demons there? Can you tell us a little bit about what this next chapter in Rachel’s life will be like? (No I’m not fishing for spoilers, scout’s honor!)

Kim: We will be seeing a whole lot more of the ever-after as the books progress, yes. I can’t wait to get into it. I don’t have a lot of spoilers, but there will be new villains as Rachel begins to understand her old ones a little better. It’s hard to be afraid of someone once you’ve seen their own fear.

The Book Smugglers: Which character is your favorite to write, and why?

Kim: My favorite character to write changes from book to book. Originally it was Ivy, then it shifted to Trent, and now it’s Al. It seems that the more a character is growing or changing, the more interesting I find them.

The Book Smugglers: If you could cast anyone in the lead roles of your Hollows characters, who would you cast?

Kim: I try not to think about casting the Hollows, but I think Morgan Freeman would make a fabulous Keasley, Al could be played by Gary Oldman, and Piscary could be played by Arnold Vosloo. Mmmm. I like that bald head he’s got in the Mummy movies. Or maybe Vin Diesel.

The Book Smugglers: You also have a new Young Adult series in the works! Could you tell us a little bit about this new project? Why did you decide to start writing in the Young Adult genre?

Kim: Young adult is one of my favorite audience to write for, and in fact, Dead Witch Walking originally had a strong YA slant to it when it was first picked up. YA was where I found my love of reading among Henlein, Andre Norton, Jack L. Chalker, and a little Anne McCaffrey, and the chance to pass on that love of reading is a big draw for me. I think YA is one of the most difficult audiences to successfully write for, and I like the challenge. I hated being talked down to or asked to suspend my disbelief too far when I was growing up, and I hope I have given these readers enough to chew on.

As for what the books are about? Madison Avery lives in a world far more near to our own than the Hollows. There are no vampires or witches. Instead, I’ve focused on reapers, angels, and such. She’s dead. (grin) And not too happy about it, but she has a future ahead of her if she can figure a few things out, hopefully saving a few people from her fate along the way.

The Book Smugglers: Sounds wonderful! I cannot wait to read Madison’s story. Thank you again for your time, Kim!

For more from Kim, check out this podcast from Harper Collins:

Kim Harrison, dark urban fantasy author of the New York Times bestselling The Outlaw Demon Wails, was born and raised in the upper Midwest. After gaining her bachelors in the sciences, she moved to South Carolina, where she has remained since. She is currently developing a new young adult series between working on the Hollows books, and is a member of both the Romance Writers of America and The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. When not at her desk, she is most likely to be found chasing down good chocolate, exquisite sushi, or the ultimate dog chew.

And that’s not all! As promised, we are giving away SIX copies of The Outlaw Demon Wails (mmpbk). Also, we have one GRAND PRIZE winner who will receive the entire collection of The Hollows books (1-6)! All you have to do is leave a comment here by midnight (Pacific Standard Time) on Saturday, November 29.

Good Luck!

Title: The Outlaw Demon Wails

Author: Kim Harrison

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Stand alone or series: Book 6 in The Hollows (Rachel Morgan) series.

Why did I read this book: The Rachel Morgan books are beyond a doubt my favorite Urban Fantasy series. Book 5, For a Few Demons More is one of my favorite books ever (i.e. it’s coming to the island with me). So, as soon as The Outlaw Demon Wails hit stores earlier this year, I immediately bought and devoured it.

Since the book is being released in mass market paperback on November 25th, we decided to host a review, interview and giveaway celebrating the release!

Summary: (from amazon.com)
To save the lives of her friends, Rachel did the unthinkable: she willingly trafficked in forbidden demon magic. And now her sins are coming home to haunt her.

As Rachel searches for the truth behind a terrifying murder, an even greater menace threatens, for the demon Algaliarept will stop at nothing to claim her, and the discovery of a shocking family secret throws Rachel’s entire life into question. If she is ever to live free, Rachel must first walk willingly into the demonic ever-after in search of long-lost ancient knowledge.

But when you dance with demons, you lay your soul on the line . . . and there are some lines that should never be crossed.

**Please note, this review necessarily contains spoilers from the first five books in the series. There are no spoilers for this particular book, but if you have not yet read the earlier installments and do not wish to be spoiled, continue reading at your own peril!**

Review:

Following the tragic events of For A Few Demons More, Piscary has finally been taken out of the picture, freeing Ivy…but at a terrible cost. Rachel is still struggling with Kisten’s murder–and Rachel’s memory loss of the affair–and moving on with her life when the problems start up all over again. Big Al, demon extraordinaire, starts (once again) terrorizing Rachel and those near and dear to her. Someone is allowing Al to bust in and out of his cell in the Ever-After, and Al has a big grudge with Rach. In order to protect herself and her family and friends, Rachel must pursue whomever is letting Al free. And, of course since this is Rachel Morgan after all, there are numerous other complications going on, simultaneously. There’s the usual Ivy drama–Ivy and Rachel finally come to terms of sorts with their blood balance, although this is most likely a temporary reprieve, as the new master vamp in town poses some very, very interesting promise for future storylines. Then, there’s Ceri, elven princess with a soon to be huge complication, which sets Rachel working together with the dreaded Trent Kalamack (official pain in Rachel’s ass since Dead Witch Walking). Add to this, a bevy of complications with Rachel’s unique ability to twist demon magic (smutting her aura, but necessary to protect those she cares for), her mother’s strange behavior, and a secret about Rachel’s past that comes through here in a big way.

Phew. One of the things I love the most about this series is the non-stop action and how incredibly detailed and fast-paced the plotting is for each and every book. The plot seeds sown back in earlier books finally come to fruition here–especially concerning Rachel’s cloudy past, as a rare survivor of a serious disease that afflicts young witches. Originally, Ms. Harrison was contracted to end the series with this sixth book, and there is a degree of finality to The Outlaw Demon Wails. The series is contracted for more volumes (thank goodness), but this novel is a huge turning point and in a way still feels like the end of an old series, and a the beginnings of a new direction for Rachel.

As always, the characters in this book are superb, and richly drawn. I love reading about Jenks and his enormous, space-cramping Pixy family–although there is a degree of seriousness and grimness to this novel, as he examines his own limited lifespan as a Pixy and his plans for the future. Ivy remains my favorite emo vampire–she’s so tragic and tortured, but she is for good reasons. And despite her excessive baggage, her devotion to Rachel and Jenks always manages to impress me. Rachel’s mother also plays a pivotal role in this novel, and though we’ve seen her in earlier novels, she is incredibly well drawn as both a woman and a mother in this story. Trent also gains a more color here (not that he was lacking before in any way)–I love that Trent is not written off as merely a Big Bad Baddy drug dealing killer, but has reasons for everything he does–even if his morals and methods are questionable. His interactions here with Rachel are beautifully written, especially in the last scenes of the book.

And, there’s Rachel herself. This is a painful book for Rachel–grieving for Kisten, helping Ceri, coming to terms with her childhood, and most importantly with her game changing decision at the conclusion. Rachel grows a lot in this book, and it’s all for the better. I, for one, cannot wait to see where the next novel takes this remarkable heroine.

Notable Quotes/Parts: The explanation of Rachel’s past with her mother and the scenes in the Ever After are made of awesome.

Additional Thoughts: The new cover for book 7, White Witch Black Curse has been released:

I’m not sure I love the cover–but other than the cover for The Outlaw Demon Wails, I haven’t been a fan in general. Who cares, really?

White Witch Black Curse hits stores February 24, 2009! I cannot wait.

Verdict: I love this series. I really, truly adore The Hollows–it holds the spot as my favorite Urban Fantasy series, period. And, The Outlaw Demon Wails is fantastic–once again, Kim Harrison writes a beautiful book, complete with dizzying plot twists and incredible characters. Easily one of my favorite books of 2008!

Rating: 9 Damn Near Perfection

Stick around tomorrow, as we’ll be interviewing Kim Harrison herself! AND we’ll have an awesome giveaway of The Outlaw Demon Wails and a Grand Prize of the entire series!

This week:

We kick-off the week with a three-day Kim Harrison Extravaganza!

On Monday, Thea reviews book 6 in The Hollows series, The Outlaw Demon Wails, in honor of the mass market paperback release of the book.

On Tuesday we will have an INTERVIEW with Kim Harrison (*Thea: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*) including an awesome giveaway! We’ll have FIVE copies of Outlaw Demon Wails, and a GRAND PRIZE of ALL THE BOOKS IN THE HOLLOWS SERIES for one lucky winner!

On Thursday, Ana reviews When The Duke Returns, the 4th book in the Desperate Duchesses series by Eloisa James, which is released this week.

Finally, on Friday, Ana reviews What a Scoundrel Wants by Carrie Lofty, a December release -a book that has Will Scarlet of Robin Hood fame, as the hero!

Other News:

Here’s the new cover for Richelle Mead’s book 2 of the Dark Swan series:

And in other news, Mulluane has joined Tia over at the cool blog Fantasy Debut. Mulluane runs Dragons, Heroes and Wizards and she will be giving Tia a hand with their debut showcases and the occasional review. Congrats to Mulluane and Tia!

And a couple of new trailers of movies we are dying to watch:

Coraline

Star Trek

That’s all for today folks! Hope you are having a great Sunday!

If you are a regular around these shores you may have noticed that in the past few weeks we have been talking about something called…Smugglivus. Cryptic posts, shout outs, and the sidebar widget that changes every three days with a countdown and the words

Smugglivus…is coming

But what exactly is Smugglivus?

Basically Smugglivus is a celebration of Christmas, New Year and our first blog anniversary in early January. The name Smugglivus comes from our own name coupled with the infamous Seinfeld’s Festivus – a Festival for the rest of us – which was our inspiration for the craziness ahead. And what better way to celebrate these special dates than to celebrate our love for books?

Smugglivus officially starts on December 26th and runs until January 7th – Smugglivus Day (and the date that we started the blog).

From December 26th to December 31st we will have a whole bunch of Very Cool Guest Bloggers coming over and talking about their favorite books of 2008 and what they expect from 2009.

We follow that special week with our own Best of 2008 lists; our Feats of Strength whereupon we double dared each other to read books out of our comfort zone (Thea is making Ana read ANOTHER Stephen King book! *Thea’s Note: Come on dude, how many of your romances have I not wanted to read and have read for you? Seriously.*); the Airing of Grievances: where we talk about the worst of 2008 (including the Breaking Dawn Fiasco and the What The Hell Happened to Heroes post aka Please Let Sylar Be Evil Again Plea *Thea’s Note: Heroes is freaking LAME*); and plenty more leading up to Smugglivus Day.

*But pssst, Smugglers, your countdown clock says Smugglivus starts in 8 days!*

Did we not tell you that we are crazy? Well dearies, it just so happens that the current countdown is a countdown to…The Smugglivus Countdown! Starting on December 1st we have invited some of our favorite writers we’ve spoken with this year to come over and talk about their favorites of 2008 and what to expect from them in 2009! We have a Guest Author scheduled for every weekday in December! From Horror to Fantasy, YA to Romance, Sci-fi to Paranormal writers, you can expect all sorts of cool things, like exclusive excerpts to giveaways!

*Giveaways you say?*

Oh, yeah! And on top of the giveaways that some of our guests will be graciously offering, we will have one huge giveaway PER WEEKEND in December – open to everyone!

It is going to be crazy! It is going to be awesome! And we hope you will join us in the fun!

Title: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Fantasy

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

Why did we read this book: Really? Because, obviously, we love Neil Gaiman. (The question should be why did it take us so freaking long to read this book!)

Summary: (from amazon.com)
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family. . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

Review:

First Impressions:

Thea: I had been eagerly anticipating this book for months, stalking Neil Gaiman’s blog, gushing in emails with Ana. So, needless to say, I had some high expectations for this book–as I do for anything written by Neil Gaiman. And, once again, I found myself completely captivated by his work. The Graveyard Book is yet another stunning tale to add to the collection–with that same blend of lovely oddness and ethereal beauty that is Gaiman’s trademark. I fell in love with Bod and his strange, lovely Graveyard home, and finished this book with a full heart and a silly grin on my face.

Ana:I love Neil Gaiman’s books, he is my God of Writing and I have impossibly high expectations for his books as I had for this book in particular. The Graveyard Book was one of my Most Wanted of 2008 and I am glad to report that once again, Neil Gaiman did not fail me – from the stark horror of the first pages to the odd and yet beautiful tone as the story progresses, The Graveyard Book is a gem.

(Neil Gaiman is a freaking genius and I want to steal his DNA, create a1000 slave-clones and have them all sitting down writing stories for me.)

On the Plot:

One dark night, a man with a wicked knife and a cold heart makes his way through 33 Dunstan Road, killing the mother, father and daughter who live there. Quietly, the man Jack heads up the stairs to finish his terrible task, to murder the fourth member of the family, a baby boy. The boy, however, has escaped from his crib and slid down the stairs, following a misty path to the graveyard outside. The man Jack, infuriated, searches for the baby but cannot find him. He soon gives up his search, knowing that the baby will die on his own or be found soon enough, and then he will finish his task. The boy, however, is not abandoned to die. Instead, he is taken in by the ghostly residents of the graveyard, adopted by the old Owens couple, who had never had children of their own in life. With a shade named Silas, who is neither alive nor dead and can pass through both worlds, as the boy’s guardian, the baby is granted the Freedom of the Graveyard. The child is named, aptly, Nobody Owens. Bod, for short. And, it is thus that his strange young life begins.

The years pass and Bod grows from a baby into an inquisitive young child, growing up in the manner that all children do, except that he lives in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts. He learns to read from the gravestones, he learns history from spirits, and he adds a few ghostly aptitudes–Fading, Dreamwalking, Terror, etc–that other young children might not be so familiar with. All the while, he is kept in the graveyard, for the Owens’ and Silas know that outside the gates, the man Jack is still looking for Bod. But, a child’s curiosity can never really be repressed, and Bod manages to discover an ancient burial tomb, fall through a Ghoul Gate, dance the macabray, and make all manner of friends and enemies, both living and dead, on the path to his own destiny.

Thea: The Graveyard Book is a clever, clever tale about growing up. As I once read in a review of Neil Gaiman’s work, like many fairy tales and fables, this novel too has a bit of a sadistic streak. The innocent Bod whose family is murdered before his young eyes, is forced to take refuge in a world of the dead. It’s not lighthearted stuff–but to be perfectly fair, most fairy tales or young adult novels have a sort of cruel streak to them, which is something I appreciate mightily. It certainly makes for a much more interesting, human story. And when it comes down to it, that’s what The Graveyard Book does best–using ghosts and fantasies to tell the story of a very human, young man, eager to step out of the protection of the graveyard to live his life to its fullest.

The format of the book is that of a straight-forward novel, but each chapter reads almost as though it were a different story, or episode, of Bod’s life. On their own, each chapter is brilliant, chock full of fantasy and wonder–my favorites deal with Ghulheim and the Danse Macabre, and both are chapters which I could see being developed into separate novels or stories in their own right. The ending effect is certainly different from other prose works by Neil Gaiman–as opposed to Coraline, which tells a more linear story (over a much shorter time frame, I might add), The Graveyard Book moves through Bod’s young life in growths and stops, each adventure separate from the last, but all grandly coming together in the end. The effect is strange, a bit awkward and incongruous–but that too is what growing up is about, isn’t it? Although I must say I preferred the more storyteller voice and rhythm of Coraline, in the end, these scraps of stories and chapters of Bod’s life come together in an odd way that suits Bod–with his strange musty clothes and too-long hair–perfectly.

Ana:Odd, strange, dark: all words that can be safely used to describe this book. But also: beautiful, funny and clever.

Out of all the words , I think my favorite would be clever – the storytelling itself, the manner in which things happen but most of all the fact that Neil Gaiman never underestimates the reader: some things are a mystery to start with and some of them remain a mystery; there are no info dumps even though I would have loved to know more about the Honour Guard or the ghouls and their city Ghulheim for example; as Thea says each chapter is an adventure in its own – a chapter in the book, a chapter in the life of Bod but they do not sound as sequel bait and I will never expect a separate book for each of them (although yes, I would love to) .

One of the reasons why I love Gaiman’s work is that I feel he really never compromises on what he wants to do and where he wants to take his characters – he may be writing a fairy tale but he will * gasps * kill the unicorn (Stardust) – and it is very similar with The Graveyard Book as well. There may be adventure and fantasy but he will not shy away from pain and hurt and truths that Bod may not want to hear and it’s all the better for it. When you reach the end, it is clear that there was a direction to the story from the start even though at points, the plot seems disjointed – like small pieces of a glass mosaic, each having sublime colours and qualities of their own but when combined form a grander, whole picture.

On the Characters:

Thea: Oh, the strange and motley crew of characters! I love Neil Gaiman’s large and varied cast–from Bod to Silas and Miss Lupescu, to the Jacks of All Trades to Scarlett and the witch girl. Even characters met only briefly, like the poet Nehemiah Trot, are so varied and strange, they all come across as incredibly genuine. The true star of the novel, and the only true character to be ‘fleshed out’ (pardon my lame attempts at humor) of course, is Nobody himself. A dirty, scrawny child, Nobody is as curious and impatient as any other young boy. He sometimes does not listen to his parents (or his guardian), and he tries to run away, as most children fantasize about at some point or another. But, unlike the other children in the novel that grow up safe and warm among the living, Bod does not live in fear or denial and on more than one occasion he stands up for what he simply knows for what is right from wrong. Procuring a makeshift headstone, standing up to the bullies at school, using the lessons he has learned and putting them to good use, living up to his limitless potential–these are the things that Bod discovers and accomplishes. For a character named Nobody, Bod grows into the master of his own world, someone substantial and fully alive–and one can’t help but fall in love with this quirky, real young man.

Ana:I loved Bod – from the very start when he was only a baby it was clear that what propelled him was curiosity – a sense of wonder and need for adventure that at first saves his life but continuously put him in scrapes – and he gets away from them by putting his cleverness to good use and by using what he learnt from his dead teachers. I loved his lessons in how to Fade – and the fact that his teacher told him that he was “too obvious” . Nobody was indeed just somebody who as he grew up searched for identity…as anybody else.

Bod is a boy with the heart at the right place (there is a very sweet sequence when he goes out of the graveyard to try and get a headstone for the Witch girl who had been buried without one) but who is also a boy like any other – prepared to test the limits his parents and his Guardian Silas have given him.

Neil Gaiman says he took some inspiration from Kippling’s The Jungle Book to write The Graveyard Book but I had another tale in mind as I read it: Pinocchio (the Disney version). Both Pinocchio and Bod share the same need: to be a real boy.

Bod wanted to learn what it meant to be “living” but he was so deeply connected to the people at the graveyard and this dichotomy – the dead and the living – was incredible to read about. With a lot of subtle humour each of the inhabitants of the graveyard have a place and a moment to shine in the book and I loved all of them – but my favorite after Bod was Silas, his Guardian. I just loved how Gaiman never truly said in full words, Silas is a ……. instead he presented us with clues as to what he was – not truly alive, not truly dead, a character with a lot of depth , a mission and with a lot of heart. His interactions with Bod were amazingly poignant.

Final Thoughts, Observations and Rating:

Thea: What more can I say? I loved this book. It lived up to my very high expectations, as Neil Gaiman always does. My only criticisms would be that the ending came too quickly, the Jacks of All Trades too dastardly and rushed. But despite these shortcomings, this is still an exceptional read. I still prefer Coraline–for all the unique wonder to this tale, there is something bewitching and terrifying about Coraline that just does it for me–but this is a book that should be read by young and old alike. As a coming of age tale, it is strong and bittersweet. I dare anyone to read this book and not fall in love with Bod and his own wonderful world. One of my top 10 reads for 2008!

Ana:I loved the Britishness of the book plain in the use of language and the quirkyness of small town Britain. I have an appreciation for small graveyards and old gravestones so I loved all the descriptions of the Graveyard in the book. I also appreciated, as I always do, how Gaiman brings to his story known figures of folklore and make them their own: on top of the ghosts that inhabit the graveyard there are also ghouls, werewolves, witches, vampires, the lady death etc. This is a very smart little book full of wonders and adventures and heart – as any good tale should be. I recommend it to children and adults alike. This of course, was the book I was waiting for to fill the last available position in my top 10 of 2008!

Notable Quotes/Parts:

Thea: Has to be the dance of the dead. I love this passage:

His guardian looked at him with eyes like black pools and said, “I do not know. I know many things, Bod, for I have been walking this earth at night for a very long time, but I do not know what it is like to dance the Macabray. You must be alive or you must be dead to dance it–and I am neither.”

Bod shivered. He wanted to embrace his guardian, to hold him and tell him that he would never desert him, but the action was unthinkable. He could no more hug Silas than he could hold a moonbeam, not because his guardian was insubstantial, but because it would be wrong. There were people you could hug, and then there was Silas.

Ana:

oh yes Thea! The dance of death – or Danse Macabre in the book – was my favorite chapter too as evidenced by the emails I sent you saying “this man is a freaking genius” ! By appropriating himself from this bit of Medieval folklore – whereupon on a certain night, the living and the dead dance together lead by Death herself – Gaiman wrote a chapter that is eerie, intense, interesting and cool. And it was clear then which place Bod really belonged to.

I was immediately reminded of this scene in the movie The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman:

Additional Thoughts:

Thea: Once again, The Graveyard Book features the tag team of Gaiman and artist extraordinaire Dave McKean. His black and white inks and pencils here mimic the style he used in Coraline (as opposed to say his work on The Sandman covers, or his more surreal stuff in The Wolves in the Walls or The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish). Personally, I lvoe anything this artist does–and his illustrations for The Graveyard Book make me nostalgic for the Roald Dahl books I used to read as a child. The art is heavier, more old-fashioned, and puts me in the mind of hard covered library books in protective plastic cases, with tattered, slightly mustier smelling pages…and I mean this in the best possible way. I absolutely love it.

Ana:

What Thea said.

Also,I really like all 3 covers available:

The limited signed Hardback

The Hardback (this is the one I have):

The Children’s edition:

Rating:

Thea: 9 Damn Near Perfection

Ana: 9 Damn Near Perfection

Reading Next: The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt