Review: Martians Abroad - Carrie Vaughn

Well-known for her bestselling series Kitty Norville, Carrie Vaughn moves to science fiction with Martians Abroad, a novel with great crossover appeal. Polly Newton has one single-minded dream, to be a starship pilot and travel the galaxy. Her mother, the Director of the Mars Colony, derails Polly's plans when she sends Polly and her genius twin brother, Charles, to Galileo Academy on Earth.

Homesick and cut off from her plans for her future, Polly cannot seem to fit into life on Earth. Strange, unexplained, dangerous coincidences centered on their high-profile classmates begin piling up. Charles may be right--there's more going on than would appear, and the stakes are high. With the help of Charles, Polly is determined to find the truth, no matter the cost.

Visit Carrie Vaughn's website for more information

Review:
Polly and her twin brother Charles were born and raised on Mars, they don't really feel much of a connection to the place their ancestors originated so they're horrified when their mother announces that they're being sent to Earth to finish their education. Earth is a culture shock in so many ways, not only does the different gravity make even walking a much more difficult task than they're used to but they're also thrown in at the deep end thanks to gaps in their education and their totally different life experiences. It quickly becomes clear that the earthborn kids view off worlders as second class citizens so they're going to have their work cut out if they want to be accepted.

Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn wasn't quite what I expected but that's definitely not in a bad way because it was a thought provoking and enjoyable story. I thought she did a fantastic job of highlighting the how strange it would be for children raised on an inhospitable planet like Mars when they visited earth for the first time. From the way the increased gravity made it so difficult for them to carry out day to day tasks to the panic Polly felt the first time she stepped outside and suddenly realised she wasn't wearing an oxygen mask - something that would have killed her back home! There were just so many clever little ways that Polly and Charles were effected by their new surroundings and that made the story feel completely realistic and believable.

I hated the way the earth students treated those who had come from other planets but unfortunately that was incredibly easy to believe too. We've seen time and time again how humanity treats anyone they perceive as different and as horrible as that is it doesn't seem to be getting any better thanks to politicians who love to preach hate and intolerance. What I really loved was the way Polly and Charles handled their situation. Polly is the kind of girl who acts first and thinks things through later, she's impulsive and it often gets her in trouble but she's also a quick thinker and great to have by your side in an emergency. Charles is quieter and tends to plan ahead so he's usually the one trying to stop Polly doing anything too crazy and keep her out of trouble. What was interesting was the way the earth kids were so privileged and spoiled but had very little in the way of common sense, it was the off worlders who were better at problem solving because they'd had to learn things the hard way in life or death situations that the earth kids had never faced.

I don't want to go into detail about the plot but there was much more going on at their school than first meets the eye and I enjoyed seeing Polly and Charles work together to figure things out. Martians Abroad was the kind of book that you can easily devour in one sitting and I really enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on. As far as I know the story is a standalone but if Carrie Vaughn decides to revisit these characters I'll definitely be picking up any sequels.

Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Hardback:

Review: Hex Appeal - Anthology

Fall under the intoxicating spell of their hex appeal . . .

In the magical world that lies hidden beneath our own, witches and conjurers play deadly games. They know just the right spell to kill a man with one kiss—or raise him back again. And they’re not afraid to exact sweet revenge on those who dare to cross them. But what if you’re the unlucky soul who falls victim to a conjurer’s curse? And if you had the power to cast a magic spell of your own, would you use it?

In this bewitching collection, nine of today’s hottest paranormal authors tell all-new, otherworldly tales. Spellbinding stories featuring bigfoot, albino vampires, professional wizards, resurrected boyfriends and even a sex droid from the twenty-third century named Silicon Lily. But as our conjurers are about to discover, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hexed. And sometimes, even the best spun spells can lead to complete and utter mayhem.

Includes:
(Click on the author's name to visit their website)
Retribution Clause by Ilona Andrews
Bigfoot on Campus by Jim Butcher
Holly’s Balm by Rachel Caine
Snow Job by Carole Nelson Douglas
Outside The Box by P. N. Elrod
How Do You Feel? by Simon R. Green
There Will Be Demons by Lori Handeland
Cherry Kisses by Erica Hayes
The Arcane Art of Misdirection by Carrie Vaughn

Review:

Retribution Clause - Ilona Andrews

The Kate Daniels Series:
A Questionable Client (Short Story included in the Magic Graves anthology)
Magic Bites
Magic Burns
Magic Strikes
Magic Mourns (Novella included in the Must Love Hellhounds anthology or available separately as an ebook)
Magic Bleeds
Magic Dreams (Novella included in the Hexed anthology or available separately as an ebook)
Magic Slays
Magic Tests (Short Story included in the An Apple for the Creature anthology)
Magic Gifts (Novella available for a limited time as a free ebook from the authors and included in the print version of Gunmetal Magic)
Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniel's World book 1)
Retribution Clause (Short Story included in the Hex Appeal anthology)
Small Magics (Anthology containing previously published stories including A Questionable Client, Magic Tests and Retribution Clause as well as 2 other stories not set in the Kate Daniels world)
Magic Rises
Magic Steals (Novella included in the Night Shift anthology)
Magic Breaks
Magic Shifts
Magic Stars (Novella, Grey Wolf book 1)
Magic Binds
Iron and Magic (The Iron Covenant book 1)
Magic Triumphs

This is set in the same world as the Kate Daniels series but we don't get to see any of the characters we already know and love, we do get to meet Saiman's cousin though so there is a link there. I really loved Adam, as much as I find Saiman's constant body swapping amusing it is kind of creepy so it was interesting to see how different Adam is and how comfortable he is in his own skin. Adam and his partner, Siroun, work as insurance adjusters which sounds boring on the surface but in reality means they are charged with investigating any suspicious deaths among their clients. In the case of murder victims it is up to them to dispense justice to their killers. Although this is a farily short story there is a mystery to solve and I enjoyed getting to meet these characters and explore this world further. There is definitely some great potential for these two and I'd love to read more stories about them in the future.

Bigfoot on Campus - Jim Butcher

The Dresden Files:
Storm Front
Fool Moon
Grave Peril
Summer Knight
Death Masks
Blood Rites
Dead Beat
Proven Guilty
White Night
Small Favor
Turn Coat
Bigfoot on Campus (Novella in the Hex Appeal anthology)
Changes
Ghost Story
Cold Days
Skin Game

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series has been on my radar for a long time now but for some reason I've never got around to starting it. Even though this story fits into the timeline after book 11 I still found it fairly easy to dive into and I enjoyed meeting the main character. Harry has been hired by his friend, who happens to be bigfoot, to protect his teenage son. The son is at university and his father is convinced he is in danger. Harry gets much more than he bargains for when he arrives on the scene and the story starts with him getting arrested at an orgy! This was a really fun story to read and it's definitely made me even more keen to start the rest of the series.

Holly's Balm - Rachel Caine

Holly & Andrew Series:
Death Warmed Over (Short Story in the Strange Brew anthology)
Holly's Balm (Short Story in the Hex Appeal anthology)
Forked Tongues (Short Story in the Kicking It anthology)

While I liked this story it didn't quite manage to capture my attention as much as the first two did. I believe that the two main characters, Holly and Andy, have appeared in a previous short story but I don't think this is linked to any of the author's other series. Holly is a resurrection witch and Andy is someone that she brought back to life which I thought was a really unusual concept. In this story Holly is asked to help the police investigate a murder scene, one that is very similar to a previous case she worked on - right down to having the exact same victim! Yes, that's right, someone is resurrecting the victims so that they can murder them all over again, horrifying thought isn't it? The couple were likeable and the story was interesting but I found it a little too easy to guess who the bad guy was, I guess that's the hazard of short stories though - there isn't much time to introduce a lot of red herrings.

Snow Job - Carole Nelson Douglas

Delilah Street, PI Series:
Dancing with Werewolves
Brimstone Kiss
Vampire Sunrise
Silver Zombie
Virtual Virgin
Snow Job (Short Story in the Hex Appeal anthology)
Neon Noir

Delilah is a paranormal investigator hired by the owner of a local casino to get to the bottom of some mysterious occurrences at his hotel. These is obviously a lot of history between them & I think I missed a lot of the subtleties because I'm unfamiliar with the series. I had a similar problem with the world building - I liked the idea of old movie stars being bought back to life although I'm still confused about how that happens. It's intrigued me enough that I want to try the first full length novel though & I have a feeling I would enjoy this story more (& rate it higher!) if I read it at the correct point in the series.

Outside the Box - P.N. Elrod

Marsha is a witch whose job, along with her vampire partner Ellinghaus, is to make sure all newly born vampires are properly registered. What should have been a fairly straightforward case gets a lot more complicated when they discover that the newly made vampire is a young girl whose disappearance a week ago has been highly publicised. This was a fun story, I'm not sure if it's part of a series but I wouldn't mind reading more about these characters.

How do you Feel - Simon R. Green

I think this was just a bit too dark & gory for me & I really struggled to connect with the main character. It's about a zombie known as Dead Boy who was killed in a mugging 30 years ago. Ever since his death he has had very little feeling either physically or emotionally & is constantly chasing anything that will give him something, even pain is better than nothing. When someone hints that the mugging may not have been completely random Dead Boy goes looking for revenge.

There Will Be Demons - Lori Handeland

Phoenix Chronicles:
There Will Be Demons (Short Story in the Hex Appeal anthology)
Any Given Doomsday
Doomsday Can Wait
Apocalypse Happens
Chaos Bites

This story is part of the Phoenix Chronicles which is a series I hadn't heard of before but am definitely going to have to check out now. Summer is a fairy who works as a demon hunter & her latest case brings her a new partner, dhampir Jimmy. Jimmy is someone that Summer has dreamed about for centuries and she's not quite sure how to react to meeting him for the first time.

Cherry Kisses - Erica Hayes

Shadowfae Chronicles:
Hellcursed (Novella)
Shadowfae
Shadowglass
Poison Kiss
Blood Cursed
Cherry Kisses (Novella in the Hex Appeal anthology, also available as a stand alone ebook)
Demon Chained

Really liked this one - that's another series added to my wish list! Lena is a con artist, she's not quite a witch but she does have some magical abilities. When she's offered a job to track down a demon amulet it means a trip to hell, but the promised payment makes the risk worthwhile. Unfortunately she has competition in the form of Ethan, someone she has history with and a lot of unresolved feelings for. When they get to hell they realise they have fallen into a trap & it looks like they'll have to learn to work together if they want to survive.

The Arcane Art of Misdirection - Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Norville Series:
Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Kitty Goes to Washington
Kitty Takes a Holiday
Kitty and the Silver Bullet
The Arcane Art of Misdirection (Novella in the Hex Appeal anthology)
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
Kitty Raises Hell
Kitty's House of Horrors
Kitty Goes to War
Kitty's Big Trouble
Kitty Steals the Show
Kitty Rocks the House
Kitty in the Underworld
Low Midnight
Kitty Saves the World

How does a magician cheat at cards? That's something black jack dealer Julie is about to find out when someone at her table beats all the odds to win every hand. With the help of Odysseus Grant Julie is determined to find out exactly what is going on in her casino. I enjoyed this one, apparently Odysseus is a character who appears in the Kitty Norville series but I didn't have a problem following the story even though I'm unfamiliar with his character. I would be happy to read more about these characters in the future though and I already have this series on my to read pile.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
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Paperback:

Review: Kitty and the Midnight Hour - Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station - and a werewolf in secret.  Sick of lame song requests, she accidentally starts "The Midnight Hour", a late-night talk show for the supernaturally disadvantaged.

After desperate vampires, werewolves and witches across the country begin calling in to share their woes, her new show is a raging success.  But it's Kitty who can use some help.  With one sexy werewolf hunter and a few homicidal undead on her trail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew...

Kitty Norville Series:
Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Kitty Goes to Washington
Kitty Takes a Holiday
Kitty and the Silver Bullet
The Arcane Art of Misdirection (Novella in the Hex Appeal anthology)
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
Kitty Raises Hell
Kitty's House of Horrors
Kitty Goes to War
Kitty's Big Trouble
Kitty Steals the Show
Kitty Rocks the House
Kitty in the Underworld
Low Midnight
Kitty Saves the World

Visit Carrie Vaughn's website for more information

Review:
This is the first book in Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series & what a great start to a series it is.  Kitty is a late-night DJ and one evening she inadvertantly manages to turn her show into a supernatural talk show.  This has hilarious results & I just love some of the calls she takes throughout the book.  There are plenty of people who aren't happy with the way the show has changed though - her pack, the local vampire family and a werewolf hunter to name just a few.  On top of that Kitty, who is now known as the local expert on all things supernatural, is asked to consult for the police on a spate of killings possibly committed by a werewolf.

At the start of the book Kitty is definitely at the bottom of her pack and completely submissive to the other pack members.  She looks to the pack Alpha Carl and his second in command T.J. for protection and is incapable of standing on her own 2 feet.  Throughout the book as her radio show gains popularity we see Kitty become more confident and start to question the pack and her place within it.  I really enjoyed seeing the growth that her character goes through and am sure she will continue with this throughout the series.  I found it quite refreshing to have a heroine who was unsure of herself but her submissive side would have been irritating if it had gone on for much longer.

One of the things I loved about this book was the way Carrie Vaughn described the experience of being a werewolf and the pack dynamics.  The way she used body language with the pack members was really well done, particularly the way this spread across into their human side.  I also found it interesting the way Kitty thought of her wolf side like it was a completely seperate entity giving a whole new meaning to the term split personality.

Overall I really loved this book - it had plently of action, the storyline was fast paced & kept you gripped, the characters were well developed & I loved the added comedy.  If it was lacking in anything I would have liked a little more romance but with Rick & Cormac on the scene I'm pretty sure that this will be something that will be added more as the series progresses.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of both of those characters & can't wait to see what happens to Kitty next.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
Trisha's Book Blog
The Eclectic Reader
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