Jul09:
Characters: The lead isn't bad, but the Pixy steals the show. Even though, none of them are really that bad-ass. I mean, she's a witch who wins most fights by just punching the other guy.
Plot: None really. It's more just 'Explore this world with me'. I like a little more conflict.
Style: Just doesn't really ring with me. It's not cool. It's not cuddly. It's more all scratchy. ( )

In an alternate history, bioengineering created a plague that killed a lot humans. This allowed the supernatural inhabitants (Witches, Pixies, Vampires, Weres, etc.) known as Inderlanders to come out of hiding since they were no longer outnumbered. Humans moved closer to the cities.

This series features Rachel Morgan, a witch. In Dead Witch Walking, she’s an Inderland Security Runner who takes advantage of capturing a leprechan for tax evasion. Working for the I.S. isn’t what Rachel thought it would be and she’s looking for a way out. The leprechaun is her opportunity. Before Rachel knows it, her former I.S. partner, Ivy Tamwood, and her I.S. backup, Jenks, use up the remaining wishes to leave the I.S. too. Ivy is one of the best I.S. Runners and their former boss puts a price on Rachel’s head. He knows she has something to do with Ivy’s resignation. Partnered with a living vampire and a pixie, Rachel must evade the bounty hunters while trying to find a way to get the contract cancelled.

The magic used by witches is interesting. There is earth magic and ley magic. All magic requires a sacrifice of some kind; even using an amulet requires blood droplets to activate it. White earth witches use plants while dark earth witches use body parts. Ley line witches use raw life force power sources. (The only other series I’ve come across that uses ley lines is Kat Richardson’s Greywalkerseries.) The sacrifice in using ley lines is of souls. Rachel is a white earth witch but she’s not afraid to cross the line into the greyish/black area of magic if she thinks it’s for a good cause.

Full review available at http://www.amberstults.com/?p=1640 as of 7/14/09. ( )

This is Kim Harrison's first book and what a wonderful book it is. Certainly will keep you on the edge of your seat and officially addicted to the series! She created a world that could very well be sometime in the future because we love to play around with genetics. But in her book, we played around with a virus that nearly wiped out all of human kind and now the creatures of our nightmares - that had stayed hidden so well before - can now come out into the open to mingle with (what's left) of mankind!

Rachel Morgan is a bounty hunter, on the search for the IS to find those that are breaking the rules. But she finds herself very unhappy with her assignments and wants out. So after chasing a leprechaun, she decides to 'screw' it up and get her out. Well, it seems that part of it works, but now she has to watch herself, cause her ex-boss seems to like to plant little spells around to try to kill her.

Ms. Harrison's characters are very well developed. Rachel is easy to like as is Ivy and Jenks. All of the characters, human and supernatural adds a nice twist to the fantasy world. The plot thickens as the story moves forward at very fast pace and takes you up and down and twists and turns like a roller coaster. SO I must say that it was a very fun ride!

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series! ( )

I was a little wary when I started this book: what if it was just a bad Laurell K. Hamilton ripoff? Well, it's clearly the same genre as the Anita Blake books, but Rachel Morgan is an interesting character in her own right. And Rachel's friends are distinct personalities as well (I confess, most of the men in LKH's books are blurring together in my mind by now). For a fantasy/horror novel, the explanation of why everyone knows there are magical beings in the world was quite science-fictional: a pleasant twist. No, this isn't a profound work of literature, but it's a fun page-turner and worth the time it'll take to read. ( )

Kim Harrison introduces us to the world of the Hollows, a district close to Cincinnati that contains witches, weres, pixys and vampires - all those creatures that humans never realised existed until the Turn. Harrison introduces an intriguing idea to underpin the reason for these supernatural creatures being amongst human beings - in her world, bio engineering went wrong and a mutated virus swept the earth, killing a quarter of humanity. The Inderlanders (all of those supernatural people) had a natural resistance to this virus, and so found themselves able to reveal their presence to human beings. This was with the exception of elves, who, according to records, died out entirely - probably thanks to interbreeding with humans.

This particular story centres around Rachel Morgan, a runner for the IS who finds herself given more and more pathetic targets to bring in. Soon enough she snaps and decides to leave the IS and branch out on her own. Leaving the IS has huge repercussions, including a death threat (hence the title 'Dead Witch Walking') and taking with her the slinky vamp Ivy and naughty pixy Jenks.

Harrison suffers from the usual problem of a first novel in a recurring series - she has a number of characters to introduce and some info dumping to perform. This creates an issue of pacing - the first hundred or so pages are a little bit of a struggle as we get to know Rachel and the world she lives in, while the rest of the book flies past once the true plot kicks in. I also found that Harrison belaboured the point a little concerning Ivy and her state of control regarding taking blood from humans.

However, most of the novel is an absolute delight! Jenks and the rest of his family are mischievous, fun, warm and witty. I absolutely love when Rachel finds herself the same size as Jenks and notices just what a hot guy he is! Another lovely theme was the book that Ivy lends Rachel about how to attract vampire lovers - so that she can avoid doing the many things that are causing Ivy to misread her intentions.

The novel has a number of laugh-out-loud moments, but there is also a warm heart to the book. The characters are people you end up caring a great deal about, and you definitely want to know more about them. I will be picking up the rest of this series! ( )