Magic on the Storm

These just get better and better, I can't stop. I began with a 5 star review on the first one in the series and have barely done anything but read since. Edge of your seat read this one. ( )

Still having a love and hate relationship with this series. All the Allie Beckstrom novels seem to blur together – it’s the same conflict here that we’ve been dealing with for the past few books. Her psycho dad is still stuck in her head, and she still needs to get him out. Grayson the necromorph is still causing problems. Davy the Hound is still following her around, and Allie still expects him to listen to advice that she’d never take herself. Jingo Jingo is still getting away with all sorts of bad stuff, and the Authority is still a dubious and hard to like institution. Oh, and Allie still doesn’t have a car.

MAGIC ON THE STORM is built on a nice little parallelism. There’s a storm of wild magic headed for Portland, and it’s up to the Authority to make sure that it doesn’t destroy the city. And the war that’s been on the horizon within the Authority is advancing right along with the storm.

Here’s the problem with the war: Allie has no idea what it’s about. You’d think a book about this approaching war would be a good opportunity for Devon Monk to lay out the factions, tell us what’s at stake. For Allie to get the lay of the land and maybe pick a side. But that’s not what happens. At the end of the book, I was pretty sure that members of one faction were more evil than members of the other faction, but that’s about it. I certainly didn’t see enough of a distinction between the two sides to root for either one.

So that’s annoying. Zavion is delicious throughout. Shamus is my new favorite character and we get lots of time with him in MAGIC IN THE STORM, including lots of backstory. There’s some dark twisted stuff in his past, which suits him to a T, but he’s still great comic relief.

I think my biggest problem with the series is Allie. She’s a bit of a damsel in distress. I mean, she thinks she’s lady badass but really, most of the time when the going gets tough she needs saving. I’m glad she’s started training in magic and martial arts, but she’s not far enough along for it to make a difference. All of her enemies outgun her. It bothers me that even though she’s aware of her own weakness, she shrugs and blunders along into dangerous situations anyhow. She seems to think she has a talent for saving the day at the last minute but really she has a habit of relying on other people to pull her fat out of the fire.

I’d like this story to move forward at a faster pace. For some of the old problems to go away and make way for new problems. For Allie to stop being so clueless. But for all that I’m still invested in the characters and eager to find out what happens next.
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Magic on the Storm has a kick ass ending, but let me start at the beginning. Book 4 is nearly as good as book 3, not quite, but nearly. The continued history of Magic is really fascinating, and the world building still vivid. The on-coming storm keeps the pace moving along quite nicely, although I found it a little anti climatic towards the end, and although I could see the ending coming a mile off, it didn’t dampen my enjoyment of it at all. Not my favourite in the series but not the least either ( )

Just your typical witty and spunky heroine with a hot, powerful boyfriend. In this book, Allie continues to deal with being possessed by her father and general Hound problems. Add to that an incoming magic storm and a verging war within the Authority. Some old and new characters come back and Allie seems to be getting increasingly more responsibilities. The book ends with a cliffhanger, which is very unsportsmanlike of Monk.
All in all, an acceptable addition to urban fantasy with a few new ideas like the lightning rods and memory loss. ( )

This is the fourth book in the Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk. The sixth book, Magic on the Hunt is due out April 2011. This was an excellent addition to the series and brings the reader deeper into issues with in the Authority, as well as delving deeper into what Allie's father's company was working on.

The book starts with Allie doing her martial arts training; not only is she getting magical training but defensive training as well. This comes to a halt when evidence that a Wild Magic storm is going to hit the city comes to bear. Now Allie and Zayvion must join forces with the rest if the Authority if they are going to save the city. Additional story threads are woven throughout; Allie has to deal with Grayson (the evil guy in the last book), certain things about her father's company come to light, and Allie is still struggling with toting around part of her dad's soul in her head.

This book has a lot of different story threads going on that come together in the end. Some of the threads left hanging in the last book are resolved while others continue on. This book really dives into the Authority and starts dealing with some of the factions and rivalries within that organization.

We meet more of the members of the Authority in this book and get to know Shame even better (and he is a very interesting character). Other interesting characters introduced are Terric (Shame's possibly Soul Compliment) and finally Jingo Jingo (who we hear so much about off and on). Allie and Zayvion continue to have a heated relationship that is maturing into something stable and caring; they also struggle with the fact that they are Soul Compliments and as such struggle to keep their souls separate.

The plot moves at a good clip and is always engaging, the characters are interesting and the action scenes well-done. This book ends with a total cliffhanger that will have readers dying to read the next book.

For some reason, so far, these books have never made it to the outstanding category for me. I like the characters, but I don't find them absolutely enrapturing. The storyline is good, but always feels like it could be a bit tighter and maybe not wander quite as much. Allie is a good heroine, but sometimes I wish she had a bit more humor, spunk and personality. That being said these have still been very solid urban fantasies, and each book is a little bit better than the last...this one is no exception to that.

Overall a very solid urban fantasy. I enjoyed reading it. The books are getting more interesting with each installment and I enjoy watching Allie build her power and knowledge. I have also enjoyed the added complexity with the gates and the Authority. Given the cliffhanger ending of this book I will definitely be reading the next book, Magic at the Gate. Fans of urban fantasy with a strong female heroine in a magic heavy setting should like this story. I would also recommend Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews, Jane Yellowrock by Faith Hunter, and Elemental Assassins by Jennifer Estep as alternate urban fantasies that are a bit better and more engaging. ( )