Yasmine Galenorn

Read: September 2016
Rating: 5/5 stars, best of 2016

Delilah has always been my favourite narrator of the Sisters of the Moon series. I think she is the most down to earth and likeable of the three sisters. As always with Galenorn the action is non-stop from the first page and she manages to include a lot of important plot points, character development and back-story without slowing down the pace, as well as making sure that the majority of the large cast of characters gets some page time. My show more only gripe is that despite this being a well-written and entertaining book, it didn’t move the over-arching plot forward at all. There were no spirit seals to find and only a few mentions of Shadow Wing and his future plans for Earthside. show less

This was the first of the stories written in the voice of Delilah that I could identify with. Galenorn does not disappoint with this one. The emotional turmoil and sexuality of Delilah are more developed. She doesn't come off as a needy, whiny baby in this one. (Kitten is no longer a pussy cat, but truly a black panther.) Loved it! Can't wait to read the next one.

Witchling, is about three sisters from the Otherworld living Earthside. Basically, the Otherworld is another dimension, and the people are Fae, Cryptos, and Demons. Thousands of years ago the 2 dimensions liveed in the same plane as each other, but then the Fae went to war with the humans, so the gods (the Greek ones to be exact) asked the Elementals to do something about it. They made a pact that sealed off the dimensions with limited access through portals regulated by the Fae. This pact show more was split into 9 seals and given to each of the elementals involved to guard. Over the course of time, they had gotten lazy and all of the seals eventually fell into a mortal's hands. Now modern day, the OW had become nothing but legends until the OW revealed itself once again. Humans are now aware of the OW's existence and have treated OW creatures as celebrities on Earth. The Three sister's are half-Fae, half-human. Their mother was a human who moved to the Otherworld to be with her husband, a fae. The story is told by the PoV of Camille, the eldest daughter, and an incompetent witch. Being half human has pretty much made their powers harder for them to control all the time and Camille's magic doesn't always go as planned. Her younger sisters are Dililah, a werecat who not only turns on the full moon but also turns when she's gets stressed out during PMS (pre-moon-syndrome), and Menolly, had amazing climbing skills until she was unwillingly turned into a Vampire on one of her assignments. Since they lived in the Otherworld while growing up, they were constantly ridiculed by the Full Blood Sidhe, especially Delilah ("Pretty Kitty") because she only turns into a small tabby cat while, typically, were-cats turn into big cats. So living Earthside as OIA agents (Otherworld Intelligence Agency) has made them minor celebrities in Seattle, and they have come to love quite a few Earthside luxuries. Then Jocko, a stunted Giant OIA agent who runs the Wayfinder bar, was garroted. Even while stunted he's taller and stronger than any human, and the rope gives off a strong Demon aura. dun-Dun-DUNNN!! Demons live in the Subterranean Realms of the Otherworld. They supposedly are to never allowed to reach Earth to cause their chaos, and THESE Demon scouts are looking for seals to give to their King, who planes to destroy the pact, destroying the separation of worlds, and bring an army to Earthside! With new dangers, new friends (such as a dragon that can morph into human form, an adorable gargoyle cub, and a foxy Japanese guy), and some intense passions between the characters, can the girls defeat top-notch demons and get the first seal from a mysterious 'Tom Lane'?

I loved this book, it incorporated many known mystical devices while also incorporating new which explained a couple of questionable things. It was very entertaining, and pretty hard to set down once I had started! The characters all have their problems which made it more relatable, even with all of the fantastical elements, it was quite love able. I also loved the authors writing style and I can't wait to read the next book :D show less

When I first picked up Witchling (book 1) in 2008 I assumed the book was part of a trilogy and the plot would be neatly resolved by book 3. Priestess Dreaming is book sixteen in the Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon series and it is still going strong, though it has deviated from the original plot by quite a bit as this point.

In Priestess Dreaming a new threat is awakening beneath Seattle - an ancient dragon, known as a Wyrm, and there is only one person from ancient legend that can defeat it; show more the Merlin. Camille is given the quest to track down the Merlin and wake him up from his enchanted sleep.

Things I liked:
- The action is immediate from the first page, and you are drawn right into the story.
- Priestess Dreaming is told from Camille's POV, and although Delilah is my personal favourite narrator, Camille is a close second. (Menolly is way behind in third place, I am not a fan of her stories in general.)
- The new spin on the Arthurian legend - for example Merlin is called 'the Merlin' as it is a title rather than a name, which was interesting, and Galenorn's depiction of the Merlin was fresh and very different from how Merlin is portrayed in other fiction.
- The homely scenes are always nice to read about, whether it is Camille and her husbands’ going shopping, or the family sitting around the kitchen table having a meal. The strong bond between all the characters is obvious.
- Even though there is a large number of characters in the series at this point they are all fairly memorable in their own right and I didn’t have any trouble remembering who did what or who was related to whom.
- Related to the above point; for the main part of the story - the quest - Galenorn really pared the cast down to a handful of characters and I liked that Camille took Morio with her rather than Smoky or Trillian, as I feel that of the three husbands he is the one we know little about and he is always in the shadow of the two stronger husbands.

Things I didn't like:
- Although the plot of this book was good, it is not at all connected with the overarching plot of Shadow Wing and the Spirit Seals. As I mentioned above, I bought the first book when it came out and I assumed it was the first book of a trilogy because really the whole storyline could have fitted into three books. Instead the series has expanded way beyond that initial plot and although I do still love returning to the world Galenorn has created, I feel she does need to actually make some progress on resolving that original plot.
- The final battle between the Merlin and Yvarr (the wyrm) was anti-climatic. It happened in less than a page and the Merlin could have had a bigger role in that final battle considering the whole story line revolved around him being the only one who could defeat him.

Despite the negative points I still really enjoy this series and will continue to buy them for as long as Galenorn writes them. I just hope that in the next couple of books we see a return to the hunt for the remaining Spirit Seals.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars show less