Lisa Shearin

Ooookay. Major enemy not quite as dealt with as hoped...and some _major_ after (or not really after, yet) effects. The Saghred has some clever twists - and yes, there's a directing intelligence there, that knows what it wants. More Mychael, more Tam, more Pineas (poor kid - though he's turning out to be something special anyway). Elven versus goblin politics, Island of Mid mage politics, assassins and kidnappers and...non-stop action, on a lot of levels. Oh, and another Big Bad, who's far show more worse than Nukpana - he's had longer to develop his nastiness, among other things. There's no cliffhanger - the _immediate_ matter is dealt with - but the story is definitely ongoing. Next, please! show less

Caution: spoilers!!!
The novel starts with a bang. One moment, the protagonist Raine, a young elven seeker, shops for clothing. The next moment, she fights against demons, a scouting avant-garde of a demonic horde, pouring from the Hellgate as a prelude to an invasion.
This novel is an installment #3 in the series, in which the author has concocted a rich and colorful fantasy world, saturated with political strife. Most of the squabbles between elves, goblins, and humans focus on Raine, who show more had inadvertently acquired a psychic bond with the magical stone Saghred.
The stone amplifies its bearers’ magical powers. As a side-effect, it also makes them crazy. It can level cities, kill thousands, and devour souls, and of course, every power-hungry official of the three races wants his hands on it… except Raine herself, who wants to get rid of the pugnacious rock. Unfortunately, the rock wouldn’t let her go. And so far, she hasn’t turned crazy either.
Raine’s troubles with Saghred and with demons are just frills on the multilayered edifice of Shearin’s imagination. Funny and inventive, the story gallops with the speed of a stallion. As a typical fantasy adventure, it incorporates magic, swords, villains, and pirates. As a humorous farce, it takes place in a college city, infested with mischievous students and academic backbiting. As a romantic caper, it also includes a ridiculous love triangle: Reine and her two incompatible suitors. One of them is elven paladin Mychael – a mage of white light and the commander of Guardians, the elite magical police force. Another is goblin Tam – a dark mage and the owner of a strip bar.
With Sanghred’s assistance, the trio fights the invading demons, but the stakes are rising, and the plot thickens. A haughty elven mage wants Raines’s hide: she is too impertinent for his taste. An evil goblin mage wants her soul and opens the Hellgate to get it. Neither of the bad guys has any scruples. They use Raine’s friends to achieve their nefarious goals. Fortunately, she belongs to a family of the notorious swashbuckling pirates. Her fearless pirate-uncle and even more fearless pirate-cousin help her and her competing B&W beaus without reservation.
Taking progressively higher risks, Raine is finally faced with an almost insurmountable challenge. On an island full of college students, she must find one virgin to unlock the secrets of a magical dagger. As the unlocking could cost the said virgin his or her life, the universal solution among the students is to get laid as soon as possible – for safety reasons.
In the middle of this bizarre story that crams too many dangers into too tight a space, Raine, the spunky elven wench, is totally alive and utterly believable. Sassy and unrepentant, sweet and sexy, she braves impossible odds to save those she loves. Her loyalty, free spirit, and sharp tongue endear her to the reader, especially of the female-fantasy-buff variety. A chic-lit heroine of a sword-and-sorcery romance, Raine invites everyone to share her escapades, serving as a proof of her creator’s gift for dazzling genre-mixing and sheer storytelling.
Recommended.
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Ouch. Raine keeps adding to her enemy list - or at least, the ones on the list keep getting another angle. Rudra decides to open a Hellgate and threaten the whole island to get hold of Raine and the Saghred, and he bites off rather more than he can chew. Now it's demons directly who want the Saghred - apparently they had it first, and it ate the demon king. They've got plans for the rock that Raine, and Mychael, and Tam are not willing to allow...and things get really interesting really show more fast. This book ends...not on a cliffhanger, exactly, but even more than the previous book the arc is not complete, there's a lot of action coming down the pike. Next, please! show less

Fortunately for me, the online store I bought it from released it a week early. It involved much squealing and literal jumping up and down my end. My mother got the message that it was a big deal.

Raine, and the Saghred, are back. I discovered that I'm more like Raine than I realised from the first paragraph regarding shopping. She has a sense of humour that crops up frequently, which never fails to make me laugh.

There are several points which I needed a tissue, most particularly at the show more end. Once you've read it, you'll see why. Although the point which touched me the most isn't the obvious one. It's during a heart to heart she has with a character, that reveals a brilliant outlook which we can all apply to life.

Pieras is back - and due to his actions and character growth I've become a larger fan of him. Phaelan is as wonderful as ever (if we ignore the questionable side of his character). Mychael - personally Raine deserves him. I know I'm opening up trouble here, but I would rather Tam got out of the picture. I didn't like him that much before, and I certainly don't like him now. His saving grace is that his skills are put to some good use in TWD. Maybe he can die in the next book? I have an obsession with characters dying.

Enemies: existing ones are still evil, and provide light entertainment. Newer ones are worse than the existing ones, and had me almost covering my eyes in places. There were times I didn't think Raine would survive; that's how good this latest book is. The stakes are higher, the sticky situations are worse than ever.

Demons come in all shapes, sizes, and possibly different textures depending how they are squished. None of them are good, but a few can be useful weapons. It's a wonder they haven't appeared much in Mid before now.

Weapons: *happy sigh*. Lots of swords, daggers, and magic to keep this violent book lover happer. You'll find out why I feel sorry for Phaelan in this installment of Raine's life.

I wasn't so keen on the intensity of the romance in places, but those bits are closed with paperclips now.

I didn't put The Trouble With Demons down by choice. I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy, or even, as a friend of my says, things which go boom. There are explosions here :)

The world Raine inhabits grows more detailed, humourous and dangerous with each book in the series. I'm eagerly awaiting publication of Bewitched and Betrayed, due out next year. After reading The Trouble With Demons, you will be too. show less