Diana Pharaoh Francis

Review Courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

Like my favorite urban fantasy author Patricia Briggs (who just happened to have blurbed for this book), Diana Pharaoh Francis has a background as an established fantasy writer, and that background is certainly evident in Bitter Night.

“Max’s phone rang. It was set to a high-pitched tone that most humans couldn’t hear. But being human hadn’t been Max’s problem since 1979.” –Bitter Night

First up, the good: Diana’s fantasy background show more was a strength that she fully utilized in created the world of the Horngate Witches. Witches hold amazing power in Bitter Night. Shadowblades and Sunspears are human servants magically enhanced with superhuman abilities and senses. They are not that dissimilar from vampires: they can heal from most wounds, never grow old, and the sun (or moon depending on whether they are Sunspears or Shadowblades) is deadly to them. They even struggle with enlarged appetites (try 40 Big Macs at once).

Max (she adopted the name from the Mel Gibson character in The Road Warrior movies, though I think she is much more like Riggs from Lethal Weapon) is the Prime Shadowblade for the witch Giselle. Enslaved by the witch that made her, compelled to lay down her very life if necessary in order to keep Giselle safe, Max is not the grateful servant she’s expected to be. Rather she is consumed with one thought: Revenge. It is the one hope that keeps her from walking out in to the sunlight that would kill her. When forces greater than even the witches threaten everything that Max has come to care about, she must learn to ally with her enemy and accept the role she must play as savior.

The cover art is what first attracted me to this book. And I love that Max is actually described like the cover depicts her. She even wears the cover outfit during a pivotal scene in the book. In that scene Max is forced into a test of endurance against another witch’s Prime Shadowblade, Alexander (who I think deserved a spot on the cover as a significant number of chapters are written from his point of view).

The not-so good: Diana’s fantasy background is both her strength and her weakness. The fantasy Horngate world is well realized with its own unique mythology (especially her take on Angels), the urban elements, however, are less so. There is very little interaction with the modern (outside) world, and while the characters all have cell phones and drive cars etc., apart from those details, this story could easily have been set a millennium ago with minor changes. I’m not sure if those small additions will be enough for hardcore urban fantasy lovers.

I’ll also admit that it took me until about the midpoint to really get into this book. Max is a hard character and the circumstances of her life have made her very bitter (hence the title). At first, I struggled to see past that aspect of her. I understood her to a degree, I just didn’t especially like her. That changed when she risked her life for Alexander not knowing if he would turn around and kill her later. Her loyalty to the Shadowblades in her command was also a contributing factor. She consistently put their welfare over her own need for revenge. It's hard not to admire that kind of selflessness.

I never really did warm up to Alexander. He didn’t seem strong enough to be a realistic romantic lead for Max (the Angel on the other hand...). Nor did I ever believe the conflicting desire they supposedly felt for each other went beyond plain lust. Overall, I found his chapters to be the weakest in the book.

Bitter Night has its bitter moments, but strong world building and a heroine who proves herself by bravery and resourcefulness, even willingness to suffer in the stead of others make it worth reading. There is no cliffhanger ending, but Diana is far from finished with her Horngate Witches…and neither am I.

Sexual Content: Kissing. show less

I feared this might happen.
I was holding out hope until the absolute last moment but it wasn't to be.

The entire plot construction is incredibly naive.
The certain ruthlessness and cunning necessary for a plot like this to work just aren't there.
The mc stays this soft-hearted and limp dishrag.
But somehow against all odds, she will succeed through some incredibly unlikely scenario.

The world suffers from this weird disconnect from reality.
The different organizations are constantly shadowing each show more other while having incredible abilities like teleportation, blocking all magic or even just making an entire room full of people fall unconscious.
But for some never explained reasons abductions need to follow some kind incredibly far fetched protocol which basically just consists of "be dramatic or it doesn't count".
The circumstances necessary to abduct or kill someone described in the series so far are utter rubbish.
There constantly are these elaborate setups that somehow are necessary to do a thing but it really makes no sense whatsoever.
This is probably the most frustrating thing in the series so far. It makes no sense and completely robs me of the ability to take the world serious.

Now that I mentioned it the world just doesn't fit the available magic in general. The possible interactions of the magic system with society is basically completely missing.
Magic only works (or doesn't) if it's convenient for the plot. The story never really keeps to its own rules.
The entire null business for example. Apparently, everyone is constantly nulling everything but the mc was still able to expose organized crime undercover for years? What the hell happened? Was there some kind of null revolution that brought down their price to a tiny fraction and now suddenly everyone is nulling himself and their pet? If you make up rules you have to stick to them instead of scooting around them for plot convenience any way you want.

Another problem with this particular book is that shit is being made up on the spot constantly.
Well, one can never tell for sure if something was planned long-term but the reader is only being told one paragraph in advance but I feel justified in the assumption in this case as a lot of the stuff even somewhat conflicts with the previous books.

Related to that are the constant black and white decisions but none of the shades of grey is even being considered. Either trust someone or don't. No middle ground in which you keep the person away from vital information or locations while using their services. There are countless examples of this. Why the hell can't you let a person help you without exposing your back to them? Ohhhh, but then the plot wouldn't work. Dear authors, we can tell!

On another note, there is a lot of complete hogwash logic flying around in general. example: The mother spouts some kind of nonsense that if they go along with the rescue plan they will possibly forfeit their previous jobs/friends or life in general. HOW THE F*** IS THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE SITUATION BEFORE THAT? They already are deeply involved in this deep syndicate business from which the father supposedly protected them from but can't anymore. This was already the case in book one. We even get this bs about her denying reality about it. It's laughably bad real-talk for the atmosphere and tension. ThEy HoLd ToGeThEr As A fAmIlY and all that stupid crap. You can probably tell I am just the slightest bit aggravated.

Well, in conclusion, it's just the same old story. The series is just generally lacking which is only unmistakably confirmed far into the series at which point the reader is supposed to be so emotionally invested that he puts up with the flimsy excuse for a coherent story. show less

What a treat! Lured to buy this by the promise of a new tale by a favourite author (R J Blain), I was quickly enthralled by a new (to me) author, Devon Monk, and the opening two stories “Sealed with a Tryst” and “At Death’s Door”. Both stories belong to her “Ordinary Magic” series which is now on my “to buy” list.

The next two stories are by Faith Hunter - “Bound into Darkness” and “The Ties That Bind” - are part of the Jane Yellowrock World. I have read and enjoyed show more the first Jane Yellowrock book, but these stories are set after about book 15 in that series and I feel I would have enjoyed this offering more if I had read the full series to that point and was familiar with the characters and their relationships. They were a good read, but I felt that I would have benefitted from knowing more background.

“The Pixie Job” by Diana Pharoah Francis presented me with another new author I plan to read more of. It features manic trickster pixies, miniature giants and all sorts of weird and wonderful beings.

The collection ends with R J Blain’s “Doggone Mess”, belonging to her “Magical Romantic Comedy” series. I love this whole series and I know I read this with a smile plastered on my face show less

I received a free kindle edition of this book through Early Reviewers on LibraryThing.
As a first book in a series the author does a great job letting the reader in on the background of the characters and world the story is set in without overpowering the plot. The characters are well formed and show development throughout the book.

A supernatural locked room murder mystery sets the stage for our main female character to reconnect with the lover she left. Forced together by the circumstances show more and nature of their jobs they must work together to solve the mystery before anyone else gets hurt. The action packed pages held my attention from the very beginning and never let it go. All the way through to the cliffhanger of an epilogue I was turning pages as fast as I could. The characters feel real and the reader is easily able to relate to them.

The epilogue was torture to my avid desire to know more, it left the reader with a cliffhanger that will surely entice them to purchase the sequel when it is released.

A few minor spelling errors but nothing that kept me from really enjoying the book.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. My expectations were completely met and I look forward to reading more of Diana Pharaoh Francis’s work in the future. show less