Raven Cursed

There comes a point in an author’s or series’ trajectory where one can see that the editorial relationship changed, and not for the better.

This book shows that moment for the Jane Yellowrock series. This book is the one where I can tell that Editor was either entirely disregarded, or had decided the series was just $$$$ and she was going to spend her time otherwise.

I loved the first three books. I devoured the spin-off Soulwood series. I don’t think I can stomach another book with such inconsistent worldbuilding and disregard for the reader.

That’s how bad this book is.

Om nom nom. Each Jane Yellowrock book is more delicious than the last! And I’m really enjoying my back-to-back reading experience as I’m ploughing through the series. This week’s post is all about Raven Cursed, the fourth novel in the series, which moves us out of New Orleans and back to Jane’s old stopping ground of Asheville.

Still in Leo Pellissier’s employ, Jane is tasked with guarding a parlay between Leo’s representative Grégoire and the local Mithran leader, who is petitioning Leo for the right to become his own MOC, instead of being part of Leo’s domain. Grégoire is there to assess Lincoln, the Asheville vampire with the ability to have his scions experience a much shorter devoveo. (Devoveo is the insanity that show more vampires experience after their initial transformation, spent locked away until they regain their memories and selves. It takes most vampires ten years but Lincoln’s can do it in five or sometimes less.) This plot was really great for a number of reasons: we learn a lot more about vampire politics, we get to see Jane in her old territory (which means time with Molly and her family!), and we get a lot more emotional turmoil, as Jane is forced to confront what her new lifestyle means and decide if she can live with the things she’s done and will be doing. I love it when authors force their characters to grow and Jane’s reflection is definitely painful. She’s forced to confront the decisions she’s made in previous novels and deal with the consequences of her actions.

The storyline involving Rick was also really interesting. He was infected by a were-cat in the Mercy Blade and he has to deal with it in Raven Cursed. He’s so lost in this new world but he’s doing the best he can to cope. It was really cool because we get to learn a lot more about what it means to be a were in Jane Yellowrock’s universe, and we get hits at the greater implications of weres showing themselves to humans (also in Mercy Blade).

I think my favourite parts of Raven Cursed involve Molly’s family. We’ve heard a lot about her family and spent time with Evangelina when she was staying with Jane in New Orleans but this is the first time that we see Jane interact with Molly and her other many sisters. Of course, it wouldn’t be a good novel if everything was rosy but there are some nice light moments where it’s clear how much Molly and her family means to Jane.

All in all, Raven Cursed is a great addition to the Jane Yellowrock series and an all-around excellent urban fantasy. I flew through Raven Cursed in a single sitting and I bet you’ll do the same, so make sure you start the novel early enough in the day that you won’t lose too much sleep!

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I've been following this series since the beginning, full of hope and almost-admiration for the heroine, Jane Yellowrock. She is a fabulous example of what I enjoy in urban fantasy females. She's independent, athletic, even-tempered, kicks butt, almost never talks about her clothes, and intially, couldn't care less if she had a boyfriend or not. (However, she does talk about her weapons and armor--does that count?) Her world is a modern day U.S. coping with the exotic "races" of vampires, weres and witches, and Jane makes her living hunting down rogue vampires guilty of killing humans. Jane's character is somewhat exotic in the UF field, both as a Native American and as a skinwalker, someone able to take the bodies of mammals using show more specially prepared fetishes. Due to childhood trauma, she now shares her body with Beast, a female mountain lion.

I find this a hard series to review because I want to love it. I want to love Jane. I want to love the version of the world, even if this book started to remind me of Anita Blake's setting with federal paranormal bureaus, vampire "separate nation" charters and growing talk of Jane's "pack." However, I struggle in each book with various plot points, and Jane's personality seems a little too malleable by book 4, like she believes what her author needs her to believe for that plot, rather than a natural evolution. She's also troubled by a giant guilt complex. In one book, it showed up as neglecting her Christian beliefs; in another, it was neglecting her Cherokee heritage. Not that it changes her behavior for longer than that book, mind you--in this one, we had a cursory church service and a brief conversation with her Native spiritual elder--both with guilt, of course. Add in undeserved guilt about putting her best friend and god-child in danger (the last book and this), and it becomes a crutch of motivation more than a true character flaw.

The Anita Blake parallels became horribly clear after Jane ended up having a sexual interlude with a vampire--only for healing, of course--and he Frenchishly said something along the lines of "no penetration, your American prudery is safe." Given that she had some memories of general ecstasy, it seems an irrelevant point--and not one I'm sure Jane really bought into. It did create a very strong reaction in me, however--I'm begging you, Faith, please don't let Jane go the way of Anita Blake. I was having uncomfortably flashbacks to wereleopards and non-penetrative vampire sex. Please, please don't go there.

What do I like? Hunter takes particular care with developing her settings, and has a good feel for developing atmosphere. Jane, when she wasn't feeling guilty. Jane and Beast hunting, and Jane talking with her goddaughter. The discovery of the traitor, and the overall finish. The grindylow. There's a lot to enjoy and it is written engagingly, as long as consistency in character from book to book and sub-plotting is ignored. Ouch--that sounds harsh--but it is a compliment, as there is enough good stuff to make it time-worthy. A three and a half star read.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/raven-cursed-by-faith-hunter/ show less

Yes, I think my time with this series has come to an end. I liked the idea at the beginning, of a tough-as-nails woman who is also a member of the Cherokee tribe and a Skinwalker and not afraid to go for a weapon when she needs it.

But by this installment, the novelty of the main character has worn off, the plotline wandered too far from its start, and there's just too many vampires, grindys, were-creatures, blood servants and blood slaves, and so forth. I just got tired of it all.

Plus, Jane Yellowrock's self-loathing oozes from every pore, several times on every page, and I just want to take her into a therapist's office and pay for some sessions. And the worship of heavy guns is more than I can take these days.

There comes a point in an author’s or series’ trajectory where one can see that the editorial relationship changed, and not for the better.

This book shows that moment for the Jane Yellowrock series. This book is the one where I can tell that Editor was either entirely disregarded, or had decided the series was just $$$$ and she was going to spend her time otherwise.

I loved the first three books. I devoured the spin-off Soulwood series. I don’t think I can stomach another book with such inconsistent worldbuilding and disregard for the reader.

That’s how bad this book is.

Jane Yellowrock is back! Our favorite cougar-shifter has been dispatched to investigate an attack on humans that is being blamed on vampires. But when she arrives, Jane isn’t so sure. This wound up being a great mix of detective work, plus plenty of Jane and a certain ex who may or may not be adjusting well to life as a panther-shifter. I always enjoy when urban fantasy books incorporate complex storylines and lots of different sups, and this book had that in spades. (Sorry I’m being vague… trying to avoid spoilerville.) As usual Jane was the total Alpha-cat, taking charge and being a bad-ass, and I can’t wait to see where she goes next.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.

Jane Yellowrock has a job from Leo Pelliser, Master of the city of New Orleans and, as it turns out, Master of the whole South-east of the United States, meaning he has far more oomph than Jane imagined.

He has sent her to escort Gregoire, one of his top vampires, to negotiate with the local vampire Shaddock who wishes to become Master of Asheville on account of his children becoming vampires super-quickly without decades of madness. It’s an important bodyguard job and Jane is focused on it and in charge despite the distraction of Rick, her sort-of-boyfriend turning into a wereleopard.

Unfortunately things are complicated by the remaining werewolves from the pack she destroyed in the last book seeking revenge – and by revenge that show more means slaughtering people in her area. Jane is forced to work with local police to find the wolves, balancing law enforcement with orders from Leo who wants them dead as soon as possible. Jane has her own reasons since Molly and her family (and coven witches) are in the area –Molly’s husband blames her for putting their children in danger, Jane cannot stand the idea that she has put them at risk again

But even Molly’s coven isn’t a source of peace – with it being betrayed from within with dark magic, old secrets and an ancient evil being summoned at the heart of it – an evil whose influence is making all Jane’s jobs that much harder and that much more complicated.

This book was overwhelming. There was a lot happening – with the parley talks, lethal werewolves running around killing people, the Grindylow apparently with its own agenda, Kenmebi both mentoring and threatening to kill Rick, the rogue vampire to hunt down and, of course, Evangeline playing her own game. At times I was almost lost, I kept wondering what plot line we were on and where we were going and why. Usually, such a book annoys me, I wish they’d remove a plot line so the story would flow better, there wouldn’t be so many distractions and I wouldn’t feel like I had to take notes to try and keep up with everything. But not in this case. Yes it was overwhelming but it was equally clear that it was meant to be. As Jane bounced from crisis to crisis, slipping sleep, desperately trying to fit everything in – this was one of the themes of the book; exhaustion, stress and constantly have to run to keep up with everything – and everything being too important to just cast aside or even realistically delay. It makes for a very strong part of the book, being very sustained and well balanced. I was overwhelmed, but I wasn’t lost.

I also like how the storylines come together – it adds the plausibility of not having everything just spontaneously happen at once and prevents everything in Jane’s life happening in complete isolation. It is very well done and doesn’t feel even remotely strained or convoluted – it flows naturally and it’s also completely and utterly unpredictable. I didn’t see the ending, I didn’t see what was happening and discovered everything as and when the characters did – the mystery was mysterious and the confusion was natural and shared with the protagonist.

The pacing was excellent, I was never bored and it never dropped and got lost. The action scenes were well laid out and described – nothing was too rushed or dragged. Everything was described appropriately – it was a very well balanced book, really well written and never once made me want to put it down.

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