The Darkest Gate

Elise, demon hunting Kopis, is struggling to hold her life together. After her last adventure revealed her presence to the world, her quite life as an accountant is under threat. The magic she used to resurrect James has woken up vast forces in the city – and attracted old enemies who have been hunting her. She is attacked on all sides – but for every giant spider trying to kill her, there are other, more insidious attacks. Her demonic clientel switch to other accountants, her office burned, her bank account emptied – the foundations of her normal life are being undermined, leaving her penniless, homeless and everything she fought for going up in flames.

Which is all the more poignant when we see back into her past and how little show more she had, how much she has fought to create this life and what she endured before. Ever more desperate, she is forced to make dubious deals and reckless acts to try and stay afloat. How much must she compromise to try and keep herself and her friends alive?

But beyond mundane horrors, if she doesn’t stop the rogue kopis, Mr. Black, then far greater and more dangerous foes could be unleashed including her oldest and most powerful enemy. One she would literally rather die than face

This world continues to be fascinating. It’s one of the few series out there that has a genuinely unique world that is completely different from any I’ve read before. The different kinds of demons, the Warrens, the Angels and, of course, Him are so hugely different from what I’ve seen elsewhere. The magic, the Angel city, the relationship between kopides and aspides and how do they relate to the demon world?

Of course, it’s all the more compelling because we’re given innumerable hints – we know that kopides deal with demon overlords to enter their territory, but not why or how that matches with their demon hunts – or whether kopides do habitually demon hunt. We know that He (who we presume is… god? Maybe?) is Elise’s enemy, but not why. We know she and Angels have a hostile history, but again, not why. Even making portals and seeking the Angelic city – we do not know why they’re doing it. But because it all fits in with the theme of mystery in this book, it doesn’t feel like poor writing (characters doing things without motive) but it hints of a complex and fascinating world that we’ve only seen slivers of. It’s compelling, it’s intriguing and it leaves me hungry for more. I will say, though, that if I don’t get more in the third book I will be frustrated – there’s only so many appetisers you can eat before you want your entrée to arrive.

It did take me a little while to get back in this book – partially because it has been some time since I read the first book and because it started with an un-introduced flashback which I didn’t immediately recognise as such – which made me doubt my memories of what had happened before. It actually took me a while to realise the flashbacks were flashbacks. Once we were past the flashbacks, though, the story picked up extremely well and became much more exciting. Elise is often desperate and feels like she’s facing some impossible odds – both personally with James and generally against two massively powerful and connected enemies. There’s a really strong sense of her desperation not just to try to navigate between these massive forces, trying to survive without compromising herself too greatly and finding out just how much of a pawn she’s turned into, but even simple things like trying to hold her life together, trying to find a place to sleep that is safe and trying to earn enough money to make a living as more and more of the life she has built is torn apart. It’s action packed, it’s emotion packed, it’s information packed – it’s a packed story and it will hold you riveted.

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Elise is the greatest kopis on earth. She's been exorcizing demons and killing monsters since she was a child, and she has incredible instincts and fighting ability. But in averting the apocalypse during [b:Death's Hand|12614374|Death's Hand (Descent, #1)|S.M. Reine|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1324008532s/12614374.jpg|17631931], she attracted the attention of creatures far beyond her paygrade. Now the Night Hag has woken up, Elise's friends are getting attacked by spider demons on a nightly basis, and her partner James is under threat. And worst of all, they're all in a race to be the first to open a gate to an angelic city. Elise will fight to the death to keep that from happening (Elise is basically the most badass woman alive, and show more is my personal hero), but James may not be willing to give up so much...

The first book in the series introduced the characters and basic concepts of this world, but this one fleshes it all out. It's a grim and disgusting world, where angels are no more helpful to humans than demons are. And yet, despite the desperation and exciting action scenes, there is no rape or torture in this entire book. Not a single threat of it! It's a real relief. show less

Book 2 in the series that follows Elise, the demon fighting "sword" or Kopis, and James, the witch she is bound to, her "shield" or Aspis. Despite having been retired for 5 years, and in hiding as normal people, by the end of book 1 they had been unwillingly dragged back into the conflict between the demonic and ethereal realms, and while they successfully saved the day, several old enemies now had a lock on their whereabouts. So no more hiding for Elise and James. One of the old enemies who were stirring at the end of book 1, now having found Elise and James, turns up to cause trouble. Elise stole something for Mr Black, another Kopis gone bad, many years ago, which he then used to initiate a horrific ritual. Faced with the show more consequences of that, she stole a piece of it back, and left Mr Black's mansion in flames, with him and his Aspis inside. Of course that would be too easy, and now Mr Black is back, and he wants the item Elise stole, and will destroy her and everything and everyone she loves to get it, with pleasure. Rather a lot more back-story on the main characters here, but the world is still building, and we're not told everything. The ongoing romance between Elise and her neighbour Anthony is still cute, and not overwhelming, but the one between James and the cranky doctor from book 1 doesn't seem to make much sense to me. It does however, take James a little out of the picture, leaving Elise doing the stupidest thing she can possibly come up with, making an alliance with the local demon overlord against Mr Black, figuring "the enemy of my enemy". I'm still not entirely sold on these books, and can't place my finger on why. The writing is good, better than good even. It's fast paced, action oriented prose, the characters are well drawn, and flawed rather than perfect creatures. It's built Dresden style, there's definitely an overall arc and a building mythology, but each book has it's own story that is told and resolved, no direct cliffhangers for the major characters but plenty of hooks for the next story to hang on. Reine is not afraid to risk her characters, and not everyone makes it to the end of the book, and of the ones who don't, they aren't always the throwaway red-shirt characters either. All of these things I love! So beats me why I don't adore the series to pieces and want to rave about it to everyone. Don't get me wrong, I'm liking it just fine. I still have one more book in this box set to read, and I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it. I'm pretty sure if my library had these books, I'd keep reading the rest of the series too. I really don't know, just something about Elise doesn't grab me in the gut and twist, the way some characters can, and make me want to fanatically hunt down the rest of the series. show less

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first, mostly because I found it a bit annoying that we keep getting pieces of Elise's background without being able to really understand the whole story, plus the flashbacks aren't always marked properly and don't have a marked space between the current action and the flashback, which can be confusing. We hear about Elise being the enemy of Him, of being tortured by a Mad God (Him), but not how that came about or why or how she escaped. Her relationship with the Angels is unclear as well, and the Gates and how they work to move from one dimension to another is still not something I really understand. I don't mind being patient for a while, but I've now started the third book in the series, so I show more hope some answers begin to appear soon.

On the positive side, I think Elise is a kickass character and I like her style. She's tough, but vulnerable and more human in terms of her emotions than she likes to let on. I would like to understand the relationship between her and James more as well as their history. He mentions a lot of sacrifices he's made for her, and she seems more vulnerable in terms of the their relationship as well as his relationship with others.

Mr. Black is an interesting character, as is the fact that he is also a Kopis. So clearly they are able to choose a more selfish and evil path than the one Elise and James have been on. Again, much we have yet to learn. Thom is fascinating and I'm looking forward to learning more about him. show less

Elise Kavanagh must find a way to overcome an old adversary and his witch. They once worked together but it ended badly and now he has found her again. She must also overcome her changing relationship with her asepsis (witch). He is settling down and trying to remain retired but that may be impossible for Elise. So she has to find a way to overcome her old foe, deal with the local demon overlord and find enough money for food. It is going to be a busy time.

This is the second book in the series and it begins to reveal some of Elise's background and is a good read. Look forward to reading the third in the series.

This book, number 2 in the series, starts off in the past with Elise Kavanagh and her partner James Faulkner being hired to get and bring to a Mr. Black a bowl. Not a normal bowl but one with angelic properties. Elise manages to get the bowl and give it to Mr. Black but figuring out what he was trying to do stopped him and thought he had died.
Fast forward to modern times and after going on a camping trip with her boyfriend (?) Anthony where they were attacked by giant spiders Elise go to her office to find the building in flames and her office and records destroyed. Then the money in her bank account turns up missing and she figures that one of her demon enemies must have a hand in it and goes to try and find out who.
As she does this show more she meets the Night Hag, the demon overlord of Las Vegas who says that Elise can continue to live and work there if she will do one job. Find and stop Mr. Black, who it turns out has not died after all. Add to this, James moving in with another woman, her developing relationship with Anthony, her friendship with Betty, probably the closest thing she has to a friend, demons, angels,witches, a very old enemy who thinks Elise belongs to him and you have the makings of a good story.

One thing, if you are going to read this series, start with Book 1, Death's Hand to know who some of the main characters are. show less

I liked it better then the first one. Writing seemed to flow better.