Firestorm

The first 3/4 of this book was very enjoyable, a good entry in the Weather Warden series. I really liked how Jo's character was evolving, working through her problems, and setting up for what could have been an outstanding ending. In all honesty, the last 1/4 of this book was somewhat of a letdown, kind of like how I felt after watching the third Matrix movie. "That's it?" Oh, well, on to the next one....

I picked up Firestorm because I do love portrayals of wildfires. So I thought I'd give Rachel Caine another try after deciding that I am not the intended audience for her writing after reading Ill Wind. But once again, discovered I just don't like her style. I was ready to quit after a half dozen pages but did manage to skim read through the whole thing so that I could see how it ended.

The Weather Warden series features Joanne Baldwin, introduced in Ill Wind. Weather Wardens are a secret magical enforcement agency tasked with preventing the natural disasters that would otherwise engulf humanity in tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, you name it. They achieve this with the assistance of the powerful Djinn (think genies in show more bottles) at their command. Firestorm is book 5 in the series, and a lot has happened to Joanne since she first fled with a Demon Mark eating at her from the inside in Ill Wind. She , acquired a djinn lover, was thrown out of the Weather Wardens, died, became a djinn, came back to life, had a mystical pregnancy and gave birth to an adult Djinn daughter.

As far as I can tell, every book ends with a cliff hanger, and each story is a nonstop action adventure involving snarky dialogue, fast cars driven over long distances, an obsession with clothes and fashion, everyone distrusting Joanne who is the only person who can save the day, various people trying to kill and/or fuck Joanne, and detailed descriptions of weather phenomena. That last one is really the only thing that I find interesting. The rest of it I can tolerate in small doses but don't enjoy as a steady diet. I mean, Joanne is just too sexy for this world with her designer shoes and tight T-shirts and her obsession with muscle cars. Blah blah. And I don't find the detailed sex scenes titillating. She's just so badass and stereotypical as an action hero who happens to be female. Meh. And this particular installment comes with a heaping helping of Joanne hyperventilating over suddenly being a mother of a smartass young adult, and what does it mean to her, and how does she do this, and on and on. The series started with Joanne racing against time to find an impossible solution to the looming end aof her life. Book 5 is Joanne racing against time to find an impossible solution to the end of all human life. Progress, I guess?

Like I said, not to my taste. But I can see why this series has its fans. The writing is fine in terms of technical competence. I just don't happen to enjoy her prose, her dialogue, her characterizations, and so on. That's okay. There are other readers who will love the writing, and lots of other books for me to enjoy out there. show less

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Firestorm

No Djinn can be trusted. Not even those once thought of as friends and lovers. The Mother is waking, and she’s not happy. At any moment she can take over the Djinn, forcing them to kill all wardens in their vicinity. And each new nightmare the Mother has brings disaster to the forefront, toppling towns and cities alike. The Wardens are desperately fighting, but they are overburdened and dying. There is a slim chance the mother can be put at ease. Joanne is going to hold onto that slim hope while fighting to save the world alongside her fellow wardens.

Firestorm is another adrenaline-flued ride. Each new book in the Weather Warden series takes the action to a new level. And the show more Mother isn’t the only threat Joanne will have to contend with. Rachel Caine certainly knows when to bring back opponents from previous novels in fashion. Joanne is going to have to pull new tricks out of the bag this time as she is confronted from multiple angles. And some folks frankly don’t care if the world is falling to pieces.

Joanne doesn’t hesitate to put herself on the line to save humanity. She’s proven herself time and time again to readers and made so many sacrifices in the process. But other characters view her simply as the rebel who likes fashion and fast cars. Despite all she’s done, they continually try to bring her down over her past mistakes and refuse to admit she is capable. Joanne certainly started off as the reluctant hero, but now she puts her foot down and dares to try things others won’t. She’s come a long way since Ill Wind, and this time most of her battles will be fought alone.

However, one character, in particular, I wish more time was spent with, Imara. She’s a powerful ally to Joanne, but readers never have the chance to see her for long. Imara will be in the scene for a few brief moments, share quips with Joanne, and then be forced off the page for one reason or another. This was well executed, as even Joanne admits to hardly knowing Imara and wishes to spend more time with her. But I’ve learned Rachel Caine never does anything without a reason. This on again off again relationship was created with a purpose. Readers will just have to continue reading to find out the why behind it all.

Firestorm is another fast read, filled with action, a bit of romance, and plenty of drama to go around. It’s one of those urban fantasy books you read knowing the stakes are going to be ridiculously high, and you sit back to watch the main character struggle through it all. It’s entertaining, at times unconventional, but nonetheless another great read. show less

Reading this series is like plunging down the steepest drop on a rollercoaster. The action is non-stop and Joanne is a tough-as-nails heroine, with a stubborn determination to save the world. We meet the daughter she shares with David, Imara, who's full grown djinn/human at two days old. I really liked her and think there is tremendous potential there for future stories... if she's still alive.. I was relieved to see David back under control and ifrit free.

I really do like this series and have loved some of the previous books, but this wasn't my favorite. I like books to have a resolution to the main conflict and this book ended in a huge cliffhanger that left me totally in the dark. I don't know if Joanne succeeded in her task or what show more happened to the rest of the world. Obviously, I'll continue with the series because I adore the characters, but I want ANSWERS!!!! show less

Another fast-paced whirlwind of explosive energy and excitement, this time with a little apocalypse thrown in to the mix. The weather has gone crazy as the Earth Mother stirs in her sleep and Joanne Baldwin, rogue Warden tries to find ways to bring it to a close, one that preferably doesn't involve the death of the entire human race. Lots of road trips, and one very unnerving plane flight, this is a book for literary adrenalin junkies. I have cottoned on to Rachael Caine's writing style now - she things "okay this situation is really, really bad for Joanne. How can I make it worse?" There seem to be a lot of additional threats thrown in to the mix, which distract rather from the main narrative - Eamon, for example. Why can't he give up show more already? And I do feel it is kinda cheating to give her a daughter that is already, pratically, an adult. Then again, a baby in this sort of story would have a very short life expectancy.

Overall, a great, adrenalin pounding, wild ride, with a rather irritating ending. Not because it's a cliffhanger - because I have book #6 right here, so I don't need to stress about that at all, but because it seems kinda cheap. Still, we'll see what "Thin Air" delivers to us.

Off to the library now to acquire those final three books. I reckon I'll be done with this series within the week, and then I should read something a little more literary. Yeah, right! show less

Five books into the series and I'm not getting bored. Even reading them so closely together, I'm not finding those little annoyances at phrases or situations too often used.

Lots of action, some navel-gazing that wasn't overly sappy. I love Cherise - when the movies are made, she'll just have to be played by Kristen Chenoweth.

The sister, Sarah? Go ahead and sacrifice her to save the world (or even just to get a little rest). I can't imagine that I would mourn the loss of that character.

The Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine has really been a hit or miss series for me so far. Some of the books have been near perfect urban fantasy in my opinion. None have been stinkers but not quite as strong. Firestorm, book #5 was just okay for me. Firestorm sees Joanne and David as the parents of an adult-looking half djinn/half human daughter Imara. Jonathan, the now deceased djinn leader has left David as ruler. Ashan is the third in the leadership hierarchy and he isn't happy about it. The djinn are free now, released from servitude by Jonathan's death. There is nothing tying them to the Wardens and other humans. The Earth Mother is waking up and someone has been feeding her information about how the humans have destroyed the show more planet and each other and Mother isn't happy. The apocalypse or end of days is upon Earth as djinn start killing Wardens and natural disasters plague all parts of the globe. Joanne is tasked with the job of finding and calming the Mother, while trying to stay out of the paths of djinn and demons. I just didn't think the story was as exciting as it should have been. David had to rescue Joanne from trouble at least three times, which I though was a lot for one book. Joanne is supposed to be smart and powerful. I'm not big on David or Imara fan, and they were both featured prominently in the story. The weather changing scenes were dull for some reason. The most exciting scenes were a forest fire scene and a turbulent plane ride scene. The ending lead up was intense and an almost turn around point for me....I loved much about the conclusion but I felt the Earth Mother thing ended with more of a whimper than a bang. And can we kill off Sarah, Jo's sister, PLEASE? Psycho boyfriend Eamon's bit here is entertaining, but Joanne's sister is just an idiot. The cliffhanger (Its Rachel Caine- there is going to be one!) here is extremely interesting and I jumped right into the next book because I couldn't stand not knowing what was going to happen. Overall the book was ok but definitely a far cry from the strongest of the series. If you've invested enough into the series to have read the first four books you should pick up this one. show less