Fire Touched

Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite authors and the Mercy Thompson series never fails to be a good read. This book was not my favorite by her but I did still like it quite a lot. ( )

In some ways, Fire Touched manages to back down from the scale of the previous two books. We're no longer fighting primordial spirits or gods, but rather "just" the Fae. Of course, as we see through the course of the book, there are some Fae who might as well be gods.

On the other hand, this book as many as any that came before will really change the shape of the future of the universe that Briggs is building. In a nutshell, the wolves are going politically toe to toe with the Fae. Anything more than that would be even more a spoiler, but it's still another interesting bit of worldbuilding.

Speaking of world building, we get a fair bit more depth with the Fae, which seem to have been more or less lacking for the past few books. Getting to see a few more of the Gray Lords and other powerful Fae is a plus. Especially when you get to realize that Zee really is a badass.

Characterwise, I didn't overly like Aden, especially at first, but I think that's sort of the point. He's a changeling and an odd combination of young boy and very very old. At the very least, he does serve well as a walking, talking MacGuffin, so that's a thing.

Another interesting one is Joel the Tibicenas. He's actually integrating surprisingly well. It's kind of strange how well everyone is doing with that, compared to how little they originally liked Mercy around. Speaking of which... Let's just say werewolves are weird. Adam finally blows up about how the pack has been treating Mercy and the ramifications are ... interesting. Also, Mercy gets to kick some serious butt. Even if it's not always of her own volition, it's still mostly due to previous choices she made.

Overall, another solid book. One of the better ones, in my opinion. Of course, if you've made it this far in the series already, I doubt anything I saw would dissuade you or not from reading just one more.

The worst part though... The next one isn't out until next year. Gah! ( )

This one felt like it was more talking and politics than earlier books in the series, but there is still plenty of action and adventure. ( )

I just love coming back to this world and getting back into Mercy’s head. I was captured from the first word. There where some great funny lines and so much to love and savor in this installment.

Mercy and Adam have a great relationship and you can see that in the pages. They work well together and their relationship is never stale. It is ever changing as is the world around them. Adam finally puts down the law with his pack about Mercy. I would have liked this done sooner, but it was great to see him set them straight.

The Hampton Pack ends up dealing with some major changes and challenges in this installment. I’m very intrigued with the direction things are going, the new & old characters that pop-up, the world as a whole, and how everything was resolved. It was masterful done.

Fire Touched was a treat for this fan. Their was never a dull moment. The series continues to grow and get better with each book. Mercy is becoming stronger, the pack is evolving, and the world continues to build. Fire Touched is packed full with non-stop excitement.

If you enjoy shifters, pack polities, a vast world, unique characters, and a series that will never get dull, then you need to try the Mercy Thompson series. If your a fan then don’t wait to read Fire Touched. It’s not to be missed!

Rated: 4 Stars


( )

Don't know if my binge reading got the best of me or if this one didn't grab me as much or as quickly as the others did.

In this installment we meet Aidan, a 10 yr old boy, who was captured and given to Underhill (not exactly sure who or what she is but sounds like she's a powerful handful for the fae to deal with). Now Aidan spent years.....and I do mean centuries (?) with her and was somehow transformed from a human boy to a human boy with the element of fire magic.

Joel, the large lava/volcano dog we met in #8, is back and trying to get a hold of him shifting and what it means to be a part of the pack.

The wolves didn't play a huge part in this story as they had in the past. We do have different sects of fae trying to overthrow the Gray Lords, start war with the humans so they can unleash their full powers and take over the world....yeah, didn't work as well as they hoped it would.

Other than Zee, Tad, Uncle Mike and Beauclaire every seems to be against the stand Mercy made with the pack's backing that they police their territory and protect those who seeks asylum with them. I got lost a little in the political players, who has what power, why certain things aren't a good idea to do around fae and all the double crossing left me a little...well confused.

But I must say I have found a new favorite, Baba Yaga. Oh heck yes I love that witch, fae, Gray Lord whatever the heck she is. She reminds me of a female Coyote. Always talks in riddles. Gives clues (helpful advice) in the form of nonsense. And show up at just he right time. Sad though, we lost Walking Stick....but he gave up his life to save Mercy. Good boy Stick.

Good thing is I have some down time until the next book....don't I? Think I'll go and visit some other authors world for a bit. Might come back and revisit this one see if a second reading clears up some of my fogginess. ( )