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Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:Someone's finally doing something about the weather...in the first in this series by the New York Times bestselling author of Ink and Bone and the Morganville Vampires series.It's "A FUN READ" (Jim Butcher) from "A FIRST-CLASS STORYTELLER" (Charlaine Harris)...
The Wardens Association has been around pretty much forever. Some Wardens control Fire, others control Earth or Water or Wind—and the most powerful can control more than one. Without wardens, Mother Nature show more would wipe humanity off the face of the earth...
Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now, Joanne is trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So, she’s resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life…
Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful warden known. Unfortunately, he’s also on the run from the Council. It seems he’s stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn—making him the most wanted man on earth. And without Lewis, Joanne’s chances of surviving are as good as a snowball in—well, a place she may be headed. So, she and her classic Mustang are racing hard to find him—because there’s some bad weather closing in fast...
“[Ill Wind’s] forecast calls for murder, mayhem, magic, meteorology—and a fun read. You’ll never watch the Weather Channel the same way again.”—Jim Butcher, bestselling author of The Dresden Files
Rachel Caine is the author of several bestselling series, including the Revivalist and Outcast Season novels. Among her many popular novels are Daylighters, The Dead Girls' Dance, Terminated, and Black Dawn. show less
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MyriadBooks For controlling the weather and other unusual magics.
20
flemmily This series is darker and punk-er than the Weather Warden series, but the Demon/Human dynamic really reminds me of the Djinn/Human dynamic. So if you like that aspect of the book, you might try Dante Valentine.
However, if you like Weather Wardens because of Joanne's fashion sense, you probably want to steer clear of Dante Valentine.
23
anonymous user Suze Simon, the protagonist in Shadowland, the first of the Mediator series basically reminded me of a teenage Joanne, ghost-whisperer stlye.
Member Reviews
You know that phenomenon called Gun Porn? Where we get detailed, descriptive and practically sexually active descriptions of weaponry - the guns don't quite need to wear condoms, but it can be close? Well, this book swaps out the guns for weather systems, but the pornographic imagery remains.
Perhaps the word 'pornography' carries too much bias... how 'bout we call it weather that'll make you blush. But anyway, that's what this book contains. Lots of it! And I have to admit, I never thought weather could be so HOT this far north... hahahahaha...
There isn't any graphic human sex, and I don't think there was much in the line of foul language or gore... but what the book does have - other than weather, of course - is a lot of action and show more suspense and character development. I really like the very original concept behind the Wardens and the Djinn and how Caine managed to make us like/care about the characters, the weather, heck, even an old car or two. I even liked the (somewhat odd) ending: it managed to wrap up this story, but leave the reader with a hook for the next book.
I have just bought the rest in the series. show less
Perhaps the word 'pornography' carries too much bias... how 'bout we call it weather that'll make you blush. But anyway, that's what this book contains. Lots of it! And I have to admit, I never thought weather could be so HOT this far north... hahahahaha...
There isn't any graphic human sex, and I don't think there was much in the line of foul language or gore... but what the book does have - other than weather, of course - is a lot of action and show more suspense and character development. I really like the very original concept behind the Wardens and the Djinn and how Caine managed to make us like/care about the characters, the weather, heck, even an old car or two. I even liked the (somewhat odd) ending: it managed to wrap up this story, but leave the reader with a hook for the next book.
I have just bought the rest in the series. show less
This book was absolutely not what I expected. I've read the basics in urban fantasy and I assumed this book would be just like them: Joanne Baldwin, Weather Warden, doing her weather warden thing. Just another day in the life of a magic user, you know? Except it wasn't. Every time I thought this book had descended into stereotypes it rose back up out of them and surprised me. Every time.
I particularly liked Joanne, not for who she said she was--the badass Weather Warden with the purple velvet clothes--but for who she really was--yeah, badass, but also vulnerable and brave and sexual and innocent and everything else that makes up a human being. It seems so many things these days are written in the first person and for some reason we show more trust that first person point of view to be the absolute truth. Joanne reminded me of the unreliable narrator and I enjoyed that a great deal. We don't always see ourselves perfectly clearly and neither does she.
The ending did something I particularly enjoy in books--betrayal by a trusted friend. It's heartbreaking, it's difficult to face, but Joanne does that because she has to. And then she gets up and goes on. show less
I particularly liked Joanne, not for who she said she was--the badass Weather Warden with the purple velvet clothes--but for who she really was--yeah, badass, but also vulnerable and brave and sexual and innocent and everything else that makes up a human being. It seems so many things these days are written in the first person and for some reason we show more trust that first person point of view to be the absolute truth. Joanne reminded me of the unreliable narrator and I enjoyed that a great deal. We don't always see ourselves perfectly clearly and neither does she.
The ending did something I particularly enjoy in books--betrayal by a trusted friend. It's heartbreaking, it's difficult to face, but Joanne does that because she has to. And then she gets up and goes on. show less
Joanne Baldwin is a weather warden who can control the weather and keep it from being more destructive than it could be. There are fire and earth wardens as well, and they all work for a secret agency that organises all warden activity to protect humans from the worse that nature can throw out. The wardens work together to magically control natural events such as cyclones, raging fires, and earthquakes under the direction of the agency. The agency has very strict rules and regulations for the use of warden power. If a warden goes bad, the agency strips that person of their powers and erases their memories. The most powerful wardens have their own djin, magical beings that enhance warden powers. Joanne doesn’t realise it yet but she is show more one of the strongest and most powerful Wardens in the agency.
Like all organisations there are those who scheme for control and Joanne’s boss – Bad Bob – has taken on a demon in his bid for power. His goal achieved he needs to rid himself of the demon, and the only way he can do this is to find a more powerful Warden and force him or her to accept it. He selects Joanne as his victim and in the process of passing the demon on to her he is killed. The book opens with the demon possessed Joanne running for her life to the only person she believes can help her. She is pursued not only by Agency operatives who believe that she killed her own boss, but the forces of nature itself, there is a big storm following her and seems intent on killing her. Joanne has to figure out who is after her and why, who she can trust and above all how to get rid of the demon and survive.
Author, Rachel Caine, has created an extraordinarily believable world with her wardens who control the weather, fire, or the earth.She manages to teach the readers about the natural world without boring them and introduces us to the world of djin. A delightful change from all the vampire, werewolf and angel stories around, even though I enjoy them too.Joanne is a very believable heroine who values friendship, loves fast cars, great clothes and hot men; not necessarily in that order.
ILL WIND was a thrilling ride - full of suspense, twists and turns. The ending completely surprised me but I realise that it sets the rest of the series up nicely while giving this story closure. This is definitely a must read, I cannot believe how long I have had this on my TBR pile without picking it up – I have now rushed out and bought the next two in the series. show less
Like all organisations there are those who scheme for control and Joanne’s boss – Bad Bob – has taken on a demon in his bid for power. His goal achieved he needs to rid himself of the demon, and the only way he can do this is to find a more powerful Warden and force him or her to accept it. He selects Joanne as his victim and in the process of passing the demon on to her he is killed. The book opens with the demon possessed Joanne running for her life to the only person she believes can help her. She is pursued not only by Agency operatives who believe that she killed her own boss, but the forces of nature itself, there is a big storm following her and seems intent on killing her. Joanne has to figure out who is after her and why, who she can trust and above all how to get rid of the demon and survive.
Author, Rachel Caine, has created an extraordinarily believable world with her wardens who control the weather, fire, or the earth.She manages to teach the readers about the natural world without boring them and introduces us to the world of djin. A delightful change from all the vampire, werewolf and angel stories around, even though I enjoy them too.Joanne is a very believable heroine who values friendship, loves fast cars, great clothes and hot men; not necessarily in that order.
ILL WIND was a thrilling ride - full of suspense, twists and turns. The ending completely surprised me but I realise that it sets the rest of the series up nicely while giving this story closure. This is definitely a must read, I cannot believe how long I have had this on my TBR pile without picking it up – I have now rushed out and bought the next two in the series. show less
Despite adoring Caine's YA series 'Morganville Vampires', I haven't had a chance to read her older aged series before now. However a recent trip to the Book-off in NYC provided me with a quick option to pick up a number of volumes of her Weather Warden series and I'm glad I did!
This definitely warrants more of a 4.5 from me, then a standard 4. Joanne (Jo) fast became someone I wanted to know all about. Brash, quick-witted and plus mildly paranoid (well she starts out mildly and rapidly becomes VERY paranoid) and she's my new best friend.
Despite landing (more or less) in the middle of the action, ILL WIND does a good job of bringing us up to speed on all important points without relying on Jo explaining everything to everyone she show more meets. Instead Caine takes a much more conversational tone whenever Jo does remember what led up to her being hunted for murder. This was largely successful as a way to illustrate who Jo was and explain the circumstances.
David, oh David. Having read the blurbs for the next 8 or so books I knew the importance of David the second he showed up, but it was still somewhat of a shock to read everything about him. Caine does a good job laying the foundation though (little things, like the way he answered certain questions and moments when he was unguarded). I wanted to know more about him, understand his motivations a little better. Contextually his actions are against everything else we learn.
I was heartbroken when we finally learned the truth of who was hunting Jo. I can only think of one other person in the book who I would have been like 'No way! Why?!' other then who it turned out to be. I did feel a little blindsided though. In hindsight, it makes sense, but at the time I suppose I was just like Jo, wondering when and how it happened.
The ending also caught me by surprise since...um how did that happen? I mean Its explained, its given an explanation of sorts at least, but I hope its something that's given more time in the next book(s). It didn't seem...organic. I didn't see how the book was building up to it, didn't see the clues as well as with the other pieces of the puzzle.
As for the next book, I can't wait to dive in. I'm itching to get to one of the later books, but don't want to skip because this doesn't feel like a series you should play skip-a-loo with. Certain things that occur and are spoken about likely will make sense in future volumes and for that it keeps me hooked. show less
This definitely warrants more of a 4.5 from me, then a standard 4. Joanne (Jo) fast became someone I wanted to know all about. Brash, quick-witted and plus mildly paranoid (well she starts out mildly and rapidly becomes VERY paranoid) and she's my new best friend.
Despite landing (more or less) in the middle of the action, ILL WIND does a good job of bringing us up to speed on all important points without relying on Jo explaining everything to everyone she show more meets. Instead Caine takes a much more conversational tone whenever Jo does remember what led up to her being hunted for murder. This was largely successful as a way to illustrate who Jo was and explain the circumstances.
David, oh David. Having read the blurbs for the next 8 or so books I knew the importance of David the second he showed up, but it was still somewhat of a shock to read everything about him. Caine does a good job laying the foundation though (little things, like the way he answered certain questions and moments when he was unguarded). I wanted to know more about him, understand his motivations a little better. Contextually his actions are against everything else we learn.
I was heartbroken when we finally learned the truth of who was hunting Jo. I can only think of one other person in the book who I would have been like 'No way! Why?!' other then who it turned out to be. I did feel a little blindsided though. In hindsight, it makes sense, but at the time I suppose I was just like Jo, wondering when and how it happened.
The ending also caught me by surprise since...um how did that happen? I mean Its explained, its given an explanation of sorts at least, but I hope its something that's given more time in the next book(s). It didn't seem...organic. I didn't see how the book was building up to it, didn't see the clues as well as with the other pieces of the puzzle.
As for the next book, I can't wait to dive in. I'm itching to get to one of the later books, but don't want to skip because this doesn't feel like a series you should play skip-a-loo with. Certain things that occur and are spoken about likely will make sense in future volumes and for that it keeps me hooked. show less
This is a hard book for me to rate. On the one hand, I enjoyed the world Caine created. The Djinn and Wardens were very interesting to discover. Her action scenes were riveting and the descriptions of Jo working with the weather kept me turning pages.
Now comes the hard part. This book uses a handful of tropes that I really don't like.
Evil Equals Ugly: How do we know the Big Bad is the biggest of the baddest. Well he's ugly. Pretty people are never evil. Right?
All Men Want the Protag: I don't think there was a man in this book that Jo didn't think was looking at her in a sexual way. Now, the book is in first person so maybe that's just Jo being narcissistic. If so, woman needs to get over herself. Not every man finds you hot.
Other show more Women are Evil/Useless: At first I thought Jo and Star would be a refreshing change from the usual and we'd see a normal friendship between two powerful women. Of course that didn't last. Soon we find out Star is depowered and it gets worse from there.
Marion is supposed to be a powerful Warden Authority. She's in hot pursuit of Jo, but can never catch her. And of course she's in the wrong for going after Jo to begin with.
"What about Rahel?" you might ask. The brown-skinned Djinn who shows up randomly to give Jo some knowledge. We all know what trope that abuses. The less said, the better.
I'm aware that this book is ten years old and perhaps the UF genre has grown up a little since then. While this series may not be for me, I do like Caine's writing style and would be willing to try one of her numerous other series. show less
Now comes the hard part. This book uses a handful of tropes that I really don't like.
Evil Equals Ugly: How do we know the Big Bad is the biggest of the baddest. Well he's ugly. Pretty people are never evil. Right?
All Men Want the Protag: I don't think there was a man in this book that Jo didn't think was looking at her in a sexual way. Now, the book is in first person so maybe that's just Jo being narcissistic. If so, woman needs to get over herself. Not every man finds you hot.
Other show more Women are Evil/Useless: At first I thought Jo and Star would be a refreshing change from the usual and we'd see a normal friendship between two powerful women. Of course that didn't last. Soon we find out Star is depowered and it gets worse from there.
Marion is supposed to be a powerful Warden Authority. She's in hot pursuit of Jo, but can never catch her. And of course she's in the wrong for going after Jo to begin with.
"What about Rahel?" you might ask. The brown-skinned Djinn who shows up randomly to give Jo some knowledge. We all know what trope that abuses. The less said, the better.
I'm aware that this book is ten years old and perhaps the UF genre has grown up a little since then. While this series may not be for me, I do like Caine's writing style and would be willing to try one of her numerous other series. show less
Joanne is a Weather Warden. A Warden gifted in the elements of Water and Air, who has the solemn duty to protect humanity from Mother Nature’s devastating wrath. But one mission to dissipate a terrible storm enmeshes her in plots beyond her measure.
She’s now on the run, with a demon mark, no less, and with the entire organisation of the Wardens hunting her for murder. A crime for which they could kill her or strip her of her powers. And if they find the demon within her, then it’s a near certainty that she will have her powers ripped away.
Her only chance is to get rid of the demon – but there are so few ways to do that. The easiest would be to pass it on to a Djinn – and curse the Djinn to live the rest of eternity in torment show more – not a fate she can contemplate, especially after meeting Djinn. Or there is Lewis, an old friend, a rebel and the most powerful Warden the world has ever seen.
But she has no idea who she can trust, very few friends and she is hunted not just by the Wardens, but also by a vast storm she conjured accidentally while fighting for her life – that now follows her relentlessly. And then there’s someone else, some enemy who continually strikes at her. To say nothing of Djinn that pop in and out – and who knows who they serve or what agenda they follow?
The world is rich and huge and novel. The different Wardens acting to protect humanity from the vagaries of Mother Nature is such an unusual concept. Throw in the Demons and the Djinn and we have something fascinating that actually took an effort of will for me not to reach instantly for book 2 the minute book 1 was finished, I wanted to know much more so soon. Storywise I’m impressed. We have a combination of survival and mystery with an extra side-order of mystery. The main mystery of what Joanne’s doing and how she will save herself and who is to blame – or even if there is someone to blame- is huge and fascinating and constantly kept me guessing – and I guessed wrong every time. Yet the clues were there – but I never remotely imagined the results. But we have so many other mysteries along the way – who is David, who is Rahel serving and constantly what what what is happening!
We also had what I normally consider a contrived plot line. We start with secondly – Joanne on the run from something. And we don’t know the why and wherefore of that something for a while, adding to the mystery. But it works because it allows the full mystery to be complicated without us having to be infodumped vast amounts of world building so we can understand it. Without this method, I suspect this would be the second book in the series and the first book would be slow, meandering and just full of infodumping to set up this book. So, I’m impressed, a literary trick I normally loathed was used to good, nay, brilliant effect.
The world is doled out in nicely sized chunks through nice little vignettes that give us flash backs into Joanne’s past – and they fit and are interesting rather than a distraction. The various forces arrayed against Joanne happened often enough to keep the book exciting without it being too much of a survival horror that the mystery was lost. And the character interactions were fun, real and very human.
Read More show less
She’s now on the run, with a demon mark, no less, and with the entire organisation of the Wardens hunting her for murder. A crime for which they could kill her or strip her of her powers. And if they find the demon within her, then it’s a near certainty that she will have her powers ripped away.
Her only chance is to get rid of the demon – but there are so few ways to do that. The easiest would be to pass it on to a Djinn – and curse the Djinn to live the rest of eternity in torment show more – not a fate she can contemplate, especially after meeting Djinn. Or there is Lewis, an old friend, a rebel and the most powerful Warden the world has ever seen.
But she has no idea who she can trust, very few friends and she is hunted not just by the Wardens, but also by a vast storm she conjured accidentally while fighting for her life – that now follows her relentlessly. And then there’s someone else, some enemy who continually strikes at her. To say nothing of Djinn that pop in and out – and who knows who they serve or what agenda they follow?
The world is rich and huge and novel. The different Wardens acting to protect humanity from the vagaries of Mother Nature is such an unusual concept. Throw in the Demons and the Djinn and we have something fascinating that actually took an effort of will for me not to reach instantly for book 2 the minute book 1 was finished, I wanted to know much more so soon. Storywise I’m impressed. We have a combination of survival and mystery with an extra side-order of mystery. The main mystery of what Joanne’s doing and how she will save herself and who is to blame – or even if there is someone to blame- is huge and fascinating and constantly kept me guessing – and I guessed wrong every time. Yet the clues were there – but I never remotely imagined the results. But we have so many other mysteries along the way – who is David, who is Rahel serving and constantly what what what is happening!
We also had what I normally consider a contrived plot line. We start with secondly – Joanne on the run from something. And we don’t know the why and wherefore of that something for a while, adding to the mystery. But it works because it allows the full mystery to be complicated without us having to be infodumped vast amounts of world building so we can understand it. Without this method, I suspect this would be the second book in the series and the first book would be slow, meandering and just full of infodumping to set up this book. So, I’m impressed, a literary trick I normally loathed was used to good, nay, brilliant effect.
The world is doled out in nicely sized chunks through nice little vignettes that give us flash backs into Joanne’s past – and they fit and are interesting rather than a distraction. The various forces arrayed against Joanne happened often enough to keep the book exciting without it being too much of a survival horror that the mystery was lost. And the character interactions were fun, real and very human.
Read More show less
Listened/Read for Fun (Library Audiobook/Paper Copy)
Overall Rating: 5.00
Story Rating: 5.00
Character Rating: 5.00
Audio Rating: 4.00 (not part of the overall rating)
First Thought when Finished: Oh my! Why did I wait so long to start reading these!
Story Thoughts: Confession: Urban Fantasy is always hit/miss with me. I love strong women characters but I also need them to not be totally unidentifiable (they must have quirks and flaws). Ill Wind was right on the money with what I expect out of a very good Urban Fantasy novel. It had action right from the get-go! The story and character building happened as the story progressed instead of being an information dump. It also had heart! I was just really sucked in from beginning to the show more cliffhanger ending (I didn't dock Ill Wind for this but I did the next one LOL--you only get one cliffhanger free pass from me)!
Character Thoughts: Ill Wind's characters ROCKED! Hard core rocked! I immediately felt myself rooting for JoAnne even though I wasn't sure if she could be saved (OK--as lead of the series I had a pretty good idea but you never know). I loved her fight to do right, her bone-headed ability to turn down the easy fix, and her end struggle! I loved all the boys too: Lewis, Phil, and David. I even liked the Weather Wardens that were on her tail! In other words, the characters totally sold me on this series.
Audio Thoughts:
Narrated By Dina Pearlman / Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
I have never listened to a book narrated by Dina Pearlman before but I will again in the future. I thought she did a great job with the pacing, emotion, and timing of Ill Wind.
Final Thoughts: I am on board with the Weather Wardens! show less
Overall Rating: 5.00
Story Rating: 5.00
Character Rating: 5.00
Audio Rating: 4.00 (not part of the overall rating)
First Thought when Finished: Oh my! Why did I wait so long to start reading these!
Story Thoughts: Confession: Urban Fantasy is always hit/miss with me. I love strong women characters but I also need them to not be totally unidentifiable (they must have quirks and flaws). Ill Wind was right on the money with what I expect out of a very good Urban Fantasy novel. It had action right from the get-go! The story and character building happened as the story progressed instead of being an information dump. It also had heart! I was just really sucked in from beginning to the show more cliffhanger ending (I didn't dock Ill Wind for this but I did the next one LOL--you only get one cliffhanger free pass from me)!
Character Thoughts: Ill Wind's characters ROCKED! Hard core rocked! I immediately felt myself rooting for JoAnne even though I wasn't sure if she could be saved (OK--as lead of the series I had a pretty good idea but you never know). I loved her fight to do right, her bone-headed ability to turn down the easy fix, and her end struggle! I loved all the boys too: Lewis, Phil, and David. I even liked the Weather Wardens that were on her tail! In other words, the characters totally sold me on this series.
Audio Thoughts:
Narrated By Dina Pearlman / Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
I have never listened to a book narrated by Dina Pearlman before but I will again in the future. I thought she did a great job with the pacing, emotion, and timing of Ill Wind.
Final Thoughts: I am on board with the Weather Wardens! show less
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Author Information
159+ Works 50,919 Members
Rachel Caine was born Roxanne Conrad in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. She received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Texas Tech University. Before becoming a full time author in 2010, she worked in corporate communications. She has written more than 40 novels including the Morganville Vampires series, the Weather Warden show more series, the Outcast Season series, the Great Library series, Prince of Shadows, and the Revivalist series. She has written under the names Julie Fortune, Roxanne Longstreet and Roxanne Conrad. She received a Paranormal Pearl Award, an RT Booklovers Award, and a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Ill Wind
- Original publication date
- 2003-12-02
- People/Characters
- Joanne Baldwin; David the Djinn; Rahel; Mona; Paul Giancarlo; Estrella 'Star' Almondovar (show all 22); Lewis Levander Orwell; Albert the Bear; Delilah (Car); Martin Oliver; Robert 'Bad Bob' Biringanine; Marion Bearheart; Claude Monet; Tamara Motumbo; Rashid; Shirl; Erik; Janice Langstrom; Ulrike Kohl; Professor Yorenson; Alice (Djinn); Cathy Bell
- Important places
- Albany, New York, USA; Battle Ground, Indiana, USA; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Eliza Springs; Green Hills Outlet Mall, Pennsylvania, USA; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA (show all 9); Oversight; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Westchester, Connecticut, USA
- Epigraph
- Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is the lightning that does the work --Mark Twain
- Dedication
- To those who inspire: My husband, Cat (always), and to my dear friends Pat Elrod, Kelley Walters, Glenn Rogers, Pat Anthony, and --of course-- "the" Joanne Madge
To those who believe: Everybody in ORAC (you know who you are!) and my friends at LSGSC
To those who made it happen: Lucienne Diver and Laura Anne Gilman
To my musical inspiration: Joe Bonamassa
And finally, to the one who taught me to love the storm as much as the calm: Timothy Bartz Rest softly, my dear. This one's for you. - First words
- Cloudy and cool, with an 80% possibility of moderate to severe thunderstorms by mid-afternoon.
Well, thank God this is about to be over, I thought as I drove -- well, blew -- past the sign that marked the Westchester, ... (show all)Connecticut city limits. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Mona roared to life, and the road stretched forever.
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