Darker Angels

Jayné is back and, dare I say it, even better than ever? A little battle worn for sure, but that's not enough to keep her down! In this second installment of The Black Sun's Daughter series the action is ramped up, adrenaline is high, and there is a whole lot to love. I liked the last book, but I loved this one.

Karen Black is the newest addition to this motley crew of demon hunters, and she packs quite a punch. Strong, self-assured, and one gorgeous woman, Karen is everything that Jayné thinks that she's not. I really enjoyed seeing the slightly more jealous side of Jayné in this story. It's that little need to please, the wheedling voice that promote jealousy, that really makes her so much more human. Sure she's a kick ass heroine, show more but they have flaws too. What really drew me in to this story was how much Jayné grows during the course of it. Everything that has happened has toughened her up and, even if she can't seem to see it, the reader gets a glimpse at the power she has boiling within her.

Darker Angels takes us into the lion's den of the riders, or the loa as they are called. New Orleans provides a lush and vibrant backdrop for these beings and the voodoo lore that surrounds them. Painted on the pages is a history that runs deep, back into the days where the lore that Jayné and her team are now learning was common knowledge. There is a deep sense of community in this story, and the tragedies that occurred in New Orleans are handled with respect. Overall, it's clear that Hanover has a love for this city. As I followed Jayné through this mission, I gained a respect for the loa and their rich history. Let's just say that Hanover definitely changes the reader's view of them in this story.

I'm hooked on this series, and thank goodness I already have the next two books ready to read. As a first foray into Urban Fantasy, I'm glad I chose M.L.N. Hanover to take me on a wild ride. If you enjoy fast paced stories brimming with demons, twists, and turns, you'll love Darker Angels. I highly suggest you get started! show less

I don’t read urban fantasy – or so I thought. I tried a novel or two when the bookshelves started to fill up with covers depicting women scantily clad in black leather, all with tattoos on their lower backs and weapons of one sort or another in their hands, but they seemed rather generic and – at least the ones I read – not all that well-written.

Then I heard about that M.L.N. Hanover was actually Daniel Abraham, the author of the Long Price Quartet. So far I’ve only read the first in that series, A Shadow in Summer, but I admired it greatly, and am looking forward to reading the next three straight in a row when time allows. So much did I like Abraham’s work that I was willing to take another chance on urban fantasy and try show more out the two novels in the series titled The Black Sun’s Daughter, written by Abraham’s alter ego.

I’m glad I did. The two novels published in the series to date, Unclean Spirits and Darker Angels, are a kick to read, just pure adrenaline-fueled fun. I haven’t had this much pure entertainment since I rode the Screaming Eagle at Six Flags in Gurney, Illinois a million years ago. I wish there were more books in this series available right now, because I’d swallow them whole right this minute.

Unclean Spirits starts when Eric Heller dies and leaves his entire estate to his niece, Jayné Heller (her first name is pronounced zha-nay, but it’s frequently mispronounced as plain old Jane). Jayné is just a few days shy of her twenty-third birthday when she learns that she has suddenly become wealthy – the kind of wealthy that not only doesn’t have to worry about where the next meal is coming from, but doesn’t even have to worry about keeping a roof over her head, because she can always pay cash for a house if she needs one. She meets her uncle’s lawyers and his assistant, Aubrey, all of whom seem normal. Although she’s pretty dazed at her sudden good fortune – especially given that she’s just dropped out of college, has been disowned by her immediate family, and hadn’t figured out what to do with herself when this news came out of the blue – everything seems as normal as it can seem when you’ve essentially won the lottery but lost the only relative you cared about.

That is, it seems normal until Jayné goes to her uncle’s apartment in Denver and finds a corpse in the bedroom. Things quickly get worse when the corpse opens its eyes and speaks to her. But everything’s okay; Midian is simply very, very old. In fact, he was born the year they stormed the Bastille, he explains. And oh, by the way, it was a bunch of evil wizards who killed her uncle. Jayné is dubious until four figures break into the apartment and try to kill her, and she is able to fight with a great deal more ability than she ever imagined. Between the two of them, Midian and Jayné kill the four strangers – and Jayné is now deeply into something about which she knows nothing.

Unclean Spirits tells the tale of how Jayné begins to learn who her uncle was and what magic is, and a very little bit about who she is herself. She does this while attempting to destroy the magician who killed her uncle, working with his allies. There are a number of disasters along the way, including the near death of a young man Jayné finds herself beginning to love. Relationships with others begin for the sake of convenience and turn into strong bonds of friendship and sometimes enmity. As the book ends, Jayné is still alive and has accomplished what she set out to do, but she is still almost completely ignorant about her inheritance – both in terms of what material things are out there, and in terms of what she has gained by learning of the magical world she lives in. Jayné is strong, sexy and smart, but she isn’t too much of any of these; she is far more real and vulnerable than your average heroine.

Darker Angels opens six months later. During the interim, Jayné has had her staff – her uncle’s former assistant and two men who had helped him out from time to time, one an ex-priest known as Ex and one who is – well, Chogyi Jake is hard to describe, but the feeling emanating from the character is peace, even in the context of incredible violence. The group is in Athens, Greece, performing an inventory of Jayné Uncle Eric’s possessions in his house – now Jayné’s house – magical and otherwise. They’ve been skipping from city to city around the world doing the same thing, and they’re all exhausted.

Which means they’re not really in good shape to take on a new case. But when a call comes in to Eric’s cellphone (still programmed to say “Hey, you’ve got a call” in Eric’s voice, freaking out everyone who hears it) from a former client, asking for help in New Orleans, Jayné jumps at the chance to get more information about her uncle. If it means dealing with a supernatural beastie attempting to take over a teenager’s body, well, why not perform a good deed in the meantime?

But Jayné and her group are getting involved with New Orleans voodoo, and they don’t know the territory. Legba gives Jayné a good, strong warning early on that she barely survives; but Jayné is stubborn. The group fractures under the pressure, but still the notion of helping that teenager is so compelling that Jayné can’t help but soldier on.

In this second book, each of the characters becomes more clearly defined. Ex is no longer merely the one who performs exorcisms; he is a whole person, with his own loves and past and issues. Chogyi Jake becomes something more of a mascot to the group, with the way he exudes calm, though he is still more of a cipher than the others. Aubrey and Jayné both develop and retard their relationship, much like relationships usually work.

In the meantime, the reader gets a good look at New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. And the reader gets a lesson in voodoo and the power it gives its practitioners in this alternate universe, especially to women. And it’s all written with such tension that the book nearly vibrates in your hand. I read it in less than 24 hours, barely pausing to work, eat or sleep.

So I guess I read urban fantasy after all. At least, I read it when it’s written by M.L.N. Hanover. This is great stuff, and at mass market paperback prices, you can’t afford to pass it up. show less

Originally posted on my review blog, Stomping on Yeti, at http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2009/12/yetireview-darker-angels.html

21 Words or Less: Another well-written series installment set in voodootacular New Orleans that balances the normal with the bizarre by utilizing relatable characters

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Good: Strong first person narration balances the paranormal with the mundane, Well written characters that feel like old friend; New Orleans setting/culture intrigues without being overwhelming or unnatural

The Bad: Lack of over-arching plot movement; Subplot is fairly predictable (and spoiled by back cover); Some awkward foreshadowing disrupts an otherwise seamless voice; Cover still sucks

My experience reading urban fantasy is a show more lot like my experience with family reunions. It’s not so much what you are doing but who you’re doing it with. If you don’t get along with your family you aren’t going to have a good time, regardless of what vacation spot you choose. On the other hand, the right group of people can make even the most mundane of destinations memorable. But what happens when you get both? In Darker Angels, the second novel in M.L.N. Hanover’s Black Sun’s Daughter sequence, Jayne, Aubrey, Ex, and Chogyi Jake make the trip to New Orleans, Louisiana for some rest, relaxation, and just the slightest bit of hunting for a serial-killing body-switching voodoo demon. There may be more of the latter and less of the former but that doesn’t make Darker Angels any less fun.

The strongest part of this series so far has been the characters. One of my favorite aspects of the Unclean Spirits (Book 1) was how real the characters felt. Unlike many Urban Fantasy series (Dresden Files, Felix Castor, etc), Hanover made the decision to start Jayne's story at the beginning. Rather than starting out as the experienced guide to the supernatural world for the reader, Jayne is as clueless as the rest of us. So many times you see characters make the transition into the larger fantastical world behind their own mundane lives with little hesitation. So it's a relief to read a character who asks the same questions and has the same doubts that I imagine any normal twenty something would have when placed in the same situation. Even the little things like looking for a good wifi connection, making small talk over dinner and drinks, and seeking familiar comforts at a coffee chain work to normalize a cast of characters that are immersed in an otherwise abnormal world of possession, magic, and monsters. The absurdity of the supernatural elements balanced with the normal problems of maintaining relationships and mixing work with life reminded me of some of the best of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

As notable as Hanover's cast of characters is the location he places them in. From the fairly nondescript Denver setting featured in Unclean Spirits, Jayne and Co end up in New Orleans, LA. New Orleans is undoubtedly one of the most supernaturally charged cities in America and Hanover does an excellent job meshing the character of the city into the book without betraying the first person perspective of Ms. Heller. Some books only make token references to the setting, enough to ground the action and little more. Other stories lay on the detail a little too thick, trying to work their research into the story where it doesn’t belong. Darker Angels presents the city and its mysteries as Jayne sees them. As she journeys through water-logged ruins and the re-emerging tourist district in a hunt for voodoo cults and lost children we witness New Orleans through her eyes rather than some omniscient out of place narrator. I would say that the voice has improved from the first book in which Hanover (actually Daniel Abraham) seemed to have the occasional difficulty writing from the female perspective. While the majority of the narration is clear and consistent, there are a few places where it feels out of sync with the rest of the story. At times Jayne makes references to things people said that she misunderstood at the time of the story but that she now understands clearly in the future world from which she narrates her adventures. These points feel more like teasers than natural extensions of Jayne’s voice.

At the same time, that may have been my frustration with the overall arc of the series. While I appreciated Hanover’s skill at balancing his characters and his world-building, I couldn’t help but be irritated with the lack of answers to questions presented in Unclean Spirits. The plot itself feels light and somewhat predictable (especially if you read the back blurb) and the majority of the novel deals with fleshing out Jayne’s character rather than moving the bigger story forward. There are a few more tantalizing hints to a larger story involving her uncle, her tattoos, a vast fortune, innate magically ability and a possible destiny but little follow-up.

I drew parallels earlier to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and if I had to provide an analog for Darker Angels, it would be to the early episodes of the classic genre show. The characters have been introduced and hints at a larger story have been provided but the second or third episodes always seem somewhat stand-alone, serving as an additional jumping on point rather than aggressively pushing the story forward. There isn’t anything wrong with this per say. In fact, it’s more realistic than every episode dealing with the same evil force lurking in the background and single-mindedly building toward a season finale. But when you’re dealing with books, it’s not a matter of days or weeks until the next installment; it’s a matter of months. When you get to the end of the last chapter and you don’t feel like you don’t know any more than you did at the beginning of the book, it’s difficult to call the book a complete success. I’d like to see a better balance of subplot and superplot in future volumes.

Despite the disappointing lack of revelations regarding Jayne’s strange inheritance, this installment was another fast-paced fun read that returned to the enjoyable, relatable characters introduced in Hanover’s 1st work. I eagerly anticipate the release of Vicious Grace, the next book in the sequence. If you are interested in the series, I’d recommend picking up all three books and mainlining them like your favorite TV series on DVD. show less

I love this book. The second had everything in it that the first did, only it had room to expand. Jayne is by no means an expert. She is still bumbling away through many situations and learning as she goes. If anything, this book has taught her once again how little she does know. I love that they’ve changed the setting to New Orleans. There is so much there to explore between the rich culture of voodoo and the fact that they are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. It adds a lot of depth, texture and realism to the story. And I love that Ex, Aubrey, and Chogyi Jake are all still at her side. I think it lends needed continuity to the stories. Now I’ll tell you the part that bugged me. This is book 2 of the series. This series is show more called The Black Sun’s Daughter. And so far at the end of book 2, we have had very little mention of where this comes from or what it means. They did refer to black suns being a type of rider in the first book, and also to the fact that Jayne needs to figure out who she is in book 2, but they have yet to connect the two or explain. I don’t know how long the series is going to be, but I do know there are four books out at present. I just think it’s kind of a long time to wait without any explanation at all. At least give me a little bit of a teaser… I think this book would be easier to understand if you read book 1 first. You could probably pick up from where book 1 left off, but I think there’s a lot of background in the first book that you would miss out on. All in all, I love these books and will continue to devour them as quickly as I can get my hands on them, and I can’t wait to see where Jayne and her team/friends end up next. =D show less

Once again Jayné (every time I read that name it got my nerves) Aubrey, Ex and Chogyi Jake are in the thick of it again. When we left the foursome, they were busy doing a tour of not-gay uncle Eric's various homes, attempting to create a wiki on the riders. Though they are all exhausted, Jayné keeps pushing them forward, and this culminates in her acceptance of a mission in New Orleans. The minute I read New Orleans I knew that this books was going to be all about Voodoo.

After Hurricane Katrina it is impossible to write a story without talking about the horror of natural disaster and Hanover dealt with the issue in a powerful manner. Though it has been years, the city has not been rebuilt and we are given vivid images of ruined homes show more and the people who fell through the cracks. I appreciated the fact that Hanover made sure to point out that it took money to leave the city and that those without were forced to stay behind. It is not often acknowledged in the media, but class played a huge role in who lived and who died.

Once in New Orleans, the scooby gang, (yeah that's what I am calling them) meet up with former FBI agent, Karen Black who wants help freeing a young girl from a loa who has take possession of her body. Thus begins the focus on a specific kind of rider - the loa. I really do wish that urban fantasy authors would step away from the association of people of colour with Voodoo. It has been done to death and at this point has become so one dimensional that it is hard to retain interest.

We learn that there are various forms of loa and that they have a functioning society and rule separate from that of humans. In some cases loa are not the parasitic creatures that Jayné and the scoobies have always believed. Loa and humans can work in mutuality with the person that they are riding and in the case of battle, Jayné comes to term with the idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The ability of a loa to take over the body is compared to rape in Dark Angels and personally, I found the analogy offensive.

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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A griping story with hard-core action and suspense to keep you entertained.

Opening Sentence: “How long has this been going on?”

The Review:

Darker Angels is the second installment in M.L.N. Hanover’s, The Black Sun’s Daughter series. I was a bit apprehensive when I began reading Darker Angels, because I was unsure what to expect. The first book, Unclean Spirits had me frustrated during the slow beginning but eventually redeemed itself in the end. I was hoping that Darker Angels would carry over the feeling and intrigue that I felt in the second half of Unclean Spirits.

Darker Angels has the same set of characters with the exception of Midian, whom I loved and missed in this show more installment. Jayne, Aubrey, Chogyi Jake and Ex have been traveling the world to catalog all of Eric’s proprieties and the magical resources they find. Jayne receives a call from former FBI agent, Karen Black, and the team all race across the world to New Orleans to help her out. We get a little more background information on some of the individual characters throughout the book and I began to feel more invested in them individually as opposed to the detachment that I felt in the first book. Jayne still struggles with the direction her life has taken and she especially struggles with leadership and trusting her instincts after she meets Karen Black. The relationship between Jayne and Aubrey is still hard to see and understand, while at the same time I can plainly see that Ex has feelings for her and personally I think that match would work out better than the thing with Aubrey. Jayne and the team itself have some obstacles to overcome on the journey to solving the problem they are faced with in New Orleans.

I absolutely loved the setting of New Orleans as the backdrop. Hanover used vivid descriptions of the city that really helped to pull me into the book. He uses the physical and emotional damage that Hurricane Katrina caused as a major component to the plotline. The connection of the riders to the city and particularly Voodoo is interesting and helps create a believable back-story.

I once again had a hard time staying interested in the beginning half of the book. There was action from the start but I think it was the setting up of the plot and reasoning behind everything that slowed down the pace for me. Once I got past that, I was hooked. There was more hard core fighting that was better described and detailed therefore making it easier to follow along with instead of the lost feeling I had at the end of some fights in Unclean Spirits. Darker Angels has several plot twists that I never saw coming and kept me guessing until the end. There was also a lot more detail and explanation on the “bad guys” and it was introduced that not all riders have to be wholly evil and that some serve a different purpose.

I was much more impressed with Darker Angels than I was with Unclean Spirits. The details of the world were expressed in a clearer manner and the characters were more developed and this helped with the overall flow and understanding. I am glad that I have the third book Vicious Grace sitting on the shelf waiting on me and I have high hopes that Hanover can maintain the momentum gained in Darker Angels.

Notable Scene:

Amelie came forward, leaning on her cane. Her drooping face was ashen and sour. The air around her seemed to crackle with power that her body alone couldn’t begin to justify. Her eyes shifted from me to Aubrey, from Aubrey to Chogyi Jake, from Chogyi Jake back to me with the intensity of a predator sizing up prey.

I felt the subtle shift in my body that I’d come to associate with the onset of violence. When Amelie spoke, her voice was Legba’s; deeper than a human throat could fashion, rich with threat and power.

“What the hell you think you doing in my city?”

I wanted to swing forward, to fight my way free, pulling Aubrey and Chogyi Jake along with me. My body almost vibrated with the need to strike, to scream. I forced myself to speak like I was using someone else’s mouth to do it.

“Carrefour tricked me,” I said. “I’ve come to you. I need help.”

These were demons. They were predators: tigers, wolves, sharks. I looked into Amelie Glapion’s eyes, and something else looked back at me. Something inhuman. Someone made a sound that was neither word nor whimper. I risked a glance. Daria Glapion, her face frozen with anxiety, held her sister’s hand.

“Well now,” Amelie said. “that’s more like it.”

The woman turned away, and the movement broke. The air itself seemed to slump back. Aubrey touched my shoulder, and I started. Around us, the cultists were starting to move. At the head of the stone steps that led down to Jackson Square, Amelie Glapion stopped and turned, looking over her shoulder at us.

“You waiting for something?” she asked. “Come on.”

The Black Sun’s Daughter Series:

1. Unclean Spirits

2. Darker Angels

3. Vicious Grace

4. Killing Rites

FTC Advisory: Pocket Books provided me with a copy of Darker Angels. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

Darker Angels by MLN Hanover
Urban Fantasy- Sept 29th, 2009
4 stars

Darker Angels is the 2nd in the MLN Hanover's urban fantasy series. This series starts with tension and has some unexpected twists that are sure to keep the pages turning. I do feel it can be read alone. However, new readers will have a better understanding from having read the first book since it will give them insight into the nuances of the full cast of characters.

Jayne Heller was a typical college student until her mysterious uncle died. Suddenly Jayne finds herself the keeper of a dangerous heredity legacy. One that includes fighting spiritual parasites and wizards. She must quickly adapt to a dark underworld where she is untried and where the rules of the game show more can mean certain death. Now that she has finally resumed a sense of normalcy in her `new position' she is contacted by a mysterious FBI agent who pleads for help. She asks Jayne and her cast of buddies to save a young girl from possession in New Orleans. As Jayne and her group try to save the girl new doubts about what she has been taught are called into questions as she tries to steer herself between the murky lines of right and wrong. As she fights against betrayal and an unexpected and deadly foe Jayne has all she can handle.

This dark work will delight fans of urban fantasy looking for something new and different. Instead of the usual cast of shifters and vampires MLN Hanover concentrates more on the magical and a seamy world filled with deadly possession, dark magic and consequence. Her novel is not cut and dried and many times I was torn between liking and disliking the characters as fealty shifted and emotions ran high. Jayne continually struggles to decide who are her really her friends and who are her true enemies. For those readers looking for an edgy and dark atmospheric story, they will find a haven in this new series. However, if you are a reader who enjoys lighter books with more clearly defined endings you may feel disappointed. Although this book does have a little romance it is primarily fantasy with plenty of bite and mystery.

In short, this is an original series that will be sure to thrill readers of dark fantasy.

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club show less