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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
The ex-boyfriend of Henry VIII's illegitimate vampire son has a crappy job on a TV show about a vampire detective and spends his spare time fighting supernatural threats, with the occasional help of his undead ex.
This book has a cheesy, fun premise, but it's let down by three major factors. It's written in a style that seems very typical in urban fantasy, wherein every mundane conversation and encounter the narrator has is over described to the point of tedium. Additionally, the supernatural threat (evil shadows) never feels truly menacing - possibly because most of the characters are so dull you don't really care if they do come to a bad end. And finally, Tony, the narrator, expresses a lot of self-directed homophobia which I think the author meant to be amusing, but felt incredibly dated and left a bad taste in my mouth.
I'm only giving it two stars because I was intrigued by Henry Fitzroy and I'd like to read more about him. I'll probably be looking up fanfiction, though, rather than reading the rest of this series.
This book has a cheesy, fun premise, but it's let down by three major factors. It's written in a style that seems very typical in urban fantasy, wherein every mundane conversation and encounter the narrator has is over described to the point of tedium. Additionally, the supernatural threat (evil shadows) never feels truly menacing - possibly because most of the characters are so dull you don't really care if they do come to a bad end. And finally, Tony, the narrator, expresses a lot of self-directed homophobia which I think the author meant to be amusing, but felt incredibly dated and left a bad taste in my mouth.
I'm only giving it two stars because I was intrigued by Henry Fitzroy and I'd like to read more about him. I'll probably be looking up fanfiction, though, rather than reading the rest of this series.
In this first book of the sequel series of "The Blood Books" the main character is Tony Foster, a punk kid who used to live on the streets but was then rescued by Henry Fitzroy.
Tony soon learns that having a past vampire lover, seeing an Egyptian wizard suck a babies soul, among other things, barely adds up to saving the world from a Shadowlord invasion.
I absolutely love Tanya Huff and her ability to keep me hooked from the very first page. Most authors reach the climax a couple of chapters before the end but Huff keeps you in suspense until the very last chapter. I love her way with words, more than once I found myself laughing out loud.
Tony soon learns that having a past vampire lover, seeing an Egyptian wizard suck a babies soul, among other things, barely adds up to saving the world from a Shadowlord invasion.
I absolutely love Tanya Huff and her ability to keep me hooked from the very first page. Most authors reach the climax a couple of chapters before the end but Huff keeps you in suspense until the very last chapter. I love her way with words, more than once I found myself laughing out loud.
I got it from the library and read it in one sitting. Oops.
I wanted to like this more, but it just didn't quite hit the mark for the first half of the book. If I could split the book, I'd probably do two stars the first third, three stars for the second third, and four stars for the remainder. In some ways Tony was my favourite character in the 'Blood' series - from his first appearance he seemed more solid than the other characters. I felt we lost that a little bit in the first part of 'Smoke and Mirrors'. Perhaps this is also reflected in Tony's journey through the story. On the surface he seemed confident, but underneath was still really quite unsure of himself at the beginning of the story. A bit wobbly around the edges. By the end of the story his sense of self and purpose had definitely snapped into place. I'm now looking forward to following his adventures in further stories.
We meet Henry again in this book, but he is more of a background figure - eventually almost an Alfred/Robin combo to Tony's Batman. This suited me fine. I never really found Henry all that interesting. No real growth there.
I loved meeting CB and Lee, though I was sorry they didn't feature more prominently. I sincerely hope to find these characters more involved in the next book.
We meet Henry again in this book, but he is more of a background figure - eventually almost an Alfred/Robin combo to Tony's Batman. This suited me fine. I never really found Henry all that interesting. No real growth there.
I loved meeting CB and Lee, though I was sorry they didn't feature more prominently. I sincerely hope to find these characters more involved in the next book.
This book is a comfort-reread for me, usually followed by the whole series because it takes three novels (+/- the related short story) to get to the HEA. And that just barely. But I love Tony Foster and the people around him.
To understand every nuance of this series, you need to have read the previous "Blood" series, beginning with [b:Blood Price|317121|Blood Price (Victoria Nelson, #1)|Tanya Huff|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348020521s/317121.jpg|2542025]. Those books are the story of vampire Henry Fitzroy and ex-cop Victoria Nelson. But from the first book, Henry, who is bi, also has a relationship with Tony, the street kid who saves his life, whom he rescues and gradually comes to love in his own way. Tony appears in flashes in those books, snarky, self-deprecating, honorable, and vulnerable. Events lead to Henry moving Tony in with him and moving to Vancouver. The "Smoke" series are Tony's own story.
These "Smoke" books can be read on their own, if you're not into M/F paranormal - small comments or scenes (like a phone call to Vicki) will be a little less salient but it hangs together just fine.
Tony loves Henry but he also feels overwhelmed and consumed by him (and not just in a literal sense.) As the book opens, Tony has moved out of the apartment they shared, found his own place, and a job as a TV production assistant. The TV show is about a fictional vampire detective, a topic which Tony could tell them a lot about, but doesn't. Tony also has a crush on one of the co-stars, who is straight according to his publicity, but occasionally sends mixed messages. The most mixed message, though, happens when the actor, Lee, is possessed by a shadow force that only Tony seems to be aware of.
These books are a fun urban paranormal romp, with great snarky lines, and yet a sweet heart to the story. Tony is one of my favorite characters anywhere - a guy I'd love to actually know. After so many rereads I can't be objective, but I recommend these books as old friends.
To understand every nuance of this series, you need to have read the previous "Blood" series, beginning with [b:Blood Price|317121|Blood Price (Victoria Nelson, #1)|Tanya Huff|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348020521s/317121.jpg|2542025]. Those books are the story of vampire Henry Fitzroy and ex-cop Victoria Nelson. But from the first book, Henry, who is bi, also has a relationship with Tony, the street kid who saves his life, whom he rescues and gradually comes to love in his own way. Tony appears in flashes in those books, snarky, self-deprecating, honorable, and vulnerable. Events lead to Henry moving Tony in with him and moving to Vancouver. The "Smoke" series are Tony's own story.
These "Smoke" books can be read on their own, if you're not into M/F paranormal - small comments or scenes (like a phone call to Vicki) will be a little less salient but it hangs together just fine.
Tony loves Henry but he also feels overwhelmed and consumed by him (and not just in a literal sense.) As the book opens, Tony has moved out of the apartment they shared, found his own place, and a job as a TV production assistant. The TV show is about a fictional vampire detective, a topic which Tony could tell them a lot about, but doesn't. Tony also has a crush on one of the co-stars, who is straight according to his publicity, but occasionally sends mixed messages. The most mixed message, though, happens when the actor, Lee, is possessed by a shadow force that only Tony seems to be aware of.
These books are a fun urban paranormal romp, with great snarky lines, and yet a sweet heart to the story. Tony is one of my favorite characters anywhere - a guy I'd love to actually know. After so many rereads I can't be objective, but I recommend these books as old friends.
I never cared much for Tony in the previous series (Blood Series). I didn't dislike him, but just didn't pay much mind to the minor character. I was curious how it would be pulled off making him the primary protagonist, and as a character it turns out I enjoy him more now. His older street jargon has been replaced with more proper speech - we're informed this has been encouraged by Henry "offstage." My favorite parts really involved Henry, as I always loved the character. Tony isn't as exciting as the previous Vicky (who got on my nerves much of the time for her attitude) or the adorably lovable Celucci.
The Shadowlord, an intriguing and unique enough villain, is well-written. It's not every day you read a book focused on living shadows that are part of a larger being. The story itself is a good one but the pacing is too slow for some areas; as an example, when emphasis is placed on Tony's day-to-day interactions on the stage set, none of this interested me and I kept gliding through passages where he chats with co-workers. Being boring is a book or movie's greatest sin, and while Smoke and Shadows never committed this crime exactly, it was sadly close some of the time.
Henry comes back and is as great as ever, I love the whole possessive type angle, but I found the whole "hunger" and "seduction" expression vague at best and over-used. There was no tension with these scenes, it was just written, no build-up and no description. This, thankfully, is a minor thing that did not distract me from the otherwise interesting and somewhat unique story that I enjoyed reading. Not a book you would be forced to read through in one sitting, forgoing sleep and other life needs, but a book that still keeps you drawn in just enough to keep wanting to reach the end line.
The negatives (and pluses) aside, I'm wanting to read more of the series. The ending of the book let loose some intriguing ideas about Tony's character that suddenly makes him more intriguing. I would like, of course, to keep seeing more of Henry and his relationship with Tony for, like the previous series, he is much of the glue that keeps the stories together. I remember being depressed that the Blood Lines series ended, and I'm happy it's been picked up again for a few more rounds, even if it's with a new 'bloodline'.
The Shadowlord, an intriguing and unique enough villain, is well-written. It's not every day you read a book focused on living shadows that are part of a larger being. The story itself is a good one but the pacing is too slow for some areas; as an example, when emphasis is placed on Tony's day-to-day interactions on the stage set, none of this interested me and I kept gliding through passages where he chats with co-workers. Being boring is a book or movie's greatest sin, and while Smoke and Shadows never committed this crime exactly, it was sadly close some of the time.
Henry comes back and is as great as ever, I love the whole possessive type angle, but I found the whole "hunger" and "seduction" expression vague at best and over-used. There was no tension with these scenes, it was just written, no build-up and no description. This, thankfully, is a minor thing that did not distract me from the otherwise interesting and somewhat unique story that I enjoyed reading. Not a book you would be forced to read through in one sitting, forgoing sleep and other life needs, but a book that still keeps you drawn in just enough to keep wanting to reach the end line.
The negatives (and pluses) aside, I'm wanting to read more of the series. The ending of the book let loose some intriguing ideas about Tony's character that suddenly makes him more intriguing. I would like, of course, to keep seeing more of Henry and his relationship with Tony for, like the previous series, he is much of the glue that keeps the stories together. I remember being depressed that the Blood Lines series ended, and I'm happy it's been picked up again for a few more rounds, even if it's with a new 'bloodline'.
I'd enjoyed her vampire detective stories and this is a spin-off with some of the same characters. Dorky but fun. Yay fluff! (August 24, 2004)
Well, the author has some interesting ideas about what men do and do not do, mostly falling into toxic masculinity. "Men don't apologise" was news to me. Still, maybe men didn't apologize in 2005. What do I know?
Besides this poorly aged element of the book, I really enjoyed it. It's far from the height of literature, but it's a laugh, and worth the read.
The romance fell by the wayside for the plot, which is far from a criticism, it felt like treating gay characters like normal people, instead of people who's only personality is being gay. Probably for the best, as the only love interest Tony had any real connection with by the end was Henry, who he, quite rightfully, dumped before the events of this book. Maybe if Henry gets it together, I wouldn't mind them back together. If he's going to end up with Lee... Lord, I hope the man gets some development, he's dead boring. Still, I can't criticise this book for that, I've got two more to read yet.
The characters were honestly some of my favourites in a while. They felt real. Tony was a positive representation of a regular man, who just so happened to be gay. And, unlike most normal human protagonists facing supernatural threats, managed to not be utterly useless, even through his justifiable fear. Arra was complex, morally grey, and well written. As female characters usually barely exist in gaylit, (It's not really gaylit, just a book with a gay protagonist) it was fun to see one so well developed and three dimensional. Henry... Irritated me, but I do think his flaws are meant to be flaws, and I understand his draw, at the very least. Even the side characters managed to stand out from each other as individuals, rather than names on a page.
The plot isn't exactly deep, but it's fun, something worthy of a TV show Tony might work on and easily carried by the characters. Like I said, not the height of literature, but I feel Tony's fear and sense of helplessness, against a seemingly unbeatable enemy.
Well worth the read if you want something lighter and a little nostalgic, if you grew up watching the sort of TV that might include the plot "evil wizard controls shadows evilly."
Besides this poorly aged element of the book, I really enjoyed it. It's far from the height of literature, but it's a laugh, and worth the read.
The romance fell by the wayside for the plot, which is far from a criticism, it felt like treating gay characters like normal people, instead of people who's only personality is being gay. Probably for the best, as the only love interest Tony had any real connection with by the end was Henry, who he, quite rightfully, dumped before the events of this book. Maybe if Henry gets it together, I wouldn't mind them back together. If he's going to end up with Lee... Lord, I hope the man gets some development, he's dead boring. Still, I can't criticise this book for that, I've got two more to read yet.
The characters were honestly some of my favourites in a while. They felt real. Tony was a positive representation of a regular man, who just so happened to be gay. And, unlike most normal human protagonists facing supernatural threats, managed to not be utterly useless, even through his justifiable fear. Arra was complex, morally grey, and well written. As female characters usually barely exist in gaylit, (It's not really gaylit, just a book with a gay protagonist) it was fun to see one so well developed and three dimensional. Henry... Irritated me, but I do think his flaws are meant to be flaws, and I understand his draw, at the very least. Even the side characters managed to stand out from each other as individuals, rather than names on a page.
The plot isn't exactly deep, but it's fun, something worthy of a TV show Tony might work on and easily carried by the characters. Like I said, not the height of literature, but I feel Tony's fear and sense of helplessness, against a seemingly unbeatable enemy.
Well worth the read if you want something lighter and a little nostalgic, if you grew up watching the sort of TV that might include the plot "evil wizard controls shadows evilly."
This first book in a new series is very gripping. My only wish is that the author had given a tad more description of Tony but piecing together almost works. A young Brad Pitt :-)
Okay, so right up front: I don't love Tony Foster the way I love Vicki Nelson. But Tanya Huff gives a really enjoyable supernatural thriller, and I love the nods to Canadian television production. Fun, quick, and endearing.