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jezebelsk's review against another edition
4.0
Burning Water is part of the Diana Tregarde Investigation series. It was my first of this series, in fact, my first Mercedes Lackey at all! This mystery series is thrown on end by the fact that there are paranormal events occuring, and Diana is a witch.
Diana is called to Texas to help an old college buddy, Mark, catch a serial killer. Mark is a cop on the Dallas police force, and he has mediumistic talents. Mark is certain that these brutal killings have a pranormal spin to them.
The book follows Diana and Mark through their investigation. They have to consult the experts in the field - mediums, gypsies, brujeiras and the like. Although Diana is strong, the force she is fighting seems determined to beat her, kill her.
I found the book very interesting. I have no idea how true these legends and ceremonies are. Frankly, I don't care. It's a paranormal mystery with good characters, and I plan on reading more from the series.
Diana is called to Texas to help an old college buddy, Mark, catch a serial killer. Mark is a cop on the Dallas police force, and he has mediumistic talents. Mark is certain that these brutal killings have a pranormal spin to them.
The book follows Diana and Mark through their investigation. They have to consult the experts in the field - mediums, gypsies, brujeiras and the like. Although Diana is strong, the force she is fighting seems determined to beat her, kill her.
I found the book very interesting. I have no idea how true these legends and ceremonies are. Frankly, I don't care. It's a paranormal mystery with good characters, and I plan on reading more from the series.
brisauce's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
wanderinglynn's review against another edition
1.0
A paranormal series before "paranormal" was a trendy thing. But I simply couldn't get into it. I found it a bit slow and predictable (at least what I read). And it felt a bit dated (it was written in the 80s). So with many other books on the to-read pile, I decided not to force myself to finish it. Sadly, this one goes in the DNF pile.
myth's review against another edition
3.0
This isn't the first time I've read this. I went through a craze several years ago where I tried to read everything Mercedes Lackey had ever written, and this one, along with select books out of the Heralds of Valdemar series, is one of the ones that I still like.
The good? It's a portrayal of strong women written in the eighties, when the rapetastic Old Skool romances were still being written (not that they're not being written now, unfortunately, it's just a much less widespread phenomenon. Also, nowadays it is often diluted into stalking/emotional abuse/extreme possessiveness=sexy, which... no. And it often involves the supernatural, maybe in an attempt to justify it in some way? This is a topic for another time)
This book is one of a trilogy, though I think she meant it to be a longer series. They include werewolves and vampires (though the vampires are more psychic vampires than blood-drinking ones. Sort of. It has both, okay?) and witches. A strong heroine, men who don't see it as a problem, men who she is just good friends with, men (or a vampire) who thinks it's sexy as hell. Aztec gods. Loving and longing from a distance. Women who get along. On paper (no pun originally intended)? This book sounds like the best book ever, tailor-made to fit my interests. That's how I feel about a lot of ML's books, actually - in theory, they are perfect.
Because I'm contrary, I of course have some problems with them.
My main problem is that Di is just so damn preachy. About everything. She is the most open-minded person on the planet, and she will tell you so. And that you should be more open-minded. And that your third cousin twice removed should be more open-minded. I am all for open-mindedness. I love open-mindedness. I write entire papers about open-mindedness. But I feel the same way about telling people to be open-minded as I do about Avatar telling people to save the trees, dammit. It doesn't work if you beat them over the head with it, and to those of us who agree with you, it's downright annoying to have it every five pages or so.
Also, Di just bugs me sometimes. I should like her, and often I do, but sometimes I just want to shake her and be like 'stop going on and on about how open-minded you are! Stop being so infernally omniscient! Have a little more difficulty in taking on a freaking god!' (the ironic thing is that ML has Di tell an aspiring writer the same thing in another book)
Oh, and did you notice how often I used italics up there? Was the enforced stress beginning to hurt your brain? Try reading three hundred and twelve pages of it.
I don't remember the other two being like that, and I should probably mention that they were published out of chronological order if you're thinking about picking them up. Burning Water is smack-dab in the middle chronologically but published first, and unfortunately, that reflects poorly on Di, since you can see more development in the first (chronological) one.
Please don't take all of the above as meaning I don't like the book. I do. I wouldn't reread it so many times if I didn't. It's just that Mercedes Lackey almost always does these things, and after a while you begin to sense a pattern. And a little while after that, you begin to wonder why Diana has to be so crazily and amazingly awesome without being shown that she's worked for it while the narrative keeps telling us that it is showing us that she's working for it.
I give it a 3.5/5, partially for nostalgia, partially because it introduced me to Aztec mythology, and partially because it is advertised as a mystery and you do really want to figure out who the hell is killing every-freaking-body.
The good? It's a portrayal of strong women written in the eighties, when the rapetastic Old Skool romances were still being written (not that they're not being written now, unfortunately, it's just a much less widespread phenomenon. Also, nowadays it is often diluted into stalking/emotional abuse/extreme possessiveness=sexy, which... no. And it often involves the supernatural, maybe in an attempt to justify it in some way? This is a topic for another time)
This book is one of a trilogy, though I think she meant it to be a longer series. They include werewolves and vampires (though the vampires are more psychic vampires than blood-drinking ones. Sort of. It has both, okay?) and witches. A strong heroine, men who don't see it as a problem, men who she is just good friends with, men (or a vampire) who thinks it's sexy as hell. Aztec gods. Loving and longing from a distance. Women who get along. On paper (no pun originally intended)? This book sounds like the best book ever, tailor-made to fit my interests. That's how I feel about a lot of ML's books, actually - in theory, they are perfect.
Because I'm contrary, I of course have some problems with them.
My main problem is that Di is just so damn preachy. About everything. She is the most open-minded person on the planet, and she will tell you so. And that you should be more open-minded. And that your third cousin twice removed should be more open-minded. I am all for open-mindedness. I love open-mindedness. I write entire papers about open-mindedness. But I feel the same way about telling people to be open-minded as I do about Avatar telling people to save the trees, dammit. It doesn't work if you beat them over the head with it, and to those of us who agree with you, it's downright annoying to have it every five pages or so.
Also, Di just bugs me sometimes. I should like her, and often I do, but sometimes I just want to shake her and be like 'stop going on and on about how open-minded you are! Stop being so infernally omniscient! Have a little more difficulty in taking on a freaking god!' (the ironic thing is that ML has Di tell an aspiring writer the same thing in another book)
Oh, and did you notice how often I used italics up there? Was the enforced stress beginning to hurt your brain? Try reading three hundred and twelve pages of it.
I don't remember the other two being like that, and I should probably mention that they were published out of chronological order if you're thinking about picking them up. Burning Water is smack-dab in the middle chronologically but published first, and unfortunately, that reflects poorly on Di, since you can see more development in the first (chronological) one.
Please don't take all of the above as meaning I don't like the book. I do. I wouldn't reread it so many times if I didn't. It's just that Mercedes Lackey almost always does these things, and after a while you begin to sense a pattern. And a little while after that, you begin to wonder why Diana has to be so crazily and amazingly awesome without being shown that she's worked for it while the narrative keeps telling us that it is showing us that she's working for it.
I give it a 3.5/5, partially for nostalgia, partially because it introduced me to Aztec mythology, and partially because it is advertised as a mystery and you do really want to figure out who the hell is killing every-freaking-body.
julieputty's review against another edition
3.0
A few of Lackey's quirks started driving me mad. Who says "ack emma" instead of "a.m."? Maybe some people do, but everyone in this book does. The climax of the book was a severe letdown, and the magic seems rather vague and ill-defined. But it was very readable.
Oh, lordy. I nearly forgot that she wrote out accents. DON'T DO THAT! Infuriating.
Oh, lordy. I nearly forgot that she wrote out accents. DON'T DO THAT! Infuriating.
bibliotropic's review against another edition
4.0
Mercedes Lackey admitted to writing the Diana Tregarde books because paranormal investigations were big at the time and she had no problem with making a little cash by playing the fads. I’m glad that she did, because although the series isn’t fantastic, it’s still very entertaining to read through. In this one, Diana is called upon to help with a police investigation of a serial murder, and ends up getting tangled up in the middle of a plot to resurrect ancient Aztec gods into modern-day (or relatively modern, at least) Dallas.
I admit, it’s a little disconcerting to read Burning Water and seeing the remarkably un-PC language used throughout. References to “Indians”, “krauts”, and “gypsies” are littered through the pages, terms which people don’t tend to use anymore unless they want to get glared at on the street and called ignorant. Sometimes I had to make myself take a step back and remember that this was all written before PC language was really coming into its heyday, and such terms, while not perfectly acceptable, were still in more common use, and so in context, it’s not that unusual to see them mentioned.
That being said, the attitude towards paganism as a relgion as expressed in the novel is rather ahead of its time, given that even today, 20 years later, some people still don’t have that level of understanding when it comes to non-Abrahamic religions. The idea that there’s no one true way seems to be a common theme in Lackey’s work, though, and so it was no surprise to see it echoed here.
The writing style is still very early-Lackey, lacking some of the polish she attained with more practice, though it still shows a lot of promise of what’s to come, all the good bits that I like about her writing. True to style, too, it’s a rather large amount of build-up, finding the pieces of the puzzle, and a then a relatively short period of high-action tense conclusion at the end.
Burning Water‘s ending was interesting because although there was a conclusion to the immediate problem, it was still remarkably open-ended and unfinished. The immediate resurrection plot ends, but the god is not destroyed, not even really defeated or even daunted, and the reader is left with a slight feeling of incompletion. Which, I have no doubt, was the entire point. The battle was won, but the war goes on, and when one is dealing with things on a scale as grand as gods, you often can’t expect much better at the end.
Definitely a book worth reading if you’re into Lackey’s work or you enjoy a good paranormal investigation that doesn’t get bogged down in being overly dark and gritty.
I admit, it’s a little disconcerting to read Burning Water and seeing the remarkably un-PC language used throughout. References to “Indians”, “krauts”, and “gypsies” are littered through the pages, terms which people don’t tend to use anymore unless they want to get glared at on the street and called ignorant. Sometimes I had to make myself take a step back and remember that this was all written before PC language was really coming into its heyday, and such terms, while not perfectly acceptable, were still in more common use, and so in context, it’s not that unusual to see them mentioned.
That being said, the attitude towards paganism as a relgion as expressed in the novel is rather ahead of its time, given that even today, 20 years later, some people still don’t have that level of understanding when it comes to non-Abrahamic religions. The idea that there’s no one true way seems to be a common theme in Lackey’s work, though, and so it was no surprise to see it echoed here.
The writing style is still very early-Lackey, lacking some of the polish she attained with more practice, though it still shows a lot of promise of what’s to come, all the good bits that I like about her writing. True to style, too, it’s a rather large amount of build-up, finding the pieces of the puzzle, and a then a relatively short period of high-action tense conclusion at the end.
Burning Water‘s ending was interesting because although there was a conclusion to the immediate problem, it was still remarkably open-ended and unfinished. The immediate resurrection plot ends, but the god is not destroyed, not even really defeated or even daunted, and the reader is left with a slight feeling of incompletion. Which, I have no doubt, was the entire point. The battle was won, but the war goes on, and when one is dealing with things on a scale as grand as gods, you often can’t expect much better at the end.
Definitely a book worth reading if you’re into Lackey’s work or you enjoy a good paranormal investigation that doesn’t get bogged down in being overly dark and gritty.
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