Swallowing Darkness (Meredith Gentry, Book 7)
by Laurell K. Hamilton
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Book Reviews of Swallowing Darkness (Meredith Gentry, Book 7)
Book Review: Now this is the Merry we were waiting for!
Summary: 5 Stars
Swallowing Darkness (Meredith Gentry, Book 7)
*** Contains spoilers***
I have been a dedicated reader of both Merry and Anita since the start. I think both series have gotten a bit of track with the erotic situations becoming dominant in the books. Not so in this one. I have been very frustrated with LKH for making the books into 1 hour of time so that by the end, you feel very unsatisfied. This book has full forward moving plot.
To address the concerns of the reviewer below me a bit....
Doyle got a weapon he didn't use. I think it was being saved for the next book. I was satisfied with Merry using hers! Doyle is so powerful that I would not have liked to have seen his weapon use just thrown in there just to see it.
Merry had the ability to call those with fairy blood to her. Why wasn't this developed? One name. Dawson. I think that was sufficient and had enough depth right there. Again if she suddenly called half the city, it would cheapen the connection, don't you think?
"Why did Sholto listen to Merry's aunt? He said the queen had forbade him to participate? We had been told in previous books that the Queen was afraid of the slaugh." The sluagh are the queen's last defense that she has control of. Sholto swore allegiance to her remember? Yes she is afraid of them, thats why she uses them!
"The Goddess talked to Merry about what was going to happen if the court refused to accept her." The court has not had the chance yet to refuse her. She has not taken the Unseelie throne.
Queen Andais was not in the book much. True. After the last few though, it was good to concentrate on other battles/characters.
On a whole I believe the book could have been longer. But* the story actually moved forward and it was engaging. The sex took a back seat and things progressed.
And to respond to one final reviewers point... I believe Merry changed at the end because of things like the rape. I know victims of rape and they all handle it differently. But Merry changing her personality a bit? That makes a lot of sense considering what has happened to her!
Over all, a very good read. I have been waiting for this book since Caress. I just hope the next one comes a bit sooner and Anita is put off until later.
Book Review: A Modern Fairytale (Faerie-tale?)
Summary: 4 Stars
Having read some of the other reviews (several of them scathing) and seen the break-down of the ratings people have given Swallowing Darkness, it seems like this is a book that readers love or hate, with very little middle ground. This speaks well of Ms. Hamilton's skills, since readers have apparently come to care deeply for Merry and her men. I, for one, really enjoyed Swallowing Darkness. I feel that the characters remain true to themselves, even when they reveal different facets of themselves than those that we've become used to. The situation has changed; events have taken on a momentum of their own, and sex and intrigue take a backseat to survival.
The action runs pretty much full-tilt as the events that have been set in motion come together with a resounding crash (and boom, thud, crunch), reminding us that the passion in these characters can be as easily turned to passionate violence as it can to passionate sex, especially when they are fighting desperately to save all that they hold dear. Matters are complicated slightly by the fact that "all they hold dear" doesn't necessarily mean what our protagonists thought it did back at the beginning of the series. The old power of Faerie is being reborn all around them with Merry and her unborn children as its catalysts, making them universal targets for those who would possess her or kill her to prevent others from making use of her. Naturally, this being Merry, she refuses to be thrust into the "damsel in distress" role as she and her allies fight desperately to prove themselves a force to be reckoned with rather than used as pawns. This leads them all through hard choices as they are forced to decide what their true priorities are with their loves, lives, and ambitions hanging in the balance. The choices that people make and their consequences are handled in a fashion reminiscent of classic fairytales and old legends, which seems only fitting given the nature of the story and of the protagonists.
All in all, I would say this is a good read for folks that enjoyed the other books in the series, especially if they've been missing the action elements that characterized the earlier volumes. No, not every plot thread or character is wrapped up as neatly as it might have been, but that's the way life works: when things get messy and complicated, sometimes it's enough to know how things work out for those closest to you and let the rest take care of itself for a while.
Book Review: Do authors read this?
Summary: 1 Stars
I read in another reviewer's comments that this was the last in the series. Huh...well...you wouldn't know it by reading the book. Since Hamilton left characters and situations hanging all over. When I started this book I was pleasantly surprised on two accounts. First Hamilton managed a catchy beginning by bringing up the rape cliffhanger from the previous book. Then she somehow dug really deep and did not bring up sex for a whole 150 pages....aaaannnnd that's about the only two nice things I can say.
On the down side, the rape situation was dropped and never came to a closure. Apparently it was way more important to laminate over Frost turning into a stag because, you know, even though he is alive and will probably get his life back in another 100 years that wasn't good enough for the character. Hamilton (in her like and continous fashion of not being able to separate Anita from Merry) turned Merry into a selfish puck. If Merry was truly the giving, loving soul, Hamilton tries to paint her as, she would love him enough ('cause, you know, the character "says" she loves him) to be happy that he is okay, not hurting, and will be fine. Her character is the only one hurting and apparently (again, Anita like selfishness) that is all that matters.
The reader is then treated to the condescending VOICE normally found in the Anita Blake series. Now we have the character, Merry, "explaining" things to the reader. (You know, cause we be two stupid to figure it out so we needs Hamilton to spell it out four us.) Near the end of the book I wished I made tally marks for every time the character thought in her head these words: "some people may think . . . but." Another sore spot for me was that for several books now, it was pointed out that once Merry got pregnant she would "marry" the father of her child and become monogamous. Well, ho!ho! Apparently, Hamilton decided to pull another Anita switchero and decided..."What? Monogamous? Who said anything about monogamous? Phewy! Everyone knows only the men are monogamous in Hamilton books!" Then, Hamilton noticed there were two men Merry hadn't done the nasty with so she threw those two in for kicks and giggles.
I think I'm at the point where I read Hamilton's books just so I review them. I'm enjoying trashing her novels more than I enjoy reading them. But, hey, you got to get your kicks somewhere;-)
Book Review: Scary Fairy.
Summary: 1 Stars
Apparently in answer to her critics who regularly cite the lack of plots as a major problem with her books, Laurell K. Hamilton has attempted to address the issue in her latest release.
The unspeakably named "Swallowing Darkness" has LOTS of plots. They don't make much sense, they're not connected to what has already happened in the series, & several are very silly, but it's a start. Unfortunately the author's technique means the plots are little more than an array of undeveloped ideas. Such resolution that occurs is as a quick afterthought, & many of the characters behave, well, uncharacteristically, as has already been pointed out in a previous review.
Merry herself is developing, seemingly into the author's favourite character. Now we have a cranky psycho that kills people when she's not having sex with weird looking men, & has serious family issues. Remind you of anyone?
Mercifully there's less sex than in the last Anita Blake novel,but its still earnestly written as if the author were taking notes for a 1970's sex researcher. Clinical descriptions of bad sex aren't erotic, but perhaps that's just me.
Along with the mysterious changes in characters' motivations & personalities, we're expected to swallow (sorry) that there aren't any problems associated with Merry being raped by her uncle. Yes, she can't remember it, but for heaven's sake! To have such a strong ending to the last Merry book followed by this cop out is ridiculous.
If the author wishes to engage with challenging subject matter such as rape, incest & paedophilia (see "Kitto" in the Merry series & "Nathaniel" in the Anita Blake books) it's essential that the issues be treated seriously. To flirt with such important socially unacceptable & criminal practices without depth or full exploration of the consequences is trivializing the behaviour & must be offensive to victims of these crimes in real life. We're left with the unavoidable conclusion that it's in there for titillation, & surely the author doesn't mean this.
Laurell K. Hamilton needs to spend more time on some basics - developing the plot in a consistent & believable way for one. Many of the problems with this book come across as simple shoddy workmanship. Rigorous rewriting, some strong editing & time spent planning would have made for a much better book.
Book Review: Simply...boring.
Summary: 1 Stars
There was a time when I could sit and read a novel by Hamilton within a matter of hours. This was not the case with Swallowing Darkness. This book (as well as the last Anita Blake book) was so boring I skipped huge portions of it. I know this might not sound like a large insult, but coming from someone who absolutely hates spoilers and chapter skipping it is the very worst kind of insult.
Swallowing Darkness is a very poorly written book to say the least. Almost every worthwhile aspect of her writing is lacking or simply nonexistent. Hamilton's vivid descriptions, which have become a staple in her novels, are completely lackluster. They are oddly worded and broken into short sentences that, when added together, are not only confusing but downright ugly. Several times I found the letters on the page blurring in my vision as my thoughts wandered elsewhere. Keep in mind I am reading this at work, to give you a better idea of how bad this is.
This isn't to say that the book doesn't have plot. There is plenty of plot, most of which is so badly transitioned it seems as if Merry's world now exists outside of time and space. Hamilton uses magic as her primary way of explaining almost every event that happens. She does this so many times that even in a fantasy novel it becomes unbelievable. That or a conversation between Merry and her men will occur that briefly alludes to Sidhe lore. Lore that is dismissed and left unexplained, robbing the reader of any sort of cohesive explanation for what is happening. It would seem as if Hamilton is bypassing an excellent opportunity to fill pages while at the same time giving foundation to all the magic in the story. But alas, no such luck.
To add to the absurdity of the book, there are several conversations in Swallowing Darkness where Merry is surrounded by her bevy of men and being heralded as the only woman in all of the whole world who has a kind enough heart to not treat her beautiful, loyal men as utter trash. If that isn't a stretch I don't know what is. I'm sure she is the only woman in the world who could love such beautiful, loyal men. *gag*
I can understand reading some of her earlier works as a "guilty pleasure," but Swallowing Darkness goes so far beyond that as to be a pure waste of time.