Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1)
by Karen Chance
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.75 You Save: $6.24 (78%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1)
Book Review: Entertaining and surprising - a fun read
Summary: 4 Stars
Why did it take me so long to start this series? At least I have the rest of the series to look forward to. This was a very entertaining book -- a great entrant into the erratic field of urban fantasy. The main character starts off as a realist who is being hunted and is not overtly powerful. There is a strong sense of humor in the book, which I always appreciate. And while sex and romance plays a role, it does not take over the action, as it does in many of the books in this field. And, as a reader of MANY of these series, I can usually predict where books will go with story lines. Not this time! I was happily surprised by some of the developments -- particularly the relationship issues. And, importantly, these developments were consistent to the story -- not a plot device out of the blue.
My only criticism -- and the reason for 4 stars instead of 5 -- is that the world-building, which is so critical in the first book, can be overwhelming. Rather than constructing a plot that lets the reader learn details gradually over several books, we're dropped into the world immediately. It can be confusing. There are multiple entities, creatures, and coalitions to follow. The rules of magic and power are not that clear. It does not, however, detract from the overall enjoyment.
For reference: I love urban fantasy -- where magical creatures meet the "real world" -- like Patricia Briggs, Jenna Maclaine, Ilona Andrews, Devon Monk, Charlaine Harris, Eileen Wilks, Katie MacAlister (dragon series), Marjorie Liu, Nalini Singh, and Carrie Vaughn (I've only read one so far), and now Karen Chance. I also like Kim Harrison, but for some reason her books seem to be in a slightly different category. I also love Jim Butcher. I'm also going to read Rachel Caine next. For some reason I didn't appreciate Jeaniene Frost's or Jenna Black's books. And I no longer read Laurell Hamilton's books (I don't mean to start the debate -- I don't presume to tell the author how to write her books, I just choose not to read them. I'd appreciate the same courtesy from others and not have people yell at me for my decision).
Book Review: Nothing too new or too orginal!
Summary: 2 Stars
Cassie Palmer has been on the run for some time from the vampire (Mafia like Tony) who killed her parents and adopted her to gain or use her clairvoyant powers. Escaping from one situation after another, Cassie learns that everyone isn't what they appear. Gaining new powers (that she is reluctant to accept and barely understands), Cassie finds out that the supernatural world is not for the faint of heart. As dark and light forces, the Senate, the Council, and other deadly foe struggle for control over Cassie, we are introduced to a world where weres, satyrs, mages, witches and vampires, are all vying for the ultimate power that will allow them to rule the supernatural world. Is she merely a pawn to gain control or does she truly weld true power?
From my brief description, I am sure you think that I enjoyed the story, but NOT really. There was nothing really new about this paranormal tale. There is a woman with paranormal powers (some of which are still evolving) that everyone wants, who also is in lust with a sexy, dangerous vampire or two. (This of course reminds me of Hamilton's Anita Blake series which I don't really care for.) And while I enjoy, LA Banks, Kelley Armstrong, and Sherrilyn Kenyon (other authors in the paranormal arena), this reminded me of Hamilton minus the orgies to gain the power (which I fear may be next). Anyway, the entire story is setting up future novels, and while some of it was interesting, it took way too long to get to the point (which I am not sure it ever did before its abrupt conclusion). There were some scenes that could have been shortened and still the reader would have gotten the point. And while I somewhat enjoyed hearing about the woman with the outfit made of living snakes; the mage who had an arsenal of weapons (Pritkin); and Cassie's sizzling wards; and some hot vamps (Tomas and Mircea), it was not enough there to make me run out and get the entire series and "devour" it. So with that said, I am not so sure that I would read another Chance novel unless someone could assure me that they have improved.
Book Review: Weak lead, no plot, laughable villains, terrible dialogue
Summary: 1 Stars
All this book has brought me are headdesks and shouts of, "Why!? WHY!?"
The main character is ridiculously dense and unlikeable. Through the whole book, Cassie is either freaking out unnecessarily, or getting angry over benign situations. I'm honestly surprised this character can even figure out how to put on her hooker-wear in the morning; she's brainless and I spent most of the book slapping my forehead at the stupid decisions she made.
The writing is terrible, mainly because the author can't even stand to stay in her own scenes long enough for them to go anywhere. Chance does not know how to incorporate her characters' backgrounds (or even useless facts) gracefully. Instead of making it a smooth transition, or just *gasp* leaving out things that will never matter ever again, she steps out of the story, takes two (or more!) full pages to explain it and then comes back to the scene. The problem with this is that, by the time you get back to the actual story, you're left feeling bewildered and wondering what end of the rabbit hole you just tumbled out of.
The characterisation is laughable at best, with all the vampires being nothing more than one-note rip-offs of characters /other authors/ previously made up. The story clunks along, often making no sense, which is unfortunate. I could handle a stump-brained lead character if the the story going on around her made any sense and/or was at all interesting. This book did not engross me at all, past making me laugh at how inconsistant and bad it was. Edited: I previously had a bit here that incorrectly suggested that Chance had not researched the history she put into the book. I have taken this out, as it was explained to me, kindly, that I was wrong.
Overall I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless they were asking me for examples of unlikeable Mary-Sues surrounded by uninteresting hijinks caused by brainless vampires.
If you like good writing, don't buy this book. If you like Laurell K. Hamilton, you will probably love this book.
Book Review: Has potential as a series....but disappointing as a first book
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm going to try not to give too much away, but for anyone with strict limits about NOT knowing what happens, you might not want to read further... :)
Well, after reading several reviews and being addicted to other novels of the genre (Laurell K Hamilton's first 8 or so novels of the Anita Blake series were amazing, Kelley Armstrong writes a great Otherworld series, and Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan books are a ton of fun), I looked forward to this one. It has a great start - the energy is fast-paced and I really got into it. As a matter of fact, I went online and put the next book in her series (not to be released until Spring 2007) on my wish list after reading only a few chapters....
But unfortunately, the book didn't pan out. There was too much conversation in awkward moments, and not enough action. Sure, there were moments where a lot was going on, but they were greatly outweighed by extensive discussions about the magical world. Also, the end felt really muddled because I wasn't sure which "side" I should be on, and even when it seemed a bit more obvious I was kind of annoyed that there wasn't more of a plot twist.
I LOVED that some of the vampires were based on historical characters, but the novelty of that was lost when I didn't get a feel that any character really had a distinct personality.... and am I the only one who thought Tomas should have been more of a focus, rather than the (dun dun dunnn!) rather annoying twist in the end that wasn't really a twist since the author wrote him to be a character of questionable motives all along? Perhaps I'm just sulking, but I thought Cassie's chosen alternative was a bit predictable and boring... and her attraction to him happened too suddenly.
Ok, so now that the griping is over, I'll admit that I'll probably give Karen Chance another shot and see where the second book takes Cassandra's character. I'm hoping for some major plot twists, though, to get this series off the ground. :-)
Book Review: Jarring and disappointing...
Summary: 2 Stars
This book has been in my TBR pile for a very long time. That is because I thought it sounded fabulous and I was saving it until I wanted to treat myself. I don't know why but I just thought this was going to be something special. I did the same thing with the Ilona Andrew's "Magic" series and wasn't disappointed. Unfortunately I can't say the same thing here. The first chapter or so was fine. I didn't really understand everything going on but I figured in due time it would all be explained and make sense. Not so much. There were so many seperate plots and so many different groups with different motives, and so many different supernatural species that I was hopelessly lost. To add to that confusion, Cassie, our heroine, has special powers. She is clairvoant, she can talk to ghosts, she can enter other people's bodies, she can go into the past, and oh yeah, she has a magical tatoo on her back. All of these powers probably should have been slowly revealed over the course of the book (or better yet, over the series of books). So many times, I lost track of what was going on or who was who. This just shouldn't happen in a fiction story. Now, I did give this book two stars so there are some positives. I kinda like Cassie, and I definitely like her ghostly sidekick. There are some characters I can't decide if I like or hate, so there is at least a little intrigue there. If this book would have been one of the plots to kill Cassie, by one of the organizations in the book it would have been a decent book I think. It was just so overwhelming. I feel like the trips back stopped the momentum when things started to get interesting in the present. I really like the scens where there was a lot of dialouge. I think that dialogue is a stregnth of the author's. Above all, I gave this story two stars because despite all my frustrations with it, I immediately started the second in the series. I am about 100 pages into it, and so far its about a thousand times better than this messy story.