Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

First line: I remember lying in the snow, a small red spot of warm going [...]

Initial thoughts: This book caught my eye months ago and I immediately added it to my wishlist and patiently waited for it to be released, but color me surprised (and excited) when the kind Sarah from Scholastic sent me my very own ARC.

I read the first few chapters instantly and so far, the writing is lovely. There’s an ethereal quality to it that I think I’m going to enjoy. And from those first few pages, I can already tell it’s going to be a take no prisoners, sweet and tragic type of book. Needless to say, I can’t wait to finish it.

(Though I am a little worried because the early reviews mention tears and needing tissue…)

Book description:

the cold.

Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn’t know why.

the heat.

Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace…until now.

the shiver.

For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it’s spoken, it cannot be denied. Same must fight to stay human–and Grace must fight to keep him–even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

Book Details: 400 pages; Scholastic Press; Pub. August 1, 2009

Back Cover of Magic Bites

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic…

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…

Three Quick Points About Magic Bites

• Point 1: The prose and pacing are exquisitely done. The book is smartly written without being pretentious and urges you forward without shoving you down a flight of stairs. It’s evident that the word selection and syntax were assembled with care.
• Point 2: This novel is a perfect exercise in world-building. Set in a future version of Atlanta ravaged by magic, the descriptions are vividly dark and disturbingly crafted. It becomes real.
• Point 3: What, no sparkly, beautiful, or dangerously seductive vampires? Nope. In this book, vampires veer from the contemporary norm. They are hideous quadrupedal humanoids continually degrading into something much worse—”an abomination in progress.”

Full Review of Magic Bites

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Magic Bites Synopsis

In Magic Bites, Kate Daniels receives a cryptic message prompting her to check on her guardian. (When I first saw the term ‘guardian’, I thought it was some sort of super/preternatural type of guardian–it’s her legal guardian.) When she checks up on him, she learns that he’s been murdered.

After kicking up a bit of dust, she’s allowed to investigate his murder. She even receives some help to grease the wheels. During her investigation, she learns that her guardian was getting close to discovering a conspiracy that he shouldn’t have been.

After a bit more digging, Kate learns that there have been multiple deaths within two opposing groups in this world ruled by magic. In order to stop a complete uprising and war between these two groups, the Pack (shapechangers) and the People (necromancers), Kate needs to figure out what’s really behind the murders.

What results is that Kate brings us on a super/preternatural mystery complete with red herrings and all. Although it’s not a traditional mystery in the Agatha Christie sense, we do get to sit back and watch Kate piece together the clues to find out who’s behind the mysterious killings.

Eventually, with much ado, Kate and company finally manage to figure out who it is and Kate kicks herself when she looks at how obvious the answer should have been from the beginning. But, frankly, it’s easy to overlook. (Trying desperately to avoid spoilers.) Essentially, this book is like following Kate as she comes across a variety of cast members while venturing into the new-to-her field of sleuthing.

Final Thoughts On Magic Bites

My first thought after shutting Magic Bites was this is how a supernatural/preternatural fantasy book should be written. The strongest point of the book is the world created; the tearing down of the Atlanta we all know and the rebuilding of a dark, dilapidated, and disturbing place complete with menacing creatures and a new code of conduct.

The book is told from the point of view of Kate Daniels, a mercenary. She’s a spunky, in your face, get things done the hard way kind of girl. Being inside her head for the entire 260 page book wasn’t bad. She was rather entertaining. The only tough humps were the moments when she was down on herself physically. When she was ragging on herself, she really ragged and that did become a little annoying.

While the characters were also well crafted–Kate Daniels and Curran (the scary, and yet somehow sexy, Lord of the Free Beasts) in particular–a few did seem off somehow. Most notably was Bono. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about how the character was crafted rang false. Another qualm I had with the book was the various new agencies (and their abbreviations) thrown at the reader. It’s a little overwhelming to keep track of who they are, what their purpose is, and what they’re actually doing, but as the story moves forward, it does become easier to manage.

Those small points aside, Magic Bites was easily read in a single sitting. The descriptions of the people and settings were vivid enough to place the reader in the story while leaving enough room for the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks. The prose was clever, well thought out without being pretentious or forced; it was very natural to read from one sentence to the next and one page to the next. It had a little bit of everything: superficial romance, depraved bad guys, and bloody battles. Overall, it was a highly enjoyable read.

Rating: Worth every penny (?)

Get Magic Bites from Amazon.com

From the Back Cover of Nightlife

There are monsters among us. There always have been and there always will be. I’ve known that since I can remember, just like I’ve always known I was one…

…Well, half of one, anyway.

Welcome to the Big Apple. There’s a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side—and that’s only the beginning. Of course, most humans are oblivious to the preternatural nightlife around them, but Cal Leandros is only half human.

His father’s dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares–and he and his entire otherworldly race are after Cal. Why? Cal hasn’t exactly wanted to stick around long enough to find out.

He and his half brother, Niko, have managed to stay a step ahead for four years, but now Cal’s dad has found them again. And Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they’ve always wanted him: He is the key to unleashing their hell on earth. The fate of the human world will be decided in the fight of Cal’s life….

Three Quick Points About Nightlife

• Point 1: If you were to remove all the adjectives and adverbs from the book, it would probably shrink by about 60 pages. Being a lover of adjectives and adverbs, it pains me to say this, but there’s a limit to their use. They should be treated like a fine and potent spice–use only as much as necessary or the entire dish could be spoiled.
• Point 2: This Cal character is a sardonically wonderful guy. The novel got heavy at times and it felt like trudging through mud, but the twisted humor injected through Cal’s voice certainly helped to balance it out.
• Point 3: What happened to the climax? The build up is good, the tension is there, and you’re poised, ready to see what dark and ominous creatures spring forth to tear the main characters into shreds, and then…wha…that’s it?

The Full Review of Nightlife

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Nightlife Synopsis

Two brothers, Cal (short for Caliban) and Niko Leandros, are on the run from things they call Grendels, which they later find out are actually called the Auphe. The Auphe are completely depraved creatures who enjoy the slaughter of others for simple entertainment value. At one point in history they were on top of the world–the most fearsome creatures, but when the humans came along the Auphe’s numbers dwindled and there was a massive power shift. They hatched a plan to correct the imbalance and it involved creating a human-Auphe hybrid. That hybrid was Cal.

When Cal was fourteen, he was kidnapped and dragged through a portal by the Auphe. In the process, his unloving mother was killed and it seemed his older half-brother was too. But Niko survived and waited for two days at the spot where he’d seen them take Cal. When Cal finally came back at the end of those two days, he was two years older–apparently time flowed differently in the Auphe’s realm–and he didn’t remember anything.

Cal and Niko found themselves in New York where Cal worked nights in a jerkwater bar and Niko spent some of his time helping out in a dojo and guarding bodies. The life they’d carved out for themselves took a drastic change when Niko discovers and kills a lone Auphe. After being fed some faulty information by a young, genuine psychic (who Cal has feelings for, but it’s never realized or developed in the storyline), the two are a bit more confused about whether to leave or stay in New York. Cal wanted to stay, but Niko says it’s time to leave and Niko usually wins.

Unfortunately, the car breaks down which means they won’t be going anywhere until they can get a new one. In the course of trying to find some reliable transportation, they meet Robin Fellows, used car salesman extraordinaire, also known as Robin Goodfellow aka Puck, a mischievous, egotistical and lecherous elf.

The newly formed trio find themselves on an adventure to discover the reason for the Auphe’s indefatigable pursuit of Cal. Of course, it’s because they need him to take over the world. During their adventure, the three battle a troll, some Auphe, and Cal is possessed by a Darkling on the Auphe’s payroll. All of this eventually leads up to the climax that never was.

Final Thoughts on Nightlife

Frankly, I’m still debating whether or not I liked it. Well, I did enjoy it, up until the climax that never came. As a result, I’m leery of reading the second book in the series, Moonshine, which I already have sitting on my bookshelf. There was nothing in Nightlife which shoved me into the next one. Let me try to explain as best I can without giving up any spoilers…

In Nightlife, Cal’s character was amazingly well developed. His character grows on you. Once you open yourself to his personality and his view of the world, you begin to sympathize with him. Of course, his telling you that he’s a monster every few pages does wear a bit thin, but you learn to gloss over it.

On the flip side of the coin is his older half-brother Niko. Now, it’s not difficult to like Niko except that Niko isn’t nearly as well-developed a character. Throughout, it felt as though Niko was only a slightly modified version of Cal’s alter ego. As readers, we’re told that Niko is a super intelligent jedi ninja master, but his actual character falls short of all that. The only thing that’s shown to us is that he’s a health food nut who speaks like he stepped out of the 17th century. He seems no more skilled, talented, or intelligent than Cal and overall, he seems very Cal-esque.

The novel does a good job, however, introducing (albeit fleetingly) other characters which would do especially well in future installments of the series. Off the top of my head, I’d like to see more development with Georgina, the young psychic who Cal has a romantic interest in, Promise Nottinger, a beautiful vampire who Niko has a romantic interest in, and even Robin Goodfellow.

Moving away from the characters, the prose of the novel fluctuates between being crisply written and trying too hard. Since it’s written from Cal’s point of view, sometimes it seems as though he has a touch of multiple personality disorder. Now, it’s not entirely a bad thing. It makes Cal seem much more human. It only becomes a problem when he goes overboard on the descriptions or self-deprecation. It’s one thing to paint a scene for the reader, but it’s quite another to leave no room for the reader’s own imagination to take over. At these junctures in the novel, it felt very much like I was trudging through a mud-trap. Luckily, it didn’t happen so often that it destroyed the whole novel–close, but not quite.

What shot the novel straight to hell was the anticlimactic climax. Just before the climax, the voice shifts from that of Cal to the Darkling who possessed him and that’s where it all went plummeting downhill. The sudden change of voice throws the reader off-kilter, plus that voice slowed down the pacing considerably. It wouldn’t have been quite so bad if the Darkling’s narration was more believable. Sure he wanted to do really bad things, as demon creatures are wont to do, but it never quite pushed the envelope. It became stunningly predictable.

The whole novel prepares the reader for a battle to end all battles; it prepares the reader for the end of the world as she knows it and then it falls completely flat. That final battle (I feel silly even calling it a battle) read like something out of a D- horror/action movie. The climax seemed like a rushed afterthought–incomplete–and that’s a shame. I felt cheated.

Despite this minor dent in my trust, I’m still reminded that the prose was clean, Cal’s character was witty, the storyline was interesting and I actually enjoyed reading the novel (for the most part). Since this was a debut novel, I’m certainly willing to give this author another shot because it can only get better, right?

Rating: Buy it used (?)

While I wouldn’t recommend purchasing the book at the hardcover list price, it won’t hurt to grab a half-off mass market paperback (i.e. $3). If you can get the paperback with a steeper discount (even used), go for it. I personally nabbed it from Amazon as part of the 4 for 3 deal.